Episode 114 - Organs

## Organs

A black background with a thin white border that resembles steaks laid top to tail. Within the border three images are depicted. In the background a heart sprouting flowers surrounded by vines is depicted in red. In the foreground a wooden arm with two dog heads, a heart with the words "J + H" in it, and a motorcycle engraved in it is depicted in white. Next to it a wooden leg also depicted in white. Bellow these images but still within the border the words "114.ORGANS" are depicted in white

### Author

William A. Wellman

The Countess greets a hotel guest, Hector faces death, and the Vicar plans for the future. The theme of tonight’s episode is Organs.

> ***Content warnings**:* *Animal cruelty or animal death (Heidi, The Beast as usual), Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death + Injury, Blood, Character Death, Vampires Eating People, Gun Mention, Emotional Manipulation, Body horror, Child Sacrifice*
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## Intro - Little Living Things

Nikignik narrates to the Dreamers someone who at one point thought o themselves as a whole, but no longer. betrayed by their body, stretching and breaking and growing in disconnected directions. They were never one being, but a multitude of little living things wrapped in one parcel of skin. How ironic, now, as they gazed out on a black horizon in the Hallowoods, that they too were a part of the whole, having become one small part of the new age.

Nikignik nestles in a chandelier in the roof of the Grand Crossroads Hotel. He is joined by The Countess, the two of them overlooking the revolving entrance doors.

## Story 1 - The Noise

The Countess watches from the ceiling of the Grand Crossroads Hotel as Polly and Yaretzi prepare to great the cavalcade of The Count, of whom was making an unexpected appearance. The Count is the last of the menagerie to enter the hotel, and he greats Polly and Yaretzi as friends (see Episode 64 - Stations), telling them that he'd taken their vacancy sign out the front as an invitation. Polly asks if they would be staying one night or two, if they would be requiring rooms for all of them. One of the gang members accidentally breaks a lamp, but The Count ignores this, telling Polly that they were in no rush and might stay a while for the winter. He tells them that the season was changing for humanity, that cold revenge was coming back on a silver platter, and he wanted front row seats. Polly magically fixes the broken lamp and asks again how many rooms they would be needing. The Countess makes her presence know, appearing next to Polly and Yaretzi, and tells them that The Count was only there to cause problems and spill bad blood, with her specifically. The Count acts offended by this, tells her that he knew it was hard for her to understand a world where everything didn't revolve around her.

Polly asks how the two of them knew each other, pointing out their matching titles. The Countess tells them that he'd stolen hers, but he points out that in exchange for his humanity, and agency, and the sweet release of death, a title was a more then fair trade. Polly asks what The Count had meant when he'd said that the season was changing for humanity, and he tells him that what had been growing all winter (it is assumed that this is a metaphorical winter) would soon be awaking to the sun and lay claim to the earth, the final note in the orchestra of the end. One of the bikers speaks up, asking if The Count would have made them immortal by the, and the Count turns around and kills him. speaks up, telling him that he had someone who was heading north (see Episode 103 - Crossroads), asking if he would be safe. The Count tells him that if he was going north, with what was coming, he was as good as gone.

### Interlude 1 - Body Become Canvas

Nikignik tells the Dreamers that if they lived in The Hallowoods - or a similarly affected area - they would have ingested the black water by then. There was no avoiding it, it was forever a part of their food cycles, and their bodies, and their blood. It was nothing to worry about, as if they were reaming about his broadcast, and not the endless future (see Sleepers), they hadn't been affected too badly yet. There might be some small physical changes, but they should know that it was nothing personal, the water was not a force of monstrosity, but rather art, turning their bodies into canvases, making them beautiful. Nikignik tells them that perhaps he was bias, when the spirit of change transformed them into something new, he could not help but find it fascinating. Because Marolmar was gone, and yet so much of him lived on in them. He tells them that he knew this was selfish (see Episode 104 - Communions), that should the black water continue humanity would die out, and if any hand were to still this art, if should be Nikignik's.

## Story 2 - Like All Prey Animals

Hector Mendoza, made aware of Jonah Duckworth's death (see Episode 112 - Watchers) with the return of Heidi (see Episode 113 - Others). He is left with no time to grieve, as Beast come barrelling after Heidi and - despite it not being the creature they'd been planning to kill (see The Faceless King) - they spring their prepared trap on it. Olivier Song picks up and begins to fly with Riot Maidstone, sword at the ready, and Hector calls it towards him. Beast takes the bait and falls into a punji trap. Hector approaches the pit to see if it'd worked and find that it had turns back to the rest of the group to announce the good news.

Hector looks back at the pit and finds The Faceless King had silently approached them and was standing amongst the pines. It screams, and Beast begins to clamber out of the pit, and the group starts to run. Hector drops to the ground in time for Cindy Lockheart to have finished setting up her snipper rifle and being shooting at Beast, taking out one of it's eyes.

### Marketing - Body Issues

Lady Ethel Mallory interrupts Nikignik's broadcast with her 'marketing' segment. She tells the Dreamers that she'd been thinking that she hated herself. She tells them that she was a national icon, and a beauty standard, and a very talented marketing professional, but right now it was hard not to feel like a fraud. None of those things were true about her anymore. Maybe body issues were a part of it. But this was a time for self-discovery, saying that maybe in discussing her condition she could give some comfort to the affected outside of the Botulus Corporation. She tells the Dreamers about the black water's effects on her (see Lady Ethel Mallory), covering it up with makeup and digital touch ups for a time, but looking back it was amazing how much she'd changed from how she'd used to be. But it'd happened slowly, and she was still Lady Ethel Mallory.

### Story 2, Continued - Like All Prey Animals

Hector looks behind him to see Beast stalled, Cindy's bulled striking true in one of its eyes. Cindy shoots the Faceless King next, killing it instantly, and Hector immediately sprints to join the rest of the group away from the pit and Beast, who'd turned its attentions to its fallen master. He asks Cindy if she'd be able to kill Beast, she tells him that she could try. Hector looks back over to where the Faceless king was and sees it standing above its own corpse (see Heralds of the End). He tells the group to run, that he'd try and distract Beast to buy them some time. Riot asks how they'd find each other again, and he tells her just to go North, as they'd end up in the same place. The group splits - Heidi staying with him - as Hector unbuckles one of his dredging lines (see Episode 2 - Dogs) and throwing it in Beast's mouth when it gets close enough to eat him. In doing this is tangles itself around a tree. Hector circles back around to the pit trap and calls to Beast. It pulls itself free of the dredging hook and pauses to look at Hector, but instead of going for him turns and runs in the direction the rest of the group went.

He looks to Heidi and realises that she was looking behind him. Turning around to find the Faceless King towering over him. He tells it that it'd killed Jonah, to no response. He states that it was going to kill him, also to no response. Hector stands still and waits to die, but instead the King touches above his heart, where his tree arm (see Episode 86 - Royalties) met with his skin, before turning and leaving. Hector tells Heidi that he had to go and make sure Beast didn't kill the others and asks her to find Jonah. Heidi leaves in the same course the Faceless King did, and Hector heads in the opposite direction.

### Interlude 2 - You and I

Nikignik asks the Dreamers what they were. He tells them that this was a relatively simple question to answer if they were on of the Dreamers who lived on Earth. What he was was a more complicated matter, for he was one hundred eyes in the dark, bit not eyes that had form or flesh or molecules. If he existed only as a being of thought, what did it mean when his thoughts had changed so? He'd once seen no good in the universe, but he did now. Once thought life a meaningless algae bloom upon the surface of this pristine universe, but now I treasured it. He asks if he was the same Nikignik, solely comprised of thought, if all his thoughts had changed? Perhaps they were never more than the sum of their components. Perhaps they always were.

## Story 3 - Bad Sacrifice

The Vicar speaks to Indrid Buckley at the Old Chapel (see Episode 101 - Disciplines). He asks her what she'd been able to find in regard to Johannah Wicker's disappearance, and she tells him that she'd found her, but she wasn't alone as her path had crossed with others (see Episode 107 - Absences) and had taken refuge at Downing Hill Public Library (see Episode 110 - Walks). The Vicar calls Downing Hill and Accursed place, but Indrid points out that Solomon Reed had had dealings with them, asking if they could leverage that connection. The Vicar points out that their Oracle had also had dealings with them at one time, which he had always discouraged as Downing Hill stood against their beliefs and had stolen from them many artefacts over the years. Indrid states that those had been one key and one cabinet (see Episode 1 - Keys).

He tells her that if they had Mrs. Wicker's child then perhaps it was time for the Church of the Hallowed Name to take more immediate action against Downing Hill. She asks him if he wished to pray and seek God's wisdom regarding the matter at hand. The Vicar tells her that he would not speak much good of Solomon, having stolen Al Buckleys' skin to retrieve his soul despite Al having meant to be the Churches' spring sacrifice - thus negating it. Indrid tells him that she had not asked Solomon to do this but was sure he meant kindly by it. He tells her that he would say that Solomon had been a man for action, and when that had a new Instrumentalist, they would fill his unfinished pipe-organ with souls and take action on behalf of the Church to be rewarded for their battles. Indrid asks if their next battle would be with Downing Hill, and the Vicar tells her it would.

## Outro - Organs

Nikignik waxes poetics about organs, telling the Dreamers about how they were an odd thing to be filled with. He tells them that it was unfortunate that they were not some neat product of living silicate or crystal fractals or sentient fog, as life broke down, in the end. He tells them that he thought that was why he'd begrudged it so, for a time. he could spend eternities dwelling in distant nebulas, revelling in all the glory of the universe, and still feel as though he had not gained anything worth living for. They found all of that in a span of years, in the taste of food, in a walk in the forest on a sunny day, in the song of the wind and the cold embrace of the rain, in each other. Love was in those details, he thought, and a reason for staying.