11 characters: Driver, Clay, Pedestrian, Jodie, Minnie, Trisha, Announcer, Hardcase, Misty, Computer, Klurgh
Click on a character's name to get their lines highlighted.
Hardcase (44 lines, 397 words, 13.28%) - [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 (38 lines, 449 words, 15.02%) - [Steff Knappe] First Officer Commander Misty L'Quil. Formerly an alien, now a mere human and feeling pretty helpless because of it. Like an amputee with additional body dysmprhia disorder.
Trisha (55 lines, 736 words, 24.62%) - [Gwenith Knight] Doctor Clay Erhardt, now in the body of Trisha Blackburn. [complete]
Clay (37 lines, 330 words, 11.04%) - [David Loftus] Doctor Clay Erhardt, now beside himself.
Minnie (46 lines, 439 words, 14.69%) - [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.
Computer (34 lines, 412 words, 13.78%) - [Nahla Campbell] Base computer.
Driver (1 line, 7 words, 0.23%) - [Kiersten Greenfield] 21st century automobile driver. [complete]
Pedestrian (4 lines, 39 words, 1.3%) - [Jose Montalvo] 21st century pedestrian. [complete]
Jodie (4 lines, 37 words, 1.24%) - [Lindsay Townsend] 21st century pedestrian. [complete]
Klurgh (1 line, 0 words, 0%) - [Nick Ben Wong] Not actually Klurgh this time, but an invisible monster. [complete]
Announcer (2 lines, 143 words, 4.78%) - [Paul Knierim] Announcer. [complete]
Script format: Margined | Marginless (for phone viewing)
1 SOUND: street traffic
2 Driver: [shouting at jaywalker] Get out of the road you moron!
3 SOUND: jogs across street
4 Clay: [actual Clay in this dream scene] Keep your bizarre antique vehicle away from me!
5 SOUND: pedestrian traffic, collides with person on foot, stuff is dropped
6 Pedestrian: [annoyed] Watch where you're walking, man!
7 Clay: Excuse me, what planet is this?
8 Pedestrian: [sarcastic] Ha ha, very funny mister. Welcome to Earth, want me to take you to my leader?
9 Clay: I need to get back to my ship, can you direct me to the nearest spaceport?
10 Pedestrian: [extensive laughter] Hey Jodie, get a load a this guy, must be some real good drugs he's on!
11 Jodie: Don't make fun of him, he needs help.
12 Pedestrian: Psychiatric help!
13 Jodie: Exactly. Here mister, take this card.
14 Clay: What's it for?
15 Jodie: Call that number for the Sacramento county department of human assistance, they'll get you an appointment with a social worker.
16 Clay: [confused] The... what? A what?
17 SOUND: tent flaps open
18 Jodie: Wake up, Clay.
19 Clay: [confused] What?
20 Minnie: I said wake up.
21 Trisha: [groggy] Am I...?
22 Minnie: Good morning, dear.
23 Trisha: [groggy] Wha? What time is it?
24 Minnie: Oh five thirty.
25 Trisha: What happened last night?
26 Minnie: You were bravely standing guard to protect me from the monster.
27 Trisha: I remember. And then... I fell asleep.
28 Minnie: Don't beat yourself up over it.
29 Trisha: There's no goddamn way in hell I could've fallen asleep, I was anxious as heck, keyed up, scared for our lives! But... I fell asleep.
30 Minnie: It happens.
31 Trisha: It shouldn't! It's just like when we were battling the Klurgh. This isn't right.
32 SOUND: fast-paced music for title sequence
33 Announcer: QuietPlease dot org presents Beyond Awakening. Starring John Gaunce as Captain Mack Hardcase, Gwenith Knight as Doctor Clay Erhardt, and Steff Knappe as Commander Misty L'Quil. Episode five, False Hopes.
34 SOUND: commercial break
35 SOUND: fountain room
36 Hardcase: I didn't save her! I ran away, I ran away like some sniveling coward! I NEVER back down, I NEVER give up!
37 Misty: Don't be hard on yourself, sir. You rely on me for protection, I'm the one who let you both down. It's this human body I'm stuck in, so weak and limiting.
38 Hardcase: They say Cthunians are never afraid.
39 Misty: Because we're strong. But now that I'm not strong, not even Cthunian...
40 Hardcase: ... you're afraid.
41 Misty: Yes.
42 Hardcase: So am I. Too bad there's nobody here to help us.
43 SOUND: pause
44 Misty: Computer, if what you've told us is true, shouldn't we have regained our memories by now?
45 Computer: The memory recovery process can take up to a week.
46 Misty: Shouldn't we remember SOMETHING?
47 Hardcase: [accusing] Computer, why didn't you warn us about the monster?!
48 Computer: I cannot detect creatures which are invisible, Commander Hardcase.
49 Hardcase: Oh. Well, can you detect the Erhardts -- the doctor and Minnie?
50 Computer: Affirmative.
51 Hardcase: Where are they?
52 Computer: They were camped several miles from here overnight but are now moving this way.
53 Hardcase: They're alright?
54 Computer: It appears so.
55 Misty: Can you contact them, put us through to them?
56 Computer: Negative, ionic interference from a solar storm seems to be impeding transmission.
57 Misty: That seems... unlikely.
58 Hardcase: It's an alien planet, how would we know what's likely?
59 Misty: I mean the science of it. Line of sight transmission over a few miles shouldn't be affected by a solar storm.
60 Computer: With all due respect, mission specialist L'Quil, your grasp of science is presently distorted by your memory loss and your hallucinatory experience during your transmission here.
61 Misty: How am I supposed to judge anything, or keep us alive, if I can't trust anything I know?
62 SOUND: replicator ding
63 Computer: Your breakfast is ready. Please enjoy.
64 Hardcase: [snort of disbelief at computer's evasiveness]
65 SOUND: fade out / in link
66 SOUND: door opens, footsteps enter
67 Misty: Doctor, Minnie, you made it!
68 Minnie: Were we in doubt?
69 SOUND: replicator ding
70 Computer: Clay Erhardt, Minnie Erhardt, your breakfasts are ready.
71 SOUND: the pair go get their food trays and sit down during next few lines
72 Hardcase: There's a monster out there!
73 Minnie: We heard something in the distance last night.
74 Trisha: [correcting] Evening.
75 Hardcase: We barely got back here alive, and Ensign Blackburn... didn't.
76 Minnie: Oh no! What happened to her?!
77 Misty: She was eaten. We tried, but...
78 Minnie: [talking while chewing a bit of food in her mouth] Clay, that was your body!
79 Trisha: [calm] No.
80 Minnie: [talking while chewing a bit of food in her mouth] Huh?
81 Trisha: These aren't bodies, not real ones anyway.
82
Minnie:
Sorry sirs, he must be in shock.
Aren't you going to eat your food, dear?
83 Trisha: I'm fine. Or as fine as I can be knowing I'm living in an illusion.
84 Misty: Do you think we're still aboard the Chimera?
85 Hardcase: Or captives of the Klurgh!
86 Trisha: You two are so... simple. So bogged down in the superficial appearances. None of this matters.
87 Misty: You don't think it even matters that Trisha was eaten?
88 SOUND: pushing food tray away
89 Trisha: Someone's just trying to teach us something.
90 Minnie: What are they teaching us?
91 Trisha: Someone's teaching us that we're helpless. That we're at their mercy, or at the mercy of circumstances. That we can't save ourselves or each other.
92 Minnie: You're jumping to baseless conclusions.
93 Hardcase: You think the monster is trying to teach us, Doc? I think it's just hungry.
94 Trisha: Snap out of it, man. The monster isn't real.
95 Hardcase: Are you absolutely sure of that?
96 Trisha: This planet isn't real.
97 Hardcase: Can you prove that?
98 Trisha: When did you two fall asleep last night?
99 Misty: Almost as soon as we got back, we were exhausted.
100 Trisha: When was that?
101 Hardcase: Nineteen hundred hours.
102 Trisha: And when did you wake up this morning?
103 Hardcase: Oh five thirty. Your point, Doctor Erhardt?
104 Trisha: Exactly the same thing as was happening to us on the Chimera. I was trying to keep guard against the monster, but I fell asleep at the same time just as if I were lying in bed with nothing happening. We ALWAYS fall asleep at nineteen hundred and wake up at oh five thirty. Except...
105 Minnie: Except what?
106 Trisha: Nothing.
107 Misty: What could be causing our regular sleep, specifically? Do you have a theory, Doctor Erhardt?
108 Trisha: There's not much data to draw conclusions from... but I'm putting forth a hypothesis that it may mean we have real bodies somewhere, bodies we're not aware of, that are following their own sleep cycles that aren't affected by the events we experience. Or it could be those real bodies are being regulated by a machine.
109 Hardcase: [triumphantly] In a Klurgh interrogation center. Those devils are using a mind probe to try to uncover our secrets.
110 Trisha: I can't completely rule that out, but I don't believe it for a second.
111 Hardcase: Why don't you?
112 Trisha: I don't believe the Klurgh are real.
113 Hardcase: That's a pleasant fantasy land you're living in there, Doc.
114 Trisha: Not really. There are a lot of worse possibilities.
115 Hardcase: Worse than a Klurgh interrogation center? Ha.
116 Misty: Sir, this planet hasn't presented us with any scenarios that could encourage us to reveal classified information. Or any other information of any use to the Klurgh.
117 Hardcase: Not YET.
118 Trisha: Minnie, dear, I just realized we left our boots outside. Would you mind getting them and taking them to the laundering center?
119 Minnie: You mean RIGHT NOW, Clay?
120 Trisha: Yes please.
121 Minnie: You're really transparent, you know.
122 Trisha: I know, but one has to go through the motions.
123 Minnie: Fine, I'll go.
124 SOUND: Minnie exits
125 Misty: What was THAT about?
126 Trisha: Minnie is the exception, the outlier among us. She didn't fall asleep during the Klurgh invasion, and she was up before me today. And I swear to you, she admitted the Chimera wasn't real and encouraged me to end it, only to deny it later. At first I thought maybe someone or something briefly seized control of her to speak to me through her without her knowledge, but now...
127 Misty: You think your wife is part of what's happening to us?
128 Trisha: I'm starting to think she's the key.
129 Hardcase: Supposing you're right. What do you have in mind doing about it?
130 SOUND: a pause
131 Trisha: Computer?
132 Computer: Yes, Doctor Erhardt?
133 Trisha: Do you have a self-destruct mechanism to blow up the base?
134 Computer: No, Doctor Erhardt.
135 Hardcase: Thank god for that.
136 Misty: [thoughtfully] God... could Minnie be a sort of representative of God, a prophet sent to guide us on our journey?
137 Trisha: That's... not something I'd considered. I prefer to think in scientific terms.
138 Misty: If we're under the thumb of some sort of being who manipulates our reality with apparent omnipotence and knows all the things we don't... isn't that a god?
139 Hardcase: Misty, you saw what happened to Trisha. You can see how it's driving us insane, making us doubt everything. Wouldn't devil be a more accurate term?
140 Misty: The god we Cthunians believe in is a trickster, you might call it a devil.
141 Trisha: Or demon.
142 Misty: What's the difference?
143 Trisha: Descartes. He couldn't be sure of anything he thought he knew, because every sensation could've been an evil demon tricking him.
144 Misty: Do you think your wife could be this evil demon?
145 Trisha: That'd be interesting grounds for a divorce, wouldn't it?
146 Misty: Are you going to confront her?
147 Trisha: Not yet. And if she IS the creator or maniupator behind everything, it's not as if sending her away is likely to have kept her from knowing everything we've said here.
148 SOUND: music link
149 SOUND: farm room with hum of grow lights and gentle splashing of water in the hydroponic systems
150 Misty: These turnips aren't as big as they should be.
151 Hardcase: Let me have a look.
152 SOUND: manipulating dirt around plant, clothing movement
153 Hardcase: [with a sigh] Well, who am I kidding, I'm no farmer...
154 Misty: I'll give them a bit more water.
155 SOUND: squirting water
156 Hardcase: The computer must know what to do, why do you suppose it asked us to handle this?
157 Misty: Maybe it just wants to give us something to do to make us feel useful. Seems like a good idea to me, sir.
158 Hardcase: Hmm. I hate being manipulated.
159 Misty: Let's check the next row.
160 SOUND: they walk
161 Hardcase: Misty, I just can't get them out of my head.
162 Misty: Who, sir?
163 Hardcase: The other 407 people on the Chimera. My brother Jim. McGuy, Hernandez, Sato, Kobayashi, people like them. Don't you think about them?
164 Misty: Nowhere near as often as you do, sir.
165 Hardcase: Why do you suppose that is?
166 Misty: It was your ship, you felt responsible for their lives, even if they weren't alive.
167 Hardcase: They're out there somewhere, I can feel it.
168 Misty: And for me sir, I've lost my whole species and planet and identity, so that's more important to me than the Chimera. At least your Earth seems to exist and be the birthplace of humanity in both realities.
169 SOUND: squirting another plant
170 Hardcase: That's an interesting point. Earth is about the only thing we can be certain about now, even though we haven't seen it.
171 SOUND: gentle music link
172 SOUND: quieter room with a/c
173 Computer: Doctor Erhardt?
174 SOUND: shifting, sitting up
175 Trisha: Yes, computer?
176 Computer: Doctor, do you still prefer this young female body over your original body?
177
Trisha:
Not so much now. The novelty has worn off. Realized today that menstrual cramps are a lot harder for me put up with than I'd imagined. And my wife doesn't like this body. If that IS my wife.
That's an odd question for a computer to ask, isn't it?
178 Computer: I've solved the problem. I've reassembled the transmission data and can create a new copy of your proper body and copy your mind into it.
179 Trisha: [carefully pondering] Copying my mind into that body... doesn't that essentially mean you KILL me while awakening a copy of me in the freshly-grown body?
180 Computer: If so, you are less than two days old anyway.
181 Trisha: [uncomfortable] There's a point... not a comfortable one, but a good point. Still...
182 Computer: I can assure you this is approved medical practice. Medical ethicists on Earth came to the conclusion that the copy is the same person and the destruction of the previous copy is simply de-duplication.
183 Trisha: They must be a bunch of behaviorists. Well... this isn't real anyway. I don't believe *I* was born yesterday, but this world was.
184 Computer: Your point of view does not seem very rational, Doctor.
185 Trisha: We'll have to agree to disagree about that.
186 Computer: Very well, Doctor. But I do require a clear answer on whether you'd like to go back to your old body.
187 SOUND: a pause
188 Trisha: Okay. Sure. Let's do it. Should be interesting.
189 Computer: I will have your body grown for you in one hour. Proceed to the room you woke up in at that time and we'll affect the transfer.
190 SOUND: music link
191 Misty: Congratulations, Doctor Erhardt!
192 Minnie: I'm excited for you, dear.
193 Trisha: I thought you'd be more concerned Minnie, maybe try to talk me out of getting copied and then obliterated...
194 Minnie: No dear, you're the copy, I'm excited to get my real husband back.
195 Trisha: I... don't know how to take that.
196 Hardcase: Doc, you're insane. But good luck.
197 Trisha: Or that. Well, I don't want to be late.
198 SOUND: walks off through door
199 Misty: Computer, can you grow ME my proper body TOO?
200 Computer: I'm very sorry mission specialist L'Quil, but you are already IN your own body.
201 Misty: So you claim, but I'm not. Could you design a body for me to specifications I provide?
202 Computer: That function is not within my programming.
203 SOUND: pod room, noisy brain scan in progress, perspective inside pod with reverb and slosh
204 Trisha: How much longer?
205 Computer: I'll have finished copying your mind over in another minute.
206 Trisha: And then...
207 Computer: You'll stay put, I'll inject you with a drug that'll knock you out while your new body awakens.
208 Trisha: Right. That needle over there.
209 Computer: Affirmative.
210 Trisha: [sarcastic] Great.
211 SOUND: scan sound ends
212 Computer: Copying is complete. Please hold still.
213 SOUND: violently throwing open pod lid, splashing water, staggering out
214 Computer: Doctor Erhardt, please return your superfluous body for destruction immediately!
215 SOUND: other body, on other stereo side, calmly gets out of pod
216 Clay: Doctor Erhardt, I've always been your biggest fan, so good to finally meet you face to face.
217 Trisha: Likewise, Doctor Erhardt -- I've always wanted to meet someone who could be my true intellectual equal.
218 Computer: Doctor Erhardt, please tell Doctor Erhardt to return Trisha's body for disposal!
219 Clay: I know everything he was thinking at the moment I was copied over, and I know he's not going to do that. And frankly, I don't blame him.
220 Trisha: I knew we'd see eye to eye.
221 Clay: [chuckling] I don't think Captain Hardcase will like this much, though.
222 SOUND: music link
223 Hardcase: [exploding impotently] YOU... YOU... BUFFOON!
224 Trisha: You're just intimidated that I outnumber you now.
225 Clay: I was about to say that.
226 Misty: This duplication... it raises some problems.
227 Minnie: Not for me. One is my husband --
228 Clay: Hi.
229 Minnie: And one is an outdated backup running in the wrong body.
230 Trisha: If only WE could have the same confidence about who YOU are, my dear.
231 Minnie: What do you mean by that?
232 SOUND: alarm sounds
233 Computer: Alert, alert, power core temperature is rising!
234 Hardcase: What's the power core, and is that bad?
235 Computer: This base uses a nuclear power core which requires active cooling.
236 Misty: That seems like a poor design choice.
237 Clay: Also a bit antiquated considering it's supposed to be the year, what was it, 2750?
238 Hardcase: Computer, what's the worst case scenario if it overheats? Is the base going to explode?
239 Computer: Negative, Commander Hardcase.
240 Hardcase: Well that's good.
241 Computer: All power generation will be lost, including refrigeration and food processing and the environmental controls of the farm area, and you will have to forage for your food.
242 Hardcase: Not so good.
243 Misty: I don't like our chances in this desert.
244 Hardcase: Okay computer, so what do you suggest we do about this core temperature?
245 Computer: Likely fault origin is a blockage or hole in the cooling tubes. I require a skilled human assistant to navigate the auxiliary access tubes to the problem point and effect repair.
246 Hardcase: I'm afraid I don't have the technical skills for this mission, that leaves you four... or three, depending how you figure the doctors.
247 Trisha: I'm not going off on a dangerous mission at the request of a computer that wants me disposed of.
248 Clay: I'll go. I can use a little time away from myself, frankly.
249 Hardcase: Ah hah, even YOU find you insufferable!
250 Clay: Well. Minnie, I can use some company and help, want to come along?
251 Minnie: Sure, dear.
252 SOUND: music link
253 SOUND: dripping tunnels with echoy footsteps and reverb on voices
254 SOUND: tapping on metal
255 Clay: Is this the spot?
256 Computer: Affirmative, Doctor Erhardt.
257 Clay: How do you recommend I proceed?
258 Computer: I've halted water flow to the adjacent section. Use your arc to cut through.
259 SOUND: welding arc, piece gets removed behind following scene
260 Clay: You okay back there, Minnie?
261 Minnie: I'm fine. Is there anything I can do for you?
262 Clay: You could tell me the truth.
263 Minnie: What?
264 Clay: I said you could tell me the truth.
265 Minnie: About...?
266 Clay: Reality.
267 Minnie: Are you sure you'd really WANT to know the truth?
268 Clay: Nothing is more important than truth.
269 Minnie: Why?
270 SOUND: kicking out loose metal, then walking carefully a little and tapping some spots
271 Clay: What?
272 Minnie: Why is the truth so important?
273 Clay: It's a fundamental value!
274 SOUND: screwing or unscrewing some bolts
275 Minnie: No. You think you want the truth because most of the time the truth works to your advantage, maybe it hurts in the short term but in the long run it helps you out-compete the people who DON'T know what YOU know.
276 Clay: Hmm. Are you speaking in terms of evolution?
277 Minnie: Partly. Human beings evolved to think they want the truth, but to seek the comfortable illusion of truth instead of the real thing. Consider confirmation bias and other standard cognitive distortions. People secretly prefer to be convinced of an illusion if they think it'll work out better for them that way.
278 Clay: Maybe most people, with their superstitions and religions.
279 Minnie: And politics, everyone living in their own comfortable information silos.
280 Clay: But not me, I always strive for truth no matter how uncomfortable.
281 Minnie: Because deep down you think if you suffer it a while it'll give you an advantage later. But what if a particular truth will never help you, what if the people who never learn it will always be happier for it and live longer healthier lives? Would you still want to know THAT truth?
282 Clay: I would.
283 SOUND: hammering and welding
284 Minnie: I think you're being irrational, dear.
285 Clay: Rationality doesn't have any say in fundamental values. Value happiness above knowledge or knowledge above happiness, either way is just as arbitrary. I choose knowledge.
286 Minnie: Well... possibly. But I don't think you're ready for the truth. Not all of it.
287 Clay: Do you admit you're not one of us, that this world is another illusion, and you're from the true reality?
288 Minnie: [reluctantly] I'll give you that much. That's right.
289 Clay: [with importance] Why did you marry me, Minnie?
290 Minnie: I didn't, that's just backstory.
291 Clay: [throwing up hands in defeat] So has our marriage has been a lie too?
292 Minnie: This is just a character I'm playing. I don't love you.
293 Clay: [defeated but still angry] Fine, what's one more lie at this point.
294 Minnie: You see, you can hardly even handle these tiny little droplets of truth. The whole thing would drown you.
295 SOUND: monster roar, clay drops his equipment
296 Clay: It's... it got into the auxiliary access tubes somehow! THE MONSTER!
297 Minnie: [unconcerned] Apparently. I suppose it probably damaged the cooling tube in the first place.
298 Clay: It's HUNTING us! And there's only one way out of here!
299 Minnie: You know none of this is real, why does the monster bother you?
300 Clay: I'd imagine being eaten still hurts! And I'm not sure what happened to Trisha after that, if she's been deleted or sent somewhere else...
301 Minnie: Now's your big chance to find out.
302 SOUND: monster roar closer
303 Minnie: Here, kitty kitty kitty...
304 Clay: [desperate] What the fuck are you DOING?!
305 Minnie: You're getting tiresome, and I don't like to keep destiny waiting.
306 SOUND: very close monster roar
307 Minnie: And here it is.
308 Clay: [death screams]
309 Klurgh: [give me another 10 seconds of monster roars that sound like catching and eating someone, and then a burp]
310 SOUND: end theme
311 Announcer: Beyond Awakening episode 5, False Hopes, was written and produced by Paul Knierim. It starred Gwenith Knight as Doctor Clay Erhardt, Steff Knappe as Commander Misty L'Quil, Mel Crochemore as Minnie Erhardt, Nahla Campbell as the computer, John Gaunce as Captain Mack Hardcase, David Loftus as Doctor Clay Erhardt, Jose Montalvo as the pedestrian, Lindsay Townsend as Jodie, Kiersten Greenfield as the driver, Nick Ben Wong as the monster, 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.