Episode 3: The Hunt Begins

## Description

After the Breacher’s first expedition, Silas recounts their travels with Cassius, and together they theorize about the creatures encountered thus far. The Breachers convene to discuss their mission and goals before launching further explorations.

## Content Warnings

Mentions of: death, uncanny valley, cryptid creatures, entombment, ritual sacrifice, live burial, homicide, burning alive, scopophobia, blood; Explicit language, Loud noises, Minor bodily injury (light gore noises), Sounds of pain/struggle, Tranced/hallucinogenic state, Animalistic noises, Slight emetophobia (sipping/drinking noises)

## Plot Summary

Silas’s Translation Date: April 13th, 2021

The episode begins, as is the trend, with Cassius. They say, "I remember... the blood pumping... when the hunt begins..."

Scene One takes place in the morning inside Silas's "apartment," the private domicile that Silas occupies. All of the other Breachers have their own, as well. Classical music is playing. Silas begins his personal recording by wishing that June Dawson (politely referred to by Silas as Mrs. Dawson) were around to tell her about the expedition the Breachers just returned from. Silas then begins to lament over not being able to share with others the monumental discovery that is the Breach, but he also understands *why* it must be kept confidential. According to Alyx Yard, the running hypothesis is that the Breach leads to somewhere not on Earth, but still somewhere unidentifiable despite having some high-quality tech from VINCULA. Silas also mentions that he is glad to have other academics around to speak with. Just as he mentions this, there is a knock at the door. Cassius, who is supposed to be on bed rest, has their ankle in a boot cast due to the sprain they sustained at the end of the previous episode as they made their hasty exit out of the Breach world.

Silas lets Cassius in, who immediately jokes about being the "book police" investigating a book being ripped off of a poor "bendy boy," referring to the humanoid creature they released from the sarcophagus and the book it was holding. Silas immediately refutes saying that they ought to be looking for Vaux, as Silas "only just started working here." Cassius asks if they can sit with Silas, wanting to talk with *someone*, similar to the way Silas was feeling about wanting to talk with someone else about what they have witnessed and experienced. Cassius sits down and teases Silas over playing classical music, to which Silas responds that it was June's suggestion to play it. Cassius agrees that June is an unquestionable authority figure.

They begin to discuss the book they took during their expedition earlier that day. Cassius hopes to find out what's inside, mostly in the hopes that whoever wrote it is a native to the area who wrote down information about the local flora and fauna. They think the creature inside of the sarcophagus most resembles a starfish in the sense of how its appendages are laid out. It is not *quite* homo-sapien, but certainly enough for there to be discernable arms, legs, and a head. Still, they cannot comprehend how the creature was still alive. Silas mentions that mummification used in ancient Egypt is similar to how they found the creature, but a live burial seems more likely. Silas also considers the possibility that the creature inside of the sarcophagus did not *want* to escape, as it could have been somewhat easy to do so had they wanted to survive enough. The sarcophagus and the surrounding structure seem incredibly old, as moss and lichen have grown over it all, and perhaps the creature was entombed for so long that it did not realize it was being set free at all. On top of it all, it was located at the top of a structure, likely a place of worship of some kind. Cassius suggests they may have just messed with a local deity and some holy offerings, as well as stolen a religious text.

Cassius talks about how they are wondering if it was the right decision to take the book, but they also felt compelled to remove the book from the creature, as it seemed cruel not to at the time. Cassius admits that they are thinking from the perspective that the Breach world is still on Earth, so they made assumptions about the creature and its origins. Cassius *also* wonders if they will be fired after everything that happened, but they don't really care if VINCULA disapproves. They just want to stay on the project for the discovery aspect of it all. Silas reassures Cassius that getting fired is unlikely, as Vaux was rather thrilled by their acquiring of the book. Cassius seems uneasy about the prospect of Vaux and VINCULA being happy with the find, as the Breachers may end up being scapegoats if all goes wrong, *or* interference with the locals was always the intention.

The topic of conversation is shifted by Cassius to the topic of "ghost stories," or, rather, the paranormal experiences each Breacher claims to have had and discussed in their interview for the job with VINCULA. After asking around, Cassius learns that the company seems to have only hired skeptics for the job. Silas explains that even though he was there about a week before the rest of the Breachers showed up, he has no answers to provide to dispel the mystery surrounding the Breach. At least, none that haven't already been shared with the team. The two begin to discuss the creatures that were chasing them out of the Breach world. Neither got a good look at them, but Cassius assumes they are wolf-like given their howls and attack strategy (waiting for near-total darkness and attempting to surround the group). Cassius also thanks Silas for going back and helping them when they fell and explains that it helped Cassius trust Silas a bit more. Despite all of the dangers they've encountered, Silas admits that he does not want to quit the project, as the allure of discovery is too much to turn away from. Cassius decides to turn in for the time being lest Jeremiah give them hell for being up and wandering around instead of resting, and they tell Silas that Greg and the security team have been doing some additional recon, and will give them a run-down on what they found later.

Scene Two begins in the Archival Lab where Silas is doing some translation work. The chapter he is examining seems to complete the next part of the tale in the book, but Silas cannot quite determine if the text was written by one author over a long time or multiple authors over several generations. There is also no reference point, yet, as to the events detailed in the book. The recording is interrupted by static and garbled speech, then picks back up during the direct translation.

> "We cannot remain here. *Hamma’u*... Strangers. Invaders. The *Hamma’u* stalk our streets, beckoning the unaware to them. We plug our ears against the chords carried on the breeze. We cannot trust anyone outside this small group... this lone house now. We are an island amidst familiar faces seeking to harm us -- to devour us. Fear is thick in the air. What if we are already infiltrated? What if we are *Hamma'u* already? How can we know, and how can we stop it?! We must flee – flee this haunted place. We must cross over once more… Preparations are being made for the ceremony of… *Nabalkutul."*
>
>

Silas expresses that the term "Nabalkutul" has several uses in Akkadian but is used to mean "crossing over." He continues the translation.

> "Our senses are sealed away, save for our leader, who will pick his way to the *pilsu* under cover of night. The *pilsu*... The hole. Our way out. Interesting... As we yearned for this land, we now yearn for another, and make our offerings to --"
>
>

Silas interrupts his translation here to note that the symbol used next seems different, and larger, and is used again in the unknown text of the book, likely being a proper noun of some kind. It is perhaps a deity or protective power.

> "The *pilsu* swallows us up. Our yearning is rewarded. Another stone is placed in our care... Another *pilsu* opens wide. Already this land reeks of corruption... And once again we are strangers."
>
>

The scene ends with Silas calling this section "very interesting."

Scene Three begins as Greg starts to discuss what the security team has found so far. He directs the attention to Alyx, who stops playing her video game to discuss the time zone situation with the Breach world. Alyx explains that the day and night cycle of the Breach world does not line up with Earth's, but it's at least consistent. Any equipment left out overnight gets torn apart, though, which leads to issues in collecting proper data. The days are long, beginning at 2:30pm local time with dawn and dusk arriving at 9am the following day. Their previous trip into the Breach cut it close with only 30 minutes left before total nightfall as they returned home. Alyx explains that being there during the night is out of the question, considering the equipment gets mauled overnight by the creatures in the Breach world. Greg concurs, then outlines the objective and parameters of their ongoing expeditions. They are to observe and collect specimens for study at the VINCULA labs in a way that does not disturb the local ecosystem. Greg hands the conversation over to Cassius to continue. Cassius explains that there are no plans for any live specimen captures, only the collection of things like discarded fur, droppings, a corpse or two, etc. Otherwise, the evidence collected will be sketched and photographed, as well as field notes studying the creatures and surrounding ecosystems. Elizabeth will be in charge of the taxonomical efforts. Cassius also apologizes to the team for being too hesitant and needlessly endangering the group on the last trip, and in a rather monotonous tone while reading off some paper emphasizes the importance of following safety protocols, but also reminds the group of VINCULA's contract that frees them of responsibility should anyone die or sustain any bodily injury while in the Breach.

Vaux takes over after this, thanking Cassius for reminding the team of the necessary safety precautions. She also reminds the team that while they may be able to contact family and friends through letters, there is still a censure on what can be said in the letters and that everything about the Breach project is to remain secretive. As Vaux hands out some paperwork for everyone to begin filling out, June brings in refreshments for everyone. Silas talks with Alyx, asking if the whole censorship and being cut off from the rest of the world is really necessary. Alyx doesn't seem to think it's too much but admits she grew up in a military family and is used to the government being weird about these kinds of things.

Scene Four takes place back inside the Breach world as Cassius discovers Silas's personal recorder hidden away. Silas panics as Cassius immediately begins to tease him for having it, but Cassius admits that it's a good idea to have their own personal recording instead of just having the recording logs for VINCULA, as Cassius has very little trust in VINCULA. Through conversation, it is learned that Silas already told Cassius about the personal recording device after apologizing for accidentally recording their conversation during Scene One. The team returns to the ziggurat to climb to the top in search of the creature from the sarcophagus. Much to Cassius's frustration, the creature seems to have disappeared. Elizabeth finds some shiny scales nearby that resemble those of a reptile and suggests that they might have something to do with the disappearance of the creature (Specimen One, as Elizabeth titles it). They decide to sweep the surrounding area for any other signs of Specimen One or their captor. The scene ends as Silas snaps some photographs of the text on the sarcophagus.

Scene Five opens with Silas giving a Breach report for VINCULA. There is a thumping noise, and Silas explains that the team discovered a new creature during their sweep of the area surrounding the ziggurat. They resemble rabbits and are over a dozen in number, all of them going in and out of their warren. They are small and range in color from brown to grey, and they all sport a single horn atop their heads reminiscent of a deer's antler. The horns are being used for both digging and playing, it seems. Cassius points out that the males appear to have larger horns than the females. Elizabeth points out that they resemble European rabbits as opposed to Cottontail rabbits, and they have thick fur that doesn't seem right for their environment since it's so warm. The team decides to leave them be after observing them for a bit, and Greg accidentally snaps a twig under his boot, startling the creatures. One of them charges Greg and uses their horn, piercing his boot. Jeremiah gives him some gauze and wraps it up for him. Cassius suggests giving the creatures the common name of Unilope, a play on the Jackalope, with the Latin name being some translated form of "Greg Piercer," to which Greg firmly requests it be something else. Just as one of the Unilopes tries to square up with Greg again, the trees begin to shake violently and several animalistic howls surround them. The security team can't see whatever it is, claiming they are invisible. After a short time, the noises pass. Elizabeth cautiously asks Cassius if they thought it sounded ape-like too, and Cassius excitedly shouts out that they did, and that they knew "it" was real. The group wonders what scared the invisible creatures off, and as they look at the sky they see something flying with a triangular silhouette. Silas, as he looks at it, seems dazed to a degree, and the episode ends as Cassius calls his name in concern.

## Cast and Crew

Cast:

* Ty Von (Silas Caldwell)
* Beth Sage Phung (Cassius Thatcher)
* Cody Burke (Greg Washburn)
* Elgin Smith (Jeremiah Woods)
* Morgie Bee (Elizabeth Bellanger)
* Jules Christine (Alyx Yard)
* Renee' Hensel (June Dawson)
* Kaila Crockett (Evelyn Vaux)
* Gage Odom (Fred)

Crew:

* Ty Von
* Rowan Odom

## Trivia

* The classical music playing in Scene one in Silas's room is from Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, “Spring.”