9 characters: Trisha, Computer, Misty, Clay, Hardcase, Announcer, Pitchman, Politician, Minnie
Click on a character's name to get their lines highlighted.
Hardcase (62 lines, 751 words, 18.95%) - [John Gaunce] Captain Mack Hardcase. Confident, arrogant, most reluctant to accept reality and most hurt by the fall from herodom into being a nobody. But then encouraged by having fans. Man, since this seems like a fragile masculinity profile. Captain Kirk type, ladies man, feels a bit out of his time. Give him a rough backstory he’ll talk about early. Grew up a slave of the species they’re fighting, escaped from the mines, joined the fleet and made it his life.
Misty (47 lines, 493 words, 12.44%) - [Steff Knappe] First Officer Commander Misty L'Quil. She's an alien with lots of tentacles, and her people have a reputation for bravery which she sometimes regrets. [complete]
Trisha (42 lines, 534 words, 13.47%) - [Gwenith Knight] Trisha Blackburn. [complete]
Clay (80 lines, 1171 words, 29.54%) - [David Loftus] Doctor Clay Erhardt. [complete]
Minnie (29 lines, 468 words, 11.81%) - [Mel Crochemore] Minnie Erhardt is the doctor's wife, in theory. [complete]
Computer (5 lines, 79 words, 1.99%) - [Nahla Campbell] VR arcade computer.
Pitchman (1 line, 85 words, 2.14%) - [Jose Montalvo] An advertising pitchman. [complete]
Politician (4 lines, 226 words, 5.7%) - [Audrey J Williams] Candidate recording an ad. [complete]
Announcer (2 lines, 157 words, 3.96%) - [Paul Knierim] Announcer. [complete]
Script format: Margined | Marginless (for phone viewing)
Listen along as you read:
1 SOUND: body floating in saline solution tank
2 Trisha: [spits out water and gasps for air]
3 Computer: Trisha Blackburn, your game credit has expired.
4 Trisha: Computer, what have I been doing in this tub?
5 SOUND: standing up, dripping water onto floor
6 Computer: Floating in a saline solution enhances the realism of a customer's virtual reality experience by cutting you off from outside sensation.
7 Trisha: VR again. But... messier. Well I gotta give you credit for realism.
8 Computer: Please remember to rate us on VR game guides dot com.
9 Trisha: One star -- the most perfect simulation I could ever imagine, but content of game drove me to point of insanity and left me permanently unable to distinguish reality from fantasy.
10 Computer: We're sorry your experience hasn't met your expectations. Please bring up your troubles with the front desk and we'll try to make things right for you.
11 SOUND: bumping into door
12 Trisha: Computer, why isn't this door opening? This is a door, right?
13 Computer: Most doors here on Earth are manual. Grasp the knob, turn it, and push.
14 SOUND: she opens the door
15 Misty: Welcome to the lobby, Ensign Blackburn.
16 Trisha: Commander L'Quil, I see you're human again.
17 Misty: I'm afraid that's something I'll have to get used to.
18 Trisha: Is Minnie here?
19 Clay: Still missing.
20 Trisha: So what's going on, I'm told we were in a VR game? Again?
21 Hardcase: It's uncanny how much this feels like the planet where we met you, Ensign.
22 Trisha: Déjà vu.
23 Clay: Either Alpha Omega C was designed to prepare us for this... or...
24 Trisha: Or what?
25 Clay: OR, both Alpha Omega C AND THIS have been designed to prepare us for something ELSE.
26 Hardcase: We were promised there'd be answers here.
27 Misty: But not necessarily all the answers, just the next set.
28 Trisha: I've been living in illusions for months, I've discovered my life to be a lie 5 times, why not make it six?
29 Clay: Five times?
30 Trisha: For me. In the VR on Alpha Omega C I discovered my Confederation life had been a lie, then I discovered the idyllic ranch life was a lie, then that the Confederation was a lie again after all, then the body switch planet, then the underworld, and now I'm here.
31 Hardcase: We have to stay grounded, have to remember who we are.
32 Misty: [frustrated] But we don't KNOW who we are!
33 Hardcase: [inspirational] We're a team. A unit. We work together. It doesn't matter if the Galactic Confederation exists or the Chimera exists, you're still my crew. We'll make it through this as a crew.
34 Clay: [sarcastic] Thanks to your glorious leadership, oh my captain!
35 Misty: [defensive] The captain is doing the best he can.
36 SOUND: fast-paced music for title sequence
37 Announcer: QuietPlease dot org presents Beyond Awakening. Starring John Gaunce as Captain Mack Hardcase, David Loftus as Doctor Clay Erhardt, Steff Knappe as Commander Misty L'Quil, and Gwenith Knight as Ensign Trisha Blackburn. Episode seven, Earth.
38 SOUND: commercial break
39 SOUND: door opens to outside nature noises, group footsteps proceed out and pause
40 Trisha: Ah, fresh air again!
41 Hardcase: Commander L'Quil, your assessment?
42 Misty: This appears to be a city similar to what one might've found on Earth a few centuries ago.
43 Hardcase: That's what I was thinking.
44 Clay: I'd say 21st century.
45 Hardcase: With one big difference.
46 Clay: What difference?
47 Hardcase: I'm pretty sure Earth's 21st century cities had PEOPLE in them.
48 Misty: Could there be a trivial explanation for why we haven't encountered anyone yet?
49 Trisha: Maybe it's a high UV day and they're sheltering at home.
50 Clay: UV sheltering didn't happen until the END of the 21st century, after geoengineering to combat climate change opened a hole in their ozone layer. But everything here looks EARLY 21st century.
51 Hardcase: Well... Doctor, I'm sure you have a theory by now. You always do. Spit it out, enlighten us.
52 Clay: Everything we've been told about what awaits us in reality... the idea that we hadn't lived and were going to be born... using that to describe waking up from VR would be stupidly obtuse. And we know reality has people. I think we can safely chalk this one up as another in the illusion column.
53 Hardcase: But what does it mean, why are we here?
54 Clay: There's something here that's supposed to teach us something.
55 Hardcase: [sarcastic] Gee, thanks for that penetrating insight.
56 Misty: So what can we do?
57 Hardcase: We'll explore, like we've always done.
58 Clay: We'll run the maze like good little lab rats until we find the cheese.
59 Hardcase: Let's follow this street northward.
60 SOUND: they walk a while
61 Trisha: It's odd how the buildings are so short, with so much space between them.
62 Clay: Not all cities were dense.
63 Trisha: But wouldn't it be bad for the environment?
64 Clay: Sure, but that didn't stop them.
65 Trisha: Inconvenient for walking too.
66 Clay: They drove everywhere in personal vehicles. Probably even a lot of internal combustion engines at this point in history.
67 Hardcase: A shame WE don't have one.
68 SOUND: they walk a while
69 SOUND: video ad plays on side of building with advertising jingle music
70 Pitchman: [enthusiastic] Are you constantly misplacing your socks? Tired of being late for work because you were desperately searching for a matching pair? Introducing... the GlimberCo SmartySock! Our built-in AI will always tell you where the matching sock is, change color based on ambient conditions, light up at night for safety, auto-adjust tightness according to activity, temperature, or verbal command, monitor your health and make suggestions, and even let you know when they get smelly! Order now for a special price of just $4.99 a month per pair!
71 Misty: [shocked] What... what WAS that?
72 Clay: It's called advertising -- a way for companies to get people to buy their products or services. At this point in Earth's history, it was everywhere -- even on the sides of buildings like this.
73 Misty: I don't understand, why couldn't people seek out what they wanted to buy? Why would they allow companies to interrupt their lives?
74 Clay: They didn't have a choice, and their whole economy was built on convincing people to buy things they didn't need. They'd show these ads to millions of people and if they could influence one percent of the audience it was worth it.
75 Misty: That seems foolish.
76 Clay: It's just how things were, Misty.
77 SOUND: yet more walking
78 Hardcase: There are a lot of things in our primitive past we're not too proud of. I just wonder why they're being shown to us now.
79 Clay: It's curious how each world we've been immersed in has been a different time period.
80 Trisha: It's like we're time travelers.
81 Hardcase: But which era is it in the real world... the 23rd century, the 28th century, or the 21st century?
82 SOUND: yet more walking
83 SOUND: patriotic music as another billboard plays.
84 Politician: [cheerfully] Hey there, you four! Your country needs you to step up!
85 Misty: That... that video screen sees us?
86 Politician: That's right! You look like proud and loyal Americans, please let me talk with you about the present threat.
87 Hardcase: [alarmed] There's a threat?
88 Politician: That's right, we're all in danger from President Kruck's failures. Our coastal cities have gone to hell with years of historic floods, the drinking water of millions has been contaminated by saltwater intrusion, and sea level rise is accelerating. Your city's levees may not hold up to the more intense storms climate change brings, and your elderly neighbors are dying in summer heat waves. And it's only getting worse every year, more dangerous every year.
89 Misty: That's terrible.
90 Politician: Yes it is, and the only things more terrible are Kruck's so-called solutions. He's raising your taxes and stoking inflation and unemployment in a tepid and useless attempt to reduce so-called greenhouse gas emissions, destroying the competitiveness of American companies and forcing them to move to other countries where they can go right on polluting. There's only one way you can save this great nation and save your city from destruction, and that's with a vote for our business-first platform combining world-changing geoengineering innovation with tax breaks to encourage privately-funded dykes around key infrastructure -- hey, come back here, you can't walk away from your responsibility as a citizen of a democracy! Our nation's future hinges on your vote in November!
91 SOUND: they walk off, slight overlap of following line with the end of the above spiel as it fades out
92 Misty: That one wasn't a product...
93 Clay: It's a politician. Someone seeking to become a leader of this society.
94 Misty: Why does she waste her efforts on advertising? If her test scores are good enough she'll get an entry level appointment, won't she?
95 Clay: She's running for the top job, leader of the nation.
96 Misty: But wouldn't she have to be high up in government already, and wouldn't the choice of leader be made by peers at her level who know her and understand her work?
97 Clay: That's how it works on Cthunia and in the Confederation's interplanetary hierarchy, but not here in 21st century America. You didn't need any experience to run for the top job, and the decision was made by the general public.
98 Misty: The public had time to study all the issues and come to an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the various candidates?
99 Clay: Well no, most of them didn't give it much thought and were easily swayed by personalized lies micro-targeted at them by unscrupulous people like we just saw.
100 Misty: That's insane.
101 Clay: Perhaps, but there were a lot of worse governing systems out there at the time.
102 Hardcase: You seem to know a lot about the 21st century, Doctor.
103 Clay: I know a lot about EVERYTHING.
104 Trisha: Except you don't know if any of it is true.
105 Clay: Well yes, there's that.
106 Misty: When we don't even know who we are... is there ANYTHING we can be sure of?
107 Clay: The transcendental unity of apperception.
108 Hardcase: [scoffs]
109 Misty: The what?
110 Clay: That an experience is being had, of which the contents are all of this.
111 Misty: What you're saying is, we know what we're currently experiencing?
112 Clay: Yes, I can be sure this is happening. Just not how to interpret it accurately in a wider context as true or false in regard to a hypothesized external reality, or which of my memories may relate to said hypothetical reality or be pure fiction.
113 Hardcase: You're babbling, Doc.
114 Clay: Wouldn't expect you to understand.
115 SOUND: group walking halts
116 Hardcase: Hold up... what the hell is THAT up ahead?!
117 Misty: It's a giant shoe, sir.
118 Hardcase: I can see that. And behind the shoe, there's a small shoddily-built castle.
119 Trisha: And look over there, a little house that looks like it's made out of sweets! And something that looks like a pumpkin on wheels!
120 Clay: [light irreverent scoffing chuckles]
121 Hardcase: Theories?
122 Misty: Looks like we call a havanutra on Cthunia -- a place for developing imagination.
123 Hardcase: What?
124 Clay: She means a children's amusement park. If you'd been paying attention, we passed a sign a minute ago that said Fairytale Town.
125 Hardcase: Oh. Uh, let's keep going, we'll go through it.
126 SOUND: they resume walking a while
127 Clay: Seems an apt place for us.
128 Misty: What do you mean, Doctor?
129 Clay: Our lives have been fairytales. And in some sense apparently we're children waiting to be born.
130 SOUND: more walking
131 SOUND: sudden blast of crowd of children, commotion, music and activity for 10 seconds
132 Hardcase: [shouting over crowd, frightened] What's going on?! What is this?!
133 Misty: [shouting over crowd] Sir, can you hear me?
134 Clay: Amusing.
135 Hardcase: [frightened shouting] Help, help! They're all over!
136 SOUND: commotion vanishes
137 Trisha: They're gone!
138 Hardcase: [shaken] What... what the fuck WAS that?
139 Clay: Children, my dear captain. I'm not terribly very fond of them either, but you don't have to act like they're space aliens.
140 Hardcase: Space aliens I can handle. But all that...
141 Clay: A brief demonstration of what a normal day might be like here, I presume.
142 Hardcase: I don't think I want to be here on a normal day.
143 Clay: Then I'd advise you not to have kids. Come on, let's keep moving and get this over with.
144 SOUND: further walking
145 Hardcase: Looks like this is the exit up here.
146 SOUND: further walking
147 Misty: Sir, what's the largest crowd you've ever been in?
148 Hardcase: Delta Sigma D. The whole planet is so overpopulated you have to signal your intent to move and wait minutes for people to make space for you.
149 Misty: Did it bother you?
150 Hardcase: No, it was just another mission.
151 Trisha: But that's just an implanted memory. Actually experiencing it could feel very different.
152 Hardcase: Could it?
153 Trisha: I've been thinking, we don't know our true personalities... only the implanted memories of how we were supposed to be.
154 Hardcase: And you think there's a difference?
155 Trisha: Why not?
156 Misty: You mean like the captain could be afraid of crowds and children, even though his implanted memories weren't?
157 Hardcase: Let's not talk about me anymore please.
158 SOUND: they cross pavement and stop
159 Trisha: [reading sign] WPA Rock Garden?
160 Clay: A rock garden is a special decorative arrangement of rocks.
161 Hardcase: Open your damn eyes, Doc. Take in the greenery. It's a plant garden that happens to have a few rocks in it.
162 Clay: Then why name--
163 Hardcase: Stop worrying about the why. Deal with what's in front of you.
164 Clay: The advice of simple-minded people everywhere.
165 Hardcase: The snark of a coward.
166 Trisha: Stop it, you two!
167 Hardcase: Excuse me, ENSIGN?
168 Trisha: It's this heat! It's making you both cranky.
169 Clay: It IS getting extraordinarily hot.
170 Hardcase: We can rest in the shade of this garden for a minute.
171 Misty: Sir, why don't we find a home or business to go inside? Even in the 21st century I think your people had artificial cooling systems?
172 Clay: OUR people.
173 Misty: [sigh of disagreement]
174 Hardcase: We're next to 15th Avenue right now. The numbers on this grid system are getting smaller as we go north. I feel we need to see the center of this city to understand it, and that should be another 14 blocks. Let's press on until we get there, then we can go inside.
175 SOUND: musical time link
176 SOUND: group walking sound
177 Trisha: It all made sense until 7th Avenue... but then suddenly it was Perkins Way instead of a numbered avenue. Then eventually we saw 3rd Avenue, and three cross streets later was 2nd Avenue. What crazy idiot designed this city?
178 Clay: Many Earth cities were developed and redeveloped haphazardly over the centuries, so they don't always appear to stick to their conventions.
179 Hardcase: Well, now we're at Broadway. I believe that's a name they gave to important central streets.
180 Trisha: But it still doesn't look very urban. Look, all these businesses are single story separated buildings.
181 Clay: We may have reached the center of the city on the north-south axis, but not east-west. We're just coming up on 14th Street, they must number streets east-west and avenues north-south.
182 SOUND: more walking
183 Trisha: [thoughtfully] Hmm, a sushi restaurant...
184 Misty: Do you like sushi, Ensign?
185 Trisha: See, that's the whole problem. I remember liking sushi. But if it's a false memory, I've never actually had it. I might hate all the foods I think I love and love all the foods I think I hate...
186 Misty: Cthunian foods don't exist, so I'll never find out which ones I'd really like. It's just so... so disconcerting. If everything that makes me who I am, everything that shaped my personality, if all that is a lie... then what's my REAL personality?
187 Hardcase: Even if it's fictional, our pasts still determine who we are. Even if what made me the captain I am today didn't happen, I'm still who it made me. The death of my parents, escaping slavery, saving people, inspiring people, leadership skills, my tactical thinking and thriving under pressure -- it's all real.
188 Clay: [wryly] I don't know about the rest of it, but at least your inflated ego is real.
189 Trisha: What about you, Doc? Are you sure you're who your false memories have made you?
190 Clay: No, I don't think I am. And I don't want to be.
191 Misty: Don't you want an identity? To know who you are?
192 Clay: I don't want to be predetermined. I want to evolve beyond what somebody else decided would be my backstory, and decide for myself who I'm going to be.
193 Hardcase: That's exactly what I'd expect you to say, Doc... based on your backstory.
194 SOUND: uncomfortable silence
195 SOUND: musical time link or clock ticking
196 SOUND: walking stops
197 Misty: [exhausted] Sir... I apologize sir, but I cannot go another step.
198 Hardcase: Are you okay, Misty?
199 Misty: [exhausted] It's this weak human form, sir. It can't tolerate walking so far in this weather. With my real body this wouldn't be a problem.
200 Clay: [impatient] Haven't you accepted that you're human yet? You've been told it's a fact.
201 Hardcase: Well, there's a river in front of us so we won't be able to continue west much longer anyway. We'll rest here a while and consider our next move.
202 Trisha: What are all these giant white cylinders?
203 Clay: Petroleum, it was an energy source back then. This looks to be some sort of storage or processing plant area.
204 Misty: They're labeled. That one says T-115 Chevron.
205 Trisha: Chevrons denoted rank, right? It's a military thing?
206 Clay: No, they actually let private companies control their energy supply, I think Chevron was the name of the company.
207 Misty: That's crazy.
208 Hardcase: Hey, there's a sign up there by that... crossing...
209 Clay: You mean the railroad track. Am I the only one who stayed awake in history class?
210 Hardcase: [irritated] You KNOW I didn't get traditional schooling, Doctor. Well, I'll go check out that sign.
211 SOUND: hardcase gets up and walks a bit
212 Hardcase: [reading aloud to self with a bit of bewilderment] Sacramento River East Levee Enhancement Project, Phase 2. California Corps of Engineers, 2035.
213 SOUND: hardcase walks back to others
214 Hardcase: Y'know, Misty...
215 Misty: Yes sir?
216 Hardcase: This world is boring. INCREDIBLY boring. And I'm starting to think there's nothing for us to do here, no mission.
217 Misty: But why would they do that to us, sir?
218 Clay: Maybe that's the lesson of this world.
219 Hardcase: Boredom?
220 Clay: It could be that the real world is a very boring place compared to the fantasies we've been living.
221 Hardcase: God, I sure hope not. If it's real, shouldn't it feel fuller? More vibrant, more exciting?
222 Trisha: But isn't it a lot easier to design a fake life to be exciting and fulfilling? Like in entertainment?
223 Clay: Exactly, boredom may be a hint that an experience wasn't designed.
224 Misty: But the real world must also be designed, by the creator.
225 Clay: I don't want to debate your religion right now, but if there's that kind of creator, he doesn't individualize his design to make it interesting for YOU. The real universe might be interesting as a whole, but not from the perspective of every one of the countless trillions of inhabitants. Whereas our experience is individualized for the four of us, assuming you three are real, with our whole universe designed to cater to just us.
226 Misty: [uncomfortable] I suppose. But then... if we're so unimportant... why have we been through all this?
227 Hardcase: Right, all the attention somebody's been putting into deceiving us suggests we could be pretty important. And would they have given us these heroic roles and memories if they didn't want us to be heroes?
228 Clay: Or maybe our importance suggests we're generating these delusions ourselves.
229 Hardcase: [confused] What?
230 Clay: [ignoring question] We're not getting anywhere wandering the streets trying to find an important-looking part of town or whatever it is you're doing. Why not find the nearest building, go into it, and see if the mere act of going indoors changes something?
231 Misty: Anything to get us out of the heat.
232 Hardcase: [a little resentful] Fine. Let's split up. Commander L'Quil and I will take the first building we find to the south, Doctor Erhardt and Ensign Blackburn will find the first building northward.
233 SOUND: transition sound
234 SOUND: door opens, outside to inside transition, sound of dogs and cats
235 Trisha: [victorious appreciation] Animals!
236 Clay: The sign said Front Street Animal Shelter, what did you expect?
237 Trisha: Shut up and let me enjoy this.
238 SOUND: walks over to open a cage which is meowing and continues to meow occasionally behind scene
239 Trisha: [talking-to-cat voice] Aw, how long have they left you stuck in that cage?
240 Clay: [sarcastic] For its entire non-life, which probably started when we opened the front door.
241 Trisha: You're really determined to be grumpy today, aren't you Doc?
242 Clay: Are you SERIOUSLY going to waste your time with these furry phantoms?
243 SOUND: moving to get food from cupboard and pour it into bowl
244 Trisha: [talking-to-cat-voice] Ignore the bad man, I'll get you ALL some food.
245 Clay: Fine, you carry on with that farce while I check the back room.
246 SOUND: clay moves down hall and opens door to quieter office room
247 Minnie: Hello, Clay.
248 Clay: [angry] Finally! Now let's get to the truth!
249 Minnie: [sarcastic] Good to see you, too.
250 Clay: [angry] I'm fed up with being your god damned lab rat!
251 Minnie: Is that what you think is happening here?
252 Clay: [angry] It's either that, or maybe I'm a madman going through an infinite series of self-delusions that'll never end.
253 Minnie: I can assure you neither is the case.
254 Clay: [angry] No, you can't.
255 Minnie: Excuse me?
256 Clay: [angry] There's nothing you can say that I couldn't have imagined!
257 Minnie: You ARE teetering on the edge there, aren't you Clay?
258 Clay: [angry] Wouldn't YOU be?
259 Minnie: I'm ready to give you what you want -- this is the final unreal world for you.
260 Clay: [suspicious] What do you mean by that? Are you going to terminate me?
261 Minnie: [laughs] Silly. Buck up Clay, you're going to reality.
262 Clay: [disbelieving] And what's THAT?
263 Minnie: Complicated. So much more complicated than fantasy.
264 Clay: So tell me, WHY have you put me through all this?
265 Minnie: You've been slowly acclimated to certain changes, it's easier this way than if you jumped straight from where you started to your ultimate destination.
266 Clay: [scoffing] You thought this was a kindness? Destroying my ability to trust anything is the ultimate cruelty.
267 Minnie: Reality can be cruel, though. Maybe fantasy is easier, maybe you're better off here.
268 Clay: I'm ready to face ANY reality rather than go on not knowing if there really is one.
269 Minnie: What about the others, are they ready? It takes some longer than others.
270 Clay: I think I can safely say they're all as sick of this farce as I am and will only get less ready if it continues.
271 Minnie: Then let's call everybody together, give you all a better idea of what you're going to be dealing with before we flip the switch.
272 SOUND: a few musical notes fades into possibly new room ambiance
273 Minnie: Once we do this, there's no putting the genie back in the bottle. Your lives will be irrevocably transformed. And not necessarily to your advantage.
274 Hardcase: Are you saying this is a red pill versus blue pill situation, that we can choose the comfort of fantasy or the hardship of reality?
275 Minnie: I suppose, in a way.
276 Hardcase: I'm MADE for hardship, forged from hardship. I have nothing to fear.
277 Minnie: That's not the sort of hardship the real world puts people through. You're thinking of exciting, epic hardships... adventures against long odds, quests to do the impossible, banding together to overthrow evil empires.
278 Hardcase: And what are YOU talking about?
279 Minnie: Trivial hardships. The frailties of your body. Adjusting to a world where you're more limited, where you're not the center of the story, where terrible things happen but you can't swoop in and save the day. Knowing that any difference you can make in righting the wrongs of the world will only be a minuscule drop in the bucket, and that the world will carry on after you basically the same as if you'd never been born.
280 Hardcase: If I can handle epic hardships, I can sure as hell handle trivial hardships.
281 Minnie: We'll see. I'm worried about you Mack, more than the others.
282 Misty: Excuse me, Minnie...
283 Minnie: Yes, Misty?
284 Misty: We were told there'd be debate about whether we're human.
285 Minnie: Personally I consider you all human beings. You're biologically human, it's a question of what your minds are. Your whole Cthunian experience, Misty... I hope it prepared you to grapple with with the questions that'll come.
286 Clay: [annoyed] Now you're just being willfully enigmatic.
287 Minnie: Not at all, I just don't want to go down an hours long rabbit hole on a topic that'd prevent me from getting to your other questions.
288 Clay: [carefully] You mentioned preparing us. You're saying these fake worlds we've been through have all been designed to prepare us for the real world?
289 Minnie: Well, I mean, in a general sense. And with some specific twists meant to prepare you for twists the real world will throw at you. But not in the sense of EVERYTHING being carefully honed to a purpose, most of it's just generated from prompts.
290 Misty: Besides my species change, what else was meant to prepare us?
291 Minnie: The VR scenarios. Waking up in different bodies from the ones you've known. Being dead. Discovering technologies you've taken for granted aren't real. And this world, 21st century Sacramento. The Sacramento I live in is like this one, except much more populated.
292 Clay: Hmm. So we ARE on Earth in reality.
293 Minnie: Yes.
294 Clay: Early-mid 21st century Earth?
295 Minnie: Yes.
296 Clay: And it's very much like what history classes taught me about it?
297 Minnie: Yes.
298 Trisha: All these answers, all these words, they don't really mean anything to me. And they're not going to help me. I need to be there. I need to experience reality. Then I'll have better questions and then I'll be able to understand the answers.
299 Minnie: Does everyone else feel the same as Trisha?
300 Clay: I do.
301 Misty: Yes.
302 Hardcase: Let's get on with it, let's end this fantasy.
303 Minnie: It's going to be shocking and confusing for you.
304 Clay: We understand that.
305 Misty: We'd rather be confused by reality than confused by another illusion.
306 Trisha: If there's one thing we're totally prepared for, it's confusion.
307
Minnie:
[ambivalent] Okay.
Here goes.
308 SOUND: sound of reality disintegrating
309 SOUND: end theme
310 Announcer: Beyond Awakening episode 7, Earth, was written and produced by Paul Knierim. It starred David Loftus as Doctor Clay Erhardt, John Gaunce as Captain Mack Hardcase, Gwenith Knight as Ensign Trisha Blackburn, Mel Crochemore as Minnie Erhardt, Steff Knappe as Commander Misty L'Quil, Kiersten Greenfield as the policitican, Nahla Campbell as the computer, Jose Montalvo as the pitchman, and Paul Knierim as the announcer. Music licensed from Joel Steudler and creative commons zero and public domain sources. Please support Beyond Awakening by joining our patreon. Find it, along with downloads and more information about the show, at quiet please dot org slash awakening. Thanks for listening to our first season, please share with your friends, and we'll be back in a few months.