Episode 86: "We Cannot Tarry Here” – The Sheridan Tapes
CONTENT WARNING: Character betrayal and deception, doppelgängers, strong existential dread, and some loud noises.
02122020b: Pushed to the limit of his patience, Ned takes matters into his own hands.
Starring Ezra J. Wayne as Ned Leroux, Sam Taylor as “Red Park,” Maurice Cooper as Jerry Price, Mike LeBeau as Security, Jordan Cobb as Sarah Freeman, Kris Allison as Dana Caldwell, and Van Winkle as Sam Bailey, with original music by Jesse Haugen. Written and produced by Virginia Spotts, with dialogue editing and sound design by Van Winkle.
This episode was made possible by our supporters at Patreon.com/homesteadcorner, ko-fi.com/homesteadcorner, and our backers on Seed&Spark.
For more information, additional content, and episode transcript, visit thesheridantapes.com
Script
Transcript
CONTENT WARNING: Character betrayal and deception, doppelgängers, strong existential dread, and some loud noises.
[Bathroom door opens, someone enters, closes]
[Shoes on linoleum]
[Ned leans forward in the mirror]
Ned Leroux
According to my calculations… [Squelching; his voice slowly shifts] according to my calculations… [Squelching] according to my calculations…
[Rustling and squelching]
“Red” Leroux
[Ned’s voice melts into a perfect replica of Ren’s] Ah! “According to my calculations…” [Footsteps away from the mirror] …y’all will be none the wiser.
[Jerry knocks on the door]
Jerry Price (through the door)
Ren? That you in there?
[Pause; “Red” opens the door]
“Red” Leroux
Heyyy Jerry… what’s up?
Jerry Price
Oh, just… just wanted to see if you were alright. I thought you were all in bed already. [He stretches, yawning] That was a long drive.
“Red” Leroux
Ah, yeah… sure was. Everything’s fine. Just… needed to use the bathroom.
Jerry Price
Of course, yeah. Nothing wrong with that.
[Awkward pause]
Well.
“Red” Leroux
Welp.
Jerry Price
Sorry for bothering you.
“Red” Leroux
No worries.
Jerry Price
Goodnight, Ren.
“Red” Leroux
Goodnight, Jerry.
[Jerry retreats down the hall, shutting his bedroom door behind him]
[“Red” steps out into the hall]
“Red” Leroux
So long, Jerry. So long, everyone.
[“Red” walks away]
[Cassette noises]
[Click]
[Main Theme]
Recording Begins
[Typing as someone accesses a digital file]
[Beep]
[Static fades away on CCTV footage from the ISPHA observation post]
[Red whistles “Home on the Range” as he walks]
[Someone opens ISPHA’s main door with a buzz, and Red stops]
Security Chief
Late night, huh?
“Red” Leroux
Oh! Uh… [Recovering] Yeah, guess it is.
Security Chief
Hey… Ren? Ren Park?
“Red” Leroux
Heyyy… you.
Security Chief
It’s me! Roger! [Beat] Roger Thomason? Site security?
“Red” Leroux
Oh, right! My bad. How’s it going?
Security Chief
Uh… can’t complain. [He chuckles] So you back working with Caldwell then?
“Red” Leroux
I guess you could say that.
Security Chief
Oh wow. Well… glad to see you around. [Beat] Are you… working late tonight?
“Red” Leroux
Oh, you know, just pulling one of my classic all-nighters. Trying to get caught up. Anyone else working tonight?
Security Chief
I’m the last one out. It’s all yours.
[He holds the door open, it slightly squeaks]
“Red” Leroux
Oh… thanks!
[Gravel and dirt changes to metal stairs as Red enters]
Security Chief
No problem! See you around, Park.
[Buzz as Red requests access to the interior door]
[Beep as CCTV feed ends]
[Silence]
[Beep as interior CCTV feed begins]
[Door buzzes, Red steps forward]
“Red” Leroux
Let’s see if I got the fingerprints right…
[He places his hand on a scanner]
[There’s a whir, beep, and the sound of a door unlocking]
Automated Voice
Entry Authorized — Doctor Park, Ren, Experimental Projects.
[The doors whoosh shut behind him as he enters]
“Red” Leroux
I’ve still got it.
[He walks into the hallway]
[Beep as the CCTV footage ends]
[Silence]
[Beep as new CCTV footage begins]
[Footsteps on a hard surface]
Alright… if I were ISPHA’s secret records… where would I hide?
[He listens for a moment; only the hum of the ventilation system and the crackle of the CCTV feed]
This way…
[He walks up the hallway]
Dr. Mallory Wight… Stanley Brothers… Dr. Ren Park — huh. Caldwell really wants him back, I guess. [Beat] Dr. Atticus Reinhart…
[He stops]
Dr. Daniella Caldwell. [Beat] Good a place as any.
[He tries the handle, it’s locked]
Hmm…
[Squelching as he shifts his hand into the lock and begins to picks it]
[Imitating Kate] “What does shapeshifting have to do with anything? How is that helpful? Meh meh meh meh meh.”
[The latch releases, and he steps inside the office]
[Beep as the CCTV footage ends]
[Silence]
[Beep as Caldwell’s office CCTV footage begins]
[The door shuts]
Hmm… Let’s see what we’ve got here.
[He walks to her desk, sits in the chair, opens a filing cabinet, and rifles through it]
[He rifles through a second one]
[He stops]
Ahhh… “Project Origo?” Where have I heard that before?
[He grunts as he removes the massive folder, and opens it up]
[He flips through it quickly; finds a cassette tape]
“Testimony of project researcher Sarah Freeman, ISPHA… August 13th, 1993.” Hm.
[He glances over, notices the tape deck]
Ah… thank god everyone’s obsessed with tape decks around here.
[He inserts the tape and presses play]
[Click]
[Static fades]
[Background: a quiet, small lab]
Sarah Freeman
Project Origo researcher Sarah Freeman, recording August 13th, 1993. I have been continuing my meditations and grounding exercises as instructed. Currently I am progressing as expected through the Gateway Experience, and as of last night I have begun level six. I can’t believe I’ve already progressed to this point in the program — the past several months seem to have flown by.
On a more personal note, I… I’ve been enjoying my explorations during these meditation experiences, for the most part. I joined the project out of a desire to understand the world, to explore new territory. I remember when I was a little girl, I’d lie there in my bed at night feeling my breathing deepen, and I noticed… maybe around age five? Six?… that I could make it feel like I was floating. Shifting upwards and to the side, while at the same time not moving my body at all. Now, I understand that to be my first experience with astral projection. I suppose I’ve always been suited for this work.
Anyway, all of this information has been relayed to the Project Origo team in more official terms. But as this monthly log is here to capture my personal feelings and intuitive hits on what I’m experiencing… here goes.
As of today, I’ve been traveling for the project on a regular basis for the past three months. The first two months I felt fairly normal, minus a vague sense of being lighter on my feet whenever I returned. However, this feeling normally passed quickly, and I dismissed it as psychosomatic.
This past month however… it’s beginning to pull at me in ways that feel less innocuous. Dangerous, even. I’ve put in a request for decreased duty, as I believe the frequency and intensity of my travel may not be sustainable. I contacted the Monroe Institute myself, something that I may be reprimanded for later. But after talking with their specialists, I have the sense that ISPHA’s approach may indeed be too aggressive. They’re worried that what we may be interfacing with goes beyond simple astral projection and remote viewing. They seemed to think that I may actually be leaving bits of myself behind in the place I see in my travels. In… Origo.
I suspect there may be some truth to their theory. I’ll be bringing this up with the director on our next call… though to what end, I don’t know. I can’t substantiate these anxieties with anything other than instinct, which is by no means objective.
Still, I… I’ve started to find myself dreaming of that place, even when I’m not actively traveling. Its swirling waters… black beaches… doors opening in a black sky, and the sense that I could fall forever.
[Click]
[Silence]
[Click]
[The same quiet lab]
Sarah Freeman
Project Origo researcher Sarah Freeman, recording September 13th, 1993.
This past month, I have [Long beep for redacted parts] nightmares. In them, I am always watching [REDACTED] to my body, and I am [REDACTED]. I have left too much of myself there. I must [REDACTED] I must [REDACTED] what has been lost.
[The redacted beeps continue, and Red scrubs forward in the tape to check later in the recording]
[More redacted parts]
[He scrubs forward again]
[More redacted parts]
[He ejects the tape and sighs, returning it to the folder]
“Red” Leroux
Well… Something must have gone wrong with poor Sarah…
[He turns a page and reads it]
[Reading] “Addendum: ISPHA Project Researcher Sarah Freeman was lost in the field on September 25th, 1993.”
[He sighs in frustration] These fools…
[He flips through more of the folder, and finds another important paper]
[Reading] “Second Addendum: Appearance of being claiming to be Project Researcher Sarah Freeman. March 8th, 1999.”
[He removes a CD from a plastic sheath]
A CD this time. Times, they are a’changin…
[He turns back to the stereo and opens the CD tray]
Caldwell, bless you and your old-fashioned ways.
[He pulls out a CD already in the tray, then pauses]
Shania Twain’s “Come on Over”? [Surprised approval] Caldwell…
[He sets it aside]
[He inserts the CD, pushes the tray closed, and the CD spins up]
[Distortion of recording fades]
[Whir of CD player]
Daniella Caldwell
This is Project Specialist Daniella Caldwell, Acting Supervisor for the Beta Division of Project Origo. It is March 8th, 1999 at—
Sarah Freeman
Dani, what’s going on? Why the formalities? And Acting Supervisor? When did that happen?
Daniella Caldwell
No one’s called me Dani in a long time.
[Beat]
Subject 0-135-PO-B, I’ll be asking you a series of questions regarding—
Sarah Freeman
Can’t you just call me Sarah? Couldn’t you at least do that?
Daniella Caldwell
If it would make you more cooperative…
Sarah Freeman
I don’t understand why you’re treating me like this. Don’t you recognize me?
Daniella Caldwell
…Sarah… if you are claiming to be the operative that I used to know, you should know that you look almost nothing like her.
Sarah Freeman
I… I don’t understand…
Daniella Caldwell
Listen… forgive me, I don’t want to cause you any more distress than you’re already feeling. I know it’s nerve wracking being questioned like this, but I’m afraid we need to conduct this interview. So, with your permission… I’d like to hear more about what you’ve been through.
Sarah Freeman
Of… of course…
Daniella Caldwell
Thank you. Now… Please tell me who you are.
Sarah Freeman
I’ve told you already… Project Origo Researcher Sarah Freeman, ISPHA.
Daniella Caldwell
And where have you come from?
Sarah Freeman
Uh… originally, Asheville, North Carolina. Currently residing in Ventura—
Daniella Caldwell
—let me rephrase. Where were you prior to appearing in our facility?
[Brief pause]
Sarah Freeman
Origo.
Daniella Caldwell
So, you’re saying you come from this…
Sarah Freeman
Not “from,” but… yes. I was in the extradimensional space that ISPHA has had me studying through astral projection for the past few months. For our purposes, I’m calling it Origo.
Daniella Caldwell
Why are you claiming to be the researcher Sarah Freeman?
Sarah Freeman
Dani, are you serious?
Daniella Caldwell
I’m required to ask these questions and submit a report, Sarah. It’s standard procedure.
Sarah Freeman
What the hell happened to you?
Daniella Caldwell
Sarah, please, just listen to me—
Sarah Freeman
—Has it really been that long? [She takes a good look at her] You look different, too.
Daniella Caldwell
Fine. If you really are who you say you are, then tell me something that only Sarah Freeman would know. A memory of ours, something we shared.
[Brief pause]
Sarah Freeman
We… we watched the first episode of Highlander together when it premiered last year. You spilled wine on your pants, and the stain dried in the shape of a dog’s head. We both couldn’t stop laughing.
[Heavy silence]
Daniella Caldwell
Sarah… what happened? What have you been doing all this time?
Sarah Freeman
All this time? I… I don’t…
Daniella Caldwell
It’s been nearly six years since you disappeared, Sarah.
[Sarah laughs sharply, then realizes Caldwell isn’t joking]
Sarah Freeman
No… but that would mean… [She leans in, looking at Caldwell closer] You’re… you’re older… [She sits back, and begins to panic] No… no!
[Sarah breathes heavily, beginning to panic]
[Light electric distortion]
[Beep as recording transitions to next entry]
Daniella Caldwell
Sarah… I want to sincerely apologize for needing to put you in this cage. The electromagnetic interference you were putting off… our equipment couldn’t handle it.
Sarah Freeman
Like a goddamn animal…
Daniella Caldwell
I don’t know what’s happened to you, but… there is a large amount of very delicate equipment in here. It’s not personal.
Sarah Freeman
Sure.
Daniella Caldwell
Sarah, could you please recount what you can remember of your experience in Origo?
Sarah Freeman
Dani… Daniella. I’m starting to realize that I don’t… exactly know how to account for the time that I’ve been gone. I got back here… eventually… using the Monroe Institute training from my time with ISPHA.
I suppose… now that I’m trying to recall… I do remember the beginning of my last mission, when I communicated my worries about my mental state to acting Director Evans, but she assured me that it was simply the effects of my increasing isolation. I was very unsure about re-entering, but ISPHA insisted that I continue.
As soon as I was in, and felt myself slipping nearer and nearer to Origo, I began to panic. I couldn’t feel enough of my own presence, my own strength. I experienced the feeling of my spirit going through… well, the best way I can describe it is a spiritual meat grinder. I experienced such utter fullness and devastating emptiness at the same time. The only thing that kept me together at that time was… saying my own name out loud, over and over. That kept me from losing it all. “Sarah Freeman.”
Eventually, I was able to keep the worlds around me from their spinning and dissolving enough to regain a vague sense of my body again. Once I had that, I used my training to visualize appearing back in my original experiment room back at ISPHA.
Daniella Caldwell
We’d converted that lab back into a storage closet… reorgs, and all that.
Sarah Freeman
I noticed. [Beat] So… what happens next?
[The CD abruptly stops spinning and ejects]
“Red” Leroux
What? No, that can’t be it…
[He rifles through the folder]
Oh come on Caldwell, don’t tell me this is one time your records are incomplete…
[The door to the office swings open suddenly]
[Brief pause]
Daniella Caldwell
Ren. What are you doing in here?
[Red hesitates only a moment]
[Red springs up and sprints, knocking Caldwell out of the way with a grunt, before running down the hall]
Daniella Caldwell
Oh, what in the world…
[His footsteps fade; she sighs]
[Beep – CCTV footage ends]
[Silence]
[Cassette noises]
[Click]
[Static fades]
[The sound of morning birds, Sam walks into the living room]
[Sam clears his throat]
Ned Leroux
That was Caldwell on the landline, wasn’t it?
Sam Bailey
It was.
She told me that she caught Ren sneaking around her office last
night. She also said she’d never seen Ren run like that a day in his life, and she had a feeling I’d be able to put the pieces together. Turns out the real Ren was stoned out of his mind in the guest room and didn’t leave the house all night, as the sizable dent in Jerry’s snack cupboard will attest. [He sighs]
You’re lucky that ISPHA won’t be coming after you, you know. They’ve got too many other things going on right now to really care.
Ned Leroux
I had to figure this out, Sam. From the… human perspective.
I’m afraid of it, Bailey. The Source. I’ve only seen the edges of the endless chaos… The neverending gashes in the universe that spirit after spirit is continually churned out upon. Darkness. Silence.
I’ve gathered that the main way to survive in the Source is to have a sense of self… a real one. You need that in there, otherwise you just… fade. Even if you aren’t caught. Explains why I didn’t last very long my last time in there.
I suppose “Ned” is… well, it’s the closest thing I’ve had to an actual identity since I first spilled out into the world in the La Brea tar. So if I’m gonna go in, I’d better do it now.
Sam Bailey
You mean…
Ned Leroux
I’m not taking any more delays lying down. I’m going to rescue Bill and Rob. The place they’re in will chew ‘em up and leave nothing behind. They’ll never make it out without our help, and we owe it to them to get them back. I can do it by myself if I have to, but I’m doing it.
[Sam walks over and sits down next to Ned, addressing him more directly]
Sam Bailey
You’re not going to let up, are you? Even with everything you’ve told me about the Source, even with everything else that’s going on, even though Morrison might be waiting for you… You’re still going in there?
Ned Leroux
I am.
[Sam sighs and rubs his temples]
Sam Bailey
Well… Thank you. I guess.
Ned Leroux
What for?
Sam Bailey
I don’t wanna get into it, but… I’m telling you now, you’re not doing this alone.
[He steps towards Ned]
I’m coming with you.
[Clack]
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