Zero Hour (audio story)

Zero Hour was the seventh audio episode of Aliens Among Us and the third story in the second box set. It continued the topic of rift manipulation.

Publisher's summary
Welcome to Deliverables. Thanks to us, Cardiff is enjoying an economic miracle. We have created thousands of jobs. We have wiped out homelessness.

More importantly, there are so many benefits to you. Deliverables will deliver your post, your packages, your meals. We are Deliverables, and we never stop.

Deliverables – we always know where to find you. Deliverables – put your life in our hands.

Plot
Hasan, a Deliverables employee, delivers to a café in Cardiff Bay and orders a complicated coffee every day before almost being hit by a scooter driver. Tyler bumps into him one day and takes an interest in him, approaching him the next day and being brushed off. The day after, Tyler meets with Ng at the café and talks about Hasan, whom he follows.

In the Hub, Mr Colchester and Orr detect a surge of Rift energy which threatens Penarth. Ng is called by Tyler, who tells her how Hasan throws away his coffee without drinking it and follows instructions given to him by an app through his headphones. He follows him again the next day, this time with his knowledge, and learns that Hasan follows seemingly arbitrary commands from the Deliverables app. Tyler kisses him, causing him to run away. Tyler grabs his headphones and apologises, distracting Hasan from his job and causing him to be told off by the app. They continued with the day, picking up packages from a collection point and delivering them.

Ng is having trouble with Anwen, who tells her that she hates her. Tyler calls and asks her to look into Deliverables for him. He joins Hasan again and delivers to all the same places, making him suspicious. He picks his way into Lavender Court and finds it uninhabited and full of rotting pizzas and unopened packages, which he reports to Ng. At the end of his shift, Hasan tells Tyler that he will let him kiss him later and heads to the warehouse. Ng continues to have trouble with Anwen and Gwen tries to comfort her. Hasan is told to report to human resources and says goodnight to Tyler.

Tyler, feeling that something is up with Deliverables, signs up for the company and begins work. He looks for, but is unable to find, Hasan. Ro-Jedda wonders where he is and has her computer find him, saying that it was "nice while it lasted" after finding that he was at Deliverables. Orr visits Ng with crisps, a cheap bottle of wine and information on the company, having found that Deliverables had sprung up from nowhere and seemed to have no one in charge. Ng calls Tyler using the Rift to get past the app and tells him what Orr has learnt.

to be completed

Cast

 * Ng - Alexandria Riley
 * Mr Colchester - Paul Clayton
 * Orr - Sam Béart
 * Tyler Steele - Jonny Green
 * Rhys Williams - Kai Owen
 * Sgt. Andy Davidson - Tom Price
 * Gwen Cooper - Eve Myles
 * Ro-Jedda - Rachel Atkins
 * Hasan - Sacha Dhawan
 * Lorry Driver - Rick Yale

Continuity

 * Colchester says he misses the days when the Sorvix just took aspirin and killed strippers. (AUDIO: Aliens & Sex & Chips & Gravy)