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Speaker 1: Whoever had carved the door relished in the Anatomy of Suffering.

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It was a two story tall slab of copper set

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directly next to a cavern wall. Its surface carved with

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a vast and complex bass relief that worried the eye.

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A cloying, confusing mix of human bodies sprawling upwards in

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a mound of flesh, many glancing horrified over their shoulders

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or fleeing something out of frame and out of sight.

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Thousands of them, starved and wretched, with gaunt faces and

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sunken eyes, jutting ribs and distended bellies. There were rumors

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that they moved, but only when you weren't looking. Less

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than a week after its discovery, they brought it down

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with explosives. We didn't really know what we'd found at

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that point, although I'm sure a few of us, particularly

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the religious, their suspicions the door was wrong, all wrong.

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It just shouldn't have been there. Natural caverns don't go

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that deep in Britain, not a thousand meters. As scientists,

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we should have been excited, but we all agreed the

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door was repulsive. Staring at it too long induced a

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powerful urge to flee. An ancestral memory, maybe the same

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way our bodies know to avoid things that crawl and slither,

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things that rot and buzz and stink of death and decay.

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They never told us how or why they found it,

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nor why the project was classified, only that we had

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to figure out what was on the other side. When

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the charges finally blew, they went off like giant firecrackers,

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a string of them that ran down the gateway one

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by one, deafening booms that shock the entire cavern. I

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was left blinking dust out of my eyes as great

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machines lowered the door, now free of its couplings, to

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the ground. Looking back, some details come easier than others.

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The air that wafted out was hot and dry, and

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I was not surprised. That seemed intuitively correct, whether I'd

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admitted to myself or not. The fact was, I'd been

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thinking of the door as a gateway to Hell pretty

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much since I first laid eyes on it, and my

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mental image of hell was oddly medieval. I expected some great,

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big stones, something reminiscent of an ancient castle, rattling chains,

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the wailing of the damned, the stench of sulfur God,

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even little Red devils with horns and pointy tails. But

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I hadn't expected shelves and books. That was the first

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real thing we saw. Shelves lining the walls that had

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been dug directly into the same rock as the cavern,

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Shelves that rose far above our lights, so that when

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we looked up there was only darkness and dust, but

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no limits to the endless row and row of shelving,

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every last inch covered in books. There were no gaps,

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just dust and tattered spines of random sizes, leather fabric, paperback,

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faded pastels, and gold leaf letters in alphabets both familiar

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and strange. And it wasn't just the walls. The floor

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was littered with random, head high piles of books, all

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stacked like some tired librarian had gotten fed up of

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finding room for them. They made a labyrinth of the place,

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obscuring corners and doors, and the forward team, myself included,

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progressed carefully along the stone passageway, listening and looking carefully

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for some signs that would make sense of the place.

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There must have been thousands of books, and that was

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just in the first hallway we explored. Whenever we took

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one out, we found paper so thin, it was nearly translucent,

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and often inked with strange shapes and letters I couldn't

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recognize otherwise it was gibberish. Not that we studied them

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too longer that first day. Whenever I took one, I

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returned it quickly, lifting them up. I always had the

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strangest sensation that I was doing something wrong, something inappropriate.

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And I didn't like the space they left behind on

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the shelves, a gap like a missing tooth, the darkness

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within swirling like deep waters. Safety in that place felt

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like an illusion, and touching the books was at risk

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of shattering it. I don't know how else to put it,

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except I didn't want to do anything that might draw

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attention to me. It was as if we were extremely conspicuous.

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There were no sounds but those we made, our own breath,

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our own footfalls, the shuffle and scuffle of out every movement.

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We could even hear each other's heart beats, the discordant

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but bump of several people's chests being beaten like a

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broken drum set, and every now and again a racing,

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a steady increase in the beats cadence as we turned

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a blind corner or lifted a book just to see

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what it contained, or looked up at the shadows above us.

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Each of us kept having false starts, because there was

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always this expectation that you were going to see something

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soon any second. Now. Squeezed between two books or dangling overhead.

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It took more than six hours before that corridor opened up,

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and when it did, we were dumbfounded. We emerged into

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a vast and terrifying mezzanine made of ancient rock, overlooking

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a chasm with no visible bottom, just floor after floor

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filled with shelves filled with books, millions billions, and all

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along those distant walls and stories were little openings that

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led to more corridors like the one we'd just emerged from,

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so many that it was staring at a rough shod beehive.

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To look up, or down or anywhere was to be

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faced with more books than anyone could read in their

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entire lifetime. We took our first break on that mezzanine.

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While radios didn't go very far in that place, we'd

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had the sense to carry enough wire to allow for

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a hard connection, and while using that we contacted the

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main research site and updated them on the situation we

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were to keep going for another six hours and turn

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around a day. No more was the plan. Even that

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felt like too long. I wanted to leave. I wanted

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to confirm that somewhere was a doorway that would lead

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back to reality, because ever since I'd entered that place

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it felt like I'd entered a nightmare, a place where

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reality was plastic. I told myself it was simply the

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scale of it, all the weirdness, But it was more

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than that. The very air down there felt thin. There

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were six of us, three scientists and three soldiers. The

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soldiers responded to the situation with silence and an alertness

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that bordered on paranoia, constantly scanning the dark with their

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rifle mounted lights, flicking the beam from one high up

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shelf to another, fidgeting, exchanging dark looks. In a way,

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I was thankful, but it put me on edge two

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and I couldn't relax at all for the first half

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of our little break. I guess it was natural that

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the scientists got talking. This was partly to fill the quiet,

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but also partly to try and convince ourselves. We were

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excited about the implications of this fine and whatever those

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may be. Rewriting history archaeology on a new level, that

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kind of thing. It didn't take long before we convinced

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ourselves to take a closer look at those books. I'll

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admit it didn't come easy, but we did a pretty

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good job of convincing ourselves that we weren't really afraid.

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We started slowly taking one book down, opening and then

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quickly replacing it, but then with false bravery, we took

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more and more came down, until each of us were

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sat cross legged with several books stacked up on either side,

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waiting to be read. I remember at some point I

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must have grown tired and looked up from my own pile,

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because I noticed Doctor Ashley muttering quietly as she traced

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some words with her fingers. What if you found it's

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Latin alphabet, she said, first one, I actually recognized the

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letters for German. Maybe none of us were linguists, so

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we were simply doing our best. But upon hearing Bay

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mentioned German, one of the soldiers came over and looked

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at the open page. Germanic but not German. He said,

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you speak it? He nodded. My father is German, and

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I don't know what that is, but it isn't German.

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Is any of it familiar, Beer asked, while handing the

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book to him. After a brief nod from his CEO,

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Lieutenant Michael, he took it and began flicking through the pages.

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I think this is the word for death, a sort

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of rough misspelling. Maybe this one is. I guess it's

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a bit like wanting desire. I don't know. Not all

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the words seem like they're in the right context either.

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So there are a variety of languages in alphabets, but

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as of yet, nothing we can make sense of. What

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about you any luck? Beyer asked me, and I looked

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down at the book currently open in my hands. Some

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kind of sybelic, maybe, I shrugged. I'm no linguist. We

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definitely need doctor Sellers on the next expedition. I'm sure

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he could offer some insight. What about you, doctor Rosenstein?

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The third doctor and our group, A little bald man

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had been sitting quietly the entire time we spoke. The

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third scientist in our group, A little bald man had

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been sitting quietly the entire time we spoke, frowning and

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one of several books that lay open before him. I

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assume he was just curious, like Bear and I Grant,

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I said, trying to get his attention. Hey, Grant, have

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you found anything? His silence unnerved me. He wasn't just captivated.

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Sweat was prickling his forehead, and veins bulged the longest temple.

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He had gone pale, and his eyes were wide, and

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his lips cracked and dry. The soldiers picking up on

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the same strange signals I had stood a little more upright,

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Dr Rosenstein, one of them asked, nervously, doctor, can you

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hear us? The nearest soldier reached out and placed a

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hand on Grant's shoulder, and the little man looked up

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at us like he hadn't even realized we existed until

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that moment. At first I thought he was relieved, the

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way he was staring at each of us with a

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dumb grin on his f but I soon realized something

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wasn't quite right. Oh, he said, with an anxious laugh.

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Oh right, of course, his eyes darted between us. Of course, Sorry,

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I didn't mean to alarm you, right, I said, Well,

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we were just talking about the books Bathing's hers might

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be in a kind of German or Germanic language. He

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nodded like this made perfect sense. Yes, you imagine, so,

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he replied, while looking around the shelves that towered over us.

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Lots of languages, I'd say, And then, without really missing

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a beat, he added, they are sins. The group fell

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into silence as each of us tried to make sense

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of what he just said. In the meantime, he stood

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up and stretched like it was the most natural thing

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in the world. What are you on about, I said,

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once it became clear he wasn't going to elaborate. It's

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fairly obvious where we are, he said, while leaning forward

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and eyeing us darkly. And these books are a list

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of all our sins, one for each of us. So

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there will be books in German, both contemporary and historic German,

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like the one you found, doctor Ashling. But there will

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also be books in Russian and French, and Arabic and Chinese,

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not just contemporary tongues, either ancient Egyptian, Venician, Babylonian, Aramaic, Latin,

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and of course lost languages, ones that we never found

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but existed anyway, All of them, all the transgressions of

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the world, are right here, recorded in the sinner's original tongue.

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By now, the soldiers had stepped a little closer and

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Bierre and I were sharing deeply worried looks. Grant seemed

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to be in the middle of breaking down, speaking frantically

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and anxiously, convinced of his own meaning. We're not really

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saying anything of sense. Grant, I think we need to

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go back. The real fun thing is that I think

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you'll find books in languages that don't exist yet, he blurted.

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This isn't just a record of sins in the past,

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but all of them, every last one, even the ones

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we haven't committed yet. Grant, I'm going to have one

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of the men go back with you. If that's okay,

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I think you might not. These are mine, he said,

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or gesturing to a book in his hand, All of them,

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he laughed. Not just the things I did petty transgressions

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or recorded with names and places and even little diagrams.

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But there are even sins I only ever thought, things

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I wanted to do, and he added, while giggling hysterically,

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sins I've yet to commit. He flicked through the pages

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at random and giggled moniacally at something only he could see,

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Although there aren't many, he cackled as he turned to

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the final page, tears welling in his eyes. Just one, actually,

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the last one, the last sin I'll ever commit. Grant,

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I said, I think you. Before any of us could react,

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he dropped the book and took a running leap over

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the nearest edge. This is the way we came, right,

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Beer stood at the threshold of a corridor, a light

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tracking wire that snaked into the darkness. That's the cable

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we carried in here with us, one of the soldiers said.

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But the young man looked over to his CEO, Lieutenant Michael,

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who had a compass in hand and didn't look happy.

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It's not the direction we came, the older man said.

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We came south, so we need to head north. That

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would be this doorway. He nodded at a second corridor

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embedded in the rock wall. This has to be the way,

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Bia said. I trust this cable a hell of a

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lot more than I do a compass. Anything could be

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interfering with that thing. Besides, we know the cable leads

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the HQ because it's working. We spoke to them only

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a few minutes ago. By this wire, it has to

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lead out of here, and that makes sense, I added,

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But I marked the way we left with a piece

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of chalk and that mark is over here. I pointed

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to a third doorway. Damn, Michael muttered, regardless, I vote wire,

237
00:18:01,559 --> 00:18:05,720
Bear said, I trust it the most. It's a physical connection.

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I guess I vote wire too. Mike glided me too.

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But what do we do if we're wrong? I asked?

240
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What does that even mean? Did something move the wire

241
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or the door? We all went silent for a few

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moments as we contemplated this. When nobody offered up an answer,

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I eventually grabbed my back back and hauled it up.

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I guess we don't have much of a choice either way,

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I said, Do you really think there's a book in

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here for everyone? He asked, and it was the first

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00:18:42,839 --> 00:18:46,880
any of us had spoken in a few hours. So far.

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We had all been walking, fixated on the gloom ahead

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and behind us, watching carefully for some sign that our

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fevered imaginations were right to suspect something lurking in the dark.

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Grant seemed to think so, I said, then, what are

252
00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:07,720
the odds he picked out his own book? I mean,

253
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if he's right that there are what a hundred billion

254
00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:16,400
bucks or so more? I replied, if he's right about

255
00:19:16,400 --> 00:19:21,119
the library containing future sins as well as past pretty

256
00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:26,559
slim heards. Then she added, what are you thinking if

257
00:19:26,559 --> 00:19:29,680
he did find it here? I don't think it was

258
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a coincidence, she said. Up ahead, one of the soldiers

259
00:19:35,839 --> 00:19:39,400
came to a sudden stop, fist raised as he muttered

260
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something to the others, who knelt and lifted their rifles

261
00:19:43,160 --> 00:19:48,720
aiming at the dark What is it, I asked, You

262
00:19:48,759 --> 00:19:53,519
don't hear it, Michael called back. All of us stopped

263
00:19:53,599 --> 00:19:57,640
and listened, carefully, straining to pick out some meaningful sound

264
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from the white noise of blood rushing through our ears

265
00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:05,880
and the thumping of our own hearts. Sure enough, it

266
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was there, a gentle rustling. Without speaking. All of us

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moved as quietly as we could along the corridor until

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we came to the source of the strange noise. A door,

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00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:25,759
one that hadn't been there on our way in left

270
00:20:25,839 --> 00:20:31,079
ever so slightly, ajar rifle raised, one of the soldiers

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used the barrel to nudge it open a little further.

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Oh damn, he said, his voice loud enough to send

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echoes down the hall. The sound came as a shock,

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and Michael pulled him back, ready to admonish. When we

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all saw what had been waiting on the other side

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another corridor, only this one had shelves lined not with bugs,

277
00:20:59,079 --> 00:21:05,960
but severed heads, desiccated, pale and gaunt, row after row,

278
00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:11,680
all sitting neatly next to one another, evenly spaced, their

279
00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,599
skin paper white in the harsh glare of our lights,

280
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and all of them with cloudy eyes. And they were

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speaking sot of vouce, little whispers. They muttered in a

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00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:34,240
discord of wet lips, no breath, no lungs, only the

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00:21:34,279 --> 00:21:38,079
action of robbery jaws to sound out syllables and consonance.

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They were lost in the rustling cacophony. The sound was horrific,

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00:21:44,079 --> 00:21:48,200
wet and dry and deeply unsettling as it worked its

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00:21:48,200 --> 00:21:52,200
way under my skin, until I felt the strangest urge

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00:21:52,279 --> 00:21:57,200
to lash out at the heads. But curiosity overrowed disgust,

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and I approached one, wincing briefly when it fixed me

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00:22:02,599 --> 00:22:07,559
with its cloudy eyes, But I didn't stop. I got

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00:22:07,599 --> 00:22:11,119
close enough to see every detail of its flaking skin,

291
00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:15,519
its roomy eyes, glaring at me with such strange emotion

292
00:22:17,039 --> 00:22:20,960
from my own sanity, I reached out and picked it up,

293
00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,880
noting with disgust how the stump of its neck left

294
00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:29,000
mottle brow fluid on the shelf behind. I guess I

295
00:22:29,119 --> 00:22:32,319
just wanted to know if it was fake. But its

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00:22:32,319 --> 00:22:35,920
skin was cold and its brow furrowed with anger at

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00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,920
my touch, And as soon as it was in the air,

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every other head stopped their muttering and fixed me with

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00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:47,200
such foul expressions. I quickly put it back down again,

300
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:55,200
relieved when the murmuring resumed. Still, its eyes did not

301
00:22:55,359 --> 00:23:01,440
leave me. What the hell? Bee whispered, What is this?

302
00:23:02,079 --> 00:23:04,599
Michael asked, as he scanned the upper shelves with his

303
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:09,240
torch on and on they went as far as we

304
00:23:09,279 --> 00:23:17,000
could see. What the actual hell is this? Slowly, a

305
00:23:17,079 --> 00:23:21,680
strange thought began to form in my head. Blink if

306
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:25,400
you can understand me, I said, were kneeling down to

307
00:23:25,519 --> 00:23:29,119
look at the head I'd picked up. Everyone else in

308
00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:31,839
the group suddenly stopped what they were doing and turned

309
00:23:31,839 --> 00:23:40,200
to see the result of my little experiment. Blink Okay, okay, okay,

310
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:45,039
I repeated, while trying to calm myself down. Right once

311
00:23:45,079 --> 00:23:51,640
for no, twice for yes, do you understand? Blink? Blink

312
00:23:53,160 --> 00:23:58,599
right okay ah. I looked to the others for suggestions.

313
00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,119
When Bee piped up in Stea said are these books

314
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:08,559
a list of all our sins? Blink blink, one book

315
00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:17,640
for one person? Blink blink. So what are you? She asked,

316
00:24:18,119 --> 00:24:21,119
and this elicited a scathing look from the severed head.

317
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,400
He asked her, no questions, I told her. One of

318
00:24:26,400 --> 00:24:29,799
the soldiers, the youngest one, the one who helped translate

319
00:24:29,839 --> 00:24:35,200
the German, stepped up and spoke. Is this hell? He asked?

320
00:24:36,559 --> 00:24:45,680
Blink blink? Is this your punishment? He added, blink. If

321
00:24:45,680 --> 00:24:52,400
this isn't the punishment, he said, what is? All the

322
00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:56,240
heads stopped them muttering and began to emit the strangest noise,

323
00:24:57,079 --> 00:25:01,200
their faces twisting upwards and warping in to grotesque parodies

324
00:25:01,240 --> 00:25:04,279
of joy, while their mouths moved up and down in

325
00:25:04,319 --> 00:25:07,799
a particular sort of rhythm. When I realized what they

326
00:25:07,839 --> 00:25:11,480
were doing, I felt a terrible sensation of cold dread

327
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:17,559
creeping down my entire body. They were laughing at us.

328
00:25:18,279 --> 00:25:21,359
There was no door. The wire slipped through a tiny

329
00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:23,960
hole at the base of a wall that blocked off

330
00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:28,519
the corridor. All of us were stunned into silence for minutes,

331
00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:33,240
until at last Lieutenant Michael shook himself free from the

332
00:25:33,319 --> 00:25:38,440
shock and issued an order Davis get HQ on the line.

333
00:25:39,759 --> 00:25:42,440
One of the soldiers knelt down and began to remove

334
00:25:42,480 --> 00:25:46,920
the communication set from his backpack. Within a few seconds,

335
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,559
it was set up and he was speaking into the

336
00:25:49,599 --> 00:25:55,599
headset HQ. Can you read me over? Ah? I can

337
00:25:55,640 --> 00:25:59,440
read you well. I guess the wire still leads to HQ,

338
00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:04,440
I said. Try checking the wall for seams. Michael told me,

339
00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:10,359
see if it moves, hidden hinges us something I don't know. Then,

340
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:13,519
turning back to the soldier with a headset, tell them

341
00:26:13,559 --> 00:26:16,319
we've encountered an obstacle and we want them to send

342
00:26:16,319 --> 00:26:19,599
another team in to get us. Oh, and tell them

343
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:25,240
to bring explosives if this thing opens, I said, while

344
00:26:25,279 --> 00:26:28,559
running my hand along the edges, I can't see how.

345
00:26:29,279 --> 00:26:34,119
It's pretty solid. Unlike every other wall we'd seen so far,

346
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:38,559
this one was made of red bricks. But that didn't

347
00:26:38,599 --> 00:26:42,720
mean it was somehow mobile either. It seemed as sturdy

348
00:26:42,759 --> 00:26:46,839
as any brick wall i'd come across. Well, it came

349
00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:50,160
from somewhere, B cried, while trying to peer through the

350
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:54,200
hole the wire disappeared through. Damn it, I can't see

351
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:59,319
anything HQ. The soldier said, We're going to need some assistance.

352
00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:07,839
There's an obstacle over Roger there. What's the obstacle a wall?

353
00:27:08,480 --> 00:27:12,359
He replied, Tell the next team to bring explosives over

354
00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:19,079
a wall. Just send the team asap. The soldier cried,

355
00:27:19,599 --> 00:27:23,559
our way out is blocked over. Well, I can confirm

356
00:27:23,599 --> 00:27:28,440
we are unroute to your position. Just one question, HG replied,

357
00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,759
what's that over? The young man replied, why do you

358
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:39,720
keep saying over? Suddenly the voice changed and began to

359
00:27:39,799 --> 00:27:45,160
titter and giggle, at first quietly, then louder and louder,

360
00:27:45,640 --> 00:27:49,039
like a mean kid laughing at a prank. The cruelty

361
00:27:49,200 --> 00:27:52,480
and his high pitched voice made my skin crawl, and

362
00:27:52,559 --> 00:27:55,160
I was about to snatch the handset myself and begin

363
00:27:55,240 --> 00:28:01,119
demanding answers, when there was a stranger sound, heavy grinding,

364
00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:06,920
like stone turning against stone. Before I could even ask

365
00:28:07,000 --> 00:28:10,319
what it was, he fell backwards from where she crouched

366
00:28:10,599 --> 00:28:13,759
and quickly leaped up into a standing position and ran

367
00:28:13,839 --> 00:28:17,839
off into the dark like a maniac. The effect on

368
00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:21,720
the group was chilling. Then I stared back at the wall,

369
00:28:22,279 --> 00:28:27,880
desperately trying to understand what I'd seen. Williams, go get her,

370
00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:30,839
he barked at one of the soldiers before turning at

371
00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:35,240
me and crying, what the hell is her problem? I? Ah,

372
00:28:35,920 --> 00:28:41,680
I don't know, I stammered christ Michael hissed, before snatching

373
00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:46,480
the handset of the confused young soldier. Listen, he crowled

374
00:28:46,519 --> 00:28:49,319
into it. I don't know who you really are, but

375
00:28:49,359 --> 00:28:53,400
you need to get someone in charge. Right and sound again,

376
00:28:54,359 --> 00:28:58,839
loud and heavy, the grinding of heavy rocks being moved,

377
00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:02,519
and tiny stones came raining down in a cloud of dust.

378
00:29:04,039 --> 00:29:08,839
Something up there had disturbed them, and we all stood

379
00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:13,640
in silence as they plinked off our helmets. Is it

380
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:18,839
just me, Michael said, while looking towards the wall, or

381
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:26,079
is it somehow closer? Hard to say, I replied, I don't.

382
00:29:26,119 --> 00:29:31,240
The wall moved a sudden and terrifying lurch forwards, one

383
00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:33,880
that startled us all and made me trip over my

384
00:29:33,920 --> 00:29:38,759
own feet. Terrified, I scrambled backwards from it as fast

385
00:29:38,759 --> 00:29:41,799
as I could, while the handset continued to radiate that

386
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:46,559
malicious laughter. I think we need to go, I said,

387
00:29:46,759 --> 00:29:51,400
in as calm a voice as I could manage. The

388
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:57,359
wall moved again, and this time it did not stop.

389
00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:01,160
The young soldier with a hand set did not react

390
00:30:01,200 --> 00:30:05,240
fast enough. It came forward so quickly that it had

391
00:30:05,279 --> 00:30:07,720
him within seconds and knocked him to the floor with

392
00:30:07,759 --> 00:30:11,200
a heavy thumb, and then it rolled over him as

393
00:30:11,279 --> 00:30:15,759
it was Well, if you're anything like me as a child,

394
00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:18,440
you might have wondered what happened to someone who got

395
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:23,000
caught in an escalator at the very top. I'm sure

396
00:30:23,039 --> 00:30:27,119
you know what I mean. Light was so poor, so

397
00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:31,279
I still don't really understand what happened, only that there

398
00:30:31,319 --> 00:30:34,880
was a lot of blood, and while it was quick,

399
00:30:35,759 --> 00:30:38,880
it was not quick enough, because when the wall was

400
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:42,240
about half way up his spine, I could still see

401
00:30:42,279 --> 00:30:46,200
the pain registering in his eyes. And that was the

402
00:30:46,279 --> 00:30:49,279
last impression I had before Michael grabbed me by the

403
00:30:49,359 --> 00:30:52,279
collar and practically threw me back the way we came,

404
00:30:54,400 --> 00:31:09,599
and we ran running, plodding, one foot after another. I

405
00:31:09,640 --> 00:31:12,160
don't know how long it went on for, but it

406
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:14,599
was as if time seemed to stretch on in the

407
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:19,160
way that only pain and tedium could induce. There were

408
00:31:19,200 --> 00:31:22,400
moments where as I struggled to force one foot in

409
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:25,559
front of the other, I wondered if I'd actually been

410
00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,519
running for days, not hours. There was no real way

411
00:31:29,559 --> 00:31:34,599
to mark the passage of time. Only monotony books went

412
00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:38,400
by in a blur. The floor was featureless stone, The

413
00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:42,440
rhythmic sound of my feet lost all meaning, and behind

414
00:31:42,519 --> 00:31:47,519
me the wall ever advancing with a horrible sound of

415
00:31:47,559 --> 00:31:53,319
grinding rocks, promising pain and nothing else. The only thing

416
00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,160
I could actually focus on was the exhaustion, and that

417
00:31:57,319 --> 00:32:01,640
was self defeating. More than a few times I wondered

418
00:32:01,759 --> 00:32:05,000
if I should just give up, and to this day

419
00:32:05,480 --> 00:32:08,920
I still have nightmares where I'm being chased down that corridor.

420
00:32:10,519 --> 00:32:13,279
It wasn't a quick pace, but he was quick enough,

421
00:32:13,759 --> 00:32:17,039
and there were no other roots except forward, and therein

422
00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:21,759
lay the torture of it. Behind me was death moving

423
00:32:22,079 --> 00:32:26,519
at a brisk job, and ahead of me was nothing,

424
00:32:27,599 --> 00:32:32,039
just darkness broken by erratic motion of a torch. And

425
00:32:32,119 --> 00:32:35,599
the entire time, which I would later realize was a

426
00:32:35,599 --> 00:32:39,160
good two hours, the only thing I could think was

427
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:41,799
when am I going to lose this fight? When am

428
00:32:41,839 --> 00:32:48,039
I going to collapse or give up? Imagine my relief

429
00:32:48,079 --> 00:32:52,079
when up ahead I heard a familiar voice cry out,

430
00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:57,039
what is your problem? Lady? And when I saw them,

431
00:32:57,640 --> 00:33:00,319
the young man held Bee by a shoulders while she

432
00:33:00,359 --> 00:33:03,599
tried to drag him through an open door. That was

433
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,519
when I remembered the little corridor with the severed heads.

434
00:33:07,519 --> 00:33:10,119
Not exactly the kind of salvation I was hoping for,

435
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:15,319
but it'd have to do together. Michael and I grabbed

436
00:33:15,319 --> 00:33:17,720
both of them and threw us all through the opening.

437
00:33:19,279 --> 00:33:23,599
Seconds later, far too close for comfort, the entire corridor

438
00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:27,720
we'd been running through went pitch black. The wall overtook

439
00:33:27,759 --> 00:33:31,440
our positions, and we were left panting and exhausted on

440
00:33:31,480 --> 00:33:34,759
the floor, where thousands of severed heads looked at us

441
00:33:34,839 --> 00:33:39,200
in annoyance. When we looked back the way we came,

442
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:45,039
we saw that nothing but pulsating flesh, a wall of it,

443
00:33:45,359 --> 00:33:51,200
hot and sticky and threaded with sickly blue veins. I

444
00:33:51,279 --> 00:33:54,400
don't know what the wall was, but something about the

445
00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:58,039
meat behind the stone made me think of hungry coral.

446
00:33:59,519 --> 00:34:02,640
It was a trap, Michael hissed as he inspected the

447
00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:05,960
horrible mass. I don't know how, but we were led

448
00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,719
down the wrong path. It's what the cables or something,

449
00:34:10,119 --> 00:34:12,679
I don't know, but we were lowered down there like

450
00:34:12,679 --> 00:34:19,639
a rat's where's Davis, the other soldier asked, he's gone?

451
00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:25,880
Michael said what. The older man gestured to the wall

452
00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:29,519
of meat behind us. Whatever the hell that thing is

453
00:34:30,079 --> 00:34:32,519
it got him. It looked like a wall, but it

454
00:34:33,360 --> 00:34:37,280
could move, and it just steamrolled him. Thanks for the warning,

455
00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:40,719
by the way, He growled at Bee, but she showed

456
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:44,840
no sign of understanding him. Instead, she was sat on

457
00:34:44,920 --> 00:34:48,880
the floor and shaking, clearly in a state of shock.

458
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,960
Where now, sir, the remaining soldier asked, and Michael grimaced,

459
00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:59,159
where do you think he spat? Before gesturing at the

460
00:34:59,239 --> 00:35:04,719
root Forward, the only direction that's available. The heads made

461
00:35:04,719 --> 00:35:09,000
for strange companions. They followed us with their eyes but

462
00:35:09,079 --> 00:35:12,960
did not stop them muttering. It was grating, to say

463
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,320
the least, a noise you could ignore for maybe an

464
00:35:16,400 --> 00:35:20,119
hour or so, but pretty soon the papery rustle of

465
00:35:20,159 --> 00:35:23,199
their ancient lips was the only thing you could focus on,

466
00:35:23,559 --> 00:35:25,599
no matter how hard you tried to push it out

467
00:35:25,639 --> 00:35:32,039
of your head. At least, navigation was simple. Forward, the

468
00:35:32,039 --> 00:35:36,440
only way to go. We walked for about six hours

469
00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:40,199
before we took our first break. The corridor was wide,

470
00:35:40,639 --> 00:35:43,199
but we stayed away from their heads and slept in

471
00:35:43,199 --> 00:35:46,039
a row head to feet While two of us stayed

472
00:35:46,039 --> 00:35:51,480
on watch six hours each. I decided to stay up

473
00:35:51,519 --> 00:35:54,719
along with Michael and b and the other soldier tried

474
00:35:54,760 --> 00:35:58,719
to rest. B had barely come out of shock during

475
00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:03,320
the journey. Speaking a little towards the very end, she

476
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:06,599
told us in a broken way what she'd seen while

477
00:36:06,679 --> 00:36:13,159
kneeling by the wall. Teeth she said, and a face.

478
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:20,440
Although she wouldn't or couldn't elaborate on those two statements,

479
00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:23,639
I was left with the sense that she had seen

480
00:36:23,719 --> 00:36:28,480
something that had come down close to leaving her completely insane.

481
00:36:28,719 --> 00:36:31,599
Even as it was, I doubted she had a full

482
00:36:31,639 --> 00:36:35,000
recovery in her. She almost looked like a different woman,

483
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:39,920
baggy eyed, thinning hair. Or maybe he was just the

484
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:45,440
conditions down here. Michael didn't look too great either. I

485
00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:50,320
had to assume I looked pretty rough too, especially after

486
00:36:50,360 --> 00:36:57,079
that run. It had exhausted me, broken me, not just

487
00:36:57,079 --> 00:37:01,480
the physical exertion, but the nightmare of it. The reason

488
00:37:01,639 --> 00:37:04,559
I'd elected to stay and watch first was because I

489
00:37:04,559 --> 00:37:07,840
didn't want to sleep. A part of me was worried.

490
00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:11,320
I just dream about being back in that hallway, running

491
00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:14,599
from the moving wall, and I didn't want to revisit

492
00:37:14,639 --> 00:37:20,199
that place ever again, not even as a dream. There

493
00:37:20,199 --> 00:37:23,480
were moments where I came so close to just giving up.

494
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:28,119
I don't think i'd ever really experienced despair like that before,

495
00:37:29,039 --> 00:37:31,760
not the kind where you feel your knees buckling and

496
00:37:31,840 --> 00:37:35,760
your neck turned a rubber as your head bows. It

497
00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:38,880
must be what people stranded at Seafiel when they lose

498
00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:44,159
their strength to keep treading water. So instead I stayed

499
00:37:44,239 --> 00:37:47,280
up and tried to ignore the muttering of the heads,

500
00:37:47,800 --> 00:37:51,000
even tried talking to Michael, but he didn't have much

501
00:37:51,039 --> 00:37:54,559
to say. I could tell losing Davis back in the

502
00:37:54,559 --> 00:37:58,920
corridor had bothered him. Hell, it bothered me, and I

503
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:02,199
hadn't even known the guy. But I swear to this

504
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:05,559
day I can still see the look on his face

505
00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:11,480
as rock met flesh and his legs and hips just disappeared.

506
00:38:14,039 --> 00:38:17,079
In the end, I had only these kinds of thoughts

507
00:38:17,599 --> 00:38:25,280
for company, and lots and lots of time, so it

508
00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:28,559
probably shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that

509
00:38:28,639 --> 00:38:33,559
I eventually fell asleep. It wasn't for long, ten minutes

510
00:38:33,599 --> 00:38:36,760
at most, but it was enough time for me to

511
00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:40,960
wake up and see something dragged the sleeping soldier's body

512
00:38:41,119 --> 00:38:45,119
into the darkness of the nearby shelf, his head lolling

513
00:38:45,239 --> 00:38:52,239
unnaturally to one side. The movement was gentle, quiet, but

514
00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:56,840
clumsy too, like a child pulling a rag doll stealthily

515
00:38:56,960 --> 00:39:01,039
out of a box. I looked over to Michael and

516
00:39:01,159 --> 00:39:04,440
saw he'd fallen asleep as well, so I nudged him

517
00:39:04,440 --> 00:39:06,840
with my foot and he woke up with a sort

518
00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:11,199
of lazy start. Only when he looked at me, confused

519
00:39:11,239 --> 00:39:14,800
for a few short seconds before slowly registering the look

520
00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:17,599
of terror on my face, that he seemed to realize

521
00:39:17,639 --> 00:39:21,480
what was happening. I'm not sure what I expected him

522
00:39:21,480 --> 00:39:25,360
to do, really, but he was the leader and well armed,

523
00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:27,800
and I didn't want to be the one who had

524
00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:31,719
to figure out what to do next, possibly because there

525
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:34,440
was a part of me tempted to just sneak off,

526
00:39:35,480 --> 00:39:38,679
to leave the young man to his fate, maybe even

527
00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:42,280
be if it just meant I could survive a little

528
00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:48,360
bit longer. In truth, I was relieved when Michael leapt

529
00:39:48,400 --> 00:39:51,960
into action immediately. I didn't want to be a coward.

530
00:39:52,760 --> 00:39:55,239
He jumped up and grabbed the young man's foot, and

531
00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:57,760
I ran over and grabbed the other leg, and together

532
00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:02,199
we tried to pull him back. I didn't mention it

533
00:40:02,199 --> 00:40:05,039
to Michael, but the way the soldier's body felt when

534
00:40:05,039 --> 00:40:10,920
I grabbed it, the muscles were too relaxed too heavy.

535
00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:15,440
I don't know how to explain it, but if he

536
00:40:15,480 --> 00:40:18,719
ever end up in the unfortunate situation of moving a corpse,

537
00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:23,679
you might know what I mean. A living body supports

538
00:40:23,719 --> 00:40:29,280
itself a dead one. It's just meat and water, and

539
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:36,639
somehow feel so much heavier for it. He was dead, still,

540
00:40:36,920 --> 00:40:41,000
we fought on. At some point Bee must have woken up,

541
00:40:41,360 --> 00:40:45,639
realizing what was happening, and joined in. I remember her

542
00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:48,159
trying to reach into the shelf to grab hold of

543
00:40:48,199 --> 00:40:51,880
the dead man's arm, when she suddenly flew backwards, landing

544
00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:54,960
with a hefty thud against the shelf behind her and

545
00:40:55,039 --> 00:40:59,039
knocking a few of the severed heads on their little stumps.

546
00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:05,159
Whatever was in the dark was clearly frustrated. It wanted

547
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,239
its next meal, and it wasn't going to let us

548
00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:14,079
stop it. Slowly, a long inhuman arm reached out and

549
00:41:14,159 --> 00:41:17,880
took a hold of the body's groin, its strange handed

550
00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:22,840
fingers that split at the knuckle, one, two, three times,

551
00:41:23,719 --> 00:41:27,639
a terrifying effect, especially given how much each one moved

552
00:41:27,679 --> 00:41:31,079
on its own. A dinner, plaint monster of a hand

553
00:41:31,239 --> 00:41:34,800
attached to a lithe and muscular forearm, devoid of hair.

554
00:41:36,159 --> 00:41:38,519
The second I saw it reach out in my general direction.

555
00:41:39,239 --> 00:41:42,679
I let go of the leg and fell backwards. Michael

556
00:41:42,800 --> 00:41:46,280
continued struggling for a while, even taking out his pistol

557
00:41:46,360 --> 00:41:49,519
and firing a few shots into the dark, but in

558
00:41:49,599 --> 00:41:52,280
doing so he left only a hand to cling onto

559
00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:57,360
his comrade's corpse and lost his grip with almost no effort.

560
00:41:57,760 --> 00:42:01,760
The body disappeared into the shadow, and we were suddenly

561
00:42:02,280 --> 00:42:06,199
down to three. What the hell, What the hell? What

562
00:42:06,239 --> 00:42:11,599
the hell? He screamed. I wanted to say something, maybe

563
00:42:11,599 --> 00:42:14,719
even something to comfort him, or maybe an apology for

564
00:42:14,760 --> 00:42:19,880
falling asleep, but then again, he'd fallen asleep too. I

565
00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:22,559
didn't know what I was meant to do. I was

566
00:42:22,599 --> 00:42:26,760
in shock, and it was settling deep into me when

567
00:42:26,840 --> 00:42:29,480
p said something from where she remained on the floor,

568
00:42:30,360 --> 00:42:39,480
her voice quiet but oddly insistent. It isn't over. That

569
00:42:39,719 --> 00:42:46,760
hand re emerged carefully, deliberately. It placed itself on the floor,

570
00:42:47,199 --> 00:42:50,559
revealing more of the pale flesh that powered it, and

571
00:42:50,599 --> 00:42:56,480
then came another, and another, and then its head emerged

572
00:42:56,519 --> 00:43:01,400
slowly from the dark and fixed me with eyes both black, bulbous,

573
00:43:01,920 --> 00:43:04,800
and far too numerous for anything that can be called human,

574
00:43:06,199 --> 00:43:10,639
and its mouth, a beard made of dirty fingers, gray

575
00:43:10,679 --> 00:43:15,360
and bluish, long rancid nails, hundreds of them, squirming like

576
00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:21,159
mandibles of a hungry spider. Michael open fire, but he

577
00:43:21,239 --> 00:43:23,239
might as well have been shooting hay for all the

578
00:43:23,239 --> 00:43:26,440
effect it had. The bullet struck with the wet wap,

579
00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:31,320
but no actual damage. The creature knocked him aside with

580
00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:34,559
pure contempt and pulled the rest of itself out into

581
00:43:34,599 --> 00:43:37,840
the corridor, where he saw it had no legs, but

582
00:43:37,960 --> 00:43:41,880
instead relied on several long arms that suspend itself between

583
00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:44,719
the walls of the corridor, like a kind of spider.

584
00:43:46,159 --> 00:43:48,360
One of these arms reached out and grabbed a bee,

585
00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,239
and by the time she started screaming, it was already

586
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:56,679
too late. Blood trickled from her ears, and there was

587
00:43:56,719 --> 00:44:00,480
a sound like a branch snapping her entire. Her body

588
00:44:00,480 --> 00:44:03,360
went limp, and the monster dropped her where she fell

589
00:44:03,440 --> 00:44:08,320
to the ground, her grotesque, misshapen face glaring at me

590
00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:13,960
with accusatory eyes. The lieutenant screamed as he fired yet again,

591
00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:17,280
But then that thing seized him like it was nothing

592
00:44:17,320 --> 00:44:20,760
but a doll and lifted him, squeezing so tightly he

593
00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:24,679
dropped everything he held his gun and torch, hitting the

594
00:44:24,719 --> 00:44:29,559
ground with a loud rattle. Help me, he screamed, while

595
00:44:29,559 --> 00:44:33,079
reaching out for me to grab him. Jeez, shoot the thing.

596
00:44:35,239 --> 00:44:38,079
I ran forward, crouching down in the hope of avoiding

597
00:44:38,079 --> 00:44:42,559
its many arms. Already Michael was being squeezed so tight

598
00:44:42,599 --> 00:44:45,760
that blood splurted from his mouth, and I could tell

599
00:44:45,800 --> 00:44:49,679
that the monster was having fun reveling in his torment.

600
00:44:51,280 --> 00:44:53,119
I reached out and picked the gun up from the

601
00:44:53,159 --> 00:44:56,639
floor as Michael let her another desperate, wet cry for help,

602
00:44:57,880 --> 00:45:04,159
But for some reason, my hands stopped mere inches away.

603
00:45:04,880 --> 00:45:10,280
I hesitated. Michael's blood was dripping down I could hear

604
00:45:10,360 --> 00:45:14,599
the crunching of his ribs. In my most shameful moment,

605
00:45:15,239 --> 00:45:25,039
I grabbed the torch and ran, and Michael's cries followed me, screaming, screeching, whimpering,

606
00:45:25,960 --> 00:45:30,239
sounds of breaking bones and tearing paper, sounds of torture

607
00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:36,920
and torment that somehow seemed to last forever. I emerged

608
00:45:36,960 --> 00:45:42,719
from the corridor alone. It took me a few seconds

609
00:45:42,719 --> 00:45:45,679
of stumbling and my failing legs to realize that the

610
00:45:45,679 --> 00:45:49,480
monster had given up on the pursuit, and then a

611
00:45:49,519 --> 00:45:52,920
few seconds more for me to recognize. I was back

612
00:45:52,960 --> 00:45:58,920
on the mezzanine, terrified and exhausted, and contemplating if it

613
00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:01,440
was worth trying to escape, if he meant having to

614
00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:04,960
spend another second alive in that place. I fell to

615
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:11,559
the floor and began to sob. Maybe I thought it

616
00:46:11,679 --> 00:46:14,119
was time to take a dive off that ledge, just

617
00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:20,920
like grantad. What on earth are you doing here? I

618
00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:23,719
whipped around to see an old man in robes staring

619
00:46:23,760 --> 00:46:29,639
at me like an impolite intruder. Without meaning to, I

620
00:46:29,760 --> 00:46:35,239
began to laugh. My sanity, it was fair to say,

621
00:46:35,599 --> 00:46:40,519
was on its final legs. Hmm, he said, while leaning

622
00:46:40,519 --> 00:46:44,960
aside to get a look down the long corridor behind. Now,

623
00:46:45,199 --> 00:46:50,360
why did you go down there? I wanted to answer,

624
00:46:51,119 --> 00:46:54,400
but couldn't quite bring myself to do anything except a

625
00:46:54,480 --> 00:46:58,719
laugh and gasp for air. I think you really ought

626
00:46:58,760 --> 00:47:02,800
to go home, he said, like a teacher admonishing a child.

627
00:47:03,920 --> 00:47:07,039
This place is Hell, I cried, more, rocking back and

628
00:47:07,119 --> 00:47:12,280
forth my knees. Yes, he nodded, yes, good for you.

629
00:47:13,320 --> 00:47:15,840
This is a small part to Hell, one that has

630
00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:19,199
a slight overlap with Earth. If I remember, I'm assuming

631
00:47:19,239 --> 00:47:23,679
that's how you got down here. The door what happens

632
00:47:23,679 --> 00:47:28,360
to your friends anyway, he added. I looked back the

633
00:47:28,400 --> 00:47:33,679
way I came and pointed. Oh, he sighed. You know

634
00:47:34,320 --> 00:47:36,960
I left your books out specifically so you'd find them

635
00:47:37,000 --> 00:47:39,880
and figure it out. And I know that bold fellow

636
00:47:39,880 --> 00:47:42,920
worked it out. So once you knew this place was hell,

637
00:47:43,559 --> 00:47:49,239
why did you waste another second sticking around? I shrugged.

638
00:47:49,800 --> 00:47:51,719
I'm not quite sure what I was meant to say

639
00:47:51,760 --> 00:47:55,920
to that kind of thing. We got waylaid, I gasped,

640
00:47:56,199 --> 00:48:02,039
misled fair enough, he replied, probably should have done more

641
00:48:02,079 --> 00:48:05,880
to make sure you got home safely. That's partly my fault.

642
00:48:06,559 --> 00:48:11,400
Although I won't apologize. You entered this place, didn't you

643
00:48:11,440 --> 00:48:15,159
see the door? What part of that was inviting? You

644
00:48:15,239 --> 00:48:19,840
have to take some of the blame. I wanted to

645
00:48:19,840 --> 00:48:25,199
mount a defense, but I didn't really have one when

646
00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:27,320
it became clear the only thing I could do was

647
00:48:27,400 --> 00:48:31,519
sob and mutter. The old man's body language softened and

648
00:48:31,599 --> 00:48:36,039
he reached the hand out. Come on, I'll take you back.

649
00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:42,079
What about the demons, I asked. The old man frowned.

650
00:48:43,039 --> 00:48:48,280
Those worn't demons, he snapped. This place is defunct. Mortal

651
00:48:48,320 --> 00:48:51,360
souls are meant to demonstrate repentance by wondering the near

652
00:48:51,360 --> 00:48:54,400
eternal halls in search of their book. Only when they

653
00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:56,920
found it were they were allowed to move on. The

654
00:48:56,960 --> 00:49:01,039
whole thing didn't quite work out. Eighty six squadrillion books

655
00:49:02,039 --> 00:49:04,239
takes a tad too long for the average person to

656
00:49:04,280 --> 00:49:08,679
find theirs. So this entire wing was abandoned, and now

657
00:49:08,719 --> 00:49:13,679
there are only sinners left behind. That thing was never human,

658
00:49:14,239 --> 00:49:17,320
I cried, or pointing at the corridor I'd emerged from.

659
00:49:18,079 --> 00:49:21,519
Nobody's soul looks human, he said, like it was the

660
00:49:21,519 --> 00:49:25,000
most obvious thing in the world, least of all the

661
00:49:25,039 --> 00:49:28,039
sort of person who gets sent to hell. This isn't

662
00:49:28,039 --> 00:49:30,440
the place for people who eat meat on Friday or

663
00:49:30,480 --> 00:49:34,280
cover their neighbour's ox. It's for the cruel and the malicious,

664
00:49:34,840 --> 00:49:38,239
cowards and opportunists. A lot of people in this place

665
00:49:38,239 --> 00:49:40,960
have souls that have more in common with anglerfish and

666
00:49:41,039 --> 00:49:44,559
tracked door spiders than their fellow men. And it's not

667
00:49:44,639 --> 00:49:48,000
a condition that gets better after several thousand years either.

668
00:49:49,119 --> 00:49:55,639
The soul changes twists, and so do their physical forms.

669
00:49:57,039 --> 00:50:00,960
And what about you, I said, as I reached up

670
00:50:00,960 --> 00:50:06,199
and took his hand. Why do you look so normal? Oh?

671
00:50:06,519 --> 00:50:09,679
He said, as he helped me up. That's because I

672
00:50:09,760 --> 00:50:15,000
built this place. And the last thing I can remember

673
00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:18,480
as he gripped me by the shoulder was the sudden

674
00:50:18,679 --> 00:50:25,519
and painful sensation of heat. We woke up in our

675
00:50:25,519 --> 00:50:35,599
respective quarters, we all six of us. I still don't

676
00:50:35,599 --> 00:50:39,320
fully understand the mechanics. I tried asking the others how

677
00:50:39,320 --> 00:50:42,000
they made it back, but they weren't in a state

678
00:50:42,079 --> 00:50:47,719
to answer questions. B was catatonic, screaming and clutching her

679
00:50:47,719 --> 00:50:50,880
head in the hospital like she still remembered the way

680
00:50:50,880 --> 00:50:54,880
that thing crushed a skull like a grapefruit. The soldier

681
00:50:54,920 --> 00:50:58,599
who fell to the wall was left paraplegic, even though

682
00:50:58,719 --> 00:51:04,639
medical tests couldn't identify a single reason why. Psychological, I said.

683
00:51:05,760 --> 00:51:08,400
The other soldier, the one who had been dragged into

684
00:51:08,400 --> 00:51:12,840
the shelves, was comatose. I don't know if he recovered,

685
00:51:13,760 --> 00:51:17,079
but he was alive. And Grant was left in a

686
00:51:17,119 --> 00:51:21,360
permanent psychotic state, compelled to write on any surface he could,

687
00:51:21,840 --> 00:51:27,840
over and over again, sin after sin, desperately trying to

688
00:51:27,840 --> 00:51:30,960
rewrite the very book that had driven him to madness

689
00:51:31,000 --> 00:51:37,840
in the first place. Michael tried very hard to kill me.

690
00:51:39,920 --> 00:51:42,360
He had clear memories of being left to die in

691
00:51:42,400 --> 00:51:45,519
the dark. I'm glad they caught him before he managed

692
00:51:45,559 --> 00:51:48,079
to wring the life out of me with his bare hands.

693
00:51:48,840 --> 00:51:51,239
I never found out what happened to him after several

694
00:51:51,239 --> 00:51:53,559
men managed to pry his hands from around my throat.

695
00:51:55,079 --> 00:52:01,159
Despite everything, I hope he managed some kind of recovery.

696
00:52:01,840 --> 00:52:08,360
The door disappeared, thankfully, with no one on the other side.

697
00:52:08,679 --> 00:52:12,880
I know they were planning future expeditions. It is for

698
00:52:12,960 --> 00:52:17,519
the best that kind of thing can't happen again. They've

699
00:52:17,599 --> 00:52:24,000
no idea what's waiting for them. In a way I

700
00:52:24,119 --> 00:52:28,960
probably could have convinced myself the expedition never happened. Some

701
00:52:29,199 --> 00:52:33,559
days even now, that's what I sincerely hope can happen.

702
00:52:35,079 --> 00:52:40,519
There was no physical evidence nothing. We appeared in our beds,

703
00:52:40,559 --> 00:52:43,719
completely nude, save for a note stuck to my chest.

704
00:52:45,119 --> 00:52:48,679
And it's this final little touch that stood out to me,

705
00:52:48,760 --> 00:52:55,599
a stern confirmation of everything I'd experienced. Returned to Sender

706
00:52:56,519 --> 00:53:01,000
six mortals. Five were damaged in transit. Bodies were repaired

707
00:53:01,000 --> 00:53:03,800
to the best of my ability, but I was never

708
00:53:03,800 --> 00:53:07,440
good at that kind of thing. Minds are another matter.

709
00:53:07,679 --> 00:53:12,159
Entirely could not help myself in one case left fellow

710
00:53:12,239 --> 00:53:15,360
mortal to die in the dark. Didn't seem very sporting.

711
00:53:16,519 --> 00:53:20,239
Don't let anyone say I lack a sense of humor. Otherwise,

712
00:53:20,760 --> 00:53:29,679
no harm, no foul, best wishes me. My heart sank

713
00:53:29,960 --> 00:53:33,280
when I heard them read it to me. It confirmed

714
00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:37,440
my deepest worries. No one had been very honest with

715
00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:41,440
me since I'd arrived at the hospital. They'd kept me

716
00:53:41,559 --> 00:53:46,320
bandaged up, so it wasn't easy to tell. But after

717
00:53:46,360 --> 00:53:49,639
I heard that note, I finally found the courage to

718
00:53:49,719 --> 00:53:55,360
reach up and remove the thick wads of fabric. Then,

719
00:53:55,920 --> 00:54:02,039
with shaking fingers, I finally touched my eyes, or rather

720
00:54:03,559 --> 00:54:18,039
the empty sockets where they used to be. A couple

721
00:54:18,039 --> 00:54:21,119
of years ago, I was dating a woman named Lynn.

722
00:54:22,239 --> 00:54:27,320
She was deeply enthusiastic about alternative medicine. It was such

723
00:54:27,320 --> 00:54:32,599
a strange obsession. In every other aspect, she was insightful

724
00:54:32,599 --> 00:54:37,199
and critical. Hell, she was a paralegal. She just had

725
00:54:37,239 --> 00:54:40,039
this one blind spot that I could never figure out,

726
00:54:40,760 --> 00:54:44,079
and it was a big part of a life. We

727
00:54:44,079 --> 00:54:48,159
were together for two years. During that time, she had

728
00:54:48,239 --> 00:54:52,519
me try all kinds of strange treatments and experiences, things

729
00:54:52,559 --> 00:54:57,960
like acupuncture, spirit healing, crystals, reiki, rolphing, and even a seance.

730
00:54:59,159 --> 00:55:00,760
I may or may not I have been asked to

731
00:55:00,760 --> 00:55:04,679
do aiahuasca. I went along with it because I cared

732
00:55:04,679 --> 00:55:08,440
deeply for her, but the cracks in our relationship had

733
00:55:08,440 --> 00:55:12,559
started to show. Turned out we wouldn't last in the

734
00:55:12,599 --> 00:55:17,159
long run. But I don't want to talk about that relationship.

735
00:55:17,880 --> 00:55:20,559
I want to talk about this one treatment she took

736
00:55:20,639 --> 00:55:23,760
me to and how it has shaped the life I

737
00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:29,960
am living today. It's a bit complicated. I'm going to

738
00:55:30,079 --> 00:55:37,719
talk about step minding. It was an early Minnesota morning

739
00:55:38,239 --> 00:55:40,559
and the last session that Lynn and I would attend

740
00:55:40,559 --> 00:55:44,679
as a couple. We pulled into a nondescript parking lot

741
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:48,519
and Lynn led me by the hand. We had an

742
00:55:48,559 --> 00:55:51,760
insane fight that morning about something I can barely remember.

743
00:55:52,679 --> 00:55:54,440
I think it was the order you put in your

744
00:55:54,480 --> 00:55:59,639
yogurt when eating museli. Of course you put musi in first, right,

745
00:56:00,400 --> 00:56:05,400
It's like cereal. We entered a stale waiting room. The

746
00:56:05,480 --> 00:56:08,599
ac must have been off for days. I could taste

747
00:56:08,639 --> 00:56:12,199
the air. The only other person there was a short,

748
00:56:12,360 --> 00:56:16,000
balding man who spoke to us in a vaguely European accent,

749
00:56:16,599 --> 00:56:22,639
barely looking up from his iPad Stevenson's. He asked over

750
00:56:22,679 --> 00:56:28,599
exposure's room for no Ah, that's not us. I said,

751
00:56:29,079 --> 00:56:35,039
we're right, right, sorry, he sighed wrong day. He tapped

752
00:56:35,079 --> 00:56:38,440
the screen a couple of times and nodded, step minding

753
00:56:38,760 --> 00:56:46,360
couple's treatment. Still room four, thank you. He wandered off,

754
00:56:46,840 --> 00:56:50,199
and I noticed he didn't have any shoes on. I

755
00:56:50,280 --> 00:56:54,079
pointed it out Olynne, who elbowed me. She thought I

756
00:56:54,159 --> 00:56:58,360
was being judgmental. I just thought it was strange. I

757
00:56:58,400 --> 00:57:03,719
didn't want to start anything. She vehemently disagreed with my assessment.

758
00:57:04,360 --> 00:57:10,960
As always, we walked up to room four. The door

759
00:57:11,079 --> 00:57:15,559
was already open. It was a plain, windowless room with

760
00:57:15,639 --> 00:57:19,960
a small coffee table surrounded by four basic office chairs.

761
00:57:20,960 --> 00:57:24,159
There was a vase with a single blue flower. There

762
00:57:24,199 --> 00:57:27,679
was a naked light bulb overhead with nothing covering it.

763
00:57:27,880 --> 00:57:31,599
Before was covered in a plain gray carpet. There was

764
00:57:31,599 --> 00:57:33,639
a little note on the door that urged us to

765
00:57:33,719 --> 00:57:37,760
take off our shoes. Then just smiled at me as

766
00:57:37,760 --> 00:57:43,599
if this explained everything. I rolled my eyes. We sat

767
00:57:43,679 --> 00:57:47,920
down across from one another and waited. It didn't take

768
00:57:47,960 --> 00:57:51,840
that long before a woman wandered in. She was in

769
00:57:51,880 --> 00:57:55,280
the forties, wearing a sort of knitted white wall caftain.

770
00:57:56,559 --> 00:57:59,840
She had a combed back, flat elvia looking hairdoo and

771
00:58:00,119 --> 00:58:04,400
covered herself in rings, chains and bangles. She took her

772
00:58:04,400 --> 00:58:10,760
hands smiling widely. I'm doctor Bogan, she assured us, but

773
00:58:10,920 --> 00:58:17,960
please call me Jane. I wasn't feeling all too confident

774
00:58:18,239 --> 00:58:22,599
about what we were about to do. Jane described the

775
00:58:22,639 --> 00:58:26,679
procedure step minding was a way to connect to one

776
00:58:26,679 --> 00:58:30,480
another in a new way, giving a better understanding of

777
00:58:30,559 --> 00:58:32,920
what it was like to walk a mile in their shoes.

778
00:58:34,239 --> 00:58:37,280
There are a couple of rules to remember before we started.

779
00:58:38,239 --> 00:58:42,519
For example, once the treatment started, we couldn't get up

780
00:58:42,559 --> 00:58:48,760
from our chairs. If we did, we'd get horribly nauseous. Also,

781
00:58:49,239 --> 00:58:53,400
we had a sort of safety noise. If someone were

782
00:58:53,440 --> 00:58:56,639
to snap their fingers three times in a sequence, that

783
00:58:56,800 --> 00:59:01,119
a trigger a failsafe that brought us right back. All

784
00:59:01,159 --> 00:59:08,280
in all, it seemed dard, but not like nefarious. Then

785
00:59:09,000 --> 00:59:15,280
we began. Jane rhythmically snapped her fingers like someone tapping

786
00:59:15,280 --> 00:59:18,679
their feet to a slow song. She spoke in a

787
00:59:18,719 --> 00:59:24,840
monotone voice, asking us to look down, look at your feet,

788
00:59:25,440 --> 00:59:29,840
She said, imagine the feeling of walking the way your

789
00:59:29,920 --> 00:59:33,760
muscles contract and your knees bend. Think of how it

790
00:59:33,800 --> 00:59:37,159
makes you feel, and imagine the sound you think your

791
00:59:37,159 --> 00:59:42,400
body makes. I don't remember the exact wording of what

792
00:59:42,480 --> 00:59:45,960
she told us next, but I remember how it made

793
00:59:45,960 --> 00:59:51,639
me feel. Without moving, we were supposed to imagine standing up,

794
00:59:51,960 --> 00:59:56,280
stepping across and through the coffee table, and sitting down

795
00:59:56,440 --> 00:59:58,679
on the chair of the person on the other side,

796
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:05,280
spirit passing through them, occupying the same space. We were

797
01:00:05,320 --> 01:00:08,719
to imagine looking at ourselves through the eyes of the other.

798
01:00:10,079 --> 01:00:13,400
There was a breathing exercise following the rhythm of a

799
01:00:13,480 --> 01:00:18,199
finger snapping. We joined our breaths, and Jane made us

800
01:00:18,199 --> 01:00:21,559
focus on each part of our body, leading from our

801
01:00:21,599 --> 01:00:25,440
toes up to the top of our heads. She called

802
01:00:25,440 --> 01:00:30,800
it materializing. We kept our eyes on our feet, except

803
01:00:30,880 --> 01:00:38,079
slowly they weren't my feet anymore. Now, look, Jane said,

804
01:00:38,760 --> 01:00:45,639
look at yourself. I was looking down at Linde's feet,

805
01:00:46,719 --> 01:00:52,440
but not through my eyes. I have a hard time

806
01:00:52,519 --> 01:00:58,280
describing the first sensation of step minding. Jane's finger snapping stopped,

807
01:00:59,119 --> 01:01:02,000
and all of a sudden, I was looking up at

808
01:01:03,320 --> 01:01:10,440
well myself. I was sitting in Linde's chair. I was,

809
01:01:10,760 --> 01:01:14,519
for all intents and purposes, experiencing the world as Lyn.

810
01:01:15,559 --> 01:01:21,280
I was Lyn. My hands were smaller, more delicate. I

811
01:01:21,360 --> 01:01:26,079
was colder, and my clothes are uncomfortable. Smell and taste

812
01:01:26,119 --> 01:01:29,119
felt different, and I had this gnawing hunger in the

813
01:01:29,159 --> 01:01:33,039
back of my stomach. My back ched, and I could

814
01:01:33,079 --> 01:01:37,679
feel my long hair reaching halfway down my back. I

815
01:01:38,000 --> 01:01:43,639
was Lyn. I can barely remember what I did. We

816
01:01:43,760 --> 01:01:47,360
talked and touched each other's hands, reassuring one another that

817
01:01:47,440 --> 01:01:52,000
we were actually experiencing this. Lynn was repeating the same

818
01:01:52,079 --> 01:01:58,559
thing over and over. That's me, she said, I'm looking

819
01:01:58,559 --> 01:02:06,679
at me, I'm you. We had a long discussion. I

820
01:02:06,719 --> 01:02:10,119
could feel air reverberating through my throat in a strange way.

821
01:02:11,079 --> 01:02:14,239
I spoke in Lynde's voice, and it made my next strain.

822
01:02:15,360 --> 01:02:18,079
I had to settle myself in her body, and there

823
01:02:18,119 --> 01:02:22,719
were so many details that just didn't click. It was

824
01:02:22,760 --> 01:02:25,559
so hard to focus on what was being said when

825
01:02:25,599 --> 01:02:27,719
all I could think about was the way my earrings

826
01:02:27,760 --> 01:02:31,400
swung back and forth when I moved my head. But

827
01:02:31,559 --> 01:02:35,599
after about an hour, Jane snapped her fingers three times

828
01:02:36,599 --> 01:02:38,880
and I was back in my chair in the blink

829
01:02:38,960 --> 01:02:43,960
of an eye. This is how I realized I was shortsighted.

830
01:02:45,239 --> 01:02:50,440
Lynde's vision had been perfect. I also felt bigger, heavier.

831
01:02:51,679 --> 01:02:55,119
Her world felt so different from mine, and while it

832
01:02:55,199 --> 01:02:59,920
didn't explain our disagreements, it gave me some insights into

833
01:03:00,039 --> 01:03:03,639
just how different we really were, and I made a

834
01:03:03,679 --> 01:03:08,920
note to get new glasses. Still reading from the experience,

835
01:03:09,519 --> 01:03:14,239
Lynn and I thanked doctor Bogan and stepped out. He

836
01:03:14,280 --> 01:03:17,159
had a strange desording to talk in the parking lot

837
01:03:18,079 --> 01:03:24,639
and broke up. It was oddly amicable, as if we

838
01:03:24,719 --> 01:03:30,400
both understood that we were fundamentally incompatible. That was it,

839
01:03:31,360 --> 01:03:39,559
no drama, just that's it. I thought about that day

840
01:03:39,840 --> 01:03:44,519
for weeks. He was so surreal. I mean, how do

841
01:03:44,559 --> 01:03:47,599
you go from a literal out of body experience and

842
01:03:47,719 --> 01:03:52,039
back to work on Monday morning. You can't pretend nothing happened.

843
01:03:53,519 --> 01:03:59,039
I wanted to understand it, like, really understand it. I'd

844
01:03:59,079 --> 01:04:02,760
been to countless night unsensical treatments with Lynn, but this

845
01:04:02,840 --> 01:04:06,920
one had been the real deal. There was no denying it,

846
01:04:07,719 --> 01:04:13,159
even though I desperately tried to. A couple of weeks later,

847
01:04:13,800 --> 01:04:17,119
I returned to doctor Bogan on my own I wanted

848
01:04:17,159 --> 01:04:19,960
to talk to her about it, the science behind it,

849
01:04:20,239 --> 01:04:25,119
how it functioned, how it was performed anything, and of

850
01:04:25,199 --> 01:04:29,159
course how I had never heard of step minding before

851
01:04:31,159 --> 01:04:35,000
I met her. On a rainy Wednesday afternoon, she sat

852
01:04:35,039 --> 01:04:37,440
me down and had her assistant offered me a cup

853
01:04:37,440 --> 01:04:41,480
of coffee. She explained it as calmly as she could.

854
01:04:44,079 --> 01:04:48,920
It was complicated, but essentially she explained it as something

855
01:04:48,960 --> 01:04:53,159
based on Raskin identity theory, the transfer of thought pattern

856
01:04:53,239 --> 01:04:58,920
through vocal meditation, exchanging vibrations and adapting electrical patterns in

857
01:04:58,960 --> 01:05:05,079
the brain. Every word sounded like nonsensical pseudoscience, but it

858
01:05:05,159 --> 01:05:08,840
didn't change the fact of what I'd experienced, and at

859
01:05:08,880 --> 01:05:11,639
the end of the day, that was the only thing

860
01:05:11,719 --> 01:05:17,280
that really mattered. I have to see it again, I said,

861
01:05:17,760 --> 01:05:22,039
I need to understand this funny you should say that.

862
01:05:22,760 --> 01:05:28,800
She smiled. I think we can work something out. Jane

863
01:05:28,840 --> 01:05:32,039
offered me a quid pro quo. She had a couple

864
01:05:32,039 --> 01:05:34,679
of patients who could benefit from a step mining session,

865
01:05:35,559 --> 01:05:38,400
but she needed a neutral third party to act as

866
01:05:38,400 --> 01:05:43,360
the recipient. I seemed to be a good fit, and

867
01:05:43,440 --> 01:05:46,480
I was skeptical, but she had a little bonus to

868
01:05:46,519 --> 01:05:50,079
sweeten the deal. She'd pay me a handsome sum of

869
01:05:50,119 --> 01:05:53,880
cash for each session. There's a kind of consultation fee.

870
01:05:55,159 --> 01:06:00,199
I was a bit hesitant, but I agreed. One week later,

871
01:06:00,880 --> 01:06:03,280
I was sat on a session with Jane and one

872
01:06:03,320 --> 01:06:07,840
of the patients. The patient had a dissociative issue and

873
01:06:07,960 --> 01:06:11,440
needed a step minding session to alleviate a strange obsession

874
01:06:11,599 --> 01:06:15,400
she seemed to have with what sounded like a house planned.

875
01:06:16,960 --> 01:06:21,480
I didn't pay too much attention. I was nervous. I

876
01:06:21,519 --> 01:06:25,559
couldn't figure out why. Maybe it was the thought that

877
01:06:25,639 --> 01:06:28,639
what I had experienced was real and how that would

878
01:06:28,679 --> 01:06:30,800
force me to change the way I viewed the world.

879
01:06:32,239 --> 01:06:35,440
If a thing like step minding exists, who's to say

880
01:06:35,440 --> 01:06:39,880
there aren't ghosts or wizards? So I sat down with

881
01:06:39,960 --> 01:06:45,199
a stranger and Jane started snapping her fingers. Now look,

882
01:06:45,840 --> 01:06:54,159
she began, look at yourself. Jane used the same words,

883
01:06:54,559 --> 01:06:58,679
the same sequence, the same rhythm, stepping out of my

884
01:06:58,719 --> 01:07:03,239
body and into another. The difference was palpable. This time.

885
01:07:04,440 --> 01:07:08,760
Lynn had been calm and collected, but this woman was

886
01:07:08,800 --> 01:07:13,679
the opposite. Sitting in a body, my pulse was higher,

887
01:07:14,199 --> 01:07:18,159
my legs were shaking, and my breathing was shallow. I

888
01:07:18,280 --> 01:07:23,320
was physically exhausted but mentally wired. Thoughts rushing a hundred

889
01:07:23,360 --> 01:07:26,639
different ways at once, and I didn't even know why

890
01:07:28,119 --> 01:07:31,679
a single second in that body looking across my table

891
01:07:31,800 --> 01:07:35,079
back at myself, and I could tell they were a

892
01:07:35,119 --> 01:07:39,480
troubled person. I was to sit there for a while

893
01:07:39,840 --> 01:07:44,159
as Jane had a discussion with the other patient. Instinctively,

894
01:07:44,400 --> 01:07:47,239
I stood up to leave the room to give them privacy,

895
01:07:47,320 --> 01:07:50,800
but I had to sit back down. My head started

896
01:07:50,840 --> 01:07:54,559
spinning as all these unfamiliar muscles reacted to my input,

897
01:07:55,239 --> 01:07:58,960
and I couldn't get very far. Perhaps the sitting down

898
01:07:59,039 --> 01:08:03,800
rule was there for a reason. I sat there, trying

899
01:08:03,840 --> 01:08:07,000
to calm down while the two of them had a discussion.

900
01:08:08,199 --> 01:08:10,280
I was asked to put on headphones for a bit,

901
01:08:10,880 --> 01:08:14,920
and I didn't mind. It was hard hearing anything through

902
01:08:14,920 --> 01:08:20,279
my panting pulse anyway. As the session came to an end,

903
01:08:20,960 --> 01:08:24,199
Jane snapped her fingers and I was back in my chair.

904
01:08:25,560 --> 01:08:29,920
My heart rate was slower, I wasn't shaking. I was nervous,

905
01:08:29,920 --> 01:08:33,720
but compared to the other patients, I was an obelisk

906
01:08:33,800 --> 01:08:39,359
of relaxation. For a moment, looking across the table, I

907
01:08:39,359 --> 01:08:43,760
could see her taking a deep breath. She was still shaking,

908
01:08:44,800 --> 01:08:48,680
but not as much as when we started. Perhaps that

909
01:08:48,800 --> 01:08:54,359
session gave her a new perspective on things. As the

910
01:08:54,439 --> 01:08:57,680
patient left, I got a moment to talk to Jane alone.

911
01:08:58,720 --> 01:09:01,720
I explained to her that if we had wheelchairs instead

912
01:09:02,159 --> 01:09:04,520
the other patient could be rolled out during the session,

913
01:09:05,399 --> 01:09:09,279
that I'd be more effective than using headphones. She really

914
01:09:09,399 --> 01:09:12,399
liked that idea and suggested we try it at the

915
01:09:12,439 --> 01:09:18,760
next session, which inadvertently answered my next question. There was

916
01:09:18,960 --> 01:09:24,880
going to be more sessions. I worked on and off

917
01:09:24,880 --> 01:09:29,000
with doctor Bogan for a couple of months. I usually

918
01:09:29,000 --> 01:09:32,159
did about three to five sessions per month, netting me

919
01:09:32,279 --> 01:09:35,439
a bonus income of about four hundred dollars per session.

920
01:09:36,680 --> 01:09:40,119
Jane ended up getting two wheelchairs and having her assistant

921
01:09:40,359 --> 01:09:43,399
Jonathan wheel me out while she had a conversation with

922
01:09:43,479 --> 01:09:47,920
the other patient. I grew accustomed to it and started

923
01:09:47,960 --> 01:09:52,319
to enjoy the sensation. It's sort of a pleasant ego death.

924
01:09:53,239 --> 01:09:58,119
You feel more connected to the world. It was becoming

925
01:09:58,279 --> 01:10:02,079
a steady source of secondary and come taking an afternoon

926
01:10:02,119 --> 01:10:06,560
off to get paid for something that I ultimately enjoyed. Yeah,

927
01:10:06,800 --> 01:10:12,119
not a bad deal. Over the upcoming weeks, I got

928
01:10:12,119 --> 01:10:15,680
a couple more opportunities. I joined Jane and a couple

929
01:10:15,680 --> 01:10:18,920
of out of town sessions, meeting some clients she was

930
01:10:18,960 --> 01:10:22,880
following up on, mostly folks who needed privacy for one

931
01:10:22,920 --> 01:10:27,159
reason or another, Folks with all kinds of strange afflictions.

932
01:10:28,000 --> 01:10:32,760
I could probably write a book about those people alone.

933
01:10:33,479 --> 01:10:37,319
Coming back home, Jane contacted me about doing a couple

934
01:10:37,359 --> 01:10:41,720
of sessions where she wasn't personally involved. I was also

935
01:10:41,800 --> 01:10:44,880
asked to be the guide a couple of times, seeing

936
01:10:44,920 --> 01:10:47,800
as how I stepped minded so many times and could

937
01:10:47,880 --> 01:10:51,600
recite the guiding words by heart. The pay was more

938
01:10:51,640 --> 01:10:57,279
than double, so I agreed. I had three guiding sessions

939
01:10:57,279 --> 01:11:00,439
on my own, one with a hippie couple who wanted

940
01:11:00,479 --> 01:11:04,880
to experience a sort of intimacy let's just leave it

941
01:11:04,920 --> 01:11:10,199
at that. Another session with two brothers performing a trust exercise.

942
01:11:11,079 --> 01:11:13,600
The third one was a group of college kids who

943
01:11:13,680 --> 01:11:17,159
wanted to debunk the whole thing, and they left sort

944
01:11:17,199 --> 01:11:23,840
of befuddled. All in all, things were going well. Then

945
01:11:24,000 --> 01:11:26,600
I got a call about being a neutral third party.

946
01:11:27,760 --> 01:11:29,960
I was going to perform a switch with a patient,

947
01:11:30,920 --> 01:11:36,039
but this time Jane wasn't involved at all. The customer

948
01:11:36,680 --> 01:11:41,800
went straight to me. It was a group of people

949
01:11:41,840 --> 01:11:45,800
who contacted me. They described it as their dad having

950
01:11:45,880 --> 01:11:49,199
a disorder and they wanted to try step minding to

951
01:11:49,359 --> 01:11:53,920
sort of reset him. That arranged their own guide, so

952
01:11:54,079 --> 01:11:57,920
they just needed me as a neutral third party, someone

953
01:11:57,920 --> 01:12:01,439
who wouldn't freak out about the process, as it might

954
01:12:01,479 --> 01:12:03,479
take a couple of hours to get through to him.

955
01:12:04,760 --> 01:12:08,039
It would be my longest session yet, but the pay

956
01:12:08,239 --> 01:12:10,960
was good. Then I'd tried a lot of things up

957
01:12:11,039 --> 01:12:18,119
until that point. I was ready. I met a client, Harold,

958
01:12:18,520 --> 01:12:23,439
at his home in southern Saint Cloud. Big place, three floors,

959
01:12:23,960 --> 01:12:27,479
gated property with both a pool and a tennis court,

960
01:12:27,880 --> 01:12:32,439
modern architecture and heated floor tiles. The guide for the

961
01:12:32,479 --> 01:12:36,920
evening was a cheery woman in her forties. She gave

962
01:12:36,960 --> 01:12:39,319
off a bit of a college professor kind of vibe.

963
01:12:40,520 --> 01:12:43,359
Apart from the client himself, there was a group of

964
01:12:43,439 --> 01:12:47,319
four other people who seemed to be close relatives, and

965
01:12:47,439 --> 01:12:52,000
of course there was Harold himself. The man I was

966
01:12:52,039 --> 01:12:58,520
supposed to work with. Harold was surprisingly upbeat. I couldn't

967
01:12:58,520 --> 01:13:03,479
see anything obviously wrong with him, which surprised me. From

968
01:13:03,479 --> 01:13:06,760
what I understood he was in dire need of this treatment.

969
01:13:07,880 --> 01:13:10,680
He was a man in his early sixties, but could

970
01:13:10,720 --> 01:13:14,840
easily pass for fifty. Hell, the man had better teeth

971
01:13:14,880 --> 01:13:17,920
than me. I could tell he must have been a

972
01:13:17,960 --> 01:13:21,439
salesman at some point. You can tell by the smile.

973
01:13:23,399 --> 01:13:26,800
I was introduced to the others, who introduced themselves as

974
01:13:26,840 --> 01:13:30,880
friends and family. We hurried to the living room, where

975
01:13:30,920 --> 01:13:34,640
a space had been prepared. We were all seated as

976
01:13:34,640 --> 01:13:38,399
a group. The guide had prepared everything and offered me

977
01:13:38,640 --> 01:13:43,119
a reassuring smile. She took her hands, something that Jane

978
01:13:43,239 --> 01:13:47,520
usually didn't do. I just want to make sure we're

979
01:13:47,520 --> 01:13:53,000
all feeling good about this, she said, we good, were good?

980
01:13:53,439 --> 01:13:59,359
I nodded, We're good. Harold agreed, and with that the

981
01:13:59,439 --> 01:14:04,399
session was on. The guide snapped her fingers, lowered a voice,

982
01:14:04,760 --> 01:14:08,359
and took us down the mental road and across the table.

983
01:14:10,520 --> 01:14:14,159
By then I knew the process, the right words, with

984
01:14:14,279 --> 01:14:18,359
the right cadence at the right time. I sunk back

985
01:14:18,359 --> 01:14:22,039
in my chair, looking at my feet and felt the

986
01:14:22,079 --> 01:14:28,119
world shift. After a while, my shoes looked different, they

987
01:14:28,159 --> 01:14:32,760
were nicer, and my pants fit me better. Slowly I

988
01:14:32,840 --> 01:14:36,680
started to feel the reality of my borrowed body. The

989
01:14:36,800 --> 01:14:41,199
various aches and pains, the thinning hair, the wrinkles on

990
01:14:41,239 --> 01:14:46,079
my cheek when I blinked, I'd aged about thirty years

991
01:14:46,079 --> 01:14:48,680
in a couple of minutes, and it would take some

992
01:14:48,800 --> 01:14:53,560
time adjusting. Looking up and seeing myself in the opposite chair,

993
01:14:54,359 --> 01:14:58,279
I got this anxious sting in my chest. The thought

994
01:14:58,359 --> 01:15:06,119
crossed my mind, what if I never returned? The guide

995
01:15:06,199 --> 01:15:11,159
excused herself and left. She'd done her job. The rest

996
01:15:11,279 --> 01:15:15,600
was up to Harold and his associates. But as soon

997
01:15:15,600 --> 01:15:18,680
as I heard the front door close, the air in

998
01:15:18,760 --> 01:15:24,000
the room shifted. Harold was sitting there, looking like me,

999
01:15:24,680 --> 01:15:29,119
stretching his arms. The others joined us, making a circle.

1000
01:15:30,640 --> 01:15:34,399
One of Harold's associates, a young woman who'd introduced herself

1001
01:15:34,439 --> 01:15:38,399
as Hope, spoke to the both of us. She could

1002
01:15:38,399 --> 01:15:43,119
easily have been his daughter. How are you feeling, she asked?

1003
01:15:43,479 --> 01:15:48,399
Everyone Okay, yeer, I nodded. You do what you gotta

1004
01:15:48,439 --> 01:15:54,840
do so this works. Harold asked this, this is it,

1005
01:15:54,840 --> 01:16:04,600
It's done, It's done, Hope smiled. Harold pulled out a gun,

1006
01:16:05,000 --> 01:16:09,720
a well polished revolver. I was the only one who reacted,

1007
01:16:10,199 --> 01:16:13,680
flinching at the sight of it. The others didn't seem

1008
01:16:13,680 --> 01:16:17,560
to care. I didn't know what to do. Should I

1009
01:16:17,600 --> 01:16:23,359
be scared? If so, why was no one reacting? So

1010
01:16:23,560 --> 01:16:26,920
then we just cut the cord. Then he said, and

1011
01:16:27,039 --> 01:16:31,680
we're good to go. Wait, what are you? They were

1012
01:16:31,720 --> 01:16:34,720
tricking me. They put me in that old body and

1013
01:16:34,840 --> 01:16:38,520
had no intention of putting me back. I held up

1014
01:16:38,520 --> 01:16:43,039
my hand and snapped my finger two times, but before

1015
01:16:43,039 --> 01:16:45,960
the third snap, I had a gun pushed against the

1016
01:16:46,000 --> 01:16:51,000
back of my head. That won't help. Hope said, we'll

1017
01:16:51,079 --> 01:16:57,680
just kill you when you're you again. It's hard to

1018
01:16:57,760 --> 01:17:01,720
describe what I felt in that moment. The fear was real,

1019
01:17:02,720 --> 01:17:06,399
but there was also a longing to go back. Being

1020
01:17:06,439 --> 01:17:10,119
out of your own body is like sleeping outside. You

1021
01:17:10,199 --> 01:17:14,680
feel exposed and maladjusted. If you know it's for a while,

1022
01:17:14,920 --> 01:17:17,800
it's not that bad. But if there's a chance you

1023
01:17:17,840 --> 01:17:22,920
can't go back, it becomes terrifying, like getting lost in

1024
01:17:22,960 --> 01:17:26,520
the woods. That's not even counting for the primal terror

1025
01:17:26,560 --> 01:17:30,840
you feel from having a gun pointed at you. Harold

1026
01:17:30,880 --> 01:17:33,920
seemed a bit confused, which made me realize that no

1027
01:17:33,960 --> 01:17:36,880
one had explained the rules to him, that we couldn't

1028
01:17:36,880 --> 01:17:39,600
get up, and that three snaps of a finger would

1029
01:17:39,600 --> 01:17:43,279
cancel the effect. I got the impression that he thought

1030
01:17:43,319 --> 01:17:48,680
this was somehow permanent. Looking at him, I could see

1031
01:17:48,680 --> 01:17:54,479
a worry spread across his face. My face. You said

1032
01:17:54,520 --> 01:17:58,720
this was permanent, he said, looking at Hope, it is,

1033
01:17:59,119 --> 01:18:02,880
as long as you don't do three finger snaps. How's

1034
01:18:02,920 --> 01:18:05,800
that gonna work? When we cut him off? You're gonna

1035
01:18:05,800 --> 01:18:08,199
have to make sure you're never around someone who snaps

1036
01:18:08,239 --> 01:18:12,520
their fingers, Harold, She smiled, that's not too much, is it.

1037
01:18:13,520 --> 01:18:15,159
Do I have to remind you that I got the

1038
01:18:15,199 --> 01:18:18,840
tapes to put you away. Harold smiled back, and that

1039
01:18:18,960 --> 01:18:22,800
if anything were to happen to me, you're done. Nothing's

1040
01:18:22,800 --> 01:18:28,199
gonna happen, Harold. Hope chuggled. Look, you're right there, safe

1041
01:18:28,319 --> 01:18:34,199
and sound. She pointed at me. It was as if

1042
01:18:34,199 --> 01:18:37,720
a light turned on in Harold's eyes. He was being

1043
01:18:37,800 --> 01:18:43,319
double crossed, just like me. In a desperate moment, he

1044
01:18:43,439 --> 01:18:46,600
raised his handgun at me. I recalled so hard that

1045
01:18:46,640 --> 01:18:49,560
I fell out of my chair, feeling my heart skipper beat.

1046
01:18:50,560 --> 01:18:53,880
Cold sweat spread across my arms, clinging to the thin

1047
01:18:54,000 --> 01:18:59,920
inner fabric of Harold's expensive blazer. But there was no

1048
01:19:00,119 --> 01:19:07,520
gun shot, just a click his gun was empty. That

1049
01:19:07,600 --> 01:19:11,479
click was the loudest sound I'd ever heard. I came

1050
01:19:11,560 --> 01:19:14,399
crumbling down to the floor, feeling the effects of the

1051
01:19:14,439 --> 01:19:21,720
first rule, don't get up. I was immediately nauseous. I

1052
01:19:21,760 --> 01:19:24,439
felt like a bobblehead as my head went one way

1053
01:19:24,680 --> 01:19:28,560
and my body another. A collapsed in a pile, trying

1054
01:19:28,600 --> 01:19:30,880
to find the magic number of blinks to make the

1055
01:19:30,920 --> 01:19:35,119
world stop spinning. You'll never get past the safety checks,

1056
01:19:35,399 --> 01:19:40,000
Howard screamed. You'll never get the backups. You hit all fingerprinted,

1057
01:19:40,359 --> 01:19:48,399
hop side, fingerprinted, biocoded, voice checked. Sorry. A man raised

1058
01:19:48,399 --> 01:19:53,560
his arm. There was no second click. Instead, there was

1059
01:19:53,600 --> 01:19:59,760
a bang. I looked up with my ears ringing, watching

1060
01:20:00,079 --> 01:20:03,039
a reflection of my dead self on the other side

1061
01:20:03,039 --> 01:20:07,520
of the coffee table. Bullet to the brain, nothing but

1062
01:20:07,640 --> 01:20:11,840
blank eyes looking back at me. My face didn't look dead,

1063
01:20:12,800 --> 01:20:17,680
It just looks sort of tired, like I was sleepy.

1064
01:20:19,199 --> 01:20:22,479
I was expecting that face to blink, but that blink

1065
01:20:22,640 --> 01:20:27,000
never came. Blood pulled at the corner of the mouth,

1066
01:20:27,479 --> 01:20:32,399
running down from the open wound at the temple. They

1067
01:20:32,399 --> 01:20:35,359
pulled me up and dragged me over to Harold's workstation.

1068
01:20:36,359 --> 01:20:39,039
They used my hand to log in I had to

1069
01:20:39,039 --> 01:20:42,159
do a voice recognition check as Hope's associates went through

1070
01:20:42,199 --> 01:20:46,840
two laptops and a smartphone. While they did, Hope sat

1071
01:20:46,880 --> 01:20:52,000
down across from me. My head was still swimming. They're

1072
01:20:52,039 --> 01:20:55,680
gonna need you, she said, and as long as you

1073
01:20:55,720 --> 01:21:00,119
play along, you'll be fine. But if you mess with me,

1074
01:21:01,640 --> 01:21:05,600
she snapped her fingers twice ice filled my veins as

1075
01:21:05,640 --> 01:21:09,399
I gripped my seat. I can't imagine something good would

1076
01:21:09,399 --> 01:21:13,319
happen if we tried this, she said, blowing her voice.

1077
01:21:14,640 --> 01:21:18,840
So how about we just really really pay attention? Hmm,

1078
01:21:23,359 --> 01:21:28,079
She explained it to me, I was done for anyone

1079
01:21:28,239 --> 01:21:31,640
in her crew could snap their fingers three times and

1080
01:21:31,720 --> 01:21:35,840
I'd be done. This also meant I couldn't perform step

1081
01:21:35,920 --> 01:21:39,319
minding again, as you need a rhythmic finger snapping as

1082
01:21:39,399 --> 01:21:45,159
part of the process. She explained the plan. They needed

1083
01:21:45,239 --> 01:21:48,680
Harold alive to slowly transfer his company shares to someone

1084
01:21:48,680 --> 01:21:53,319
else without it looking all too suspicious. They needed access

1085
01:21:53,359 --> 01:21:56,920
to his files, both immediate and over a long term.

1086
01:21:57,920 --> 01:22:00,520
They explained that they needed me around to make it

1087
01:22:00,560 --> 01:22:05,279
appear that everything was fine. In return, I get to

1088
01:22:05,319 --> 01:22:08,920
live in this amazing place with whatever comforts I could

1089
01:22:08,960 --> 01:22:14,039
ask for for the rest of my days. But if

1090
01:22:14,079 --> 01:22:21,359
I slipped up, snap, snap, snap, done, fade to black.

1091
01:22:23,560 --> 01:22:26,880
It was so surreal watching them wrap up my own

1092
01:22:26,920 --> 01:22:31,880
body in black plastic, men in tailored blazers, scrubbing the

1093
01:22:31,960 --> 01:22:35,920
floors and walls, with Bleach Hope sitting across from me,

1094
01:22:36,600 --> 01:22:41,399
rubbing her fingers together. Where do you think you'll go?

1095
01:22:42,159 --> 01:22:46,159
She asked? If I snap my fingers, where do you

1096
01:22:46,239 --> 01:22:52,640
think you'll go? I? I don't know, I stuttered, I don't.

1097
01:22:54,000 --> 01:22:58,199
Maybe you'll be fine, she shrugged. Maybe there's something nice

1098
01:22:58,239 --> 01:23:01,600
and warm on the other side, or maybe the snapping

1099
01:23:01,640 --> 01:23:09,840
doesn't even work anymore. Want to try? No, no, she smiled, No,

1100
01:23:10,119 --> 01:23:14,680
you don't. You're smarter than that, and maybe you're not

1101
01:23:14,760 --> 01:23:18,840
the gambling type. She typed the barrel of the gun

1102
01:23:19,039 --> 01:23:23,079
on Howard's mahogany desk. You can have all the parties

1103
01:23:23,119 --> 01:23:26,920
you want. You got a big bank account, she sighed,

1104
01:23:27,720 --> 01:23:33,279
But maybe be careful about inviting musical people, those who

1105
01:23:33,319 --> 01:23:42,079
stamp their feet or snap their fingers. And that was that.

1106
01:23:43,760 --> 01:23:47,159
I was left there. I had keys to a place

1107
01:23:47,199 --> 01:23:51,880
I didn't know, a phone full of numbers I didn't recognize.

1108
01:23:52,279 --> 01:23:55,000
I just stood there in the chlorine smelling house of

1109
01:23:55,039 --> 01:24:00,279
a stranger. I didn't know what to feel. Ever since

1110
01:24:00,319 --> 01:24:04,960
I started step minding, I had never considered this. It

1111
01:24:05,039 --> 01:24:09,000
was unreal. I remember looking down at my own hand,

1112
01:24:09,520 --> 01:24:11,880
not being sure if I could snap myself out of it,

1113
01:24:13,560 --> 01:24:20,000
what would happen. Over time, I got used to the nausea.

1114
01:24:21,000 --> 01:24:25,800
Nowadays it's gone. I can walk around like anyone else,

1115
01:24:26,560 --> 01:24:31,600
but I have to avoid crowds. I can't risk hearing

1116
01:24:31,640 --> 01:24:36,039
those three snaps. I watch videos with the sound off

1117
01:24:36,039 --> 01:24:40,239
and subtitles on. I only watched movies after checking the soundtrack,

1118
01:24:40,760 --> 01:24:44,800
making sure there are no snapping in the songs. Radio

1119
01:24:45,039 --> 01:24:47,880
is out of the question. You never know what you

1120
01:24:47,960 --> 01:24:52,079
might hear, and even if you do, does it work

1121
01:24:52,199 --> 01:24:55,920
hearing it through a TV or in a song? Would

1122
01:24:55,960 --> 01:25:02,319
you risk it? I won't. I can't. I don't think

1123
01:25:02,479 --> 01:25:06,600
I can ever adjust. I've thought about contacting people from

1124
01:25:06,640 --> 01:25:09,520
my old life, but I wouldn't know where to begin.

1125
01:25:11,079 --> 01:25:14,560
How do you explain this? I have to be careful

1126
01:25:14,600 --> 01:25:17,680
not to draw any attention to myself or hope and

1127
01:25:17,760 --> 01:25:23,920
her cronies might return, And if they do, well, I

1128
01:25:23,960 --> 01:25:27,760
don't know how far I could push my luck. I

1129
01:25:27,840 --> 01:25:32,159
mean I'm comfortable. Harold made close the six figures a

1130
01:25:32,239 --> 01:25:37,079
month on passive income. I've learned most things about his life.

1131
01:25:37,319 --> 01:25:40,520
He never married, he has no children, and most of

1132
01:25:40,560 --> 01:25:44,560
his contacts are passing acquaintances at best. He was a

1133
01:25:44,600 --> 01:25:52,199
lonely man, and now that's me. I spend most of

1134
01:25:52,239 --> 01:25:56,279
my days considering my options. I've thought about destroying my

1135
01:25:56,359 --> 01:26:01,399
hearing as a safety measure. Yes, going down is awful,

1136
01:26:02,359 --> 01:26:05,000
but you have no idea what it's like living with

1137
01:26:05,039 --> 01:26:07,720
the thought that a sound that can be done at

1138
01:26:07,840 --> 01:26:14,800
any time, why anyone can kill you. It's exhausting, and

1139
01:26:14,880 --> 01:26:21,159
you end up isolating yourself. I'm Harold now, screaming into

1140
01:26:21,199 --> 01:26:24,399
the void that I used to be someone else. I'm

1141
01:26:24,439 --> 01:26:27,079
sipping on a drink from a glass with my initials

1142
01:26:27,119 --> 01:26:30,359
on it. And when I go to bed at night,

1143
01:26:31,479 --> 01:26:34,119
I will do the same thing I do every night.

1144
01:26:35,760 --> 01:26:40,079
I will take a long look at myself. I got

1145
01:26:40,159 --> 01:26:45,920
better vision now Harold isn't shortsighted, but I can't look

1146
01:26:45,960 --> 01:27:04,079
at myself. I'm not there anymore. It's just Harold. I

1147
01:27:04,159 --> 01:27:08,119
floated through the narrow corridor of the Iss, the hum

1148
01:27:08,119 --> 01:27:11,800
of machinery reminding me of the delicate job of keeping

1149
01:27:11,880 --> 01:27:16,920
us alive. I am the communications officer on this mission.

1150
01:27:17,840 --> 01:27:21,279
My job is the monitor and interpret the data flowing

1151
01:27:21,319 --> 01:27:26,239
in from a new array of radio telescopes. These telescopes,

1152
01:27:26,439 --> 01:27:29,520
bolted to the exterior of the station, are designed to

1153
01:27:29,520 --> 01:27:32,920
pick up the faint signals of the Cosmos, the distant

1154
01:27:32,960 --> 01:27:38,600
pultars that might reveal secrets of the universe. Life on

1155
01:27:38,640 --> 01:27:43,680
the ISS is a dance of precision and routine. Each night,

1156
01:27:43,960 --> 01:27:47,439
I'd strap myself into my sleeping bag, floating gently in

1157
01:27:47,520 --> 01:27:52,640
my small sleeping quarters. The weightlessness was a constant reminder

1158
01:27:53,000 --> 01:27:56,640
that Earth and its gravity were hundreds of kilometers below.

1159
01:27:58,039 --> 01:28:02,279
Breakfast was always a rehydrat meal, eaten quickly before the

1160
01:28:02,359 --> 01:28:07,279
day's tasks began. My crewmates and I moved through our

1161
01:28:07,359 --> 01:28:13,760
routines with efficiency, every action measured to conserve energy and resources.

1162
01:28:14,640 --> 01:28:17,680
Becoming part of the ISS crew was driven by a

1163
01:28:17,760 --> 01:28:21,079
need to feel something beyond in my life. The raw,

1164
01:28:21,439 --> 01:28:26,720
unfielded experiences of space offered an escape I craved. In

1165
01:28:26,760 --> 01:28:30,560
the vast silence of the cosmos. I found temporary solace,

1166
01:28:31,399 --> 01:28:34,119
a way to immerse myself in something greater than me.

1167
01:28:35,520 --> 01:28:39,199
Every day I would float to the cupola, the observation

1168
01:28:39,359 --> 01:28:45,119
module my favorite spot on the ISS. The panoramic view

1169
01:28:45,159 --> 01:28:49,119
of Earth below rotating slowly, made me reflect on the

1170
01:28:49,199 --> 01:28:53,399
life I had left behind. The new telescopes were my

1171
01:28:53,479 --> 01:28:57,960
primary focus, and I spent countless hours analyzing the data

1172
01:28:58,199 --> 01:29:04,439
they captured. The telescopes were sophisticated pieces of technology designed

1173
01:29:04,439 --> 01:29:10,279
to detect the rhythmic pulses of neutron stars pulsars. These

1174
01:29:10,399 --> 01:29:14,039
dying stars emitted beams of radiation that could be detected

1175
01:29:14,039 --> 01:29:19,560
across vast distances. My role was to interpret these signals,

1176
01:29:20,239 --> 01:29:23,920
to sift through the data and find meaning in the chaos.

1177
01:29:25,279 --> 01:29:30,039
The ISS's communication systems were our lifeline, relaying back data

1178
01:29:30,119 --> 01:29:34,039
to mission control and ensuring we remained connected to Earth.

1179
01:29:35,680 --> 01:29:40,479
Our communication relied heavily on the TDRS tracking in Data

1180
01:29:40,479 --> 01:29:46,239
Relay Satellites Network, a constellation of geostationary satellites that allowed

1181
01:29:46,279 --> 01:29:52,119
almost continuous communication with Earth. Any interruption in this network

1182
01:29:52,479 --> 01:29:57,119
could mean delayed transmissions, which is why we meticulously monitored

1183
01:29:57,119 --> 01:30:03,359
our systems. So far away from safety meant every task

1184
01:30:03,479 --> 01:30:08,560
was a balance of precision and improvisation. Maintenance tasks ranged

1185
01:30:08,560 --> 01:30:13,920
from routine system checks to unexpected repairs one day, I

1186
01:30:13,960 --> 01:30:18,640
assisted the engineer Mia in repairing a malfunctioning oxygen generator.

1187
01:30:19,800 --> 01:30:23,800
Floating beside her tools, Tethered to our belts, we worked

1188
01:30:23,840 --> 01:30:30,319
in silent coordination, Meir's calm, methodical approach as reassuring her

1189
01:30:30,359 --> 01:30:36,760
hands steady as she adjusted the delicate components. The oxygen generator,

1190
01:30:37,279 --> 01:30:41,239
part of the Environmental Control and Life Support System, or

1191
01:30:41,399 --> 01:30:47,079
ECLSS for short, was crucial for converting exhaled carbon dioxide

1192
01:30:47,439 --> 01:30:52,920
back into breathable oxygen using a process called electrolysis. A

1193
01:30:53,039 --> 01:30:57,840
malfunction here could mean a critical situation, but Meir's expertise

1194
01:30:58,000 --> 01:31:04,640
kept us safe. In addition to monitoring radio telescopes, I

1195
01:31:04,680 --> 01:31:09,439
also managed the station's coup Ban communication system. This system

1196
01:31:09,520 --> 01:31:13,760
provided high speed data links to Worth, essential for transmitting

1197
01:31:13,880 --> 01:31:18,920
the vast amounts of scientific data we collected daily. Any

1198
01:31:19,000 --> 01:31:23,760
anomalies in these systems required immediate attention to avoid data

1199
01:31:23,800 --> 01:31:31,119
loss and ensure continuous communication with mission control. In the evenings,

1200
01:31:31,640 --> 01:31:35,399
we gathered in the small communal area, a makeshift living

1201
01:31:35,479 --> 01:31:40,199
room where we shared meals and stories, where Captain Jess

1202
01:31:40,520 --> 01:31:44,079
would recount early days in the space program, her voice

1203
01:31:44,119 --> 01:31:47,840
filled with the passion that had driven a hear Daniel,

1204
01:31:48,079 --> 01:31:53,319
our scientist, often discussed his latest experiments, his enthusiasm for

1205
01:31:53,359 --> 01:32:00,399
microgravity research infectious. These moments of camaraderie were precious, remind

1206
01:32:00,479 --> 01:32:03,520
us that we were not just colleagues, but a team

1207
01:32:03,800 --> 01:32:11,319
bound by a mission in isolation. However, despite the camaraderie,

1208
01:32:11,560 --> 01:32:14,520
the solitude of space had a way of creeping in.

1209
01:32:16,039 --> 01:32:20,119
Late at night, I'd find myself alone in the observation module,

1210
01:32:20,640 --> 01:32:26,000
staring out at the infinite expanse. The silence was profound,

1211
01:32:26,760 --> 01:32:31,680
the stars unblinking in the darkness. It was during these

1212
01:32:31,800 --> 01:32:35,079
quiet moments that I felt the weight of my own isolation,

1213
01:32:35,319 --> 01:32:39,119
most acutely, a contrast to the bustling life I had

1214
01:32:39,199 --> 01:32:44,479
left behind on Earth. The work on the iss was demanding,

1215
01:32:45,199 --> 01:32:49,560
but it provided a structure that helped each task. Each

1216
01:32:49,640 --> 01:32:54,239
experiment was a step towards understanding the universe and my

1217
01:32:54,359 --> 01:32:58,720
place within it. The telescopes, with their promise of discovery,

1218
01:32:59,119 --> 01:33:02,960
were both a challenge and a refuge. They allowed me

1219
01:33:03,079 --> 01:33:06,600
to lose myself in the vastness of space, to focus

1220
01:33:06,640 --> 01:33:13,960
on something beyond the confines of my own mind. Each

1221
01:33:14,039 --> 01:33:17,840
day began with a gentle nudge from my watch signaling

1222
01:33:17,960 --> 01:33:21,800
the star to my shift. I floated through the narrow

1223
01:33:21,920 --> 01:33:25,880
corridor of the communications module, where the day's data from

1224
01:33:25,880 --> 01:33:30,800
a new array of radio telescopes awaighted. I started by

1225
01:33:30,840 --> 01:33:34,960
downloading the late dispatch of data. The telescopes, equipped with

1226
01:33:35,119 --> 01:33:40,560
ultrasensitive receivers, captured the rhythmic pulses of distant neutron stars.

1227
01:33:41,720 --> 01:33:45,000
The data streamed through the ISSS S band and coupand

1228
01:33:45,000 --> 01:33:50,000
communication links, ready for analysis. The software hummed as it

1229
01:33:50,079 --> 01:33:56,079
processed the information, filtering out cosmic noise and highlighting significant patterns.

1230
01:33:57,199 --> 01:34:01,079
With the data processing underway, moved on to the daily

1231
01:34:01,159 --> 01:34:05,239
system checks. The communication system always needed to be in

1232
01:34:05,319 --> 01:34:09,399
top condition to maintain our link with Earth. I ran

1233
01:34:09,520 --> 01:34:13,560
diagnostics on the antennas, ensuring they were precisely aligned with

1234
01:34:13,640 --> 01:34:20,520
the target pulsars. Each day followed a similar pattern. I'd

1235
01:34:20,520 --> 01:34:24,760
float into the communications module, download the data, and begin

1236
01:34:24,840 --> 01:34:31,760
the analysis. I liked the observations, noting any minor deviations.

1237
01:34:32,479 --> 01:34:35,159
In the afternoon, I joined MERE to check in the

1238
01:34:35,239 --> 01:34:40,279
environmental control and life support system. We worked in silent coordination.

1239
01:34:41,520 --> 01:34:48,079
The oxygen generator was operating flawlessly. Another day, another batch

1240
01:34:48,159 --> 01:34:53,520
of data. As I downloaded the latest transmissions. I noticed

1241
01:34:53,520 --> 01:34:59,319
the faint, almost imperceptible anomaly, easy to dismiss as background

1242
01:34:59,319 --> 01:35:06,119
noise spaces filled with various sources of electromagnetic interference. After all,

1243
01:35:06,720 --> 01:35:10,520
I logged it as such and continued with my routine.

1244
01:35:10,680 --> 01:35:16,239
The analytical software filtered through the data, isolating the pulsar signals.

1245
01:35:17,399 --> 01:35:22,800
During the midday system checks, I recalibrated the antennas. It

1246
01:35:22,880 --> 01:35:26,960
was meticulous work, but necessary to maintain the integrity of

1247
01:35:27,000 --> 01:35:31,840
our data. The faint anomaly lingered in my mind, but

1248
01:35:32,399 --> 01:35:36,000
I set it aside, focusing at the tasks at hand.

1249
01:35:38,319 --> 01:35:42,479
That evening, during our briefing, I considered mentioning the anomaly,

1250
01:35:43,199 --> 01:35:47,680
but decided against it. It was too vague a source,

1251
01:35:48,279 --> 01:35:51,800
and the crew had enough to worry about. It seemed

1252
01:35:51,920 --> 01:35:56,199
too insignificant to warrant their attention. It was just a

1253
01:35:56,239 --> 01:36:01,279
minor blip in the data, nothing to be concerned about.

1254
01:36:02,199 --> 01:36:05,880
The day after began, Like the others, I floated to

1255
01:36:05,960 --> 01:36:11,760
the communications module, downloaded the data, and began my checks. However,

1256
01:36:12,199 --> 01:36:16,960
the faint anomaly was still there, a persistent whisper among

1257
01:36:17,000 --> 01:36:21,319
the rhythmic pulses. I decided to amplify the gain and

1258
01:36:21,359 --> 01:36:24,960
the receiver. Curious to sive the pattern would become clearer,

1259
01:36:25,880 --> 01:36:31,079
The signal grew more distinct, its rhythmic quality more pronounced.

1260
01:36:31,640 --> 01:36:34,760
I ran it through the software again, hoping to identify

1261
01:36:34,800 --> 01:36:39,960
its source and set off the data package. However, the

1262
01:36:40,000 --> 01:36:45,159
next day, the anomaly was slightly more pronounced. It was

1263
01:36:45,199 --> 01:36:50,439
still faint, but its consistent presence made me uneasy. I

1264
01:36:50,479 --> 01:36:55,560
amplified it further and listened closely. What I heard sent

1265
01:36:55,600 --> 01:36:59,720
a chill down my spine. It was a subtle change,

1266
01:37:00,359 --> 01:37:05,000
but amidst the cosmic noise, the anomaly seemed almost deliberate.

1267
01:37:07,079 --> 01:37:10,319
I checked the equipment for faults, running diagnostics on the

1268
01:37:10,359 --> 01:37:15,560
receivers and data processes. Everything was functioning within normal parameters.

1269
01:37:16,880 --> 01:37:22,199
I recalibrated the antennas again, ensuring though precisely aligned, but

1270
01:37:22,319 --> 01:37:29,079
the anomaly persisted. The spectral analysis revealed slight modulations in

1271
01:37:29,159 --> 01:37:34,319
the signal that suggested it wasn't entirely random. There were

1272
01:37:34,479 --> 01:37:38,760
hints of structure, though the details were too vague to decipher.

1273
01:37:40,119 --> 01:37:42,560
I captured a segment of the data and ran it

1274
01:37:42,600 --> 01:37:46,880
through a pattern recognition algorithm, hoping to decode it, but

1275
01:37:46,960 --> 01:37:53,640
the results were inconclusive. Despite the anomaly's persistent presence. It

1276
01:37:53,680 --> 01:37:57,560
didn't seem important enough to report just yet, just enough

1277
01:37:57,560 --> 01:38:02,560
to document. The data was too ambiguous and I needed

1278
01:38:02,560 --> 01:38:06,199
more of a sample size to finalize a pattern. It

1279
01:38:06,279 --> 01:38:09,119
also could have easily been a false positive or a

1280
01:38:09,159 --> 01:38:13,800
technical issue, still ignored at the back of my mind,

1281
01:38:14,319 --> 01:38:17,520
a tiny splinter of her knees that I couldn't quite shake.

1282
01:38:19,880 --> 01:38:23,119
As the days passed, I found myself thinking about the

1283
01:38:23,159 --> 01:38:27,520
anomaly more and more. Late at night, I would do

1284
01:38:27,560 --> 01:38:32,000
my routine of floating alone in the observation module. The stars,

1285
01:38:32,680 --> 01:38:37,840
once a source of wonder, now seemed indifferent, their silence

1286
01:38:38,199 --> 01:38:43,680
amplifying thoughts of the anomaly that echoed in my mind.

1287
01:38:45,359 --> 01:38:49,800
No matter what I did, the anomaly persisted, its presence,

1288
01:38:49,880 --> 01:38:53,720
gnawing at the edges of my thoughts. It kept happening

1289
01:38:53,840 --> 01:38:57,119
each time I pulled readings, and mission control did not

1290
01:38:57,239 --> 01:39:02,119
contact us about it. Mean to understand it, I used

1291
01:39:02,119 --> 01:39:06,840
the ISS's analytical software to delve deeper. Now that I

1292
01:39:06,920 --> 01:39:11,199
had enough samples to try extract the pattern. The software

1293
01:39:11,560 --> 01:39:16,560
designed for filtering out cosmic noise and identifying significant patterns

1294
01:39:16,600 --> 01:39:20,640
now took on a new level of importance. I ran

1295
01:39:20,680 --> 01:39:25,239
the anomaly. Through more complex analysises, I began to notice

1296
01:39:25,319 --> 01:39:31,279
patterns that were disturbingly intricate. As I was analyzing the data,

1297
01:39:32,039 --> 01:39:36,600
I noticed the anomaly coincided with minor electrical disturbances on

1298
01:39:36,640 --> 01:39:42,439
the iss The lights flickered and the ventilation system momentarily spotted.

1299
01:39:44,119 --> 01:39:46,960
I initially thought these were a possible cause for the anomaly,

1300
01:39:48,079 --> 01:39:52,039
but when the pattern repeated, it was impossible to ignore.

1301
01:39:53,880 --> 01:39:58,359
I documented these incidents meticulously, noting the exact times and

1302
01:39:58,399 --> 01:40:04,119
conditions under which they occurred. During one analysis session, the

1303
01:40:04,159 --> 01:40:11,800
signal's modulation suggested intelligence, structured deliberate, almost like a coded message.

1304
01:40:13,239 --> 01:40:16,600
I captured the data and ran it through advanced decryption algorithms,

1305
01:40:17,159 --> 01:40:21,119
but the results were baffling. The patterns hinted at a

1306
01:40:21,119 --> 01:40:29,000
form of communication, a concept both thrilling and terrifying. I

1307
01:40:29,119 --> 01:40:32,520
hesitated before to share my findings with the crew, but

1308
01:40:32,600 --> 01:40:34,800
I felt I had enough to present with the group.

1309
01:40:36,239 --> 01:40:40,800
When I finally did, the reception was less than enthusiastic.

1310
01:40:42,800 --> 01:40:48,800
The Captain Jess listened patiently but remained skeptical. It's probably

1311
01:40:48,880 --> 01:40:54,760
interference from another satellite, she suggested. MIA. Ever, the pragmatist

1312
01:40:55,119 --> 01:40:59,800
ren diagnostics on the station systems, attributing the disturbances too

1313
01:41:00,000 --> 01:41:05,439
SI minor equipment malfunctions. Daniel was the most intrigued, but

1314
01:41:05,560 --> 01:41:09,880
still cautious. It could be a new type of cosmic phenomenon,

1315
01:41:10,359 --> 01:41:14,279
he theorized, though it wasn't convinced there was anything more

1316
01:41:14,600 --> 01:41:20,399
than an unknown natural occurrence. Days passed and the anomaly

1317
01:41:20,520 --> 01:41:26,239
continued to manifest. I monitored it closely, noting every fluctuation

1318
01:41:26,399 --> 01:41:30,079
and pattern. The cruse skepticism began to wear on me.

1319
01:41:31,520 --> 01:41:34,640
Each time I mentioned the anomaly, I saw the doubt

1320
01:41:34,680 --> 01:41:37,359
in their eyes, and it made me question my own

1321
01:41:37,479 --> 01:41:43,399
sanity about all of this. Then, while running a routine check,

1322
01:41:44,279 --> 01:41:49,279
the anomaly coincided with a more significant power surge. The

1323
01:41:49,359 --> 01:41:54,680
lights flickered violently and the ISS's communication systems briefly went offline.

1324
01:41:55,920 --> 01:41:59,520
When the systems came back up, I noticed something new,

1325
01:42:00,840 --> 01:42:05,159
a more pronounced modulation in the signal, almost like a

1326
01:42:05,199 --> 01:42:10,680
sound trying to break through. While I was analyzing the

1327
01:42:10,680 --> 01:42:15,199
batch of data, the power surge happened again. This time

1328
01:42:15,560 --> 01:42:21,279
the anomaly was unmistakably deliberate. I amplified the signal and

1329
01:42:21,399 --> 01:42:27,720
listened intently. The modulation was clearer, almost forming sounds, though

1330
01:42:28,039 --> 01:42:33,640
they were still too distorted to understand. As I was

1331
01:42:33,680 --> 01:42:40,239
documenting this, Mia called out from another module. Alex, are

1332
01:42:40,279 --> 01:42:44,680
you hearing this? She asked, her voice tinged with confusion.

1333
01:42:46,520 --> 01:42:49,560
I floated over to her work station, where she had

1334
01:42:49,600 --> 01:42:54,279
isolated a similar signal on her equipment. It was different

1335
01:42:54,279 --> 01:42:57,479
from what I had been monitoring, yet irrely similar in

1336
01:42:57,560 --> 01:43:02,319
its rhythmic structure. The crew gathered around as we play

1337
01:43:02,399 --> 01:43:07,920
the recordings side by side. The similarities were undeniable, but

1338
01:43:08,000 --> 01:43:13,760
the source remained a mystery. Jess frowned, her skepticism all

1339
01:43:13,800 --> 01:43:21,319
but gone, replaced with concern. That evening, during our briefing,

1340
01:43:21,920 --> 01:43:26,079
the mood was tense. We discussed the anomalies in detail,

1341
01:43:26,520 --> 01:43:31,600
debating their significance and possible causes. Daniel suggested we run

1342
01:43:31,640 --> 01:43:35,760
a coordinated analysis, combining data from all our systems to

1343
01:43:35,760 --> 01:43:39,520
see if we could triangulate the source. We tried it,

1344
01:43:40,159 --> 01:43:45,600
and the coordinated effort revealed even more disturbing patterns. The

1345
01:43:45,640 --> 01:43:51,239
anomalies were not just random interference. They were consistent and

1346
01:43:51,279 --> 01:43:56,600
seemed to be increasing in frequency and intensity. We decided

1347
01:43:56,600 --> 01:43:59,800
to send a detailed report to mission control, hoping for

1348
01:43:59,840 --> 01:44:06,439
some clarification or guidance at night. As I floated in

1349
01:44:06,479 --> 01:44:11,760
the observation module, the lights flickered again, more violently than ever.

1350
01:44:12,840 --> 01:44:16,600
The entire station shuddered, as if hit by an external force.

1351
01:44:17,880 --> 01:44:19,960
My heart raised as I made my way to the

1352
01:44:20,000 --> 01:44:25,920
communications module. The anomaly was now a deafening signal, almost

1353
01:44:25,960 --> 01:44:31,760
forming coherent words. Suddenly, MIA's voice crackled over the intercom.

1354
01:44:31,960 --> 01:44:38,319
Filled with panic, I I saw myself outside. She gasped,

1355
01:44:39,039 --> 01:44:44,760
but without a suit. Her words sent a chill. Panic

1356
01:44:44,840 --> 01:44:49,159
spread quickly among the crew. It wasn't just affecting the ship,

1357
01:44:50,239 --> 01:44:55,119
it was affecting us. If Mere's hallucination was linked to

1358
01:44:55,159 --> 01:44:59,439
the anomaly, this posed a serious threat to all of us.

1359
01:45:00,000 --> 01:45:04,560
The atmosphere aboard the ISS immediately shifted from skeptical curiosity

1360
01:45:05,039 --> 01:45:14,359
to palpable fear, and things only got worse. The signals

1361
01:45:14,479 --> 01:45:18,520
began to invade my dreams. At first, they were vague,

1362
01:45:19,359 --> 01:45:23,520
unsettling images of the stars, but soon they grew more

1363
01:45:23,600 --> 01:45:28,760
vivid and disturbing. I saw visions of my past, reliving

1364
01:45:28,800 --> 01:45:33,600
moments of loneliness and loss. The dreams then twisted into dark,

1365
01:45:33,840 --> 01:45:38,239
violent scenarios where the ISS was overrun by an unknown force,

1366
01:45:39,119 --> 01:45:43,920
shadowy figures floated through the station, whispering my name, their

1367
01:45:43,920 --> 01:45:50,479
faces indistinguishable, with their presence suffocating. I woke up in

1368
01:45:50,560 --> 01:45:56,159
cold sweats. Reality was blurring. I heard the whispers in

1369
01:45:56,199 --> 01:45:59,279
the quiet harm of the station, in the white noise

1370
01:45:59,279 --> 01:46:03,279
of the ventilation system. My grip on my sanity began

1371
01:46:03,359 --> 01:46:08,880
to slip. Simple tasks became monumental challenges as I struggled

1372
01:46:08,880 --> 01:46:14,760
to focus, my mind constantly drifting. The crew noticed my

1373
01:46:14,840 --> 01:46:21,000
deteriorating state. You need to rest, Jess urged, her concern evident,

1374
01:46:22,199 --> 01:46:26,239
yet she also showed signs of mental decay. You're pushing

1375
01:46:26,239 --> 01:46:33,640
yourself too hard. But rest was impossible. The whispers had

1376
01:46:33,680 --> 01:46:37,840
become a constant companion, invading the time I set aside

1377
01:46:37,840 --> 01:46:42,479
to try to recover, their presence growing stronger, more invasive.

1378
01:46:44,239 --> 01:46:48,359
One particular night, I dreamt that the iss was falling apart.

1379
01:46:49,279 --> 01:46:54,560
The walls cracked, and the station's structural integrity failed. As

1380
01:46:54,560 --> 01:46:59,720
I floated helplessly through the disintegrating module, the whispers grew deafening,

1381
01:47:00,479 --> 01:47:05,760
a cacophony of voices screaming my name. I woke up,

1382
01:47:05,920 --> 01:47:10,079
gasping for breath, the vividness of the dream lingering like

1383
01:47:10,119 --> 01:47:15,680
a shadow over my consciousness. The boundaries between my waking

1384
01:47:15,760 --> 01:47:19,880
life and my dreams continued to blur. Each day fell

1385
01:47:19,960 --> 01:47:24,199
like a descent further into madness. The anomaly at the

1386
01:47:24,279 --> 01:47:28,760
center of my unraveling psychee. No matter how much I

1387
01:47:28,800 --> 01:47:32,399
wanted to stay away, I had to keep logging data.

1388
01:47:33,720 --> 01:47:37,239
This needed to be studied. I was caught in a

1389
01:47:37,239 --> 01:47:41,159
web of fear and an insatiable need to understand the

1390
01:47:41,199 --> 01:47:45,960
signal that seemed to hold my very sanity in its grasp.

1391
01:47:49,159 --> 01:47:54,079
The anomaly grew ever present. The electrical disturbances and unsettling

1392
01:47:54,159 --> 01:47:58,239
dreams had become a constant gnawing at my sanity and

1393
01:47:58,359 --> 01:48:03,239
the ship. One night, while analyzing more data, trying to

1394
01:48:03,279 --> 01:48:07,920
figure everything out, I intercepted a clear and direct message

1395
01:48:08,159 --> 01:48:15,560
through the ISS's communication system. The words were distorted but unmistakable.

1396
01:48:17,920 --> 01:48:25,520
We were here before you. You don't belong. My heart

1397
01:48:25,600 --> 01:48:28,520
raised as I replayed the message, trying to make sense

1398
01:48:28,560 --> 01:48:32,840
of it. The modulation of the signal was complex, layered

1399
01:48:32,880 --> 01:48:38,399
with patterns that suggested intelligence far beyond our understanding. As

1400
01:48:38,439 --> 01:48:42,479
I focused on the message, vivid hallucinations began to flood

1401
01:48:42,520 --> 01:48:47,039
my mind. I saw a different world, one that existed

1402
01:48:47,239 --> 01:48:54,039
long before humors had ventured into space, and eyes many eyes.

1403
01:48:56,199 --> 01:49:00,239
In these visions, I witnessed colossal structures floating through the word,

1404
01:49:00,920 --> 01:49:07,039
inhabited by entities whose forms defied comprehension. Everything watching me,

1405
01:49:08,039 --> 01:49:14,239
sentient or not. Their technology looked ancient yet advanced, blending

1406
01:49:14,279 --> 01:49:19,359
seamlessly with the fabric of space itself. The entities communicated

1407
01:49:19,399 --> 01:49:22,760
to the same rhythmic pulses that had been haunting me.

1408
01:49:23,840 --> 01:49:27,960
The messages a chilling warning of a forgotten past and

1409
01:49:28,439 --> 01:49:33,520
an imminent threat. The ISS felt like a fragile bubble

1410
01:49:33,760 --> 01:49:37,119
in the vastness of space, surrounded by the remnants of

1411
01:49:37,199 --> 01:49:42,840
a civilization that once dominated the Solar System. The message

1412
01:49:43,039 --> 01:49:47,079
echoed in my mind, reinforcing the sense of impending doom.

1413
01:49:49,039 --> 01:49:56,680
You don't belong. The ISS systems began to fail catastrophically.

1414
01:49:57,520 --> 01:50:01,199
The lights flickered violently, casting irre by shadows that danced

1415
01:50:01,199 --> 01:50:05,479
along the walls. The life support systems, which are crucial

1416
01:50:05,520 --> 01:50:09,560
for maintaining breathable air and stable temperature, started to malfunction.

1417
01:50:10,520 --> 01:50:14,600
The oxygen levels fluctuated, and the co two scrubbers struggled

1418
01:50:14,600 --> 01:50:18,880
to keep up. As I floated to the station, all

1419
01:50:18,920 --> 01:50:22,479
hands on deck, I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched,

1420
01:50:23,319 --> 01:50:26,720
eyes on me from behind, no matter how I turned.

1421
01:50:28,159 --> 01:50:32,920
The telescopes, once instruments of discovery, now see my beacons

1422
01:50:33,159 --> 01:50:38,319
drawing in an unseen force. The calm system crackled with static,

1423
01:50:38,880 --> 01:50:43,880
punctuated by whispers that grew louder and more insistent. I

1424
01:50:43,920 --> 01:50:47,079
saw shadowy figures in the corner of my vision, their

1425
01:50:47,119 --> 01:50:52,600
forms flickering like faulty holograms. They whispered to me, their

1426
01:50:52,680 --> 01:50:57,159
voices blending with the rhythmic pulses of the anomaly. The

1427
01:50:57,199 --> 01:51:01,600
boundary between reality and hallucination dissolber, leaving me in a

1428
01:51:01,680 --> 01:51:07,800
state of perpetual terror. I sped toward the life support module,

1429
01:51:08,199 --> 01:51:13,159
hoping to stabilize the systems. The console displayed erratic readings,

1430
01:51:13,720 --> 01:51:19,039
fluctuating oxygen levels, spikes and CO two, and temperatures swinging wildly.

1431
01:51:20,359 --> 01:51:25,760
I initiated emergency protocols, overriding the automatic controls to manually

1432
01:51:25,800 --> 01:51:30,000
regulate the life support systems. My fingers flew all over

1433
01:51:30,039 --> 01:51:34,840
the interface, adjusting parameters in a desperate attempt to restore stability.

1434
01:51:36,600 --> 01:51:43,000
Despite my efforts, the whispers persisted, growing more aggressive. I

1435
01:51:43,039 --> 01:51:46,560
felt the presence closing in, urging me to open the

1436
01:51:46,560 --> 01:51:52,119
airlock and let them in. The airlock controls, normally unresponsive

1437
01:51:52,359 --> 01:51:56,920
without a deliberate command, flickered ominously, ready to be used

1438
01:51:57,199 --> 01:52:02,119
without any of the routine procedures. I packed away the

1439
01:52:02,319 --> 01:52:05,760
urge to comply with the whispers, Warring with my instincts

1440
01:52:05,920 --> 01:52:11,199
for self preservation, I floated through the observation module to

1441
01:52:11,239 --> 01:52:14,600
see if anything was actually outside, if this was all

1442
01:52:14,800 --> 01:52:19,680
just in my head, or worse, in the ship. The

1443
01:52:19,800 --> 01:52:23,359
view of the earth below, usually a source of comfort,

1444
01:52:23,920 --> 01:52:27,239
now felt like a reminder of our isolation from safety.

1445
01:52:28,720 --> 01:52:32,199
No help would come, or could come if we asked.

1446
01:52:33,399 --> 01:52:36,199
The stars outside seemed to pulse with a malevolant light,

1447
01:52:37,039 --> 01:52:42,600
the silence mocking my isolation. As I stared out into

1448
01:52:42,600 --> 01:52:48,199
the void, the hallucinations intensified. I saw the ancient entities,

1449
01:52:48,720 --> 01:52:53,399
their forms looming over the is s, their technology intertwining

1450
01:52:53,439 --> 01:52:58,159
with ours. They reached THEU with tensils of energy, probing

1451
01:52:58,279 --> 01:53:03,720
the station's defenses. I could feel their intent, a dark

1452
01:53:03,880 --> 01:53:10,239
curiosity mixed with a sense of territoriality. The communication system

1453
01:53:10,319 --> 01:53:15,920
flared to life again, broadcasting the same chilling message we

1454
01:53:15,920 --> 01:53:22,479
were here before you, you don't belong. The words reverberated

1455
01:53:22,520 --> 01:53:27,640
through the station, each repetition driving me further into madness.

1456
01:53:28,279 --> 01:53:33,279
The shadows whispered suggestively, urging me to surrender, to open

1457
01:53:33,279 --> 01:53:37,119
the airlock and let them in. I knew I was

1458
01:53:37,159 --> 01:53:41,199
losing my grip on reality. The once familiar environment of

1459
01:53:41,239 --> 01:53:45,199
the iss had become a night marriage labyrinth, filled with

1460
01:53:45,239 --> 01:53:51,119
ghostly figures and sinister whispers. The station's systems continued to fail,

1461
01:53:51,920 --> 01:53:57,800
each malfunction reinforcing the sense of impending catastrophe. The shadows

1462
01:53:57,840 --> 01:54:01,960
closed in around me. The whispers grew louder, more insistent,

1463
01:54:02,600 --> 01:54:06,600
filling my mind with a relentless chant you don't belong,

1464
01:54:07,000 --> 01:54:12,239
You don't belong. My willpower waned, the urge to open

1465
01:54:12,239 --> 01:54:18,800
the airlock becoming almost irresistible. It all had reached a

1466
01:54:18,880 --> 01:54:24,039
deafening crescendo, pushing me to the edge. In a desperate

1467
01:54:24,079 --> 01:54:27,760
bit to when the torment, I floated to the communications module,

1468
01:54:28,279 --> 01:54:34,279
my mind racing with a single desperate plan disconnect the telescopes.

1469
01:54:36,479 --> 01:54:40,720
I hesitated for a moment, my fingers hovering over the console.

1470
01:54:42,000 --> 01:54:46,680
Disconnecting the telescopes would mean losing valuable data, potentially cutting

1471
01:54:46,760 --> 01:54:50,359
off a significant part of our mission, but the station

1472
01:54:50,560 --> 01:54:53,680
was falling apart and the cruise lives are at stake.

1473
01:54:55,000 --> 01:54:59,920
I had no other choice. Jess, I need a disc

1474
01:55:00,039 --> 01:55:05,600
connect the telescopes, I said, my voice trembling. She looked

1475
01:55:05,640 --> 01:55:08,920
at me, a mix of fear and confusion in her eyes.

1476
01:55:09,760 --> 01:55:15,399
Are you sure they will stop this? It's our only shot?

1477
01:55:16,359 --> 01:55:19,720
Jess paused and thought, But now it was our only

1478
01:55:19,840 --> 01:55:27,279
desperate attempt. She reluctantly nodded. I initiated the sequence that

1479
01:55:27,359 --> 01:55:31,800
power down the telescopes. The system protested with error messages

1480
01:55:32,159 --> 01:55:36,840
and warnings about the loss of critical data. I overrode

1481
01:55:36,840 --> 01:55:40,600
each of them, my handshaking as I worked through the steps.

1482
01:55:41,960 --> 01:55:45,319
As I reached the final command, the whispers grew frantic,

1483
01:55:46,239 --> 01:55:50,880
as if they were trying to stop me. Here goes nothing,

1484
01:55:51,560 --> 01:56:00,640
I whispered to myself and disconnected the final telescope. The

1485
01:56:00,760 --> 01:56:07,960
silence was immediate and profound. The whispers ceased instantly, and

1486
01:56:08,039 --> 01:56:10,720
the station systems, which had been on the brink of

1487
01:56:10,760 --> 01:56:16,319
total failure, began to stabilize. The lights stopped flickering, and

1488
01:56:16,359 --> 01:56:19,920
the life support systems returned to normal parameters, and the

1489
01:56:19,920 --> 01:56:24,479
communication systems hummed back to life with a steady, reassuring tone.

1490
01:56:25,960 --> 01:56:32,079
Our shoulders rolled like immense weight had been lifted. The crew,

1491
01:56:32,600 --> 01:56:37,159
though shaken, began to regain control, mere work to reset

1492
01:56:37,159 --> 01:56:41,279
the environmental controls while Jessent Daniel checked the communication links

1493
01:56:41,319 --> 01:56:46,439
to mission control. The pervasive sense of doom lifted, replaced

1494
01:56:46,840 --> 01:56:52,720
by a cautious optimism. We filed a detailed incident report

1495
01:56:52,800 --> 01:56:57,039
to mission control, outlining the strange anomalies and the subsequent

1496
01:56:57,119 --> 01:57:05,359
system failures. The response swift but cryptic. The incident was

1497
01:57:05,399 --> 01:57:09,640
to remain classified. No further details were to be shared,

1498
01:57:10,479 --> 01:57:16,880
even among ourselves. The message was clear, what happened on

1499
01:57:16,960 --> 01:57:25,760
the iss would remain a mystery, shrouded in secrecy. Back

1500
01:57:25,880 --> 01:57:29,119
to my normal routine, I found myself drawn to the

1501
01:57:29,159 --> 01:57:33,920
observation module, a habit that was ingrained in me. The

1502
01:57:33,920 --> 01:57:37,960
stars outside that relaxed me before now seemed to pulse

1503
01:57:38,079 --> 01:57:41,720
with a malevolent light, a stark reminder of the ordeal

1504
01:57:41,920 --> 01:57:46,880
we had just survived. As I floated there, staring out

1505
01:57:47,039 --> 01:57:51,880
into the infinite expanse of space, a deep, unsettling fear

1506
01:57:52,199 --> 01:57:58,399
settled into my bones. The silence was almost too perfect,

1507
01:57:59,279 --> 01:58:02,880
the calm after a storm filled with an eerie sense

1508
01:58:03,279 --> 01:58:08,560
of anticipation. The crew tried to return to their routines,

1509
01:58:09,119 --> 01:58:13,960
but the experience had left us all deeply affected. Jess

1510
01:58:14,000 --> 01:58:17,439
maintained a stoic front, but I could see the haunted

1511
01:58:17,439 --> 01:58:21,119
look in her eyes. Mia threw herself into her work,

1512
01:58:21,800 --> 01:58:26,359
her hands never quite as steady as before. Daniel's enthusiasm

1513
01:58:26,399 --> 01:58:32,479
had dimmed, replaced by a quiet, contemplative demeanor. As for me,

1514
01:58:33,640 --> 01:58:36,920
I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched.

1515
01:58:38,359 --> 01:58:42,479
The stars, once a source of wonder and inspiration, now

1516
01:58:42,560 --> 01:58:49,279
seemed like silent sentinels waiting. The message we had intercepted

1517
01:58:50,479 --> 01:58:55,000
we were here before you. You don't belong echoed in

1518
01:58:55,039 --> 01:59:01,920
my mind, a chilling reminder of our encounter. I was

1519
01:59:01,960 --> 01:59:06,840
filled with the weight of unanswered questions and unresolved fears.

1520
01:59:08,000 --> 01:59:11,720
I was constantly on edge, always feeling like the whispers

1521
01:59:11,720 --> 01:59:15,960
could return at any moment, perhaps with even greater force.

1522
01:59:17,239 --> 01:59:20,279
The uncertainty of what lay beyond the veil of space

1523
01:59:20,880 --> 01:59:26,199
left us with a gnawing sense of dread. I stared

1524
01:59:26,239 --> 01:59:30,039
out at the cosmos, my mind replaying the events over

1525
01:59:30,319 --> 01:59:34,159
and over, searching for clues or signs that we had

1526
01:59:34,199 --> 01:59:39,239
missed the is S, once a beacon of human achievement,

1527
01:59:40,000 --> 01:59:42,920
now felt like a fragile outpost, and the edge of

1528
01:59:42,960 --> 01:59:47,600
an abyss the first point of contact if anything were

1529
01:59:47,640 --> 01:59:54,000
to come. Ultimately, I couldn't escape the haunting feeling that

1530
01:59:54,119 --> 01:59:57,760
we had merely glimpsed the surface of a far greater mystery.

1531
01:59:58,960 --> 02:00:03,119
The stars, with a silent, pulsing light, seemed to mock

1532
02:00:03,199 --> 02:00:07,960
my attempts to understand. The whispers had ceased, but their

1533
02:00:08,000 --> 02:00:14,520
presence lingered a shadow over my thoughts. In the end,

1534
02:00:15,039 --> 02:00:18,600
I was left with the unsettling realization that our place

1535
02:00:18,640 --> 02:00:22,760
in the universe was far from secure. The entities we

1536
02:00:22,800 --> 02:00:27,479
had encountered, whether real or imagined, had made their point clear.

1537
02:00:28,920 --> 02:00:33,800
We were intruders in a realm beyond our understanding, and

1538
02:00:33,880 --> 02:00:37,359
I carried a fear that they might return with greater

1539
02:00:37,560 --> 02:00:45,800
force and clearer intent. The is S returned to normal operations,

1540
02:00:46,600 --> 02:00:48,920
but I knew that things would never be the same.

1541
02:00:50,159 --> 02:00:53,880
The experience had left an indelible mark on all of us,

1542
02:00:55,399 --> 02:00:58,800
and I couldn't help but wonder what else lay hidden

1543
02:00:59,439 --> 02:01:04,119
in the vast, fast, uncharted depths of space, waiting for

1544
02:01:04,239 --> 02:01:19,840
us to find it, offer it to find us. The

1545
02:01:19,920 --> 02:01:25,079
cafeteria was alive with the soundscape of youth, laughter, chatter,

1546
02:01:26,039 --> 02:01:31,359
and the clattering of trays. I sat alone, eyes fixed

1547
02:01:31,359 --> 02:01:36,760
on my phone, doom scrolling endless social media feeds. It

1548
02:01:36,880 --> 02:01:40,159
was a routine I had ingrained in me and escape

1549
02:01:40,199 --> 02:01:45,399
from high school life. I was a high school junior,

1550
02:01:46,159 --> 02:01:48,399
and I liked to think of myself as a bright,

1551
02:01:48,520 --> 02:01:51,399
quiet kid who chose not to socialize to keep a

1552
02:01:51,439 --> 02:01:58,000
mysterious facade. However, that wasn't the case in reality. My

1553
02:01:58,199 --> 02:02:02,279
introverted nature often care to me in the shadows, crippling

1554
02:02:02,359 --> 02:02:04,680
me in the few chances I had to prove my

1555
02:02:04,760 --> 02:02:10,800
status in the social hierarchy. My harbies and interests didn't help.

1556
02:02:11,560 --> 02:02:16,239
Rather than sports or pop culture, I was passionate about technology,

1557
02:02:16,880 --> 02:02:21,800
coding and niche simulation games. I felt like a ghost

1558
02:02:22,119 --> 02:02:26,000
slipping between the social cracks, and time was ticking on,

1559
02:02:26,119 --> 02:02:31,399
making lasting connections that would spend a lifetime. The cafeteria

1560
02:02:31,600 --> 02:02:35,920
being the microcosm of high school society, everyone was grouped

1561
02:02:35,920 --> 02:02:40,520
into their familiar clicks. The athletes in one section, loud

1562
02:02:40,520 --> 02:02:45,159
as always. The other side housed the theater kids animatedly

1563
02:02:45,239 --> 02:02:50,640
discussing their latest production. And there I was a lone

1564
02:02:50,720 --> 02:02:55,119
figure amidst the people having fun. My phone a comforting

1565
02:02:55,199 --> 02:03:01,199
barrier between me and the world. I wished I could

1566
02:03:01,239 --> 02:03:04,479
be like them, but self doubt clung to me like

1567
02:03:04,520 --> 02:03:07,439
a shadow and oozed out of me when I tried.

1568
02:03:08,960 --> 02:03:12,439
I couldn't help comparing myself to the others, measuring my

1569
02:03:12,600 --> 02:03:16,920
worth against them. It was a constant habit that reminded

1570
02:03:16,920 --> 02:03:22,199
myself of my status. As I scrolled through my feed,

1571
02:03:22,680 --> 02:03:27,479
half listening to the conversations around me, something caught my attention.

1572
02:03:29,479 --> 02:03:32,239
A group of students at the next table over were

1573
02:03:32,239 --> 02:03:37,319
animatedly discussing some new app. It shows you but from

1574
02:03:37,359 --> 02:03:41,439
the future. One of them said, her voice bubbling with excitement.

1575
02:03:42,199 --> 02:03:46,359
It's like looking into a crystal ball. Another chimed in,

1576
02:03:47,000 --> 02:03:50,359
I saw myself in Paris working at some big fashion company.

1577
02:03:50,920 --> 02:03:56,600
I mean, it's probably nonsense, but it's fun, right. Their

1578
02:03:56,640 --> 02:04:00,720
words piqued my interest an app that could show the future.

1579
02:04:02,000 --> 02:04:08,039
It sounded crazy, but also fun. The future was something

1580
02:04:08,039 --> 02:04:11,640
that I often fantasized about, knowing how much I hated

1581
02:04:11,720 --> 02:04:17,680
the present. A hope maybe of better times ahead. It

1582
02:04:17,760 --> 02:04:20,079
was what I needed to cope with how things were

1583
02:04:20,760 --> 02:04:24,800
a glimpse of a successful future, something to hold onto

1584
02:04:25,079 --> 02:04:31,239
amidst uncertainty. The thought lingered throughout the day, at tempting

1585
02:04:31,279 --> 02:04:36,119
whisper that refused to fade. As the final bell rang

1586
02:04:36,359 --> 02:04:40,079
and the corridors entered, I found myself excited to go

1587
02:04:40,159 --> 02:04:43,560
home and try it. Even if it turned out to

1588
02:04:43,600 --> 02:04:47,439
be some benign prediction, it could inspire some hope that

1589
02:04:47,520 --> 02:04:52,319
I desperately needed. And luckily for me, I caught the

1590
02:04:52,439 --> 02:04:54,960
name of it from when I heard those girls talking

1591
02:04:55,000 --> 02:05:02,039
about it, Mirror Me. Later that evening, as the sun dipped,

1592
02:05:02,720 --> 02:05:05,439
I sat at my bed staring at the app store

1593
02:05:05,520 --> 02:05:13,319
on my phone. There it was, Mirror Me. The icon

1594
02:05:13,359 --> 02:05:17,439
glowed a simple mirror with an infinity symbol etched in

1595
02:05:17,520 --> 02:05:23,000
the center. The reviews were glowing, filled with people claiming

1596
02:05:23,439 --> 02:05:27,399
it had changed their lives. It seemed like an exaggeration,

1597
02:05:28,199 --> 02:05:32,239
but the prospect was too tenting. A siren called to

1598
02:05:32,279 --> 02:05:37,000
a future I desperately wanted to believe. My thumb hovered

1599
02:05:37,000 --> 02:05:43,560
over the download button, excitement mingling with anticipation. Taking a

1600
02:05:43,680 --> 02:05:48,840
deep breath, I tapped the screen and watched as the

1601
02:05:48,880 --> 02:05:55,159
app downloaded. Downloading the app, my mind jumped into a

1602
02:05:55,239 --> 02:05:59,560
realm of possibilities, and yet I still carried a sense

1603
02:05:59,560 --> 02:06:04,000
of skipism. It promised to show an accurate prediction of

1604
02:06:04,079 --> 02:06:08,319
my future self that updated in real time, but the

1605
02:06:08,399 --> 02:06:13,159
realist in me was always grounded to my true expectations.

1606
02:06:13,680 --> 02:06:17,680
The description was futuristic, almost too good to be true,

1607
02:06:18,279 --> 02:06:23,479
and the reviews were overwhelmingly positive. People claimed it had

1608
02:06:23,520 --> 02:06:27,279
given them a glimpse into the future, some miraculous peak

1609
02:06:27,439 --> 02:06:32,039
that had changed their lives. However, it's not hard to

1610
02:06:32,119 --> 02:06:37,319
question the intelligence of the general populace. I took a

1611
02:06:37,359 --> 02:06:41,239
deep breath, a bit more dramatic than I'd liked, and

1612
02:06:41,359 --> 02:06:46,479
opened the app. The screen flickered to life, the load

1613
02:06:46,520 --> 02:06:50,079
in Nikon's spinning for a moment before asking if i'd

1614
02:06:50,079 --> 02:06:53,239
allow the app to use my camera, which I of

1615
02:06:53,319 --> 02:06:59,399
course accepted. When it came on, It's not a picture

1616
02:06:59,439 --> 02:07:03,399
of me, then revealed an image of what looked like me,

1617
02:07:04,840 --> 02:07:12,760
but different. I blinked, and there I was. It looked

1618
02:07:12,840 --> 02:07:16,479
like I was a successful software developer, standing in a sleek,

1619
02:07:16,720 --> 02:07:22,239
modern office wearing a tailored suit that exuded confidence. My

1620
02:07:22,399 --> 02:07:26,560
future self looked assured and happy, a stark contrast to

1621
02:07:26,640 --> 02:07:30,960
how I had often felt. My heart raised with excitement

1622
02:07:31,039 --> 02:07:36,960
and disbelief. Is this really me? I whispered, reaching out

1623
02:07:37,000 --> 02:07:40,319
to touch the screen, half expecting the image to vanish

1624
02:07:40,399 --> 02:07:46,399
like a mirage, but it remained solid and enticing a

1625
02:07:46,479 --> 02:07:50,159
vision of a life I desperately wanted to believe was possible.

1626
02:07:51,560 --> 02:07:54,840
This vision filled me with a surge of motivation I

1627
02:07:54,880 --> 02:07:58,920
hadn't felt in a long time. The next day, I

1628
02:07:59,039 --> 02:08:03,039
walked into school with renewed energy, eager to take small

1629
02:08:03,119 --> 02:08:07,079
steps towards making that future her reality. I raised my

1630
02:08:07,119 --> 02:08:11,640
hand in class, giving answers, confidently feeling a thrill every

1631
02:08:11,680 --> 02:08:15,680
time I contributed. I eve enjoyed the school's coding club,

1632
02:08:16,439 --> 02:08:18,880
something I'd always wanted to do, but it had never

1633
02:08:18,920 --> 02:08:23,319
had the courage to try. My parents noticed the change

1634
02:08:23,359 --> 02:08:27,880
almost immediately. At dinner, my mum smiled at me, a

1635
02:08:27,960 --> 02:08:32,359
glint of pride in her eyes. You've been really engaged lately,

1636
02:08:32,920 --> 02:08:36,199
she remarked. It's great to see you out of your shell.

1637
02:08:38,960 --> 02:08:42,279
I couldn't help but being with pride, feeling for the

1638
02:08:42,319 --> 02:08:45,880
first time that my future might indeed be as bright

1639
02:08:45,920 --> 02:08:50,279
and promising as I'd imagined. The app had given me

1640
02:08:50,319 --> 02:08:53,000
a glimpse of a life I wanted, and I was

1641
02:08:53,039 --> 02:08:56,760
determined to work toward it, each day, bringing me a

1642
02:08:56,800 --> 02:09:01,680
step closer to that vision, as if the world had shifted,

1643
02:09:02,199 --> 02:09:05,840
opening up new possibilities I'd never dared to dream of.

1644
02:09:07,279 --> 02:09:11,439
I finally understood the hype of this app. The doubt

1645
02:09:11,560 --> 02:09:15,800
that it lingered before was fading, replaced by a newfound

1646
02:09:15,800 --> 02:09:22,159
belief in my potential. The initial excitement from using the

1647
02:09:22,239 --> 02:09:26,760
Mirror Me app started to become a routine. Every morning,

1648
02:09:27,039 --> 02:09:29,239
I would check it to see if my future self

1649
02:09:29,279 --> 02:09:32,319
had changed, hoping to catch some new info and the

1650
02:09:32,439 --> 02:09:36,800
life I was working toward. For the most part, the

1651
02:09:36,840 --> 02:09:42,600
image remained mostly the same me, successful and confident, socially

1652
02:09:42,680 --> 02:09:47,119
navigating a world I had only dreamed of. But soon

1653
02:09:47,960 --> 02:09:53,159
I began to notice small discrepancies in the reflections. It

1654
02:09:53,239 --> 02:09:57,239
started subtly, a small bruise and my future self's arm

1655
02:09:57,560 --> 02:10:02,199
that I didn't remember having. I shrugged it off, thinking

1656
02:10:02,399 --> 02:10:06,840
it was just adding details to create a narrative. In

1657
02:10:06,920 --> 02:10:11,279
the following days, however, the discrepancies became harder to ignore.

1658
02:10:12,479 --> 02:10:15,960
A faint scratch appeared in my future self's cheek, then

1659
02:10:16,079 --> 02:10:21,199
another bruise, this time more pronounced. I felt a knot

1660
02:10:21,279 --> 02:10:25,079
of anxiety seeing this unfold. I tried to shake off

1661
02:10:25,079 --> 02:10:29,319
the feeling, thinking it was just an error, but the

1662
02:10:29,399 --> 02:10:34,119
nagging sense that something was wrong wouldn't leave me. During

1663
02:10:34,159 --> 02:10:37,479
a coding club meeting, I was working on some hardware,

1664
02:10:37,920 --> 02:10:42,159
swapping around some parts. The edges of an io shield

1665
02:10:42,159 --> 02:10:46,239
are quite sharp, and while shifting something around, I caught

1666
02:10:46,279 --> 02:10:50,359
my hand on it. It was a minor injury, nothing

1667
02:10:50,399 --> 02:10:53,760
more than a sting and a bit of blood. This

1668
02:10:53,920 --> 02:10:59,359
comes with the territory, so I thought nothing of it. However,

1669
02:11:00,159 --> 02:11:04,159
later that night, I checked the app like I usually did,

1670
02:11:05,079 --> 02:11:09,199
and there it was the same cut, mirrored on my

1671
02:11:09,279 --> 02:11:15,680
future self's hand. Panic set in. I stared at the

1672
02:11:15,720 --> 02:11:19,439
cut of my hand, feeling a cold dread rising in me.

1673
02:11:20,560 --> 02:11:23,239
I was simply using the app for a boosting confidence,

1674
02:11:24,079 --> 02:11:27,600
but this bled the fantasy into the realm of reality.

1675
02:11:29,079 --> 02:11:32,840
The thought of this sent my mind spiraling. If the

1676
02:11:32,880 --> 02:11:36,680
app was accurately predicting these events, then what else could

1677
02:11:36,720 --> 02:11:40,760
it foresee? I musted as much doubt as I could,

1678
02:11:41,720 --> 02:11:45,520
but I still became anxious, unable to shake the feeling

1679
02:11:45,960 --> 02:11:49,840
that the future was closing in on me, as if

1680
02:11:50,079 --> 02:11:55,920
it was already written and waiting to unfold. I became

1681
02:11:55,960 --> 02:12:00,439
obsessed with finding answers and checked the app constantly, my

1682
02:12:00,560 --> 02:12:05,680
fingers itching to unlock the screen every spare moment. Every

1683
02:12:05,720 --> 02:12:09,000
so often a new scar or injury would appear on

1684
02:12:09,119 --> 02:12:13,760
my future visage, and each time this happened, my mind raised,

1685
02:12:14,359 --> 02:12:18,399
trying to figure out how to prevent these future misaps.

1686
02:12:19,079 --> 02:12:23,279
Sleepless nights became routine as I lay awake, staring at

1687
02:12:23,279 --> 02:12:28,279
the ceiling, replaying every decision I'd made. Each day, I

1688
02:12:28,319 --> 02:12:32,680
grew more paranoid about each decision I'd make. Though the

1689
02:12:32,760 --> 02:12:36,520
road is clear, should I cross? I need to reach

1690
02:12:36,560 --> 02:12:40,560
something off the top shelf? But is it safe? Is

1691
02:12:40,600 --> 02:12:45,760
what I'm eating? Within date, The app, once a lifeline,

1692
02:12:47,039 --> 02:12:52,399
was now a tormentor a mirror, reflecting my fears, a

1693
02:12:52,520 --> 02:12:58,439
ticking clock to a future I couldn't ignore. In quiet

1694
02:12:58,479 --> 02:13:02,600
moments alone with my thoughts, I began to realize the

1695
02:13:02,640 --> 02:13:07,000
cost of seeing the future. The blissful ignorance gone as

1696
02:13:07,000 --> 02:13:11,000
I spiraled and panic trying to avoid this future. I

1697
02:13:11,079 --> 02:13:17,119
was getting darker and darker by the day, but I

1698
02:13:17,239 --> 02:13:21,439
was still hooked, addicted to trying to right the wrongs

1699
02:13:21,840 --> 02:13:29,119
that came in droves. As the days turned into weeks,

1700
02:13:29,760 --> 02:13:33,439
my obsession with the Mirror Me app grew, and it

1701
02:13:33,520 --> 02:13:37,760
started to take a toll on my life. After every

1702
02:13:37,800 --> 02:13:40,840
decision I'd make during the day, I would check to

1703
02:13:40,840 --> 02:13:45,479
see if the future image got better or worse. Sometimes

1704
02:13:45,520 --> 02:13:49,319
I'd do something which improved it slightly, but it always

1705
02:13:49,319 --> 02:13:53,760
seemed to be on a slow decline. The confident, accomplished

1706
02:13:53,760 --> 02:13:59,760
man which inspired me was debilitating. I found myself with

1707
02:14:00,000 --> 02:14:03,960
growing from my friends and family, each interaction tinged with

1708
02:14:04,039 --> 02:14:07,039
a silent fear that something might happen to me because

1709
02:14:07,039 --> 02:14:10,800
of it. The idea of causing some unseen ripple effect

1710
02:14:11,119 --> 02:14:17,720
terrified me. Social gatherings became minefields of potential disasters. Would

1711
02:14:17,760 --> 02:14:20,680
starting a friendship with someone be the catalyst for disaster?

1712
02:14:21,239 --> 02:14:25,199
Would cut in ties with someone save me? These thoughts

1713
02:14:25,239 --> 02:14:30,000
plagued my mind. Each time I interacted with someone, I

1714
02:14:30,039 --> 02:14:35,479
started canceling plans, making excuses to avoid any outings. I

1715
02:14:35,560 --> 02:14:39,119
told myself it was for my future that I needed

1716
02:14:39,119 --> 02:14:42,000
to focus on my studies and success to try to

1717
02:14:42,000 --> 02:14:46,520
get the image back on track, but deep down I

1718
02:14:46,600 --> 02:14:50,680
knew it was because I feared what the app might reveal. Next,

1719
02:14:53,079 --> 02:14:56,680
sitting alone at lunch, I watched my friends or future

1720
02:14:56,720 --> 02:15:00,920
acquaintances from afar, Feeling a pang of life longing as

1721
02:15:00,960 --> 02:15:04,800
they laughed and joked together. I wanted to join them,

1722
02:15:05,479 --> 02:15:09,960
but untold fear held me back. I'm doing this for

1723
02:15:10,039 --> 02:15:15,079
my future, I reminded myself, like a mantra, though the

1724
02:15:15,119 --> 02:15:20,079
loneliness hung around my shoulders like a heavy cloak. I

1725
02:15:20,159 --> 02:15:24,800
buried myself in my schoolwork, hoping that academic success would

1726
02:15:24,840 --> 02:15:29,479
somehow counterbalance the growing isolation. But no matter how well

1727
02:15:29,520 --> 02:15:32,960
I performed in class, the app continued to show me

1728
02:15:33,079 --> 02:15:38,279
visions of a future that seemed increasingly bleak. What made

1729
02:15:38,319 --> 02:15:42,760
things worse was that sometimes I'd be delivered a glimmer

1730
02:15:42,800 --> 02:15:47,399
of hope, drip fed improvement in the picture. Yet it

1731
02:15:47,439 --> 02:15:50,560
was always hard to pinpoint what exactly made the change.

1732
02:15:51,600 --> 02:15:54,800
Was it something I ate, something I said, or was

1733
02:15:54,840 --> 02:16:00,199
it a thought that would inspire improvement in the far future.

1734
02:15:59,560 --> 02:16:04,079
It was impossible to tell. But these moments were far

1735
02:16:04,199 --> 02:16:08,279
and few between. Despite coping with a few times I

1736
02:16:08,359 --> 02:16:12,159
saw things improve, there was no doubt that it was

1737
02:16:12,279 --> 02:16:19,199
always in a steady decline. Slowly, my future self looked

1738
02:16:19,199 --> 02:16:24,840
increasingly isolated and unhappy. The cheerful surroundings around him, dwindling.

1739
02:16:25,640 --> 02:16:30,239
The once confident figure now appeared hollow eyes shaded with

1740
02:16:30,359 --> 02:16:35,680
the weight of solitude. My heart sank each time I

1741
02:16:35,719 --> 02:16:40,319
saw this, feeling the walls closing in around me. The

1742
02:16:40,360 --> 02:16:43,680
image of my future success fell like a cruel joke,

1743
02:16:43,799 --> 02:16:48,719
now a taunting specter of what I was sacrificing everything for.

1744
02:16:50,120 --> 02:16:53,920
I was becoming a prisoner of my own ambition, stuck

1745
02:16:54,000 --> 02:16:58,239
in a cycle that spiraled downward, getting worse no matter

1746
02:16:58,319 --> 02:17:04,079
what I did. Desperate to change this grim future, I

1747
02:17:04,159 --> 02:17:08,440
decided to take matters into my own hands. I began

1748
02:17:08,559 --> 02:17:12,479
spending hours trying to reverse engineer the app, hoping to

1749
02:17:12,520 --> 02:17:17,200
find a way to alter the predictions. I scoured online forums,

1750
02:17:17,520 --> 02:17:22,360
downloaded tools, and immersed myself in lines of code, convinced

1751
02:17:22,600 --> 02:17:26,120
that if I could understand how the app worked, I

1752
02:17:26,159 --> 02:17:31,479
could somehow change its course. But the deeper I delved,

1753
02:17:31,840 --> 02:17:36,840
the more elusive the solution became. Surrounded by error messages

1754
02:17:37,159 --> 02:17:41,799
and unyielding lines of code. I felt her creeping sense

1755
02:17:41,840 --> 02:17:49,600
of futility. This was beyond my capability. I was losing

1756
02:17:49,600 --> 02:17:54,760
myself in this, feeling more lost than ever each failed

1757
02:17:54,760 --> 02:17:58,879
attempt to crack the app's secrets. Only heightened my paranoia

1758
02:17:59,360 --> 02:18:04,000
and fed my obsession. The line between past, present and

1759
02:18:04,079 --> 02:18:08,879
future blurred, leaving me trapped in a cycle of endless uncertainty,

1760
02:18:10,239 --> 02:18:14,760
fueled by the image still degrading. Even when I changed

1761
02:18:14,760 --> 02:18:20,559
my tact, it was well and truly her curse, But

1762
02:18:22,399 --> 02:18:29,959
I couldn't bring myself to stop. The day came when

1763
02:18:29,959 --> 02:18:32,639
I could no longer ignore this cycle of doom I

1764
02:18:32,719 --> 02:18:36,840
was in. I spent too many sleepless nights trying to

1765
02:18:36,920 --> 02:18:43,000
untangle the mystery, too many days lost in anxiety, Yet

1766
02:18:43,079 --> 02:18:49,200
I still came crawling back in desperation. I opened the app,

1767
02:18:49,959 --> 02:18:53,440
always hoping it would be the last time, looking for

1768
02:18:53,520 --> 02:18:56,559
a glimmer of hope or some reassurance that the future

1769
02:18:56,760 --> 02:19:01,200
wasn't as bleaque as it predicted. As the app loaded,

1770
02:19:01,879 --> 02:19:06,520
I braced myself for what might appear. The screen flickered

1771
02:19:07,399 --> 02:19:13,520
and my heart sank. There I was a future version

1772
02:19:13,600 --> 02:19:18,120
of myself, sitting alone in a dimly lit room. The

1773
02:19:18,200 --> 02:19:22,000
walls were lined with old tech equipment screens, casting an

1774
02:19:22,040 --> 02:19:27,159
eerie glow over piles of empty take out containers. Year

1775
02:19:27,280 --> 02:19:32,879
seemed heavy, stagnant with the weight of solitude. My future

1776
02:19:32,920 --> 02:19:37,639
self looked utterly defeated, eyes hollow and filled with a

1777
02:19:37,719 --> 02:19:43,799
quiet despair. I could feel the loneliness emanating from the screen.

1778
02:19:45,680 --> 02:19:49,520
Tears welled open my eyes as I stared, Regret and

1779
02:19:49,680 --> 02:19:55,079
sorrow washed over me. The app showed me the consequences

1780
02:19:55,120 --> 02:20:01,879
of my obsession, a future stripped of joy. All my

1781
02:20:01,959 --> 02:20:05,639
attempts to control the future, to shape it into something

1782
02:20:05,760 --> 02:20:08,879
I thought I wanted, had only led me down a

1783
02:20:08,920 --> 02:20:14,399
path of isolation. I had sacrificed friendships, family, and happiness

1784
02:20:14,799 --> 02:20:18,200
in pursuit of a vision that had slowly become a nightmare.

1785
02:20:19,600 --> 02:20:23,399
Overwhelmed by the weight of this understanding, I knew what

1786
02:20:23,479 --> 02:20:27,959
I had to do. With a trembling hand, I hovered

1787
02:20:28,200 --> 02:20:32,079
over the app icon on my phone, hesitating for just

1788
02:20:32,120 --> 02:20:36,879
a moment. Checking the app was an addiction, one that

1789
02:20:37,000 --> 02:20:40,239
was hard to shake. I had tried to control my

1790
02:20:40,319 --> 02:20:44,079
time looking at it to no avail. So this was

1791
02:20:44,120 --> 02:20:49,840
the ultimate solution I could think of, erasing it permanently.

1792
02:20:53,200 --> 02:20:56,799
As the app vanished from my screen, I felt a

1793
02:20:56,879 --> 02:21:03,559
mixture of relief and fear. What now, I wondered. I

1794
02:21:03,639 --> 02:21:08,319
felt blind now, stepping into the unknown without the AP's guidance.

1795
02:21:10,159 --> 02:21:14,959
It was terrifying and deliberating all at once a strange

1796
02:21:15,000 --> 02:21:21,000
mix of emotions. The future now a blank slate, open

1797
02:21:21,120 --> 02:21:25,719
to possibilities I couldn't see. I was free from the

1798
02:21:25,760 --> 02:21:30,319
apse predictions, but faced with the daunting task of rebuilding

1799
02:21:30,360 --> 02:21:36,159
my life from the fragments I had left behind. Slowly,

1800
02:21:36,600 --> 02:21:39,159
I began to reconnect with the world I had pushed away.

1801
02:21:40,319 --> 02:21:44,280
I reached out to friends, rejoining their conversations and gatherings

1802
02:21:44,440 --> 02:21:48,280
with a tentative hope that things could be different. I

1803
02:21:48,360 --> 02:21:51,760
feared that my road to isolation was one eyed manifested

1804
02:21:52,319 --> 02:21:57,360
forever to follow me to war relationships. But to my surprise,

1805
02:21:58,040 --> 02:22:01,319
I was met with warmth and excepting, the bonds of

1806
02:22:01,360 --> 02:22:07,879
friendships slowly mending. I've missed this, I admitted during lunch

1807
02:22:07,920 --> 02:22:15,239
with friends, the words spilling out with unexpected ease. They nodded, smiling,

1808
02:22:16,360 --> 02:22:19,280
and I felt a spark of joy that I had

1809
02:22:19,280 --> 02:22:25,399
almost forgotten. I also re engaged with my hobbies, picking

1810
02:22:25,479 --> 02:22:28,760
up interests I had long neglected in my pursuit of

1811
02:22:28,799 --> 02:22:33,959
the future. I spent hours tinkering with code, not out

1812
02:22:33,959 --> 02:22:37,600
of desperation for success, but from a genuine love for

1813
02:22:37,719 --> 02:22:41,959
creating the passion that had once been clouded by anxiety,

1814
02:22:42,600 --> 02:22:48,479
now felt pure and unencumbered. Reconnecting with my family was harder,

1815
02:22:49,159 --> 02:22:52,319
but each conversation brought a sense of relief and healing.

1816
02:22:53,479 --> 02:22:57,040
The world seemed brighter now. It felt as if I

1817
02:22:57,120 --> 02:23:00,840
pulled my head out of a barrel of water. Suffocating

1818
02:23:00,879 --> 02:23:05,360
in a world I trapped myself in, but losing the

1819
02:23:05,440 --> 02:23:09,879
visions of the future, I realized I was able to

1820
02:23:09,920 --> 02:23:15,639
create new ones reflecting my journey. I felt a sense

1821
02:23:15,680 --> 02:23:19,159
of purpose. I realized I didn't need to see the

1822
02:23:19,200 --> 02:23:24,639
future to know what was important. I found myself staring

1823
02:23:24,680 --> 02:23:29,680
into a mirror, a real mirror, not muddled with technology.

1824
02:23:31,239 --> 02:23:35,280
I smiled at my reflection, seeing myself for who I was,

1825
02:23:36,120 --> 02:23:42,840
not for what I was forcing myself to be. Over time,

1826
02:23:43,680 --> 02:23:47,440
I even found an appreciation for the app. Though it

1827
02:23:47,600 --> 02:23:51,559
was a cause for so many issues, it instilled a

1828
02:23:51,639 --> 02:23:55,520
sense of appreciation for the now, living in the present,

1829
02:23:56,159 --> 02:24:02,920
not the past or future that I left a five

1830
02:24:03,040 --> 02:24:18,159
star glowing review on the app page. Most Tuba drivers

1831
02:24:18,360 --> 02:24:22,200
serve a wide variety of customers. Some probably have never

1832
02:24:22,239 --> 02:24:25,680
seen the same person more than once. But I've been

1833
02:24:25,719 --> 02:24:31,639
serving the same person for almost a year now. At first,

1834
02:24:32,000 --> 02:24:36,040
it was a coincidence. He lived relatively close to me,

1835
02:24:36,920 --> 02:24:40,360
so when I accepted the ride and picked him up, he,

1836
02:24:40,680 --> 02:24:45,440
for some reason, seemed relieved that someone had come. Then

1837
02:24:46,280 --> 02:24:51,120
I saw why. His route was a four hour ride

1838
02:24:51,479 --> 02:24:55,079
all the way to the nearby seaside town, a town

1839
02:24:55,280 --> 02:24:59,000
often visited in the summer months, but he was heading

1840
02:24:59,000 --> 02:25:02,840
there in later order him. I figured people canceled on

1841
02:25:02,959 --> 02:25:06,280
him once they saw the route, so my accepting it

1842
02:25:06,440 --> 02:25:10,840
gratified him. I needed the money, so I figured it

1843
02:25:10,959 --> 02:25:14,920
was worth the time. He was quiet the whole car

1844
02:25:15,040 --> 02:25:18,440
ride and never spoke as he left, not even a

1845
02:25:18,479 --> 02:25:22,520
thank you for making this absurd trip. And being new

1846
02:25:22,559 --> 02:25:26,440
to uber, I started to realize what I experienced riders

1847
02:25:26,440 --> 02:25:30,360
would decline such a route. I was stuck in the

1848
02:25:30,399 --> 02:25:34,559
town with barely anyone doing anything since it was outside

1849
02:25:34,559 --> 02:25:38,799
of peak activity. I made a few routes for some locals,

1850
02:25:39,200 --> 02:25:42,719
trying to scrape some extra cash before heading back, but

1851
02:25:43,360 --> 02:25:45,559
it was nowhere near the rates of the city where

1852
02:25:45,600 --> 02:25:50,680
I lived. Dejected, I was ready to head back when

1853
02:25:50,719 --> 02:25:53,559
I saw a ding near where I dropped the guy off.

1854
02:25:54,840 --> 02:26:00,280
I accepted, and to my surprise, it was him. The

1855
02:26:00,360 --> 02:26:05,159
route was to take him back home another four hour ride,

1856
02:26:05,319 --> 02:26:08,319
which would make the day's profits far higher than if

1857
02:26:08,360 --> 02:26:11,920
I'd done a whole day in the city. Ecstatic at

1858
02:26:11,959 --> 02:26:15,239
the thought, I drove him back again in complete silence

1859
02:26:15,639 --> 02:26:20,319
until I dropped him off and called it a day. Overall,

1860
02:26:20,760 --> 02:26:23,680
it was a strange sequence of events, and at the

1861
02:26:23,719 --> 02:26:28,360
time one I did not want to repeat until I

1862
02:26:28,399 --> 02:26:32,799
saw the tip. He had left a hefty thirty percent

1863
02:26:32,879 --> 02:26:36,920
tip on top of the already expensive ride both ways

1864
02:26:38,239 --> 02:26:43,879
For someone struggling for money, this was a godsend. When

1865
02:26:43,879 --> 02:26:46,000
I accepted a route the next day and went to

1866
02:26:46,040 --> 02:26:49,319
the location, I was surprised to see that it was

1867
02:26:49,399 --> 02:26:52,760
him again. The route was readying for a four hour

1868
02:26:52,920 --> 02:26:57,440
ride back to the seaside town. It was obviously strange

1869
02:26:57,479 --> 02:27:00,200
that he would go so far yet again two days

1870
02:27:00,200 --> 02:27:04,079
in a row, but knowing what he was paying, I

1871
02:27:04,200 --> 02:27:08,920
accepted again. This time. I didn't even bother doing any

1872
02:27:08,959 --> 02:27:12,239
of the local routes there. I just hung around and

1873
02:27:12,319 --> 02:27:15,559
grabbed a drink with the app open, the map hovering

1874
02:27:15,559 --> 02:27:20,479
where I dropped him off, and like clockwork, around two

1875
02:27:20,520 --> 02:27:25,559
hours later, a ding popped. I quickly finished the drink

1876
02:27:25,600 --> 02:27:30,319
and accepted the ride, and it was him ready to go. Home.

1877
02:27:32,680 --> 02:27:35,959
I relaxed when I finished my shift and lit up

1878
02:27:36,079 --> 02:27:39,040
when I saw that yet again, he dropped a thirty

1879
02:27:39,040 --> 02:27:44,159
percent bonus on top. The next day, when I started

1880
02:27:44,200 --> 02:27:47,520
my routine of checking the app, I was doubtful that

1881
02:27:47,600 --> 02:27:50,879
he would want to go there again. It was preposterous

1882
02:27:50,920 --> 02:27:54,040
that he even went twice like that, but a lingering

1883
02:27:54,079 --> 02:27:56,120
hope in the back of my head made me check

1884
02:27:56,479 --> 02:27:58,959
if there were any roots around where I picked him up,

1885
02:28:00,440 --> 02:28:04,600
and my jaw dropped when I saw one there exactly

1886
02:28:04,719 --> 02:28:10,079
where I usually picked him up. This set my routine

1887
02:28:10,079 --> 02:28:14,280
for the next few months. Every week day, I would

1888
02:28:14,280 --> 02:28:17,399
start up my app at around eight a m. Driving

1889
02:28:17,520 --> 02:28:21,200
to the town, waiting around two hours, and then drive

1890
02:28:21,280 --> 02:28:25,520
him back, each time getting a juicy thirty percent tip

1891
02:28:25,559 --> 02:28:28,840
on top. God knows if he did this on the

1892
02:28:28,879 --> 02:28:31,399
weekend with some one else, but I was not going

1893
02:28:31,440 --> 02:28:35,000
to do this seven days a week. I'm not a

1894
02:28:35,120 --> 02:28:39,120
very torgative person, but I sometimes tried to start a conversation,

1895
02:28:39,959 --> 02:28:44,200
but I'm just met with silence. I even tried to

1896
02:28:44,280 --> 02:28:47,159
offer my personal number in case he wanted to do

1897
02:28:47,280 --> 02:28:50,559
this outside of Uber, so they wouldn't scrape their fees

1898
02:28:50,600 --> 02:28:54,239
from the payment and make it cheaper for him, but no,

1899
02:28:55,120 --> 02:28:58,159
he would just look out the window and watch the roadside,

1900
02:28:58,719 --> 02:29:05,719
eyes glazed over, lost in thought. So when he finally spoke,

1901
02:29:07,000 --> 02:29:12,040
I nearly jumped. The town means a lot to me,

1902
02:29:13,040 --> 02:29:18,079
he said. His voice sounded like someone who had just

1903
02:29:18,120 --> 02:29:21,280
woken up, making me wonder if this was the first

1904
02:29:21,319 --> 02:29:26,280
time he'd spoken to anyone in a long time. I froze,

1905
02:29:26,559 --> 02:29:29,239
but didn't want to pass up the opportunity of knowing

1906
02:29:29,280 --> 02:29:36,079
more so I asked why. He opened up about his

1907
02:29:36,120 --> 02:29:39,120
connection to the place, and he used to go there often,

1908
02:29:39,600 --> 02:29:42,239
and now that he was no longer working, just wanted

1909
02:29:42,280 --> 02:29:45,639
to spend his days there. I asked him if he

1910
02:29:45,680 --> 02:29:49,120
was retired. He said that he wasn't, but that he

1911
02:29:49,239 --> 02:29:53,520
lived off of passive income that supported his lifestyle. It

1912
02:29:53,600 --> 02:29:58,319
was intriguing learning about his unique circumstances, and despite the

1913
02:29:58,360 --> 02:30:03,040
long ride, we soon neared the location and he quietened up.

1914
02:30:04,760 --> 02:30:06,959
On the way home, he talked about the things he

1915
02:30:07,120 --> 02:30:10,159
liked there, the local ice cream shop that made their

1916
02:30:10,200 --> 02:30:13,079
own flavors, the bi quintals that let you see the

1917
02:30:13,159 --> 02:30:17,120
scenes in good time. The corpse I shopped around was

1918
02:30:17,200 --> 02:30:22,159
suddenly animated of life with nostalgia even recommended places for

1919
02:30:22,239 --> 02:30:25,120
me to go. Somehow, knowing that I now waited for

1920
02:30:25,200 --> 02:30:29,200
his ride back. I dropped him off with a smile,

1921
02:30:29,879 --> 02:30:34,920
excited to learn more. For day after. When I got home,

1922
02:30:35,520 --> 02:30:39,280
my eyes widened. When I checked the uber app. He

1923
02:30:39,399 --> 02:30:43,399
slammed me with a fifty percent tip, far exceeding what

1924
02:30:43,479 --> 02:30:47,079
he had tipped before. I almost wanted to return it,

1925
02:30:47,559 --> 02:30:49,319
but I didn't want to look a gift horse in

1926
02:30:49,319 --> 02:30:53,600
the mouth and helped me so much with my financial issues,

1927
02:30:54,200 --> 02:30:56,399
and he seemed to have an endless sort of income

1928
02:30:56,719 --> 02:31:03,440
to have supported this strange lifestyle. The day after, I

1929
02:31:03,520 --> 02:31:07,399
tried asking him more questions. I was curious about more

1930
02:31:07,440 --> 02:31:11,959
of the local experiences and his connection to them. Despite

1931
02:31:12,000 --> 02:31:14,920
having been there so much, I knew next to nothing

1932
02:31:14,959 --> 02:31:19,479
about the place. But I was only met with stone

1933
02:31:19,520 --> 02:31:23,559
cold silence. It was like he had reverted back to

1934
02:31:23,639 --> 02:31:27,079
how he was just solemnly looking out the window of

1935
02:31:27,120 --> 02:31:30,879
the whole ride. The way back was all the same.

1936
02:31:32,360 --> 02:31:35,159
It seemed he had expended his burst of social energy

1937
02:31:35,719 --> 02:31:40,719
and fell back into his usual routine. I tried again

1938
02:31:40,799 --> 02:31:45,040
the day after and was met with more silence. The

1939
02:31:45,120 --> 02:31:49,799
tips reverted back to thirty percent. Nothing to scoff at,

1940
02:31:50,040 --> 02:31:52,799
but short of the big pay day I was. After

1941
02:31:54,360 --> 02:31:57,799
a while went by like this, A silent ride there,

1942
02:31:58,159 --> 02:32:02,360
a silent ride back Sandwich, between visiting the few spots

1943
02:32:02,360 --> 02:32:05,760
he recommended, which were just as good as he had

1944
02:32:05,840 --> 02:32:09,680
hyped them up to be. Yet despite visiting all the

1945
02:32:09,719 --> 02:32:15,079
places he mentioned, he would never be there. Maybe it

1946
02:32:15,159 --> 02:32:18,879
was a coincidence we would always miss each other, having

1947
02:32:18,920 --> 02:32:22,440
gone to different spots. The time only allowed me to

1948
02:32:22,479 --> 02:32:26,159
see one, maybe two, depending on where I went, But

1949
02:32:26,280 --> 02:32:29,360
after weeks of this, surely we would have lined up

1950
02:32:29,360 --> 02:32:34,000
at least Once I was jolted again in the middle

1951
02:32:34,040 --> 02:32:38,120
of a midweek drive, he broke the silence with another

1952
02:32:38,319 --> 02:32:43,280
nugget of information. I go there to see my wife,

1953
02:32:44,280 --> 02:32:53,079
he said bluntly. This answer raised so many questions. Long

1954
02:32:53,159 --> 02:32:56,959
distance is often almost entirely reserved for young people or

1955
02:32:57,000 --> 02:33:00,399
people who cannot afford to move in together, but he

1956
02:33:00,559 --> 02:33:04,360
was neither of those. Before I could ask him about it,

1957
02:33:04,799 --> 02:33:08,479
he went on. He spoke of how much he loved

1958
02:33:08,479 --> 02:33:13,760
seeing her, describing how she looked, middle aged, full blonde hair,

1959
02:33:13,959 --> 02:33:19,079
with a button nose, slender but not too slim. He

1960
02:33:19,559 --> 02:33:26,440
was infatuated, glowing as he spoke not only animated but happy,

1961
02:33:27,639 --> 02:33:31,559
a sharp contrast to how he usually seemed, so much

1962
02:33:31,600 --> 02:33:33,559
so that I didn't want to interrupt him with my

1963
02:33:33,680 --> 02:33:40,280
curious yet benign questions. Sadly, he only started talking near

1964
02:33:40,319 --> 02:33:43,000
the end of the trip, so by the time an

1965
02:33:43,000 --> 02:33:46,639
opportunity came up to ask him my questions, we were

1966
02:33:46,639 --> 02:33:52,319
pulling up to his stop. I waited around, too curious

1967
02:33:52,360 --> 02:33:55,399
to do much in the town, only grabbing some food

1968
02:33:55,440 --> 02:34:00,399
and waiting with excitement. After spending so much time with him,

1969
02:34:00,840 --> 02:34:04,239
I was invested in his story, only drip fed to

1970
02:34:04,280 --> 02:34:08,159
me in rare times. When I got the ping, I

1971
02:34:08,280 --> 02:34:11,959
hurriedly picked him up, my mouth bursting with the questions

1972
02:34:11,959 --> 02:34:16,120
I had bottled up. I tried to broach the topics calmly.

1973
02:34:16,959 --> 02:34:19,879
I asked him why they lived apart, why didn't just

1974
02:34:19,959 --> 02:34:22,399
live in the town, and why they only see each

1975
02:34:22,440 --> 02:34:26,360
other for such a small window each day. I did

1976
02:34:26,360 --> 02:34:29,879
so as politely as possible, who was only met with

1977
02:34:29,959 --> 02:34:34,920
a silence I was all too familiar with. When I

1978
02:34:34,959 --> 02:34:39,559
got home, I had two amounts for the trips, a

1979
02:34:39,639 --> 02:34:43,040
fifty percent tip on the way there and only thirty

1980
02:34:43,079 --> 02:34:47,639
percent for the way back. A curious hint about how

1981
02:34:47,760 --> 02:34:53,920
he wanted things. On the plus side, I was able

1982
02:34:53,959 --> 02:34:57,319
to start living how I wanted. The first thing I

1983
02:34:57,360 --> 02:35:01,239
reinvested in was a new car. I was spending so

1984
02:35:01,399 --> 02:35:04,879
much on fuel, so to get something more economical was

1985
02:35:04,959 --> 02:35:10,159
basically an investment, though the luxury extras were me treating myself.

1986
02:35:11,760 --> 02:35:14,280
Then I felt too scruffy to be seen in the thing,

1987
02:35:15,000 --> 02:35:18,399
so I even got some nice new clothes, stand out

1988
02:35:18,440 --> 02:35:20,719
brands that would make it look like I didn't just

1989
02:35:20,799 --> 02:35:26,600
steal the car from the lot. It took a good

1990
02:35:26,639 --> 02:35:30,120
few months before he spoke again. I was scared my

1991
02:35:30,159 --> 02:35:34,760
probing questions had offended him, But when he spoke, he

1992
02:35:34,959 --> 02:35:40,120
dropped some heavy information, answering my questions as if I'd

1993
02:35:40,120 --> 02:35:45,319
only just ask them. The reason we don't live together

1994
02:35:47,079 --> 02:35:54,639
it is because she died, he said dejectedly. My heart sank.

1995
02:35:56,319 --> 02:36:01,399
This answered a surprising amount of my questions. The whole

1996
02:36:01,479 --> 02:36:05,719
bizarre routine started to make more sense. It was a

1997
02:36:05,760 --> 02:36:08,600
saddening twist of the tail that was being drip fed

1998
02:36:08,600 --> 02:36:12,680
to me. He told me stories of their time together,

1999
02:36:13,559 --> 02:36:16,440
that she was with him from rags to riches, and

2000
02:36:16,479 --> 02:36:20,239
that despite making something out of himself. He said that

2001
02:36:20,319 --> 02:36:24,120
he cannot share the fruits of their labor together. This

2002
02:36:24,280 --> 02:36:28,280
explained way he frivously spent on ubers every weekday just

2003
02:36:28,319 --> 02:36:33,079
to keep up this ritual. This time, he talked almost

2004
02:36:33,079 --> 02:36:37,520
the entire four hour ride there. He shared personal details

2005
02:36:37,520 --> 02:36:41,520
about their relationship, the ups and downs, the things he

2006
02:36:41,559 --> 02:36:45,719
didn't realize he'd miss until she was gone. It was

2007
02:36:45,799 --> 02:36:50,520
touching and really progressed me emotionally for when I finally

2008
02:36:50,559 --> 02:36:54,520
meet some one worth sharing my life with. When he

2009
02:36:54,559 --> 02:37:00,920
exited the car, he shared one piece of final wisdom.

2010
02:37:01,159 --> 02:37:04,879
It's the routines that matter. Make sure you keep up

2011
02:37:04,879 --> 02:37:10,000
a good routine. This way you never forget what happened.

2012
02:37:12,520 --> 02:37:16,200
It was cryptic enough to apply to many things. I

2013
02:37:16,360 --> 02:37:19,399
chose to hold on to it and to hopefully fully

2014
02:37:19,440 --> 02:37:24,760
know the meaning of this proverb. The right back was silent,

2015
02:37:25,680 --> 02:37:29,280
but in a good way, resting in the good energy

2016
02:37:29,319 --> 02:37:33,600
of openness. I got home to a fifty percent tip

2017
02:37:33,840 --> 02:37:38,040
both ways, and I felt content that we finally had

2018
02:37:38,040 --> 02:37:44,000
a rapport. The day after, I asked him more questions

2019
02:37:44,040 --> 02:37:48,040
about his wife. He seemed more animated and alive when

2020
02:37:48,079 --> 02:37:51,239
talking about her, so I hoped that I could breathe

2021
02:37:51,280 --> 02:37:54,879
some new sense of purpose for him, even if it

2022
02:37:54,959 --> 02:37:57,520
meant I would lose out on this amazing uber gig,

2023
02:37:58,120 --> 02:38:02,760
I would feel content to seem really his life. However,

2024
02:38:03,440 --> 02:38:06,600
when I looked back in the rear view mirror, he

2025
02:38:06,719 --> 02:38:12,399
was looking out the window, silent, like before. I tried

2026
02:38:12,440 --> 02:38:15,399
to probe once more, but we were back to our

2027
02:38:15,479 --> 02:38:22,000
usual routine. The following weeks were the same. Each time

2028
02:38:22,040 --> 02:38:24,319
I thought I had made enough progress to get to

2029
02:38:24,360 --> 02:38:28,040
know him, he closed up. It was only when I

2030
02:38:28,159 --> 02:38:32,040
tried to start conversation, so I noted that it always

2031
02:38:32,079 --> 02:38:39,079
had to be him, no exception. So I waited, and

2032
02:38:39,159 --> 02:38:43,920
eventually the day came when the silence was once again broken.

2033
02:38:46,639 --> 02:38:51,680
One week from now it will be the anniversary, he muttered.

2034
02:38:53,559 --> 02:38:57,079
My heart sank, But this was just the beginning of

2035
02:38:57,159 --> 02:39:02,639
the heart wrenching details. He told me how things happened.

2036
02:39:02,639 --> 02:39:06,440
From his perspective, He said, they went to the seaside

2037
02:39:06,479 --> 02:39:09,920
town for a few days, booked a nice hotel, and

2038
02:39:10,040 --> 02:39:12,600
planned to spend a few days there just to relax.

2039
02:39:13,680 --> 02:39:16,239
It was the start of autumn, but it was also

2040
02:39:16,319 --> 02:39:20,120
their anniversary. They didn't care that it would be cold

2041
02:39:20,360 --> 02:39:23,559
and that it would basically be a ghost town. They

2042
02:39:23,680 --> 02:39:26,399
just wanted to share their special day together in the

2043
02:39:26,440 --> 02:39:31,079
place that meant the most to them. This touching scenario

2044
02:39:31,600 --> 02:39:35,600
was ripped from my gut as he explained what actually happened.

2045
02:39:37,680 --> 02:39:41,360
They were walking near the pier. It was early afternoon,

2046
02:39:41,760 --> 02:39:45,799
broad daylight when he lost sight of her while distracted

2047
02:39:45,840 --> 02:39:50,280
for only a moment. There weren't many people around and

2048
02:39:50,360 --> 02:39:54,040
not many places she could have gone, Yet despite this,

2049
02:39:54,879 --> 02:39:59,399
he couldn't find her. Afterwards, he looked nearby, and when

2050
02:39:59,440 --> 02:40:02,440
that didn't work, he checked places they usually went to.

2051
02:40:03,680 --> 02:40:05,959
He even went back to the hotel to see if

2052
02:40:05,959 --> 02:40:13,000
she had maybe forgotten something, and went back empty. He

2053
02:40:13,040 --> 02:40:16,000
couldn't believe she had just vanished, so he waited around

2054
02:40:16,000 --> 02:40:20,399
spots they frequented, occasionally switching locations to see if she'd

2055
02:40:20,440 --> 02:40:26,000
be there. When it started getting dark, he reluctantly called

2056
02:40:26,000 --> 02:40:31,040
the police to file a report. He was assured she

2057
02:40:31,200 --> 02:40:34,840
was probably lost, not being local and all, and that

2058
02:40:34,959 --> 02:40:38,639
this happened often, so they sent out a few search

2059
02:40:38,680 --> 02:40:43,000
parties to check around, but days went by and nothing

2060
02:40:43,120 --> 02:40:47,840
was found. It was only after a week that she

2061
02:40:48,000 --> 02:40:51,559
was found, and hearing it was like a punch in

2062
02:40:51,600 --> 02:40:58,200
the gut. She was found floating below the pier. Despite

2063
02:40:58,239 --> 02:41:01,760
the scenario that she had made Beforellen in evidence showed

2064
02:41:01,799 --> 02:41:05,799
she was abducted and brought back there vowl play was

2065
02:41:05,840 --> 02:41:10,680
immediately ruled in the sea washed away all forensics, so

2066
02:41:10,840 --> 02:41:17,719
it was already a cold case. I was devastated hearing this,

2067
02:41:19,040 --> 02:41:23,360
yet despite this, he held a hopeful smile, maybe clinging

2068
02:41:23,399 --> 02:41:26,760
on to the cherished memories rather than the grim. Ending

2069
02:41:27,959 --> 02:41:32,479
for this story was followed by a request. The next

2070
02:41:32,520 --> 02:41:37,079
Wednesday was going to be their anniversary date. He asked

2071
02:41:37,200 --> 02:41:39,200
that i'd be around to make sure I could take

2072
02:41:39,280 --> 02:41:45,319
him to the seaside town without hesitation. I wholeheartedly agreed.

2073
02:41:46,319 --> 02:41:49,479
I even offered my personal number in case something happened,

2074
02:41:50,159 --> 02:41:56,120
but he politely declined. The ride home was silent, but

2075
02:41:56,239 --> 02:42:00,680
with an air of solemn optimism, A hope lingered in

2076
02:42:00,760 --> 02:42:04,920
the air. No words were exchanged, nor did they need

2077
02:42:04,959 --> 02:42:08,840
to be. I now felt I was doing something bigger

2078
02:42:08,840 --> 02:42:12,639
than myself, a duty to the calmer of the universe.

2079
02:42:14,319 --> 02:42:17,399
When I got home, I checked the app and was

2080
02:42:17,520 --> 02:42:22,159
hit with an eighty percent tip both ways, a hint

2081
02:42:22,360 --> 02:42:25,239
that said to make sure I was ready on Wednesday,

2082
02:42:27,479 --> 02:42:34,559
and I was. When I picked him up, I was surprised.

2083
02:42:35,760 --> 02:42:39,520
From the cocoon of a dreary middle aged man emerged

2084
02:42:39,559 --> 02:42:43,559
the dapper gentleman. He wore an elegant, long black pea

2085
02:42:43,600 --> 02:42:47,239
coat over a suit that wasn't too formal but definitely

2086
02:42:47,280 --> 02:42:51,479
stood out. The day was chilly, so his hands sat

2087
02:42:51,559 --> 02:42:56,200
in nice, fur lined leather gloves. This was the sharpest

2088
02:42:56,239 --> 02:42:59,159
contrast from what I'd seen in the many months I'd

2089
02:42:59,200 --> 02:43:03,520
been with them. I felt like an underdressed chauffeur rather

2090
02:43:03,600 --> 02:43:08,000
than an uber driver. I smiled, without a chauffeur, had

2091
02:43:08,079 --> 02:43:13,399
to tip, and proceeded to the town. The silence was pleasant,

2092
02:43:13,399 --> 02:43:16,959
this time around, lingering with a sense of hope and wonder.

2093
02:43:18,159 --> 02:43:20,799
I fully believed that he was there to enjoy the

2094
02:43:20,840 --> 02:43:23,959
memories of his time with his departed wife, and I

2095
02:43:24,040 --> 02:43:27,360
smiled the whole ride, hoping he got what he wanted

2096
02:43:27,399 --> 02:43:32,319
from this endeavor. This time. He spoke on the way back,

2097
02:43:33,879 --> 02:43:38,799
I did it. He was exactly like before, he yelled animatedly.

2098
02:43:40,520 --> 02:43:44,319
He described doing everything like he remembered that it was

2099
02:43:44,680 --> 02:43:47,879
just like before, and that he felt a strong connection

2100
02:43:48,000 --> 02:43:51,200
to her. Even said he might be able to move on,

2101
02:43:52,000 --> 02:43:55,159
which stung a little. The thought that this routine could

2102
02:43:55,159 --> 02:43:58,440
come to an end, but he topped it off with

2103
02:43:58,479 --> 02:44:02,200
a feeling that this route made him too happy, and

2104
02:44:02,239 --> 02:44:08,440
that for the foreseeable future this will continue. When I

2105
02:44:08,479 --> 02:44:11,639
got home, I was met with his biggest tip yet,

2106
02:44:12,719 --> 02:44:18,479
one hundred percent. I was happy, he was happy. It

2107
02:44:18,559 --> 02:44:22,079
was the best day of my life, living it vicariously

2108
02:44:22,159 --> 02:44:27,040
through this interesting man I had became acquainted with. The

2109
02:44:27,079 --> 02:44:30,639
rest of the week was silent bliss. Each day he

2110
02:44:30,760 --> 02:44:34,559
tip one hundred percent both ways, his new standard for

2111
02:44:34,639 --> 02:44:39,520
my dedication to his routine. I relaxed on the weekend,

2112
02:44:40,079 --> 02:44:43,760
sitting back in a nice restaurant and multiple course meal

2113
02:44:43,879 --> 02:44:47,280
lined up, a far cry from the ramen I had

2114
02:44:47,280 --> 02:44:52,479
become accustomed to many months ago. I had started living

2115
02:44:52,479 --> 02:44:55,840
my life not just because of the generous source of income,

2116
02:44:56,520 --> 02:44:59,920
but to strive to be more like my inspirational passenger.

2117
02:45:02,120 --> 02:45:07,280
Until my phone dinged with a notification. It was the weekend,

2118
02:45:07,920 --> 02:45:11,879
so it couldn't be uber, and when I checked, I

2119
02:45:11,920 --> 02:45:16,799
saw it was a news notification. I'd spent so much

2120
02:45:16,840 --> 02:45:19,920
time in the seaside town that I sometimes got news

2121
02:45:19,920 --> 02:45:24,479
notifications from the area my phone's location, thinking I reside there.

2122
02:45:26,360 --> 02:45:31,399
It was an emergency notification about a missing person. The

2123
02:45:31,440 --> 02:45:35,799
picture looked familiar, yet it was someone I'd never seen before.

2124
02:45:37,040 --> 02:45:41,200
Middle aged, full blonde hair and a button nose, slender

2125
02:45:41,520 --> 02:45:46,239
but not too slim. It wasn't someone I'd seen before,

2126
02:45:47,319 --> 02:45:52,040
but it was someone I remember having imagined almost exactly

2127
02:45:52,239 --> 02:45:57,360
how the man described his late wife. The details chilled me.

2128
02:45:59,079 --> 02:46:03,440
She went missing in the early afternoon near the pier.

2129
02:46:05,399 --> 02:46:08,840
No other details were known, just that they were still

2130
02:46:09,040 --> 02:46:16,479
currently looking for a whereabouts. My heart sank. He didn't

2131
02:46:16,520 --> 02:46:20,120
just say the day went well. He said it went

2132
02:46:20,280 --> 02:46:25,239
exactly like before. It didn't take a genius to piece

2133
02:46:25,319 --> 02:46:29,959
together what might have happened. He was a man of routine,

2134
02:46:30,879 --> 02:46:36,879
and I guess this constituted as his new ritual. But

2135
02:46:37,479 --> 02:46:39,239
as I looked at the food in front of me,

2136
02:46:39,879 --> 02:46:43,319
the new car outside, and the nice clothes I could

2137
02:46:43,319 --> 02:46:50,159
finally afford, I couldn't bring myself to turn him in.

2138
02:47:01,120 --> 02:47:05,799
Come on, I muttered, tapping the steering wheel nervously. I

2139
02:47:05,840 --> 02:47:10,040
couldn't miss this. This deal was too important. My boss

2140
02:47:10,040 --> 02:47:12,559
had claimed this was a make or break for my employment.

2141
02:47:13,399 --> 02:47:16,680
If I was late to this meeting, I was doomed.

2142
02:47:17,479 --> 02:47:19,639
I pulled out the pocket watch that had been gifted

2143
02:47:19,680 --> 02:47:24,520
to me just this morning, three fifteen p m. The

2144
02:47:24,639 --> 02:47:27,600
meeting was supposed to start in fifteen minutes, and I

2145
02:47:27,680 --> 02:47:32,239
was an entire thirty minutes away. Traffic had been at

2146
02:47:32,239 --> 02:47:35,799
a standstill for what felt like an eternity. The cars

2147
02:47:35,840 --> 02:47:37,920
in front of me hadn't so much as budged in

2148
02:47:37,959 --> 02:47:41,840
the last ten minutes. I gripped the pocket watch tightly,

2149
02:47:42,319 --> 02:47:46,520
subconsciously praying that I'd make it to this meeting. I

2150
02:47:46,559 --> 02:47:48,959
put the watch back in my pocket and pulled out

2151
02:47:48,959 --> 02:47:52,399
my phone, checking the GPS for an alternate route just

2152
02:47:52,479 --> 02:47:58,639
in case. The screen flickered oddly, then refreshed with a

2153
02:47:58,680 --> 02:48:02,600
new found root, a series of some back streets that

2154
02:48:02,680 --> 02:48:04,959
looked like they cut through the city and would get

2155
02:48:04,959 --> 02:48:09,639
me there just on time. It looked tight, but it

2156
02:48:09,760 --> 02:48:13,760
was my only chance by a long shot. However, based

2157
02:48:13,799 --> 02:48:17,159
on the city's layout, it still seemed impossible to make

2158
02:48:17,239 --> 02:48:21,479
on time. I eyed the gridlock ahead of me, my

2159
02:48:21,559 --> 02:48:25,959
stomach clenched with frustration. I had to take the risk.

2160
02:48:28,280 --> 02:48:31,000
I turned off the highway, and as soon as I did,

2161
02:48:31,280 --> 02:48:36,200
the drivers behind me started honking their horns angrily. Honestly,

2162
02:48:36,719 --> 02:48:39,840
I felt a little stupid, hoping that making it on

2163
02:48:39,959 --> 02:48:44,719
time was possible. I drove down the suggested exit and

2164
02:48:44,879 --> 02:48:48,159
saw that I was the only one doing so. The

2165
02:48:48,239 --> 02:48:50,840
exit led me towards a section of the city I

2166
02:48:50,879 --> 02:48:54,280
had never been to. I went through a narrow street

2167
02:48:54,440 --> 02:48:57,719
lined with old brick buildings, looking much older than the

2168
02:48:57,719 --> 02:49:02,479
modern infrastructure that made up mostly city. The road was

2169
02:49:02,479 --> 02:49:06,319
oddly quiet. It was the middle of the day, and

2170
02:49:06,399 --> 02:49:08,879
as far as I was aware, this part of town

2171
02:49:09,000 --> 02:49:12,879
wasn't known for being busy. I was making good time,

2172
02:49:13,360 --> 02:49:16,040
but I couldn't get the nagging question of why no

2173
02:49:16,120 --> 02:49:20,639
other drivers were taking this route. The streets around me

2174
02:49:20,719 --> 02:49:24,559
were entirely desolate. The road ahead of me looked endless,

2175
02:49:25,200 --> 02:49:29,239
an empty street littered with trash and moss. It looked

2176
02:49:29,520 --> 02:49:35,920
entirely abandoned. It felt like I was all alone. The

2177
02:49:35,959 --> 02:49:41,000
five minutes I drove felt excruciating, every second passing making

2178
02:49:41,040 --> 02:49:46,719
me more and more nervous. My phone buzzed something about

2179
02:49:46,760 --> 02:49:52,399
losing the GPS signal. I looked down, frowning. The blue

2180
02:49:52,440 --> 02:49:55,920
dot was frozen on the map. I smacked my phone

2181
02:49:56,000 --> 02:49:58,799
in a cartoonish attempt to make it work again, and

2182
02:49:58,879 --> 02:50:03,120
glanced at the buildings at either side of me. Had

2183
02:50:03,159 --> 02:50:07,680
the road been getting narrower. These back streets were like

2184
02:50:07,719 --> 02:50:12,440
a maze, one narrow alley stretching for miles and branching

2185
02:50:12,479 --> 02:50:15,120
paths that looked almost too tight for even a person

2186
02:50:15,159 --> 02:50:19,479
to squeeze through, let alone a car. I drove a

2187
02:50:19,520 --> 02:50:23,200
little farther until I realized that my suspicion was correct.

2188
02:50:24,159 --> 02:50:28,079
The road was getting narrower, so narrow that it was

2189
02:50:28,079 --> 02:50:32,399
getting almost too tight for my car. I cursed under

2190
02:50:32,399 --> 02:50:37,680
my breath. The alley continued stretching into the distance between towering,

2191
02:50:37,920 --> 02:50:42,159
dirty brown and gray buildings. I still couldn't see where

2192
02:50:42,159 --> 02:50:46,000
they ended. The pure vastness of this abandoned section of

2193
02:50:46,040 --> 02:50:48,639
the town made me wonder how I'd never heard of

2194
02:50:48,680 --> 02:50:52,639
it before. At this point I had already given up

2195
02:50:52,719 --> 02:50:56,399
and making it to the meeting in time. The alley

2196
02:50:56,479 --> 02:50:58,959
was getting so narrow that I could hear a slight

2197
02:50:59,079 --> 02:51:02,280
scraping noise as my wing mirror clashed with the rough

2198
02:51:02,360 --> 02:51:06,239
surface of the buildings to my sides. I reversed ever

2199
02:51:06,319 --> 02:51:09,280
so slightly, just enough to be able to get out

2200
02:51:09,280 --> 02:51:12,360
of the car and planned on surveying the road ahead

2201
02:51:12,360 --> 02:51:16,760
of me. I turned the engine off, let out a

2202
02:51:16,799 --> 02:51:21,920
heavy sigh, and stepped out of my car. The moment

2203
02:51:22,000 --> 02:51:26,079
my shoes hid the ground below me. I regretted it.

2204
02:51:27,760 --> 02:51:32,360
The entire alley felt wrong. The air was heavy and moist.

2205
02:51:33,040 --> 02:51:37,760
It smelled like rust, mildew, and something I couldn't recognize.

2206
02:51:38,079 --> 02:51:40,719
The light above me seemed to dim ever so slightly.

2207
02:51:41,879 --> 02:51:45,000
There were no clouds in the sky, just the suffocating

2208
02:51:45,079 --> 02:51:48,200
weight of the buildings crowding in on me on either side.

2209
02:51:50,079 --> 02:51:54,239
The road ahead did indeed get significantly narrower, so I

2210
02:51:54,319 --> 02:51:58,559
trudged forward. My car clearly could not pass any further,

2211
02:51:59,079 --> 02:52:02,280
so I planned on fire the nearest business or anything helpful.

2212
02:52:03,360 --> 02:52:07,200
I pulled my phone out to try to check the signal. Nothing.

2213
02:52:08,600 --> 02:52:11,920
My phone was useless and the GBS app was still

2214
02:52:12,079 --> 02:52:15,840
in the exact location where it had lost service. I

2215
02:52:15,879 --> 02:52:19,120
stuffed it back in my pocket and decided to keep walking.

2216
02:52:20,719 --> 02:52:23,440
I could now see more details of the roads themselves.

2217
02:52:24,399 --> 02:52:27,639
The walls of the buildings were stained with aged graffiti

2218
02:52:27,840 --> 02:52:31,760
and trash piled up in every corner. The strange thing

2219
02:52:32,120 --> 02:52:34,639
was that all the packaging was faded, as if it

2220
02:52:34,680 --> 02:52:38,520
had been there for quite some time. All the windows

2221
02:52:38,520 --> 02:52:42,200
were either boarded up or cracked. Rats scurried between the

2222
02:52:42,239 --> 02:52:45,280
heaps of trash, and the air took in an oppressive

2223
02:52:45,360 --> 02:52:49,360
smell of decay, increasing in intensity the further I walked.

2224
02:52:50,479 --> 02:52:54,159
Each footstep I made created a sickening echo through the streets.

2225
02:52:55,000 --> 02:53:01,719
The weight of my situation was finally sinking in. I

2226
02:53:01,879 --> 02:53:05,639
was going to lose my job, which made every single

2227
02:53:05,680 --> 02:53:09,280
step I took heavier than the last. I would be

2228
02:53:09,360 --> 02:53:13,079
lying if I said I wasn't already getting concerned. The

2229
02:53:13,120 --> 02:53:16,280
frustration of the roadblock was fading away, and he was

2230
02:53:16,319 --> 02:53:20,440
getting replaced with my fear for my future. This was

2231
02:53:20,520 --> 02:53:23,799
my best paying job ever, and I was unsure where

2232
02:53:23,799 --> 02:53:27,559
to go. I pulled the old pocket watch out again,

2233
02:53:28,200 --> 02:53:32,520
the one my wife Alexis had given me for good luck.

2234
02:53:32,920 --> 02:53:36,920
She told me with a smile. It had been her grandfather's,

2235
02:53:37,079 --> 02:53:42,120
She claimed, her family heirloom of swords. Her grandfather told

2236
02:53:42,200 --> 02:53:45,280
us stories of it, granting wishes and attributing it to

2237
02:53:45,319 --> 02:53:49,600
his success in life, passed down through generations for god

2238
02:53:49,680 --> 02:53:52,719
knows how long, and she had insisted that I'd take

2239
02:53:52,760 --> 02:53:56,280
it with me to this meeting. She said her father

2240
02:53:56,360 --> 02:53:58,440
gave it to her after he heard his leg in

2241
02:53:58,479 --> 02:54:01,719
an accident, saying he can't run like he used to before,

2242
02:54:02,520 --> 02:54:05,719
which she always thought was an odd reason, maybe an

2243
02:54:05,760 --> 02:54:10,280
inside joke. I laughed it off initially, and pocket did

2244
02:54:10,319 --> 02:54:14,360
it mostly out of respect. I didn't have much belief

2245
02:54:14,360 --> 02:54:17,360
in things like wishes. I mean, just a few moments

2246
02:54:17,399 --> 02:54:20,920
prior I had wished to arrive at the meeting, and

2247
02:54:21,040 --> 02:54:25,159
now here I was. But now I felt the weight

2248
02:54:25,200 --> 02:54:27,840
of the watch in my hand, a little heavier than

2249
02:54:27,879 --> 02:54:32,239
I remember it being. I flipped the watch open. Its

2250
02:54:32,239 --> 02:54:37,120
face cracked and the hands were frozen. Three twenty six

2251
02:54:37,200 --> 02:54:42,280
p m. It had been working earlier, I was sure

2252
02:54:42,319 --> 02:54:47,639
of it. With a heavy sigh, I slipped the watch

2253
02:54:47,680 --> 02:54:52,959
back into my pocket and continued walking. I glanced back

2254
02:54:53,280 --> 02:54:56,280
and noticed that my car was now entirely out of sight.

2255
02:54:57,520 --> 02:55:03,840
Given the roads straight nature, that was impossible. I could

2256
02:55:03,840 --> 02:55:06,719
only imagine that the road had a slight curve to it,

2257
02:55:06,840 --> 02:55:11,360
so slight that it was barely noticeable on foot. I

2258
02:55:11,440 --> 02:55:14,040
turned around and started walking back the way I came,

2259
02:55:14,600 --> 02:55:19,120
determined to check if my suspicions were correct. What I

2260
02:55:19,159 --> 02:55:22,120
did not expect was that I would end up walking

2261
02:55:22,159 --> 02:55:25,079
for what felt like another while with no car in sight.

2262
02:55:26,799 --> 02:55:31,440
Then I came to a fork in the road. The

2263
02:55:31,520 --> 02:55:36,440
alley twisted into two paths. I was sure I hadn't

2264
02:55:36,440 --> 02:55:39,360
seen a split in the road on my journey. I

2265
02:55:39,440 --> 02:55:41,399
might have been too lost in my own thoughts about

2266
02:55:41,399 --> 02:55:43,879
how screwed I was. Now that I wasn't making it

2267
02:55:43,920 --> 02:55:46,920
to the meeting, so I assumed I just walked forward

2268
02:55:46,920 --> 02:55:51,520
without looking at my surroundings. I went left, choosing what

2269
02:55:51,600 --> 02:55:56,280
I felt was right and hoped I was correct. As

2270
02:55:56,319 --> 02:56:00,000
I continued walking, my sense of time was getting distorted,

2271
02:56:00,799 --> 02:56:04,639
so it wasn't sure how long I walked. The alley

2272
02:56:04,760 --> 02:56:08,520
wasn't as straight as I thought it was looking in

2273
02:56:08,559 --> 02:56:12,600
the distance. It winded and curved without any real sense

2274
02:56:12,600 --> 02:56:18,479
of direction. The buildings looked decrepid, dirty walls, cracked pavement.

2275
02:56:19,200 --> 02:56:22,760
All the buildings blended together so much that I started

2276
02:56:22,760 --> 02:56:26,680
to feel like I was walking in circles. Yeah, I

2277
02:56:26,760 --> 02:56:30,920
kept going, telling myself the road would lead somewhere. Eventually

2278
02:56:32,680 --> 02:56:35,719
I glanced over at the countless buildings that surrounded me.

2279
02:56:37,120 --> 02:56:40,040
I hadn't seen any sign or markings of a business,

2280
02:56:40,840 --> 02:56:44,639
not even a restaurant or a bar. The buildings looked

2281
02:56:44,799 --> 02:56:48,920
entirely deserted, and if they did, for some reason, house someone.

2282
02:56:49,879 --> 02:56:51,959
I did not want to take my chances and the

2283
02:56:52,040 --> 02:56:57,479
kind of company they'd hold. I continued on, but the

2284
02:56:57,600 --> 02:57:01,680
road just stretched, the shadows grew darker, and the alley

2285
02:57:01,840 --> 02:57:06,520
ever narrower. A while longer, I stopped to catch my breath.

2286
02:57:08,159 --> 02:57:11,840
I wasn't the most athletic person, but surely I covered

2287
02:57:11,920 --> 02:57:16,120
quite some distance during this time. This wasn't right at all.

2288
02:57:17,040 --> 02:57:20,200
Nothing was by now. I should have made it to

2289
02:57:20,239 --> 02:57:23,159
my car, or at this point, to the other side

2290
02:57:23,159 --> 02:57:26,600
of the damned city. At least the sun should have

2291
02:57:26,600 --> 02:57:29,319
been high up in the sky, but instead it was

2292
02:57:29,360 --> 02:57:34,639
getting darker, as if twilight came early. The buildings overhead

2293
02:57:34,680 --> 02:57:38,479
pressed ever so slightly closer. It felt like I was

2294
02:57:38,479 --> 02:57:42,559
in a dream, another world, one that was shrinking and

2295
02:57:42,639 --> 02:57:47,319
closing in around me. I rechecked my phone out of desperation,

2296
02:57:49,000 --> 02:57:54,680
dead I couldn't even make a call. I took a

2297
02:57:54,719 --> 02:57:58,319
deep breath in an attempt to keep calm. I had

2298
02:57:58,360 --> 02:58:01,040
gotten near of my own accord, so there had to

2299
02:58:01,079 --> 02:58:04,760
be a way out. I'd crossed so much distance that

2300
02:58:04,840 --> 02:58:08,040
this couldn't just be an abandoned street or block. It

2301
02:58:08,079 --> 02:58:11,280
felt like I was in an abandoned city that geologically

2302
02:58:11,360 --> 02:58:15,440
shouldn't exist. I knew roughly where I was turning off

2303
02:58:15,440 --> 02:58:22,479
when I took that exit. This place shouldn't be here.

2304
02:58:23,280 --> 02:58:27,239
I decided to make the arduous trip to retrace my steps.

2305
02:58:27,799 --> 02:58:29,719
I planned to go back to the first fork in

2306
02:58:29,760 --> 02:58:32,680
the road and turn right this time, and hope it

2307
02:58:32,760 --> 02:58:37,000
led me to my car. I begrudgingly headed back the

2308
02:58:37,040 --> 02:58:43,639
way I came, and again the path was not the same.

2309
02:58:46,200 --> 02:58:48,600
I was sure there had been no other forks or

2310
02:58:48,680 --> 02:58:51,840
turns on the main road I was on, But instead

2311
02:58:51,879 --> 02:58:55,120
of the curving alley I'd walked so long gone, there

2312
02:58:55,120 --> 02:58:58,920
were now three different directions ahead of me, none of

2313
02:58:58,920 --> 02:59:04,000
which looked even from remotely familiar. My heart started raising.

2314
02:59:05,399 --> 02:59:08,000
I turned in a slow circle as panic set in.

2315
02:59:09,399 --> 02:59:12,280
I picked a direction at random and started walking faster,

2316
02:59:12,959 --> 02:59:16,440
almost running. My shoes hid the concrete with a sound

2317
02:59:16,479 --> 02:59:20,600
that reverberated all around me, but the alley stretched on

2318
02:59:21,239 --> 02:59:25,120
longer than before. Each step I made seemed to make

2319
02:59:25,159 --> 02:59:29,159
my surroundings more clasophobic, and everything twisted and turned in

2320
02:59:29,200 --> 02:59:33,559
ways that made no sense. I had no idea how

2321
02:59:33,600 --> 02:59:38,760
long I moved like this, minutes, maybe hours. My legs

2322
02:59:38,799 --> 02:59:42,440
ached and my throat was dry. I stopped checking my

2323
02:59:42,479 --> 02:59:45,680
watch on my phone. The time was always frozen. At

2324
02:59:45,680 --> 02:59:49,559
three twenty six, anyway, my head was pounding and a

2325
02:59:49,639 --> 02:59:53,520
sense of dread gnawed at me from the inside. The

2326
02:59:53,600 --> 02:59:57,840
dark alley around me felt alive. That is the only

2327
02:59:57,879 --> 03:00:01,360
way I can possibly describe it. The walls seemed to

2328
03:00:01,399 --> 03:00:05,520
shift on I wasn't looking. The turns multiplied and appeared

2329
03:00:05,520 --> 03:00:10,000
more frequently. The road was now diverging in paths. Unlike before,

2330
03:00:11,079 --> 03:00:13,479
I no longer had a straight and narrow road ahead

2331
03:00:13,479 --> 03:00:16,920
of me, but a path that criss crossed and intersected

2332
03:00:16,959 --> 03:00:21,040
within itself, leading me deeper and deeper into whatever I

2333
03:00:21,040 --> 03:00:24,440
had been led toward. I could feel it in the air,

2334
03:00:25,200 --> 03:00:31,120
a primal instinct. This wasn't just some maze of back streets.

2335
03:00:32,639 --> 03:00:36,840
I started jogging, then running. I figured I couldn't go

2336
03:00:36,879 --> 03:00:39,959
on forever and wanted to be out as soon as possible.

2337
03:00:40,840 --> 03:00:43,920
But the quicker I moved, the more disoriented I became.

2338
03:00:45,399 --> 03:00:48,120
The alley bent in such strange ways that it sent

2339
03:00:48,159 --> 03:00:52,319
me spiraling. I tumbled to the ground as everything became

2340
03:00:52,479 --> 03:00:57,879
perfectly quiet, devoid of my echoing footsteps. I kept telling

2341
03:00:58,000 --> 03:01:01,120
myself I should have been out by now, but every

2342
03:01:01,159 --> 03:01:04,440
turn led me to a dead end or another unfamiliar

2343
03:01:04,520 --> 03:01:09,799
stretch of streets. My breath became ragged, quick gasps, and

2344
03:01:09,879 --> 03:01:12,959
I had to stop for a moment. I stood up

2345
03:01:13,040 --> 03:01:15,479
and pressed my hands to my knees in an attempt

2346
03:01:15,479 --> 03:01:23,319
to recompose. That's when I heard it, the faintest of

2347
03:01:23,479 --> 03:01:28,920
sounds somewhere behind me, a soft shuffle amidst the silence.

2348
03:01:31,200 --> 03:01:34,479
I stood up straight, and my heart thrumbed in my chest.

2349
03:01:35,840 --> 03:01:39,799
I looked behind me. There was nothing but an empty path.

2350
03:01:41,120 --> 03:01:45,319
My mind raised, but then it came again, from somewhere closer.

2351
03:01:45,360 --> 03:01:49,600
This time I worked out that the sound had to

2352
03:01:49,639 --> 03:01:52,920
be coming from the turn ahead of me. Deep down,

2353
03:01:53,239 --> 03:01:55,559
I hoped some other person had gotten lost there too,

2354
03:01:56,200 --> 03:01:59,319
possibly led astray by their GPS, and was now in

2355
03:01:59,399 --> 03:02:02,600
the same city situation I was in. I know it

2356
03:02:02,639 --> 03:02:06,319
sounds malicious to wish someone into my dire circumstance, but

2357
03:02:06,440 --> 03:02:08,879
at least it meant I wouldn't be alone in this.

2358
03:02:11,280 --> 03:02:14,879
I slowly made my way forward, hoping not to scare

2359
03:02:14,920 --> 03:02:18,680
whoever was approaching. God knows I would hate it if

2360
03:02:18,680 --> 03:02:22,399
someone sped towards me, or riddled with anxiety from this place.

2361
03:02:23,959 --> 03:02:29,319
The shuffling persisted, undeterred by my approach, it sounded like

2362
03:02:29,399 --> 03:02:32,440
whoever was around the corner was so exhausted that they

2363
03:02:32,440 --> 03:02:36,399
were dragging their feet on the ground. I called out

2364
03:02:36,440 --> 03:02:39,559
to them, telling them that I was friendly and asking

2365
03:02:39,600 --> 03:02:41,959
if they were also lost like me, and that we

2366
03:02:42,000 --> 03:02:47,040
should look for a way out together. I received no response.

2367
03:02:48,840 --> 03:02:52,120
In fact, as soon as I spoke, the sound of

2368
03:02:52,200 --> 03:02:59,319
shufflings ceased entirely. They must have been hesitant, understandably so,

2369
03:02:59,319 --> 03:03:02,200
so I hope that approaching in a calm manner would

2370
03:03:02,239 --> 03:03:07,440
settle them. So I gently neared the turn. Just as

2371
03:03:07,440 --> 03:03:10,520
I was about to reach the corner, they seemed to

2372
03:03:10,520 --> 03:03:14,239
have beaten me to it, for what came round spiked

2373
03:03:14,319 --> 03:03:17,559
my adrenaline so hard that I span in the spot

2374
03:03:17,639 --> 03:03:20,760
and sprinted away so fast I thought I was leaving

2375
03:03:20,799 --> 03:03:27,879
burn marks on the floor. All I saw was its hand,

2376
03:03:28,479 --> 03:03:32,600
a gaunt elongated for simile of a human hand, the

2377
03:03:32,680 --> 03:03:36,360
proportions exaggerated in away that told me that whatever was

2378
03:03:36,399 --> 03:03:40,680
about to turn the corner was dangerous. Just seeing the

2379
03:03:40,760 --> 03:03:43,239
hand was enough for a primal part of my brain

2380
03:03:43,639 --> 03:03:46,200
to tell me a predator was about to turn the corner,

2381
03:03:46,879 --> 03:03:52,280
and I was its natural prey. The echoing of my

2382
03:03:52,319 --> 03:03:55,959
footsteps was no longer the only noise in this decrepit place.

2383
03:03:57,000 --> 03:03:59,319
The air was thick and heavy, as if I were

2384
03:03:59,399 --> 03:04:03,280
running through war. I could hear the shuffling behind me,

2385
03:04:04,000 --> 03:04:09,719
faster and irrationally persistent. I didn't dare look back. I

2386
03:04:09,879 --> 03:04:14,559
just ran. My lungs burned and my legs screamed in protest.

2387
03:04:16,120 --> 03:04:19,520
Each turn I made. The shuffling behind me stayed ever close.

2388
03:04:20,399 --> 03:04:23,760
The echoing surroundings made it hard to determine how close

2389
03:04:23,799 --> 03:04:26,360
it was, which pushed me to keep up a pace

2390
03:04:26,639 --> 03:04:29,680
that was too much for me. I knew I would

2391
03:04:29,680 --> 03:04:33,120
slow soon, but I forced myself to delay that as

2392
03:04:33,200 --> 03:04:36,959
much as my body would allow. I took turns at random,

2393
03:04:37,319 --> 03:04:40,079
having no time to deduce her choice and knowing that

2394
03:04:40,159 --> 03:04:45,479
the alleys layout had no logic. But somehow I still

2395
03:04:45,520 --> 03:04:49,799
managed to make the wrong choice. I took a blind

2396
03:04:49,840 --> 03:04:53,360
turn and hit a dead end. The light from the

2397
03:04:53,360 --> 03:04:57,200
gaps between the buildings highlighted my doom. I heard the

2398
03:04:57,239 --> 03:05:01,040
shuffling behind me near the turn. It was too close

2399
03:05:01,120 --> 03:05:04,559
to back track. In a matter of seconds it would

2400
03:05:04,600 --> 03:05:07,840
be upon me, and even thinking about what that meant

2401
03:05:08,159 --> 03:05:12,280
was painful enough. I ran to one of the gaps

2402
03:05:12,319 --> 03:05:15,959
between the buildings. I had stuck to the streets, and

2403
03:05:15,959 --> 03:05:19,959
they loved craftying logic, so God knows what squeezing between

2404
03:05:19,959 --> 03:05:24,719
the buildings would lead to. And squeeze it was. I

2405
03:05:24,799 --> 03:05:27,639
doubted I could even fit in, but I pushed myself

2406
03:05:27,639 --> 03:05:32,120
in and forced my way through the shuffling went straight

2407
03:05:32,159 --> 03:05:35,200
for the gap, but luckily it had the same issue

2408
03:05:35,200 --> 03:05:38,360
as me, and it slid into the gap to shuffle

2409
03:05:38,399 --> 03:05:42,840
towards me. The gap narrowed the further I got in.

2410
03:05:44,040 --> 03:05:46,559
I moved my head, but soon had to commit to

2411
03:05:46,600 --> 03:05:50,920
a direction. A wash of morbid curiosity came over me,

2412
03:05:51,600 --> 03:05:55,360
and I took a quick glimpse back That was enough

2413
03:05:55,399 --> 03:05:57,680
for me to keep my head looking forward for the

2414
03:05:57,719 --> 03:06:02,120
remainder of the way. It had all the limbs of

2415
03:06:02,159 --> 03:06:06,680
a human, but the proportions were all wrong. Its arms

2416
03:06:06,719 --> 03:06:09,799
were almost the entire length of its height, which must

2417
03:06:09,799 --> 03:06:14,000
have been nearly seven foot tall. Despite being further back,

2418
03:06:14,559 --> 03:06:18,520
Its closest arm reached out towards me, not helping it move,

2419
03:06:19,239 --> 03:06:23,239
just hovering in my direction, its fingers twitching like it

2420
03:06:23,280 --> 03:06:26,920
was ready to grab me the moment I was within range.

2421
03:06:27,200 --> 03:06:30,319
Its other hand dragged on the floor behind it. Creating

2422
03:06:30,319 --> 03:06:34,040
a familiar shuffling sound. Its skin looked like it had

2423
03:06:34,040 --> 03:06:37,920
a rough texture and was pale in color. It sounded

2424
03:06:37,920 --> 03:06:41,159
abrasive on the walls, pressing in on us, resistant to

2425
03:06:41,239 --> 03:06:43,840
any of the pointy defects of the cheap bricks that

2426
03:06:43,959 --> 03:06:48,479
made up these buildings. A luxury, I did not have

2427
03:06:50,079 --> 03:06:52,479
even the smallest bumps in the walls dug into me,

2428
03:06:53,040 --> 03:06:57,959
cutting into my suit and sometimes my skin, But I

2429
03:06:58,000 --> 03:07:00,760
could not dwell on the minor panes. When a major

2430
03:07:00,840 --> 03:07:06,120
threat was slowly closing in on me. The pursuit continued.

2431
03:07:06,440 --> 03:07:09,600
As I finally wiggled my way to the other side.

2432
03:07:09,920 --> 03:07:12,399
I had to get back to safety, but I was

2433
03:07:12,440 --> 03:07:17,079
completely and utterly lost. Using the gaps of the buildings

2434
03:07:17,159 --> 03:07:19,399
was a new idea, so I tried to keep up

2435
03:07:19,479 --> 03:07:22,879
that creative pattern. I had not tried entering any of

2436
03:07:22,879 --> 03:07:26,479
the buildings yet. I booked it for the building nearest

2437
03:07:26,479 --> 03:07:30,120
to me and attempted to force the door open. I

2438
03:07:30,120 --> 03:07:33,600
could hear the rabid thing behind me squeezing itself between

2439
03:07:33,639 --> 03:07:37,000
the same path I had just come from. Putting solid

2440
03:07:37,000 --> 03:07:41,639
concrete between us sounded like a bastion of safety, but

2441
03:07:41,760 --> 03:07:47,280
the door refused. The budge the humanoid figure finally exited

2442
03:07:47,280 --> 03:07:51,799
the tight space with a sickening pop. Adrenaline kicked back

2443
03:07:51,840 --> 03:07:56,399
in and I was already in a full sprint. Above

2444
03:07:56,520 --> 03:08:01,040
my thumping footsteps and the shuffling in pursuit, I realized

2445
03:08:02,079 --> 03:08:08,159
there was another sound, a ticking sound. It was faint,

2446
03:08:08,520 --> 03:08:14,959
barely audible, but it was there, arrhythmic, soft ticking. I

2447
03:08:15,040 --> 03:08:18,120
yanked the watch once more and stared at the cracked face.

2448
03:08:19,159 --> 03:08:22,639
The clock hands were moving in a strange way. It

2449
03:08:22,719 --> 03:08:26,159
read two eleven, all hands pointing in the same direction.

2450
03:08:27,520 --> 03:08:29,799
I turned the watch, thinking it might have been broken

2451
03:08:29,840 --> 03:08:33,079
in the tight squeeze, and the hands all turned in unison.

2452
03:08:34,479 --> 03:08:37,520
It wasn't telling me the time. It was telling me

2453
03:08:37,760 --> 03:08:43,799
a direction akin to that of a compass. I continued running,

2454
03:08:44,079 --> 03:08:47,399
and the watch adjusted as I made my movements. It

2455
03:08:47,479 --> 03:08:51,760
was guiding me, trying to tell me something. As I

2456
03:08:51,840 --> 03:08:54,719
ran in a single direction, the ticking of the watch

2457
03:08:54,760 --> 03:08:57,959
started getting more frantic, and the sound of the shuffling

2458
03:08:58,040 --> 03:09:01,920
returned to reach a crescendo. I hurried my pace with

2459
03:09:02,000 --> 03:09:05,600
a last of my strength, but was no longer running blindly.

2460
03:09:06,680 --> 03:09:09,440
I let the soft, steady rhythm guide me through the

2461
03:09:09,479 --> 03:09:12,920
maze of the alleyways, a sick game of hot and cold.

2462
03:09:14,120 --> 03:09:17,680
The creature was still behind me. Its shuffling echoed in

2463
03:09:17,760 --> 03:09:25,479
the darkness, but I didn't stop. I couldn't. Eventually I

2464
03:09:25,520 --> 03:09:30,959
saw it, a faint red car in the distance, my car.

2465
03:09:32,239 --> 03:09:34,159
It was still parked in the same spot where I

2466
03:09:34,159 --> 03:09:38,079
had left it, as if nothing had happened. The moment

2467
03:09:38,120 --> 03:09:41,440
I saw it, the pocket Watch's rhythmic ticks turned wild,

2468
03:09:41,920 --> 03:09:45,920
and the creature's pace quickened all over. The senses seemed

2469
03:09:45,920 --> 03:09:48,559
to flee my mind, and my sole focus was on

2470
03:09:48,680 --> 03:09:52,360
running as fast as I could. I reached the car,

2471
03:09:52,719 --> 03:09:56,159
fumbling with the keys with shaking hands. The thing was

2472
03:09:56,159 --> 03:09:58,840
so close now that I could almost feel its damp

2473
03:09:58,879 --> 03:10:02,079
breath on the back of my neck. I shoved the

2474
03:10:02,159 --> 03:10:06,079
key to the lock, through the door open and chummed inside.

2475
03:10:06,559 --> 03:10:09,239
I slammed the door shut as the creature reached me.

2476
03:10:10,280 --> 03:10:13,239
The vehicle shook as the beast collided with it, and

2477
03:10:13,319 --> 03:10:15,719
I closed my eyes in an attempt to at least

2478
03:10:15,719 --> 03:10:18,760
grant myself the privilege of not looking at that thing again.

2479
03:10:21,159 --> 03:10:27,799
For a moment, everything went perfectly silent. I sat there

2480
03:10:27,879 --> 03:10:31,879
in disbelief, my breathing still rapid from the long sprint

2481
03:10:31,959 --> 03:10:35,760
I had to maintain. The heavy breathing must have been

2482
03:10:35,799 --> 03:10:38,920
too much for me, or the panic finally set in

2483
03:10:40,799 --> 03:10:46,559
because I passed out. When I woke up, I was

2484
03:10:46,639 --> 03:10:49,600
parked at my spot at the office building's parking space.

2485
03:10:50,680 --> 03:10:52,920
I checked my phone out of habit and saw the

2486
03:10:52,959 --> 03:10:58,760
time three twenty eight p m. Two minutes before my meeting.

2487
03:11:00,920 --> 03:11:03,719
Seeing I was on time for the meeting overtook the

2488
03:11:03,760 --> 03:11:07,799
shock of remembering my phone had died. I gregted my

2489
03:11:07,840 --> 03:11:11,639
posture as I raised myself up. I didn't waste any time.

2490
03:11:12,479 --> 03:11:14,959
I pushed the car door open and headed towards the

2491
03:11:15,000 --> 03:11:19,959
meeting room. I still don't quite know what happened or

2492
03:11:20,000 --> 03:11:23,239
how I got out, but I knew the watch was

2493
03:11:23,239 --> 03:11:27,520
connected to it. I distinctly remember holding it while stuck

2494
03:11:27,559 --> 03:11:30,040
in traffic and wishing I could make it to the

2495
03:11:30,120 --> 03:11:36,719
meeting in time. And lo and behold I did. I've

2496
03:11:36,719 --> 03:11:38,680
been back on the same freeway I was stuck on

2497
03:11:38,799 --> 03:11:41,760
before the meeting, and there isn't an exit where I

2498
03:11:41,840 --> 03:11:45,120
remembered turning off the road I pulled over in a

2499
03:11:45,239 --> 03:11:48,399
lay by, and no matter how many times I checked,

2500
03:11:49,079 --> 03:11:54,559
there was no alternative roots from that spot it seemed

2501
03:11:54,719 --> 03:11:58,319
my wish had come true, as my grandfather in law

2502
03:11:58,399 --> 03:12:01,920
had told my wife, but it came at the cost

2503
03:12:02,000 --> 03:12:08,760
of this chaise. And now it finally made sense why

2504
03:12:08,840 --> 03:12:13,840
it was passed unto her when her father hurt his

2505
03:12:14,040 --> 03:12:14,239
leg