oceanview (different path) || ❝ lost in mist for days and days, now you see the sunny seas. ❞

[tearings]

Teleplay by ALAN WAKE     hosted by WARLIN DOOR

In Night Springs, caught in an endless time loop
In Night Springs, a solar system in your soup
'Cause in Night Springs, we're just looking for the thrill
All your nightmares come true
Lost in mist for days and days, now you see the sunny seas
Night Springs CODE BY TESSISAMESS

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[tearings]

[ A noncommittal shrug is made. Perhaps some great force dictated this Alan go to Bright Falls. Perhaps it was a echo of the Master of Many Worlds or even Thomas Zane. Does the origin matter? Alan's story is his own no matter how similar it will be to another.

She says nothing more until he settles opposite of her. Either ends of the small table with the shoebox between them. Uer skin crawls at how familiar and similar this scenario is playing out. How close it is to Booker. He must have seen it somehow and pulled it into a story to try and help him escape.

Not that there is much point if he doesn't remember why he is trying so hard to escape. The reason other than the obvious of being in a dimension that ebs and flows with the rest. ]

I was brought here to help you. Wasn't I? That's the reason the Writer needs the Songbird. You are the Writer... aren't you?

[ One arm unfolds from underneath her bust. A wide sweeping gesture is made to the shoebox between them. ]

You and I both know what this room is, Alan. We know what this room was for and why it was guarded. You know why you're here.

You know who was here with you. Their faces. Their names. You're simply letting something block your vision because it's easier to tell yourself you can't remember than accept the truth.

[ Her weight cocks to one side. A flat expression takes her face. A knowing expression.]

You can fight it all you want. But, you don't leave this room until you take what's in this shoebox and accept what you have to do it.

[ Something shifts behind Alan. Someone.

A young woman stands behind him at the door they just walked through. Bright green eyes, bright red hair. A backpack in her hands. Unlike the others they have encountered? This woman isn't shadowed. She's bright.

A geometric pattern that spirals around her. ]

We both know what that is.

[crazyisinevitable]

[ He settles in opposite of Elizabeth, but nothing about his expression or his posture suggests he's at ease. In fact, tension is all over his frame and might as well be coming off him in waves. And as Elizabeth continues talking, that tension gives way to anger. ]

Yeah, I'm the Writer, for all the good that's doing me. What the hell is the point in being the Writer when I have no idea what I'm doing or if it's even making a difference?

[ He shoots a glare at her and his hand curls around the flashlight he's holding as his temper rises. ]

You think I'm just letting this happen? That it's my fault I don't remember? That I'm trying to run away from something instead of dealing with whatever the hell it is head on?

[ He shakes his head, and then there's a loud sound as he slams the flashlight onto the surface in front of him. ]

You sitting there telling me these things is- it's not helping. What are you doing here, anyway, besides trying to piss me off?

[ He's so angry that he doesn't even notice the woman at the door. What he does notice is the flash of the geometric pattern and a kind of chime going off in his mind. But he's too incensed to even look right now. ]

[tearings]

Isn't that how any creative process starts? You don't know exactly what you're doing. You let the waves of creation take you from place to place until you learn how to direct it. This place is no different, Alan. The waters of the Lake are just a physical representation of that very concept. You create, it happens on the opposite side of the Lake. It's learning how to control it to trap the thing that's blinding you.

[ What she has given him is more information that she prefers to usually give out. Then again, Elizabeth usually avoids speaking to anyone when she moves from door to door. This is only unique because Alan has pulled her into the story. ]

Yes. I think you're running away from something you hated doing. Something you regret. We all run away from those things. It's human.

The thing is? Debts have to be repaid somehow and at some point.

My father taught me that.

[ A hand rests on her hip. Elizabeth wonders in that moment how many times Alan must have revisited this moment. Has he ever? Or has he tried to ignore the fact that this moment happened? It could be why he has forgotten who the Sister truly is to him.

She glances down at the flashlight slammed onto the table top. ]

You brought me into this story.

[ Elizabeth simply waits to see what Alan will chose to do next. A glance is sent to the recreation of the young woman by the Dark Place. The recreation constructed by Alan's mind--his subconscious. How often has she actually appeared and he ignored her? Was it because of what he did? Did the Dark Presence simply make him forget because he allowed it to happen? There's so many different possibilities that she isn't quite sure what one is at fault.

She raises her hand to the door behind Alan. ]

She's waiting, Alan.

[ The young woman's bright green eyes lower at the apparent idea of being ignored. Perhaps being ignored again. The grip on the backpack tightens. She frowns and looks to the side. ]

[crazyisinevitable]

... Yeah. Yeah, you're right, that's exactly how it goes. The process, getting an idea, writing it down... Using it to make something happen, something that will either get me where I need to go or set up the pieces so they're where they need to be. I needed help, so I met Jesse, and- You too, of course.

[ Although Jesse and Elizabeth could both say they've had enough and leave or ask to be written out, and he wouldn't say no. No one should be forced to stay involved if they don't want to be. He has to be involved because this is all his problem to fix; anyone else who gets dragged in... well, he feels a need to try and protect them as much as he can, even if it means throwing himself in front of a bullet for them if needed. It's not some stupid noble idea built on pretenses; Alan genuinely believes that he needs to put himself in harm's way as much as he can, to try and protect people if he can.

It probably makes no sense at all, since he's the one dragging people into the line of fire, but once they're in, he intends to do what he can to protect them. As much as the story allows him to, anyway. ]

Running away? I'm running towards trying to escape. I'm not running away from anything, Elizabeth.

[ He fixes her with a glare. ] Don't you think I'm- Never mind. Forget it.

[ He sees being trapped in the Dark Place as him trying to pay his debts and fix himself in the process; of course, the Dark Presence doesn't want him to be fixed. It wants to keep him trapped, broken down, so that it can use him. ]

Do you want to be written out again? I think I can do that, somehow. [ He'll scratch out words on the manuscript again and write in new words and make it so she was never involved in the story at all. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be.

She's waiting, Alan.

Alan finds himself torn... confused. Definitely confused. Something in his mind seems to lurch and reel and strange flashes of images in black and gray flare to life in his mind. He tries to focus on the images but they're impossible to see or even recognize what they're supposed to be. Maybe he really is going mad. That does seem to be a side effect of the Dark Place.

He can see the woman in the doorway but something is still keeping him from really seeing her. His hands clench in frustration because he wants to remember her, because he can tell she's important, but something in his mind is still blocking him from reaching out to her like he wants to. ]

Do.. Do I know her? I know her, yeah, of course I do. This feels familiar, but I've forgotten, or something's making me forget.

[ Alan's vision seems to flicker again and he appears to briefly stagger before catching himself again. ]

Wait... Wait, there's something- [ He turns and stares at the woman again, harder this time. ] She was here, in this room. She was going to come with me, wasn't she?

[ Elizabeth most likely wouldn't know that, but Alan's mostly talking to himself in a desperate attempt to put the pieces together. Will it work? Who knows. ]