Unknown Source’s notes from “One Voice”
Notes by Anthony; Illustration by Game Master Virtuoso
[INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT]
[16:48]
Sun sets over the horizon. CRACKS and SQUISHING are audible from the closet.
[16:52]
Zachariah emerges from the closet. He is covered in the remains of The Embrace. He sheds his clothes and enters the bathroom, closing the door. RUNNING WATER is audible from behind the bathroom door.
[17:24]
RUNNING WATER stops. Zachariah emerges from the bathroom in a towel. He searches the closet and puts on a UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA sweatshirt and sweatpants. He enters the kitchen and returns with several large trash bags.
[17:30]
Zachariah takes a CD case and places the CD in a Sony CD Player. Song is identified as You by Radiohead from the album Pablo Honey. Zachariah stuffs the bloody clothing from his closet and bedroom floor into trash bags. Zachariah retrieves cleaning supplies and rags from the kitchen and scrubs the bathroom and floor of the bedroom. While cleaning, Zachariah sings and hums along to the album as it plays sequentially, occasionally stopping to play an imaginary drum set or guitar. The trash bags are intermittently moved to the dumpster outside the apartment.
[INT. KITCHEN – NIGHT]
[18:13]
Zachariah turns off the CD player and enters the kitchen. He takes the menorah from the kitchen sink and digs out the wax with the handle of a fork. He places five large candles in the menorah: one in the center as the Shamash and four on one side.
[18:17]
Zachariah attempts to light a handheld lighter. He SHRIEKS and drops it. He flees to the opposite end of the kitchen. Zachariah mutters words of encouragement and takes several breaths.
[18:20]
Zachariah turns on the pilot light of his stove. He lights the Shamash candle and uses it to light the candle on the furthest branch and continues inward. He sets the Shamash in the menorah.
ZACHARIAH:
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tsivanu l’hadlik ner shel Hanukkah.
Baruch atah Adonai, Eloheinu melech ha-olam, she-asah nisim la-avoteinu bayamim haheim bazman hazeh.
Amen.
[INT. LIVING ROOM – NIGHT]
[18:25]
Zachariah sits in front of the television and turns on NBC. As he watches, he takes a pen and paper and begins to write. He repeatedly scribbles out words and mouths them to himself. No sound is audible over the television. Words identified by lip-reading are LISTENER, PROPHET, BEACH, DESERT, UNIVERSE, and MONUMENT.
[19:17]
The telephone RINGS. Zachariah rips out the pages and stuffs them into his sweatpants pocket. He answers the phone. Zachariah agrees to meet the caller outside.
[EXT. ZACHARIAH’S APARTMENT – NIGHT]
[19:30]
Zachariah meets BENJAMIN MEYER outside his apartment at Benjamin’s 1990 Oldsmobile. Benjamin remarks that Zachary is not wearing clothing appropriate for the weather. Zachariah enters Benjamin’s car.
[INT. THE SPIN ZONE – NIGHT]
[19:50]
Benjamin and Zachariah enter THE SPIN ZONE, a local record store on the Waterfront of Old Town Alexandria. They greet RACHEL, the cashier. The trio listen to and discuss music and upcoming artists. They meet members of the band Big Dog and accept a CD to play on WRXL 102.1 FM at 00:00.
[INT. ALEXANDRIA DINER – NIGHT]
[20:45]
Benjamin and Zachariah enter a diner. Benjamin orders a burger and fries. Zachariah orders nothing.
[21:01]
The food arrives. After Benjamin takes three bites, Zachariah exits the booth in a rush. He runs to accessible single-stall toilet and locks the door. Zachariah vomits blood into the toilet for 2 minutes before appearing to fall into a stupor next to the toilet. His eyes flicker for 3 minutes 21 seconds. After, Zachariah awakens and attempts to clean blood from the toilet and floor with paper towels.
[21:10]
Zachariah exits the bathroom stall and approaches Benjamin. Zachariah tells Benjamin that he had been suffering from a stomach bug, and that was likely the cause of his fainting spell at WRXL 102.1 FM the previous night. Benjamin pays for his food, and Zachariah leaves an extra $10. They exit the diner and walk to Benjamin’s car. They drive to WRXL 102.1 FM and park Benjamin’s car in the underground garage below the studio.
[INT. WRXL 102.1 FM RECORDING STUDIO – NIGHT]
[21:51]
Board Operator PATRICIA GREEN approaches Zachariah. She asks if he is going to be a problem like last night. Zachariah promises that he is fine. He apologizes for what he said about her drinking habit and says it wasn’t right for him to take his issues out on her. Patricia accepts his apology.
[21:57]
The previous host exits their seat in the recording booth. Zachariah and Benjamin sit down and begin their show. Show is unremarkable until 00:14, when Zachariah falls from his chair in the middle of an anecdote about The Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan and tensions with his bandmates over recording the album Gish.
[00:14]
Benjamin turns the radio to the next song. Song is identified as I Am One by The Smashing Pumpkins from the album Gish. Benjamin falls to his knees and begins shaking Zachariah.
ZACHARIAH
I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed. I must feed.
[00:16]
Zachariah stops chanting. Benjamin asks Zachariah what happened. Zachariah tells Benjamin that he had another vision and is ready to perform as DJ PROPHET. Zachariah returns to his chair. They wait for the song to end.
ZACHARIAH
And now, dear listeners, DJ Prophet has got an odd tale to share with you tonight. Things have been strange, these past few days. Aspects of my visions have begun to infect my waking life. Dark shadows creeping where the light should have reached. Strange whispers where only lonely streetlamps should have hummed.
The sky was dark. I was on a familiar street. Familiar like I had walked it hundreds of times before. I knew the shadows, the cracks in the sidewalks. I knew the homeless people slumped on benches and in doorways.
And then something hit me, moving faster than my eyes could see. It whispered and I was out. And then I was lying on soft grass, and I could feel my life slipping from me. I knew, that if I chose, I could slip away with it. Everything that made me your good old DJ Prophet would be gone. I was a drop of water on the beach, and a wave was about to crash onto me and draw me back into the ocean of the universe.
But the sands stretched further back behind me. As I turned away from the beach, a vast desert stretched out all around me. It was empty but for an old man with a strange symbol on his forehead, wandering endlessly. I couldn’t see the Monument, but I could feel its baleful gaze hunting for me. I needed to remain unseen.
That was when I noticed the thirst. There was not a drop of liquid left in my body. I’d been sucked dry and hollowed out until all I had left was this need. I retched. I coughed. I screamed out my lungs for relief.
And then, water bubbled up through the desert until I was standing in a lake. A woman stood before me. Similar to the one cradling the skull I have seen twice now. She reached for me. She asked, or told, me to come find her in the water.
Then I was in New York City. People were walking, laughing, talking. Something rumbled from below, and bones burst forth from the sewers. People screamed as flesh bubbled up and consumed New York City. From the skies, Angels came down to join us in great battle. But they weren’t here to save us, no. They laughed as they threw down lighting at us. They were killing us for sport. It was the end of the world, and it begins with a radio.
Now, dear listener, I am somewhat at a loss. You may only know me from my dulcet tones on the radio, but trust when I say I am not a man of strength. Nor am I a man of science, or schooling, or of any particular means, despite the generosity of WRXL 102.1 FM to employ us part-time. No, I all I have is this voice and the visions, and the means to send this message out to the world.
I don’t know if telling you this was a mistake. Anyone could be listening out there. To paraphrase R.E.M. on ‘Losing My Religion’ – I’ve either said too much or I haven’t said enough. There are those out there who would hunt me for my visions. Perhaps to use the information to their ends, or perhaps to stop them all together. The Tower is looking for me.
But I needed to get this message out there. There’s one thing I’ve held back, dear listeners, and I apologize for that. This wasn’t something that I saw or heard, but something that I knew, deep in my bones. A truth I had known all along and only just remembered in that wasteland.
That man in the desert will bring about the end of the world I saw in New York City. In almost all of the possible futures that lie before is, this is an immutable truth. But there is a pathway to stopping him. And I’m part of that future.
The universe has chosen me as its prophet for a reason. So, this is my dare to the universe. A plea to those in the night who want me alive. If you have any relevant information, well, you know where to call. 702-804-1021. We’ll be here all night.
[00:24]
THE SECOND CANTICLE ends. The board lights up with callers. Patricia moves to answer the first caller as the power goes out. The GREY MAN appears in Patricia Green’s audio booth. His eyes are reflective in the emergency lighting. He speaks to her, and she goes slack. Zachariah stands up. He tells Benjamin that everything will be okay and to stay behind Zachariah.
[00:26]
The GREY MAN appears in the recording booth without sign of movement. Zachariah pulls Benjamin behind him as they back into the corner furthest from the GREY MAN. The GREY MAN asks Zachariah what he knows. Zachariah tells the GREY MAN that he doesn’t know anything other than what he said on the radio. The GREY MAN repeatedly asks when Zachariah is from. Zachariah says that he doesn’t know what that means, until finally saying he is from 1962.
[00:29]
The GREY MAN vanishes. Power returns to the station. The lights and sound equipment HUM audibly. Zachariah and Benjamin move to the sound booth and shake Patricia awake. The board is filled with callers.
[00:30]
Benjamin repeatedly asks what happened and if they should leave. Zachariah tells Benjamin that they probably should, but he asked for help at the end of THE SECOND CANTICLE, and they should see if anyone called in. Zachariah and Benjamin go to the recording booth and Patricia puts CALLER #1 on air.
[00:31]
Caller #1 asks what that was and demands music. Zachariah says that they’ll just be a minute and hangs up. Patricia puts CALLER #3 on air and falls slack.
[00:32]
Caller #3 has the voice of a young female child. It is identified as the same JOAN who called last night. Joan tells Zachariah that he has completed his task and that he needs to leave the radio station immediately. Zachariah informs the listening audience that the DJ Prophet show is finished for tonight and possibly forever. He cues the remaining songs. Song is identified as It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine) by R.E.M from the album Document.
[00:34]
Zachariah approaches BILL ATUBBY, the sound engineer. Bill tells Zachariah that they still have hours before their show ends. Zachariah laughs and tells him that WRXL 102.1 FM doesn’t pay them enough to die here. Zachariah and Bill help drag Patricia out of the sound booth.
[EXT. STREET OUTSIDE WRXL 102.1 FM RECORDING STUDIO – NIGHT]
[00:40]
Zachariah, Benjamin, Bill, and Patricia stand outside the station. Zachariah begins to speak with them but falls silent as all turn to look at him with a single, fluid motion. They open their mouths to speak in unison.
UNKNOWN
Thank you, Zachariah, for being my voice.