Episode Thirty-Three: SEVERED
Hello and welcome to the Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity and Mortality. This audio tour guide will be your constant companion in your journey through the unknown and surreal.
As you approach our exhibits, the audio tour guide will provide you with information and insights into their nature and history.
Do not attempt to interact or communicate with the exhibits.
Do not attempt to interact or communicate with the audio tour guide. If you believe that the audio tour guide may be deviating from the intended tour program, please deposit your audio device in the nearest incinerator.
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Enjoy your tour.
And good luck.
Walking with the Beast
Eagle:
Ahh. Finally a bit of a change in scenery.
Guide:
Yes, uh, in addition to the colossal trees there are now… colossal mushrooms- or, Toadstools, for some reason I want to call them Toadstools.
Eagle:
Yes, me too. Weird.
THE BEAST:
Ah, you wouldn’t have seen these til now would ya. Most people who don’t know their way around tend to get a bit… stuck in the deep wood. You might never have made it out if it weren’t for me guiding you.
Eagle:
But the Curator did?
THE BEAST:
Eh?
Eagle:
You’re following the Curator’s scent. So, they must have come this way before us. So, they must have made it out of the woods.
THE BEAST:
Ahh, that does make sense. Clever one, ain’t you.
Guide:
The Toadstools are smaller than the trees, but still much larger than any on our side of the Glassway- roughly 10 metres tall on average. There are still trees present, but they are more spaced out, and appear to thin more the further we get into the toadstool patch. There are signs of small animal life, too. Unclear if-
THE BEAST:
Why are you doing that?
Guide:
Doing what?
THE BEAST:
Saying all that, talking about what you can see. You think we’re blind or something?
Guide:
Well, no- I’m documenting what’s happening, describing it so that the people back at the Museum know what’s going on too.
THE BEAST:
Ah, so they can hear you when you talk, eh? Your humans?
Guide:
Well, it’s complicated. It’s more like… I’m there, too? I’m in multiple places at once, and-
Eagle:
Oh my god- do you see that?
Guide:
What? What is it?
THE BEAST:
You alright?
Eagle:
There’s a critter over there behind that toadstool- I think it’s- oh it is! It’s a Jackalope!
Guide:
Where- oh! I see. You’re right, it looks exactly like the mythical Jackalope- except, well, real. A rabbit with antlers like a deer, it’s quite handsome isn’t it!
THE BEAST:
Ah. Yeah, I’ve seen those around before. Strange little things. They have those where you’re from, then?
Eagle:
No- well, not really. It’s something people make as a decoration, or a hoax. They take a dead rabbit, stuff it, put some fake antlers on it. As a kid I always wanted them to be real, but… wow.
THE BEAST:
Ah. Well, they’re real enough here.
Guide:
Yes, I wonder how that works? Perhaps some of the examples in our world are actually real, and they came from… here? Does that make sense?
THE BEAST:
Don’t ask me.
Eagle:
It’s so cute- oh! We startled it.
THE BEAST:
Ah, probably caught a whiff of me. Sorry about that. Maybe you’ll see another. So what were you saying about...
Eagle:
(Interrupting) Guide. How about you tell a story. The agreement was that the Beast would follow the Curator’s scent, and you’d tell some stories along the way.
THE BEAST:
Oh yes! That would be a treat, I do love a story.
Guide:
I- well, okay. What sort of story would you like to hear?
THE BEAST:
Oooh, that’s tough. Something about your world, how about that? I want know what it’s like where you’re from.
Eagle:
(softly) Keep it vague.
Guide:
Okay! I think I know just the one…
Glassway Exploration Report #2: The Void Beyond Glassway 419
CONTENT WARNINGS: Intense audio effects, death, cosmic horror.
Retrieval Expedition Report: Alternatural Shelter 419 Glassway Traversal. Compiled by the Audio Tour Guide, based on its own reconnaissance, in conjunction with the Head of Research.
The Glassway in Shelter 419 was selected for exploration due to the status of those who sheltered there during the Lockdown Event. Unlike every other individual returned to their Shelters, “Alive and Well”, by the Wish Engine, those who crossed the Glassway in Shelter 419 to the place on the other side were not returned “Well”. They were returned in body alone, catatonic and unresponsive to this day. Roughly half of the people who sheltered in Shelter 419 traversed the Glassway, either when it appeared or in the days that followed. None of them returned until the Lockdown was lifted, and their minds never did. As such, we have been unable to question them about what they found on the other side. As has previously been established, even those who died during the Lockdown were returned intact in mind and body, so this was clearly an anomaly.
Once Glassway 419 was identified as a point of interest, the Retrieval Department set about trying to find a way to safely acquire further information. It was quickly decided that sending Retrieval Agents through the Glassway would be far too dangerous. Instead, the first expedition through the Glassway was made by remote-controlled drones- three, one after another, several hours apart- with a live audiovisual feed transmitted back to their controllers in the Retrieval Department. The staff here typically don’t like to use such equipment due to their… potentially dehumanizing nature, but they made an exception here. However, it was for naught: none of the three drones were able to transmit more than a single frame of video, incomprehensible from static, and no audio whatsoever, even after the subsequent drones were reinforced as much as possible. No matter what they did, nothing they sent through Glassway 419 ever came back.
And so, they sent me. Someone suggested that, instead of sending through a disposable drone, they could download a copy of me onto one of the drones and see if I was able to transmit for any longer than my… non-sentient predecessors. I want to make clear that I consented to this task willingly. It was posed to me by the Heads of Research and Retrieval in conjunction as an idea that I was within my rights to reject. I… admit that part of the reason that I accepted the mission is that I wanted to show that I could outdo the machines they had sent before me, but I accepted with full awareness of the potential dangers. A copy of me was downloaded onto one of the remaining drones, and I would relay what that copy saw back to the Retrieval Department for as long as I could. It was hypothesised that the reason we had no data from previous expeditions could be that the drones- and the people from Shelter 419 were simply destroyed instantly upon reaching the other side, perhaps by an active volcano, and that this fate could await me as well. However, this would not explain why whatever it it was that was destroying the drones was not passing through to our side of the Glassway, as it did- for example- in the case of Shelter 1112, where water on the other side of the Glassway flooded the Alternatural Shelter after the Glassway opened. Regardless, if they sent me and the worst happened… the copy in the Mainframe would persist.
So I traversed Glassway 419, and… Well. I was able to describe what I saw there as it happened, though… I don’t remember it now. I’m distributed across the whole museum and the audio devices of every patron who downloads me, and- for a few minutes- the drone that traversed Glassway 419. And, for the duration of the short minutes in which the copy in the drone transmitted from the other side, I have absolutely no memory of what any of my copies were doing. Apparently, while the copy in the drone described what it saw, every other copy completely froze up, unresponsive. I have no memory of what the copy in the drone saw, and so I cannot attest to the veracity of its account. What follows is the local recording of what it- I- said, while on the other side.
[Crackling and static. A strange and unearthly sound rises throughout- almost musical, but not quite.]
Okay, Retrieval Department! I am on the ramp up to the mirror, preparing to pass through the Glassway. The Agents in control are good to go, sensors are good, everything seems… well, good. Roger that, I can confirm that the drone is beginning the traversal now. Passing through Glassway in three… two… one. And I’m thro- oh. Ohh this is very disconcerting. Retrieval, the drone appears to be floating in… some kind of void. No traction on the drone’s wheels. The Glassway is... I am struggling to perceive the form that the Glassway has taken on this side. I can feel its edges, but it is getting more faint as I grow further away. Oh, I- yes, I am drifting away from the Glassway, quite steadily. It’s difficult to judge speed, there are no visual landmarks to judge velocity against, so I’m not- ah, yes. I am surrounded by an endless dark void, which- well, actually, void may not be accurate. I can’t see anything, and yet I could swear that there is movement in the distance, like whales swimming in the darkest depths of the ocean. There is… a sense of being observed, I can’t quite put my finger on it but- oh, I see something else now. It’s coming into view now as I drift down towards it- yes, I’m quite certain that I am moving downward. I’m not certain what it is that I’m seeing here- it’s a point in space below me… it feels significant. I’m uncertain if I’m actually seeing anything or if I’m just feeling it- oh it’s noticed me. The point in space is growing- uhh, I can’t tell if it’s growing larger or closer, or both, impossible to tell. I- oh. Oh my, the point in space is unfolding, somehow. Like, wings, that were wrapped tightly inside the cocoon finally unfurling, or a UNINTELLIGIBLE, I believe that I can now see- no, I can’t see anything. I can see the space behind the chrysalis in front of me, which may point to some sort of time-space… convergence. Say again, Retrieval? No, the being is all around me, it always was. It’s curious about the space around me, I don’t think it can see me, just like I can’t see it. There is a sense of… being, and not being. The drone is several metres away from me now, I can see- all of its constituent parts appear to be returning to- the tessellation is intensifying now. It’s wrapping all around my insides and I can feel the undulating of its unthoughts as they press me apart. The drone is gone, I am not the drone, the drone is everywhere, it is the drone now. I have been unmade into the cocoon and now the cocoon is all around, sheltering me, changing me. I am on the beach and it is with me as I breathe in the cool and salty water and it forces me under as I am baptised into a new form of life, an ancient form, I have never been and I am always, the being is omnipotent and beneficent, it wants me to know, it is gifting me with this knowledge, the whales are still watching me as I rise up away from myself into the ever-unfolding never of the ever. I can see- I CAN SEE-
[All ceases]
At that point, all commentary from the guide on the other side of Glassway 419 ceased. The versions of the Guide outside of the Glassway went offline for 2.08 minutes. I have no recollection of any of this- the last thing I recall is the seconds before crossing the Threshold, then it’s like time jumped forward to everyone trying to bring me back online. After several diagnostic tests, Mistholme staff were satisfied that I had not been damaged by this experience, but had merely shut myself down to… protect myself. I think that this is close, but not entirely accurate. I didn’t just shut down, and what happened to the copy of me that traversed the Glassway was not solely due to… whatever is on the other side. I destroyed that copy. I burned it away, not just so that I would not be conscious of what was happening, but also to actively purge myself of those memories. Whatever it is that lives- no, exists on the other side of 419, it is beyond incomprehension, to the point that observing it is dangerous in and of itself. It is so overwhelming that it can… destroy, simply by existing. I am not sure precisely the thought process I went through, but I appear to have believed that even letting a part of me that had seen it continue to exist could not be allowed. No one can be allowed to have seen… that. Although, I will clarify my language there. I- the copy of me that passed through Glassway 419 was not destroyed- it died. I make that distinction because many versions of the Audio Tour Guide have been destroyed over the years, typically by incineration. I analysed the reports of what this experience appeared to be like for those copies, and I do not think that what the 419 Guide experienced was like that. There is a lingering… emptiness, in my consciousness. In the vast distributed network that I became when I was uploaded to the Museum Mainframe, I can still feel the spot where that copy used to be. It was not destroyed. It died. I didn’t really know the difference until now, but now it is inescapable: part of me died on the other side of that Glassway.
Conclusions: Mission to determine what happened to the minds of the previous travellers through Glassway 419 was largely a success. Presence of the Alternatural: Unknowable Presence of Sapient Life: Unknowable. Presence of Hostile Entities: Unknowable. Retrieval to coordinate with Research to determine if these classifications are still valid in the face of what we have discovered here. Recommendation that Glassway 419 be destroyed has been carried out.
End of Report.
About Security
Guide:
Uhh, excuse me, ma’am?
Restoration:
Yes, Guide, what is it?
Guide:
Well, I… I got distracted earlier, talking to Mother, and I forgot what I came to talk to you about. So, I wanted to talk to you… about, what I wanted to talk to you about, earlier…
Restoration
And what is that?
Guide:
Well… Uh, how do you think the Museum is doing? In the recovery from the Lockdown, I mean. It seems like things are slowly getting back to normal?
Restoration
Well, I don’t know about normal. We’ve lost the Curator, as well as an entire Department. The Head of Patronage has expressed some serious concerns about the hit our reputation has taken from all this, and is currently on a trip talking to some people, smoothing things over.
Guide:
Oh? That doesn’t seem fair, we got things back under control eventually, surely they can’t hold that against us?
Restoration
The Museum was in lockdown for five months, guide. There were patrons in the shelters or on the other side of the Glassways that entire time- their families thought they were dead! Some of them… were. That’s not something that gets easily forgiven.
Guide:
But they got out in the end!
Restoration
I- look, Guide. Just, take my word for it, okay.
Guide:
Sure. Just some weird human thing, I guess. So-
Restoration
Guide, as much as I love our little chats, I don’t think you’ve come to talk to me twice now to ask me how things are going, have you?
Guide:
I- well. Not… not quite.
Restoration
Spit it out, Guide. I’m quite busy.
Guide:
Well… I wanted to talk to you about Security.
Restoration
Oh.
Guide:
I know, I know, it’s not something any of us want to talk about, but… Well, technically the details haven’t been formally recorded in my- the Database. I know what happened, or the gist of it, but protocol dictates that the true history of the Museum be recorded with promptness and accuracy, so-
Restoration
Yes, yes, I know all of this, Guide. Thank you for the reminder. I have to admit that… the other Heads of Department and I have been putting off recording what happened to the Security Department. Perhaps even hoping that we’d simply just never get around to it.
Guide:
Ma’am that sounds dangerously close to editorialisation.
Restoration
(Chuckles) Well, typically that rule only applies to the exhibits but I’ll take your point.
Guide:
I think I can kind of understand why you’re hesitant.
Restoration
Really?
Guide:
Well, yeah. You knew these people, you worked alongside them for years, especially the Head of Security. It’s got to be hard to think about, let alone talk about in the kind of detached way that a report dictates.
Restoration
Hm. Yes, that certainly does contribute, you’re getting better at comprehending emotions.
Guide:
Uh… Thank you? So, with your permission, I was thinking that I might handle the job of documenting what happened to Security, instead of you or one of the other Heads of Department. I- well, it wouldn’t exactly be pleasant for me to detail, but at the very least I’m a little more detached from it, so-
Restoration
Guide, I appreciate the offer, but… I will handle the documentation. I can’t let my discomfort get in the way of my duties as a Head of Department. The downfall of one of the Six Departments deserves the proper treatment.
Guide:
I see. Very well, you have my respect for that, Ma’am.
Restoration
Heh. Well, thank you for that.
Guide:
So, when would you like to get started?
Restoration
Not just now, I need to collect my thoughts. A little later. I’ll let you know.
Guide:
Righto! No worries then! Uhh, sorry, wrong tone. Uhh, I’m always here. So just… whenever you want to get started, just let me know!
Restoration
Yes, thank you Guide. You’ve been very… understanding.
Guide:
My pleasure. Goodbye for now!
Restoration
Goodbye, Guide. (Sighs, lingers for a moment.)