Friday, Feb 25, 2022 • 42min

Episode 50 - Mia Fox

The Amelia Project

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“So you have looked into the face of death! Stared at his blue complexion, heard his ragged breath!” With Erin King, Hemi Yeroham, Jordan Cobb, Jessie Baade AKA Mama BangBang, Kiba Walker and Graham Rowat Written, edited and directed by Oystein Brager Story editing by Philip Thorne Sound design by Eli Hamada McIlveen Sound recording by Dominic Hargreaves Music by Fredrik Baden Graphic design by Anders Pedersen Production assistance by Maty Parzival For full credits see our website. The Amelia Project is part of the Fable & Folly Network. Website: ameliapodcast.com Transcripts: ameliapodcast.com/transcripts Twitter: @amelia_podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Talking about

Speakers

(5)

Mia Fox

Piotr Kozlowski

Jackie Williams

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Transcript

Verified

Break

Pip

00:33

Hello it’s Pip here welcoming you to another episode of the Amelia Project. It’s time to catch up with agents Mia Fox and Jackie Williams, and Kozlowski again. Last time, they had started off on a road trip to Scotland, only for Mia to turn the car around and head back to London while Jackie was sleeping.

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00:54

We catch up with them as they’re approaching the CIA headquarters in London. Today’s episode is dedicated to Angel Acevedo whose generous Patreon support is an enormous help. Enjoy the show.

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Mia Fox

01:19

Will you say something, please?

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01:25

Come on, Jackie, this is ridiculous. You have to speak to me.

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01:31

Fine. Your choice. Your loss.

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01:36

Okay, so where is the

US Embassy

parking lot? That's the New Mill Road Parking Lot... That's where we lost you last time. So let's not park there.

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Piotr Kozlowski

01:46

Did you say you lost me?

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Mia Fox

01:49

Oh yeah, when you were still knocked out. Those two MI5 guys, Cole and Haines, they stole you right there in that parking lot. And then we stole you back. But then they stole you again. And then we dragged you all around London for the better part of a day?

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Piotr Kozlowski

02:05

That explains the bruises.

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Mia Fox

02:07

Sorry about that.

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Piotr Kozlowski

02:09

Now I can strike "being a

MacGuffin

" from my bucket list.

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Mia Fox

02:13

But aren't you glad you ended up with us in the end? Oh, look, that must be the embassy parking lot.

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02:23

Agents Mia Fox and Jackie Williams. Jackie! Show your card.

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02:27

Sorry, Ma'am, but the car park is full.

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Mia Fox

02:29

What?

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02:29

Big event today, we don't have any space. It's Oh, so sad.

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Mia Fox

02:33

Yes, it is sad. But we need, we need to park.

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02:38

I'm afraid you'll have to park elsewhere.

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Mia Fox

02:39

Are there any other parking spaces around here?

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02:42

There's New Mill Road. But they're normally full this time of day.

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Mia Fox

02:46

Yeah, we don't like New Mill Road. It can't be that hard to find somewhere to park, surely!

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02:52

We're in

London

, Ma'am.

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Mia Fox

02:54

Meaning?

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02:55

Good luck.

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Mia Fox

02:58

Well, then, I don't know.

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Jackie Williams

03:01

Listen. I am so angry, I don't even know where to start. The nerve! Driving back to London, when we had agreed to go to Scotland! Going back to the embassy, whilst I am asleep! We flipped a coin.

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Mia Fox

03:22

I don't let coins decide what I do!

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Jackie Williams

03:24

We agreed.

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Mia Fox

03:25

I base my decisions on what's the right thing to do, and the right thing to do was going back.

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Jackie Williams

03:30

The right thing to do? The right- you think coming here was right?

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Mia Fox

03:37

Yes.

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Jackie Williams

03:43

Lord, give me strength.

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Mia Fox

03:48

What?

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Jackie Williams

03:49

Right now, you look a lot like

Justin Timberlake

to me.

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Mia Fox

03:52

Justin Timberlake

?

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Jackie Williams

03:53

He broke up

NSYNC

!

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Mia Fox

03:56

Well, we still need to figure out where to park-

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Jackie Williams

03:57

I'll park the car.

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03:60

I need to be by myself. You can take the clown and bring him to Miss Kennedy.

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Mia Fox

04:05

Okay, that's a good plan. That works.

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Jackie Williams

04:08

The only reason it's a good plan is because it's the only plan that is currently stopping me from breaking all your fingers!

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Mia Fox

04:15

Jeez!

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Jackie Williams

04:15

You know, we had a good plan. The good plan was to fake this guy's death, gather more evidence, and then take what we found to miss Kennedy.

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04:25

The plan was to make sure we came back with something solid, so that she would excuse our methods, such as, I don’t know, faking the death of a key suspect and going against a direct order to cooperate with MI5! That was the good plan!

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Mia Fox

04:43

Uh, To be honest, Jackie, I always thought that plan was-

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Jackie Williams

04:47

Your plan is to reveal to Miss Kennedy that we still have Kozlowski, but without bringing her a shred of new evidence!

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Mia Fox

04:56

He's alive though!

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Jackie Williams

04:58

Well, I wish you good luck! Truly, all the best to you on this valorous endeavor. Because you are going to need it. Now get out of the car!

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Mia Fox

05:10

Good luck finding a parking spot -

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Jackie Williams

05:11

Get out of the car.

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05:28

The Amelia Project by Philip Thorne and Oystein Brager with music and sound direction by Fredrik Baden. Design by Eli Hamada McIlveen. Episode 50 - Mia Fox.

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Piotr Kozlowski

06:19

I truly wanted to take you to

Scotland

.

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Mia Fox

06:22

Forget it. Miss Kennedy is never going to allow it.

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Piotr Kozlowski

06:25

What a shame. It is a very beautiful place.

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Mia Fox

06:34

Where is she? How long has it been?

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Piotr Kozlowski

06:37

47 minutes and 26 seconds.

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Mia Fox

06:39

How do you know? You don't have a watch.

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Piotr Kozlowski

06:42

My body clock is accurate, down to the second.

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Mia Fox

06:45

Yeah, sure. I'll check my phone.

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06:50

Huh. Well, that was a good guess. It's been 47 minutes.

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Piotr Kozlowski

06:55

It was not a guess.

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Mia Fox

06:57

No. Well, then you must have looked at a clock or something. I don't see any clocks in the hallway, though.

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Piotr Kozlowski

07:02

I have not used clocks for many years. I find it much more accurate to simply feel the iron in my blood.

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Mia Fox

07:09

What?

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Piotr Kozlowski

07:10

My blood. The iron is affected by the gravitational pull of the sun and the moon. I have trained my senses to be acutely aware of my blood at all times. So, at any given point, I can tell what time it is, like a clock. That way I don't need technical remedies, all I need is presence of mind.

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Mia Fox

07:36

Right. Anyhow, I hope Jackie's back soon.

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Piotr Kozlowski

07:41

You do not want to face this Miss Kennedy on your own?

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Mia Fox

07:45

Not particularly.

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Piotr Kozlowski

07:46

Even though you know that your partner is angry with you?

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Mia Fox

07:50

Absurd, isn't it?

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07:52

Sorry, excuse me! Hi, do you work here? I've been waiting for nearly an hour. Do you know when this event is over?

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07:59

It's O-SO-SAD. It will last until the wee hours of the morning, with the after-party and all.

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Mia Fox

08:04

Yeah, it's tragic. Now if you-

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08:07

That's funny!

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Mia Fox

08:08

What's funny?

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08:09

Your joke?

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Mia Fox

08:10

What joke?

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08:11

The tragic joke. O-SO-SAD, tragic.

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Mia Fox

08:14

Yeah, so this event-

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08:16

O-SO-SAD.

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Mia Fox

08:17

Sad or not, is there any way to get hold of one of the participants? I need to speak to Miss Kennedy.

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08:21

Sad or not. You've still got it!

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Mia Fox

08:25

Got what?! Can I or can I not see Miss Kennedy?

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08:29

Miss Kennedy? Oh, she'll be in there for a while still. This is the O-SO-SAD, remember? The program is packed.

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Mia Fox

08:35

The oh so sad?

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08:36

Yes. The O-SO-SAD, the Overseas Security Organisations' Seminar And Dinner.

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Mia Fox

08:42

Right, right.

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08:44

They just finished the "Round-table on the Prevention of

Cyber Crime

and how to get

Mark Zuckerberg

to Pipe Down", and now they're having salmon. So I wouldn't have very high hopes of seeing anyone from that room anytime soon.

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Mia Fox

08:56

Well, are you going in there? Can you give Miss Kennedy a message from me? Tell her Agent Mia Fox needs to see her. Say it's urgent.

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09:04

More urgent than

Gravlax

with

Gin

and

Juniper

accompanied by

Yo-Yo Ma

on the trumpet?

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Mia Fox

09:09

I thought

Yo-Yo Ma

plays the cello?

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09:11

Exactly, this is not to be missed.

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Mia Fox

09:13

I'll wait out here, just please let miss Kennedy know I'm here, will you?

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09:19

I will if I see her!

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Mia Fox

09:32

So here we are.

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Piotr Kozlowski

09:35

Truer words were seldom spoken, though dumber words, by any token, even rarer yet...

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Mia Fox

09:46

We should use this time to talk.

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Piotr Kozlowski

09:48

About what?

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Mia Fox

09:49

About something that's been bugging me.

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Piotr Kozlowski

09:51

Please go ahead.

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Mia Fox

09:53

When I was assigned to this case, The Amelia Project investigation, I started studying the brief. Reading transcripts of interviews, listening to wire taps... and as I was doing that, I noticed this feeling in the pit of my stomach that I couldn't shake. Through all of the interviews, there was one thing that stood out to me, one surreal thing that kept coming up again and again and again.

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Piotr Kozlowski

10:17

And what was that?

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Mia Fox

10:19

Your preferred beverage.

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Piotr Kozlowski

10:21

Mountain Dew

?

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Mia Fox

10:23

What?

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Piotr Kozlowski

10:23

Mountain Dew

. My preferred beverage.

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Mia Fox

10:26

No! cocoa.

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Piotr Kozlowski

10:28

Ah. The cocoa.

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Mia Fox

10:29

What is it about the cocoa?

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Piotr Kozlowski

10:32

What do you mean?

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Mia Fox

10:33

Why serve it to all your clients? Why does your colleague drink so much of it? Is it a drug? Is it a code name for something? Have you added something to it? Tell me about the cocoa!

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Piotr Kozlowski

10:43

Have you ever been close to death?

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Mia Fox

10:45

You're not answering my question.

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Piotr Kozlowski

10:47

I think in time you will find that I am.

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Mia Fox

10:50

Cocoa.

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Piotr Kozlowski

10:51

Death. Have you experienced it?

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Mia Fox

10:54

Do you mean like a near-death experience?

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Piotr Kozlowski

10:56

That is one option. Another option would be if you have been in close proximity of someone else's death.

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Mia Fox

11:04

I mean, my grandma passed when I was a child. But I was so small. I don't really remember it.

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Piotr Kozlowski

11:09

I see. So, not really.

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Mia Fox

11:12

I guess not.

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Piotr Kozlowski

11:13

Not even as an agent of the

CIA

? You have not had to deal with fallen friends, or extinguished enemies?

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Mia Fox

11:22

Before I came to London, I worked in an office. This is my first field assignment.

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Piotr Kozlowski

11:29

Congratulations.

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Mia Fox

11:31

Thanks, I guess.

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Piotr Kozlowski

11:33

Too bad we are not actually in the field then, but rather sitting in a hallway at the

US Embassy

. Where I was about to take you, there is a very beautiful, very literal field.

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Mia Fox

11:46

I'm in

London

for the first time in my life. It's one of the world's greatest capitals. As soon as I get a day off, I'm heading straight for the changing of the guards at

Buckingham Palace

. I'm good.

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Piotr Kozlowski

11:59

And you know nothing about death. That makes us very hard for me.

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Mia Fox

12:04

Why?

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Piotr Kozlowski

12:05

Because if death has not marked you, I cannot expect you to understand.

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Mia Fox

12:11

Woe is me. Actually...

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Piotr Kozlowski

12:16

Yes?

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Speaker 6

12:16

No, nothing.

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Piotr Kozlowski

12:18

Please tell.

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Mia Fox

12:19

No. I just I thought of something, but I don't think it's what you're asking for, though.

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Piotr Kozlowski

12:23

Please tell me anyway. I sense a story coming, and I love a good story!

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Mia Fox

12:30

Well, I saved someone's life once. So, I guess that means I was kind of close to death, I suppose. But I didn't really experience death as such.

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Piotr Kozlowski

12:41

You have my ear.

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Mia Fox

12:43

Alright, first I have to set the scene. I'm nineteen, and I am on the road with my band.

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Piotr Kozlowski

12:49

You were in a band?

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Mia Fox

12:51

I was a manager. Well, I kind of put this band together, like a supergroup kind of thing, only it was made up of teens from the tri-state area that had won a local singing contest or starred in some high school musical production.

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Piotr Kozlowski

13:05

You created a band?

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Mia Fox

13:07

Yeah.

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Piotr Kozlowski

13:08

That is a very dorky thing to do.

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13:12

Most people who are into music start playing an instrument.

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Mia Fox

13:16

Anyhow, we were on tour, I mean, it was mostly bar mitzvahs and block parties. But our biggest gig was this outdoor 4th of July event in a local park. Our set has just started, and I'm standing at the back of the park watching, when this older guy comes up to me and starts asking me about the band. Turns out he's a bit of a music freak.

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13:35

He's asking if the band has written all their own songs - which they had - and he's very impressed by that - when all of a sudden, he gets a bit too excited. He forgets to take a break in between speaking and eating his corn dog and suddenly he is choking on a big piece of meat.

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13:51

So, I'm only nineteen, remember? I had never experienced anything like this., so at first I am kind of, well, embarrassed I guess. On his behalf. He's crying and coughing and making a fool of himself. So I just look another way and wait for him to finish the whole thing and clean himself up. And then we can pretend it never happened. But he doesn't… stop.

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14:13

He starts wheezing and his legs buckle, and he falls to his knees, slapping his hand on this trash can right next to him. As if that's gonna help. And no one helps him, because we're right at the back, by some trees, and no one can see us, and the band, my band, is really loud. And good. And everyone is looking the other way.

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14:32

So when I turn back to look at this man... Well, he's blue. Like

Smurf-blue

. He looks like a

Smurf

had a baby with an

Avatar

and then fed it nothing but blueberries. And I realize: If I don't do something, this man is going to die.

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14:51

So I do the

Heimlich

, which is a bit hard, because he's on his knees crouching, so I have to bend down sort of, but I do it, I grab him and I gather all my strength and I thrust, once, twice, three times, breathe in, once more and there it goes. Flies out of his mouth like a corn dog rocket. And he lives.

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Piotr Kozlowski

15:15

So you have looked into the face of death! Stared at his blue complexion, heard his ragged breath!

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Mia Fox

15:23

Well, that's the thing. For me, this story is about something completely different.

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Piotr Kozlowski

15:27

Is it the reason you no longer eat corn dogs?

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Mia Fox

15:32

No. So it turns out-

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15:35

Miss Kennedy!

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Miss Kennedy

15:38

What are you doing here?

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Mia Fox

15:39

I have to ask your advice.

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Miss Kennedy

15:41

Where's Jackie?

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Mia Fox

15:42

Parking the car?

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Miss Kennedy

15:44

Poor thing. You might not see her till morning.

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Mia Fox

15:46

In the meantime, I wanted to ask you-

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Miss Kennedy

15:48

Who is this?

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Piotr Kozlowski

15:49

My name is Piotr Kozlowski.

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Miss Kennedy

15:51

Kozlowski? I thought you were dead!

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Piotr Kozlowski

15:54

You are not the first, madam.

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Mia Fox

15:57

Miss Kennedy, I-

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Miss Kennedy

15:58

Mia, can you explain?

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Mia Fox

15:59

Yes, that's why I'm here.

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Miss Kennedy

16:01

Did he fake his death? Did he run away and you apprehended him again?

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Mia Fox

16:06

Uh, yes, no -

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Miss Kennedy

16:08

Yes or no?

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Mia Fox

16:09

No, no. I, we-

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Piotr Kozlowski

16:13

Agents Williams and Fox were kind enough to help me fake my death. In return for information about The Amelia Project.

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Miss Kennedy

16:22

Mia. Is this true?

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Mia Fox

16:25

Yes, But-

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Miss Kennedy

16:26

Why didn't you inform me?

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Mia Fox

16:28

We were going to-

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Miss Kennedy

16:29

Mia Fox, did you go behind my back?

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Mia Fox

16:33

I -

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Piotr Kozlowski

16:34

Madam, it was I who asked them to keep it secret.

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Miss Kennedy

16:38

Why?

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Piotr Kozlowski

16:40

I said if they told anyone, I would not disclose any information.

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Miss Kennedy

16:45

I see. So, what's this information?

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Mia Fox

16:50

We haven't gotten it yet.

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Miss Kennedy

16:53

Why not?

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Mia Fox

16:55

Because we have to go to

Scotland

.

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Miss Kennedy

16:58

For the love of God! Why?

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Piotr Kozlowski

16:60

I am going to tell your agents a story, and I am afraid I can only tell it if I am at the place where it happened.

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Miss Kennedy

17:08

You're taking them to a crime scene?

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Mia Fox

17:10

No.

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Piotr Kozlowski

17:11

It is not a crime scene.

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Mia Fox

17:13

It's a place in

Scotland

where-

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Miss Kennedy

17:15

Yes?

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Mia Fox

17:19

Well, it's-

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Miss Kennedy

17:20

What? Yes? Go on? I don't understand a word you're saying! And I really need a smoke!

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17:28

I've been listening to

Yo Yo Ma

on trumpet butchering

La Cucaracha

for fifteen minutes and I can't take it anymore!

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Piotr Kozlowski

17:36

Madam, please feel free to attend to your needs. We promise to still be here when you return.

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Miss Kennedy

17:42

Thank you.

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Mia Fox

17:44

But Ma'am!

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Piotr Kozlowski

17:45

We should let her smoke. Without the nicotine, it seems she cannot focus.

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Mia Fox

17:51

But ah! Will you stop interrupting me when I'm speaking to Miss Kennedy!

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Piotr Kozlowski

17:57

I was just trying to help.

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Mia Fox

17:59

Well, you were annoying the fuck out of me!

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Break

Piotr Kozlowski

20:02

You were about to continue your story. Before Miss Kennedy arrived.

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Mia Fox

20:07

Oh, yeah. This man whose life I saved, Mr. Anderson, he’d been a songwriter for the CIA.

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Piotr Kozlowski

20:17

I beg your pardon?

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Mia Fox

20:21

He'd been a songwriter for the CIA.

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Piotr Kozlowski

20:24

The CIA employs songwriters?

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Mia Fox

20:27

Sure! Mr. Anderson wrote'Wind of Change', one of our biggest successes.

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Piotr Kozlowski

20:31

'Wind of Change', would that be the power ballad by some eighties rock band -

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Mia Fox

20:37

The Scorpions

.

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Piotr Kozlowski

20:38

That allegedly brought down the iron curtain?

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Mia Fox

20:41

That's the one.

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Piotr Kozlowski

20:42

And Mr. Anderson wrote this song, for the CIA?

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Mia Fox

20:46

And many others. The

Barney

Theme Song. You could argue that's been almost as significant, in its own way. Anyhow, the CIA has a whole department dedicated to'Soft Power'.

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Piotr Kozlowski

20:59

Soft power?

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Mia Fox

21:01

Affecting change not through violence, but through appeal and attraction.

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Piotr Kozlowski

21:05

I see.

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Mia Fox

21:07

The CIA employs musicians, filmmakers, animators, Tik-Tok'ers... Name a branch of the arts, and we'll have someone exploiting its'Soft Power' potential for the benefit of the United States of America.

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Piotr Kozlowski

21:18

Any art form you say?

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Mia Fox

21:20

Any.

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Piotr Kozlowski

21:21

That cannot be! Popular music, maybe, film, certainly. I do believe in the power of the silver screen. But any art form?

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Mia Fox

21:31

Try me.

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Piotr Kozlowski

21:33

Fashion.

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Mia Fox

21:34

We have designers working for Chanel, Versace, Lauren and Armani. If it hadn't been for the leather separates and cut-out dresses at the Paris Fashion Week in 1999, Hungary would never have joined NATO.

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Piotr Kozlowski

21:45

Modern art.

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Mia Fox

21:46

Pollock

,

Warhol

,

Hockney

,

Magritte

.

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Piotr Kozlowski

21:50

Ceci n'est pas une pipe!

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Mia Fox

21:50

No, it's a piece of propaganda.

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Piotr Kozlowski

21:53

I know one art form the CIA cannot possibly have corrupted.

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Mia Fox

21:59

And that is?

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Piotr Kozlowski

22:02

Cross-stitching.

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Mia Fox

22:03

The CIA runs forty-four cross-stitching clubs across the US. Providing patriotic patterns to grandmas all over the country is a great way to keep the national morale up. You might not hang the homemade birthday present from granny above your bed, but the message will still come across.

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Piotr Kozlowski

22:20

I will think about that the next time I suture a wound.

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Mia Fox

22:24

I know the Soft Power branch like the back of my hand because that is where I began my career with the CIA. Mr. Anderson wanted to repay me for saving his life, and he was impressed by my organizing skills.

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22:36

At the time, he was head of the Soft Power Department, or the Wind of Change as we call it, and he offered me an internship as a Cross-Media Production Assistant. From there I went on to assistant manage the Soft Power Archives before I took the big step.

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Piotr Kozlowski

22:51

What is the big step?

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Mia Fox

22:53

Training to become a protective agent. After training, I spent a few years in surveillance learning the ropes and here I am.

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Piotr Kozlowski

23:01

So your meeting with death is in fact a story about a new direction in life.

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Mia Fox

23:08