09: An Implosion of an Idea

Official Description: Melody finally confronts Samuel. A challenge is issued. And somebody pays a visit to the archive.

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[BRIEF BURST OF MUSIC—TWANGY GUITAR, THEN TAPE DISTORTION.]

[DAN PACES. THE LIGHTS FLICKER OFF, SLOWLY.]

Damn it.

[LIGHTS FLICKER BACK ON. DAN BREATHES DEEPLY. IPHONE RINGS.]

Dan?

Hey.

[PAUSE.]

Dan, what's up, are you alright?

I'll be ok.

[PAUSE.]

Dan, why'd you call me?

[SIGHS.] I think I'm getting close to the end, Tanya.

What are you talking about?

It's not good, it's not bad, it's just what's happening.

Wait, I'm sorry, do you think you're breaking up with me? We haven't been dating for weeks, you don't get to act like that and still be in a relationship with me.

No, no, I'm almost done with the story. Almost finished. I can feel it.

[EXASPERATED.] What are you talking about?

The story! The work I'm doing here. I can't get into specifics, you know that, but I'm close. And then I can leave.

Alright. And, isn't that a good thing?

Yeah. I think it is. But stories change you, right? I'm still in the story's world, I don't know who I'll be once I get out of it. I'd like to see you again, afterwards, maybe, if that's ok with you.

[PAUSE.]

I... I really don't think that's a good idea.

No, no, you're right. I might go off the grid for a bit, after this. Finally write the novel I've been talking about. I've got some ideas for it. Some really good ideas. I'll send you a copy, once I'm done.

[HESITANTLY.] Ok.

[PAUSE.]

Why did you date me?

Dan...

It's important. What did you see in me? What were the qualities that attracted you to me?

[UGH.] Um, I guess I liked how dedicated you always are. How you can care deeply about something without worrying what everybody else is thinking. You're kind, to the people that matter to you, and... I felt safe when I was next to you, you know when to be silent.

[PAUSE.]

Thank you. I remember the person you're talking about. He was a good guy.

Dan, are you ok? Mark's worried about you, and ... he doesn't usually talk to me.

[HUMOURLESS LAUGH.] I'm fine. Little bit scared, little bit excited, but— Goodbye Tanya.

Goodbye D—

[DAN HANGS UP THE PHONE, CUTTING HER OFF.]

[SIGHS PEACEFULLY.] Alright, Ratty, just a few more tapes to listen to. You ready?

[SQUEAKS TWICE.]

I hear ya. You know you're coming with me, right, when I leave? It's gonna—

[LIGHTS SHUT OFF.]

Shit, again?

[LIGHTS STOP FLICKERING, AND STAY OFF. TWANGY GUITAR BEGINS TO PLAY NEARBY.]

Damn it.

[PAUSE.]

[SQUEAKS.]

Ah. Well alright. Almost there.

[SQUEAKS.]

[FOOTSTEPS. THE LIBRARY SHELVES ARE OPENED]

Oh...

[A FAINT ELECTRICAL HUMMING BEGINS.]

Do you see it Ratty? I see it too.

[FOOTSTEPS. THE SONG FADES AWAY.]

Here we go.

[TAPE BEING PUT INTO TAPE PLAYER. TAPE BEGINS TO PLAY.]

Were you intending on saying that lovely little intro of yours? It sets the scene quite nicely.

[PAUSE.]

Oh, no need to be nervous on my account. This should be enlightening for both of us.

Melody Pendras. September 9th. 1005. Floor sixteen. [ANGRY.] Now, where the hell is Jesse? And how did you kill Chris? No, no no no, first thing's first. What did you do to Jesse?

[LAUGHS.] Well then, right to the point. No concept of foreplay?

Are you going to answer the question?

Eventually. After all, you've been trying for such a long time to talk to me, where's the fun in spoiling it?

I genuinely do not care about your goddamn backstory.

That's the thing, Melody. I think you do. I think you care deeply about hearing my story, the story of this building, the entwining of these two narratives, but you feel guilty about your curiosity. You care about Jesse, and yet you're intrigued by me.

You're not actually going to respond to my questions, are you?

I'll answer the questions I want to answer, on my own timescale, in my own fashion. I enjoy telling stories, and interviews aren't truly conducive to that.

[COLDLY.] Fine.

What do you think of me, Melody? Who do you think I am?

[PAUSE.]

I think you're a kid playing with fireworks.

A good guess. Incorrect. How did you arrange this interview, what steps did you have to take?

You already know.

Of course, but for the tape, it's best to have a record.

[ANGRY SIGH.] I've been wanting to interview you since the beginning. You or someone in your cult—

[CUTTING HER OFF.] Historical society is the term I prefer.

Cult. I heard noises, in some of the apartments. But when I knocked on the doors, no one was there.

Almost as if they had vanished from your perception. Almost.

And then when I talked to Jacob, he said some shit about it not being time yet.

You have to admit that he was correct on that count.

So I decided to ask Jesse to find out who you were.

And he did.

[MELODY BEGINS TO SOB.]

No, no no no, we're not there yet. Patience. If I have to remind you again I might just have to leave this room, and we wouldn't want that. But after Jesse seemed to be forgotten, you redoubled your efforts to find me. Even tried to get the police involved, which burned some bridges for you I'm sure.

You weren't anywhere. I looked so hard.

No, the building simply caused you to avoid me. Corners and hallways are similar, and they can bleed into each other.

Months! I tried to— I stalked you for months!

But I'm sure you were able to gather some fascinating stories in the meantime. I'm sure you were able to find at least a semblance of a community here. People you began to care about. I'm not one to go in for cheap psychoanalysis, but I'm sure it was particularly appealing, given your particular history. Your particular childhood. There are a surprising number of decent people in this horror story.

Yes. And you're not one of them.

I never said I was.

[PAUSE.]

And then you just... showed up. Said hello. Like a human being.

We felt as if you were almost done experiencing the story, that you should come to the climax. Or near it, anyway.

What do you mean by we?

That question isn't relevant at the moment. Now, how much do you know about the company that owns this building?

I tried to look into that but—

[CUTTING HER OFF.] You were stymied. Holding company after holding company. Circular and secretive.

I got as far back as some Dutch corporation, then the trail got cold.

It all goes back to the dutch.

What are you even talking about? Who are they?

They are people that think they can make deals. Very old, very wealthy, they are as beyond conventional morality as any human beings are capable of.

And I'm just supposed to take your word on this?

That's the idea, Melody. I am not the grand villain in this story. I'm sorry to disappoint. I'm just a very curious person. [DEEP BREATH.] Visser was an experiment, they thought it would satiate something, and once that something was fed, it would show them favor. They were right, in a sense. The same way we were once right about the Earth's position in the universe. The story was told, and it appreciated being told, but the story was not beholden to them. Do you understand?

No.

A part of you is beginning to, I think. You at least understand that Visser is not this building?

Maybe.

When someone wears the skin of someone else, they don't automatically become them, they just look like them. Totem animals and Cherokee mythology aside, wearing does not necessarily equal becoming. At least not fully. And the entity was no longer satisfied wearing this skin.

The entity? What entity? Who?

Are you sure you want me to do that?

Yes.

[BURST OF STATIC, AS MELODY CRIES OUT. A CLIP OF THE GUITAR SONG LOUDLY PLAYS.]

Stop!

I warned you.

You didn't warn me!

I apologize, but no one is prepared for something like that. And even I don't completely understand it. Imagine if I did. [WISTFULLY] I can't wait.

Who— who are you?

Like I said, a very curious person.

You must have been a person once. Are you still one? Still a person?

You're still trying to see the good in everyone. Such a bleeding, beating heart. And yes, I am completely and fully human. Would it surprise you to learn that I was an academic, once upon a time?

[HEH.] No.

[LAUGHS.] No one's ever surprised. But yes, I was living in New York, visiting the more obscure sections of the library, when I heard its call. I came to live here, and everything fell into place after that.

It couldn't have been that simple.

Yes and no.

But, what's in it for you? Why are you even doing this?

[SELF-RIGHTOUSLY.] I understand things now. I understand that the weight of thoughts can shape the physical world. I understand that the sun is Apollo's chariot, was almost killed by Rattlesnake, is the eye of Ra, is Amaterasu, all at the same time. I understand that there is nothing new, that everything happens in cycles, that this is both beautiful and confining. I am a human who sees movement in the space between the stars.

[PAUSE.]

[SIGH.] That doesn't mean anything! That's— you said you moved here because you heard its call? What's its call?

The song. A narrative beyond comprehension. God telling its story to ants. Our minds think of it as a song, so it is one.

[SARCASTIC.] This is fucking fascinating, but are you going to tell me where Jesse is?

Not yet. Almost!

[EXASPERATED SIGH.] Is the next question 'what does the building want from you'?

It is! You'd make a wonderful anthropologist, Melody, has anyone told you that? No matter. Visser wants to be free, Visser wants to be heard, Visser wants more; more sex, more death, more lives, more stories. They gave Visser a home as a gift, in return for favors, but they have built Visser a chrysalis.

You're its— its servant. How are you going to help it?

The only way any one being can help another. Sacrifice.

[CRUSHED.] Jesse.

No, this is all about to happen. It all has to be a bit more ... symbolic, for this to work. Fit into themes and leitmotifs.

[DETERMINED] And you think I'm just going to, what, let this happen?

Yes, just like you let Jesse die in agony.

No!

[MELODY TRIES TO GET UP. HER SCREAMS OF PAIN ARE MUFFLED WHILE STATIC AND THE SAME SONG FROM EARLIER PLAYS.]

Oh no, don't try to get up.

[MELODY SOBS, AND CONTINUES TO DO SO THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE CLIP.]

Don't worry, everything will be fine. You are simply a wonderful witness, and we truly appreciate that. This will all wear off in about, oh, three hours. At which point things will already be in motion. You may stay if you wish though I wouldn't recommend it.

Please...

Are you familiar with One Thousand and One Nights? The original version? No? A pity, well, suffice it to say that at a certain point, the Sultan should have grown bored with the concubine's stories. Consider yourself fortunate that you are simply exiled.

Oh, I almost forgot. Here, [HE SLIDES A TAPE OVER TO HER.] some recommended listening. I erased the last bits. After a certain point, the screaming just sort of bled together. Jesse had a lovely soul, and those take a while to disassemble for parts.

See you in a few hours, I'll be in the boiler room. And once again, should probably shut this off.

[TAPE DISTORTS, THEN ENDS.]

[SQUEAKS TWICE.]

Yeah, yeah Ratty I think— I think this is it. I think I can just grab this...

[FOOTSTEPS. RUSTLING AS OBJECTS ARE RETRIEVED AND PLACED INTO A BAG.]

And grab these...

[SQUEAKING.]

And I think we're good to go, come on Ratty, we can—

[THE LIGHTS SHUT OFF, BUT THIS TIME THE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM GOES HAYWIRE. TWANGY GUITAR SONG STARTS FADING IN, SOFTLY.]

[SLIGHTLY PANICKED.] Ok, ok, doesn't matter, doesn't matter.

[QUICKER FOOTSTEPS.]

Ratty, come on!

[SQUEAKS.]

No, Ratty, come on! We need to leave!

[SQUEAKS.]

Ratty, just...

[COMFORTING.] Come on Ratty, just go to my hand, I'll carry you out. Don't be scared, ok?

[SQUEAKS. CAUTIOUS RAT FOOTSTEPS.]

There we go, just a little bit more.

Alright, let's get out of here.

[QUICK FOOTSTEPS. FOOTSTEPS STOP, THEN THE DOOR BURSTS OPEN, FOLLOWED BY STICKY WET FOOTSTEPS.]

Oh god...

[THE TAPE DISTORTS AS SAMUEL TALKS, MAKING HIS VOICE DEEPER, AND LAYERING SHARP STATIC UNDER HIS WORDS.]

[HEARTY LAUGH.] Hello Daniel. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Samuel.

[PAUSE.]

I'm sorry to stop there, but, there's still one more to go. I still don't know where Dan is, but I've been getting some unsettling emails, and people are still trying to take this podcast down. If you can, donate to our patreon page, and if you know anything about Dan send me an email at archive81podcast@gmail.com. And if you don't know anything, please get the word out, visit us at archive81.com, um, leave a review on iTunes, tell your friends, I really ... think it helps. I will try to get the final episode to you soon.

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