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Hello and welcome to meet us pod episode 13. I'm your host D

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Mitas. Our story for this episode comes to us from Heather

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Santo. Heather works as a chemist in Pittsburgh, PA. Her

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educational background is biochemistry, forensic science

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and law. In the past two years she's had flash and short

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stories published by ink and sword, yellow mama spaceports

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and spider silk retreats from oblivion, Jersey double press,

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the haunted traveler, bewildering stories and the

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mystic blue review with two stories pending in the

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Staybridge. Joining me telling this story are Charlotte North,

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Elijah be more. Michael Blakey, Lex Zorn, and Stacy Cotham. Stay

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tuned after the story for full actor bios and some news about

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the future of metus media. Without further ado, here's our

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story. How does your garden grow by Heather Santo. I slicked back my

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hair and flash a dazzling smile. Check again please. I tell the

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young woman at the front door. She checks her screen for the

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10th time. I'm sorry, there's still no one by the name Jasper

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crane here. honest mistake, I assure her. Claudia gave me a

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verbal invite at the Worthington's charity event last

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week. Maybe she forgot to tell you. I amp up the smile even

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more and inch my way across the threshold. I'm sorry she repeats

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but I wave a dismissive hand. There she is now I say and call

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out to Claudia. My dear. There seems to be some mix up. Claudia

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saunters over a black dress fitting like a second skin on

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her curvaceous body. Faint recognition registers our face.

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How do I know you? We met at the Worthington's last week. I

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slipped my arm around her shoulders. Remember I told you I

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wouldn't miss your opening for the world. She squinted me

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through thick black frames. Next years 2035 models smart glasses

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by the look of them and tosses a mass of lime green hair over one

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shoulder. Why don't you show me around? I suggest it's okay

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mossy she tells the frazzled girl of the door. I'll show she

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falters and I flashed a smile bright enough to light the city.

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Jasper crane I offer?

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Yes, I'll show Mr. Crane around from here. Thank you.

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We walk into the dimly lit entrance of the gallery aptly

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dubbed artsy fartsy surrounded by the city's elite

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Jasper. We definitely did not meet at the Worthington's last

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week, or anywhere before for that matter. Yours is a smile I

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will not forget why I'm insulted. So easily forgotten by a woman as

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beautiful as yourself. I'm sure you have a legion of beautiful women at your beck and

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call. You have however, piqued my curiosity.

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She says taking my elbow. I'll take it. I navigate the crowd. A

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large group is gathered in front of the gardenia garden. The

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Knights main attraction and namesake of the exhibit opening.

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Claudia is responsible for creating set exhibit as well as

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part owner of artsy fartsy it's breathtaking. I don't remember

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real flowers but I've heard this emulations pale in comparison to

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the real thing. How did you do it? Claudia shakes her head

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sadly. This is one of the first subjects I captured with

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environmental camera technology. I have a friend a few hours

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north with a pretty house in the country. I sprinkled micro

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lenses in her garden to capture the individual images. And that

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was surround vision display edited each from 2d into this

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life sized 3d display.

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Fascinating. Out of those work. I motion of the projectors on

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the wall. They emit an invisible fog, allowing me to adjust focal

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plane and depth of field and project the images into space.

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How soon after you photograph the garden did the freak pod

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fungus hit the US? Less than six weeks.

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I walk into the exhibit. Immediately enveloped in glossy

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green leaves and soft white blossoms. It's almost as

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beautiful as the photographer. Okay, Jasper. Enough chitchat? Who are you on? What are you

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doing at my exhibit opening, I remove my arm from her shoulders and raise both hands

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and defeat. You got me, I say and pull an old photograph from

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inside my tux jacket. It's from a now obsolete instant camera.

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The muted colors of the image are bordered in white paling in

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comparison to the vibrancy of guarding your garden. I hand it

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to Claudia. How did you get this?

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The photo depicts a young woman dressed in a simple white t

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shirt, knees drawn up to her chest with a single gardenia

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tucked behind one ear. Gillian is my older sister. I say. I can

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see the realization slide into place. Although Jillian's

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features are softer, like the flower in her hair, the family

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resemblance is undeniable. We drifted apart. Both so focused on our careers. Claudia

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whispers me with photography and her with science. She

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looks up at me. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of her.

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She's in a coma. I say and Gloria grips my wrist daily. has

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been for almost a year what happens? I bought a business

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card for my tux jacket. The front of it reads yours Greek

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food delivery service. cloudier rips it from my fingers. Meet me

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tomorrow. at this address. Five o'clock sharp. I'll explain

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everything. I turned to leave Claudia to her adoring fans. And

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as I walk away she calls out Jasper. I glance over my

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shoulder. This is the best photograph I've ever taken, she says

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holds the instant image to her heart. Yours is a hole in the

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wall on the north side. The food delivery gigs started out as a

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front from Aleyda scheme but much to my surprise it quickly

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grew into a profitable business. The credit goes to Xander my

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chef and a former Army Ranger. What's cookin? I yell as I enter

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gear yours. I launch myself onto a bar stool and prop my feet up

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on the counter. Xander a mountain of a man with a

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screamin Eagle haircut is busy in the grill. Same thing that's

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cooking every day. He growls Sandra's famous gyros my man go

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three, then ratty haired and blue spectacles. The antithesis

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of Xander good falls from his spot at Central Command. He's a

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drone pilot and one hell of a hacker was six screens hooked up

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to a network of computers, none of which I understand. It

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probably rivals anything set up at the CIA or delivery drone,

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which cost me a nice chunk of change sits on the table next to

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Central Command. We nicknamed him Hermes. Did you have Chow

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yet? Xander asks, throwing a guy row in front of me. His apron

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says kitchen bitch across the chest. No, I haven't. And I take

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a huge bite. You're welcome. he grumbles turning back to the

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grill. So where's this photographer chick? Guthrie asks

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as Claudia saunters through the door right here,

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she says flipping her lime green ponytail with sensuous grace.

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Xander and Guthrie stare, mouths agape order up. I call and slam

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my hand down on the kitchen service Bell. Conrad explodes

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out of the stockroom long limbs Tangling together like yarn. I'm

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here I'm coming. I've got it. He yells and Paul's face first in

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front of Claudia's red high heeled pumps. The kitchen erupts

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into laughter and I help Conrad to his feet easier years newest

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hire a struggling ventriloquist who walked in one day and asked

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if we were hiring. We weren't but I gave him a job on the

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spot. The guy although a bit high strung, is extremely

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likable and eager to please. Plus his dummy Pierre gives

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Xander the creeps. Well guys, something smells delicious.

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After I introduced the photographer to Xander Guthrie

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and Conrad, we get down to business. Not the guy real

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business, the real business. But we do eat Kairos as we talk, the

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risk of family Claudia exclaims incredulous.

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How did you learn get involved with the mafia?

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Indirectly as it turns out, I explain her colleague, some guy

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drowning in gambling debt was developing mind control

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technology. One of those main bruisers isn't really this guy

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makes Xander look like a kitten broke into the complex where she

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worked. plan to steal the guy's tech to make up for the debt and

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then break the guy's legs for good measure. stumbled into

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Joe's lab by mistake. I pause to take a deep breath. what Joe was

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working on was more valuable to the mafia than mind control. And

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what was that? Flowers resistant to the freak pod fungus? Top

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Secret stuff. Her first success was with gardenias Claudia

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stares at me, speechless. The boss big Polly thought they

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could make a mint selling real flowers, weddings,

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anniversaries, funerals. You not believe what people were willing

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to pay for flowers on the black market. So they went in put my

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sister didn't give up her flowers without a fight.

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Reserves guy put her in a coma and she's been at St. Margaret's

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ICU sense. What can I do to help? Claudia asks without

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hesitation later that night one of rizos men places his weekly

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delivery order like clockwork Xander prepares the Kairos

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Conrad boxes everything up and Guthrie fires up the drone.

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Claudia pops open her very expensive laptop and we wait.

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Watching the drones feed when one of the central command

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screens holy cow.

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Claudia says when she spots Rizzo is bruiser the front door

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of the delivery location. Ironically, the mob works out of

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a kitchen design store a few blocks south of here he is told

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you he was big. I say as the behemoth takes the box of food

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from the drone. Guthrie pilots the drone back home and we

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switch views to cloudy his laptop. The microlens is

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attached to the food box which on and she starts capturing

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images and rapid fire speed. Photos of 12 wiseguys plus big

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Polly making a baker's dozen pop up in succession. We also get a

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complete layout of the room. There's a door in the back that

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immediately catches Guthrie's interest. Something important

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behind there, he says pointing voice and face recognition on

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the outside. If you ain't big Polly or one of us could pose

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you ain't getting in there. I look at Claudia. Can you be back

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next week, same time. We're gonna get Jill's flowers back.

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The next Saturday, we gather back at years. Xander works

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furiously at the grill preparing the resume family's weekly

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order. There's a tub of his secret guiro sauce next to the

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grill. The recipe kept secret even from me. Except this week,

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I've added my own secret little ingredient. Good old Georgia

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homeboys enough to knock out even the largest of results

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clan. Order Up. Xander yells hitting the kitchen service

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Bell. Conrad boxes everything up for delivery and Guthrie fires

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up the drone wants to be big boy bruiser takes the box from

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Hermes. Claudia pulls anxiously at her lime green braids. Are

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you sure this is going to work? Nope.

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I say Guthrie has loaded the photo software onto one of

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Central Command screens. While he brings Hermes back to he is

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he simultaneously switches on Claudia's micro lenses, again,

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attached to the delivery box and captures images of rizos men big

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Polly included devouring Xander Slimer Skyros. The secret sauce

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drips through their fingers splattering on the table covered

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with playing cards. We wait. Less than an hour later all 13

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men are down for the count. That's our cue. All right,

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everyone loaded into van drive a few blocks over Guthrie riding

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shotgun to the kitchen design store. The old panel van 2018

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model but still more reliable than many of my ex girlfriends

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rattles as if in anticipation. Pull in here. Claudia exclaims

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and I slide the van into a side alley. Everyone out I say and

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look at Conrad in the rearview mirror. Are you ready? Yes. He

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squeaks and opens the back door. Luckily for us, Rousseau's men

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didn't lock the door. After grabbing the guy rose from the

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drone. We slipped through the darkness and into the store. The

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room reeks of cigar smoke and guiro sauce. All 13 men are

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slumped in various positions around the car table. Big barley

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at the head. I pet his flabby cheek as we walked by. How's the

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food big barley? He snorts in response and turns his head the

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other way. snoring like a buzzsaw Conrad Harry. Conrad

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approaches the back door. He's been practicing for this moment

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all week. Studying online videos of big Polly's last court

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deposition. Hey, it's me big boy. He says mimicking the mafia

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bosses voice perfectly. A lot on the voice recognition screen

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blinks green Xander looking totally creeped out. Olds up

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here to the facial recognition scanner. Guthrie 3d printed a

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perfect replica of the bullies face earlier in the week and

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swapped it out for the one on Conrad's dummy. Pierre looked

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decidedly more ugly for the effort. Another green light

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flashes in the back door lock clicks open. Before anyone can

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say anything. I push through and walk into an illegal grow

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operation of a most unusual kind. Instead of kitchen design

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supplies the brightly lit room was filled with roses, peonies,

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lilies, tulips and last but not least, guarding Yes. Oh, my God.

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All right, box everything up and loaded in the van. The following

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Monday the news headlines puzzled over the mysterious

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return of freak odd resistant flowers to the lab where they

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were originally stolen from. The story runs tandem with reports

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of the entire Rizzo mob family being hospitalized for ingesting

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large amounts of a date rape drug. In light of these events,

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I decided to permanently close yields for business. While

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Xander Guthrie and Conrad move everything from the kitchen into

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a storage locker on the east side. I drive van to artsy

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fartsy and pick up Claudia. She has a green haired vision and a

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houndstooth print pantsuit. And her hands she holds a tiny

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potted gardenia ready, task.

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So I'll never be we sit in silence as I navigate through midday downtown traffic.

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St. Margaret's is at the heart of the city surrounded by

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simulated flower gardens. Hopefully soon, they'll be

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filled with real flowers. Hello, Jasper. A pretty nurse says to

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me when we enter the ICU. Haven't seen you in a while.

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Yeah, sorry. I flashed a dazzling smile. This is Claudia,

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a friend of Julian's. Uh huh. She says and walks away briskly.

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Emotional for her to enter Julian's room. My older sister's

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like a small child of to an IV under a thin blanket.

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Hi, Jill. Claudia says, and in the state of light peeking through the

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window blinds, places the gardenia next to the hospital

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bed. Links to our author and actors work will be in the show

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notes that meet us pod.com. Charlotte Northrup, Charlotte

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was born and raised in Denmark. Since childhood she has been in

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love with dark and sinister stories and enjoys a sick and

17:08

twisted world. That is horror. Charlotte's work can be heard

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all over the place. Honestly, there's just too much to be

17:16

listed here. But Eliza be more as an actor based out of Chapel

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Hill, North Carolina. He can currently be seen on CW

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legacies. Elijah also has a new podcast coming soon called cover

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to cut. Check it out if you like movies. Michael Blakey, voice

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actor, musician, human. He writes songs and brings messages

17:36

to life with his voice, and Missouri boy who wants the

17:39

people in this world to just be nicer to each other. I think we

17:42

can all appreciate that. Lexa Warren lek is a very prolific

17:48

actor, both on screen and voice only. And recently, he started

17:52

making his own films as well. He frequently collaborates with his

17:56

children, Aria Kelly and Liam Isaac on both cast and crew.

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He's also a radio sports commentator. And last, but

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definitely not least, Stacy Cotham is a voice actor based

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out of North Carolina. She's also a radio host, cosplayer

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performance artist and lecturer. meanness media is expanding and

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I'm devoting a lot more time to it recently made his opponent is

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going to be moving to a slightly different format for a while.

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The full cast episodes like this one are going to be few and far

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between. Most episodes will be more like episode 12 with a

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single storyteller. With this format, I'll be able to get more

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episodes out. I still have my day job and full productions

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take a while to get produced and ready for your years. I'm

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working on getting a more regular release schedule and

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this change will definitely help out. I've also been putting a

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lot of work into my daughter show Fun Fact Friday with Leila

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and David, which is now live streaming on Twitch on Thursday

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nights at seven Eastern time. Yes, I know we should do it on

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Friday, but there are reasons, I promise. Thank you to all of our

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listeners and talent. If you'd like to make a donation and help

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with the server costs head on over to meet this bob.com and

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click the donations link. All donations go to making the show

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better. Our music comes to us from od Sprite, you can check

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out more of their work and on sprite.com. All written works a

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property of their respective owners, media sponsors and

19:19

biggest media production all rights reserved unless otherwise

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stated. Have a good one folks. We'll see you next time.