[Click, Otto presses record. The tape rolls]
[Otto sighs, shifting]
OTTO: Noone vanished last night.
[Another sigh]
OTTO: As she slept, I was monitoring her ultradian sleep cycle. There was no REM-NREM oscillation. Instead, involuntary spasms grew progressively worse. [shift] As I was about to wake Noone, her… body… evanesced. For a split instant. Then returned. Calm as can be.
OTTO: [deep breath, loud exhale] Lacking sleep, I can’t be sure I wasn’t hallucinating. Yet the image of her sheets deflating… is imprinted upon my mind. [Sigh] After yesterday’s session, no less, when she claimed to hear this:
[Click, sounds of rewinding a tape record then pressing play]
Recording of NOONE: “The faraway drifts near. Tread long. Then, sink deep. Two flows from one, and here, is whole again.”
[Click, tape stops]
OTTO: A coincidence? [light clinking of ceramic/glass] Or, synchronicity? …(Scoff) Is that that bloody moth again?!
[Sound of smacking the moth against the wall. Otto sits back down]
OTTO: Riddle piles upon riddle, and answers continue to elude.
[Tape rewinding]
OTTO: I’ll sift through every word if I must.
[Intro plays]
[Click]
[Recording tape starting. Loud clicking and clacking. Electricity buzzing. Sound of Otto screwing something in.]
[Electronic humming sound drops, returns]
OTTO: It’s clear, Noone’s symptoms go beyond parasomnias.
[Continuing to build]
OTTO: Her retellings are too detailed, vocabulary too advanced, as if derived from the oneiric itself.
[Electricity buzzing. Clicking. electronic humming raises in pitch. Tool set down ]
OTTO: However, what I find impossible to believe is that Noone’s seen who you saw, Cici.
[Chair creaks, clattering]
OTTO: If two people, without any contact, shared the exact same observation, is it proof of transpersonal dreaming?
[Otto’s building continues]
OTTO: But such implies concurrence! And these dreams are years apart! Then… no.
[Buzzing picks up]
OTTO: I cannot be taken to metaphysical backwaters... Sounding like my old professor.
[Otto continues building]
OTTO: I’ve remained balanced over the years by clinging to the notion that my recollection of what happened years ago was wrong.
[Click, electronic humming gets loud again]
OTTO: But now, those memories are coming home to roost.
[Clicks, electricity buzzing, electronic humming, building stops]
OTTO: [Shift] Before I began at the C.P.I I promised to finish this apparatus. I let it fall away, convinced that attempting it was fool’s work. Now, struggling to put myself in her shoes... well, fool me twice.
[Electronic humming gets louder, electrical buzzing increases. Sound of a loud pop. Otto winces in pain as machine shocks him .]
OTTO: Ah!
[A small pained noise from Otto before he starts to put the apparatus away]
[Door opens]
OTTO: (Gasp) Noone !
[Scoff, he walks away from the recorder]
OTTO: You’re meant to wait outside.
NOONE: (Far away) What are you working on?-
[Audio cuts]
[Click, blank noise]
[Recording starts again]
OTTO: We’ve come to know each other better over the past weeks, haven’t we?
NOONE: Because we’re friends! That’s why. And, friends tell each other things.
OTTO: Friends. That’s right. One of the absolutes I’ve come to realize is that, the more time you spend with someone, the harder it becomes to hide who you really are. The only exception to this rule is with the company of oneself. We willfully hide what we’d rather not face. Like, the Candleman you mentioned seeing, under hypnosis.
NOONE: I don’t like that.
OTTO: What?
NOONE: Hiding things from myself.
OTTO: Nobody likes it. That’s why it’s important to reveal your inner face. “Depth analysis”, we call it. And so, I’d like you to think of this session as a dialogue with your unconscious mind. You are asking the questions, not me.
NOONE: …Asking myself questions?
OTTO: I’ll help. But, as you go, I’d like you to try. So. This… Candleman. Did you see him again?
NOONE: I-I did.
OTTO: And what was this meeting like?
NOONE: …He was much clearer. Not just him. Everything about it. My nightmare.
OTTO: Elaborate, please. Was it worse? More vivid?
NOONE: What’s it like? Umm… as if I’m watching a film, that I’m also the star of. And when I woke… it was here, in the Copy(C.P.I), that felt more like the dream.
OTTO: Hmm. More palpable...The Candleman-
NOONE: I can’t talk about him without the rest. …If this is an interview with myself, may I begin where I want?
OTTO: Of course. Let your imagination run. But don’t be afraid to interact with the dream. This is an important step in our process. The dialogue. Bring together the divided parts of yourself.
NOONE: …The mirror.
OTTO: Pardon?
NOONE: The one off your shelf. If I’m meant to speak to myself, well…
OTTO: [Pause] …Patients aren’t meant to have mirrors, but here you are, my bright girl.
[Otto gives Noone the mirror]
OTTO: Begin as you please.
[Pause]
NOONE, narrating: …In the dark… a hand let go of mine.
[Slip noise, Dream Noone gasps. Ambience begins.]
NOONE: Opening my eyes, I lay on hot concrete, staring up at a sky with- no sun. And… before me was, endless grey, broken by- yellow lines of paint, all the way to the horizon!
NOONE: Standing, in that carpark, I heard a silence. So silent, my own heartbeat was a marching drum in comparison. …It was followed by… a loneliness, so lonely, I could hardly bear it. I had to turn away.
[Dream Noone walking on gravel]
NOONE: Behind me, I was glad to see a building. A shopping mall. So large I- I felt half my normal size. Its doors opened.
[Sound of sliding doors opening]
NOONE: And I ran to them.
[Running footsteps, transition from gravel to tile. Doors close behind dream Noone.]
NOONE: Inside the promenade, [lights click on]
NOONE: The lights flicked on, one by one, greeting me as the PA speakers came alive with music.
[Obscure mall music plays]
NOONE: It had been ages since I’d visited a shopping center. I didn’t know where to start!
OTTO: You saw no need to find an exit right away?
NOONE: I felt like I was in good hands. But many shops were closed, though. There were no doors, and… no displays in the windows. Or, there must have been a private entrance, because, I could see shadows beyond the glass.
NOONE: After passing by several shops this way, I grew disappointed. But that’s when… a cowboy’s voice came over the speaker.
[Cowboy voice, slightly overlapped with Noone: Sale at Jujube’s Toys! Dolls, games, puzzles, and more! Ground floor by the fountain!]
NOONE: "Sale at Jujube’s Toys! Dolls, games, puzzles, and more! Ground floor by the fountain!", I could see that fountain in front of me! And on the other side, was… a bright green storefront, with bubbles floating out the entrance.
[Dream Noone walking over. Sound of automatic doors opening. Sounds of various toys.]
NOONE: Shelves and- shelves of wonders lined the shop! The toys on the first shelf were very old, but… deeper shelves held the same toys I had back home, and deeper ones held exactly those I’d wish for, even Little Lottie Potty! But… these Lotties had black eyes, not blue. And their skin was… yellow, like autumn leaves.
NOONE: The shop owner wasn’t present, so… I grabbed one and began playing on the carpet.
[Dream Noone humming. Doll makes automated noises: Mama, mama chop chop...]
NOONE: But, it didn’t take long for me to grow… bored. That was the first time I… I felt too old for dolls.
OTTO: (distant-sounding) Maturity is natural as you approach adolescence... The brain loses interest in things once held dear.
NOONE: The idea of growing up made me sad. And as if reacting… Lottie’s dress became wet. The doll was doing as its name said, but… [doll chattering] the liquid was- dark and thick. I put her down to find something else. But the choices were almost too many! Towering shelves extending deep in the gloom of the impossibly long shop!
NOONE: I settled on the games section, but, most were meant for two. Suddenly, a staticky whisper said, "I'll play with you".
[Staticky voice, overlapping with NOONE: I’ll play with you.]
NOONE: I thought it was the shopkeeper, but… nobody was around. My eyes fell upon a jewelry-making kit with a red necklace on the cover. I took the box back to where I left Lottie, only… she was gone. The shelf above, where the other dolls had been, was completely empty, too. I wanted to make the jewelry, I really did, but… I felt weird, so… I put it down. Then, the PA crackled, a woman’s voice this time, "Jujube’s Toys is now closing"
[ Woman's voice, overlapping with Noone: Jujube’s Toys is now closing.]
[Lights clicking off]
NOONE: The lights shut off, bubbles stopped… and, the last thing I saw before exiting…
[Toy train noises]
NOONE: Was the train set crashing to a stop.
[Bell ringing, toy engine stops]
[Dream Noone walking out of the store. Dream Noone's steps echo throughout promenade]
NOONE: The promenade was empty, still. Each step echoed across the walls and floors, which were pearl white, and had patterns like… veins.
[Dream Noone's steps and mall music continues]
NOONE: I came to three sets of stairs, side-by-side, leading to the next floor. I chose one and, reaching to the top, I saw another open shop: "Mademoiselle’s… Bijotary."
OTTO: (correcting Noone) "Bijouterie". But regardless, you could read this?
NOONE: Yes. The letters were quite big.
OTTO: …Have you been able to read in your dreams before?
NOONE: I’m not sure. That’s not a question I would ask myself though, Otto...
OTTO: Apologies.
NOONE, narrating: The glass case in the center of the room… pulled me in. Full of… gold, and silver necklaces. Hanging in the middle, was… an enchanting red pendant. And before you ask, yes, it was just like on the box at the toy store. The PA came on again, “A free gift to all little girls ten and under!”
{PA voice, overlapping with NOONE: A free gift to all little girls ten and under!]
NOONE: Without asking, I put the necklace on, glowing, like a ruby teardrop. With my gift, I set to leave, but… someone must’ve left the speaker on because… I heard arguing.
NOONE: “Don’t overdo it!” Said a first voice, followed by a second, “One more prize can’t hurt!”
(First PA voice, overlapping with Noone: Don’t overdo it!]
[Second PA voice, overlapping with Noone: One more prize can’t hurt!]
[PA speaker cuts. Sound of squeaky wheels rolling, whoosh, fabrics flapping in the air ]
NOONE: From the back room, a rack of dresses rolled out. All, exactly my size.
[Dream Noone looking through the rack of dresses]
NOONE: It’d been ages since I’d been allowed to pick out my own dress. The telly people chose them for me. These ones were very pretty, with lace and, and bows and stitching but, one… it… it was the plaid dress I wore the day I arrived at the Copy(C.P.I). How could my dress be here?
NOONE, staring at mirror [lowers pitch of voice]: Your real life doesn’t often mix into your dreams, Noone. Why now?
OTTO, interrupting narration: Pardon?
NOONE: (giggling) I’m asking myself questions. Well, the only explanation is that they could see inside my head.
OTTO: I’m not sure that’s logical.
NOONE: Let me finish. Please. You’ll see.
NOONE, narrating: Back out on the promenade, the shop gates began to slam shut.
[Gates slamming]
NOONE: I was worried the mall was closing, but on the floor above, a set of spinning bright lights came on.
[Lights turn on]
NOONE: The music stopped and, the PA crackled with a sing-songy voice, “Showtime's Patrons! Our daily motion picture will begin shortly. Hot popcorn’s popping and the seats await in the playhouse!”
[PA Voice, overlapping with NOONE: [music] Showtime’s patrons! Our daily motion picture will begin shortly. Hot popcorn’s popping and the seats await in the playhouse!]
[Lights shutting off]
NOONE: The rest of the mall went dark, making the lights more enticing to follow.
[Dream Noone walks across the mall to the third floor]
NOONE: The lobby was- red from floor to ceiling. Buckets of popcorn overflowed on the concession stand.
[Loud popping from popcorn machine]
NOONE: I grabbed one and hurried to push open the huge golden doors leading into the theater.
[Popcorn bag rustling. Running steps, doors creak. Sound of an organ music growing louder but slower. All other sounds drop]
NOONE: Red velvet seats went for rows and rows. Full of people. A spotlight hit the stage, illuminating an organ. But… there was no organ player. Only tall curtains swaying in some breeze. I tiptoed down the aisle, and sat centered with the screen. The chair seemed to hug me, and the room fell dark [crunching] as the first buttery bit hit my tongue.
[Music stops playing, sounds of projector booting up]
NOONE: Without adverts or introduction, the film began. Images of… trees on fire and… white hooves galloping. I recognized the picture instantly because I’ve seen it a hundred times. “The Healing Horn”.
[Movie plays]
NOONE: Only the scenes were out of order. And the unicorn… her horn was misshapen, like… a rotten tree branch. The evil prince’s face, too, was… was wrong.
NOONE: Feeling out of place I – I looked around. The audience, I… I realized, was not people, but… mannequins.
NOONE: All of a sudden, a familiar scent entered the dream: Ocean. I was no longer alone. The dusty projector light made it difficult to suss, but a few seats over… was the Candleman. His eyes and mouth were… deep black pits inside a mess like a wet gunny sack, sagging down the floor. Without turning, he spoke.
[Growing noise stops]
OTTO, interrupting abruptly: He [Shifting]... what–what did he say?!
NOONE: [Sighing] It was like a – a voice underwater. The words could hardly escape the folds of skin. He repeated them to me: [Audio glitches as Noone speaks as the Ferryman] “The faraway drifts near. Tread long, then sink deep. Two flows from one, and here, is whole again.”
OTTO: And then? [shifting in the chair] What else?
NOONE, as the FERRYMAN: [Audio glitching increases] “Here. Here. Here.”
NOONE: He just repeated over and over.
OTTO: There must be more! Try, try! Interact with the dream!
NOONE: There was no more!
OTTO: (raising his voice) Ask who he is! Ask what he wants!
NOONE: (raising her voice) It doesn’t work that way!
OTTO: You were right there! Don’t tell me you did nothing?! Not a damn thing!
NOONE: Stop!
OTTO: [farther away] I’m beginning to doubt you’ve seen this Candleman!
[Noone struggling]
OTTO: Perhaps you’ve invented the whole story!
NOONE: Please, stop! My head!
[Otto scoffs. Sound of Otto stomping with quick angry steps out of the room. Something being knocked over. The door slams shut. Noone breathing. Recording stops]
[Click. Sound of the tape fast forwarding. Click. Recording continues. Sound of a door opening. Otto entering the room again. Door closes]
[Various shifting noises. ]
OTTO: [far away, stern] What are you doing? With the mirror. [Steps] You’re up to something, but we’ll let it slide. I know girls like you-
[Shifting]
OTTO: You’re upset with me, aren’t you?
[Plastic clacking]
OTTO: Here. A pill for your headache. (Sigh) Earlier... that was… awfully… [Otto sits] that- that was not how friends act. Sleep has evaded me too. I’ve grown worried, trying to… Please, forgive me. I’d very much like to hear the rest. I won’t interrupt, you have my word.
[Silence.]
NOONE: … Fine.
OTTO: So, you were in this theater with him...
[Silence]
NOONE, narrating: … All kinds of pictures flashed on the screen, and then he was gone, leaving me alone again. Or so I thought. The projector flickered in the booth. I dashed up and found the door ajar. A new voice came over the PA, angry, “No patrons in the projection room!” The door was stuck, but I pushed and pushed. The PA boomed, “You must not enter!”
[PA Voice, overlapping with NOONE: “You must not enter!]
[Sound of door opening. Crashing. Projector stopping]
NOONE: The projector, I saw first, was shaped like… a deformed eye. Then, my attention fell to… the mass on the floor.
[Slimy sound]
NOONE: A brain? A heart? …No. It’s muscles pumped and pumped, and its tubes ran into the walls. The voice came, both from inside the room and over the PA:
[VOICE, overlapping with NOONE: Happy day, No One.]
NOONE: "Happy day, No One." It… it knew my real nickname. The ones kids at school scribbled all over my books. How? Because it was in my head. …I asked, “You’re the one who’s been talking? All those voices...”.
[Dream Noone, overlapping: You’re... the one who’s been talking? All those voices... ]
NOONE: Then, I saw countless film cans around the room, and understood. It was so alone, it took to imitating. Then it said, “Are you going to leave? Like all the others?”
[VOICE, overlapping with NOONE: Are you going to leave? Like all the others?]
NOONE: I managed a… “Yes”.
[Dream Noone: Yes. ]
NOONE: The thing began pulsing and, upset, it sort of cried out. “So many. They take what they want and go, or get snatched away, or worse!”
[VOICE, overlapping with NOONE: So many. They take what they want and go, or get snatched away, or worse!]
NOONE: It paused, then went on, “Whatever you desire, it’s yours.”
[VOICE, overlapping with NOONE: “Whatever you desire, it’s yours.”]
NOONE: … But I didn’t want anything from it. The PA belted, “The pendant! You wanted that!”
[VOICE, overlapping with NOONE: The pendant! You wanted that!]
NOONE: The pulsing worsened until another voice came within the first, “You’ve driven another away!”
[VOICE 2, overlapping with NOONE: You’ve driven another away! You’ve driven another away! ]
NOONE: I felt bad for it, or them… This place had been warped by pain, and wanted so badly to keep me. Even the walls began throbbing. What could I do?!
[Noise intensifies, Dream Noone breathes heavily]
NOONE: I – I ran. Down the stairs, out of the theater.
[Sound of Dream Noone running ]
NOONE: On the promenade, the lights were flashing so as to be dizzying. The PA screeched, “Everyone needs someone! Don’t leave me alone!”
[VOICE, overlapping with NOONE: Everyone needs someone! Don’t leave me alone! ]
NOONE: The walls began to cry that dark, thick liquid. Pooling around me, I looked up. From the floor above, the Candleman stared, pointing at my chest. At the pendant. I flung it down into the liquid. Then he reached a hand toward me and –
[All noise stops]
NOONE: And all faded, as the PA sobbed, "Don’t take her! Not this one, too…”
[VOICE, overlapping with NOONE: Don’t take her! Not this one, too...]
[Narration stops. Sounds fading to silence. Shifting]
OTTO: T-There was um… uh... a... a... a. E-Excuse me. A curious phrase... “Warped by pain”. Is that how you feel sometimes?
[Silence]
OTTO: Noone? Are you still angry with me? Or… distracted by the mirror?
NOONE: Behind my ear. There’s… a sore.
OTTO: Is that why you wanted the mirror all along?
NOONE: [mph] It’s like the ones I used to get. I need to see it.
[Shifting]
OTTO: Nothing’s there. It’s red because you’ve been picking at it.
NOONE: …I have one more question for myself. Why do I have these dreams? Water sickness. That’s my answer.
OTTO: Noone, it’s wiped out of your system. There have been no known reinfections. It’s in your mind.
NOONE: (with increasing distress) What if the cure is the cause? I never had nightmares or headaches before all of this. Before going on telly. Before – before this! –
OTTO, interrupting: (whispering) No, no, come, come, come, come here, my girl.
[Shifting, Otto hugs Noone]
OTTO: You’re not sick. You’re perfectly fine. You’re a perfectly wonderful little girl... This time I will protect you.
[Sound of the mirror shattering on the floor]
NOONE: I’m sorry! I’m sorry, uh, you were squeezing so tight and… it slipped.
[Sound of Otto picking up the pieces of the mirror. Otto throws them away]
OTTO: You asked why you dream. The truth? Nobody knows. My studies always assumed they were more than the brain’s way of filtering subconscious thoughts. But I had no answer either. An old professor of mine thought he did. He believed dreams come from an ever shifting plane, a quiddity of consciousness.
NOONE: Quid-ith-tee…
OTTO: Quiddity. The essence of a thing. In this case, a semi-tangible plane, outside the mind.
NOONE: Is it the same as mutual dreams? I don’t understand.
OTTO: My colleagues didn’t either. I’ve flip-flopped over the years, but I figured it was impossible to prove.
NOONE: Will I ever get rid of them, then? Will I ever leave The Copy(C.P,I) ?
OTTO: You must understand, you are a unique case. I want to let you go. As soon as –
NOONE, interrupting: I’m better?
OTTO: (sighing) Yes... as soon as you’re better.
[Otto stands, picks glass jar up]
OTTO: Now –-
NOONE: I know, I know. (Lower pitch, mimicking Otto) “Sweets for my sweet”. …Do I have to go back to my room?
[Candy wrappers crinkling]
[Sound of glass jar lid closing ]
OTTO: I’ve- got to tidy, and you reminded me there’s something I need to find. On you go. I’ll come by later.
[Shift. Sound of the tape stopping]
[Audio starts]
[Sound of Otto looking through papers. Otto sighs]
OTTO: Ah! I found it. The paper that stained my professor’s career. Kept it all these years... hoping and dreading there was truth in these words:
OTTO, reading his old Professor's paper: “We know now that there is no center to the universe. Previously, we thought it was the Sun. Before that, we thought it was the Earth. Our species always insists that ours is the quintessence of experience, yet scientific observation proves our folly ad nauseum. If Geocentrism took centuries to disprove, the question is not if but when the same will happen to reality itself. That which we are equipped to perceive may not be the only world. Let alone the predominant one.”
[Click]
[Outro plays]