[CLICK]
ELIAS/JONAH
I suppose you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered you here.
[CHORUS OF MUTTERED GRUMBLES AND GROANS. ELIAS/JONAH CHUCKLES]
Yes, all right, perhaps a bit melodramatic, but—
PAST ARCHIVIST
I assume you called us here to apologize.
ELIAS/JONAH
Apologize?
PAST MARTIN
For not telling us Jon had been kidnapped.
TIM
Or, you know, anything else useful about this place. Like about the spooky fear beings that roam the earth hunting for unsuspecting victims. Or the fact that every statement we take or read feeds one of them. Or that it’s going to start changing us. You know. Take your pick.
ELIAS/JONAH
With regards to not telling you what had happened to Jon…it would have made little difference. Martin’s research, at least, would have been sloppier—
[PAST MARTIN SPUTTERS INDIGNANTLY]
—and going to the police would have served little purpose. Certainly they wouldn’t have been able to locate him. Even I wasn’t able to do that.
TIM
And I’m sure you were trying so very hard.
ELIAS/JONAH
I do have other things to do, but I assure you I was doing everything in my power to locate you, Jon.
As for not telling you anything else…it was important that you discover it for yourselves. It’s why I didn’t accept your application for the Archivist position, Sasha.
SASHA
Excuse me?
ELIAS/JONAH
You were Gertrude’s choice of successor, of course. I know the two of you were…close. I couldn’t be sure how much she had told you of what goes on in the Archives—what the job entails. Starting this job with too much knowledge would be dangerous.
SASHA
Bull. Shit.
PAST ARCHIVIST
(softly) Sasha.
SASHA
If you were that concerned about how much I knew, you wouldn’t have accepted Jon’s request to have me as an assistant. You’d have worried that I would have told him everything I learned from Gertrude on day one.
ELIAS/JONAH
On the contrary. I knew you wouldn’t.
Sasha. You are…very much like Gertrude. And like Gertrude, you keep your secrets close to your chest, don’t you? As Archivist, you would have kept your secrets, but they would have informed your direction of your assistants. You would have known why you were telling them to do things, but they would have been fully ignorant. A tactic which, I am afraid, did not always serve her well, and would have been equally ill-advised had you done so.
But as an assistant? In the first place, your actions would be limited. In the second place, I knew you would be frustrated with not having been chosen, and as a result, you would be more inclined to keep your own counsel. And then…well. I had no doubt that as you watched Jon fumble along, stumble over things you knew coming in, and come to his own conclusions, your curiosity would take over. How much would he learn on his own? How far would he get? How much could you do without his instruction, or knowledge? How much assistance would he need?
And what would happen if he was wrong?
SASHA
Wait. You assigned me as Jon’s assistant so I could…gloat?
ELIAS/JONAH
Of course not, Sasha. I assigned you as Jon’s assistant so there would be someone with enough knowledge to keep the rest of the team safe, and perhaps…direct things if need be.
SASHA
Gertrude hardly told me anything. We talked about my research, not hers.
ELIAS/JONAH
Yes. I have noticed that the one who seems to know the most about what’s going on…is you, Martin.
I did tell you knowledge can be dangerous. As can knowledge…ineptly applied.
PAST MARTIN
What’s that supposed to mean?
ELIAS/JONAH
I am aware of your actions on Friday afternoon. It’s quite fortunate that most of the other departments chose to send everyone home early, or the consequences might have been…disastrous. Had the creature encountered anyone else—
PAST MARTIN
Wait. W-wait. You knew?
ELIAS/JONAH
I’ve told you before, nothing escapes my notice at the Institute.
PAST MARTIN
Not about—that, that thing killed Diana and took her place—how long ago? Months? Have you known this whole time?
ELIAS/JONAH
…Hm. That’s an interesting sensation. Surprisingly pleasant. Tingly…but almost freeing.
PAST MARTIN
W-wh—? (realization hits) Oh, Christ.
ELIAS/JONAH
Please be aware, Martin, I am doing you the courtesy of answering honestly, but I do so of my own free will.
Yes. I knew the first time I encountered that creature that it was pretending to be Diana Caxton, and that the real Diana was dead.
SASHA
And you did nothing?
ELIAS/JONAH
What, exactly, would you have me do? Fire it?
What did any of you do when you found out?
PAST MARTIN
I thought you said you were “aware of my actions on Friday afternoon.”
ELIAS/JONAH
I would advise you to mind your tone, Martin.
TIM
(angrily) Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare.
ELIAS/JONAH
Now, really, Tim.
PAST ARCHIVIST
For God’s sake, Elias! For almost two years now we’ve been—fumbling around in the dark, stumbling from revelation to revelation. We’ve barely survived most of them—
ELIAS/JONAH
You underestimate your own resourcefulness.
PAST ARCHIVIST
—and all this time, you’ve been sitting up here, what, watching? You could have warned us any time, a-about any of it.
TIM
You knew Jon had been kidnapped and acted like it was just work-related. You let Martin destroy that table—
SASHA
—which you told Jon to do ages ago, when it was first delivered—
TIM
—and just fucked off for the weekend. Bet it was a shocker to you that he came in for work this morning.
ELIAS/JONAH
I admit, that was a bit—
[LOUD BANGING NOISE, LIKE TIM HAS JUST SLAMMED BOTH HANDS ON THE DESK]
TIM
Give me one good reason not to reach over this desk and strangle you.
ELIAS/JONAH
Now, Tim.
TIM
No jury in the world would convict me. And even if they did, I’d take the jail time if it meant being rid of you.
ELIAS/JONAH
Kill me, and all of you die as well.
PAST ARCHIVIST
What?
ELIAS/JONAH
I am the beating heart of this Institute. The nexus through which all of its power flows.
If I die, so does every single one of you. Every employee, every single person tied to the Institute. Gone in a single stroke.
[A SHOCKED PAUSE, THEN TIM STARTS LAUGHING, A BITTER, SLIGHTLY INCREDULOUS LAUGH]
TIM
I don’t believe you. Even you wouldn’t be stupid enough to make that kind of deal.
ELIAS/JONAH
Then prove it.
TIM
What?
ELIAS/JONAH
Go on, Tim. Kill me. Kill me and watch everyone you love die, right before your eyes, in the seconds before you do.
Here.
[DRAWER SLIDES OPEN]
[SEVERAL DIFFERENT SOUNDS OF ALARM]
ELIAS/JONAH
Take it. Much more effective than strangling me.
TIM
I—
ELIAS/JONAH
I never reloaded it after using it on Gertrude Robinson, but I never unloaded it either. Five shots remaining. One should be sufficient, though.
[SOUND OF PISTOL BEING COCKED]
PAST MARTIN
Tim…
ELIAS/JONAH
Do it, Tim.
Shoot me.
Call my bluff.
[LONG SILENCE]
[GUN SAFETY CLICKS BACK INTO PLACE]
[SOFT THUNK ON TABLETOP]
ELIAS/JONAH
I knew you didn’t have it in you.
[DRAWER SLIDES CLOSED]
Now then. If we’re finished with the histrionics and posturing, shall we get on with the discussion?
PAST ARCHIVIST
…Fine. Fine. What do you want?
ELIAS/JONAH
First of all. Martin.
What did happen to that creature after you destroyed the table? I thought I heard you telling Jon that you…smote it. Is that accurate?
PAST MARTIN
…I don’t know.
ELIAS/JONAH
Don’t lie to me.
PAST MARTIN
I’m not! I don’t know. I-I was—it tracked me down to the Archives. It chased Tim and me through the shelves a-and we couldn’t get to the doors, so we went down to the tunnels. It had us cornered. I—I closed my eyes and—
I honestly can’t tell you what happened after that. There was a roar and a scream, and when I opened my eyes, it was gone.
I-it might still be…down there somewhere. I don’t know. I d-don’t know if it’s something I did or something Tim did or something about the tunnels. I just know we were alone and clear to get out.
ELIAS/JONAH
…Fine.
To business, then. You know what it was?
PAST MARTIN
It—Gertrude called it the Not-Them. A creature that kills its victims and takes their place. It alters memories, pictures, recordings…anything that shows what the person was before.
Except…it doesn’t affect Polaroids, for some reason. Or magnetic tape recordings. A-and sometimes it leaves one or two people to remember what the person really looked like. It feeds off of that fear.
SASHA
We had a statement—one of the first ones we ever used the tape recorder for. A woman whose colleague was taken by one.
PAST ARCHIVIST
It’s a creature of the Stranger.
ELIAS/JONAH
Good! What do you know about the Stranger?
PAST ARCHIVIST
It—good God, Elias, really?
ELIAS/JONAH
It’s important that you learn this on your own, Jon. But I do need to know what you have learned.
[THE PAST ARCHIVIST SIGHS IN EXASPERATION]
PAST ARCHIVIST
It’s the fear of—the uncanny. The unknown. Things hidden and unseen. Masks, mannequins…clowns. For a long time, one of the primary figures involved was Gregor Orsinov, who ran a circus known as the Circus of the Other that toured over much of central and eastern Europe. For some time he was accompanied by Nikolai Denikin, former owner of that Calliaphone up in Artifact Storage.
TIM
“Be still, for there is strange music.”
PAST MARTIN
It’s the antithesis to…the Institute.
To us.
ELIAS/JONAH
Well. Perhaps not quite to all of you. After all, Jon is the Archivist, while the rest of you—
PAST ARCHIVIST
—have apparently helped enough to draw the Beholder’s attention.
ELIAS/JONAH
You really believe that.
PAST ARCHIVIST
Unless that ability to—to force people to answer your questions comes from something else, then yes!
SASHA
It’s not just Martin, either.
Ask them. I’ve been picking up the habit lately of just—Knowing things. Plucking secrets out of people’s minds and whatnot.
ELIAS/JONAH
Ah. I’m sure you enjoy that.
[SASHA INHALES SHARPLY]
TIM
Stop.
ELIAS/JONAH
And what of you, Tim? What has the Beholder gifted you with?
TIM
I can hear your sarcasm perfectly well, thank you, sir.
PAST MARTIN
(softly) Tim.
ELIAS/JONAH
Don’t think I can’t tell how resistant you are to it. To its pull, to what it wants. I don’t even need any powers I may have been granted to tell that.
I knew you would be the one to fight it the hardest. It’s why I assigned you to the Archives. Someone to argue, to push back, to resist the knowledge at every turn and give Jon more reason to look into—
TIM
(angrily) I can see when someone’s encountered one of the fears.
[A BRIEF SILENCE; TIM SEEMS TO HAVE ACTUALLY MANAGED TO CATCH ELIAS/JONAH OFF-GUARD]
ELIAS/JONAH
…How?
TIM
Colors. Call them auras if you want. I’ve been calling them…marks.
We’ve come across a few different…fear things. Not just the Beholder and the Stranger. There’s Jane Prentiss and her worms—we decided on calling that the Corruption, right?
PAST MARTIN
Right. A-and there’s the Lightless Flame, and…Michael. The, the Distortion?
PAST ARCHIVIST
Michael—well, it’s going by Helen now—is the Distortion, but according to…her, she’s a small part of something called the Spiral.
TIM
Yeah, well, whatever that is, it’s yellow. The Beholder is green. Can’t miss that, it’s fucking everywhere here. Hurts the eyes if you look at it too hard.
The Corruption is this weird sort of yellow-green. Like something sick. Like pus and rot. I can see it on Martin sometimes, his scars glow. Kind of weird, really. The Stranger’s more of an indigo.
There are more colors, but we’re still kind of sorting out all the fears. No idea how many there are.
Yet.
ELIAS/JONAH
Well. You’ve all certainly learned a great deal.
And I’m sure there’s more for you to learn. Hopefully you’ll have time.
PAST ARCHIVIST
And just what is that supposed to mean?
ELIAS/JONAH
The Unknowing.
Have you been made aware of it?
PAST ARCHIVIST
(tightly) Almost constantly.
ELIAS/JONAH
Then you know what it is.
SASHA
It’s the Stranger’s ritual. All of the entities have them. Something to bring that fear into the world and let it—no.
Not bring it into the world. Remake the world in its image. Craft our world so that it…belongs. They’re not quite suited for our environment.
TIM
Like if a human wanted to crawl into an anthill.
ELIAS/JONAH
A simplistic metaphor, but…essentially, yes. Beyond that, well, you’ll have to discover what it entails for yourself.
PAST MARTIN
It’s a dance.
ELIAS/JONAH
You just know that, do you?
TIM
I mean—literally every being connected with the Stranger we’ve met has called it the Dance. Gertrude’s the one that termed it the Unknowing on her tapes.
PAST MARTIN
No, the—
PAST ARCHIVIST
(overlapping) Wh-what? I—Orsinov definitely called it a dance. She said she was—th-there was a skin. A gorilla skin, at the Trophy Room. She wanted to wear it to “dance the world new”, she said. And she wanted to—
Who else called it that?
PAST MARTIN
The Not-Diana. When it was stalking us through the Archives.
She—it said something about me making “a lovely partner for the Dance.” But it said it was a shame I’d miss the Unknowing, too, so maybe that is what it’s actually called.
PAST ARCHIVIST
(softly) Oh, God.
TIM
It doesn’t matter, does it? Whatever the hell it’s called, we need to stop it.
Right?
ELIAS/JONAH
Yes. That is the task before you.
TIM
Great! How?
ELIAS/JONAH
That you will have to discover for yourselves.
[GENERAL CHORUS OF EXASPERATED GRUMBLES]
As Martin says, the Stranger is our opposition. It is the unknown, secrecy and lies. To simply tell you how to stop it…I suspect it wouldn’t work.
PAST ARCHIVIST
And I’m sure it wouldn’t please your master.
ELIAS/JONAH
Our master, Jon.
PAST ARCHIVIST
I never chose this.
None of us did.
ELIAS/JONAH
You never wanted this, no. But I’m afraid you absolutely did choose it. In a hundred ways, at a hundred thresholds, you pressed on. You sought knowledge relentlessly, and you always chose to see. Our world is made of choices, and very rarely do we truly know what any of them mean, but we make them nonetheless.
PAST ARCHIVIST
(sighs heavily) Fine. What now?
ELIAS/JONAH
I believe I made it perfectly clear—
SASHA
(interrupting impatiently) How long do we have?
ELIAS/JONAH
For what?
SASHA
Do you have any idea when the Unknowing is scheduled for? How long do we have to figure out how to stop it?
ELIAS/JONAH
I can’t see the future, Sasha. That it’s coming is obvious, from the fact that the Stranger has been gathering strength. When it’s coming…well.
I suspect you have until the preparations are complete. But that’s all I can say for certain.
TIM
(under his breath) Brilliant.
PAST ARCHIVIST
Is there anything you can tell us?
ELIAS/JONAH
You seem to be doing quite well with your research on your own. I’m sure Gertrude had notes on it.
Perhaps your next task should be to find them.
SASHA
Of course. That won’t be hard at all. She made everything so simple and easy to navigate…
PAST ARCHIVIST
Sasha.
ELIAS/JONAH
Yes, well, I’m sure you’re all up to the task. I suggest you get to it.
Jon, a word in private?
PAST MARTIN
We’ll just…be outside, Jon.
ELIAS/JONAH
That’s hardly necessary—
TIM
The hell it isn’t.
[DOOR OPENS, SHUFFLING FEET, DOOR CLOSES]
ELIAS/JONAH
You seem upset.
PAST ARCHIVIST
I can’t imagine what gave you that impression.
ELIAS/JONAH
I realize this has all been a bit much for you. Ordinarily I would suggest you take a day or two off work to recover, but this is rather pressing.
Your team has managed…adequately in the last two weeks—
PAST ARCHIVIST
(dismayed) Two weeks?
ELIAS/JONAH
—but they need your, mm, guiding hand, shall we say.
PAST ARCHIVIST
They—we need direction, Elias. So far we’ve been striking out at random and hoping we get lucky. Luck won’t carry us much farther. All we’ve managed to do is survive.
ELIAS/JONAH
That is actually quite the accomplishment, Jon.
PAST ARCHIVIST
Tim has been to one of the Strangers’ strongholds. They know him, they know his face. And if the—the Not-Them was after Martin, if it was threatening to wear him at the Unknowing, the Stranger is aware of him, too. The only one who might be safe from it is Sasha. I can’t—
ELIAS/JONAH
Ah, that reminds me. I have something here for you.
PAST ARCHIVIST
What?
[DRAWER SLIDES OPEN]
[RUSTLING OF PAPERS]
ELIAS/JONAH
A statement, in the form of a letter.
Read it.
PAST ARCHIVIST
I will.
ELIAS/JONAH
No, Jon. Now.
[DEEP INHALE FROM THE PAST ARCHIVIST]
[SILENCE, BROKEN ONLY BY THE FAINT RATTLE OF PAPER, LIKE IT’S BEING HELD BY SOMEONE WHOSE HANDS ARE SHAKING]
ELIAS/JONAH
Well?
PAST ARCHIVIST
Did he?
Leave him there?
ELIAS/JONAH
…
(does he sound faintly disappointed?) He did.
He got that letter, oh, yes, and was on good terms with Mordechai Lukas. He could have interceded, perhaps even saved him, but he did not. And it was not out of malice, or because he lacked affection for Barnabas Bennett: he retrieved those bones sadly enough when the time came. Bones that you can still find in my office, if you know where to look. No, it was because he was curious. Because he had to know, to watch and see it all.
That’s what this place is, Jon, never forget it. You may believe yourself to have friends, to have confidantes, but in the end, all they are is something for you to watch, to know, and ultimately to discard. This, at least, Gertrude understood.
PAST ARCHIVIST
…
Never.
I’m not stupid, Elias. Every time a Lukas comes up, the theme has been the same: Isolation. Separation. Loneliness. That’s what they thrive on. That’s what this is, that’s what Bennett was punished with.
I won’t fall into that trap. I won’t let myself become convinced that I don’t need anyone else. That’s the easiest path to becoming isolated, and I won’t take that risk.
I don’t believe I have friends. I know it. And I refuse to stand by and watch them suffer. If you honestly hoped I was the sort to do that, then you made the wrong choice in Archivist. I would never choose knowledge over someone I care about.
ELIAS/JONAH
You truly believe that.
PAST ARCHIVIST
It’s more than belief.
ELIAS/JONAH
Well. Far be it from me to disillusion you.
Just be mindful, Jon. Be careful of whom you allow to know who—or what—is important to you, or you think is important to you. Because if there is something you desire more than knowledge…it can be used against you.
PAST ARCHIVIST
Is that a threat?
ELIAS/JONAH
A warning.
Look, despite what you seem to think, I am on your side here. We all want to stop the world from ending, don’t we?
PAST ARCHIVIST
…Fine.
Is there anything else?
ELIAS/JONAH
No. That should be sufficient.
Go get something to eat, Jon. You must be…hungry.
[CLICK]