ASHES OF EDEN

October 4th, 2026 | Episode 2

Carry On

All I had left.

[Page 1]AVERY: Lora? I'm home. / LORA: AVERY! Hi!!! AVERY: Mmf [AFFOGATO, SHE/THEY]AVERY: ... / LORA: Wanna play!!! AVERY: ...Maybe later. / LORA: You never wanna! AVERY: ...I have homework. / You trust your sister, don't you? / LORA: Yes... / Good, I'm gonna go do that now. Make sure yours is done, too... You can't fail this close to graduating.LORA: I LOVE YOU!!! / AVERY: I love you too. / AVERY (thinking): I miss Mom and Dad. Every day now feels the same.AVERY (thinking): ...Fucking ants. / [The next morning]PHONE: Your dependant, Lora Francesco, did not attend today...AVERY: Lora? / Lora? You weren't at school?[Page 8]PARAMEDICS: Stay in the kitchen. Cause of death: possible suicide, fall, or murder. Deceased's object shattered at the bottom of stairwell. The residue looks hours old. We checked the facial rec. logs. She was on a bus to District 4 at time of death. We asked her sister... We're assuming slip and fall for now.[Page 10]LANCE: Affogato, it's me. / Arms around me, come on.LANCE: Just like that. / AVERY: I killed her. / LANCE: You didn't kill anyone. She fell. AVERY: I was supposed to take her to school. I shouldn't have let her go alone...LANCE: She was an adult. It's not your fault. She fell. / Stay with me. Stay with me. This place isn't good. You aren't good here. I'm gonna take you somewhere good, okay? We'll go somewhere good.[Click click click][Sit] / [The next night...][SCRRRT! SCRRRT! SCRRRT!][RRRRRRTTTTT] TV: The government of Lethē, under jurisdiction of queen Madeline Locke, has issued an urgent civil announcement. / Effective immediately, Lethē enters a state of mandatory participation in the queen's newly established civic survival event. / All employment, education, commerce, transportation, and other ordinary public activities are hereby suspended until further notice. Residents are instructed to remain within the city limits. No person may leave the designated area.TV: At 4:00, electrical power throughout the city will be disabled. Municipal water service will remain operational for a limited period following the shutdown. Residents are advised to make whatever preparations they deem necessary before service ends. / Religious services are exempt from the suspension of public activity and will continue. / Beginning at the designated start time, the objective is simple: be the last person alive within the city. / The final surviving resident will be declared the winner and will receive a prize to be announced by the queen. / There will be no additional participants admitted after the event begins. / There will be no extensions. There will be no cancellation.