Episode 26 - Needles

## Needles

A white drawing of a glass jar with a screw-on lid. Hanging by a thread inside the jar is a red needle. The text below it reads "26 • Needles" There is a white border of different stitches on each side.

### Author

William A. Wellman

Hector goes to the Dry Market, Diggory wakes up, and Percy makes a friend. The theme of tonight's episode is Needles.

***Content Warnings:** Abuse, animal death, self-harm and suicide, violence, kidnapping and abduction, death + injury, sexism and misogyny, transphobia, homophobia, misgendering, static (including sfx), emotional manipulation, body horror, alcohol mention*

## Intro - Tattery Stabs

Nikignik tells the story of a cloth doll. Unbeknownst to the family you live with, you can see and feel, and you hate being shaken and pulled. You play pranks on the father and mother because you hate them, but you protect and comfort the daughter.

Nikignik is sitting in a cloth tent in a market on the shore of a lake.

## Story One - The Friends of Zelda

Hector Mendoza arrives at the Dry Market, leaving his motorcycle half a mile away where it will be safe. His face falls as he realizes that Jonah's pickup truck is not here, and that means Zelda isn't either.

He steps up to a tent labeled "Alder's Odds and Ends" expecting a man he knows, but a girl is there instead. Tom, who usually runs the shop, doesn't bother bartering with him and is likely to have information about Zelda. He leaves.

When he realizes that Heidi isn't following him, he retraces his steps until he finds her standing in front of an unfamiliar shop. She is staring at a needle suspended in a jar. The shopkeeper compliments his dog and offers to buy anything he has to sell. He empties his bag of items he took from corpses, and immediately she is interested in the Downing Hill Public Library card. They negotiate a bit, and she buys it.

Hector asks after Zelda, and the woman says she hasn't seen her lately. Hector walks away. After buying food, he leaves the Market. He realizes then that he's being followed, and gets knocked to the ground. The shopkeeper and the girl appear and tell him they're Friends of Zelda. They ask what he knows.

### Interlude One - Black Needles

Nikignik reminds the dreamers of the changes to the environment after the Black Rains fell, and ask you not to be afraid. Life is full of change, both external and internal. You have changed just as much as the world around you.

## Story Two - A Whole Person

Diggory feels at peace as they sit on a beach in a dream. Rizwana sits next to them. They talk about the end, and how parts of Rizwana are in Diggory. Diggory notices that there are others on the beach with them, and that what they thought was sand is actually bones. Rizwana explains that they thought it would be easier to meet her first.

Rizwana explains that while Diggory is dead, they probably aren't done with life. Diggory says that they need to understand who they were and what they are supposed to do, and Rizwana explains that Diggory is their own person now who can live their own life.

Diggory asks how Rizwana died, and she says she died trying to fix things. Something called the Heart was buried in the arctic, but she died before she could find out what it was. They ask about Irene Mend, and Rizwana explains that she made Diggory and sent them on their mission to destroy the heart. Rizwana also explains that there is no use finding the heart, since the world has ended. She tells Diggory to enjoy their life, and not throw away their chance at living. Far away, Diggory can still hear the heart beating underwater.

### Marketing - Family Doctor

Velma Burfield, the Botco doctor, assures the dreamers that living in the Prime Dream is helping you and the environment. She explains that there may be some discomfort during the yearly health exam and warns those in Dreaming Boxes not to wake up during it. Please find a contact terminal for assistance if you experience any extreme side effects. If you wake up accidentally, do not discuss what you see with other dreamers and do not attempt to leave your dreaming pod. The environment outside is still hostile to human life.

### Story Two, Continued - A Whole Person

Nikignik explains that while few things make them afraid, needles make them uncomfortable because they are largely made of eyes.

Diggory wakes up to Walt stitching them back together.

Diggory asks what Walt knows about Irene, and Walt responds that he doesn't know much. She was odd, but nice. She never hurt anyone. She made a lot of creations out of dead animals and people, and all of them had similar names to Diggory Graves. She disappeared one day and her creations ended up around the Instrumentalist's house.

Diggory remembers that Olivier tore them apart, and Walt explains that the Instrumentalist got away but Big Mikey brought Riot back. Percy is still with the Instrumentalist, though. Diggory tries to leave but Walt stops them, explaining that they need a new plan and that they'll only have one shot to do this.

Diggory picks out new brightly-colored clothes, as Violet is still mending their jacket, and walks outside feeling like a whole person. The only piece missing is Percy.

### Interlude Two - Disparate Pieces

Nikignik tells the dreamer that we are all made up of pieces. They come together to make a beautiful whole.

## Story Three - Always Too Soft

Percy tries to be courageous, but it drains away. He is alone here in his father's house. He considers breaking his tie to the piano key and floating away, but can't bear the thought of leaving Diggory.

Solomon returns, and Percy asks to be let go. Solomon says that he can put Percy into a new instrument, and Percy begs him not to. Solomon blames Percy for everything that has happened to him, and Percy whispers that he hates him.

Solomon demands respect, and in turn he will not sew Percy's lips shut again. He leaves, and Percy cries for a while before he notices Zelda watching him. He explains that he is afraid of being put back in an instrument. She tries to cheer him up, explaining that fell asleep when she was supposed to escape, but she hasn't given up. Solomon hasn't noticed that Zelda has one hand free.

Percy resolves to help Zelda escape.

## Outro - Needles

Nikignik speaks again about needles, and reminds the dreamers that our stitches have altered the universe in a small way. The threads of your lives have woven together in a tapestry, and they hope all the suffering is worth it in the end.