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The Apparatus is an item that appears in the audio-fiction series, The Sounds of Nightmares. It is a machine invented by the Counsellor to connect himself to the Nowhere.
Background
After Noone's retellings of her nightmares, the Counsellor concluded that his professor's theories of another dimension to be true. Furthermore, he believed that his long-lost sister Cici to be there. In order to access this world, the Counsellor invented the Apparatus. His ultimate goal was to use it to find and speak to the Ferryman.
Function
In order for the Apparatus to function, it first needs a "gateway" to unlock the Nowhere, someone's mind. He determined that he should use Noone's mind as the gateway, as he discovered a tumor growing on her brain, which he believed to have some sort of connection. The Counsellor described that the machine requires for the person who's brain is being accessed to be asleep. Once asleep, the machine detects neurological data waves that are ran through a computer interface. Once the neurosignals are accessed, the machine broadcasts the mind's display onto its screen.
This machine can also be used to connect two individuals dreams. This is done by connecting the machine to two individuals and aligning their brainwaves. These two individuals are connected using "resonator caps", which Noone described as "metal spiderwebs." Once connected, electrical pulses are transmitted to each of their brains via the machine's interface. Before one user is able to connect themselves to the other's dream, they must first wait for them to approach the Threshold. Once they do, they must harmonize their frequencies and then fall asleep.
The Sounds of Nightmares
The Theater of the Mind
While talking to himself, the Counsellor can be heard tinkering on the Apparatus at the beginning of the chapter. At one point, it shocks him. Noone walks into the room and interrupts the machines construction, asking the Counsellor what he was working on.
A Deluge of the Inevitable
Although not fully functional, the Counsellor decided to test out the machine on Noone the night following their latest meeting. After entering her room and connecting it to her brain, he was able to successfully use the machine to display Noone's dream. However; shortly after seeing a bright ovular figure, an eye, appear on screen, the machine exploded.
The Lonely Way
At the beginning of the chapter, the Counsellor begins work on repairing it, determining that it is almost fully functional. He relents that despite his best efforts, he was unable to fix its monitor. He details installing "feedback resistors" in order to obtain signal fidelity, hoping it will keep away the ovular figure he saw previously that caused the apparatus to explode.
While meeting with Noone, he informed her that he wanted to use the machine to see through her and into the Nowhere. He details its function and how he will be able to use it to enter her dreams. He later connected the machine to both of their minds with its resonator caps, and asked Noone to begin describing her dream.
Trivia
- The Counsellor is able to operate the machine's functions via a keyboard which he was heard using while Noone approached the Threshold.
- Although the machine was unsuccessful in connecting the Counsellor to the Nowhere, it did allow him to form a connection between his world and the Threshold, allowing him to see into the Threshold through the monitor's screen and later hear some of what the Ferryman was saying.
- It is unknown if the failure of transporting his mind to the Nowhere was the fault of the machine or of the Counsellor's inability to fall asleep.
- While the Apparatus allowed Otto to see and feel the presence of beings from within the Threshold, it had in turn allowed beings such as the eye from within the Threshold, to peer through the screen of the monitor and stare back at him, noticing his presence.