9 characters: Trisha, Clay, Minnie, Gray, Announcer, Hardcase, Misty, Klurgh, Computer
Click on a character's name to get their lines highlighted.
Hardcase (52 lines, 736 words, 32.6%) - [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. [complete]
Misty (23 lines, 227 words, 10.05%) - [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. She feels obligated to put on a brave face in every situation, but doesn't always feel it. Is also the science officer and tends to have a calm and logical tone most of the time, with exceptions where strong emotion breaks through the mask. [complete]
Trisha (16 lines, 269 words, 11.91%) - [Gwenith Knight] Ensign Trisha Blackburn. Nervous type. Young, unsure of herself, but sure that things aren't making sense. [complete]
Clay (48 lines, 539 words, 23.87%) - [David Loftus] Doctor Clay Erhardt. A little bit of a mad scientist edge to him. [complete]
Minnie (19 lines, 149 words, 6.6%) - [Mel Crochemore] Minnie Erhardt is the doctor's wife, or so she says, even though he didn't have one before she appears. It wouldn't be wrong if Minnie often seems to be acting or manipulating, because she's an interloper from the real world monitoring an experiment. Does a bit of poking and prodding of people to see how they'll react. Doesn't really care for her so-called husband but plays the dutiful wife role when she can be bothered. [complete]
Gray (6 lines, 63 words, 2.79%) - [Curt Caster] Engineer Gray McGuy. Fantastically good at the job, of course. Gerry-rigs mechanical stuff in any world. [complete]
Klurgh (8 lines, 93 words, 4.12%) - [Nick Ben Wong] Ruthless evil aliens. They'll all have the same voice. [complete]
Computer (9 lines, 43 words, 1.9%) - [Nahla Campbell] Ship computer. [complete]
Announcer (2 lines, 139 words, 6.16%) - [Paul Knierim] Announcer. [complete]
Script format: Margined | Marginless (for phone viewing)
Listen along as you read:
1 SOUND: brig force field
2 Trisha: Personal log, May 8th 2283, Ensign Trisha Blackburn recording.
3 Clay: [sarcastically] Can't be very personal when you're recording it in a cell with 2 other people.
4 Trisha: [continuing] Yesterday was the strangest day of my life. In the midst of our disastrous battle with the Klurgh, it's as if I started remembering things I wasn't supposed to remember. Things that made a mockery out of what we were experiencing, things that made the whole scenario we live in feel impossible and unreal.
5 Clay: I couldn't find any physical causes of these feelings, and must admit I've had my own worries about reality.
6 Trisha: [continuing] I know the physics of how our ship moves are wrong, I know the asteroid belt we're in can't exist, I know we shouldn't feel gravity right now, and lots of other little things. Strangest of all was how the day ended, with the doctor and I suddenly falling asleep in the middle of battle with our lives on the line.
7 Clay: Neither of us are narcoleptic, but I do always fall asleep at the same time despite my best efforts and medications, it's bizarre.
8 Trisha: [continuing with annoyance] And then we woke up today in the brig, captives on a ship apparently now held by the Klurgh. End log, as I can tell a certain doctor is going to keep interrupting.
9 Clay: What about you, Minnie? Did you fall asleep?
10 Minnie: [hesitates] I had a nap in the afternoon so I wasn't feeling tired yet.
11 Clay: Did you really? When did you have time for that?
12 Minnie: [thinking fast] It was... fourteen hundred or so, just before my bridge shift.
13 Clay: You were with me in our quarters then.
14 Minnie: Oh, I guess I'm misremembering something.
15 Clay: Something is wrong here. Something fundamental.
16 Trisha: Like I've been saying, but nobody listens to me.
17 SOUND: jogging footsteps approach
18 Clay: [shocked] Isn't that--?
19 Gray: [jovially] Anybody in there ready for a jailbreak?
20 Clay: Aren't you DEAD, McGuy?
21 SOUND: force field lowered, then group movement through corridors and occasional doors under the rest
22 Gray: [jovially] The reports of my death have been exaggerated. Come on, let's go!
23 Minnie: What's the situation, I assume the Klurgh control the ship?
24 Gray: That's right, they're holding most of the crew captive.
25 Minnie: For slave labor.
26 Gray: But some of us escaped and we're organizing to take the ship back.
27 Clay: How, exactly?
28 Gray: Some of us are thinking we could take auxiliary control, should be less defended than the bridge.
29 Clay: I meant how did you escape, exactly? After you died?
30 Gray: [dismissively] Long story for another time.
31 Clay: I'll look forward to it. Meanwhile, I have an alternative suggestion. Taking auxiliary control or even the whole ship won't stop them fighting us, what we need to do is capture the Klurgh commander.
32 Trisha: Why's that?
33 Clay: Didn't you take xenosociology, Ensign Blackburn? The Klurgh operate as hives directed by the local commander, without him they'll be disoriented and we'll gain the advantage and a bargaining chip. They'll give a lot to get him released.
34 SOUND: fast-paced music for title sequence
35 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 three, Sleeping.
36 SOUND: commercial break [promo swaps for now
37 Hardcase: [yawning wake-up from long sleep]
38 Misty: [yawning wake-up from long sleep]
39 Klurgh: I had thought you two were dead when you fell asleep and I could not awaken you earlier. You are fortunate I had not disposed of your bodies yet.
40 Hardcase: I demand to see your commander.
41 Klurgh: You demand nothing, slave.
42 Misty: Look out the window -- it's the Chimera! Looks like we're about to dock!
43 Hardcase: [whisper] General order 17...?
44 Misty: [whisper] We'll have to take back the ship before they start opening shuttle access panels, that's what'll trigger the destruct. But if they've got the ship, their techs will probably ignore the shuttle for now.
45 Hardcase: [whisper] Maybe we should focus on any opportunity to blow up the Chimera before they learn too much from it. It's our first duty.
46 Misty: [whisper] Let's hope it doesn't come to that.
47 SOUND: electrical shock weapon like a cattle prod
48 Hardcase: [yelps in pain]
49 Misty: [yelps in pain]
50 Klurgh: If you slaves have anything to say, you will say it to all.
51 SOUND: docking sound
52 Klurgh: You will disembark in front of me.
53 SOUND: door opens, ramp extends
54 Klurgh: Now. Walk.
55 Hardcase: [sarcastically] Yes master.
56 SOUND: walking
57 Klurgh: You will soon learn not to mock us.
58 Hardcase: I've been a slave of your kind before. Would you like to hear how my last Klurgh master died?
59 Klurgh: You will tell us.
60 Hardcase: With my hands around his neck.
61 SOUND: they go through a door and down a hallway
62 Klurgh: [after a pause] I will relate that to the commander, the commander will decide if you should be put to death or given another chance to learn your place.
63 Hardcase: I'm in command of this ship, and I'll be the one making that decision about you two.
64 SOUND: laser fire, death sounds from the klurgh
65 Hardcase: [confident amusement] Right on cue.
66 Clay: I relinquish command back to you, Captain.
67 Hardcase: Thanks for the well-timed rescue, Doctor Erhardt. Everything seems to have worked out perfectly.
68 Clay: A little TOO perfectly.
69 Hardcase: My ship being infested with Klurgh doesn't feel too perfect.
70 Trisha: But, the chances you two would just happen to be in the same hallway we were heading down...
71 Misty: You didn't know we were here?
72 Clay: Just lucky again.
73 Hardcase: Well... do you guys have a plan to retake the ship, or have you just been operating on dumb luck?
74 Clay: We're going to try to capture the Klurgh commander, lure him into some sort of trap, disorient them and use him to bargain.
75 Hardcase: I don't like it. Too many ways it can go wrong, without their commander they'll rampage against us, I prefer a more predictable oppontent.
76 Clay: [condescending explanation] But the Klurgh hive psychology suggests that--
77 Hardcase: [interrupting with emotional rant, trailing off at end] There's nothing YOU can tell ME about the Klurgh! You, you've read about them in your books, your comfy academy, your ivory towers, you think you learn what the Klurgh are all about from your soft comfortable chair, but I was out there that whole time, I was living the Klurgh, spending every day behind enemy lines, digging uranium with my bare hands, staring those fuckers in the eye every morning when they prodded me awake with shock sticks, face to face with those cold gray eyes and shriveled noses, that'll teach you more psychology in a day than your type can learn in a lifetime, and then when you've done that, when you've lived that, then you can talk to me, then you can tell me...
78 SOUND: focus shift, following two lines overlap the above rant
79 Clay: [whisper] Y'know, sometimes I think we should have our dear Captain committed.
80 Minnie: [whisper] Some of your patients have said the same about you, dear.
81 Misty: [interrupting, concerned] Are you okay, sir?
82 Hardcase: [calming] ... I guess he set me off. Honestly Misty, I don't know what comes over me sometimes.
83 Misty: It's just the way you are, sir.
84 Hardcase: And a reply like that is just the way YOU are, Commander L'Quil.
85 Misty: Yes sir.
86 Hardcase: And maybe doubting everything is just the way Ensign Blackburn is.
87 Misty: Maybe, sir.
88 Trisha: I'd like to think I'm more multi-faceted, but doesn't feel like it lately.
89 Clay: [interrupting with annoyed sigh] So what's YOUR plan, Captain? Since you rejected mine out of hand?
90 Hardcase: First, there's something we need to do before our luck runs out. Follow me.
91 SOUND: brief music bridge
92 SOUND: group jogging and stopping to look around corners periodically, klurgh passing by or sometimes being shot throughout scene
93 SOUND: laser bolt, klurgh death rattle
94 Minnie: [proud of herself] I got one!
95 Misty: [lightly scolding] Don't be too pleased to take life, even when necessary. Especially since laser fire will draw attention.
96 Minnie: The brave Cthunian wants to sneak around?
97 Misty: We're brave, not stupid.
98 Trisha: Remarkable how little attention our lasers have drawn so far, if anything made any sense they'd have us surrounded.
99
Hardcase:
Klurgh never make sense, Ensign.
Doctor, do keep up.
100 Clay: [sfx: approaching] [wheezing slightly from exertion] Captain... have you ever wondered if you're asleep or awake?
101 Hardcase: [dismissive] Often enough in dreams.
102 Clay: But what about when you're awake?
103 Hardcase: What?
104 Clay: Are you sure you're awake right now?
105 SOUND: they pause at a corner, laser fire taking out a Klurgh who makes death noise
106 Hardcase: [say this like you're firing a weapon in the middle of saying it] Of course I'm sure!
107 Clay: You're not sleeping in the limited conventional sense we understand sleep, but what if this narrow existence isn't all there is? What if there's another world you can wake up into, one where our reality might seem as obviously limited and artificial and incomplete as dreaming seems to us once we're awake?
108 Hardcase: [derisive] I'm not into philosophy, Doc. Take that nerdy stuff somewhere else. We have a ship to reclaim right now.
109 Minnie: About that... why have you led us to the central server room?
110 Hardcase: Because the bridge, auxiliary control and the central server room are the only locations where the particular command we need to input is accepted. Of the three, I figured this would be least-guarded.
111 Minnie: What command are you talking about?
112 Hardcase: Our first duty is to the Confederation, not to ourselves.
113 Clay: What are you proposing?
114 Hardcase: We need a fail-safe in place, in case we're captured or killed trying to retake the ship.
115 Misty: He means the self-destruct. General order 17. I already set the shuttle to destruct once they tamper with the wrong panel but that won't take out the whole ship.
116 Clay: Oh. Isn't that a bit extreme, blowing ourselves up to avoid slavery?
117 Hardcase: Doc, how many fingers am I holding up?
118 Clay: Thirteen.
119 Hardcase: My hands used to only hold five each, like yours – until the Klurgh came along. Fifteen years mining uranium without shielding changes things like that.
120 Clay: You know, that's really not something radiation exposure can do.
121 Trisha: See!
122 Hardcase: It damn well is, I'm living proof! And I'm not gonna let them put more kids through that life. The tech they’d gain from pulling this ship apart could help them enslave countless more worlds -- we can’t let that happen, even if it means sacrificing all our lives!
123 Clay: [skeptical] If you say so, Captain.
124 Hardcase: [solemnly] Computer, initiate self-destruct protocol with 30 minute countdown, muted and hidden.
125 Computer: Acknowledged. Identify and provide passphrase.
126 Hardcase: [solemnly] Hardcase, Captain Mack Q., passphrase correct horse battery stapler.
127 Computer: Verified. Two more officers must concur and identify.
128 Misty: Recognize L'Quil, Commander Misty G.L., passphrase jovial iguana licks clouds.
129 Computer: Verified.
130 Clay: Recognize Erhardt, Doctor Clay S., passphrase somatosensory cytoplasmic homeostatic biomechanoid.
131 Computer: Captain Hardcase, please confirm the order.
132 Hardcase: I confirm. Begin silent countdown.
133 Computer: Silent countdown has begun.
134 Hardcase: Thank you, computer.
135 Computer: You're welcome, Captain.
136 Misty: You don't need to thank the computer for killing us, sir.
137 Hardcase: Might be the last time I ever speak with it, so I want to part on polite terms.
138 Minnie: So what do we do now?
139 Clay: We could reroute computer control to lock them out of--
140 Hardcase: No time for that, clock's ticking, let's just retake the bridge!
141 Clay: [skeptical] But isn't that quite a heavily--
142 Hardcase: Lady luck smiles on the bold, let's get MOVING!
143 SOUND: they jog off out door as microphone is left behind, then cut to next location
144 SOUND: laser fire, klurgh death sounds, chaos
145 Hardcase: [yelling] Keep it up, we're almost there! We've got those Klurgh bastards on the run!
146 Misty: [sfx: tentacles flailing] [mildly shouting over chaos] There are so many of them! They just keep coming!
147 Trisha: [mildly shouting over chaos] This is absurd, can't you all see it? We all should've died a hundred times already!
148 Clay: [mildly shouting over chaos] She's got a point.
149 Hardcase: [mildly shouting over chaos] Shut up, you two! First rule of battle is you never talk about your good luck or it'll end! Just keep firing!
150 SOUND: carnage dies down
151 Misty: That's all of the Klurgh for the moment. Here's the door to the bridge... they've got it sealed.
152 Hardcase: [looking around] Where's Mr. McGuy?
153 Clay: Haven't seen him for a while, maybe he died again.
154
Hardcase:
What?
Commander L'Quil, we need all your extremities holding hand lasers in case more Klurgh come down this corridor. Ensign Blackburn, you and I will open up the access panel and find a way to get that door open.
155 SOUND: they go to work taking off access panel, fiddling, sparks
156 Trisha: [background] Hand me the multi-tool.
157
Hardcase:
[background] Here you go.
Let me hold that for you.
158 Trisha: [background] The bypass wires are in the back, they never make this easy.
159 Hardcase: [background] It's not supposed to be easy.
160 Minnie: [sfx: foreground, simultaneous] Clay, you there?
161 Clay: [distracted] What's that dear?
162 Minnie: You looked distant.
163 Clay: Oh, yeah, just thinking.
164 Minnie: About?
165 Clay: The absurdity of all this. Of playing this role in this strange farce.
166 Minnie: I think you've already figured out none of this is real.
167 Clay: [shocked] *You* KNOW that?
168 Minnie: I've always known.
169 Clay: Why did you never TELL me?!
170 Minnie: You need to work things out on your own.
171 Clay: But... how... who... what...
172 Minnie: I don't want to rush you, you need time to process it and come to terms with it.
173 Trisha: [background] Okay, this should do it... tell me when.
174 Hardcase: [to everyone] We're about to open the bridge door, everyone find some cover and be ready.
175 SOUND: sound of taking positions
176 Misty: Aye sir, ready to go.
177 Hardcase: Ensign... now.
178 SOUND: door slides open, sounds of bridge, but nothing unusual yet
179 Clay: [casually] I'll go in first.
180 Hardcase: [desperate] Doctor get back here!
181 SOUND: sounds of weapons fire from bridge
182 Misty: Too late. Heading in behind him...
183 SOUND: more weapons fire and bunch of klurgh death sounds
184 Misty: Got 'em all sir, come on in!
185 SOUND: everyone comes onto bridge
186 Hardcase: [like seeing a ghost] Doctor Erhardt, you're... you're okay?
187 Clay: [amused] All their shots missed me. Just lucky, I guess.
188 Misty: We've won! Sir, we've won! Good triumphs over evil!
189 Trisha: Bit too easily, don't you think?
190 Hardcase: Before we celebrate, let's not forget about the self-destruct.
191 Misty: Computer, unmute self-destruct countdown.
192 Computer: [sfx: echoing through ship background] [counts down from 100 to 0 behind scene]
193 Hardcase: [hurriedly] Computer, abort self-destruct sequence! Authorization Hardcase, Captain Mack Q., passphrase correct horse battery stapler!
194 Computer: Consent from all three authorizing officers is required.
195
Misty:
[calm and efficient] Abort self-destruct sequence. Authorization L'Quil, Commander Misty G.L., passphrase jovial iguana licks clouds.
[puzzlement] Doctor Erhardt? What are you waiting for?
196 Clay: [thoughtfully] I wonder what will happen if I stop playing the game, if I let this self-destruct play out...
197 Hardcase: [sharp] We'll all DIE, you asshole!
198 Clay: None of this is real. The evidence is overwhelming, maybe you don't see it because YOU aren't real either, I might be the only subject of this simulation.
199 Hardcase: I ORDER you to abort the self-destruct!!!
200 Trisha: Doctor, what if we're wrong?!
201 Clay: Either some ridiculous contrivance will save us, like the destruct circuit failing at the last second, or... or maybe this charade will come to an end. Minnie, dear, what do you think?
202 Minnie: [calm] If you're ready for this... I trust you to make the right decision.
203 Clay: Alright. We'll wait it out and see what happens.
204 Hardcase: DO YOU REALIZE YOU'RE MURDERING FOUR HUNDRED PEOPLE FOR NOTHING?!
205 Clay: See you on the other side, Captain... perhaps. Probably not.
206 SOUND: sound of ship exploding around them, then fade to quietish room with refrigeration type sounds
207 SOUND: pod opens, climbing out
208 Clay: [actually Trisha -- confusion and wonder] What in the world...
209 Computer: [sfx: echoing over loudspeaker] You're no longer IN your world, Clay Erhardt.
210 SOUND: end theme
211 Announcer: Beyond Awakening episode 3, Sleeping, was written and produced by Paul Knierim. It starred John Gaunce as Captain Mack Hardcase, David Loftus as Doctor Clay Erhardt, Gwenith Knight as Ensign Trisha Blackburn, Steff Knappe as Commander Misty L'Quil, Mel Crochemore as Minnie Erhardt, Nick Ben Wong as the klurgh, Curt Caster as Engineer Gray McGuy, Nahla Campbell as the computer, 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.