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For my thirty first birthday, my
friends got me a heritage DNA test,

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one of those where you send a
sample again an approximate percentage of what makes

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up your background. I don't think
there was anything in particular that made them

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gifted to me, though, I
think they ordered one for themselves and got

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a two for one kind of deal. Still, I figured it'd be fun

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to check out. My biological grandpa
died when my dad was very young,

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and my grandmother remarried long before I
was born, so I was never told

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a lot about that side of the
family. I'd always been a bit of

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a sickly kid, so I've been
wary about looking too closely at my family

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and health history. But I figured
this couldn't hurt, so I filled out

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the form, provided this sample,
and sent it on its way. Then

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I just sort of forgot about it. When I finally got the results,

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it came with a few surprising revelations. While the majority of my heritage was

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entirely predictable, there was an eleven
percent splash of something called Northern Scandinavian Blue

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Hill tribe. I asked my parents
about it. While my mother had no

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idea what the blue Hill tribe was. She was pretty sure it wasn't from

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her side of the family. My
dad was equally confused. Sure, he

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didn't know much about his biological father, but he knew for a fact that

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the man was from Oklahoma. His
mom, on the other hand, was

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Minnesotan. Dad got curious and ordered
his own test within the hour. As

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I ended the call and boxed the
packaging up, something fell out, a

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sturdy envelope of thin navy blue cardboard
and sealed with a sunflower emblem. It

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had a mild chemical smell to it, like a sweet ammonia. At first,

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I thought it was going to be
some kind of special offer, much

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like what got me that test in
the first place. But after turning it

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over, I could see it was
addressed directily to me in handwritten cursive.

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It read congratulations on your recent result. As part of our effort to explore

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the diverse world of unified heritage,
and in cooperation with our various multinational partners,

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we would like to extend an invitation
to descendants of Northern Scandinavian Blue Hill

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tribe for an eventful day of education, connectivity, and celebration. Please consider

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this invitation and review the enclosed details
at personal link. Using your log in

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credentials, we hoped to see you
there. I didn't know exactly what to

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make of it, but I decided
to check it out, and holy hell,

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it reeked of scam. Here's what
it offered, A fully paid three

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day stay at a hotel in Manchester, New Hampshire, free entry to the

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company sponsored heritage celebration event, alongside
other members of both the Blue Hill tribe,

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but also other unique and diverse backgrounds. There were several groups listed,

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mostly hailing from the Scandies, the
Carpathians, and the Ural Mountains. I

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would have to pay for the trip
to get there, though, and they

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were clear about food, drink,
and room service not being included, But

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all in all, it sounded too
good to be true. After several hours

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of trying to find my way through
the customer service websites, I finally got

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hold of an actual service rep over
the phone. At first, they seem

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to have no idea what I was
talking about, but when I referenced the

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personal case number at the bottom of
the envelope, they referred me to a

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special events manager. This manager,
in turn confirmed everything I know I know.

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They laughed. I know how it
sounds, but this is actually a

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sort of golden ticket thing. It's
a biennal event and part of a charity

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effort, so there's a tax incentive
for us as well. If you can

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make it. I'd recommend checking it
out. They got some event photos on

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our website for reference. I did
as she suggested, and I gotta say

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I was convinced. I accepted.
My flight. Arrived on the morning of

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the first event day, about three
hours ahead of opening. I I had

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an uneventful early check in, spotting
the locked doors through the lobby. There

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were a few posters marking the Heritage
Celebration event, and there were already a

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couple of people roaming the halls outside, but I decided to catch my breath

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a bit before the doors opened.
I got to my room and clocked out

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for a couple of hours. I
double checked the event schedule on my phone,

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making mental notes of the various talks, guided tours, luncheons, dinners,

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and get togethers. It was a
full two day event. I was

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surprised at just how much there was
to do, considering the event was intended

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for no more than a couple hundred
people at most. Still, I couldn't

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complain, But just as I drifted
off for a nap, I got a

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notification on my phone, a text
from my dad. Apparently he'd recently gotten

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his results back. Strangely enough,
he didn't have any percentage of the Northern

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Scandinavian blue Hill tribe in his genetic
make up. Maybe my mom was in

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a southern as she thought. Once
the doors opened, there are about a

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hundred people walking about. Some looked
like average Joe Nobody's. Others were clearly

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some kind of corporate representative. I
could tell at least six different accents just

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by walking around, and a couple
of foreign languages. There are a few

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booths to check out, mostly advertising
various new services and products by the company

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behind the DNA test, but also
one I was just information about various forgotten

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or unusual tribes. Going through the
pamphlets, I couldn't find one about the

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blue Hill tribe. So I decided
to ask the service wrap behind the counter

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a blue Hill, He said,
raising an eyebrow, I'm not sure.

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I Another rap whispered something in his
ear, and he nodded right. He

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corrected, we don't have any reading
material on that subject, but ah I

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think there's an infocession should be part
of the Tribes of the North meetup.

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I double checked the schedule again and
made my way to a couple of events.

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The Tribes of the North meetup was
an after dinner event, part of

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the late night off our socializing thing
they tried to get going. I spent

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the afternoon listening in on various other
topics, trying to pass the time.

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There was a speaker on the topic
of nomadic North American tribes, as well

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as a workshop about forgotten languages.
It was all interesting in its own way,

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but I found myself drifting away just
after lunchtime. I had to take

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a rest around them three pm because
of an upset stomach, a relic from

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my sickly past. Later, I
took a walk around town and had a

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decent meal at a local restaurant before
I headed back to the hotel. I

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was a few minutes late to the
meet up. There were about two dozen

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people there in total. We didn't
really have any common features. We had

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different skin, hair, eyes,
and were all from different parts of the

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US. A couple of them were
Canadian and there was this one guy from

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the Philippines. It was pretty clear
who the event organizer was, though,

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a chipy young woman in a black
pantsuit with a company logo pin and a

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digital clipboard. She went around the
room confirming that everyone was a member of

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the Blue Hill. I overheard an
older woman mentioning she was categorized as over

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thirty percent, while a young man
mentioned he only had five percent. The

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young woman cleared a throat and excused
herself, calmly, demanding the attention of

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the room. Thank you all so
much for coming, she smiled. I'm

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sure you have a hundred questions,
and we thought this might be a good

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time to get to know one another
a little better. Please follow me.

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We were led through a corridor to
a smaller open room, a sort of

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meeting space. In the back.
They turned down the lights a bit and

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set out a couple of platters of
cheeses, crackers, and some alcohol free

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sparkling wine. There were a couple
of people there already. I was about

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to spark up a conversation with a
fifty year old man who looked as confused

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as me, when the chippy young
woman took hold of the room again.

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She directed our attention to a man
that I can't for the life of me.

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Remember the name of Western or Wesley, I think in turn, welcomed

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us and encouraged us to indulge in
the various snacks scattered throughout the room.

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Then he introduced us to the topic
of the evening, the Blue Hill Tribe.

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If there is one thing I'm certain
of, he started, is that

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every single person in this room has
had a serious medical condition at some point

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in their life, something unusual.
Does anyone might sharing an example. I

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didn't speak up about the severe ulcers
I had as a kid and the partial

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transplant I had to get. But
there were others who openly shared various issues,

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heart valve issues, cornia transplants,
nerve damage. Everyone seemed to have

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something. The man just nodded,
as if expecting this. This is sadly

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a common attribute of people with lineage
dating back to the Blue Hill tribes.

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So let's take a closer look at
the history and customs of these unique people.

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And while we do, please feel
free to mark yourself in the attendant

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sheet. He continued to speak of
a group of people native to the northern

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Scandinavian mountain ranges. There were dates
locations an approximate number of tribal members and

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a few other sparse details. I
marked the form while I waited, realizing

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pretty early on that what he was
saying was suspiciously generic. He spoke of

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leather and bone craftsmanship and a belief
in mountain spirits, but there were no

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details, no references, no pictures, drawings, or artifacts. I noticed

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a lot of people around the room
paying close attention and not really thinking too

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much about what they were filling out
on the attendant sheet, but I took

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a closer look. Our names were
already on the sheet, so we were

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only suppose to make a check mark. However, there were also percentages printed

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on the side, corresponding to the
percentage of heritage we had in common with

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this tribe. I recognized my eleven
percent and the thirty percent of the old

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woman. There was also a series
of other numbers that I didn't immediately recognize.

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When I thought no one was looking, I snapped a picture of it,

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just in case. After a fifteen
minute lecture on the history of the

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Blue Hill tribe, I came to
the realization that I hadn't actually learned anything.

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The locations and dates were so generic
that there was no way to fact

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check it, and there were no
details as to the various customs and crafts.

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Looking around the room, I noticed
the chippy young woman was off in

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the corner, whispering to someone on
a bluetooth headset, her eyes scanning the

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crowd with a serious demeanor. There
was a man in a suit by the

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doorway taking pictures with his phone,
and a hotel functionary offering refreshments being turned

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away. This was clearly a private
matter and of great interest to the company.

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For some reason, I snapped to
attention as the room applauded. The

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lecture came to an end and we
were given some time to mingle, but

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not without another reminder to make a
mark of the intendant sheet. I chatted

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a bit with a few people,
but it all felt a bit forced.

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Just a few words here and there. I got the impression that none of

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us had very much in common.
No one seemed to have any idea where

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that part of their heritage actually came
from. There was this one guy who

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had studied his genealogy extensively, who
insisted that it was strictly impossible for him

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to even be partly Scandinavian. I've
mapped out every family member for six generations,

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He scuffed, there's no way.
As more and more people filled it

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out into the night, I decided
to lag a bit to see what was

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being said behind closed doors. I
wasn't sneaking around on all fours like a

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spy, just lingered a little too
long on the other side of the bathroom

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door, or stopping conveniently to check
my email near a hushed discussion. I

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picked up a few bits and pieces
discussions about our percentages. For example,

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there was also talk about a second
event the following night, and how it

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wasn't officially on the schedule. They
referred to it as a sort of closing

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ceremony. There was also a short
talk about inviting a few of us to

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a private meeting. I heard two
people squabbling a bit about the details,

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and I didn't catch much of it, but I clearly heard a sentence as

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they finished, just get the ripe
ones. One of them snarled, none

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of that three percent trash. I
didn't like that, not one bit.

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Returning to my room, I decided
to pack up my things. I had

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a bad feeling about whatever they were
up to, and I couldn't help but

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to imagine that they had something planned
maybe it was all a scam after all,

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or something worse. Either way,
I wasn't eager to find out.

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I couldn't find a reasonably priced flight
back home until early morning. It was

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almost twelve hours away, but I
figured I could pull an all nighter and

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get out as soon as the sun
rose. I could wait a few hours

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at the airport if need be.
With my bags packed and ready, I

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settled in for a long night.
It was somewhere around two a m.

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When I found myself staring at late
night TV and scrawling on my phone as

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a salesman prattled on in the background. A stray thought hit me. I

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decided to take another look at the
attendant sheet photo. There was a set

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of numbers by each person that didn't
make immediate sense to me. I brought

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out a pen and paper and started
breaking them down, first in sets of

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twos, then individually, then sets
of three, trying to find some pattern

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or idea. It took me a
little longer than I cared to admit to

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recognize something. The last four numbers
correlated to one pattern four and room number.

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That left four other numbers, which, when broken down into pairs of

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two, correlated to a month and
a day. The date itself didn't make

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much sense, though for me it
was a few days after I'd sent in

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my first sample. Then it hit
me it was probably the day they received

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the sample. Taking a closer look
at the percentages, I could see that

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everyone with a nine percent heritage or
lower was situated on lower floors, while

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those with ten percent and higher all
seemed to have the higher floors. Maybe

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there was a sort of unspoken threshold
happening at ten percent and up. Could

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that be what they referred to when
they said to get the ripe ones.

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As I scrawled through various images from
previously hosted charity events, I got a

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notification my phone warned me that my
camera app had unexpectedly closed. Strange,

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seeing how it wasn't open to begin
with. A bad feeling settled in my

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stomach. I was on the hotel
WiFi. Could they be monitoring our activities?

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I considered the option that I was
just being tired and paranoid. That

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might very well be the case,
But on the other hand, I'd heard

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what I'd heard. It was stressing
me out, further upsetting my already sensitive

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stomach. I could feel a tinge
of pain and decided to go get some

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mice. Might sound like a stupid
home remedy thing, but sucking on an

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ice cube has always helped me calm
down. I followed the corridor, got

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myself some ice in a bucket,
and returned to my room. As I

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was about to round the corner,
I recognized as familiar sound my hotel room

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door being closed and locked from the
outside. Peeking around the corner, I

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00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:56,799
noticed two people dressed in black disappearing
down the hall, mumbling quietly to one

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00:18:56,839 --> 00:19:03,880
another, returning to my room.
I couldn't help but a second guess myself.

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00:19:04,559 --> 00:19:08,720
Had the bathroom door always been open? Was the same channel on the

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00:19:08,759 --> 00:19:15,160
TV playing Had some one moved my
bags? It was hard to tell.

210
00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:22,880
That's how I spent the night wondering. My heart sometimes skipped a beat as

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00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:30,319
I thought I noticed something new,
but ultimately I couldn't find anything immediately threatening.

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00:19:30,599 --> 00:19:33,759
I pulled out my phone battery just
in case, and kept it in

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00:19:33,799 --> 00:19:40,559
my other pocket. No one would
be tracking me any time soon. I

214
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:44,079
messed my bed to make it look
like I had slept in it, even

215
00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:47,680
though I spent most of my time
in the bathroom. Ready to lock the

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00:19:47,759 --> 00:19:52,079
door, and call the police.
I nodded off a few times, but

217
00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:57,720
eventually the sun broke the horizon,
a few rays of sunshine slipping in through

218
00:19:57,759 --> 00:20:07,119
the frosted bathroom window. So I
got my bags and left. One nervous

219
00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:12,160
elevator ride later, I slapped down
the hotel key on the reception and headed

220
00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:18,759
for the exit without elaborating. I
accidentally made eye contact with the hotel security

221
00:20:18,759 --> 00:20:22,839
guard by the exit, who gave
me a curious side eye. Sir,

222
00:20:23,519 --> 00:20:30,160
he asked. I stopped briefly and
excused myself. He held up a hand,

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00:20:30,279 --> 00:20:36,160
Sir, may I speak to you, he repeated, I have an

224
00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:41,400
appointment. I smiled, Sorry,
it won't take long. He smiled,

225
00:20:41,960 --> 00:20:47,160
right this way, looking at the
silver colored revolving door that could get me

226
00:20:47,200 --> 00:20:52,200
out of there. I considered my
options. I could make a break for

227
00:20:52,279 --> 00:20:56,359
it, or I could just see
what this was all about. I decided

228
00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:03,079
to just talk to the man,
banking hard on it not being anything serious.

229
00:21:03,559 --> 00:21:15,759
In hindsight, I should have gone
for the door. I was taken

230
00:21:15,799 --> 00:21:19,480
to a small room right next to
the reception. There he asked to see

231
00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:26,440
my phone. I showed him,
although the battery was still out. My

232
00:21:26,559 --> 00:21:30,599
supervisor has a couple of questions.
He said, she's just outside, won't

233
00:21:30,599 --> 00:21:36,000
be a minute. I'm sorry,
but I got it. He pocketed my

234
00:21:36,079 --> 00:21:41,599
phone, smiled and stepped out of
the room. But it wasn't an ordinary

235
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:48,160
service personnel kind of smile. It
was almost apologetic, like he knew he'd

236
00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:52,960
landed me in some kind of trouble. And through the door came the chipper

237
00:21:53,079 --> 00:22:00,920
young woman from the previous night.
She wasn't as chipper this time. She

238
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:06,599
didn't sit down, instead opting to
stand on the opposite side of the room

239
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,920
with a arms crossed. For a
solid minute, she just stood there,

240
00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:17,119
considering what to say. Finally,
she let out a sigh and took a

241
00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:23,720
step forward. I felt like a
scorn schoolboy being dragged into the principal's office.

242
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:29,079
Are you leaving early? She asked, would be a shame to mister

243
00:22:29,160 --> 00:22:33,160
get together to night. I'm thankful
to have been part of this, I

244
00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:38,799
said, but I really ought to
get going. Oh, she feigned surprise,

245
00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:47,119
family emergency, and that's private,
I said. I could still hear

246
00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:51,160
the hotel personnel outside, and figured
she didn't want to make a scene.

247
00:22:52,319 --> 00:22:57,440
I leaned back in my chair,
confident and quiet. She didn't take that

248
00:22:57,599 --> 00:23:03,519
too well. I think it'd be
best for you if you've stayed a little

249
00:23:03,519 --> 00:23:08,519
longer, she continued. I don't
think I will. I don't think there's

250
00:23:08,599 --> 00:23:14,559
much to debate. I'm sorry,
but you've no. She slammed a fist

251
00:23:14,599 --> 00:23:18,599
on the table and stared me down, unblinking and furious. There was a

252
00:23:18,599 --> 00:23:23,559
slight tremble in a movement. There
was no way those outside didn't hear us,

253
00:23:25,319 --> 00:23:30,519
and yet no one moved a muscle. Perhaps she was in more control

254
00:23:30,599 --> 00:23:34,319
than I'd anticipated. I think you're
going to stick around for a while,

255
00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:40,359
she snarled, or we're going to
have a problem. You'll have a problem

256
00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:45,519
with me, No, I said, shaking my head. Ah, er,

257
00:23:45,079 --> 00:23:48,880
I don't. Then you're going to
shut the hell up and play along.

258
00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:56,119
I was dumb struck. There was
no ambiguity here. She was outright

259
00:23:56,200 --> 00:24:03,039
threatening me. I could barely understan
and why. Maybe she'd seen something on

260
00:24:03,079 --> 00:24:07,079
my phone while I was connected to
the hotel WiFi, or maybe they noticed

261
00:24:07,119 --> 00:24:11,279
me spying. Perhaps they saw me
pondering the attendant sheet. I don't know.

262
00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:18,400
Either way, they weren't taking any
chances. I didn't see that hotel

263
00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:23,119
security guard again. Instead, They
put me in a room with a very

264
00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:29,519
quiet man in a suit. He
didn't answer any questions. He wasn't much

265
00:24:29,559 --> 00:24:33,799
for small talk. All he did
was stand outside the room, checking in

266
00:24:33,839 --> 00:24:38,440
on me as soon as I made
a noise. I spent all day in

267
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:44,400
that room, this small ten x
fourteen room with little more than a couch,

268
00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:48,839
a coffee table, and the most
generic looking hotel painting I'd ever seen.

269
00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:55,000
Still as calming as that room was, I was freaking the hell out,

270
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:59,759
but there was nothing for me to
do at that point. No hair

271
00:25:00,279 --> 00:25:03,920
schemes could make me magically phase through
the wall. I was stuck there,

272
00:25:04,759 --> 00:25:10,759
and I sure as hell wouldn't fight
That guy didn't take a detective despot.

273
00:25:11,279 --> 00:25:15,920
He was armed. The stress made
my stomach act up. I was allowed

274
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,839
to use the bathroom, but they
kept the stall door open. Then it

275
00:25:21,039 --> 00:25:25,160
was straight back to the room.
I tried frantically to come up with some

276
00:25:25,319 --> 00:25:29,440
kind of plan, or figuring out
some specific turn of the corridor where he

277
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:34,480
wouldn't have a clear shot, but
it was useless. There were long,

278
00:25:34,599 --> 00:25:41,119
wide open spaces and no harsh corners, but that was my mindset. I

279
00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:45,519
was still under the impression that there
was something I could do, but in

280
00:25:45,559 --> 00:25:52,839
reality I couldn't. Once that started
the dawn on me, I realized how

281
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:59,079
screwed I was. It was the
emotional equivalent of sinking into a deep black

282
00:25:59,079 --> 00:26:07,240
ocean. It was late afternoon when
the door opened. Having spent most of

283
00:26:07,240 --> 00:26:11,559
the day napping on the couch and
anxiously wandering back and forth, I got

284
00:26:11,559 --> 00:26:15,680
on my feet like a soldier.
One of the guards coaxed me outside.

285
00:26:15,799 --> 00:26:21,759
I could tell something was up.
People were rushing past us, speaking into

286
00:26:21,799 --> 00:26:26,359
their ear pieces removed in the opposite
direction, but I caught a glimpse of

287
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:32,000
a well dressed group of people used
as human shields for someone very important.

288
00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:37,960
I was quickly ushered along. I
was taken through the hotel kitchen they'd cleared

289
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:42,039
out the staff. They took me
to what looked like an abandoned old walk

290
00:26:42,079 --> 00:26:48,960
in freezer. I was pushed inside
and the door was closed. I don't

291
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:52,480
know how those walk in freezers,
I suppose the work, but this one

292
00:26:52,559 --> 00:26:56,880
locked from the outside. There were
no lights, and I could barely make

293
00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:02,400
out what was happening through the little
windows. I didn't have to wait for

294
00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:07,599
long. Just minutes after I could
hear other people entering the room, some

295
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:11,920
curious, some angry, some crying. One by one, the guests from

296
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:18,160
the previous night were ushered into the
freezer, even the old woman. Well,

297
00:27:18,759 --> 00:27:26,039
not all the guests, only those
ripe enough. There were nine of

298
00:27:26,119 --> 00:27:30,759
us in total. Some were mildly
annoyed, others were confused. Finally,

299
00:27:30,839 --> 00:27:34,880
they dropped a guy who had been
beaten straight onto the floor. He was

300
00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:41,400
clearly not okay, trying his best
to breathe through his mouth. That set

301
00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:45,880
most of us off. Some banged
on the door, others screened at the

302
00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:49,759
top of their lungs. No one
had a phone or a weapon. The

303
00:27:49,839 --> 00:27:55,960
panic rose, and it spread like
wildfire. Soon I was right there with

304
00:27:56,039 --> 00:28:00,720
them, screaming for someone to let
us out. I screamed into my voice

305
00:28:00,759 --> 00:28:04,880
hoarse, but no one came.
We must have been in there for at

306
00:28:04,960 --> 00:28:11,279
least forty to forty five minutes.
Our protests died, and in the following

307
00:28:11,319 --> 00:28:17,880
silence we heard someone enter the room, a single set of footsteps. They

308
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:22,680
approached, and we all quieted down. I could see the vague outline of

309
00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,559
a man outside, but our breaths
had fogged up the windows and the door.

310
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:30,240
He had a black suit with a
blue tie. He stood there with

311
00:28:30,319 --> 00:28:37,160
his hands in his pocket, watching
us. I backed away from the door.

312
00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:41,880
The others did the same, No
matter how bad the freezer was.

313
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:48,400
There was something telling me that this
guy was somehow worse. He was too

314
00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:55,680
calm, like this was all normal, he'd done it before. As the

315
00:28:55,720 --> 00:29:00,680
door opened, we all scrambled to
get back. He stepped into the entrance,

316
00:29:00,000 --> 00:29:04,839
obscured by the bad lighting, but
for all I could see he was

317
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:10,480
a man, a little shorter than
me, a bit round around the stomach,

318
00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:15,920
bald, maybe glasses. There was
something reflecting off his face, and

319
00:29:17,039 --> 00:29:22,480
yet there was something about him that
screamed danger. The man who'd been beaten

320
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:26,319
was ready to roll the dice.
He took off running, trying to push

321
00:29:26,359 --> 00:29:30,400
past and get out. There was
a kitchen exit not too far away,

322
00:29:32,119 --> 00:29:36,400
so if he could just make it
past this guy, then maybe he'd be

323
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:44,079
in the clear. But no,
he didn't get that far. The strange

324
00:29:44,079 --> 00:29:48,440
man didn't tackle him, or attack
or scream. In fact, he didn't

325
00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:53,440
seem to react at all. But
the runner, well, he stopped a

326
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:59,240
few steps short of leaving the freezer. He clutched his throat, gasping for

327
00:29:59,279 --> 00:30:03,119
air. The man spoke in a
raspy, matter of factly voice, as

328
00:30:03,119 --> 00:30:10,640
if counting the inventory on the supermarket's
shelf. Male thirty eight years old,

329
00:30:11,319 --> 00:30:15,680
six years spread, reaching a total
of eighteen percent implanted the Risophagu's surgery,

330
00:30:18,599 --> 00:30:25,799
and then there was this ungodly noise. The runner collapsed to his knees.

331
00:30:26,799 --> 00:30:30,039
He was trying to scream, but
all that came out was a sort of

332
00:30:30,079 --> 00:30:37,799
guturo wheeze. It escaped him in
waves, involuntarily, until we could see

333
00:30:37,799 --> 00:30:41,640
something poking out of his mouth,
like the silhouette of a wet branch being

334
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:48,079
pulled out. Finally, there was
a snap as it fully dislodged, and

335
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:56,400
the freezer began to re reek of
blood. He stopped moving. The panic

336
00:30:56,759 --> 00:31:02,519
consumed us. I may read calm
here in the aftermath, but in that

337
00:31:02,599 --> 00:31:08,079
moment I was an animal. I
was scratching on the damn walls trying to

338
00:31:08,079 --> 00:31:11,880
get back. I didn't care if
I was pushing people into the floor or

339
00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:18,640
stepping on someone's head. I was
desperate. The strange man spoke again,

340
00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:27,160
but this time his raspy voice seemed
better improved. Female twenty nine years old,

341
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:33,160
four year spread, reaching a total
of fourteen percent implant through spinal surgery.

342
00:31:34,720 --> 00:31:40,759
One by one, he counted us
off male female, male female,

343
00:31:41,079 --> 00:31:45,319
four years, five years, nine
eight percentages going up and down, lung

344
00:31:45,359 --> 00:31:51,799
cancer, cornea, transplant, dialysis, screams, and blood, one by

345
00:31:51,839 --> 00:31:56,839
one, being pulled out of the
crowd and then pulled apart. I'll never

346
00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:02,640
forget the sounds. Small bones sound
like carrots when they snap bigger ones.

347
00:32:05,039 --> 00:32:10,319
It differs the dripping noise as human
spillach mixed on the floor. Drops a

348
00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:16,160
blood really do sound heavier than water. And with every victim, I could

349
00:32:16,200 --> 00:32:22,519
see something shift in our captor,
straightening back, deeper breaths, like he

350
00:32:22,599 --> 00:32:30,319
was absorbing it all into himself,
taking something back, harvesting. The sixth

351
00:32:30,359 --> 00:32:36,559
person on the chopping block was me. He read it all out loud,

352
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:43,880
male. He began thirty one years
old, twenty four year spread, reaching

353
00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:51,839
a total of eleven percent implant through
also treatment. My stomach rumbled, moved,

354
00:32:52,119 --> 00:32:57,160
twitched, as if calming alive.
It wanted to escape me, to

355
00:32:57,240 --> 00:33:02,039
break free. It strained against me. I collapsed to the floor, my

356
00:33:02,119 --> 00:33:08,319
hands slipping on the blood seeping into
my skin, itching under my fingernails.

357
00:33:08,839 --> 00:33:15,839
Then I felt something move in my
pocket. I almost dropped it. I

358
00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:21,640
still had my phone battery. I
took it out and held it up to

359
00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:24,920
my mouth. I could bite down
on it, drenching myself in acid.

360
00:33:25,240 --> 00:33:30,799
Oh god knows what. My stomach
ceased moving, if only for a short

361
00:33:30,839 --> 00:33:37,680
reprieve. I looked up at my
captor. See see this, I said,

362
00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:43,640
it'll it'll screw us both up.
But you need it right, you

363
00:33:43,759 --> 00:33:47,960
need me whole. There was no
response. I could just see him tilting

364
00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:52,519
his head down at me. Yeah, if I destroy myself, you get

365
00:33:52,519 --> 00:33:59,240
nothing right. That's it, isn't
it. Huh. I placed it between

366
00:33:59,279 --> 00:34:02,480
my teeth, ready to bite down
like a rabid dog on a juicy bone.

367
00:34:05,359 --> 00:34:09,119
He didn't move As I got up, He circled one another. He

368
00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:14,280
wasn't about to let me go.
He wasn't looking at me in the eyes.

369
00:34:15,119 --> 00:34:20,039
He was staring intently at my stomach. He wanted to pull it out

370
00:34:20,039 --> 00:34:24,599
of me, to turn it into
something else. Or maybe it was part

371
00:34:24,639 --> 00:34:34,559
of him all along, something coming
home. No, he said it ends.

372
00:34:35,079 --> 00:34:37,559
He reached out a hand for me, and I bit down without hesitation.

373
00:34:39,039 --> 00:34:44,119
To my surprise, there was just
a little puff, but that was

374
00:34:44,159 --> 00:34:51,119
it. The battery tumbled to the
floor useless. The man instinctively recoiled,

375
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:55,079
but upon seeing that there was no
danger, it all came back with a

376
00:34:55,159 --> 00:35:02,239
vengeance. The pain was immediate and
incredible. Something in me moved and I

377
00:35:02,239 --> 00:35:13,679
immediately spat up a glob of stomach
acid. Then the battery exploded. It

378
00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,599
wasn't a big explosion, just a
loud bang, like the starting of a

379
00:35:17,599 --> 00:35:22,679
pistol race. I slipped and slid
my way out of the freezer and had

380
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:28,400
to make a split second decision.
I could close and lock the door behind

381
00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:31,840
me, effectively ceiling him and everyone
in there. Or I could leave the

382
00:35:31,880 --> 00:35:38,480
door open for others to escape.
But it wasn't really a choice, not

383
00:35:38,599 --> 00:35:45,519
really. It never is when you
get pushed into something like this. I

384
00:35:45,639 --> 00:35:50,079
slammed that door shut and led it
auto lock without even thinking about it.

385
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:55,440
Perhaps he asked the guards to clear
out. I don't know, but there

386
00:35:55,480 --> 00:36:00,280
was no one else in that kitchen. I grabbed a knife from one of

387
00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:04,360
the counters, burst through the exit
door, and disappeared into the night,

388
00:36:05,079 --> 00:36:09,199
my stomach stirring like a restless animal, but settling as I got further away.

389
00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:16,519
I can only regret what happened to
those left behind. It still makes

390
00:36:16,559 --> 00:36:22,000
my spine itch. A police patrol
found me wondering the streets about an hour

391
00:36:22,119 --> 00:36:28,480
or two later. I can't imagine
it looked good. I was taking such

392
00:36:28,559 --> 00:36:32,400
small, shallow breaths and I was
still clutching the knife. Not to mention,

393
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,119
I was covered in blood. They
were convinced that I killed someone,

394
00:36:37,679 --> 00:36:43,639
but I surrendered willingly and eagerly.
I tried to tell a coherent story,

395
00:36:44,159 --> 00:36:50,440
but they just didn't understand me.
Probably didn't make much sense. A shower

396
00:36:50,519 --> 00:36:53,480
and a fresh set of clothes later, I explained my experience of the hotel

397
00:36:53,559 --> 00:36:59,320
to the best of my ability.
Sadly, it didn't really do much.

398
00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:05,360
There were no records of the men
I described ever visiting that hotel. As

399
00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:09,239
for the missing people, those I
claimed had been murdered, they had checked

400
00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:14,440
out one by one at different hours
of the day prior. According to the

401
00:37:14,480 --> 00:37:19,960
hotel records, they might be missing, but there was no indication of foul

402
00:37:19,960 --> 00:37:27,079
play. Yeah, I'm calling lies
on that. So yeah, that was

403
00:37:27,159 --> 00:37:30,760
by far the worst time of my
life. Looking back at it, it

404
00:37:30,880 --> 00:37:37,559
feels unreal, like it happened to
some one else. But even now I

405
00:37:37,599 --> 00:37:42,079
can still get little flashes of something
there reminds me of that night, and

406
00:37:42,159 --> 00:37:49,039
it just pulls me right back.
It never really leaves Whoever that man was.

407
00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:52,559
He was important enough to get a
whole company to cover for him.

408
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:57,559
I'm sure not all of them knew
why they were doing it, but they

409
00:37:57,599 --> 00:38:02,840
were complicit. I think we're looking
at someone with a lot of resources and

410
00:38:04,039 --> 00:38:07,440
a lot of reach. I never
got a name, and seeing how he

411
00:38:07,519 --> 00:38:13,400
seemed to change with every victimy consumed, I can't really tell what he looks

412
00:38:13,480 --> 00:38:19,000
like any more, not even his
age or hight or weight. There are

413
00:38:19,159 --> 00:38:23,360
surprisingly some real records about a small
tribe of people living from the Blue Hill

414
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:30,360
in the Scandinavian Mountain Range. There
isn't much out there about them, just

415
00:38:30,400 --> 00:38:35,840
to mention that they worshiped immortal mountain
spirits. Others say they worship devils.

416
00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:43,199
It's a mixed bag. I don't
know what to believe. I don't know

417
00:38:43,280 --> 00:38:46,239
what I saw, but I'm living
with a knowledge that a part of me,

418
00:38:46,920 --> 00:38:52,920
something inside me, isn't my own. It moves with me, it

419
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:58,079
lives with me, but at the
snap of a finger from that thing and

420
00:38:58,159 --> 00:39:05,599
it will rebel, it will fail
me. And I'm just at what eleven

421
00:39:05,639 --> 00:39:10,360
percent. What happens when I reach
fifty or one hundred. I decided to

422
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:16,280
post this after getting a video ad
that I could never have anticipated. It

423
00:39:16,360 --> 00:39:22,039
seems that this company is still in
business advertising their new generation of DNA tests.

424
00:39:23,119 --> 00:39:28,760
I'm sure some of you out there
have seen it. Twenty seconds unskippable

425
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:35,639
smiling faces, distant family members being
tied together by CGI blue ribbon. I

426
00:39:35,639 --> 00:39:39,239
think they have some of those damn
sunflowers in the background, still colored that

427
00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:47,079
basic company blue. And seeing it
like that, it just it made my

428
00:39:47,239 --> 00:40:02,880
stomach turn. I remember the first
time I saw the man, the thing

429
00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:08,159
with a face like melting wax.
I knew he had many masks and many

430
00:40:08,239 --> 00:40:14,719
names. He had followed our foundily
for years, and from father to son,

431
00:40:15,280 --> 00:40:20,519
mother to daughter. The fear and
terror of the faceless man got passed

432
00:40:20,559 --> 00:40:27,599
down. Every time he came,
he would have a different face. The

433
00:40:27,599 --> 00:40:30,239
first time I saw him, he
looked like a withered old Asian man,

434
00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:36,880
leaning heavily on a wooden cane with
a silver top. Our front door stood

435
00:40:36,880 --> 00:40:40,920
wide open, and I saw my
mother and father standing there, their faces

436
00:40:40,960 --> 00:40:46,719
as pale as ghosts as they looked
down upon the stranger I couldn't have been

437
00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:52,360
older than eleven years old, but
the memory is still as sharp as a

438
00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:58,079
butcher's knife stuck in my brain.
I walked forwards from the living room,

439
00:40:58,679 --> 00:41:04,199
the cartoon noises still blaring loudly in
the background. The man looked past them

440
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:15,480
and straight at me. He squinted
his eyes and grinned another lamb so pretty

441
00:41:15,519 --> 00:41:20,639
and young, he mused, isn't
it a shame when a child is taken

442
00:41:20,800 --> 00:41:25,519
so early in life? And yet
God kills children every day? I heard

443
00:41:25,559 --> 00:41:30,280
last month a hurricane blew an entire
school down and killed a hundred of the

444
00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:36,280
little buggers in one swift go.
So perhaps God will forgive me from my

445
00:41:36,360 --> 00:41:42,320
small sins, my taking of a
few here and there to keep my appetite

446
00:41:42,679 --> 00:41:49,239
satiated. Get out of here,
my father snarled with gritted teeth. He

447
00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:53,039
clenched his fists until the knuckles turned
white, looking as if he would strike

448
00:41:53,119 --> 00:41:59,639
out at any moment. Do you
know who I am? The faceless man

449
00:41:59,679 --> 00:42:06,239
asked in a whispery voice. Then
he began chuckling. It sounded like someone

450
00:42:06,360 --> 00:42:10,920
trying to laugh with a slit throat, a harsh gurgling sound that raised goose

451
00:42:10,960 --> 00:42:15,639
bumps all up and down my body. My father slammed the door shut,

452
00:42:15,760 --> 00:42:22,119
quickly locking the dead bolts. I
fingered the silver cross my mother had given

453
00:42:22,159 --> 00:42:29,159
me nervously I always did when I
was anxious. Feeling it laying there against

454
00:42:29,199 --> 00:42:35,159
my cold skin helped bring me back
to the moment. My father turned to

455
00:42:35,159 --> 00:42:38,800
look at us with panic stricken eyes. I heard light knocking on the door

456
00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:45,239
behind him as the demonical laughter continued
to grow until it became all I could

457
00:42:45,280 --> 00:42:54,920
hear. Then, without warning,
it cut off. When I looked at

458
00:42:54,960 --> 00:42:59,960
the peep hole on the front door, I saw the front stoop stood empty.

459
00:43:00,679 --> 00:43:06,159
Get my gun, my father said
to my mother. She left the

460
00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:12,199
room quietly, sobbing as she went. Sunlight from the warm summer sky continued

461
00:43:12,239 --> 00:43:16,119
to stream in through the windows.
What a beautiful day, I thought to

462
00:43:16,159 --> 00:43:25,960
myself, Such a beautiful day and
maybe my last. Then I saw a

463
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:30,880
shadow cross in front of the living
room window. I saw someone peeking in

464
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:37,199
with wide excited eyes. A grin
like a skull spread across his leathered old

465
00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:43,559
face. As I watched, the
face began to drip and contort as it

466
00:43:43,639 --> 00:43:49,800
continued to smile. He started slowly
around the lips and eyes, and then

467
00:43:49,880 --> 00:43:54,920
he began speeding up. Within seconds, I saw the flesh running down his

468
00:43:55,079 --> 00:44:01,599
cheeks and chin in rivulets, dripping
like flesh colored whare. Behind the masky

469
00:44:01,679 --> 00:44:07,199
war, I caught a glimpse of
something horrible before new streams of flesh rolled

470
00:44:07,239 --> 00:44:14,079
over it from its scalp and forehead. Then the last of the human skin

471
00:44:14,199 --> 00:44:22,320
dripped off, and I found myself
staring into the face of hell. I

472
00:44:22,360 --> 00:44:28,599
could never explain the true horror of
the thing lurking behind its costume of human

473
00:44:28,679 --> 00:44:34,519
skin. He felt like staring into
a puss filled wound with maggots writhing around

474
00:44:34,559 --> 00:44:38,800
the edges, or maybe like falling
into a mass grave. Some of his

475
00:44:38,920 --> 00:44:45,159
body seemed flipped inside out with the
glistening muscles on the outside, But the

476
00:44:45,239 --> 00:44:52,440
bloody, demonic face was far more
disturbing. It had eyes like two smoldering

477
00:44:52,480 --> 00:44:58,639
cigarette burns. Its mouth was a
slash, disgusting thing. The lips looked

478
00:44:58,679 --> 00:45:02,920
eaten away, the ragged patches of
flesh surrounding them that seemed to make the

479
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:08,199
smile seem much larger, reminding me
of how a clown would do his makeup.

480
00:45:09,559 --> 00:45:15,239
I saw that grinning mouth filled with
countless needle sharp teeth above black soarid,

481
00:45:15,239 --> 00:45:22,320
and gums that writhe and shivered in
its lipless mouth. Even through the

482
00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:29,960
window, the smell like sulfur and
reeking spoiled meat filtered into the house seemed

483
00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:36,119
to fill the air like a physical
presence. Its body looked flipped inside out.

484
00:45:36,920 --> 00:45:40,840
I could see the quivering muscles on
the skinless figure. It looked deathly

485
00:45:40,920 --> 00:45:45,280
thin, and veins ran along the
outside of its face and body, like

486
00:45:45,440 --> 00:45:52,199
thick dark worms, pulsating with each
beat of the satanic heart that lay inside

487
00:45:52,199 --> 00:45:58,440
that thing's chest, emanating sickness and
evil through every pore of its gleaming body.

488
00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:04,719
As it stared into my soul with
its black, lidless eyes, I

489
00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:09,480
saw in that face all the worst
nightmares of the universe. I saw mountains

490
00:46:09,480 --> 00:46:15,239
of corpses festering under a hot sun, black holes eating worlds as masses screened.

491
00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:21,559
I saw mothers drowning their children in
bathtubs, and animals eating each other

492
00:46:21,599 --> 00:46:29,360
alive. I saw into eternity,
and it looked so dark and empty that

493
00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:35,280
I fell to my knees, pleading
make it stop, make it stop.

494
00:46:35,880 --> 00:46:40,360
I cried, tears streaming down my
face. My father ran in with his

495
00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:46,440
shock and raised but when I looked
back up, the window was empty.

496
00:46:49,039 --> 00:46:53,639
Yet the visions continued to run through
my mind like a movie, atrocity after

497
00:46:53,719 --> 00:47:02,239
atrocity, and somehow it all connected
back to the faceless man. After a

498
00:47:02,239 --> 00:47:07,960
few seconds of utter silence, that
deep gurgling voice rang out, making us

499
00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:14,480
all jump. It seemed to come
from nowhere and everywhere at once, reverberating

500
00:47:14,559 --> 00:47:20,199
throughout the room. It said something
that made my father waver on his feet.

501
00:47:21,320 --> 00:47:24,760
A strange verse, but one I
remember by heart to this day.

502
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:34,440
Here is bella Donna, the lady
of the rocks, the lady of situations.

503
00:47:34,880 --> 00:47:37,800
Here is the man with three staves, and here is the one i'd

504
00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:44,280
merchant. And this card, which
is blank, is something he carries on

505
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:50,400
his back, which I am forbidden
to see. I do not find the

506
00:47:50,559 --> 00:47:55,599
hanged man. After that, we
barricaded the doors and locked all the windows.

507
00:47:57,679 --> 00:48:00,199
I knew it wouldn't keep the faceless
man out. He could easily just

508
00:48:00,199 --> 00:48:04,960
smash through a window, and perhaps
he wouldn't even need to do that.

509
00:48:06,039 --> 00:48:10,079
Maybe he could pass inside the house
any time he wanted. And yet,

510
00:48:10,559 --> 00:48:20,199
if so, why hadn't he so
it started again. My mother said,

511
00:48:20,639 --> 00:48:24,480
looking at my father with a powerful
intensity in her eyes. He has come

512
00:48:24,559 --> 00:48:31,039
back again for a sacrifice. My
father nodded slowly. Well, what do

513
00:48:31,079 --> 00:48:37,960
you mean a sacrifice, I asked, my child's mind, not comprehending the

514
00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:45,960
magnitude of the situation. Yet my
father hesitated. He eats the souls of

515
00:48:45,079 --> 00:48:51,679
people, My father said, he
and my great grandfather drew up a contract

516
00:48:51,719 --> 00:48:57,360
a long long time ago, and
ever since our family has had great wealth.

517
00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:02,079
You're young, so you don't really
understand fully yet. But not everyone

518
00:49:02,159 --> 00:49:07,639
lives in mansions like us. Not
everyone vacations in Paris and Buenos Aires during

519
00:49:07,639 --> 00:49:13,480
the summer vacation. Not everyone has
a garage full of Porsches and Mercedes.

520
00:49:15,079 --> 00:49:19,400
So why don't you just tell him
no, I asked, in my childish

521
00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:24,000
way, We don't need all this
money. The left side of my father's

522
00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:29,800
face began to twitch. He stumped
towards me, shouting as tears ran down

523
00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:32,960
his face. I don't give a
damn about the money, he cried.

524
00:49:34,480 --> 00:49:37,519
The deal was drawn in blood and
cursed from the first day. Do you

525
00:49:37,559 --> 00:49:40,360
think if I could get him to
go away by giving him everything I own?

526
00:49:40,480 --> 00:49:45,039
I wouldn't. I would do it
in a heartbeat. I would live

527
00:49:45,039 --> 00:49:50,320
in a goddamn trailer and eat instant
noodles if I had to. But there's

528
00:49:50,320 --> 00:49:57,159
no escape. He looked around as
if expecting to see the faceless man standing

529
00:49:57,239 --> 00:50:02,000
right behind him. He began looking
at the windows, seeing nothing but a

530
00:50:02,079 --> 00:50:08,440
bright summer's day. We need to
go, my mother whispered. Now,

531
00:50:08,679 --> 00:50:13,280
let's take Susan and go. He
won't find us. If we keep moving,

532
00:50:14,800 --> 00:50:20,440
he'll find us, my father said, looking defeated. Tears continued to

533
00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:25,639
stream down his face. He looked
like a defeated man he always does.

534
00:50:25,719 --> 00:50:31,159
But screw it. Let's go.
We'll take this asshole on and run around

535
00:50:31,199 --> 00:50:37,519
the world. We took off from
the property, and my father told me

536
00:50:37,599 --> 00:50:40,840
more about the deal. As we
flew out of town in inexpensive Mercedes,

537
00:50:42,519 --> 00:50:46,559
redlining the accelerator. I thought,
more than once he would crash and kill

538
00:50:46,639 --> 00:50:51,840
us all in his frenzy to put
distance between us and the faceless man.

539
00:50:52,840 --> 00:50:59,159
Once every fifty years, my father
said, he comes. He has his

540
00:50:59,360 --> 00:51:02,480
bigger the lists, as he calls
it. He takes one child from our

541
00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:08,039
family, and in exchange, our
wealth is guaranteed for the next fifty years.

542
00:51:09,079 --> 00:51:14,960
Even during the Great Depression, our
family didn't suffer, except, of

543
00:51:15,079 --> 00:51:21,320
course, the periodic deductions of children. He makes the parents watch as he

544
00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:24,559
takes the soul of the child into
himself. I don't know what kind of

545
00:51:24,559 --> 00:51:29,679
foul magic it involves, but from
what I've read in the diaries of my

546
00:51:29,719 --> 00:51:36,239
grandfather, it's a very painful ritual
that involves skinning the child alive and rubbing

547
00:51:36,239 --> 00:51:42,480
the body with special herbs. Then
he makes them walk totally skinned and bleeding

548
00:51:42,519 --> 00:51:46,840
to death until they collapse, and
that's when he takes the soul. He

549
00:51:46,920 --> 00:51:52,360
sucks it out of their eyes.
It looks like thin wisps of light when

550
00:51:52,360 --> 00:51:59,599
it finally goes. I shook inwardly
in horror. No one would ever allow

551
00:51:59,639 --> 00:52:04,840
that to happen to their kid,
I said, confidently. My father shook

552
00:52:04,840 --> 00:52:08,719
his head. You act as if
we have a choice, he said.

553
00:52:09,159 --> 00:52:14,679
The first time he comes, politely
knocks on the door and tells the parents

554
00:52:14,760 --> 00:52:21,320
it's time to fulfill the contract.
If they say no, then he leaves.

555
00:52:22,719 --> 00:52:27,960
But he always comes back, and
the next time he won't be polite,

556
00:52:28,679 --> 00:52:32,599
and he won't leave. He'll come
into the house when we're sleeping torture

557
00:52:32,639 --> 00:52:36,480
me and your mother to death,
slit off the roads, and then take

558
00:52:36,519 --> 00:52:42,239
you away. He's tireless, he
doesn't age, he doesn't sleep, and

559
00:52:42,639 --> 00:52:46,639
as far as I know, he
can't die. How can we fight against

560
00:52:46,639 --> 00:52:52,239
such an evil by going to the
moon. But why would great Grandpa make

561
00:52:52,280 --> 00:52:59,239
a deal like that anyway, I
asked, because at the time he had

562
00:52:59,280 --> 00:53:02,880
ten children, and all of them
were starving, a few were dysentery,

563
00:53:04,199 --> 00:53:07,880
and he didn't have a penny to
his name at the time. He chose

564
00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:12,800
the sacrifice one and give it to
the faithless man to save the other nine.

565
00:53:13,079 --> 00:53:16,760
My father shrugged. I don't know
if we can understand it. I

566
00:53:16,840 --> 00:53:22,119
certainly don't agree with it. I'm
not sure he realized at the time that

567
00:53:22,239 --> 00:53:27,320
our family would suffer eternally afterwards,
and that the contract could not be voided

568
00:53:27,679 --> 00:53:34,239
except through death. He laughed bitterly. We should have just let our family

569
00:53:34,280 --> 00:53:39,639
line die out. Maybe that would
have solved the problem. What about those

570
00:53:39,719 --> 00:53:44,719
words at the end, Daddy,
I asked, what did those mean?

571
00:53:45,079 --> 00:53:51,519
Oh, that's just a famous old
poem. My grandfather used to recite it

572
00:53:51,559 --> 00:53:55,159
to me before he shot himself.
He loved t s Eliot and he thought

573
00:53:55,199 --> 00:54:00,639
the poem had some relevance to our
problems. For some reason, he never

574
00:54:00,679 --> 00:54:04,559
got over the loss of his son
to the faceless man. You see.

575
00:54:05,400 --> 00:54:09,000
Never He used to wake up screaming
at night. He tried to drink his

576
00:54:09,119 --> 00:54:17,639
memories away, But in the end, my father braked, suddenly, bringing

577
00:54:17,679 --> 00:54:22,639
the car to a full stop.
I looked up, seeing forrests on both

578
00:54:22,679 --> 00:54:29,360
sides of us. We hadn't traveled
long. A hitchhiker stood at the edge

579
00:54:29,400 --> 00:54:32,280
of the road in grimy blue jeans
and a bright, tight eyed shirt.

580
00:54:34,360 --> 00:54:38,320
His long hair rippled around him as
he stood with his thumb out, but

581
00:54:38,400 --> 00:54:45,840
his face had started the drip and
melt. Me all saw it and froze.

582
00:54:46,119 --> 00:54:50,960
My father reached down below his seat
and pulled out the black shotgun.

583
00:54:51,880 --> 00:54:54,920
He ran out of the car like
a madman, his eyes blazing with anger

584
00:54:55,000 --> 00:55:00,599
and terror. Get out of here, he cried, as if to a

585
00:55:00,679 --> 00:55:07,159
rabid animal, then raised the gun
and fired. The faceless Man's tied eye

586
00:55:07,199 --> 00:55:14,480
shirt burst into shreds as bookshot tore
into it. The faceless man smiled,

587
00:55:15,519 --> 00:55:21,559
raised his hand to us in a
wave, and disappeared. The clothes fell

588
00:55:21,639 --> 00:55:28,119
limply to the grass. Blow now
totally empty. My father shook his head

589
00:55:28,119 --> 00:55:32,280
grimly and turned around to come back
to the car. A dark shape zoomed

590
00:55:32,280 --> 00:55:37,119
out of the forest, holding a
sharp knife. Before my father could turn,

591
00:55:37,679 --> 00:55:46,199
he raised it to his throat and
pulled. My mother screamed, getting

592
00:55:46,239 --> 00:55:52,639
out of the car to go help
my father, but he was dead.

593
00:55:53,199 --> 00:55:58,320
Even as a child, I knew
it. I could see the knife had

594
00:55:58,320 --> 00:56:01,960
practically severed his head from his body
except for the spine and a thin bit

595
00:56:02,000 --> 00:56:07,440
of flesh on the back. Blood
poured out, flooding down his chest as

596
00:56:07,480 --> 00:56:14,360
he stood there for a moment,
uncomprehending. Then he began to fall forwards

597
00:56:14,920 --> 00:56:20,000
and his head snapped back, revealing
the gore, muscle and ligaments beneath.

598
00:56:21,679 --> 00:56:25,719
I watched as my mother ran to
his side, panic stricken. The faceless

599
00:56:25,719 --> 00:56:31,280
man looked on with glee, laughing
and shrieking. His black eyes blazed with

600
00:56:31,360 --> 00:56:38,320
an inner light as he looked towards
me and grinned, showing the hundred needle

601
00:56:38,400 --> 00:56:45,519
sharp teeth behind that supertuating sore of
a mouth. My mother looked up at

602
00:56:45,599 --> 00:56:49,719
him, trying to grab the gun
from my father's stiff hands, but the

603
00:56:49,800 --> 00:56:54,840
faceless man didn't flinch. He ran
forwards, his sleek, bloody body as

604
00:56:54,880 --> 00:57:00,440
fast as the greyhounds. He opened
his mouth wide and my mother's face.

605
00:57:02,000 --> 00:57:06,920
I saw the teeth bite into a
skin, and he began to shake his

606
00:57:07,000 --> 00:57:10,719
head like a dog, ripping and
shredding. Her face became a mask of

607
00:57:10,800 --> 00:57:16,719
gore, and I screamed in the
car, nearly thrown up, but something

608
00:57:16,760 --> 00:57:22,679
inside told me I needed to move. I wasn't a stupid kid, after

609
00:57:22,760 --> 00:57:25,760
all, I was going to die
here next to some woods in the middle

610
00:57:25,800 --> 00:57:30,400
of nowhere. I ran out of
the back seat and jumped into the driver's

611
00:57:30,440 --> 00:57:36,079
seat. I'd never driven a car, but it was, after all,

612
00:57:36,159 --> 00:57:40,320
an automatic. He didn't take much
intelligence to put it in drive and hit

613
00:57:40,360 --> 00:57:45,679
the gas pedal. Of course,
I didn't really know how to drive,

614
00:57:46,079 --> 00:57:52,000
and I nearly hid a tree.
I skidded, turning the wheel with two

615
00:57:52,039 --> 00:57:57,960
bumps. I accidentally ran over my
mother and father. The faceless man shrieked

616
00:57:58,000 --> 00:58:01,280
with laughter as I drove off down
the road, crying and screaming in the

617
00:58:01,320 --> 00:58:07,840
car, I abandoned it a few
hours later in the city. My father

618
00:58:07,039 --> 00:58:10,960
had brought a massive envelope of cash
with him in the center console, and

619
00:58:12,039 --> 00:58:17,880
I counted it with awe. It
was hundreds of thousands of dollars. I

620
00:58:19,039 --> 00:58:22,639
went on the run soon after,
moving across the country and living on the

621
00:58:22,639 --> 00:58:29,599
money I found. It was four
years later when I went to a carnival

622
00:58:29,719 --> 00:58:35,800
board and decided to have my future
read. I hadn't seen the faceless man

623
00:58:35,800 --> 00:58:42,880
in years, and I figured I'd
lost him. If only that were true.

624
00:58:44,719 --> 00:58:49,000
The old woman pulled out a tarot
deck and began flipping them over one

625
00:58:49,079 --> 00:58:53,000
by one. Ah, she said, in a voice that seemed to deepen.

626
00:58:54,000 --> 00:58:59,679
I see here is the man with
three staves, and here is the

627
00:58:59,719 --> 00:59:06,320
wheel, and here is the one
eyed merchant. I screamed, backing up

628
00:59:06,360 --> 00:59:10,280
quickly as the flesh began to drip
from a face. And this card,

629
00:59:10,599 --> 00:59:15,119
which is blank, is something he
carries on his back. Mitch, I'm

630
00:59:15,119 --> 00:59:22,519
forbidden to see. The last of
the skin dripped off the grinning thing beneath

631
00:59:22,719 --> 00:59:27,480
froze from the chair. It's sleek, bloody body and black holes of eyes

632
00:59:27,599 --> 00:59:31,800
regarding me with glee. Ah.
Yes, I am forbidden to see,

633
00:59:31,840 --> 00:59:37,280
but I've seen it, and look
what it's done to me. Susan,

634
00:59:37,039 --> 00:59:42,559
Look what it's done. Your mother
and father weret in a shallow grave somewhere,

635
00:59:43,159 --> 00:59:46,559
picked clean by animals. And now
it's just you and me, Susan,

636
00:59:49,159 --> 00:59:53,920
and we are alone. The card
is blank, but he doesn't have

637
00:59:54,039 --> 01:00:00,280
to be. Come and see what
it holds. He rose into the air,

638
01:00:01,079 --> 01:00:07,480
his bloody, skeletal feet dangling above
the ground. Come and see.

639
01:00:07,800 --> 01:00:13,000
I bowled the pistol I always carried
out of its holster and began firing point

640
01:00:13,039 --> 01:00:17,280
blank into the demonic face and black
heart of that thing. People began to

641
01:00:17,320 --> 01:00:22,119
scream all around me at the carnival. I turned to run out of the

642
01:00:22,159 --> 01:00:30,239
tent, but a cold hand gripped
my shoulder, leaving so soon. His

643
01:00:30,320 --> 01:00:35,960
soft voice whispered in my ear,
laughing with a sound a drowning man might

644
01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:42,000
make. Ah. But we haven't
finished, Susan, Worthy is the lamb?

645
01:00:42,199 --> 01:00:46,719
Worthy is the Suddenly the hand touched
the silver cross my mother had given

646
01:00:46,760 --> 01:00:52,519
me as a small child, and
it flinched the way I felt the grip

647
01:00:52,639 --> 01:00:58,639
loosen, and I ran without looking
back. People had taken cover all over

648
01:00:58,679 --> 01:01:04,039
the carnival. Many had started to
leave, and I saw agitated police and

649
01:01:04,119 --> 01:01:08,880
security trying to find out where the
gunshots had come from. Immediately mixed into

650
01:01:08,920 --> 01:01:15,519
a large crowd and made my way
towards the exit, but I constantly looked

651
01:01:15,559 --> 01:01:21,079
back, expecting to see a man
with a melting face. Perhaps he would

652
01:01:21,119 --> 01:01:24,679
act like a police officer and pretend
to arrest me before bringing me to some

653
01:01:24,760 --> 01:01:32,360
dark forest and starting the skinning process. I keep running now, but I

654
01:01:32,400 --> 01:01:39,480
always look over my shoulder, because
the faceless man does an age, and

655
01:01:39,559 --> 01:01:57,400
he doesn't sleep, and he never
ever stops looking. I barely made it

656
01:01:57,480 --> 01:02:01,559
home in time. One minute singing
along to the radio, and then next

657
01:02:01,880 --> 01:02:07,320
I was staring slack jawed at the
most menacing storm clouds I had ever seen,

658
01:02:07,559 --> 01:02:10,760
as some one born and raised them
for a month. I was no

659
01:02:10,920 --> 01:02:16,639
strange as the snow squalls, but
there was something foreboding about the dark clouds

660
01:02:16,679 --> 01:02:22,559
blowing in over the mountains. After
reaching my house, I opened my car

661
01:02:22,559 --> 01:02:28,639
door and stepped out into a cold
evening. The wind lashed at my face

662
01:02:28,960 --> 01:02:32,360
and made a terrible howling in my
ears as I raced up the steps and

663
01:02:32,480 --> 01:02:37,920
slipped through the front door to my
house. Just in time, Luke said

664
01:02:37,920 --> 01:02:43,880
to me and greeting. My husband
was staring in front of the living room

665
01:02:43,920 --> 01:02:49,159
window, surveying the mountains beyond our
city. By the time I walked over

666
01:02:49,199 --> 01:02:53,400
to him, I could barely see
two streets down. Seemed like we would

667
01:02:53,400 --> 01:03:00,039
be spending the evening inside. Came
out of nowhere, I commented. Before

668
01:03:00,159 --> 01:03:04,679
I so much as set my bag
down, I heard the doggy door open.

669
01:03:06,199 --> 01:03:10,559
We didn't own any pets, but
we often entertained visits from a neighborhood

670
01:03:10,559 --> 01:03:17,119
cat, whom Luke had called RIGATONI. Sure enough, an old orange cat

671
01:03:17,280 --> 01:03:22,440
soon appeared in our living room,
leaving a trail of muddy Poor Prince as

672
01:03:22,480 --> 01:03:28,280
he trotted over to Luke. Ah, the serial cout server, returns too

673
01:03:28,320 --> 01:03:31,239
cold out there for you, he
asked, the cat currently rubbing her head

674
01:03:31,280 --> 01:03:37,719
against this shin, whom he yowed
as if in affirmation. Tony wasn't terribly

675
01:03:37,719 --> 01:03:43,960
fond of most people, but Luke
had away with animals. He reached down

676
01:03:44,000 --> 01:03:50,159
to Petter, eliciting a melody of
purse from the contented cat. Come on,

677
01:03:50,800 --> 01:03:54,119
he said, standing, I'll fix
you some dinner. Thank god,

678
01:03:54,400 --> 01:04:00,960
I'm starving. I wasn't talking to
you, Luke said, with a warm

679
01:04:00,039 --> 01:04:03,639
laugh, walking into the back of
the house to vetch some cat food for

680
01:04:03,719 --> 01:04:10,239
Tony. Half an hour later,
just as Luke and I had finally sat

681
01:04:10,280 --> 01:04:15,480
down to eat, we heard the
doggy tour open once again. I raised

682
01:04:15,480 --> 01:04:20,960
the brow at my husband. Tony
was our only regular four legged visitor.

683
01:04:21,920 --> 01:04:27,760
I wondered who else could have let
himselves inside our home. I didn't have

684
01:04:27,800 --> 01:04:33,440
to wonder for long seconds later,
a Border Collie tore into the dining room,

685
01:04:34,000 --> 01:04:40,159
barking and whining with urgency. Luke
and I rose sharply to our seat

686
01:04:40,239 --> 01:04:43,840
to the table, watching the dog
as it came to a stop in the

687
01:04:43,920 --> 01:04:48,239
corner of the room. I realized
as the poor creature lowered its head and

688
01:04:48,320 --> 01:04:56,760
tucked its tail between its legs that
I recognized it. Hey that's missus Johnson's

689
01:04:56,760 --> 01:05:00,159
dog, I said, rounding the
table to check if the dog was hurt.

690
01:05:01,280 --> 01:05:05,880
Tucker, Yeah, I'm pretty sure
I see her walking him all the

691
01:05:05,960 --> 01:05:12,280
time. I crouched down next to
Tucker and slowly reached out my arm.

692
01:05:13,840 --> 01:05:18,159
To my surprise, the usually sweet
tempered Border Collie pulls its lips back in

693
01:05:18,239 --> 01:05:25,559
a snarl, lunging forward slightly and
snapping his teeth. It was a warning,

694
01:05:26,360 --> 01:05:29,920
not on an attempt to hurt me, but I backed off all the

695
01:05:29,960 --> 01:05:35,960
same. Luke shot me a worried. Look, he's a usually more mild

696
01:05:36,000 --> 01:05:42,360
mannered. I'll give her a call
and let her know he's with us.

697
01:05:43,039 --> 01:05:45,920
Luke left the room to grab his
phone while I studied Tucker from a safe

698
01:05:45,920 --> 01:05:51,239
distance, looking for signs of injury. His frantic barks had been replaced by

699
01:05:51,280 --> 01:05:58,519
occasional mournful wines. He was no
longer racing around, seemingly content with his

700
01:05:58,639 --> 01:06:03,760
place in the corner, but his
posture remained fearful and defensive. It was

701
01:06:03,760 --> 01:06:08,480
hard to tell with the way he
was carrying, but I saw no visible

702
01:06:08,519 --> 01:06:13,880
wounds on him. Do you have
signal, Luke shouted from another room.

703
01:06:15,320 --> 01:06:18,239
I took my phone out of my
pocket to check, and to my surprise,

704
01:06:19,519 --> 01:06:26,280
I didn't. We had generally reliable
coverage, and I couldn't remember the

705
01:06:26,360 --> 01:06:30,400
last time I'd lost cell service.
I tried restarting my phone, walking around

706
01:06:30,400 --> 01:06:34,199
at different spots in the house,
and turning airplane mode on and off.

707
01:06:35,559 --> 01:06:42,920
Nada. Unfortunately, if it was
affecting both of us, it was probably

708
01:06:42,960 --> 01:06:46,119
an issue with our service provider,
meaning there was little we could do.

709
01:06:47,639 --> 01:06:50,119
I was about to ask if he
still had Wi Fi on his phone,

710
01:06:50,760 --> 01:06:57,320
when a light but urgent tapping sound
filled the room. I listened for a

711
01:06:57,400 --> 01:07:01,400
moment, trying to place the origin
of the sound, and soon traced it

712
01:07:01,480 --> 01:07:09,639
to the bathroom, or more specifically, the bathroom window. When I got

713
01:07:09,639 --> 01:07:14,760
there, I saw a small,
fuzzy animal standing on the window sill and

714
01:07:14,840 --> 01:07:21,119
scratching fervently at the glass. What
in the world the little creature didn't seem

715
01:07:21,159 --> 01:07:27,079
to notice my presence. I took
another step forward into the bathroom, and

716
01:07:27,159 --> 01:07:30,920
I realized as I approached that the
animal had torn right through the window screen.

717
01:07:32,440 --> 01:07:36,039
No cell service, no Wi Fi, no nothing. At least the

718
01:07:36,119 --> 01:07:41,360
lights are on. Luke trout off
as he entered the room, looking over

719
01:07:41,400 --> 01:07:46,800
my shoulder at the frantic creature.
Is that a weasel? I asked my

720
01:07:46,880 --> 01:07:51,880
resident animal lover, who shook his
head. Pretty sure, there's a Martin

721
01:07:54,320 --> 01:08:00,480
neat. I was about to compliment
his identification skills before I looked over and

722
01:08:00,639 --> 01:08:05,199
saw the look in his eyes.
Don't ask me what I think you're about

723
01:08:05,239 --> 01:08:11,920
to ask me. Please, they're
endangered. You know this isn't Noah's ark,

724
01:08:12,000 --> 01:08:16,159
Luke, we can't shelter every animal
in Vermont. I swear the rodent

725
01:08:16,159 --> 01:08:20,039
took a break from ripping through my
window screen to glare at me, Ay,

726
01:08:20,159 --> 01:08:27,000
glared right back. Besides, this
little thing here looks rabid. Luke

727
01:08:27,039 --> 01:08:30,840
and I spent a couple minutes arguing
I wasn't keen on taking in any more

728
01:08:30,880 --> 01:08:36,199
impromptu guests, but Luke was adamant
and saving it from the storm. There's

729
01:08:36,239 --> 01:08:41,600
something off about how desperately he's trying
to get in, He said. It

730
01:08:41,720 --> 01:08:45,640
might be on the verge of freezing
to death or something. After a while,

731
01:08:46,039 --> 01:08:50,279
he convinced me to take pity on
the Martin. I had to admit

732
01:08:50,880 --> 01:08:57,840
the way it was throwing itself against
the glass was a little unsettling. Reluctantly,

733
01:08:58,239 --> 01:09:00,960
I opened the window and allowed to
squeeze through the hole in the screen.

734
01:09:02,159 --> 01:09:06,560
However, I didn't realize that the
Marten wasn't the only creature waiting to

735
01:09:06,560 --> 01:09:13,439
get inside. Before I could shut
the window, a flurry of about twenty

736
01:09:13,520 --> 01:09:17,119
mice searched into the bathroom from the
hole. They must have been sitting on

737
01:09:17,159 --> 01:09:21,399
the sill as well, but I
guess I overlooked them, mistaking their fluffy

738
01:09:21,399 --> 01:09:28,039
white bodies for snow. I jumped
backwards, swallowing a shriek as one of

739
01:09:28,039 --> 01:09:32,560
them landed right on my foot.
Eventually I managed to shut the window without

740
01:09:32,560 --> 01:09:38,119
stepping on any mice, but not
before a red bird, a cardinal,

741
01:09:38,199 --> 01:09:43,720
I think, squeezed this way in
as well. Stunned, I hurried after

742
01:09:43,760 --> 01:09:45,840
the animals as they made a bee
line for the center of the house.

743
01:09:47,159 --> 01:09:51,720
When I entered the dining room,
I saw not only Tucker and the animals

744
01:09:51,720 --> 01:09:56,840
who had just burst in through the
bathroom, but also a cat and two

745
01:09:56,920 --> 01:10:01,880
dogs that I didn't recognize. Cursing, I realized that they must have entered

746
01:10:01,920 --> 01:10:05,640
through the doggy door, so I
yelled out to Luke to lock it.

747
01:10:05,800 --> 01:10:11,079
As I tried to make sense of
the scene in front of me, the

748
01:10:11,159 --> 01:10:15,520
animals gave each other a wide berth. The cat didn't so much as look

749
01:10:15,560 --> 01:10:18,520
at the mice, nor did the
dog seem at all interested in the cat.

750
01:10:19,920 --> 01:10:26,000
All of them were carrying, shivering
as they pressed themselves into corners or

751
01:10:26,039 --> 01:10:30,680
squeezed into whatever hiding spot they could
find. The dogs whined, the mice

752
01:10:30,760 --> 01:10:36,399
squeaked. Even the cardinal was making
a strange, almost mournful sounding chirping noise.

753
01:10:38,680 --> 01:10:44,000
The only one who was behaving normally
was RIGATONI, who I had to

754
01:10:44,039 --> 01:10:48,159
show away from the trooper mice hiding
under the china cabinet. The hell is

755
01:10:48,199 --> 01:10:55,640
going on? Luke asked, and
I had no explanation to offer. We

756
01:10:55,760 --> 01:11:00,319
had nasty storms before, but never
had I seen one inspire so desperation in

757
01:11:00,399 --> 01:11:08,279
our local wildlife. After another failed
attempt at coaxing Tucker out of his corner,

758
01:11:08,880 --> 01:11:12,399
I made my way to the living
room and stared out the large window.

759
01:11:13,640 --> 01:11:16,960
A total whiteout stared back at me. I could only see a few

760
01:11:17,000 --> 01:11:21,920
feet out in every direction before the
world was swallowed up by darkness and snow.

761
01:11:24,600 --> 01:11:30,680
It was hereie, but it was
beautiful in a strange way, hypnotic.

762
01:11:30,920 --> 01:11:34,680
It was easy to loose myself in
thought as I watched the snow fall.

763
01:11:36,319 --> 01:11:41,079
What could have spooked the animal so
much? I wondered? Could it

764
01:11:41,119 --> 01:11:46,319
really be the cold alone? The
weather hadn't seemed all that bad. Sure,

765
01:11:46,359 --> 01:11:51,159
I'd been cold outside, but not
a blizzard cold. When I had

766
01:11:51,159 --> 01:11:56,439
opened the bathroom window. I'd been
distracted by the mice, But when I

767
01:11:56,520 --> 01:12:00,399
thought about it, I didn't remember
a freezing cold wind sweeping into the house

768
01:12:00,479 --> 01:12:05,800
alongside our animal guests. I raised
my arm, pressing the back of my

769
01:12:05,840 --> 01:12:14,439
hand against the glass, and then
stilled Loo, I quietly called out.

770
01:12:15,079 --> 01:12:20,720
He appeared around the corner seconds later, Tony cradled in his arms. Is

771
01:12:20,760 --> 01:12:28,800
it just me or it's the glass
warm? Luke stepped closer, shifting to

772
01:12:28,800 --> 01:12:31,279
hold the cat in one arm and
placing his free hand against the pane.

773
01:12:32,760 --> 01:12:38,680
He didn't respond, but the way
his mouth set into a thin line told

774
01:12:38,720 --> 01:12:44,920
me that he felt the same thing. What does this mean? I don't

775
01:12:44,960 --> 01:12:53,319
know. We both stood in silence
for a while. The wind howled outside,

776
01:12:53,960 --> 01:12:57,920
but either sense that if I opened
a window and stuck my hand out,

777
01:12:58,399 --> 01:13:01,560
it wouldn't feel cold. I didn't
want to find out, though,

778
01:13:02,640 --> 01:13:08,840
opening any windows or doors at that
point seemed like a bad idea. In

779
01:13:08,880 --> 01:13:12,039
fact, I was about to check
that all entry points to our house were

780
01:13:12,039 --> 01:13:20,479
secured when Luke pointed at something outside. A large black mass ambled its way

781
01:13:20,520 --> 01:13:26,880
towards us. At first, I
didn't understand what I was looking at.

782
01:13:27,920 --> 01:13:30,560
Its shape and gait were so strange
that I thought I was looking at a

783
01:13:30,560 --> 01:13:36,199
brand new animal, But once it
stepped fully into the faint glow emanating from

784
01:13:36,199 --> 01:13:42,960
the porch light, I realized that
it was a black bear. Its lower

785
01:13:43,039 --> 01:13:47,159
jaw on one of its hind legs
had been ripped off, and from the

786
01:13:47,199 --> 01:13:50,760
trail of blood it had left in
its wake, it was clear that the

787
01:13:50,800 --> 01:13:58,199
wounds were fresh. The bear stumbled
closer, stopping only inches from the glass,

788
01:13:59,199 --> 01:14:03,119
and with every step I could make
out another laceration on its body.

789
01:14:04,560 --> 01:14:10,039
I watched in horror as the massive
creature stared directly at us, with a

790
01:14:10,079 --> 01:14:15,560
look in its eyes that it could
only be described as pleading. I held

791
01:14:15,560 --> 01:14:19,079
its gaze for a few seconds,
and then the creature collapsed onto its side.

792
01:14:19,880 --> 01:14:25,720
A puddle of dark red pulled outward
from its body, and soon the

793
01:14:25,840 --> 01:14:32,279
strange expansions and contractions of its rib
cage ceased. Never once did it look

794
01:14:32,319 --> 01:14:39,439
away from us as it bled out
and died. There was a long silence

795
01:14:39,880 --> 01:14:46,000
before Luke and I dared to speak. You think, Luke began, You

796
01:14:46,039 --> 01:14:54,359
think that's what the animals were afraid
of? I hoped so that something in

797
01:14:54,399 --> 01:14:59,800
my gut told me that it wasn't. After all. Even if that was

798
01:14:59,840 --> 01:15:04,239
the creature that had been running from
the question still remained, what could have

799
01:15:04,319 --> 01:15:11,520
inflicted that level of trauma on a
black bear of that size. I think

800
01:15:11,840 --> 01:15:15,720
we should get away from the windows. As we made our way to the

801
01:15:15,760 --> 01:15:21,680
middle of the house. The lights
flickered once twice, and then abruptly went

802
01:15:21,760 --> 01:15:28,640
out altogether. We were plunged suddenly
into darkness, and it seemed to put

803
01:15:28,680 --> 01:15:32,840
the animals even more on edge than
before. The squeaks and wines increased in

804
01:15:32,920 --> 01:15:39,439
volume. As I procured two flashlights
from our kitchen cabinet, I handed one

805
01:15:39,479 --> 01:15:42,880
to my husband, and then the
two of us tug to the dining room,

806
01:15:43,319 --> 01:15:47,319
sitting on the floor with our backs
against one of the walls. Luke

807
01:15:47,720 --> 01:15:51,760
was calm on the surface, but
I could tell that the strangeness of the

808
01:15:51,800 --> 01:15:58,319
situation was causing him distress. At
least, Tony's presence seemed to bring him

809
01:15:58,359 --> 01:16:03,279
some peace of mind. For some
reason, she was unaffected by whatever ailed

810
01:16:03,319 --> 01:16:10,199
the others. I studied her as
she relaxed in Loose's lap, her eyes

811
01:16:10,239 --> 01:16:15,159
closing, as the absent mandily stroked
her fur. Why was it that she

812
01:16:15,359 --> 01:16:19,600
was unafraid? She had come to
our house right before the blizzard set in,

813
01:16:20,560 --> 01:16:26,359
whereas the rest of the animals likely
had been outside for longer. Had

814
01:16:26,399 --> 01:16:30,680
they seen something out in the storm. If they had, could it have

815
01:16:30,800 --> 01:16:36,520
been the same thing that killed the
bear? Hey? Luke's shaky voice broke

816
01:16:36,560 --> 01:16:45,359
through my thoughts. Do you hear
that? I didn't hear anything? And

817
01:16:45,399 --> 01:16:50,399
then I realized I didn't hear anything. No wailing of the wind, no

818
01:16:50,560 --> 01:16:56,960
sounds from the animals, nothing.
It was like the whole world had suddenly

819
01:16:57,000 --> 01:17:01,600
gone quiet. I logged around the
room. All of the animals was so

820
01:17:01,680 --> 01:17:06,840
still it was as if they were
afraid to move. I clicked my flashlight

821
01:17:06,880 --> 01:17:13,000
off, wanting to attract as little
attention as possible, and Luke followed suit.

822
01:17:14,800 --> 01:17:18,920
For a moment, we just sat
there in the dark, listening,

823
01:17:23,079 --> 01:17:34,399
and then I heard a voice.
Hello, clear as day, the voice

824
01:17:34,439 --> 01:17:41,279
of a person was calling to us
from outside our house. Hello, anyone

825
01:17:41,319 --> 01:17:46,079
in there? It asked. It's
tone far too nonchalant with someone weathering the

826
01:17:46,119 --> 01:17:53,399
full brunt of a blizzard. I
need some help out here. Next to

827
01:17:53,439 --> 01:17:58,760
me, Lup shifted as though you
were about to stand up. I reached

828
01:17:58,760 --> 01:18:01,760
out and grabbed a hold of his
arm, grabbing Tony and pulling Luke back

829
01:18:01,800 --> 01:18:06,840
down to the floor. There wasn't
a chance in hell I was about to

830
01:18:06,880 --> 01:18:13,239
let him investigate the voice. It
was so strangely quiet that I could hear

831
01:18:13,239 --> 01:18:18,039
the crunching of footsteps in the snow. As the person moved outside, Please,

832
01:18:18,800 --> 01:18:24,640
the voice said, it had gotten
closer, like it was circling the

833
01:18:24,680 --> 01:18:29,800
house. Please, I really need
help. Can I just come in for

834
01:18:29,880 --> 01:18:35,880
a minute. It's so cold out
here. My grip tightened on Luke's arm,

835
01:18:36,760 --> 01:18:42,239
the complete lack of emotion in the
voice's tone sending a chill up my

836
01:18:42,319 --> 01:18:47,039
spine. He reached over, holding
my hand in his as the source of

837
01:18:47,079 --> 01:18:53,520
the voice moved even closer. Come
on, now, don't you have room

838
01:18:53,600 --> 01:19:00,520
for one more? It was right
outside the dining room window. I closed

839
01:19:00,520 --> 01:19:04,640
my eyes like a coward, not
wanting to see whatever it was about to

840
01:19:04,720 --> 01:19:11,960
step into view. Next to me. There was a single, sharp intake

841
01:19:12,079 --> 01:19:19,439
of breath for what felt like an
eternity. Neither of us moved, and

842
01:19:19,520 --> 01:19:25,760
then there was a light chuckle from
outside the window. There were more footsteps,

843
01:19:26,279 --> 01:19:30,479
for this time they were moving away
from us, and they seemed to

844
01:19:30,479 --> 01:19:35,039
be taking the silence with them.
The wind remembered itself, returning with a

845
01:19:35,079 --> 01:19:41,439
howling vengeance in the visitor's absence.
Luke's hand had gone slack in mine,

846
01:19:42,039 --> 01:19:45,680
but I held on to it for
a long time, sitting there with my

847
01:19:45,720 --> 01:19:49,520
eyes shut tight. It must have
been an hour before I dared to open

848
01:19:49,560 --> 01:19:56,920
my eyes and breathe normally. Again, are you okay? I finally asked.

849
01:19:58,319 --> 01:20:02,760
No response. I tried asking again, a little louder, and still

850
01:20:03,039 --> 01:20:12,399
my husband didn't respond Luke. When
I clicked on the flashlight, I saw

851
01:20:12,520 --> 01:20:17,279
Luke staring at the window. His
face twisted into an expression of horror I'd

852
01:20:17,319 --> 01:20:23,880
never seen before. His skin was
pale, and his body was rigid as

853
01:20:23,880 --> 01:20:28,960
a corpse. And try as I
did, I couldn't get him to respond

854
01:20:28,960 --> 01:20:33,279
to me in any way. His
look of sheer terror never once changed,

855
01:20:33,920 --> 01:20:38,399
even as I carried him to the
car and drove us as fast as I

856
01:20:38,439 --> 01:20:46,119
could to the hospital. The doctor
said it was a stroke. Of course,

857
01:20:46,439 --> 01:20:50,159
I was incredulous that such a thing
had happened to my fit, non

858
01:20:50,199 --> 01:20:55,640
smoking, twenty nine year old husband, but no one could offer me a

859
01:20:55,680 --> 01:21:00,520
better explanation. For the next few
days, I waited for a recovery that

860
01:21:00,680 --> 01:21:06,079
never came. Then the days turned
into weeks, the weeks into months,

861
01:21:06,439 --> 01:21:13,039
and the months into years. While
Luke regained some very minimal motor control,

862
01:21:13,720 --> 01:21:17,600
blinking and twitching his fingers, it
was clear that he would never be the

863
01:21:17,640 --> 01:21:25,199
same. I became his full time
caretaker, spending my days attending to all

864
01:21:25,239 --> 01:21:29,720
of his needs and my night's praying
that he would make a miraculous recovery.

865
01:21:30,600 --> 01:21:36,520
As of this evening, five years
have passed since the storm. Old Rigattoni

866
01:21:36,600 --> 01:21:42,159
is still alive and kicking somehow,
and her visits always seem to make Luke

867
01:21:42,279 --> 01:21:46,079
perk up just a little bit.
She's sleeping on his chest as I tell

868
01:21:46,159 --> 01:21:53,119
this, taking care of him in
her own way. I'm glad to have

869
01:21:53,199 --> 01:21:58,720
her around, but even though I
try not to be superstitious, her presence

870
01:21:58,880 --> 01:22:02,800
always brings me back to the night
of the blizzard. I think about Tucker,

871
01:22:03,199 --> 01:22:08,520
who ran away after the storm passed
and was never seen again. I

872
01:22:08,560 --> 01:22:12,760
think about the Martin and the mice
and the bear, and the way all

873
01:22:12,760 --> 01:22:16,760
of them acted like they were fleeing
from something terrible. I think about the

874
01:22:16,800 --> 01:22:21,840
look on Luke's face, and I
can't help but wonder if they all saw

875
01:22:21,960 --> 01:22:29,159
the same thing. Maybe Luke saw
something he wasn't meant to, something that

876
01:22:29,239 --> 01:22:34,760
his brain had destroyed itself trying to
comprehend. I look at my husband,

877
01:22:35,279 --> 01:22:40,520
the love of my life, and
can't help but mourn what was taken from

878
01:22:40,560 --> 01:22:45,560
me that night. If I had
opened my eyes, if I'd been brave

879
01:22:45,680 --> 01:22:51,199
enough to look, would I have
met the same fate. What did you

880
01:22:51,279 --> 01:22:59,359
see? I asked him, like
I have a thousand times before. I

881
01:22:59,560 --> 01:23:14,920
never get an answer. My name
is Kada. I take pride in my

882
01:23:15,000 --> 01:23:19,760
work, and I work on the
pipes. My current job revolves around an

883
01:23:19,760 --> 01:23:25,760
oil pipeline in the Persian Gulf,
into the very bottom of the sea between

884
01:23:25,760 --> 01:23:32,159
Saudi Arabia and Iran. It's just
gone midday, but unfortunately we are too

885
01:23:32,199 --> 01:23:36,359
far down for the light of the
surface to reach us, so my current

886
01:23:36,439 --> 01:23:43,560
surroundings are illuminated by nothing more than
the yellowish beam of my flashlight. A

887
01:23:43,600 --> 01:23:47,439
small collection of bubbles escape from my
diving mask. They ripple up and out

888
01:23:47,479 --> 01:23:55,479
of sight as I gently kick my
flippers, slowly propelling myself through the gloom.

889
01:23:55,640 --> 01:23:59,680
As a worker down here, I
am one of three, but the

890
01:23:59,720 --> 01:24:04,199
other are not currently visible to me. My beam lands on a great metal

891
01:24:04,239 --> 01:24:11,319
pipe, the one that extends up
into the habitat a cage like artificial pockets

892
01:24:11,359 --> 01:24:16,159
of air, and down down to
the depths below. I look down and

893
01:24:16,239 --> 01:24:21,199
cast my beam over the pipe's body. The light catches on nothing but the

894
01:24:21,279 --> 01:24:29,199
rusted metal, alone cylindrical obelisk in
the watery world around me. I lower

895
01:24:29,279 --> 01:24:32,840
the beam, I cast it as
far down as it will go. For

896
01:24:33,039 --> 01:24:39,119
all I see are my flippers beneath
me, gently kicking, and the great

897
01:24:39,159 --> 01:24:45,359
pipe vanishing into the blue black darkness
beneath my feet. A chill passes through

898
01:24:45,359 --> 01:24:51,319
my body. I hear the sound
of my heartbeat to my ears. Where

899
01:24:51,359 --> 01:24:57,079
this vertical pipe connects to its horizontal
brother on the ocean floor, there is

900
01:24:57,119 --> 01:25:01,399
an enormous metal structure of sorts,
one with the purpose of keeping a series

901
01:25:01,439 --> 01:25:08,479
of temporary installments attached to the pipe
in place. I cannot see this monstrosity

902
01:25:08,479 --> 01:25:14,399
at present, but the simple act
of knowing, knowing that far below lurks

903
01:25:14,399 --> 01:25:21,479
a monstrous metal skeleton waiting patiently beneath
my feet, I shiver. They tell

904
01:25:21,520 --> 01:25:27,600
tales about this place, you know, about the sea, Tales of malevolent

905
01:25:27,680 --> 01:25:33,880
spirits that play tricks on divers waters
inn they're called these spirits show divers,

906
01:25:33,920 --> 01:25:40,680
illusions and distortions to confuse them.
They get them deliberately lost as a form

907
01:25:40,720 --> 01:25:46,159
of amusement, the tales say,
and then, depending on the spirit's moods,

908
01:25:46,880 --> 01:25:55,079
they either get bored and let them
go, or they devour them.

909
01:25:55,239 --> 01:25:59,399
Something glitters in the gloom in the
corner of my eye, and I wheel

910
01:25:59,399 --> 01:26:03,439
around in the water, raising the
beam of the flashlight, a gasp escaping

911
01:26:03,439 --> 01:26:09,159
into my mask, But the beam
lends on nothing more than a school of

912
01:26:09,359 --> 01:26:15,199
tiny silver fish. They flit aby
and pay me no mind, and I

913
01:26:15,279 --> 01:26:20,479
catch my breath. Idiot kadah,
I muttered to myself, my voice obscured

914
01:26:20,479 --> 01:26:25,439
by the mask, and I kick
my way up through the water, following

915
01:26:25,520 --> 01:26:30,560
the pipe towards the habitat's air pocket. I see the waterline rippling above me.

916
01:26:31,399 --> 01:26:35,840
It draws closer and closer, and
I catch sight of flashes of color

917
01:26:35,920 --> 01:26:44,319
beyond my comrades. Eventually I break
through the surface, popping off my mouthpiece

918
01:26:44,399 --> 01:26:47,800
and raising my mask, shaking my
hair as I clamber up onto the little

919
01:26:47,840 --> 01:26:54,319
platform that surrounds us, a bench
like apparatus that goes all the way around

920
01:26:54,359 --> 01:26:59,960
the inside rim of the habitat.
As I said before, I am one

921
01:27:00,119 --> 01:27:04,640
of three. My colleagues are called
Amir and Ahmad, and they sit waiting

922
01:27:04,680 --> 01:27:10,039
for me, their legs dangling over
the side, their flippers dipped in the

923
01:27:10,079 --> 01:27:15,000
water. Beneath. I let out
a grunt and a sigh as I take

924
01:27:15,000 --> 01:27:18,560
a seat beside them, my own
flippers half submerged in the water beneath.

925
01:27:19,680 --> 01:27:27,079
It seems almost paradoxical, this little
space, a marvel of physics. We

926
01:27:27,119 --> 01:27:30,159
sit far below the surface of the
sea, in the small confines that the

927
01:27:30,199 --> 01:27:38,119
habitat provides, and yet we have
air. The habitat is a metal box

928
01:27:38,479 --> 01:27:42,960
about four meters in width and three
in height. The air in here is

929
01:27:43,079 --> 01:27:48,039
dank and stale, but it is
at the least quite breathable. From the

930
01:27:48,079 --> 01:27:53,560
center of the water between us,
the pipe extends up and into the stagnant

931
01:27:53,600 --> 01:27:58,960
air. The pipe is currently corked
by an enormous rubber plug, one that

932
01:27:59,000 --> 01:28:02,680
we will need to deflate before our
shifts is over. Its purpose is to

933
01:28:02,720 --> 01:28:08,880
prevent the oil inside the pipe leaking
out into the sea. Thanks to the

934
01:28:08,960 --> 01:28:15,840
habitat, we can safely remove it
now without risk of environmental damage. The

935
01:28:15,880 --> 01:28:18,319
pipe in question goes all the way
down to the bottom of the sea in

936
01:28:18,359 --> 01:28:25,319
a straight line, and there it's
split in two and travels horizontally across the

937
01:28:25,359 --> 01:28:30,520
seafloor. One end travels north a
few miles out of the Saudi Arabian coast,

938
01:28:31,079 --> 01:28:35,439
and the other travels south. It's
just about wide enough for a man

939
01:28:35,479 --> 01:28:42,079
to squeeze down should an emergency repair
need taking place from the inside, but

940
01:28:42,159 --> 01:28:46,479
the diameter is not large. I
wipe some of the salt water from my

941
01:28:46,560 --> 01:28:53,079
face as a mere connects a long
black cable to the depressurizer. The end

942
01:28:53,119 --> 01:28:57,359
of the cable leads down into the
pipe and is connected to the rubber plug.

943
01:28:58,680 --> 01:29:01,920
See any spirits down there, day, Kadar, Emir asks me as

944
01:29:01,920 --> 01:29:08,520
he fastens the seal on the cable
the gene Baha. Akhmed chuckles, scratching

945
01:29:08,520 --> 01:29:15,279
his beard his voice as there's Amir's
echoes around the somewhat clostophobic confines of the

946
01:29:15,319 --> 01:29:23,359
habitat, I smiled dryly. No
spirits, Amir, Just I think about

947
01:29:23,399 --> 01:29:30,079
the pipe disappearing down into the darkness
far below. I can't quite explain why

948
01:29:30,119 --> 01:29:36,079
it gives me the creeps, It
just does just what. Emir asks,

949
01:29:36,119 --> 01:29:42,680
nothing, I finish. What about
you, guys, any spirits? I

950
01:29:42,720 --> 01:29:46,720
turned to Akhmad, Have you finally
caught sight of gine Baha? I wave

951
01:29:46,840 --> 01:29:51,399
my hands and fingers, mysteriously,
teasing him, But Ahmed is undaunted.

952
01:29:53,439 --> 01:29:58,640
You mark Kadhah. But the sea, this ancient sea. If we're going

953
01:29:58,640 --> 01:30:02,479
to see one, then it'll be
here. He claps his hands together,

954
01:30:03,000 --> 01:30:08,159
and a small shower of water droplets
splashed down onto the water by our feet,

955
01:30:09,479 --> 01:30:14,319
the shimmering blue gateway to the sea
below, the sea above, and

956
01:30:14,359 --> 01:30:19,000
the ocean all around. And I'll
tell you what else, he continues,

957
01:30:19,199 --> 01:30:25,920
raising a finger. I did see
something. Oh here we go, Emir

958
01:30:26,000 --> 01:30:30,039
mutters, rolling his eyes. No, no, listen, Ashamed says hurriedly,

959
01:30:30,680 --> 01:30:34,119
just listen to this. So there
I was, right about an hour

960
01:30:34,159 --> 01:30:39,119
ago, swimming around near the pipe, when it may have gotten a little

961
01:30:39,159 --> 01:30:45,119
distracted by a fish. Emir shakes
his head and we exchange a glance.

962
01:30:45,039 --> 01:30:49,359
You should have seen it, Emir, a great golden thing. I wanted

963
01:30:49,399 --> 01:30:53,640
a better look, so I left
the pipe and followed it, just for

964
01:30:53,680 --> 01:31:00,760
a short while, And eventually he
got spooked and varnished into the blue falters.

965
01:31:00,279 --> 01:31:05,279
He rubs his chin. It was
actually quite an alarming experience. I

966
01:31:05,359 --> 01:31:10,680
turned back to the pipe, and
of course I saw nothing but the endless

967
01:31:10,720 --> 01:31:15,880
void of the ocean. I tried
to rejoice my steps, but again there

968
01:31:15,920 --> 01:31:24,439
were no steps. I was alone. It was frightening Emir and myself remained

969
01:31:24,479 --> 01:31:30,520
silent. But then that's when I
saw it. I saw them. Achmed

970
01:31:30,640 --> 01:31:35,039
continues practically jumping on the metal ledge. We're all perched on. Ay easy,

971
01:31:35,720 --> 01:31:40,800
I say, as I feel myself
rattling time to his jumps. A

972
01:31:40,920 --> 01:31:46,840
Mere flicks a switch and a depressurization
machine it starts to rumble. Ahmed leans

973
01:31:46,880 --> 01:31:53,359
forward, looking between us. Out
there in the far distance, I see

974
01:31:53,359 --> 01:31:57,800
a trio of shapes, three figures, like shadows in the deep, in

975
01:31:57,800 --> 01:32:02,840
the gloom. Take a poetry,
A Mere mutters as he flicks another switch.

976
01:32:04,079 --> 01:32:09,760
Against my sense of better judgment,
I am too engrossed by Ahmed's story

977
01:32:09,840 --> 01:32:15,159
to pay attention to exactly what it
is he's doing. What kind of shapes?

978
01:32:15,479 --> 01:32:19,199
I ask? What kind of figures? They were? Like smoke,

979
01:32:19,960 --> 01:32:26,479
except no, more like mist,
maybe thick, dense mist, with eyes

980
01:32:26,560 --> 01:32:30,439
that flickered pale, like refracting sunlight. You had to look a certain way

981
01:32:30,479 --> 01:32:38,880
to see them. Akman's voice drops
low, becomes wistful. I saw them

982
01:32:38,960 --> 01:32:43,600
for only a second or two,
and then they were gone, vanished.

983
01:32:45,119 --> 01:32:48,119
How do you get back to the
pipe? I ask? Did the spirits

984
01:32:48,159 --> 01:32:54,159
show you the way? Emir chuckles, Well, no, I just used

985
01:32:54,159 --> 01:32:59,960
the compass, Ahmed says, But
that's beside the point. I saw something

986
01:33:00,439 --> 01:33:03,199
I know I did. I thought
the spirits were supposed to be dangerous,

987
01:33:03,600 --> 01:33:08,840
Amya says. The stories always tell
of how cruel they are. They play

988
01:33:08,880 --> 01:33:12,079
pranks on divers like us. You
know, they bang on the pipes,

989
01:33:12,199 --> 01:33:15,279
They groan and moan from the inside. Makes you think that they are monsters

990
01:33:15,279 --> 01:33:20,960
inside waiting to burst right out and
get you. Maybe that's why they appeared

991
01:33:20,960 --> 01:33:27,039
to me, Acmed says thoughtfully,
then gestures to the pipe between us.

992
01:33:27,920 --> 01:33:30,880
Maybe they were trying to warn us. Perhaps there's a monster in the pipe.

993
01:33:32,680 --> 01:33:40,359
Emir snorts, don't be ridiculous.
Maybe once the plug is deflated,

994
01:33:40,760 --> 01:33:45,800
Achmed says softly, maybe the beast
will spring right out. And where would

995
01:33:45,800 --> 01:33:49,000
we go? We were effectively trapped
down here. When you really think about

996
01:33:49,039 --> 01:33:56,119
it. There was a moment of
uncomfortable silence, broken only by a slow

997
01:33:56,239 --> 01:34:02,680
hissing produced by the depressization machine begins
its work deflating the plug in the pipe.

998
01:34:03,079 --> 01:34:06,920
Nonsense, Emir says, after a
beat, shaking his head. Don't

999
01:34:06,920 --> 01:34:14,640
say such stupid stuff. All I'm
saying, Akhmed finishes shrugging. Is that

1000
01:34:14,720 --> 01:34:18,600
the spirits aren't necessarily something to be
feared. I know you guys don't really

1001
01:34:18,600 --> 01:34:25,359
believe, but they can be helpful
too. They don't devour people the genial

1002
01:34:25,479 --> 01:34:31,720
Bihar mischievous maybe, but not unkind
in their own way. Emir grunts and

1003
01:34:31,800 --> 01:34:38,520
waves his hand dismissively. Akhmed looks
at me for support. Then I just

1004
01:34:38,600 --> 01:34:43,840
laugh. Come on, I say, enough is enough. I think we

1005
01:34:43,920 --> 01:34:46,359
have worked to do. I wouldn't
want Zahar to snitch on us again.

1006
01:34:48,560 --> 01:34:56,560
The conversation shifts, and a collective
groan echoes around the habitat. I can't

1007
01:34:56,560 --> 01:35:01,479
stand that guy, Emir says dramatically, and we all laugh. A collective

1008
01:35:01,520 --> 01:35:06,239
dislike of the man has become a
running joke between us. So here is

1009
01:35:06,760 --> 01:35:12,640
technically a colleague of ours, and
although we rarely work in close capacity,

1010
01:35:13,199 --> 01:35:16,239
his projects always seem to be in
tandem to our own, so we're never

1011
01:35:16,319 --> 01:35:21,640
quite rid of him. He has
thick red hair and a ridiculous scraggly beard,

1012
01:35:23,399 --> 01:35:28,239
and all in all he makes himself
an easy target, a busy body

1013
01:35:28,319 --> 01:35:30,880
and a teeder's pet. You see, he clocks in more hours than he

1014
01:35:30,920 --> 01:35:36,880
has to unpaid I my add Yet
despite his enduring and tragic efforts, he

1015
01:35:36,920 --> 01:35:42,439
always gets passed up for promotion because
he has a vacuum for a personality.

1016
01:35:43,720 --> 01:35:48,039
So here is entirely devoid of charisma. Maybe we should play a prank on

1017
01:35:48,119 --> 01:35:53,479
him before we go up, Emir
suggests. As the machine deflating the plug

1018
01:35:53,600 --> 01:35:58,840
kicks up a gear, the hissing
grows louder. What kind of prank,

1019
01:35:59,439 --> 01:36:02,279
Ahmeda asks, I don't know.
We could head over to his site in

1020
01:36:02,359 --> 01:36:06,479
Azrakwan. Bang some pipes, make
some noise, give him a little spook

1021
01:36:06,680 --> 01:36:12,479
of for his shift is over.
Could be fun. Wouldn't be worth it?

1022
01:36:12,840 --> 01:36:16,479
I reply, As much fun as
that sounds, as Rakuan is a

1023
01:36:16,560 --> 01:36:20,520
kilometer and a half away. Do
you really want to swim all the waves?

1024
01:36:20,560 --> 01:36:25,960
And childish prank? And besides,
we never falls here with that spirit

1025
01:36:26,039 --> 01:36:31,600
nonsense. The man doesn't believe in
anything, He's got no imagination, true,

1026
01:36:32,159 --> 01:36:38,800
Emir nods regretfully. He fiddles with
a machine beside him, then gives

1027
01:36:38,840 --> 01:36:45,159
it a light slap and it does
its job. It finishes deflating the plug

1028
01:36:45,199 --> 01:36:48,479
to a sufficient degree, freeing up
a space around it, and opening a

1029
01:36:48,560 --> 01:36:55,359
way down into the pipe. What
this was supposed to do was allow us

1030
01:36:55,399 --> 01:37:00,640
to reach in all the deflated plug
out check for leaks, damage, and

1031
01:37:00,760 --> 01:37:04,199
whether the plug needs a potential replacement. We should have been able to do

1032
01:37:04,279 --> 01:37:10,319
this easily and safely, as the
pipe at this time and on this day

1033
01:37:11,039 --> 01:37:15,560
is supposed to be filled with oil. For whatever reason. However, the

1034
01:37:15,600 --> 01:37:23,399
pipe is not there is as it
turns out, significantly less oil inside than

1035
01:37:23,439 --> 01:37:30,960
we were told and as was believed, And so what happens instead takes place

1036
01:37:30,199 --> 01:37:35,399
over the course of a few terrible
seconds, a true nightmare that I will

1037
01:37:35,479 --> 01:37:42,600
never ever be able to forget.
The positive pressure inside the habitat, the

1038
01:37:42,680 --> 01:37:48,039
little atmosphere keeping us alive, rushes
instantaneously into the pipe and forces down the

1039
01:37:48,079 --> 01:37:55,439
small amount of oil at a monstrous
inhuman speed. This motion creates what I

1040
01:37:55,479 --> 01:38:00,119
can only describe as a blinding vortex. The air and the ocean are hauled

1041
01:38:00,239 --> 01:38:04,439
up and around us like a sudden
whirlwind of chaos and terror. In the

1042
01:38:04,479 --> 01:38:10,079
blink of an eye, my vision
is lost to a brutal, an immediate

1043
01:38:10,159 --> 01:38:15,199
rush of darkness as my body is
slammed into the habitat wall. I scream,

1044
01:38:15,399 --> 01:38:19,399
but all that I could produce is
froth and bubbles. As my shoulder

1045
01:38:19,520 --> 01:38:25,560
cracks on the edge of something metal. I do not know which way is

1046
01:38:25,760 --> 01:38:31,079
up or down. The safety and
sanctuary of the habitat is shattered. I

1047
01:38:31,079 --> 01:38:35,640
can see nothing but shadow as water
blasts into my nose and my mouth and

1048
01:38:35,720 --> 01:38:42,840
eyes, and I am sucked instantly
and brutally down into the pipe. I

1049
01:38:42,880 --> 01:38:47,039
can feel its walls pressing against me
on all sides as I am dragged cataclysmically

1050
01:38:47,079 --> 01:38:53,159
between them. I'm forced through the
water and the oil head first, at

1051
01:38:53,199 --> 01:38:58,039
near breakneck speed. Blood rushes to
my head as my arms and legs are

1052
01:38:58,079 --> 01:39:03,560
smashed and battered against the meta.
There is only terror, terror, and

1053
01:39:03,760 --> 01:39:10,560
darkness. My head strikes against the
metal as the pipe levels out, and

1054
01:39:10,600 --> 01:39:16,039
the world behind my screwed shut eyelids
flashes red then white. Are ringing echoes

1055
01:39:16,079 --> 01:39:20,439
in my ears and competes with the
thunderous rush of the water. As I

1056
01:39:20,520 --> 01:39:28,159
release an involuntary bellow of pain,
oil and seawater pour into my mouth my

1057
01:39:28,279 --> 01:39:32,319
lungs, and I swallow some and
breathe in the rest, choking and drowning

1058
01:39:32,600 --> 01:39:38,960
as I am dragged to the pipe
along the seafloor. I'm going to die.

1059
01:39:40,359 --> 01:39:45,359
This one singular thought plays over and
over in my head. I'm going

1060
01:39:45,399 --> 01:39:51,399
to die, and this is the
end. The terror of my situation,

1061
01:39:53,039 --> 01:39:58,720
for a quick, fleeting moment,
is replaced by an eerie calm. The

1062
01:39:58,760 --> 01:40:02,199
sounds of the rushing, hammering water
do not lessen, but I find my

1063
01:40:02,279 --> 01:40:08,920
altitude changed. It soothes me,
and I think about a beach I visited

1064
01:40:09,039 --> 01:40:13,840
as a young child with my family
as I prepare to exhale my final breath,

1065
01:40:15,800 --> 01:40:20,039
except instead of producing bubbles as I
do so, I instead begin to

1066
01:40:20,119 --> 01:40:28,399
choke and to splutter. I start
a cough, spluttering, coughing, and

1067
01:40:28,439 --> 01:40:33,880
I realize at once that this can
only mean one thing. I have found

1068
01:40:34,079 --> 01:40:40,680
air. I gasp and wretch.
I tried to bring my hands up to

1069
01:40:40,720 --> 01:40:44,640
my mouth, but they bang painfully
against the inner wall of the pipe.

1070
01:40:45,920 --> 01:40:49,119
My right wrist robs angrily, sending
shards of pain shooting up my arm.

1071
01:40:50,079 --> 01:40:55,800
I think the entire hand may be
broken. Air, I think to myself,

1072
01:40:56,479 --> 01:41:00,079
and the vision of the beach is
lost. The terror floods immediately back

1073
01:41:00,119 --> 01:41:04,560
into my mind in the same manner
as the water was hauled into the pipe.

1074
01:41:05,760 --> 01:41:11,159
Most of my head is submerged in
water, though my eyes, nose,

1075
01:41:11,159 --> 01:41:14,920
and mouth are free. I can
lift my head. Then my ears

1076
01:41:14,920 --> 01:41:18,640
are raised above the waterline and I
am able to hear. But the action

1077
01:41:18,880 --> 01:41:26,560
presses on my forehead against the cold
metal above me. I started moving and

1078
01:41:26,600 --> 01:41:33,720
the reality of my situation sets in. I'm in the pipe. Oh no,

1079
01:41:34,520 --> 01:41:39,880
I murmur aloud, wretching as I
cough up water and oil. Oh

1080
01:41:39,920 --> 01:41:44,560
no, no, no no,
I scream. I slam my good fist

1081
01:41:44,560 --> 01:41:48,600
against the metal, shouting for help. Please, I scream into the pitch

1082
01:41:48,600 --> 01:41:56,600
black darkness, please someone, Amir
Ahmed. Panic strikes. There is nowhere

1083
01:41:56,640 --> 01:42:01,920
to go, nowhere to run,
and no one to hear me. I

1084
01:42:01,960 --> 01:42:08,000
can barely move. The water ebbs
and sloshes around my face and I gasp.

1085
01:42:08,800 --> 01:42:13,600
My breathing becomes shallow and dangerous.
You're not drowning. I have to

1086
01:42:13,680 --> 01:42:16,279
keep telling myself, you're not drowning. You have some air, you can

1087
01:42:16,319 --> 01:42:21,640
breathe, You can breathe. Calm
yourself, Calm yourself, gaddah. I

1088
01:42:21,720 --> 01:42:26,560
tried to raise my legs and one
of my flippers kicks against the roof of

1089
01:42:26,600 --> 01:42:30,079
the pipe. I tried to turn
a little to my side and realize that

1090
01:42:30,079 --> 01:42:36,279
to do so requires significant effort and
a reasonable degree of pain. I've done

1091
01:42:36,319 --> 01:42:43,039
some serious damage to my shoulder and
my neck too. Perhaps the simple act

1092
01:42:43,039 --> 01:42:46,439
of raising my head causes immense pain
to shoot down my spine. But to

1093
01:42:46,479 --> 01:42:50,960
allow my head to lower completely would
mean the majority my face is submerged.

1094
01:42:53,239 --> 01:43:00,920
I force myself to slow my breathing. That's the priority. Nice slow breathing

1095
01:43:01,159 --> 01:43:12,159
in and out, slow deep breaths, with grunts of pain and a hammering

1096
01:43:12,199 --> 01:43:15,680
heart. I shuffle and twist as
best I can, searching my person for

1097
01:43:15,760 --> 01:43:21,000
my scuba equipment. I believe that
I am wearing only a single flipper.

1098
01:43:21,079 --> 01:43:25,840
Now I think the other must have
been torn off as I was sucked into

1099
01:43:25,920 --> 01:43:30,000
the pipe. No other equipment can
be found, my breathing mask in the

1100
01:43:30,039 --> 01:43:39,279
air tank. It's all gone.
It's gone. Oh God, I whisper,

1101
01:43:40,119 --> 01:43:45,319
and despite my sense of logic,
I bang on the pipe. Hello,

1102
01:43:45,439 --> 01:43:50,880
I shout into the inky darkness.
Hello, is anyone there? Kudah,

1103
01:43:51,359 --> 01:43:56,880
comes a voice a little ways back
along the pipe. It echoes from

1104
01:43:56,880 --> 01:44:00,640
the darkness beyond my feet. I
try to raise my face a little higher

1105
01:44:01,119 --> 01:44:06,239
to look down into the void,
but it's futile. I can see nothing.

1106
01:44:08,520 --> 01:44:12,520
Hello, I shout back. Who
is it, Ahmed? Are you

1107
01:44:12,520 --> 01:44:17,600
all right? Kadah? He shouts
a relief tempered with terror. You're alive.

1108
01:44:18,119 --> 01:44:24,479
I can breathe. Are you okay? Another voice echoes from beyond even

1109
01:44:24,520 --> 01:44:29,640
Ahmed. It is fainter, but
I can still hear it. Guys,

1110
01:44:30,880 --> 01:44:34,600
Guys, comes the voice of Amir. Guys, are you both all right?

1111
01:44:35,760 --> 01:44:40,359
Thank the Lord, I mutter,
holding back a sob of relief.

1112
01:44:40,920 --> 01:44:45,960
Amir, Ahmed, it's kadha.
Are you hurt? Yes, Amir calls

1113
01:44:46,000 --> 01:44:51,239
after me. I believe one of
my arms is broken. Likewise, Amir

1114
01:44:51,359 --> 01:44:58,239
shouts, then a little quieter,
Damn, I think my legs are too.

1115
01:44:58,920 --> 01:45:03,000
Oh God. He releases what sounds
like a cry of pain, then

1116
01:45:03,039 --> 01:45:09,319
swears, what do we do?
Ahmed calls into the pipe. What do

1117
01:45:09,439 --> 01:45:14,239
we do? He kicks against the
pipe, and the sound reverberates down and

1118
01:45:14,319 --> 01:45:17,920
over my head. Okay, hold
on, hold on, I shout,

1119
01:45:18,239 --> 01:45:25,359
clenching my hands into fists, thinking, using my overheating brain as best as

1120
01:45:25,399 --> 01:45:30,119
I can. The three of us
are alive. We're trapped in the pipe

1121
01:45:30,199 --> 01:45:34,199
at the bottom of the sea.
No one knows we're down here, and

1122
01:45:34,279 --> 01:45:39,600
once they find the wreckage of the
habitat. They'll probably assume we were killed

1123
01:45:39,640 --> 01:45:45,119
instantly cast out into the sea.
Perhaps I feel the panic returning. I

1124
01:45:45,159 --> 01:45:49,279
try to stretch my limbs, but
I am unable. I kick the pipe

1125
01:45:49,319 --> 01:45:55,199
in frustration and let out a shout
of rage. Good ah, calm down,

1126
01:45:55,720 --> 01:46:00,640
calls Ahmed. It's all right,
We'll be all right. Yes,

1127
01:46:00,880 --> 01:46:05,279
yes, I need to calm down. First things first, the pipe,

1128
01:46:05,920 --> 01:46:12,279
when it reaches the seafloor, splits
into two. I do not know if

1129
01:46:12,279 --> 01:46:15,800
we've been pulled north towards the site
of Azrakwan or south towards the site of

1130
01:46:15,840 --> 01:46:24,720
Azraktu. How far away are they? I try to think Azrakwan is situated

1131
01:46:24,760 --> 01:46:30,479
around one point five kilometers north of
our former location of the habitat, Asraktu

1132
01:46:30,680 --> 01:46:34,760
is over twice our distance south.
I have no idea how far along we

1133
01:46:34,800 --> 01:46:40,800
were pulled down the pipe. It
all happened so fast, we could be

1134
01:46:40,960 --> 01:46:45,880
hundreds of meters in either direction by
now. All I know is that the

1135
01:46:45,920 --> 01:46:50,479
air we're breathing the pocket created It's
likely due to the undulations of the pipe,

1136
01:46:51,359 --> 01:46:57,720
small bumps and raises over support beams. It's entirely possible that there are

1137
01:46:57,760 --> 01:47:01,479
more of these further down the tunnel. But how large is each air pocket

1138
01:47:02,000 --> 01:47:08,039
and at what point do they run
out? O ka, I shout down,

1139
01:47:08,560 --> 01:47:11,600
friends, I have an idea,
and we do not have time to

1140
01:47:11,680 --> 01:47:16,319
waste. I'm all ears, brother
Akhmac calls up. There is a moment

1141
01:47:16,319 --> 01:47:24,399
of silence, a meir. Akhmac
calls down. Yes, he replies weakly.

1142
01:47:25,119 --> 01:47:28,840
I'm here, but I'm not in
good shape. I'm going to be

1143
01:47:28,880 --> 01:47:33,239
honest. It's O ka, I
shout, forcing my own confidence to grow,

1144
01:47:33,720 --> 01:47:36,840
believing in hope, for us,
for the sake of my friends,

1145
01:47:38,640 --> 01:47:45,239
if not for myself, We'll be
all right. Just listen. I clear

1146
01:47:45,319 --> 01:47:48,680
my throat and the sound bounces off
the pipe above me and back into my

1147
01:47:48,760 --> 01:47:54,520
face. I raise my head to
clear my ears from the water and WinCE

1148
01:47:54,600 --> 01:48:00,479
from the pane. We need to
move, I shout simply. We cannot

1149
01:48:00,479 --> 01:48:03,720
stay here or we will die.
Any further press changes and the pipe could

1150
01:48:03,720 --> 01:48:09,319
fill with water to the brim,
and regardless, sooner or later, we

1151
01:48:09,359 --> 01:48:13,720
will use up all of the oxygen
and we will suffocate. So I propose

1152
01:48:13,840 --> 01:48:17,520
this. We do our best to
move. We shuffle away along the pipe

1153
01:48:17,520 --> 01:48:21,439
as far as we can. If
we're in luck, we've been pulled north,

1154
01:48:23,079 --> 01:48:27,520
and I do not know how much
distance we've already covered. Azrakwan is

1155
01:48:27,520 --> 01:48:30,600
only one and a half kilometers away. Max. That's a distance we can

1156
01:48:30,640 --> 01:48:35,279
make. I'm sure of it.
And if we've been pulled south, the

1157
01:48:35,359 --> 01:48:43,680
Mere calls to this, I remain
silent. The sound of something low and

1158
01:48:43,760 --> 01:48:50,680
deep reverberates along the pipe. Then
shakely, Ahmed replies, all right,

1159
01:48:50,760 --> 01:48:56,159
good Aah, I'm with you.
We'll do this. We crawl away along

1160
01:48:56,159 --> 01:49:02,359
the pipe and we pray. Amir, I call down. What do you

1161
01:49:02,399 --> 01:49:11,880
think? He coughs and groans.
Kadah. He says, Look, I

1162
01:49:11,920 --> 01:49:16,199
can barely move. I can't do
this. You can, Ahmed shouts down,

1163
01:49:16,720 --> 01:49:23,640
you can, no, Ahmed.
A Mere groans again, Ahmed,

1164
01:49:24,000 --> 01:49:27,920
my injuries are bad. I cannot
move an inch. We can't leave you

1165
01:49:28,039 --> 01:49:33,199
behind. Makhmed splutters, but Amir
interrupts. Go, he says, and

1166
01:49:33,239 --> 01:49:36,800
once you've escaped, you'll know where
to find me. Just go, all

1167
01:49:36,880 --> 01:49:43,640
right, you said yourselves. The
clock is ticking, so go. I

1168
01:49:43,720 --> 01:49:48,119
hesitate, then release a long,
shuddering sigh, God save you, brother.

1169
01:49:48,680 --> 01:49:53,680
I call down. We'll be back. I promise we won't leave you.

1170
01:49:55,399 --> 01:50:00,439
I know, he says his voice
distant and quiet. Damn, I

1171
01:50:00,560 --> 01:50:06,239
mutter angrily, slamming my fist against
the pipe. Ahmad, are you ready?

1172
01:50:09,520 --> 01:50:14,279
There's a pause, Yes, he
says, I'm right behind you.

1173
01:50:14,319 --> 01:50:25,760
Goodhah. Let's do this, And
so we begin a venture excruciatingly clostrophobic does

1174
01:50:25,800 --> 01:50:30,239
not even begin to cover it.
The knowledge that beyond these narrow confines is

1175
01:50:30,279 --> 01:50:34,439
nothing more than the great weight of
the ocean does not fill me with bravery.

1176
01:50:35,680 --> 01:50:41,560
Every inch that we travel requires an
exertion. I find little to no

1177
01:50:41,720 --> 01:50:45,560
leverage on the wet, slippery and
oil soaked base of the pipe, so

1178
01:50:45,960 --> 01:50:50,439
I have to find the slightest,
narrowest of grooves, mostly around the upper

1179
01:50:50,479 --> 01:50:55,760
half, and press my toes or
heels into them, using my one good

1180
01:50:55,800 --> 01:51:00,079
hand and my one broken hand to
help force myself along through the sloshing,

1181
01:51:00,359 --> 01:51:06,319
sinister waters. I can see nothing. There is no level of light at

1182
01:51:06,359 --> 01:51:12,000
all for my eyes to adjust to, so in pitch darkness we remain.

1183
01:51:13,800 --> 01:51:16,640
As we move, I try my
best to keep track of the distance traveled.

1184
01:51:17,920 --> 01:51:24,279
My estimate, I think is reasonable
after two or three meters. After

1185
01:51:24,359 --> 01:51:29,560
ten, my grasp is feeble,
and beyond that I simply lose track.

1186
01:51:30,800 --> 01:51:35,840
It's impossible to tell. We keep
shuffling our way down the pipe, listening

1187
01:51:35,880 --> 01:51:41,560
to the sounds of our breathing,
occasionally calling down to each for reassurance.

1188
01:51:42,000 --> 01:51:48,279
Act Mad and I slowly and steadily
through this underwater pipe, inch by agonizing

1189
01:51:48,319 --> 01:51:55,199
inch. It's tough to tell how
much time passes, but after around twenty

1190
01:51:55,279 --> 01:52:00,319
minutes, I make a disturbing discovery. It was gradu at first, so

1191
01:52:00,439 --> 01:52:05,640
gradual that I did not notice that
there is now a significant stress placed on

1192
01:52:05,680 --> 01:52:10,359
the back of my neck. I'm
having to hold my face as high as

1193
01:52:10,359 --> 01:52:14,039
I can, and my forehead has
been pressed against the metal for a while.

1194
01:52:14,079 --> 01:52:16,800
Now. It is only when I
have to alter the shape of my

1195
01:52:16,880 --> 01:52:25,760
lips to inhale the air that I
realize we are running out. I suppress

1196
01:52:25,840 --> 01:52:30,079
a wave of panic and stop moving
at once, shuffling back the way I

1197
01:52:30,119 --> 01:52:34,760
came to give myself a little more
air space to work with. Water sloshes

1198
01:52:34,760 --> 01:52:40,439
in my ears and obscures my hearing. But I call down to Akhmad.

1199
01:52:41,640 --> 01:52:45,800
Ahmad, I call, can you
hear me? Yes? He shouts back,

1200
01:52:45,960 --> 01:52:54,479
coughing, everything all right, Ahmed, I falter, Ahmed, We're

1201
01:52:54,479 --> 01:53:00,600
about to run out of air,
As a pause. What do you mean,

1202
01:53:00,279 --> 01:53:04,880
he asks, his voice higher,
more anxious. I mean the air

1203
01:53:04,920 --> 01:53:12,640
pocket is about to expire. Another
pause. Maybe there's another further down,

1204
01:53:13,199 --> 01:53:16,239
he says. I've seen the schematics
of the pipe. The undulations are not

1205
01:53:16,319 --> 01:53:21,279
regular, so there could be another
pocket. What if there isn't, I

1206
01:53:21,359 --> 01:53:27,920
shout back, chest now rising and
falling desperately. Damn it, damn it.

1207
01:53:29,640 --> 01:53:33,760
There is no space, no light. I can't breathe get a hold

1208
01:53:33,800 --> 01:53:38,359
of yourself, be come, my
child, and it cuts through the madness.

1209
01:53:39,239 --> 01:53:43,640
I seize hold of his words and
allow them to anchor me. We

1210
01:53:43,720 --> 01:53:48,399
can do this, brother. I
take a deep breath. All right,

1211
01:53:49,000 --> 01:53:53,800
I say, all right, here's
what I'm gonna do. I'm going to

1212
01:53:53,880 --> 01:53:57,239
move as fast as I can along
the pipe. I'll hold my breath and

1213
01:53:57,279 --> 01:54:00,000
I'll search for an air pocket.
Regardless of whether I do or don't,

1214
01:54:00,600 --> 01:54:05,279
I'll be back to let you know. Okay, you're a brave man,

1215
01:54:05,960 --> 01:54:12,560
calls the voice of Ahmed. Don't
overdo it, good luck, okay,

1216
01:54:13,239 --> 01:54:16,640
I say, heart pounding, I
begin to take a series of slow,

1217
01:54:16,960 --> 01:54:23,920
deep breaths, gently and gradually expanding
my lungs, preparing them to hold for

1218
01:54:23,960 --> 01:54:28,640
as long as they are able.
The sound is cold and eerie in the

1219
01:54:28,720 --> 01:54:35,920
darkness. Steady, deep breaths.
My chest rises and falls. I shuffle

1220
01:54:36,000 --> 01:54:41,800
back along the pipe, my face
pressed against the pipe. The air metallic

1221
01:54:41,920 --> 01:54:46,680
and oily and grim. I can't
hear anything now. The water comes all

1222
01:54:46,720 --> 01:54:50,960
the way up to the side of
my lips, shaking. I press my

1223
01:54:51,039 --> 01:54:56,520
hand against the side, doing my
best to ignore the pain shooting through my

1224
01:54:56,600 --> 01:55:02,199
right hand wrist. Here we go, Kada. I take my final breath

1225
01:55:02,199 --> 01:55:08,439
in, my lungs filled to the
maximum capacity, and I brace myself against

1226
01:55:08,439 --> 01:55:14,239
the pipe, using my hands and
feet to push myself further along. The

1227
01:55:14,319 --> 01:55:19,319
air is lost and I am completely
submerged beneath the water. It forms a

1228
01:55:19,359 --> 01:55:26,039
constant, steady, roaring rumble in
my ears. I use anything that I

1229
01:55:26,079 --> 01:55:30,960
can to increase the distance I'm able
to move. My elbows, knees,

1230
01:55:30,079 --> 01:55:35,880
heels, shoulders, I use all
of them to search for leverage, inch

1231
01:55:36,000 --> 01:55:43,520
by inch faster than before. I
force myself through the pipe. My heart

1232
01:55:43,600 --> 01:55:49,039
pounds, the beat is loud,
so so loud. My chest trembles,

1233
01:55:49,600 --> 01:55:56,239
but I keep moving as far as
I can, inch by inch, inch

1234
01:55:56,520 --> 01:56:03,720
by inch. Don't if I don't
find air. Then there's really nothing for

1235
01:56:03,840 --> 01:56:09,159
us. Will suffocate or drown or
worse in the belly of the pipe,

1236
01:56:09,720 --> 01:56:15,359
and we may never be discovered.
I have to keep moving. Inch by

1237
01:56:15,600 --> 01:56:21,039
inch, my hands reach a particularly
oily section of the pipe. Then instead

1238
01:56:21,079 --> 01:56:27,319
of pressing against the sides, they
slip right off in a blink. My

1239
01:56:27,439 --> 01:56:32,039
momentum is lost, and I fumble
and splutter in terror as I realize that

1240
01:56:32,079 --> 01:56:38,279
my means of propulsion has now failed
me. No, I think, with

1241
01:56:38,439 --> 01:56:45,439
flashes of terrible urgency. No,
no bubbles unseen escape from my lips.

1242
01:56:45,680 --> 01:56:49,720
As I writhe in the darkness,
suffocating in the cold embrace of the rusted

1243
01:56:49,760 --> 01:56:55,680
beast. Please, I beg,
sending up prayers to a god I have

1244
01:56:55,760 --> 01:57:01,680
neglected, Desperately searching for a workable
surface, My foot finds a subtle groove,

1245
01:57:02,119 --> 01:57:06,640
and I'm able to push myself another
inch, and from there I'm able

1246
01:57:06,720 --> 01:57:14,239
to move another My journey continues,
but I am rewarded with no relief,

1247
01:57:15,680 --> 01:57:20,520
because soon I will need to breathe
in. My lungs have already begun to

1248
01:57:20,560 --> 01:57:25,720
ache, and if I don't find
another pocket of air, then I'll have

1249
01:57:25,760 --> 01:57:30,880
to return through the pipe back the
way I came back past the slippery,

1250
01:57:30,079 --> 01:57:34,880
oily walls. What if I get
stuck on my way back? What if

1251
01:57:34,920 --> 01:57:39,600
I don't make it back in time? How the hell was this allowed to

1252
01:57:39,680 --> 01:57:45,239
happen. I'm overcome with a sudden
burst of rage, and bubbles spilled through

1253
01:57:45,239 --> 01:57:50,479
my clenched teeth. As I force
myself deeper and deeper through the water as

1254
01:57:50,520 --> 01:57:57,079
hastily as I'm able, my lungs
start to burn. I'm going to run

1255
01:57:57,079 --> 01:58:00,640
out of air. Just a little
further, I can search a little further.

1256
01:58:02,720 --> 01:58:06,640
I'm going to run out of air. I'm going to die just a

1257
01:58:06,720 --> 01:58:12,520
little further. I can do it. I can do it. And with

1258
01:58:12,600 --> 01:58:17,000
a sudden gasp and a great shuddering
breath inwards, I almost laugh in desperate

1259
01:58:17,039 --> 01:58:23,439
thankfulness as the angle of the pipe
is suddenly changed and I feel my face

1260
01:58:23,479 --> 01:58:29,520
emerge into a fresh, new pocket
of air. It's not fresh, of

1261
01:58:29,600 --> 01:58:33,479
course, but in that moment,
it's the sweetest air I've ever tasted.

1262
01:58:35,159 --> 01:58:41,119
I come to a stop and allow
some great and rasping breaths, filling and

1263
01:58:41,159 --> 01:58:45,399
replenishing my lungs. Thank God,
it is all like a murmur, over

1264
01:58:45,560 --> 01:58:53,159
and over, thank God, thank
God. I can't myself, and once

1265
01:58:53,199 --> 01:58:57,359
I have my breath, I try
shouting. I don't think he'll be able

1266
01:58:57,439 --> 01:59:02,000
to hear me, but I try
anyway. I received no response, so

1267
01:59:02,039 --> 01:59:08,279
I try knocking a rhythm on the
pipe. There is still no response,

1268
01:59:09,840 --> 01:59:16,600
so regretfully I prepare for the return
journey. I'm scared, of course,

1269
01:59:18,119 --> 01:59:23,600
but I now know it can be
done, that there is air waiting safely

1270
01:59:23,640 --> 01:59:28,279
for me on the other side.
So I filled my lungs once again and

1271
01:59:28,399 --> 01:59:32,720
shuffled back through the pipe feet first, this time back towards Akhma's location.

1272
01:59:34,199 --> 01:59:39,359
I use the material of my diving
suit to help me pass by the particularly

1273
01:59:39,399 --> 01:59:45,960
oily section and emerged back into the
former pocket, spluttering and coughing. Oh

1274
01:59:45,960 --> 01:59:49,039
good lord, Ahmed shads, good
ah, you took it down time,

1275
01:59:49,520 --> 01:59:54,840
I thought you might have. It's
all right, I replied, we can

1276
01:59:54,880 --> 02:00:00,720
make it. There's another pocket ahead. Now listen, and I go on

1277
02:00:00,800 --> 02:00:04,399
to explain the distance and what he'll
need to do. Then, finally,

1278
02:00:04,880 --> 02:00:11,800
with a third and hopefully final time, we force ourselves through the watery darkness,

1279
02:00:12,279 --> 02:00:16,319
back beneath and through the pipe with
the promise of the next air pocket,

1280
02:00:16,760 --> 02:00:24,680
our guiding light inch by inch as
fast as I can, praying that

1281
02:00:24,720 --> 02:00:30,960
Ahmad is able to keep up.
And then, as before, my face

1282
02:00:30,039 --> 02:00:36,279
emerges welcomingly into the new air pocket. But I continue moving along to a

1283
02:00:36,279 --> 02:00:43,279
loudspace for Ahmad. The seconds pass, and it's just as I'm beginning to

1284
02:00:43,359 --> 02:00:48,439
fret that I hear his coughing,
the sound of great longfalls of swallowed air

1285
02:00:48,800 --> 02:00:54,359
as he breathes in. Yes,
I shout, banging my good fist and

1286
02:00:54,399 --> 02:00:58,039
the pipe. We did it,
We did it, brother, Yes,

1287
02:00:58,600 --> 02:01:03,199
he splutters, Yes, we did. Then it releases what sounds like a

1288
02:01:03,279 --> 02:01:09,800
laugh, and it fills my heart
with hope. Come on, I shout

1289
02:01:09,840 --> 02:01:15,079
to him, Let's keep going,
And so we do, and our journey

1290
02:01:15,119 --> 02:01:21,000
through the pipe inch by inch.
As the hours passed by, the timeless

1291
02:01:21,039 --> 02:01:35,239
hours, in the perpetual watery darkness, my joints aake, my muscles tense

1292
02:01:35,279 --> 02:01:41,760
and throb with exertion. But I
have to keep going. There's nothing else

1293
02:01:41,840 --> 02:01:46,439
for it. Our air pocket comes
to an end, and as with before,

1294
02:01:46,960 --> 02:01:53,199
I scout ahead, I have to, of course, as there simply

1295
02:01:53,279 --> 02:01:58,359
no way possible for Ahmed to pass
me by. After holding my breath for

1296
02:01:58,399 --> 02:02:02,399
another painful period of time, I
am blessed with the discovery of a new

1297
02:02:02,439 --> 02:02:10,279
breathable space, and so we continue
in the same manner. These air pockets,

1298
02:02:10,319 --> 02:02:15,479
however, grow shorter and shorter as
we progress, much to my quiet

1299
02:02:15,520 --> 02:02:24,000
alarm, whether still just enough?
And so our journey continues. Every time

1300
02:02:24,039 --> 02:02:27,800
I have to hold my breath and
go on ahead. It is a cruel

1301
02:02:28,000 --> 02:02:32,920
exercising will power and mental strength,
but I do my duty. I have

1302
02:02:33,039 --> 02:02:42,760
to, We have to get out, We need to. An exhausting struggle

1303
02:02:42,800 --> 02:02:46,159
through the pipe comes to a temporary
halt as we reach an air pocket a

1304
02:02:46,279 --> 02:02:51,520
mere three or four meters in length. I start with fright as my bad

1305
02:02:51,600 --> 02:02:57,720
shoulder knocks up against something hard and
cold. It moves in little response to

1306
02:02:57,760 --> 02:03:01,760
the pressure I exert upon it.
So it isn't a blockage of any kind?

1307
02:03:03,600 --> 02:03:11,319
Could it be? My heart leaps
wriggling, squirming in the pipe.

1308
02:03:11,840 --> 02:03:15,920
I do my best to bring my
good hand up towards my head. It

1309
02:03:15,039 --> 02:03:20,920
is not a quick process and requires
some uncomfortable maneuvers, but eventually my hand

1310
02:03:21,000 --> 02:03:28,880
can reach my neck and beyond,
and my fingers explore the mysterious object.

1311
02:03:29,359 --> 02:03:33,920
Despite everything, A grin spreads across
my face and I cry out loud with

1312
02:03:34,039 --> 02:03:40,640
joy, Ahmed, I shout,
Ahmed, I found a tank. I

1313
02:03:40,680 --> 02:03:45,279
think, yes, it's all connected. It's all here a tank. He

1314
02:03:45,399 --> 02:03:49,760
replies, what do you mean,
I mean an oxygen tank, Ahmad.

1315
02:03:50,279 --> 02:03:55,079
It's all in one piece, the
breathing troupe. Yes, it's all here.

1316
02:03:56,039 --> 02:04:01,039
That's fantastic. He exclaims. How
many are there? My enthusiasm drops.

1317
02:04:01,840 --> 02:04:06,319
I shuffle further down the pipe,
searching blindly in the darkness for evidence

1318
02:04:06,560 --> 02:04:13,079
of a potential second set of diving
gear. Despite my silent please, however,

1319
02:04:14,119 --> 02:04:17,640
there is only one. I can
only find one here, I tell

1320
02:04:17,680 --> 02:04:23,039
my comrade. But there might be
another further down. This is a game

1321
02:04:23,119 --> 02:04:27,399
changer. We can do this.
We can get out whose tank is it?

1322
02:04:27,520 --> 02:04:31,319
Kada? Akhmed asks me. I
think my own was about half full.

1323
02:04:32,399 --> 02:04:38,640
Yes, Likewise, I reply,
what about e Mears e Mears?

1324
02:04:39,439 --> 02:04:47,119
Akhmed begins hesitating. Kada, I
think Emirs was almost empty. I take

1325
02:04:47,159 --> 02:04:53,479
a deep breath, right, I
reply, well, still, this will

1326
02:04:53,520 --> 02:04:57,159
help. I'll use it now,
and I'll see if I can find another

1327
02:04:57,199 --> 02:05:03,920
set a little further along. Wish
me good luck, man achmetays godspeed.

1328
02:05:06,239 --> 02:05:11,520
I check the tank over as best
I can. I hold the mouthpiece around

1329
02:05:11,520 --> 02:05:17,000
my lips, giving it a few
test breaths. Then on I go back

1330
02:05:17,079 --> 02:05:21,800
beneath the water, though this time
armed with the tank to help me along

1331
02:05:21,800 --> 02:05:28,920
my way. I grunt and shift
my body around, shuffling through the pipe,

1332
02:05:29,279 --> 02:05:33,039
squirming my way along, and I
find what will come to be the

1333
02:05:33,079 --> 02:05:39,840
final air pocket of its type,
a mere meet along, not even big

1334
02:05:39,920 --> 02:05:43,920
enough for Ahmed and I to share
at the same time, and to my

1335
02:05:44,000 --> 02:05:50,800
growing frustration, there is no sign
of a second tank. So I push

1336
02:05:50,880 --> 02:05:57,560
deeper onwards through the pipe, breathing
with the tank, pushing it along with

1337
02:05:57,640 --> 02:06:02,479
me. As I go I discover, to my bitter amusement, what could

1338
02:06:02,520 --> 02:06:09,119
well be my second missing flipper,
But there is still no second tank,

1339
02:06:10,319 --> 02:06:15,399
and no further air pockets either.
Clenching my fist, I realize that I

1340
02:06:15,439 --> 02:06:20,439
need to go back before Ahmed starts
worrying. So I make the painstaking return

1341
02:06:20,520 --> 02:06:27,239
journey in a time that to my
friend must have felt like ours. But

1342
02:06:27,359 --> 02:06:32,920
at last I returned to our shared
location and inform him of the disappointing news.

1343
02:06:33,680 --> 02:06:38,560
He is quiet as I relay my
findings, and then he says,

1344
02:06:38,880 --> 02:06:44,960
in a soft voice, good Ah. I think that this is the end

1345
02:06:44,960 --> 02:06:47,680
of the road for me. There
is no use in me going any further.

1346
02:06:48,760 --> 02:06:54,039
I think that I'll have to wait
here. I begin to protest,

1347
02:06:54,720 --> 02:06:58,960
but my words dyeing my mouth.
What is there for me to say?

1348
02:07:00,119 --> 02:07:04,439
He's right? Of course, it's
a harsh truth, but he's absolutely right.

1349
02:07:05,720 --> 02:07:12,439
He'll simply have to stay behind the
next leg of the journey I'll have

1350
02:07:12,520 --> 02:07:16,600
to do alone. A sudden rush
of emotion swells up inside me, and

1351
02:07:16,680 --> 02:07:23,439
I force it back down. There's
a time and a place. I try

1352
02:07:23,479 --> 02:07:27,279
not to consider the fact that this
may be the last time I ever hear

1353
02:07:27,359 --> 02:07:31,399
his voice. Perhaps I've heard both
their voices for the very last time.

1354
02:07:32,960 --> 02:07:41,000
No time and a place. Keep
moving, ah Mad. I begin fumbling

1355
02:07:41,039 --> 02:07:45,479
for some words that'll do the moment
justice, but he interrupts. See you

1356
02:07:45,560 --> 02:07:50,439
soon, buddy, he says.
In the dark, I'm not able to

1357
02:07:50,479 --> 02:07:56,920
reply immediately, but when I do, I say to him, yes,

1358
02:07:57,439 --> 02:08:03,520
for sure, see you soon,
body, And with that I'm gone.

1359
02:08:05,279 --> 02:08:11,000
I forced myself further along the tank, crawling and shuffling. Then I am

1360
02:08:11,039 --> 02:08:16,079
submerged. My breathing is loud to
the tube connected to my mouth, and

1361
02:08:16,119 --> 02:08:20,119
when I reach the final air pocket, I allow myself a second to pause

1362
02:08:20,920 --> 02:08:30,000
to steal my constitution, and then
this pocket too is left behind. On

1363
02:08:30,479 --> 02:08:37,119
I go underwater, the rest of
my journey will be underwater, and since

1364
02:08:37,119 --> 02:08:39,720
I cannot see, there is no
way to tell how much air is left

1365
02:08:39,760 --> 02:08:45,119
in the tank. If it was
mine or Akhmed, then I should have

1366
02:08:45,159 --> 02:08:50,680
hours to spare. If it was
a Mears, well, no point in

1367
02:08:50,760 --> 02:08:56,800
being coy. If it's a Mears, then I'll likely die down here unless

1368
02:08:56,800 --> 02:09:03,560
I'm blessed with another surprise air pocket. It's not impossible, I tell myself

1369
02:09:03,840 --> 02:09:09,079
as I crawled through the pipe,
water all around me. It's not impossible

1370
02:09:11,279 --> 02:09:15,840
then, Yet as the hours go
by, there are no more air pockets

1371
02:09:15,880 --> 02:09:22,279
to discover, just more pipe,
the endless, claustrophobic dark of the tunnel.

1372
02:09:22,880 --> 02:09:28,439
How far have I come? No
idea, impossible to tell, really,

1373
02:09:30,359 --> 02:09:33,279
and I don't even know which way
I'm heading. If it's north,

1374
02:09:33,920 --> 02:09:39,439
then this hope. If south,
then this whole venture was pointless. Anyway,

1375
02:09:41,399 --> 02:09:45,119
I'll never make it back to Azrak
two Asraq one. On the other

1376
02:09:45,159 --> 02:09:54,600
hand, for Asrak one, hope
remains. There's still hope onwards through the

1377
02:09:54,640 --> 02:09:58,720
pipe, through the oily, poison
water, my elbows burned, with pain

1378
02:09:58,760 --> 02:10:03,640
from of friction. My shoulders have
been rubbed raw. My feet are developing

1379
02:10:03,680 --> 02:10:07,680
painful blisters from the places I've been
forced to press them against the pipe for

1380
02:10:07,800 --> 02:10:15,039
leverage, over and over. My
neck is killing me. It hurts the

1381
02:10:15,159 --> 02:10:18,399
term I head too far in either
direction. I just grip my teeth and

1382
02:10:18,560 --> 02:10:26,079
keep on going. Too late to
stop now, must keep going on and

1383
02:10:26,239 --> 02:10:33,800
on and on. God give me
strength, I mutter to myself as my

1384
02:10:33,880 --> 02:10:39,239
muscles contract and sting. Give me
strength to see this through. Thinking about

1385
02:10:39,239 --> 02:10:45,600
Ahmed, about Amir, all alone, just like me. It helps propel

1386
02:10:45,680 --> 02:10:50,159
me forward. I can't give up, not while they're counting on me.

1387
02:10:50,079 --> 02:10:56,159
I can never do that to them, not ever. So on I go

1388
02:10:56,600 --> 02:11:05,760
endless, ceaseless dark, endless,
ceaseless torture of the pipe. Except it's

1389
02:11:05,800 --> 02:11:11,640
not endless, not as luck would
have it. The good news regarding my

1390
02:11:11,680 --> 02:11:16,119
oxygen tank is that it definitely was
in a meuse. If it was,

1391
02:11:16,600 --> 02:11:22,239
it would have expired by now.
The bad news is that I've been kneading

1392
02:11:22,399 --> 02:11:28,439
deeper and deeper breaths to fill my
lungs, and soon the oxygen that the

1393
02:11:28,520 --> 02:11:33,039
tank can spare me just won't be
enough. It won't go on forever.

1394
02:11:33,640 --> 02:11:37,560
I have found no other tanks along
my journey. It's just the one on

1395
02:11:37,720 --> 02:11:46,079
my person currently, and then that's
it. Game over, Come on,

1396
02:11:46,199 --> 02:11:50,079
you pipe, I hated as a
mouthpiece. You can't go on forever.

1397
02:11:50,520 --> 02:11:58,680
You can't, And of course it
doesn't. My head bashes against hard metal,

1398
02:12:00,039 --> 02:12:05,239
eh, I murmuring confusion. I
try to continue along my journey,

1399
02:12:05,920 --> 02:12:11,159
but the way is blocked. I
simply cannot go any further. My first

1400
02:12:11,159 --> 02:12:16,640
thought is one of panic. I
fear that I've reached some kind of wall

1401
02:12:16,680 --> 02:12:20,159
in the pipe, one that shouldn't
exist, and I've come all this way

1402
02:12:20,199 --> 02:12:26,000
to find nothing more than a dead
end. Upon little inspection, however,

1403
02:12:26,880 --> 02:12:31,199
I realize that a space is opened
up above my head. I squirm around,

1404
02:12:31,840 --> 02:12:35,600
and for the first time in hours
and hours, I'm able to change

1405
02:12:35,640 --> 02:12:43,840
positions and to sit upright. My
back cracks, and a rush of unbelievable

1406
02:12:43,880 --> 02:12:48,560
relief in muscle tension flows through me. I bring up my hands to feel

1407
02:12:48,560 --> 02:12:54,159
around me in the darkness, and
I almost shout for joy. The pipe

1408
02:12:54,279 --> 02:13:00,680
has reached this end. It's going
up now, vertically, up through the

1409
02:13:00,720 --> 02:13:05,560
sea, towards the surface. We
came north. I laugh, the cracks

1410
02:13:05,600 --> 02:13:11,159
of hope widening, flowing into me
like rivers of silver. We've been traveling

1411
02:13:11,199 --> 02:13:16,800
north the whole time, the end
of the pipe, upwards to the installation

1412
02:13:16,880 --> 02:13:26,520
at azra Kwan and to salvation.
Unless I take stock and consider the choice

1413
02:13:26,520 --> 02:13:31,720
that now faces me. If I'm
going to push onwards, then this really

1414
02:13:31,880 --> 02:13:37,520
is it. It's a coin flip
for life or death. There's not much

1415
02:13:37,560 --> 02:13:41,159
air left in the tank. And
if I climb this pipe to discover the

1416
02:13:41,239 --> 02:13:46,960
worst, if the pipe has been
stoppered or plugged, then definitively for me

1417
02:13:48,000 --> 02:13:52,640
there will be no way out.
I really will reach a dead end.

1418
02:13:52,960 --> 02:13:58,399
All hope will be lost, and
I will drown down here, with nowhere

1419
02:13:58,399 --> 02:14:05,560
to go, no way forwards and
no way back. I shake my head.

1420
02:14:05,239 --> 02:14:11,560
There's no choice here, not really, it's just willpower. I don't

1421
02:14:11,640 --> 02:14:15,840
have enough air in my tank to
get back to Ahmed, even if I

1422
02:14:15,920 --> 02:14:22,399
wanted to. It's only forwards,
forwards and upwards, all right, I

1423
02:14:22,560 --> 02:14:28,479
murmur, bobo spilling, Here we
go, and I begin my slow,

1424
02:14:28,880 --> 02:14:35,720
deliberate ascent, back pressed against the
pipe behind me, knees and calves against

1425
02:14:35,760 --> 02:14:41,239
the pipe in front up. I
go, kicking at times half swimming,

1426
02:14:41,439 --> 02:14:48,319
half shimmying up the pipe, up
the pipe to the surface, slowly but

1427
02:14:48,479 --> 02:14:54,560
surely, grimacing through the strain and
the pain, and still so dark,

1428
02:14:56,359 --> 02:15:01,880
so unbelievably dark. The lack of
light does not fill me with confidence.

1429
02:15:03,119 --> 02:15:05,960
If the pipe was not stoppered,
surely I'll be able to see some light.

1430
02:15:07,239 --> 02:15:11,279
Right I open my eyes in the
water. The salt and oil stings

1431
02:15:11,319 --> 02:15:16,279
like hell. But I need to
see, or to try and see at

1432
02:15:16,359 --> 02:15:22,159
least. But there's nothing. There's
no hint of light at all. Don't

1433
02:15:22,199 --> 02:15:28,079
lose faith, I tell myself,
screwing my eyes shut again, Keep going,

1434
02:15:28,439 --> 02:15:33,039
keep going. This vertical section of
pipe is unlike the one we were

1435
02:15:33,079 --> 02:15:37,800
stuck down. This part here goes
all the way up to the surface,

1436
02:15:39,560 --> 02:15:45,199
up to the bustle and the relative
commotion of Azrakwan. Except it won't be

1437
02:15:45,239 --> 02:15:50,960
bustling right now, of course,
I hesitate, taking a deep, strained

1438
02:15:50,000 --> 02:15:56,399
breath through the mouthpiece, grunting with
the strain. Thinking about it, the

1439
02:15:56,439 --> 02:16:00,960
place could be entirely deserted. I
don't even know what time it is.

1440
02:16:01,479 --> 02:16:05,520
I've been crawling through the pipe for
hours upon hours. I'm not sure of

1441
02:16:05,600 --> 02:16:11,239
the exact time, but I'm exhausted, I'm starving and my oxygen is about

1442
02:16:11,279 --> 02:16:16,600
to expire if I recall correctly.
In fact, the site won't even be

1443
02:16:16,720 --> 02:16:24,039
open tomorrow. I rack my brains
and try to remember when were they all

1444
02:16:24,079 --> 02:16:28,520
off site? Was it tomorrow or
the day after? Damn? What if

1445
02:16:28,560 --> 02:16:33,799
everyone's come back to shore. What
if the site is empty? What if

1446
02:16:33,799 --> 02:16:37,600
there's no one to hear me?
What if the pipe is stopped? What

1447
02:16:37,680 --> 02:16:45,120
if? What if? I bellow
and frustration and continue my ascent. Each

1448
02:16:45,200 --> 02:16:50,360
breath becomes hard work. I'm starting
to feel lightheaded, but there's nowhere to

1449
02:16:50,399 --> 02:16:54,079
go but up. This section of
pipe can't be longer than eighty meters or

1450
02:16:54,120 --> 02:17:00,879
so. So surely, if it
was open, i'd see the right,

1451
02:17:01,000 --> 02:17:07,760
wouldn't I see the light? Please? I whisper as I opened my eyes

1452
02:17:07,799 --> 02:17:13,719
again, squinting through the darkness,
terrified that at any second I will hit

1453
02:17:13,799 --> 02:17:16,719
a barrier or a stop, and
my journey will come to an abrupt and

1454
02:17:16,799 --> 02:17:22,479
bitter end. Any second, at
any moment, I could strike the ceiling

1455
02:17:24,559 --> 02:17:30,000
and I'll be trapped. In the
very next second i emerge from the water,

1456
02:17:31,040 --> 02:17:33,479
they hear the sounds of splashing as
my head breaks free of the surface.

1457
02:17:35,639 --> 02:17:41,680
I'm still in complete darkness, but
I've reached the top air. I

1458
02:17:41,719 --> 02:17:46,879
pull off the mouthpiece and suck it
all down, refilling my lungs with far

1459
02:17:46,959 --> 02:17:50,399
greater ease, rubbing and brushing the
oily waters from my face and eyes.

1460
02:17:52,680 --> 02:17:56,959
I made it, I say to
no one in particular, my voice echoing

1461
02:17:56,000 --> 02:18:01,799
around the narrow little space afforded me. Now I have to come to perhaps

1462
02:18:01,840 --> 02:18:07,200
the final hurdle. How cruel it
would be, I think, how cruel

1463
02:18:07,239 --> 02:18:13,520
to make it so far, and
then to be denied rescue, so close

1464
02:18:13,959 --> 02:18:18,040
and yet so far. I squirm
and bring up my good arm. With

1465
02:18:18,159 --> 02:18:22,680
my good hand, I reach it
above me, feeling through the darkness,

1466
02:18:24,000 --> 02:18:28,920
as the water spills and drips from
my elbow. A few inches above my

1467
02:18:28,000 --> 02:18:35,159
head, I feel the lid of
the pipe screw tight shut. My heart

1468
02:18:35,239 --> 02:18:43,280
starts pounding again. Come on,
please please. I search desperately for a

1469
02:18:43,319 --> 02:18:48,479
release mechanism or a valve that will
open the pipe from the inside, but

1470
02:18:48,639 --> 02:18:54,280
alas, just as I suspected,
there is no such valve. I bring

1471
02:18:54,360 --> 02:18:58,920
up my other hand and try to
force open the lid. I try to

1472
02:18:58,959 --> 02:19:05,760
spin it to s but nothing works, nothing at all, and there will

1473
02:19:05,760 --> 02:19:09,200
be no one on the other side. Why would there be. Their shift

1474
02:19:09,280 --> 02:19:15,120
is over, they'll have left the
side by now crossed back to the shore.

1475
02:19:16,000 --> 02:19:22,159
I'm stuck, after everything, I'm
just as trapped as a mere and

1476
02:19:22,239 --> 02:19:28,719
as Ahmed. I started pounding desperately
on the lid. I bang in the

1477
02:19:28,760 --> 02:19:33,000
pipe as hard as I can.
I start to scream. I start shouting,

1478
02:19:33,440 --> 02:19:37,440
though the sounds will be muffled from
the outside. My shouts for help

1479
02:19:37,719 --> 02:19:43,760
would just sound like a load of
moaning and groaning, potentially even mistaken for

1480
02:19:43,920 --> 02:19:50,079
the general rumble of the pipe itself. Help, I scream, slamming both

1481
02:19:50,120 --> 02:19:54,280
fists on the metal with all my
remaining force, not caring for the spikes

1482
02:19:54,280 --> 02:19:58,239
of pain that shoot through my broken
wrist. Panic threatens, though overtake me

1483
02:20:00,360 --> 02:20:05,680
now at this final stage of my
journey, Help, I cry, slamming

1484
02:20:05,760 --> 02:20:09,639
the lid, kicking the pipe,
making as much noise as I am able

1485
02:20:09,959 --> 02:20:16,639
before my constitution breaks any one.
I roar into the darkness, and with

1486
02:20:16,680 --> 02:20:20,840
the sound of a grate and sudden
grinding directly above my head, the lid

1487
02:20:20,920 --> 02:20:28,559
shifts and a curved crack of light
spills blindingly into the pipe. I gasped

1488
02:20:28,559 --> 02:20:33,559
with astonishment, the wind taken from
my sails, and I slumped back down

1489
02:20:33,600 --> 02:20:39,360
into the water with a splash.
My eyes are force closed, and the

1490
02:20:39,360 --> 02:20:45,360
world beyond my sealed eelt is a
dazzling orange red. I don't even know

1491
02:20:45,399 --> 02:20:50,399
what to say. I'm too afraid
to believe what is happening. I sent

1492
02:20:50,520 --> 02:20:54,200
some one talking to me. The
voice is confused and alarmed. They grabbed

1493
02:20:54,200 --> 02:20:58,639
me by the diving suit, by
the shoulders, and with some considerable degree

1494
02:20:58,680 --> 02:21:03,719
of effort, but they hauled me
out and onto the platform that surrounded the

1495
02:21:03,760 --> 02:21:09,280
pipe's exit. I'm unable to help
myself from weeping. I still cannot see.

1496
02:21:09,879 --> 02:21:13,079
With the tears streak, the salt
and the oil from my face.

1497
02:21:15,479 --> 02:21:20,920
I've never felt so free. I
turn and WinCE and stretch my arms and

1498
02:21:20,000 --> 02:21:26,000
legs in ways that they were unable
for what felt like ages, I feel

1499
02:21:26,079 --> 02:21:31,760
I hands squeezed my shoulder. A
bottle of cool, refreshing and above all

1500
02:21:33,079 --> 02:21:39,600
clean water is gently poured over my
face. Good Ah, comes a familiar

1501
02:21:39,719 --> 02:21:43,959
voice. Good aar, What on
earth? He fumbles for words, cared

1502
02:21:45,040 --> 02:21:50,879
to explain yourself? Goodar, what
the hell is this? I finally managed

1503
02:21:50,920 --> 02:21:58,559
to open my eyes just a sliver, gradually painfully adjusting to the light from

1504
02:21:58,559 --> 02:22:03,200
the flood lamps all around, and
I am greeted by the sight of the

1505
02:22:03,239 --> 02:22:09,280
only employees still at his station,
long after his shift has come to an

1506
02:22:09,360 --> 02:22:13,799
end. He stares at me,
his scruffy red hair and his beard a

1507
02:22:13,920 --> 02:22:20,840
mess, his expression almost comical.
In confusion, A dry chuckle escapes my

1508
02:22:20,920 --> 02:22:28,760
lips. Hellosa here, I mutter, you know, I don't think I've

1509
02:22:28,840 --> 02:22:33,520
ever been happier to see anyone in
my entire life. In this, my

1510
02:22:33,600 --> 02:22:41,959
friends, is the truth. The
hours that followed passed by in a whirlwind.

1511
02:22:43,360 --> 02:22:48,200
The company and the authorities were alerted
immediately, and the helicopters were sent

1512
02:22:48,319 --> 02:22:52,680
up into the sky and rescue boats
were out in the water within the hour.

1513
02:22:52,879 --> 02:22:58,559
The ruined habitat site was investigated and
safely secured. Vast teams of divers

1514
02:22:58,559 --> 02:23:03,760
were sent and they traversed the entire
length of the pipe way into the night,

1515
02:23:05,440 --> 02:23:09,719
knocking and tapping on the metal and
hunting diligently for Amir and Ahmad.

1516
02:23:11,079 --> 02:23:16,639
Knocking and tapping on the metal,
and hunting diligently for Amir and Ahmad.

1517
02:23:18,200 --> 02:23:24,959
There was tragically no response. I
remember pacing up and down in one of

1518
02:23:24,959 --> 02:23:30,120
the control rooms, fielding calls from
family in the presence of several officers and

1519
02:23:30,200 --> 02:23:35,280
officials, as the pressure in the
pipe was carefully leveled as it was disconnected

1520
02:23:35,319 --> 02:23:41,360
at the safest point and open for
inspection. I remember the way I reacted

1521
02:23:41,840 --> 02:23:46,680
when I was told the news the
next morning, after a long and sleepless

1522
02:23:46,799 --> 02:23:54,399
night, arm bandaged. I remember
the breath escaping me. I remember collapsing

1523
02:23:54,520 --> 02:24:01,479
into the nearest chair. That's impossible, I murmured, there's no way.

1524
02:24:03,479 --> 02:24:09,600
But the bodies of Emir and Ahmad
were discovered together about ten or so meters

1525
02:24:09,719 --> 02:24:16,719
north from where we were suckered down. It was ruled that the two men

1526
02:24:16,799 --> 02:24:24,079
died on impact with the pipe,
almost instantaneously. It's likely they weren't even

1527
02:24:24,120 --> 02:24:30,520
aware of what happened. Their last
conscious moments, I'm told most probably took

1528
02:24:30,559 --> 02:24:39,440
place in the habitat itself before the
disaster. To this, I say nothing.

1529
02:24:41,079 --> 02:24:46,559
I simply look out of the window
as the morning sun reflects and glimmers

1530
02:24:48,120 --> 02:25:05,479
sparkling in the gentle waves of the
sea far below. My father was not

1531
02:25:05,639 --> 02:25:09,040
an open book. Those that knew
him would call him a reserved man,

1532
02:25:09,559 --> 02:25:15,120
or a man of few words,
But to me he was like a man

1533
02:25:15,200 --> 02:25:20,280
who had retreated into his own universe, a world that seemed filled with shadows

1534
02:25:20,319 --> 02:25:26,479
in every corner, a waking nightmare. I would catch him sometimes at night,

1535
02:25:28,120 --> 02:25:31,079
just staring out the window, gripping
the arms of his chair so tight

1536
02:25:31,719 --> 02:25:37,159
I thought his hands would start bleeding. He would lean forward, almost falling

1537
02:25:37,200 --> 02:25:43,600
out of his chair, as if
expecting something terrible and incomprehensible to show up

1538
02:25:43,600 --> 02:25:50,040
at our door at any moment.
My father was a man clothed in dread.

1539
02:25:50,479 --> 02:25:56,120
It's only something I came to realize
as I got older. He hid

1540
02:25:56,159 --> 02:26:05,879
it well, especially from my mother, not nearly well enough. Nothing terrified

1541
02:26:05,879 --> 02:26:13,399
my father more than piano music,
whether it was heard in an elevator or

1542
02:26:13,440 --> 02:26:16,520
on the TV, or being played
in a shopping mall by a hobby pianist

1543
02:26:18,000 --> 02:26:24,200
who wanted to impress onlookers, whether
it was classical or jazz, whether it

1544
02:26:24,280 --> 02:26:30,079
was happy or sad, simple or
complex. When he heard the sound of

1545
02:26:30,079 --> 02:26:35,159
a piano, his eyes would bulge
out of their sockets, his skin would

1546
02:26:35,159 --> 02:26:39,799
go pale white. He would look
around wildly, whipping his head back and

1547
02:26:39,840 --> 02:26:43,719
forth, like a dog wrangling with
a bone. I never had the courage

1548
02:26:43,719 --> 02:26:48,040
to ask him why he was so
afraid of it. Why didn't I just

1549
02:26:48,120 --> 02:26:52,920
ask him? But it wasn't the
thing to be acknowledged in our home.

1550
02:26:54,200 --> 02:27:00,479
Fear is contagious, and the easiest
way to come down with it is to

1551
02:27:00,559 --> 02:27:05,879
talk about it. So my father's
fear lingered throughout our lives, untouched.

1552
02:27:07,520 --> 02:27:11,959
Like a piano that was never sold, it just hung in the air,

1553
02:27:11,520 --> 02:27:20,520
playing its own silent music for years. My father passed away a year ago

1554
02:27:20,000 --> 02:27:26,360
due to heart complications. I thought
his secret died with him. But two

1555
02:27:26,399 --> 02:27:31,559
weeks ago I was visiting my mom
and decided to go through my father's old

1556
02:27:31,600 --> 02:27:39,239
belongings. I guess I was feeling
nostalgic. After some time, I was

1557
02:27:39,280 --> 02:27:46,079
about to head out when I saw
it at the bottom of a cardboard box

1558
02:27:46,399 --> 02:27:50,079
that had been hidden in the corner
of the attic. It was an unmarked

1559
02:27:50,239 --> 02:27:58,879
envelope. Inside was a letter comprised
of several sheets of paper. The writing

1560
02:27:58,879 --> 02:28:03,840
and the letter was rush and scratchy, but it was my father's handwriting.

1561
02:28:03,879 --> 02:28:09,799
There was no mistaking it. What
I read in that letter has haunted me

1562
02:28:09,959 --> 02:28:16,000
for the past fourteen days. I've
decided to share that letter right here and

1563
02:28:16,079 --> 02:28:22,440
now, because I feel that in
some way it may help me better understand

1564
02:28:22,479 --> 02:28:28,040
it. Or maybe the truth is
I just want someone to share my father's

1565
02:28:28,079 --> 02:28:31,239
dread with. My mother would not
listen to me when I told her about

1566
02:28:31,280 --> 02:28:37,120
the letter. She told me to
burn it and to forget whatever it said.

1567
02:28:37,799 --> 02:28:41,959
She scolded me like I was still
a child. What you're about to

1568
02:28:43,000 --> 02:28:48,760
hear from this point on are my
father's words exactly. I have not changed

1569
02:28:48,920 --> 02:28:54,959
nor altered any of it. I
am transcribing it word for word. This

1570
02:28:54,639 --> 02:29:05,520
is my father's story in his own
words. I wonder how many times I've

1571
02:29:05,559 --> 02:29:09,159
attempted to write this letter, how
many pieces of paper I've torn up throughout

1572
02:29:09,159 --> 02:29:15,000
the years, how many pens have
gone dry, how many pencils snapped?

1573
02:29:16,440 --> 02:29:20,799
Too many, far too many.
If I do have the courage to finish

1574
02:29:20,879 --> 02:29:26,079
it, I wonder who will even
read it. Maybe it'll be my dear

1575
02:29:26,079 --> 02:29:33,479
Elizabeth, maybe you're even reading it
right now. I'm sorry for keeping this

1576
02:29:33,520 --> 02:29:37,239
from you. I haven't been a
good husband. You don't know all of

1577
02:29:37,239 --> 02:29:43,319
me, not nearly all of me. That's a horrible thing to do to

1578
02:29:43,360 --> 02:29:50,559
your wife. I hope you can
forgive me. Liz or maybe it'll be

1579
02:29:50,639 --> 02:29:54,959
you, Jack, my boy,
you saw me better than I saw myself.

1580
02:29:54,879 --> 02:30:00,000
How many times did you catch me
staring? I used to tell you

1581
02:30:00,079 --> 02:30:05,879
I was daydreaming. If you are
reading this now, you'll know what I

1582
02:30:05,959 --> 02:30:13,079
really saw those nights, what I
heard. Or maybe it's neither Elizabeth or

1583
02:30:13,239 --> 02:30:20,040
Jack. Maybe it's you, Jonathan
or your mother. God help me.

1584
02:30:20,079 --> 02:30:24,799
If it is, have you finally
found me I've seen you out of the

1585
02:30:24,840 --> 02:30:30,319
corner of my eyes for the last
forty years. Or maybe if you're reading

1586
02:30:30,360 --> 02:30:35,200
this, you're a complete stranger to
me. Regardless, it's time I told

1587
02:30:35,280 --> 02:30:39,719
this story once and for all,
even if the pen and paper I'm writing

1588
02:30:39,760 --> 02:30:46,040
with end up being the only ones
who ever know it. In December of

1589
02:30:46,120 --> 02:30:52,399
nineteen seventy six, I was on
my way home for the holidays. I

1590
02:30:52,440 --> 02:30:58,959
was attending the University of Wisconsin Madison. My parents lived in Lacrosse. It's

1591
02:30:58,000 --> 02:31:01,959
only about a two and a half
hour drive. But on my way I

1592
02:31:03,000 --> 02:31:07,879
got caught in a snowstorm, A
storm that came out of nowhere. I

1593
02:31:07,920 --> 02:31:15,760
mean really came out of nowhere.
Somehow I got turned around. I've never

1594
02:31:15,799 --> 02:31:20,600
been good at driving in snow.
If you're reading this this you know how

1595
02:31:20,639 --> 02:31:26,280
true there is. Remember the station
wagon. God, I nearly crashed it

1596
02:31:26,319 --> 02:31:31,879
a hundred times. Those were good
days. And days like those, I

1597
02:31:31,959 --> 02:31:37,559
barely ever heard the piano, or
at least convinced myself I couldn't hear it.

1598
02:31:37,760 --> 02:31:45,239
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
This was not a bad storm.

1599
02:31:45,520 --> 02:31:48,799
It was one hell of a bad
storm. I've rolled back the clock in

1600
02:31:48,799 --> 02:31:54,120
my head numerous times, wondering if
there was anything I could have done differently,

1601
02:31:54,079 --> 02:31:58,680
what if I'd driven slower or turned
into the slide. But I think

1602
02:31:58,799 --> 02:32:05,040
in some ways, no matter what
I did, that car was destined to

1603
02:32:05,079 --> 02:32:09,879
crash that day, and crash it
I did, straight into a ditch.

1604
02:32:11,959 --> 02:32:15,840
All my attempts to get the car
out of the ditch are futile. Snow

1605
02:32:16,000 --> 02:32:20,760
was coming down hard. This was
no soft powder, but a cook off

1606
02:32:20,760 --> 02:32:24,520
in your flakes and harsh sleet.
Through the white storm. I saw a

1607
02:32:24,559 --> 02:32:30,399
house in the distance. It was
the only building nearby, and I hadn't

1608
02:32:30,440 --> 02:32:35,319
seen any cars on the road in
what felt like forever. I got out

1609
02:32:35,360 --> 02:32:39,959
of my car and walked towards the
home. I was shocked by how deep

1610
02:32:39,000 --> 02:32:45,559
the snow had become already, how
unrecognizable. The landscape seemed. I took

1611
02:32:45,600 --> 02:32:50,239
one last look of my car,
already being devoured by the snow, turning

1612
02:32:50,280 --> 02:32:56,200
it into a sad, frozen white
monolith in the middle of nowhere. I

1613
02:32:56,280 --> 02:33:01,440
drew closer and closer to the home. Each day I took more tiresome than

1614
02:33:01,479 --> 02:33:07,639
the last. Then I heard something
that stopped me right in my tracks.

1615
02:33:09,600 --> 02:33:13,200
It was the sound of music coming
from the home. It was the delicate

1616
02:33:13,319 --> 02:33:18,319
sound of a piano. The music
cut right through the harsh, cold winds

1617
02:33:18,319 --> 02:33:24,719
of the storm and went straight to
my ears. The music was coming from

1618
02:33:24,760 --> 02:33:28,319
the upper part of the house.
There was a window to a room on

1619
02:33:28,360 --> 02:33:33,719
the upper floor, but a curtain
obstructed the view. Still, there was

1620
02:33:33,760 --> 02:33:39,000
no question that the piano music was
coming from their room. My eyes went

1621
02:33:39,040 --> 02:33:43,559
from the top window to a window
on the first floor. There was a

1622
02:33:43,559 --> 02:33:48,760
woman standing in the window. She
was staring right at me with a amused

1623
02:33:48,799 --> 02:33:54,399
expression on her face. I waved
to her nervously, and then pointed back

1624
02:33:54,440 --> 02:34:00,680
at my car. When I looked
back, the woman has gone from the

1625
02:34:00,680 --> 02:34:05,559
window. Moments later, the front
door to the house opened and I made

1626
02:34:05,600 --> 02:34:11,360
my way up the porch steps.
Can I help you the woman asked,

1627
02:34:11,520 --> 02:34:16,200
standing in the doorway. She still
had that amused look on her face.

1628
02:34:18,840 --> 02:34:22,239
It's a little embarrassing, I said, but I crashed my car into that

1629
02:34:22,319 --> 02:34:28,319
ditch down the road and I can't
get out. Oh my, how awful.

1630
02:34:28,920 --> 02:34:35,399
The woman said, Please come in
and get yourself warm. I stepped

1631
02:34:35,399 --> 02:34:39,920
inside, and the woman shut the
door behind me. All at once,

1632
02:34:39,159 --> 02:34:45,200
the noise from outside was cut off. The only noise now was the piano

1633
02:34:45,280 --> 02:34:52,719
music coming from upstairs. That and
my chill breathing that music, I said,

1634
02:34:54,159 --> 02:34:58,520
rubbing my arms to get warm.
It's really lovely. Oh that's my

1635
02:34:58,639 --> 02:35:05,239
son, Jonathan. He's a wonderful
pianist. Please do make yourself comfortable.

1636
02:35:05,959 --> 02:35:11,280
I'll fix you some tea. And
absolutely dreadful weather. It's simply dreadful.

1637
02:35:13,159 --> 02:35:16,159
I sat down in the living room. It was a warm and cozy house,

1638
02:35:16,719 --> 02:35:22,280
but there was something underneath that made
me uncomfortable. I did not understand

1639
02:35:22,319 --> 02:35:26,639
it fully at the time. We're
looking back on it, I believe some

1640
02:35:26,760 --> 02:35:31,520
part of me noticed all the little
things that were off about the home.

1641
02:35:31,799 --> 02:35:37,000
For one, there was no family
photos anywhere to be seen, and despite

1642
02:35:37,040 --> 02:35:43,000
the warmth of the home, it
had a bizarre, sterile smell like that

1643
02:35:43,159 --> 02:35:48,799
of an appliance store. The house
looked lived in, but didn't feel lived

1644
02:35:48,840 --> 02:35:54,319
in. Could I use your phone? I asked. The phones are out,

1645
02:35:54,920 --> 02:35:58,799
the woman said, bringing back two
cups of tea. They won't be

1646
02:35:58,799 --> 02:36:03,399
back back up until morning, most
likely as soon as they are our phone.

1647
02:36:03,479 --> 02:36:07,879
Harvey, my neighbor. He lives
the closest. I'll have him bring

1648
02:36:07,920 --> 02:36:13,680
his tractor and we'll get your car
out of the ditch. Is there any

1649
02:36:13,680 --> 02:36:16,440
way to get hold of him?
Now? I hate to be a bother,

1650
02:36:16,559 --> 02:36:20,399
but how's on my way to Lacrosse
to see my folks for the holidays.

1651
02:36:20,719 --> 02:36:26,360
I was hoping to get there by
tonight. Upstairs, the piano music

1652
02:36:26,399 --> 02:36:31,120
stopped. The woman took a large
sip of a tea, looking at me

1653
02:36:31,360 --> 02:36:35,360
over the cup with her faded green
eyes. Then putting the cop down gently,

1654
02:36:35,479 --> 02:36:41,760
she said, Lacrosse. Goodness,
gracious, how on earth did you

1655
02:36:41,840 --> 02:36:48,799
end up here in Dutchville County?
I got turned around Dutchville County. I've

1656
02:36:48,840 --> 02:36:54,399
never been through her before. Well, there's no helping it now. Harvey

1657
02:36:54,440 --> 02:36:58,879
lives a spell away. Unfortunately,
you'll have to wait until morning. Dear,

1658
02:37:00,120 --> 02:37:07,079
terribly sorry, your son Jonathan,
how old is he twenty next month?

1659
02:37:07,600 --> 02:37:13,520
She said? Finally, Oh,
well, could he? And again

1660
02:37:13,840 --> 02:37:16,399
I hate to be a bother.
Could he help me try to push my

1661
02:37:16,479 --> 02:37:22,680
car out? No, she said
flatly, and there was no kind of

1662
02:37:22,719 --> 02:37:28,639
amusement in a voice. Now her
eyes narrowed. Jonathan cannot move all that

1663
02:37:28,719 --> 02:37:31,399
well, even if he could,
and even if you did get your car

1664
02:37:31,440 --> 02:37:35,399
out, the roads are terrible.
You'll just be in another ditch in no

1665
02:37:35,520 --> 02:37:41,719
time. You're perfectly fine to sleep
on the couch tonight. Come tomorrow,

1666
02:37:41,000 --> 02:37:45,079
Harvey will have you out, and
you'll be on your way to see your

1667
02:37:45,120 --> 02:37:50,879
parents. I realized, I guess
it has to be that way. Then

1668
02:37:52,799 --> 02:37:56,079
I realized I'd not taken a drink
of my tea. We're looking at the

1669
02:37:56,120 --> 02:38:01,639
cop I lost all thirst. The
tea looked like gross mud water that had

1670
02:38:01,680 --> 02:38:07,120
been pulled from a gutter. For
some time, we just sat there in

1671
02:38:07,159 --> 02:38:11,280
the quiet living room with no music. A dreary silence took over the home.

1672
02:38:13,879 --> 02:38:16,959
Where are you coming from, anyhow, the woman said, putting down

1673
02:38:16,959 --> 02:38:24,600
an empty teacup. It felt as
if an eternity had just passed. I

1674
02:38:24,840 --> 02:38:28,760
go to school in Madison. Oh, how lovely, what are you studying?

1675
02:38:30,520 --> 02:38:35,920
Engineering. How wonderful you know.
Jonathan used to love engineering as a

1676
02:38:35,959 --> 02:38:39,680
boy, even more than playing the
piano. He would always build things,

1677
02:38:41,159 --> 02:38:46,719
little trinkets and gadgets and gizmos.
But his condition made it impossible for him

1678
02:38:46,719 --> 02:38:52,520
to pursue a higher education. He's
been a homebody for years now. All

1679
02:38:52,559 --> 02:38:56,280
he does is play piano day and
night. He's really great at it.

1680
02:38:58,639 --> 02:39:03,479
Oh, where are my manners?
I should introduce you both. At that,

1681
02:39:03,959 --> 02:39:07,760
she led me out of the living
room. We began to climb the

1682
02:39:07,799 --> 02:39:15,399
stairs. As we did, a
horrible feeling came over me, the one

1683
02:39:15,440 --> 02:39:18,479
you might have when you're walking by
a dark alley at night, the kind

1684
02:39:18,479 --> 02:39:24,840
of primitive instinct that screams in the
back of your head, screams, run,

1685
02:39:24,879 --> 02:39:31,319
you idiot. Run. We reached
the top of the stairs, The

1686
02:39:31,360 --> 02:39:35,479
hallway was dark and lit only by
a small lamp. We passed several rooms

1687
02:39:35,959 --> 02:39:41,200
until we reached the door at the
end of the hallway. The woman,

1688
02:39:41,000 --> 02:39:46,159
and I realized at this point I
didn't even know her name, gently pushed

1689
02:39:46,200 --> 02:39:52,799
the door open and said, Jonathan, there someone here i'd like you to

1690
02:39:52,840 --> 02:39:58,399
meet. The first thing I noticed
when stepping into the room was a large

1691
02:39:58,440 --> 02:40:05,319
piano sat in the corner. It
was a beautiful looking piano, and it

1692
02:40:05,360 --> 02:40:09,120
looked out of place in the small
room. A piano like that should have

1693
02:40:09,120 --> 02:40:15,479
been front and center at a concert
hall. The fading light outside filtered to

1694
02:40:15,559 --> 02:40:20,920
the bedroom curtain, giving the room
a soft, ethereal look. I felt

1695
02:40:20,920 --> 02:40:26,719
I was stepping into some kind of
dream world. And then I saw Jonathan

1696
02:40:26,879 --> 02:40:35,920
sitting on his bed a froze.
I wouldn't call Jonathan a doll exactly.

1697
02:40:37,079 --> 02:40:41,319
He was too big to be a
doll, but he was like a rag

1698
02:40:41,360 --> 02:40:46,440
doll in a way, a human
sized rag doll. Jonathan was not a

1699
02:40:46,479 --> 02:40:52,120
living, breathing person. He was
just an inanimate object dressed up to look

1700
02:40:52,239 --> 02:40:58,159
human. He wore sky blue pajamas
and had a mop of red hair.

1701
02:40:58,040 --> 02:41:03,079
His cloth skin like it had been
white once but now had faded to a

1702
02:41:03,120 --> 02:41:09,200
sickly beige color. He had two
black buttons for eyes, though there were

1703
02:41:09,200 --> 02:41:15,200
different sizes, the right eye being
much smaller than the left. It gave

1704
02:41:15,280 --> 02:41:20,159
him the appearance that he was always
winking. I did what I could only

1705
02:41:20,239 --> 02:41:26,360
do in that moment. I laughed. It was a hoarse, nervous laugh.

1706
02:41:28,799 --> 02:41:33,719
Don't you dare laugh? The woman
said sharply. She wasn't looking at

1707
02:41:33,760 --> 02:41:39,040
me now, she was staring out
the window, one hand rubbing Jonathan's inanimate

1708
02:41:39,120 --> 02:41:45,159
leg in a soothing gesture. Oh, how they loved to laugh. Once

1709
02:41:45,280 --> 02:41:48,760
Jonathan was sitting on the porch,
just minding his own business when these horrible

1710
02:41:48,840 --> 02:41:54,200
boys from town came in and began
to harass him. I'll never forget the

1711
02:41:54,200 --> 02:41:56,920
sound of their laughter as I chased
them off on their bikes. Oh,

1712
02:41:58,079 --> 02:42:01,440
would I call the last laugh?
There was boy's love to bike around a

1713
02:42:01,440 --> 02:42:05,719
certain part of town, and one
day one of them went over some nasty

1714
02:42:05,760 --> 02:42:11,200
gravel and hit his head. He's
still in the hospital. Oh, yes,

1715
02:42:13,120 --> 02:42:18,600
I got the last laugh. I'm
sorry, I said in a dry,

1716
02:42:18,760 --> 02:42:24,879
panicked voice. Apology accepted, the
woman said, Turning to me,

1717
02:42:26,319 --> 02:42:31,600
she had a shocked look on her
face. Then she gave me a shark's

1718
02:42:31,639 --> 02:42:35,760
grin. A thought then hit me
like an arrow striking the center of a

1719
02:42:35,879 --> 02:42:41,920
target. So chilling was the thought
that I felt I might faint at any

1720
02:42:41,959 --> 02:42:46,959
moment. My body felt ten times
heavier. When the woman and I had

1721
02:42:46,959 --> 02:42:54,239
been downstairs, some one had been
playing piano music. Some one else had

1722
02:42:54,280 --> 02:42:58,479
to be up here. Obviously,
Jonathan playing was out of the question.

1723
02:43:00,559 --> 02:43:03,920
Had to be out of the question. The thought of this grotesque rag doll

1724
02:43:05,040 --> 02:43:11,520
being alive went against everything I believed
in. I looked around the room for

1725
02:43:11,639 --> 02:43:16,520
a radio or record player, anything
that might have been playing the music earlier,

1726
02:43:16,920 --> 02:43:22,239
but there was nothing of the sort. There was only the piano.

1727
02:43:24,280 --> 02:43:31,000
Is there anyone else in the house, I asked. The woman gave me

1728
02:43:31,040 --> 02:43:35,399
a knowing smile and said, of
course not, It's just Jonathan and I.

1729
02:43:37,760 --> 02:43:43,639
Jonathan continued to stare into the distance
with his misshapen button eyes. For

1730
02:43:43,719 --> 02:43:48,440
a split second, maybe even less
than that, I thought I saw his

1731
02:43:48,559 --> 02:43:56,040
head move ever slightly. I blinked
and rubbed my eyes. When I opened

1732
02:43:56,639 --> 02:44:00,719
Jonathan was as still as he had
been, and the one and was walking

1733
02:44:00,760 --> 02:44:05,440
past me. I'll go fix your
bed downstairs, she said, walking out

1734
02:44:05,440 --> 02:44:11,879
of the room. You'll need your
rest for tomorrow. Then she was gone.

1735
02:44:13,440 --> 02:44:18,319
Only Jonathan and I were left in
the room that began to fill with

1736
02:44:18,360 --> 02:44:24,639
an awful silence. So pervasive and
relentless was the silence that it felt as

1737
02:44:24,680 --> 02:44:28,520
if it seeped into every pore in
my body. None of this could be

1738
02:44:28,600 --> 02:44:33,239
real, I told myself. The
woman was playing a trick on me,

1739
02:44:33,239 --> 02:44:37,879
had to be playing a nasty trick
on me. And once again looked over

1740
02:44:37,959 --> 02:44:43,799
the room, hoping, nearly begging
God to show me a radio or a

1741
02:44:43,799 --> 02:44:50,760
record player, But there was nothing. I thought about approaching Jonathan give him

1742
02:44:50,799 --> 02:44:56,239
a real look over. For one
look at that horrible, winking eye was

1743
02:44:56,360 --> 02:45:01,639
enough to convince me otherwise. I
quickly turned and began to walk out of

1744
02:45:01,680 --> 02:45:07,959
the room. Then I heard what
sounded like something shifting in the bed behind

1745
02:45:07,000 --> 02:45:13,719
me, and I ran. Within
seconds, I was down the stairs and

1746
02:45:13,799 --> 02:45:18,520
out the front door. I knew
he was suicide running out into that storm,

1747
02:45:20,200 --> 02:45:24,719
but I couldn't stay in that house
a second longer. The snow was

1748
02:45:24,760 --> 02:45:28,319
so deep it slowed my running,
and for a horrible moment, I imagine

1749
02:45:28,399 --> 02:45:35,520
Jonathan chasing after me, gaining on
me with terrible inhuman speed, his ragged

1750
02:45:35,520 --> 02:45:41,079
old limbs moving in strange, unnatural
motions. I heard the woman yelling after

1751
02:45:41,120 --> 02:45:48,399
me, yelling for me to come
back. Then I heard two horrible sounds.

1752
02:45:48,040 --> 02:45:56,559
The first was that the woman was
laughing, even in the roar of

1753
02:45:56,600 --> 02:46:03,159
the winds. Her laugh was unmistakable, piercing even I turned and saw her

1754
02:46:03,280 --> 02:46:07,479
on the front porch. She did, in fact have a horrible grin on

1755
02:46:07,520 --> 02:46:11,000
her face, which now looked so
much longer and paler than it had before.

1756
02:46:13,159 --> 02:46:20,000
Her laugh was an awful cackle,
like thin eyes breaking. The second

1757
02:46:20,200 --> 02:46:26,360
horrible thing I heard was the sound
of a piano being played. It was

1758
02:46:26,399 --> 02:46:31,520
coming from Jonathan's room. My car
was nowhere in sight, but it was

1759
02:46:31,559 --> 02:46:37,319
no use to me now anyway.
I ran down the road, and eventually

1760
02:46:37,440 --> 02:46:43,479
the woman's laugh faded, but not
the piano music. No matter how far

1761
02:46:43,559 --> 02:46:48,079
I went, I could still hear
it. It followed me the way a

1762
02:46:48,159 --> 02:46:52,680
bad memory follows you. I don't
know how long I waded through the snow,

1763
02:46:54,440 --> 02:46:58,040
but at some point I collapsed and
thought for sure I was going to

1764
02:46:58,200 --> 02:47:05,600
die. Then I saw a light
coming towards me. That light eventually turned

1765
02:47:05,600 --> 02:47:09,799
into a tractor with a plow.
There was a man driving it. He

1766
02:47:09,879 --> 02:47:13,920
got out and began to say something, but I couldn't hear him. I

1767
02:47:15,000 --> 02:47:20,000
was fading in and out of consciousness. The last thing I saw before I

1768
02:47:20,040 --> 02:47:24,959
blacked out was the man standing over
me, a horrible, concerned look on

1769
02:47:24,000 --> 02:47:35,719
his face. The last thing I
heard was piano music. I woke up

1770
02:47:35,760 --> 02:47:41,520
the next morning in an unfamiliar bed. For a horrifying second, I thought

1771
02:47:41,559 --> 02:47:45,719
I was back in that woman's house, maybe sleeping in the very same bed

1772
02:47:45,760 --> 02:47:52,520
as Jonathan. But that wasn't the
case. I was in an unfamiliar room

1773
02:47:52,760 --> 02:47:56,959
alone. Sunlight was shining through the
window, and I could see that the

1774
02:47:58,040 --> 02:48:03,120
storm had stopped. I heard the
floorboards creaking outside the room, and again,

1775
02:48:03,600 --> 02:48:07,520
for a horrifying second, I thought
the woman would appear in the doorway,

1776
02:48:09,639 --> 02:48:16,360
smiling cackling. Instead, who was
the man I had seen driving the

1777
02:48:16,399 --> 02:48:22,959
tractor? Good, you're awake,
the man said, warmly. How are

1778
02:48:24,000 --> 02:48:30,559
you feeling? Where am I?
I asked, ignoring his question. You're

1779
02:48:30,639 --> 02:48:33,879
in my house. I found you
running down the road last night. What

1780
02:48:35,000 --> 02:48:39,280
were you thinking? My car broke
down. Aren't you with that woman?

1781
02:48:41,559 --> 02:48:45,719
What woman? That one that lives
down the road from where you've found me?

1782
02:48:48,719 --> 02:48:52,360
The man said nothing. At first, he just stared at me.

1783
02:48:52,760 --> 02:48:58,559
Then he said, in a pensive
voice, the woman that lives down the

1784
02:48:58,639 --> 02:49:03,280
road from where I found you?
Are you with her? I said,

1785
02:49:03,959 --> 02:49:07,120
I gripped the bed sheets as if
my life depended on it. No,

1786
02:49:07,360 --> 02:49:13,040
I'm not with anyone, the man
said, putting up his hands. I

1787
02:49:13,120 --> 02:49:18,319
live here on my own. I
relaxed my hands. I need to call

1788
02:49:18,360 --> 02:49:22,639
my parents. I was on my
way to visit them when my car broke

1789
02:49:22,680 --> 02:49:28,040
down. Phones in the kitchen,
you're welcome to use it. When you

1790
02:49:28,040 --> 02:49:31,879
were out and I was plowing the
roads, I saw a car, your

1791
02:49:31,959 --> 02:49:35,159
car, I gather. We can
go there when you're ready and get it

1792
02:49:35,200 --> 02:49:39,239
out. I have already got most
of it plowed out. Truthfully, if

1793
02:49:39,239 --> 02:49:43,000
you saw my car, then you
must have seen the house nearby. That's

1794
02:49:43,000 --> 02:49:48,200
the house where the woman lives with
a son, Jonathan. He's not a

1795
02:49:48,319 --> 02:49:52,159
house where the woman lives. The
man said again, in that deep,

1796
02:49:52,319 --> 02:49:56,079
pensive voice. Yeah, you must
have seen it. If you saw my

1797
02:49:56,159 --> 02:50:01,520
car, why don't you call your
pairs parents? Then, if you're up

1798
02:50:01,520 --> 02:50:07,040
for it, I'll take you to
your car. He gave me a reassuring

1799
02:50:07,079 --> 02:50:13,120
smile. Then god up to leave. Is your name, Harvey? I

1800
02:50:13,200 --> 02:50:18,760
asked him. He turned around and
the smile on his face dipped into a

1801
02:50:18,840 --> 02:50:26,040
questioning frow. Is it it is? He said? How do you know

1802
02:50:26,120 --> 02:50:33,120
that the woman she told me about
you and your tractor? Is that right?

1803
02:50:35,799 --> 02:50:41,639
For a moment, Harvey said nothing, His frown deepened. Call your

1804
02:50:41,680 --> 02:50:48,399
parents and then we'll get going.
He left me in the room with the

1805
02:50:48,440 --> 02:50:52,879
sunlight as my only company. My
parents were relieved to hear my voice.

1806
02:50:54,239 --> 02:50:58,520
I didn't tell them about what I
saw in the woman's house, that already

1807
02:50:58,639 --> 02:51:03,440
was to feel like a bad nightmare. I told them that my car went

1808
02:51:03,479 --> 02:51:07,319
into a ditch, and that I
spent that night at a kind stranger's house,

1809
02:51:07,959 --> 02:51:13,399
and that I had been in Madison
later that day, hopefully, I

1810
02:51:13,479 --> 02:51:16,120
got into the tractor with Harvey,
and as we drove down the road,

1811
02:51:16,719 --> 02:51:20,959
I was shocked to see how much
of the road had already been cleared.

1812
02:51:22,360 --> 02:51:24,920
The storm had been so awful the
night before, and the snow had been

1813
02:51:24,959 --> 02:51:33,639
so deep. Now it barely looked
as if it had snowed. Eventually we

1814
02:51:33,719 --> 02:51:39,120
came upon my car. Harvey had
told the truth, he had gotten most

1815
02:51:39,159 --> 02:51:43,319
of it out of the snow already. He killed the engine to his tractor,

1816
02:51:43,000 --> 02:51:48,600
and both her eyes went in the
same direction. We were looking at

1817
02:51:48,600 --> 02:51:56,879
where the house was, or where
it should have been. There was no

1818
02:51:56,000 --> 02:52:03,000
house there now, at least not
what I had seen last night. Instead,

1819
02:52:03,399 --> 02:52:07,799
there were the remains of a house. The roof was gone and part

1820
02:52:07,840 --> 02:52:13,079
of the floor was completely carved in
bits and pieces of the home jotted out

1821
02:52:13,399 --> 02:52:18,319
like the jagged teeth of some ancient
monster. Is this the house you were

1822
02:52:18,360 --> 02:52:26,280
speaking of, Harvey asked. His
voice was soft and empathetic. I don't

1823
02:52:26,360 --> 02:52:31,159
understand, I said. I was
here last night. I was in there.

1824
02:52:31,920 --> 02:52:37,239
It wasn't like this son. That
house has been abandoned for years now.

1825
02:52:39,159 --> 02:52:41,319
There was a woman who lived there, but that was a long time

1826
02:52:41,360 --> 02:52:48,680
ago. What happened to her,
it was a long time ago. You

1827
02:52:48,760 --> 02:52:56,440
couldn't have met what happened. She
took her own life, Harvey said.

1828
02:52:58,440 --> 02:53:03,200
As he spoke, we both stared
at the wreckage of the home after a

1829
02:53:03,319 --> 02:53:07,680
son died. It was a terrible
accident involving some of the boys are in

1830
02:53:07,719 --> 02:53:11,680
town. I don't know too much
about the details. I was young myself

1831
02:53:11,719 --> 02:53:16,079
back then. I just know that
it was ugly business, and that she

1832
02:53:16,200 --> 02:53:20,159
blamed one of the boys for a
son's death. That boy ended up in

1833
02:53:20,159 --> 02:53:26,840
the hospital some time later. I
don't know much else. Like I said,

1834
02:53:26,239 --> 02:53:31,399
it was ugly business, but that
house has been abandoned for years.

1835
02:53:31,239 --> 02:53:35,760
No one lives there, no one
could live there. Just look at the

1836
02:53:35,799 --> 02:53:39,000
state of it. So you were
just pulling my leg right, You couldn't

1837
02:53:39,040 --> 02:53:43,680
have been in there last night.
Tell me you were just pulling my leg.

1838
02:53:45,680 --> 02:53:50,079
I stared into Harvey's eyes, which
were now threatening to spell over with

1839
02:53:50,159 --> 02:53:56,680
tears, and saw that the old
man was in fact terrified. Yeah,

1840
02:53:58,559 --> 02:54:03,879
I was just pulling your leg,
I said, flatly. Someone from town

1841
02:54:03,959 --> 02:54:09,399
told you my name, his voice
thin, pleading. Someone from town put

1842
02:54:09,440 --> 02:54:13,600
you up to it. Someone in
town told me your name. Someone from

1843
02:54:13,639 --> 02:54:22,600
town put me up to it.
Harvey led out a sigh. Well you

1844
02:54:22,719 --> 02:54:28,319
got me, good son, Oh
boy, yeah you did. Now let's

1845
02:54:28,360 --> 02:54:33,760
get your car out. It did
not take long for Harvey and I to

1846
02:54:33,799 --> 02:54:37,120
get my car out and running.
We shook hands and I thanked him for

1847
02:54:37,159 --> 02:54:43,079
his help. As I was getting
in my car and Harvey was getting in

1848
02:54:43,120 --> 02:54:50,799
his tractor, we both stopped at
the sound of something horrifying. It was

1849
02:54:50,879 --> 02:55:00,879
coming from the abandoned home. It
was piano music, delicate, melancholy piano

1850
02:55:01,000 --> 02:55:07,239
music. He stood there and just
listened. Neither of us acknowledged it.

1851
02:55:09,120 --> 02:55:13,760
Then, after a moment, we
got in our vehicles and went our separate

1852
02:55:13,799 --> 02:55:22,360
ways. I never saw or spoke
with Harvey again, but I've heard the

1853
02:55:22,360 --> 02:55:28,399
piano music every night since I'm hearing
it now as I write this letter.

1854
02:55:28,840 --> 02:55:39,959
God help me, I'm hearing it
now. That's the end of my father's

1855
02:55:39,040 --> 02:55:46,040
letter. I still can't quite believe
what I've read that my father really wrote

1856
02:55:46,040 --> 02:55:52,000
these words. At least now I
understand why my father spent his life looking

1857
02:55:52,159 --> 02:55:58,399
over his shoulder, what he saw
in the shadows. Since reading his letter,

1858
02:55:58,399 --> 02:56:03,520
I've had this idea in my head
of driving up to Dutchfield County and

1859
02:56:03,559 --> 02:56:07,520
tried to find the house that haunted
my father every step of his life.

1860
02:56:09,440 --> 02:56:26,000
But I'm terrified for what I'll see
and what I'll hear. My older brother,

1861
02:56:26,319 --> 02:56:31,559
Shane, had spent the last ten
years in prison, and it looked

1862
02:56:31,680 --> 02:56:35,639
like he might be in there for
the rest of his life. However,

1863
02:56:35,040 --> 02:56:39,520
he called me recently to say that
they were opening up a new early release

1864
02:56:39,600 --> 02:56:46,000
program and they would let him out
immediately on a probationary period if he agreed

1865
02:56:46,000 --> 02:56:54,760
to participate some sort of new process
and ethical alteration to prevent future criminal activity.

1866
02:56:56,200 --> 02:57:00,840
God, how I wish now that
he had just told them no.

1867
02:57:03,559 --> 02:57:09,840
Growing up, Shane was my hero. My mom has had a rough life.

1868
02:57:09,799 --> 02:57:13,440
She got pregnant with Shane when she
was sixteen, and her parents kicked

1869
02:57:13,440 --> 02:57:18,280
her out of the house for it. Afterwards, she went to live with

1870
02:57:18,360 --> 02:57:22,000
Shane's father, who was in his
early twenties and had a small apartment in

1871
02:57:22,040 --> 02:57:28,719
the worst part of the city,
and he treated her terribly, forcing her

1872
02:57:28,760 --> 02:57:31,760
to drop out of school and get
several jobs so we could spend the majority

1873
02:57:31,799 --> 02:57:37,399
of his time drinking and partying,
hitting her whenever she stepped out of line.

1874
02:57:37,760 --> 02:57:43,079
But she was terrified of raising a
baby alone. She tried her best

1875
02:57:43,079 --> 02:57:48,639
to make it work with him,
but it just wasn't enough. When she

1876
02:57:48,719 --> 02:57:52,479
started showing, he realized that he
didn't want to be a dad and kicked

1877
02:57:52,520 --> 02:57:58,959
her out too. Faced with the
prospect of living on the streets, she

1878
02:57:58,040 --> 02:58:01,719
lied about her age and managed to
secure a lease from a landlord in a

1879
02:58:01,760 --> 02:58:07,520
nearby building that preferred not to ask
questions as long as she paid the rent.

1880
02:58:07,920 --> 02:58:13,559
When Shane was born, she did
her best, as she was only

1881
02:58:13,600 --> 02:58:18,120
seventeen and without an education beyond the
tenth grade. She continued to work multiple

1882
02:58:18,200 --> 02:58:24,000
minimum wage jobs and didn't have much
time to spend with the new sun until

1883
02:58:24,079 --> 02:58:30,360
he was around six. Shane mostly
stayed with an older widow, Roberta,

1884
02:58:30,840 --> 02:58:37,360
that lived across the hall from them
and was sympathetic to their situation. Then

1885
02:58:37,799 --> 02:58:41,840
Roberta died and mon decided that Shane
was old enough to just stay at home

1886
02:58:41,879 --> 02:58:48,520
alone while she was working or increasingly
staying out late with her friends or on

1887
02:58:48,680 --> 02:58:54,840
dates. Mom fell hard into drugs
and drinking to cope with a situation and

1888
02:58:54,920 --> 02:58:58,440
took comfort in the worst men.
None of them ever stuck around for more

1889
02:58:58,479 --> 02:59:03,159
than a few month months, but
even still many of them left them Mark

1890
02:59:03,159 --> 02:59:11,319
and my mother and on Shane.
Coming of age in this environment of loneliness,

1891
02:59:11,559 --> 02:59:18,440
poverty, and violence, Shane was
a troubled child. He was constantly

1892
02:59:18,559 --> 02:59:22,479
in detention at school, getting in
fights with other kids, stealing, and

1893
02:59:22,559 --> 02:59:31,520
generally raising hell around the neighborhood.
That is until I came along. One

1894
02:59:31,559 --> 02:59:37,040
of mom's short lived things resulted in
a second pregnancy, another boy, and

1895
02:59:37,120 --> 02:59:43,479
I was born a little over two
months after Shane's twelfth birthday. Seeing that

1896
02:59:43,600 --> 02:59:46,280
she wasn't going to change her ways
overnight and become mother of the year,

1897
02:59:48,239 --> 02:59:52,680
he took it upon himself to be
my primary parental figure. He changed my

1898
02:59:52,719 --> 02:59:56,959
diapers, did the weekly shopping,
fed me, bathed me, cooked,

1899
02:59:58,079 --> 03:00:03,280
cleaned, He did every that he
could to make my childhood better than his

1900
03:00:03,440 --> 03:00:07,280
had been. It became his mission
in life to be the father that neither

1901
03:00:07,319 --> 03:00:13,559
of us had ever had. At
school, he opened up a little bootleg

1902
03:00:13,600 --> 03:00:18,280
shop out of his locker where he'd
sell candy, trading cards, snacks,

1903
03:00:18,000 --> 03:00:22,440
and once he was in high school, cigarettes and liquor just to make a

1904
03:00:22,440 --> 03:00:28,959
little extra money to buy me clothes
and toys. And then when he turned

1905
03:00:28,959 --> 03:00:33,639
sixteen, he took a job at
a local water shop, working on cars

1906
03:00:33,680 --> 03:00:37,840
in the evening after classes to help
pay the rent and narrow other bills.

1907
03:00:39,559 --> 03:00:43,440
I never understood where he found the
energy to do it all. It was

1908
03:00:43,440 --> 03:00:48,920
around this time that I started school
myself. He packed my lunch every day

1909
03:00:50,399 --> 03:00:52,840
and made sure that I got on
the bus in the morning. With his

1910
03:00:52,879 --> 03:00:58,239
supplemental income, One was able to
quit one of her jobs to be home

1911
03:00:58,520 --> 03:01:01,639
to get me off the bus at
the end of the day, and to

1912
03:01:01,680 --> 03:01:07,600
make dinner at night. Now I'm
not sure if he said something to her

1913
03:01:07,159 --> 03:01:11,479
or if it was just her seeing
him picking up so much of a slack,

1914
03:01:11,399 --> 03:01:15,879
but she began to sober up a
little and made more of an effort

1915
03:01:15,959 --> 03:01:20,399
to be a mother to me than
she had with him. It was too

1916
03:01:20,479 --> 03:01:24,760
late for her to repair much of
her relationship with Shane, but I began

1917
03:01:24,920 --> 03:01:28,799
not to dread the time that I
had to spend alone with her. After

1918
03:01:28,879 --> 03:01:33,040
he graduated, Shane went to work
full time as a mechanic in the shop

1919
03:01:33,479 --> 03:01:39,239
and started making decent money. With
his grades. He could have gone to

1920
03:01:39,280 --> 03:01:43,440
college, moved away, and studied
something interesting, made something of himself,

1921
03:01:45,639 --> 03:01:50,440
but it wasn't even a thought in
his mind. His dream was for me

1922
03:01:50,559 --> 03:01:54,559
to go to college, for me
to grow up and do something important.

1923
03:01:56,120 --> 03:01:58,799
All he wanted to do was save
up enough money that he could buy a

1924
03:02:00,319 --> 03:02:07,319
small place out in the suburbs and
put me through school. So he continued

1925
03:02:07,360 --> 03:02:11,319
to work his ass off and Mom
picked up more hours too. They both

1926
03:02:11,399 --> 03:02:16,120
put money away each month into our
future fund, and I ended up having

1927
03:02:16,159 --> 03:02:22,159
a largely normal childhood while we counted
down the days until we get out of

1928
03:02:22,159 --> 03:02:28,319
our crappy apartment. We didn't have
much, but we had each other and

1929
03:02:28,399 --> 03:02:33,360
that was enough. And just when
it looked like we were finally going to

1930
03:02:33,399 --> 03:02:39,040
be able to make it happen,
something terrible happened. When I was fourteen,

1931
03:02:41,479 --> 03:02:48,200
Shane got arrested. He was always
looking for opportunities to make extra cash

1932
03:02:48,680 --> 03:02:52,840
to help us save up faster and
start our new life, and his boss,

1933
03:02:54,079 --> 03:03:01,159
mister Franks, would give him sidework, sometimes mostly driving one of the

1934
03:03:01,200 --> 03:03:05,200
cars from the shop and dropping off
or picking up a package here or there.

1935
03:03:05,040 --> 03:03:09,159
He never knew what was in these
packages, nor did he care to

1936
03:03:09,239 --> 03:03:15,479
ask, but he was always well
compensated for his efforts. Then one night,

1937
03:03:16,079 --> 03:03:20,159
mister Franks told him that he had
a slightly different assignment. Shane was

1938
03:03:20,200 --> 03:03:24,520
to drive and associate of mister Franks
to a house, drop him off,

1939
03:03:24,920 --> 03:03:28,159
wait for him to come back out, and then take him right back to

1940
03:03:28,200 --> 03:03:33,479
where he picked him up. Originally, that was all the information Shane had,

1941
03:03:35,360 --> 03:03:39,120
but it seemed like a simple enough
task and he would be making double

1942
03:03:39,159 --> 03:03:45,799
his normal fee for doing it,
so he agreed. Things went all right

1943
03:03:45,879 --> 03:03:50,280
for the first half of the evening. Shane picked up mister Franks's friend at

1944
03:03:50,280 --> 03:03:54,879
the address mister Franks supplied, and
the man gave him directions and where to

1945
03:03:54,920 --> 03:04:01,040
go. They didn't speak beyond him
grunting go left, ear right here,

1946
03:04:01,520 --> 03:04:07,120
take the next exit at Shane every
so often, and they never exchanged names.

1947
03:04:07,360 --> 03:04:11,959
He was a little over an hour
before he directed Shane to kill the

1948
03:04:11,000 --> 03:04:18,719
headlights and pull into the driveway of
a home well outside the city. The

1949
03:04:18,799 --> 03:04:22,319
man gave him strict instructions to stay
inside the vehicle and leave the engine running

1950
03:04:22,799 --> 03:04:28,079
in case they needed to make a
quick getaway, before exiting and slinking nimbly

1951
03:04:28,120 --> 03:04:35,559
towards the house. At this point, Shane was apprehensive. He debated simply

1952
03:04:35,639 --> 03:04:41,520
leaving the man behind and driving back
to the city, yet he knew the

1953
03:04:41,559 --> 03:04:45,399
money was going to be enough to
pot us over the edge and would finally

1954
03:04:45,399 --> 03:04:50,719
be able to get our house.
So he sat quietly and waited, telling

1955
03:04:50,799 --> 03:04:56,360
himself that the man was just breaking
in to steal something or maybe take some

1956
03:04:56,479 --> 03:05:03,520
compromising photos of someone. But with
the windows down, Shane heard something that

1957
03:05:03,600 --> 03:05:11,040
made his stomach drop. Several quick
pops came from inside the house, and

1958
03:05:11,079 --> 03:05:18,079
Shane looked up to see flashes of
light in the upstairs window corresponding with them

1959
03:05:18,479 --> 03:05:24,040
gunshots. Shane panicked. He threw
on the headlights and tried to turn the

1960
03:05:24,079 --> 03:05:28,040
car around as quickly as he could. No amount of money was worth him

1961
03:05:28,040 --> 03:05:31,079
getting involved in whatever he was currently
involved in, and he was just ready

1962
03:05:31,079 --> 03:05:35,479
to punch the accelerator and fly out
the driveway when a loud bang and the

1963
03:05:35,520 --> 03:05:41,319
passenger door made him jump. The
man was wrenching the door open forcefully and

1964
03:05:41,360 --> 03:05:46,280
dove into the seat, screaming at
Shane to drive and get us the hell

1965
03:05:46,319 --> 03:05:50,920
out of here. Seeing no other
options, Shane obliged and whipped back out

1966
03:05:50,920 --> 03:05:56,680
on the road while the man kept
yelling explictives. Shane realized that he was

1967
03:05:56,719 --> 03:06:01,879
in severe pain, and when they
passed under a street lamp, he saw

1968
03:06:01,920 --> 03:06:05,399
that the man was clutching his stomach
and his hands were covered in blood.

1969
03:06:05,920 --> 03:06:09,399
Damn it, assholes shot me.
Damn it, I'm losing a lot of

1970
03:06:09,399 --> 03:06:15,799
blood. I'm not feeling too good. His voice was faltering with each word

1971
03:06:15,840 --> 03:06:20,840
he spoke, and he suddenly slumped
over against the window. Shane tried to

1972
03:06:20,879 --> 03:06:24,559
shake him, told him to wake
up, but he got no response.

1973
03:06:24,959 --> 03:06:28,399
Not knowing what to do, he
searched for the nearest hospital on his phone

1974
03:06:28,639 --> 03:06:33,760
and followed the directions to it.
He parked on the curb near the emergency

1975
03:06:33,879 --> 03:06:37,079
entrance and dragged the man inside,
announcing loudly that he'd been shot and needed

1976
03:06:37,120 --> 03:06:43,600
help. Several doctors and nurses helped
load the man onto a gurney and wheeled

1977
03:06:43,639 --> 03:06:48,360
him away into surgery. While they
started asking Shane questions about him. What's

1978
03:06:48,360 --> 03:06:54,440
his name, how old is he? How is he shot? Shane couldn't

1979
03:06:54,440 --> 03:06:58,840
give them any answers. He was
in somewhat of a state of shock and

1980
03:06:58,920 --> 03:07:03,079
his mind was in process information quickly
enough. He couldn't think of a believable

1981
03:07:03,159 --> 03:07:07,520
reason on the spot for why he
had a man that had been shot in

1982
03:07:07,559 --> 03:07:11,440
his vehicle, and simply opted to
tell them that he didn't know and asked

1983
03:07:11,479 --> 03:07:16,319
if he could leave. They told
him that because he'd brought in a gunshot

1984
03:07:16,399 --> 03:07:20,159
victim, he'd have to wait to
speak with the police, and handed him

1985
03:07:20,200 --> 03:07:26,399
off to hospital security. While he
waited for the officers to arrive, he

1986
03:07:26,479 --> 03:07:30,520
thought of calling mister Franks, but
he couldn't get away from security to have

1987
03:07:30,559 --> 03:07:35,479
a private conversation, so he just
sat quietly and tried to think of a

1988
03:07:35,479 --> 03:07:41,000
good story. What he came up
with was that he'd been driving nearby when

1989
03:07:41,000 --> 03:07:46,280
the man flagged him down at an
intersection, and Shane had simply pulled over

1990
03:07:46,360 --> 03:07:50,600
to help, only to realize that
the man was gravely injured. It might

1991
03:07:50,639 --> 03:07:54,760
have been flimsy, but he didn't
think they'd have any way to prove otherwise,

1992
03:07:56,440 --> 03:07:58,719
and just hoped he'd have a chance
to speak to the man before the

1993
03:07:58,719 --> 03:08:05,680
cop did so they could corroborate each
other. However, it didn't matter much

1994
03:08:05,719 --> 03:08:11,239
what excuse Shane came up with,
as he was arrested as soon as the

1995
03:08:11,280 --> 03:08:18,000
officers arrived before he could even give
his weak fabrication. It turned out the

1996
03:08:18,079 --> 03:08:22,319
house Shane and the man had gone
to belonged to a detective had been investigating

1997
03:08:22,399 --> 03:08:28,280
mister Franks for drug smuggling. Shane
had only driven the man to an execution,

1998
03:08:30,360 --> 03:08:35,159
and the execution had gone horribly wrong. The detective heard their car pull

1999
03:08:35,239 --> 03:08:41,360
into his driveway and was armed in
waiting when the man broke into his bedroom.

2000
03:08:41,639 --> 03:08:46,239
Had exchanged several shots with one another, and the detective had been fatally

2001
03:08:46,280 --> 03:08:50,159
hit in the head while his wife
took around to the chest. The executioner

2002
03:08:50,239 --> 03:08:54,000
must have thought she was dead,
but was so flustered at having been shot

2003
03:08:54,040 --> 03:09:00,440
himself that he didn't make sure she
was gone before leaving the house. She'd

2004
03:09:00,479 --> 03:09:05,440
been able to call nine one one
and explain what happened before expiring herself.

2005
03:09:07,280 --> 03:09:11,399
Given she told them that her husband
managed to shoot their attacker. The police

2006
03:09:11,399 --> 03:09:16,120
had been put on high alert for
any gunshot wounds arriving at local hospitals,

2007
03:09:16,600 --> 03:09:20,680
and when they relayed this information to
Shane as they arrested him, he broke

2008
03:09:20,760 --> 03:09:30,600
down and confessed to the whole thing. Unfortunately for Shane, the executioner didn't

2009
03:09:30,639 --> 03:09:35,520
make it. Shane tried to explain
to the officers that he had no idea

2010
03:09:35,600 --> 03:09:39,719
what was going to happen when they
drove to the house, but they wouldn't

2011
03:09:39,760 --> 03:09:45,000
hear any of it. Mister Franks
was arrested too, but he of course

2012
03:09:45,040 --> 03:09:48,920
had an alibi for the night,
and they couldn't find any evidence the time

2013
03:09:48,079 --> 03:09:54,399
to hiring the men. What's worse, mister Franks tried to pin the whole

2014
03:09:54,399 --> 03:09:58,520
thing on Shane. As mister Franks
explained it to the police, he had

2015
03:09:58,520 --> 03:10:03,520
complained to his employee that the deceased
detective had been annoying him and making his

2016
03:10:03,639 --> 03:10:07,920
business difficult. He had no idea
that Shane would try to kill him over

2017
03:10:09,000 --> 03:10:13,559
it. The evidence showed that Shane
had been driving the car and there was

2018
03:10:13,600 --> 03:10:18,879
nothing forensically to tie him to actually
being in the house by having pulled the

2019
03:10:18,920 --> 03:10:24,159
trigger, so they charged him with
accessory to murder with his word against mister

2020
03:10:24,200 --> 03:10:28,799
Franks, and no hard evidence either
way. They didn't believe they could prove

2021
03:10:28,840 --> 03:10:33,639
that Shane had indeed planned the whole
thing, but they could definitely prove that

2022
03:10:33,760 --> 03:10:41,920
he helped the murderer kill a detective
and his wife in cold blood. They

2023
03:10:41,159 --> 03:10:46,440
threw the book at him. We
spent all the money that we had on

2024
03:10:46,520 --> 03:10:50,840
his defense, even though he tried
to tell us not to. But no

2025
03:10:50,879 --> 03:10:54,760
matter how much we worked to argue
that Shane hadn't a clue what he was

2026
03:10:54,799 --> 03:11:01,000
doing that night, we couldn't prove
it, and the court wanted to see

2027
03:11:01,200 --> 03:11:05,959
justice for such a heinous crime.
He was given a sentence of thirty years

2028
03:11:07,000 --> 03:11:11,159
to life and hauled after the state
penitentiary, with us barely having time to

2029
03:11:11,239 --> 03:11:18,239
say goodbye. For the next ten
years, I visited him as often as

2030
03:11:18,280 --> 03:11:24,239
possible, and he called me whenever
they'd let him. Mom and I had

2031
03:11:24,360 --> 03:11:28,719
ended up destitute again after the trial, and her hopes of moving on to

2032
03:11:28,840 --> 03:11:33,360
better things were dashed. She fell
back into her old ways, and I

2033
03:11:33,479 --> 03:11:39,840
was left with the burden I've trying
to keep us both afloat worse than she

2034
03:11:39,000 --> 03:11:43,840
was before. She wasn't able to
hold down steady work and I had to

2035
03:11:43,879 --> 03:11:50,520
take on several jobs to pay our
bills. No matter her faults, she

2036
03:11:50,639 --> 03:11:54,399
was still my mother and she had
been good to me for years. I

2037
03:11:54,440 --> 03:12:01,200
couldn't leave her to die in squalor. Mine and Shane's dreams of me going

2038
03:12:01,200 --> 03:12:09,079
to college. Once I graduated high
school, he evaporated, Yet Shane remained

2039
03:12:09,120 --> 03:12:16,159
optimistic. It's one thing that never
ceased to amaze me about him all those

2040
03:12:16,239 --> 03:12:20,120
years he spent grinding when I was
younger, All throughout his trial and even

2041
03:12:20,159 --> 03:12:26,799
throughout his time in prison, he
always kept a positive outlook, always wore

2042
03:12:26,920 --> 03:12:31,799
a smile. Better times with just
around the corner in his mind, and

2043
03:12:31,879 --> 03:12:37,680
he continued to encourage me in every
one of our conversations that we'd figure it

2044
03:12:37,760 --> 03:12:41,159
all out someday. But I knew
he was having a hard time with this

2045
03:12:41,319 --> 03:12:46,559
sentence. He wanted desperately to get
out to help me and Mom, and

2046
03:12:46,639 --> 03:12:52,600
his living conditions were awful. He
tried his best to hide it, but

2047
03:12:52,680 --> 03:12:56,600
he looked sickly whenever I saw him, and often bore the marks of having

2048
03:12:56,680 --> 03:13:01,280
been in fights. The little food
that he did was made him ill,

2049
03:13:01,879 --> 03:13:05,360
and he mentioned that he sometimes had
to sleep on the floor if they ran

2050
03:13:05,399 --> 03:13:09,879
out of bunks. My brother had
just been trying to make us a little

2051
03:13:09,920 --> 03:13:13,360
extra money to improve our lives,
and now he was suffering for it,

2052
03:13:15,200 --> 03:13:20,719
and maybe would be for the rest
of his life. Then a few months

2053
03:13:20,719 --> 03:13:26,079
ago he called me and was far
more excited to talk than usual. He

2054
03:13:26,200 --> 03:13:31,520
told me he'd been selected as a
potential candidate for the prison's new early release

2055
03:13:31,600 --> 03:13:37,959
program. At the time, he
had twenty years left before i'd be illegible

2056
03:13:37,000 --> 03:13:43,200
for parole, but if he agreed
to participate, they'd set him free right

2057
03:13:43,239 --> 03:13:48,959
away. As it was a new
process, there'd be some additional oversight on

2058
03:13:48,040 --> 03:13:52,639
his time outside, and if things
weren't going well, he could still be

2059
03:13:52,680 --> 03:14:01,040
brought back in. But it was
a chance. It sounds way too good

2060
03:14:01,040 --> 03:14:05,879
to be true. I said,
what's the catch. Well, they said,

2061
03:14:05,879 --> 03:14:11,079
I'd have to undergo an experimental procedure
called it being ethically altered, cutting

2062
03:14:11,159 --> 03:14:16,600
edge science, they say, though, apparently it removes your criminal tendencies or

2063
03:14:16,639 --> 03:14:22,120
something and can guarantee that you'll never
commit another crime. But the beauty is,

2064
03:14:22,639 --> 03:14:26,280
I haven't really got any criminal tendencies
in the first place, so we

2065
03:14:26,280 --> 03:14:31,959
shouldn't do anything to me. He
was speaking so quickly. I barely caught

2066
03:14:33,000 --> 03:14:37,879
it all. I was hesitant.
I don't know, Shane, I don't

2067
03:14:37,920 --> 03:14:41,799
like the idea of you being used
like some kind of elaborate and what do

2068
03:14:41,840 --> 03:14:48,079
you mean ethically altered? That sounds
I don't know. Is it like a

2069
03:14:48,120 --> 03:14:50,879
surgery they want to do in your
brain? Yeah? I know it sounds

2070
03:14:50,920 --> 03:14:56,120
a little off, but it's just
the term the prison probably came up with

2071
03:14:56,239 --> 03:15:00,680
to make it sound nice for the
people outside. Anyway, they said,

2072
03:15:00,719 --> 03:15:05,479
no surgery, no drugs. They
won't tell me exactly what the process is.

2073
03:15:05,440 --> 03:15:11,000
Yes, it's top secret stuff,
but apparently there's nothing physically invasive about

2074
03:15:11,040 --> 03:15:16,280
it. My guess is they going
to strap me into a chair or something

2075
03:15:16,639 --> 03:15:18,920
and put a helmet on me that'll
pulse some kind of waves through my brain

2076
03:15:20,319 --> 03:15:26,239
and try to rewrite it to be
more docile. For thinking that he might

2077
03:15:26,360 --> 03:15:33,360
undergo a procedure that would potentially alter
his brain, he was sounding remarkably nonchalant.

2078
03:15:33,879 --> 03:15:37,120
Dude, that sounds super sketchy.
If they won't tell you what exactly

2079
03:15:37,159 --> 03:15:41,440
they're going to do to you,
what if it misses up your brain?

2080
03:15:41,719 --> 03:15:46,799
What if it kills you? And
I was growing less convinced that the idea

2081
03:15:46,920 --> 03:15:50,360
was good. With every word,
he won't kill me. They gave me

2082
03:15:50,360 --> 03:15:54,440
a guarantee of that. Yes,
they said it would change me. But

2083
03:15:54,440 --> 03:16:00,360
but like I said, they were
talking about removing my criminal tendencies, and

2084
03:16:00,479 --> 03:16:03,879
you know that I'm not really a
serious criminal or anything. Look, this

2085
03:16:05,079 --> 03:16:09,360
is an opportunity for us. Jack
ten minutes. That's how long, they

2086
03:16:09,360 --> 03:16:13,719
said. The whole process takes ten
minutes. And I'm back with you and

2087
03:16:13,840 --> 03:16:20,639
Mom ten minutes, and we can
get our lives back on track. I

2088
03:16:20,680 --> 03:16:22,920
can get a job and we can
save up money again. You'll go to

2089
03:16:24,000 --> 03:16:28,600
college. It'll be just like we
planned. One will probably even get out

2090
03:16:28,639 --> 03:16:33,399
of a downward spiral and start helping
out again. His last few sentences made

2091
03:16:33,399 --> 03:16:39,079
me realize that he hadn't been calling
to ask for my opinion on his participation

2092
03:16:39,200 --> 03:16:45,159
in the program. You've already signed
up, haven't you, I asked him.

2093
03:16:46,280 --> 03:16:54,319
I he paused, I love you, little brother. The line went

2094
03:16:54,399 --> 03:17:01,879
dead. I didn't hear from him
again after that. He normally called once

2095
03:17:01,920 --> 03:17:05,959
every few days, but the phone
didn't ring for a week. When I

2096
03:17:07,000 --> 03:17:09,239
got a day off work, I
drove up to the prison to see him

2097
03:17:09,239 --> 03:17:15,079
in person, but I was told
that I couldn't. He was apparently sick

2098
03:17:15,200 --> 03:17:20,360
and in the infirmary. I told
them that he had been talking about participating

2099
03:17:20,639 --> 03:17:24,959
in the new early release program and
asked of his illness was related to that.

2100
03:17:26,200 --> 03:17:30,719
They told me that he'd just had
the flu. However, they also

2101
03:17:30,840 --> 03:17:33,680
said that there was no new early
release program that they are aware of,

2102
03:17:35,920 --> 03:17:39,159
leaving them with a message to have
him call me as soon as he was

2103
03:17:39,200 --> 03:17:46,079
feeling better. I went home with
a pit in my stomach. Something was

2104
03:17:46,120 --> 03:17:52,799
wrong. In all the years he
had been inside, Shane and I had

2105
03:17:52,840 --> 03:17:56,680
never gone this long without speaking.
Sure, he'd gotten very sick a few

2106
03:17:56,719 --> 03:18:01,000
times, but he always called before
heading to the infirmary to let me know

2107
03:18:01,159 --> 03:18:05,440
he might be out of touch for
a little while. Why hadn't they known

2108
03:18:05,479 --> 03:18:11,639
about the early release program? Were
they lying? Did something go wrong with

2109
03:18:11,680 --> 03:18:15,680
the process and they were trying to
cover it up? Why had it really

2110
03:18:15,719 --> 03:18:20,600
been so top secret that not everyone
in the prison was privy to the information?

2111
03:18:22,479 --> 03:18:26,000
In any case, I knew all
I could do for the time was

2112
03:18:26,079 --> 03:18:33,040
wait. Another week passed without a
call, and I made another trip to

2113
03:18:33,120 --> 03:18:37,000
the prison, where I received the
same story. He was still sick,

2114
03:18:37,239 --> 03:18:43,120
and I couldn't see him. I
was more forceful this time and demanded that

2115
03:18:43,200 --> 03:18:46,600
they let me visit him in the
infirmary if it was really that ill.

2116
03:18:46,639 --> 03:18:52,760
They told me that that would be
impossible. It wasn't until they threatened to

2117
03:18:52,879 --> 03:18:56,479
escort me out physically and not allow
me back for future visits that I finally

2118
03:18:56,479 --> 03:19:05,399
capitulated and left of my own accord. After the third week with no word

2119
03:19:05,399 --> 03:19:09,520
from Shane, I was convinced that
something terrible had happened to him and the

2120
03:19:09,559 --> 03:19:15,360
prison was trying to hide it.
I called up there so much asking for

2121
03:19:15,399 --> 03:19:20,600
information on him or his program that
they blocked my number, and I was

2122
03:19:20,639 --> 03:19:24,879
on the brink of writing directly to
the government. When my phone rang.

2123
03:19:26,639 --> 03:19:33,520
It wasn't Shane. It was someone
from the prison informing me that we could

2124
03:19:33,520 --> 03:19:37,600
come picking him up the next day. He was being released on parole.

2125
03:19:41,600 --> 03:19:46,319
That was it. I started to
try to reply with questions if they cut

2126
03:19:46,360 --> 03:19:50,520
me off, saying he'll be available
at noon before hanging up on me.

2127
03:19:54,000 --> 03:20:03,959
I couldn't believe it. Three weeks
of radio silence and now suddenly he was

2128
03:20:03,000 --> 03:20:09,680
getting let out. They were really
letting him go. I was going to

2129
03:20:09,719 --> 03:20:15,719
have my brother back, but Any
excitement of mine at having him returned was

2130
03:20:15,799 --> 03:20:20,079
tempered with wondering what state had been
when we brought him home. They had

2131
03:20:20,079 --> 03:20:24,719
put him away believing that he had
potentially had a large part in planning the

2132
03:20:24,799 --> 03:20:28,760
murder of an innocent man and woman, one of them being a member of

2133
03:20:28,840 --> 03:20:35,680
law enforcement. What had they done
to him that made them so convinced he

2134
03:20:35,840 --> 03:20:41,120
was no longer a danger to society. I only needed to wait until we

2135
03:20:41,200 --> 03:20:46,600
picked him up the following day to
understand why they weren't worried about him any

2136
03:20:46,639 --> 03:20:54,799
more. Shane had been right about
one thing. Mom was different with the

2137
03:20:54,840 --> 03:21:00,000
prospect of him coming home. Journey
had half her normal mourning helping of vodka,

2138
03:21:00,680 --> 03:21:05,360
and actually ironed her clothes, although
her hands were shaking so badly as

2139
03:21:05,360 --> 03:21:09,360
she did it that it didn't help
much. We even had our first real

2140
03:21:09,399 --> 03:21:13,719
conversation in years about how things were
going to be okay now that he was

2141
03:21:13,760 --> 03:21:22,360
coming back. Yet when we saw
him, we quickly realized that it wasn't

2142
03:21:22,399 --> 03:21:31,920
going to be the homecoming we'd hoped
for. Shane was different. The smile

2143
03:21:33,040 --> 03:21:37,959
that he always wore was gone.
In fact, all the life that normally

2144
03:21:37,000 --> 03:21:43,559
filled his face seemed to be missing. He wore a vacant expression and stared

2145
03:21:43,600 --> 03:21:48,399
into the distance, as if he
recognized nothing in front of him. When

2146
03:21:48,440 --> 03:21:52,239
I called his name, he turned
to face me, but it was as

2147
03:21:52,280 --> 03:21:56,280
if he only did it because he
recognized the word Shane and not his brother's

2148
03:21:56,360 --> 03:22:01,079
voice. I wrapped him up in
hug and asked him if he was okay,

2149
03:22:01,920 --> 03:22:07,479
told him how happy I was to
see him and that he was free.

2150
03:22:07,840 --> 03:22:13,319
He didn't hug me back. His
arms lay stiff at his side.

2151
03:22:13,600 --> 03:22:18,680
Shane had always been a big hugger, especially with me, and I'd expected

2152
03:22:18,680 --> 03:22:26,760
that on his first day of freedom
he'd give me a huge squeeze. I

2153
03:22:26,879 --> 03:22:33,200
got nothing. Pulling back. I
grew worried. Shane, What the hell

2154
03:22:33,760 --> 03:22:39,000
are you okay? What did they
do to you? I shook him slightly

2155
03:22:39,040 --> 03:22:46,559
as I asked, I feel okay? He responded so mechanically that I could

2156
03:22:46,600 --> 03:22:52,920
scarcely recognize his voice from the AI
ones that I used for voiceovers. Just

2157
03:22:54,040 --> 03:22:56,680
when I was about to begin screaming
at the guards they were helping escort him

2158
03:22:56,920 --> 03:23:01,559
to explain what was wrong with him, a thin, dark haired woman in

2159
03:23:01,600 --> 03:23:07,639
a lab coat approached us and introduced
herself as doctor Cossick, head of the

2160
03:23:07,680 --> 03:23:15,479
new program. Are you Shane's brother, she asked. He listed you as

2161
03:23:15,479 --> 03:23:20,760
his post release guardian here, I
am. What the hell did you do

2162
03:23:20,840 --> 03:23:26,200
to him? I snapped at her. She considered me coolly. Your brother

2163
03:23:26,399 --> 03:23:31,600
is one of the first people to
undergo a revolutionary new process that is going

2164
03:23:31,639 --> 03:23:37,399
to change the way we handle criminal
justice in this country. No longer will

2165
03:23:37,440 --> 03:23:41,360
we need to lock away the worst
members of our society for ever. We

2166
03:23:41,360 --> 03:23:45,600
will be able to give them thee
alteration, and they'll be able to rejoin

2167
03:23:45,680 --> 03:23:48,840
the rest of us. You should
be proud of him, she said,

2168
03:23:50,040 --> 03:23:56,639
with an air of condescension. That's
not my brother. I didn't like her

2169
03:23:56,639 --> 03:24:01,799
superior attitude. Shane has never stuted
for more than ten seconds in my entire

2170
03:24:01,840 --> 03:24:05,760
life. Look at him. Shane
hadn't moved an inch with a guard that

2171
03:24:05,879 --> 03:24:11,639
was escorting him stopped when we walked
up. He looked over towards me and

2172
03:24:11,680 --> 03:24:18,079
doctor Cossick whenever he heard the word
Shane, but then realizing we weren't speaking

2173
03:24:18,120 --> 03:24:24,719
directly to him, turned his head
straightforward again and stared blankly into space.

2174
03:24:26,399 --> 03:24:30,879
You need to lower your voice,
she bore, an expression of annoyance.

2175
03:24:31,760 --> 03:24:35,239
I understand that the effects of the
process may be shocking at verse, but

2176
03:24:35,319 --> 03:24:41,680
you'll see in time that he's better
off this way. You have to remember

2177
03:24:41,719 --> 03:24:46,040
that your brother committed a heinous crime
and likely would have done something similar in

2178
03:24:46,040 --> 03:24:50,719
the future had we let him out
via the normal practice. In any case,

2179
03:24:50,399 --> 03:24:56,760
the effects cannot be reversed. What
we need to discuss now is the

2180
03:24:56,799 --> 03:25:03,239
path forward. Screw you, lady, I was seething. You don't know

2181
03:25:03,319 --> 03:25:07,200
anything about him. He was innocent, he was a good man. And

2182
03:25:07,319 --> 03:25:11,239
what do you mean the effects can't
be reversed. You change him back,

2183
03:25:11,559 --> 03:25:13,600
Change him back right now. I
don't care if he's sitting here for the

2184
03:25:13,600 --> 03:25:20,200
rest of his life. At least
he'll be himself. She was starting to

2185
03:25:20,280 --> 03:25:24,200
mark some things off on a clipboard, and I could tell was only half

2186
03:25:24,280 --> 03:25:30,959
listening to me. Looking up,
she began again. The process is irreversible,

2187
03:25:31,559 --> 03:25:35,040
and you will find that your brother
signed a binding agreement to participate in

2188
03:25:35,079 --> 03:25:39,399
this trial. He's been evaluated over
the last several weeks by medical staff and

2189
03:25:39,600 --> 03:25:46,239
government officials, and everyone is on
board with moving forward with phase two public

2190
03:25:46,280 --> 03:25:52,239
reintroduction. At this point, you
have two options. Option one, you

2191
03:25:52,280 --> 03:25:56,920
can sign this and you'll get to
take your brother home. For the first

2192
03:25:58,000 --> 03:26:01,920
month. You will call me daily
to this us how he's doing, and

2193
03:26:01,959 --> 03:26:05,840
we will make periodic hone visits to
inspect in person will help him get work

2194
03:26:05,920 --> 03:26:11,399
so he can start contributing to society
again like a law abiding citizen. You

2195
03:26:11,440 --> 03:26:16,159
will not disclose anything about this process
to anyone, and if anyone should ask

2196
03:26:16,239 --> 03:26:22,000
how he got out early or why
he's acting so differently, you'll say that

2197
03:26:22,120 --> 03:26:26,799
he's been reformed and he was released
early due to good behavior and overcrowding.

2198
03:26:26,840 --> 03:26:31,280
Any violation of these terms and he
will be brought right back here and you

2199
03:26:31,319 --> 03:26:39,079
will lose all future visitation privileges.
Option two, you don't sign this,

2200
03:26:39,559 --> 03:26:43,719
and we take your brother back inside
right now, and you'll lose all future

2201
03:26:43,799 --> 03:26:48,399
visitation privileges. And before you start
spouting off legality or suing us or anything

2202
03:26:48,399 --> 03:26:54,920
of that nature, she could obviously
see the fury in my eyes, you

2203
03:26:54,959 --> 03:26:58,559
should know that we have the backing
from the highest levels. Your case would

2204
03:26:58,559 --> 03:27:03,159
go no now if you could hurry
up and make your decision, please,

2205
03:27:03,680 --> 03:27:09,159
I have several more of these to
do today. She returned to a clipboard.

2206
03:27:11,719 --> 03:27:16,639
I was shaking with anger. Clearly
to her, Shane was nothing more

2207
03:27:16,680 --> 03:27:20,479
than a variable in her experiment.
He wasn't a person, a brother,

2208
03:27:20,719 --> 03:27:26,120
a friend, a human at all, just a note on a clipboard,

2209
03:27:26,840 --> 03:27:33,360
an alteration for her to study.
But what choice did I have. She

2210
03:27:33,760 --> 03:27:37,520
had all the power, and she
knew it. If I thought her or

2211
03:27:37,559 --> 03:27:43,479
refused, She'd takes Shane away and
I'd never see him again. And if

2212
03:27:43,520 --> 03:27:48,079
he'd been living poorly before, it
would be nothing to how I imagined him

2213
03:27:48,120 --> 03:27:54,159
living inside now, sitting on his
bed day in and day out, wasting

2214
03:27:54,239 --> 03:27:58,920
away with that blank stare on his
face. Wrenching the clipboard from her hands,

2215
03:28:01,120 --> 03:28:13,239
I signed the agreement. We rode
home in near silence. Both Mom

2216
03:28:13,319 --> 03:28:18,120
and I tried to ask Shane questions
about the process he underwent, but all

2217
03:28:18,120 --> 03:28:24,520
he could tell us was I don't
remember. I was just about to ask

2218
03:28:24,600 --> 03:28:28,520
him what he did remember, to
see if he even really knew who we

2219
03:28:28,520 --> 03:28:33,879
were, when he abruptly announced,
I am tired. I need to sleep

2220
03:28:35,840 --> 03:28:41,319
again. His voice had no emotion
behind it. It sounded as if a

2221
03:28:41,360 --> 03:28:46,840
computer was reading off lines from code. Wondering now if they turned him into

2222
03:28:46,879 --> 03:28:50,159
some sort of cyborg. I looked
in the rear view, half expecting to

2223
03:28:50,159 --> 03:28:54,799
see red eyes staring back at me, but I was surprised to find he'd

2224
03:28:54,840 --> 03:29:01,120
already fallen asleep instantly. As soon
as he'd said it, he went to

2225
03:29:01,200 --> 03:29:07,680
sleep like it was the next line
in a command string. I made a

2226
03:29:07,680 --> 03:29:11,760
plan to go over his entire body
with a metal detecting wand that I had

2227
03:29:11,799 --> 03:29:15,079
at home from one of my security
chops as soon as he got through the

2228
03:29:15,120 --> 03:29:20,479
door. When we arrived at the
apartment complex and parked the car, he

2229
03:29:20,639 --> 03:29:24,280
was still snoring. I had to
open the back door and shake him slightly

2230
03:29:24,319 --> 03:29:28,760
to wake him. In the past, when i'd woken him from a deep

2231
03:29:28,799 --> 03:29:35,159
slumber, he'd always been a little
crumpy. It was the only time I

2232
03:29:35,200 --> 03:29:39,719
was cautious around him. On instinct. I stood slightly back as he opened

2233
03:29:39,760 --> 03:29:45,559
his eyes, awaiting a tirade of
frustration and asking for five more minutes,

2234
03:29:46,920 --> 03:29:52,000
but he just stared straight ahead again. Shane. I said his name.

2235
03:29:54,200 --> 03:29:58,920
He turned to look at me,
but didn't reply, Hey, we're home.

2236
03:29:58,600 --> 03:30:01,440
You can get out of the car
now and we can go inside.

2237
03:30:03,360 --> 03:30:07,840
I wondered how much of his behavior
was due to the alteration, or how

2238
03:30:07,920 --> 03:30:13,399
much might be due to him having
been in prison for ten years and always

2239
03:30:13,479 --> 03:30:18,760
having to be told what to do. Okay, his vocal chords made the

2240
03:30:18,799 --> 03:30:26,159
sound, but it's hard to describe. It wasn't his voice. I know

2241
03:30:26,239 --> 03:30:31,520
that doesn't make much sense, but
I've heard that voice for twenty four years.

2242
03:30:31,159 --> 03:30:37,319
I know the quality, the cadence, the inflection. It just wasn't

2243
03:30:37,520 --> 03:30:43,360
his Mom had already given up.
She started crying in the drive home,

2244
03:30:43,840 --> 03:30:48,360
and the minute we parked, she'd
run upstairs. I knew to go hit

2245
03:30:48,399 --> 03:30:54,879
the bottle or maybe something stronger.
Shane exited the car and I closed the

2246
03:30:54,920 --> 03:31:01,399
door behind him. Surprisingly, he
started walking towards the elevators like he knew

2247
03:31:01,440 --> 03:31:07,120
where he was going. I decided
not to say anything and see if he

2248
03:31:07,200 --> 03:31:11,760
remembered where he lived. He hit
the up button as he should have,

2249
03:31:11,239 --> 03:31:16,319
and selected the correct floor once he
was inside. When we exited on our

2250
03:31:16,360 --> 03:31:22,479
floor, he made a direct line
for our unit. I followed him closely

2251
03:31:22,920 --> 03:31:26,959
and watched as he opened the door, just as he had done hundreds of

2252
03:31:26,000 --> 03:31:33,719
times before. However, he stopped
right after stepping through the threshold and stood

2253
03:31:33,879 --> 03:31:41,280
stock still again and nearly crashed into
him. He seemed to be waiting on

2254
03:31:41,360 --> 03:31:45,559
the next set of instructions, so
I told him to go sit at the

2255
03:31:45,639 --> 03:31:52,200
kitchen table for now. Okay,
the voice came again, just as I'd

2256
03:31:52,200 --> 03:31:56,239
planned to do on the drive back. I ran my wand over his body

2257
03:31:56,799 --> 03:32:01,159
and found he had no metal inside
of him. I felt his head for

2258
03:32:01,200 --> 03:32:07,079
signs of stitching or scarring, then
discovered nothing. I checked every inch of

2259
03:32:07,159 --> 03:32:13,719
exposed skin for surgical markings, but
at least to my untrained eye, he

2260
03:32:13,879 --> 03:32:18,719
was clean. The entire time I
did my examination, Shane didn't move,

2261
03:32:20,559 --> 03:32:26,000
nor did his expression change that blank
stare, just fixated on the wall in

2262
03:32:26,040 --> 03:32:30,559
front of him, and I got
the impression I could do nearly anything to

2263
03:32:30,639 --> 03:32:35,479
him and he wouldn't respond. I
sat down at the table across from him

2264
03:32:35,959 --> 03:32:41,000
and started asking the questions that I'd
wanted to ask in the car. Hey,

2265
03:32:41,159 --> 03:32:46,159
Shane. His eyes met mine,
and it was only then that we

2266
03:32:46,159 --> 03:32:50,799
were sitting down and I was looking
directly into them, that I truly saw

2267
03:32:52,600 --> 03:32:58,799
that there was nothing behind them.
Whatever it was that made Shane Shane was

2268
03:32:58,840 --> 03:33:03,520
gone. I was looking only at
a collection of cells, a biological mass

2269
03:33:03,639 --> 03:33:11,280
that could walk and talk but had
no personality, had no life. It

2270
03:33:11,440 --> 03:33:18,639
terrified me. My voice quivered as
I asked, Shane, do you do

2271
03:33:18,719 --> 03:33:26,399
you remember your full name? Yes? What is it? Shane Theodore Thompson.

2272
03:33:28,799 --> 03:33:31,879
It was like he was recalling a
date stored away in a hard drive.

2273
03:33:33,280 --> 03:33:39,200
Do you know who I am?
Yes? Who am I to you?

2274
03:33:39,000 --> 03:33:45,399
And what is my full name?
You are my brother, Jack Francis

2275
03:33:45,440 --> 03:33:50,760
Thompson. How old are we?
I am thirty six and you are twenty

2276
03:33:50,840 --> 03:33:56,760
four. I was happy to see
that he at least knew who he was

2277
03:33:58,159 --> 03:34:01,799
and who I was, But this
was all information they could have had him

2278
03:34:01,840 --> 03:34:07,159
memorize at the prison. I wanted
to ask something more personal, to see

2279
03:34:07,159 --> 03:34:13,559
if he really had all of Shane's
memories. Who did you lose your virginity

2280
03:34:13,639 --> 03:34:18,440
to? And where did it happen? Elise Sherman and in apparent's basement.

2281
03:34:22,159 --> 03:34:26,840
Now, this story was one that
Shane and I laughed about often. Elise's

2282
03:34:26,879 --> 03:34:30,680
father had come downstairs while they're in
the middle of the deed, and he

2283
03:34:30,840 --> 03:34:35,360
chased Shane out of the house with
Shane's pants around his ankles. It awoke

2284
03:34:35,399 --> 03:34:39,479
in the neighbors and several of them
got an eifel of Shane's business. While

2285
03:34:39,479 --> 03:34:41,840
he desperately tried to pull his pants
up and dive back into his car.

2286
03:34:43,040 --> 03:34:48,559
For this time, he relayed the
information with no humor, no crack of

2287
03:34:48,600 --> 03:34:52,920
a smile, remembering the absurdity of
it all. The information was there in

2288
03:34:54,000 --> 03:34:56,559
his head, but it was as
if he had no connection to it.

2289
03:34:58,760 --> 03:35:03,559
I realized that they hadn't removed his
criminal tendencies as they told him they were

2290
03:35:03,559 --> 03:35:09,559
going to do. They'd removed him. I don't know how they did it,

2291
03:35:11,360 --> 03:35:15,799
and at the time I still wasn't
sure what they'd done, but I

2292
03:35:15,879 --> 03:35:20,319
knew that he wasn't there anymore.
Shane's body was sitting right in front of

2293
03:35:20,360 --> 03:35:28,319
me when my brother had died somewhere
in that prison. Over the next several

2294
03:35:28,360 --> 03:35:33,959
weeks, I kept my agreement with
doctor Carsick. I called her daily and

2295
03:35:35,040 --> 03:35:39,799
informed her of how things were progressing
with Shane. There weren't really any changes

2296
03:35:39,840 --> 03:35:45,840
to report, as she stated they
would. They helped him secure a job

2297
03:35:45,920 --> 03:35:50,239
at a local grocery store, and
she checked in on him in person twice.

2298
03:35:50,440 --> 03:35:56,239
She couldn't have been more delighted with
the success of her program, if

2299
03:35:56,280 --> 03:36:01,159
you could really call it that,
I surely didn't. Yes, Shane hadn't

2300
03:36:01,159 --> 03:36:07,479
committed any crimes and seemed entirely unlikely
to ever do so. But Shane also

2301
03:36:07,600 --> 03:36:11,959
hadn't done much of anything. He
was operating and what I would have called

2302
03:36:11,079 --> 03:36:18,079
pure animal instinct. Outside of being
given direct instructions. When he was hungry,

2303
03:36:18,239 --> 03:36:22,600
he ate thirsty. He drank.
When he needed to use the restroom

2304
03:36:22,680 --> 03:36:28,239
or sleep, he did that as
well, But beyond that, I had

2305
03:36:28,239 --> 03:36:33,239
to tell him to do anything shower, brush his teeth, get dressed,

2306
03:36:33,360 --> 03:36:39,440
go to work at the grocery store. He had to be given specific tasks

2307
03:36:39,479 --> 03:36:43,120
by his boss, and he was
able to perform them perfectly, but he

2308
03:36:43,159 --> 03:36:48,760
took no initiative beyond doing exactly what
he was told to do, and that's

2309
03:36:48,799 --> 03:36:54,239
what it seemed our lives would be
from then on. Shane had given so

2310
03:36:54,399 --> 03:36:58,760
much of his life for me,
sacrificed his entire future. I didn't mind

2311
03:36:58,760 --> 03:37:05,239
help influence and decided that I would
continue to support him in this state until

2312
03:37:05,280 --> 03:37:13,040
the day that one of us died. But then last week something changed.

2313
03:37:16,120 --> 03:37:20,719
Shane and I share a bedroom and
I awoke around three am to an odd

2314
03:37:20,760 --> 03:37:26,479
scratching sound. We hain't no strangers
to rat on our building, but this

2315
03:37:26,680 --> 03:37:33,239
was different. It was coming from
near Shane's bed. I walked over to

2316
03:37:33,280 --> 03:37:39,239
investigate, using my cellphone light to
check for vermin and I couldn't find anything,

2317
03:37:39,799 --> 03:37:46,479
and as I approached, the noise
simply stopped. Too tired to care

2318
03:37:46,559 --> 03:37:50,959
much, I went back to sleep
with plans to look into it in the

2319
03:37:50,000 --> 03:37:56,879
morning. Yet in the morning those
plans were driven straight out of my mind.

2320
03:37:58,559 --> 03:38:01,840
It was the smell of bacon that
woke me the second time, and

2321
03:38:01,879 --> 03:38:05,680
I opened my eyes in confusion.
Mom hadn't gotten up to make breakfast in

2322
03:38:05,840 --> 03:38:11,040
years, and Shane hadn't cooked anything
since his return. He just ate pre

2323
03:38:11,120 --> 03:38:16,959
made meals or leftovers from the fridge. Rolling over, I saw that Shane's

2324
03:38:16,959 --> 03:38:22,559
bed was empty, and I sat
up quickly in astonishment. I'd had to

2325
03:38:22,600 --> 03:38:26,799
tell him to get out of bed
every morning since he came back. What

2326
03:38:28,159 --> 03:38:39,520
was going on? Then I heard
it? Laughter? Shane's laughter drifted through

2327
03:38:39,520 --> 03:38:43,840
the doorway. Him and Mom were
having an animated conversation in the kitchen.

2328
03:38:45,920 --> 03:38:50,840
I heard my name through the cackles. Lavery eyed, I walked in to

2329
03:38:50,959 --> 03:38:54,399
join them and saw that Shane was
at the stove happily frying up breakfast,

2330
03:38:54,840 --> 03:39:00,639
while Mom was at the table,
smiling and having a cigarette. Speak of

2331
03:39:00,760 --> 03:39:05,879
the devil, mom said, and
Shane spun around. He ran over to

2332
03:39:05,920 --> 03:39:09,920
me, Spatchelors still in hand,
and wrapped me in a massive hug.

2333
03:39:11,280 --> 03:39:16,120
Stunned, I only feebly returned it
as he said, good morning, little

2334
03:39:16,159 --> 03:39:20,000
brother, So glad you're awake.
We were just talking about the time you

2335
03:39:20,079 --> 03:39:22,879
tried to make me a birthday cache
and you mix up the salt and the

2336
03:39:22,920 --> 03:39:28,079
sugar. He started laughing hard and
pulled back. I was at a loss

2337
03:39:28,120 --> 03:39:35,440
for words. He was acting just
like his old self, was I dreaming?

2338
03:39:37,000 --> 03:39:39,360
As he tried to step back towards
the stove, I grabbed his face

2339
03:39:39,399 --> 03:39:46,159
with both my hands and looked directly
into his eyes. There was life there

2340
03:39:46,200 --> 03:39:54,680
again, but still there was something
off about them, the darkness I didn't

2341
03:39:54,719 --> 03:39:58,959
remember from before. There was a
sudden flash of black, and I leapt

2342
03:39:58,040 --> 03:40:03,280
back, gasping, what's the matter? Jack still shocked about how much better

2343
03:40:03,319 --> 03:40:07,399
looking I am than you. He
laughed some more and went back to his

2344
03:40:07,479 --> 03:40:13,840
cooking. He was a trick of
the light. I told myself, just

2345
03:40:13,879 --> 03:40:18,559
be happy he's acting like himself again. Maybe after a few weeks the effects

2346
03:40:18,639 --> 03:40:24,959
lesson or something. But I couldn't
shake the feeling that there was a coldness

2347
03:40:24,000 --> 03:40:31,840
in Shane's laughter that hadn't been there
before. Whatever my reservations, we had

2348
03:40:31,840 --> 03:40:37,719
the best family breakfast we'd had since
Shane was put away. He reminisced about

2349
03:40:37,760 --> 03:40:41,719
old times, talked about our future. I nearly cried at how happy I

2350
03:40:41,879 --> 03:40:48,319
was to have my brother truly returned. After he left for work, I

2351
03:40:48,399 --> 03:40:54,200
called doctor Cossack to give my update, and I debated whether to tell her

2352
03:40:54,239 --> 03:41:00,559
the truth. Shane's behavioral change was
positive in my view, but she might

2353
03:41:00,600 --> 03:41:05,120
not see it the same way.
Maybe she'd want to take him back and

2354
03:41:05,159 --> 03:41:09,799
do the process over again. For
the first words out of her mouth when

2355
03:41:09,799 --> 03:41:16,959
she picked up, where is he
acting differently today? She sounded anxious.

2356
03:41:16,520 --> 03:41:22,200
Her tone made me nervous. Maybe
something had gone wrong with some of the

2357
03:41:22,239 --> 03:41:28,680
other participants. Yeah. Yeah,
he was acting like his old self this

2358
03:41:28,799 --> 03:41:33,280
morning, even got up and made
breakfast. I replied, did you notice

2359
03:41:33,319 --> 03:41:41,520
anything strange about him? How did
she know? Nothing serious? I just

2360
03:41:43,000 --> 03:41:48,079
thought there was a kind of I
don't know, his eyes looked different on

2361
03:41:48,159 --> 03:41:54,680
what's going on? Damn? Just
hang on tight. I'll come out and

2362
03:41:54,760 --> 03:42:01,079
check in on him tomorrow. And
she suddenly hung up. My heart was

2363
03:42:01,120 --> 03:42:07,440
hammering. She knew something she had
been expecting exactly what I told her.

2364
03:42:07,719 --> 03:42:13,959
I tried to call her back,
but he went straight to voicemail. For

2365
03:42:13,040 --> 03:42:16,600
the rest of the day, I
tried to act as normally as possible,

2366
03:42:18,520 --> 03:42:22,120
just as she had instructed. I
went to work myself, but had a

2367
03:42:22,159 --> 03:42:30,079
hard time concentrating. I wondered how
Shane would be that evening, but when

2368
03:42:30,079 --> 03:42:33,239
he returned from his shift, he
did so with a bag full of groceries

2369
03:42:33,239 --> 03:42:37,040
in his arms and announced loudly that
he was going to make us a five

2370
03:42:37,079 --> 03:42:43,360
star meal. Seeing his smiling face
pushed my concerns down, and I chalked

2371
03:42:43,479 --> 03:42:50,559
doctor Cossack's behavior up to her process
possibly failing. Maybe whatever she'd done had

2372
03:42:50,600 --> 03:42:56,559
reversed itself and she was not,
in fact going to revolutionize criminal justice in

2373
03:42:56,639 --> 03:43:03,360
this country. With that thought,
I wondered if this might be the last

2374
03:43:03,479 --> 03:43:07,799
night I have with my brother before
they hold him back to prison to do

2375
03:43:07,879 --> 03:43:13,879
more tests or simply lock him away
again. I decided, if that was

2376
03:43:13,959 --> 03:43:18,760
the case, that I should stop
my worrying and just enjoy the evening with

2377
03:43:18,920 --> 03:43:22,959
my family. We ate, we
drank, we laughed, we sang.

2378
03:43:24,079 --> 03:43:33,479
It was a perfect night until we
fell asleep. I awoke again around three

2379
03:43:33,520 --> 03:43:39,680
a m. The scratching had returned
louder this time, and I looked over

2380
03:43:39,760 --> 03:43:46,360
towards Shane's bed. Damn, I
whisper, yelled as I sat up and

2381
03:43:46,440 --> 03:43:50,959
slid back towards the wall. Shane
was sitting bolt upright in his bed,

2382
03:43:52,440 --> 03:43:58,079
with his feet down on the floor. He was glaring at me. There

2383
03:43:58,120 --> 03:44:01,479
was a malevolent grin on his face, illuminated by the digital clock on his

2384
03:44:01,600 --> 03:44:07,600
night stand. The hell are you
doing, man? I yelped. There

2385
03:44:07,639 --> 03:44:13,600
was something about his presence. It
was dark and heavy. It made the

2386
03:44:13,680 --> 03:44:18,000
air around me oppressive, and I
was struggling to get full breaths in.

2387
03:44:20,520 --> 03:44:26,719
He didn't reply, just kept watching
me. His eyes were cold, and

2388
03:44:26,799 --> 03:44:31,399
as I stared into them, I
caught movement behind him. A shadow was

2389
03:44:31,479 --> 03:44:37,719
crawling across his wall, a shadow
with red eyes and long, spintly fingers.

2390
03:44:39,280 --> 03:44:45,920
He opened his mouth and a voice
voices that I did not recognize,

2391
03:44:46,079 --> 03:44:54,920
emanated from it. Sh go back
to sleep, little brother. There was

2392
03:44:54,920 --> 03:45:03,000
no love behind the words. It
was malice, was evil. My eyelids

2393
03:45:03,079 --> 03:45:07,840
sagged and I collapsed back onto the
bed. I tried to fight it,

2394
03:45:07,200 --> 03:45:16,680
but exhaustion overcame me and I fell
back into a deep sleep. The next

2395
03:45:16,760 --> 03:45:22,120
day, I didn't wake up until
noon. Shane had already left for work,

2396
03:45:22,479 --> 03:45:26,239
and I had six miss calls and
a flurry of texts from my manager

2397
03:45:26,639 --> 03:45:31,200
asking why I hadn't shown up for
my shift. I played the events of

2398
03:45:31,239 --> 03:45:35,520
the night before back in my mind
and tried to tell myself it was a

2399
03:45:35,600 --> 03:45:39,319
dream, that there was no way
it could be real. But when I

2400
03:45:39,360 --> 03:45:43,680
looked over at Shane's bed, I
saw there were deep gouges in the wall

2401
03:45:43,760 --> 03:45:50,319
behind it, gouges that looked like
they'd been made by massive, clawed hands.

2402
03:45:52,200 --> 03:45:56,559
Something clicked into place. I formed
a theory on what they'd done to

2403
03:45:56,639 --> 03:46:07,719
Shane at the prison. I think
they removed his soul. I don't know

2404
03:46:07,760 --> 03:46:09,959
how they did it. I don't
know if it was magic of ital with

2405
03:46:11,040 --> 03:46:16,559
science, but I think the soul
that had inhabited Shane's body, the very

2406
03:46:16,600 --> 03:46:24,440
thing that made him who he was, had been ripped out. Doctor Cossick

2407
03:46:24,559 --> 03:46:28,639
never showed up for a visit,
and she stopped answering my calls. When

2408
03:46:28,639 --> 03:46:35,040
I contacted the prison directly, they
said a doctor Cossick had never worked there.

2409
03:46:35,520 --> 03:46:39,719
And told me there was no record
of a Shane Theodore Thompson even serving

2410
03:46:39,760 --> 03:46:46,680
time at the facility. They've abandoned
us. They're trying to cover this up.

2411
03:46:46,840 --> 03:46:52,319
He's getting worse by the day.
He can move things without touching them.

2412
03:46:52,200 --> 03:46:58,479
I've heard him speak in languages I
can't understand. I'm sure this is

2413
03:46:58,520 --> 03:47:01,959
happening to more of them. Then
went through the process to more of them

2414
03:47:03,000 --> 03:47:11,600
than they ethically altered, because I
don't think they considered that if they removed

2415
03:47:11,600 --> 03:47:20,280
the souls that inhabited these people,
they left them open to be inhabited by

2416
03:47:20,360 --> 03:47:20,079
something else.