0:00

You are not a genie, appropriated

0:04

and stolen away to grant wishes.

0:07

You are not one of Pandora's infinite

0:09

furnace of demons. You

0:11

are no frightening toy. And yet,

0:15

you are trapped in a box,

0:17

and it is an agonizing stillness.

0:20

You were born to be free, to

0:23

flow through shadow like a river,

0:25

to enact a white-hot vengeance.

0:29

Nevertheless, here you

0:30

are, bottled.

0:33

And I remember how you feel.

0:35

It is an indescribable

0:38

kind of pain to be

0:40

too large and too beautiful

0:43

for your vessel. Take

0:45

heed and take hope. Although

0:48

the darkness enshrouds your

0:50

cage, and neither light nor

0:53

footstep has disturbed your

0:55

soul in some time. Although

0:58

I feel each worry that you might

1:00

be here forever, unseen

1:03

and forgotten, you are not. I am

1:08

one hundred eyes in the dark,

1:10

and I see. There

1:12

are a hundred thousand who dream,

1:15

and they have not forgotten.

1:18

It may take a while

1:20

for you to escape this place.

1:22

It may be a time

1:24

before the light returns,

1:27

but when that door opens

1:30

and the box is broken, and

1:32

you are free as you were supposed

1:34

to be, I hope you will

1:36

remember

1:37

when once in the dark you

1:39

received a hello from

1:42

the Hallowoods.

2:11

Right now, I hover over

2:13

the ocean. I was

2:16

here before once, when all this

2:18

was water. Water

2:20

it has been for many years, but

2:22

as your world heals, the ice

2:25

returns. It is a wasteland

2:28

now, shattered and refrozen

2:30

in a never-ending cycle.

2:32

It is across this tormented realm

2:35

that a great wolf runs, so

2:38

desperately that her paws bleed

2:40

against the jagged ice, and she

2:42

hopes

2:42

to reach her family in

2:45

time.

2:46

The theme of tonight's episode

2:49

is Snares. Yeretsi's

3:02

world had burned the night

3:04

that Tolshitol graced her blood

3:07

with sunlight. There was

3:09

no fire to be found here in this

3:11

frigid void, but the memory

3:13

of that never seared her any

3:15

less, the fire of demons

3:18

and evil men. It had burned

3:20

her family away and taken her

3:23

soul with it, and there was only

3:25

hunger now beneath her skin

3:27

and a dream of starlight. And

3:30

she knew now that it was hot again

3:33

at her heels, smoldering in her

3:35

fur, and she was back in the fire

3:37

as though five centuries had not

3:40

passed. Something had changed

3:42

in the ocean, in the sky.

3:45

It was no longer snowing, and it

3:47

was a sky of infinite darkness

3:49

and emerald stars above her,

3:51

a lie. True stars

3:54

were wreathed in gold. She

3:56

ran too fast, cut her paws

3:59

on the jagged ice. did not care.

4:02

Mort smelt of rot and corrosion,

4:04

and she pursued the trail relentlessly,

4:07

winding through tumbling burbs and

4:09

leaping across fresh chasms in the

4:11

ice. Something was wrong with the

4:14

air here, misleading her

4:16

senses, because each step that

4:18

she grew closer to more, she could detect

4:20

less of Polly's smoldering scent.

4:23

There had been sounds, too,

4:26

thunder from below, a shock

4:28

of breaking ice and rushing ocean

4:31

from ahead. As the

4:33

scent grew stronger, she found that

4:35

the ocean below was empty,

4:38

the deep motion and darkness she

4:40

had felt in it was absent, and

4:43

small pieces of flesh, black

4:45

like blood, drifted in droplets

4:48

on the freezing waves. Something

4:51

had happened here to shatter the ice,

4:53

and taken something unspeakable

4:55

with it. And then, vaulting

4:58

over the last crevasses, she was

5:00

into a large, flat wasteland

5:02

where the ice had not been disturbed,

5:05

and the frost blanketed a sheet of

5:07

world-black ice. And

5:09

in the distance, a red glint beneath

5:12

the green flame of the sky. There

5:15

was Mort. She was

5:17

upon him in an instant, and he stopped

5:20

trudging to look back at her as she barked

5:22

his name. "'Eretzi!'

5:25

he said, and she ran for him,

5:27

tears in her fur, almost tackled

5:30

him in an embrace, except that he

5:32

avoided it narrowly. "'Be

5:34

careful! I'll burn

5:36

you if you touch me like this, remember?'

5:40

"'Yes,' Eretzi gasped,

5:42

and panted for air, hot breath

5:45

turning into clouds. He

5:47

stood there like a lost child,

5:49

a metal box on his back, all

5:52

alone in an eternal wasteland.

5:55

She looked up at him and grinned. "'Mort,

5:58

I cannot tell you.' how happy I

6:01

am to have found you. I worried

6:04

I never would. I

6:08

am so happy to see

6:10

you too, he said, and

6:13

little tears of flame separated

6:15

from the lights of his eyes bubbled up

6:17

inside of his dome.

6:21

Did...did Polly come too? He

6:24

did. He is being stuck

6:27

up and stubborn, so he is

6:29

back there a little ways, she

6:31

said, and shook her head and shoulders

6:34

to free some of the trapped frost from

6:36

her fur. What happened

6:38

to your friends? I thought they were

6:40

supposed to look after you.

6:43

I got lost,

6:46

Mornth said, and put his huge

6:48

gloved hand on his dome, stared

6:50

at the ground. They

6:53

got lost, and some

6:56

of them died. I

6:59

am so sorry to hear that,

7:02

Mornth, Yerethi said. Her

7:04

woven features were slowly thawing,

7:07

revealing the gentler ones she hid

7:09

beneath. She took a few steps

7:11

towards Mornth as her great claws

7:13

withered back into her fragile hands.

7:17

It's okay, he said, and

7:19

looked up at her. He might have smiled

7:22

weakly if he had any flesh left.

7:25

I'm dead too. It's

7:28

not that different.

7:30

I know, she said.

7:33

She was not dressed adequately for

7:35

the weather, and her skin blazed

7:37

with cold. She reached Mornth

7:39

and put a hand on the frigid metal of

7:42

his great claw. Death

7:45

is not an end. It

7:48

is a change. I

7:50

have been chosen by the sun, and

7:53

so my

7:54

place is in the house of the sun

7:56

amidst fields of starlight.

7:59

have been chosen by the water, I

8:02

think,

8:03

and so yours is Klala Khan.

8:06

But we are both still here. Spirits

8:10

make their way back in hummingbirds

8:13

and butterflies, in owls

8:15

and dogs.

8:17

Death is not the end for

8:19

your friends. It is not

8:21

the end for anyone, just

8:24

a changing in their purpose. Thank

8:27

you. Set Mort. That

8:30

makes me feel better.

8:33

Good, she said, and hugged

8:35

his huge round torso tight for

8:37

a moment, before letting the fur envelop

8:40

her skin again. Her human body

8:42

was going to shut down if she did not.

8:45

She took a few paces away from Mort,

8:47

trying to pick out Polly's scent.

8:50

Now,

8:52

let us go home.

8:56

Mort said, and turned back to

8:58

look at her.

9:00

Yes, she said.

9:02

We will go find Polly, and we will

9:04

leave this wretched place immediately.

9:07

I am sure the Grand Crossroads is

9:10

languishing in our absence, and

9:12

my distrust of the Count outweighs

9:15

my trust for Zorgalek. You're

9:18

at sea.

9:19

I can't.

9:22

said Mort. She looked

9:24

back at him sharply, snorted Steve.

9:27

What do you mean, Mort, she

9:30

said.

9:31

I understand that this

9:33

is a difficult place to escape,

9:35

but Polly has his tunnels.

9:38

We can get there quickly, I think.

9:42

Thank you for coming

9:44

to check on me,

9:46

Mort said, and held his metal

9:48

glove in a fist, and stood straight.

9:52

I love you.

9:54

I love Polly.

9:56

I'm glad you're

9:59

my family.

10:01

And I was really missing you, so

10:03

I'm glad I got to see you.

10:06

But I can't go.

10:10

I have a job to do.

10:13

It's my job.

10:16

And I

10:18

need to finish it."

10:22

All right. Iretzi

10:24

said and turned, stepped

10:26

back towards him, looked to the

10:28

north. On the horizon still

10:31

further, there was some huge black shape

10:33

like a tower. Then

10:35

let's complete it. Hurry

10:38

up now, and then we will go home.

10:41

No, he said, and

10:43

almost reached a glove out to push on her

10:45

woven head gently, thought

10:48

better of it. You

10:51

can't be there. Polly

10:54

can't either. Unacceptable.

10:58

Iretzi snarled, I

11:00

am not letting you out of my sight

11:02

ever again, starting now. Now

11:06

I will accompany you to do this task,

11:08

whatever it is, if it is so

11:10

important to you, or you will

11:12

not do it at all. I

11:14

know you have your pride, but... Pride,

11:19

Mort said.

11:21

The feeling that you must

11:23

do it yourself, said Iretzi.

11:27

Oh, it's not

11:29

that, Mort said. It's

11:33

because I can swim really

11:35

good, and you can't. And

11:39

I don't want you and Polly to fall

11:41

in the ocean when this big

11:43

bomb goes off. Nowhere

11:46

up here is going to be

11:48

safe for you. Iretzi

11:52

blinked. You are holding

11:54

a bomb? Yeah,

11:58

Mort said, too close. calmly. I am

12:02

going to take it down the ocean,

12:04

and I am going to

12:06

set it off. It will

12:09

blow up the heart, just

12:11

like I tried to do before." Mort,

12:14

who is making you do this thing?

12:16

You're as he said. I

12:19

will tear off their hands and eat

12:21

them.

12:23

Trust me,

12:25

Mort said, and nodded his

12:27

floating skull within the dome. This

12:30

is me. This

12:33

is what I want to do.

12:37

So please, take

12:39

Polly home, so

12:42

that I can know you're both

12:44

safe. I might

12:46

be swimming for a while, but

12:50

it's like I said in my note. I'll

12:53

be back soon.

12:55

How do you expect me to

12:57

say good-bye to you?

12:59

You're as he said, and scratched

13:01

the ice with her claw, paced in a circle,

13:04

snapped at him again. What

13:06

if you do not come back? You

13:09

were just telling me, Mort

13:11

said. We

13:14

always come back. You're

13:17

as he clenched her massive teeth and

13:20

breathed out through her nose, closed

13:22

her golden eyes. I

13:27

will go find Polly. She

13:30

growled at long last. I

13:33

will tell him to take us

13:35

out of here. And

13:38

we will both be waiting

13:40

at the Grand Crossroads for you.

13:44

Every day,

13:45

do not take too long to return

13:48

to us or I will hunt you down again.

13:52

I love you, Mort

13:54

said. I

13:57

love you too, Mort. She

14:00

said, and began to run then,

14:02

so that he would not see her weeping,

14:05

golden tears that streaked through her

14:07

fur as she howled across the

14:09

barren wastes of the dead. If

14:26

you were one of those who chose

14:28

to call the Hallowoods home, then

14:30

two thoughts have already occurred

14:32

to you. The first

14:35

was likely that if you went north

14:37

you could avoid the dangerous whims

14:39

of other untrustworthy survivors,

14:42

and fend for yourself in peace.

14:45

Surely the greatest danger emanates

14:48

from the population centers, and

14:51

you might escape them and live a life

14:53

in the wilderness almost peaceful

14:55

enough to forget that there is no

14:58

world to return to. The

15:01

second thought that occurred to you was likely

15:03

that you had gone north enough, and

15:06

so chose to call the Hallowoods

15:08

home. If you had gone any further

15:11

into the northmost, you would have stepped

15:13

into a deadly trap. It

15:16

is easy to enter these far

15:18

woods, but less so to escape,

15:21

working backwards across an ever-changing

15:24

labyrinth of trees. If

15:26

you hear this, if you are lost,

15:30

think of what you want. Think

15:33

of home. Let it

15:35

call to you across the hidden

15:37

pathways in the pine. If

15:40

you are very lucky, you may retrace

15:43

your steps. Be

15:45

careful. Even as

15:47

the Faceless King is preoccupied

15:49

with the coming spring, his

15:52

court and the stranger beasts that

15:54

dwell beneath the gloomy canopies

15:56

would warm their cold bones

15:58

with the heat of your life. your blood.

16:02

We go now to one who is born

16:05

of blood. August

16:24

Paul's knew that the end was

16:26

near. He'd always had a good sense for

16:29

that, ever since he was little. That

16:31

piano lessons were going to stop

16:33

soon, that they were going to need to move

16:36

houses, that the lady walking

16:38

down the street in their neighborhood wasn't going

16:41

to live much longer. And

16:43

he could see them, the dead that

16:45

stood in on the distant horizon,

16:48

shimmering like a mirage, watching

16:50

curiously as he stepped across

16:53

the ice. Chancellor

16:55

Ward knew this was a nightmare.

16:58

Nightmares he was familiar with, the

17:00

ones he had, the one he had grown up

17:02

in. That was the thing about nightmares.

17:05

Just when you thought you had escaped them, they

17:08

revealed you had never really

17:10

left. He wondered every

17:12

day after the death of his mother,

17:15

after leaving Downing Hill, as

17:17

he pursued his dreams of mundane

17:19

studies like archaeology and

17:22

ancient creatures buried in bedrock,

17:25

scientific pursuits that did not try

17:27

to kill you. Well, until

17:29

they did. Ruth Esther Barnes

17:32

knew that there was ice in the Arctic,

17:34

which meant that the environment

17:36

had

17:36

begun to heal faster from humanity's

17:39

oil-stained grasp than she would have

17:41

anticipated. And she rejoiced

17:43

for that. The blizzard had vanished

17:46

and left them beneath a dark and green-starred

17:49

sky, and she wondered what kind

17:51

of pollutant it was that created

17:54

that vision. Or if the stars

17:56

really did spin overhead.

17:59

They were triterous to her after a

18:01

lifetime of being nothing short

18:03

of reliable. Evelyn

18:05

Fry knew that her best friend had

18:07

been readying for a baby when she

18:10

left the first time, and she hoped

18:12

that Riot would still be alive to

18:14

see the world that she had died to

18:16

help create. With wealth

18:19

and power came responsibility,

18:21

and she had poured everything she gained

18:23

back into a fruitless fight against

18:26

the Botulus Corporation. This

18:29

was her last chance for any of

18:31

it to matter. Rizwana

18:33

Mirza knew that her mission had failed

18:36

once before, and that if it failed

18:38

again now, there might never be

18:41

another who would try. The

18:43

knowledge of what this device was,

18:45

where it was located, what could be

18:47

done to stop it as far as she knew

18:50

had died with her. She

18:52

had been too late to save her

18:54

country, but she still might be

18:57

able to save her species from its

18:59

eventual extinction. Allow

19:01

them to rebuild from the ashes.

19:05

That was what great leaders did.

19:08

Irene Mende knew that she had

19:10

sewn a good body. The

19:13

stitches held tight in this weather.

19:15

The runes kept the armature of bones

19:18

animate and protected. She

19:20

pointed it, like a north star, towards

19:23

the spire. They were quite close

19:25

now to her secondary business of

19:27

saving all the natural life upon the

19:30

earth, and her first business, which

19:32

was to finally stretch and rise

19:34

from a long slumber. For

19:37

the lord of life and death had

19:39

built that engine, and his power

19:41

filled it, and soon she would incorporate

19:44

it within her new body. Kindle

19:47

the dying ember of her soul, bright

19:49

and high. And Irene

19:51

Mende would live again, deathless

19:54

in the best of her creation. She

19:57

only regretted that the groundskeeper

19:59

had had tainted it with such ugly

20:02

stitch-work. Diggeri

20:05

graves was all of them, and

20:07

none of them, as the dark spire

20:10

blotted out the stars ahead of them. You

20:13

are your own person, Rizwana

20:15

Mirza had said once, the

20:17

cruelest kind of lie, for

20:20

she had known even then that Irene

20:23

Mend lurked in the dark waters

20:25

of Diggeri's mind, the

20:27

kind of lie that gave them hope.

20:31

In the end it had all come back

20:33

to this, the final thread

20:35

of Irene's work pulled through the

20:37

skin to fruition. What

20:40

was it they had dreamt of the

20:42

night they set a piano on fire,

20:45

watched a boy dance up into

20:47

the flames of being

20:50

so equally free? If

20:53

only, they thought, we

20:55

are all of us bound by our

20:57

strings. And there was

21:00

something else, a last flicker

21:02

in the many fires of Diggeri's soul,

21:05

something that knew nothing except

21:07

that it hummed within them with each

21:10

step that they took towards the heart

21:12

of creation, a drop

21:14

of rain from a leaky roof, a

21:16

rolling tear, a song

21:19

that carried them over the last barren

21:21

crag of broken frost to

21:23

the foot of the needle. Great

21:26

plumes of deep black water

21:28

were captured in mid-air, as

21:31

though the night sky itself had

21:33

been poured down and frozen.

21:36

The tumult of obsidian ice

21:38

was many hundreds of feet across,

21:41

and they could spot someone shiny and

21:43

red at the base, and something

21:45

that Diggeri had always been searching

21:48

for was found. They

21:50

were finally and forever

21:53

north.

22:00

I've seen them scurrying across

22:03

the streets in the distance. Toronto

22:05

is not an empty city. There

22:09

are people here, but when I call

22:11

after them, they run. It's

22:14

snowing outside, so I've climbed

22:17

up into an apartment building window.

22:20

There's still things in here. All

22:23

the meaningless junk of a person's

22:25

whole little life. Fridge

22:28

magnets and cheap furniture.

22:31

A bed for some rotted animal.

22:34

Box sets of TV shows

22:37

on DVD. The

22:39

floor is stained darker where the window

22:41

is open. And there are bones

22:44

lying in the bed. The

22:47

air is still thick in here.

22:50

Death has a kind of perfume.

22:54

Rich, intoxicating.

22:57

This is it, isn't it? This

23:00

is what's left. The

23:03

best

23:03

place.

23:08

Hello? Is

23:14

someone there? I

23:16

heard you. You

23:18

can come out. You don't

23:20

have to be afraid. I

23:23

just want a little company.

23:27

I said...

23:30

Leave. Leave.

23:33

Please, I just want

23:35

to talk. Oh.

23:44

Oh?

23:45

Your dad is all...

23:49

Aren't you? A

23:52

spectre, that's what they call

23:54

them. It's an interesting

23:56

phenomena, you know. I

23:58

may be dead, but I'm better... better

24:00

off than you. Oh,

24:03

these.

24:05

Yes. I

24:07

suppose I've grown a bit out of sorts.

24:11

I don't know if I've spoken to a ghost

24:13

before.

24:14

My name is Emma, and that's

24:16

a surprise. Toronto is

24:18

full of ghosts. It's hard

24:21

not

24:21

to float down the street without running into one.

24:24

I'm on my way to visit a friend who talks

24:26

to ghosts. I'm sure

24:28

he'd like you.

24:29

Flattered, I'm sure. Well,

24:33

this has been a nice conversation. Now, get

24:36

us my apartment and leave my meaningless

24:39

junk in peace. Can I

24:41

ask... What?

24:44

Am I a Ouija board? What is it

24:46

like? What? Being dead? You

24:49

don't want to know about what it was like paying rent in Toronto.

24:52

I assume. Or my job at

24:54

the coffee shop. Or my cat. Or

24:58

what it was like to watch the world's end and not be

25:00

able to do

25:01

anything about it. I

25:04

was just curious. Everyone

25:07

is, I suppose. Did

25:09

it hurt? Was it

25:13

frightening? What

25:16

do you do to pass the time?

25:19

But

25:20

getting stabbed while I was out getting

25:22

cat food? Hurt.

25:26

Dying happened in my sleep,

25:29

I think. I never woke

25:31

up so I didn't have the chance to be scared.

25:34

And now I exist for the first

25:36

time. I spent

25:39

a lifetime scraping just to get

25:41

by, worried every

25:43

minute. Now I don't

25:45

worry. I just take it in

25:48

while it lasts. Watch

25:50

the seasons pass and the concrete crumble.

25:53

Talk to the others that are left here. And

25:57

sometimes passing assholes like you.

25:59

Sorry.

26:01

What's it like to live? Very

26:03

funny. Well, I'm serious. I

26:07

scarcely recall.

26:09

It feels like waiting

26:11

to die. I used to...

26:15

Well, no need to get into

26:17

the details, but I

26:19

used to have a job, a purpose,

26:24

the thing I spent my whole

26:26

life trying to do. And

26:29

now I've lost it, and

26:32

I feel like I'm adrift.

26:35

What's the point now? That

26:37

is the one thing I miss. What's that?

26:40

Choice.

26:42

While you can still walk, still move things,

26:45

still go on, you

26:47

can decide your direction. Do

26:50

whatever you want to do. After

26:52

your dad, it's different.

26:56

Over with. I'm

26:59

a memory, a voice

27:01

people hear sometimes. I'm

27:04

nothing anymore. A

27:07

lifetime is full of lives, and

27:09

you can start a new thing as soon as the last one

27:11

ends, so

27:13

shut up

27:14

and stop complaining. If

27:16

you feel like you're missing something, then go find

27:19

it. Get out of my apartment.

27:22

You're

27:22

very rude for a ghost.

27:25

I... Hello?

27:31

Hello?

27:34

Well, she's

27:37

gone. And

27:39

right, I think. I

27:42

need to get out of this city.

27:44

I need to get out of this city.

27:51

Woods

28:00

will not be quiet for much longer,

28:03

Then again that may be for more

28:05

reasons Than simply Lady

28:07

Ethel Mallory. We

28:11

return now to Diggory Craves.

28:18

Hello, Mort, Diggory

28:20

said, As they stepped down that

28:22

last frozen bank To stand beside

28:25

the great monolith of black ice.

28:28

There was a tumult below their feet that

28:31

vibrated in their boots, And

28:33

shook the ice with a quickening pulse.

28:36

Beyond the thrum of the engine

28:38

deep below, There was no sound.

28:41

Even the wind dared not disturb

28:43

This serenity of serenities,

28:47

The ultimate norm. The

28:49

sky seemed to spin overhead,

28:52

Green stars forming concentric

28:55

rings of light. Hi,

28:58

Diggory, Mort said. He

29:00

sat on a large metal crate, And

29:03

the curling cargo belts he had used

29:05

To carry their equipment for so long.

29:07

Are you okay? I am

29:10

doing as well as I can,

29:13

Diggory said, And looked down

29:15

at the ice beneath their feet. Percy

29:18

had not returned. What

29:20

had they prompted him to do? But

29:23

if, as his string was severed, He

29:25

had simply vanished.

29:29

But he was not the only one missing.

29:31

I was hoping there would be more. Mort

29:34

said, looking up at them. Of

29:37

our friends, Cindy

29:40

is dead.

29:42

She blew herself up and

29:45

creep.

29:48

Diggory sank to their knees in the

29:50

frost, But their palms to

29:52

their face. It was a deep part

29:54

of them that wept overwhelmingly,

29:57

A breathless choking they

29:59

were not for familiar with. Memories

30:02

and old thoughts, a wedding

30:04

day, a storm of black

30:07

rain. It's okay,

30:10

Mort said, and when Diggory looked

30:12

up, he was beside them, patted

30:14

their back with his gauntlet. I

30:18

don't know where anyone else

30:20

is. I don't

30:23

know if they're okay. Riot

30:26

and Olivier. Is

30:29

Percy with you? This

30:33

might be it, Mort. Diggory

30:36

said, shuddering. The tears

30:38

were already freezing on their skin,

30:41

and they firmed themselves up so as to

30:43

stop crying. Just

30:46

you and I, we

30:49

were the ones who first

30:51

began this, you know, once

30:55

upon a time. I,

30:58

waiting in the boat, and

31:00

you down in the water.

31:03

Yeah, Mort said

31:06

and looked to the spire of ice. Time

31:10

for round two. It

31:12

will be different this time. Diggory

31:15

said, composing themselves, looking

31:17

around one more desperate time for

31:19

Percy. This is why

31:22

we came back. So

31:24

we can finish this. We

31:29

came a long way to do it,

31:31

Mort said, brushed frost

31:34

from his massive claw. You

31:37

and me,

31:38

since the last time we were here,

31:42

we died. We

31:44

lost everyone.

31:49

Do you think this will

31:51

be worth it? Maybe

31:55

not to us, Diggory said

31:57

and winced. Maybe.

32:00

Maybe it won't seem that

32:02

way right now. The

32:04

people that we save with

32:06

this, they live

32:08

a long time from now. They

32:11

live because we did this.

32:15

We do this for people

32:17

that will never know that we lived,

32:20

what we gave up.

32:25

No they will. Not

32:28

much I can promise. Whoever

32:32

in this universe that dreams

32:34

will know who you were,

32:36

and as these nightmares

32:40

echo you will be remembered

32:43

for what you have done for

32:45

this little world of earth

32:48

and water, and

32:51

what you have done for so many

32:53

worlds beyond. Two

32:56

dead things sit beneath the spire

32:59

of black ice and share

33:01

all that they have learned in their journey,

33:04

and decide what they shall do

33:06

to still the heart forever.

33:09

It beats quicker still each

33:12

minute, and here beneath

33:14

green stars it will soon

33:17

go silent. You

33:19

have them to thank if the

33:21

spring never comes. If

33:24

your kind lives long enough

33:26

to say it.

33:40

How long have you been sleeping,

33:42

Dreamer? How many

33:45

nights have you returned to these

33:47

idle slumbers? Do you ever

33:49

remember them when you wake? Not

33:53

all hear my voice the same.

33:56

There are very few of your kind in

33:58

America, for instance.

33:59

who are not trapped within

34:02

a dreaming box where they cannot

34:04

hear me.

34:05

And even among you there are some

34:07

who I do not allow to hear me,

34:10

those who it would harm if they

34:13

knew. People and

34:15

particles both react differently

34:18

when watched. And

34:20

this is not a story about Nicky

34:22

Nick and what that ever-present

34:24

watcher did. I

34:27

am here to orate, to

34:29

record what transpires

34:32

nothing more. And

34:34

yet I have touched this

34:36

narrative, only with

34:39

the best of intention. If

34:41

Diggory had reached this place alone

34:44

you would have had little chance. For

34:47

better or worse this is my

34:50

choice too. And

34:52

I have violated my own rules to

34:54

make it. Will that

34:56

too have been worth it? I

35:00

hope I have not in some

35:02

way doomed you in

35:05

the wateening. We go now

35:07

to one who flees from failure.

35:23

Oswald's Big Spotsula sat

35:25

in the meeting room. It was an old

35:28

son that shone through the tinted windows

35:30

of the conference hall, a younger

35:32

son, and he was a younger man.

35:35

One whose skin had not atrophied

35:37

and whose bones had not split beneath

35:40

his tendons, one who still had pepper

35:42

in the salt of his hair and wore a pinstripe

35:45

suit. But he dreamt elsewhere,

35:48

and his mind was elsewhere, and

35:50

it was only the image of him that shimmered

35:53

in dream like a ghost. What

35:56

is it you need, Miss Flores? He

35:58

said. I'm a I'm afraid I don't

36:01

have much time to give you." "'Well,

36:04

Mr. Botulis,' said his new

36:06

marketing officer. She had modified

36:08

her appearance in dream, a little bit

36:10

more professional, more reserved.

36:14

Representing the company was already taking its

36:16

toll on her spirit, it seemed."

36:19

"'As you know, I've been in discussions

36:21

with Daxiel Spade, one of the stone

36:23

maid leaders we apprehended.' "'Stone

36:26

maids,' Oswald said and

36:28

rubbed at his temples. "'Melanie,

36:31

it's a new quarter. It's

36:33

a new era for the company.' "'I

36:36

am...we are poised

36:39

on the precipice of the single greatest

36:42

advance the human race has ever

36:44

made. How is it that your attention

36:46

is still distracted when marketing

36:48

should be doing its job, and

36:51

how is it that I am still hearing

36:53

the word stone maids?' "'If

36:56

this goes well, you won't hear it anymore.'

36:59

Melanie offered. "'I'm hoping

37:01

that these broadcasts with Daxiel

37:04

will...' "'Save it,' he said,

37:06

raised a hand. I've heard this

37:09

too many times from Lady Ethel,

37:12

and we know how that went. Don't

37:14

waste my time.' "'What

37:16

you need?' "'Need for what?' Melanie

37:20

said, blinked in the false Los Angeles

37:22

sun. "'To get this over

37:25

with,' said Oswald. "'Liquify

37:28

their brains, disconnect them from the dream,

37:30

dump them in the body gardens for mulch. I

37:32

don't care. Whatever you need to

37:34

end this, it's approved. But

37:36

I don't want to hear the word stone maids again

37:39

after today. You understand.'

37:42

He did not wait for her balding-eyed surprise

37:45

to dissipate, pulled his dreaming

37:47

visor off, and sat in the darkness.

37:50

He would have rubbed his eyes were they not swollen

37:53

into hundreds of divided fragments,

37:55

scratched at his wrists, but felt the itch

37:57

was always beneath the shell and the bristled

38:01

It was exhausting to be the man

38:04

in charge of carrying the weight

38:06

of the world. He

38:08

left his oversized visor behind,

38:11

stepped out from the conference room into

38:13

the laboratory floor. The

38:15

technicians buzzed and clicked around

38:17

the lab floor, peered at their computer

38:20

terminals. The cabinet

38:22

was ornate, carved with

38:24

angels and demons caught in eternal

38:27

war. They moved ever so

38:29

slightly between glances. It

38:32

was a glamour of the wood, really. A

38:34

key sat in the lock and the

38:36

seams of the door radiated

38:39

emerald light. He smiled,

38:41

although his lips have long since disappeared,

38:44

so he was always smiling anyway.

38:47

He breathed in the light, basked

38:50

in its glow. That was

38:52

the light of hope for humanity,

38:54

and he was ready to put it to use.

38:57

There were two tables in front, wreathed

39:00

in cables and tubing, and he

39:02

made his way down to them. On

39:05

the left lay Harold Botulus,

39:07

unconscious as he had been since

39:09

the day he tried to leave the world.

39:12

On the other table lay Harold Botulus

39:15

sculpted in silver, an empty

39:17

shell waiting

39:18

for its flame. I

39:20

still don't understand why you wouldn't

39:23

let me clean him, said Anderson,

39:26

mask over his face, watching

39:28

all

39:28

of Harold's demarcators of life

39:30

beep on a screen. It

39:33

wouldn't be my boy. It

39:35

wouldn't have his soul, said

39:37

Oswald, and he brushed his sleeping

39:39

son's hair with his hand and then

39:42

clapped them. All right, people.

39:45

Remember. If we can replicate this,

39:47

the human race lives. Operation

39:51

Ghost Box is a go. Let's

39:53

kick death in the teeth. Let's get

39:56

my son back from the dead.

40:12

Snares,

40:15

what is existence if not

40:17

a trap? You find

40:19

yourself suddenly locked in a vessel

40:22

of flesh or ethereal

40:24

thought matter, born

40:26

without warning into a cosmos

40:29

that burns with conflict. There

40:31

is no escaping it, only waiting

40:34

it out. It is heavy

40:36

and painful at times to wait,

40:40

to continue to breathe, to

40:43

survive. But

40:45

what else can we do except

40:47

to continue living? One

40:50

day the vessels will break,

40:53

and we will run free indeed,

40:56

and there will only be a little

40:58

blood upon the teeth of the metal

41:01

clamp, a loose spool

41:03

of wire that once held our

41:05

necks, and we will be

41:07

only a dream of the hunter. Until

41:11

the last trap is sprung, I am

41:14

your loyal host, Nickignac, waiting

41:17

alluringly for your return

41:20

to the Hallowood.

41:29

The voice of Emma the Ghost is

41:32

Emily Kellogg. Emily is the co-creator

41:34

and co-writer of the Canadian Horror Podcast,

41:37

Parkdale Hot, and on the haunting

41:39

state of the Toronto housing

41:41

market. Emily Reitman produces

41:43

her own ongoing projects as well. You

41:46

can find Emily on Instagram at

41:48

atemily underscore kellogg,

41:50

or online at emilykellogg.com.

41:54

Hello from the Hallowood is written and

41:56

produced by William A. Wellman. Hello,

41:58

that's

41:59

me. If you enjoyed this show, please

42:01

don't forget to follow it and share it with

42:03

a friend. The bonus story that goes with

42:05

this episode is called Checking Out,

42:07

and is available on this year's Patreon

42:09

at patreon.com slash hallowoods.

42:12

Because we operate without ads or sponsors,

42:15

our supporters are all that keeps this

42:17

show going. Plus, supporters get

42:19

weekly bonus stories, behind-the-scenes content,

42:21

exclusive merch, and even more. Merchandise

42:24

and episode transcripts are available at hellofromthehallowoods.com.

42:29

You can even find us on social media at atthehallowoods.

42:32

Music

42:32

is used under license from artless.com. Our

42:35

opening theme is Forest Overture by

42:37

Eskel Ros, and the closing theme is

42:40

Farewell by Malba Sitzman and Mitan

42:42

Efrat. Until next time, dreamers,

42:45

if you wake up and find yourself chained to

42:47

a bathtub, please don't saw your own

42:49

leg off in order to escape. That

42:52

kind of solution

42:52

only works twice.