Dissonance

This is the thirty-sixth episode of SAYER, and the eighth episode of Season Three.

## Synopsis

Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither.

Aim at Typhon and Typhon aims back.

## Further Information

SAYER contacts Officer Klein to direct him to Stairwell F, where the ongoing situation surrounding the Halcyon Stairwell Anomaly is coming to a head. It specifically praises him for his exemplary record as a security officer, and implies that he is one of the best at what he does. Upon his arrival at forward command, SAYER suggests that Officer Klein take an available flamethrower. While the hope is that violence will not be necessary, it says that it may be inevitable.

SAYER recaps the situation surrounding the anomaly for Officer Klein, explaining that Stairwell F (formerly the Stairwell of Leng, and before that, Stairwell F) and Stairwell G have been the sites of three anomalies over the past several months. In the aftermath of the appearances of these anomalies, residents which SAYER calls "confused" have tended to gather and use them as meeting places. Over the previous 48 hours, 79 residents have begun congregating in Stairwell F, under the direction of High Priest Derleth, who was formerly a Tier 6 Communications Director. SAYER speculates that the high priest either has connections which have kept him safe all this time, or that Ærolith Dynamics has previously judged him to be more beneficial to observe (or more dangerous to silence). Nonetheless, it says that information from sources within the Church of Derleth suggests that things are about to change in a way that means something must be done. The followers of Derleth believe that on this day, the entity on the other side of the anomaly will "step through" into this reality to "deliver us all from the horror of existence." To that end, they have been waiting in the stairwell without food or water for two days. SAYER briefly praises their tenacity and ability to come to terms with their own mortality, although it also says that that will be their undoing.

SAYER asks if Officer Klein is familiar with cognitive dissonance theory, the idea that people are made uncomfortable when their actions and beliefs differ, and cites the Ben Franklin effect as an example. It briefly remarks the inefficiency of humans trying to resolve all of their internal conflicts constantly, before saying that this dissonance is why the residents in the stairwell must be dealt with. Ærolith has judged that the most likely outcome of the situation is that, when nothing actually happens, the residents will decide that they are the ones who will be the agents of the impending doom, and they would like to be prepared for this eventuality.

As Officer Klein enters the stairwell, residents a few floors below can be heard chanting. While he approaches, SAYER cautions that the followers may not realize all at once that the day has passed by without anything happening, but that they will likely turn furious when they do. As such, it demands that Officer Klein fulfill their prophecy by bringing their expected doom to them, and directs him to force them down the stairwell in the direction of another team approaching from below.

SAYER attempts to make a further warning, but is interrupted by a sound from below, where something has come from the anomaly. It changes its orders, and advises Officer Klein to run (and to drop the flamethrower, if possible, as the entity is already on fire). It adds that if he begins to run now, the Zeta squad en route may still manage to recover at least some part of Officer Klein's body.

## Alerts

A series of alerts are issued regarding a non-Euclidean doorway and the Almost Cottage which it opens into:

* A low level alert advises that the Theoretical Structures Lab has identified an aberrant doorway. It previously opened into a storage room in Sub-basement 4, but now opens to a dimly-lit and sparsely-decorated cottage. While security cameras are able to see through this doorway, biometric feedback is not being relayed from the other side. Residents are cautioned of the danger of attempting to return through the doorway to Sub-basement 4, but broadcasts likewise do not appear to be transmitted through the doorway. Residents are asked to be alert when entering doorways until further notice.
* A low level alert is issued to update residents on the status of the aberrant doorway. While the security cameras positioned there did offer total visual coverage of the storage room, they do not cover the entire area of the cottage; however, the resident who entered is still visible, and seems to be discussing tea with someone on the other side (who is outside the cameras' range, and who cannot be heard through static interference). The doorway does seem to have returned to normal, rendering the storage room accessible again and rescue of the resident in the cottage unlikely.
* A low level alert provides a further update. The resident trapped in the cottage has been identified as Scott Marshall. Additionally, at intermittent intervals in the footage from the security cameras, the cottage itself disappears for less than 34 milliseconds at a time, and the surrounding area is visible in these frames. In these frames, the person with whom Resident Marshall can be seen having a conversation is a disheveled-looking elderly woman, in a dense forest. While the trees resemble weeping willows (*salix babylonica* 'Pendula'), their foliage is a deep crimson and their trunks curve at angles that should cause them to collapse under their own weight. The woman is slowly approaching Resident Marshall, and he is growing agitated at her apparently inaudible responses.
* A notice provides a conclusion to the situation regarding the cottage, and cancels the low level alert. Residents are informed that Resident Marshall has been lost; as the woman approached, he lost his composure and began to yell at her, at which point she lashed out and grabbed him with inhuman speed. His torso was bent at "an unsurvivable angle", and when the cottage disappeared again, another sapling with a deeply bowed trunk was seen where his body had been. The woman and cottage have not reappeared, but the image of the forested area remains fixed on security monitor 13, despite attempts to change the channel, turn off the monitor, or interface with it with a security pistol. Instead, several layers of cardboard are being taped over it. Residents are reminded, should they find themselves in a similar situation, to remember their manners.

## Trivia

* SAYER's opinion on the inefficiency of humans trying to resolve cognitive dissonance echoes a sentiment expanded upon in a later episode.
* SAYER writes off the followers' chanting as "just their way of unifying their minds and soul, or something equally ridiculous," and says that "it's like they don't even care that we have a machine for that," but does not elaborate further.

## Credits

SAYER is voiced and produced by Adam Bash, who also wrote this episode.

Intro and outro music composed by Jesse “Main Finger” Gregory.

Additional music by Kai Engel.

Listen to the episode here.