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Welcome to Mortem Corp, Impact 89FM’s first Audio Drama Podcast. Mortem Corp is fully written, produced and sound designed by students at Michigan State University (glitch) Founded in 1836, Mortem Corp was the worlds leading experimental research laboratory which we are now discovering may have had questionable ethics. After their mysterious destruction, audio recordings have been found throughout the ruins of the Mortem Corp facilities. Throughout the next few episodes, you will be hearing some of the discovered recordings. Sit back and relax and enjoy the ride. It is Thursday, February 23rd, 1984. Today is “bring your kid to work day at the Mortem Corporation.” - MICHAEL Test recording number 832. This is Dr. Michael Wilson recording for MORTEM CORP. It is February 23rd, 1984. I am simply recording to test out the equipment– SEAN – Dad, look! The nice front desk lady gave Olli and I stickers! MICHAEL Sean, why don’t you leave your octopus in my desk drawer? It– SEAN He! MICHAEL …He will be safe in there. Then you can pick him up at the end of the day. SEAN He won’t be able to breathe! And it’s super dark. Olli is scared of the dark, you know that! MICHAEL Well, why don’t we just leave him in my chair for the day? He will get to see– SEAN What if he gets stolen?! MICHAEL Sean, I told you not to bring that toy with you in the first place. We’re keeping it here. SEAN Him! MICHAEL It’s not alive, Sean! You need to grow up and realize that. You are way too old to still be carrying around that stupid octopus. SEAN He’s my best friend! MICHAEL IT’S not real! You need to find some real friends. Real, human friends. SEAN But he is real, Dad! He may not be human, but that doesn’t mean he’s not real! MICHAEL That’s enough! Sean, I have work to do. Just stay here while I go to my meeting. I can’t have you embarrassing me more than you already have. SEAN But, Dad– MICHAEL No, no buts, Sean. When you were little, I let you bring that thing to school. I let you take it everywhere, because you were six years old and it was the only thing that kept you from crying at every little thing. But you are not six years old anymore. I thought you understood that. I thought we were making progress. But now you bring it here? To my work? Do you know how that makes me look? Do you know what my coworkers are going to say? SEAN …I’m sorry, Dad– MICHAEL –I have to get to my meeting. Do not leave this room, you hear me? I know you apparently have some problem with doing what I tell you to do, but if you’re going to listen to anything I say today, it’s this–don’t. Leave. I’m just trying to help you, Sean. You know that, don’t you? - SEAN (recording starts) Hello? Is this thing on? I’m not sure I pressed the right buttons, what do you think Olli? Yeah, I think so too. What does Dad always say, Olli? Oh yeah! Test recording number 832, part 2. This is Dr. Sean Wilson and Dr. Olli Wilson. Reporting on Bring Your Kid To Work Day. It is Thursday, February… uh… Olli do you see a calendar anywhere? (sound) What was that Olli? Oh, there’s one right here! Thursday, February 23rd, 1984. Uh, what else? Oh, I had cereal for breakfast! Olli had some too, but he didn’t really like it, right, Olli? (sound) Yeah, he’s not the biggest fan of Cheerios, but we were out of Fruit Loops. OLLI Hello? Sean? Can you hear me? SEAN Hello? Is someone there? OLLI I need help Sean, they’ve locked me in here! SEAN Where? Wait, who are you? OLLI Please, Sean, you need to help me! SEAN I–I don’t know how! Olli, what should we do? OLLI …you know my name? SEAN What? No, I was talking to my stuffed octopus, Olli. OLLI That’s my name, too! SEAN …Really? OLLI Yeah! It’s a great name. SEAN …Yeah. Yeah, it is! OLLI Since Olli and I have the same name, and–you know–such a good one, can you please help me out? SEAN Uh…I don't know… I’m not sure your name makes you trustworthy. OLLI Please, Sean. I’m trapped. You’re the only one that can help me! SEAN Well…okay… I guess we can try. Where are you? OLLI I know where your dad’s office is, are you in there? SEAN Yes… but how do you know where it is? OLLI My dad works with your dad. I can give you directions from there. SEAN Okay. Come on, Olli–um, octopus Olli! OLLI Okay, so once you are at the door, take a right. SEAN Okay, I turned right. OLLI Good! Now walk until you get to the next hallway opening. OLLI Once you get to the next hallway, turn left. SEAN Okay, turn left. SEAN How far do I go? OLLI Keep walking until you see a bright light coming from one of the rooms. It should be at the very end of the hallway SEAN Okay, I’m at the door. Oh, wait, the door has a passcode. OLLI Shoot, I don’t know any passcodes. Can you think of something your dad might find important? Important enough to make into a code? Like your birthday, maybe? My dad always uses my birthday when he needs an important code. SEAN Oh, yeah! I could try 1972? That’s when I was born… (wrong code) Oh… OLLI Oh, um… I’m sorry Sean. SEAN It’s okay…It’s just–sometimes I think my dad cares more about hockey than he cares about me. So…I guess I kinda should've seen this coming. OLLI That’s it! Did your dad ever go see his favorite hockey team? Or maybe it’s the year they won a major game or something? SEAN Oh yeah! My dad’s always going on about how in 1979 some guy from the New York Islanders won some award? Though I’m not sure what it was– OLLI Who cares! Try 1979! SEAN I did it! Now, where are–Olli? Is–is that you? OLLI Yeah! Let me out of here, Sean! SEAN I didn’t–you’re a kid? OLLI Well, yeah. I told you our dads work together. SEAN You just–I don’t know, you just sounded…different. OLLI I get that all the time. Whenever I’m on the phone, my friends say I sound older than I am. Sometimes, I’ll even get called “sir” by the phone book people. SEAN Oh.. okay I guess that makes sense. Man, no one ever calls me “sir”. You’re so lucky. Wait. How did you get trapped in here anyway? OLLI I didn’t mean to! My dad told me not to leave his office, but I just wanted to see the lab! It’s not fair that it’s Bring Your Kid To Work Day but he wants to keep me locked in his office all day! SEAN Your dad is keeping you locked in here? OLLI Well, no, not in this cage. I was just messing around when the door shut, and now I can’t get out! SEAN I don’t think we should be doing this by ourselves, maybe I should go get our dads– OLLI NO! No, Sean, you can’t do that. I’ll get grounded until I go to college! SEAN Okay, okay! What do you want me to do then? OLLI There has to be some sort of off button that will turn off the lock and let me out. Look around and see if you can find anything. SEAN You know, Olli, you look a little, uh…weird up close. OLLI Probably because I’ve been trapped in this cage all morning! It’s not air conditioned you know, so I’m pretty sweaty. SEAN No, it’s just–if I turn my head a little and squint my eyes, like this, you look a little bit like octopus olli OLLI Find the button, Sean! SEAN I’m sorry! I’m trying my best! OLLI I know you are, I’m sorry, I just don’t want to get in trouble. SEAN Wait, I think I found something! OLLI What is it! What did you find!? SEAN I don’t know, it’s like–uh–a big red switch. Should I see if it does anything? OLLI Yes! Just flip the switch and get me out of here? (Switch sound, you can hear electricity crackling as a forcefield comes down) OLLI Sean, you did it! Thank you so much! SEAN We did it! OLLI Oh, right, thank you, too, octopus Olli! SEAN (voice changes to do the voice of octopus Olli) You’re welcome! OLLI You know, I don’t really want to be alone all day. Would you want to come back to my dad’s office with me? SEAN I don’t know… my dad said I wasn’t supposed to leave his office. And that I couldn’t bring octopus Olli with me. I probably shouldn’t do anything else to make him mad. OLLI …Your dad seems kind of mean, Sean. You really want to do what someone like that tells you to do? SEAN I don’t know about this. What if I get in trouble? OLLI You’ll be fine! I’ll just have my dad talk to your dad. You deserve a break from someone like him! It’s the least I can do, you did save me after all. SEAN Alright… I guess I can come with you. But only for a little while! OLLI Finally! Come on, maybe we can find some snacks somewhere. (Shuffling as they start to leave the room, once you hear them leave the room an alarm starts to go off) SEAN What’s going on?! Olli, what’s happening? OLLI I don’t know, but hurry! We can go to my dad’s office. We will be safe there! It’s that room right ahead! Okay. we should be fine in here. SEAN Do you think it would be fine to turn the lights on? It’s kind of creepy in here. OLLI No! What if that alarm meant that there’s an intruder or something? If we turn on the lights, they might know we are in here! SEAN But octopus Olli is afraid of the dark! Please, Olli, he needs this! OLLI Okay, okay, just let me shut the blinds first. SEAN …Olli? What’s going on? OLLI This is Sean, everyone! He’s going to save us! (voices of children calling Sean’s name, saying things like, “Help us, Sean!” and “Please, Sean, let us out!”.) SEAN There’s…there’s so many of them. Are they all here for bring your kid to work day?? OLLI No. I lied to you before, Sean. I didn’t accidentally get stuck in that cage. I was put in there. By a scientist. SEAN What? Why–why did you tell me– OLLI But I want to tell you the truth now. Me, all these kids–MORTEM CORP is holding us captive here. People like your dad? They’re putting kids in cages so that they can experiment on them. SEAN No, there’s no way! My dad would never do something like that. Sure, he can be mean sometimes, but he’s not a monster. OLLI Are you sure? We’re trapped, Sean. Are you sure you’re not trapped, too? SEAN Of course not. OLLI Remember how your dad said not to leave his office? Why would he do that if the whole point of bringing you here today was to hang out with you? SEAN No. No, he just told me that because he was–because he was mad at me. OLLI That’s how it starts. You do something wrong, don’t fit in. Then they start to think you might not be worth their time. That other things are more important. SEAN Just because my dad prioritizes work…and doesn’t like octopus Olli…that doesn’t mean he’s gonna lock me up! I mean, he couldn’t… would he? OLLI Sean, I’m not saying all of this to hurt your feelings. I’m only saying this because I don’t want you to be hurt the way I was. The way we all were. SEAN I know… OLLI But, there’s a way to fix it before it's too late. SEAN How? My dad is already mad at me. He’s probably already picked out my cage! OLLI If you let all of us out, we can overpower them! We may be small, but we outnumber the adults. If we can find a way out of here, then we can all run away and live in a forest or something. SEAN Like the lost boys in Peter Pan? OLLI Exactly! We’ll start a new life. A life where the adults can’t hurt us anymore. Please, Sean. (voices of children repeating “Please, Sean”.) SEAN I’m not sure, Olli. What if we get caught? OLLI Wake UP, Sean! You can’t just sit here and be afraid forever! Where does it end? You go home with your dad, try to live up to his expectations for the rest of your life? You’re going to try to be something you’re not, but will you ever be able to forget what could happen to you, after everything you’ve seen today? Listen. If we all do this together, we can get out. SEAN Alright… I guess we can try. (cheering from all of the other kids) OLLI I knew you would come around, Sean! SEAN What exactly do I have to do anyway? OLLI Well, in order to unlock the system, you have to use your fingerprint first. SEAN Why can’t you just use your own fingerprint? OLLI Because I’m already in the system as a prisoner. You aren’t. SEAN Oh, okay. Where is the fingerprint scanner thingy? OLLI I’ll show you. (beep) SEAN Now what? OLLI Do you see that big lever over by the tank? SEAN Yeah? OLLI We have to pull it all the way down in order to unlock the cages. It’s really heavy so we will have to work together– (pounding on the door) And we have to do it fast! SEAN Who is that? OLLI Hurry, Sean!! (more pounding on the door) SCIENTIST #1 Open up! SEAN Olli? What’s going on? SCIENTIST #2 There’s restricted materials in there, kid! You can’t be in there! SEAN Olli?! OLLI Shut up! NANCY Sean? Sean Wilson, are you in there? Sean, I’m Nancy. Your dad works for me. Can you open the door, please? You can trust me, Sean. I just don’t want you to get hurt. SEAN Olli said you would hurt me. I just–I don’t…what should we do, Olli–octopus Olli? OLLI Sean, get over here and stop talking to the stupid toy! SEAN What did you just say? OLLI I said stop talking to that toy and hurry up! We don’t have much time. OLLI Come on, Sean, don’t you want to help me? Help all these kids? SEAN No. OLLI No? What do you mean no? SEAN I mean no, I’m not helping you anymore! I trusted you and now you’re acting just like my dad! OLLI No,Sean, wait! I’m really sorry! I–I was just scared! NANCY Get behind me, Sean! SCIENTIST #2 Grab it before it tries to let its friends out!! OLLI You’re gonna regret this, Sean! You’ll wake up in five years and realize you’re just as trapped as the rest of us! No! No! Let go of me! NANCY Sean, you were very brave, but you aren’t supposed to be in here. Let’s go find your dad. SEAN Please don’t tell him! I’m gonna get in trouble! I wasn’t supposed to leave– NANCY I know, Sean, I know. I’m sorry, but I can’t keep this secret for you. - NANCY Test recording number 832. This is Dr. Nancy Smith and Dr. Michael Wilson recording for MORTEM CORP. It is February 23rd, 1984. Equipment test has now been moved to Subject 54. We are speaking to Sean Wilson. Sean has recently had a first hand interaction with Subject 54, who we have learned goes by the name of Olli. SEAN But NOT octopus Olli! He didn’t do anything wrong. NANCY Right, not octopus Olli. MICHAEL Don’t encourage him, Nancy. NANCY I know how to run my interviews in MY company, Michael. MICHAEL …Right, sorry Doctor. NANCY So, Sean, what exactly did you see when you first encountered… Olli? SEAN Well, I didn’t SEE anything. I heard him. NANCY You… heard him? How so? SEAN Yeah, almost like a whisper in my head. He kept saying “Sean, please help!” and stuff like that. MICHAEL The thing can’t talk, Sean. Dr. Smith, this is clearly just Sean’s imagination going wild– NANCY Michael, you are only here because I am not allowed to ask Sean questions without a guardian present. Now be quiet or there will be consequences. Sean, Olli has never talked to anyone else before. We had classified him as incapable of speech. Not to mention the fact that he was all the way down the hall. How did you hear him? SEAN Well, I don’t know. I just did. NANCY …Okay, let’s move on. What did Olli look like to you? SEAN Uh…brown hair? I think he was a little taller than me. I don’t know, he looked like any other boy, what do you mean? NANCY I want to show you something. A video recording of you and Olli. SEAN Okay? (You hear a flick and a tape running, showing there is a recording playing) WOAH! What is that slimy red thing in the cage? That’s the one I let Olli out of! Where’s Olli? NANCY That, is Subject 54, or as you know it, Olli. Olli, and all of the others of its kind, were made in this lab. Lately, though, it has seemed to be getting restless and a little angry. It’s been getting smarter, clearly. Maybe too smart for its own good. We think it wants to be let out, but we haven’t been sure exactly what its goal is after that. SEAN No. No way. I was talking to a boy about my age, not a scary creature. Octopus Olli saw him too, right Olli? NANCY That’s what we’ve suspected Subject 54 and the other Subjects of its species do, Sean. We’ve had previous reports of scientists seeing deceased relatives, best friends, even pets in that cage and the ones we just looked at. But there’s never been any video evidence to back these reports up. SEAN So, Olli…and all those other kids…it was all fake? NANCY Well, no, not necessarily. Everything you saw was a projection the creatures were using in order to gain your trust, but the conversations were real, and everything you thought happened still happened. The things you were talking to just looked different than you thought. SEAN Oh… I’m really sorry Mrs. Doctor lady. I didn’t mean to let out some scary creature, I was just trying to– NANCY To help a friend, I know, Sean. And you were very brave to try and help your friend, but you have to understand why in a place like this, you have to be very careful of what you do and say. We have some scary stuff in this lab and no one wants you getting hurt. That’s why your dad told you to wait in his office while he was in the meeting. Do you understand? SEAN Yes. NANCY And are you going to do something like this ever again? SEAN No. NANCY Good. I hope you learned a valuable lesson from this, Sean. Now, just one more thing. Before you opened the door, you said that Olli said that I would try to hurt you. Did he say anything else of that nature to try to convince you to let him out? Manipulation like that has been shown to have lasting effects, Sean. If you were made to believe anything about me, or this company, or–or your dad…it would be best to tell me so that you don’t have to worry about it later. SEAN …No. No, that was it. NANCY Sean, you aren’t gonna be in trouble if something happened, but you will be in trouble if you lie about it now. SEAN I mean…he said that you guys were gonna lock me in a cage with the rest of the kids, but now that I know they were all scary monsters I don’t believe them! …And he said some stuff about…my dad…But I didn’t believe any of it, I swear! NANCY Okay. Thank you for telling the truth, Sean. If there is anything else you want to tell me later, I’m always here, okay? SEAN Okay. NANCY Michael, can I speak to you in the hallway? MICHAEL Of course. …I…I’m glad you’re okay, Sean. But we are going to talk about this later. NANCY I hate to say this–I know it’s not easy as a parent, but our safest bet is to erase his memory. MICHAEL What?! SEAN …What? NANCY Keep your voice down! MICHAEL He’s just a kid, Nancy! He’s never done anything like this before, and he’s learned his lesson. Don’t you think that’s punishment enough? NANCY This isn’t about punishment. I’m sorry, Michael. This is the only way to ensure that no information gets leaked. MICHAEL Nope. No way. I’m not letting you poke and prod at my son. NANCY I’m not asking you for permission. I’m telling you what is going to happen. MICHAEL He’s a kid! His brain isn’t even fully formed, Nancy! What if this permanently messes him up? NANCY This is the lenient option, you know. Corporate policy would typically require something far more drastic. MICHAEL This is drastic– NANCY Oh, don’t act like you care so much all of a sudden. Come on, Michael. What do you think Subject 54 was telling Sean about you? MICHAEL …He’s still my son. NANCY Then after we mindwipe him, you’d better start acting like it. I’m sorry. But you know that this is the only way. MICHAEL …Yeah. I know. Do what you need to do. NANCY Thank you. NANCY Sean, I talked to your dad and– SEAN I know. I heard you outside. MICHAEL …I know it sounds scary, son, but– SEAN It’s okay. I understand. Just get it over with. NANCY Okay. We will start as soon as possible. I want you to know, Sean, that you are in very good hands. We have the best doctors in the entire world working at MORTEM CORP to ensure your safety. I will make sure they only erase what they absolutely have to. You’ll still be Sean, you just won’t remember Olli. SEAN Scary Olli, not octopus Olli. Make sure they know that! MICHAEL …I will personally tell them to not erase octopus Olli. I’ll make sure you remember him, Sean. SEAN Thanks, Dad. MICHAEL …Sure, son. NANCY I’ll send the doctor in. Everything is going to be fine, Sean. (sound of door opening, footsteps) - MICHAEL Test recording number 832. This is Dr. Michael Wilson recording for MORTEM CORP. It is February 23rd, 1984…Well, that should do it. I’ll go grab our coats, and then we can go home. Now, Sean, don’t leave my office until I come back, okay? SEAN Okay, dad. (click as recording turns on) Ooooh, what’s this thing do? What did dad say?... Oh yeah! Test recording number 832. This is Dr. Sean Wilson. And Dr. Olli Wilson. We are on a special mission called “stay in dad’s office.” It is very important we complete our mission in a timely manner. OLLI …Hello? Sean? Can you hear me? - You just listened to Mortem Corp on Impact 89FM. This podcast was written by the students in Rob Roznowskis script development class at Michigan State University. This episode was written by Brooke Cousins and Taylor Nitz. Directed, produced and sound designed by Tessa Kresch Music in this episode: Galaxy Shard by Blue Dot Sessions Performed by Joie Culligan as Nancy Henry J as Michael Bobby Conlan as Sean Zach Deande as Olli - the shapeshifter, not the stuffed animal Special thanks to Lucas Nunn, Rob Roznowski, Jeremy Whiting, Libby Lussenhop, and the entire Impact team. Tune in next week for the next episode of of Mortem Corp…