©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

The Magnus Protocol

Episode 1
"First Shift"

Written by Jonathan Sims

Co-written by Alexander J Newall

Show-Notes are available at the end of the Transcript.

Draft 1.6

[1]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

[MUSIC]

ALEXANDER J NEWALL
Hi, this is Alexander J Newall,
founder of Rusty Quill, and co-
creator of the Magnus Archives.
And I am here to welcome you to
this first episode of the Magnus
Protocol.
Maybe you’re a brand-new listener
who has never heard anything we’ve
made before. In which case,
welcome!
Although The Magnus Protocol
follows on from the original
Magnus Archives, it’s absolutely
fine to start here then go back to
earlier episodes if it tickles
your fancy.
You have picked literally the best
episode to start on. So great
work! We hope you enjoy it.
Alternatively, you might be one of
those really weird people who
listen to all of the tragic horror
from the Magnus Archives and are
back for more. In which case,
welcome, glad you’re still
listening.
Either way, thank you for joining
us as we embark on this together.
We could not have done it without
you, the listeners, and the
terrifyingly organized fan base
who pushed our kickstarter way
beyond anything we dared hope for
Thanks to them, you can expect
extra episodes, bonus content,
events, and more.
Speaking of, we will be holding a
little shin-dig over on
twitch.tv/rusty_quill on Thursday
18th of January 2024 at 6pm UK
time.
So make sure to come along and
meet the cast, and celebrate the
launch with us. We’ll be giving

[2]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

more info on upcoming events and

other news close to the time. But
feel free to join our Patreon and
follow our socials if you want to
be sure not to miss anything.
Anyway that’s all for now, apart
from saying thank you, one last
time, and telling you that it is a
privilege and an honour to be
horrible in your ears once again.
Enjoy.

[Intro Theme]

ANNOUNCER
Rusty Quill Presents: The Magnus
Protocol.
Episode One – First Shift

[Music]

1. INT. OIAR MAIN OFFICE - NIGHT, RAINING (COMPUTER).

A decrepit computer turns on in a dated and dingy shared

office in Royal Mint Court. There is the hum and whine of
an old PC - the sort of mid-90s oversized, slightly
yellowing plastic tower that still has a floppy disk drive.
A tinny digital fanfare accompanies its awakening, then the
PC settles into the quiet whirr of its fan.

There is a slight stutter of digital distortion and then

the computer's aged microphone abruptly begins recording.
It is eavesdropping on an anemic work party. SAM, LENA and
GWEN can be heard quietly talking in another part of the
office.

ALICE
What are you looking forward to
the most?

TEDDY
I mean, occasionally seeing the
sun could be nice?

ALICE
Boooo! Your pathetic addiction to
vitamin D will only make you weak.

[3]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

TEDDY
But Alice, my bones! They’re ready
to snap like twiglets!

ALICE
Listen to me: bones are a lie
peddled by Big Milk to keep you
buying. No such thing.

TEDDY
Right, so what keeps your body
upright?

ALICE
(grinning)
Spite and coffee.

TEDDY
(laughing) Well, I’m afraid we
can’t all subsist entirely on
coffee and social media drama.

ALICE
Not with that attitude. I reckon
you could crack it in another 4
years…

TEDDY
Another 4 years of you and cracked
is exactly what I’d be!

Small laugh.
Beat.

ALICE
I'm gonna miss you Teddy.

TEDDY
Nah, we'll stay in touch, right?

ALICE
(unconvincingly)
‘course. I mean, yeah, if you
think you can escape my iconic
brand of nonsense by getting a

[4]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

boring, normal job you're going to

be sadly disappointed, my friend.

TEDDY
You know most people would
consider civil service a boring,
normal job.

ALICE
Yeah, well, most people don’t work
here.

COLIN
(approaching)

Ain’t that the truth.

COLIN shuffles up, a touch worse for drink.

ALICE
Colin! There’s my guy! How's it
hanging? Is it an app yet? Do we
have a minimalist logo? I assume
you’ve finished all the social
features?

COLIN
Don't you start. I swear I'm going
to shove a cable down that prick's
throat, pull it out his
ministerial anus and floss him to
death.

ALICE
Is that what you mean when you go
on about things being “backwards
compatible”?

TEDDY/COLIN
Booo!

ALICE
Don’t boo me! I created you, and I
can destroy you!

Laughter.

[5]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

COLIN
So are we just leaving Sam to the
wolves then?

ALICE
He's a big boy, he can look after
himself. Besides, he's going to be
working with them.

COLIN
Sure but you know how Gwen and
Lena can be…

TEDDY
- awful?

ALICE
He’s fine. ‘Course it wouldn’t
have been an issue if we’d just
done this at the pub like normal…

TEDDY
You know Lena.
(imitating)
"Proper procedure requires any
provided food and beverages to be
consumed on site.” Fair play,
though, Sam's been a good sport.
God knows you wouldn’t have got me
to a stranger’s goodbye party at
six in the morning.

ALICE
(moving away)

Eurgh. Fine, I'll go rescue him.

Beat.

COLIN
So... Insurance?

TEDDY
It’s reliable.

COLIN
True. Just let me know if they
need an IT guy, yeah?

[6]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

TEDDY
Colin, mate, you know you’re never
getting out of here.

COLIN
Christ, don’t say that.

TEDDY
Even if his nibs lets you off the
hook, which he won’t, you couldn’t
bring yourself to just leave. Not
'til you’ve figured out all these
fun little errors.

COLIN
Or they finally kill me.

TEDDY
I mean, sure, that too.

Beat.

TEDDY
Heads up, looks like they're all
coming over.

COLIN
(morose)
Great.

ALICE, SAM, LENA and GWEN come over.

TEDDY
Hey!

LENA
Enjoying the party?

TEDDY
Colin was just saying how much of
a blast he’s having, isn’t that
right?

LENA
(sardonic)
Oh really.

COLIN
Uh, sure.

[7]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

TEDDY
-and how he’d love to take the
afterparty to the pub.

ALICE
What a great idea, Colin.

LENA
Nonsense. Sam is the only one who
has had any cake so far.

GWEN
And that was only because you
practically forced it down his
throat.

SAM
No, no, it was... nice.

LENA
People like chocolate cake.

GWEN
(sullen)
People like being treated like
adults…

Beat. Gwen may have overstepped there.

LENA
Thank you for you feedback, Gwen.
I will take it under advisement.
Now I was just telling Sam that he
can expect supportive co-workers
here at the O.I.A.R..

ALICE
Oh yeah, we're a real family. I'm
your cool sister, Gwen's your
uncool sister, Lena's your
emotionally distant mother,
Teddy's the uncle that just got
another job, and Colin's the
family's grumpy IT manager.

[8]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

GWEN
You'll have to forgive Alice, Sam.
She's convinced that she's funny.

SAM
It's alright, we actually go way
back.

LENA
Alice recommended Sam for the job.

GWEN
Oh? Nepotism, is it?

ALICE
(acidly)
I learned from the best.

GWEN
People are trying to enjoy
themselves, Alice. Could you
please just turn it off for a
moment?

TEDDY
(gently steering)
Soooo! I think we might all be
done on cake, so I'm going to call
it and suggest anyone who wants to
can decamp to the pub, ok?

COLIN
Plan.

LENA
If that’s the consensus, I will
accept it. Although I’m afraid I
won’t be able to join you at The
Steward-

ALICE
Shame...

LENA
-but do take Sam along and enjoy
yourselves. Just remember it is a
work night.

[9]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM
Oh, er, sure. I'm down.

TEDDY
Great!

LENA
Oh, and Teddy?

TEDDY
Mm?

LENA
I understand you're leaving us,
but that's no excuse for being
sloppy. Please ensure you shut
down your workstation before you
depart.

TEDDY
Hm? Oh I already d- Oh. That's-
uh... Right, hang on, I'll just-

Teddy pushes the power button. The recording ends and the
internal fans spin down as the computer is shut down.

2. INT. OIAR MAIN OFFICE - NIGHT, RAINING – (COMPUTER).

The computer boots up and the microphone switches on. SAM

is sat at his desk, filling out paperwork. ALICE
approaches.

ALICE
Right then. Ready?

SAM
Hang on, I've still got the last
page to fill in. Do I really have
to put "Samama Khalid" at the top
of every single page?

ALICE
Yeah, they're pretty big on
paperwork around here.

[10]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM
There has to be a way to do this
online.

Beat.

SAM CONT.
What?

ALICE
(chuckling)
You'll see. Anyway, hurry it up,
time to mold you like clay into
the perfect government drone for
the Office of Incident Assessment
and Response.

SAM
Speaking of, there's this box for
a "Response 121" on the form. Do
you know what that is?

ALICE
Oh, you can ignore that. There
used to be a separate "Response"
department, I think, but now it's
just us. Guess they never updated
the onboarding.

SAM
Ah. I already ticked it - is that
a problem?

ALICE
I doubt it since no one actually
reads that stuff.

Beat.

ALICE (CONT.)
Right pens down, eyes front, class
is in session.

SAM
Right.

Sam puts the paperwork away on the desk.

[11]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM CONT.
Lead on, sensei.

ALICE
So, this cutting-edge device is
known as a personal computer, or
"PC" for short-

SAM
Alice, I know you're joking, but
how old is this thing? It has a
floppy drive.

ALICE
Patience young one. You've got
your login details from Colin,
right?

SAM
Sure.

ALICE
(faux portentous)
Then bestow them unto the device
that you may gain its ancient
wisdom…

SAM
Right.

Sam types in his login. There's a beep and the computer

starts to spin up with very retro fanfare.

SAM
What-?

ALICE
(sweetly)
Something wrong sweetie?

SAM
Is this… Windows 95?

ALICE
Of course not - don't be
ridiculous!

Beat.

[12]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

ALICE
(cont.)
This is a modified version of
Windows NT 4.0, the business-
focused predecessor to 95.

SAM
H-How is that even-? There’s no
way this is still supported...

ALICE
I think a good half of Colin's job
is just making sure the
workstations don't all try to
update and instantly brick
themselves.

SAM
But... I mean, why?

ALICE
See that symbol?

Alice double clicks something on the screen.

SAM
(reading)
FR3-d1?

ALICE
Meet Freddy. The program doesn't
really have a proper name. Bespoke
software from the mid-nineties, I
think. It's the bedrock that the
whole system is based on, and it’s
been at least fifteen years since
anyone actually knew how it
worked.

SAM
What does it do?

ALICE
Crashes, mostly. At least it does
if you try to update it, breath
too loudly or link it to anything
developed more recently than the
Bronze Age collapse.

[13]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM
So what's it supposed to do, then?

ALICE
It searches online databases,
newspapers, forums or whatever for
incidents, flags them, then passes
them through to us for assessment.

SAM
What sort of "incidents"?

Beat.

ALICE
(slightly hesitant)
You'll see.

SAM
Right, so this list is...

ALICE
Today’s case files. Just double
click on the top one.

Sam double-clicks.

ALICE
Ok, so looks like it's an email.

SAM
And I just... read it? Is that
even legal?

ALICE
Probably. We do work for the
government. Sort of.

SAM
What about GDPR?

ALICE
Look, Sam, I don't know what to
tell you. This is the job. I've
been doing it for years and
there's never been any problems.
Maybe ask Lena? - She’d probably
know.

[14]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM
Fine. Sorry. Ok, so...

He starts reading. Pause.

SAM
This is-

ALICE
Yeah, they're all like that. At
least this one is short, nice easy
start for you. So, once you've
read it, you get out the binder-

She slaps an enormous ring binder on the desk and starts

paging through it as she speaks.

ALICE CONT.
And look up whatever’s mentioned
most in the case. Looking at this
one we go to “D” and… Sam, eyes on
me now. We go to “D” and, right,
would you say this is more "Dolls
comma watching" or "Dolls comma
human skin".

SAM
(a bit shell-shocked)
I- Uh- I mean- I guess the human
skin bit is only implied, so...
both?

ALICE
Nah you can only pick one,
Freddy's dumb as rocks. Right, so,
after each entry there's four
numbers. That’s the DPHW. So,
“dolls comma watching” is... 1157.
Then you cross reference with the
table here, that would be a 2-C,
and then you type that into the
box here, along with date of
incident if there is one and
today’s date. Which gives us…

Alice’s quickly types.

[15]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

ALICE CONT.
CAT2RC1157-12052022-09012024 and
then we hit submit.

Beat.

ALICE CONT.
Well go on then.

SAM
Oh, right!

Sam double clicks. There's an 8-bit chime.

ALICE
Excellent work. We’ll make a wage
slave of you yet.

SAM
Where does it go?

ALICE
If I were a betting woman, I'd say
some long dead database that no-
one will ever look at or care
about.

SAM
So why do it?

ALICE
Because that's what they're paying
us to do.

SAM makes an incredulous noise.

ALICE
Welcome to civil service.

SAM
What the hell sort of job have you
gotten me Alice?

ALICE
One where you get paid to hang out
with the coolest person left in
London all night, every night.
You’re welcome by the way.

[16]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM laughs despite himself.

ALICE
Now you try the next one.

SAM
Right, so...

He double-clicks the next case. NORRIS's voice blares from

the speakers abruptly. They both talk over his monologue.

NORRIS
(computer)
To: Darla Winstead
([email protected])

From: Harriet Winstead

([email protected])

Date: May 12 2022.

Subject: Re: Re: checking in

SAM
(talking over)
Alice, what is this?

ALICE
(talking over)
Hey! You got Norris!

SAM
(talking over)
What?

ALICE
(talking over)
It's... Hang on, you can pause it
by hitting space.

She hits spacebar and NORRIS abruptly stops speaking.

ALICE
Sorry, didn't think you’d get one
of those so soon.

[17]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM
One of what? Why is it reading it
out?

ALICE
Started about a year ago. Best
Colin can figure, something broke
and whichever genius made the
program ran some redundancy
through the sound card.

SAM
Right…

ALICE
Yeah.
Lena won’t authorize Colin’s
proposed solution: Smashing it
with a hammer. All it really means
to you is that it’ll read out
maybe one in twenty cases and
won’t let you do the next one
until it finishes.

SAM
But- No hang on, that doesn't make
any sense. If Freddy's a search
program from the nineties, why
would it have text-to-speech?

ALICE
Great question. I asked Colin the
same thing a while back.

SAM
And what did he say?

ALICE
Nothing. He just snapped a pencil
in half and walked away... Look
Sam, it’s a completely knackered
system that’s old as balls.
Dangly, grey-haired old man balls.
And until it finally collapses
forever, we just have to put up
and shut up.

[18]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM
So how do we stop it reading them
out?

ALICE
No idea. So now, when we come
across a chatty case, we generally
take that as a cue to get coffee.
Then we come back and read it
through once the computer's done
waffling.

SAM
Right. Okay. And who's Norris?

ALICE
So, there are three voices it
reads them in. I call them Norris,
Chester and Augustus, although
Gwen doesn't like it. This one
here is Norris, he and Chester are
the most common.

SAM
But it’s okay if I do hear it?
Like, I’m just thinking I can
finish up this onboarding here
while it’s running.

ALICE
Knock yourself out. Just grab me
in the break room when it's done.
We’ve got a load more to get
through.

SAM
Gotcha.

Sam hits spacebar again.

[19]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

3. CYBERSPACE

NORRIS
(computer)
To: Darla Winstead
([email protected])

From: Harriet Winstead

([email protected])

Date: May 12 2022.

Subject: Re: Re: checking in

I’m so sorry. I should have

listened. I just couldn’t face the
thought of the rest of my life
never hearing him again, I had to
try. It wasn’t a scam, not like
you said.

He sounded different when he

called. He was all eager with an
off-putting sort of excitement,
not like our earlier face-to-face
consultations. He just gave me an
address and told me to be there
that night: Grantham Cemetery. I
started to wonder if this was all
just another messed-up sales
pitch. Some preachy lesson about
acceptance and letting go before
asking for more cash. But I had to
know, so I went to the cemetery.

I used to love the night. When

Arthur couldn’t sleep we would
just walk for hours under the
lampposts, just us and the
occasional headlights streaking
past. It frightens me now. I look
at the shadows, not the lights.
They hide whatever it was that
took him away from me.

[20]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

The cemetery gates were wide open.

I don’t know if I would have had
it in me to break in. I was so
nervous that the smallest obstacle
might have sent me running home.
But they were open. So in I went.
Slowly, towards the grave.

It’s not a big graveyard, and

spacious enough that I could see
the figure standing there before I
got too close. For a moment my
heart skipped and I thought it
might be Arthur but no, the shape…
The shape was all wrong. Then my
step faltered, because I had no
idea who else it could be. They
were too short for the consultant.
Maybe someone else entirely, some
innocent mourner? In the middle of
the night? I doubted it.

I was scared, Darla. I was so

scared. I was certain I’d been set
up, that I was going to be
grabbed. I turned to leave, hoping
I could get back to the main road
lights but then the figure began
to speak from where it was stooped
in the dark.

It was his voice. It was Arthur’s

voice. I know you won’t believe me
but he called my name and I know
it was his voice. I froze in
place.

It came closer, and as the moon

escaped the clouds for a moment I
could make out the discolored
skin, the mismatched features. It
moved slowly, shuddering towards
me with a jerky, ungainly step.
Something was pressed against its
skin, from the inside.

[21]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

I said the only thing I could

think:

“Arthur? Is that you?”

And that voice I have loved for

twenty years answered: “Some of
him.”

And then it laughed. Great heaving

gasps and wheezes that seemed to
leak out as if through a rotten
bellows. It laughed and laughed,
violently throwing its head back
and forth, faster and faster,
impossibly fast. So fast I could
hear bones snapping.

I ran, and it didn’t chase me.

I don’t know what to do now. I’ve

not left the house all day. I keep
thinking I see something at the
bottom of the garden, but I can’t
bring myself to check. Do I call
the police? What could I even tell
them? I tried calling the company
helpline but no one answers. Are
you free tonight? I don’t want to
stay at the house. I know you
warned me that it was too full of
memories but this isn’t that. I’m
afraid Darla and worse, I think
it's Arthur I’m afraid of. Or
what’s left of him. Please get
back to me a.s.a.p.

[22]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

4. INT. OIAR main office - NIGHT, RAINING – (COMPUTER).

Sam is sitting there, slightly freaked out by what he's

just heard. He exhales slowly. Alice comes up behind him
and he jumps as she speaks.

ALICE
You didn’t come get me?

SAM
I... Yeah, sorry. I got
distracted. Are they all like
that?

ALICE
What? Upsetting and horrible?
Yeah, more or less. That one
seemed pretty tame, to be honest.

SAM
Great. Can’t wait for a bad one.

ALICE
So, ready to score it?

SAM
Sure, so, uh...

He starts leafing through the massive binder.

SAM
“Zombies” would probably be under
Z, right?

ALICE
Yeah, it’s mostly alphabetical.

Gwen, who has overheard this, calls over from her desk.

GWEN
(calling)
It’s not zombies.

ALICE
I’m sorry, Gwen, I thought Sam was
shadowing me today since you’re so
busy with your own massive
backlog.

[23]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

GWEN
(Standing and coming
over)
And you’re just going to let him
put “zombies”? He’ll get a misfile
on his first case.

ALICE
No he won’t.
(To Sam)
You basically never get a misfile.
No-one’s checking this stuff-

Gwen starts leafing through his binder.

GWEN
Here. “Reanimation”. I’d probably
go with “partial” cross linked
with “regret”, but you could also
go with "amalgamative" subsection
“semi”.

ALICE
Zombies would have been fine.

GWEN
A) no it wouldn’t and B) there's
at least three pages of sub-
classifications for Zombies. He’d
be here for hours.

ALICE
And I’m guessing this dedication
to detail is why you're so behind?

GWEN
It's why I have the highest
accuracy rate in the office.

ALICE
Which, and it’s absolutely crucial
you understand this Sam, means
exactly nothing.

SAM
I’m going to put “reanimation”,
ok?

[24]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

ALICE
Fine, whatever. Like I say, none
of it matters, so arguing about it
is a waste of everybody’s time.
And none of us have much of that
going spare tonight do we Gwen?

GWEN
Just making sure he’s taught
properly. If you want to be
picking up after him for the whole
year, be my guest.

ALICE
Gwen?

GWEN
What?

ALICE
Looks like Lena wants you in her
office.

Gwen looks over.

GWEN
Oh joy. Just want I need tonight.

She stands and starts heading off.

GWEN CONT.
(departing)
Don’t let her teach you too many
bad habits Sam.

SAM
(chuckling)
I’ll do my best.

ALICE
(goodnatured)
You traitor…

[25]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

5. INT. MANAGER’S OFFICE- NIGHT, RAINING – (MANAGER’S

SPEAKERPHONE)

Lena’s office is pristine, sterile and has nothing that

might indicate its occupant would be brash enough to have a
personality. GWEN enters.

GWEN
You wanted to see me?

LENA
Yes, Gwen. Please sit down.

GWEN does so. It is clear from her tone she knows what to
expect and has been here several times before.

GWEN
Another “performance review”? Can
we make it a bit quicker this
time?

LENA
You’re aware you are significantly
behind your caseload?

GWEN
Because I’m actually trying to
process them correctly. You can
have it right or you can have it
fast.

LENA
Regardless, that’s not what I
wanted to talk to you about.

GWEN
I see. So what else have I done
wrong, then?

LENA
Last night. At Teddy’s leaving
party-

GWEN
“Party”

Beat. The room gets a little colder.

[26]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

LENA
Last night at Teddy’s leaving
event you were openly
disrespectful towards me in front
of the new hire. This is not
acceptable.

GWEN
Seriously? You’re calling me in
here because I backtalked you in
front of the new guy?

LENA
I’m well aware you dislike me,
Gwen, and that’s entirely your
prerogative but I am still your
manager and undercutting my
authority in front of a new team
member is deeply inappropriate.

GWEN
(Standing)
Understood. Now if that’s all-

LENA
It’s not. Sit down.

Gwen sighs and sits.

LENA CONT.
If you hate working here so
completely, you are perfectly
within your rights to resign. No
one is forcing you to stay here.

GWEN
You’d like that, wouldn’t you?

LENA
Honestly, it more or less balances
out. You are difficult to manage,
but hiring new staff member is
always something of a pain.

Beat.

LENA CONT.
What do you actually want, Gwen?

[27]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

GWEN
Your job.

Beat.

LENA
You think you could do it better?

GWEN
I do.

LENA
Hmmm. I’ve always known you
thought you were slumming it down
here, but I never actually
considered you might think of this
as the first step of a career.
Most people simply move on within
12 months or so.

GWEN
I’m not most people.

There is a pause as LENA considers this.

LENA
No.

GWEN
No?

LENA
No. Unfortunately, I know what
climbing this particular ladder
entails, and you don’t have what
it takes.

GWEN
Surprise, surprise.

LENA
I’m sorry to put it so bluntly,
but I really do fear your ambition
is misplaced here.

GWEN
(leaving)
Well, good talk as always.
Excellent use of my time. Let me
[28]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

know if you have any other gems of

wisdom you want to spit in my
face.

LENA
Gwen, that’s- [exactly the kind of
attitude…]

Gwen is already out the door and slams it behind her.

LENA sighs.

6. INT. OIAR BREAK ROOM- NIGHT, RAINING – (CCTV).

COLIN is sat in the corner, grimly drinking a cup of tea.

SAM enters and heads over to the coffee machine.

SAM
Hey! Colin, wasn’t it?

COLIN grunts an affirmative.

SAM
Hey.

Beat. SAM starts to make his coffee

SAM
So. How’s the app going?

COLIN
(Immediately furious)
So that’s it, is it? Lena’s hired
another smart-mouthed prick to
just piss around and cause
problems?

SAM
Wow, okay-

COLIN
I already have to explain to some
chinless inbred politician that
we’re running on something as old
as the goddamn Atari Falcon, now
I’ve got some green little
smartarse giving me lip for it

[29]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

too? Well you can take your funny

little lines and shove them up-

SAM
Alice told me to say it! Okay? It
was Alice. I have literally no
context for this. At all.

COLIN
Oh.

SAM
I said you seemed kinda scary and
I didn’t know how to say hi, so
she said to ask about the app.

COLIN
‘Course she did. Well, tell Alice
it was funny. Yeah.

COLIN makes a noise that is probably meant to be a laugh.

Awkward beat.

COLIN CONT.
Scary?

SAM
A bit, yeah.

COLIN
Huh.

SAM
So like, how is it going?

Beat.

COLIN
Mate, I’ve been banging my head
against this system for almost two
years and I’ve got nothing beyond
a bug list as long my arm.

SAM
So not great then?

[30]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

COLIN
‘Bout a year ago I figured out it
was written with some kind of
propriety German source code, so
you know what I did?

SAM
What?

COLIN
I learned German. But do you think
it helped? At all?

SAM
Nein?

COLIN
Nein.

SAM
Well… At least it’ll help if you
ever go to Germany?

Beat.

COLIN
Why would going to Germany help?

SAM
I don’t- no I meant like, as a
Holiday?

COLIN
A holiday?

SAM
Yeah, like time off? I hear they
have good… sausages?

COLIN
I’m a vegetarian.

SAM
Right.

Awkward Pause. Sam finishes preparing his coffee.

[31]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM CONT.
Well, this was great and all but I
should get back to it.

COLIN
Sure thing. Good luck mate.

SAM starts to leave.

COLIN
Tell Alice I laughed.

SAM
...sure.

7. INT. OIAR MAIN OFFICE- NIGHT, RAINING – (COMPUTER).

SAM gently taps on the keyboard occasionally giving a

perturbed mutter as he tries to input scores.

GWEN
You met Colin, then?

SAM
Yeah. He’s, uh...

GWEN
A grumpy weirdo?

SAM
I don’t know. I think he’s having
a bad night.

GWEN
Then it’s a night that’s lasted
since he got here. I’d ignore him.
Alice is the only one he
tolerates. God knows why.

SAM
Right.

Pause. Some more typing.

GWEN
So you and Alice go back?

[32]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM
Yeah, we knew each other at uni.

GWEN
That how she tricked you into
working here?

SAM
To be fair, she did say the office
vibes were- uh- “a bit bleak”.

GWEN
That’s one way to put it, I guess.
So how did you end up here? You
don’t seem like the usual hopeless
wasters Lena hires.

SAM
Heh. Maybe I’m just better at
hiding it?

GWEN
You know how to work a keyboard,
so you’re already better than most
of them.

SAM
Ha.

Pause. More typing.

GWEN
So what is it then?

SAM
Hmm?

GWEN
The awful, terrible thing that
landed you here?

SAM
Does it have to be awful and
terrible?

GWEN
Usually.

[33]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM
Maybe I just like creepy
monotonous data entry instead of
sleeping at home?

GWEN
Maybe.

Beat.

SAM
Honestly? I’m just trying to get
back on my feet. You?

Beat.

GWEN
None of your business.

SAM
Now hang on-

He hits a key and CHESTER’s voice starts to speak from the

computer.

CHESTER
(computer)
Forums.lostcityurbex.com
Board index. Spelunking. Sites.
New topic: Magnus Institute Ruins
By RedCanary on Sunday April 10.
2022. 3:31pm

SAM
(speaking over)
Eurgh never mind. Got another
talking one...

8. CYBERSPACE

CHESTER
(computer)
Anyone know what the deal is with
the Magnus Institute? Recently
moved back to Manchester and I’ve
been keen to keep up my
spelunking, so was looking at the

[34]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

lists here of good sites to check

out.

There’s some great ones one there

(I have got to check out the old
Hippodrome at some point!), but
I’m a bit confused about the
Magnus Institute. It’s listed
under “cleared”, but there’s no
pictures or info. I get that it’s
useful to have a way of saying a
place has been explored to death,
but usually when that’s the case
there’s at least a few photos that
can be found online. Is it worth
me checking out? It’s only a half
hour from me, but I don’t want to
bother if it’s genuinely a solved
site and there’s nothing there
worth seeing.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By BadGrav31 on Sunday April 10
2022 4:51pm
Not sure. I don’t think ArcherK
has updated those lists in a
while. Don’t remember it, though.
I say go for it – if there aren’t
any pictures about, seems like a
good reason to see for yourself.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By ArcherK on Monday April 11 2022
1:27am
I do update them when people send
me through stuff, but it doesn’t
happen all that often. I’m mainly
just adding stuff to Devan’s old
lists from when he left. I don’t
know why he put the Magnus
Institute on the Cleared list.
Never really thought about it.
Maybe it’s been a self-fulfilling
thing, and no one’s been checking

[35]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

it out because it was put on there

by accident.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By RedCanary on Monday April 11
2022 12:39pm
Thanks guys – think I might check
it out after all!

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By ArcherK on Monday April 11 2022
11:13pm
Awesome! Look forward to reading
the report!

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By RedCanary on Wednesday April 20
2022 12:10am
Just got back. Definitely not
cleared. Really weird place. Kinda
cool. But. Really weird. Full
report tomorrow.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By FlowersUnderground on Friday
April 22 2022 4:07pm
Any news on this? Really keen to
see some pictures.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By RedCanary on Friday April 22
2022 6:33pm
Sorry, yeah, that’s the problem.
Having a really tough time
actually uploading any of the
pictures I took. Plus not been
feeling super well. Forgot how
weirdly paranoid I can get after
spelunking. But yeah, the
building’s an odd one. Looks like
it hasn’t been touched since the
fire, and that was, what, 20 years
ago? Structure itself is in pretty

[36]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

good shape – a lot of damage and

scorching, plus the third floor is
pretty much gone, but the rest of
the building is safe enough. There
was one spot where my foot went
through the floor, but tbh that
was mostly me being careless.

It's got a really cool vibe,

though. Like, if you’d told me it
was a Victorian asylum or
something before the fire I reckon
I’d have believed you. Lost of
austere old furnishings that are
still in decent nick, and a bunch
of offices like little cells. Kept
getting this sense like doors were
going to slam shut and lock behind
me, even though half the frames
didn’t even have actual doors left
in them.

Big surprise was no old papers. I

mean, they’d be mulch by now,
obviously, but all the old filing
cabinets were still rusting in
place, and there was clearly what
used to be a massive library or
archive or something in the first
basement layer. Was really
expecting a bunch of paper pulp,
but there wasn’t really any. Maybe
that’s why it was listed as
“cleared”?

Also, I don’t know how to describe

it really, but there was a bunch
of old graffiti. I don’t mean tags
or anything, I didn’t see any tags
at all, actually, and it wasn’t
your standard “YOUR SOUL IS
FORFEIT” spooky ruins graffiti, it
was like… symbols and stuff and
some pretty suspicious stains on
some floors. I don’t really know
[37]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

occult or whatever, but I dunno.

Felt legit in a way most of it
doesn’t. I know a few of you do
graff stuff, so I wouldn’t mind
picking your brains about it
later.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By BadGrav31 on Saturday April 23
2022 11:28am
Quote: I know a few of you do
graff stuff…
While I can neither confirm nor
deny my involvement in the tagging
of freight cars near Brighton, I
wouldn’t mind getting a look at
it.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By RedCanary on Saturday April 23
2022 12:17pm
The photos from the spelunk seem
properly gone, but I did find an
old wooden thing with a bunch of
similar symbols on. Some kinda
empty box, not really sure what
for, though. Gonna see if I can
get the light right for a decent
pic.
Edit: No dice, I’m afraid. Must
be something up with my phone
camera. Really not helping the
whole paranoia thing either.
Anyone know anything about
photographic distortion? Gonna see
if I can borrow my dad’s SLR
tomorrow.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By ArcherK on Saturday April 23
2022 2:24pm
Quote: I did find an old wooden
thing…
Just to be clear, theft from
explorations is not endorsed by
[38]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

this site, so I trust you were

simply remembering something you
saw, and not admitting to taking
souvenirs.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By RedCanary on Saturday April 23
2022 5:21pm
Sorry. I know the rules. I’m going
to go put it back, ok? So you can
call off the dogs. I don’t need
anonymous DMs calling me a thief
or threatening me. I can dox
people too, you know. It’s just a
hobby, a bit of fun. People don’t
need to get all bent out of shape
about it.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By ArcherK on Saturday April 23
2022 6:01pm
Quote: I don’t need any more
anonymous DMs…
I don’t know where this aggression
is coming from RedCanary, but to
be clear, this forum does not
allow for direct messages to be
sent anonymously, and no one is
threatening to dox anyone. This is
your formal warning.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By BadGrav31 on Friday April 29
2022 1:19pm
Still waiting on pics of that
graffiti, if you’ve got them,
RedCanary.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By RedCanary on Saturday April 30
2022 2:01am
[Image removed by moderator]
Canaries should stay above ground.

[39]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By FlowersUnderground on Saturday
April 30 2022 2:27am
Gross! Can we get some Mod action
over here?

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By BadGrav31 on Saturday April 30
2022 3:11am
What the hell is that? Are those
eyes? Are you alright?

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By ArcherK on Saturday April 30
2022 7:33am
RedCanary, you have been warned,
our terms forbid posting explicit
images including gore. I’m sorry
it’s come to this, but you brought
it on yourself.

[RedCanary has been temporarily

banned]

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By FlowersUnderground on Saturday
April 30 2022 12:07pm
Quote: [RedCanary has been
temporarily banned]
Shame. Good job mods.

Re: Magnus Institute Ruins

By BadGrav31 on Monday May 09 2022
7:07pm
Any more word on this? Is canary
still banned? Kinda worried about
them after those pics.

[Thread locked by moderator]

[40]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

9. INT. OIAR MAIN OFFICE– NIGHT, RAINING – (COMPUTER).

Sam sits there still, obviously shaken. Gwen stops typing.

GWEN
Sam? You ok?

SAM
Uh - yeah.

GWEN
Look, it doesn’t matter to me but
if you’re going to stick it out
here you're going to need a
stronger stomach.

SAM
What? Oh no, I’m fine it just
threw me. Have you ever heard of
the Magnus Institute?

GWEN
Like from the case? No. Why?

SAM
Nothing. Just a bit of a blast
from the past, that’s all.

ALICE approaches.

ALICE
How we doing over here? Clear your
cases yet?

SAM
Not quite. I had another talker.

ALICE
I heard. Sounds like you met
Chester.

GWEN
Must you name them?

ALICE
I don’t name them. The universe
names them. Through me.

[41]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

GWEN
It’s a bad name.

ALICE
So's Gwendolyn. Anyway, it's your
first night, so I'm sure Lena will
let you catch up tomorrow.

GWEN
Because Lena is so very
understanding.

SAM
No it's fine, I can probably push
on.

Beat.

ALICE
Alright. You are looking a little
pale though, so don't overdo it.
We're not really monitored with
breaks, so if you need to step
away after a bad one, that's fine.
Just don't fall too far behind or
anything.

SAM
Sure.

ALICE
Ping me when you're done. I'll
have a pint waiting.

SAM
At six thirty in the morning?

ALICE
I’ll send you the address.

10. INT. A QUIET PUB- MORNING, LIGHT RAIN – (ALICE’S

PHONE).

ALICE plonks a beer down in front of SAM.

ALICE
To the first day of the rest of
your nights!

[42]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM
(exhausted)
Cheers.

ALICE
Was it really that bad?

SAM
No worse than you warned me.
Although setting me up like that
with the IT guy was-

ALICE
Hilarious, I know. It’s win-win -
you get a job, I get a fresh
victim. It’s all in your contract.

SAM
Don't remember signing that
particular bit of the paperwork.

ALICE
Gotta read the fine print, kiddo.

Sam takes a sip of his drink.

SAM
I didn't even know pubs opened
this early.

ALICE
Six am to nine am. It's mostly for
market traders who set up in the
wee hours but there are a few of
us nightwalkers who frequent.
Cosy, innit?

SAM
It’s not bad.

Another tired sip.

SAM
Thanks, by the way.

ALICE
It’s fine, next one’s on you
though.

[43]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

SAM
No, I mean for the job. I don’t
know if I’ve actually said it.
Thanks for this.

ALICE
Don’t worry about it. It’s not
really the sort of job I’d expect
to be thanked for hooking you up
with.

SAM
It’s something to focus on. And I
need that right now.

ALICE
And it’s not too awkward working
with an ex?

SAM
Only if she won’t stop bullying
me.

ALICE
Ah. Guess it’ll always be awkward
then..

SAM snorts goodnaturedly.

Beat. They drink.

SAM
Alice...

ALICE
Yeah?

SAM
These cases…

ALICE
(Sighing)
Yeah.

SAM
Do you- Is there- What’s up with
them? You think they’re real?

Beat. Alice exhales.

[44]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

ALICE
I don’t see how they could be?
Mostly I try not to think of them
like that, like, things that might
or might not have really happened.
They're just words on the screen.

SAM
I've no real idea what the OIAR
even is.

ALICE
You and everyone else. I’ve
checked and there's not really
much info on it. My current
working theory is that maybe it
got set up in the 70s, back when
everyone was off their tits on LSD
and giving ghost-hunters massive
grants to wave crystals in
graveyards. I reckon at some point
they must have put together a
small government department to,
like, oversee the spending and
monitor this stuff and no-one's
noticed it's still going.

SAM
Makes sense.

ALICE
As long as you don’t pay too much
attention.

Beat.

ALICE CONT.
Try not to dwell on it. Besides,
it’s worth the paycheck, right?

SAM
Yeah.

ALICE
And a Civil Service pension…

SAM
True. I could be cleaning toilets.

[45]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

ALICE
You wish. Cleaning toilets
actually helps people. Besides,
you wouldn’t last a night. Stick
with scoring horrors until you hit
the gym and fix your noodle arms.

SAM
Noodle arms?

ALICE
Just a pair of waggling
vermicellis. Surprised you can
lift that pint.

SAM
Well thank goodness you helped me
get this night job to help with my
health.

ALICE
(singsong)
What can I say? I’m the patron
saint of cute wimps.

SAM raises his glass.

SAM
To new beginnings.

ALICE
With old friends.

They clink their glasses together.

The recording cuts off abruptly.

11. INT. OIAR MAIN OFFICE. MORNING. RAINING (COMPUTER)

The office is quiet as the computer boots up again. Someone

is searching through desks. There is a slightly frenzied
desperation to it.

There is a pause, as the figure spots the activated

terminal. They move through the office towards it. The
voice reveals it to be COLIN.

[46]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

COLIN
(slightly manic)
You’re not as clever as you think
you are. You think you've got us
all fooled, that no-one knows
you're listening, But I do. I
know. I’m going to find you and
then…

COLIN turns the computer off.

[Music]

ANNOUNCER
The Magnus Protocol is a podcast
distributed by Rusty Quill and
licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution Non-Commercial Share-
alike 4.0 International License.
The series is created by Jonathan
Sims and Alexander J Newall, and
directed by Alexander J Newall.
This episode was written by
Jonathan Sims and edited with
additional material by Alexander J
Newall, with vocal edits by Lowri
Ann Davies and Nico Vettese, sound
scaping by Katharine Seaton, and
masting by Catherine Rinella with
music by Sam Jones.
It featured Billie Hindle as Alice
Dyer, Shahan Hamza as Samama
Khalid, Anusia Battersby as Gwen
Bouchard, Ryan Hopevere-Anderson
as Colin Becher, Kazeem Tosin
Amore as Teddy Vaughn, Sarah
Lambie as Lena Kelley, with
additional voices from Jonathan
Sims and Alexander J Newall.
The Magnus Protocol is produced by
April Sumner, with executive
producers Alexander J Newall, Dani
McDonough, Linn Ci, and Samantha
F.G. Hamilton, and Associate
Producers Jordan L. Hawk, Taylor
Michaels, Nicole Perlman, Cetius
d’Raven, and Megan Nice.

[47]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

To subscribe, view associated

materials or join our Patreon
visit rustyquill.com. Rate and
review us online, tweet us
@therustyquill, visit us on
Facebook, or email us at
[email protected].

Thanks for listening.

[48]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

The Magnus Protocol 1 – First Shift

CAT1RBC5257-12052022-09012024
Reanimation (Partial) -/- Regret [Email]

CAT23RAB2155-10042022-09012024
Transformation (eyes) -/- Trespass [chat log]

Incident Elements:
- strong language
- jump scares
- themes of grief, guilt
- implied eye damage
- Thanataphobia Scopophobia
- SFX: loud noises, digital distortions, drinking

Transcripts: https://shorturl.at/gzF15

You can a complete list of our Kickstarter backers https://rustyquill.com/the-magnus-

protocol-supporter-wall/

Created by Johnathan Sims and Alexander J Newall

Directed by Alexander J Newall
Written by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J Newall
Script Editing by Alexander J Newall and Johnathan Sims
Executive Producers April Sumner, Alexander J Newall, Jonathan Sims, Dani
McDonough, Linn Ci, and Samantha F.G. Hamilton
Associate Producers Jordan L. Hawk, Taylor Michaels, Nicole Perlman, Cetius
d’Raven, and Megan Nice
Produced by April Sumner

Featuring (in order of appearance)

Billie Hindle as Alice Dyer
Kazeem Tosin Amore as Teddy Vaughn
Ryan Hopevere-Anderson as Colin Becher
Sarah Lambie as Lena Kelley
Anusia Battersby as Gwendolyn Bouchard
Shahan Hamza as Samama Khalid
Alexander J Newall as Norris
Jonathan Sims as Chester

Dialogue Editor – Lowri Ann Davies and Nico Vettese

Sound Designer - Katharine Seaton
Mastering Editor - Catherine Rinella

Music by Sam Jones (orchestral mix by Jake Jackson)

Art by April Sumner

SFX from Katharine Seaton, Catherine Rinella, Soundly. From Freesound (CCO):
anagar, JohnsonBrandEditing, florianreichelt, krnfa, zrrion_the_insect, mlsulli, elonen,
sethlind, k0s, nakkivene66, SEF7, dland, harveyjnz, bottleedits2, davidbain, Eternitys,

[49]
©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

serbanel73, korndeftones123, oppothuniastguy2 (CC-3.0-NC): system_fm; (CC-3.0):

kwahmah, nikolyst, MrAuralization, AIIIIIAIIIIIA, michieldbnl; (CC-4.0-NC): muse384;
(CC-4.0): RICHERlandTV, FreqMan, tosha73, plagasul, straget, pfranzen, parabolix,
ffb.soffa

Support us on Patreon at https://patreon.com/rustyquill

Check out our merchandise available at

https://www.redbubble.com/people/RustyQuill/shop and
https://www.teepublic.com/stores/rusty-quill

Join our community:

WEBSITE: rustyquill.com
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/therustyquill
TWITTER: @therustyquill
REDDIT: reddit.com/r/RustyQuill
EMAIL: [email protected]

The Magnus Protocol is a derivative product of the Magnus Archives, created by Rusty
Quill Ltd. and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share
alike 4.0 International Licence.

[50]