Hatchway

Audio
Transcript

## Summary

The episode opens with an introduction from The Documentarian.

Several days ago I came into the full collection of documents and recordings that I will be presenting here. Although many of the recordings and documents are dated, some lack explanation for where they fit into the constructed timeline. Additionally, due to the multiple viewpoints present, I have taken it upon myself to edit and sort documents or recording into appropriate points,in the hope of presenting a fuller picture.

This report includes the records of Dr. Rosa De La Torre, Walter Heath, Graham Casner, Dr. Karina Schumacher-Weiß, and Jónas Þórirssonduring an expedition in Svalbard. This recording comes from the phone of Dr. Schumaker-Weiß...

Documents from Walter and Karina describe their life circumstances at the time of joining the expedition. A group recording finds the team assembling as Jónas gives them a presentation about their expedition to Outpost Fristed.

The team heads out and arrives at Outpost Fristed with ample supplies. They discover some crude external damage that will take a few days to repair (once the storm dissipates) and Walter reveals there appears to be some sort of intentional sabotage to the internal computer with the purpose of sending out a signal.

The team decides to drink some Scandinavian alcohol they discovered as they wait out the storm.

## Synopsis

### Introduction

Following the previous installment (Installment 1), the assessment and repair team was confined to the Outpost’s bunker for several days,waiting out a storm. During this time several recordings and documents were found, though not all contained time stamps. Here is the believed order of the records found.

### Document 1 - Group Recording

***Medium**: Recording | **Language**: English | **Location**: Outpost Fristed*

Walter starts to interview Rosa before she's interrupted by Karina for her turn at Rummy. Walter says they have now been in the outpost for three days waiting out the storm which has winds strong enough to knock him off the roof if he attempted a repair. Rosa returns and talks about their time. The team has played every card game they knew, Jónas told them Icelandic folk tales he tells his daughters, and Karina taught them German slang and curse words as she went over some research data. They're thankful for Walter who brought a laptop containing Shaun of the Dead, The Village, Lord of the Rings (Walter notes that it was actually Return of the King, specifically), and Batman.

Rosa leaves for another turn and Walter turns his sights on Graham. Without being able to attempt the external repair, Walter has switched to investigating the malicious code found on the computer. Walter says it appears to be some sort of subroutine built into the station that he might not even be able to get rid of. Whatever it is appears to be programmed to send out the signal received by Sidja Group.

Jónas isn't pleased as he says whoever created this bit of code cost Sidja a lot of money. Walter says he oddly can't find all of the code which means he cannot tell when the signal will be sent again. Walter suspects (and advised Jónas to report) whoever originally programmed Sidja's outposts.

Karina asks if she can use the computer soon and Walter asks the group if anyone wants to watch a movie.

### Document 2 - Note written by Jónas Þórirssonduring

***Medium**: Written Note | **Language**: Icelandic |* ***Location**: Outpost Fristed |* **Documentarian Intro:** "The following is a document found on a notepad near the bed of Mr. Þórirsson.His handwriting is clear and slightly cursive, though he presses down hard with the pen."

Jónas describes missing his daughters and laments that waiting out the storm likely cost him the chance to attend a music festival in Reykjavik with them. He says that Hulda was right about this trip but that the expedition will impress Mrs. Guðrunsdóttir. He says that once he gets home everything will be fine: he'll take the girls for pastries and "her mother can't continue to justify her opinion of me under false pretenses."

### Document 3 - Note Written by Rosa De La Torre

***Medium**: Written Note | **Language**: Spanish |* ***Location**: Outpost Fristed | **Documentarian Intro:** "This document was written by Dr. De La Torre on the note pad found within her small night stand. This page was still intact, but flipped over the back of the pad."*

Rosa laments the lack of privacy during this extended expedition but notes that Jónas hasn't notified them that seeking privacy with Graham would affect future hiring potential. Karina accommodates their request to have the room to themselves as she spends most of her time pondering over the geological reports.

She describes Graham as enjoyable, noting his self-assurance and wit (when he chooses to use it). She says he seems to like working on Svalbard and (like Rosa) has been out for several expeditions. He's told her some tourist horror stories (including one "with the ice drifts") that she wishes he'd share with the group, but she'll leave that choice to him.

### Document 4 - Research Scribbles from Karina Schumacher-Weiß

***Medium**: Notes scrawled on geological data print-outs | **Language**: German |* ***Location**: Outpost Fristed | **Documentarian Intro:** "Dr. Schumacher-Weiß wrote several scrawling notes across mostly empty pages of the geological data print-outs. Several pages of data were never found, and some of the words have been scratched out.I believe I have placed them in the correct order, though I think little remains of the majority of her original writings."*

Karina is frustrated over missing data in the reports. She is confused that information collected from the rovers appears to be slightly redacted. The rovers have a range of 10km (6.2 mi) and return within 1km (.62 mi) to send a data pulse transmission back to the outpost. Karina finds it odd that she hadn't heard of this program before signing on considering that Sidja Group, some other private and governmental organizations, universities such the University of Iceland, Uppsala University, and Oxford all have claim to several active rovers and several different types of collected data.

She notes that whole sections of data are missing, especially Data surrounding 79.176401 latitude, 12.852573 longitude, which is rather near us, and data surround the area near 79.141941 latitude, 12.883679 longitude. These are not merely inaccuracies, but missing data. The data appears evenly spaced with rovers taking reads every 100 meters (328 ft) or so, and results appear on all sides of these missing data points.

She suspects it is either a programming error or purposeful redaction, but goes on to say that doesn't even seem to be the worst of the problems.

### Document 5 - Group Recording

***Medium**: Computer Recording | **Language**: English | **Location**: Outpost Fristed | **Documentarian Intro**: "Following these records, a recording was found from thefirst day the team exited the bunker at Outpost Fristed after their arrival,on the personal recording of Mr. Heath."*

Jónas, Walter, Graham, and Rosa exit the bunker. Graham goes to grab supplies from the auxiliary bunker and Jónas gives the gun to Rosa.

As he holds the flashlight, Jónas asks Walter about his past work noting that he has an impressive resume and thinks Sidja was lucky he was looking for work. Walter tells how he moved for his wife, Molly which stirs up conversation about family. Jónas talks about the joy his family and his two daughters bring him.

Walter gets to work as Rosa waits at the bottom of the ladder, and then the Documentarian notes that the recorder was intentionally switched off at this point.

### Document 6 - Action Report from Graham Casner

***Medium**: Written Action Report | **Language**: English and Russian | **Location**: Outpost Fristed | **Documentarian Intro**: "The next document is an action report from Mr. Casner, found in a folder in the common room."*

Grant opens by explaining they've been waiting out the storm for several days and finally ventured out today. Winds have reached up to 100 km/h (62 mph) but that it dropped to only 40 km/h (25 mph), but this lasted only a little while and as of 1600 the wind picked back up to 91 km/h (56 mph). He mentions that it was important to get a visual assessment of the glacial ice they needed to cover on the path to Fristed.

Walter repaired the transmission tower and ended up with some reddened fingers which Rosa happily attended to. While Walter, Rosa, and Jónas worked on the tower, Graham transferred rations from the auxiliary bunker. Some of the crates were for alcohol with some being full and some being empty and awaiting removal.

Under one of the stacks of crates Graham found an old hatch. He suspects this leads to additional storage or more resources so he makes a note to check it out further later on.

Karina has continued to try and explain her findings multiple times, but it mainly focuses on a lapse in data collection which troubles Jónas.

With the transmission tower repaired and the computer malfunction or virus identified, Graham believes they'll be able to leave once traveling conditions before viable.

### Document 7 - Group Recording

***Medium**: Computer Recording | **Language**: English | **Location**: Outpost Fristed | **Documentarian Intro**: "The next recording comes from the Outpost’s computer recorder the following day."*

Walter notes all the problems are fixed…except for Svalbard's never-ending night. Jónas mentions that Karina was able to find some relevant discrepancies in the recorded geological data, and Karina chimes in to say she can't do better without the full data set.

Rosa asks if they're able to leave, but Graham says they're unable to. The weather conditions let up for repair, but even with the snowmobiles they're unable to blindly drive out into the wilderness. They're over 30 km (18.5 mi) from the nearest civilization and have wind, ice, pelting snow, cliff drops, and polar bears in the middle.

Karina and Rosa discuss whether to play cards while Graham wants to go out to the auxiliary bunker and investigate the hatch. He hopes that there might be more food or recreational items. Intrigued by the possibility of board games, Rosa plans to come along. Walter wants to say in the main outpost and try to reach Ny-Ålesund to update them on the status of the tower and Jónas plans to say behind for a cup of coffee.

Walter begins his transmission and Jónas jokes he should try it in Norwegian or Icelandic and notes that Sidja Group speaks English well and most Nordic countries generally do too. Karina worries about reaching someone but Jónas assures her there is always someone stationed at the radio in mining towns to listen out for the mines, tourism, and emergencies.

Walter repeats his call:

*"This is Walter Heath at Outpost Fristed, approximately33kilometers north-east of Ny-Ålesund, south of the border to the national park. Reaching out for Sidja Group to report repair status, completed. Please respond.*"

Karina questions if maybe the person at the radio stepped out since the town didn't seem to contain more than 40 people. Jónas says Sidja thinks of it more as a research station than a town and agrees to make another pot of coffee at Walter's request.

### Document 8 - Letter Written by Rosa De La Torre

***Medium**: Written Note | **Language**: Spanish |* ***Location**: Outpost Fristed | **Documentarian Intro:** "The following letter was found onthe note pad of Dr. De La Torrein her nightstand."*

Rosa notes that coming here for work is always an adventure, presenting some new sport to try, sport injury to heal, a new man to meet, or just something generally new.

Her and Graham checked out the hatch which was thick, dense, and the size of a coffee table. Graham had to lift so that Rosa could pry it open with a pipe before it eventually crashed open. Looking down, they say roughly hewn stairs with a metal handrail.

They were hoping for a storage room at the bottom but instead found a tunnel. The tunnel changes in appearence: at first it looks like a hallway with straight walls and even a handrail but then it transitions to more of a mining tunnel complete with scaffolding. The tunnel goes for 3 km (1.8 mi) an the scaffolding stops and the tunnel begins to feel more like a natural cave system.

There were many side paths, but one main path seemed clear. Graham turns the pair around at this point, deeming it too risky due to being unprepared for an exploratory hike.

Rosa is excited by the caves but understands. She notes that the caves seem to grow more complex the further they go into them and that Karina might have some insights as a geologist.

Before explaining her disdain for the coffee at the outpost, Rosa shares that the cave system is cold, but better than the land above with it extreme wind chill.

### Document 9 - Group Recording

***Medium**: Computer Recording | **Language**: English | **Location**: Outpost Fristed | **Documentarian Intro**: "The following recording has been placed following Dr. De La Torreand Mr. Casner’s return from the first exploration of the hatch in the auxiliary bunker."*

As Walter helps Jónas learn to work the radio, Rosa emerges with wine for everyone. She encourages everyone to drink because the wine she found is old and doesn't age well. While she pours, Rosa tells Karina about what they found under the hatch. Because of their delay, Karina had assumed Rosa and Graham were enjoying each other in the auxiliary bunker.

Graham wants to return tomorrow with more gear and a line. Karina wants to join as she is curious to see the mining structure and the natural caves of the area.

The group guesses at the purpose of the tunnel (mining shaft, exploration, soil samples). Upon Karina's asking, Graham mentions that his compass told him the tunnel headed west. This intrigues Karina because she says a couple kilometers east of Outpost Fristed is where the rover's data goes missing.

## Script

The script for Season 1, Episode 2 is available on the Fool & Scholar Productions Patreon page.