[Tape clicks]
[Otto presses record. The tape rolls]
[Sound of Otto breathing heavily]
[Click. A piece of the recording from the recent session plays. Otto: Oh, if only I could sink, sink lower and lower....(distorted) all the way down. Until I wake up again.
[Tape clicks. Sound of tape rewinding.]
[Intro plays]
[Sounds of machine buzzing. Sound of Otto using tools to fix machine.]
OTTO: ( Deep sigh*) I repaired what I could of the apparatus and though the monitor remains broken, I dare say, it’s as close to completion as it will get. I installed feedback resistors to maintain signal fidelity between host and guest. Though who knows if it can hold off that leering horror from the other side. However, the most critical component is the least reliable: The oneiric medium to carry the frequency-Noone.
[Sounds of the Dream Apparatus starting up]
OTTO: Two nights prior, I feared she was lost permanently. Another transposition, which lasted longer than any previous episode. Only as the sun rose, did her body return, manifesting in the South Wing Courtyard. Ever since, Noone’s been confined to her room under continuous observation.
[Click. Apparatus quiets down.]
OTTO: He must have let her go. Why?
[Click]
OTTO: Ha. To toy with me, so that I might feel powerless.
[Otto Sighs, gasps and quickly turns around]
OTTO: "The Zahir’s Gaze". The moonlight hits the painting, recalling our first session...
[Taps fingers on desk]
OTTO: Yes…
[Loudly taps fingers on desk]
OTTO: The image is clearer than ever. She will be my astrolabe, my guiding instrument to locate distant shores across an ethereal ocean. If I cannot get to the Ferryman, she will bring him to me.
[Excitedly taps fingers on desk]
[Audio cuts, tape stops]
[Sound of tape starting again. Footsteps]
OTTO: Take your leave, with my thanks.
[Sound of another persons steps receding]
[Keys jingling, sound of Otto unlocking and opening a door]
NOONE: Now what? Oh. It’s you.
OTTO: How are we this evening?
NOONE: ...
OTTO: That’s a first. You’ve got nothing to say?
NOONE: Don’t feel like talking.
OTTO: To anyone, or to me?
NOONE: Do you see anyone else?!
OTTO: That’s your prerogative. Nonetheless, I came to listen.
NOONE: No, you never really listen! ... No flower or cake this time? To buy me over?
[Sound of the bed creaking as Otto sits beside Noone]
OTTO: I shouldn’t have told you--
NOONE: You don’t believe that. I know your lies well enough by now... Mum once said that keeping the truth from others can’t change it.
OTTO: Even if it spares unnecessary pain? The growth is likely benign, harmless-
NOONE: No! No! Not knowing hurt me more! I didn’t know a tumor was growing in my brain, but I felt it this whole time. You’re fibbing again! It’s not "benign" at all, is it?
OTTO: I don’t know. What I do know is that the body often knows something’s wrong before the mind. The key is learning how to tune into its station. To listen.
NOONE: That’s your specialty, Counsellor.
OTTO: And now is the time to open our eyes and ears to your body. The time to let me in.
NOONE: I’m rather done with machines. With tests. And with you.
OTTO: It will work, this apparatus. Finishing it has stretched the bounds of my knowledge. Which I vowed from day one. It holds the capacity to connect our brains so that I may see through you into the Nowhere! I can help you like I’ve always promised, but only if I can speak to the Ferryman!
NOONE: Who?
OTTO: The Candleman.
NOONE: No, you said "Ferryman". Why did you call him "Ferryman"?
OTTO: ...
NOONE: Ha. That’s what she called him, isn’t it? Cici? She saw him too...
OTTO: That’s why he’s the only one who can help me understand-
NOONE: Understand what?!
OTTO: Everything!
NOONE: I’ve been poked at, studied, talked at, and hooked up to medical machines and for what?! For-
[NOONE groans in pain]
NOONE: My head! A fire burns in there! And I want to sleep, but I’m afraid at the same time, and that nurse is always interrupting!
OTTO: My machine requires you to be asleep, Noone! The dormant brain generates theta waves, patterns, which the device uses to align neural pathways through a computer interface. Once our brainwaves are tuned,.. well, do you remember when we considered mutual-dreaming? This facilitates that experience!
NOONE: I don’t understand anything you just said!
OTTO: We can face your monsters together!
[Silence]
NOONE: This machine, it means I get to sleep?
OTTO: (menacing tone) Deeper than ever before.
[Audio cuts, tape stops.]
[Sound of the tape starting again]
[Sound of equipment being moved around]
NOONE: Metal spiderwebs.
OTTO: What? Oh. These are resonator caps. One for each of us. The mesh of filaments transmit electrical pulses between our brains, via the interface. Non-invasive, harmless. I’ll put mine on first to show you.
[Sound of apparatus humming louder]
NOONE: I’ve changed my mind. I want to go-
OTTO: There’s no going back. Some sweets, to put yourself at ease. Take them.
NOONE: Three? I don’t want any. My stomach feels so ill.
OTTO: Take them!
NOONE: (sighs)...Alright.
[Wrappers crinkling]
OTTO: As you drift off, let’s start as we always have. Where did you travel the other night, last time you slept?
[Sound of Noone unwrapping then eating one candy]
[Apparatus humming in background]
[Noone breathing]
NOONE: Soon as I closed my eyes, I drifted through an endless dark. After what felt like hours, I found myself in a musty, cluttered room. Mountains of patterned fabrics piled against the walls. A long wooden table was covered in scraps and tools, and a machine whirred behind the closed door across from me.
[Sound of machine whirring]
[Enchanting, sad music slowly fades in]
NOONE: A familiar, faint smell. Candy apples. And enchanting, sad music.
[Sound of clothes on a rack being moved across one by one]
NOONE: Against one wall was a rack, packed with clothes. Too big for me... but just right for the armless, faceless manikin's around the room. They even wore outfits already. A white wedding dress splashed with dark stains. A purple suit and red bowtie. (tired voice) On a...third mannequin, a black velvet cloak.
[Sound of Noone unwrapping then eating a second candy.]
NOONE: At the foot of a table, I discovered a wooden chest, and lifted the lid to see it stuffed with smaller outfits...
[Wooden chest lid creaks open. Sound of clothes being rustled around]
NOONE: A doctor’s coat. A pink tutu and shoes...And a yellow raincoat.
OTTO: Yellow!? Was anyone else around?
NOONE: Only the puppet.
OTTO: What puppet?
[Sound of Noone unwrapping then eating the third candy.]
[Sound of dream Noone jumping on a table]
NOONE: On the table among spools of thread and needles and bits of ribbon. Rusty shears stuck through his torso, pinning him down...I could almost feel the blades myself.
[Sound of Noone crunching the candy]
NOONE: He had a wide face...painted with a wide, downturned mouth, sagging cheeks...glimmering black eyes. Twine with frayed edges dangled from his arm...The only one he had.
[Noone yawns]
NOONE: His clothes were rough-worn, dressed like, like one of those carnival people at Rusty’s show. I leaned in to get a closer look and he jolted to life, grabbing my leg.
[ Sound of mechanical puppet moving, grabbing dream Noone]
[Dream Noone gasps, struggling in the puppet’s grasp. Sound of dream Noone kicking the puppet]
[Puppeteers music going crescendo]
NOONE: He yanked until, until I fell and struggled to break free. Kicking at him, but he held tight to my ankle. Reaching for a nearby bottle, [glass shattering] I smashed it into his head. He let go...And when he stopped moving, so did the music.
[Sound of the enchanting, sad, violin music and mechanical whirring stopping altogether. Mechanical clicking in the distance, a door creaks open]
NOONE: I jumped off the table into the wooden chest from before.
[Sound of Dream Noone jumping off the table and into the pile of clothes within the chest. Sound of Chest lid closing]
NOONE: With the lid shut, I spied through the keyhole.
[Noone's voice grows increasingly tired and sleepy]
NOONE: A new kind of...of manikin in a... beautiful dress...stood in the doorframe...her back to...me.
OTTO, distant: Shhh. Sleep you distinctive sleep.
NOONE: Her little movements were stiff. Mechanical...
[Mechanical sounds]
NOONE: Her body was still, while her neck began to twist... Her hair was...too shimmery, her lips...too wet, and her eyes...too glassy. All...too elegant...to be real...or fully fake...
[Mechanical sounds increasing]
NOONE: When her neck turned all the way, she saw the Puppet on the table...the broken bottle. She started jittering...I burrowed into the costumes...trying to make myself...invisible.
[Sound of the Puppeteer sighing. The chest bumps and she grunts with effort as she opens the lid up]
NOONE: She opened the chest...removed a tan trench coat...sewing closed a tear along one seam.
[Sounds of the sewing machine whirring]
NOONE: Huh...Like...like the Nowhere had been sewing the pieces of me back together...Strong again. Pain free.
[Sound of Noone breathing]
OTTO, distant: She’s nearly out.
NOONE: I tucked away... She...took out a gunny sack...one slit. I would be next...No escape.
[Sound of dream Noone closing the chest shut]
[Sound of machine whirring]
NOONE: I held the lid closed tight... But I can’t keep it shut forever...
[NOONE falls asleep, breathing]
[OTTO types on a keyboard]
OTTO: She’s reached the hypnagogic threshold. I’m connecting our neural relays before she crosses.
[Beep sound]
[Metal clinks and jingles as Otto places the second resonator cap over Noone's head. Otto cranks some dials and the frequencies oscillate]
[NOONE groans]
[Apparatus starts up]
OTTO: Harmonizing the frequencies. Then I can put myself to sleep.
[Sound of various dials clicking. Otto continues typing on a keyboard. Apparatus continues to beep]
[Noone’s breathing transitions, heavily in an enclosed space]
[Sound of the lid of the chest opening]
[NOONE gasps. From her on, her voice echoes in a large empty space each time she speaks]
NOONE: Someone’s opening the chest. Right now!
OTTO, distant: Wha-- She can’t be there yet. It’s too soon. I can’t see...
NOONE: There’s nothing to see. The perfect lady’s gone. Only the dark. All around. I can’t even see my hand in front of me.
[Apparatus sounds heard in the distance. Distant sound of Otto continuing to type, flip switches and crank dials]
[Unsettling sound effect suggest distorted space and time]
NOONE: Asleep and awake, both at once?
OTTO, distant: It...uh...it appears so. Normally, this occurs only under certain conditions. Yet somehow that’s happened now. It’s better than I’d hoped for. Don’t do anything yet!
NOONE: Oh. I was wrong. It’s not darkness, it’s a kind of mist. A mist so black and thin, it only half exists. Oh. That’s where I am. The halfway place.
[Sounds of Otto tuning the frequencies. The frequencies are very out of sync]
OTTO, distant: You’re in the Threshold. Wait for me Noone. Wait!
NOONE: I’ve been here before. With the Candleman.
[Sounds of Otto flipping some switch and cranking a dial. Slowly his and Noone's tones harmonize again]
OTTO, distant: Close your eyes. Don’t move!
NOONE: I can’t! I’m sinking and floating. There’s no floor, only the mist, spreading its fingers so I can see myself. As if rebuilding me piece by piece. And above me. Or below? The brightest stars you’ve ever seen, twinkling as, as a million-million islands would. I feel I’ve been going for ages, yet I'm not tired at all.
[NOONE chuckles to herself and gasps]
NOONE: A shape in the distance. An outline of... a door? Do you see it?
OTTO, distant: Noone, listen: You must wait for me. I’ll be there soon. Do not go towards that door without me. (murmurs to himself) I’m so close, so close...
NOONE: Whichever way I turn, the door is straight ahead...and getting nearer. It’s ancient. The color of twilight, made of knotted wood. Oh. No...its...it’s a liquid. Or both at the same time. And the frame, it squirms all about. And there’s no doorknob, only a shape at the center. The shape of… an eye.
[Sound of three sudden knocks on the wooden door]
OTTO, distant: What was that? Is someone at the door?
NOONE: Come in... But I'm outside, no?
[Sound of the door creaking, opening slowly]
NOONE: ...There you are.
OTTO, distant: You can see me?
NOONE: Not you. Him... Listen.
[Ferryman breathing quietly. Sound is distorted, muffled]
OTTO, distant: Oh... I can almost hear his presence...Almost...
NOONE: Can you tell me yet? Why me?
OTTO, distant: Who are you?! Did you take my Cici?!
NOONE: (The FERRYMAN'S voice doubles with NOONE) Only youth blooms. Petals pure. But uprooted, spoils wait within.
NOONE: In the door? Where are we going?
OTTO, distant: No, stop! Is she in there?! Where is my sister?!
NOONE: (The FERRYMAN'S voice) A world as wide as the deep. And narrow as a well.
NOONE: I’m stepping through.
OTTO, distant: No, no, no! Don’t do it! I need her!
NOONE: (The FERRYMAN's voice) Sink. Sink into these tideless waters.
NOONE: He’s taken my hand, welcoming me to the other side of the door. There’s stairs here, go every direction at once. Otto. Otto, if only you could see it! More stars! Constellations in rings around a pulsing red moon!
[FERRYMAN breathing]
[Sound of various whispers]
NOONE: No. Not a moon. Not stars either. They’re all eyes, too. Every size and shape you could imagine. Watchful. Shimmering. Blinking. Their light dripping down into the dark mist. (NOONE'S voice overlapping with a second, distorted, voice) I feel them looking at me. Into me. (Second voice no longer overlapping with NOONE's voice) And they like what they see.
OTTO, distant: Don’t let the door close! Leave the girl. Please, leave her with me...
NOONE: The Counsellor. He wants to come.
NOONE: (FERRYMAN'S voice) Too long in the tooth. I feed the spectrum’s other end.
NOONE: I don’t understand...Oh. He’s been talking to you this whole time.
OTTO, distant: I've earned this! All my life, I’ve waited! Let me cross, Ferryman! You hear me?! Invite me to your world!
NOONE: Otto says--
THE FERRYMAN: [Chuckles] A toe dipped, but to plunge you must be pushed.
[Sound of various whispers remain ongoing]
NOONE: (gasp) The door’s changing now. Thumping. No, it’s the image in the frame that’s changing. A blur of faces. Children. And-- I’m sorry, Counsellor. The door’s drifting away from us.
OTTO, distant: How do I enter?! I need to know! Tell me how to cross! Tell me!
THE FERRYMAN: A quarter will be granted. The toll set in torments, not yet paid.
OTTO, distant: I--I have nothing more to give! What else do you want?!
THE FERRYMAN: Sleep. Sleep now, Ruth. Sleep into Nowhere.
NOONE: Take my hand again.
OTTO, distant: I'm holding it, Noone. I have you-
NOONE: Not you. The Candleman. I’ll be lost without him.
[Sound of Noone's body disappearing from the session room]
OTTO, distant: Wh-Where are you!? Please! I need to see my Cici again!
NOONE: Smokey fingers are mixing with the blinking eye...and the moon is opening up, (NOONE'S voice overlapping with a second, distorted, voice) swirling all around. I feel like...me again.
OTTO, distant: Give her back! Giver her back! Do not! Do not go without me! Give her back! Damn you! No. Noone! No!
[Complete Silence]
NOONE: (NOONE'S voice overlapping with a second, distorted, voice) But it’s still there...Why is it still here?... That darkness...That’s the secret..."It" hides in this place...My body knew all along...
[Sound of a door creaking, whooshing sounds, then the door slams shut]
[audio cuts]
[Sound of the tape starting again]
[Apparatus beeping]
OTTO: Where- Where are you?! Noone! Please! (Otto distressed) Not again...
[OTTO screams and lashes out, destroying equipment in the room. Sound of furniture breaking, glass shattering. Apparatus beeps louder. Sound of a Blip, a break in the recording]
[Audio cuts]
[Audio resumes]
[Sound of Otto pacing around the room]
[Apparatus various beeps continue in the background]
OTTO: (angered) She abandoned me. She wanted to get away. From me... Oh. Cici. Did you abandon me too? No. Of course not. You wouldn’t have. You wouldn’t have! How could you leave your little brother behind?
[Sound of Otto walking frenetically]
OTTO: (weepily) Oh. No, you wouldn’t have.
[Audio cuts, tape stops.]
[Sound of the tape starting again. Audio resumes]
OTTO: [sighs] I swear I could hear what she was hearing. Couldn’t I? The Ferryman. He said “A quarter will be granted.” For whom? And a toll was to be paid? To enter the Nowhere? Is that right? It could’ve been meaningless drivel. Another trick.
[Sound of Otto breathing loudly]
OTTO: Oh, if only I could sink. Sink lower and lower...all the way down. Until I wake up again.
[Audio cuts]
[Tape clicks, breaks in the recording]
[Sound of Otto cleaning up the mess he caused in the session room]
OTTO: What a terrifying burden this is, knowing the laws of space and time are blithe to themselves. Her dream still lingers within me. Descended upon my being, and into the Counties. I've done nothing but weigh his words over and over. If the Ferryman spoke some arcane truth, there’s another way to cross the Threshold. And when I do, the path will have been paved with bricks of fear! I will review every tape, uncover every secret. The answers lie therein... (deep breath) So nearly. So-so nearly, was I swept away i-
[Sound of door opening]
[Otto gasps, startled by the door opening]
OTTO: Ethan! You shouldn’t be out of your room!... Hmm. Somnambulism. Your dreams have led you to me, then.
ETHAN: [mumbling noises]
OTTO: You’re sleepwalking, that’s all. A common parasomnia in children... But if it’s a new symptom, that could indicate something has changed.
ETHAN: [mumbles gently]
OTTO: What? Oh, the mess. I was looking for something I lost...but I think I’ve just found it. Let’s get you back to sleep now, and tomorrow, together, we’ll dream, and dream, and dream, until we sleep again anew. Hold on, before you go.
[Sound of Otto walking to his desk.]
[Sound of Otto lifting the lid of the candy jar on his desk]
OTTO: Take one, my good boy.
[Sound of wrappers crinkling]
OTTO: That’s right.
[Otto walks back to his desk, he sets the candy jar back on the desk]
OTTO: (menacing tone) Sweets for my sweet.
[Otto hits the stop button on the recorder. All sound cuts]
[Outro plays]