©Rusty Quill 2023 Private & Confidential

THE MAGNUS PROTOCOL

Episode 5

“Personal Screening”

Written by Alexander J Newall and Jamie Petronis

Edited by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J Newall

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

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ANNOUNCER
This episode is dedicated to Nikolas
Rabayda - who thanks their friends
Dreach Noishe Mrm, Boot boot, and
Kobalt Jäger. May the Ceaseless
Watcher avert their gaze on us.

[Intro Theme]

ANNOUNCER
Rusty Quill Presents: The Magnus
Protocol.
Episode Five – Personal Screening

[Music]

1. INT. MANAGER’S OFFICE - NIGHT, CLEAR (LANDLINE).

It is the start of the shift. Lena is typing quietly. There is a

tentative knock at the door.

LENA
Come in.
SAM opens the door.

LENA CONT.
Good evening Sam. I don’t believe
we had a meeting scheduled?

SAM
(from the doorway)
Well no, but I was wondering if you
could spare a few minutes though? I
think it might be important.
Beat.

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LENA
Very well.
SAM enters, closes the door, approaches the desk, and sits. He
places his backpack beside him.

LENA CONT.
Do take a seat.

SAM
Oh er sorry-

LENA
It’s fine. What is it you wanted to
discuss?
SAM
Well it’s a bit awkward… I’m not
really sure how to- um…

LENA
For the sake of efficiency let us
presume that since you said it is
important, I will not make any
assumptions.

SAM
Okay, yea. Well in that case, it’s
Colin.

Beat.

LENA
Go on.

SAM
Er… I’m worried about him. That is,
um. Well, today I found him crawling
along the corridor, yanking out wires
and muttering to himself.
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LENA
Well Colin’s role does include
technical maintenance.

SAM
Sure but, I mean, he’s added all
those locks to his office door and he
refuses to even go near a camera
now…

LENA
A desire for personal privacy is not a
crime.
SAM
Yes, I understand that but-
Beat.

SAM
I think that the stress is getting to
him and honestly? I think he might
need some professional help.
Pause.

LENA
Anything else?

SAM
Um. No?

LENA
Right. Well firstly, thank you for
raising this with me Sam. It’s
important we don’t keep secrets
here.
SAM
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Oh, that’s quite all right.

LENA
Good. Now, whilst I understand your
concerns, you need to understand
that Colin has held the IT Manager
position for some time without
incident, and although he is
somewhat… frustrated with his
current assignment he can request
help from the central IT team at any
time. I am certain that should he find
his responsibilities unmanageable
he will request assistance. Or resign
of course. Either way, the problem
will resolve itself.

SAM
Right.

Beat.

LENA
Was there something else Sam?

SAM
I– er… no. I guess not.
LENA
Very good.

Beat. Sam stands and moves to exit. He opens the door.

LENA CONT.
And Sam?

SAM
(from door way)
Yeah?

LENA

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Please schedule such meetings in

future.
SAM
…sure.

SAM exits.

2. INT. O.I.A.R. OFFICE - NIGHT, CLEAR (COMPUTER).

SAM approaches the desk obviously irritated and dumps his bag
before dropping heavily into his chair and turning on his
computer.

ALICE
Glad to see you’ve been learning
from my exceptional example.
SAM
(brusque)
What?

ALICE
You’re late.

SAM
Okay.

He angrily unzips his bag, pulls his stuff out and roughly puts it
on the desk.
ALICE
And thanks to my incredible
perception skills and genius intellect
I think I can detect the subtlest hints
that you might be ever so slightly
miffed. But I could be wrong.
SAM
Lena – doesn’t take me seriously.
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ALICE
Ah. Yeah, Lena isn’t exactly known
for her diplomacy.

Beat.

SAM CONT.
(picking up paper)
What’s all this?

ALICE
(As if to a toddler)
That, now bear with me on this Sam
because I know you’re feeling
emotional right now, is paper. It’s
made from trees and-

SAM
Alice, not today. Please?

ALICE
(Normal again)
I had a nosey while you were in
Lena’s office. Looks like it’s for your
Response department one to one.

SAM
(Sheafing through reams
and reams of paper.)
What, all of it?

ALICE
As far as I can tell.

SAM
Good grief…

ALICE
Just chuck it. I told you, I’m pretty
sure the Response Department
doesn't even exist anymore. It's just

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the system spitting out dead

paperwork. Happens all the time.
SAM takes a moment then settles down and starts filling in the
forms.

ALICE CONT.
Did you not hear me?

SAM
(writing)
I heard you.
ALICE
and…
SAM
And I’m going to fill it in any way.
See what happens.

ALICE
Your wasting your time.

SAM
It’s my time to waste.

ALICE
You say that but your caseload is
pretty heavy tonight and I’m too
busy to bail you out.

SAM
(working on paperwork)
Uh huh… They want my last seven
addresses. I don’t know if I’ve even
had-

Sam’s terminal pings.

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ALICE
Sam? Seriously, you’d better do that
later. We’re swamped.

Sam’s terminal pings again.

SAM
(putting paperwork aside)
Yeah, yeah, okay, all right…

He double clicks the first case:

3. CYBERSPACE – N/A, N/A (BLOG POSTS)

CHESTER
https://www.tomsterrors.blogsphere.
org

BLOG POST: GENERAL: WELCOME

TO MY TWISTED MIND!!

Hey all you sick freaks out there,

Tom here, your gruesome guide to
the most twisted horror films of the
world wide web!

We’re gonna be talking about the

darkest, splattiest stuff here –
starting next week with Rob
Zombie’s Halloween 2!

Stay bloody!

BLOG POST: GENERAL: A BLAST

FROM THE PAST

Wow, this is all incredibly weird. I

can’t believe this blog’s still up. Was
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looking for somewhere slightly less

confrontational than social media to
post my film thoughts, and I
remembered starting this back in,
what, 2009? That first post...
Fourteen years old and convinced I
was the edgiest writer on the web.
Might keep it up for posterity, god
knows the kid went through enough.

I remember I was pretty lonely in

those days. Ever since I was a child,
making friends has always been kind
of a struggle. My interests have
always been seen as a little strange...
While other kids my age at the time
were looking up to football players
and other celebrities, I was looking
up to Pinhead and Freddy Krueger...
It wasn’t in a psychopath kind of way
or anything, I’ve just always been
fascinated by horror. I can thank my
dad for that, he showed me Puppet
Master when I was six. ‘oh don’t
worry, buddy! It’s just like Toy
Story”... He had kind of a dark sense
of humour like that.

That’s when my fixation started. We

must have watched thousands of
weird and obscure horror films over
the years... Critters, Ghoulies,
Wishmaster... I couldn’t get enough.
And that is what brings us here
today. THIS is the first (new) post of
the Horror Dumpster Dive! I am
going to use this blog to talk about
all things HORROR. This could
include film reviews, gaming news,

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and just basically my general

thoughts on the genre!

The plan is to focus on unknown

gems. There’s a comment section as
well, so if you like something or just
have some general feedback, feel
free to leave a comment! And
remember... One man’s TRASH is
another man’s TERROR!...

I’m really proud of that tagline... Bye!

BLOG POST: FILM REVIEW: FIRE IN

THE SKY

[The contents of this post have been

deleted.]

BLOG POST: GAME REVIEW:

SWEET HOME

[The contents of this post have been

deleted.]

BLOG POST: FILM REVIEW: PUPPET

MASTER 4

[The contents of this post have been

deleted.]

BLOG POST: GENERAL: SOME

NEWS!!

Hello there, horror hounds! Hope

you are all having a terrorific day
today! I sure am. I know that this
blog is still fairly new, but I must say
it feels SO good to have like minded

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people to talk to. And I want to give a

big THANK YOU to everyone that has
been leaving recommendations in
the comments!

There have actually been a few that I

have never even heard of.

I can’t seem to find the original

comment anymore, but, one of you
mentioned a film called “Voyeur”? I
looked it up and I can’t seem to find
anything about it. I mean, don’t get
me wrong, there’s literally dozens of
films with that title, but let’s just say
that most of them aren’t horror and
none released in 2009. The only
thing I could find was another old
blog with what must have been the
shortest film review I have ever read.
You can check the link, but I’ll save
you some time: all it says is “Voyeur
needs to be seen to be believed. The
Scariest movie I have ever seen”.

I am sold. I need to track down this

film! If any of you have any more info
on Voyeur, please leave it down
below in the comments. Oh! And
remember, if you like what I’m doing
here, you can contribute to my KoFi!
Every little bit helps. Those old
hidden gems can get expensive...
Bye!

BLOG POST: GENERAL: HUGE

UPDATE!!

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Oh my God. I can’t believe one of

you found it! Thank you SO MUCH
Cinephobia12220 for the link! I have
no idea how you even found it.
You’re right that it seems to be the
official website for the film. It’s so
strange though. You should all
check the link out for yourselves. It
looks like it hasn’t been updated in
years but they appear to be currently
running some kind of contest... The
winner gets a private screening of
the film and then they get to be part
of a Q&A with the director and I
figure why not, right? The form
literally only asked me to enter my
name... I never win these things, and
the draw probably already happened
years ago, but what the hell. I will let
you all know if anything comes of it. I
still haven’t found a copy of the
actual film online anywhere yet.
Thank you everyone for the help and
don’t forget! If you have any
recommendations for some other
hidden gems you would like me to
take a look at, please leave a
comment down below. Thanks!

BLOG POST: GAME REVIEW: FAITH;

THE UNHOLY TRILOGY

[The contents of this post have been

deleted.]

BLOG POST: GENERAL: NO WAY

I WON THE CONTEST! I can’t believe

it! The invitation was waiting when I

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got home today, in a small black

envelope. I don’t even remember
giving them my address. The website
must have logged my IP and looked
it up or something... I’m really not
sure how any of that works.

The letter also had all the details

about the screening itself. It’s very
short notice, but the screening is
THIS Saturday! I’m supposed to have
work that night, but I’m going to
figure it out. There is not a chance in
hell that I am going to miss this. And
I’ve actually been to this cinema
before... I used to go all the time with
my dad... they would play classic
horror films midday every Saturday.

That’s where I saw I Know What You

Did Last Summer and The Thing for
the first time. I haven’t been there in
years though... I actually didn’t even
know that it was still open. It is a bit
of a trek to get there, so, if you would
like to contribute to the expenses,
you can head over to my KoFi page.
I’ll leave a link in the comments. I’m
not sure if I’ll have time for any other
posts before this weekend, but I will
try my best. Talk to you all soon!

BLOG POST: GENERAL: GETTING

READY

Sorry I’ve been m.i.a these past few

days... I’ve actually been pretty
nervous about this whole event. This
film could never live up to my

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expectations... this happens to me

when it comes to horror films. In fact
it comes up SO often that I even
came up with a term for it. I call it
“Getting Babadooked”. Everything
that I read about The Babadook
before seeing it was how
phenomenal it was. I was SO hyped
for that film that I even ended up
dressing for the occasion... and
then… blerg. It was so
embarrassing... I struggle to think of
a more disappointing film.

But I’m sure it won’t be another

Babadook. I can’t believe that tonight
is finally the night! I know that I only
found out about this film like a week
ago, but I feel like I’ve been waiting
to see something that would truly
scare me for... years now. I feel like
I’ve just been kind of... numb to the
whole genre. Obviously, I still really
enjoy everything horror related, but
it takes a lot to get any sort of
reaction out of me these days... I
even started seeking out the
borderline “should be illegal” stuff...
Faces of Death, the August
Underground series... even those
barely get a shudder out of me... I’m
hoping this might finally scratch that
itch.

Sorry, I’m just rambling now. I really

need to log off and start getting
ready! And oh yeah! I forgot to
mention, I’m sure you all are
wondering when you will be able to

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hear all of my thoughts on the

experience. Well, I have good news.
You won’t have to wait at all! The
invitation to the screening actually
explicitly mentioned that
liveblogging the event is okay! I’ve
been testing out some of these
speech-to-text apps and have found
one that should work, so prepare for
my impressions... live!

I’m so excited and I hope you all are

too! Okay. I am going to order the
Lyft now... If you would like to help
pay for that, my KoFi and PayPal are
in the pinned comment down
below... Next time you hear from me,
I will be at the cinema! Talk to you
later, Horror Hounds in real time!

BLOG POST: LIVE BLOG: “VOYEUR

EVENT”

I made it! Finally! The price of the

Lyft was absolutely insane, but it is
definitely going to be worth it. Wow.
This place looks just how I
remember it although it’s old
obviously and... dirtier. Yeah, time
has not been kind to this place.
There’s ripped trash bags on the
front steps and there is some... er,
pretty graphic graffiti all over the
walls. You’d think they would want to
clean things up a bit before hosting
an event? Huh. There’s just the one
car in the car park... “Voyeur Fan
Screening - SOLD OUT” is on the

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marquee, so this is definitely the

right place.

Is it a private screening just for me?

The contest didn’t mention that.
Might help the atmosphere, though.
That’s [UNINTELLIGIBLE] cool
actually. I’m going to head on in...
Hang on a sec.

Oh my God. Never judge a book by

it’s cover, I guess. It is GLORIOUS in
here! The carpet and walls are
absolutely pristine and the smell of
freshly buttered popcorn! Mmmm.
I’m not sure where exactly I’m
supposed to be right now, so I’m
going to head over to the ticket
counter and see if the employee
there can point me in the right
direction.

The guy was very helpful.

Apparently, Voyeur is the only film
playing tonight so I guess I have the
place to myself! I also get a large
popcorn and a drink. I told him I
didn’t really want them, but he was
kind of touchy about it. I asked about
the mess outside, trying not to be
rude about it, but he just said “It’s
what on the inside that matters”.

That’s kind of deep when you think

about it. I’m going to go grab my
snacks and then try and find my
seat.

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Snacks acquired! They’re obviously

short staffed since it was the same
guy working the concession stand. I
feel bad. He looks super old and
they’re really putting him to work. He
seems in good spirits though.
Okay... [UNINTELLIGIBLE] find my
seat!

That poor guy, They have him

ushering too! They really need to
hire more staff... oh wow… There’s
really nobody else in this whole
cinema... I’m, so lucky! There’s
absolutely nothing like sitting alone
in a cold room and watching a scary
film that you know nothing about.

So I’m almost done with my popcorn

and the film hasn’t even started yet.
No previews or anything... Do I go
talk to the old guy? I really hate
[UNINTELLIGIBLE] bother him. I’m
just going to wait for now.

This has to be the best popcorn I

have ever had. I’ve eaten the entire
bucket before the film even started, I
haven’t done that since...... Oh!
Something is happening! The
projector is officially on! Here we
go...

So it’s been a minute and the screen

is still black... I can hear what
sounds like... beeping. It sounds so
familiar but I can’t quite place it.
Medical equipment maybe? There’s
something [UNINTELLIGIBLE] the

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screen... Looks like it might be a

flashback or something, handheld…
looks like it was filmed on an old
camcorder... Wait. Is that...? I know
that room…. How... How did they get
[UNINTELLIGIBLE] This was after the
accident. Mum wanted to to film it for
my brothers... Dad... I...
[UNINTELLIGIBLE] Wait. Who is
that? In the corner of the screen,
there’s... WHO THE HELL IS THAT?

BLOG POST: FILM REVIEW:

VOYEUR

Voyeur needs to be seen to be

believed. The scariest movie I have
ever seen.

4. INT. O.I.A.R. BREAKROOM - NIGHT, CLEAR (CCTV).

ALICE is on her phone at her desk not working. She is clearly

tired.
ALICE
-glad to hear it. You did say this new
band was pretty solid.

No it’s fine, if you can hold on till

payday I’ll be able to cover it no
worries. Besides, it sounds like I’ll be
getting it back pretty soon the way
things are going.

I know, I know, just make sure next

time, yeah? I won’t always be there
to wipe my sweet little brother’s bum
bum for him.

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Oh you always say the sweetest

things.

Look after yourself.

ALICE puts the phone down and takes a moment.

GWEN
(A bit intense)
Are you finished?

ALICE
(jumping)
Jesus! How long were you lurking
there?

GWEN
I wasn’t lurking. I need to ask you
something.

ALICE
Right fine.

GWEN
Do you remember the IT manager
before Colin?

ALICE
Who? Amelia? What about her?

GWEN
No, before Amelia, before I joined.
German guy. Lots of tattoos.

ALICE
I mean, I think Amelia mentioned him
once or twice maybe? Mostly I
remember her complaining about his
work, but he’d have been here well
before my time. What’s this about?

GWEN
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Nothing. None of your business.

ALICE
What? Seriously?

GWEN
(walking off).
Yes.

Pause.
ALICE
(to herself)
What the hell is wrong with everyone
today?
Her computer pings.

ALICE CONT.
Oh don’t you start.

[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 Jamie
Petronis and Alexander J Newall and
edited with additional materials by
Jonathan Sims and Alexander J
Newall, with vocal edits by Nico
Vetesse, soundscaping by Meg
McKellar, and masting by Catherine
Rinella with music by Sam Jones.
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It featured Billie Hindle as Alice Dyer,

Shahan Hamza as Samama Khalid,
Anusia Battersby as Gwen
Bouchard, Sarah Lambie as Lena
Kelley with additional voices from
Jonathan Sims.
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.

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.

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The Magnus Protocol 5 – Personal Screening

CAT2RB2377-10012023-05022024
Disappearance (undetermined) -/- Invitation [internet blog]

Incident Elements:
 Negligent work environment
 Isolation
 Surveillance
 Mentions of - workplace counselling

Transcripts: https://shorturl.at/gzF15

This Episode is dedicated to Nikolas Rabayda, thank you for

your generous support! You can a complete list of our
Kickstarter backers https://rustyquill.com/the-magnus-protocol-
supporter-wall/

Created by Jonathan Sims and Alexander J Newall

Directed by Alexander J Newall
Written by Alexander J Newall and Jamie Petronis (for more of
his work visit https://www.thecellarletters.com/)
Script Editing with Additional Materials by Jonathan Sims and
Alexander J Newall
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)

Sarah Lambie as Lena Kelley
Shahan Hamza as Samama Khalid
Billie Hindle as Alice Dyer
Anusia Battersby as Gwendolyn Bouchard
Jonathan Sims as Chester

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Dialogue Editor – Nico Vettese

Sound Designer – Meg McKellar
Mastering Editor - Catherine Rinella

Music by Sam Jones (orchestral mix by Jake Jackson)

Art by April Sumner

SFX from previously credited artists.

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

Check out our merchandise available at

https://www.redbubble.com/people/RustyQuill/shop and
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Join our community:

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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.

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