The Tape Recorder Trilogy
In 2015, a man who has been alive since the last Ice Age bought a tape recorder, and over the course of three days he dictated his life story as fast as he could while waiting for a woman to visit who he believes will finally be the death of him.
Based on the novels Beginning, Middle, and End written by Geoff Micks, this podcast is a work of historical fiction spanning from the very beginning of humanity's story right up to almost the present day as told by a narrator who lived through it all and now is now free at last to tell you his experiences with whatever time he has left.
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The Tape Recorder Trilogy
Ground Rules Before the Reckoning: The Tape Recorder Trilogy - S3E10
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(2015 CE · Northern India)
The Narrator and his mystery guest meet for a second time and agree he should finish recording his life's story before they have the conversation that motivated her to seek him out on the far side of the world.
Based on Chapter 9 of End by Geoff Micks.
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Credits:
Voice Acting - Geoff Micks, Paulette Anderson Micks, and Melissa Buttrill
Editing - Geoff Micks
Music - Dimitri Kovalchuk (MokuseiNoMaguro) through Pixabay
Additional Music - Aleksey Voronin (Amaksi) through Pixabay
In 2015, a man who has been alive since the last ice age bought a tape recorder, and over the course of three days he dictated his life story as fast as he could while waiting for a woman to visit who he believes will finally be the death of him. Hello again, everyone, and welcome back. My name is Jeff Mix, and you are listening to season three, episode ten of the Tape Recorder Trilogy Podcast. Enjoy the Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_02Hello, Thomas. She calls out, seeing a figure sitting by a fire in the yard to one side of the main building.
SPEAKER_01Hello.
SPEAKER_02He calls back, raising his glass to her in welcome. She opens the gate and walks into the yard. The peacock is between her and the fire pit, so she takes a wide swing across the lawn rather than disturb the bird. He doesn't bite, Thomas says, once it is too late to make a difference to her course. This is India. I assume everything bites. Melissa makes a joke of it, but she is looking down as she plans each footfall. A childhood of Minnesota front lawns had accustomed her to safe travels across grass, but she knows that is not the case here.
SPEAKER_01My birds eat the things you're afraid of stepping on. That's why I have them. That and they're pretty, Thomas says.
SPEAKER_02Melissa stops dead in her tracks. Are you a mind reader as well as being immortal?
SPEAKER_01No, but you're a long way from the first American to walk across my property in terror of some bug or snake. At least you're wearing hiking boots. You wouldn't believe the number of hippies over the years visiting me in sandals or even barefoot.
SPEAKER_02He laughs heartily, feeling the wry more than he wants to admit. She joins him politely. He waves her on and points to the empty Adirondack chair across the fire pit from him. Thank you, she says, sinking into the chair after setting her luggage down beside it.
SPEAKER_01Can I get you anything of food, drink?
SPEAKER_02At the last offer he points to the bottle sitting in the ice bucket beside him. I have some water here with me, thank you. Melissa reaches over and taps a bottle of water attached with a clip to the side of her backpack.
SPEAKER_01Only drinking bottled water. You're right, be cautious. That said, you can refill that bottle in my kitchen if you like. I'm on my own well water here, and it's safe. That's where the ice cubes in yesterday's drink came from, and that did you no harm then.
SPEAKER_02Thomas says. I didn't get much of a chance to enjoy yesterday's drink, to be honest with you. I doubt the ice had a chance to melt before you showed me the door at knife point. She chides him.
SPEAKER_01I'm sorry about that. Meeting you was a bit of a shock. I'm feeling much better today.
SPEAKER_02He says, again conscious of how much he has had to drink. I hope so. It would be nice to have a proper conversation. I've come a long way to meet you, and this is two days in a row I've had to climb up that hill. I'm running out of beetle songs to sing to myself to keep me company. She says with a smile.
SPEAKER_01If you can call that singing. It sounded more like shouting.
SPEAKER_02Thomas teases. She misses his tone and answers seriously. I am not a great singer even when I'm standing still. Hiking up that road doesn't help my voice any, but I like the words enough to belt them out, even if it only sounds good in my head.
SPEAKER_01Plus it lets the neighbors know I have a visitor.
SPEAKER_02Thomas waves his hand down the hill, gesturing toward the cottage as she has passed on her way up to him. That too. She agrees.
SPEAKER_01You want witnesses in case you disappear? I'm not going to hurt you.
SPEAKER_02He says. I know that. Melissa says, tapping her head. I can see the future, remember? Still, that was a very large knife you pulled on me yesterday. Maybe knowing the neighbors now I'm here is why you don't cut me up and dump me in the woods? I know where I'm going, but not always what I do to get there. Thomas frowns for a moment, trying to think clearly.
SPEAKER_01We are not really speaking to each other from a place of trust, are we?
SPEAKER_02No. She admits. I would like to, though. You are one of the only people in the world who knows my secret, and I am one of the only people in the world who knows your secret. That should be a bond between us. We have something in common. He snorts.
SPEAKER_01We have nothing in common. You are a twenty-six-year-old American woman. Three things I am absolutely not. We do not even see the future the same way. You say you are always right, I just see a few possibilities. And now when I think about you or try to imagine my life after meeting you, there is nothing. There are no more possibilities. How does that not mean you are going to be the death of me?
SPEAKER_02Melissa nods. I can see where that's scary. I'm sorry that I frighten you. I will point out I'm not that frightening. She stretches her arms out to either side to show her slender build. If you aren't seeing a future beyond me, that has nothing to do with my hurting you. You don't need to be clairvoyant to know who would win in a fight between the two of us. So let's take it as a given for the moment that I'm not here to hurt you. Thomas nods.
SPEAKER_01Barring poison or a gun, or you surprising me in my sleep, I don't see how you get the better of me.
SPEAKER_02Melissa snorts.
SPEAKER_01And it has kept me alive this long, Melissa. I have good instincts too, and right now all the hairs on the back of my neck are standing up. You are some kind of mortal danger to me, and the fact that you say that you are not does not make it not so.
SPEAKER_02He says. Melissa chews on that for a moment. Can I ask, have you never had one of these blocks before where you could not see the future? Thomas takes a sip of his drink, debating how much to tell her. He decides to hold nothing back.
SPEAKER_01I have been thinking about that a lot recently. It's happened twice before that I can remember. Once when I was a field slave, I was sure I would die on that farm. There was nothing in my future but that farm until I was about to be killed. Then I saw this mountain we are sitting on right now. I had never been to this part of the world at that time, so I knew I was seeing a possible future where I lived, where I escaped. Seeing that was enough to let me fight my way out.
SPEAKER_02He goes quiet for a long moment, remembering the feel of the young master's eyeballs bursting under his thumbs, remembering the sounds that old man made as he died. Melissa clears her throat. And the second time?
SPEAKER_01Hmm?
SPEAKER_02Thomas says, pulling himself out of his reverie.
SPEAKER_01Oh, for the first few lifetimes after I converted to Islam, all I could see were futures living as a Muslim. I really thought I could see that Islam was going to be the world's religion instead of just one of the world's religions.
SPEAKER_02You were a Muslim? she asks, looking at the bottle of rye sitting in the ice bucket beside his chair, then at the glass in his hand.
SPEAKER_01Well, not at the moment, Thomas admits.
SPEAKER_02How does that work? Melissa asks. Thomas sets down his drink.
SPEAKER_01When I change lives, I decide what my new life will be. Muhammad al Rumi is a Muslim. The Thomas Black you see before you is lapsed C of E. There was no getting around that as a British expat when I first got here. Being C of E was just part of the uniform in those days. There are a couple of Anglican churches around that I have visited often enough to be on their mailing lists, but I prefer not to be a regular parishioner.
SPEAKER_02Now Thomas starts counting points off on his fingers.
SPEAKER_01First, going into town is a bit of a job, as you have seen for yourself. Second, people pay attention to wealthy bachelors who go to church. Someone would be trying to wed me, or at least bed me. Anyone who pursues me is going to keep track of my age in a way no one does to a recluse. I've lived here twice as long as I could have managed with a girlfriend or a wife.
SPEAKER_02Thomas goes to raise a third finger and realizes he is saying more than he needs to say.
SPEAKER_01I'm sorry, that was a lot about me. I have been getting into the habit of speaking about myself lately. Too much, really. It's terribly self indulgent. Tell me about yourself, Melissa. Are you a student?
SPEAKER_02She laughs. Because I'm twenty six and backpacking in India? He nods.
SPEAKER_01I get a lot of students and bartenders and yoga instructors visiting me. I took a guess.
SPEAKER_02I graduated school a few years ago. I make a good living from the stock market. I guess you could call me independently wealthy now.
SPEAKER_01From the stock market?
SPEAKER_02He asks with real interest. She taps her finger to her head. The ability to see the future is a great help. I'm not a hundred percent right all the time, but when you know a CEO is going to die or a factory is going to burn down, or a natural disaster is about to strike, you can get a pretty good sense of when stocks are going to dip. I can read any newspaper and come up with good investment strategies, just based on knowing what bad news is coming. Steve Jobs dying was my first break. I was still in college at the time, but I saved up all my money and day traded on Apple's and Foxconn's Tier 1 and Tier 2 parts suppliers when those companies staggered.
SPEAKER_01Who's Steve Jobs?
SPEAKER_02Thomas asks. She tips her head back and laughs. Oh, you really are living under a rock, Thomas. When she has composed herself, she looks at the bottle of rye again. I've changed my mind. Go ahead and fix me a drink. If we are going to get friendly, we might as well do it over a glass of something. Thomas nods at this.
SPEAKER_01I offered you bourbon yesterday. Do you want that today? I have to go into the house either way for a second class.
SPEAKER_02Whatever you're having is fine. She says. He gets up and walks into the cottage. Melissa takes in the scene around her while she waits for his return. Well maintained fence and yard, neatly thatched roof on the cottage, a clean bird coop, a tidy woodshed, an organized wood pile, a comfortable fire pit. Her eye glides over all the signs of maintenance and domesticity without focus. By the time he returns though, something has caught her interest. What's that? She points at the tape recorder on the armrest of his Adirondack chair.
SPEAKER_01I've been working on my memoirs, Thomas says.
SPEAKER_02You're dictating your memoirs into a tape recorder? I thought you tried to keep electronic doodads to a minimum. She quotes him from yesterday.
SPEAKER_01I only started a couple of days ago, Thomas says. I knew I wouldn't have time to finish if I tried to write it out longhand.
SPEAKER_02You wouldn't have time because of me? Melissa asks.
SPEAKER_01Because of you.
SPEAKER_02Thomas agrees. You're that afraid of me? She asks. Thomas pours her a drink. He tries to think of a question that will put his fears to rest.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02He says without meaning it, handing her the glass.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02He says again, sinking down into his chair. His mind is on his go bag hidden in the woods behind his cottage. If he does not like the answer to his next question, he can be up and running before she even knows what is happening. He leans forward, bracing himself.
SPEAKER_01Let's do this. You can see the future. You say you can see many futures for me. I tell you I cannot see anything beyond today. Beyond yesterday, really. We keep dancing around whether you can hurt me, but we are not talking about whether I survive meeting you. Let me ask you straight out, Melissa, do you believe I am still going to be alive a year from now?
SPEAKER_02Her lips twitch and she brings her free hand up to cover her mouth, but her laughter escapes through her fingers. Realizing she is about to make a scene, Melissa sets down her drink and brings up her other hand to cover her whole face, as her shoulders bounce with muffled mirth.
SPEAKER_00What?
SPEAKER_02he asks.
SPEAKER_00What's so funny?
SPEAKER_02Oh just oh just let me enjoy this for a minute. She begs through her fingers. When she is sure she has composed herself enough, she lets her hands fall away. Being this close to you and this close to the conversation I want to have with you, the number of possible options that might unfold are now few enough that I can see how some of them will pan out. Do you understand?
SPEAKER_01No.
SPEAKER_02He admits. Let me think about how to say this. Melissa says, When I look at your future, most of the time it's like looking at a hummingbird's wings. I know something is there, but it moves too fast for me to see it, okay? Now imagine in this moment your future is flapping around more like a crow's wing where I can see all the feathers as they go up and down if I'm really looking. Thomas frowns and furrows his brow.
SPEAKER_01So what's so funny?
SPEAKER_02Melissa allows herself one last chuckle before gathering herself up. By explaining it, I make it go away. But there was a moment there where you asked me a yes or no question, and if I had said no, you were going to jump up out of your chair, run over that back fence, and on your way to pick up something, you've got something hidden back there? Anyway, there's a tiger or a leopard or some other kind of big cat where you have stashed, whatever it is you want, and you were going to get mauled to death. He rocks back in his chair, turning his head to look over the back fence.
SPEAKER_01And you think that's funny?
SPEAKER_02No, no, of course not. Still, what a way to go, right? Melissa giggles again. Ten thousand years and more, and one word from me sends you off like a frightened rabbit to get torn to ribbons by a monster in the woods? It's a little funny. I have to say, you looked ridiculous doing it. He turns back to look at her.
SPEAKER_01I'll have to take your word for it.
SPEAKER_02He mutters. If I wanted you dead, I could have kept my mouth shut. Isn't that proof enough for you?
SPEAKER_01You can see the future. Just because you saved me from the tigers doesn't mean you aren't guiding me somewhere else.
SPEAKER_02Melissa lets that thought linger between them for a moment before deciding to ignore it. So what is it you have back there? she asks.
SPEAKER_01It's a go bag. It's enough to make it easy for me to disappear.
SPEAKER_02She nods at this, seeing a dozen ways in her mind's eye that he can still survive with or without his go bag, now that he knows of the big cat's presence. She decides not to tell him that, and then she watches his options dwindle to just a few. She smiles. Tell me about your memoirs, Thomas. He takes the smile for a peace offering. Glad to change the subject, he picks up the tape recorder.
SPEAKER_01I started two days ago. I've been working on it morning, noon, and night.
SPEAKER_02And how far along have you gotten? You must have a lot to say, she says.
SPEAKER_01I do, but I knew I did not have much time. In fact, you arrived sooner than I thought you would. I had made it to about three centuries before Christ when we first met. Now I am up to about twelve hundred years ago.
SPEAKER_02Melissa tilts her head over in surprise. Haven't you been alive for thousands and thousands of years? You've gotten all that done in a couple of days? Thomas nods.
SPEAKER_01Well, I'm picking and choosing, of course, but so is everyone else. Any biography you ever saw had some picking and choosing. I'm trying to be as honest as I can and say what I really want to say in the time I have left.
SPEAKER_02Can I hear what you've done so far? Melissa asks.
SPEAKER_01Well, no.
SPEAKER_02Thomas sets down the tape recorder.
SPEAKER_01I mean the only thing I have that plays these cassettes is the recorder itself, and I'm still working on it. Besides, the tapes for the last two days are back there in the go bag.
SPEAKER_02He feels the weight of the key in his breast pocket, and that comforts him. Even without the go bag, he can still walk away at any moment and start again. In Melissa's inner eye she sees his options explode up to a hundred possibilities and more again. Something has changed, but she does not know what. She casts about for some idea, but he has too many futures for her to see clearly. The only thing she is sure of is that in all of them he gets up and walks away from her. If he gets up out of his chair in the next several hours, she will fail in her goal. Can I sit and listen when you start again? She asks with more enthusiasm than she feels.
SPEAKER_01You want me to keep going now that you are here? Aren't we supposed to be having a conversation first?
SPEAKER_02She knows she needs to keep him here. Keep him talking. Melissa brushes away the offer to begin what she has travelled around the world to do with a casual wave of her drink. If you made it from your birth all the way up to a thousand years ago in a couple of days, you'll be done all the way up to the present by tonight. It's a beautiful afternoon to sit by the fire and listen to some stories with the drink in my hand. I can wait. Thomas thinks about that. He likes the idea of putting off the reckoning, whatever that may be. He also likes the idea of finishing his story. Still, he had not anticipated having an audience.
SPEAKER_01If I do turn this thing on again, there are going to be some ground rules, all right?
SPEAKER_02He asks. Fire away, Melissa says happily, seeing his options begin to dwindle and disappear again.
SPEAKER_01First, I do not want you to speak. This recording is not a conversation I am having with you. When I think about the eventual audience for this, I call them dear listeners, and they do not talk back. Understood?
SPEAKER_02Understood, Melissa says.
SPEAKER_01Second, you are coming in towards the end of the story, and I don't want to have to explain all that has come before. I am talking to an audience that has been with me since the beginning. You get to join us at this point without a ton of context for what has already been said. If I mention Deddy or Arishat or Amr Ibn Al As, and you don't know who that is, just let me keep going. Understood?
SPEAKER_02He asks. Understood, Melissa says again.
SPEAKER_01Third, if you want anything to eat or drink, just help yourself. I can't be a good host and a good narrator at the same time. If you really do need to interrupt the recording for some reason, hold your hand up and I will switch it off. Understood?
SPEAKER_02Completely. Melissa says. In her mind's eye, she sees them have the conversation she longs for as the sun begins to set. The important thing now is to keep him in his chair, keep him talking all afternoon. The longer he talks, the fewer possibilities remain. She can see that clearly now. She hopes to narrow it all the way down to just two options a choice he will make on his own with her guidance.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_02Thomas says.
SPEAKER_01Shall we begin then?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. Melissa agrees. Tell me a story.
SPEAKER_01You have been listening to the Tape Recorder Trilogy Podcast, and there is a lot more to come. Here are a few ways you can help support this program. First, if you are enjoying it, please tell someone about it. Audio dramas live and die on word of mouth, so please help spread the word. This may be the third and final season, but I plan to leave the series up as long as people continue to take an interest in it. Second, please like it, review it, and subscribe to it wherever you find your podcasts. We want to teach the algorithm that this show is worth people's time. Third, this podcast is based on the novel's Beginning, Middle, and End by Jeff Mix, available on Amazon. If you want a copy of the story for yourselves, that would be so appreciated. Fourth, I have a link to a typeform survey in the show notes for each episode. Tell me a little about yourself and feel free to ask me questions. I have already done a QA mailbag episode during the run of this series, and I probably will do another one in a little while once people have had a chance to find it and enjoy the show after the final episode airs. Fifth, while this may be the final season of the Tape Recorder trilogy podcast, I already have plans for two more shows, so please remain subscribed to this channel for updates on those when they are ready to be shared. Finally, while I don't want to break up the episode with ads, I do have a Patreon account with extra content for those of you who are willing to support this channel with a donation. A link to that is also in the show notes. With that said, thank you so much for your time and attention, and I look forward to you enjoying the next episode soon.