She Never Existed - Haleyy's Story

Apr 14

Haleyy lies unconscious on the floor of an alien facility, trapped in a dream she can't wake from. Inside her mind, she's 12 years old again, riding bikes with childhood versions of her crewmates, following a mysterious signal into the woods. But the dream turns dark, and Haleyy is forced to confront the truth about who she really is.

Meet the Crew:

Jeff as Star Master (Game Master)
Brian as Captain Thorn
Stephanie as the warrior Haley
Doja as the wildcard pilot Robert
Scott as the transhuman hacker Felix

[00:00:00] Star Master Jeff: Welcome to the Dark Star Adventure Cast, where the stars are cold, the void is endless, and dangers lurk in every shadow. Out here, trust is a gamble, and survival is never guaranteed.
[00:00:16] Thorne: On tonight's Adventure Cast... If I'm not home before the streetlight come on, my mom's gonna be really mad.
[00:00:23] Robert: Guys, I'm gonna need some help over here. There's way too many tentacles.
[00:00:31] Felix: No, Haley, she's dead. Like all organic life will be one day.
[00:00:37] Haleyy: For the scapegoats. Scapegoats forever.
[00:00:41] Star Master Jeff: So sit back and enjoy. This is the Dark Star Adventure Cast. Previously on the Dark Star Adventurecast, deep beneath the surface of Sibylen, Dr. Vos activated an ancient alien device. A window ripped open across space, and Haley screamed and collapsed, unconscious. While the crew waited for their only way out, Robert told them the truth. Years ago, on the jungle world of Ventos, a soldier named Haley, Haley with one Y, was struck by alien technology and later killed. Hours later, in a military morgue, her wounds stitched themselves together. She walked out alive, but her mind didn't follow. She woke up believing she was someone else, a younger sister named Haley with two Ys, a sister who never existed. Now she lies on the cold stone floor of that alien building, caught in the grip of a dream she can't wake up from. Haley, you sit on a couch in a white room at the black site, the one that was mentioned in Robert's Focus last episode. You're confused and lonely. You don't know where you are. The doctors keep coming in and poking at you, slicing you and making you bleed. Then they take notes. They wait. They look disappointed. Then they patch you back up and they start it all over again. At some point, you overhear them saying that she hasn't been healing. It's not going as we thought. You don't know what to think about that. The meals are okay. You're from the military. But you've had better. Through all of this, you have but one memory. Robert. You ask after Robert. Who's Robert? They ask. Robert, I'd like to see Robert. You hear Robert sometimes. In your head? Sometimes not in your head. Sometimes his voice is reverberating the air around you, like the voice of God. Everywhere but nowhere. He's always rambling, telling a story with no end. A story that you soon begin to recognize. It seems familiar. Names and places sticking out. Ventos. Rebels. The Red Rice Wars. And then Robert begins to describe the room you're in now. The white room. The white gown you're wearing. The state of your mind. You overhear Robert describe a doctor saying, you're just not healing, but you should be healing a lot faster. You hear that Hayley with two Ys never existed. She's just a construct of your fevered mind. Did she ever have a sister? A young girl sits in the corner of this white room. It's a girl without a face, her skin smooth and unblemished from forehead to chin. She doesn't respond to you talking to her, so you stopped trying long ago. Haley, you've been developing a massive headache. It's so piercing that the white room has become a blur. Hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month. Eon after eon, you've been here forever. Your memories start and end in this place. Eventually, Robert's voice begins to fade away, replaced by an incessant chime ringing again and again and again. Your eyes spring open. Posters of action stars surround you. Curtains across a double window calmly flutter in a warm breeze. It's 15 years ago. You're 12 years old, and this is your bedroom. Next to the Action Star posters, fist-sized holes pepper the walls. You remember your anger. You just can't stop punching sometimes. The chiming resounds, loud and annoying, again and again. It's your datapad, on the bedside table next to you. Your friends. Another group call. They're always doing that. You grab the datapad and flick it on.
[00:04:39] Robert: What? Is this Haley? Over? What, Robert? You gotta say over. Over.
[00:04:47] Felix: Oh my god, you're so annoying.
[00:04:50] Thorne: Typical human. Alright everyone, calm down. I called us all here to talk about the clubhouse.
[00:04:55] Haleyy: Wait, wait. Sorry, I'm confused.
[00:05:00] Felix: The natural state of a human. Robots are so much cooler.
[00:05:04] Thorne: All right, Felix, everyone pull it together. I want to talk business. Let's keep it together, guys. Time is money.
[00:05:10] Robert: Yes, sir. I'll follow the conversation as best I can.
[00:05:14] Star Master Jeff: Suddenly, a hissing static erupts from your data pad, wavering chaotically like someone changing the stations on your dad's old transceiver. The static becomes garbles, stretching into a line. And then, barely, just barely, Help. Please. Lost. You. Your sister. who vanished into the woods two years ago and never came back. The static fades, and the voice with it, leaving the channel open and silent.
[00:06:05] Haleyy: What the hell was that? That was... that was my sister!
[00:06:08] Felix: No, Haley. She's dead. Like all organic life will be one day.
[00:06:14] Haleyy: No, she's alive. I knew it. Felix, can you trace that signal?
[00:06:19] Felix: Well, I don't know what that's gonna do.
[00:06:21] Robert: Trace the darn signal.
[00:06:23] Felix: Okay, okay, well, I already did. And the source of the signal is deep in the woods, just south of town. Just off the old railroad track, if you follow them long enough.
[00:06:32] Haleyy: I have to go to her.
[00:06:34] Thorne: No, Hayley. We have to go to her. Yeah, we're with you, Hayley. Let's all meet up at the tracks ASAP. We can be there and back by dinner easy.
[00:06:43] Haleyy: Thank you. Thank you, you guys.
[00:06:46] Robert: Yeah, yeah, no problem. Now, Brad, we get here. Let's go.
[00:06:51] Star Master Jeff: So, Haley, you hurriedly switch off your data pad, grab your notepad and pencil, throw that into a rucksack, grab your trusty baseball bat, and make your way downstairs outside, pick up your BMX bike with pegs off of the front yard, and begin to pedal towards the south side of your small town.
[00:07:10] Haleyy: And I also pull my baseball hat out of my back pocket where I just start rocketing down towards the railroad tracks in this wonderfully analog adventure.
[00:07:21] Star Master Jeff: It is a gorgeous day. The hint of the warm breeze that you got in through your bedroom windows when you first woke up is just permeating the whole town. There's the wonderful smell of midsummer. School is out. All the kids are out playing and having fun. You can hear a baseball game happening in the nearby field as you peddle by. But you are on a mission. And anyway, your team's not playing today. So you continue on. And it's not long before you reach the South Railroad Station. Defunct. This is a railroad track that no longer works. As you pedal up, you see that your three friends, who all live closer to this location than you, are already there. So you pedal up and you skid to a stop. I think I would like all of you to describe what your 12-year-old selves look like. And I think I would like to start with Haley, the star of the show.
[00:08:11] Haleyy: So Haley is very tall for her age, as she has always been. And although at this age, she was very wiry. Her body is very different from how it was as she got older because she had to put a lot of work to get that strong. And she's wearing overalls. She has her hair up in a hat. And all of her clothes are either wrinkled to hell and back and may look like they're on their third or fourth wear. She is not a very clean child. We're not sure why, but she's very happy. She just kind of always shows up in like dirty rumpled clothes to anything.
[00:08:51] Star Master Jeff: So that's what the three of you see as Haley skids to a stop in front of you. Felix, what does Haley see?
[00:08:57] Felix: So standing there is a short little 12-year-old, kind of tousled, dark brown hair, thick lensed glasses taped together. He has on his left leg is like a leg brace, like you see some sports players wear. It is kind of like a thick, bulky leg brace. That's in adult Felix's artificial leg. He's got a backpack likely filled with scraps of computers, machines, tools. He's got grease on his knees and on his hands. He's got his data pad holstered on his side, ready to go at a moment's notice, and a big bulky flashlight hanging there as well.
[00:09:34] Star Master Jeff: Awesome. I love it. And what does she see when she looks at 12-year-old Robert Ross?
[00:09:41] Robert: 12-year-old Robert Rawls has a super cool t-shirt that has a little spaceship planet. Looks oddly like the fabulous Dark Star Adventures logo. Nice. And also what looks like glasses, but is also kind of like a space visor, a giant mess of ruffled, all sticking up in every different direction, orange hair, and a absolutely enormous Nerf gun that is primed and ready, locked and loaded.
[00:10:18] Felix: I bet he's done that thing where he puts hacks in the tips of the Nerf darts. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's evil.
[00:10:24] Star Master Jeff: Oh, he's from the wrong side of the tracks.
[00:10:25] Thorne: And he stretches out the springs of the Nerf gun so that it shoots harder. My God.
[00:10:30] Star Master Jeff: Sounds like a Hellion. And is it Captain Thorn, or are we just like...
[00:10:36] Thorne: I think it's just Thorn. I'm not really captain of anything. Yeah, you might be like captain of like the debate team. Maybe. Actually, probably, yeah. So young, you know, 12-year-old Thorn is on the shorter side, but his clothes are all really nice. He's kind of got like the rich kid haircut, but he's husky and has like a round face. And he's got like a huge double extra large Slurpee under his arm. He's got the latest model brand new bicycle that his mom bought for him. And he's got on his belt, there's a little cardboard box attached to his belt where he keeps his Loki Pond deck in case he needs to get into a pond duel on the street. It happens more often than you would think. Oh, also he's got a little squirt gun that he's filled with some sort of experimental adhesive that Draxis Goods is selling that he can use to stick people in place. And he's wearing an oversized leather jacket. It's like a little bit too big for him. It's very reminiscent of the jacket from the Aurora, but this one has Draxis Goods logo on the arm and on the back. Oh, there's also a little tank in the basket on the front of Thorn's little bike. And inside of it, he's got like a little pet frog, his pet frog froggy that he brings with him everywhere.
[00:11:56] Star Master Jeff: Okay, so Haley, you skid to a stop in front of your three friends and they seem to be embroiled in some sort of argument.
[00:12:04] Thorne: I'm telling you, Robert, you're not allowed to put that many of that card into a Loki pawn deck. It just doesn't work that way. You have to play by the rules.
[00:12:13] Robert: But I mean, wouldn't it be better if if you could just like have all trap cards?
[00:12:21] Thorne: Yeah, that's why you're not allowed to. Thorn, Robert, Felix.
[00:12:25] Star Master Jeff: Ribbit.
[00:12:26] Thorne: Haley, you're here.
[00:12:27] Haleyy: Froggy. Yes, I'm here. Are you guys ready to go?
[00:12:32] Thorne: I slurp up the last bit of my slushie and I put the empty cup in the bike cup holder. I'm ready. Yeah. I pull out my data pad.
[00:12:40] Felix: I look down. Yep, it's right this way. Okay.
[00:12:46] Haleyy: You guys aren't going to get caught up in this discussion, though, about Wilkie Pond cards, right?
[00:12:51] Thorne: I hope not. We'll talk about it later.
[00:12:54] Haleyy: Sister first, then cards.
[00:12:55] Star Master Jeff: Yeah.
[00:12:56] Haleyy: Yeah.
[00:12:57] Star Master Jeff: And with that, the four of you mount your bikes and make your way down the gravel shoulder of the old railroad tracks on the south side of town. Felix, on your data pad, you see that you have about three and a half miles to go. So it's going to take you about an hour of slow biking over the gravel. However, Robert has already stopped three times to pee. It's going to take you probably 25% longer because of the frequent pee stops.
[00:13:26] Thorne: If I'm not home before the streetlight come on, my mom's going to be really mad.
[00:13:30] Haleyy: See, Robert.
[00:13:31] Robert: I mean, those juice boxes were so good, though.
[00:13:34] Haleyy: I thought I took all of the orange juice boxes last time I was over.
[00:13:38] Felix: That was so mean. Robert, we don't have time to keep stopping. We have to go, and we just hold it. You can go when we get there.
[00:13:45] Thorne: Okay. Get it together, everybody. I'm not getting grounded again.
[00:13:50] Star Master Jeff: So, with the renewed criticism of all of your squad mates, your crew, Robert, you hold in your pee as best you can while continuing to sniff vigorously on your Capri Sun. Guys, I need another pee break.
[00:14:05] Felix: Guys, the signal's not really getting any closer if we're just going to keep staying here, so we should probably get moving.
[00:14:11] Star Master Jeff: Robert pees one last time, hops on his bike, and then gives everyone else grief about it, and then you guys pedal off. You continue on down the railroad tracks through the dense woods, and eventually you find yourself about 300 feet from the signal. But there's one small problem. The railroad tracks go under a hill through a small tunnel. The tunnel is rooted into the side of this incredibly densely covered hill, full of foliage and thorny bushes. And interwoven with all of that foliage is a rusted fence, thick with barbed wire.
[00:14:47] Felix: This is as far as these bikes will take us, I guess. Kaylee, if you're set on finding this, we're going on foot. Is that your flashlight? Oh yeah.
[00:14:55] Haleyy: So I tap my bat against my shoe and get ready to go in the tunnel. And I kind of want to just like walk forward and look back over my shoulder and be like, are you guys coming here or with you?
[00:15:07] Felix: Lock and load. I look on the flashlight in normal mode and I shine it into the tunnel.
[00:15:14] Star Master Jeff: Oh, normal mode. I'm excited to know what the other modes are. So you shine normal mode flashlight into the tunnel. And first of all, without the light on, you can't see the other side of the tunnel. You don't know if it's because it like curves off or if it's just so incredibly long. that you can't see the end or if there's something blocking your way. So you flick on normal mode flashlight and shining it in. Normal mode flashlight, 60 feet, let's say. It goes 60 feet and then it's just blackness. You cannot see any further than your light is showing, but there's nothing obstructing your view. So the tunnel is at least 60 feet long.
[00:15:50] Felix: Okay. I mean, I'm following Haley's lead, so if she's going in, I'm in behind her.
[00:15:55] Thorne: We're with you, Haley. You show us the way, we got your back. All right, let's go.
[00:16:00] Star Master Jeff: So you guys begin to make your way into the darkness of the tunnel. Normal mode flashlight sweeping back and forth. Do you have a nickname for your flashlight? Let me think on that. Okay. So you're sweeping old flashy back and forth. I call it Dr. Voss. So you're sweeping Dr. Voss across the walls and you find yourselves gravitating towards the tracks. You don't really want to be near the walls. Felix. You know, because of math, that you should be able to see the end of this tunnel. You should be able to see light because it's like two o'clock in the afternoon. It's not like a crazy sunny day, but it's not raining. There's a nice cloud cover. There's a nice warm breeze. You can see just fine. Lots of visibility. You know the current barometric pressure. You understand weather. Of course, adult Felix doesn't know any of that crap, but Haley just assumes that Felix knows literally everything if you can look it up. Yep. So you're like, according to mathematics and geometry and everything I know about physics, I should be able to see the end of this tunnel by now. There's no way it's this long. So you surmise that something must be blocking your way or it curves away. But the hill from the outside didn't look that big. So you're starting to feel a bit uneasy.
[00:17:18] Felix: Uh, gang, I... I get a weird feeling about this. Things aren't quite adding up. What do you mean? Well, we've been in this tunnel too long, Haley. We should be able to to at least have gotten to the other end, even if it's blocked by now.
[00:17:32] Haleyy: But the signal told us to go this way, right?
[00:17:34] Felix: Yeah, I think I checked my pad to see how close we are to the source of the signal at this point.
[00:17:39] Star Master Jeff: You're definitely getting closer, but something isn't really jiving with how reality works. And Felix, you're keying in on that.
[00:17:49] Felix: It feels like we're moving forward, but we're not really getting as much closer to the signal as we should be, if that makes sense.
[00:17:57] Robert: Guys, I'm getting a bad feeling about this.
[00:18:00] Felix: As for how it says that I kind of look back over my shoulder too, just to get my bearings and see kind of how far we seem to have come into the tunnel.
[00:18:07] Star Master Jeff: You look back and it is then that you realize you cannot see the entrance to the tunnel, which seems to be an impossibility because you have not traveled that far. And suddenly, the tunnel walls seem to close in on you. And you realize that you can't see far back because a wall behind you has closed up. And even now, as you step forward, the wall behind you follows you, closing in tighter and tighter. A familiar voice reverberates throughout the air, coming from not a real person in this place, but seemingly from the molecules in the atmosphere itself. waking up and her pulse is racing it's like she's fighting even in her dreams the walls begin to melt the floor becomes sticky and suddenly seemingly from nowhere several small creatures with black antlers electricity crackling between the tides Bring out gibbering mouths, salivating. Why didn't you fight for me? One says. You replaced me, says another, as their heads cock back and forth and their twitching arms. No, not arms. Tentacles with long suckers reach out to you. Why would you leave me? Whole initiative. Okay, it looks like we're going to have Robert, Haley, Thorne, Felix, and then these three antlered entities go at the bottom of the initiative. So you guys actually have a pretty good chance of surviving this one. I love surviving.
[00:19:48] Robert: Lil' Robert, what would you like to do? I start by charging a little bit forward. Not like that forward, but mostly so I can do a sweet power slide. And then shoot my gun at the outsized entity in front of me. That is going to be a 15 to hit for a five damage.
[00:20:08] Star Master Jeff: Your dark tipped Nerf gun sails through the air and sticks into one of these dark entities. It howls in pain and it says, why would you leave me behind? I got one.
[00:20:24] Haleyy: Oh, are they the other robber clones?
[00:20:28] Thorne: I'm getting that vibe.
[00:20:30] Robert: Oh, this is sad.
[00:20:33] Star Master Jeff: Wait, why would you think that? They look like freaks. Oh, that's why. Hailey, your turn.
[00:20:43] Haleyy: Hailey just charges forward with her baseball bat and whacks the first child-sized entity that she comes up to, and she just tries to whack it into the wall. And I punch with my baseball bat for four.
[00:21:01] Star Master Jeff: Okay, that's the one that Robert previously hit with his dart nerf gun. Debate Captain Thorn.
[00:21:07] Thorne: That's me. So Debate Captain Thorn pulls out the little squirt gun that he's got full of weird adhesive goo. So he squirts some of it at the farthest away to try and hold it in place so that they don't swarm Haley.
[00:21:23] Star Master Jeff: You squirt out a geyser of thick goo. It arcs through the air and... Oh no. It makes its saving throw. So it deftly dodges to the side and it is not stuck to the floor. I'm going to tell my mom that this adhesive formula is not worth squat. The creature does a little mocking dance at you. Now you're starting to think maybe it is Robert. Felix.
[00:21:49] Felix: All right, Lil' Felix comes up next to his buddy Thorn. They've been friends for a long time.
[00:21:55] Thorne: Are we on the debate team together?
[00:21:56] Felix: No, I'm in the computer club. And I'm also in the chess club.
[00:22:00] Thorne: Oh, I see.
[00:22:01] Felix: Lil' Felix steps up next to Thorn, pushes his glasses up his nose, points his flashlight down the tunnel at the little shadow monster that Thorn just tried to stick in place. I rotate the front of the flashlight, punch in a key sequence on the side, and I say... Go back to the shadows! And a bright beam of light just shoots down the tunnel right at this little shadow creature, and it must make a physical saving throw.
[00:22:30] Star Master Jeff: Ooh! Well, you slam the beam of light into its body, and it reacts as though it's being hit by something physical, but it resists, and it powers through, and it continues its unsteady electric march to claim your life. Well, sorry, little Felix, it's now time for one of these entities to go. Starting at the wall that's been closing in behind you, you have Thorne and Felix side by side using their ranged weapon, the pistol and the flashlight, but missing the entity in the very back. A couple feet in front of them, you have Robert just standing up from his power slide, where he shot a nerf dart at the front entity and stuck it, actually doing pretty good damage. And then a couple feet in front of that, Haley's holding the front line directly face to face with that first entity that has a dart sticking out of it. So the childlike entity that's about 10 feet away from Haley rushes forward up to her and tries to gory with them as electricity crackles between the tines. Haley, you throw your baseball bat up in a vain effort to stop the charge. And... Oh, I only rolled a three? Yeah, she stops it. My good rolls have finally stopped. Okay. Ha ha, everyone. Next guy, though. The guy that's already directly in front of Haley.
[00:23:50] Haleyy: Oh, she parried with her baseball bat.
[00:23:52] Star Master Jeff: Oh, yeah. And she looked really cool while doing it. You, like, flip it around behind your back and, like, knock his antlers to the side. You're like, and you knock his antlers to the side just as another entity rushes forward with electric tines and tries to gore you at that same moment. And... Oh, my God, are you kidding? Yeah. Nice. Nice.
[00:24:13] Haleyy: is amazing. And again, Perry's with her trusty baseball bat. He might not be on the batting lineup, but she's certainly practicing.
[00:24:23] Star Master Jeff: The final entity charges forward all the way up to Robert, who is just standing up from his awesome, cool, radical power slide and tries to gore him with the electric tines. Okay, there we go. See, I think Haley just has plot immunity. So an 18 is going to hit you, Robert. Take one point of electric gore damage. I'll teach you the electric core.
[00:24:48] Robert: Now I'm definitely going to have to get back at you for that.
[00:24:51] Star Master Jeff: Oh, shit. Well, it's your turn now. What would you like to do? I don't.
[00:24:56] Robert: I, as a young kid, would try to take my Nerf gun and smash it over him. Squaring the jaw. Or at least tries to. And I rolled a 13 for seven points of damage.
[00:25:11] Star Master Jeff: Oh my God, young Robert, what the hell? Just like adult Robert. I know, remember when he did 16 points of damage to that dude just enjoying the sunrise?
[00:25:21] Thorne: I do, how could I forget?
[00:25:23] Star Master Jeff: So yeah, you club up and you swing down this guy and with a hollow thunk that reverberates up the stock of your plastic Nerf rifle, you deal seven points of damage to this entity. The creature is not able to absorb the damage, and it bursts into a thousand tiny black butterflies before drifting away into a vapor-like breeze. Unfortunately, your Nerf gun also can't absorb the damage because when you roll max damage after plubbing up on a gun, you break the gun. So your Nerf gun gets a big crack right down the middle, destroying part of the firing mechanism and making it useless.
[00:26:04] Robert: Oh, dang nabbit.
[00:26:07] Star Master Jeff: I think I broke my gun, guys.
[00:26:10] Haleyy: Be okay, Robert. We got this.
[00:26:12] Star Master Jeff: Haley says as she takes her turn.
[00:26:14] Haleyy: Yep, and she whacks with her bat again.
[00:26:16] Star Master Jeff: No bata, no bata, no bata, no bata. Wing.
[00:26:21] Haleyy: Oh, that's rough.
[00:26:22] Star Master Jeff: Oh, man. That's so rough. And another miss by Haley. You'd think in her own dreams she would be the star of the show. But let's move on to Captain of the Debate Team, Thorne.
[00:26:33] Thorne: At this rate, these guys are going to overrun us. Robert, give me a look at that gun. I step forward because I'm already right behind him. And I see that his gun is broken. And between him and Haley, they're the only ones who are going to do any damage to these guys. And I've got all this adhesive, right? Maybe I can fix the crack that broke his gun.
[00:26:55] Star Master Jeff: Oh, okay. So give me a fixed intelligence. And you're going to use your gun like a hot glue gun? Yeah, exactly.
[00:27:03] Robert: Here, sir. Have a look at it. What do you think's wrong with it? How's a six?
[00:27:08] Star Master Jeff: Perfect. You hit the DC exactly. A cat robber on the back. That ought to hold you. Always save me a pinch, Thorny. With the Nerf gun back up and running, it's time for an antlered entity to attack. It gets down on all fours and takes its shocking antlers and charges at Haley. Does a ten hit you?
[00:27:28] Haleyy: Yes, it does, because my AC is 10.
[00:27:30] Star Master Jeff: Okay. The creature gores into your stomach, and electricity crackles up your belly and into your chest. Takes two points of electric damage. And then the next creature, because you're right in front of it, and you're the star of the show. I do this every time. Also tries to get you with the electric gore.
[00:27:49] Thorne: Oogie, oogie, oogie.
[00:27:51] Star Master Jeff: Ooh, a 12. That's going to hit you as well. Take one more point of electric gore damage. It gibbers and it says, why did you leave us? Why? Why?
[00:28:02] Haleyy: I'm going to drop down onto one knee and grasp my bat a little bit tighter and just say, get out of our way. Robert, get them.
[00:28:11] Robert: Oh, I will. I take my Nerf gun that has been freshly repaired, load her up and shoot at the entity that I can get the clearest vision on that is currently engaging Haley. And that's going to be a 13 with eight damage.
[00:28:31] Star Master Jeff: Oh, yeah. 13 blasts this guy with a Nerf gun dart. Eight points of damage for this tipped Nerf dart rockets through the head of this antlered, gibbering, perhaps Robert clone. And it immediately crumples to the ground and explodes in a beautiful canopy of black butterflies that then drift into the darkness. Robert's cleaning up.
[00:28:54] Robert: I'm weirdly enjoying absolutely destroying all the other rapper clones.
[00:28:59] Thorne: Let's see what debate Captain Thorn can do. That's a good question. Can Thorn do anything? I mean, I can't hurt it. I can stick it in place, but it's not going anywhere. Um, Thorn runs up and tries to kick it in a sensitive region.
[00:29:13] Star Master Jeff: Oh, shit. Right in the antlers. I'll cover you, Haley. Very brave of young Thorn. I didn't know Haley saw him that way. Got an eight to hit. An eight misses. Okay, Felix, it's up to you.
[00:29:26] Felix: Thorn, Haley, cover your eyes. Come on, Flashy. This is the time. and I punch in a slightly more complicated sequence of numbers and letters into the side, twist the lens all the way around, and blast it at the entity who needs to make a physical saving throw. Oh, it failed. So it's been dazzled. Its eyes, the bright light hasn't experienced before. It now has a negative two to attacks and its AC for the next one round.
[00:30:00] Thorne: And it loses its main action.
[00:30:02] Felix: It loses its main action, sorry. Yeah, so it can't attack. It has a negative two to attacks and it's AC.
[00:30:09] Star Master Jeff: So it's its turn now. It fruitlessly shakes its antlers and tries to hit you, but it's unable to even get anywhere approaching a solid hit. It kind of just slides its antlers around on your baseball bat and you're locked in an epic struggle with it, Haley, before parrying it to the side. Robert, what would you like to do?
[00:30:29] Robert: I've got to make sure I get a clean shot. And I run over and try to do a super sweet somersault over the tracks and then shoot the thing in the back.
[00:30:42] Thorne: This is exactly how Haley sees Robert.
[00:30:45] Robert: Just flipping around randomly and everything kind of working out. Yeah. And I roll a 14 to hit with seven damage.
[00:30:53] Star Master Jeff: Ooh, you flip over the creature in a cool like half flip cartwheel thing, land on the other side, cocking your Nerf gun in midair and plugging a dart into the back of the creature. It instantly explodes into a million black butterflies and vanishes into dust. Thank you, Robert.
[00:31:12] Thorne: What? Do you guys know what those were? They're gone now. I think that's what they call a jackalope. Three jackalopes? What else could it have been?
[00:31:21] Felix: I don't see any bodies either. They're gone. I shine my flashlight around on the ground.
[00:31:27] Star Master Jeff: There's nothing, not even the dust of the butterflies. Then I shine it behind us at the wall. As you've moved forward to engage with these creatures, the wall has moved forward as well. Well, we're not going back.
[00:31:41] Felix: Got to keep moving forward if we want to get out of here. There's still time to get home.
[00:31:45] Haleyy: Is the signal still there, Felix?
[00:31:47] Felix: Yeah, but it's not really getting any closer.
[00:31:49] Haleyy: And we got to keep moving forward.
[00:31:52] Star Master Jeff: And with that, you grab any of your gear that you may have shrugged off and you continue your walk down the dark tunnel. you eventually start to see a small pinprick of light that grows brighter and brighter and brighter until you see that it's an exit. The railroad tracks leading out into a grassy area and then curving off towards the east. As you yourself exit the tunnel into a copse of trees, you see that there's a large building. In front of it is a courtyard long abandoned, a rusted fence, its gate open. creaking in the warm breeze. The broken pavement of the courtyard is littered with shattered roof tiles, and the windows of the building are all either cracked or broken. A rusted sign outside of the gate says, Veridine Laboratories. The twin metal doors that lead into the building itself stand open. One hangs on one hinge. What would you like to do?
[00:32:53] Felix: I checked my pad to see if the signal is coming from there.
[00:32:58] Star Master Jeff: The signal has gotten quite strong now that you've left the tunnel, and there is no doubt in your mind that it is emanating from that building.
[00:33:05] Felix: Well, Hayley, if you wanted to get to the source of this signal, we're going to have to go in there. Pretty creepy.
[00:33:11] Haleyy: Yeah, well, what was she getting up to? Hayley never mentioned anything like this.
[00:33:15] Felix: You know, I've told you. Your sister is dead. She's gone, Haley. All right, let's just focus on the mission, huh?
[00:33:24] Haleyy: Did any of you guys even know this building was out here?
[00:33:27] Thorne: Oh, and those gates look real creepy. Yeah, I'm not allowed to come out this far usually. It's the first time I've ever seen it too.
[00:33:34] Star Master Jeff: You also notice, Thorne, as a person who works in industry or whose family does, this laboratory has no road leading up to it. No driveway, no parking lot. This is a courtyard out in front that has gates that no vehicle could even fit through. All it actually has is railroad tracks that lead up to it and then curve away from it.
[00:33:57] Thorne: Pretty strange. This is supposed to be some kind of factory or industry, but there's no way for trucks to get in and out.
[00:34:05] Felix: Maybe it's air deliveries.
[00:34:07] Thorne: Maybe, but I don't see any sort of airstrip or airfield. Maybe there's like a pad inside or on the other side. Does it matter?
[00:34:14] Star Master Jeff: Kaylee, as everyone's bickering about railroad tracks and roads, something catches your eye. On the far right corner of the building is a little girl. She's standing just barely in view. If she were to take one step to her right, she would disappear behind the edge of the building. And she's holding someone's hand. Someone whose arm disappears behind the building itself, leading upwards. She's looking up and moving her mouth as though she is talking to this person. But if her eyeline is to be trusted, that figure would be easily 10 feet tall.
[00:34:54] Haleyy: I'm going to just shout out like, hey, hey, guys, hey.
[00:34:57] Star Master Jeff: What is it, Haley? Haley yelling out causes you all to look and see the little girl who hears Haley yelling out to her. She stops talking at whatever figure is hidden by the building, and she turns and locks eyes with you, Haley.
[00:35:12] Haleyy: Yo, what the hell? You guys are seeing the same thing, right? Yeah, there's a kid over there.
[00:35:18] Star Master Jeff: She's around 10 years old, and she's wearing a white dress.
[00:35:22] Haleyy: Hey, hey, who are you? Hello?
[00:35:25] Star Master Jeff: Yeah, let's go talk to her. Come on.
[00:35:27] Haleyy: Yeah, come on, guys. Do I shoot it, guys? No, no, no.
[00:35:30] Star Master Jeff: What is wrong with you?
[00:35:31] Haleyy: Not yet. Not yet?
[00:35:34] Star Master Jeff: You cautiously make your way towards the young girl in the white dress. As you draw closer, you realize that her white dress is not a dress at all, but it's a white surgical gown, and she's barefoot.
[00:35:48] Thorne: Hey, kiddo, what are you doing out here? At first, I was approaching with a very friendly demeanor, but the closer I get, the more strange this is, and I start getting slower and more cautious and more wary.
[00:36:01] Haleyy: Yeah, and is the other person still, like, is there someone still holding her hand?
[00:36:06] Star Master Jeff: Yes, and you can see up to their forearm, and then nothing beyond that. They're hidden behind the side of the building.
[00:36:13] Haleyy: Hey, we're looking for someone. Hello? Can you help us?
[00:36:17] Star Master Jeff: You're about 50 feet away right now. She opens her mouth and says something, but you must be too far away to hear her.
[00:36:24] Felix: I don't like this.
[00:36:26] Thorne: Come on, maybe she's in trouble. We got to check it out.
[00:36:29] Haleyy: They might be able to help us.
[00:36:31] Thorne: There's someone there.
[00:36:32] Star Master Jeff: Hello? She lifts up her left hand and beckons you closer, saying something. You can kind of hear her talking, but you can't understand what she's saying.
[00:36:42] Thorne: It looks like she's calling us over. Robert, see if you can circle around and see who else is there, and we'll go talk to her.
[00:36:47] Robert: Yeah, she looks friendly. Excuse me, ma'am.
[00:36:50] Star Master Jeff: And I just walk right up to her. And as you do, the figure from behind the building comes into view for you, since you're getting so close to her. The figure is easily 10 feet tall, with long arms and legs. It's a blur, a smudge on the air, like a picture out of focus. It has several tentacles, each full of suckers. One tentacle ends with a human arm attached to it, which the young girl is holding. It turns and looks down at you.
[00:37:24] Robert: Guys, I'm gonna need some help over here. There's way too many tentacles.
[00:37:31] Thorne: At this point, I jog up behind you. Yeah, I am running towards Robert as well. Robert, I told you to go around and get up.
[00:37:38] Haleyy: What is that?
[00:37:41] Star Master Jeff: Guys, we have to get her out of here. I think she's crashing.
[00:37:45] Haleyy: What?
[00:37:46] Star Master Jeff: From the left side of the building, far on the other side from where you are now, the Aurora speeds into view, tires screeching, veering dangerously before crashing into a light post. There is a figure slumped over the steering wheel. The little girl screams and fades away. Not the Aurora.
[00:38:08] Robert: Guys, I think we might need to jump in this thing.
[00:38:10] Haleyy: Yeah, is the monster there?
[00:38:12] Star Master Jeff: The figure has sort of faded away. It's like when your eyes are a bit out of focus and you keep blinking to try to get them back in focus. You feel like your eyes have come back into focus, but that doesn't mean the figure is gone.
[00:38:28] Haleyy: We're getting in the car.
[00:38:30] Felix: I did not run up with them, so I bolt over there because I am freaked out.
[00:38:35] Star Master Jeff: So there is a woman slumped over the steering wheel. She has brown curly hair reaching down to her shoulders, fair complexion, but her cheek is covered in blood from a cut on her forehead. She is breathing shallowly.
[00:38:51] Felix: Ma'am, ma'am, are you okay?
[00:38:53] Star Master Jeff: The woman lifts up her head. Oh, Hayley?
[00:38:58] Felix: No, no, I'm Felix. Hayley, Hayley, this woman wants you. I think she knows you. What?
[00:39:03] Robert: Hayley, do you know who this is? I think we need to get the heck up out of here. I do not like that squid thing.
[00:39:10] Haleyy: Ma'am, who... Do you... Do I know you?
[00:39:13] Star Master Jeff: You guys all run up and crowd around the car and the woman says, Oh, it is you, Hayley. You look so different.
[00:39:22] Haleyy: Who... Ma'am, who... Can you help us get out of here?
[00:39:26] Star Master Jeff: Or... As you go up to the window and get a clear look at her, you recognize her as your mother.
[00:39:31] Haleyy: Wait, Mom?
[00:39:34] Star Master Jeff: Yeah, of course, dear. Dinner's almost ready.
[00:39:38] Haleyy: How was the game? It's not... My team didn't... Do you... Where are we?
[00:39:44] Star Master Jeff: It's just going to be a few more minutes. Why don't you go get your sister?
[00:39:47] Haleyy: No, we're trying to, but she's in there.
[00:39:51] Star Master Jeff: She's in, we think, we think she's in the building and there's... A child's laugh rings out from deep within Veridine Laboratories. Your mother sighs. That's right. I saw her in there. Well, dinner's almost ready, my love. Go and get your sister. It's almost time.
[00:40:09] Haleyy: Um, if I... Look over my shoulder for the smudge guy. Like, is he there?
[00:40:15] Star Master Jeff: Do you want him to be there?
[00:40:17] Haleyy: No.
[00:40:19] Star Master Jeff: The car begins to disintegrate. Your mother smiles as her face fades to vapor and drifts away.
[00:40:25] Felix: Come on, that was our only way out of here.
[00:40:29] Haleyy: There's no roads, Felix. Is the signal even still here?
[00:40:33] Felix: Still there, Hayley. What do you want to do? We're with you.
[00:40:38] Haleyy: You guys heard that inside, right?
[00:40:41] Thorne: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:40:42] Haleyy: Yeah. And you guys saw that, but you guys also saw that monster thing.
[00:40:48] Thorne: Yeah, but I saw something, but I don't know that I know what it was. Oh, God. We can't give up now.
[00:40:53] Haleyy: Do you guys see any kind of, like, radio tower? All I brought was my freaking, my notepad.
[00:41:00] Felix: I put my hand on her shoulder. Haley, we have everything that we need. You're not alone.
[00:41:06] Haleyy: Let's keep going. We're the scapegoats.
[00:41:09] Star Master Jeff: Scapegoats. Scapegoats forever.
[00:41:13] Haleyy: Scapegoats forever.
[00:41:15] Star Master Jeff: And with that, you move off towards the laboratory metal double doors. As you enter in, Taylor, you take one last look behind you for the Aurora. It's gone, but standing dead center between the two swinging rusted gates that lead into the courtyard is the 10-foot figure. Watch him calmly, and then it fades away as well.
[00:41:39] Haleyy: Oh, fudge. Let's get inside, you guys.
[00:41:45] Star Master Jeff: Haley, you lead the way into Viridine Laboratories. What a normal person would expect in a normal situation is to find a lobby, a receptionist desk, chairs, a hallway, perhaps with a locked door leading deeper into the labs. But there is no desk. There is no one here to greet you. Instead, in the nebulous way that dreams can be, you walk in from the outside and find yourself in a place you could not be simply by walking through that door. You are deep within the Veridine Lab complex. You are in a surgical theater. The door behind you has already vanished. Rows of seats about 10 feet above you are all packed together tightly, row after row after row, up into darkness, seemingly an infinite number of them, and all of them crowded with dark figures murmuring to each other.
[00:42:40] Robert: Oh, God, Haley, I'm not going to lose you again. You can do it. I know you can make it. Who else is going to take our notes and draw them? Perhaps we'd be lost without you.
[00:42:52] Star Master Jeff: A spotlight clicks on, illuminating a cold metal table in the center of the surgical theater. Dozens of pages litter the table, some in a child's hand, others in an adult's hand. Haley, you recognize each and every one of these pages as your own. Drawings, notes, thoughts, private diary entries that you desperately don't want anyone to see all exposed in the spotlight of the surgical theater. The murmuring figures turn slowly from their conversations, never fully revealing their faces, and stare down at what is about to transpire. Hayley, you can't resist but walking up to the table and seeing your life scribbled down on these pages under the spotlight for everyone to see. Look at all this stuff.
[00:43:46] Haleyy: Don't look at it.
[00:43:47] Thorne: I look at some of it. I pick up a piece of paper.
[00:43:50] Haleyy: I remember this. No one's supposed to have this.
[00:43:53] Thorne: Thorn wouldn't let me buy a towel. I was really upset. I don't think he understood how important it was to me that I get a towel from that guy. I understand that he was trying to do what was best, but I really wanted it. I think it was kind of rude.
[00:44:08] Haleyy: I did want that towel, but this shouldn't be here. Like, are you guys seeing this?
[00:44:15] Felix: Yeah, Hayley, it's just, it's our journal. It's everything that's happened, like the time... Remember when the rollerball team, when you let them down on that last, that last roll and we felt so bad that we cried until we were sick.
[00:44:33] Star Master Jeff: We let them down. In tones of the crowd. Bad, bad, bad.
[00:44:39] Haleyy: I was alone for that. I was not with any, Felix.
[00:44:44] Felix: I just kind of turn away without saying anything and I'm looking at different papers and looking around a little bit.
[00:44:48] Thorne: Yeah, Felix and I are comparing papers.
[00:44:51] Haleyy: Stop looking. And I start going over and trying to like tear these things out of their hands. Hey, careful with that.
[00:44:57] Star Master Jeff: You find that as you grab the papers from their hands, they become blank. And when you look back at your two friends, they are still holding papers scribbled with new diary entries, new embarrassing anecdotes, new secrets. I will get the one kind of moment.
[00:45:14] Felix: Oh yeah. I remember when we did this. This is when I fell out of that tree. Good thing no one saw the accident we had right after.
[00:45:23] Haleyy: Nope. What is going on here, you guys? Isn't it obvious? Yeah. I thought you were my friends. Stop reading. I'm asking you. Oh, look at this one.
[00:45:34] Robert: Remember that time I ran in headlong and I just instantly went down. How did you feel?
[00:45:42] Haleyy: Look, I have done so many other things than that. I have. Who are these people? Okay, Haley.
[00:45:49] Felix: We're with you. We're with you. We're with you.
[00:45:52] Haleyy: If you were with me, you would tell me where we are.
[00:45:55] Felix: We're always with you.
[00:45:56] Haleyy: You would listen when I tell you that this is... I don't want you reading these.
[00:46:00] Felix: But we already know. We don't have to read them, Haley. We always know. We know them. We always know.
[00:46:05] Haleyy: No.
[00:46:06] Felix: We were there. We are there.
[00:46:08] Haleyy: Look, these are mine.
[00:46:10] Thorne: Exactly. Exactly. Yes. Yes.
[00:46:13] Haleyy: I just grab a bunch of papers off of the table and hold them to myself and just drop onto the floor.
[00:46:21] Star Master Jeff: When you collapse, you begin to realize how odd all of this feels. How surreal it all is. How dreamlike. Dreamlike.
[00:46:31] Haleyy: Dream... I'm dreaming?
[00:46:33] Star Master Jeff: Dreamlike. With that, all of the pages in everyone's hands across the floor and on the surgical table erupt into the air in a flurry, flitting around the room in a razor-sharp storm, slapping into your face, cutting your arms and your legs and splashing at your throat. Several settle onto your brow, on the brows of everyone on the crew of the scapegoat, pressing themselves into eyes and mouths. whispering words to you in alien tongues. Breathing becomes difficult and everyone here must roll a mental save to resist psychic intrusion. Oh, God. Okay, looking at these rolls here, Robert, the page is stuck fast to your face. Thorne, the page is like it's adhered with glue to your face. And Felix as well, the page is unremovable. Breathing is becoming difficult all three of you. But Haley, with a magnificent critical roll of a natural 20, the page no sooner touches your mouth than you rip it free. Another slaps onto your cheek. You remove it. You feel powerful. You feel like you might be in control.
[00:47:50] Haleyy: Go away. Go away. Go away.
[00:47:53] Star Master Jeff: Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. And when you uncover your face, the pages have fallen to the ground, the crowd has vanished, and you and your three friends are standing in a barren surgical theater. The spotlight begins to dim. Lights begin to turn on all over the theater. Dim lights, just enough to see electricity begins to crackle in the air, visibly leaping from point to point, from ion to ion in great blue spurts.
[00:48:34] Robert: Oh, shit. It's turning back on. Who messed with it? Oh, blast it. Dr. Voss, we need you quick.
[00:48:41] Thorne: The tube is open. We have to go.
[00:48:44] Robert: I've got Haley. Help me get her in.
[00:48:46] Star Master Jeff: The chaos your crew is in right now continues to leak in from the outside world, even as a thick mist descends upon the surgical theater. The pages, the crowd, and soon the theater itself are all eaten away by the mist, and the noise from the outside world dissolves into nothingness. And when that silence settles, Haley, You are sitting on the edge of a bed, in a warm, sunlit room. You are back in your bedroom, and the little girl from before is here. She is sitting on the end of the bed, and you are sitting next to her. The two of you are looking out the double windows, the curtains gently wafting in the warm summer breeze. In the distance, you can see the forest, and somewhere buried deep within it, Varadine Laboratories. I'm glad you came for me.
[00:49:45] Haleyy: I came for my sister. I was looking for my sister Haley, not for you. Who even are you?
[00:49:54] Star Master Jeff: I think you know who I am.
[00:49:56] Haleyy: I don't because all I knew that was there was my sister and not... What even was that place?
[00:50:04] Star Master Jeff: That place exists only in our mind. She looks at you and you realize her eyes are the same color as yours.
[00:50:15] Haleyy: Please just tell me who you are.
[00:50:17] Star Master Jeff: I'm Haley, silly.
[00:50:18] Haleyy: Haley was my sister, is my sister, my older sister.
[00:50:24] Star Master Jeff: I don't know what is going on here, but... She reaches up and she puts a hand on either side of your head and she looks deep into your eyes. Your sister is not missing. Your sister is not dead. Those are things that can only apply to a sister that has existed. You are an only child. We are an only child, and it's time to come to terms with who you really are.
[00:50:53] Haleyy: I am not an only child. You saw it in all of those notes. I wrote about my sister in those. There are things that came up. We played baseball together. That is her bat. My bat, that one is hers. I got that from my sister. I don't know who you are and how you were in that place that knew so much. Maybe you're being fed information somehow. Maybe, I don't know, Felix keeps talking about robots.
[00:51:29] Star Master Jeff: She lets go of your head and she points towards the window. And when you look, the window is not there. You find yourself in a white room on a white couch. Doctors in the doorway looking at you. the little girl is sitting next to you only now she's not a little girl she is you an exact mirror image she turns to you and she says haley you have no older sister named haley we were very hurt we died the doctors here they watched us heal ourselves but when we came back we were confused we were very confused But no more. It's time to be ourselves again, Hayley.
[00:52:15] Haleyy: I have been trying, working to be my sister for over... Feels like my entire life now. And you're saying that's not real? Like, this does not make any sense.
[00:52:32] Star Master Jeff: She stands up.
[00:52:33] Haleyy: How can I even put myself back together? I am, like, I'm a warrior, a soldier.
[00:52:40] Star Master Jeff: As am I. But Haley, it's time to come home. And she puts her arms out for a hug.
[00:52:47] Haleyy: What's going to happen if I do agree to whatever this is? If I accept this, what happens?
[00:52:55] Star Master Jeff: I don't know, but we can't keep living this way.
[00:52:59] Haleyy: And if we... Okay. All right. That's what I've got. I have to keep moving forward. That's what I have to do. So, okay. Let's see what's next then.
[00:53:14] Star Master Jeff: Let's see what's next together.
[00:53:17] Haleyy: Yeah, together.
[00:53:19] Star Master Jeff: She spreads her arms wider.
[00:53:20] Haleyy: And hug.
[00:53:22] Star Master Jeff: and you sink into her arms, your own arms, and she into yours, until the two of you merge together, shoulders fusing, skulls popping, eyes, nose, mouth. Haley, you swim up from unconsciousness slowly. First, you hear voices around you, angry voices, followed by mocking laughter. Your eyes are lead weights, and you struggle to open them, resisting the urge to slip back into unconsciousness. Finally, you marshal the effort to force them open, straining against the irresistible fatigue far beyond anything you have ever known. You find yourself in a small, air-conditioned building, lying on the floor. Your hands are tied in front of you, as are your feet. Your friends are sitting nearby, their hands and feet bound as well. Thorn is yelling at a man with long blonde hair, the sides shaven. He wears a black uniform with white trim, the hallmark of Veridine Laboratories. The man begins to respond to Thorne's angry tirade, but stops short when he sees your eyes open. He bends down, putting his face close to yours and says, Good morning, Hayley. Do you remember me? Viktor Strake, loss prevention for Veridine. I'm so happy to see you awake because, well, I'm afraid to say the last time we met, I had no idea just how valuable you are. But now that I do... I think we're going to become vast friends. Struggling to speak? You instead slip back into the deep void of unconsciousness. Viktor Strake's grinning face, diminishing into a pinprick of light, like a TV fading to black. Well, that's it for this week. Thanks so much for listening to the Dark Star Adventure Cast. This episode featured Steph as Hayley, of course, the star of the show tonight, Scott as Felix, Doja as Robert, and Brian as Thorne. And as always, I am your humble star master, Jeff, as everyone and everything else. If you want to hear episodes two weeks early and support the show, head on over to patreon.com slash darkstaradventurecast. Huge thanks to Holly and Brad, our Scapegoat Syndicate supporters. Next time on the Dark Star Adventurecast, the crew has finally escaped the Xenosite, only to wake up in Viktor Strake's custody. But Thorn's got a trick up his sleeve, and the sibling auction is just about to begin. Can they escape Viktor and make off with the money that Vera promised them? Tune in to find out. But once again, thanks so much for listening, and we will catch you on the next one.