16 characters: Hardcase, Red, Misty, Clay, Announcer, Trisha, Aisha, Thord, Dimitrius, Klurgh, Computer, Gray, Kobayashi, Minnie, Jim, Admiral
Click on a character's name to get their lines highlighted.
Hardcase (86 lines, 929 words, 27.84%) - [John Gaunce] Captain Mack Hardcase. Confident, arrogant, driven. Captain Kirk type, feels a bit out of his time. Grew up a slave, never went to the academy and thinks book learning is overvalued compared to street smarts. Trusts his gut but also thinks tactically. Hardcase needs to feel important -- he needs to be where the action is and he needs to be making decisions. His self-worth comes from repeatedly saving the galaxy against all odds. Clashes with Erhardt because they're both confident self-assured characters with different motivations, and from Hardcase's perspective Erhardt appears selfish and uncaring about the wider galaxy. [complete]
Clay (59 lines, 887 words, 26.58%) - [David Loftus] Doctor Clay Erhardt. A bit of a mad scientist, likes to experiment, is used to losing patients. Like Hardcase, he's a very self-assured character -- but he doesn't have the drive to be in charge or to make a difference to the galaxy. Erhardt's primary motivation is his own curiosity, his drive is to understand things. Clashes with Hardcase because they have similar character flaws for different reasons. Likely in his 50s. [complete]
Misty (37 lines, 309 words, 9.26%) - [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. Age indeterminate. [complete]
Trisha (18 lines, 216 words, 6.47%) - [Gwenith Knight] Ensign Trisha Blackburn. As we meet her, she's comfortable in her virtual utopia... but once out in the real world she's the nervous type. Young (20s), unsure of herself at times, at first only knows that things aren't making sense. Becomes more outspoken. [complete]
Minnie (9 lines, 69 words, 2.07%) - [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 (5 lines, 58 words, 1.74%) - [Curt Caster] Engineer Gray McGuy. A professional. [complete]
Red (33 lines, 345 words, 10.34%) - [Nick Ben Wong] Ensign Tony Red is the ship's helmsman. He's an eager young recent academy graduate who's excited to plunge into stupid risks. [complete]
Admiral (8 lines, 144 words, 4.32%) - [Roger Arnold] Admiral Graveman is a Confederation bigwig here to relay orders. Knows Captain Hardcase as an annoying rule-breaker who he conflictingly admires for his many successful missions. [complete]
Jim (7 lines, 49 words, 1.47%) - [Sean Curran] Ensign Jim Hardcase, younger brother of Captain Hardcase. [complete]
Kobayashi (1 line, 5 words, 0.15%) - [Mariella Espinosa] Just some random Ensign in engineering. [complete]
Dimitrius (4 lines, 39 words, 1.17%) - [Jose Montalvo] Tough guy. [complete]
Aisha (2 lines, 13 words, 0.39%) - [Kiersten Greenfield] Tough girl. [complete]
Thord (1 line, 6 words, 0.18%) - [Paul Knierim] Meat head. [complete]
Computer (9 lines, 67 words, 2.01%) - [Nahla Campbell] Ship computer. [complete]
Klurgh (4 lines, 26 words, 0.78%) - [Nick Ben Wong] Ruthless evil aliens. They'll all have the same voice, which should probably be an over the top monster voice. They're kind of a hive entity, all the same -- although the commander should sound a bit more intelligent and forceful perhaps. [complete]
Announcer (2 lines, 175 words, 5.24%) - [Paul Knierim] Announcer. [complete]
Script format: Margined | Marginless (for phone viewing)
Listen along as you read:
1 SOUND: shuttle interior and engine sound
2 Hardcase: Set us down as close to the source of the distress signal as you can.
3 Red: There's a storm over the city. These shuttles don't handle too well in wind and rain, so it may get a little bumpy.
4 Hardcase: [amused fond recollection] When I was a young Ensign like you, I loved flying in storms. Crashed a shuttle into the side of a skyscraper in a storm once. [chuckles]
5 Red: I'll try not to follow your example, Captain.
6 Misty: Could we not land NOW sir, outside the storm?
7 Hardcase: [teasing] The hypertube system isn't working down there, so it'd be a long walk in lousy weather. What's the matter Commander, do you get airsick in turbulence?
8 Misty: [offended] Of course not sir, only thinking of your safety.
9 Clay: [mildly amused] I could give you something for the nausea, Commander.
10 SOUND: they hit turbulence, and we hear rain on outside of shuttle
11 Red: Hold on, we're in the storm now!
12 Clay: [couple of grunts from being tossed about by storm]
13 Misty: [couple of grunts from being tossed about by storm]
14 Hardcase: [couple of grunts from being tossed about by storm]
15 SOUND: shuttle rattles
16 Clay: The signal is coming from that communications tower, but I think we should set down in the city square there a block away.
17 Hardcase: Okay Doctor, make it so Ensign Red.
18 SOUND: engine sound changes as they start to land
19 Red: Compensating for wind sheer... reducing thrust... aannnd we're down.
20 SOUND: they finish landing
21 Hardcase: Nice landing, Ensign.
22 Misty: [vomits]
23 Hardcase: Commander L'Quil, please clean that up.
24 Misty: Yes sir, sorry sir.
25 Clay: I'd suggest using both the disinfectant and the deodorizer.
26 SOUND: alcove opens and bottles retrieved
27 Misty: Yes doctor, I'll use three of my tentacles for that and open the hatch for you with another.
28 SOUND: hatch opens to outside rain/wind
29 Clay: [amused admiration] Cthunian multitasking is truly marvelous.
30 SOUND: ensign red gets up and moves to door
31 Red: It looks so deserted out there.
32 Clay: Might just be due to the weather, but I wouldn't count on it.
33 Hardcase: Okay people... the distress signal was vague so we don't know quite what we're getting ourselves into here. Keep your hand lasers at the ready, tactical formation B, let's head out.
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 one, Unrealized Realities.
36 SOUND: commercial break promo swap
37 SOUND: wind and rain, footsteps stop
38 Hardcase: Let's go in here.
39 SOUND: door starts to open
40 Misty: Wait, Captain! Stop!
41 Hardcase: Why, what's wrong?
42 Misty: You're not supposed to go in there, sir. You can use the one next to it.
43 Hardcase: [annoyed] And WHY am I not supposed to go in here?
44 Misty: It's the female lavatory, sir.
45 Hardcase: Oh.
46 SOUND: they start walking again
47 Clay: The Captain can't read Alphonian, Misty.
48 Misty: Not even the iconographs?
49 Clay: English is enough of a struggle for him.
50 Hardcase: I've had more IMPORTANT things to do with my life.
51 SOUND: they halt
52 Hardcase: So what's the label over THIS door say? Don't tell me it's another restroom or I'll start to think the people of this world are seriously incontinent.
53 Misty: It says 'Virtual Lounge Complex 47' sir.
54 SOUND: door auto-opens and they stride in during following line, footsteps continue, server noise grows as background
55 Hardcase: Not the snappiest name, but it'll get us out of the rain.
56 Clay: Warm in here.
57 Misty: [puzzled] The walls are glowing.
58 Red: Those aren't walls, those are servers.
59 Misty: [confused] Servers? Is this a restaurant?
60 Red: Racks of computers, at about the level of Earth's 21st century or Cthunia's Tertiary Reign. The heat from these servers is what makes it so muggy.
61 Hardcase: You understand what this place is, Ensign Red?
62 Red: Yes sir, this is a gathering place for virtual reality gaming.
63 Hardcase: Huh, okay. Never liked VR myself.
64 Misty: Me neither, makes me nauseous.
65 Clay: [wryly] What doesn't?
66 SOUND: they stride through another doorway and server noise fades out
67 Hardcase: So where are all the... people... ah, in here I see.
68 Misty: They look dead. [sniffs the air] But they don't SMELL dead.
69 SOUND: medical scanner
70 Clay: My readings show they're all alive.
71 Hardcase: Then why are they...
72 Red: I think the ancient Earth term for them was 'couch potatoes'.
73 Clay: This is a little more severe than Earth's late 21st century couch potato epidemic ever got. Their brainwaves seem normal, they're awake, but their bodies are effectively partitioned off from their brains. You can shout at them, you can shake them, they'll never know.
74 Hardcase: I'll keep that in mind if I should feel the urge. But I think what I'd rather do is pull their helmets off and talk to them.
75 SOUND: pulling helmet off
76
Hardcase:
Citizen, this is Captain Hardcase of the Confederation ship Chimera, can you hear me?
Apparently not. Doctor?
77 SOUND: medical scanner
78 Clay: Brain activity has ceased, I think you killed him.
79 Hardcase: [embarrassed] Oops. Well, how was I to know? Shouldn't you have WARNED me?
80 Red: Looks like they've been plugged in for a long time.
81 Clay: Months.
82 Red: So how are any of them alive anyway, shouldn't they have died of hunger or thirst?
83 Clay: See this little tube sticking into this one's arm, Ensign? What do you think it does?
84 Red: [joking] Harvests the energy of the human body to power the servers?
85 Clay: It's what we used to call an intravenous feeding tube. Used in medical facilities for patients who can't eat or drink. Or in this case, apparently, people who didn't want their gaming interrupted by their physical needs.
86 Red: Sounds like quite an addiction, I'm not THAT dedicated a gamer.
87 Clay: Yes, my guess is this whole culture became so obsessed with the virtual realities they created that they permanently retreated from their actual reality.
88 Misty: [from afar] Sir! Several of these people are Confederation officers!
89 Hardcase: They must be from the Sacramento, they left a delegation here a few months ago and it was their equipment that sent the distress beacon.
90 Misty: Apparently they got a little too caught up in the local culture, sir.
91 Clay: They were probably trying to investigate by going into the virtual reality. And that's exactly what WE should do.
92 Hardcase: I'm not sure I see the logic in precisely copying the catatonic people who we can't pull out without killing them, Doctor.
93 Clay: I should be able to come up with a drug to inhibit the undesirable effects, allowing someone to enter the VR world while remaining able to communicate with those us in the real world.
94 SOUND: equipment opened, chemicals mixed
95 Hardcase: I'm astounded by how much equipment and chemicals you manage to bring with you on away missions, Doctor.
96
Clay:
Never know when I'll need it all, like now.
There, this should do the job. Now I need a subject.
97 Misty: Maybe my hardy Cthunian physiology would make me the safest choice?
98 Hardcase: Or your unique physiology could make it more dangerous for you. You're too important to us to risk, Commander.
99 Clay: What about Ensign Red?
100 Red: [eagerly] I love VR, sir! I'd love to see what this system can do that's so great nobody wants to leave!
101 Hardcase: Do you understand the risks?
102 Red: [eagerly] Yes sir, no problem! This is what I signed up for!
103 Hardcase: Fine, have at it Ensign.
104
Clay:
Hold out your arm so I can inject you.
There. Get into this sensory suit.
105 SOUND: rubber suit and helmet handover
106 Misty: Here, let me help you.
107 Red: So how is this gonna work, is everybody plugged into a central server with a shared reality or is every patron experiencing something different?
108 Misty: Readings indicate the latter, they're all on separate circuits. So we'll need to plug you into a specific person's simulation in order to make contact with them.
109 Clay: Here's your headset.
110 Hardcase: Let's do this one here, her uniform says she's Ensign Trisha Blackburn from the Sacramento.
111 Clay: Alright, no problem.
112 SOUND: hookups
113 Clay: Ready, Ensign?
114 Red: Born ready!
115 SOUND: sound of VR world appearing, then peaceful outdoors background
116 Red: I'm in!
117 Clay: What do you see, Ensign?
118 Red: I'm out standing in the field... ha ha, get it?
119 Hardcase: What sort of field?
120 SOUND: cows in distance
121 Red: Cow pasture, I guess.
122 Misty: Can you see Ensign Blackburn?
123 Red: No... oh wait, I see her now, she's with a cow.
124 Misty: Milking it?
125 Red: No, just sitting being... friendly with it.
126 Hardcase: [with disgust] Is she acting out some sort of perverted sexual fantasy with the animal?
127 Red: No sir nothing like that, just lying down with it, resting her head against it.
128 Hardcase: Good. See if you can make contact.
129 SOUND: tramping through grass
130 Red: [calling out to distance] Ensign Blackburn!
131 Trisha: [annoyed] What is it? Who are you and what are you doing here?
132 Red: I'm Ensign Tony Red of the Confederation ship Chimera, we're here to rescue you!
133 Trisha: [annoyed] Do I look like I need rescuing? Get out of here, you... prat.
134 Red: Do you understand what's happening to you?
135 Trisha: I understand that my peaceful afternoon of cow cuddling is being interrupted by a very rude young man.
136 Red: Ensign Blackburn, you're a Confederation officer trapped in a virtual reality simulation on Alpha Omega C! Don't you remember that?!
137 Trisha: The Confederation was just a dream, a silly fantasy I used to have. I'm a rancher, this is my cattle ranch, I own it.
138 Aisha: With US.
139 Thord: We like it here very much.
140 Dimitrius: And YOU appear to be a trespasser.
141 Red: [startled] Where did you three come from so suddenly?
142 Trisha: Dimitrius, Aisha and Thord are my polycule. We live here together in perfect bliss and harmony.
143 Red: Does that sound like how real life works to you, or does it sound like a fantasy illusion?
144 Dimitrius: She should mention we're very protective of her.
145 Aisha: If anyone's bothering her, impeding her bliss, we beat them up.
146 Clay: Ensign, your heart rate is elevated.
147 Red: Tell me something I don't know.
148 Dimitrius: Okay, I'll tell you you've got 5 seconds to scram before we bash your face in and flatten your head into a pancake.
149 Red: Wasn't talking to you. Listen, Blackburn, we've got to...
150 Dimitrius: Time's up.
151 SOUND: a beating
152 Red: [10 seconds of grunts from being hit]
153 SOUND: medical scanner
154 Clay: [with eager fascination] He's registering brain trauma almost as if somebody were actually punching him in the head, it's fascinating!
155 Hardcase: [urgently] Get him out of there! Disconnect the headset!
156 SOUND: disconnecting in a hurry
157 Red: [hyperventilating or convulsive noises cresting in death collapse]
158 Hardcase: [alarmed] Ensign! [aside] What's happening to him?!
159 SOUND: medical scanner
160 Clay: [puzzled] He's dead, Captain. I don't think it was the virtual beating, must've been the disconnection his body couldn't handle, my drug mix didn't account for it properly.
161 Hardcase: [aghast] You don't seem very moved by his death.
162 Clay: We've lost plenty of Ensigns before and we'll lose plenty more, it's all in a day's work.
163 Hardcase: He had a family.
164 Clay: Are people with families more important? As a life-long bachelor, I take offense.
165 Hardcase: His two young daughters are orphans now, their mother died on an away mission three months ago.
166 Clay: [shrug] They'll be set for life thanks to the Confederation death benefit. The important thing is that we learn something from this. It looks like he suffered a termination shock from insufficient cyclotronic filtration at the blood-brain barrier. I can compensate for that, just a slight adjustment to the drug.
167 Hardcase: [annoyed] See that you do.
168 SOUND: sound of chemicals mixing
169 Clay: [cheerfully] Let's see, the dioxiphram will secure the brain from termination shock... and a dash of methylchorate will have them waking up happy. Medicine is so much more of an art than most people realize, you know.
170 Hardcase: It's like when McGuy calls engineering an art, it always means he's spit-balling with no idea what he's doing. Commander, is what he's saying making sense to you?
171 Misty: I'm not a doctor sir, but the chemical theory behind what he's saying matches my conjecture from my readings.
172 Hardcase: And his solution?
173 Misty: Chemically plausible, sir.
174 SOUND: sound of chemical reaction
175 Clay: [proudly] All done!
176 Hardcase: I'm not risking any more of my officers.
177 Clay: [proudly] No need, this formula here should make it safe to disconnect the people who are already hooked up.
178 Hardcase: Well... if you're sure you're ready, let's revive one of the Confederation officers from the Sacramento first.
179 Clay: Okay, I'll pick the one Red was interfaced with.
180 Hardcase: Picking guinea pigs is just a little too easy for you, Doc.
181 Clay: I'm confident in my skills, despite the occasional setback. Anyway you've killed as many as I have so far today so I'd check the judgement if I were you.
182 Hardcase: Hrmph.
183 SOUND: injection sound
184 Clay: She should wake up any second.
185 Trisha: [subtle groans of confused awakening]
186 Clay: Should be safe to remove the headset now.
187 SOUND: removing headset
188 Trisha: [nervous] What... what's going on? Where am I?
189 Hardcase: You're on Alpha Omega C.
190 Trisha: [nervous] WHO am I?
191 Hardcase: According to your uniform, you're Ensign junior grade Trisha Blackburn of the Galactic Confederation space fleet. You've spent the past several months trapped in a virtual reality simulation.
192 Trisha: Oh. Like that guy was saying.
193 Clay: Do you remember, Ensign?
194 Trisha: [carefully] I never really forgot, it's just... my history before I put the headset on, that all felt so UNREAL.
195 Clay: Let's get you out of your sensory suit.
196 SOUND: sound of unzipping and pulling off rubber suit
197 Hardcase: [objecting] But... she's NUDE under the sensory suit!
198 Clay: Oh, I forgot about the quirky hangups of you conservative types. Turn your back please, Captain.
199 Trisha: Have you got a uniform for me?
200 Clay: Sure, I think you're about the same size as Ensign Red and he won't be needing his anymore.
201 SOUND: continued sounds of changing clothes
202 Trisha: It's hard to believe this is real.
203 Misty: Doesn't the difficulty of reality distinguish it from the ease of fantasy?
204 Trisha: Not necessarily. And think about it, is it easier to believe in being part of a galactic Confederation darting about the galaxy faster than light risking our lives saving planets... or to believe in cattle ranching?
205
Clay:
Depends if you're a vegan.
What now, Captain Hardcase? Should I start reviving the others?
206 Hardcase: Leave that for the followup team. Let's just get home to the Chimera and get ourselves a good night's sleep. Blackburn, you come with us.
207 SOUND: long musical fade out
208 SOUND: klurgh mine, machinery sounds, oppressive
209 Klurgh: You! Slave! Come here!
210 Hardcase: [meekly] Me, sir?
211 Klurgh: You have not refined this ore correctly, slave.
212 Hardcase: But, I ran it through twice!
213 Klurgh: Purity level is only 93%, we require 99%!
214 Hardcase: I'm sorry, sir.
215 Klurgh: You WILL be. Humans learn only through punishment.
216 SOUND: electric whip
217 Hardcase: [5 grunts of pain from being hit by electric whip]
218 Computer: It's oh five thirty, Captain Hardcase. Time to wake up.
219
Hardcase:
[rubbing eyes and yawning] Thank you, computer.
Any updates for me?
220 Computer: Followup team reports successful landing on Alpha Omega C.
221 Hardcase: Good. Tell them to stick to protocol and document everything for those reports the Admiralty is always on our asses about.
222 Computer: Yes, Captain. What temperature would you like your shower this morning, Captain?
223 Hardcase: As hot as your safety protocols allow.
224 SOUND: stumbles into shower and we hear the water start, then scene cuts out
225 SOUND: doctor's quarters
226 Clay: [groggy] Computer, did you wake me?
227 Computer: Negative, Doctor Erhardt. You specifically requested no wake-up call.
228 Clay: And yet... oh five thirty and I wake up like clockwork.
229 Computer: Is there a problem, Doctor Erhardt?
230 Clay: Doesn't it strike you as odd that I always fall asleep and wake up at the exact same times?
231 Computer: My medical database categorizes this as optimal normality.
232 Clay: But isn't it TOO normal?
233 Computer: I do not understand, Doctor Erhardt.
234 SOUND: creak and clothing movement from getting out of bed
235 Clay: [shrugging it off] Oh well.
236 SOUND: musical fade for passage of time
237 SOUND: engineering background
238 Gray: That's just not possible.
239 Kobayashi: The readings say it is.
240 SOUND: door opens, footsteps enter
241
Gray:
Go check them again, Ensign.
Doctor Erhardt, what can I do for you?
242 Clay: McGuy, you're three weeks overdue for your physical. I have to make it an order now.
243 Gray: Back when I was married, my wife would always nag me so I didn't miss a checkup.
244 Clay: We single people have to take responsibility for ourselves. 'Bout time for you to re-learn that.
245 Gray: Yes SIR, I promise I'll report to medical this afternoon.
246 Clay: I'll hold you to that. Hell, I'd drag you to medical with me right now, but I want to get some lunch first.
247 SOUND: we follow Clay out the door into hall where various voices pass
248 SOUND: materialization effect, possibly
249 Minnie: Hello there Clay, are you headed to the mess hall?
250 Clay: [alarmed] Where did you come from, who are you?
251 Minnie: Don't be silly Clay, I'm your wife.
252 Clay: Oh, of course dear.
253 SOUND: hardcase footsteps approach
254 Hardcase: Who's this, Doctor?
255 Clay: You know my wife, Captain.
256 Hardcase: [light laugh at self for not recognizing her] Oh, of course, what am I thinking?
257 Minnie: I'm also your communications officer.
258 Hardcase: That's right, I see you all the time.
259 Minnie: In fact you just saw me on the bridge earlier.
260 Hardcase: Yeah, I did. Well, uh, enjoy your lunch.
261 Minnie: You too, sir.
262 SOUND: hardcase walks into lunch room, light crowd, sits at table
263 Jim: Mack! Come sit with me!
264 Hardcase: Hey Jim. Uh, Jim... have you ever had a feeling like... uh, like reverse déjà vu?
265 Jim: [perplexed] Reverse déjà vu?
266 Hardcase: Like something just happened for the millionth time, or you just talked to somebody for the millionth time, but it feels like the first time, like you've never met them before?
267 Jim: Nope. You okay, brother?
268
Hardcase:
Hmm. It's just a weird feeling, I'll try to forget it.
What's that you're eating?
269 Jim: Aldeberan pie.
270 Hardcase: If mom were here, she'd scold you for having dessert for lunch.
271 Jim: That's why I came out to the stars with you, you're more understanding. What are YOU going to have?
272 Computer: Your order, Captain?
273 Hardcase: I'm in the mood for some variety. Computer, make a selection for me... from the Cthunian foods database.
274 SOUND: food replicator sound
275 Computer: Enjoy your meal, Captain.
276 Jim: [a little disgusted] Looks... interesting.
277 Misty: [sfx: approaching] I see you're finally giving Cthunian food a try, sir.
278
Hardcase:
[distracted by thoughts] Yeah.
Misty... may I call you Misty, Commander L'Quil?
279 Misty: As you like, sir.
280 Hardcase: Misty, can you remind me how long Minnie Erhardt has been aboard?
281 SOUND: eats a little, crunchy
282 Misty: Three months, sir -- just after I came aboard.
283 Hardcase: The Epsilon Gamma B mission. I presided over their marriage ceremony there.
284 Misty: That's right, sir.
285 Hardcase: Hmm.
286 SOUND: eats a little more, crunchy
287 Misty: How's the plate of ploobic?
288 Hardcase: Interesting texture.
289 Misty: That'll be the live cthunian maggots, they make the texture change while you eat.
290 Hardcase: [choking and vomiting sounds]
291 Misty: I never touch the stuff myself, I think it's disgusting. But I admire your bravery, sir.
292 Jim: [chuckling] That's my brother, always taking the big risks first and asking questions later.
293 SOUND: music link suggestive of time passing
294 SOUND: bridge
295 SOUND: doors open, someone strides in
296 Hardcase: Ensign Blackburn, good to see you up and about.
297 Trisha: Doctor Erhardt declared me fit for duty sir, I was wondering if you could use another officer?
298 Hardcase: Take the helm, Ensign Blackburn.
299 Misty: [softly in Hardcase's ear] One helmsman dies, another appears to take his place. All part of the cosmic harmony.
300 Minnie: [interrupting] Sir, we're receiving an urgent hail from Confederation high command. It's Admiral Graveman.
301 Hardcase: Put him on screen.
302 SOUND: putting on screen effect
303 Admiral: Captain Hardcase. I hope you haven't been getting into too much trouble.
304 Hardcase: You know me Admiral, I wouldn't have it any other way.
305 Admiral: Have you finished up on Alpha Omega C?
306 Hardcase: Almost. We figured out how to break them out of their VR safely and we have a team down there working on reviving them now.
307 Admiral: You'll have to leave that team there for a while, I've got new orders for the Chimera. There's a ship in distress in the Beta Epsilon system.
308 Hardcase: We should be able to get there a few hours, piece of cake.
309 Admiral: One little complication... the ship in distress is Klurgh.
310 Hardcase: [disgust] The Klurgh?!
311 Admiral: I know how you feel about the Klurgh, Captain... but you're the closest ship. The Klurgh council specifically gave us permission for you to enter the demilitarized zone to render assistance, they don't have any ships of their own close enough.
312 Hardcase: It's supposed to be a demilitarized zone, what do you think one of their warships is doing in there? Obviously plotting an attack on the Confederation.
313 Admiral: It's a freighter, and they've explained it was a navigational error.
314 Hardcase: You believe them?! With all due respect sir, you know my history with the Klurgh!
315 Admiral: And that's why you're the perfect representative to help us build bridges. Show them the Confederation has mercy for its enemies, that we can work together.
316 Hardcase: I don't suppose I can...
317 Admiral: No, you can't. You have your orders, now follow them.
318 SOUND: screen off
319 Hardcase: [sighs with frustration]
320 SOUND: pressing button
321 Hardcase: Mr. McGuy, we'll be needing super-luminal velocities.
322 Gray: [sfx: processed] Aye sir, star drive is fully charged, maximum star drive available at your command.
323 SOUND: pressing button
324 Hardcase: Ensign Blackburn, lay in a course to Beta Epsilon and engage star drive at maximum.
325 Trisha: Course plotted, engaging star drive.
326 SOUND: light speed jump, then gentle music transition to calm travel feeling
327 SOUND: commercial break here
328 SOUND: quarters
329 Clay: [unsettled] Personal log, May 6th 2283, thirteen hundred hours. Doctor Clay Erhardt recording. All my patients have been discharged. Casualties on this mission were light. All is well. Yet I can't shed this sinking feeling that something is deeply wrong with my life. Everything feels so routine. I wake up at the same time every day, eat my meals at set times, perform my duties, and then I fall asleep at the same time every night no matter what stimulants I take. Even the deaths, like Ensign Red, feel so utterly routine. It's as if my life were scripted. I can't help but think of the planet we just visited, the people there wasting their lives in an illusion they never question, and wonder if I'm doing the same...
330 Minnie: Dear, you're being so melodramatic.
331 Clay: Don't you feel it, Minnie? Don't you feel the artificiality, the fakeness?
332 Minnie: All seems normal to me.
333 Clay: I guess if I'm living an illusion that'd mean you're probably not real anyway.
334 Minnie: That's a hell of a thing to say to your wife.
335 Clay: Sorry dear.
336 SOUND: another soft musical transition
337 SOUND: bridge
338 Trisha: We've arrived, Captain -- dropping to sub-light.
339 SOUND: engine sound changes accordingly
340 Misty: Captain, we're being fired on!
341 SOUND: battle sounds - alert klaxon, weapons fire, shakes and explosions steam venting, background people, etc
342 Hardcase: Who's attacking us?!
343 Misty: Sensors are picking up 6 ships, design appears to be... Klurgh!
344 Hardcase: [yelling] It's a trap!
345 Misty: How long until we can go back to light speed?!
346 Trisha: Star drive needs another 5 minutes to purge the manifolds and recharge!
347 Hardcase: I don't think we HAVE 5 minutes!
348 SOUND: another hit
349 Misty: Shields down to thirty five percent!
350 Trisha: [softly, with feeling of de-realization] This isn't how things are supposed to be...
351 SOUND: end theme
352 Announcer: Beyond Awakening episode 1, Unrealized Realities, was written and produced by Paul Knierim. It starred John Gaunce as Captain Mack Hardcase, David Loftus as Doctor Clay Erhardt, Nick Ben Wong as Ensign Tony Red, Steff Knappe as Commander Misty L'Quil, Gwenith Knight as Ensign Trisha Blackburn, Roger Arnold as Admiral Graveman, Mel Crochemore as Minnie Erhardt, Nahla Campbell as the computer, Curt Caster as Engineer Gray McGuy, Sean Curran as Jim Hardcase, Jose Montalvo as Dimitrius, Nick Ben Wong as the klurgh, Nicc Fury as Aisha, Paul Knierim as Thord, Mariella Espinosa as Ensign Kobayashi, 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.