SPEAKER_03
0:00
It's
past
midnight.
The
world
is
quiet,
the
signal
is
strong,
you've
found
a
frequency
not
listed
on
any
dial,
where
stories
are
generated,
where
shadows
speak.
This
is
midnight
transmission
broadcasting
beyond
reality.
SPEAKER_02
1:06
In
a
private
study
room,
Mrs.
SPEAKER_01
1:09
Darby
opens
an
old
town
survey
map,
hand
drawn
pre-Civil
War.
At
the
centre
is
a
symbol,
a
circle
with
radiating
lines.
Arthur
squints.
A
sun
a
spring,
she
corrects.
Settlers
said
the
water
cured
illness.
They
called
it
healing
springs
before
there
were
roads.
Michael
frowns.
Minerals.
She
shakes
her
head.
People
wrote
about
headaches
stopping
overnight,
fevers
breaking,
strange
sensations
during
storms,
metal
taste,
hair
standing
up,
and
flashes.
She
slides
another
document
forward.
A
government
memo
stamped
nineteen
eighty
three
Sight
Selection
Natural
Electromagnetic
Resonance
Quartz
Lattice
Geological
Lensing
Historical
Anomalous
Reports
eighteen
thirty
four
to
nineteen
seventy
nine.
Arthur
whispers
They
didn't
choose
this
place
randomly.
Mrs.
Darby
nods.
They
chose
it
because
reality
runs
thin
here.
The
healing
wasn't
magic.
She
swallows.
It
was
the
town
trying
to
correct
itself.
SPEAKER_00
2:43
Project
lantern.
SPEAKER_02
2:48
Mrs.
SPEAKER_01
2:49
Darby
produces
a
cassette
tape.
I
recorded
the
night
you
vanished.
She
presses
play.
Static,
then
clipped
radio
chatter.
Temporal
displacement
confirmed.
Two
subjects
unaccounted
for
repeat.
Subjects
not
located
in
current
year.
Michael's
skin
prickles.
They
were
looking
for
us.
Mrs.
Darby
flips
to
a
newspaper
scan.
Local
men
vanish
after
strange
light
presumed
dead.
Healing
Springs,
july
eighteenth,
nineteen
eighty
two
Arthur
stares
at
their
photos
young
faces
he
hasn't
seen
in
a
mirror
for
forty
four
years.
A
second
headline
Federal
Purchases
Ridgeland
for
Emergency
Science
Facility
nineteen
eighty
three.
Location
above
the
hospital
Arthur's
voice
is
flat.
They
built
the
annex
because
of
us.
Mrs.
Darby's
gaze
hardens.
They
built
it
because
of
Healing
Springs,
she
says.
You
were
just
the
first
proof
it
worked.
Outside,
sirens
drift
closer.
SPEAKER_00
4:14
The
phone
that
knows
that
they
exit
through
the
back
door.
SPEAKER_01
4:21
Mrs.
Darby
grips
Michael's
sleeve.
Cameras
are
everywhere
now,
don't
let
them
get
your
faces.
Arthur
looks
up.
Small
black
domes
rotate
quietly
over
the
entrance.
A
teenager
walks
toward
them,
eyes
locked
on
his
phone.
He
slows,
stares,
then
turns
the
screen.
Police
alert
report
these
individuals
Michael
Marlowe
slash
Arthur
Mercer
nineteen
eighty
two
Disappearance
Possible
fraud
slash
impersonation.
Arthur's
chest
tightens.
We're
an
alert.
Sirens
rise.
Michael
grabs
Arthur
and
runs.
A
speaker
somewhere
in
the
city
chirps
a
calm,
automated
voice.
Attention.
Please
remain
where
you
are.
Arthur
hisses.
It's
like
the
town
itself
is
calling
us
in.
Michael
mutters
or
the
part
of
it
behind
the
fence.
SPEAKER_00
5:36
The
first
chase.
They
reach
the
Camaro.
SPEAKER_01
5:44
Michael
turns
the
key.
The
engine's
roar
cuts
through
the
quiet
like
a
flare.
Two
black
SUVs
appear
on
the
road
within
seconds.
No
markings.
Tinted
windows.
Moving
too
smoothly.
Arthur
twists
around.
They
knew
exactly
where
to
go.
Michael
jerks
onto
a
service
road.
The
SUVs
accelerate.
Quiet,
relentless.
The
radio
clicks
on
by
itself.
A
voice,
human,
calm,
too
close.
Michael
Marlowe.
Arthur
Mercer.
Pull
over.
You
are
not
in
trouble.
Arthur
barks
a
laugh.
That's
the
same
lie
twice.
Michael
snaps
the
wheel
onto
a
rutted
dirt
cut
through.
The
SUVs
overshoot,
forced
to
break.
For
a
moment
they're
alone
again.
Arthur
pants.
They
track
the
car.
Michael
stares
at
the
dashboard
like
it
might
answer.
No,
he
says.
SPEAKER_00
6:58
They
tracked
us.
The
echo
test.
SPEAKER_01
7:08
They
hide
in
an
abandoned
barn
miles
outside
town.
Arthur
sets
Mrs.
Darby's
cassette
recorder
on
a
crate.
What
if
we're
not
stable?
he
asks.
Michael
frowns.
Meaning
Arthur
hits
record.
Test
log.
July
eighteenth,
nineteen
eighty
two,
except
it
isn't.
We
are
displaced
forty
four
years
into
the
future.
They
let
it
run
ten
minutes.
When
Arthur
rewinds
and
plays
it
back,
the
first
half
is
normal.
Then
static
swells.
A
second
voice
layers
into
the
recording.
Deeper,
clinical.
Temporal
echo
detected.
Subjects
exist
in
dual
reference.
Arthur
stops
the
tape,
hands
shaking.
Michael's
eyes
narrow.
We're
still
connected
to
1982,
he
whispers.
Arthur
swallows.
Like
a
radio
tuned
to
two
stations.
Michael
looks
toward
the
ridge.
SPEAKER_02
8:22
And
the
annex
is
the
transmitter.
This
concludes
part
two
of
this
four
part
series.
SPEAKER_03
8:33
The
signal
is
fading,
but
it's
never
gone
for
long.
Until
next
time.
Keep
listening.
This
was
midnight
transmission.