Song To The Siren

On the death of Carnack’s mentor, her daughter asks him to examine the death scene.  They find out too late that she dies of very unnatural causes. Starring James Callis and Adrianne Palicki.

The Department Of Midnight is produced by Warren Ellis, Brian Gucciardo, Kevin and Diane Kolde and Fred Seibert. 
Main title and credit narration by Gildart Jackson. 
Casting and voice direction by Meredith Layne, CSA. 
Main title and score by Trey Toy. 
Dialogue editors Kevin and Diane Kolde. 
Recording coordinator Kathy Cavaiola. 
Dialogue recorded at Salami Studios. 
Lead dialogue mixer Mark Mercado. 
Assistant dialogue mixers Jonathan Bradley and Chris Story. 
Audio post production provided by Salami Studios. 
Post audio supervisor Peter DiRado. 
Sound design and editorial Paul Menichini, MPSE. 
Re-recording mixer Sean Jacobson. 
The Department Of Midnight is a production of The Bellport Theater On The Air. 
All rights reserved.

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;39;25
John Carnack
Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite human resources person, Soylent Green! No, that's your name now. I see you shaking your head, but it's too late. Yes, I can tell you're talking too. No, no, you're not on mute today. But I have disabled all my speakers, hmm. There's a funny story about that. If you...if you want to say something type in the chat window thingy.

00;00;39;27 - 00;01;03;23
John Carnack
I mean, it's your job to provide pastoral support to the staff at The Department Of Experimental Oversight, so, honestly, it's fine, fine if you just sit there and listen as I tell you about my week. Besides. Sound can't be trusted. Look at that confused little face you're making. It'd be adorable if it didn't look like a bulldog chewing a wasp.

00;01;03;26 - 00;01;27;14
John Carnack
Did you never stop to think about how we manipulate the world with sound? Animals and humans literally rub bits of meat and sinew together inside their bodies to transmit sound codes through the air to each other. And if we're hearing animals, then we translate those previously agreed codes into objects, feelings, and descriptions. Have, have you never thought that that was weird?

00;01;27;17 - 00;01;53;16
John Carnack
We tell ourselves stories about sounds. And do you know where the legends of the sirens come from? Lithophones. Rocks that naturally produce sound when hit with a hand or smacked by waves. If you're a sailor and you can hear the siren song of the rocks, you're too close to them and you're going to run aground. Sounds as warnings. Preserved as legends.

00;01;53;18 - 00;02;29;10
John Carnack
The very definition of folklore. Sounds as danger. Now there's an ancient necropolis in Malta that has a chamber called the Oracle Room. If you speak inside that chamber, the sound is manipulated by the walls to resonate at double the frequency. Those two sound frequencies act on the human brain. Now, depending on the original sound and your position, it can create meditational relaxation, cause you to hallucinate, and generate bone chilling fear.

00;02;29;12 - 00;03;09;03
John Carnack
5000 years ago, we knew how to make sound dangerous. Have you ever heard of the brown note? It's a sonic frequency that makes you shit yourself. So let me tell you about my week. One of my best friends died.

00;03;09;05 - 00;03;36;03
John Carnack
The Bellport Theater On The Air presents, The Department Of Midnight. Created and written by Warren Ellis. Episode 103, Song To The Siren. Starring James Callis and Adrianne Palicki.

00;03;36;05 - 00;03;58;27
John Carnack
Olivia Sigsand. I showed you one of her books last time we talked. Some years back, just before I decided to join the department, I saw her give a lecture. It changed my life. Her daughter, Jenny called me on Monday to give me the news.

00;03;59;00 - 00;04;11;06
John Carnack
What happened? She was healthy as a fucking horse last month. All right, her legs weren’t great, but she nearly crushed that weird alt-right guy’s skull with her stick at the book festival.

00;04;11;08 - 00;04;16;13
Jenny Sigsand
Well, that's the thing. Where are you right now?

00;04;16;13 - 00;04;23;04
John Carnack
I'm actually in Manhattan for a seminar. Why? Is the funeral scheduled already?

00;04;23;06 - 00;04;28;17
Jenny Sigsand
No. I was wondering if you could come up here. Hoping, actually.

00;04;28;20 - 00;04;31;10
John Carnack
Well, tell me what's wrong.

00;04;31;13 - 00;04;34;01
Jenny Sigsand
I don't think mom died naturally.

00;04;34;03 - 00;04;36;16
John Carnack
I don't understand,

00;04;36;18 - 00;04;44;00
Jenny Sigsand
John. I did mom's autopsy myself. Okay, something is not right.

00;04;44;03 - 00;04;52;26
John Carnack
I'll call the department, see if they can give me a car. Otherwise, I'll rent one. Which means I can be there in four hours.

00;04;52;28 - 00;04;53;15
Jenny Sigsand
Are you sure?

00;04;53;19 - 00;04;55;18
John Carnack
Yeah, I'm sure.

00;04;55;21 - 00;04;59;03
Jenny Sigsand
Okay. Then meet me at mom's. And thank you.

00;04;59;05 - 00;05;05;29
John Carnack
Do me a favor, though. The room Olivia died in. Make sure it's not touched. Move nothing. Okay?

00;05;06;01 - 00;05;07;05
Jenny Sigsand
Why?

00;05;07;07 - 00;05;20;03
John Carnack
Well, because your mother taught me how to look for anomalies. And the first lesson is to establish baseline conditions.

00;05;20;06 - 00;05;28;06
John Carnack
Olivia lived in Spookroad, New York. Its original name was Spookwegen, a Dutch word meaning ghost road.

00;05;28;08 - 00;05;37;09
John Carnack
Ghost roads were paths to cemeteries, but this place got called Spookwegen because of a local natural optical illusion called a gravity hill.

00;05;37;09 - 00;05;46;24
John Carnack
Park your car or wagon anywhere on that road. It'll feel like you're rolling up hill. Perfect place for Olivia Sigsand to put down roots.

00;05;46;27 - 00;06;10;04
John Carnack
And then her husband, Tom died. And she always said she never quite felt like she was on solid ground. They had one child, Jennifer, who became a forensic pathologist. A really good one.

00;06;10;06 - 00;06;14;13
John Carnack
I would have thought there was a rule about doing your own mother's autopsy.

00;06;14;15 - 00;06;16;00
Jenny Sigsand
Yeah, that's the guy at the lab said.

00;06;16;04 - 00;06;18;06
John Carnack
Yeah. What did you say to him?

00;06;18;08 - 00;06;23;21
Jenny Sigsand
If he kept talking, he'd be next on the slab and I do his autopsy while he was still alive.

00;06;23;24 - 00;06;26;12
John Carnack
Fair enough.

00;06;26;15 - 00;06;29;27
John Carnack
God, this old place feels like it died with her.

00;06;29;29 - 00;06;37;21
Jenny Sigsand
Yeah. There's something really unsettling about it now. Like there's something in the walls.

00;06;37;24 - 00;06;44;14
John Carnack
So. The autopsy. What did you find?

00;06;44;17 - 00;06;53;12
Jenny Sigsand
It. It looked for all the world like part of her brain had melted.

00;06;53;15 - 00;06;55;21
John Carnack
Where was she?

00;06;55;23 - 00;07;04;21
Jenny Sigsand
In her office. Here.

00;07;04;23 - 00;07;19;18
John Carnack
It's stronger in here, isn't it? That sense of something being wrong. Very odd. So she was sitting here at the desk?

00;07;19;21 - 00;07;32;04
Jenny Sigsand
Must have been. She was found on the floor here. Her chair was pivoted around, so she turned from the desk, tried to stand. Her legs went out. She fell and died.

00;07;32;07 - 00;07;33;07
John Carnack
And nothing was moved?

00;07;33;12 - 00;07;40;04
Jenny Sigsand
I insisted on it as soon as I heard. I know my mom. Baseline conditions, right?

00;07;40;07 - 00;07;43;01
John Carnack
You were immediately suspicious?

00;07;43;04 - 00;07;54;11
Jenny Sigsand
Like you said, she was in great shape. And I made them describe the condition she was found in. Right away, I knew something was wrong, so I had the scene preserved. Look at the desk.

00;07;54;14 - 00;07;59;00
John Carnack
Scratch marks. And some blood.

00;07;59;02 - 00;08;06;16
Jenny Sigsand
She was clawing at the desk and at herself. Scratches on her face and arms.

00;08;06;18 - 00;08;08;21
John Carnack
I'm so sorry.

00;08;08;24 - 00;08;11;20
Jenny Sigsand
Let's just figure this out, please.

00;08;11;23 - 00;08;21;06
John Carnack
Well, so right off the bat, I have anomaly here on the desk. This thing. Since when did Olivia use an mp3 player and a portable stereo speaker?

00;08;21;08 - 00;08;24;00
Jenny Sigsand
Oh, God. Blame my idiot husband.

00;08;24;02 - 00;08;30;07
John Carnack
He gave her this? Like he doesn't know how anti-tech she is.?

00;08;30;09 - 00;08;32;04
Jenny Sigsand
Bobby's a musician now.

00;08;32;07 - 00;08;37;13
John Carnack
Bobby's an electrical engineer. He's about as fucking musical as Tesla was.

00;08;37;15 - 00;08;52;20
Jenny Sigsand
Don't get me started. He decided to make a life change and capitalize on, quote, the passion economy. But Olivia only listened to vinyl. So he put some of his shit on an MP3 player, which is hooked up to that little speaker set so she could listen to his work.

00;08;52;23 - 00;08;59;04
John Carnack
I'm amazed it's not in the bin. But I'm curious now. Let's give it a go.

00;08;59;06 - 00;09;08;19
Jenny Sigsand
Oh, he did this whole thing about how he'd written some music inspired by one of her books, and he'd be honored if she listened. Blah blah blah.

00;09;08;21 - 00;09;11;23
John Carnack
Still trying to get on her good side after all this time?

00;09;11;26 - 00;09;14;06
Jenny Sigsand
Yeah, well. Bobby's needy like that.

00;09;14;08 - 00;09;27;21
Jenny Sigsand
Can't stand the idea of people not liking him. I swear, this whole musician bit is really just about him not having to work with people he might piss off. Hide in the basement with all his electronic music equipment. God only knows where he gets all that shit from.

00;09;27;23 - 00;09;41;29
John Carnack
Built it himself, I suppose. Well, she definitely gave it at least one play. Probably felt sorry for him. Here we go. All right. What was she working on?

00;09;42;02 - 00;09;49;20
Jenny Sigsand
She called it her wool gathering phase. She was just wandering through reference texts and her old notebooks, trying to decide where to go next.

00;09;49;22 - 00;09;51;14
John Carnack
And she was found by a neighbor?

00;09;51;17 - 00;09;56;03
Jenny Sigsand
Right, Megan. She lives about a mile away, which makes her mom's nearest neighbor.

00;09;56;05 - 00;09;58;29
John Carnack
So Olivia left the door unlocked?

00;09;59;02 - 00;10;07;27
Jenny Sigsand
Megan has keys. She and mom keep in regular touch, and she came over after mom went quiet for a day. She found mom, called 911 and then called me.

00;10;08;00 - 00;10;10;16
John Carnack
And who has keys aside from Megan?

00;10;10;19 - 00;10;18;13
Jenny Sigsand
Just me. John, there was no forced entry, no traces of anyone aside for mom here. It was just her and her books.

00;10;18;15 - 00;10;21;04
John Carnack
And some terrible music.

00;10;21;06 - 00;10;25;04
John Carnack
Reminds me of something. What is this tune?

00;10;25;07 - 00;10;31;03
Jenny Sigsand
God knows. I don't think Bobby has an original bone in his body. He would have stolen it from somewhere.

00;10;31;05 - 00;10;32;15
John Carnack
Are you two all right?

00;10;32;18 - 00;10;35;20
Jenny Sigsand
Me and Bobby? I guess. Who knows?

00;10;35;22 - 00;10;37;23
John Carnack
That's a stunning endorsement.

00;10;37;25 - 00;10;39;13
Jenny Sigsand
Shut up.

00;10;39;15 - 00;10;45;17
John Carnack
Oh, look. Here’s Olivia's old crystal skull. Tell the skull the truth.

00;10;45;18 - 00;10;46;23
Jenny Sigsand
Put it down. You'll break it.

00;10;47;00 - 00;10;53;06
John Carnack
She bought this in a flea market in London 30 years ago. It's indestructible. Solid quality plastic.

00;10;53;08 - 00;10;54;08
Jenny Sigsand
Is that what she told you?

00;10;54;09 - 00;11;00;07
John Carnack
Yeah. What are you telling me? This is a real pre-Columbian magical crystal skull?

00;11;00;10 - 00;11;18;01
Jenny Sigsand
That's one of the very first crystal skulls, cut by a man called August Oberstein. They were all made in Germany in the 1800s. The family who originated them was weird. They turned into a cult, and by the 1980s, they were keeping their women underground. Mom was involved with breaking them out and took that as a souvenir.

00;11;18;04 - 00;11;21;15
John Carnack
But this was her desk paperweight.

00;11;21;17 - 00;11;23;17
Jenny Sigsand
That was mom.

00;11;23;19 - 00;11;29;00
John Carnack
You know. I never understood why she liked me.

00;11;29;03 - 00;11;31;23
Jenny Sigsand
She wanted to rescue you.

00;11;31;25 - 00;11;33;19
John Carnack
Bullshit.

00;11;33;21 - 00;11;45;04
Jenny Sigsand
She met you right after whatever happened at Wardenclyffe. You were a mess. Mom told me that someone needed to save you. And nobody else was stepping up, so she did. That's how she was.

00;11;45;06 - 00;11;54;17
John Carnack
Okay. No pressure. She wanted to save me, she died alone in this room for no fucking reason in a way that resists any understanding and I can't figure it out.

00;11;54;20 - 00;12;01;13
Jenny Sigsand
Look. I just thought maybe you could see something I didn't. Before mom turns into a medical mystery for the textbooks.

00;12;01;16 - 00;12;04;05
John Carnack
I don't know. She might enjoy that.

00;12;04;08 - 00;12;10;09
Jenny Sigsand
I wouldn't. I learned a love of the truth from mom, not a love of mystery.

00;12;10;09 - 00;12;12;02
John Carnack
Mysteries are truths encoded.

00;12;12;02 - 00;12;13;16
Jenny Sigsand
That sounds like her.

00;12;13;18 - 00;12;22;29
John Carnack
It was her. It's in “The Devil And Cold Iron.” It's up here on her shelf. I do love that she has, like four feet of her own books at the top here.

00;12;23;01 - 00;12;26;05
John Carnack
Ooff. Is this tune on loop?

00;12;26;08 - 00;12;28;22
Jenny Sigsand
Maybe it's just an endless dirge.

00;12;28;25 - 00;12;40;02
John Carnack
Yeah. Okay. She's sitting here, she's working because she was always working, but she hadn't settled on a subject yet. And this would be her recent mail in this tray here?

00;12;40;05 - 00;12;40;24
Jenny Sigsand
What are you thinking?

00;12;41;00 - 00;12;48;24
John Carnack
Basic bastards send anthrax in letters. People who know Olivia Sigsand might send something more exotic in an envelope.

00;12;48;26 - 00;12;52;10
Jenny Sigsand
Latex gloves. Pathologists never leave home without them.

00;12;52;12 - 00;12;54;14
John Carnack
Are you going to check her mail?

00;12;54;16 - 00;12;56;18
Jenny Sigsand
No. You are.

00;12;56;20 - 00;12;58;06
John Carnack
Why me?

00;12;58;09 - 00;13;06;11
Jenny Sigsand
John, my mother just died.

00;13;06;13 - 00;13;10;26
John Carnack
That almost worked on me. You're as bad as Olivia.

00;13;10;26 - 00;13;18;17
Jenny Sigsand
Like dad always said, I was more hers than his. And I don't have all her postmortem bloodwork back, so her mail does need to be checked. I didn't think of that.

00;13;18;20 - 00;13;33;03
John Carnack
I'm doing it, I'm doing it. Can't you convince Bobby to take up, I don't know, gardening or Morris dancing or something? This sounds like someone running a sewing machine through a Theremin.

00;13;33;05 - 00;13;48;19
Jenny Sigsand
Hell, John, I don't know. He's in the basement making his sounds, or he's out talking to people about equipment and opportunities. And I have to travel for my job, and I work all hours...I don't see him enough to tell him he's pissing away his life, and I don't know how to say it without saying he's pissing away life.

00;13;48;19 - 00;13;53;00
John Carnack
[ . . . ] Well, you learned to do something better than most people can. Do that.

00;13;53;02 - 00;13;54;03
Jenny Sigsand
What?

00;13;54;06 - 00;14;08;19
John Carnack
Well, that's what Olivia said to me. Got me off my ass. God, she got some weird letters. Somebody even sent her a cassette tape. Maybe this is a letter from 1979.

00;14;08;21 - 00;14;10;00
Jenny Sigsand
Cassettes came back.

00;14;10;00 - 00;14;11;12
John Carnack
They what?

00;14;11;12 - 00;14;13;04
Jenny Sigsand
Cassette tapes are hip now.

00;14;13;07 - 00;14;19;19
John Carnack
Christ. You think working at The Department Of Midnight would earn me a memo warning me about the end of the modern world.

00;14;19;21 - 00;14;21;03
Jenny Sigsand
The what?

00;14;21;05 - 00;14;25;17
John Carnack
It's. It's what people call the Department of Experimental Oversight.

00;14;25;19 - 00;14;27;11
Jenny Sigsand
And I bet that bugs the hell out of you.

00;14;27;13 - 00;14;35;19
John Carnack
Bloody right it does. These all just look like letters. Regular correspondence from people who don't have computers and smartphones.

00;14;35;21 - 00;14;42;28
John Carnack
Some fan mail. Nothing smells weird or... that bloody song's looping again.

00;14;43;01 - 00;14;46;27
Jenny Sigsand
Maybe Bobby thought if he set it to play over and over again, mom might eventually like it.

00;14;46;29 - 00;14;56;02
John Carnack
Or just making sure she heard it all the way through at least once, because he's apparently needy. It's actually got a name.

00;14;56;06 - 00;14;56;25
Jenny Sigsand
What has.

00;14;56;25 - 00;15;03;28
John Carnack
The music. It’s displaying on the MP3 player.

00;15;04;00 - 00;15;08;17
John Carnack
Sozomoor - sozomoor u vasar - nap.

00;15;08;19 - 00;15;10;03
Jenny Sigsand
What does that mean?

00;15;10;05 - 00;15;13;20
John Carnack
Rings a bell. So does the tune.

00;15;13;20 - 00;15;19;15
Jenny Sigsand
Means nothing to me. So, there's no sense that any of those letters have been treated with anything?

00;15;19;18 - 00;15;31;26
John Carnack
Not that I can see. This is bugging me now. This track name. I feel like I've read about it before. In one of Olivia's books.

00;15;31;28 - 00;15;35;14
Jenny Sigsand
Well, there's four feet of them over there. Needle in a haystack.

00;15;35;16 - 00;15;38;21
John Carnack
But I've read them all. At least twice.

00;15;38;23 - 00;15;39;15
Jenny Sigsand
Really?

00;15;39;17 - 00;15;44;25
John Carnack
Really. It's just remembering which one.

00;15;44;27 - 00;15;48;07
Jenny Sigsand
Can you turn it off? I'm getting a headache.

00;15;48;10 - 00;15;54;20
John Carnack
Let me leave it on a while longer. It's jogging my memory. This is going to drive me insane unless I...

00;15;54;20 - 00;15;56;10
Jenny Sigsand
I'm going to sit down.

00;15;56;13 - 00;16;00;11
John Carnack
Yeah, sure.

00;16;00;13 - 00;16;03;22
Jenny Sigsand
Maybe. Maybe it's all just hitting me now.

00;16;03;24 - 00;16;16;18
John Carnack
Yeah, maybe you’ve been awake for a couple of days. Traveling, taking care of things, autopsy, labs, now here. I know how crispy things get around the edges during a crisis.

00;16;16;21 - 00;16;18;11
Jenny Sigsand
Wardenclyffe?

00;16;18;14 - 00;16;23;03
John Carnack
Among other things. Did Olivia tell you about it?

00;16;23;06 - 00;16;31;09
Jenny Sigsand
Just bits and pieces. She didn't want to betray your confidence. But I know whatever happened to you there was bad.

00;16;31;11 - 00;16;39;28
John Carnack
Not as bad as the things that happened to other people at Wardenclyffe. Ah! I've got it.!

00;16;40;00 - 00;16;44;09
John Carnack
Ringstone Round: Mysterious Sounds And Visions.

00;16;44;09 - 00;16;45;23
Jenny Sigsand
Sounds like one of mom's hits.

00;16;45;25 - 00;16;55;17
John Carnack
Probably paid for you to go to college. Index, index... Szomoru Vasarnap... Bloody hell!

00;16;55;23 - 00;16;56;15
Jenny Sigsand
You found it?

00;16;56;17 - 00;17;03;22
John Carnack
It's the original title of “Gloomy Sunday.” That's the tune I could hear. The Hungarian suicide song.

00;17;03;24 - 00;17;05;16
Jenny Sigsand
Tell me mom made that up.

00;17;05;18 - 00;17;17;29
John Carnack
No. More than 100 people killed themselves after listening to it within weeks of its original release in the 1930s. Back home, the BBC banned it from being played on the radio for 70 years.

00;17;18;01 - 00;17;25;10
Jenny Sigsand
What... Bobbie did a cover version of a tune that makes people kill themselves? God, I feel sick.

00;17;25;12 - 00;17;27;02
John Carnack
Maybe he just liked the melody.

00;17;27;05 - 00;17;32;18
Jenny Sigsand
No, I mean I actually feel nauseous.

00;17;32;20 - 00;17;33;22
Jenny Sigsand
John?

00;17;33;24 - 00;17;41;16
John Carnack
Sorry, My eyesight's blurring. I guess driving straight up here tired me out more than I thought.

00;17;41;18 - 00;17;42;19
Jenny Sigsand
Maybe you should sit down.

00;17;42;20 - 00;17;48;15
John Carnack
Maybe I should sit down. I can't sit in her chair. You've got the only other chair.

00;17;48;17 - 00;17;50;05
Jenny Sigsand
Don't be dumb. Sit.

00;17;50;07 - 00;18;01;03
John Carnack
I noticed you didn't sit in her chair. There’s something wrong in here though, right? It's not... it’s not just us and the day we've had.

00;18;01;05 - 00;18;06;15
John Carnack
I feel, I don’t know um....

00;18;06;17 - 00;18;09;03
John Carnack and Jenny Sigsand
Itchy.

00;18;09;05 - 00;18;11;02
John Carnack
Y...your...your nose is bleeding.

00;18;11;05 - 00;18;14;06
Jenny Sigsand
Oh! Damn it! What?

00;18;14;06 - 00;18;19;28
John Carnack
Shit. I...I need to turn this off. Oh! Shit!

00;18;20;01 - 00;18;20;25
Jenny Sigsand
What?

00;18;20;28 - 00;18;22;18
John Carnack
It doesn't turn off.

00;18;22;20 - 00;18;23;24
Jenny Sigsand
I don't believe you. Let me see.

00;18;23;25 - 00;18;29;01
John Carnack
I'm pressing the fucking button! The MP3 player doesn't turn off!

00;18;29;03 - 00;18;31;29
Jenny Sigsand
I can barely see it. My eyes are...my eyes are tearing up.

00;18;32;01 - 00;18;35;07
John Carnack
Actually, your eyes are bleeding.

00;18;35;09 - 00;18;36;29
Jenny Sigsand
Is this how my mom died?

00;18;37;02 - 00;18;38;00
John Carnack
I have to make this stop.

00;18;38;01 - 00;18;41;27
Jenny Sigsand
Tell me my fucking husband didn't kill my mother with a piece of music.

00;18;41;29 - 00;18;50;06
John Carnack
I get it now. It looped and looped until it was too late for her. Help me lift this.

00;18;50;08 - 00;18;53;01
Jenny Sigsand
I told you, the crystal skull isn't magic.

00;18;53;02 - 00;19;00;04
John Carnack
I know. Quick, before we fall down!

00;19;00;07 - 00;19;03;20
Jenny Sigsand
Why? Why is that happening?

00;19;03;23 - 00;19;12;22
John Carnack
The underlying sonics are still resonating off the walls. I need to get you out of here right now.

00;19;12;24 - 00;19;15;00
Jenny Sigsand
Get up, John!

00;19;15;03 - 00;19;18;25
John Carnack
Love to. Can’t.

00;19;18;28 - 00;19;37;26
Jenny Sigsand
Come on. Move!

00;19;37;29 - 00;19;45;10
John Carnack
[wretching]

00;19;45;13 - 00;19;47;01
Jenny Sigsand
Weak stomach.

00;19;47;04 - 00;19;51;11
John Carnack
Weak stomach my ass! I threw that a good three feet.

00;19;51;13 - 00;20;02;03
Jenny Sigsand
Weak. You have to have a strong stomach to be a pathol... [wretching]

00;20;02;05 - 00;20;12;18
John Carnack
Hello. Can I speak to Doctor Jack Doyle, please? It’s John Carmack. Tell him I need his expertise on brains right this second.

00;20;12;21 - 00;20;40;29
John Carnack
It turned out that Bobby had read Ringstone Round, too. It gave him the idea of placing weaponized sound inside his music. So people would respond to it. And it would make them feel things. Needy bastard that he was. He was also a very good electrical engineer. And he bought lots and lots of machines to make his sounds. So many that he got seriously into debt and got loans from leg breakers, and uh...

00;20;41;02 - 00;21;05;04
John Carnack
Well, I'm sure you can guess what kind of spiral he got into. His only possible source of new funds -- aside, of course, from getting a proper job -- was Olivia dying and Jenny coming into her inheritance. So he made a sound weapon. The music from a suicide song, stuffed with sound frequencies that affect the human brain. I talked to Jack Doyle, and he told me about brain proteomics.

00;21;05;06 - 00;21;32;23
John Carnack
The frequencies and resonances inside the music were enough to coagulate and breakdown proteins in the front of Olivia's brain. That was the mess Jenny saw when she opened Olivia up. We only smashed the speaker, of course. The mp3 player was the proof and we kept that in one piece. Bobby's in prison now, Jenny's incredibly messed up about it all, but frankly, once she's healed I expect her to be happier than she ever was with Bobby.

00;21;33;01 - 00;22;09;27
John Carnack
And I'm allowing no unauthorized sounds into my life. Do you understand why? Yeah. Just nod. That's very good. I look forward to our next support conversation. Oh. You're typing in the chat window? Hold on a second. Oh, Soylent Green. That's quitters talk. Oh. Oh, you are actually saying you're quitting? Okay.

00;22;09;29 - 00;22;16;03
Narrator
Next time on The Department Of Midnight.

00;22;16;05 - 00;22;21;12
Timothy Repton
What the hell was that?

00;22;21;15 - 00;22;22;27
John Carnack
You have to stop.

00;22;23;00 - 00;22;24;29
Timothy Repton
Who the hell are you?

00;22;25;02 - 00;22;28;29
John Carnack
Doctor John Carnack. Department of Experimental Oversight.

00;22;29;01 - 00;22;34;16
Timothy Repton
The Department Of Midnight has no right to. Wait. Did you crash into my fucking car?

00;22;34;18 - 00;22;35;02
John Carnack
Oh, is that your...

00;22;35;02 - 00;22;36;21
Timothy Repton
I just got that fucking car.

00;22;36;28 - 00;22;41;12
John Carnack
Look, um...you have to stop what you're doing. You don't know what's going to happen.

00;22;41;14 - 00;22;43;18
Timothy Repton
Yeah, that's the point of an experiment.

00;22;43;21 - 00;22;48;19
John Carnack
For God's sakes, man, you're going to raise the dead.

00;22;48;22 - 00;23;24;25
Narrator
The Department Of Midnight is produced by Warren Ellis, Brian Gucciardo, Kevin and Diane Kolde, Fred Seibert. Main title and credit narration by Gildart Jackson. Casting and voice direction by Meredith Layne CSA. Main title and score by Trey Toy. Dialogue editors Kevin and Diane Kolde. Recording coordinator Kathy Cavaiola. Dialog recorded at Salami Studios.

00;23;24;27 - 00;24;14;14
Narrator
Lead dialogue mixer Mark Mercdo. Assistant dialogue mixers Jonathan Bradley and Chris Story. Audio post production provided by Salami Studios. Post audio supervisor Peter DiRado. Sound design and editorial Paul Menichini M.P.S.E. Rerecording mixer Sean Jacobson. The Department Of Midnight is a production of The Bellport Theater On The Air. All rights reserved.