Transcript - Episode 17: Side Effects May Include... (Part 1)
Audio for Side Effects May Include... Part 1
Side Effects May Include... Part 1
Wed, Dec 3, 2025
“Push the Roll with Ross Bryant” is produced for the ear and includes emotion and emphasis that's not on the page. Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors.
Ross Bryant 00:01
Here we are again. We got Mary Lou, we got Scott, we got Cup, we got Colton. Colton Dunn. I'm curious how long has it been since you played any roleplaying game?
Colton Dunn 00:13
Oh my God, any roleplaying game? I mean only, like, maybe a year and a half.
Ross Bryant 00:18
Okay, okay.
Colton Dunn 00:19
It's been a long time since I was able to, like, regularly, you know, get the reps in as it were. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 00:29
To really sit down and throw them bones you gotta get consistent reps if you want to see growth in this game. [laughter]
Colton Dunn 00:38
Exactly. That's what I'm talkin' about. It's been a while since, that's right, I grinded like this. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 00:44
So alright, well, we're really gonna go through the grinder today, so to speak. Because in other games that you played, of course, you play superpowered heroes, but our heroes will be all too human. But we don't know who they are, we don't know when they are, we don't know where they are. We're gonna scheme it all up on the fly.
Colton Dunn 00:44
Love it.
Ross Bryant 00:45
Cup has the table of titles as submitted by our subscribers. So Cup, you want to do the honors, roll a die and let chance guide the way and decide what our title will be?
cuppycup 01:17
I think Colton should roll the die, like, get back in the mode here.
Ross Bryant 01:24
Yeah.
Colton Dunn 01:26
13.
cuppycup 01:28
So today's title comes from Clancy Nacht, who we're very familiar with.
Mary Lou 01:33
Clancy!
cuppycup 01:34
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 01:34
Hello, Clancy.
cuppycup 01:35
Yeah. So thank you, Clancy.
Colton Dunn 01:37
Alright, Clancy.
cuppycup 01:38
Well, we're thanking Clancy, but the title, you know, you don't know the title yet, so we'll see.
Colton Dunn 01:43
Oh, no. Clancy. Come on, Clancy. [laughter]
Mary Lou 01:46
Nevermind. How dare you, Clancy.
Ross Bryant 01:49
Affection, rescinded.
Colton Dunn 01:50
Madness, Clancy, madness.
cuppycup 01:54
But I like this. Alright, so today's title is "Side Effects May Include..." [laughter]
Scott Dorward 02:02
Nice.
Mary Lou 02:03
Okay.
Colton Dunn 02:05
Clancy, I like it.
Ross Bryant 02:05
[MUSIC: melancholic guitar theme] The cosmos is a cyclopean infinity of chaos, infinite branching paths stretching off to vistas in the distance that will drive the mind mad. Shall we shrink in the face of all this? Or will we climb aboard the chaos and ride it to the end, letting chance guide the way? This is Push the Roll. We're rolling dice against your Patreon suggestions to create improvised Call of Cthulhu adventures in real time with themes of eldritch horror, the weird, the transhuman, the transmundane, the cyberpunk, the splatterpunk, the anything punk. We don't know until we roll. Anytime, anyplace, anything can happen when you push the roll.
Ross Bryant 03:01
Okay, so "Side Effects May Include..." Okay, obviously, this is a little bit of jargon from medical advertisements. This is when the sunshiny beauty of our medical ad is sort of broken through by a hasty voiceover listing a bunch of absolutely horrible things that the drugs may do to you.
Mary Lou 03:25
Sped up beyond recognition, with all pauses and breaths taken out to fit as many...
Colton Dunn 03:32
And diarrhea.
Mary Lou 03:33
Yeah, and diarrhea.
Ross Bryant 03:36
Yes, always.
Scott Dorward 03:38
All sorts of things you really don't want to Google. [laughter]
Mary Lou 03:41
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 03:41
So yes, the world of drugs, of pharmacology. Big Pharma. Interesting. So there's, I feel like there's a few different ways you could take this. Perhaps you're part of... you're people doing drug experimentation. Perhaps you're employees of a pharmaceutical company.
Mary Lou 04:00
Test subjects.
Ross Bryant 04:01
Yeah, like, test subjects, as it were. I like the idea of you being tested.
cuppycup 04:09
Of course, you do. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 04:11
Yeah, of course.
Scott Dorward 04:11
I'm surprised you haven't jumped straight for "MK Ultra." [laughter]
Ross Bryant 04:16
Yeah, medical trials. Yes, of course, "MK Ultra" is dangling there as a delightful concept as well.
Mary Lou 04:24
(singsong) Ross, I'm "MK Ultra." Helloooo! [laughter]
Ross Bryant 04:33
Now it seems to me that this is where, like, you get those emails, or you see those advertisements, where it's like, "would you like to participate in a sleep study? Would you like to be involved in a clinical trial?" So I think maybe you all are people involved in a clinical trial. So maybe it's just to decide, what is the ailment that you all have in common, and you don't know, of course, whether you're in the actual active group or the placebo group. So this means you could kind of come from anywhere. This is... this takes place present day.
cuppycup 05:11
I picked a rancher from the 1890s. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 05:15
Great. I mean, you never know. Maybe you're somebody, actually a trial participant.
cuppycup 05:21
Okay, yeah, I think that works. Just modernize it.
Scott Dorward 05:26
I must admit I quite fancy playing a trial participant as well.
Ross Bryant 05:30
Great.
Colton Dunn 05:31
I'm going to be a medical doctor.
Ross Bryant 05:34
Great.
Colton Dunn 05:35
Doctor of Medicine.
cuppycup 05:37
Amazing.
Colton Dunn 05:38
At Arkham. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 05:41
Yes.
Mary Lou 05:41
Perfect.
Ross Bryant 05:42
You got your MD at the Miskatonic School of Medicine. [laughter]
cuppycup 05:48
Is that where the trial takes place? I guess we'll find out.
Ross Bryant 05:51
Guess you'll find out.
Mary Lou 05:55
I think I'll be a journalist.
Ross Bryant 05:58
Okay. I wonder if you're an actual journalist.
Mary Lou 06:01
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 06:01
Or a uh...
Mary Lou 06:02
Am I actually suffering from this or am I undercover?
Ross Bryant 06:07
Yeah, are you trying to learn more about the company in question?
Mary Lou 06:12
Maybe a little bit of both.
Ross Bryant 06:14
I love the idea of a journalist. Maybe you're somebody working this company on the inside, but I want to say that you're either someone participating in a trial or an employee of a medical pharmaceutical company.
cuppycup 06:28
Alright, I think my character is coming into focus, Ross. His name's Hitch Gordon.
Mary Lou 06:33
Hitch Gordon.
Ross Bryant 06:35
Absolutely.
cuppycup 06:36
And he's a rancher in his 60s. Real sturdy fellow. Spent his whole life riding fences. He has gray hair tucked under a cowboy hat, denim overalls that are worn so thin they're almost transparent. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 06:52
Okay.
cuppycup 06:52
He's here mainly because clinical trials pay and, honestly, he's about as dusty as a human being can get.
Ross Bryant 07:01
Great. Cup, Hitch Gordon, dusty. [laughter] A dusty man. But yes, I think that, yeah, you perhaps you've fallen on some sort of hard times. Ranching, a difficult profession at the best of times. So perhaps you need to fill the void. And perhaps you're also experiencing some doldrums that a medical intervention would really assist.
cuppycup 07:27
Oh yeah.
Ross Bryant 07:28
Maybe you wouldn't be in such financial straits if you could improve your grindset and your attention. [laughter]
cuppycup 07:35
I think so. He's been listening to a Gary V podcast. [laughter] Yeah. He just wants to "crush it" as a rancher.
Mary Lou 07:43
I am Beth Silverman. I think she works for the local news television, and she wants to be taken more seriously. She's been given a lot of frivolous assignments. But I do think she, whatever we signed up for, I think she does have, like, whatever this study is. Maybe it's sleep, right? We can't sleep. Maybe we're all insomniacs.
Ross Bryant 08:13
I like this idea. It's a sleep assistance with lots of salubrious effects to help you out.
Mary Lou 08:22
Uh oh.
cuppycup 08:22
I like that.
Ross Bryant 08:25
You all participated in a sleep study, those of you who are participants. And you were given the opportunity to continue in the study, as this company is developing a revolutionary medical intervention.
cuppycup 08:36
I love it. Mary Lou, you just got us in a lot of trouble with that.
Mary Lou 08:41
Sorry.
Ross Bryant 08:47
Cool. Anybody coming into focus here for you, Scott?
Scott Dorward 08:51
Yeah, I think Charlie Finch is a security guard whose life has been on the skids a bit recently, and part of this is just because of ill health. Insomnia isn't helping. He's probably got sleep apnea, and he's just basically struggling to keep his shit together at the moment. And so the idea of signing up for something like this that might actually help. You know, he's got everything invested in this. He's tried everything. Nothing has worked until now. This is his last chance.
cuppycup 09:30
Oh.
Ross Bryant 09:30
Charlie Finch. Great. We've got our sturdy, dusty frontiersman aging gracefully into a silver fox, Hitch Gordon. Our journalist and insomniac, Beth Silverman. And we have our man just struggling to keep his life from slipping through his fingers, Charlie Finch. And who else might we have, Colton?
Colton Dunn 09:55
Reginald Jefferson Biggs.
Mary Lou 09:59
MD! [laughter]
Colton Dunn 10:00
MD. He was the first in his family to finish college, but he's just fresh out of medical school. He just wants to make the world a better place. And he's a sleep specialist. You know, it's relatively new, but he really cares about it. And he just, this is his residency, so he's there, he's got to work it. You know, they offered him a place to stay and steady hours for his residency. And he's doing it.
Ross Bryant 10:29
Amazing.
cuppycup 10:29
Awesome.
Colton Dunn 10:30
Making the world a better place. That's his goal. He just took the oath.
Mary Lou 10:34
Thank you, Reginald.
Ross Bryant 10:36
Yes.
cuppycup 10:37
Fantastic. Well, Scott and Mary Lou inspired me a bit, I think, since their characters have fallen on hard times. Hitch's insomnia got so bad that it just tanked his marriage, and now he's out here all alone. Yeah, he's just lonely and tired of talking to horses.
Mary Lou 10:58
Perfect.
Ross Bryant 10:59
Amazing. Shall we begin?
cuppycup 11:02
Oh, yeah.
Mary Lou 11:02
Let's.
Ross Bryant 11:03
[MUSIC: rhythmic, pulsing percussion; SFX: jungle insects and birds, plants move] Darkness, greenery filling every pore. A fog of humidity weighing down on you. The murmur of the jungle is all around you, the chirp and squawk of unseen birds, the rustle of distant creatures. The forest is alive. And a machete is hacking through the underbrush, [SFX: chopping plants and distant water] moving deeper and deeper, the sound of running water in the distance, as you can hear boots slipping through mud. Hear creatures off in the distance, scuttling over the bark of tall trees. Dangling vines fall like tentacles draping over the face of our unseen explorer, hacking deeper into the jungle. And hearing off in the distance, not an insect, but maybe the distant murmur of singing, of chanting off in the distance as greenery is pushed aside. [SFX: tribal chanting gradually builds] And our explorer is looking down into a valley with a river fed by a waterfall, where just barely perceptible is the sound of this singing. Something is glowing out there in the darkness, and this person does not see two bloodshot eyes with enormous pupils, watching them from the darkness. Watching them. They are being watched. They are always being watched. And then over this eye that is regarding them, a tiny, little spider with iridescent blue spots on its back crawls right over the unblinking eye. Swat. [SFX: slap] That's a mosquito on your face, Hitch Gordon.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 12:58
Ow. What the hell?
Ross Bryant 13:01
As time has passed, we don't know when that was, but the insect that was crawling on your face is dead. Your hand covered in blood comes up. It's strange that one would be in the antiseptic environment in which you are. This almost hospital-like room, a bed, a little reclining chair, a painting on the wall, all in the most soothing pastel colors. We're a world away from that humid environment, wherever that was, and we are in a very cool and antiseptic medical space. There's a tray with a glass of water and a little glass jar next to your bed, full of little gray pills. If we push in on that bottle, we can just see the name of the company, Asclepix. [laughter]
Mary Lou 13:58
Asclepix. Perfect.
Ross Bryant 14:00
And maybe we kind of move out of that room off the face of Hitch, as he's kind of getting that blood off of his cheek, past a room with a nameplate reading Charlie Finch, past a room with a nameplate reading Beth Silverman. And maybe let's catch now walking down the hall a man in a suit, and there's a lab coat over the suit. There's a lanyard around his neck. He is completely bald, shaved to the skin, bright blue eyes, and he's walking next to a young doctor, Reginald Jefferson Biggs. These two men are walking down the hall. [SFX: footsteps on linoleum] Perhaps all of you are waking up from a better night's sleep than you've had in a while, all of you. And let's meet you all in a common area of this Asclepix laboratory, a large communal room. Sofas, chairs, low, circular tables. There are cups of water in front of you, glass pitchers with rings of lemon bobbing in them, and a broad picture window that goes up two stories is next to you. This is a campus, like a medical campus, and you can see off in the distance, we're just outside Arkham, Massachusetts. And you can see the beautiful landscape, the rolling hills off in the distance. This is a place where all sort of therapeutic interventions take place. And you might see, just beyond the fence, there's a little pasture before the forest really begins, and Hitch perhaps notices more than any of you that a couple of horses trot by. [laughter] And the bald, pated man, he has one of these faces that looks like he moisturizes it three times a day, where he looks like he might be 60, but he has a face that reads almost 29. But it's only when he kind of smiles or gets really expressive, that deep wrinkles form in his visage. [laughter]
cuppycup 16:05
He's the same age as Hitch, but they look 50 years apart. [laughter]
Mary Lou 16:10
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 16:11
And he takes out a clipboard, takes a pen out of his breast pocket, emblazoned with the logo of Asclepix, clicks it and looks around at you. [SFX: pen clicks open]
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 16:23
Well, I certainly hope you don't mind if, Dr. Biggs sits in with our sessions going forward. Dr. Biggs?
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 16:30
Yeah.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 16:31
These are some of the participants in our recent landmark sleep study.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 16:36
Hello, everybody. My name is Dr. Reginald Jefferson Biggs.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 16:41
Pleasure.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 16:42
Hey, Doc. Y'all aware you got skeeters buzzing around in here? It feels a little personal, you know?
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 16:50
Excuse me?
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 16:52
Mosquitoes?
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 16:53
Maybe get some citronella oil or something.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 16:58
Well, we'll see what we can do. But I assure you, Mr. Gordon, this is an utterly antiseptic environment. It would be, it would be very unlikely.
cuppycup 17:07
He holds up his hand and shows you the smashed mosquito on his palm, which he didn't bother to wipe off.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 17:12
Yeah, lookie here.
Ross Bryant 17:14
Yeah, there is blood on your palm, but you don't see any mosquito residue, Hitch.
cuppycup 17:19
Oh, okay.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 17:22
Huh?
Charlie Finch (Scott) 17:23
Maybe you dreamt it.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 17:24
What's the matter, Mr. Gordon, did you experience a nosebleed or something in the course of the night? That would be very valuable information to have.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 17:31
Huh, beats me, Doc. Maybe I popped a zit or something. [laughter] Anyway, no nightmares last night.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 17:42
Well, that's excellent.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 17:43
If you do have a zit, I have a cream for that, so just let me know if you'd like to borrow it.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 17:50
No, ma'am, I think I'm good. Thank you.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 17:52
That's very kind of you, Miss Silverman, but if you do... We don't want any other medical treatments intervening with the test that you're currently undergoing. So if there are any medicinal qualities to the salve, ointment or unguent that you are going to provide to Mr. Gordon, I would ask you to refrain.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 18:14
Apologies. It's just a hydrocolloid patch. I just used the word cream because I thought he would understand that better. [laughter]
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 18:23
So much to say, we don't exactly know how the drug is interacting. That's why you're all here, to understand how our new drug is affecting each and every one of you. Now, Mr. Finch, you spent last evening without your CPAP. And how did you spend last night? How was it for you?
Charlie Finch (Scott) 18:45
Yeah, I must have slept right through. I can't remember the last time that happened.
Ross Bryant 18:51
Yeah, I think all of you spent a better night of sleep than you have in quite some time.
Colton Dunn 18:58
Me?
Ross Bryant 19:00
Yeah, even you.
Colton Dunn 19:01
Okay. [laughter] Last night? Before I came into work this morning to my first day on the job?
Ross Bryant 19:07
Absolutely.
Colton Dunn 19:09
Okay.
Ross Bryant 19:11
Perhaps it's just the security of knowing that you have this amazing opportunity to do a residency at such a powerful pharmaceutical company.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 19:18
Yes, yes, I'm very honored to be working here. And yeah, I had a great night's sleep too.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 19:26
Well, that's wonderful to hear.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 19:28
I can also report that I did not experience any nightmares. Normally, I have the same sort of recurring dreams of being kidnapped in the grocery store parking lot, or being sex trafficked, or being kidnapped from my home or from my hotel by masked men. But no, I slept like the dead, as they say. Back to you. [laughter]
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 19:59
Back to you? I think she threw it back to you.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 20:04
Yes, it seems it's been thrown back to the anchor desk, so to speak. [laughter]
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 20:09
Sorry, just a habit.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 20:11
It's interesting to understand precisely how this particular medical intervention is affecting the underlying, subconscious substrate of all of our test participants. It's interesting to know that these fears bedevil you in the nighttime. I'm curious to know, you mentioned... you were saying, Mr. Gordon, that you had some similar nightmares in the past, but none tonight? What are the sort of nightmares that particularly keep you from your sleep?
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 20:41
You know, Doc, my pawpaw always said a man don't go around talking about his dreams. Besides, lately, I reckon being awake ain't feeling too different.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 20:51
Of course, the things that we engage with in our waking life can often interact with our dream life but what we don't want is for our dream life and our subconscious to control our waking life in a pathological way to the point that it's intervening on your life in a way that's upsetting or intrusive. Mr. Finch, how did you... you said you passed last night well without your CPAP. I'm curious, while we're on the topic, what are the ways in which your subconscious will perhaps, uh, bring you out of your sleep? Or is it only the apnea?
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 21:29
Yes. Would you... you wanted to know?
Charlie Finch (Scott) 21:29
I don't know if it's just the apnea. I wake up sometimes and it feels like there's someone sitting on my chest, someone I can't quite see in the dark. Someone small. Sometimes I think I can see their eyes in the night, just looking at me.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 21:51
Like a demon.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 21:55
Well, there's like, uh, there's like, a story of The Night Witch'll sit on your chest. [laughter]
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 22:04
I've heard of The Night Witch on Tiktok.
Charlie Finch (Scott) 22:06
Is that your medical opinion that it's a witch?
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 22:10
Just sit on like a sailor's chest and suck his air out of his mouth. [laughter]
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 22:17
Horrifying.
Ross Bryant 22:19
The doctor who is sitting next to you, Reginald, just kind of like slowly looked towards you. [laughter] And he's just looking at you.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 22:28
I'm just saying, man, I mean, he said it's a little guy. I'm just saying, it's not the first time someone's talked about waking up and a creature is on... you might, you know, that sounds also consistent with having trouble breathing, right? Like, how you might.. I'm just saying you're not alone, man. What I'm trying to do is just tell you you're not alone, man. Other people, sometimes they wake up. It's a little guy, it's a night witch, you know, in a dream, and it's scary, and it's always scary. And it's always scary.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 22:55
I see it all the time on Tiktok.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 23:00
Hey, I like this new doctor. Can we switch it up? [laughter]
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 23:04
Well, certainly that's why Dr. Biggs is here. He has high marks for bedside manner, as I've spoken to some of his professors.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 23:16
I just want to make the world a better place, and best thing you can do is get good sleep. You know what I'm saying?
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 23:23
I don't personally have a sleep paralysis demon, but I am interested in developing one for research purposes, so if you know any way to induce...
Charlie Finch (Scott) 23:33
Well, you can have mine!
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 23:36
Oh, great. Okay, we'll talk later.
Charlie Finch (Scott) 23:40
It's just a dream.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 23:43
That's right, Mr. Finch, it sounds to me almost as if you're describing a classic case of what we refer to as sleep paralysis. Do you ever feel as though you're sort of locked in a hypnopompic or hypnagogic state that you can't quite shake out of?
Charlie Finch (Scott) 23:57
I don't know what either of those words means, but sure.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 24:02
Okay, well, hopefully this drug intervention will assist with that. That is, of course, assuming you're not in the control group. [laughter]
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 24:12
You know? So some of you guys are gonna actually get the medicine, and some of you will not get it.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 24:18
But it worked for all of us that don't make sense, Doc.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 24:22
Well, you'd be surprised what the mind can do. But the mind is a very powerful thing, and our neurology, in a way, tells us stories. We are, all of us, stories told by the brain. I find it comforting to know that for all of us, that story is a fiction.
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 24:41
And I'm doing okay. And I'm doing okay as well. If anybody, if anybody cared to ask.
Ross Bryant 24:45
This is another guy sitting in your circle, a rather slight man, kind of sunken eyes, almost white blonde hair. Looks to be in his early 30s. Kind of jittery. He's kind of drumming on his knees. [SFX: tapping clothing] It's like,
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 25:03
Yeah, I also... I slept. I slept very, very well. I have to be honest.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 25:10
That's wonderful to hear. Well, Mr. Tennyson, I'm glad to see that all of us have spent such a wonderful night. I understand that it's disruptive to set aside your life and come to live under such close scrutiny for a short amount of time. But so far, you're doing wonderfully. You just tell us if there are any side effects that you're experiencing, any particular ways in which the medicine isn't meeting the expectations that you've been led to expect.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 25:44
Thank you, doctor, we'll do just that.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 25:45
Hey, Doc, y'all open to marketing ideas?
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 25:49
What's that?
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 25:51
Marketing suggestions, sir?
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 25:53
Well, it's the little gray pills. They look like gravel. You ever thought of something brighter, maybe like orange? Hell, make 'em octagons. You know, something folks will notice.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 26:07
Once we have our heads around the effectiveness of the drug, then our marketing team will get to work on shape, name and color. We don't want any of those things to influence the way that you feel.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 26:21
Fair enough. I'm just saying, I'm in the market for a career change. So you know where to find me.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 26:27
You're pitching yourself as a marketing professional?
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 26:31
To design the drug?
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 26:33
Well, Doc, ranching ain't exactly booming these days, you know? I'm keeping my options open.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 26:40
Okay.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 26:41
I love that. Lean in. Ask for what you want. That's good.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 26:45
Our team has said that the octagon is one of the least swallowable shapes. [laughter] So we tend not to... too many points.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 26:54
You know, Oprah Winfrey has said, "you get in life what you have the courage to ask for." And so I just love that, Hitch. You didn't know it, but you're following Oprah's wisdom. I have it memorized.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 27:09
Wonderful. Well, you have the run of the grounds for the rest of the day. Dr. Biggs will be here to answer any questions and to assist you should you need anything.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 27:20
Need anything, I'm right here, guys.
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 27:23
There's a whole network of trails. Arkham is a very, very beautiful county.
Ross Bryant 27:29
He stands up and make a Spot Hidden for me. Anybody who'd like to.
Mary Lou 27:36
Oh, great. Whoa!
Scott Dorward 27:41
That was a d10.
cuppycup 27:42
Oh, it's a d10, though, yeah.
Colton Dunn 27:44
That was a d10. That was a d10. [laughter]
Mary Lou 27:50
Alright.
cuppycup 27:52
Oh, dear.
Mary Lou 27:53
God, dang.
Ross Bryant 27:53
Okay, so these were, these were failures?
Scott Dorward 27:57
Yep.
cuppycup 27:58
Oh, you all failed?
Scott Dorward 27:59
Oh, yeah.
Mary Lou 28:00
Yeah, I failed.
Scott Dorward 28:01
Charlie's very observant by nature. But just not today. The drugs are that good.
cuppycup 28:06
Wow, okay.
Mary Lou 28:07
Yeah, same with Beth.
Colton Dunn 28:09
Well, maybe can I stick around to see what the doctor wants to say before everybody leaves?
Ross Bryant 28:14
Oh, sure.
Colton Dunn 28:15
Some final marching orders for the day.
Ross Bryant 28:19
Certainly, it seems as though he's kind of moving away. Go right ahead. What would you what would you like to ask him?
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 28:27
So you just want me to hang out here and just wait for them to come talk? Am I delivering any treatments today? What's the protocol?
Asclepix Doctor (Ross) 28:35
We, of course, are keeping an eye. But it's nice to have someone with whom they can build a rapport and bring to you anything that they have in mind. If they're feeling sleepy during the day, if they're having moments of syncope in their memory, all these sorts of side effects. This is the sort of thing that we desperately want to know.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 29:03
Okay, alright, well, why don't we all take a little morning walk? Everyone had a good night's rest. You know, if you want to stay here, you can, but, you know, as part of the protocol, we'll take a little walk, you know, get our brains going for the day.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 29:18
I'd love a little morning exercise.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 29:20
Yeah, I love a walk. Could really use a morning constitutional. Get things moving, you know? Stretch these legs.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 29:30
How about you Charlie? You think you want to go?
Charlie Finch (Scott) 29:32
Yeah, I could... yeah, I don't know. I actually feel like I've got some energy today. Yeah, let's use it.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 29:40
Great. How about you, weird guy, I didn't get your name, tapping on your knees over there. [laughter]
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 29:47
Huh? Mark Tennyson. Mark Tennyson, yes.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 29:50
You can come or not. You're invited, but...
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 29:53
Okay! [laughter] I'm happy to, I'm...
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 29:54
Oh great, okay, okay.
Ross Bryant 29:56
And yes, so now the... it sounds like all of you are heading out to the walking trails. [SFX: birds chirp] Moving us forward, just see the beautiful Massachusetts landscape. As I said, this is a campus. You're walking through very well maintained little walking trails that cut into the forest and snake around through trees. The boughs of tall trees hang overhead, kind of dappling the sunlight as it falls down upon you. It's very, very pretty. You can see little birds leaping from limb to limb. Off in the distance, you see a fence, a high fence with barbed wire on it through the trees, kind of that wraps around this whole campus. It's a medical company, they take security very seriously.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 30:48
Tennyson. Mark, let's throw it to you. [laughter]
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 30:52
What? Okay.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 30:53
Do you have any nightmares that recur?
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 31:05
Well, I feel like it would just be interesting, just making conversation here with the group. I shared mine.
Charlie Finch (Scott) 31:12
Yeah, there's nothing more interesting than hearing about other people's dreams.
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 31:17
Well, you were being you were being kidnapped. Is that right?
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 31:19
Oh yes, I'm always being kidnapped, being sex trafficked. My children are being kidnapped. I don't have any children, so that's interesting. In my dreams, my children are always being stolen, or my car is being stolen with my kids in the back, or things like that.
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 31:41
I could see maybe you have a lot of underlying fear, maybe. I always... my nightmares aren't like that. Things don't so much happen to me.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 31:54
Hey, man, look, you could just call me Reggie right now. Don't think of me as the doctor, like, you want to tell us. You could tell us what the fear is. I know in a therapy session, sometimes it's a little stressful, but on a morning walk with friends? Hey, it's beautiful outside. Your fears can't get you here.
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 32:09
We're all in the same... yeah?
Ross Bryant 32:12
Make a Persuasion roll or a Fast Talk roll. I just want to see how much you get him to open up. I'd love to see the bedside manner of Reginald Biggs comes into play here. [laughter] Let's see. Let's see how charming...
Colton Dunn 32:26
This is a d100, right?
Ross Bryant 32:28
That's right.
Colton Dunn 32:29
Aww! [laughter]
Ross Bryant 32:31
Okay, 47 over 35, so a couple ways to... You're at a crossroads here. You could just, depending on how important you think this is, to get this guy to open up. You could just let this be a failure. You could spend 12 points of Luck to make it a success. Or you could push the roll.
Colton Dunn 32:54
But that would cost me Luck as well, right?
Ross Bryant 32:56
No, that wouldn't cost any Luck, but if you failed that one, something bad would happen.
Colton Dunn 33:01
Oh.
Mary Lou 33:05
Push it.
Ross Bryant 33:06
Yeah, let's go for it. Come on, man. Yeah, I'm gonna push the subject a little more like,
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 33:14
Come on, buddy, I'm not a doctor, I'm your buddy. [laughter]
Colton Dunn 33:20
Oh no! [laughter]
cuppycup 33:21
Oh no!
Ross Bryant 33:23
You failed it by one. [laughter] Okay, you pushed the roll. You rolled a 36 over 35.
Mary Lou 33:33
Wow, the dice are laughing at you.
Scott Dorward 33:36
Oh, nice.
cuppycup 33:37
Welcome to this show. This is us. This is what we do.
Ross Bryant 33:41
This is good. This is good. We like this. Okay. You press him with your Charm. Now, Reginald Biggs, when you push a roll, that means you try a different tactic, or you maybe amplify the tactic that you're already employing. It sounded like you were just trying to talk to him man to man. I'm curious how you pushed this roll. How are you trying to charm him even more?
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 34:05
I took off my jacket, took off the lanyard, set it down on like a little pathway, and I just kind of went over and stood right next to him, maybe put my hand on his shoulder. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 34:20
Great, you get in really close.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 34:23
Close the distance.
Ross Bryant 34:25
I think this... it's not so much that this doesn't work. It's that it works too well. [laughter] Mark Tennyson is a nervous guy. He's like, you can feel how tense he is when you put your arm around him, and as you kind of lean into him without the intervention of your coat or your lanyard in the way. You can feel him sort of relax under your touch.
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 34:47
Yes, um, I do have nightmares, but you understand, it's not that things... it's not that things happen to me. Reggie, you said I could call you Reggie?
Colton Dunn 34:58
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 34:59
And he kind of turns his head, and he begins to sort of talk in a low tone, only perceptible to you because of the intimacy that you've created between you and him.
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 35:08
[MUSIC: ominous drone] It's the blood, you see doctor, Reggie. Reggie. It's the blood. When I sleep, it's all I see. I can see the blood in them, how they've been opened up. You wouldn't think that a body has that much blood in them, but they open up like a flower. They open up like a flower. And I can see everything, but that's not the scary part. Reggie, that's not the scary part.
Ross Bryant 35:40
He's very close to your ear now.
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 35:43
Because I know that... I know that when I look down at my hands and I see the instruments that I've used, I know that it's because I did it. I did it to them. That's what makes me wake up screaming, because I did it to them, and I liked it.
Ross Bryant 36:09
And when he says that to you, in the corner of your eye, just for a moment, shifting behind a tree off in the forest by the walking trail, a dark shape that you didn't notice before.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 36:26
Look at that! Hey, man, look at that! What's that? [laughter]
Ross Bryant 36:30
Yeah. I would like you, really quick... It just phases back behind the tree, almost as if it's on wheels.
Colton Dunn 36:38
Oh, shit.
Ross Bryant 36:39
Roll Sanity for me.
Colton Dunn 36:42
Okay.
Ross Bryant 36:42
This is something we're all going to be rolling a lot.
Colton Dunn 36:46
Got it. 60. Okay, come on. 29.
Mary Lou 36:51
Nice.
Ross Bryant 36:52
Great. You roll 29 under your score of 60, so you don't take any Sanity loss. But this is just a frightening and unnerving thing that he's told you, and there's something... but you just told everybody to look in the woods.
Colton Dunn 37:05
Yeah, two motives for that.
Ross Bryant 37:08
The rest of you don't see anything out there. What's he talking about? It's probably... you see a bird fly by. [SFX: bird flaps wings]
Charlie Finch (Scott) 37:15
Something... something back there?
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 37:17
Right there, behind the tree. There was something behind the tree, guys.
Ross Bryant 37:20
Three crows kind of rattle away. [SFX: crows caw]
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 37:25
Alright, it might have just been the crows.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 37:28
You alright, Doc?
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 37:30
Yeah.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 37:32
You're twitchier than a long-tailed cat in the room full of rocking chairs.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 37:37
Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine. Maybe let's just get through the walk. Let's get back to the...
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 37:42
Mark, if I could suggest some diction and elocution lessons, I couldn't quite hear you. So, I've taken a lot of classes on YouTube, so I can send you some links afterward.
Charlie Finch (Scott) 37:59
Charlie, has gone quite tense at the talk of someone hiding around here, and his whole manner has changed, and while everyone else is talking about elocution lessons, he's gone to wander off and look behind trees.
Ross Bryant 38:15
Great. Why don't you make a Track or a Spot Hidden roll while you're going into the forest off the trail to look behind the tree that Dr. Biggs pointed at.
Charlie Finch (Scott) 38:28
I'll go for Spot Hidden. That's a failure. That's 84 over 70. You know...
cuppycup 38:35
Yes.
Scott Dorward 38:36
I am going to push the roll. [laughter] I'm going to...
Ross Bryant 38:39
Yeah.
cuppycup 38:40
Push the roll.
Ross Bryant 38:41
That's the spirit of the thing.
Charlie Finch (Scott) 38:42
I think at the moment, the problem is I'm just.. because I'm worried about what the doctor just said, I'm keeping half an eye on them, but I'm just going to ignore them. I'm going to just wander off into the woods and just see if there's anything there. And that's a 93. [laughter]
Mary Lou 39:04
Oh, my God, the dice are spitting on us. Just spitting on us.
Scott Dorward 39:15
I've rolled Spot Hidden three times with a score of 70, and failed each time.
cuppycup 39:19
Wow.
Scott Dorward 39:20
Yeah. This is good.
Mary Lou 39:21
That is so crazy.
Ross Bryant 39:22
Here's what.. Okay, great. You walk behind the tree that Dr. Biggs pointed at, and the ground suddenly softens under your heel, and you slip and fall. There's a gully back here, and you're sliding down a rather steep ridge, down to a little creek that's running through the trees here. Beyond it is a little rise, and the forest continues off to that fence I mentioned. But you're now sort of like tumbling down until your left leg splashes down in this shallow creek. [SFX: slip on mud and small splash] Take one point of damage for that.
Scott Dorward 40:08
Okay. And I think everyone else has probably just heard this slowly vanishing stream of invective, heading away at speed. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 40:15
But that's not all, Charlie.
Scott Dorward 40:19
I'd be disappointed if it were.
Ross Bryant 40:21
You're now like, your ankle is sodden. You're looking. You're now there kind of in this bank, and when you swivel your head over, you see something. You see footprints in the mud by the creek. Not hoof prints or deer or squirrel. [MUSIC: ominous drone] It looks like a vaguely human footprint, but it's very small, like the sort a small little man might make.
Scott Dorward 40:52
Yeah, Charlie, as he's pushed himself up out of the mud and the filth, is looking at these tracks, and you can see that he wants to follow them, but he's also kind of looking up the hill, trying to work out where everyone else is anyway, and just settles for standing there, going,
Charlie Finch (Scott) 41:15
Who's there? I know you're there. I know you're watching us. Who's there?
Ross Bryant 41:22
You hear nothing. You all, of course, hear this call coming up from the creek. Why don't you make a Listen roll, Charlie?
Scott Dorward 41:35
That's a natural one. [laughter]
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 41:39
Nice. He really hears this.
Ross Bryant 41:41
You really hear this. [laughter]
Scott Dorward 41:44
I don't want to hear it! [laughter]
Ross Bryant 41:47
You really hear this, Charlie.
Mary Lou 41:50
Too bad, brother.
Ross Bryant 41:52
You hear the forest. And for a moment, yeah, you rolled a natural one. It's as though your senses are amplified. In fact, since this morning, since you arrived here, you felt slightly more vigorous than normal, that your eyes see more clearly, that your ears hear more cleanly. And you hear the birds fly. It's almost as if you can hear the insects, the ants, scuttling underneath the trees. [SFX: birds, insects, and babbling stream] But then you hear a scamper of unseen feet, [SFX: splashing footsteps] and you do not know what the source is. But underneath it all, the babbling of the water resolves itself not into water, but into music. [SFX: ethereal pipe music] You can hear music. Pipes, like wooden and stone pipes, playing some song that you know you've heard, but you can't remember ever having heard just below the level of your perception, but you hear it clearly. This seems to be rising out of the forest itself. Roll Sanity.
Scott Dorward 43:06
Yeah.
cuppycup 43:08
You never want to roll one when you're playing with Ross, I've learned.
Scott Dorward 43:16
Oh gosh, okay, yeah, that is a six. So, pass.
Ross Bryant 43:22
Great. You don't take any Sanity loss from that then. Back on the trail, Mark is still kind of like tucked against you, Dr. Biggs and just kind of looking at you. [laughter] You've made a friend. Beth, why don't you make a Spot Hidden for me?
Mary Lou 43:44
Happily. Ahh! 63 over 50. I think I'm tired of missing these Spot Hiddens, so I'm gonna spend it. I'm gonna spend some Luck. I'm gonna spend 13 points of Luck.
Ross Bryant 44:04
Down the trail, as it winds through the forest, you see a dark shape, kind of dangling from a tree branch.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 44:16
Oh! Oh no, that's horrible.
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 44:18
What?
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 44:19
Um, oh. Is every patient accounted for? I think I see...
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 44:26
What's wrong? What's wrong?
Ross Bryant 44:29
Says Mark.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 44:30
I think I see something. Oh, no, oh, I think something horrible has happened.
Mary Lou 44:35
And she'd approach.
Ross Bryant 44:39
This also takes you off the trail slightly. There's a pine tree up ahead of you. As you crunch over the foliage in the underbrush, you're approaching it. It just looks like, almost like a flag or a piece of clothing hanging from this tree.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 44:55
Oh, thank goodness. Oh, I thought the worst. Oh, goodness. Okay.
Mary Lou 45:00
And she'll reach up and grab whatever seems to be hanging.
Ross Bryant 45:05
Yeah, it just looks like a little black bag. It's empty. It seems to be.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 45:11
Thank goodness, I had watched this Tiktok of a boy in a forest in Japan, and I thought the worst, but, um, it's just a bag.
Ross Bryant 45:20
[MUSIC: ominous drone] Oh, wait, this isn't a bag. This is a mask. This looks like something you'd put over somebody's head.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 45:33
Huh? Oh.
Ross Bryant 45:36
If you wanted them to, for example, not see which direction you were turning out of the grocery store parking lot when you were safely put in the trunk.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 45:49
Oh, just a bag, just a normal black canvas bag with a drawstring. Everybody has those for carrying their groceries in the trunk. Right, right? Everybody has that, right? Everyone you have...
Ross Bryant 46:13
Why don't you roll Sanity for me? [laughter]
Mary Lou 46:16
Oh, my goodness, wow. My Sanity is pretty low, but I rolled underneath it.
cuppycup 46:22
Oh, poor Ross.
Mary Lou 46:23
23 under 35, so...
Ross Bryant 46:26
It's alright. You're right, it probably is just a bag. There's no way it's a mask.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 46:31
There's no way. Um, (chuckles) these are common and normal items that everyone has. Hmm, yes. [SFX: approaching footsteps]
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 46:41
Are you talking to yourself?
cuppycup 46:43
I think he's following her toward the tree.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 46:46
No, I'm practicing my elocution.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 46:49
Oh, that's perfect, because I was going to ask you anyway, now that I ain't ranching no more, I reckon I'd make a decent electrician. If you're given lessons, maybe I could get a, like a friendly rate.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 47:04
Oh, I'm afraid that you are mistaken. I said elocution, which is pronunciation and diction and projection and not electricity. So I cannot help you there, but I love your work ethic. As Kim Kardashian says, "nobody wants to work anymore." I love working.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 47:33
Oh, there ain't much money in fancy talkin' far as I know. What are you going to do, start a podcast? Nah, you got to have a trade, a real vocation.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 47:44
Well, yes, my vocation is the news, reporting the news. I actually work for KBOS.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 47:54
I don't know who that is.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 47:56
Oh no, it's a local station around Boston, in the greater Boston area.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 48:03
Alright.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 48:04
You don't watch it?
cuppycup 48:05
I think he's walking off, actually. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 48:10
As Dr. Biggs and Mark pass you, he's like,
Mark Tennyson (Ross) 48:14
I watch KBOS every now and then. I knew I recognized you.
Beth Silverman (Mary Lou) 48:17
Wow. Thank you, Mark. Thank you, Mark, that...
Dr. Biggs (Colton) 48:22
I take that opportunity to get away [laughter] and remove myself from the group.
Ross Bryant 48:27
Okay, great.
Colton Dunn 48:28
And make my way back to the place, because this hike has gone on really long, and I've been stuck with this guy.
Ross Bryant 48:35
Great. And maybe let's have the last thing we see, Charlie kind of following those tracks, maybe.
Scott Dorward 48:40
Oh yeah. Yeah.
Ross Bryant 48:40
And they just seem to terminate at a tree. It's as though they seem to disappear. And is there anything else you would like to do out here in the woods? Anyone?
Scott Dorward 48:51
No, I don't think so. I think certainly when Charlie rejoins the rest of the group, he's looking a bit paler and a bit shaky, as well as being absolutely covered in mud. He just looks at Hitch and says,
Charlie Finch (Scott) 49:05
That's the last fucking walk I'm taking in these woods.
cuppycup 49:10
I think Hitch is standing there with this like thousand yard stare at the horses.
Hitch Gordon (cuppycup) 49:15
[MUSIC: somber Old West] This feels just like my dream. Riding fence. Dusk dropping too quick, taking all the color. 'Cept in my dream, just about over there, my cattle's hanging by their hind legs, just floating there, bleedin' out without a rope to hold them. And something beneath 'em stretches out with fingers like tree roots, stroking their hides, whispering something I can't hear. But I feel the words crawling under my skin, you know? And I try, I try to run away, you know, get back on my horse Biscuit and just ride the hell out of there. But Biscuit, he ain't there no more, Charlie. Just melted into the damn ground like Bisquick on a hot pan, and I step forward into that mess. And then I wake up.