Episode 1: Scratching the Surface, Part 1

## Description

Silas arrives at VINCULA's Breach extension and is immediately thrust face-first into discoveries unseen by any other eyes thus far. He receives his linguistic duties and sets out to work quickly, but is thoroughly unprepared for what awaits him within the translations and the Breach itself.

## Content Warnings

Mentions of: death, organ harvesting, catastrophic events, uncanny valley, speculative mental illness, implied scopophobia, cryptids, Loud noises, Explicit language, Darkness, Cave-like spaces, Altered reality/derealization, Loud static, Strange animal noises, Diokophobia (fear of being chased)

## Plot Summary

**Translation Date:** April 5th, 2021

The episode opens with a mysterious voice saying, "Return to me. There is so much more to give. Mortality rushes to meet you..."

Scene one begins with Silas Caldwell starting a recording and introducing himself, explaining that he has been hired by VINCULA, a biotech firm, as a linguist. He is confused as to *why* VINCULA would need a linguist, and he expresses some mild concern over the suspicious intentions behind his being hired. Silas also explains why he is recording at all: to document his time working for VINCULA so he has "something to show" for his time there. Silas enters the facility and is greeted by Evelyn Vaux, who mispronounces Silas's surname and guides him to the lab where Silas will be working. VINCULA's facility, as Vaux explains, has a large laboratory that contains the object thus far nicknamed "the Breach," as well as several other offices and laboratories. Silas gets his own office, where Vaux suspects Silas will spend most of his time.

The two continue walking through the facility until they get to the Breach Lab where the object in question is being stored and studied. Silas looks at the Breach and questions whether a geologist would be more appropriate for the job, as the exterior of the Breach is rock-like, but Vaux tells Silas that he is not meant to study the outside. She tells Silas to enter the Breach, to which Silas mentions his previous interview with Vaux (referring to his claustrophobia). Vaux insists, reassuring Silas that they have not lost a single member of personnel inside of the Breach. Silas enters, albeit hesitantly, and walks into the Breach. It is pitch-black inside, Silas detailing his walk to the recorder and stating that he can't see more than a foot in front of himself. Silas comes upon a part of the Breach wall that juts out like a shelf, and it has some kind of symbol on it that Silas does not recognize. He takes a picture of the symbol with his cell phone, then decides to go further into the Breach. However, he continues walking and follows a light, which leads him to exit the Breach through the very same place he entered from.

Sensing Silas's confusion, Vaux greets him and tells him that the Breach defies logic. Silas asks where the Breach was discovered and Vaux states that it was found at an archeological site on a newly-formed island in the Pacific Ocean. The two exit the Breach Lab and Vaux takes Silas to his office. She explains that VINCULA has already provided books and research papers on old and dead languages, and they can provide more "within reason." Silas asks for a coffee pot to be added to his office accommodations, the first hint at his coffee dependency. Vaux then leads Silas to the Archival Lab, a highly monitored room that houses the very thing Silas will be studying: an extremely delicate, roughly 1,000-year-old book. The book, as Vaux explains, was not found at the same location as the Breach. Instead, it was found and acquired through a private collector of some kind. Silas looks at the first page of the book and recognizes the language to be Akkadian. As he continues to look through the book, he notes that there is a second unknown language too. The cover and some of the pages from the beginning of the book are also missing. VINCULA has already determined that the Akkadian writing is a translation of the unknown language, meaning that both writings contain the same information, just translated from one language to another.

Vaux then shows Silas a collection of stones, all made of similar material to the Breach's exterior. The stones were collected from various places like museums and collectors, but the unknown language is on each of them. VINCULA is still searching for more stones. The stones have metallic bands with more inscriptions on them. Vaux explains that she is expecting a full log of daily activities and finds, along with any important updates Silas may come across. She departs, explaining that she will fetch Silas at the end of the work day to show him to his living quarters. The recording stops after Silas debriefs himself on what just happened and the amount of work ahead of him.

Scene two opens with Silas's work log for Vaux. He has confirmed the text to be Akkadian but has nothing to identify the unknown text yet. The book itself is bound by an unmarked sheet of leather, the binding of the book is frayed, and the front cover is missing entirely alongside some pages from the beginning. The recording is interrupted by some static and garbled speech, then continues. It picks back up on Silas's reading from the book's translation to English he has written. Silas notes after translating a passage that the next passage takes place after an unknown amount of time after something catastrophic happened to the author's people. The passage describes difficulties regarding a trial for a tribesman, who seems changed in some way. After the tribe searches the accused's house, the writer notes the villagers changing. The author describes the change stating, "Strangers wearing masks shaped like former friends and family stalked the streets." The author also states that they must find/yearn for the stone. Silas decides to stop the translation process here, and as he mentions that he can't stop thinking about what he saw in the Breach, the recording cuts off with static and ends.

Scene three starts with the April 11th, 2021 Linguistics Report from Silas. Silas states that this portion of translation was more dense, but is cut off by static. The audio picks back up again with Silas making note of something significant: the word anzanunzû in Akkadian, which roughly translates to describe a body of water like the ocean. Silas thinks that anzanunzû is being used to describe saltwater, *and* it seems to line up with the rune inside the Breach Silas saw when he first entered the Breach. A stone, one of the stones VINCULA collected and provided, matches the symbol as well, implying that the stone and the rune are all linked with the text using the same sigil/word. The recording gets cut off with static and garbled audio and then ends.

In scene four, Silas is inside the Breach as per instruction from Miss Vaux who, after Silas presents his findings, sends Silas into the Breach with the matching rune stone and a bottle of saltwater. Vaux suggests to Silas to put the stone on the shelf inside of the Breach, so he does when he gets to it and there is an activation sound of some kind. The saltwater sigil begins to glow a pale blue color. Silas sets the bottle of saltwater next to the linkstone, but nothing happens and he decides to open the bottle and pour the saltwater onto the stone (also hoping that doing so will not ruin it somehow). Just before doing so, Silas describes having an odd feeling while also seeing things in the edges of his vision and hearing odd things. Silas pours the saltwater on the linkstone, there is a sharp activation sound, a rush of wind, and Silas yelps in pain. Feeling the breeze, Silas follows the source of it by going further into the Breach. There is a freshness to the air that is different from the lab, and Silas finally stops walking as he enters the other side of the Breach, surrounded by what seems to be a forest. As Silas stands there marveling at the new place he's been transported to, a birdlike creature squawks above him. Then, an unknown four-legged beast begins to chase Silas and he runs back into the Breach in a panic. He yells to the lab occupants that something is coming and to block the Breach. The recording is cut off as Vaux shouts instructions to check the Breach.

In Scene 5, we are introduced to June Dawson, the residence manager at VINCULA. They are both inside of Silas's apartment (inside VINCULA's facility), accompanied also by Vox, Silas's cat. Silas begins to recount his recent experience in the Breach to June. He also explains that after he ran out of the Breach and spoke with Vaux, they determined that the Breach only leads to the new location when the Linkstone is placed on the pedestal and saltwater is poured onto it. Silas, on his way out of the Breach, had grabbed the Linkstone and had to have it pried out of his hands. He says that he felt compelled to pour the water on it, but he can't make sense as to *why* he felt that way. Silas states that he has decided not to quit after Vaux promised Silas would not have to go back into the Breach. Driven by the thrill of discovery, Silas decides to press on.

## Cast and Crew

Cast:

* Ty Von (Silas Caldwell)
* Kaila Crockett (Evelyn Vaux)
* Renee' Hensel (June Dawson)

Crew:

* Ty Von
* Rowan Odom