Underground - Episode 1

Drama of the Week

Tutor Charlie arrives at the high-tech Thornfield luxury bunker to teach the children of a reclusive billionaire. As she settles into her ne

Key takeaways

• Charlie is hired to tutor Huxley and May in the Antipodean sector's residential estate.
• The bunker operates on Archon OS Premium, utilizing wearables for navigation and safety.

Main topics

• Luxury bunker living
• Post-apocalyptic surveillance

Notable quotes

The ghost got her.

Conclusion

A suspenseful introduction to a sci-fi thriller that effectively estab

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) This is Drama of the Week. Speaker 2 (0:07) Underground by Chloe Myerson. Episode 1. Speaker 3 (0:16) So, yeah, it's a discretion is paramount sort of thing. Salary should be competitive. Speaker 6 (0:22) And your commission will be... Speaker 3 (0:23) Sizeable. Well, Speaker 6 (0:25) you must know something. Are they primary or secondary age? Speaker 3 (0:29) All I know is there's two kids and I've had trouble keeping a tutor. That's why I thought of you. You've always been good with the... Speaker 6 (0:36) Bad kids. Behaviourally challenged. Under-stimulated. Speaker 3 (0:39) That's good. Use that. Speaker 6 (0:41) Please set your wearable to flight mode. Hang on, and the family? Speaker 3 (0:45) Mum is not in the picture. Dad, that's Edward. Old money. Sorry, Speaker 6 (0:50) now I'm losing you. What did you say? I Speaker 3 (0:53) only spoke to the housekeeper. Oh, tough customer. Edward, he's away a lot. He invested in bunker tech before the air crisis. Then all the schools shut down. You'll know what happens next. So, there are 12 families in the Antipodean sector. Speaker 6 (1:12) Hang on, hang on. I can't, I can't hear you. Charlie, can you hear me? Yes, yes, you're back. Speaker 3 (1:19) I'm surprised you agreed, frankly. I thought you were settled with that Dubai gig. Yeah, Speaker 6 (1:23) felt like part of the family. My cue to leave. Besides, rich people are all disappearing underground. Might as well follow the work. Speaker 3 (1:30) That reminds me, very important, about these bunkers. You've worked in ultra-high net worth environments, but this is a little different. You need to make sure that you don't... This Speaker 6 (1:40) is your shuttle service director speaking. Please set your wearable to flight Speaker 3 (1:44) mode. Speaker 6 (1:44) Hey, I'm having a conversation and this isn't a flight. For your safety. You're standing three feet from me. Can't you just talk to me instead of patching in on my wearable like that? Please prepare for safety demonstration. Thank you. Speaker 5 (1:58) Welcome aboard the Antipodean Sub Transit Shuttle to Thornfield Sub State, one of Antipodean Sector's 12 residential estates. Your wearable will continue to provide navigation, communications and well-being support throughout your visit. Speaker 3 (2:18) Have you disabled the security settings on your wearable? Speaker 6 (2:21) On the shuttle. Is Speaker 3 (2:22) your head circumference sub-average? What? Just confirming goggle sizing. Machine estimate. My Speaker 6 (2:26) head's normal size. What are these? Speaker 3 (2:29) Infrared, for blackout. Yes? No. No. Speaker 6 (2:34) Excuse me? Speaker 3 (2:35) What? Speaker 6 (2:37) So... How long have you worked in Thornfield? Speaker 3 (2:41) What's Thornfield? Speaker 6 (2:43) It's the enormous luxury bunker just through that door. Speaker 3 (2:46) I'm not MQ. Speaker 6 (2:47) Oh, I was hoping someone could tell me about the family before I... Speaker 3 (2:51) I'm just here today. We're all rotated. Speaker 6 (2:53) I don't understand. Speaker 3 (2:54) And finished. Your wearable's updated with the Archon OS Premium version because you're MQ. Speaker 6 (3:01) Oh, and sorry, what is MQ? Speaker 3 (3:05) Master's Quarters. Speaker 2 (3:08) Hello Charlie. Ummm... Hi. Please stand clear for pressure seal. Lift descending. Speaker 6 (3:17) Okay. Speaker 2 (3:22) Masters Quarters Grand Foyer. Speaker 6 (3:25) Welcome Charlie. Speaker 6 (3:30) Wow. Tutor Charlie, you came from agency. Hi. Are you Popo? Is that real? Speaker 5 (3:37) It's a real painting. Speaker 6 (3:38) But it's Rothko. Speaker 5 (3:41) What's this? You sign it. I don't have a pen. Employment agreement. You are a teacher, but you don't have pen. Speaker 6 (3:48) I'd like to talk to the parents before I... Just Mr Speaker 5 (3:51) Edward, but he's not here. When is Speaker 6 (3:52) he Speaker 5 (3:52) back? A long time, maybe. Don't know. But I don't know anything about the job yet. What do I prepare for the lessons? Curriculum is already made. Mr Edward paid a lot of money for it. Speaker 6 (4:03) I'm sorry, I'm not signing anything until I have a conversation with someone. I don't even know how old they are. Old enough. No, I mean... Oh my God! What's going on? Power Speaker 5 (4:15) outage. Lights go off to protect oxygen supply. Back up lights! MQ foyer! Is that common? Are you going to sign? Speaker 5 (4:24) This includes a non-disclosure agreement. You sign, I tell you about the job. Simple. Speaker 6 (4:33) Huxley and May. Ten years old. Special needs? No. Speaker 5 (4:37) Very strong academics. But what's the job, really? Make them stick to curriculum. Speaker 6 (4:42) That's it? Speaker 5 (4:43) Stick to lessons. That's it. Okay. No problem. Whatever they tell you. What? Time to start lessons. Here, Speaker 6 (4:52) get on. How do I know where to go? The lift that brought me here didn't have any numbers on the buttons. Speaker 5 (4:58) Just get on. It knows. But I... It knows. Speaker 5 (5:02) descending okay Speaker 6 (5:04) just a normal gig nothing to worry about huh please Speaker 2 (5:15) do not remove or deactivate wearable oh Speaker 6 (5:18) sorry I thought I had hello are you a real person hello Speaker 2 (5:27) doors Speaker 6 (5:29) education Speaker 2 (5:30) and leisure hello Speaker 6 (5:41) Are you May? Yes. And the boy in the corner crouched behind a Lego model of... Is that Jakarta? I assume is Huxley. That is, unfortunately, my brother. It's true. Okay, let's get started. And turn that TV off, please. Speaker 4 (6:01) Hello. Speaker 6 (6:02) Do you speak human? Speaker 4 (6:03) Yes, I speak human. I am a human. Speaker 6 (6:05) Great. Can you move those chairs, please? Here, we'll use this table. Yes. And the other chair. Thank you, Huxley. Take a seat. Let's get that TV off. I'm Charlie. I'm your new teacher. We Speaker 4 (6:18) know. Yeah, we know. Don't copy me. And it's not a TV. It's Suburban Car Park. What? The Simiscape. It's set to