S2: E09 - Spiralling Star

S02-E09: Spiralling Star
[Intro music - 5 sec]

Narrator: Wake Of Corrosion Season 2 - Episode 9: Spiralling Star

[Radio Tuning]
[Muffled sounds can be heard as someone switches on a recording device and moves it into the correct position]

Prof Ryan: [spoken in a solemn voice] This is Professor Ryan of Bunker A:12. This is a public broadcast to any Survivors out there. Before I begin, please be aware that I advise listener discretion going forward, as some of the content of this broadcast can be unsettling or disturbing.

[SFX: Morse code] 

Prof Ryan: Survivors, I come to you today with a steadier...calmer mind. Allow me to apologise for my mood in the previous broadcast. I’ve had time to think, to contemplate on the matter and most importantly, come to my senses.
From what I can tell and from short conversations I’ve been able to have with Claire since, there was some sort of problem with the equipment at Ralford observatory. Whatever has happened out there, it seems to have affected the delicate instruments at the observatory before many other things in the wider world. For example [interrupted] [SFX: Incoming transmission]

Hold on….Apologies...We seem to have an incoming transmission. On the bunker channel, it’s...it’s not Claire’s

[SFX: Switch click]

Hello? Come in...This is Professor Ryan of Bunker A:12.

Niya: [confident, but friendly at first]I know just who you are, no need to introduce yourself.

Ryan: Wonderful! What is your location? How were you able to get in touch with us?

Niya: You are always so eager for information, Professor. But nobody responds...I wonder why that is? [a pause] I’m here to change that. I’m here, to share with you and the residents of A:12 the reality of our world.

Ryan: [a little hesitant]...I see? Well...You’ve caught us at the right time. I’m just starting a new broadcast and information you could have could prove vital.

Niya: Oh I’m sure. [slow] We’ve been listening. For a time. [pause] It seems as though you’re aware of the changes in our world. Society as you know it no longer exists. You are confined to your bunker and suffice to say you are alone in that element of your existence. No-one responds, Professor. Nobody. And your bunker is succumbing to the changes that are everywhere now. The thick concrete of your walls and doors. The radiation shielding. The self-sufficient systems. They are all the final vestiges of this dying world. The last remnant of order in our chaos.

[as though sharing great knowledge/teaching] Allow me to relieve you of your burden. Your lack of knowledge. Your desperation. The world outside is no more dangerous than it ever was. No more threatening. No more hostile. Perceived danger, that’s all it is. 

Here, we live in what was once a school. A place for education so wrongfully applied. A place where children had their creativity diminished and their minds warped under the guise of betterment for the future. We live here because it serves a purpose, not because of what it was but what it can be.

Our lives and teachings are holistic in all aspects of the word. We are united and driven. A true community. You need not cower. You need not hide away. [friendly] You only need to accept the change. 

[sinister, perhaps threatening] I have seen the world consume those who were unwilling to change. I have seen great creatures amass from shadows and snuff them out in an instant. Without pause. Without thought. I have seen buildings crumble - people scream and run. Seen them clutching on to the ashes of what once was and will be no more. I have seen them clinging to their devices praying for them to save them, to heal them, to fix them. Oh such Gods they were! Such omnipotence they beheld and our gaze so very transfixed upon those machines. But they. Were. False. For it was human minds  that built them and human minds who worshipped them and their bodies shall be left to rot whilst their false gods remain silent, uncaring. Faltering, waning, [pause] dead. 

[more hopeful] And now, when we see the world. We see everything. We see more than everything, for the world has so much more to offer than what we perceive. We are combined, we are converged. There is a tangible other that welcomes us into its embrace. 

Ryan: I...I don’t understand. What are you trying to say?

Niya: [as though she knew he wouldn’t] Of course you don’t. Let me tell you a story, Professor. Listen closely.

I lived my life, like many of us did. Under the control of others who expressed their power through lies and deception. We lived in false freedom...Behind screens both metaphorically and literally...This I’m sure you know. And I’m sure in your naivety you even miss it, crave it perhaps.

But one day, through chaos, a great and powerful thing found us in the midst of all this attempted order. An event that we thought would happen an age from now came to us in an instant and embraced us wholly. At this time, like many others I was battling through my life, fighting against the corruption that was once at the heart of it. At no fault of our own we had become accustomed to life under judgement and surveillance. That is when a door opened to me. [pause]...A physical door or a doorway at least. The room around me began to age, paint peeled, fabrics deteriorated, metal rusted and wood rotted, I saw the thin veneer of our lives, my life fallback and fade away. But still, I remained. And through this doorway that had blessed me, I heard whispers that I could not comprehend - in time, though, I would. 

At first I panicked, I was struck motionless by the thing, so overcome with fear and confusion. I could not fathom what was happening and my feeble mind wouldn’t allow me to see sense. But the whispers comforted me, allowed me to see. At that moment, I knew I must make the most important decision of my life. I stepped through the doorway. Oh the darkness that greeted me on the other side of that rift. For a moment I feared myself blind and could feel nothing but a violent gale whipping at my hair and howling in my ears, but again came the whisper, again came the comfort. And through that preternatural calm my sight returned.

With this came another shock, no longer was I standing in the mundane of my previous life, instead I found myself on a degrading patch of land that seemed to float on a sea of darkness. My eyes adjusted and I saw further still and do you know what greeted me Professor? Others. Other lost souls, just like me. All discovering themselves for the first time, all experiencing this revelation, together...as one. Unified.

I shall tell you no more of what I saw in that rift, for I believe that one day you shall experience it too. There is no other option. [almost gospel-like] It was my salvation and it shall be yours too.

Ryan: Survivor, I...We can help you. Okay, so whatever has happened to you out there. We can help you. But I do believe what you saw and it could be hugely beneficial to our investigation. You said you were located in a school...tell me where! It seems though you have seen so much more to tell than any of our other sources so far.

Niya: [laughs mockingly] I am no Survivor. I am Niya. [a pause] I see a great cloud about you and your precious bunker Professor. It corrupts you even now. [aside] I suppose it always has. You are conducting your investigation from behind a wall. Hoping to see the beauty of the forest without stepping a foot in it. But let me tell you this Ryan: Your precious brothers are gone, for they forsook the blessing when they tore it from their hands so callously. Claire denied it’s embrace with such disgust and fervour, determined to remain a lost soul and you….you are not far behind, but there is hope still. The rift in your bunker sings to me...sings to us all here… to you also, though you don’t listen. It sings the song of the other, the tireless one. The Spiralling Star.

 Go to it, hear its call. Let the rift grant you that preternatural calm...let it wash over you...let the sum of our weak lives be boiled away in the crucible of that sundered darkness… fi arag nack lar, kiliim teek sar je-an fi, je-an fi arag nalak- [SFX: Radio cutout]


Ryan: …[a long pause and a heavy sigh w/ bunker background sounds] I...I’m sorry I let that continue Survivors. Whoever this Niya is, it’s clear that they have become deeply troubled by the events that have washed over this world and in the wake of whatever this is, this corrosion, of society, of our lives...They think it is a blessing. Is something we should be grateful for. How wrong they are. If you’re out there, friends...Please, avoid these people, at all costs. They wish only to sow discourse and bring more into their deeply disturbed and warped realities. For those of you seeking shelter, whilst we may not always have room here at Bunker A:12, I do not believe what Niya said, I believe that there are other sanctuaries out there, we need only seek them out. And I advise you to do just that. I should’ve known that something like this would happen eventually...Claire tried to warn me of it when she was here, of the dangers of inviting the interests of anyone who would listen. Neither do I believe what she has to say about the brothers or Claire...or me even. We are not lost, we are not gone. I shall find the brothers and Claire will return.
[long pause]
My friends...survivors...let us return to the evidence we do have. To the sanctity of our more reliable sources.
[SFX: Shuffling papers]
Now...where were we? Ah, yes… Claire! I spoke to her briefly in between broadcasts and we were able to deduce that the equipment must have been affected by whatever has happened out there. If we were to take what they suggested at face-value, it would appear as though another galaxy was hurtling toward our own at an alarming speed. I almost laughed when she read the numbers out to me. In fact, it went as far as to suggest that the merging of our galaxy with another was imminent. That was just at the time the data was recorded. However, we have long known that such an event, were it to even happen, would not be possible for at least 6 billion years...an age from now. [a pause of revelation] Hold on...Niya...She mentioned an event which should have happened an age from now...she said it came to us in an instant. But how could she..? How could she know such things without the knowledge that we have here from Ralford, that only I have...The readings, the readings they’ve got to be false, surely? This can’t be right. 

Survivors, I’m going to attempt to get back in touch with Claire...This is deeply unsettling. Do not fear though, I shall share with you more of the brothers story whilst I attempt to get hold of her. I’ll keep you informed. [frustrated] I just need more time!

[SFX: Recording click]

Roman: [heavy sigh] I’m not sure how we made it out of there and I’m even less sure about where we are now…sitting in a freaking old style concrete bus shelter, huddled with a fire.
I’m sure Elliot will write about this in that bloody journal of his, but I just need to talk this through, to process things. [laughs] Huh, I suppose that’s why he does it...to process things. Alright, well fuck it, here it goes then.

I think the last recording we made on this thing was when we were stuck in that generator room. And Jim...Jim-not-fucking-Jim-at-all was there. It was a shadow, he was a shadow. But he was different than the others, it was like he could see us, like he wanted to talk to us, was trying to, but he just couldn’t hear us no matter what we said. Some of what he was saying though, it still looped, like the other shadows. [uncertain] I...I don’t know what to make of it. I think he wanted our help but I just don’t see how we could’ve done. I mean really, there was nothing we could do for him, even if we weren’t being hunted. This is all so beyond me, beyond any of us, I just don’t see how…[blows out breath] It’s okay.

Jesus, no...It’s not okay. It’s seriously not okay. I feel like I’m trapped in a God damn nightmare where the only consistent positive thing is Elliot. That’s it. If it wasn’t for him being by my side through all of this I think I would’ve gone fully insane by now. I mean, listen to what I’m saying! The only living person we’ve met who wasn’t secretly plotting to kill us, as far as I know, vanishes only to reappear as a shadow version of himself. Pair that we the…[choke up]...With the fact that I still haven’t found my children! ...Not even just not found...I haven’t got a clue where they are and I’m not resigning myself to the fact that they could be shadows. I just won’t believe it. I won’t.

[heavy sigh] Just like Elliot said...It’s not going to help dwelling on it like this. All I can do, all I can do is to just keep moving, keep searching. Stopping is giving up. I will never give up.

I want to talk about how we got out of there. When Elliot first called my attention to the vent in the generator room I dared not even think what he was hinting at. Before all this I would’ve thought he was being melodramatic about something, but I know now that that’s not possible. I saw tendrils coming from the vent. Tendrils like the ones that came from the ripped apart man infused with the wall in the tunnel...like the ones that came from under my nails. They crept forward with such purpose, the ends curled up ever so slightly. Like they were seeking something. Seeking us. We didn’t even have a chance to put our gas masks back on before running out of the room. Somehow the spores hadn’t gotten into the gen room, but now they were all around us. Now we’d thrown ourselves straight into them. I’d like to convince myself that they’re harmless, but I’m not that naive anymore. I suppose it’s just a matter of time until we see what they’ve done to us. I can think of one thing already.

The escape from the bunker, whilst overall a success, was a plague of horror. The walls looked more and more like that tunnel we passed through the closer we got to the end and I’m completely convinced the way we followed to leave the bunker wasn’t at all the same path we took when entering and I don’t know at all how that’s possible. There’s only a single path when you enter...just one. With L shaped corridors and no doors for at least a few hundred metres. But they weren’t the same. I’m sure of it. I’d be more willing to ignore it if it was the only change, but it wasn’t...isn’t. The whole time we were racing our way through those tunnels, stumbling through the darkness the beast that hunted us didn’t relent. In fact, I think it knew how close we were to escape and chose to abandon the subtlety of it’s approach. We could hear it’s focused sharp breaths as they echoed from behind. The short sharp exhalations that went in tandem with each of it’s pounding steps. I still don’t know the true nature of the beast, never fully saw it’s form and I don’t think Elliot really did either. That was the worst part of that entire experience...being chased by something you couldn’t understand, couldn’t even picture. If you can visualise something you can rationalise it? Y’know? I couldn’t...still can’t. I think that will stick with me for a while, not knowing what was chasing it. Not knowing if it’s the same thing were we to encounter it again.

When we did finally make it to the door it was closed and bolted. At least now we were on the right side of the door and we’d managed to put some distance between us and the creature. I think the thing was quite large, certainly felt that way anyway. And that size difference between us gave Elliot and I a slight advantage when navigating the narrow walkways. After straining against the door and panicking at the possibility that it could be jammed, we finally heard the satisfying clunk as it broke free of whatever was keeping the mechanism running smoothly. And that’s when we were nearly knocked off our feet in our desperate and rushed attempt to escape.

Elliot and I were both positioned to bolt out of the door once the gap was wide enough for us to fit through. We didn’t expect the thick heavy door to be forced open from the outside as a heaving wave of bodies spilled into the bunker entrance with the muffled limp thud of lifelessness. Within seconds we were knee deep in the stinking sorrow of desperate people whose lives had been snuffed out by whatever horror had befallen them. And they were all so close to safety, this door was the only thing stopping them. Immediately, we reeled back from the horrifying sight and Elliot began to retch but after hearing a groaning call from the creature behind us we were shocked back into the reality of our own impending doom. Survival instincts took over and we clambered through the sea of bodies, our feet and hands searching for solid purchase only to be met with a sickening softness time after time. Every movement was gut churning and I…[sighs] God damn, I can’t bare to think about it anymore. Those were people damn it...just like us. [long pause] In what felt like minutes but in reality were mere moments, we were finally on the other side of that now still tide of death. There was no hope of us ever closing that door again so we ran. We ran and ran until every breath burned in our lungs and our legs felt like dead weights about us.

It wasn’t until we stopped and caught our breath that it dawned on us what had really happened. In the short time that we’d been in Bunker A:7, how had that many people tried to flee there and attempted to get in? How had that many people died on our doorstep when we could barely find a living soul beforehand

[long pause, shudder] And why...why the fuck is it snowing?

[SFX: Radio]

Ryan: [solemn] Survivors...I...I can’t get in touch with Claire, she’s not responding to any of my calls...All the channels we agreed upon are silent. In my desperation...In my desperation I tried hailing Niya on the frequency she used to contact us, nothing either. I’m sorry but I need more time to think about what we’ve learned here today. There’s just so much to process and if what is suggested is true...and I hope it’s not...I’m sorry to say, there could be no way back. [losing hope] there could be nothing out there....but there could be everything out there. So many unknowns and variables, so many possibilities….God damn it, [scared] Was Niya right? Was she telling the truth all along? [In denial] No, no, surely. The brothers, Claire, they can’t be gone. Then musn’t be. There must be more. There is more!

I’m going to play you one last entry for today, friends. It’s a recording of the brothers, after that awful, awful experience upon leaving A:7. And before we play it, in regards to the weather conditions Roman mentioned. As far as I’m aware, it hasn’t yet snowed this year. Not anywhere near here at least. I don’t know what relevance it might have on our knowledge but at this point, well I’m willing to take anything.

I’ll leave you with this one.

[SFX: Recording click]

[SFX: Fire crackles, leaves rustle]

Roman: You sure you want to do this?

Elliot: I...I don’t know what else we can really do at this point Roman. Do you? …[sighs] It’s already on isn’t it?

Roman: Yeah...I thought it best we just start it now.

Elliot: I heard you recording earlier...did you say about the-

Roman: [interrupts] the bodies?

Elliot: I wasn’t going to….but yeah I suppose...I meant the weather and the trees.

Roman: I said it was snowing...it still is...I didn’t say anything else though. I, I couldn’t stop thinking about the door to be honest.

Elliot: I suppose I should do the honours then? For whoever finds this...God I have to stop saying that like we’re dead.

Roman: Yeah, you really really do.

Elliot: Well, whoever listens to this then, whatever. Something completely fucked up has happened. Moreso in a sense than that gruesome doorway. At least that’s plausible, but whatever has happened out here, I can’t...I can’t justify and I’m absolutely done with not being able to justify things.

Roman: [gets fed up] There’s no leaves on the trees. Like, dead of winter style no leaves.

Elliot: I was…[sighs] I was getting there. It’s not just that though, it’s freezing cold. Like, I seriously don’t think we’ve got enough to last us through if this carries on. The really fucked up thing though, is that it was just coming to the end of summer when we went into A:7 and we only spent a few days there, so it’s like, the start of September now perhaps? And that’s still summer by my counts. And it doesn’t fucking snow in summer, it’s not this cold in summer….the trees don’t fucking-

Roman: Alright, alright. Chill.

Elliot: [angry] Stop telling me to chill Roman! Just stop it!! I can’t chill, there’s no chilling is there? How can you even… how can you even god damn suggest chilling? You can’t even find your family and you want to chill out!?

Roman: I’m gonna pretend you didn’t mean to say that how it came out…

Elliot: Fuck...no I didn’t, I meant-

Roman: I know what you meant. Just forget about it, alright? I’m not saying chill because I want you to be calm...I’m saying chill because unless we keep our cool we’re not going to get through this. And it’s tearing me apart, believe me. I haven’t slept properly in weeks Elliot because every second I spend away from them is a second longer that something awful could be happening to them. There isn’t a moment that goes by whilst we’re out here that I’m not thinking of them. Hoping to catch a glimpse of them in the distance, together...safe… alive. So yeah, it’s harrowing. But if I don’t keep a level head I’ll never have any chance and I’ll end up like one of these other messed up people out here. And I can’t do that. Not because I believe I’m better than that, but because as long as I know that they might be out there, I have to be here for them whenever I find them and I will Elliot...I will find them.

Elliot: I miss them.

Roman: I miss them too. I miss everyone.

[SFX: Wind]

Elliot: [shudders] We should find a house, Roman. I don’t think this fire is going to help us as much as we might hope tonight.

Roman: Agreed. Somewhere that hasn’t deteriorated.

[SFX: Bag sounds]

Elliot: Do you really think it’s winter?

Roman: You ever read about a Nuclear Winter before?

Elliot: Oh.

Roman: Dust and ash blocking out most of the suns rays, keeping us wonderful fucking cold.

Elliot: Why now though? Surely it would’ve been like this before.

Roman: I don’t know...I suppose it was only ever a theory so, perhaps there is some sort of delay that comes with it? Perhaps that’s not even the case. Who knows.

Elliot: It would explain how those people died.

Roman: But it doesn’t explain whatever chased us in the tunnels of A:7 and all the other shit that has chased us along the way.

Elliot: I don’t want to think about it anymore.

Roman: Well, before we go. Let me answer your original question...No I don’t think it’s actually winter. That makes the least amount of sense of anything we’ve seen. But if it is...well we missed your birthday so looks like I don’t have to get you anything this year [laughs].

Elliot: Jeesus Roman...I can never tell whether you’re being serious or not.

Roman: C’mon. Let’s get moving. When we’re settled and not freezing to death we can decide whether we’re actually gonna head to this Ryan guy in A:12 or whether he’ll just be another crack pot!

Elliot: Elliot and Roman out, I suppose.

Roman: I told you not sa-

[SFX: Recording cuts out]

Ryan: There is something seriously wrong out there survivors, we’ve not had any reports of what the brothers are currently experiencing reach us at A:12. In fact, our engineers have yet to report any inclement weather whilst performing external maintenance. And we know almost for certain that we’re not experiencing the aftermath of nuclear war as our external geiger numbers are actually lower than standard background readings prior to this disaster. I’m curious and...well I’ll admit, afraid of what might happen to the brothers next. Especially if they choose to head to A:12 as well all well know, they are yet to make it here and if I am in possession of these recordings, then….well I just hope they headed elsewhere.


There has been a lot said here today. A lot that is deeply troubling and concerning. Once again, I implore you, if you’re out there and wish to share any of your knowledge with us then get in touch...any way you can.

For now, keep yourselves safe and of course, don’t wander in the dark.