Hyper Nocturnal
Episode 4
By Charles Davis
INTRO/COMMERCIAL
Scene: In the central verse
(Sound of the background. Silence for a moment. Suddenly sound of Tanya, Wolfgang and Matti falling and hitting the ground).
Tanya: (Falling) Aaaaaaah! (Hitting ground) Oof! (Sound of her laying still and breathing heavily for a moment.) And I thought sky diving was bad when I was alive…
Wolfgang: (Falling) Aaaaaah! (Hitting the ground) Ack!
Tanya: (Sound of her getting up) Wolfgang! You alright? (sound of her walking over).
Wolfgang: Gah! (sound of him getting up slowly) Uh… yeah… yeah I think I’m ok. Jesus…
Matti: (Falling) Aaaaaaaah! (Hitting the ground) Gah! (Quickly rolling over and getting up) Paska! Paska!
Tanya: Don’t worry you’re fine.
Matti: (sound of him patting himself down) …apparently so…
Wolfgang: He took over the ship! Monroe managed to take over the ship!
Matti: …I know.
Wolfgang: So we lost then! We’re screwed! He’s going to take the ship and do… whatever it is he’s going to do! Damnit!
Tanya: Well, look. (sound of her taking a few steps) The ship is still up there. He hasn’t taken off yet. Maybe we can still stop him before the ship leaves.
Wolfgang: You’re right. Come on, we can climb up one of the tendrils again and get on the ship.
Tanya: Right!
(Sound of them starting to run towards one of the tendrils. Sudden sound of the wrapped body hitting the ground with the knife hitting soon afterwards.)
All: (startled) Aah!
Tanya: …What is it?
Matti: It looks like… a body, wrapped up in a blanket. It dropped out of the sky.
Wolfgang: A knife dropped with it.
Tanya: Is it another demon?
Matti: I don’t think so…
Wolfgang: (Sound of him walking up to the body) It’s not moving. (Stops walking) I think it’s just a dead body. …It’s missing its foot.
Tanya: It must have fallen out of the ship when the hole in the floor appeared.
Daytras: (voice coming out of the body) Can you hear me?
Tanya: What?
Wolfgang: Daytras! It’s Daytras! Of course! We were communicating to him through the bodies on the bridge.
Daytras: Correct. I cut the foot off the body and threw it down the hole so that you could hear me after you fell.
(Sound of all of them walking up).
Wolfgang: Daytras, don’t worry, we’re coming back to the ship! We are about to climb up to you again, just hold on.
Daytras: You are too late. I just felt the ships engine engage.
Tanya: What? (Sound of her taking a few steps) He’s right! The ship’s gone! It was just here and now it’s gone! They must have just taken off.
Wolfgang: Damnit! Daytras, what’s happening on the ship?
Daytras: More entities… monsters if I had to put a name on what they looked like… started crawling in through the hole that opened up on the bridge. I ran.
Matti: Likely those 30 legions he kept talking about. He must be at full power and manifestation now.
Daytras: I am now hiding in one of the cargo holds. I’m not sure how long I will be safe here, but for the moment they seem to be paying more attention to other parts of the ship. I have also disabled the microphones and speakers within the room so that the computer cannot listen in. Again, I’m not sure how long before it notices.
Tanya: Do you know where he is taking the ship?
Daytras: I am now trying to access that information from one of the consoles in the cargo hold, however the ships’s computer is not making it easy… I am trying to access the information through secondary systems as to not alert it. I am hoping that the secondary systems have not been taken over as they do not have an A.I. like the main computer does, but I may be wrong. Either way, going through the secondary systems is causing things to move slower than normal.
Wolfgang: There must be a way for us to make it back to the ship. Matti, do you know if there are any other caves or something that we can use like we did last time?
Matti: I don’t know. I’m really just as clueless as you are at this point!
Tanya: God, we’re all just idiots here. Daytras, you’re all smart and stuff, do you understand what’s going on?
Daytras: I can only speculate at this point, however I have been pondering several theories since we spoke on the bridge. I heard the two battling, uh, “Demons” as you call them, mention something about “verses.”
Wolfgang: Yes! Everyone is constantly talking about that here. I think it’s what they call the different, er, territories or worlds that they control or exist in.
Daytras: I would take that thought even further. How familiar are you with the theories on the creation of the universe?
Wolfgang: You mean the big bang? I mean… I know a little. All existence, time, space, matter, exploded from a single singular point and that created the universe.
Daytras: Correct, except the last word in your statement should be plural.
Tanya: Damnit Daytras! I’ve only known you for 2 seconds and you’re already starting to piss me off with your language golbity goop! Get to the point!
Daytras: For a person who is dead and therefore has a seemingly endless amount of time on your hands, you are certainly impatient. But I will get to the point. Yes, you are correct. The current accepted theory is that all existence including time and space came into existence from a singular point exploding outwards. However, the question remains as to how many existences came into being.
Wolfgang: Multiple universes!
Daytras: Precisely. For a long time there have been theories circulating among the astro-physics community that existence as we know it may only be getting viewed from a limited standpoint. Multiple universes, or dimensions, have thought to exist. It is also thought that the universe we know may have bubbled into existence from a random mixing of a multitude of these other universes. I believe that these “verses” that the demons are referring to and the experiences we are now having, are a confirmation of the existence of multiple universes. Scientists have been seeking this kind of breakthrough for centuries.
Matti: Of course! That would explain the different types of demons we are seeing all mixed together. Each religion must have been making reference to a different set of demons and deities that existed throughout the various verses.
Wolfgang: And our experience in the cave. It must have been us traveling through the different dimensions. There must be certain entrance points, or doors, that leads from one verse to another.
Tanya: But how are we here though? We died… How does dying allow you to exist throughout these multiple dimensions?
Daytras: It is a commonly stated fact that energy can be neither created or destroyed. Perhaps when your physical life ceases to exist, the energy within your body is released into a state that is more accepting of the true state of existence. I would theorize that the spirits and the entrances to the multiple universes are and always have been around us when we are alive. We just don’t perceive them.
Based on what we have seen, I would also theorize that corporeal living life as we know it is a rare phenomenon. Life and existence in our universe may be the effect of an extreme coming together of energy and matter. This coming together would then create physical entities with softer energy based cores. These physical entities would also be unaware of anything outside of the tangible world they perceive.
Wolfgang: That would explain why it requires so much effort for us to effect things that make changes in the physical living world.
Tanya: So why are you able to see everything now Daytras? You’re still alive.
Daytras: I believe that it is an effect of the Hyper Nocturnal drive. The song that was played to it is causing the physical world to collapse into the other dimensions. All of the dimensions are becoming merged on the ship. I believe this is also why I am able to communicate to you through the parts of the body I dropped. The body is working as a catalyst for our communication due to it being affected by the Hyper Nocturnal drive. What likely happened is that the body now exists in a trans-dimensional state.
So even though we are now by perception a far distance away from each other, trans-dimensionally speaking the body and its parts are still very close to each other. As I had additionally theorized, the effect on the body must be powerful enough so that even though it is dismembered passing signals throughout the different parts is still possible.
Wolfgang: Wait! Trans-dimensionally speaking! That’s how we can get back to the ship! That hole that opened up must be a dimensional door back to the ship. Daytras, you said that even though we appear to be far away from each other now, trans-dimensionally we are still close. So we just need to find the door from our current dimension that leads back to the ship right? Then we can get back.
Daytras: That would be my thought.
Tanya: Ok, so we need to find that door then. But what are we going to do when we get back to the ship? What’s the plan for stopping Monroe?
Daytras: You stated that playing a song to the Hyper Nocturnal drive caused him to be summoned. I would theorize that playing another song would also cause the Hyper Nocturnal drive to banish him. I will need to think on what the song should be in order to do that. I will need to do calculations.
Tanya: How can the Hyper Nocturnal drive do that though? How can it have summoned him in the first place? The Hyper Nocturnal drive is just a propulsion engine. Not a demon summoning engine.
Daytras: I am not sure yet… I am currently formulating theories on how they are manipulating the drive to manifest themselves, however I do not yet have enough data to conclude anything meaningful.
Matti: Another thing, we keep getting told that we have “powerful” spirits, and we seem to have an easier time manipulating objects in the physical world than other spirits. Could that be due to us being killed via the Hyper Nocturnal drive?
Daytras: That would be my theory. Given what we now know, I have no doubt that the effects from the Hyper Nocturnal drive has left your non-corporeal spirits in a different state from other entities you have been seeing.
Matti: Daytras, you’re still on the ship, when you figure out what song needs to be played, couldn’t you just play it yourself?
Daytras: No… My medical condition limits my ability to operate the keyboard.
Tanya: Looks like it’s on me then. Daytras, work on figuring out what the song is. We’re going to try and find that door.
Wolfgang: Right.
(Sound of them starting to walk away)
Daytras: Wait. (they stop walking). Before you leave, you will need to bring a piece of the body with you in order to continue to communicate with me.
Tanya: …Are you serious?
Wolfgang: He’s right. The body is how we are able to keep contact. We should each cut off a piece and carry it with us so in case we get separated we can keep talking to each other.
Tanya: Are you serious?
Daytras: I dropped a knife down with the body. You should be able to use that to cut the body up. Also, I would recommend one of you cut off the head and carry it with.
Wolfgang: Why?
Daytras: When I was in the kitchen I was bitten by something. The bite caused what felt like an infection trying to take over my brain.
Matti: Yeah, that was me… Sorry.
Tanya: Guys…
Daytras: It was? Why did you bite me?
Matti: There was a demonic possession taking over my body. It was spreading up me like an infection and we discerned that when it reached my mind it would take me over. I needed to pass it off to someone else in order to get rid of it, and I figured that biting you would do it.
Tanya: Are you serious?
Wolfgang: We thought if we gave you the possession, your body would be able to absorb it without harming you due to your brain power rating. Looks like we were correct, ha. Matti’s all better now and you weren’t possessed.
Tanya: Holy crap, you guys really are serious aren’t you?
Daytras: I see… Well, this ultimately tells me that the brain plays an important role within the world we now find ourselves in. It should not be left behind on the body in case one of those demons decides to mess with it.
Matti: Right… Ok… I’ll do the cutting up. I’ve butchered things before. (Sound of Matti walking over to the body and grabbing the knife). Here’s the knife. (Sound of him bending over and starting to cut).
Tanya: (As he’s cutting) Oh jesus…
Wolfgang: (As he cuts) It looks like you’re able to cut pretty easily. I figured it would be hard for you given that the body and the knife are from the physical world.
Matti: (As he cuts) Yeah… its pretty easy….
Daytras: It must be from the body being effected trans-dimensionally from the Hyper Nocturnal drive. The fact that it is outside of its normal dimension is likely a factor too.
Matti: (sound of him tearing the head off) Here, the heads off. Tanya, take it.
Tanya: Ooooh, god. (sound of her walking over and grabbing it).
Matti: Don’t freak out. I cut it so that it’s still wrapped up in the blanket. You won’t need to see her face or anything. Here, (sound of him holding up rope) I even cut off some of the rope wrapped around the body for you. You can fasten the head like a necklace.
Tanya: Gee, thanks. (Sound of her grabbing the rope and starting to tie the head around her neck).
Matti: (continuing to cut) Gnaah. Ok, here’s a hand for Wolfgang with some rope too. (Sound of him tearing off a hand, cutting a rope handing it to Wolfgang).
Wolfgang: (Grabbing the items) Got it. (Sound of him securing it around his neck).
Matti: (continuing to cut) Aaaand, gah, (Sound of him tearing off another hand and some rope) there, a hand for me. Tying it around my neck too. (sound of him tying the hand around his neck. Sound of him standing up.) Ok… We’re all set then.
Tanya: (Pause)…I’m 35 years old, single, dead, lost in a trans-dimensional ghost world and I just tied a decapitated head around my neck… (sighs) didn’t see that one coming.
Wolfgang: Daytras, have you been able to get any information on where the ship is heading?
Daytras: Yes, I just was able to get the information. It’s difficult to tell as the coordinates are very strange. Likely due to needing to navigate on a trans-dimensional level, however, if my mathematics are correct, it would appear that the ship is traveling at an extremely accelerated rate, towards… Earth. On a crash course.
Wolfgang: Earth? Why would they want to crash the ship into Earth?
Matti: He’s a demon. He’s here to disrupt the world of the living. Crashing into Earth will most likely cause some kind of effect on the physical world for humans.
Daytras: I have no doubt that crashing the ship while it is in its current state would have some kind of trans-dimensional effect.
Tanya: How long do we have?
Daytras: The ship is traveling at a speed I have never seen before. Something I had not thought was possible. At this rate I would say 36 hours give or take few hours.
(silence for a moment)
Tanya: Alright, well let’s go find that door.
(Sound of them walking away)
(Sound fades out).
COMMERCIAL
Scene: Central verse, verse with no time.
(Sound of them walking across the central verse.)
Tanya: So how do we know what this door will look like?
Wolfgang: Well, the last one looked like a cave. Maybe it will be another cave.
Daytras: I would theorize that it could look like anything. The door that opened up on the ship just looks like a giant hole.
Matti: Yeah, and the hole that originally lead us to this dimension was a talking mouth. (Stops walking) God, it could be anything around us.
Tanya: What is this dimension anyway? We’ve been here a lot it seems like. We were here when we first left the ship, this is where the cave spit us out and this is where we fell back to when we fell through the hole on the bridge.
Wolfgang: I think it’s called the “central verse.” The women in that mountain dimension I was in called it that.
Matti: Maybe it’s special. Since everything leads to it…
Tanya: Daytras, what do you think?
Daytras: I suppose it would be theoretically sound that a certain dimension would be positioned so that it was central to the other dimensions. Perhaps the dimension you are in acts as a sort of lobby, with different doors available throughout the landscape.
Wolfgang: That’s good then right? It means we can probably find the door directly back to the ship right here.
Daytras: I wouldn’t necessarily jump to that conclusion. Given the size and sheer amount that may exists of these trans-dimensional universes, the central dimension you are in likely does not lead to every single one. I wouldn’t be surprised if you had to go through several dimensions in order to reach the door back to the ship.
Tanya: So how are we supposed to be able to find where we are supposed to head then?! It’s going to be like finding a needle in a haystack the size of the universe. We don’t even know if we are walking in the right direction!
Wolfgang: There must be some way to figure out where we need to go. Or at least where another door is.
Daytras: Perhaps… Explain to me what you are seeing.
Wolfgang: Well… it’s a giant open valley really. But the sky above is this strange bubbling brown and black mass. And there are all of these tendrils hanging down from it. The ground we are walking on is generally flat, but there are some bumps and lumps here and there. Every once in a while we will come across what looks like a pile of rocks. The ground seems to be moving up and down lightly too, as if the ground were breathing. And it’s all, sort of, scaley and oily.
Daytras: And there is nothing around you?
Wolfgang: No… not really. The valley stretches out in every direction. Like I said, there are rocks and things here and there, or small cliffs. But generally, everything is empty.
Daytras: My thought would be that if you are in an area that seems empty, then even the smallest objects in your environment needs to be more carefully considered. Tell me about the rocks that are near you.
Tanya: Here, there’s a pile right over there. (sound of them walking over to the rock pile). It’s just a big pile of rocks. The rocks look like they are made out of the same scaley oily stuff the ground is made out of.
Daytras: Is there any sort of entrance or opening point in the rocks.
Matti: I don’t see anything.
Wolfgang: Let’s look around.
(Sound of them walking around looking at the pile of rocks).
Tanya: (stops walking) Oh! I think I found something here. Down on the bottom over here. There is a little hole. It’s big enough for a person to crawl through.
(Sound of Wolfgang and Matti walking over).
Wolfgang: Oh yeah, there it is…
Daytras: I would theorize that what you are seeing is another door. If you truly are in a centrally placed dimension that other dimensions connect to, then there are likely doors all around. They will just be small.
Wolfgang: If all of these rocks and mounds are portals, then we really do have an issue on our hands. How do we figure out which one to enter? These things are everywhere.
Tanya: Well… I say we just start with this one.
Matti: Why this one?
Tanya: Why not? Look, we need to get more information in order to make an informed decision on what doors lead to what dimensions. Right now, we just need to enter a bunch of the portals and see what happens. Maybe we can figure out some kind of logic or math to them.
Daytras: That is an excellent point Tanya.
Tanya: See, even Daytras agrees with me. And he’s king smarty pants.
Wolfgang: Alright… let’s crawl in then.
Matti: Who goes first?
(Silence for a moment).
Tanya: Oh jeez, you boys are such panzies. I’ll go. Just follow close behind in case something tries to grab me.
Wolfgang: Ok.
(Sound of them starting to crawl through the hole).
Daytras: What is happening?
Tanya: (as they are crawling) We just started crawling through the hole. It’s all dark in here.
Wolfgang: (as they are crawling) Yeah, I can’t see anything. …I feel like we’ve been in this situation before with not so good consequences.
Tanya: (crawling) Yeah, Daytras, are you sure this is a door? It seems like it just keeps going on.
Daytras: Yes, I am quite sure at this point. If this wasn’t a portal, you would have not been able to crawl this deep into a small pile of rocks without hitting the edge yet.
Tanya: (crawling) Good point…
Wolfgang: (crawling) Is that a light ahead?
Tanya: (crawling) Yeah! I see it! Ok, we’re getting somewhere. (sound of them continuing to crawl). …Ok, reached the other end. Crawling out of the hole.
(Sound of them crawling out of the hole. They stand still for a moment.)
Wolfgang: Where are we?
Tanya: Matti, you know anything about this from a spirit world perspective.
Matti: No idea.
Daytras: What are you seeing?
Tanya: White. It’s just all white. In every direction. I’m not even sure what we are standing on. Everything is white except the hole we crawled out of which is just sort of sitting in mid space.
Daytras: Do you see any other holes?
Tanya: Not from where I’m standing. Let me look around a little bit. (Sound of her taking a step. Being heard through the body parts) Gah!
Matti & Wolfgang: Aah!
Matti: What happened?
Daytras: What is going on?
Matti: Tanya disappeared. She just took a step and then disappeared.
Wolfgang: Tanya, can you hear us still? Through the body parts?
Tanya: (freaked out. Through the body parts.) Yeah… yeah I can still hear you. I can see you I think too. I’m really far away though.
Matti: Oh yes! Look! She’s way out over there. She’s a tiny dot in the distance. Come on! (sound of him taking a step. Through the body parts.) Aah!
Wolfgang: Hey! Matti! (sound of him taking a step) Whoa!
Daytras: Did it happen again?
Matti: (through body part) Yes!
Wolfgang: Yeah… me too. We all took steps and now we are all far away from each other. I can still see you two, but you are really far away and in different locations from each other.
Tanya: (Through body part. Scared) Guys… big empty spaces… I’m starting to freak out.
Wolfgang: Just stay calm Tanya. Let’s just try to get out of here. Can any of you still see the hole we entered from?
Matti: (Through body part) Yeah, I can still see it where I am. I’m going to try to head back to it.
Wolfgang: Wait!
Matti: (Through body part) Damnit! I took a step and it happened again! Now I can’t see the exit. I’m a little bit closer to Wolfgang now though.
Tanya: (Through body part) Oh jesus christ, jesus christ.
Wolfgang: Tanya, just… hold on, I’m going to try to make my way over to you. (Sound of him taking a step). Ugh… Happened again. Taking another step. (Sound of him taking another step) And again. Doing one more step. (Sound of him taking a step). Oh! Hey! It didn’t happen this time! I stayed put.
Tanya: (Through body part) You didn’t?
Wolfgang: Yeah… at least I think. You guys are still in the same location in relation to me. It’s kind of hard to tell as everything is white. Taking another step. (Sound of him taking another step) Damnit! Happened again. Oh, but I’m closer to Tanya now.
Tanya: (Through body part. Very stressed out.) Yeah… I see you… Just hurry up and get over here ok?
Wolfgang: I’m coming! (Sound of him taking another step) Happened again, now I’m far away from Tanya.
Tanya: (Through body part. Let’s out an anxiety induced sigh/cry).
Wolfgang: Just hang on, I’ll take another step and see if that helps. (sound of him taking a step). Nope. Well… maybe I’m a little closer.
Tanya: (Through body part. Yell crying) Damnit Wolfgang stop it! You keep telling me your going to be here and then you’re not here! You can’t keep making me think you’re going to save me and then not do it ok?! (Starts to cry).
Wolfgang: Tanya, I’m just… trying to help…
Tanya: (Through body part. Crying.) I… I know… I’m sorry…. I don’t mean to be upset…. I just really…. don’t like big open spaces you know…. (sighs trying to collect to herself). I’m…. I’m going to sit down and put my head between my legs and close my eyes for a little bit alright?
Wolfgang: Yeah… go ahead.
Tanya: (Through body part. Crying still.) Ok… (sound of her sitting down and putting her legs between her legs. She stops crying and is just breathing a little heavy. Speaking very soft and weakly). …Sorry… I just get anxious in when I’m in big open spaces…
Matti: (Through body part) Well now what… (silence for a moment). Daytras, you have any ideas?
Daytras: I am developing a theory right now as we speak. It would seem to me that you are currently in a dimension that does not follow our normal concepts of linear time.
Wolfgang: Time? But it’s the distance that keeps changing. Time seems to be moving normal.
Daytras: You perceive that the distances are what is changing, however you must understand that distance is truly just a perception of time. Distance is a measurement of space and space is dictated by time. Every time you take a step and appear in a different location, you are essentially traveling through time. Normally, when we physically travel we are traveling in a linear fashion however. By being in a dimension where time is non-linear, traveling distances will also work in a non-linear fashion.
Matti: (through body part) So how do we figure out how to travel through here in a normal way?
Daytras: I am I currently creating calculations to solve that issue. Wolfgang, you said that you were able to take a normal linear step at one point correct?
Wolfgang: Yeah… that’s right. But it was just one. Patricia was facing, er, northeast from my current location at the time I suppose. I was able to take a single step without jumping location.
Daytras: Fascinating. Hold still where you are. I am going to attempt to calculate a potential solution for you to move linearly.
Wolfgang: Yeah… ok… (silence for a moment) How are you holding up Tanya?
Tanya: (Through body part. Weakly) …Not so good…
Wolfgang: Well… just stay put. We’ll get over to you soon.
Matti: (Through body part. Sarcastically under his breath.) Yeah… unless Daytras gets eaten by a monster. Then we’re all screwed.
Tanya: (Through body part. Starts breathing very heavy rapidly. Very upset.) Why…. Why… why would you say that? Why would you say that to me?! Can’t you see I’m already upset?!
Matti: (Through body part.) …Alright, alright… I’m sorry, I was just joking… Just calm down.
Tanya: (through body part) No! Don’t tell me to calm down! (hyperventilating) You’re right! We are trapped aren’t we?! We aren’t getting out! Jesus christ we’re never getting out! He’s never going to find out how to help us! We’re just going to be here forever! Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ!
Wolfgang: Tanya…
Tanya: (Through body part. Scream/Crying) GNaaah! Gaaaah! NGaaaah! HELP ME! HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP ME! AAAAAAH!!! OH PLEASE GOD SOMEBODY HELP ME!!! I’M SO SCARED!!! I’M ALL ALONE! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!! AAAAAH! (Sobbing).
(Tanya continues to sob)
Matti: (Through body part) Hey! Hey! Calm down!
Daytras: Tanya, I am still alive. You do not need to be upset. I am working on a solution right now.
Tanya: (Through body part. Sobbing.) Gnaaah, Ngaaah!
Wolfgang: Tanya, you’re having a panic attack. Just… put your head back between your legs and close your eyes.
Tanya: (Through the body part. Trying to get herself under control.) Ngggaaah…. Ok…. (Sound of her putting her head between her legs again. She’s stops crying but is still breathing heavy and whimpering. Weakly.) I’m sorry… I’m sorry…
Matti: (through body part.) Jesus christ. We’re really having to deal with this?
Wolfgang: Leave her alone!
Matti: (through body part.) …Fine…
Wolfgang: Daytras, how much longer?
Daytras: I am still making calculations. I need more time…
(Wolfgang sighs. They stand in silence for a moment.)
Tanya: (through body part. Very weakly.) Wolfgang…. I’m sorry… I’m sorry I’m disappointing you and letting you down…
Wolfgang: You’re not letting me down or disappointing me Tanya, just be still. Relax.
Tanya: (through body part. Very weakly.) I am… I am and I’m sorry. I should be stronger than this. I’m just really scared of open spaces and I’m sorry…
Wolfgang: (sighs) …You know you’re not special or weird because your scared of things. (Tanya let’s out a sigh.) …I used to be scared of stuff too. I was scared of the dark.
Tanya: (through body part.) This is different… I’m not a kid anymore.
Wolfgang: I wasn’t a kid either! Well, at least not a little kid. I was 16 and I was still really scared of the dark. I hated being outside at night time, or being in a room with no lights on. I even still slept with a nightlight. But… you can get over that stuff you know. Being afraid of things and stuff. I did, and you’re way braver than I am.
Tanya: (through body part) …How did you get over it?
Wolfgang: My grandfather helped me. I remember him coming to visit us once. He didn’t know that I was still afraid of the dark, but he passed by my bedroom one night when I was sleeping and saw that I had the nightlight on. And…uh… you know, he wasn’t a stupid guy. He understood why. He pieced together that it was because I was scared of the dark. But I guess he thought that wasn’t an acceptable thing to be afraid of at my age, so he walked in and turned the night light off. When he did it, I immediately woke up and I was all freaked out.
I asked him why he turned it off, and he responded that it was because I didn’t need it anymore. I then, very emphatically, told him that I did because I was scared. But he wouldn’t let me turn it back on. Instead he pulled a chair up to the side of my bed and told me something. He said that I didn’t ever need to be afraid of the dark because there was more to me than just a surface for light to reflect off of. He told me that the reason I was scared of the dark was because I felt like I would disappear if there wasn’t light present to let me know that I existed.
He then said that if I ever felt scared of the dark again, I just needed to repeat some words to remind myself that I was still real. He then had me repeat them after him. Let me see if I can tell them to you… they are… uh…. sorry, I have to translate them into English… but basically it goes something like:
You judge my existence on reflections
But you are wrong to think of my being as small enough to vanish in the crowd of dark
For I am a mind, and my thoughts are my shield and sword
And a powerful armament they make
Tanya: (through the body part. Calming down.) …That’s really nice…
Wolfgang: Yeah… I thought so too. So… now, whenever I’m feeling freaked out or overwhelmed. I just say that to myself and I don’t feel freaked out anymore.
Tanya: (through the body part.) ….Ok….
(silence for a moment).
Matti: (through body part) Anything Daytras?
Daytras: Not yet… it’s a tricky thing to figure out as you have nothing to really reference in terms of space and time in the dimension. If there was something else there I could probably solve this right now. A rock on the ground you could see or something perhaps.
Matti: (through body part) Well… there’s nothing like that anywhere around. Just white. And us three.
Daytras: I understand. I will continue to calculate trying to use your reference to each other as the consistent for right now. Just… don’t move.
Matti: (through body part) Got it…
(sound a clicking noise starts happening).
Wolfgang: Hey… what’s that?
Matti: (through body part) I don’t know. Some clicking noise. It just came out of nowhere.
Wolfgang: Great, I wonder what that means.
Matti: (through body part) It’s pretty annoying.
Tanya: (through body part) Great… now not only are we trapped here, but we are going to be getting annoyed to death by disembodied clicking noises.
Wolfgang: Hey, there we go! Making a joke. That’s the Tanya I know.
Tanya: (through the body part. Still worn out.) Ha… I have my moments.
Matti: (through body part) Any idea what the clicking may be Daytras?
Daytras: I have no idea. I would tell you to go investigate, however given your current situation, I would say just stay put. Continue to monitor the noise though. If we can discern where it’s coming from it may be helpful in my calculations.
Matti: (through body part) Ok…
(Sound fades out)
COMMERCIAL
(Sound fades in with the click still happening.)
Wolfgang: Jesus christ, it feels like I’m getting chinese water torture with that noise.
Matti: (through body part) Tell me about it…
Wolfgang: How are you holding up Tanya?
Tanya: (Through body part. Somewhat weakly.) I’m alright. Just keeping my eyes closed and my head down still. I actually don’t mind the noise so much. Its kind of helping me actually. It sort of reminds me that there is something out there.
Wolfgang: Ok. (silence for a moment). Hey… hell of an after-life huh?
Tanya: (through body part) Tell me about it. Definitely never thought that this is what it was going to be like.
Wolfgang: What did you think the after-life was going to be like?
Tanya: (through body part) …Uh… I guess… I don’t know what I thought. I never really thought about it. Well… at least not really.
Wolfgang: Wow, that surprises me.
Tanya: (through body part) Why?
Wolfgang: It just seems like most humans have some thought as to what happens to you after you die.
Tanya: (through body part) I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m not like most other humans, ha! But no, I guess I just never really thought about it. Like I said before, being alive was my whole thing. I was mostly just concerned with that, as opposed to being concerned with being dead. Religion was just something I never had. My family wasn’t religious, so we never learned about it. I don’t know. It just wasn’t a thing for me. Now that I’m here though, I suppose it may have been helpful for me to learn some things when I was alive, hahaha.
Wolfgang: Fascinating. It’s not even that your an atheist then. You just… have nothing.
Tanya: (through body part) Yeah… pretty much.
Wolfgang: Did you ever feel like you were missing something by not having a defined thing you believed in?
Tanya: (through body part) …No… not really. A lot of people asked me that when I was alive… but… I guess I just don’t believe it’s true that you need a belief system to feel complete. Since I never had one, I never knew it was something I was supposed to be feeling like I was missing. …A lot of people have a lot of beliefs on what is real or not. It’s just a game I refused to play in. How about you?
Wolfgang: Oh… I was a hardcore atheist. Being a man of science and all, it seemed like the mostly logical conclusion for all of this. …Guess I was wrong though. How about you Matti? I suppose you always believed in an after-life. But what did you think it would be like?
Matti: (through the body part) …A lot different…
Wolfgang: Yeah, but like how? I imagine you thought you would be going to heaven and everything when you died.
Matti: (through the body part) …Something like that…
Wolfgang: How about you Daytras? I know your a scientist, but did you ever believe in heaven and an afterlife?
Daytras: I don’t know if belief is the correct word. As you said, I am a scientist. I only believe in logic and evidence. However, based on what I’ve seen with the projects I have worked on, I always felt that there may be worlds beyond what I was able to perceive. I never thought of this as a religious belief though. I always felt it was very much scientifically based. I suppose you could say that I believed in an afterlife as long as it pleased the laws the physics.
As for heaven? I don’t suppose I ever believed in something quite as blatant and literal as that. However, I do believe in choices. Throughout the world I constantly see situations where people have the free will to make choices that will either lead their lives to a point of joy or a point of despair. The same is true for particles in physics. Particles either combine and create something substantially physical, or they never combine with other particles and just drift through space never being more than a single point in the universe. It always seemed to me to be so random as to which particles combined and which didn’t. Almost like an act of free will. I used to like to think that this ability to freely choose your own path would be no different when you died.
There are a lot of stories from people who have come close to death that have claimed to see a door of light open before them. The ones who came close to death but came back said that they were frightened by what may be through the door of light, so they ran away from it. My assumption on this then is that the people who came close to death and then did die, made the choice to actually walk through that door. Whether the door leads to something good or bad I don’t know. But I feel like it’s our choice at the end of our lives whether we are going to face up and walk through that door or to run away from it. …And that’s speaking from a strictly scientific perspective of course.
Matti: (through body part) Well, we saw no door of light when we died. Given what we’re experiencing, it sounds to me like that door of light probably just leads into some demon controlled dimension.
Daytras: Yes, well I suppose given what we now know, that thought of mine may need to be revised. Particularly in light of recent theories I have developed on the Hyper Nocturnal drive…
Wolfgang: The Hyper Nocturnal drive? How does that tie into thoughts on the afterlife?
Tanya: (through body part) Guys… the clicks. It’s a rhythm!
Wolfgang: What?
Tanya: (through body part) Listen! (sound of them listening to the click). Da da da da dah. Da da da da da dah. You hear that? It’s a click track! I was listening to it while you were talking. I recognized that the clicks were in a pattern. It’s like the rhythm part of a song.
Wolfgang: You’re right, It is! I hear it!
Matti: (through the body part) Yeah me too! So what does that mean then?
Tanya: Daytras, you said that the issue with this dimension was that time was all different?
Daytras: Yes I did. I see where you are going with this. Yes… Tanya, repeat what the rhythm is.
Tanya: (through the body part) Da da da da dah. Da da da da da dah.
Daytras: Ok, give me a moment.
Matti: (through the body part) What the hell are you two talking about?
Tanya: (through the body part) The issue with time in this dimension. It’s not that time is all messed up here. It’s that time happens in a tempo. We have to move to the tempo in order to get through the dimension. Wolfgang, when you took that one step and didn’t jump distance you must have inadvertently stepped within time to the tempo. It must be that when we step out of time, it causes the jumps to happen.
Wolfgang: I get it! But… how do we know that the clicks we are hearing are the correct tempo? We don’t know where the clicks are coming from after all. They could be coming from another demon or spirit trying to trick us.
Tanya: (through the body part) Well, it’s all we have to go on at this point. And it’s better than continuing to sit still. (Sound of Tanya standing up).
Daytras: Tanya, I have performed the calculations. If you are correct in that the clicks are demonstrating the tempo of the flow of time within the dimension, then I believe if you step in this pattern to the tempo, you will be able to avoid the unwanted jumps. The pattern is: Step forward, step to the right, step forward, step to the left, step forward.
Tanya: (through the body part) Ok, I’m going to try it. Here we go. (Waiting for the clicks to get into the right time. Saying it and stepping to the clicks). Forward, right, forward, left, forward. (stops stepping.) Hey! It worked! I didn’t jump!
Wolfgang: I’m going to try now. (Stepping) Forward, right, forward, left, forward. (stops stepping) Yes! Worked!
Matti: (through the body part) Ok, so we can move forward. But, we are still really far away from each other. It’s going to take forever to get back to a close vicinity to each other.
Daytras: Try adding an additional step left, step forward, step right at the end. See if that propels you significantly forward in the direction you are facing.
Matti: (through body part) Ok… Tanya, I’m heading towards you. (Stepping) Forward, right, forward, left, forward, left, forward, right. (stops stepping) Ah! I jumped, I’m right here!
Tanya: (through the body part) Yes! Wolfgang, Matti is standing right next to me now.
Wolfgang: Ok, I’m coming over too. (Stepping) Forward, right, forward, left, forward, left, forward, right. (Stops stepping) Ah! Hello! I made it!
Tanya: Yes! It worked! Daytras, we are all standing next to each other again.
Daytras: Excellent.
Wolfgang: So now that we know how to traverse through this dimension, we need to find an exit.
Tanya: Daytras, any idea where a door might be.
Daytras: I’m sorry, I do not. Can you tell what direction the clicks are coming from? Perhaps head in that direction.
Wolfgang: You sure that’s a good idea?
Tanya: Like I said before, it’s not like we have any other leads here. Hmmmmm. It sound to me like… the clicks are coming from over there.
Matti: Yeah, I would agree.
Tanya: Alright, everyone walking together now. 1, 2, 3.
All: (stepping) Forward, right, forward, left, forward, left, forward, right.
Wolfgang: Ok, I think we may have jumped ahead again. It’s a little hard to tell though because everything is still all white.
Tanya: I think you are right that we did though. The clicks are louder now. Come on, do it again.
All: (stepping) Forward, right, forward, left, forward, left, forward, right.
Wolfgang: It’s even louder now. Keep doing it!
All: (stepping) Forward, right, forward, left, forward, left, forward, right.
Tanya: Look! I see something now! In the near distance. It looks like another black hole, like the one we crawled through to get here in the first place!
All: (stepping) Forward, right, forward, left, forward, left, forward, right.
Wolfgang: We’re here! Come on, crawl through. Tanya you go first.
Tanya: You’re damn right I’m going first! (Sound of her crawling through).
Wolfgang: Ok, I’m heading in too. (Sound of him crawling through).
Matti: Right behind you! (Sound of him crawling through).
(Sound of them crawling fades out in the distance. Sound of the clicks continues for a moment. Suddenly the clicks stop.)
Spirit: (laughing) Hahahaha. Excellent. They followed my rhythm to exactly where I wanted them to go. I have completed what my master has requested. He will be most pleased.
(Musical interlude. Sound of them crawling out of the other side of the hole).
Tanya: (crawling out). Gah! Out! Thank god! Oh jesus thank god! The click track lead us out of that dimension. And they told me that going to music school was never going to get me anywhere in life.
Wolfgang: (crawling out) No more white, no more white.
Matti: (crawling out) I’m out to.
Tanya: (Sound of her taking a step) Ok… I just took a step and nothing happened. No weird jumping distances. I think we are ok… at least on a space time level.
Daytras: Have you returned to the central dimension?
Tanya: Umm… No… No, we’re somewhere else.
Daytras: What do you see?
Wolfgang: It’s nighttime here. And rocky. We are on some kind of black volcanic rock pathway. It’s stretching out in front of us. The sky is all starry and there are a few planets very close by to… whatever we are standing on. You can see them very clearly in the sky, they’re huge. One is purple with a ring around it. That one is the closest. One is blue and is a little farther back and to the far left of the purple planet. There is also a red planet which is a ways off but still very visible. On the landscape we are standing on, there is what looks like a flowing volcano to the right of us far off in the distance. To the left of us is a sharp drop off. Like a big ledge. I’m going to go see what’s over the edge of the ledge. (Sound of him walking over to the ledge and stopping walking) Whoa!
Tanya: What? What is it? (Sound of her walking over. Stops walking.) Oh jesus christ! Walking away, not looking at that (Sound of her walking away shuttering).
Matti: What is it? (Sound of him walking over. Stops walking.) …Wow…
Daytras: Are you going to tell me what you are seeing or are you going to continue making vague noises?
Matti: It’s a … uh…. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s enormous though. Even I’m getting a dizzy feeling just looking at the sheer size of it…
Wolfgang: It’s some kind of a mass. It’s black, but there is what looks like dark purple popping in here and there. It’s waving too. Like a blanket slowly rolling in the wind. But it’s huge. Its… yeah… it’s really big. Really really big. I’m getting freaked out looking at it too. It’s just like… everything. This ledge is huge and drops way way down. And this waving black mass is there at the bottom. But it stretches out. It starts at the edge of the ledge, and it then stretches out in every direction and straight ahead. It just stretches out until it connects to the horizon.
Tanya: What is it?
Humbaba: (weak) It is the Black Curtain.
Tanya: Huh? (sound of her turning around)
Wolfgang: What? Who said that? (sound of him and Matti turning around too).
Tanya: …Oh jeez…
Humbaba: What you are witnessing is the Black Curtain. The great singularity. The point beyond the body and dimensions of the Great Beast.
Daytras: What is going on?
Matti: …It’s Humbaba. He’s here. He’s laying on the ground near us on the ledge…
(Sound fades out)
CREDITS/COMMERCIAL/OUTRO