I Solved The Fermi Paradox | CreepCast

Yeah, yeah, you might want to download that Exxon Mobile Rewards Plus app. Yeah. Are you the Exxon Tiger? I am. Yeah, you know, new users can earn $10 in points, five bucks after your first purchase and five after your second. That's a lot. That's a whole lot. It is. Well, hey, you get on that download, buddy. I will. Loading. Download the Exxon Mobile Rewards Plus app and join today. Exxon. Trust the Tiger. For details, visit ExxonOffer.com. Late-night bites with friends? Already hard to beat. That first too-hot bite of fries you couldn't wait for, followed by ice-cold Pepsi. Now, that hits different. Suddenly, the energy kicks back in. The night goes longer. And the laughs don't stop. Because Pepsi brings out more flavor, more fun, and more of the moment. Food deserves Pepsi. Grab a Pepsi Zero Sugar today. Welcome back to Creecast. Today, we're going to be diving into a story called I Solved the Fermi Paradox, and I regret it. We're not alone. This is by Grand Theft Auto, the author of The Whistlers, also the author of Maria and the Moon. I really liked Maria and the Moon. I think that it was a very. beautiful story, so I'm happy to dive back into this and get a little. I don't know what the Fermi Paradox means, though. Don't know what the hell that is. Isaiah, do you know what the Fermi Paradox is? I do know what the Fermi Paradox is. Do you want an honest answer, or do you want me to lie? Well, do you think that would be. Actually, fuck it. Do you think that it's going to. ruin the. Would it ruin a reveal, or do you think it's just going to be pretty obvious? I think it'll be pretty obvious. So the Fermi Paradox is the paradox between the supposed high probability of there being life among the stars or aliens and the reality that there's been no evidence of them. Ooh! We don't get a lot of alien stories, do we? We don't get a lot of alien stuff. But it might not necessarily be alien. It could be like he realizes Earth is in a simulation, or there's a giant creature that's destroyed all the other civilizations. Or something like that. I thought I saw a UFO, but it was only the creature. Yeah. It was the creature that eats UFOs, leaving us to be the only. Yeah. I thought that there were other civilizations in space, but then I saw a civilization-eating creature. But I saw the civilization was eaten by the creature. By the creature. I like that. Yes, of course. Aliens as a concept, you know, there's so many silly images of aliens that. I mean, I personally, when I was younger, I was just like, aliens are fucking stupid. I was like, I never thought that. I was never like, ooh, aliens are cool. Yeah, they were very boomer. I was never into them, you know? Yeah. It's definitely. Yeah, exactly. And I remember that it was like at some point in my teenage years that I started actually thinking about like space and stuff. And I was like, oh no. I was like, oh God, that's kind of frightening. And I like whenever a movie. The problem with aliens, in horror movies, is that like in terms of like at least abduction is the one that I think is thrown around the most. Not necessarily like alien, where it's like xenomorphs and all that stuff. I'm talking about like on earth, gray alien meme or whatever. They usually drop the bag quite a bit, but I'm always hyped to give it a chance, at least in terms of movies and stuff, you know? Even like, I don't know, man. It's because there's so much you can do with monsters and the supernatural. I feel like. The whole aliens take me to your leader gray man thing is so played out. And there's never that much interesting done with them that even when it is done well, I'm kind of like, eh. Like the best examples of alien stuff I can think of are like, honestly, probably signs and how it actually treats the aliens. And then like the fourth kind, Close Encounters of the Fourth Kind. That movie was pretty creepy. But I feel like it's always like, oh, well, this would be a better movie. If it wasn't a gray alien that was like. Are you talking about the Mia. The Mia Jo. What was her name? Mia Jovalich or whatever? That fourth kind? No, the one with. Where it's pretending to be a documentary? Are you talking. Are you talking about Close Encounters of the Third Kind? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The found footage one. That's. Yeah, yeah, that's it. That's it. That's it, yeah. Which one? The found footage one with the aliens. Yeah, yeah. That should be the fourth kind. Well, at least it was. Well, I don't know. It's mixed media. They did the found footage, or at least the fourth kind, which was one of the. Like, when I was younger, scared the fuck out of me because it presents itself as, like, fake documentary and then, like, reenactments of things from, like, this found. Yes. Like, from, like, a therapist. Like, the camera she uses in her sessions. It's actually. When I was younger, it was very effective. I don't know if it holds up, but I haven't seen that movie in forever. I just remember I liked it. I just liked Mia Jovalich or whatever the fuck her name is because I really loved The Fifth Element and I loved the Resident Evil movies when they came out. When I was. When I was younger, I was like, she's beautiful. So I remember that really freaked me out at the end because there's, like. She was pretty bad. She was pretty bad. But the. She. The guy's, like, shaking at the end. And it's like, there is no God. We are your gods. And I remember being like, no! I got really scared by that. And then. The most. And then I remember. I love the idea of horror films where they're based. Like, found footage horror films where it's based around people, like. trying to uncover truths about aliens or, like, Area 51. I like a lot. Like, there's this horror. I think I've said this before, but the movie Area 51 looks like a really cheap, like, rental movie you can get on Amazon. It's actually a pretty fun found footage film of people trying to sneak into Area 51. That one's pretty cool. But I remember, like, you know, movies like Phoenix. Phoenix Rising, I think is what it's called. Or something. It was something about kids that get. That, like, go into the Phoenix. Phoenix Desert for the Phoenix Lights because that was, like, a big UFO thing, too, was the Phoenix Lights. And it was based around that and it was kind of a letdown. But I don't know. Moral of the story is the idea of, um. I don't know. Creatures or entities or things that have super superior technology is frightening in theory. But then I was just like, what the fuck are they, like, wanting to do with us? Why would they even come here? That would be. If I was an alien and I came to Earth, I'd be fucking bummed. You travel all that way and then you get. You ended up here. You know what I mean? Well, I mean, it's a lot of stuff with them where it's like, all right, you're all the way here. You have intergalactic travel. So you're either here to decimate us and take our stuff. And if not that, then what are we doing? Do you think the. Do you think the. Do you think the probing phenomenon that people have been, like, was taking a probe, was that people just trying to hide the fact that they were having, like, gay sex back in the day? No, but that's. That's a really funny theory. I mean, I'm just trying. Because, like, out of all the stars, I think I've heard people say this before, but it's like, you go everywhere and, like, the first thing you do is play with your butt. Like, what are they so fascinated with the butt for? What, what. Oh, oh, aliens. I thought you were saying that's an old saying. Like, if you go somewhere, first thing you do. Yeah, exactly. That's a saying in my household, at least. Yeah, yeah. We can go somewhere and go mess with the butt. Well, the idea is, like, oh, well, they're taking samples or whatever. Of what? I don't know how the joke started, but what might have happened is someone got really high because this is in, like, the 60s and 70s, right? So someone's. Maybe in the 50s, right? Well, it started in the 50s, but I feel like the probing thing. Yeah, but 60s with the space race stuff or whatever. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And then, like, I feel like 70s was really when, like, the little gray man became popular in media. So, like, around that time, people are, like, getting really high out in the desert, and then someone probably, you know, to be honest, took a little bit of advantage or a lot of advantage of them, and then they come out of it, and they saw the gray aliens, and the gray aliens probed their butt. I can imagine that it's happened before, but I think the Fermi Paradox, is people, gay men in Kansas, closeted gay farmers in Kansas, the Fermi Paradox is figuring out if they can flatten their cornfield enough to have gay sex in it and then have people come over the next day and you're like, yeah, you're waddling funny. It's because there's an alien! And you walk over, and then there's the crop circle, and it's like, that's where he picked me up, and it's an all-in-elaborate ruse to have gay sex. That's the Fermi Paradox in my eyes now. That's what it will be. That's what conspiracy theorists and scientists will be saying when I hear, oh, the Fermi Paradox, and we'll say, oh, yeah, sure, those farmers out in Kansas, that's what we'll say. So before, editor, before Hunter tries to tell you to cut that in post, you'll leave all of that? You'll leave everywhere he said? I think it's a sound theory. I am standing by it. You think it's a sound theory that the Fermi Paradox is so closeted farmers in Kansas can make air, because they need whole fields apparently, they can't do it in the home. them no they in the they need a whole field someone's going to catch me what was what which which to be honest i can't tell which if that's a willing participant or an unwilling that's a willing participant for sure it's something i mean like you know i'm giving into my at first there was probably like religious things where they're just like you know i i feel like in the bible belt people are so repressed i mean let's think about almost every serial killer is just a guy who's unable to be like yeah i'm gay and i like what like it's people repressed and it's like they're around them they feel like they can't be themselves all that kind of stuff so they have to like fabricate these like lives or realities to fit uh to to either suppress their feelings or to like have like some kind of guilty shame about doing stuff right like jeffrey dahmer fucking uh i'm pretty sure btk like all this all this weird stuff which i could be i don't know btk i don't know he but he is actually from kansas and he's a fucking loser but uh they're all losers whatever i'm i'm backing myself so this is awesome this is awesome editor don't cut any of this so your your take is that the majority of serial killers were just gay i think closeted uh homosexuals who couldn't uh who couldn't uh express themselves yes not that wouldn't say the majority but i would say there is a there is a vast majority of people who feel uh well like they yeah like the the the like i guess like the fucking people that they're around because wasn't that kind of the same thing with even ed gain or am i wrong or is it literally no it's not just the mommy issue stuff oh well mommy issue stuff too it's always something though i mean i don't fucking know it's always something ed gain was the one who uh like got dug up his mom's body and like used kidnap her and she was like oh my god i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry i'm so sorry of women to make like skin lamps and stuff like that yeah i don't know one of the stories we're reading a uh we're reading a alien story today called the fermi paradox all that you know it's like you're gonna go with your buddies make a corn filly you have serial killers most often anyway grand theft motto fermi paradox yeah i don't know if any of that makes sense feel free otherwise if it's just rambling whatever the uh uh yeah i saw the i saw the fermi paradox and i regret it we're not alone that's what we'll read today if you are watching this and you hate how disgusting i look on camera feel free to listen on spotify uh it's a nice little place that you can uh support us so feel free to go over there and all of you if you're looking if you're looking to for some extra content about maybe more talks of aliens and other things feel free to check out our patreon where we got other episodes exclusive episodes for patreon uh we thank you a lot for it uh you forgot you forgot to mention the author you forgot to talk about the author no i didn't i said grand theft motto everything okay well that's not all the information about him so oh feel free then you jump in this is a two-man show here yeah but you didn't you didn't leave the door open for me you just like shut the door you were like have fun with the shut door so i see this is me opening the door back up and now talking former seven yeah gay sex in the corner field yeah that's that's all i got that we got all of that before so uh so grand theft motto uh we have covered on the show before uh real name is travis brown and travis is a fantastic writer uh on the show we have covered maria on the moon and something walks whistling past my house at 303 a.m uh i believe that's the only stories from him we've covered there may have been another one in a grab bag i'm missing we can put on screen now if i forget it um but uh travis is a very accomplished author uh he has this story which is very highly rated online as well and he also has some books uh including the house with a hundred doors and how to build a haunted house um which to my understanding are both anthology books um but i mean he has his own website tb writes um and he posts short stories constantly so we'll have all of his stuff linked in the description if you enjoy his writing style be sure to check him out he certainly deserves it and last time that you all uh at last time we covered him you all were very supportive and a bunch of people uh went and supported him you know on his side buying his books and stuff like that and that means a lot so we really appreciate that all right you ready yeah now now i think uh i've got that out of my system i can i can be ready so without further ado after much ado i solved the fermi paradox and i regret it we're not alone part one the fermi paradox is in a nutshell an expression of how odd it is that there's no proof of alien life when it seems so likely given the extraordinary size of the universe with an infinite number of suns each cradling a ring of planets in their orbit why haven't we encountered any sign of someone else out there no radio signals no transmissions no visitors existence was too vast for us to be alone so where was everyone i wish we never answered that question the first man to make contact with alien life was calvin myers born blind calvin was the first patient to receive prosthetic eyes developed by redacted a medical miracle but from the moment his new eyes opened calvin started screaming he was sedated it was several hours before he was calm enough to tell doctors what happened it turns out that calvin saw the devil or devils actually demons monsters slouching sharp things infesting the corners of the room he watched warped reflections across mirrors shadows ripple evil faces stare down from the ceiling calvin ripped his plastic eye from their sockets darkness was better he told his doctors calvin saw farmers in kansas he saw obese farmers in kansas and he's like get me out that's always all he said so i think i think it's interesting because as as established you know you're in alaska now but you you've talked about being from the kansas missouri midwest area right yeah so uh i think it's fascinating that when you tell a story about repressed men uh being put in uncomfortable positions because they can't act on their desires uh you know they can't act on their desires uh you you choose to place that character uh in the same location you're from that's interesting what is uh what does popeye say i am what i am and then and then i i i don't think you're obese i've never called you obese but the textbook medical definition is morbid obesity look look the doctor looks at me the glasses are on the edge of their nose and they look at me and they do i mean they should just start calling it grim repro obesity instead of morbid obesity i think it would sink it a little more does that make sense you hear that knock doc what's that knock i can't hear it what i can't hear the knock oh i hear it's knocking it's death it's at your door grim reapers is outside my door at all times so i uh my point being like i i would never refer to you as obese but you often refer to yourself as obese so now when you're describing this more morbid obese uh and now when you're describing this closeted farmer from again the same area you're from you have now added the adjective of obese to the farmer um so i feel like we're getting closer to you kind of fully bringing this back around to yourself and i just want to know i just want you to know that uh you can be comfortable i'm your friend we're all your friend you can talk to us about anything you want to talk to us about um you can talk to us about anything you want to talk to us about um you can talk to us about anything you want to talk to us about and you don't have to hide behind these euphemisms i uh i i understand that i am a fly over state specimen i'm a lizard in the tall grass you know uh but i would i was just saying that if i saw like if the first thing i saw when i got plastic eyes apparently and it was it was a overall overall wearing kansas farmer i would i would i would take a spoon and i would gorge it out myself mm-hmm even if it is just a farmer nothing super yeah yeah yeah no no that's it literally that's it yeah the specimen that walk around the midwest isaiah are more haunting than anything i'm sure the appalachians well i mean we've got our own class of people but i'm sure that it's a it's similar font different flavor kind of thing it's probably true anyway aliens yeah demons whatever a full report was made to redacted there was never any serious consideration of killing the project too much money was invested market goals were set and management had expectations so more devices were produced distributed tested and each time it was the same the moment the test subject opened their new eyes they witnessed a world crowded with horrors i'll never forget what i saw when doctors removed my bandages eyes staring back at me they were huge the size of truck tires blue bloodshot connected directly to my wall I could tell the guys noticed me. Worse, they hated me. There were other abominations in the room as well. A hairy imp with the face of a child. A woman made of spikes and red light. A coiled pile of limbs, each jagged hand opening and closing slowly. I really love that description of a woman made of spikes and red light. It's so vague. What does that even mean? It's so cool. I've been trying to even think about the eyes. Like when someone looks at you and they feel like you feel like there's almost a threat or someone hates you. It's kind of a very feral response. It's very primal almost with how they're talking about it. Just like a kind of like, you know. I mean, I've been trying to even, I'm just trying to think how I would look at someone if I hated them. Yeah. Well, most of that. It's in like your face, right? Like your brow furrowing and stuff like that. How your mouth is positioned. Yeah, all that stuff. So maybe just an eye would be like, it's like, it's locked on you and it's like bloodshot and shaking a little bit or something, you know. A farmer trying to repress his sexual urges. There we go. There it is. We're back around. No, we're back around. We're bringing it back around. Yep. I'm, hey, it's your, your world. We're just living in it. And we can talk about whatever you want to talk about, buddy. Why is the guy looking at me? Oh, that's just a farmer. Try not to have gay sex. Staring at the wall. I hate myself. The doctor's Mr. Widemouth. Yeah, exactly. Don't be a guy. I'm trying, doc. I'm going to give you these new eyes so you can see stuff, but I'm telling, I don't know. I don't know what it is about these eyes. It's happened like a dozen times now. Don't give it to that guy around the corner. He's handsome. I don't know what you're talking about. What do you mean? Oh, not again. I'm going to go stare in the mirror and glare at myself for 45 minutes. Okay. It's going to happen. It's going to happen again. Oh, no. I'm going to be sick. It's incredible, Mr. Widemouth, that you got your practitioner's license. I don't lose a lot of hard work. I'm a pediatrician. Okay. Well, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm 53, so I don't know why you're talking to me. I'm coming to you from the wall of the cryptid iceberg. Don't ask to talk about today's sponsor, Factor. Factor is here to make eating healthier, easier. With over 175 banned ingredients, Factor meal is designed around what supports a healthier lifestyle and nothing that does it. Factor makes healthy eating easy with fully prepared meals that are designed by dieticians and crafted by chefs. And that's why 97% of their users agree that Factor helps them live a healthier lifestyle. Because it helps you eat good food without the time and without the guilt. Because eating healthy is a whole lot easier when you don't have to worry about grocery trips or prep work. 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I screamed until my throat. My throat was raw until I passed out. When I woke, the first thing I did was try to take my eyes out, but the doctors had learned their lesson with Calvin. I was restrained, monitored, forced to look. Every day was a parade of nightmares. Shadows melted and ran like a Rorschach across the ceiling, dripping down onto my chest. I couldn't feel them land, but I saw them puddle into violent faces and stared back into my new designer eyes. Everything was worse at night. I begged the doctors to keep the lights on. If I had to see monsters, I wanted to at least see them clearly, but my requests were ignored. Terrible figures danced down the hall outside my room. Something crawled above my bed, wheezing and out the window. My doctors recorded all of my rants and medicated me, tested me, poked and prodded and disbelieved. Occasionally. I heard shrieking shrift down the hallway when my door was open. I knew I wasn't the only one in the hospital with new eyes. Others could see a bear trapeze and a UFO potentially. That's a good option. I could take that. I mean, it seems like up to 30 on that 30 over under us. I like the I like this idea, though, that like it's kind of interesting when people are like, oh, well, we're giving you this miracle treatment, but like it's causing people to almost go into a psychosis. I mean, it's kind of interesting when people are like, oh, well, we're giving you this miracle treatment, but like it's causing people to almost go into a psychosis. and have a beautiful life together oh absolutely yeah the 12 foot tall monster oh come on now give me some sugar sending their kids off to school yeah growing old together i figure we could take timothy and sarah to the pumpkin patch tomorrow all right come here you give me some sugar before you leave do they like rip the portal to hell and jumps in or whatever all right see you tonight have fun at work go straight into the abyss yeah goes and murders someone on the other side of the world and comes back made you some succotash all right i love how wholesome you're describing oh it's not yet it's a beautiful beautiful thing it's a beautiful beautiful home loving family it could be better just blood all over the floor it's constantly pressed into the ceiling it's so big like yeah the house is nowhere near big enough for this creature mud room clean up in the mud room oh man i've told you once i'm not gonna tell you again when you come home from work you go through that door because that's the door that's got the drain in the floor now i'm making spaghetti exactly gotta go wash up it's spaghetti and texas toast nice yes it's the texas toast from walmart come on just just i'm sitting on a truck bed but like the monster side is like broken into the ground like posh posh podules and stuff popping on his neck and he's like how the hell did i get so lucky nah so tell me you're a gift sent from god ishkar kabalik harskar he's like trying to pronounce his name bringer of doom yeah i'm so glad i unearthed that monolith and had gay sex with you just the love i like how the farmer like this thing doesn't have a gender it's like some other being but he still calls it gay sex oh yeah he's a farmer from kansas why what else does he know he doesn't know what the hell i mean yeah yeah it's just like them floating above the bed like i mean like astral projections get down here oh oh you always talk in your sleep don't you it's all right he goes by himself he he takes his eldritch tongue he takes it as uh sleep apnea gets him a c-pap machine now you're not gonna be snoring floating objects in his room come on you're snoring again sweet if i could put it on we should probably actually read the story i mean i was just gonna let you run with that as long as oh yeah oh oh i'm gonna i'm gonna remember them i'm gonna remember also every time every time that it says redacted i'm gonna say that's the state of kansas by the way okay i'll just say kansas when i'm reading all right on my bus ride home i saw three named men with goat heads and swollen bellies each as tall as a sycamore tree sprinting down the highway jesus rotting whale floated over us white guts spilling out like spoiled milk it ate the clouds it passed and when it came into the light i could see through it every bone vein i've thought about removing my eyes plucking them from my skull like jelly from the jar but i'm too afraid not just of the pain but also the creatures will still be out there maybe not seeing them but knowing they're not just of the pain but also the creatures will still be out there maybe not seeing them but knowing they're watching me would be worse watching me would be worse watching me would be worse you haven't heard about my eyes i'm sure of you haven't heard about my eyes i'm sure of you haven't heard about my eyes i'm sure of it it it kansas won't let the word out until kansas won't let the word out until kansas won't let the word out until they're ready they're ready they're ready i'm breaking every nda on the planet by i'm breaking every nda on the planet by i'm breaking every nda on the planet by posting my story online posting my story online posting my story online but you need to know because now that but you need to know because now that but you need to know because now that some of us have seen the invisible some of us have seen the invisible abominations that exist out in the open abominations that exist out in the open abominations that exist out in the open they've become bolder they've become bolder they've become bolder i feel them now at night i feel them now at night i feel them now at night touch my neck gently or slap me touch my neck gently or slap me touch my neck gently or slap me some take little bites some take little bites some take little bites testing testing testing poking poking poking prodding prodding prodding it's only a matter of time before they it's only a matter of time before they it's only a matter of time before they make themselves known make themselves known make themselves known i'm not sure what we can do to protect i'm not sure what we can do to protect i'm not sure what we can do to protect ourselves or if we even can ourselves or if we even can ourselves or if we even can but knowing is the first part believing but knowing is the first part believing but knowing is the first part believing so believe me when i tell you wherever so believe me when i tell you wherever so believe me when i tell you wherever you're reading this you're reading this you're reading this if you think you're alone you are not if you think you're alone you are not if you think you're alone you are not you never are you never are you never are you can't see them but they are very you can't see them but they are very you can't see them but they are very aware of aware of aware of you stay steady don't rattle you stay steady don't rattle you stay steady don't rattle try not to panic try not to panic try not to panic i've spent every night sleeping in my tub i've spent every night sleeping in my tub i've spent every night sleeping in my tub with every light on in the house with every light on in the house with every light on in the house the fear is crippling a chain around my the fear is crippling a chain around my the fear is crippling a chain around my throat that keeps me from leaving my throat that keeps me from leaving my throat that keeps me from leaving my home home home but i'm so tired of being afraid of but i'm so tired of being afraid of but i'm so tired of being afraid of being alone being alone being alone you might not have my eyes but i think you might not have my eyes but i think you might not have my eyes but i think you can see them if you look carefully you can see them if you look carefully you can see them if you look carefully focus focus focus use the corner of your vision use the corner of your vision use the corner of your vision watch your mirrors carefully for watch your mirrors carefully for watch your mirrors carefully for movement movement movement maybe you'll see something or maybe maybe you'll see something or maybe maybe you'll see something or maybe something will show itself if it thinks something will show itself if it thinks something will show itself if it thinks you're searching you're searching you're searching like i said like i said like i said you're getting bolder you're getting bolder you're getting bolder that's the end of part one it's kind that's the end of part one it's kind that's the end of part one it's kind of an interesting take on aliens is uh of an interesting take on aliens is uh of an interesting take on aliens is uh this reminds me a lot of like this reminds me a lot of like this reminds me a lot of like being able to see things that others being able to see things that others being able to see things that others can't that exist among us or is like uh can't that exist among us or is like uh can't that exist among us or is like uh sorry to say it it's like a lovecraft sorry to say it it's like a lovecraft sorry to say it it's like a lovecraft story where the story called from beyond story where the story called from beyond story where the story called from beyond where like there's a machine that uh where like there's a machine that uh where like there's a machine that uh that basically uh with your pineal gland and you're able to see an alternative like universe that's like overlapping ours and it's like all the monsters that exist around us that we can't see and it's a fun idea for uh the idea like aliens or something or like the the idea that like some of the aliens that people have seen are people that are able to see through that veil see through that threshold into things that are just always existing around us it's kind of a fun concept yeah i think it's uh i think it's interesting to play with the unseen it's very uh they live you know yeah yeah yeah just the idea that there's like another dimension that's kind of overlaid on top of ours we normally don't interact with um i like the idea that i i always like the idea that rather than like extraterrestrial beings it's extra dimensional beings so it's like they're around us but they just exist beyond our three-dimensional reality so because of that they operate it's like us trying to comprehend a two or one dimension of reality and it's like it's like a three-dimensional reality and it's like a three-dimensional being it's just something that's so different from us it would be hard to understand and vice versa um so i think the idea of like extra dimensional beings are very interesting it's kind of a fun route too when you get rid of like the concept of like the ufo style alien where it's like they had to fly here and then they like you know made some kind like they made some kind of contact via like spaceship instead it's something that's just always been around but we perceive it as like something that's from the stars is pretty cool yeah and i really like this on the second part here it's fun it says i saw the fermi paradox and regret it but now in the title says we regret to inform you that you're being hunted pretty fun oh that's pretty cool and also like i know it's like kind of a a trope and people do it all the time but i love when stories are like look at the corner of your eyes look in your mirror do you see something because that plays on like the natural fears we've all had you know thinking we see something moving behind us and stuff like that like a very almost like a very natural fear of like we're going to die you're going to die i'm going to die i'm going to die you're going to die uh yeah almost like an evolutionary way of like scare scaring someone or whatever yeah you know the thing you saw you saw in your corner it's there it's real and it's a demon it's real it's going to get you it will kill you you're going you're going to die awesome you should run right now yeah uh part two that's a really good start that's a really good start i'm excited to see where it goes yeah yeah so part two someone is following me whenever i leave my apartment my new eyes are good at picking up little details seeing the same car driving around my block each day slowly also at my heels but a few cars back if you missed my first warning you can find it here i've noticed other things watching me as well faces and reflections massive figures in the clouds some days i'll be riding the bus and notice a face on the street where the features are all in the wrong order i don't go at night anymore at all some of you ask questions after my last update i'll do my best to answer if you're wondering why i mentioned the fermi paradox the truth is i was just passing on a theory from a friend there's a whole group of us online former lab rats for kansas with shiny new eyes and fresh nightmares i don't know any of their real names only their handles ribbon and violent calico and cheshire dublin and borrow and matilda there are others but those are the seven i speak to the most nearly every day we share updates on what we see and what we don't see support each other after sleepless nights and more than anything We theorize. If you're wondering what my name is, you'll have to keep wondering. You can call me Waltz if that helps. Cheshire is the one who brought up the Fermi Paradox. They're convinced that the horrors we're able to see are disguised aliens from a galaxy or two over, and that our artificial eyes can somehow see past their camouflage. But Tilda has a different theory. The creatures we're observing are from another dimension, one that's bleeding over into ours. My question is, Barrow posted to our chat one rainy afternoon. Are the entities hostile, friendly, or ambivalent? I was nursing a hangover that day, most days actually, ever since the operation. Rain drizzled against my bedroom window. It had been three months and my life was in limbo. I quit my job, too afraid of what I might see if I looked too closely at my co-workers. Kansas provided me with a stipend for my service that was enough to live on, but I had no money to pay for it, and I had no money to pay for it. Barrow's question banged around my head like a bat trapped in the attic. Before I could reply, I saw that Violet was typing. They sure look hostile. A few days before, I'd gone out for groceries. I was nearly at the checkout when I noticed an old woman standing in produce. Her face was gushing blood from her eyes, nose, mouth, maybe even the pores on her skin. I stood, paralyzed, just staring. She noticed me. The thing began making cooing noises, like it was trying to entice me to come over. I dropped my groceries and sprinted out of the store. They sure look hostile, but do we know for sure, I wondered. Something knocked on my door. There was a pause. It's scratching. I tried to ignore it. Now that I could see the creatures, there was a connection. I heard them all the time. Little laughs or sighs. I felt them, too, on a few occasions. One that appeared to be made entirely from fog and teeth had even taken a nibble out of my shoulder. I'd call that a little hostile, though. Maybe it was only hungry. Or curious. Scratching on my door turned into pounding, followed by silence. Matilda was typing. I think they might be like us. Some are good, some are bad, some are ugly. Dublin added. Cheshire, who communicated entirely in emojis, added a laughing face to the chat. There was the usual chorus of LOL and pop culture gifs, so immediately they have to kill Cheshire. The smoker has dull teeth. Ribbon posted. But a razor tongue. Are you okay? Calico wrote. Not at all. I saw the girl in the mirror. Or was the mirror in the girl? What? Ribbon? Are you steady, friend? Borrow asked. Yeah, Ribbon's doing great. Yeah, it's kind of like, uh, I don't know. What's that thing where I saw the girl in the mirror or the mirror in the girl? I'm trying to think about it like visual. Well, it doesn't matter. Good. I think it's funny how Ruben's like, it's a board to talk about the weird hallucinations of other dimensions you see. And then a girl's like. This one has a razor tongue and there's a mirror girl. And then Borrow's like, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on. That's not. A mirror on a girl? Whoa. We did that with each other a lot. Are you steady? Which was the polite way of asking if the little hairline fractures we all felt to our sanity were beginning to crack. Ribbon was typing again. They told me you're next after me, Waltz. Well, you know, maybe, maybe, maybe it's a little too hard. So maybe, maybe, maybe we could, you know, I do like that idea of, uh, I do like this idea of like a group of people basically from an outside looking in would look like a bunch of like almost psychopathic people talking about like the insanely weird shit that you would never see. Right. Or even saying stuff like, oh, it wasn't the girl in the mirror or the mirror and the girl, whatever. But then I, I, I, I like the idea of checking in and being like, has, has this person completely snapped? And I hope that we get to see that though, to see like, do they try to help? Or is it just a thing? Or is it just a thing where it's excommunication and you just like have to sever the tie? No, I think they just kill them. If I had to guess, because considering they can touch them, are they, they're all in the same, are they all in the same town? Have we established that? Or because it says, but they all went to the same place. They all had the same procedure, this procedure, but they're talking online. They're talking to like a chat. Right, right, right, right. Well, that's what I'm wondering though. I just didn't know if the procedure happened in the redacted Kansas place, whatever, or if it's like, oh, I had the same, you know, I had the same procedure. Uh, the same thing, but I live in a different area, but I assume that they're all just got it from the same spot. I reckon. Yeah. I felt my stomach drop through the floor. My apartment was boiling, but I still began to shiver. Ribbon has left the chat. The other spent 10 minutes trying to convince me everything was fine. That ribbon was only worked up. I lied and told them I wasn't worried. You're okay. What's been told to sit me in a private chat. Stay steady and calm down. Contact me anytime. If you need to talk, thank you. I signed off and closed my laptop outside. The rain was picking up, tapping at my window, like a guest asking to come in. My television was humming quietly on the wall. I glanced up and saw that it was a rerun of a show. I'd watched a dozen times only. Now I saw that the comic relief character had a second mouth on their throat, their head flopping up and down every time they told a joke. That was the closest I came to ripping my new eyes from their sockets. My fingers stopped when I pushed down my eyelid. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. With nothing else to do, I turned off the television, got in the shower, and didn't leave my apartment for the next week. One new message. I will say it's just funny to imagine that like Andy Griffith is on the TV and he sees Don Knotts with a neck and he's like, that's it, I'm going blind. Are you digging this so far? Um, I'm in a. It doesn't have me. It doesn't have me yet, but it has. I still feel like I'm in the build-up phase. Yarrg! This year I'm focusing on limits. How much I'm spending, how many things I'm working on, and definitely how many streaming subscriptions I need. Yarrg! And that's where our sponsor Rocket Money comes in. The unfortunate truth is that it's easy to spend money. Yarrg! But finding unnecessary costs might not be. Yarrg! Running a business or controlling your personal finances takes planning and budgeting. Yarrg! And with so much going on, it can be easy. Don't overlook things. Yarrg! Well, today's sponsor, Rocket Money, is here to help. Show RM logo here. Yarrg! Rocket Money is an easy-to-use app that helps you save more and manage your money better. 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Thank you. for sponsoring this episode, now back to the episode. episode I was laying on the couch wearing the same flannel pajamas I'd lived in for the last two days when I got the notification on my phone my apartment never in danger of being confused with the palace was an absolute disaster of pizza boxes and empty six-packs I'd set makeshift alarms on my doors and windows by stringing together some of the loudest looking bottles the alert was an email from Cheshire it wasn't the first they'd send me but it always made me anxious I'd asked them before where they found my email address but didn't get a response usually Cheshire would send me odd pictures a house a hospital a tree surrounded by glowing lights this message was different for the first time Cheshire used words are you there Waltz I need your help they found me can you call me if you call me as soon as you can ASAP don't use your own phone the email ended in a phone number I stared at the screen for a long time it was blinding bright in my dark living room the shutters were closed and my sense of time was becoming flexible but I knew it had to be sometime after midnight for a moment I considered deleting the email closing my laptop hurling it out the window I didn't want to get involved but Cheshire sounded desperate and at the end of the day our weird little group was the nearest thing to family I had left a bunch of lab rats with machine eyes who could see monsters maybe we were friends we were something even if we were only online don't use your own phone there was a gas station down the block that had one of the last remaining payphones in Baltimore possibly the world realistically I'm sure there were others but that was the only one I knew about and it was only a block away at night every fiber in my shaky soul wanted to wait until dawn but Cheshire said they needed my help immediately a tiny slice of my deepest lizard brain uncoiled for a moment what if it's a trap that's paranoid I said out loud standing up to hunt for some almost clean street clothes Cheshire was a friend kinda and besides other than the biting fog and a tall shadow that slapped me none of the creatures so far had actually been trying to help me to hurt me maybe they weren't hostile slammed a red bull for my uber eats delivery before opening the front door the hallway outside was dim no signs of motion or life at all I made my way to the elevator hesitated then took the stairs down to the street instead Baltimore slept but restless the city never turned all the way off there were always lights traffic trash it wasn't pretty not all the time but after spending the night in the city I was able to see the city again I had no idea how long it would take for me to get there but it was so much fun that I couldn't wait to get there I was able to see the beautiful mess again never failed to give me goosebumps I drank in the skyline tried to memorize the rhythm of tall buildings pressing shadows into the cloudy night okay I said breathing in air and smog okay every street light shadow made me skittish every distant horn hawk made me jump but I made progress sneakers chewing up the sidewalk bringing me closer to the gas station I was able to breathe in the air and smog I was able to breathe out of the gas station to a phone to a friend can you spare a light I very nearly shit my pants I did yelp and spin to find a man leaning against a nearby wall just outside of the yellow haze of a street light his face was covered by a cloud of smoke there was ash in his voice a rasp of a lifelong smoker probably something heavy like cowboy killers I I I don't smoke I I don't smoke pity man croaked stepping into the line when he did his limbs and neck stretched and became wire thin his body warped split and bubbled then collapsed in on itself as he walked out of the glow of the lamp now he was close he smelled like cigarettes and cordite I couldn't see his face only the cloud of smoke it moved with him like a veil those eyes don't belong to you I ran other figures began to emerge from the shadows I stayed in the lights as much as I could dashing from streetlamp to streetlamp a massive figure with a bloated body and lots and lots of thin legs ran up the side of a skyscraper I passed by a store window and saw a woman's face pretty and furious reflected back at me her eyes were shining and I realized that they were mirrors catching and amplifying the line she screamed out loud I couldn't see his face only the cloud of smoke it moved with him like a veil those eyes don't belong to you I ran other figures began to emerge from the shadows I stayed in the lights as much as I could dashing from streetlamp to streetlamp a massive figure with a bloated body and lots and lots of thin legs ran up the side of a skyscraper I passed by a woman's face pretty and furious reflected back at me her eyes were shining and amplifying the line she screamed out loud I couldn't see his face only the cloud of smoke it moved with him like a veil those eyes don't belong to you invisible on screen numb moving like a zombie I opened my laptop to see a new email from Cheshire we regret to inform you that you're being hunted the sentence was punctuated by a winking face emoji end of part two end of part two the uh so real quick too just to just to make sure I'm on the same page so he's in Baltimore he's doing all this stuff the outside world is is which is believable as the the edge of the universe by the way yeah Baltimore yeah Baltimore the uh do uh there's still normal human beings though in the city it's just yes it's just the ones that they can tell that they can see them right almost like yeah they can just see almost like the guy asking for a light whatever and him responding was an indicator to be like oh you can see me and then he's like you know I wonder if that's also why he's like those eyes aren't yours like he's he's like how the fuck are you able to see me yeah if that was a test or something um it also seems like do you think that uh the email he got was just to lure him out of the apartment so he could get um yes okay yeah I don't think his friend was actually at the phone because he gets back and that's where the email is like we regret to inform you with the emoji right yeah so they've killed they've killed at least those two right the first one and then Cheshire well I was wondering there for a second if like in the group of friends of the seven people if uh any of them were like plants by the people who who implemented the eyes you know like somebody who is like almost like they're an experiment or something because the way that the story is reading it almost reads a little bit like the uh the moon is on fire a bit where it's just these obvious things are out there and they're like it's just someone feeling almost like they're going through psychosis where it's like yeah am I fucking crazy can no one else see this you know so there's like a conspiracy afoot that they're being tracked down because of like maybe it'll turn out the entities are actually fine it's just the people who like can't have us knowing about the entities that are the threat they're doing the hunting or something right um or it could not I could stick with like and I really like a lot of the descriptions of these multi-dimensional beings how it looks like they keep moving like their shape changes and stuff like that the wire thin brain trying to comprehend something beyond us that's pretty cool the wire thin neck was a lot of fun I also really I'm always a sucker too what was the name of the story Isaiah where it's the people at the party and then like they have to hide in the apartment and they hear the person uh like coming in or like grabbing people was that an alien story too that we read was that alien or was that just monsters they're in a party it's like friends at their apartment and they're like oh fuck they like see something I think across the way it's someone else's apartment and then they have to like one person has to hide the closet someone hides under the bed whatever and they hear like knocking or like the the door breaks open and they have to like basically hide do you remember that I don't think we did that story I don't know well I'm almost paused it was something but anyways it it reminds me of that idea though of like like there's something just super creepy obviously about like you're in your house and someone's like knocking on someone's like right outside or they know that you're in there but they aren't like actively like something is stopping them from just like barging in it's almost like that anticipation is always so much more creepy I was just but I just I just like that with the guy at first it was tapping and then all of a sudden he's just like really loud fucking banging pretty creepy part three I really thought you were going to say when you were talking about you're talking about something a minute ago about monsters or demons and I thought you were going to bring it back around to the loving relationship of the cowboy and his eldritch abomination no no unfortunately I feel like that that time has passed that's big of you that's actually like rare you do that so I know that takes a while takes a lot of restraint and I respect that thank you part three I was trapped in my apartment every night it was the same knocking and tapping and screaming and a silence that was too absolute to ever naturally exist in the city some evenings I'd find smoke leaking into my living room from under the front door there was never any fire I could see I had to cover all of my mirrors since the faces were starting to come in a little too clear missed my first warning you can find it here after that things got uncomfortable is anyone there i typed cowering in my empty bathtub with my laptop it was nearly a week after my failed excursion to the gas station a week since jeshire's warning or threat that i was being hunted each day since one of the members of our group chat which i started thinking of as the blindside blues had gone offline and not returned first went ribbon then borrow followed by dublin violet and finally calico now only matilda cheshire and i remained smiley face d smile can you do that smile for the camera there you go thank you i'm just gonna assume you did it um i was kind of worried initially when it's like seven characters introduced at once uh i was like man that's a lot to keep up with but now five of them are dead so we don't have to worry about that yeah i mean like man between between one part five people just like missing is pretty brutal this could have been a thing too where if this was like a longer story or like an actual uh novel or something i'm guessing that we'd probably go through each one of those people or like establish all this stuff but would have been cool but maybe it still wraps up in a fun way i mean you could have like a left right game with a bunch of characters but that's also a very different kind of story you know that's more like an honesty and there's time to spend with everyone also they're in person you can interact with them this whole thing with uh private messages and stuff makes it very uh informal i hope you know every time i think of the left right game i think about all of them standing there and i think of apollo creed from rocky with the gloves and shorts on like amongst them for some reason yeah every time i hear paul yeah same yeah yeah that that's a that's a testament to how good the story is because you remember apollo yeah my memory is terrible yeah well that's what i mean you love forgetting characters and like stuff you you remember paulo i'm sure you remember bristol and blue jay and all that yeah blue jay is the worst so man i just really love left right game anyway cheshire's reply was not helpful tilda's response came 10 minutes later as a private message i know you're in baltimore i know you're in baltimore can we meet something was scratching at the top strain i leaned over then scrambled out of the bath when i saw a blue eye with a dozen irises looking up through the hole if my bathroom was breached i didn't have any good options left i decided i might as well die comfortably so i curled up in bed with a soft blanket and a mug full of dark rum how do you know where i am roll back anxious but almost comforted if she was a friend then i had someone in my corner if she wasn't at least maybe the nightmare would be over quickly your ip address you should really invest in a vpn is that some kind of cable news network tilda are you still there yeah i'm sorry i wrote something sarcastic and decided to delete it can we meet i'm in town a little chill kick stepped its way across my neck i thought for a moment and then sent matilda the name of a restaurant and a time to meet in the morning friend or enemy and face her soon but i'd have to make it through the night first i closed my laptop and prepared to start my new sundown ritual there are some amazing resources online offering advice for protecting a residence from otherworldly incursion step one was salt i visited each door and window in my apartment adding a thin line of salt on the ground to block the entrance i've insulted all of my closet doors just in case next came sage and incense holy water splashed on the windows dream catchers and crosses added to the walls you can find almost anything in baltimore if you know where to look turns out there were two mysticism supply stores and one apothecary all within a short daylight sprint from where i lived feeling about as protected as a pinwheel farm in a hurricane i retreated to my bedroom to drink myself to sleep for the last two days i've been crippled by migraines an issue i never had before my new eyes not long after the headaches began i also started to notice strange patches of dry skin on my arms and legs more than just dry the spots were hard to touch cold it was somewhere between metallic crystalline at one point i'd thrown up a handful of teeth but found none missing from my mouth after a frantic check nothing was changing in me without any mirrors to check i couldn't be sure but i had to go to the bathroom and see if there was anything even my face felt different sharper younger the night before i met matilda was the worst i experienced a vicious odor crept in around 10 p.m a mix of cinnamon and dust and the port-a-potty section of a summer music festival my bed began to rock gently around midnight then not so gently after less than a minute stopped i pulled myself out of the fetal position cracks formed in the ceiling above my bed opening and closing like gills wind blew down from the openings hot bitter followed by a horrible tugging sensation as the air was sucked upwards the holes narrowed and split into a network of woven red lines i saw faces in the lines including my own frightened one reflected back at me by a pair of mirrored eyes i jammed my lid shut please stop please stop please stop look voice shouted in my ear their mouth so close i could feel their cold breath on my cheek i didn't open my eyes eventually i might have slept smirky the next sensation i was aware of was a sound coming from outside my window something was whistling i finally opened my eyes to stare at the spot where the noise was coming from my bedroom was back to normal the window was covered by both blinds and a drawn curtain the whistling was pleasant friendly some tune i didn't recognize i felt an overwhelming curiosity to find out who was making the sound my hand was already on the curtain before i snapped out of my trance and stopped for a few minutes stood by the window unable to pull myself away it wasn't long before the whistling grew fainter the whistler moving on their way once the night was quiet again well it's quiet as baltimore ever got i collapsed on the floor i was breathing like i'd been practicing wind sprints in the stairwell somehow i managed to drag myself over to the corner of my room farthest from the window then i passed out so your opinion hunter that part about the whistler walking by his window is definitely a reference to his uh you know something walks whistling past my window story right um how do you feel because i'm kind of split on it that this one's fine i think it's kind of cool it's kind of neat for the author to be like oh well this thing for my other story could be one of these unseen things you know um that just crosses over sometimes so now it would make sense for it to be in this world how do you feel about that in general when authors will use a previous work and tie it into whatever they're doing now like that i mean i don't think it's super egregious it's not as bad as like in a movie when something's like i don't know they're like what's the address under drive or whatever yeah like that kind of thing i think is a little more i mean otherwise it's because if you had never read the other story it doesn't feel invasive to me at all i mean yeah we've read the story so it does feel like oh there's the tip of the cap but i don't i don't think it's anything i don't think especially with the amount of like other weird shit going on it doesn't feel like it it's too out of left field you know i think the way you phrased it is a good rule of thumb like if you didn't know the whistler story that's just another weird interaction it doesn't do anything um so the story doesn't stop to tell it but i can see it you know it's like fan service without it like without it ruining everything if the entire thing was that i'd be like it would feel a little self-indulgent but yeah yeah to me that's like i mean if you're a fan of this writer which we are we can catch it and just be like oh that you know that's cool i don't think that it's i don't know if it's the same entity i think it's supposed to be like it's something that is resembling of that you can be like oh yeah yeah it doesn't have to be the same entity but the mechanics are the same where it's like there's a curtain he almost looks but he decides not to look so it doesn't come in that whole thing yeah um i think it's i think i would agree that you know it doesn't halt the story to tell it and it's kind of cool um now there have been stories we've read in the past where they've done that and it hasn't been cool like what was the story the one where it just became 20 minutes at the end where they're going they're walking through vignettes from other stories oh yeah my job is watching a woman trapped in a room yeah now the whole ending of that was like like 14 different stories that we hadn't read all compressed at the same time that was that that's the story stopping to tell i always wonder if this i always wonder if that was our i always wonder if that was our fault though for not for like no for not knowing that it's uh no no no the the audience has tried to gaslight me on this for so long no it wasn't my fault because if if i have to know 16 stories before I can read this story that's labeled my job's watching a woman trapped in a room, then label it part 17 or dues, like do something to indicate that this is part of a greater work. The ending won't make sense unless I've read other work. And I understand like that author, he's written some cool stuff. And I really liked, um, I wrote a letter to myself, which I, I could be getting those way off. And if I am editor beat me for it. Uh, but like there are like, it's, it's not that they're a bad writer. There's a lot of good stuff, but like that interconnected web of stories they have is so complex that it's like, I'm not like, like, I want to read the stuff and I want to engage with it, but I don't want to commit to another Marvel universal, Marvel universal, Marvel cinematic universe kind of thing, you know? Yeah. Well, I mean, I, I was so far with this story, which, which also to clarify, it's a free country, right? Whatever you want, do whatever you want. If you and your audience like it, have fun. I'm just not going to enjoy it is my point, but go ahead. The, uh, now that we're just going to stop a stopping point here, even with just talking about kind of where we're at this story so far, I think, I think it's fun. I think the only thing that is, I keep finding these parallels at least so far while I'm reading this, where I'm listening and it's the kind of randomness that we have had in other stories where there's a lot of like very heavy character stories, like a tales from the gas station, or I worked at voodoo. Shop, um, or Lucille's, uh, snack store, whatever the fuck that was called. Um, I think like there's this thing where there's a vignette of like weird things, right? Like we're kind of like right now, I don't really know who this main character is. And I like w that's like been the biggest thing so far in the story. And this could turn around, we're only halfway through, but if I had to just, you know, air out some stuff now that we have some time is w w like, I don't know this whole idea of like, I don't know, I don't, I don't, then something was in the drain looking at me there was a giant beetle that walked across the skyscraper there was a thin wiry thing that went through the the you know whatever there was a man who walked past my window it's like these are interesting creepy vignettes but they don't none of it so far is really serving um anything that's like latching me or kind of making me freaked out it's happening so frequently too that nothing feels like a like a threat or nothing feels like uh nothing feels like it's standing out because it's so it's so heightened everything's so heightened versus something like tales from the gas station you're so focused on that main character and kind of the the vignettes of what happens each each night that makes them feel a little more special or like it makes these like little there is a collection of like odd things but you but you have that central character to kind of ground you the same way with like i work at a emergency watchtower or a radio station radio broadcast station or whatever it's like yeah i'm i'm down to have all these kind of weird vignettes but i you know i wish i i wish i knew the character more to understand like how they're feeling what are they going through i know that our character is like freaked out and he's like all these eyes but that's about it and i'm hoping that that kind of so far that's just where i'm standing at and i'm hoping that that kind of opens up a bit more it's just give me a bit more with the character and give me a bit more with uh you know more of these threats are like just let me in more besides just describing um you know creepy stuff that's happening that doesn't really go anywhere or it's just kind of him being like oh and then running off yeah i think it needs to i think it needs to do more with it uh i'm willing to accept we're still in the build-up phase oh sure it's been going on for a bit i'm just saying this is where i'm at right now with my thoughts yeah yeah yeah oh yeah yeah if it was to just keep that momentum i would totally agree but i feel like with him wanting to meet the girl and stuff we're going to get to some meat sure on the bones i would hope soon yeah i was just a little nervous once it's like we skipped from part two to part three and then five people died or five people have now exited the chat that doesn't mean that they're not going to come back i mean who knows right but i just that for me for me honestly that was kind of relieving because i needed the board cleared because i'm like there's no way with this story structure i'm going to care about seven people right right but now it's like actually just two everyone else died i'm like oh all right well that makes it easier you know but we'll see mid-morning light filtered in yellow and haze through my closed blinds waking me calvary had arrived i was safe a long night left me cramped and sore i stood cracking my back one hand against the wall as leverage and i tried to twist the other direction i found my hand stuck to the drywall not only stuck but merged it was hard to see where the wall began and my flesh ended i struggled ripping pulling trying to escape i braced my foot against the wall to help and that became trapped as well everywhere my skin made contact i bled into the surface it drew me in until i was fully submerged claustrophobia nearly fried my sanity i was only held for a minute or less before becoming suddenly unstuck and falling back into my bedroom stopping only long enough to grab my phone and i was like oh my god i'm going to die i'm going to die i'm going to die i'm going to die keys laptop and wallet i left the apartment to wait for matilda at the restaurant i was still wearing my pajamas at that point i had zero shits left to give are you here yet i glanced around from my booth after reading tilda's message the diner was nearly empty caught in the limbo between breakfast and lunch and not fancy enough for a brunch i'm in the back the booth in the corner i'm in the red flannel before i'd finished typing small blonde woman darted into the seat across from me she's wearing a denim jacket covered in patches and novelty buttons as well as aviator sunglasses try not to look at my reflection in their lenses i thought it was you i just wanted to check before inviting myself over uh hello matilda i'm waltz well my real name is don't i don't need to know and i and you're sure as hell not going to learn mine no offense but you look like 10 pounds of horse shit somebody stuffed into a doggy bag taken it was a hard night sorry yeah i know the feeling have you heard from any of the others recently no not recently the last one before you was really cheshire it was a week ago and then there were some issues till his lips closed in a hard line cheshire is up to no goddamn good waltz they it's pretty good what is matilda and waltz waltz matilda you don't get it is this like the vpn thing oh my god bro please kill me get me it must have been the win must have been the win this must have been the win yeah tilda only sighed and stole a sip of my coffee we sat in silence for a minute while she chewed her lip suddenly tilt to lean close don't freak out she said pulling off her sunglasses i freaked out chill matilda said glancing around with empty eye sockets to make sure no one noticed my yelp your eyes yeah you don't have any you're very observant all right so i was actually fine with the you're very observant line until you read it in that donation you're very observant there you go i fixed it yeah you put some stink on that i feel like it didn't deserve by giving it the quirky millennials ring at the end she's empty she has empty eye sockets and she what it doesn't matter it's the wind i focus on my breathing until i felt like a rabbit who just ate a burning cherry bomb what is that an expression i don't know what happened tilda put her glasses back on i heard them out last week tried to get them back to whatever the thing was that one of them oh did it work they took the eyes but i can still see the creatures i can still see everything i think the eyes are like like a seed does that make sense they planted those eyes into our skulls and something took root other parts of me are changing i mean last night i started floating for nearly 10 seconds have you noticed any yeah that bad huh i drained the rest of my coffee i'd rather not talk about it whatever's happening i think you and i are the only ones left cheshire is sending me cryptic emails pictures and weird and all the others have gone dark i've got somewhere we can go and i've got a plan but i'm scared i'm scared shitless to try it on my own are you with me i looked out the window there was wasp nest the size of a ford fiesta dangling from a stoplight across the street the nest was pink and wet the insects that floated out from the hive were covered in hundreds of wings the wasps were each as big as a seagull sure i told matilda i guess i'm in isaiah isaiah i know i know hunter i know i know i'm here too i know i'm here too i can see the story i can see the same story i'm here yeah we are we are we are floating dangerously close to something that is that you know i know you know what's weird so far since all right so all i'm gonna do is i'm gonna go so far since all right so also this we're this is part four of six okay that we're on right now and i know people say hunter oh god they complain so much well you know what dude it's our show and i'm gonna have to say what's on my mind which i'm not gonna i'm not gonna dive in because we haven't finished the story we don't know what happens right i'm gonna give it i'm gonna give it at least that respect but i will say i was really stoked on the setup of like in the dock in the hospital and like recovering and visions in the hospital and stuff. I thought we might linger there a bit more. Yeah. But, I mean, I don't know. This idea of the It's a lot of good stuff in this story. I'm going to be honest, man. Careful. I feel like Careful. I feel like we're in for it. I mean, there were some like, there were some wording choices and stuff like that previously that I kept thinking to myself, like, in a lesser story, really, because the author, in a lesser story, I would have made a joke about it or whatever, but I'm like, I'm fine. I'll keep going. But then her walking in there, and it doesn't just say sunglasses. It says she's wearing aviators. She's wearing a patch jacket. She's wearing a denim jacket with buttons. She's a cool alt girl that's just like you. I just pictured the trope in a movie where it's like it's like the girl in a movie that's like her dad's mechanic. Just give me it. And she's the one who fixes the car. Oh, thanks. Yeah, your carburetor is messed up. What's up? My name's Delaney. Is that kind of thing? No, it's always one of those gender neutral names like Jesse or Taylor or something. Like, yeah, my name's John. Well, that's not John. I would call John a gender neutral name, but they're all gender neutral. You can name whatever the fuck you want. The listen, we don't know. We're jumping ahead of ourselves. We're jumping ahead, but I'm no, no, no, no, no. I tell you, man, I'm just I'm Isaiah. Listen, we're jumping ahead. Let's let's let's give it time. Here's the thing. We not we are seasoned. We've been we've read a lot of stuff. I think we might be being a little presumptuous here, right? For the sake of the viewers for the sake of ourselves. Well, maybe let's let's go on with the next one with an open mind. Look, look. No, I'm not. I'm not. I have a very close mind. My mind shut up. My mind's closed. You can come back at 9 a.m. for breakfast and then there's going to be an hour break and then it'll serve lunch and then an hour and a half break and then dinner at 430. But until then my mind is closed. Let's go in with an open mind. No, I don't. I don't know. COVID killed open mind businesses. Everyone switched to the difficult No, no, no. Let's go with an open five cycle. You know what? Actually, I really like this. So part four I solved the Fermi paradox and I regret it. And this one it's machine hearts and electric eyes. Gosh, you like that? Tell me that's not the title of it. Would not believe your eyes machine hearts and electric eyes. They make me want to have sex. There it is all the way around. There's I'm in a cornfield in the state of Kansas and I plan on kissing a monster. He's 12 feet tall and speaks a different language. And I'd rather unlearn unearth a monolith and have sex with a monster. Right. In my dreams, my dreams were, yeah, we're coming slow. Slowly the actually we should get someone someone write that story. A farmer a farmer who's married wife and kids and I don't unearth unearths a monolith. He's like, what the hell? Oh, oh, I did. Hold on. I didn't know that detail. So the farmer, the farmer had a family that he abandoned for the monster that kind of creates a that's a that's a new that's a new development. I still I do like the wholesome child. Youngest version where it's just a guy who like, I don't know, personally, I like the like the like idyllic life. Yeah, I mean, I really do like the the perfect life of this farmer and this monster, but it does make for a more interesting kind of like a Brokeback Mountain kind of conflict of a man who is like has a family and then he has to like basically but he has a true love, you know, you can't fight love, Isaiah, and that's what he has for this eldritch creature. Mm hmm. And if anything to happen, is he's like, oh, and it could be a really scary first interaction that he has with this monster, right? What the hell are you? Whatever. And then he sits there and then the monster like grabs his head and he's able to speak to the monster after that, like he sits there and then he starts seeing some weird shit, too. But then the first time he interacts with the monster, it's like, oh, whatever, all that stuff. And then the next time he's like, he's like, so you came back to me. I can understand you well. You know, it's like now they're able to communicate with each other. I see. I see. That's a good that's good plot development. I think I think I don't know. I think maybe maybe the farmer had a family then left it because I don't want I don't want the idea to be that like, you know, our monster is a homewrecker or anything. No, he has to be. But I see that's the thing, though, Isaiah, is that you can't fight love, right? The thing about this farmer was living a fake life before that is a whole thing. And I think that there's going to be a spot where, yes, the wife, the children upset, you know, that maybe the kids are like, you ruined my fucking life. But then in years come, they're just like that. He can gain their respect back. He gives them he gives the family the respect they deserve because he's not living a fake life anymore. And I'd like to make myself believe machine hearts turn slowly. Yeah. All right. So this story title, I'm just telling you, man, after the. I guess I'm in thing. It's like, all right, you better. Isaiah, you better stand up straight and act right in this next part. I'm going to we have got to go on with with open people. Our viewers are going to be livid. We're this is a horror story to tell. I'm like, I love it. Do you know how much it drives me up a wall in these stories when they make them quirky, when it's like, oh, here's a cool. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, and then they'll drag in a character. Shut up. Shut up. I've never been quirky once. There's never been an instance. Of me and my in my professional career where you could ever describe me as quirky. It is. I have been I've been aloof and potentially even whimsical, but never quirky. So whimsical. Fuck you, dude. God fuck off. I've been whimsical. I would. I think there is a stage early in my career where the adjective of whimsical would certainly apply whimsical. You know what? What I can but I can't. You know why? You know why? Because whimsy can add to his story, but quirky. Is the basis of. So that's the difference. That's the difference. You're being too hard. Look, I am. I am because I cannot tell you how many times you've been doing one of these episodes and I'll be really into it and I'll be excited and going. And then Monster Hunter is the care. Yeah, yeah. In Waltz is a character who's like, like they wear a bow tie or they have like suspenders or they sound like, you know, and I and I, I'm going to still keep it up with mine. All right. Machine hearts, electric eyes. And you know, and you know, I know. And you let me know. Shut up. Machine hearts, electric eyes talking. I'm telling you that right now I will say there was an arrow that went went through my body as soon as the word aviator sunglasses because I was like, Oh God, it's just the specificity of like, yeah, they're aviators. Yeah, just say sunglasses. Just say, yeah, exactly. That's because, you know, that's how it was meant. And for me, it was like it was like a shotgun. It was like a shotgun rack. And then the shot because the shotgun rack was a denim jacket with patches. And I'm like, Hmm, how's he, how's he mean that she has it? But she can still see because the thing has seeds, which is like part of the story or whatever. OK, so it's like a seed. OK, OK. So I just want to make sure because at first I thought it was that she's she can see because the eyes have the ability to see that it rooted. I understand. I remember that part, but I'm just saying that I didn't know if it was a thing where it's like she's blind, but she still sees like visions or those creatures. She can't see. But I mean, it doesn't make sense because she like moved over. But yeah, no. So it's like it's like it's like Daredevil from Marvel. He can effectively see. Yeah. Like, yeah. No. For me, the shotgun rack was denim jacket with patches. And then the blast was the aviator. You know what? Part four. Part four. Let the story. Let the story. When you know what? You know, hold on. Hold on. I'll give it this. I'll give it this right. Tales from a lonely broadcast station. Right. There was a point in that story where I forget his name. But I remember the character showed up and he was he was literally wearing suspenders in a bow tie. But I was like, or whatever. Right. Did the assistant. Yeah. And I was like, here it goes here. And we end up liking that character a lot. He was awesome. And and it did not overstay its welcome. Like he said, a couple kind of like funny things or like kind of things or whatever. To be fair, the rest of the story did not suffer for it. The world and the setting stayed creepy, stayed consistent. And he was fine. To be. The story will do the tales from a lonely broadcast station also had a more tongue in cheek approach from the, from the get go. I think this one, I think this one was set up in a cool kind of, you're like, okay, where's this going? And then it's, it's all the quirky chunk of stuff only hurts when you're halfway through and then it just whips you in the fucking back. It just shows up. It just shows up. Yeah. Yeah. I, you never know. Keep my eyes open. Keep my, my heart and my soul open. Right. Machine hearts. Electric eyes. It's gonna be the name of my. my memoir go ahead part four mhe is uh the the initials for machine arms and legs drives would be mother horse eyes um mhe and uh that just makes me remember how much i will miss mother horse eyes what are you talking about it's mother horse eyes eyes it's two different mhe it's two e's i'm just saying it made me think of mother horse eyes and i miss it that's all i'm saying all right you don't want the you don't want the uh entity and mother horse eyes to show up in a denim jacket with buttons and aviator sunglasses did you imagine that'd be awesome actually now i'm on board i'm fully on board all right that would actually be imagine imagine like you get to part 85 of mother horse eyes and it's like the mother had cool aviator sunglasses and went aren't you in speaking through the cicadas we've got to stop the queen because like then like the cia people come out of the flesh interface and they're like guess we're back in action or no slim shady starts playing guess who's back back back back as charles manson's coming out of a flesh but no one wants to see cancel eminem yeah right i love those videos so much i could hear the i could hear the smirk in your voice i hated that uh part four part four say the title i don't want to say this say the title hunter if you want me to interact with the story positively i can't say say the title you have to you have you say it every time i say part i solved the fermi paradox and i regret it machine hearts and electric eyes yeah like they're gonna hit the csi like whatever whatever they do that wasn't csi miami they do the yeah and it goes into the uh the theme yeah it's csi miami matilda's plan involved an rv a long drive and possibly an assassin's more likely a persuasive interrogation more likely a persuasive interrogation more likely a persuasive interrogation she assured me she assured me she assured me no no no isaiah come on let's get more no no isaiah come on let's get more no no isaiah come on let's get more likely a persuasive interrogation likely a persuasive interrogation likely a persuasive interrogation stop you you put in the sass line no stop you you put in the sass line no stop you you put in the sass line no that's what i that's just a regular that's what i that's just a regular that's what i that's just a regular read more likely a persuasive read more likely a persuasive interrogation interrogation interrogation she assured me she assured me she assured me does that mean torture does that mean torture does that mean torture that sounds like torture that sounds like torture that sounds like torture matilda grinned matilda grinned matilda grinned it's only torture if cheshire doesn't it's only torture if cheshire doesn't it's only torture if cheshire doesn't spill their guts i knew you had a landmine no no no no i knew you had a landmine no no no no i knew you had a landmine no no no no that was you that was you can't get on that was you that was you can't get on that was you that was you can't get on to me for my attitude and then pull one to me for my attitude and then pull one to me for my attitude and then pull one of those out i was holding a burp that's of those out i was holding a burp that's of those out i was holding a burp that's why i sounded like that okay why i sounded like that okay why i sounded like that okay no okay hit the first line again no okay hit the first line again no okay hit the first line again matilda grinned it's only torture matilda grinned it's only torture matilda grinned it's only torture cheshire doesn't spill the guts because cheshire doesn't spill the guts because cheshire doesn't spill the guts because if they don't if they don't if they don't then we spill their guts guess who's back back back again guess who's back back back again guess who's back back back again trying to cancel them and them good trying to cancel them and them good trying to cancel them and them good luck with that every time why why why does this do well every time why why why does this do well every time why why why does this do well we don't people enjoy this it could be we don't people enjoy this it could be we don't people enjoy this it could be good good good it could be good is there is there an audience of people is there is there an audience of people is there is there an audience of people out there who's like i like when i start out there who's like i like when i start out there who's like i like when i start reading oh my reading oh my reading oh my i start reading scary stuff but then it i start reading scary stuff but then it i start reading scary stuff but then it gets silly oh yeah gets silly oh yeah gets silly oh yeah yes dude yes a hundred percent who are they who are they i don't think i've ever met one yeah who are they i think they're the majority i think i would i would say that i would say i would say that this is like i i think that there'd be a lot of people i think that we're we're skewed it too much being bad there's a lot of people who'd be like i wasn't really enjoying it until they fucking derailed the story and made me want to like i don't care i don't care i don't oh wait you're talking about i thought you were talking about us no that's what i'm saying we are doing no no we are doing that we're the ones driving the car yes i am in fact driving my car for bridge you are no no no i'm saying that we as hosts are ruining the story all right and it is our job to give an unbiased approach to this story we never give our opinions isaiah that's what makes this podcast so good you're right you're you had me up until that line here i say hold on hold on hold on ready ready okay yeah it's only torture cheshire doesn't fill their guts because if they don't then we spill their guts we all know what makes this podcast so good is that it is simply an audiobook and we don't discuss how we feel or our opinions about anything related to horror storytelling and and the only reason people watch is for us to shut up and read the story so why don't we just shut up the story you can't find you can't find audiobooks of these things no online no got anywhere they don't exist no one does readings of scary stories that'd be absurd um you definitely come to this podcast for that because no one else is doing that apparently uh so yeah it would make sense to complain when the hosts of a comedy horror podcast talk about comedy or horror because if they don't we spill their guts trying to cancel m&m i see good luck with that oh you know and it also like it just deflates all the stakes you've set up in a story because i thought this was real i thought this was a scenario that humans were going through and they were worried and scared and it's like would a human who has seen demons and it now has to battle with the supernatural the other and you're looking at it the wrong way we'll spill their guts you're looking at the wrong way you're looking at the wrong way because now you have to hope that the story ends their it ends the lives of these characters and it doesn't keep them alive and that's what keeps that's what keeps me on board is that something's gonna go on and everyone's like we might go but we like it once again part four part four machine hearts and electric eyes let's see what we can do here how's that machine heart i'm not gonna read that in excellence because that's just the whole reddit thing of the shit they always put that in to just be like oh here's links to the previous story this is an actual this is an actual line though this was not how i pictured my life going when all this started but at least now i wasn't alone in the mess there are you happy there you go i fixed my eyes on the road and made a mental note to never get on matilda's best i'm so mad i'm so mad right now because i was into it i was into it okay don't cancel eminem in front of matilda got it okay i made a note to never get on your bed all right look if like i said earlier with the whole connect 100 stories in one universe thing if you like that if you like stories like this more power to you i don't so i'm gonna act accordingly so then just read and just you know what try to sit back and enjoy how's that sound we were heading west on the interstate and we're on the interstate and we're on the interstate towards california west towards cheshire and maybe some answers all around us spring was waking up trees caught between life and death cars zipped by us like fighter jets dodging a blimp matilda's rv was an aged patched up winnebago with maroon strips on the side and a carpeted interior that might have been white ones the old machine rumbled when i pressed on the accelerator the engine seemed to take the pedal's input as more of a suggestion than a command we struggled to keep up with the highway speed limit tilda had her feet on the dash it's just her feet on the dash it's fine is it no because i know i know how it's saying it i know how it's saying it and like she's just uh she's just a cool girl who doesn't live oh i'm sorry that there's a cool girl i'm sorry it's a cool girl in a story down yeah yeah yeah you know what maker maker goth and main tilda had her feet on the dash window down a perennial cup of coffee in her hand she kept her sunglasses on even after i promised her missing eyes didn't bother me do you really think cheshire is going to be that easy to find we've got his ip address and i'm a natural-born bloodhound baby you SON OF A BITCH i need something about the i need something about the farmer and his monster quick oh i didn't know i could bend like that all right you didn't have to take it straight there because like the wholesome angle was really what was tying me to this narrative but no no no no no no no is this why they called a chinese finger trap no No. no no no no the whole the reason i was playing with you on this one passing the ball of yarn around is because it was the one wholesome bit you've had in like months so we were going to leave it there and even then your wholesome bits still involved gay gay intercourse but you know what i was fine with that that was a beach treaty but then soon as soon as i'm in a vulnerable position you immediately make it into hey hey gala dwarf no hand me that hand me that roll of brownie paper towels i need to wipe this up no see see you just you ruined it you ruined all that you've ruined you ruined everything i came to you just then in confidence yeah i came to you as a friend who needed something and you rejected me you we've got his ip address and i'm a natural born bloodhound baby matilda held one small hand out of the window running her fingers through the breeze i really can't believe both of you walnuts forgot to use a vpn or disguise your signal in any way walnuts i can't every i want you to know every every single quip is like a gunshot to me just a giant out of smoke and you're just on the floor sorry i didn't realize i was living in an episode of get smart all right i didn't realize i was living in an episode of get smart get what the man from uncle i don't understand the word you're saying in the order you're saying them mission impossible okay that one i got like whatever man yeah why you're right why should anyone care about your story like why i don't care it's monsters who cares right this is quirky and funny i don't care who would care that's stupid to care why would anyone care about stories that's that's dumb am i being too harsh yes yes there's gonna be a large there's gonna be a large minority of people i don't care i don't care what they see i don't care what i really don't care what they say what i care about is i feel like a dozen times i've been super invested in a story and they're like what if we were what if we were like batman what if what if this was like a comic book story i don't really like that'd be you know what i think that you have to at least admit that people are like even if it's not your cup of tea it this author it's it's i will say so because of maria on the moon was not like this what we've read somebody walks whistling past my window was not like this what we've what we've read so far this author probably was just like i want to write like a comedy thing or i want to write something that's like a little little less serious or like a little it has a little more uh it it it has like a different care like he's writing a different character here there or they are writing a different character here that's different so at least there's versatility in what they're doing you know we can't we know they can't do this it's just this is probably just what they were interested in writing so we need to at least show respect in that way okay i'll do that i'll do that we drove all day alternating who had the wheel every two hours whenever we needed a rest stop we would pull over onto the shoulder the rv had its own bathroom kitchen even a shower honestly it was a pretty princely way to travel twice that day matilda said an emergency stop. She'd sprint from the Winnebago into the trees and brush that line the highway. Then I'd hear the sound of vomiting. Dilda told me she was fine, but she looked pale. Like me, she had strange dry patches of skin that shined like dull-knocked nickels. Her neck was also red on both sides of her throat. The sun was setting, washing the sky in a gradual shade of violet when we started looking for a place to park for the night. We passed a massive accident. It doesn't cars wrapped around each other. Ambulances and fire trucks and cop cars swarmed, lighting up the evening with red and blue lights. One truck had crossed in the median and lay flipped over in the grass. There must have been a terrible fire because the vehicle was barely a shelly, blackened, warped. I saw paramedics lifting a covered stretcher into an ambulance. Standing over the entire scene was a shadow covered in stars, nearly as tall as the tree line. Entire galaxies rotated across the absolute darkness of the creature, constellations drifting like leaves on a pond. The entity turned in my direction and cocked its head. Curious, I felt a deep chill. There was this pull and- "Jesus, watch the road!" I snapped back and looked at the road. A horn honked. The RV had drifted over halfway into the next lane. "Sorry, sorry, sorry." I said, correcting our course. "What the heck, dude?" "I thought I saw-" I snuck a glance back towards the accident, fading in the rearview mirror. There was no star-filled shadow leading over the wreckage anymore. "Never mind." A few hours after sunset, we pulled into a rest stop. Matilda navigated the RV into an empty space in a gravel parking lot under one of the sparse light poles. There was a cluster of trees around us and a picnic table. Across the lot was a bathroom and some vending machines. We raided the ladder for a quick dinner, and then moved on to the next stop. The next stop was a restaurant, where we could have a quick dinner, then went to bed. Matilda in the back room, me on the pull-out couch. I stared at the ceiling for a long time. Shadows from the light outside crept in through the blinds, painting streaks across the kitchen. There was a tiny TV, but I didn't want to wake Matilda. I was just beginning to drift off when I heard something whistling outside the Winnebago. My heart made a nearly successful escape attempt from my chest. The sound grew louder and louder, peaked at the window directly above my bed, and faded as the whistler moved past us. I lay in bed and held my breath until it was gone. I didn't sleep that night. On day two of our road trip, Matilda told me more of her plan. "When we get there, you'll hold Cheshire down while I slug him a few times, just to let them know we're serious. Then we'll ask Cheshire about the cryptic emails and make them tell us everything they know about the eyes and the creatures. What if they don't know any more than we do?" I asked, swallowing a yawn. "Or what if trying to beat the answers out of Cheshire doesn't work?" Matilda cracked delicate knuckles. "Oh. The beating will work. The beating always works." She looked at me with a blank face, then stuck out her tongue. I winked and turned on the radio. "W-what are you talking about?" I asked. She looked at me with a blank face, then stuck out her tongue. "It was a gorgeous day." "Wait, what? Hold on." She looked at me with a blank face, then stuck out her tongue. "What kind of weird, silent interaction was that?" "You told me that if I didn't have anything nice to say, I shouldn't say anything at all." "Oh. Oh. The beating always works." "And I don't have anything nice to say about it, so I guess I should just keep reading. Right, Hunter?" "Yep." "Should I continue, Hunter?" "I said yes. I've said yes like three times." "I haven't. It's the Discord thing. If you speak, you have to speak longer than like half a second or I just don't get it." "Yes." "No, see, I heard that one. Thank you." "Okay." "It was a gorgeous day." "Perfect for a drive. The sun soaked the road. We had the heater running to counter the dawn chill, but there was a warm edge on the wind that suggested the cold was only temporary. I tried to focus on that over the alarming condition of Matilda's skin. Sometime during the night, the red patches on her neck had turned yellow-purple. Thin scars and parallel lines stretched across each blemish. I also noticed that Tilda was hiding her right hand from me, keeping her eyes on me." "What?" "I thought it was Tilda. I thought it was Tilda. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know." "Her condition was troubling. Not that I was doing much better. I caught sight of my face in the mirror. The metallic spots I'd seen earlier were fading, but now the veins in my neck and cheeks had darkened to the point they were clearly visible. Little scratches had appeared in clusters around my eyes, giving me the appearance of someone who had gone through a briar patch face first. I felt dizzy and my joints were sore. As we pulled into a fast food place to grab breakfast, I prayed that we'd find Cheshire and that they'd have some kind of answers. Clouds began to spill into the sky around midday. Puffy white at first. Clouds quickly darkened, and the nice day I'd predicted became dreary. Rain lashed at the windshield faster than the old RV's wipers could keep up. We rocked and rattled with every gust. After an hour, it became clear we were pushing our luck, so Tilda found an exit to a half-empty mall. We parked the RV and spent the rest of the day sitting on the cramped couch together watching horror movies. I woke up after dark. A gentle hum of the rain on the window and the warmth of the Winnebago must have put me to sleep. I felt something pressuring. present against my shoulder. Apparently, Matilda nodded off as well. Outside, the world was bright white, lit by the parking lot's infinite rows of fluorescent lamps. Beyond the glow of the lights, the sky was dark, clouds obscuring any stars. Matilda's glasses had slipped off as she slept. As or no, she was fox-featured, stunning, and lovely. I tried to wake her up, but she grumbled and held her arms out. It took me a moment to realize she wanted a lift. When I did, I felt a little rush and smiled. I carried her to the bedroom, took off her shoes, tucked her in, and then slipped out to return to the couch, closing the door between us. I was still grinning as I fell back asleep. A smell of smoke caused me to snap awake. My first thought was fire. Then I saw the figure sitting on the edge of the couch, so close he was almost touching my feet. You're not looking so good. The smoker croaked. In the dim light, I could see that he was wearing a wrinkled and stained gray suit with the shirt untucked and no tie. The same cloud of smoke hung over his face, hiding his features, though I thought I could see the outline of a trilby hat through the haze. Am I dreaming? The smoker grabbed my leg. I yelped. He pulled my foot towards his face. I heard the crunch click of a jaw unhinging and started to struggle. The smoker dropped my foot and I jumped to my feet. Did you feel that? I was shaking, standing with my fist raised. Yeah? Then they're not dreaming. Sit down. An invisible force slammed into my shoulders. I fell to the floor, then dragged myself into a sitting position. The smoker sighed, causing a puff of smoke to blow out. I warned you about the eyes. Offered to take them from you. But now it's too late. The seed is planted and you're nearly ready to bloom. Do you feel it? My face was tight. I reached up and touched my cheek. The veins there were as hard and cold as stone, stretching against the skin. What's happening? The usual change. I told a scream from the bedroom. I tried to stand up, but the same unseen pressure knocked me down. The smoker stood over me. Then he was gone and I could move. I ran to the bedroom door. It was locked. Matilda screamed again and I heard whispering. Fuck the spooky shit. I kicked the door. Twice was enough to snap the cheap lock. The room was dark and looked empty except for Matilda. She was curled up near the top of the bed, one arm raised to protect her face. Matilda, where is it? She slowly lowered her arm. Gone, I think. It was. There was a girl. Her eyes were. Waltzed through her offal. She bit me. She bit me. I could see a bloody ring just under Tilda's wrist. Small teeth marks were clearly visible. Why? What did we do to them? There's a little Mark Wahlberg on that one. Just a little bit. I could hear him speaking through her. All I could do was shake my head. Will you stay here tonight? Hey, pick or drop the floor, Waltz. No funny business. Just. I'd feel better if you slept in here, okay? Uh, okay. Don't get hard. Also, I fart while I sleep, so I hope you don't mind anything stinky. Um. You know what? I can. I actually have something to criticize other than just. Oh! The obvious. Other than the obvious. I don't like that Matilda was introduced as, like, a character who knows what she's doing and is capable and has done things like torture and stuff, for some reason, to get this stuff done. And she's, like, uh. And our. And Waltz is kind of, like, just a klutz who is afraid who she's rescuing. And then, as soon as, like, she brings him along, she suddenly needs rescued. And she becomes the weak character who needs comfort and blah blah blah. Okay, uh. Isaiah, you can try to cancel M&M all you want, but, uh, it's not gonna work. You're right. You're right. Yep, you're completely right. I agree. Part five? I got into bed. There's still a sentence left. Oh. I got into bed, then immediately out when Tilda asked me to switch on a light. Finally settling in, Tilda says, "Tilda lifted my arm and moved close to me. We stayed like that until the pigeons outside announced the break of dawn." Part five. Part five. All right. Only ten more parts. Do what? Only ten more parts. No. No, you're not getting me this time. You're not getting me this time. I checked. I checked before we started. Oh. You know how, like. You know how, like, when Kanye was doing all of his Kanye stuff, people would be like, "He made graduation. He made graduation." You know? "He made graduation." Um. Right now, I'm like. Bro, you cannot compare. He made Marie on the moon. You cannot compare the motto to fucking Kanye's Nazi rants, dude. No, I'm not. I'm not saying it's. It's in the same sense that graduation was as culturally impactful as, you know, Marie on the moon. It's, like, scaled. It's not the same kind, of issues at all. I'm just saying that right now, I, like many were with Kanye, for good reason, was having issues with the work of an artist, but the previous work was so good that I'm like, "We gotta give. We gotta give credit where it's due." Right? That's all I'm saying. Well, we're on part five, at least. We're on part five. We're on part five. You wanna read the title? "I Solved the Fermi Paradox and I Regret It. We Chased the Cat." Cheshire Cat, probably. The what? The Cheshire Cat. Um, yeah. Yeah. That Cheshire Cat. And also, I was right about the entities not being bad, per se, trying to save them from the people making the eyes and bear trap and blah, blah, blah. Matilda was sick. She tried to hide it, but the farther we drove, the more clear it became that she was falling apart. Little cracks kept appearing in her skin. They were thin, almost scratches, and under them, something caught the light. The fingers on her right hand were fusing together, and the lines on her throat had widened and turned a reddish-purple. More than a few times that week, I saw Matilda sit down, looking either short of breath or dizzy. I wasn't very much better. The dark veins had spread throughout my body, hard enough that I could feel them when I pressed down on my arm or leg. There were, like, thick wires threading over my muscle and bone. Rough gray patches were also popping up all over my body, and my limbs were so stiff in the morning that Matilda sometimes had to pull me out of bed. We started sharing the RV single bedroom after the night we ran into the smoker and the girl with mirror eyes. So, all things considered, it wasn't an entirely bad trip. This is not how I pictured my life going, so I'll start at least until whatever. Would you like to stop and see the world's third largest ball of yarn? Matilda asked. She was riding shotgun, fe- I'll tell the kind of girl to pass a semi and try to get him to honk. Dang it. He must be having a bad day. I love you saying that, because I feel like that's something they would write into one of these stories. It's like- Yeah. A thing cool people do. We passed by a semi and- She was riding shotgun, feet up on the dash, and window down as usual. We were somewhere in the Midwest, more than halfway to California, Cheshire. Fields stretched out around us, flat and green and endless. I looked over to one and saw a man in a 12-foot tall, eldritch abomination, barreling through the hay. Lovers. The sky looked like it could spit out a tornado any second, but there was no rain. I was driving. I heard a loud thumping, thumping along on the steering wheel of the song on the radio. That moment, the monster seemed so far away. Matilda with her sunglasses and quick grin, so very close. I opened my mouth to reply when I felt my stomach curl in on itself like an alarmed armadillo. Gotta stop. I mumbled, swerving to halt on the shoulder. Thankfully, we were the only vehicle in sight on the two-lane highway. I barely made it into the bathroom before it gazed with neon blue. I looked up, and I saw a man in a two-lane highway. I had no idea what he was doing, but I knew it was him. eyes with neon blue fluid came bursting out of my mouth are you okay till the ass knocking on the door yeah i feel fine but maybe we save the yarn for the return trip we drove on for most of the afternoon but till then i didn't talk about the weird things we saw along the way but I could sense things were getting worse for her I know they were for me some nights I would look out at the sky and see unfamiliar stars and impossible configurations some nights I stay up cashing in my bad luck some nights I call it a draw but I still wake up once I'd woken up to see something like the northern lights outside only the ribbons of color were all shades of red something massive swam through the lights a black shape the size of an aircraft carrier covered in dangling tentacles one of them brushed the top of the rv and the vehicle shuttered pressed myself into the bed holding my breath hold a stir next to me but didn't wake up see stuff like that I like like separate it from everything else going on just these descriptions of like sky beast and stuff like that that's all really cool to me oh yeah I like all that oh yeah most of our encounters with the creature were like that bumps and close passings oddities observed at a distance the majority of entities ignored us maybe they didn't notice us at all a few came near or at least followed our path usually with way too many eyes I always sense curiosity from those run-ins but I only ever felt in danger once the day after we missed the yarn Matilda and I were having a picnic lunch at a rest stop discussing our plan of attack for when we finally found Cheshire if you hold him I can hit him until he tells us how to reserve to uh reserve whatever the is going on with us I nibbled that sandwich I can no longer taste I just I don't know I feel like we should have a more nuanced approach you want to hold him while you hit him we don't even know Cheshire is a he we don't know anything about them they might not even be human till the cut into an apple paused what if Cheshire is a cat or like a group of cats all working together I hope not I the rest of my sentence died in my mouth the picnic area was surrounded by more fields a mode of green bordered on one side by the highway and the other by a thick forest standing just outside of the tree line was a tall figure with a long thin neck it was hard to tell at that distance at least 200 yards but it looked like the creature was at least 12 feet tall the thing was standing still facing us its head dropped down turning the top of its body into a question mark maybe it couldn't support the weight of its own skull something about the creature reminded me of a time I'd walked into my garage and heard a hissing sound this is only a few months after I'd originally lost my sight the world had gone dark and every noise stood out I wasn't sure what kind of animal made the hissing but I'd backed out of my garage and slammed the door there's danger in the sound sense of violence coiling I got the same eye when I looked back at the tall thing on the edge of the field get in the RV she turned to where I was looking and froze when she noticed the creature Tilda even took off her sunglasses to get a better look with empty eye sockets what do you think she began floppy floppy head the other name I mentally assigned the monster began to stumble towards us through the tall grass RV I shouted jumping in Tilda was right on my heels diving in on the passenger side for a panicked second I couldn't find the keys floppy was moving faster now sprinting towards across the field head bouncing like a ball on a string he was clumsy but quick way too quick for a creature that gangly my brain suddenly decided to work and I pulled down the sun visor he's falling on my lap floppy had covered almost half the distance between the trees in the RV before I finally turned the ignition peeled out of the rest areas parking lot so fast I worried we might roll over but then we were on the highway gaining speed and I felt every single muscle in my body unclench floppy burst out behind us onto the road shooting I said slamming on the gas the creature looked ridiculous when it ran all wind milling arms and wobbly neck but damn it was fast we didn't start to put it firmly into our rearview mirror until the Winnebago was wheezing along at 50 miles an hour drove in silence for a while I think we should limit our stops yeah we made it to the state line that night while we were searching for an exit to another rest stop our parking lot when Tilda bolted upright in her seat look she said pointing around a bend in the hill ahead do you see it I turned to where she was gesturing I did see it tree taller than any building I'd ever seen towered over the horizon setting Sun looked the shape from below and cast a shadow across the forest blue lights floated around the tree's trunk moving back and forth and wide sweeping circles it was breathtaking and beautiful it seemed so intentional like we were being signaled head that way let's see it up close I wanted to I really wanted to something about the dancing lights and the scale of the tree pulled at me I felt drawn towards the tree I felt like I could never see it towards them a honking horn snapped me out of the lock we drifted across lanes and cut off a car I put us back on course and stepped on the accelerator maybe we can check it on the way back let the yarn but Waltz no no we can't something isn't right oh are you sure yes okay Tilda stared out the window at the tree until the sun was fully down darkness and distance hid the shape but the blue lights were still visible for the better part of an hour drifting calling uh I do I do I do like imagery of giant trees I think that's cool I think that's just a cool addition to any story we crossed into California just before midnight and decided to keep driving until we reached the coast that's where Tilda expected to find Cheshire she was tracking their online activity sitting at the RV's tiny kitchen table with my laptop is this really going to take us right to Cheshire like at their front door probably not the buy the IP should give us a basic idea but we might have to stake out the neighborhood for any signs could be at least a few days I saw Tilda through the rearview mirror scratching at her cheek strange scars on her throat it started to bleed she saw me looking sunglasses lingering on the mirror for a moment and she picked up the laptop and went to the bedroom we didn't have to search long for Cheshire's house Tilda directed me down a series of turns until we were in a sparsely populated neighborhood the area was caught between suburbia and sticks houses spread out with large yards populated by resting cars on cinder blocks and straight cats there was no doubt which was Cheshire's property thunderstorm word over a single home at the end of the street I inched the RV closer than parked a few houses back storm was off somehow gray clouds jerked and stuttered against an otherwise blue sky rain fell in when I looked closely I saw that the rain wasn't actually falling it was rising up from the ground like iron shavings lifted by a magnet an indigo whip of light also started from the yard and crawled towards the sky it moved in slow motion like a snake striking in a flipbook the house was hard to see through the ascending curtain of rain but looked old and huge and hungry Tilda and I sat in the RV surrounded by a beautiful spring day watching a pocket storm press down on the house do we knock just go say hello or should we be sneaky and have like a stakeout Tilda didn't reply I turned to see her staring at me glasses off empty eyes fixed on me her throat was bleeding again gentle drips of red stain in her collar she was wheezing slightly with each breath I'm scared I reached out and squeezed her hand yeah same but there's one part left final part here we go read the title Isaiah part six baby final part are you excited Hunter oh man I can't wait to see what Cheshire is I'm excited I think I think it's really cool yeah also so far stories aren't related to the farming Paradox at all by the way um I think it's really cool how Matilda's established to be like this cool kind of killer knows her way around town character and then she's scared and uh into hero has to comfort her and keep us safe and blah blah blah you know dude sorry that she's a human being man you know what yeah you know what man maybe I just hate love maybe I just hate love maybe I hate being in love maybe I hate maybe I hate it maybe that's what it is maybe I'm just an aromanic guy who doesn't care about poetry or writing at all maybe that's my problem trust me I know wouldn't I know no you wouldn't know what I said you I've sent you flowers time and time again to no response Hunter Hunter makes passes at me constantly and you would think that if I was receptive to it or if he was receptive to the rejection you'd get the hint here we are I'm sorry I'm in love so no you sent me you know you sent me yesterday everyone don't know you sent me yesterday a bouquet of roses no no I just sent me yesterday he sent me uh a photograph of uh his pants and underwear around his ankles uh and he's sitting on toilets so you can't see anything from this perspective but the implications there and he said going through it right now and I said that's a rough one man Godspeed and he said probably the most poetic phrase of his entire life, muster seeds into a pot of honey. There's meaning to that. There's deepness to it, that whatever luck would be wished would be meaningless in the face of oblivion like that. And that is how you described a bathroom experience. So extreme. You had to text me about it. I had to hurt for you for a while. I was, I was, I just wanted to communicate with you somehow. I was wanting to connect and that's what I was experiencing. I had a long day. This is also the image you sent me earlier. If you don't want to check that out, I'll put it on Reddit or something. You see, you guys can have it for your own devious means. Anyway, part six, it's such a strange feeling walking through rain. That's rising from the ground till the night of beta driving away and waiting until morning to confront. Cheshire. But after an hour, I told you just stood up and walked out of the RV. I followed pass through the yard with this little upside down storm quickly. Water was cold and had the consistency of motor oil till the hesitated. Once we reached the porch. No, this is, this is just, this is how I pictured that they do. They put these in there. You've got to read it off too. You've got to read it. This isn't how I pictured thing. Oh my God. Compose yourself first. Hold on. Hold on. Um, wow. I love this. Isn't now. I pictured things ending when all this started. At least we'd finally found Cheshire there. Is that better? Do we knock? She asked leaning against the wall to catch her breath. The lines on her throat were bleeding again. I could kick the door down. I lied. My legs were stiff. My muscles felt like jello was cement crawling through my veins. Thunder broke gently above us ramping up until it was a roar. Another jack of lightning rose in slow motion from the ground towards the clouds till the reach for the doorknob. It was unlocked. Fuck it. She said entering the house. It was like walking into a bad acid trip. Nothing in the house was level floors were crooked walls. And even a little furniture I could see was mismatched, broken, almost hostile. The entry room was dominated by twin staircases that twisted off into the ceiling. There was a bare skin, a rug covering the wooden floorboards. Only someone had to replace the bear's head with the dirty blonde wig. I reached down towards the hair and recoiled. It wasn't a wig. We shouldn't be here. Said turning for the door. It was gone. There's nothing but a blank grimy wall till the made a sound that was either a cough or a laugh. Guess we got to keep going. We pressed on the halls were narrow and seemed to stretch on far longer. Than they should. They're full of blind corners, abrupt turns in the occasional dead end. Some halls were dim. Others are so bright. I had to squint shade my eyes with my hand on and on. They rolled with some walk for more than an hour till it was struggling to breathe. The entire time we're asking and stopping every few minutes. Each step felt like I had cinder blocks chained to my feet. One of the hallways was lined with pictures. Try not to look at them too. Closely there were portraits with blurred faces, a landscape under a night sky where a single red star made the paint look like it was bleeding halfway down the hall till the stopped. What is started to ask? Then I saw the picture. It was an oil painting of Tilda and me crucified to the side of the RV limbs nailed and oh, we got our crucifixion. That's scary. Is that scary? Hunter? Are you scared? Yeah. Imagine going to a place and then you see an oil painting of yourself. Uh, you're crucified. And it's like, how did you get that painting? It's creepy. That's pretty scary, man. Cause realistically, you know, most people probably don't have a painting like that now. Um, but here's their painting. So that's creepy that they have one. Our faces were both warped with absolute pleasure. We were laughing so hard that our jaws stretched down to our chest. Let's try to go a little faster. Tilda said, turning, took a breath to calm myself, made the mistake of glancing at the picture again and felt my stomach heave. Tilda waited while I got myself together. Finally, we came to a door. The knob was brass and warm to the touch. I noticed a hum coming from the other side, almost a buzzing. What do we do if Cheshire's in there? I don't know, Walt. I don't know what to do anymore. Tilda reached for the knob. All I can do is roll with it. The room was gigantic, cavernous, and uncomfortably human. Thick, hot air slammed into Tilda and me as we entered. The space was dark, with only enough light to pick out silhouettes and shapes. I fumbled for a light switch and, to my surprise, actually found one. Click. Light flooded the room. Hello! Cheerful voice called out. I think I screamed. Or Matilda did. Maybe both of us. We'd found Cheshire. He was the size of a bear, a never-ending tumble of wet skin. Cheshire reminded me of a partially deflated balloon, somehow both bloated and saggy at the same time. His body appeared stuck to the wall, flesh merging with wood in a bloody whirl. Every time he opened his mouth, a fat, black tongue dropped out all the way down to his navel. Cheshire was also completely naked. Found me! He shouted, bouncing up and down, causing his skin to ripple. Cheshire? Tilda asked. The creature bounced again. Yes! Hello, friends! Hello, Waltz! Hello, Matilda! Waltz and Matilda! Waltz and- What the fuck, dude? What the fuck took you so long? What the fuck took you- What the fuck took you two so long? At the beginning of the story, you know, we had- We had Mr. Widemouth as a doctor, and we had a cowboy with his eldritch love interest, and like, I didn't know how good I had it, you know? Yeah. It's like that thing from The Office, I wish you could know you were in the good times before the good times were over. Didn't know what I had two hours ago. Rewind through the video right now, go look at me, Ben. That was a happier man. And then, uh. We're reading a. We're reading an alien story today. Uh, called The Fermi Paradox. Hold on a minute, I'm like, what are you doing? That was a different man than the man I am now. Don't worry, I'll do the line today. I'll do the line better. Yes! Hello, friends! Hello, Waltz! Hello, Matilda! Waltz and Matilda! Waltz and- What the fuck took you two so long? A shout sent me scrambling for the door, but of course, it was gone. I hated that house deeply. You're the last two. Why don't you have a seat? Glanced around. The giant room was entirely empty except for a bed the size of a swimming pool in the corner. The sheets were stained in freshly dripping material that looked terribly similar to Cheshire's skin. Sat on the floor, Tilda sat next to me. Come closer? Cheshire asked. We did not. Well, fine then! Well, you found me! I made it as easy as I could, but you all still- You all still- You all still took so very long! The others have already gone! Even Calvin and Violet! I thought you might leave before them, but no, no, no, no, no! Calvin went off in his cloud of smoke, and little Violet fell into a looking glass! She always liked you. Cheshire turned towards Matilda. You've seen them, haven't you? You've gotten some visits, yes? But now they're gone and you're all that's left! What's going to happen to us? You'll change! You'll become! What? What are we going to become? Cheshire shrugged. At least, I think he shrugged. The slabs of flesh where his shoulders should be rolled like waves against the shore. It's not for me to know what you'll become! Only that you will! The eyes are seeds, you see! Ha! You see? And once the seeds are planted, the eyes are seeds! There's no way to know what you'll grow! Grow, grow! And once you've changed, you'll need to leave! Why? And leave for where? I don't know that either! The change will make this world unsuitable! The air will become poison! The sunlight will become heavy enough to break bone! But you're in luck! There's so many other worlds! And so many, many holes between this world and the others! Cheshire smiled. Cheshire smiled. While tongue dropping so low, nearly touched the ground. There's a house with a hundred doors that you could travel forever and never explore at all! There's a night with a starless sky where the forgotten crawl back home! And a clearing in the woods where the devils dance and lost children decorate the trees! There's a dying place where a coward king waits on a throne of glass! And in the middle of it all, a neighborhood sitting on a slow hill wedged in between a crack and reality! all the places you could go, and in time, you might even learn how to visit here how to travel back and forth and how to find hopeless things how to feed you don't make any sense why me why are you doing this to me because you were there because you needed something from us because you accepted a gift and now you're get and now we're giving you more have you felt the call yet the doors have all certain the doors all have a certain pull for those who can see them I thought of the tall tree with its blue lights drifting in the sky the way it tugged at us and how much Tilda wanted to see it if we pass something like that again would we be able to stay away Tilda stood up enough I'm tired of listening to you ramble bullshit you're gonna tell me how to stop whatever's happening to me I'll I'll hurt you until you tell me I'll I'll hurt you permanent I I promise I will you Cheshire smiled and smiled and smiled mouth stretching until his face split in half something fuzzy crawled out of the hole it was a skull with a spine attached all the bones covered in thick black hair see you on the other side skull said in Cheshire's voice slither down the mountain of sagging flesh that used to be its body that shot across the floor too fast to follow Tilda dove with a creature trying to grab hold to share slip through a seam between the wall and the floor he was gone Jesus there's much else to say Tilda slammed her fist on the ground Cheshire's flesh was slowly dripping onto the floor sliding off the wall like yogurt it already reeked of spoiled meat and for some reason strawberries behind the skin was a door nowhere else to go we went through and found ourselves standing outside of Cheshire's house on the port the storm had stopped the sky was a perfect April blue what now maybe we can track him down maybe we can Tilda silently crossed the yard and headed towards the RV after a moment I followed by the time I got inside she'd already gone into the bedroom and shut the door it was locked what Tilda she didn't answer I heard her crying I wondered what it was like for her crying without eyes were there still tears sit on the small couch in the RV's kitchen and waited 20 minutes later Tilda emerged calm and pale sunglasses on how about we go see that ball of yarn sure I said getting up to start the RV that sounds like a good trip we didn't hurry we took our time driving exploring exits stopping off to get out and just walk around both of us were dissolving slowly Tilda's fingers and toes were growing into each other the lumps of her hair in the shower each day as well as teeth she stayed bundled up shivering even in the heat always struggling to get enough air my veins continued to blacken to become hard pressing against skin that had become as rough as bark it wasn't so bad we had good times sleeping in until noon staying up until dawn always together we saw more and more strange creatures each day buzzers with antlers and human eyes clouds that dragged tails across the ground as they drifted and we saw doors or usually I guess we felt them Cheshire was right they called to us pulled us Tilda felt them stronger than I did one night we were driving past a hospital and Matilda grabbed the wheel tried turning us into the parking lot I wrestled control back and slammed on the accelerator once the building was out of sight Tilda settled down I hurt so much she told me rolled up in the passenger seat I don't think we can stay here but I'm afraid to go we'll be okay we'll find a way to fix things last night we slept at a rest area near a forest when I woke up in the morning Matilda was gone I found her trail easy enough bloody footprints leading off into the woods soon I started coming across her clothes the rest of her hair all of her fingernails and toenails the grizzly procession led to the edge of a small still lake the water was chilly and threatened me with my own deteriorating reflection I felt the pull then the lake was a door a thin spot where the fabric of reality was worn and frayed a hole into another world I doubted the lake was deep but I sensed that I was standing on the cusp of a terrible drop if I went into the water I knew I would sink until all light was gone then further still I wondered what was on the other side what things might live in all of that darkness and pressure most of all I wondered if I'd ever seen Matilda again there was another pull overwhelming a riptide trying to drag me down I panicked and slipped stumbling away from the lake as fast as I could that door was not my door I put some miles between myself and the rest area even during that short drive I felt other doors calling to me if I stay here too long I know I'll die but if I leave I'd never be able to come back and who knows what I might be walking into if I cross over the doors whisper to me promise and beg and threaten there are infinite fields unfamiliar stars pits eyes and hungry things all waiting I won't be able to resist much longer and I'm so scared at how inevitable it feels but I'm gonna see that giant ball of yarn if it's the last thing I do just wish I didn't have to do it alone I'm so tired Miss Matilda and that is the end of I solved the far the farmy products and I regret it it's good man it was crazy that he never I don't think he ever brought up the Fermi Paradox at all he did he said aliens are live for stuff like he said well you know it's the frame Paradox but it's not really that he's like it's just a theory is what he said you know this is a uh this is a a good this is did uh the Marie of the Moon come after this or before this before it's an interesting thing to see someone kind of take I the the thing about no sleep and I'm curious to see this um is this feels like an idea where each time they were posted they didn't I don't think it didn't really feel like there was I I doubt I I'm curious to know if at the beginning of this story if that's how the writer knew that it was going to end that way and I feel like a lot of people on no sleep use these uh parameters and they use these rules that monosleep has to kind of like just try out new creative things or like unravel ideas or see how they connect connect stuff like it's not the same as like a traditional book where you know it's like all in a completed thing it's just per like just whenever you want to do a new post you just add to it you know what I mean uh-huh um yeah and I'm curious if this was just an experiment or a thought or something because to me this is also this is a good example of a person that obviously knows how to like make a story write something compelling and it seems like somebody just trying to like take a bucket of ideas of things they've thought and utilize them into a story or just like pour them out and they're not sure how to navigate it's like dumping a big uh bucket of puzzle pieces onto a table and kind of just looking at it like and not really like formulating it into a giant picture and just kind of like realizing that there's a bunch of pieces that need to be put together but it's just like that is what it is it's it's a good example of like I mean by the end it becomes almost like left right game in the way that like two people are going it's it's all these crazy things are happening they're mutating they're ascending there's really no end to this Journey it is just kind of like a ever expanding kind of idea but it's it's lessened by which whatever you're about the Millennial humor what are the character like that you know that that's like just personal preference but I do think that the uh it's so abrasive and so surreal from the get-go that by the end none of this stuff really has any grabbing weight to it like the the cool like the idea that like Matilda is like dissolving the same way that Cheshire was and that they're like ascending almost like Cheshire to me was like a pinhead-esque character who's like you asked for a gift and this is like you know we have such sites to show you kind of thing um and then like their physical body decays and they get slip off into whatever unknown world which maybe this story connects with another thing um but it this idea that like there's these doorways and stuff and that you know Matilda's dissolving she crawls into the lake which is a door there's a lot of like interesting ideas but since the beginning we've seen we've heard of like creatures with a billion eyes looking at them from drains and stuff um I think that it's just a it's an interesting way of showing that like building on you like setting things up to keep building and not uh you know burn out too quick to where there's no way to there's nowhere to go you know like if you if you bust that load early there's no way to uh recapture that magic later in my opinion um so yeah i think uh i think if you look at it objectively even removing all the all my gripes and how furious i am right now just looking at it objectively um people have weird experiment done to them they can see supernatural things uh they go to a guy who supposedly knows something they see some more weird things and then the guy uh tells them that they're actually part of uh a lot of weird things and then he like effectively dies or leaves and then the story ends um so you know uh also you probably saw the hyperlinks all of those things that the thing was describing are other stories from grand theft motto so so it is just like a hodgepodge of their universe it's just like throwing your whole catalog into a thing which is fine and if people want to do that i think a good rule of thumb and this is more so for harry than anyone else i think a good rule of thumb would be uh don't don't give us stories that require prior reading or extended universe because there's some people who like them but i ain't gonna like them and people ain't gonna like what i have to say about them if they do the uh the the original concept which the original concept of a guy look of a blind person which they didn't really harp on him being blind very long which is no no i don't even think they mentioned it they're just like i have eyes only one time i think in part four or part five was he just like oh well you know this is before this is whenever the world was like dark and you know whatever and now it's a different it was like a one it's one line but um i still think like the concept of an idea of like you're able to see into like an alternate universe or something though we've seen that before i still think that it's a fun concept or even the idea that like you go in for a routine surgery or something and it's like you you are being kept um by aliens or like you're being experimented on like you're like this idea of like the setup of the hospital i thought was just kind of fun i just wanted to live there a bit longer and i mean it just shows two of like it's it seems writing a story and then halfway through either they just didn't want to they just didn't care not that they didn't care that they're just like i just don't know if i like that idea i'm just going to pivot it because we get interested in these characters and then the next beats like all of them are gone it just seemed like it seemed kind of rushed uh versus like there was a lot of angles to maybe set up and like play with some of the characters and you know it just comes down to like how much did they want to invest into the story which it seems currently in my opinion that that was uh the the investment they were like i had i just want to wrap this up um is how it felt yeah um i agree i would agree with but you know we got gay kansas uh sex and we got some pretty good with the monster and we got the once again mr wide mouth the doctor and that's pretty good i guess it's a uh it's a it's a it's a surreal thing though of seeing i'm always curious if people see stories do well and then they want to try a version of that thing like was it a thing where trying to do a version of like left right game is it like because so many of these stories also lean into characters who experience like weird anomalies and they use the the post format to be like hey so this weird thing happened today you know not that that's necessarily what this was but there was a lot of like tales from the gas station lonely radio broadcast station like all that like it had that that vignette of like very weird surreal things happening to a character but it just didn't give the build-up of like making you understand who this person is what do they want what their mode like who it there there was all those things that i'm curious if like people see those things they're like oh i'd be curious to try like i'm curious to try to write a story like that you know which there's no problem in that either i mean like just be like yeah you know whatever at the end of the day too isaiah it's like these are just free stories that people are posting out and like just throwing out into the ether just to kind of be like oh and i respect at least the idea of like someone want to do a story to be creative and stuff yeah i think that i think even then there's like a misunderstanding of how left right game and stuff like that can maintain like brevity while also being scary because the brevity was never at the cost of the situation or the creatures the brevity was always character based so there would be light moments or like funny comments made between rob and bristol um but it was never about the monsters or the situation no one no one turned left and then the character's like let me guess right or whatever um or they didn't see like and i think rob's son's dead's wife ghost and being like what's her problem you know like they never changed the stuff that needed to be scary scary and then the lightness was between each other whereas all these stories like this one and uh my property isn't normal and stuff like that love to make the jokes about the threat so therefore they quit being threatening yeah i you know and i do think that like the left right game or other stories that we've read that have that brevity i think is just because we spend so much time with the characters you build them up to where you feel like you know them and you have that kind of almost casual cadence with them you know whenever you're looking at something and you feel like you don't know a character i feel like you are the the weird essence like the weird uh what is a centric eccentricity so what is it called this eccentric way well just the whenever a character kind of like goes and makes that kind of like a like that big of a change it's kind of it just kind of hits you a bit harder because you're just like well fuck well i you know i why are we joking like that because we have no build-up to who they are or their character or anything and especially in a story like this where it's like we're three parts in and that's when we get hit with it was a bit tonally a whiplash as well um i agree but you know my feelings on it have been pretty clear and like you said uh don't be mean so yep that's my thoughts it was a nice you know what i got i'm glad that we got to sit down read a story today and i'm glad we got to hang out for a bit uh and we thank you guys for hanging out with us as well if you're listening to this on spotify be sure to give us a nice rating there i appreciate you if you're watching on youtube thank you guys and thank you for sharing the story and supporting the authors and also if you uh wanted to get some extra content feel free to sign up to the patreon we got exclusive episodes there uh and until next time guys stay creeped we love you we'll see you then i didn't realize it until after i got done reading but um precisely at the time that i was i was getting on to hunter about uh making it explicitly uh like making the story with the cowboy and the eldridge bean thing not wholesome he was sending me uh i think these are vhs or dvd covers for uh gay porn he was sending them to me on discord uh such as riding with gay daddy uh so he's yeah he's he's sending me these uh in the middle of the recording so if i ever if you ever see me reading and like i look over and i'll just stop or do something just know it's probably something like that whatever Thank you for watching! 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