The Apparatus

**The Apparatus** is an item that appears in the audio-fiction series, *The Sounds of Nightmares*. It is a machine invented by the Counsellor to connect himself to the Nowhere.

## Background

After Noone's retellings of her nightmares, the Counsellor concluded that his professor's theories of another dimension to be true. Furthermore, he believed that his long-lost sister Cici to be there. In order to access this world, the Counsellor invented the Apparatus. His ultimate goal was to use it to find and speak to the Ferryman.

## Function

In order for the Apparatus to function, it first needs a "gateway" to unlock the Nowhere, someone's mind. He determined that he should use Noone's mind as the gateway, as he discovered a tumor growing on her brain, which he believed to have some sort of connection. The Counsellor described that the machine requires for the person who's brain is being accessed to be asleep. Once asleep, the machine detects neurological data waves that are ran through a computer interface. Once the neurosignals are accessed, the machine broadcasts the mind's display onto the its screen.

This machine can also be used to connect two individuals dreams. This is done by connecting the machine to two individuals and aligning their brainwaves. These two individuals are connected using "resonator caps", which Noone described as "metal spiderwebs." Once connected, electrical pulses are transmitted to each of their brains via the machine's interface. Before one user is able to connect themself to the other's dream, they must first wait for them to approach the Threshold. Once they do, they must harmonize their frequencies and then fall asleep.

## *The Sounds of Nightmares*

### *The Theater of the Mind*

While talking to himself, the Counsellor can be heard tinkering on the Apparatus at the beginning of the chapter. At one point, it shocks him. Noone walks into the room and interrupts the machines construction, asking the Counsellor what he was working on.

### *A Deluge of the Inevitable*

Although not fully functional, the Counsellor decided to test out the machine on Noone the night following their latest meeting. After entering her room and connecting it to her brain, he was able to successfully use the machine to display Noone's dream. However; shortly after seeing an ocular figure appear on screen, the machine exploded.

### *The Lonely Way*

At the beginning of the chapter, the Counsellor begins work on repairing it, determining that it is almost fully functional. He relents that despite his best efforts, he was unable to fix its monitor. He details installing "feed acquisitors" in order to obtain signal fidelity.

While meeting with Noone, he informed her that he wanted to use the machine to see through her and into the Nowhere. He details its function and how he will be able to use it to enter her dreams. He then connected the machine to both of their minds with its resonator caps, and asked Noone to begin describing her dream.

## Trivia

* The Counsellor is able to operate the machine's functions via a keyboard which he was heard using while Noone approached the Threshold.
* Although the machine was unsuccessful in connecting the Counsellor to the Nowhere, it did allow for him to hear some of that the Ferryman was saying.
	+ It is unknown if the failure was the fault of the machine or of the Counsellor's inability to fall asleep.