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Leanne:

Wasting Company Time presents Tell No Tales, season two. Episode Thirteen: Sleep Walking.

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[SFX: Classical music playing softly, door opens and closes]

LEO

Hi. Is, uh, Riley asleep?

[SFX: Julia’s steps closer]

JULIA

Yeah, we found that bedroom you mentioned, they’ve just passed the hell out. Can I join you?

LEO

Of course. Pull up a floor.

[SFX: Leo pats the floor beside them and Julia sits down, there’s a short pause before Leo speaks again]

Should we be… worried? I’m the one who just spent like three hours sobbing into their shoulder, but they looked worse than I felt.

JULIA

Yeah, they’ve been like that recently. Headachey, tired. Trust me, if I thought worrying would do us any good, I’d be worried out of my mind. But they’re-

LEO

They’re Riley.

JULIA

Like you said. They don’t like to need help. I’m just counting it as a win that there’s a bed here and I didn’t have to drive them home all tired and grouchy. Why even is there a bed down here?

LEO

Frank’s married to his work, I guess. He’s got everything down here, there’s even a little kitchen down the hall, just left after the labs. It worked out great for me, at least. I uh, didn’t leave this basement much at first.

JULIA

I can’t believe this is where you’ve been all this time. Just hanging out in Frank’s creepy little warehouse basement.

LEO

Not the whole time. I’ve been getting out to interview spirits. And I did go home eventually.

JULIA

Was that before or after Riley and I spent days banging on your front door asking you to speak to us?

LEO

Uh… Um… after, I think. (BEAT) I really am-

JULIA

Yeah, you’re sorry. So you’ve said.

LEO

And I’m gonna keep saying it.

JULIA

Look, Leo, you’ve been through a lot today. I’m glad you called us, I really am. And I’m glad we could be here for you. But it doesn’t make everything go away.

LEO

I know.

JULIA

Well, as long as you know. (PAUSE) We should probably sleep too.

LEO

(SIGHS) Yeah. I’m not sure I could, though.

JULIA

Me neither. We were kind of in the middle of something huge before you called. Today’s been a lot for us too.

LEO

I’m sorry-

JULIA

Stoooopppp apologising, Jesus.

LEO

Sor- uh. O…kay. (BEAT) Was it something to do with Arthur? Stephen’s Arthur?

JULIA

You knew about that?

LEO

Only a little. Riley called, not long after you did.

JULIA

Of course they did. Yeah, Arthur’s in an old gay bar in SoHo. As soon as we figured out who he was, we started passing along messages between him and Stephen. They both seem really happy with the new set-up.

But that wasn’t even our main goal, we’re… God, I should not be telling you this, but we’ve been working with this woman, Louisa. She’s the head of a queer activist group, Liberating History, their whole thing is preserving queer history, and she’s protesting against the Carnation Club being sold and torn down.

We thought maybe we’d work together. We want to save Arthur, she wants to save the place he haunts. She’s just introduced us to a solicitor in discrimination law. Today, we found out he’s going to take Arthur’s case to court. We’re going to make a case for his human rights.

LEO

Holy crap, Julia, that’s… amazing!

JULIA

(LETTING A LITTLE EXCITEMENT SLIP PAST THE BRAVADO) It really is, isn’t it?

LEO

I don’t know what’s cooler, the fact that you’ve helped Stephen to sort of reunite with his partner, or the fact that after what, six months or so of me struggling to prove in the most useless, abstract sense that spirits deserve voices, you just… right out the gate, a discrimination case?

JULIA

Yep, it’s almost as if Riley and I are better at your job than you were. Maybe you should have abandoned us sooner and just let us crack on without you.

LEO

(NERVOUS LAUGH) Yeah, maybe. Uh, I wholeheartedly agree with that first part of the statement. The second half feels like a trap.

JULIA

(CHEERFULLY) It was. You passed. For now.

LEO

For what it’s worth, this is exactly why I didn’t want to bring you both with me. Look at what you can do when you’re not chained down by NDAs like me!

JULIA

What I don’t get is why you signed the NDA yourself in the first place. I know you tried to explain earlier, but it was kind of hard to parse through, with…

LEO

Yeah, the- all the crying? Sorry.

JULIA

Again with the apologising!

LEO

Sorry! Sorry. I just- I mean, I can probably tell you now. Frank didn’t make any effort to stop me when I was trying to explain myself earlier.

JULIA

Yeah, who is that man, because it’s not the Frank Williamson I’ve met. He was being weirdly gentle with you.

LEO

Yeah he can be like that sometimes. He’s… well, not exactly a good person, but a better person than he was, I think.

JULIA

Forgive me if I don’t believe that for a second.

LEO

That’s fair. I’ve been cooped up down here with him. Maybe it’s stockholm syndrome or something. But he’s been encouraging me to talk to you both, so I don’t think you’re in danger of being slapped with NDAs at this point. I think he’s finally got his priorities in order.

JULIA

What are his priorities? Something about the spirit plane crumbling? He said that back at his office before you left, I assumed it was a lie. Or at least a wild exaggeration to get you to hear him out.

LEO

It wasn’t. I’ve seen evidence of it. Spirits are regressing through the categories, losing their grip on the plane. It’s… bad, Julia. If the spirit plane collapses, we have no idea what’ll happen to the spirits still on it. And that’s if they even hold on until that point. We think it’s caused by overpopulation, because of all the spirits Frank stores.

JULIA

Why doesn’t he just move them all on then?

LEO

See, that’s the thing. I don’t think he knows how. I haven’t found the right way to ask him about it properly yet. But he gets really cagey when it comes up.

JULIA

So that’s why you went off with him? He dangled a new and exciting cause to rally behind and you just up and signed your life away?

LEO

No, not just that. He started listing off all these spirits I’d spoken to, spirits I care about, and the people they’d leave behind if the plane collapsed. And then he brought up Noah.

JULIA

Oh. The spirit plane was the stick…

LEO

…and Noah was the carrot, yeah. Except he was in his stasis capsule, with no way to speak to him, and at first Frank basically just told me that’s your problem, figure it out in your downtime, but the spirit plane was the priority. But then he took over. I don’t know if he felt guilty, or just pitied me, or what, but he told me to focus on the spirit plane while he worked on the tether… and Julia, whatever you might think of Frank, he worked so hard to let me speak to my brother.

JULIA

I mean, okay, I get that. I even sort of get why you signed the new contract. It was stupid, and I disagree with the decision fundamentally, but I get why. You were being blackmailed, and you clearly haven’t processed your grief, so I get it. But why shut us out? We could have still done our own thing. We’d have probably done it better if we’d been less worried, less angry.

LEO

(SIGH, THEN PAUSE) Um… I… I was ashamed of myself.

JULIA

Putting yourself and your brother first isn’t something to be ashamed of. The way you treated your best friend of what, twenty-odd years? That’s something to be ashamed of.

LEO

Yeah. I don’t disagree. Any chance of them forgiving me in the future, do you think?

JULIA

Maybe. You really hurt them, Leo. I was pissed, I was… upset, yeah, but I haven’t known you that long. I haven’t known either of you long, but even I could tell how badly Riley was hurting. They tried to hide it, they lashed out a bit, turned it into anger, whatever, but when you called, when you told them you needed them, I’ve never seen anyone move so fast in my life. They put aside all that pain and all that anger to help you when you needed them. So they’ve earned the right to stay furious just a bit longer.

LEO

Yeah th- that… makes sense.

JULIA

I, on the other hand, might forgive you a bit sooner. I’ve moved on. I asked Louisa out, yesterday. Before everything went down.

LEO

Louisa- oh, the activist that you’re working with? Oh. Oh! Right. Okay. I’m- I’m happy for you.

JULIA

Are you?

LEO

Yeah, I- uh. I mean, if you want me to be really honest, it’s not great for me, but I am happy for you, genuinely.

JULIA

Oh. Well thank you.

LEO

Alright. Can we start again?

JULIA

How so?

LEO

As friends. You never listened to any of my audio diaries where I (SHEEPISHLY) talked about how beautiful you are. I never got paranoid about your alliances. You… (SOFTLY) never held my hand through a panic attack and I never up and left because I was ashamed. Uh, no history, no will they-won’t-they. We’re new people now. A blank slate.

JULIA

I can work with a blank slate.

LEO

Hi, nice to meet you, I’m Leo Quinn.

[SFX: Fabric rustle as Leo extends a hand]

JULIA

A handshake, really?

LEO

That’s what new acquaintances do when they’re meeting for the first time, right?

JULIA

(LAUGHING) Fine. Hi Leo, I’m Julia. Nice to meet you.

[SFX: Fabric rustle as Julia extends a hand]

LEO

Nice to meet you too.

[SFX: They shake hands, there is a long quiet moment before they let go with another fabric rustle]

LEO

In the interest of new friendships. I- I mean, I don’t think I’m going to sleep at all tonight. And I don’t want to sit here thinking about Noah if I can help it. I was thinking I might go interview another spirit. You’re welcome to join me? if- if you’d like.

JULIA

Yeah. That sounds nice. Or better than hanging out in this basement, I suppose.

LEO

Actually… I was thinking we stay here.

JULIA

Use the mobile tether?

LEO

Yeah. I can’t use it to speak to Noah again for another few days, but it’s… I mean technologically, it’s fascinating. I thought you might be interested in seeing how it works.

JULIA

(EXCITEDLY) Oh boy. Interested doesn’t even begin to cover it. I mean, I didn’t want to come across as too excited before, you were literally sobbing, it seemed, y’know, inappropriate. But Leo, the existence of this thing is going to change my whole field of study.

LEO

Then let’s go study it. Pick a spirit, any spirit.

[SFX: Leo stands, then offers Julia a hand. After a moment, she takes it and stands too]

JULIA

Hell yeah. Let’s- (GASPS) Riley, you bastard!

LEO

(OVERLAPPING) Christ. Riley don’t sneak up on people like that.

JULIA

You scared the shit out of me.

RILEY(?)

Hello.

[SFX: While Riley’s voice is monotome and flat, strange echoes in another voice mimic their words. They are faint at first, but become increasingly clear]

LEO

…Hi?

JULIA

You good, Ri?

RILEY(?)

Of course. It’s not like I have any particular trauma associated with this place. Why wouldn’t I be good, after being dragged back down to this hell-hole?

LEO

I… I’m sorry, I didn’t think about it like that. I forgot you got hurt here.

JULIA

I can take you home? If you’d prefer? I thought you were out for the night.

RILEY(?)

Oh, you’re correct. Riley’s out for the night. But since I’m here, against my will, I may as well make use of it.

JULIA

What the hell?

RILEY(?)

(GETTING IMPATIENT) Where is Frank Williamson?

LEO

Uh… he… h-he left. A couple of hours ago. He wanted to give us some time to catch up… remember?

RILEY(?)

I see. Unfortunate. I’ll have to find him myself then.

LEO

(QUIETLY) Who are- (PAUSE) You… you’re not…

RILEY(?)

No. No I am not.

JULIA

Are they sleep walking?

LEO

I- I think so. Kind of. Um… has this ever happened before?

JULIA

I don’t know, I haven’t ever spent the night. Maybe? (IN OBVIOUS DENIAL) This isn’t too weird though, right? My little cousin used to sleep walk and she’d act out entire scenes with her barbies when she was alseep. It was creepy, but… normal, right?

LEO

Have- uh, have you guys met with any ghosts recently? Other than Arthur?

JULIA

No, Arthur was our first case, just him and Stephen.

LEO

You’re sure, nothing- uh, nobody more powerful than you’d expect?

JULIA

Definitely not. What does that even mean?

RILEY(?)

Don’t hurt yourselves trying to figure it out. I’m no risk. Not yet. Not to anybody the world cares about, at least.

LEO

What does that mean?

RILEY(?)

It doesn’t matter. Tell me where Frank Williamson is. If not here, where? If he’s close by enough to get there before morning…

LEO

(PANICKED) He’s not! He’s… he left, I don’t know where.

RILEY(?)

Home, presumably. Where does he live?

JULIA

How the hell would Leo know that? It’s not like they’re off having dinner parties and movie nights together.

LEO

Uh, exactly. Yeah, I… wouldn’t know where Frank lives.

RILEY(?)

You three are so good at digging your noses in where they do not belong, and yet you’re entirely useless to me. Another time then. I have so much time.

[SFX: Riley slumps, the others rush forward to catch them]

LEO

Riley?

JULIA

Riley, wake up buddy.

RILEY

(GROGGILY) Didn’t either of you ever learn about personal space?

LEO

Riley? This is you? You’re awake?

RILEY

‘Course I’m me, who the fuck else would I be? Why am I- Ah, shit. I did it again, didn’t I?

JULIA

Again?!

RILEY

It’s nothing I’m fine. You can let go of me, look, I’m awake, see? (MAKES A SILLY BUT INDESCRIBABLE SOUND. KINDA LIKE ‘BLUBLUBLUB’ ???) All fine.

LEO

Nothing about that was fine, Riley. And you’re bleeding through your t-shirt. Is that the cut you got from the amalgamatio? Months ago?

RILEY

Yeah, it’s just taking a while to heal, I don’t see why that’s relevant. So I’ve been sleepwalking, I’m stressed about Arthur’s case, it’s a lot to take on, no shit I’m not sleeping well.

JULIA

I think you’re tired because you’ve been sleep walking, not the other way around.

RILEY

Oh, are you planning a second PhD in sleep psychology now? If you ever eventually get around to starting your paranormal theology one that is.

LEO

Riley, that was uncalled for.

RILEY

Sorry. (PAUSE THEN WITH MORE SINCERITY) Sorry. I’m just so fucking tired. Can we have this conversation in the morning?

LEO

I… Yeah. Yeah of course, go back to bed.

[SFX: Leo lets go of Riley]

We’ll talk more tomorrow.

RILEY

(YAWNING) Whatever you say.

[SFX: Shuffling footsteps as riley leaves]

JULIA

I’m watching them like a hawk as soon as they’re asleep again.

LEO

Yeah. Me too.

JULIA

What was all that about ghosts? You don’t think this is something to do with a spirit, do you?

LEO

(THE WORST LIAR IMAGINABLE) No… No, probably not. I- I need to call Frank though. He might know something.

JULIA

Great, just what I was hoping for. Another one of my friend’s fates dependent on Frank Williamson being helpful.

LEO

He’ll help, I promise.

JULIA

He’d better.

Closing theme begins

Leanne:

This episode of Tell No Tales was written and produced by Leanne Egan. In it, you heard the voices of Leanne Egan as Leo, Shannon Kelly as Julia, Phil Thompson as Riley, and Ty Von as… well… you’ll have to wait and see. If you enjoyed this episode, we’d love it if you let someone know. It doesn’t have to be us, but it would be a nice ego boost if it was. You can find us on Twitter or Tumblr @tellnotalespod and as always, links and information about transcripts can be found in the show notes. Tell No Tales is distributed by Wasting Company Time Productions, under a Creative Commons attribution non-commercial share-alike 4.0 international license. Thank you for listening, and remember: the dead don’t bite.

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