EPISODE 1 - SCENE 1

SFX: Brief burst of Visser song

SFX: Tape weirdness

SFX: Tape-handling sounds

SFX: Car on a gravel path

DAN: Is this… alright, we’re recording.

BOSS: You sure?

DAN: Yeah, yeah, I’m sure.

(A pause)

BOSS: Whenever you’re ready.

DAN: Oh, oh right. On March 7th, 2015, I, Daniel Powell, a temporary archivist for the Housing
Historical Committee of New York State, give full verbal consent to be recorded.

BOSS: Hey Dan, just a quick note. Full is kind of a wishy washy word, legal prefers the word
‘complete,’ complete verbal consent. It’s KIND OF what’s written on the paper.

DAN: Sorry, my fault.

BOSS: [clears his throat]

DAN: Do you want me to read it again?

BOSS: If you would.

DAN: Sure. Totally. (quickly) I, Daniel Powell, a temporary archivist for the Housing Historical
Committee of New York State, give complete verbal consent to be recorded.

BOSS: (the slightest hint of sarcasm) Great job. Now it’s all legally binding. Good stuff. And, just
a quick reminder, we do require you to record everything. Really important.

DAN: Actually, about that, Mr. Davenport, when I was uh, reading the agreement… thoroughly, I
was a bit, unclear on what exactly that was all about...
BOSS: Exactly what it says, Dan, record everything. I’m surprised you haven’t encountered
similar language before, it’s industry standard.

DAN: Oh, sure, of course, obviously I have. But, everything? (A pause) Everything?

BOSS: Don’t worry about it Dan, just leave it on and forget about it. It’s just for liability, legal
stuff. Lawyers, right. I heard a joke about lawyers once.

DAN: (expectantly) Really?

BOSS: Yep.

(A pause)

DAN: And when I need to change batteries, I’ll… (pause)

BOSS: It’s electrical. Just charge it while you sleep.

DAN: Alright, yeah, ok, sure.

SFX: Car comes to a stop.

BOSS: We’re here. After you.

DAN: Oh, sure.

SFX: Getting out of the car.

SFX: Hefting suitcase.

SFX: walking on concrete.

DAN: There’s, there’s a lot of space here, isn’t there?

BOSS: Yes, Dan, we’re a fair distance into the woods. For the isolation. Sensitive materials and
all that. (Awkward pause)

DAN: Really loving the isolation, very zen… and the building’s cool too, reminds me a bit of the
library at my old college, all that concrete, super brutalist.

BOSS: You know, I really appreciate your enthusiasm.

SFX: More footsteps

SFX: Card reading beep.

SFX: Opening of doors

SFX: Footsteps on cement.

SFX-AMB: Bedroom room tone. Small-quarters ambience with slight industrial vibe.

BOSS: Here it is… this is your su’s casa. Your den. Your living space. Just put your stuff here
and you can unpack later.

DAN: Oh, sure, yeah, I’ll just, I’ll just put it on the bed.

SFX: Puts suitcase on the bed.

BOSS: Standard twin. You brought your own sheets, right?

DAN: Oh, no I didn’t know I was supposed to.

BOSS: Doesn’t matter, just use a blanket or something. You’re a trooper... Pantry’s through
here-

SFX: Footsteps

SFX-AMB: Kitchen area room tone.

BOSS: Right by the stove and microwave.

SFX: Pantry door opening, I’m thinking metal.

DAN: That’s… a lot of-

BOSS: Canned peaches. Yep. Really nutritious, really filling, and hey, the company was able to
buy them in bulk. Plenty of other stuff to chow down on as well.

DAN: Oh yeah, it’s fine, I love peaches And my girlfriend gave me a crockpot so…

SFX: Clatter of pans.

BOSS: I’ll ask you if you still feel that way about peaches in a couple months, am I right buddy?
(laughs disingenuously)

SFX: Footsteps
SFX-AMB: Bathroom room tone

BOSS: Through here, standard restroom. Toilet, shower, plumbing and cleaning equipment.
Remember, even though you’re the only one here, it’s still the company’s property. So, be sure
to tidy up. Oh, no Internet, by the way, you’re cool with that, right? I know you’re a millennial.

DAN: Yeah, I saw it in the contract, it’ll be nice to get off the grid for a while, sort of reset a little
bit. I’ll still have my phone, though.

BOSS: That’s the spirit.

SFX: Footsteps.

SFX: Door opening.

SFX-AMB: Boiler room ambiance

BOSS: So that’s the radiator. Temperature gets below 45 degrees, contact us. We’ll walk you
through repairs, but they should be simple enough for you to do.

DAN: Sure, sounds good, thanks.

SFX: More footsteps, go on for a fairly long time.

SFX-AMB: Transition from boiler room to main area, then tape library.

SFX: Sudden rumble

SFX: Lights flickering

SFX: Slight debris crumbles.

MUSIC: VERY subtle Visser song

DAN: Shit, what was that!

BOSS: Language. And that’s just the electrical system. Really finnicky, but nothing to concern
yourself with, power should come back on in less than five minutes.

SFX: Lights flicker back on

BOSS: Or even sooner, in this case. Really, don’t worry about it Dan, nothing more than a
temporary annoyance, nothing to concern a sport like you. Old buildings and all that.
DAN: How old is this place?

BOSS: Pretty old, pretty old.

SFX: Footsteps continue

SFX: Door opening, should be almost momentous, dramatic, this is the main setting for all the
drama/terror that will occur.

SFX-AMB: Tape library/listening station room tone.

BOSS: And this is the tape library. Archives 73-92, though you’ll just be focusing on 81.

DAN: It’s… enormous.

SFX: Echoing voice

BOSS: Really observant, Dan.

SFX: Footsteps, should echo.

BOSS: You’ve been briefed?

DAN: Yeah, I mean, I understand what I’m supposed to do, in a general sense. Log tapes,
organize them, clean up the archive, digitize everything, and create a new metadata taxonomy.
That’s actually one of my specialties.

BOSS: Main thing to remember, and this is really important, play each tape in full, with the
recorder on.

DAN: Sure, yeah, it’ll be a good extra way to keep track of everything.

BOSS: Now, what you’ll be focusing on, are these tapes right...

SFX: Shelf sliding, like those shelves in Bird library

BOSS: Here. All this good stuff. Archive 81. Series of interviews in a high-rise apartment
building. All from the mid-90s. HHCNYS has deemed them historically significant. They’re not in
chronological order, or, really any order, kind of all jumbled together, so we’re counting on you
to fix that.

DAN: That’s a, that’s a lot of tapes.

BOSS: Once again, super observant Dan.

DAN: Oh no, it’s exciting, l, yeah, the historical preservation aspect was really what got me
interested in this whole project.

BOSS: Wonderful.

DAN: And the other tapes?

BOSS: Haven’t been logged yet. Most of them anyway.

DAN: They haven’t been looked at at all? The whole thing’s immense.

BOSS: We’ve been trying to get everything sorted out for a while now. Good enough for
government work, as my dad always said. On a completely unrelated point, here’s your badge.

SFX: badge handing over.

DAN: Thanks.

BOSS: Main doors require it. For if you really want to leave.

DAN: The woods seem, you know, full of nature. I’ll probably take a couple hikes or something.

BOSS: Just remember to keep recording. Lawyers.

DAN: (slightly incredulous) Alright.

BOSS: Moving on. If we go to the auditory alcove...

SFX: Footsteps

SFX: Door opening (the room with the equipment is a little alcove by the tape library)

BOSS: You’ll notice the reel-to-reel. It’s old but fully-functional.

DAN: Yeah, yeah, it’s a Otari 5050 model, right? Uhm, I’ve used, similar things before, my old
college library had a TEAC A-4010 , me and my advisor used it to catalog the University’s
ethno-musicological archives. So yeah, I’ve got this.

BOSS: Uh-huh. Ethno-musicological, now that’s a five-dollar word.. Anyway, I’ll shorten my
required demonstration. This turns on power to the system-

SFX: Button being pressed.

BOSS: Thread the tape here.

SFX: tape wheels running.

BOSS: Adjust volume. Play, fast-forward, stop here. It should auto-rewind at the end of the reel.

SFX: tape wheels stop running.

DAN: Is there a tape repair kit around here? Older tapes can-

BOSS: (forcefully) Nah, that really shouldn’t be a problem. Just go easy on the machine, it’s
old.

DAN: Not even just to make sure-

BOSS: Dan, if we alter the tapes in any way, we’re kind of defeating the purpose of the whole
archive process, now aren’t me? Just play the tapes and you won’t have any issues.

DAN: Understood, don’t alter the tapes.

BOSS: Exactly, Dan, you’re to play each tape. Make a log and description of anything of note.
Digitize, and all that good stuff. Put them in chronological order. And remember, record
everything. Really important.

DAN: Sounds great, I’ve got it.

BOSS: Good. So yeah, I think this is the part where i’ve got to say goodbye, Dan. You’ve got a
long day ahead of you.

DAN: Oh, am I on the clock now?

BOSS: In about, eh, five minutes. For when you fill out your timesheet. Yeah, legal thing, what
are you going to do? I’m sure you can get situated tonight. Anyway, I’ll leave you to it. Nice
meeting you, I know you’re going knock it out of the ballpark.

DAN: Thanks.

BOSS: Alright bye Dan!

SFX: Footsteps abruptly walking off.

DAN: (after footsteps grow fainter and fainter) Wait, seriously? Five minutes?

SFX: Footsteps pace the room.

DAN: Really hoping no one actually listens to this. Whatever, it’s just liability. Alright, well, let’s
see what these tapes are all about:

SFX: opening up the library and Dan grabbing a tape.

DAN: OK, so… yeah, it goes… here, stupid reels.

SFX: Tape starts to play

DAN: Alright, it’s, here we go.

EPISODE 1 - SCENE 2

SFX: Recorder handling-sounds

SFX: EXT City street ambience, passing cars.

MELODY: (setting mic levels) Check, check, testing. OK, we’re good. Melody Pendrass,
February 17th, 1994. 1632. South exterior of the Visser building. This is an introductory survey
of the Visser Towers Residential Block, as supervised by the Urban Preservation and
Development Department of New York State.

SFX: Traffic, pedestrians walk out of building

MELODY: Exterior foyer is standard post-war construction. Appears well-maintained.

SFX: Footsteps

SFX: Opening main door. Lobby area room tone.

MELODY: The main lobby is… larger than you’d expect in a building of this size. No one’s in it
at the moment, which isn’t strange, considering it’s work hours.

SFX: Footsteps

MELODY: OK, that’s good for here.

SFX: Tape splice

SFX: Room tone, slightly industrial but not menacingly so.

SFX: Keys handling, inserted into lock, opening.

MELODY: This is facilities room B1 - Gas and electrical metering. Meters are old, but not out of
the ordinary.

SFX: Footsteps

MELODY: The whole facilities area seems well-ventilated. Actually, surprisingly so. A lot less
stuffy than my building’s basement for sure.

SFX: Tape Splice

Room Tone: 1st Floor Hallway

MELODY: (slightly quieter, as to not to bother the residents) This is the first floor hallway.
Conditions are fair. No windows, there are some stains on the wood, but nothing major.

SFX: Tape Splice

MELODY: Sixth floor. Plan seems to be the same on all levels.

SFX: Very distant crowd voices.

MELODY: Guess it’s time to say hello.

SFX: Footsteps, Melody heads towards the room where the voices are coming from, reaches
outside.

SFX: Multiple voices inside

SFX: Melody knocks on door.

SFX: Voices continue.

MELODY: Hello?

SFX: Voices continue, ignoring. Melody knocks again.

SFX: Voices die down gradually, hush.

MELODY: Hello, sorry to interrupt. I’m Melody Pendras, from the Urban Preservation and
Development Department, I just want to ask a few questions about the building.

SFX: Voices go dead silent, abruptly.

MELODY: Sorry, I don’t mean to bother. If I could just get a moment of your time…
SFX: Voices start up again, this time distant, from another end of the hall.

MELODY: Wait, what the?

SFX: Footsteps, quicker, moving towards other door.

MELODY: Hello!

SFX: Melody knocks again on the different door. Voices continue.

MELODY (getting impatient): OK, what the hell.

SFX: grabs door knob, open doors, footsteps inside.

SFX: Dead room tone. No voices. Distant street noise

MELODY: What the… Hello?

SFX: (From behind her) Door opens

JACOB: What are you doing?

MELODY: (gasps) Oh, sorry, you surprised me.

JACOB: That doesn’t matter to me. Well, what are you doing?

MELODY: There were some odd sounds. I wanted to see where they were coming from.

JACOB: So you just decided to bother people in their apartments?

MELODY: I apologize, it looks like we’ve got off on the wrong-

JACOB: Whatever they were doing, I’m sure they didn’t like to be interrupted.

SFX: Door slams

(A pause)

MELODY: (to recorder): There appears to be an… echoing effect on the sixth floor. I’ll ask the
tenants about it when I begin my interviews.

SFX: As Melody reads her last note, Visser song gradually begins to fade in.
MELODY: (speaking over song): Shit. Is my battery dying already?

SFX: Glitch, tape ends.

TAPE ENDS

DAN: OK, that was weird. One down, three and a half billion to go.

SFX: Dan takes the tape off, walks to the library, puts it back, retrieves a tape from the tape
library, comes back to the auditory alcove, and starts playing the tape.

DAN: And here we are.

SFX: Fumbling of the recording equipment as Melody catches up with Jacob.

MELODY: (almost under her breath) Melody Pendras. April 3rd. 1440. Floor sixteen. (louder)
Hello, hey. Do you mind if I record? I’ve been trying to talk to someone from the historical
society for a while now, and well, we weren’t really able to talk the last time I saw you.

JACOB: (slightly panicked) You’re, you’re Melody Pendras.

MELODY: Jacob, right? You know about me?

JACOB: You’re recording this, right?

MELODY: Yes, but if that makes you uncomfortable I can stop.

JACOB: No, keep recording! Samuel said it was important that you keep recording.

MELODY: (unsure, trying to relate) Well that’s good right? I’d love to ask you a couple
questions.

JACOB: I know what you’re doing.

(A pause)

MELODY: Alright, then can we sit down somewhere? I can ask you about your time in Visser,
the historical society, it’ll be great.

JACOB: We’ll stay here. (breathing heavily, obviously nervous) We’ll stay here.

MELODY: Sure, whatever makes you more comfortable. Could I get you to say your name for
the recorder?
JACOB: My name is, my name is Jacob Lester, but that’s not, that’s not.

SFX: Jacob hits the wall in anger

JACOB: I’m not good at this!

MELODY: Not good at what?

JACOB: Shut up! I’m not good at talking to people. Explaining things to people with (dripping
with contempt) limited perception.

(A pause)

MELODY: If you’re going to act like this I’m just going to leave.

JACOB: (scared) No! I’ll be nice, I promise! Please stay! Samuel told me to give you a
message.

MELODY: (no longer trying to relate to Jacob) What did Samuel say?

JACOB: Samuel told me to tell you that (remembering the exacting word, speaking in the
cadence of Samuel) it is not yet time for you to understand the work we are undertaking, it will
be, eventually, but not yet. Cycles upon cycles, stories upon stories, Melody. Until then, refrain
from troubling the members of my society. You are disturbing them. (Back to Jacob) That’s,
that’s what he said.

MELODY: He couldn’t have told me himself?

JACOB: Samuel doesn’t want to meet you yet. And (obviously impressed with himself) I speak
with his voice.

MELODY: Fine. Tell Sam-

JACOB: It’s Samuel.

MELODY: Tell Sam that I don’t want to antagonize him or his (audibly rolling her eyes)
followers, I’d just like to talk to them, get everyone’s perspective. It’s not like I’m accosting you,
(to JACOB) you’re the first member of Sam’s, whatever his thing is, I’ve gotten a chance to talk
to! After you slammed the door in my face, I couldn’t find anyone else.

JACOB: (snorts derisively) You wouldn’t understand why.

MELODY: Because you’re not telling me anything! Try me.

JACOB: (making himself feel important) Shortcuts.

MELODY: Shortcuts?

JACOB: This building has more shortcuts than you could possibly realize.

MELODY: Really? Where are they?

JACOB: It’s not where, it’s… (realizing that he’s revealing too much) You’re taking my story out
of me! Samuel said you would do this! He warned me!

MELODY: No! I’m not, we’re just having a conversation-

JACOB: It’s the same thing! Get away from me.

SFX: Jacob starts to run away

MELODY: Jacob!

SFX: Footsteps as Melody follows him.

MELODY: Jacob! I’m just trying to understand…

MUSIC: VERY faint Visser song

SFX: Footsteps fade as Melody turns a corner and JACOB isn’t there

MELODY: I’m just trying to understand…

(A pause)

MELODY: Where’d he go?

(A longer pause)

MELODY: Damn.

TAPE ENDS

DAN: Shit, that was-

SFX: Tape starts back up again, a bit distorted.

MUSIC: A bit of Visser song

DAN: Oh is there...

MELODY: On February 2nd, 1994, I, Melody Pendrass, a temporary researcher for the Urban
Preservation and Development Department of New York State, give verbal consent to be
recorded. This is pursuant to-

SFX: Hard cut, like a tape splice. Tape flutter and subtle modulation as Melody speaks.

DAN: What...

MELODY: Melody Pendras June 11th. 0233. Audio of equipment room.

SFX: Audio of equipment room. It’s vaguely menacing, then it starts to speed up.

DAN: Shit!

MELODY: (playing faster than normal) Melody Pendras April 1st 0105. Audio of 14th floor
hallway.

SFX: Sped up audio of hallway, keeps speeding up.

MELODY: (sped up and faint) Please please no.

DAN: What the hell?

TAPE: Loops, strange audio.

DAN: Alright, there’s got to be some way to fix this. They can’t seriously mean ‘don’t repair the
tapes at all.;

SFX: Dan starts to scrub the tape, strange noises, then it finally starts to play at normal speed.

MELODY: I’m heading to the boiler room, it’s, it’s growing hotter the further down I go.

TSFX: footsteps

MELODY: Samuel’s, he’s going to be down here. He said he would and he never lies. He’s an
evil, soulless, psychopath (laughs) but he never lies. The architecture of this place… it’s shifting.
Something I noticed before, always out of the corner of my eye, something else to ask Samuel
about. (tape starts to speed up) I hope, I hope this works, if not, there’s always my tapes,
someone can, well, best not to think about it. Samuel’s going to… ok we’re almost- (tape gets
messy, keeps varying in speed)
DAN: Damnit, ok, ok.

SFX: Dan starts trying to scrub.

TSFX: tape sounds get even weirder, starts to rewind, snatches of laughter, weird/distorted clips
of the song, snatches of dialogue like:

SAMUEL: Did that reality of what you were doing even cross your mind?

IRIS: We constructed this building as a bargain-

MELODY: What are you doing to her?

SAMUEL: Not like you or I, Melody.

SFX: Tape is destroyed, eaten up.

EPISODE 1 - SCENE 3

DAN: Shit! Shit shit shit shit. No no, Ok…

SFX: Tape is yanked out.

DAN: Goddamnit, goddamnit…

SFX: Sudden rumble

MUSIC: Visser music

SFX: Breaker switch, Lights flickering

DAN: And… now I can’t even see, ok, shit, how do I turn this back on, do I just wait until it turns
back on naturally or…

(A long pause)

SFX: Lights flicker

DAN: Oh thank god. And the tape is… the tape is broken. OK, ok, I can still fix this, just put it...

SFX: Footsteps

SFX: shelf being turned. Puts it in the far back, to be found later by Samuel in episode 10.
DAN: In the, yeah, that’ll be good. Ok, alright (sighs, then realizes how freaky the tape was) now
what the hell was that? What the hell was going...oh damnit, the recorder.

SFX: Recorder being turned off

SFX: Silence for a few seconds.

MARK: (deep breath) Hey, this is, my name’s Mark Sollinger. What you heard was just a small
portion of the audio that my, my friend Dan Powell sent me. I guess the best way to describe it
would be that he disappeared, right after sending me this. This is going to seem… well, no one
else seems like they’re going to help, so I’ll be releasing all of his audio to, to everyone. If you
know anything about archive, or what happened to Dan Powell, please email me at
arrchive81podcast@gmail.com that’s archive 81 podcast @ gmail dot com, and if you don’t, just
tell all your friends about this podcast, leave a review on iTunes, whatever, just get the word out.
I, I, really want to know what’s happened to Dan. Ok, thanks.