[Click, Otto presses record. The tape rolls]
[Thunderstorm in the background]
OTTO: The guardian at the threshold-an archetype that parapsychologists have obsessed over for centuries. A mythic entity who’s appeared in the stories of innumerable cultures. No matter their description, his role is always the same: to confront anyone who dares cross into unseen worlds.
OTTO: In our last session, he spoke to her, or– through her. Even when I listen to the tape I can’t be certain what I’m hearing. Still, I’ve repeated his words like a sickness ever since. It went like this:
[Shifting]
OTTO: “Cross the sill. Sink in a twinkling. Cast aside the old sleep. To sleep again anew.”
[Otto puts the paper down]
OTTO: The Candleman. The Ferryman. Indeed, the Guardian at the Threshold. An eidolon on the inside, determined to [Hitting the table] keep. Me. Out....
[Click, tape rewinding]
[Intro plays]
[Click. Sound of the tape rolling.]
[Shifting. Electric humming. Keyboard typing sounds. Sound of Otto tinkering with a machine]
OTTO: Noone was right after all...
[Slow beeping starts]
OTTO: I noticed something off while reviewing the E.E.G, and reluctantly, sent her up to radiology. At first, I doubted the validity of the results, but the technician assured, curtly, that Noone’s scan undeniably shows… a pea-sized tumor, on the right-sided amygdala.
[Clatter, machine humming continues]
OTTO: They maintain it’s benign.
[Click, more humming]
OTTO: Despite the unusual ocular appearance.
[Sounds of Otto tinkering with the machine. Its buzz shifting in pitch.]
OTTO: This calls everything into question. The masse’s location could impact fear-response, emotional salience, and damningly, dreams. And yet… I cannot deny all the evidence to the contrary.
[Lower click, Otto stops building]
OTTO: I’ve… pondered the ethics of informing Noone. She’s already so scared of her body that it would only send her spiraling. I can’t risk anything jeopardizing a revelation that might lead to Cici.
[Shift]
OTTO: From here on, anyone listening will think me mad. But, the proof is in the pudding. Noone’s… vanishings, her transpersonal states, they’re undeniable evidence of a realm- beyond our senses. It’s always been on the periphery, but now I know… it’s accessible. And she possesses the means to enter that domain.
[Papers rustling on the desk]
OTTO: My professor’s paper posits thus, “There are two requisites for entering the Quiddity of Consciousness. First, a gateway; places hidden amid our world. Second, a means to open these doors. And I assert that keys are primarily cut out of fear.”
[Otto places the paper down and lifts the device he was building. Humming becomes more clear. Otto sighs.]
OTTO: Either I lack his erudition, or his mania. My only hope lies in completing my labors...
[Otto Sighs. Shifting on desk]
OTTO: I’ve not slept in weeks.
[Otto lets out another sigh]
OTTO: And if I cannot dream as she does, I’ll never know how to enter this… Nowhere.
[Click, tape stops.]
[Sound of tape starting again.]
[Thunder in the background]
OTTO: [in the background] An ugly autumn night in isn’t it, Noone? "Swirling mist," they called it on the broadcast. A weather phenomenon unique to the Counties. The downpour’s not far off...
OTTO: But- a gift, may brighten the mood.
[Otto gets closer to the recorder]
OTTO: Here.
[Otto slides something over to Noone]
NOONE: O-oh. It’s nearly the same. Red too.
OTTO: A chrysanthemum, like your parents left you all those weeks ago. An apology, a- a reminder, that I remain as committed to you as I did then.
NOONE: Pretty.
OTTO: It’s a perennial. So it’ll blossom year after year. Just like you.
[Shifting as they both sit down]
NOONE: I think, I’m ready now. To talk about… m-my Mum and Dad.
OTTO: (surprised) Oh, and why now? What’s changed?
NOONE: Because… I feel like I’m beginning to forget. And maybe talking will help me remember.
OTTO: Because you’ve been away so long, or you literally feel you’re losing your memory?
NOONE: Um… more like I’m losing a part of me. I can’t tell; am I the girl here? Or the one there?
OTTO: (slightly amused) They’re one in the same. Given all you’ve told me, they must be. It’s not you that’s different, but the physical space around that that-
NOONE: I said, I want to talk about my mum and dad! When most kids have nightmares, or whatever these are, they go to their parents to feel better. Here, I relive them again and again. And it’s all you want to talk about. Because you think you can find Cici... through me!
OTTO: Noone... The only way to find answers is to discover where you go when you sleep. Talking about your parents would be wasting the hours!
NOONE: Aren’t these sessions supposed to be about me?!
OTTO: Always.
NOONE: But I have no say. No control. Over how I feel, or what I do. I don’t even belong to myself!
[Pause]
NOONE: (sighs) I’ll do as you ask, but promise me. (sad tone) No wires hooked into my head. No machines. Not tonight...
OTTO: No machines. Promise.
[Sound of Otto getting up from seat]
OTTO: I think you’ll enjoy what I’ve got planned.
[Audio cuts, tape stops.]
[ Sound of tape starting again.]
[Door opens]
OTTO: This bed was for shiftwork. Now I sleep here more days than not.
NOONE: Oh. Pretty.
[Door closes]
[Steps on carpet, recorder set down]
OTTO: I’d like to try a sort of role reversal.
[Sound of bed creaking as Otto sits on the bed]
OTTO: I’ll lie here, blindfolded, depriving my senses, to enter a self-induced hypnogogia, so I can focus on your words. You’ll recount your latest visit, and I want you to try, as hard as you can, to project your dream into my head.
NOONE: I don’t think it can work, but… I’ll try.
[Bed creaks, shifting as Otto lays down]
NOONE: That girl. In the photo there. That’s her? Your daughter?
OTTO: My sister.
NOONE: Oh. You don’t look much alike.
[Otto getting prepared]
OTTO: [Exhale] -II’m-I’m settled. Blindfold on… Carry me away with you, Noone.
NOONE, narrating: …I couldn’t see anything-
OTTO: S-Slow down. This is vital. Speak, as if you’re trying to pull me in.
NOONE: …
NOONE, narrating: I floated through a darkness with nothing at my feet. Then it all faded and... I was somewhere new...
NOONE: An underground brick tunnel, with a stream of… thick sludge passing through a canal at its center.
NOONE: I can still hear it. Jangling keys. [
Dream ambience starts]
NOONE: Screaking metal. Do you hear, Otto?
OTTO: I… I can’t. But keep trying.
NOONE: It came from… a kid in the distance, struggling to shut a grand-iron door. The last thing I heard before the slamming shut was… laughter.
[Echoes of laughter, faint slam of iron door]
[Running water]
NOONE: Sludge poured in from the pipes that ran along the tunnel walls. I had no choice but to follow the stream and, so I did until I reached a section where I saw storm drains above.
[Distant kids chatting]
[Dripping water. Sound of kids chattering increases]
NOONE: Looking up through one, I saw a boy’s dirty boots, and orange light shining from a lantern on his waist. We locked eyes and he called out, “Look! Critters already!”
[BOY, overlapping with NOONE: Look! Critters already!]
[Sound of various kids laughing]
NOONE: Lights then shone down from… every drain above. Other boys and girls wanting to peek at me.
[Children laughing, Dream Noone quietly starting to breathe hard]
NOONE: Very suddenly.
[Kids laughter dies down]
NOONE: They went quiet.
[Kids start whispering]
NOONE: I didn’t know why, until… I heard it. A rumbling through the tunnels.
[Various kids whispering: It’s here! It’s finally here!]
NOONE: They whispered together. “It’s here! Finally here!”
[Noone pauses narration. Sounds of thunderstorm rumbling in the distance]
NOONE: Do you feel what I felt, Otto?
OTTO: They’d… been waiting. For you.
NOONE: …Not exactly. Their joy, their bratty excitement. They’d- gathered for an event and it had finally come. like a holiday that only arrives once per year.
NOONE, continues narrating: Running from their celebration, I turned down a tunnel, going until I came to a junction.
[Wet footsteps]
NOONE: Overwhelmed by how many options surrounded me, I closed my eyes, listening...
[Running water. Sounds of footsteps splashing through water grow louder. With them is the eerie pulsing tone of an old metal detector]]
NOONE: The sound… came from the path to my left.
[Faint sound of electronic buzzing of metal detector growing louder]
NOONE: I waited, watching from a distance, as someone crossed by the dark tunnel mouth.
[Electronic squeaking]
NOONE: He carried… a strange gadget. And every now and again, its buzz, turned to some beeping, detecting secrets in the waters.
[Metal detector squeaking]
NOONE: I hardly noticed the rest of him. But, I got a look before he crossed out of view. He carried a heavy sack, over his shoulder, and things squirmed inside. But, he was gone as quick as he’d appeared!
[Metal detector gets quieter. Sound of Dream Noone’s wet steps]
NOONE: The sludge was… rising quickly.
[Dream Noone: Ugh!]
NOONE: Up to my ankles. And the stink became so awful, Otto! I-Imagine it, waste filling your nose.
[Wet steps continue]
NOONE: Then, across from me, a small pipe became blocked, stopping the sewage. A grey mass poked through.
[Sound of Nome chittering]
NOONE: Jammed in tight, wiggling to get loose. But… not until it fell into the sludge, did I realize this… tiny… thing… was alive!
[Plop]
[Nome chittering]
NOONE: It picked itself up, and swayed about, curious of my company.
[Wet steps combined with Nome sounds.]
NOONE: The head was… was shaped like- those cone mushrooms that grow out in Hatefield. I inched closer to the little mushroom fairy, and… it began mimicking me! As if we’d been old friends!
OTTO: (distant) A friendly presence… The first non-hostile being you’ve met that wasn’t another child.
NOONE: Yes. He belonged there. In that world. Part of it rather than… a stranger, like me.
NOONE: Is… is it working, Otto? Can you see its little mushroom head?
OTTO: I think so. Maybe. Keep going.
NOONE: [mimicking a deep voice] Yes. Drift away, Otto. Drift away…
[Sound of sewer noises returning. Footsteps in the water. Nome sounds. And rattling above]
NOONE: A crooked net lowered down from a drain grate above. While I ducked to cover, the mushroom fairy didn’t. I tried to point upward but, it simply copied my gesture! There was a girl.
[Little girl giggling]
NOONE: Giggling with- ugly delight, sticking her whole arm through the grate, hoping to capture the poor thing! So I grabbed a loose brick.
[Lifting brick]
NOONE: And threw it at her!
[Dream Noone: Hup!]
[Girl wailing in pain]
NOONE: Hitting her arm, she cried out while I picked up the mushroom fairy, and ran off.
[Dream Noone panting, running in the sewer]
NOONE: After we were well clear, I put the creature down.
[Nome chatters]
NOONE: It immediately walked off! Then looked back, suggesting I follow.
[Walking sounds]
NOONE: That little body clicked, jittery and… ungraceful. Somehow, the thing seemed to know where it was taking me, stopping only once we came to a rusty door, leading to a maintenance room.
[Sound of a creaking metal door opening]
NOONE: Entering though, I discovered something else entirely.
[Creaking door opening fully. Dream Noone gasps and whispers: Wow]
NOONE: Endless piles spread about the room. Some of pure junk while… others housed gold jewelry! As long as it could be collected, there was a place for it here.
[Dream Noone walking through the room]
NOONE: Mesmerizing.
[Sound of Dream Noone's footsteps]
NOONE: Only after examining a mound of keys did I understand, where this stuff came from.
[Keys jingling]
NOONE: Everything in this room, had been dropped down from the world above over the years.
[Sound of Dream Noone setting keys down]
NOONE: The only thing out of place, was a child’s propeller cap on a chair, tucked away, forgotten.
[Nome chitters]
NOONE: I think that’s what the mushroom fairy wanted me to see.
[Nome perks up]
NOONE: As if on queue, I heard the man approaching. The little creature hid in a pile of mismatched mittens, and I jammed my way in too.
[Dream Noone Running. Sound of Fabric shuffling. Metal door opens and electric buzzing + squeaking from metal detector starts]
NOONE: I peered out, as he stepped through the door and began dumping out his… pockets.
[Sound of all sorts of items, metallic and not, clattering on the ground]
NOONE: Coins, rings, trinkets…
[Clattering stops]
[Sound of rubber suit rustling]
NOONE: Next, he took off his plastic suit, covered in gunk. Beneath, was a bony body, his spine bent horribly. What I thought had been a sack carried over his shoulder… was the back of his head, like a balloon full of water, throbbing and- swollen.
[Sound of man rummaging through various items]
NOONE: But I could tell he was not always that way. He’d changed... somehow become one… with the sewers.
OTTO: (more distant) I don’t understand. You believe this place transformed him?
NOONE: Aren’t you meant to be drifting into hypergocklia, or whatever? Seeing, smelling, hearing as I did?
OTTO: I can’t seem… to let go. I want to, more than anything I--
NOONE: [Imitating Otto] Try! That’s what you always tell me. If I’m trying my hardest, you have to as well.
[Sound of Balloon-headed man continuing to rummage through various items]
[Nome chitters]
NOONE, narrating: From the corner of my eye, I noticed the little cone sneaking away. The balloon-headed man was inches away, and in that moment, I thought of Jester. of the Child with Gooey Hair, of Rusty. I couldn’t do nothing, not again!
NOONE: Thankfully, that rumbling from earlier returned in that moment, stronger than before!
[Sounds of rumble. Various piles of items crash to the floor]
[ Balloon-headed man notices piles falling and panics]
NOONE: The shaking destroyed the man’s piles, startling him into… an odd anger. So, I stumbled out from hiding, and bolted for my mushroom fairy, and out the door!
[Dream Noone Running]
[Nome sounds]
[Metal door creaking. Sound of balloon-headed man yelling as he notices Dream Noone exiting]
[Dream Noone running and panting]
NOONE: I ran and ran, and-and though the man, he wasn’t very fast, that didn’t matter.
[Buzzing & squeaking]
NOONE: He had his gadget, and that buzz followed wherever I went!
[Dream Noone wading through water]
NOONE: Any sense of direction washed away with the sludge that was now up to my knees!
[Dream Noone running and panting. Sound of sewer waters wading]
NOONE: Turning down tunnel after tunnel, I stopped, hoping I’d lost him.
[Ambience calms down. Distant squeaking and beeping from metal detector]
[clicks]
NOONE: All at once, those lanterns shone from above. The naughty kids had spotted us! Wildly they sang, “Snatch a gift! Snatch a gift! Before they’re all sent adrift!”
[Numerous kids singing simultaneously: Snatch a gift! Snatch a gift! Before they’re all sent adrift!]
[Kids continue singing and start clapping along, ambience picks up]
NOONE: Their cheers grew and...and I saw why.
[Squeak sound. Dream Noone gasps]
[Electric buzzing, beeping and squeaking]
NOONE: A bag-headed shadow appeared at the tunnel’s far end, cutting me off. The man and his machine used the tunnels as if- as if the sewers had leaked into his thoughts!
[Sound of Dream Noone running again. Sound of sloshing water]
NOONE: I tried to backtrack, but must have taken a wrong turn and found myself at a dead end, a wall of bricks!
[Nome struggles]
NOONE: The mushroom fairy squirmed hard, begging to be freed! So… [plop] I let go, and the grey cone climbed up a pile of fallen rubble and slipped through a crack without hesitation to abandon me, (Saddened) despite saving its life.
[Sound of water leaking]
NOONE: The crack the fairy squeezed through began spouting water from the other side.
[Squeaking and buzzing start up again]
NOONE: I pulled at the bricks as the man stepped closer.
[Sewer Man approaching. Bricks shifting as Dream Noone rushes to move them]
NOONE: One brick loose. Then another. His gadget buzzed and buzzed, when I ripped a final brick loose, leaving a hole large enough to creep through.
[Sewer Man yells and hits the wall, buzzing and squeaking continue]
NOONE: He bated at the wall, grabbing at me, but I was too far gone. His small milky eye peeked through at me, until the walls rumbled, more fiercely than ever! The man backed away, overcome with horror.
[Sewer Man yells in horror. Naughty kids cheers continue in the background]
[Sound of walls rumbling]
NOONE: The rumbling didn’t stop after that. And neither did the kids cheering from above.
[Ambience rising. Sound of water rushing]
NOONE: Whatever they had waited for…
[All ambience stops]
NOONE: It was time.
[Wind/thunder in the background, back in the office]
[Sound of Otto breathing]
NOONE: Otto? you’re awake?
[Otto startled]
OTTO: Yes, Noone. I’m trying, so hard, to see, to feel, to sense what you did, but I can’t... I don’t have the gift you have, and your gifts are not as commanding as I'd hoped they’d-
NOONE: (Upset/frustrated) I’d trade places with you, in a heartbeat! I wish I could give you everything in my head. Then I’d be rid of all of this.
[Silent pause. Storm rumbling in the background.]
NOONE: Shall I go on?
OTTO: Yes...
NOONE, narrating: …It felt as if someone had picked up the sewer, shaking it with rage. Water crashed against the walls. I stumbled on and on, the tunnel growing wider and wider… A second smaller sound appeared.
[Distant Nome chitters]
NOONE: Clicks and murmurs.
[Nomes getting louder]
[Numerous Nomes running through sewer]
NOONE: Then, out of the darkness ahead, they appeared, scurrying so fast I couldn’t react! A hundred little mushroom fairies, rushing past me in a panic, escaping something close behind!
[Naughty kids singing in the distant: Snatch a gift! Snatch a gift! Before they’re all sent adrift! ]
[Sounds of Nomes fleeing in fear]
NOONE: It wasn’t long before that something came.
[Rushing water. Naughty kids cheering]
[Dream Noone gasps. Sound of Dream Noone fleeing in fear]
NOONE: Speeding like a pack of horses tangled together, a tidal wave pounded through the sewer!
[Dream Noone yelps, wave approaches]
NOONE: The wave was feet away when....I finally understood.
[Sound of wave crashing. Ambience pauses, minus the kids cheering]
NOONE: For the kids above, this was a blast. They waited and waited, unable to experience the wave’s power themselves, and that made them love it all the more. Snatching things that ran from its path was part of their awful celebration.
[Sound of the wave crashing again.]
NOONE: The violent wave hit, sweeping me away, carrying me back through the maze of tunnels! I swam up and up, doing my best to surface, and just as I did.
[Splash, music suddenly calms. Dream Noone gasping for air as she reaches the surface of the water]
NOONE: The waves paused. My body no longer needed to swim. And the Candleman appeared, floating… on some kind of… broken door.
OTTO: (distant, serious) Go through your encounter diligently. He holds the answers I-- we need. Make no mistake, he is your tormentor.
NOONE: (Angrily) I‘m not sure that’s true.
NOONE, narrating: This time, I was able to speak in his presence, "Why do you bring me here? What do you want?!"
[Dream Noone, overlapping with Noone: Why do you bring me here? What do you want?!]
NOONE: He replied, “Cross the sill. Sink in a twinkling. Cast aside the old sleep. To sleep again anew.”
[Ferryman, overlapping with NOONE: Cross the sill. Sink in a twinkling. Cast aside the old sleep. To sleep again anew.]
NOONE: I yelled back, “Why?! Why should I?!!”
[Dream Noone: Why?! Why should I?!!]
NOONE: Before I finished, he said, “Blight. Not within, but without. Here, all banes be set free.”
[Ferryman: Blight. Not within, but without. Here, all banes be set free.]
OTTO: More riddles. He doesn’t think I can solve them, but I will!
NOONE: I already did. I think… he means by giving myself to his world, I won’t be ill any longer. That’s why… when I’m there, no more headaches. No more parasites. No more tests.
OTTO: That’s not true, it’s not!
NOONE: [interrupting] I would almost prefer him to take me.
OTTO: [Standing up] Don’t say that!
NOONE: Away from here. From you–
OTTO: It’s what he wants!
NOONE: Maybe!
OTTO: He wants you!
NOONE: (yelling) Maybe your Cici felt that way too! Relieved!
OTTO: [Angry shock. Sound of him huffing]
[Otto walking to door. Sound of door opening]
OTTO: (whispering) No… (mumbling) I was only a boy…
[Sound of door squeaking as it closes.]
[The tape cuts abruptly]
[Click. Sound of the tape going fast forward. Click. Recording resumes.]
[Storm continues rumbling in the background, wind picks up in the background]
[Papers shifting. Single clink from glass jar. Sound of squeaking door opens as Otto enters the room.]
OTTO: (upset) We’re done tonight. Get out. To your room, go.
[Papers rustling. Noone raises paper towards Otto]
NOONE: (upset, accusatory) What’s this?
OTTO: Nosing through my desk, were you?
NOONE: My name’s on it. It’s my scan, yes?
OTTO: Smart girl.
NOONE: Wh… what does it tell?
OTTO: That you’ve got a mass. Growing on your brain. A tumor.
NOONE: ... I knew it... The cure. …How bad is-
OTTO: A mass in your brain is never good.
[Faint thunder in background]
NOONE: (about to cry) You should have told me. Why? Why didn’t you tell me?
OTTO: It’s not my practice to tell before necessary. Now, get. To. Bed.
NOONE: …Fine. [Sniff]
[Storm continues]
NOONE, narrating: But after the Candleman spoke, the wave carried me by the maintenance room again. The Bag-Headed Man looked through a window, terrified. He was– opposite to those kids above. Living down there, he– he’d no reason to celebrate the wave. Instead… he cherished what they dropped down by accident.
NOONE: You see… each wanted what the other had. But could never have themselves.
[Sound of storm raging outside]
NOONE: I’m taking two sweets tonight.
[Glass chime from lid of candy jar being lifted. Sound of candy wrappers rustling]
OTTO: Take as many as you want and leave.
[Sound of glass lid being angrily places back onto candy jar]
[Audio cuts, tape stops]
[Audio starts, tape resumes]
[Sound of the storm growing intensely]
OTTO: [Sigh]...
OTTO: Perhaps I was cruel to tell her. But as she sleeps, I’ve been pondering the entry requisites specified by my professor. I believe he was only partly right. One need only to look at the theater of agony that the Ferryman’s created to understand fear, is an essential requirement.
[Threatening ambience starts]
OTTO: (menacingly) And I know better than anyone, a little fear can compel us towards discovery.
OTTO: As for the gateway’s location, perhaps it’s not a place hidden in our world, but in our minds. Is it not possible that her tumor is somehow this unknown gateway? An organ of transcendence.
[Sound of high pitched interference]
OTTO: The apparatus may be unfinished, but its oneirography monitor is functional. If she’s to cross over, in a “twinkling”, what choice do I have? In her words, "You must try."
[Click, audio cuts, tape stops.]
[Audio starts, recording resumes. Sound of apparatus running, Otto typing something.]
OTTO: She hardly stirred at all while I pathed the BCI.
[Sounds of Otto manipulating the machine. Otto stops typing. Boop sound. Machine whirrs, continuous beeping and buzzing.]
OTTO: All seems stable. As soon as her dreaming begins, the monitor should translate neural signals into visualizations.
NOONE: (half-asleep) Otto…
OTTO: Shhh, shsh…
NOONE: [Mumbling, starting to become distressed]...What's...You...promised me...
OTTO: Shhh. Return to that sleep of yours.
[Audio cuts]
[Audio starts. Machine is still buzzing and beeping. Sound of storm continuing in the background]
OTTO: It’s past midnight. She fought as long as she could, but finally succumbed. This is it. Show me, Noone. Show me the other side.
[Noone mumbles. Monitor screen turns on]
OTTO: Here we are... The image… a… kaleidoscope of black…
[Noone winces]
OTTO: An unnatural abyss…
[Noone winces repeatedly]
[High pitch sound]
OTTO: Wait...a shape. It’s difficult to see…
[Noone winces]
OTTO: Like looking through a negative mist.
[Noone continues making noises of distress. Otto spots something on monitor's screen]
[Sounds of electrical crackles. Binaural hums go in and out of tune.]
OTTO: There! A silhouette! Ovular...splitting across the center–
[Sound of static rising, getting louder. Otto yells in pain as an intense bright light fills the room from the monitor's screen.]
[Echoes reverberates in the room. Machine rapidly beeps. Ambience is loud. Noone groans in distress]
OTTO: [Strained] Aagh!! It– it glares like the sun–-a [choking] No! A--a pupil...made of light! Ohh god...it’s– it’s watching me! It’s... watching me!
[Noone nearly yells in her sleep]
[Otto whimpers in pain. High pitched sound of interference grows more and more intense. The monitor void grows louder and with it, all the machinery surges. A crescendo until the monitor bursts. All that's left are Otto's breathing and the dying storm...]
OTTO: (very muffled) [Breathing heavily] Noone...? [Gasp] Noone!
[Crashing. Audio cuts, tape stops.]
[Outro plays]