---
layout:          post
title:           "OTCW002 - Boundless and Bare"
date:            2023-12-01 12:00:00 -0400
episode_type:      episode
categories:			"neon"
podcasts: ["neon"]
neon_category:   ["otcw"]
title_prefix:	"OTCW"
prev_categories: ["neon"]
prev_prefixes: ["OTCW"]
prev_episode:   ['001']
prev_episode_num:		['001']
prev_episode_title:		["An Antique Land"]
next_categories: ["neon"]
next_prefixes: ["OTCW"]
next_episode:   ['003']
next_episode_num:		['003']
next_episode_title:		["Half Sunk"]
episode_title:   "Boundless and Bare"
episode_number:  '002'
summary:         "The group explores the empty rooms and stores, but it looks like someone (or something) has been there first."
content_flags:   ["Isolation", "Existential Loneliness", "Mentions of: Blood", "Discussions of: Post-apocalypse, human extinction", "SFX: ominous whistling"]
acast_url:       https://shows.acast.com/6553c68578cd3a00121a9b8f/65648e67f1e94c0012ac7008
formats: 
    PDF: https://rustyquillcom.sharepoint.com/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?ga=1&id=%2FShared%20Documents%2FRusty%20Quill%20Public%20Access%2FTranscripts%2FNeon%20Inkwell%2FOf%20That%20Colossal%20Wreck%2FOf%20That%20Colossal%20Wreck%20%2D%20Episode%202%2Epdf&viewid=585e2cf0%2Dc969%2D4847%2Dad54%2D2302c335d0a1&parent=%2FShared%20Documents%2FRusty%20Quill%20Public%20Access%2FTranscripts%2FNeon%20Inkwell%2FOf%20That%20Colossal%20Wreck
official:        true
wiki_url:        
---

##### [A low hum, fainter than before, in a cavernous space]

##### [An ominous whistling sounds in the distance; then a brief pause]

##### [Mechanical sounds of hydraulics releasing]

#### MIRA

_(a little muffled)_ Ah! There you go. That's the release, and... 

#### ZACK

Do you need us to get it the rest of the way? 

#### RILEY

It's already wide enough to crawl under. 

#### MIRA

No, it's fine, Riley, could you grab that -- Yup, that's it... Got it!

##### [Mira grunts in triumph as the door lifts all the way up]

##### [Everyone makes awed noises as they step through the door] 

#### LUNA

_(no longer muffled)_ It's huge. 

#### ZACK

Levi, what do you make that, a mile? Two? 

#### LEVI

Two miles, I think... Reminds me of a parade ground. We're supposed to come here when we wake up. All of us. A whole generation. We line up here. 

#### MIRA

And the Commander gives us our instructions. Tells us what to do.

##### [Beat.]

#### LUNA

It's just us. 

#### LEVI

Yeah. 

#### RILEY

And everything's broken. 

#### ZACK

Not everything. Most of the lights are still on. And we can still breath, still walk. We're not floating frozen in the vacuum of space, so most of the station's vital systems are still working. That's got to be worth something. 

#### LEVI

Maybe, but it doesn't tell us much. This place was designed to be completely self-sustaining. To run automatously for thousands, millions of years. 

#### MIRA

Until it was needed. 

#### ZACK

So how long do you think it's been? 

#### MIRA

Since we woke up, or since the station was activated? 

#### RILEY

How would we measure either?

##### [Their stomach rumbles right on cue]

#### LEVI

I'd say that's a pretty good indicator of how long we've been awake. 

#### RILEY

Yeah. Can't exactly say I'm looking forward to crossing the parade ground on an empty stomach. 

#### MIRA

Crossing it might not actually be the best idea just yet. 

#### LUNA

Why not? 

#### MIRA

Look, lining this whole wall. Doors, just like this one, which takes us down to where we woke up. That room could have held, what? 50 people? 60? Not enough to fill this whole space. 

#### LEVI

You think these other doors lead to more places like that? More people? 

#### MIRA

I don't know about people, but ours clearly had supplies in it at one point: food, water, additional clothing. 

#### LUNA

So some of the other rooms might still be fully stocked. 

#### MIRA

Exactly.

#### RILEY

And if we're lucky, they won't even be on fire! 

#### MIRA

Not funny, Riley. You remember the door-opening procedure I showed you? 

#### RILEY

Yeah, I think so.

#### MIRA

Okay, then. You, Levi and Luna start working your way left. Zack and I will take the right. We'll regroup here if we find anything. 

#### ZACK

Are you sure? If it's all the same to you I should probably keep an eye on Luna, she --

#### LUNA

Don't worry, Zack, it's okay. I'm doing much better. 

#### ZACK

You're feeling alright? 

#### LUNA

I'm feeling like an artificially grown person waking up on a broken space station. So not amazing. But there's no more dizziness. 

#### ZACK

Right. Well, uh --

#### LUNA

I'll manage. 

#### MIRA

Okay. Meet back here when we find food. 

#### RILEY

What if we don't find any? 

#### LEVI

Then I guess we meet back here when we give up. Come on.

##### [Footsteps as they disperse]

##### [Across the parade ground, another inhuman whistle]

------

##### [In one awakening room: the sounds here are quieter, almost dampened]

##### [Two sets of footsteps enter]

#### MIRA

Right, where did you find the storage area when we woke up? 

#### ZACK

Along the back wall. Here, I'll show you -- they're not exactly hidden, but you need to know what to look for.

##### [Mira marches across the room while Zack trails behind.]

#### ZACK

No pods. You think that's a good sign? 

#### MIRA

Probably. If this room's never been used, it might still have all its original stores. 

#### ZACK

Let's hope so. Right, see this here? It's actually a handle. If you just grip it and...

##### [The door opens with a slight hiss of depressurisation]

##### [A beat as they look inside] 

#### MIRA

Empty. 

#### ZACK

That might be a good sign? 

#### MIRA

How is a complete lack of food a good sign? 

#### ZACK

Well, it might mean someone else has already taken it. 

#### MIRA

So maybe there are other people already awake. 

#### ZACK

We might not be quite as alone as we thought.

------

##### [Another awakening room: metallic rummaging noises]

#### LEVI

...Well? 

#### RILEY

No sign of them. Whoever was in here, they're long gone. 

#### LUNA

Do we know when they would have woken up? 

#### LEVI

It doesn't seem recent. 

#### RILEY

No. All the readouts are dead. Looks like none of them have had power for a long time. 

#### LUNA

So we definitely weren't the first to wake up...

##### [Levi grunts in frustration]

##### [He kicks something metallic and hollow]

#### RILEY

Hey! Careful! 

#### LUNA

Levi? Are you alright? 

#### RILEY

Remember last time, when one of these things caught *fire?* 

#### LEVI

None of this makes any damn sense! We were supposed to wake up together. All of us! 

#### RILEY

Maybe the system decided to stagger it? 

#### LEVI

No, it wouldn't work like that. There are meant to be thousands of us, hundreds of thousands, all at once. You can't rebuild a civilisation with fifty people. 

#### RILEY

Or five. 

#### LUNA

Assuming we want to rebuild it at all. 

#### LEVI

What, you don't think humanity is worth continuing? 

#### LUNA

I don't know. I've never seen it. Neither have you. We're less than a day old, Levi. Besides, if this place was built on the assumption that, statistically, human civilisation would eventually become extinct, then surely the same thing is true of anything they built? 

#### RILEY

Maybe they expected us to build a space station like this of our own?

##### [Their joke does not land.] 

#### LUNA

Everything ends. 

#### LEVI

Look, I don't know what to tell you. We're meant to have a job, a purpose. We're meant to all be together. 

#### RILEY

He's right, Luna. I feel it too. Though I guess I don't know if that's just what I've been programmed to believe. 

#### LEVI

We're not computers, Riley. We're people. We haven't been programmed to believe anything. 

#### LUNA

But we have been designed.

##### [Levi takes a deep breath]

#### LEVI

Let's drop it, okay? I'm sorry. We're all tired, hungry and stressed. Whatever we think about our existence, we certainly weren't supposed to come into the world like this. Let's keep looking. Luna, did you find those storage spaces Mira was talking about? 

#### LUNA

One of them. Full of empty old wrappers. Some kind of looked like. Anything that consumed looks like it was bottles and rations, they wasn't already taken. 

#### LEVI

Yeah, that makes sense. Let's have another look. It's possible there are a few more cupboards like it here, and maybe one of them hasn't been picked clean. If not, we try another chamber. 

#### LUNA

Right.

##### [Footsteps as they disperse to start looking]

#### RILEY

...Levi?

#### LEVI

Yeah?

#### RILEY

What if we missed it? What if everybody else did wake up, and they met the Commander, and took off to rebuild on some distant world.

##### [Beat.]

#### RILEY

What if we've been left behind? 

#### LEVI

It's... possible. I guess. But we don't know anything for sure, yet, so no point jumping to conclusions. For the moment, we just need to make sure we stick together and look out for each other. Because one way or another, something here really doesn't seem right. 

------

<!-- #### 4. INT -- AWAKENING ROOM, WRECKED -->

<!-- This room is also full of pods, but these are not simply open. They have been smashed, broken and wrenched open, and each of the destroyed pods (and much of the surrounding room) are coated in dried blood and viscera. There is a low hum and sparking of broken systems and when the characters walk, broken glass crunches underfoot. ZACK and MIRA are looking over one of the shattered pods.  -->

##### [This is a new environment -- we hear a low hum and sparking of broken systems.]

##### [Footsteps crunch over shards of glass, then stop.]

#### MIRA

Well? 

#### ZACK

Well, what? It's blood. 

#### MIRA

I can see that. Is it human? 

#### ZACK

Probably. 

#### MIRA

Aren't you a doctor? 

#### ZACK

First off, technically I'm not a doctor as I have no actual qualifications. Second, even if I was I'd have no way to test this blood, and third, I don't know if there are any other creatures on this station that bleed, certainly none that would be in these human-sized stasis pods. So yeah, it's probably human blood. 

#### MIRA

You need to calm down, Zack. 

#### ZACK

Mira, considering the situation I would say that I am remarkably calm. 

#### MIRA

How old is it? 

#### ZACK

Old.

#### MIRA

Anything more specific? 

#### ZACK

Only that no one could lose this much blood and live. 

#### MIRA

And that's the same with the other pods? 

#### ZACK

I haven't examined them in detail, but I'd guess so. Whatever happened here, I don't think there were any survivors.

##### [There is a long, tense pause.]

#### ZACK

Do you think it was some sort of... malfunction? 

#### MIRA

I think that most of these lids have been smashed in from the outside. And this one was torn off its hinges. 

#### ZACK

So... No way it could have been an accident? 

#### MIRA

No.

##### [Beat.]

#### MIRA

_(thinking aloud)_ Where are the bodies? Have they been taken somewhere? 

#### ZACK

Maybe. Something happened to them, but... 

#### MIRA

What are you thinking? 

#### ZACK

I don't know. And I don't want to think about it any more because thinking about it scares the shit out of me. I think whatever happened to smash fifty stasis pods and reduce their occupants to bloody smears is something we should be moving away from as soon as possible.

#### MIRA

_(still in analysis mode)_ No drag marks though the blood. If they were taken then they must have been carried. 

#### ZACK

Mira!

##### [Mira sighs]

#### ZACK

Can we go? Please. 

#### MIRA

We still need to check the stores. 

#### ZACK

You want to eat anything that's been in here? 

#### MIRA

All the other compartments we opened were pressurised and sealed. There's no reason to assume it would be contaminated. 

#### ZACK

Fine.

##### [Footsteps as he walks over to the wall]

#### ZACK

But I think it's a waste of --

##### [Another depressurising hiss]

##### [A silence]

#### MIRA

Looks like you weren't the only one too squeamish to go looking for supplies in here. 

#### ZACK

_(awed)_ This could last us for weeks. Months, if we're careful. 

#### MIRA

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Load up what you can and lets go find the others. 

#### ZACK

You got it. And Mira... 

#### MIRA

We'll find another room to eat in. 

#### ZACK

Thanks. 

------

##### [Back to the echoing, cavernous parade ground]

##### [Rustling of food wrappers all around]

#### RILEY

This is what you meant by food? 

#### LEVI

Good enough for me. I'm starving.

##### [Sounds of crinkling as the food is unwrapped]

#### RILEY

What do they taste like? 

#### ZACK

I don't know. I haven't eaten one yet.

##### [Riley takes a bite.]

##### [They make a sound that indicates it is not delicious.]

#### ZACK

But I imagine they taste like they were designed to remain edible for many thousands of years. 

#### RILEY

"Edible" is a very broad term. 

#### MIRA

They're what we've got. 

#### RILEY

I know. What flavour have you got, Luna? Mine claims to be "curry." 

#### LUNA

It says it's chicken. 

#### RILEY

Huh. Do you even know what chicken tastes like? 

#### LUNA

I remember what a chicken is... But no, I don't think I have a sense memory of the taste. Maybe that means I never ate one. Or, well, whoever I'm made of never ate one. I sort of hope not, I don't really like the thought of eating a chicken. 

#### MIRA

Here, I've got "tomato." We can swap if you like, then you don't have to think about it. 

#### LUNA

_(smiling)_ Thanks.

##### [A rustle of wrappers as they exchange bars]

#### RILEY

You know, I don't think I remember what anything tastes like. From before I woke up, at least. This is technically the first thing I've ever eaten.

##### [Another bite]

#### RILEY

_(dry)_ Lucky me. 

#### LEVI

Odd, isn't it. Humankind went to the stars, built a civilisation powerful enough to construct this place, and through it all the concepts of "chicken" and "curry" and "tomato" remained. 

#### ZACK

Well, the terms did. Who knows if what we think those words mean is anything like what they might once have meant on Earth? 

#### LUNA

You know much about Earth? 

#### ZACK

No, not really. I don't have much actual information about humanity's history or the people who built this place. I know we originally came from a place called Earth. I can see it in my mind, blue and green and fragile. I can see snapshots of different places but no details. Kind of like... blurred out backgrounds. 

#### MIRA

Maybe the Commander can tell us more. 

#### LEVI

Or maybe the station's builders knew that by the time we woke up, whatever specifics we remembered would be long gone. Maybe they didn't want us to wake up grieving. 

#### LUNA

Then they failed. We're awake, which means everyone like us is dead. Maybe I don't know the names, or the places or the cultures, but they're gone. I feel it. It's part of who -- Part of __what__ we are. 

#### LEVI

I guess so.

##### [They eat for a while in silence.]

------

##### [Peaceful, even breathing all around...]

##### [Except for two cases.]

#### LEVI

Can't sleep?

#### MIRA

No. Feels too exposed here. All that wide open space stretching out. 

#### LEVI

Maybe, but I think we're all a bit uneasy with the awakening rooms right now. Just try to think of it as a wide open sky. 

#### MIRA

It's just a ceiling. 

#### LEVI

Closest any of us are going to get for a long time. Maybe ever. 

#### MIRA

Maybe.

##### [Beat]

#### MIRA

I guess you're right. Don't exactly want to be sleeping near all those pods right now. 

#### LEVI

Mm. Those broken ones Zack was talking about? With all the blood. Was it as bad as he made out?

#### MIRA

Worse.

##### [Silence]

##### [A distant whistle]

#### MIRA

_(tense)_ You hear it too, don't you? 

#### LEVI

Yep. Been coming on and off since we woke up. 

#### MIRA

I was hoping it was some kind of machine or mechanism or... I don't know. 

#### LEVI

Doesn't sound mechanical to me. 

#### MIRA

Me neither. You think it might be other people? 

#### LEVI

No, I do not.

##### [A pause]

#### LEVI

You sure you want to cross the parade grounds when everyone's awake? 

#### MIRA

We're not going to find the Commander picking through hundreds of wake-up rooms. If they're out there, it'll be on the other side. In the rest of the station. 

#### LEVI

Be good if we could find a map. 

#### MIRA

They could at least have given us a memory of the layout. 

#### LEVI

Maybe one of the others would have had one.

...There were meant to be more of us. 

#### MIRA

I know. Get some sleep, Levi. 

#### LEVI

Mm.

##### [Mira settles down to rest]

##### [In the distance, the whistling comes again]

------

##### [Several sets of slightly-belabored footsteps echo across the parade ground.]

#### ZACK

Would it not have made more sense to stick to the walls? 

#### LEVI

It would've taken a lot longer. 

#### RILEY

Twice as long, maybe more depending on where we were on the back wall. Still, it does feel a bit vulnerable. 

#### LUNA

I prefer it to the cramped corridors. Feels like I can breathe a bit more. Even if we are kind of overloaded. 

#### MIRA

We don't know when we'll next find supplies. 

#### RILEY

True enough.

##### [Beat]

Are we there yet? 

#### LEVI

Hah. Don't even know how long we've been walking. 

#### ZACK

Hard to tell in a space this big, when everything looks identical. Could be ten minutes, could be an hour. 

#### RILEY

Just want to know what my chances are of dying from boredom. 

#### ZACK

Pretty high, but don't worry, I'm a doctor. I'll let you know the moment it happens.

##### [A small smattering of genuine laughter]

##### [The whistle comes again]

##### [The laughter, and footsteps, stop]

##### [A beat.]

#### MIRA

Come on. We can't stop every time we hear it. 

#### LUNA

It's closer. We're going towards it. 

#### ZACK

_(unconvincingly)_ Well, that's good news. Closer to solving the mystery.

#### RILEY

Sure.

#### MIRA

Whatever it is, we'll deal with it. Let's keep walking. 

------

<!-- The hum of machines is still there, but it feels different. Sharper, somehow. In one corner a service hatch is lifted up, and the five explorers begin to emerge from the top of a ladder.  -->

##### [The hum of machines again, but different -- sharper, somehow.]

##### [Metal rattling, then the sound of footsteps on metal as our protagonists ascend a ladder]

#### LEVI

Is it just me, or is it colder in here? 

#### ZACK

It's not just you. Definitely chillier. 

#### RILEY

Something wrong with the life-support system, maybe? 

#### MIRA

I choose to take it as a good thing. 

#### ZACK

How'd you figure? 

#### MIRA

We've been wandering identical corridors on the same level since we got off the parade grounds. Now we get up a few floors and things look different. They feel different. 

#### LUNA

Change isn't always progress. 

#### MIRA

I'll take it anyway. 

#### LEVI

Is there any way to get the lights a bit brighter? 

#### MIRA

Maybe. I think that's a service hatch just there. Riley, give me a hand.

##### [They pull a small metal plate off the wall]

##### [Mira makes a noise of concern]

#### LEVI

What's wrong? 

#### MIRA

There's, uh, a lot of the stuff in here is... broken. 

#### RILEY

That's not broken. That's smashed. 

#### MIRA

Hold on, I think the lighting circuit is still... One second.

##### [The lights come on fully]

##### [A collective noise of disgust] 

#### LEVI

What the hell is that stuff? 

#### RILEY

I saw a bit of it back near our old room. Nothing like this much, though. 

#### ZACK

Looks organic. Like some sort of amber or soft resin. It -- Luna, don't touch it!

##### [It's too late. Luna has touched it.]

#### LUNA

_(fascinated, not afraid:)_ It's sticky. Like tree sap. Cold. 

#### ZACK

Could this be why the temperature is so low here? 

#### MIRA

That and the heating circuits have been ripped out. 

#### LEVI

Given that it seems to be in pretty much every direction, I might suggest we go back down. 

#### RILEY

I'll take identical corridors over this. 

#### MIRA

Yeah, I think that's --

##### [She is cut off by a whistle. It is no longer distant.]

#### RILEY

Come on! Let's --

#### LEVI

No! Don't move! Look!

##### [Cracks and snaps as the source of the whistling emerges]

##### [Bones pop fluidly with every chitinous movement as it whistles to itself, quiet and almost curious]

#### ZACK

_(Quiet)_ Mira, what do we do?

##### [With a hissing sound, the cracking and snapping stop entirely]

##### [Beat]

##### [Another whistle, lower and more threatening.]

##### [It is immediately answered by a half-dozen other whistles from deeper in the station.]

<!-- With a hissing sound, the whistler stops dead in place. There is a moment of tension, before it lets out another whistle, this one lower, more threatening. A hunting whistle. It is immediately answered by a half-dozen other whistles from deeper in the station.  -->

#### MIRA

RUN!

##### [They run.]