Bluff City 33: To Be Young Near the Shore Pt. 2

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Episode description[edit | edit source]

ycfi09_continued.srt

YOU can fix it: Episode 9 (Continued): Persimmon Idiosyncrasies

Subtitles provided by gardenia76

So, here, with the screwdriver: these are the two video heads. And then down below it, right here, that’s the erase head. Looks like a little black pillar.

And this is a puzzler, because Persimmon erase heads… how do I put it? They’re much smaller than this, and they’re usually made of this kind of coral coloured plastic, I guess melted down from the washing machine order, or something.

No, this isn’t an original piece. Someone’s replaced this already, and what’s even odder is… I’m going to take it out, hang on.

[High whine of motorised screwdriver]

Yeah, let me - let me just hold it up here. Let that focus. This is intact. Turn it over, I don’t see anything here that looks like a malfunction, anything that would stop the erase head from doing its job.

This looks just fine to me.

[Heavy sigh]

What did this say. I picked it up on eBay and the lot said… I’ve got it here on my phone. “Persimmon Model 60X. Broken Erase Head. Will not erase. Sticker says—“

Huh! I didn’t notice it mentioned the sticker before. “Sticker on reverse says Jocelyn”. Sure does.

Usually I just take these things on trust. Trust that the erase head was broken.

But this looks fine to me, albeit with an unusual replacement. This should work. So next week, what I’m gonna do is—I’m gonna dig out a VHS, something I don’t mind losing, and see if this old Persimmon will play ball.

Maybe the seller just had bad luck. Maybe this doesn’t need a fix at all?

Contents[edit | edit source]

Plot[edit | edit source]

Frank, Ronny, Nolan, and CC take a bus to the Atlantic City Press office to sell the photos Frank took of the “television ghosts”, which she believes are worth $50. Frank has brought copies of the photos (keeping the originals for herself), and the group discuss how they should propose the deal to the newspaper and how much they should charge. Ronny says “at least $20”, but CC and Frank both agree $50 is the better fee (“each?” asks Nolan).

The receptionist, Brian, greets them, a little perplexed at seeing them. Frank introduces herself and says that they have a photograph they are looking to sell to the newspaper. Brian asks what it is a photo of and, after glancing at the others, Frank tells him that it is of a ghost. Brian clearly does not believe them, but offers to take the photo in exchange for candy bars. The kids are not pleased by this (“we’re not six!” “don’t patronise us Brian”).

Brian apologises, asking if they had taken the photo, which they say that they have. He asks to see the photo and Frank places it face down on the reception desk, saying that she wants to discuss a fee first. Brian explains that as all submissions have to go through a review process before being published, he would need to see the photo before they are able to be paid. The kids are skeptical that this is the process, but Brian stresses that this is the only way they will be able to proceed.

After seeing the photo, Brian believes that it is a very well done photoshop, and suggests that they take the photo to one of the tabloids instead, as they have to report on “real” news (“city corruption and local sport”). Frank scoffs a little at this.

Ronny asks if Brian would feel differently if the ghosts in the photo were missing people, and Brian takes a closer look at the photo to read the name tags, considering it. Frank, sensing Brian’s potential attention, pivots into mentioning the newspaper’s newest tv venture, Stories Of The Day, and the overlooked story they’ve been attempting to bring attention to about the negative environmental impact of The Shops At The Cove, trying to connect the potential missing person case and their story.

Brian, swayed by this, calls Angie, a reporter who covers missing person cases and she agrees to meet with them. Brian gives them directions down to her office in the basement, and the kids head down to meet her. As soon as they are inside the elevator, Frank suggests that they split up the group in order to search through the archives for information on Ollie and Britney (and anything else that  might be valuable), but they ultimately decide to go see Angie all together.

They reach Angie’s office. Frank gives her the photo, and they tell her it’s a photo of "a ghost of a missing person". Angie takes a close look, agreeing that it does look ghostly, and asks how much they want for it. Frank immediately says $80 each, which Angie says she does not have the resources to pay, and counters with $70 (three $20 and a $10) total. Frank immediately accepts.

Frank, delighted and surprised that this has worked, takes the money and tells Angie that she thinks that the fact that Angie has been stuck down in the basement “sucks”. Angie mentions that she’s working on some old cases, and the kids press for information, asking if she has heard about someone their age going missing.

Angie takes another look at the photo, asking the kids for a little more information about the two ghost people in the photo. Frank and the others try to explain what they saw (“pretty goofed up”), telling Angie that something in the world has changed. Although Angie does seem to agree, writing something down and quickly putting it away before they can read it, her tone shifts to be a little more closed off. She asks them to stay in her office for a moment while she makes a quick call. Nolan says that they will.

As soon as she leaves, the kids follow after her in an attempt to listen to her phone call. Ronny, wanting to be useful, says he will be the one to follow after her with Nolan to limit their chance of being caught. They overhear her talking to someone on the phone about Ollie, and that she will keep the kids in her office (“this could be a big break”).

Back in Angie’s office, CC and Frank search through Angie’s desk - CC looking for information that might connect to the photo and Frank searching for anything connected to Angie herself. Working together, CC and Frank deactivate the alarm on the desk drawer, discovering more money, nice pens, and file folders inside the drawer. The files are full of “weird stuff” -  a blurry photo of a UFO, a sketch of some sort of creature, a photo of a lion, old notes about the Tunnel Project, an old photo of her with a bunch of other people (all in nice suits, smiling), an old letter on Blossom Investigations letterhead (“need to go for a little while, we were wrong about who it is - H”), a cashed cheque from Ollernshaw Requisitions dated a year ago.

As CC and Frank search through the office, they see a photo on Angie’s pushpin board with an index card attached that labels the photo of the woman “Ollie McGowen” and a note that says “if you see any sign call OSR, detain anyone who has seen her”. Nolan and Ronny return with what they’ve learnt from the phone call, saying that they need to leave (“she called somebody”). The kids leave, looking for an alternate exit, as Angie is by the elevator.

Ronny offers to create a diversion, and Nolan says that they should just start screaming (“no one likes a screaming kid”). Frank says they should do both (“a combination of the running and screaming”). Nolan takes $500 from the drawer and then rolls his marble towards Angie in an attempt to trip her up and enable them to be able to escape. It works, and the marble bounces into the empty elevator. The kids rush past her and escape (Nolan collects his marble), asking Brian to call them a cab (which he does).

The kids head outside as Angie comes up in the elevator, trying to hide behind the overgrown planter by the parking lot until their cab arrives in eight minutes time). Angie asks Brian where they went, but is unable to find them. She makes another call, which the kids overhear, telling the person she spoke to earlier that the kids got away.

Their cab pulls up and the kids rush towards it and quickly get inside before she can catch them, with Ronny scrambling into the front seat. As the cab driver pulls away, a black town car picks up Angie and begins following them. The cab driver asks where they want to go, and Ronny says they should go back to school since he knows Mr Garret works late, and that going to the school will give them home field advantage. Nolan tells Cam, their cab driver, that some adults are following them and asks Cam to give them the slip, offering him an extra $20 per clip. Cam agrees to do it for $25 per slip.

Cam turns off the main road and starts going through a series of suburban side roads, and pulls into a garage of what seems to be his own home. Cam closes the garage door, telling the kids to be quiet. He presses a button, turning his rearview mirror into a camera projection of the nest camera he has outside. They see the black town car drive past the house and after a moment, he drives out and back to the main road and drops them off at their school. Nolan gives him the $13 fare plus $50 for the slips.

Cast[edit | edit source]