Transcript - Episode 28: Stuff Is Supposed To Go Down Drains, Right? (Part 1)
Audio for Stuff Is Supposed To Go Down Drains, Right? Part 1
Stuff Is Supposed To Go Down Drains, Right? Part 1
Wed, Feb 18, 2026
“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
We are all met. Virginia Lee, Josephine McAdam, Paula Deming, Cup. [laughter] We are all of us.
Paula Deming 00:08
"Cup"
Ross Bryant 00:08
Yeah, one of these names significantly less polysyllabic than the others. Wow. Here we are. Back again, baby, it's Push the Roll time. We're going to reach into our random table to select a title to inspire a Call of Cthulhu scenario, dream it all up right on the spot. How was the ensemble doing today? Paula, Cup, Josephine, Virginia? Feeling trepidatious about wading into the ocean of chaos that we're about to take a dip in?
Paula Deming 00:41
I mean, always, always a little bit of trepidation.
Josephine McAdam 00:45
I feel like I may have, like, even more chaos tonight than usual, considering, you know, Cup messaged me like 30 minutes ago. [laughter] But...
cuppycup 00:53
That's how this show works, Josephine!
Josephine McAdam 00:56
...to be here,
Paula Deming 00:58
That's what makes it improv, Josephine. You don't even know you're doing the show until you're doing the show.
Josephine McAdam 01:04
Right, right?
cuppycup 01:05
Ross and I about 45 minutes before we record, we're like, who should we bring on as a special guest for tonight's show?
Ross Bryant 01:12
That's just how from the hip we shoot around here. So let's get into it, why don't we? Cup, you've got the table of titles, as suggested by our fine and upstanding Patreon subscribers. You told me that this is a very large table,
cuppycup 01:29
Yeah, so it is extra chonky today.
Ross Bryant 01:33
Yeah. Love a chonky boy. Let's do it.
cuppycup 01:36
All right. Paula, roll up a d100.
Josephine McAdam 01:39
Ooh, yeah,
Paula Deming 01:42
I rolled a 96.
cuppycup 01:46
Okay, today's title comes from David Winterman. And I think what word you put emphasis on here is going to matter, Ross. The title is "Stuff Is Supposed to go Down Drains, Right?"
Ross Bryant 01:59
[laughing] That's the title?
cuppycup 02:01
That's the title.
Paula Deming 02:02
Oh my gosh. I love that.
Ross Bryant 02:06
[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
"Stuff Is Supposed to go Down Drains, Right?"
cuppycup 03:06
Yeah, so is the emphasis on "down" or "drains"?
Josephine McAdam 03:08
Or "right"?
cuppycup 03:11
Or "stuff"? Yeah. Thank you, David.
Paula Deming 03:14
Oh. Ew, I'm having- I have an image fully like conjured up in my brain, but I'm gonna keep it to myself. [laughing]
Virginia Lee 03:25
I'm getting one too.
Josephine McAdam 03:27
You don't want to put it out there, huh?
Paula Deming 03:30
Well, I don't want to overshadow what anyone else is thinking. But I'll throw out...
Ross Bryant 03:35
Oh, no no no. If you were instantly inspired. What's it making you think of? I'm curious.
Paula Deming 03:39
Well, it makes me think of that horrifying scene that has burned into my brain from seeing it on probably TBS, TNT when I was a kid in IT, when the blood comes up through, there's like a bubble, I think, of blood that comes up through, like the sink drain or something? Ah, that's what it immediately made me think of. And I was like, I thought stuff was supposed to go down the drain, not up the drain.
Josephine McAdam 04:03
Yeah, yeah.
Ross Bryant 04:05
Yeah, IT definitely contains some very evocative drains and sewer pipes.
cuppycup 04:10
Absolutely,
Josephine McAdam 04:11
It definitely made me think of the terrible like hair clogs out of drains.
Paula Deming 04:17
[gagging noise] Yeah, that's bad, too. Gross.
Josephine McAdam 04:20
Does anyone else have an irrational fear at night of sitting on the toilet and having like things come out of it
Virginia Lee 04:29
Used to.
cuppycup 04:31
Yes. I think it's because, if you went to the video store when I was a kid, there was the cover to Ghoulies, which had the creature popping out of the toilet.
Josephine McAdam 04:40
Oh, really?
cuppycup 04:40
Yeah, yeah.
Ross Bryant 04:42
Ghoulies definitely do pop out of toilets, and that's mostly all I know about them. [laughter] There was a real run of, like, VHS horror of that era that was like a little latex critter causing hijinks.
cuppycup 04:55
Oh yeah,
Ross Bryant 04:55
The Ghoulies seem to travel by sewer pipe.
Virginia Lee 04:59
Wasn't that also how, like, the monsters and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters would get around? Wasn't that also through toilets?
Paula Deming 05:00
Yes, I think they would flush down toilets. I think you're correct, yes.
Josephine McAdam 05:08
Wow, I still have that irrational fear, but it's more with, like, bugs and snakes.
cuppycup 05:15
Oh, yeah, I have seen some Instagram clips of snakes in toilets,
Paula Deming 05:19
In toilets?! Don't tell me that! I was like, that is not realistic, though, so you're okay. But now Cup is saying that that can happen.
cuppycup 05:26
Well, they're in like Indonesia,
Virginia Lee 05:28
[in an Australian accent] In Australia, it's very common, [laughter]
cuppycup 05:32
Yeah. And Australia.
Ross Bryant 05:35
This is also making me think of, I recently watched an old monster movie called Alligator. Alligator is just a movie about, like, a- it's about a baby alligator who eats a sort of growth mutagen, grows to the size of, like a city bus, and then busts out of the sewer. So, yeah, wow. This is a lot of evocative associations. Okay.
Josephine McAdam 06:00
Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's all pretty disgusting.
Paula Deming 06:04
It's all pretty- I need to make a Sanity roll already.
Josephine McAdam 06:08
Yeah. I mean, we could make it really fun, and, you know, drains could become like a theme park, slip and slide, things you're supposed to go down. That we are supposed to go down.
Ross Bryant 06:17
Yeah.
cuppycup 06:18
Oh.
Josephine McAdam 06:19
Right?
cuppycup 06:22
When you say theme parks, I worked at Disney, so I'm just like, yes, let's do this. [laughter]
Paula Deming 06:27
Disney will love it.
Josephine McAdam 06:29
Oh, god!
cuppycup 06:30
Let's use all their copyrights.
Paula Deming 06:32
Yeah,
Ross Bryant 06:32
You know what? This is all flashing in my mind. The idea of like, kids, hair in a drain, the association of puberty...
Paula Deming 06:39
Ugh.
Ross Bryant 06:39
...blood coming out of a drain.
Paula Deming 06:41
No.
Ross Bryant 06:41
It's gross, but real. IT. Stephen King, monsters in the drain, drain pipes, water park. This is all kind of like, youthful stuff.
Paula Deming 06:51
Yeah.
Ross Bryant 06:51
You know, there's the sort of genre that people refer to as, like, kids on bikes, or like, where groups of kids and teens get up to hijinks, solve mysteries that the adult world is maybe only dimly aware of? Maybe, let's imagine that this is a sort of unproduced Stephen King short story movie that has been blown out to feature length or mini-series length. Someone mentioned not just drains, but water slides. So let's imagine that this is summer break, the teens all work at the local water park, and that your party is a group of young employees, and that is where we're gonna start.
Josephine McAdam 07:40
Oh god,
Virginia Lee 07:40
I dig it.
Josephine McAdam 07:42
Paula, I promise- [sigh] Last time, Paula was a child playing Call of Cthulhu with me, I chopped her in two with an ax.
Paula Deming 07:52
[laughing]
cuppycup 07:52
Oh, perfect.
Paula Deming 07:53
Josephine has a habit of having characters in Call of Cthulhu games who directly murder my characters. This happened more than once.
Josephine McAdam 08:01
But not by my choice, so I just...
Paula Deming 08:03
Not by your choice...
Josephine McAdam 08:04
...we'll just see what happens.
Paula Deming 08:05
...it was, yeah, it was fine. It's just these things happen sometimes.
Virginia Lee 08:08
We're just worried for you.
Josephine McAdam 08:09
So we're all kids?
Ross Bryant 08:12
We don't have to be. Let's be employees at a water park. That's my challenge for you,
Josephine McAdam 08:16
Okay.
Ross Bryant 08:17
But let's maybe err on the side of the VHS horror of it all, like a 70s pulp novel that's been adapted into a movie that's kind of in a back room of your local video store. You push aside Freddy, you push aside Ghoulies, you push aside Hellraiser, and there is a clamshell box with the eerie title "Stuff Is Supposed to go Down Drains, Right?" with the yawning maw of a water slide with something lurking in the shadows. [general sounds of unease among the players] So maybe you're teenagers on summer break, maybe you're a townie. Maybe you're someone who's come into town just to work seasonally at this water park. Maybe you're an adult who is working an entry-level job for far too long. Maybe you're the boyfriend or girlfriend of someone who works at the park, something like this.
Paula Deming 09:11
I have an idea, pulling from the 1920s sheets, but it's fine.
cuppycup 09:19
You're an old soul.
Paula Deming 09:21
I'm gonna, like mold it a little. So I've opened up Member of the Clergy as the occupation, because I think in these a lot of times you have that, like, raised in a very religious family-type character. She's very buttoned up. She, if, you know, we're employees at a water park, she always wears shorts over her swimsuit. She always has on her little silver cross necklace. It never comes off. And she's just the very buttoned-up, somewhat repressed, at least at the start of this religiously-raised 17 year old, I think. Also, she probably lives like with her grandma, who is like, everything in the house is very quiet, and so she's used to things just being kind of quiet. So any kind of loud noise, because she's been taught that demons are around the corner, always vying for her, like eternal soul. So yeah, anything, anything will scare her.
Ross Bryant 10:23
That is such an archetype of this type of fiction. Yes, our cosseted church kid who is a little bit scandalized by the adult world that they're entering.
Paula Deming 10:34
Yes, and I'm just gonna make this Member of the Clergy sheet work for me.
Ross Bryant 10:39
Yeah,
Josephine McAdam 10:39
Oh, yeah.
Ross Bryant 10:40
That's totally in the spirit of this show. Like, yeah, reskin these things as you see fit.
Paula Deming 10:45
I'm not sure about a name quite yet. Ooh, maybe something like, actually religious, maybe like Ruth or Martha or Esther. Ooh, let's go with Esther. Esther Jones.
Josephine McAdam 10:59
Ooh, who's that sheet of paper getting torn? [laughter] Throw it out!
Paula Deming 11:08
Ross throwing out all his ideas,
Ross Bryant 11:10
All my ideas. Useless! Useless now! [laughter]
cuppycup 11:15
I've picked through the 1980s folder and landed on the Hacker.
Paula Deming 11:20
The 1980s folder, smart.
cuppycup 11:22
I want to be the type of 1980s hacker who just latched onto the Anarchist Cookbook and started doing like, really small time crime using computers. So he's not like a real hacker. He's the kind of person who tries to put, like, nail polish on the cotton inside of a diskette to set the computer on fire, like that kind of person. So he's tall and skinny, and basically the way he tries to make friends is through, like, you know, shared destruction of public property. That's kind of how he's gonna work. I have the name Corey Turner in mind. I just feel like Corey is, like, the 1980s name. Yeah.
Paula Deming 11:57
Corey feels right.
Josephine McAdam 11:59
Wow. I feel like, I know a Corey Turner. How old are you?
cuppycup 12:05
I think Corey is, let's say 18, because this character is going to die, [laughter] and we killed too many children on this show.
Ross Bryant 12:14
Great. So you're a teenager as well. We got Esther Jones, young religious employee,
Paula Deming 12:20
Young Youth for Christ, you know,
Ross Bryant 12:22
Yes, Sunday school teacher. And we've got Corey Turner making his own napalm in the back of the water park.
Paula Deming 12:32
And, oh, boy, that's very exciting, actually.
Ross Bryant 12:36
Isn't it? Somebody who walks on the wild side,
Paula Deming 12:38
Yeah, oh my gosh, maybe I could save him?
Ross Bryant 12:41
Yes,
cuppycup 12:41
Yeah. And maybe we went to Sunday school together, right?
Paula Deming 12:45
Yes, we probably did go to Sunday school together. Yeah.
Josephine McAdam 12:48
Oh, absolutely,
Ross Bryant 12:50
Yeah, I went to school with a few Corey Turners, for sure. [laughter] And that's such an archetype of these types of movies, too, is like the member of the gang who always has, like a Walkman on, who is a chaos agent, anything coming into focus for you, Josephine or Virginia?
Virginia Lee 13:05
I've got one. So I settled on the Journalist. And what I'm picturing is this girl who is obsessed with movies and is carrying around like a camcorder. You know, that sort of quintessential character who has to record everything? Like she wants to be a journalist. Or maybe she wants to be a director, someday. She's going to be the first woman to ever win an Oscar, or something like that.
Paula Deming 13:29
Yes.
Virginia Lee 13:29
And so she's just, like, constantly, like, you know, popping in and recording people in really awkward situations, and they're like, "Get the fuck outta here!" you know. [laughing] I want her to be, like, kind of short. She's got, like, a little bit of a complex about it. And like, maybe she's got to, like, ask people to help her reach stuff off of the table. And she, like, hates it. And people call her "short stack" or "shrimp." [laughter] And she's like, 17, high schooler, and like, she's using some piece of shit camera that she got from, like, a thrift store, and she's saving up money to get something better so that she can do a project, so she can get into a good school at UCLA.
Paula Deming 14:10
Yeah.
Virginia Lee 14:12
Her name is Annette McCormick.
Ross Bryant 14:15
Love it.
cuppycup 14:16
And is this like a massive camera that you have, like, you have to carry it on your shoulder?
Virginia Lee 14:21
If it's in the 70s, it probably would have been like one of those smaller ones that still requires two hands, but uses actual real film. So she probably also has like a bag just full of like film that she can just real quick switch it out.
Ross Bryant 14:35
This is maybe like in that area where like 70s meets 80s.
Virginia Lee 14:39
Yeah,
cuppycup 14:40
Please put us in the early 80s so I can use the five and a quarter floppies, the big pancakes.
Ross Bryant 14:46
Yeah, we're in the early 80s, just for you.
Virginia Lee 14:49
Yes!
Ross Bryant 14:51
Great. So we've got Esther Jones, Corey Turner, and there, behind the eyepiece of her camera, Annette McCormick. Josephine, who do we have?
Josephine McAdam 15:02
All right, so I had one idea I already crossed back out in my mind, because it was kind of McConaughey-esque in [laughter]
Ross Bryant 15:10
I ain't mad at that,
Josephine McAdam 15:11
Yeah, but he was so fucking creepy in, um, you know what I'm talking about? "All right, all right, all right"?
Paula Deming 15:18
Yeah,
Ross Bryant 15:19
Dazed and Confused, kinda,
Josephine McAdam 15:20
Yeah, Dazed and Confused. But on that note, so I have three ideas. One could be like the bad boy, sort of, like musician-esque, like, gets into trouble, not intellectual. More of this...
Paula Deming 15:20
Esther's gonna be tempted all over the place if we...
Josephine McAdam 15:26
Right, that's what I'm saying. Yeah, yeah.
Paula Deming 15:30
...got multiple bad boys. I mean, we got a love triangle starting here. [laughter]
Josephine McAdam 15:40
That's my only option that's a teenager. The other ones are security guard at this theme park, you know, deadbeat security guard or a MILF, [laughter] because...
cuppycup 15:54
Wow,
Ross Bryant 15:54
Okay,
Josephine McAdam 15:56
...classic in these kinds of movies, you know, there's always a hot mom somewhere,
Virginia Lee 16:00
Yeah,
Josephine McAdam 16:00
And she's probably at the theme park doing whatever- is this a water park?
Ross Bryant 16:06
This is a water park.
Josephine McAdam 16:07
It's a water park, you know,
Ross Bryant 16:09
I want to say this is a water park in Virginia. [laughing]
cuppycup 16:15
Watch it
Josephine McAdam 16:16
Yeah, yeah. So those are the three starting points. What do you all think?
cuppycup 16:21
Merge them? Yeah, all three in one.
Josephine McAdam 16:23
[laughing] Stop.
Ross Bryant 16:25
I think there's benefits to all. For what's kind of coming into focus in my imagination, I like, I mean, truly, anything that sparks joy in you is fine. I like the idea of another youth kind of creating some tension in the group...
Josephine McAdam 16:40
Okay
Ross Bryant 16:40
...is fascinating.
Josephine McAdam 16:42
Oh, hormones raging [laughing]
Ross Bryant 16:44
Exactly. If this is a- the clamshell, VHS, then
Josephine McAdam 16:49
Then could I get the, maybe the Musician, it's in the official Chaosium.
cuppycup 16:56
Oh yeah, yeah.
Paula Deming 16:57
I'm excited to see I have a 30 in Swim. So that's a nice happy coincidence.
cuppycup 17:04
Oh yeah. And I will say, like, since we don't know anything about the game Ross is going to present, if you want to move some skills around now before we start, that's totally cool.
Josephine McAdam 17:12
And then, as far as a name, I don't know it's something like Liam, or something like, we're like, ooh,
cuppycup 17:20
Shane. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 17:24
Yeah, Finn.
Josephine McAdam 17:25
Finn! Let's do Finn.
cuppycup 17:29
I like that. Does Finn even have a last name? Or is it just Finn?
Josephine McAdam 17:33
No. Everyone just, yeah, it's just Finn.
Virginia Lee 17:35
No last name given.
cuppycup 17:39
Also, Finn feels like he'd absolutely own one of those switchblade combs where you click it and it opens and there's a comb, not a knife.
Josephine McAdam 17:47
Oh, perfect. Man, this is perfect. But it's gonna be a wide-tooth comb somehow,
cuppycup 17:48
Absolutely. You have to be able to feather your hair back.
Josephine McAdam 17:56
Yeah, yeah. I can't have it be a- it cannot be a tight comb, yeah. We all know the hair I'm rocking, right?
cuppycup 18:03
Oh yeah,
Virginia Lee 18:03
100%
Ross Bryant 18:04
Oh yeah, I see it already.
Paula Deming 18:06
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Josephine McAdam 18:08
Yeah. And he has his own band for sure.
cuppycup 18:09
Oh yeah. I feel like Annette and Corey have probably tried to, like, help produce something for this band at some point,
Ross Bryant 18:16
Maybe you've made a little music video or
Paula Deming 18:20
At the water park,
cuppycup 18:21
and Corey just tried to add pyro to everything. [laughter] And Ross just to plant another possible seed. I don't know if you're thinking in this vein, but is this going to be like Action Park in New Jersey? I just want to establish no safety policies.
Ross Bryant 18:36
I'm thinking something like that. -ish, -ish
cuppycup 18:38
Okay, okay, nice.
Ross Bryant 18:39
This is not like Sea World. This is not like Water Country, USA. This is a distinctly down-market water park, the mad hare of some local developer.
cuppycup 18:43
Nice.
Paula Deming 18:46
Is Finn like guitar player or lead singer or drummer, or is that something that...
Josephine McAdam 18:57
What's hottest?
Paula Deming 18:59
They all have their appeals.
cuppycup 19:02
Lead guitar plus lead singer, I think you're gonna do both.
Josephine McAdam 19:05
What?!
cuppycup 19:06
You sing and play guitar, right?
Josephine McAdam 19:09
Okay, wait. That's- wait, that's where your hottest went to?
cuppycup 19:13
Yeah, well, I'm a drummer, so it can't be drummer. [laughter]
Josephine McAdam 19:16
Okay, fine. All right.
Ross Bryant 19:17
Bassists and drummers both have their fans,
Josephine McAdam 19:21
Okay, yeah, he could be the lead singer. Actually, yeah, I'll make him a little douchey, a little jock-y. We'll make him the lead singer.
Virginia Lee 19:28
Hell yeah.
Ross Bryant 19:29
It sounds like our characters are pretty much coming into focus here.
Paula Deming 19:34
I'm a re-re-re-ready,
Josephine McAdam 19:36
Yeah!
Virginia Lee 19:37
I wanna rock!
cuppycup 19:39
Yeah! [laughter]
Ross Bryant 19:40
So as we had imagined, let's almost see a hand part a beaded curtain into a red-lit room full of Betamax and VHS cassettes. Horror movies are being thumbed through, a fine layer of dust on their surfaces until the hand lights on one: "Stuff Is Supposed to go Down Drains, Right?" See that clamshell box cracking open, the tape sliding into a VHS player, the tracking warble. [80s-style logo intro music] Just see a big stylized U into the center of the frame. An Undine Films production. 80s music begins to play, [upbeat 80s rock music] and we fade up from black on water running. Running. Is it a pipe? Is it a culvert? Is it water?
Josephine McAdam 20:50
Ugh.
Ross Bryant 20:51
This fluid reflects the blood red sky of a sunset and then suddenly- splash! - as a tire splashes through it, the camera whips up and we see a Jeep driving through the puddle towards a water park, and you can see a sign nearby that says, "Welcome to Lancashire County, Virginia." The diegetic music blasts from the Jeep. It's a rockin 80s tune, and we are suddenly in a montage of summer fun at a water park. The sun is setting, casting an eerie glow over everything, but kids and families are having a blast. We see two kids shoot out of a water slide and splash into a pool. We see a mom and dad lifting a young kid in a wave pool, up and down and up and down. A little girl licks an ice cream cone that topples off of the cone and falls onto the hot pavement beneath. Two teenage lifeguards are whispering into each other's ears, ignoring what is going on in a lazy river just next to them. A big mascot alligator waddles by [laughter] with two children pulling its tail. Then we see Corey Turner in our montage introducing the vibe of the Rippin' River Water Park. How do we see Corey Turner there at work?
cuppycup 22:20
Yeah, so I think in the water park, we're gonna look at Corey standing at a pay phone, and he's using, like, I don't know, like a whistle that he found in a Cap'n Crunch cereal box, trying to do that, like, tone manipulation that you could do in a pay phone to make free long distance calls. [laughter] This is something that he learned about in like, some kind of zine or the Anarchist Cookbook or something, and he's trying to basically impress the people that he's with, who I assume are all the other player characters. He's like,
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 22:48
Okay, okay, watch this. We're calling Utah. I'm about to commit a felony that saves me 35 cents. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 22:55
Great. So we see Corey Turner trying to do some rudimentary phone phreaking there at the pay phone. [high pitched whistle noises] Perhaps a manager walks out, bulging out of his polo shirt with his name badge on crooked and shoos you all away from the phone.
Pay Phone 23:12
The number you have reached, 233-
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 23:15
Oh, hi, mom. I was just calling to check in. [laughter]
Pay Phone 23:18
-1235 , has been disconnected.
Ross Bryant 23:21
We then see a body floating face down in water. She lifts her head up. It's fine. [laughter] She's just relaxing there, relaxing in the lazy river.
cuppycup 23:32
Sike!
Josephine McAdam 23:35
Aw, he got us.
Ross Bryant 23:36
We see someone showering off in one of the stalls, and then we see Annette McCormick. How is she introduced in our montage?
Virginia Lee 23:46
Annette has her camera, which is always attached to her hands at some point, and she's just also taking montage footage of people going down the big water slide and of like, kids jumping in cannonballs into the water. And she's just like, collecting as many things as possible. And she's going,
Annette McCormick (Virginia) 24:07
Yeah, the lighting in here is great. It is so good. Oh my god, this is great! This is gonna be great! UCLA, I am coming to you!
Ross Bryant 24:15
Great. Yes, and perhaps that same manager shows up. We see from the perspective of your camera the throng, and then your camera falls onto the same manager that shooed Corey away from the phone, looking at you down the barrel of the lens and tapping his watch. You are still on the clock.
Josephine McAdam 24:30
[laughing] Oh, wait, yes, do we work here?
Ross Bryant 24:35
Yes, you do. [laughter]
Paula Deming 24:38
We work here
Josephine McAdam 24:40
I forgot that integral detail,
cuppycup 24:42
I'm making prank calls from work.
Ross Bryant 24:45
See two teenagers totally Lady and the Tramping a hot dog, coming at it from both ends. [laughter] See a man in a swim cap shooting like a cannonball out of a water slide. The construction of this water slide looks unsafe. [laughter] See a wood cabin, kind of in the middle of everything, crowds mill around, and a very bored teenager in almost pseudo-colonial garb is sitting in a rocking chair out front, borderline asleep, watching people go by. This "attraction" at the water park is clearly one of its least popular things. [laughter] Maybe some sort of ode to historical reenactment in the area. But then, of course, we cut over to Finn.
Josephine McAdam 25:30
Oh, man, you think Finn works like one of the registers to check people out, except Finn is nowhere to be seen, because Finn is like back behind, underneath, making out with whoever has, like, come by and he's like, convinced to spend a little extra time, or,
Finn (Josephine) 25:46
Oh yeah, we've got some extra special stock back here. [laughter]
Josephine McAdam 25:52
And is just like, totally making out with not his girlfriend, whoever was here today.
Ross Bryant 25:59
And as the door kind of shuts on this little scene, we see the same manager walk by.
Park Manager (Ross) 26:03
Where is that boy?
Ross Bryant 26:08
As he just misses him. See in a shower stall, two women step in. They nod at one another. One shuts the door inside her stall. The other, we know what kind of movie we're in, takes off the top of her bathing suit, before she shuts the door and we see their legs underneath the stalls, the water spiraling down the drain. We see a little child being almost thrown down the darkness of a tunnel waterslide by the lifeguard. They disappear into darkness. Into darkness we cut to Esther Jones. What is she up to?
Paula Deming 26:43
Esther is, I think, probably the only one who is actually doing her job. She is at the bottom of one of the like kiddy water slides, standing in like thigh high water in her shorts and her very like high neck bathing suit with one of those, like, kind of a floaty, kind of in front of her, so that if a kid comes down out of the slide and gets a bunch of water up their nose, she can immediately hand them the little floaty thing. And she's there to keep them safe. But every time one of them comes out of the slide and she gets splashed, she goes
Esther Jones (Paula) 27:22
[surprised squeak]
Paula Deming 27:25
[laughter] Every time, every time.
Ross Bryant 27:28
This little exclamation hits the ears of the manager who is down below, like holding his fingers in his ears like "Agh!" as he waddles past you. The sun is well and truly setting now. We see throngs of families exiting the park. The turnstile [cla-clank, cla-clank, cla-clank] as they walk out back to their cars in a sweltering parking lot. See one of those women who went into the door of the shower stall walking out,
Shower Woman (Ross) 27:51
Diane? Diane?
Ross Bryant 27:53
As she leaves the dressing room. Diane must have left already. But then, of course, we push into the shower that Diane was in, that she is no longer in, as the camera pushes down into the drain, where it looks like some other fluid is now spiraling down into the drain, and then it stops spiraling and begins to bubble back up. And it is not clear water. It is much darker. It is much more crimson as we fade to black and the title comes up on screen.
cuppycup 28:26
Oh, no. I also like that, since we actually weren't together, that I was showing off my phreaking skills to absolutely nobody. [laughter]
Josephine McAdam 28:36
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Paula Deming 28:39
Well, we got chased off and then went back to our respective locations.
Josephine McAdam 28:43
Yeah, making out
cuppycup 28:45
Yeah, yeah.
Ross Bryant 28:47
So we've just seen the title in red on black: "Stuff Is Supposed to go Down Drains, Right?" Crude animation makes all that text sort of slurp down to the bottom of the frame, and then we fade up on a clock, ticking to six o'clock. Push down off the wall and see the four of you along with one other teenager sitting with you. This teenage boy has just a mane of curly hair. He is incredibly, sort of like gawky and lanky and is wearing a t-shirt that he is absolutely swimming in, along with his whistle and trunks, and you are all in the office of that same manager. It is wood paneled. There is a big poster on the wall that says "Rippin' River Gator Gulch - Coming 1985!" and his feet are up on the desk, and he is picking his teeth with a toothpick as he kind of lifts his legs off the desk and plops them down. He looks at each one of you in turn.
Park Manager (Ross) 29:54
Well, what do you all have to say for yourselves? Hmm?
Ross Bryant 29:59
And he is red faced, deeply sunburned. His name badge, which says Terry, is crooked on his shirt. He has those sunglasses that flip up
cuppycup 30:12
[laughing] Yes
Ross Bryant 30:13
and he flips them up, revealing his regular glasses underneath, as he sort of scowls at you. He has a scraggly mustache.
Terry (Ross) 30:21
Using your camera on the job, McCormick?
Annette McCormick (Virginia) 30:26
Well, I-
Terry (Ross) 30:27
Making phone calls while we're not on our break, Turner? Being God knows where outside of the hot dog hut, Finn.
Finn (Josephine) 30:38
Look, man, we gotta make our moves when we can.
Annette McCormick (Virginia) 30:42
And our videos!
Terry (Ross) 30:44
Okay, okay, maybe don't make them on company time, okay?
Annette McCormick (Virginia) 30:47
I was inspired!
Ross Bryant 30:49
This guy seems ancient to you. He's probably 29 but he looks 40.
Josephine McAdam 30:54
Finn lights up a cigarette. [laughter]
Terry (Ross) 31:00
What the hell are you doing?
Ross Bryant 31:02
He stabs at your cigarette with his toothpick and tries to, like, jab it out of your hand.
Finn (Josephine) 31:08
What does it look like I'm doing? Man, hey, hey, hey! Are we on the clock or what, Terry? Terry?
Ross Bryant 31:15
He kind of, like, snatches the cigarette, like, stubs it out, like, puts it in the trash can.
Terry (Ross) 31:20
And then we got Jones here, breaking my ears with her bird calls.
Esther Jones (Paula) 31:25
I was doing my job. I don't know what you could possibly have to criticize me for. I was following all of the rules and regulations. I think, Terry, you just don't like us, maybe, and maybe that's something that you should examine within yourself. Maybe go to God about.
Finn (Josephine) 31:41
Yeah, what Jones said.
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 31:43
Yeah, you sound jealous.
Annette McCormick (Virginia) 31:45
Yeah. I mean, you're a 29 year old guy, right, you know? Or are you 39? I mean, I can't really tell to be honest, it's the mustache makes you look a little bit older. But, I mean, you know, we're young with our futures. I mean, I'm going to UCLA,
Terry (Ross) 31:58
29, McCormick, and while you might be going to UCLA, I'm getting my associate's degree, currently. I'm the personnel manager at Rippin' River, which is more than you are and more than some of you will ever be. So don't take your prayers to God, because while you're in Rippin' River, I'm God. Okay?
Esther Jones (Paula) 32:19
That is- that is blasphemous. I can't- Terry, if you're going to keep speaking like that, I might have to turn in my notice. I don't think I can work in a place with-
Finn (Josephine) 32:28
Esther. Esther, cool it. Cool it. Like he's not worth it, okay?
Paula Deming 32:32
Oh, she blushes as soon as he looks at her. She just like her cheeks turn pink, like,
Esther Jones (Paula) 32:39
I-I can cool it.
Josephine McAdam 32:42
Oh, I bet you can.
Paula Deming 32:45
And she just clutches her little cross necklace, and she's like,
Esther Jones (Paula) 32:48
[giggles] Mmhmm.
Finn (Josephine) 32:51
Look, look, Terry, what can we do for th-
Lawrence (Ross) 32:54
Yeah, and why am I even here?
Ross Bryant 32:55
Says the gawky kid who's sitting next to you.
Terry (Ross) 32:57
Why are you here, Lawrence? Because you almost let that little girl drown.
Finn (Josephine) 33:03
Oh, shit, Lawrence.
Lawrence (Ross) 33:04
I mean, I tried to dive in, like sh- It was hard to get my arm around her torso to pull her out, but she got to safety, right?
Terry (Ross) 33:13
No thanks to you. The wave pool pushed her into shore. [laughter]
Esther Jones (Paula) 33:18
Oh, Lawrence, we did training for that. Were you not listening? Were you not paying attention at the start of the summer?
Lawrence (Ross) 33:24
I thought I paid attention, okay? I guess I was zoning out.
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 33:27
Terry, man, these don't feel like equal transgressions. I mean a phone call versus like manslaughter.
Terry (Ross) 33:36
I'm doing you a mercy right now, Turner. By rights, you should all be out on the street. It's six o'clock. Park hours just ended. They ended for all those people now taking off back to their homes and hotels. And it's ending for me, because I'm going home to spend the evening with my fiance.
Finn (Josephine) 33:58
Oh yeah, sure, whatever
Annette McCormick (Virginia) 34:00
Are you talking about that pillow that you keep? [laughter]
Terry (Ross) 34:04
No!
Finn (Josephine) 34:06
Good one, McCormick.
Terry (Ross) 34:07
Carrie is extremely real and committed to my future.
Finn (Josephine) 34:11
I'm sorry, did you say Carrie?
Terry (Ross) 34:13
That's right.
Finn (Josephine) 34:14
Your girl's name is Carrie? You're Terry. Terry and Carrie.
Terry (Ross) 34:18
That's right.
Finn (Josephine) 34:19
Okay.
Esther Jones (Paula) 34:19
That's really sweet, Terry. That's really sweet.
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 34:23
And together, you're Carry. Like combining the names, you know?
Finn (Josephine) 34:28
Uh, yeah.
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 34:29
All right, you're not ready for that, but your kids are gonna love it. [laughter]
Finn (Josephine) 34:33
Right. Okay, sure.
Terry (Ross) 34:35
Well, Turner, the only thing you're gonna be combining for the night is a mop and the floor, because the five of you are being kept overnight for night shift.
Finn (Josephine) 34:47
Aw man, don't you think it's a little harsh?
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 34:50
Terry, man, I'm a merchantainer. I'm not really trained to mop.
Annette McCormick (Virginia) 34:54
And don't we have, like, a curfew or something?
Finn (Josephine) 34:57
It's not my fault you didn't check under the counters. [laughter]
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 35:01
Oh, got him!
Terry (Ross) 35:01
It may be my fault I didn't check. It's definitely your fault you weren't at your position.
Finn (Josephine) 35:07
Oh, I was in position.
Ross Bryant 35:10
Consider it a mercy that I don't fire you all right now. And if you don't want to be fired, I need all of the pools and slides chlorinated, their pH tested, and every shower house mopped spotless by tomorrow morning. Capiche?
Esther Jones (Paula) 35:27
Can I at least call my grandma and let her know I won't be home for dinner?
Terry (Ross) 35:32
Call whoever you need to to let them know you won't be where you're going. But no long distance calls.
Ross Bryant 35:36
He looks over at you, Corey,
Terry (Ross) 35:37
Unless you know a way around that.
cuppycup 35:41
Oh, can we say we have those chunky staff walkie talkies clipped to our belts, like [slight radio distortion] "Gator team, copy",
Ross Bryant 35:47
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Virginia Lee 35:48
Yes. I love that.
cuppycup 35:50
We'll do that the whole session.
Ross Bryant 35:52
Love it.
cuppycup 35:52
[radio] "We've got a situation"
Josephine McAdam 35:55
Perfect.
Ross Bryant 35:56
Every now and then you turn it on, and when it's in-between frequencies, [sound of slight radio static] it's something like a human voice seems to be coming out of this thing.
Everyone 36:03
[general sounds of being creeped out]
cuppycup 36:05
That's good. That's really good.
Terry (Ross) 36:09
I'll be back when the day shift starts.
Ross Bryant 36:10
He stands up and throws on a Members Only jacket.
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 36:15
Hey, Terry, just to confirm we're getting time and a half, right?
Terry (Ross) 36:17
Well, that all depends, but if you make me look good by making this place look good, then, yeah, maybe there'll be a little something extra in it for you.
Esther Jones (Paula) 36:31
So we're not- we're not actually on the clock, uh, legally, officially, right now?
Terry (Ross) 36:37
No, as I say, this is a favor, Jones, this is a favor. I understand. It's tough out there, but I think you all need this job. But if you show me that you understand the value of hard work in a free market economy, then you'll get rewarded as you should be, just like my hero, Ronald Reagan says.
Ross Bryant 36:59
He looks up in a picture on the wall of the current President, gives it a little salute. [laughter]
Finn (Josephine) 37:06
All right.
Esther Jones (Paula) 37:07
Okay, well, sometimes we're put through trials and tribulations, and we just have to make our way through and come out on the other side stronger. So I'm sure...
Terry (Ross) 37:15
That's the spirit.
Esther Jones (Paula) 37:16
...I'm sure we'll be able to get through this and maybe even bond a little in the process.
Finn (Josephine) 37:21
Yeah, maybe we will.
Esther Jones (Paula) 37:23
[giggles]
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 37:24
Yeah, we could bond.
Finn (Josephine) 37:26
Give Carrie our love. [laughter]
Terry (Ross) 37:28
Oh, I'll be giving her love, all right. I'll be giving her love all night long.
Esther Jones (Paula) 37:34
Well, really, you should be married and not just engaged, before you do that, Terry. [laughter]
Terry (Ross) 37:41
Oh, don't worry. Terry's gonna marry Carrie. [laughter]
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 37:41
Yeah, you should marry her soon, Terry. You've only got a few good years left.
Terry (Ross) 37:53
That's enough outta you, Turner. Spotless, remember? Spot. Less. Do it for the Gipper. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 38:00
He sort of strides towards the door, leaving you with your charge, and slams it. And soon you hear the Toyota revving up out in the parking lot, puttering away.
Finn (Josephine) 38:12
[sighs] All right. Well, if we're not on company hours...
Josephine McAdam 38:17
Takes off the polo, the like company outfit, whatever theme park polo that he had on, and throws on his like black band shirt, tucks it in, puts on his sleeveless, like cut-off vest with studs all up and down it and, like, shakes his hair, makes it even shaggier. It's like, long, shaggy black hair. Yeah, I think he already had his like black skinny jeans with studs all up and down them on with the polo, but...
Paula Deming 38:40
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Josephine McAdam 38:41
...now the look is complete.
Finn (Josephine) 38:44
Ah. That's better.
Esther Jones (Paula) 38:45
Yeah, yeah, me too.
Paula Deming 38:47
And out of a little like day bag, I just pull a cardigan, a button up cardigan, out, [laughter] and I put it on over my bathing suit and, like, athletic shorts I'm already wearing, and just to button it all the way up. [laughter]
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 39:07
Esther that looks hot.
Finn (Josephine) 39:08
Yeah.
Esther Jones (Paula) 39:12
Oh, thank you.
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 39:13
Like, literally, it looks hot, like it's a cardigan.
Finn (Josephine) 39:17
Yeah, it's summertime girl.
Esther Jones (Paula) 39:20
Oh, well, when the sun goes down, it gets a little bit cooler, and modesty is important.
Finn (Josephine) 39:28
Oh, we'll make sure you don't get too cold, Esther.
Esther Jones (Paula) 39:30
[awkwardly laughing] Annette, do you want to, um... we should do one of these tasks together, maybe.
Annette McCormick (Virginia) 39:40
Yeah, let's get away from these guys. And I guess we could check out the showers, I guess? Ugh, God, they're always full of hair and… blech.
Esther Jones (Paula) 39:52
It's so gross, it gets in the drain.
Lawrence (Ross) 39:55
Oh, so we goin' boys/girls?
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 39:58
Oh, Lawrence!
Lawrence (Ross) 39:59
Am I hanging with you guys?
Ross Bryant 40:01
And he kind of kicks back, maybe almost throws his arm around Finn. Really trying it out.
Esther Jones (Paula) 40:08
Maybe it's boys versus girls, who can get the most accomplished.
Annette McCormick (Virginia) 40:12
Uh, sure, we could do that.
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 40:15
That's actually pretty rad, Esther.
Finn (Josephine) 40:18
All right.
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 40:20
Hey, Finn, look! We both got band t-shirts on now.
cuppycup 40:22
He points to his Hall and Oates t-shirt. He's wearing that and some Jams shorts, just in case they get to take a dip.
Josephine McAdam 40:28
Oh yeah, Finn's is his own band shirt that just says The Velvet Firebirds in like...
Paula Deming 40:34
Yeah,
Josephine McAdam 40:36
...really like metal lettering.
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 40:39
He's so cool.
cuppycup 40:40
He says out loud [laughter]
Finn (Josephine) 40:44
Yeah, all right, I guess we can hook up with you all later.
Ross Bryant 40:48
Lawrence also has a t-shirt on now that he's taken off his uniform. It's from the local NPR station. And it just says, "If it ain't Baroque, don't fix it." [laughter]
cuppycup 40:58
Amazing.
Finn (Josephine) 40:59
Okay, guys,
Josephine McAdam 41:00
Finn does like both arms around, like your shoulders, and sort of steers us all towards, I guess, the men's showers? Is that what we're mopping up? What are we mopping?
Ross Bryant 41:09
So, the charges that he has given you are to basically test and make sure that the chemical composition of the water is okay throughout the park. You're supposed to make sure that the chlorination and pH is all right, and to really clean up the shower-locker room areas. If you're in this room and you walk out, you can see, like a big novelty, map of the grounds of Rippin' River featuring such water slides as Gator Gorge, The Water Moccasin, The Snapper, and Lazy Bone Lagoon.
cuppycup 41:43
Corey grabs the pH testing kit from the office.
Ross Bryant 41:47
Oh, I should definitely mention that the centerpiece, right at the center of everything, is the little colonial wood house that has the legend, Bland Cabin.
Paula Deming 41:58
Bland Cabin.
Esther Jones (Paula) 42:01
You know, it's funny because our town was founded by the Bland family, and that's why- does everyone know that? I might have been the only one paying attention during orientation when they were talking to us about that. Robert and Virginia Bland, and it was funny because Virginia and we're in the state of Virginia, but it was a common name.
Finn (Josephine) 42:19
[unsure forced laughter]
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 42:21
The only bland family I know is the Joneses. [laughs to himself a bit] You know, like...ah fuck. [laughter]
Esther Jones (Paula) 42:30
Corey.
Lawrence (Ross) 42:32
I don't understand what you mean, Corey.
Ross Bryant 42:34
Esther, why don't you give me the first roll of the game since you brought up the history of Robert and Virginia Bland.
Paula Deming 42:43
[laughing] Sorry, Virginia. I didn't mean to. I was like, the name Virginia is now stuck in my head.
Ross Bryant 42:50
It makes total sense. Why don't you give me a roll of History or Education to find out how well you were paying attention during orientation.
Paula Deming 43:00
I got a 50 in history, so let's see if I can roll under that. Well, I'm gonna roll up some Luck. It's not gonna help me in this situation. I always forget to do that. But I did roll a 79 so I think I thought I paid really good attention, but maybe I paid less attention than I thought I did.
Virginia Lee 43:18
You remembered the names? [laughing]
Paula Deming 43:22
I remembered the name, but nothing else.
Ross Bryant 43:24
Everybody can roll this if they want. I get the sense that these teens are not necessarily that curious about...
Josephine McAdam 43:31
Nah,
Ross Bryant 43:31
...about the Bland Cabin.
cuppycup 43:34
I'll roll against my 5%
Paula Deming 43:36
Man, I should have just rolled Education. Oh, well,
cuppycup 43:40
I rolled a 69
Paula Deming 43:41
Nice,
Josephine McAdam 43:42
Nice,
cuppycup 43:43
Yeah,
Ross Bryant 43:43
Hm.
cuppycup 43:45
Give me something sexy. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 43:47
Yeah, yeah. That's right. Okay, you get an incredibly sensual piece of information [laughter]
cuppycup 43:54
Unrelated history about another movie.
Ross Bryant 43:57
Yeah, on a 69 you get that the Bland Cabin is a place where employees will go to make out because it is one of the more private areas in the entire water park, because it is the only part of it that has any educational component, which means that no one ever goes there. And pulling shifts there is the most boring job that you can have.
cuppycup 44:18
Whenever we can't find Finn, we know just to go to the cabin.
Josephine McAdam 44:24
Yeah, I love that shift actually. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 44:26
Finn's the only one who kind of looks good in the little leather jerkin and tri-corner cap that they make you wear when you work there. [laughter] It sounds like the lads are going to the men's locker room and the ladies are going to the women's locker room.
Josephine McAdam 44:40
Yeah,
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 44:41
Finn, should we go spy on the girls? What do you want to do?
cuppycup 44:44
It's like Porky's now.
Esther Jones (Paula) 44:48
We're not taking showers, Corey!
Annette McCormick (Virginia) 44:51
Yeah, we're cleaning them. God.
cuppycup 44:53
[laughing] You were just standing right there?
Esther Jones (Paula) 44:55
Talk more quietly! [laughter]
cuppycup 44:59
Corey is smooth.
Finn (Josephine) 45:02
What's the big deal, Corey? You never been in the girl's locker room?
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 45:05
Well, I have been on-
Lawrence (Ross) 45:07
Finn, you have?
Josephine McAdam 45:10
Finn doesn't answer. Just like walks away. [laughing]
Lawrence (Ross) 45:14
Finn, you didn't answer. You didn't... ah, um. Okay.
Finn (Josephine) 45:19
Come on.
Josephine McAdam 45:19
Just like grabs a mop, like, drags it behind him,
Ross Bryant 45:23
And you move out into the water park. There is, of course, the Bland Cabin right at the center. There's a big wave pool and a bunch of tubular slides.
Paula Deming 45:34
Totally tubular.
cuppycup 45:35
I think Corey is just gonna look at Annette and go,
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 45:38
Hey, Annette, film this!
cuppycup 45:40
And then he's gonna, like, run and jump into the wave pool trying to be, like, fun and spontaneous and impress everybody.
Virginia Lee 45:48
I'm just gonna stare at him, and then I do a [very slow clap]
Annette McCormick (Virginia) 45:57
Great job there, Cor. Great.
Ross Bryant 45:59
Great. You're bobbing there in the water.
cuppycup 46:03
Yeah. So I'll just be wet the rest of the scenario. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 46:08
It's night, but it's still balmy. I want to say, let's put us, we're rather close to a place in Virginia that is literally called the Great Dismal Swamp. We are near there.
cuppycup 46:17
Amazing.
Ross Bryant 46:18
Even though there are not alligators in there, there are swampy regions in the southeast with gators, and that is sort of the theme of Rippin' River. You've got, of course, Ripper the Gator, who is the mascot, who is on all the signage and posters, who is a big, goofy gator. You can see his picture there, sort of leering over the wave pool as you're bobbing around in it.
Josephine McAdam 46:39
Is it one of those things where we all like split up, but we're actually walking in the same direction, because the locker rooms are all in one area?
Ross Bryant 46:49
I want to say actually you've got a fork in the path. The men's and women's are on opposite sides of this pool. The two boys are kind of looking down at you, Corey. Corey, while you're in the pool, why don't you make a Spot Hidden?
cuppycup 47:02
When you said, "Make a S-" I was afraid you'd say "Swim" so I will gladly make a Spot Hidden,
Esther Jones (Paula) 47:07
Careful. Lawrence will let you drown.
Lawrence (Ross) 47:11
It was just she was just hard to get my arm around.
cuppycup 47:14
35. Yeah, I'm gonna leave it as a regular success. So 35 under 50.
Josephine McAdam 47:18
Ooh, oh!
Paula Deming 47:19
Okay,
Ross Bryant 47:21
Great. You know how there are those little kind of intake filters on the sides of pools with grating where the water kind of laps up? When you splashed in, you're rather close to the side, and something you spot… that hollow sound of water in a recessed space [ba-goong ba-goong] that kind of echoes.
Josephine McAdam 47:42
Wow! Perfect, Ross.
cuppycup 47:44
I don't have to do any sound design. Thank you for that.
Josephine McAdam 47:47
How much time do you spend around these Ross? [laughing]
Ross Bryant 47:52
I'm sort of an audiophile student, major [laughter] But yes, you're in there. And I want to say that testing the chlorine levels in these pools may be a good idea, because as soon as your head goes under, you're reminded that this is a rather down-market water park, and the chlorine levels are high. The water is cloudy. Your eyes are red immediately upon emerging, and as you're kind of blinking the chlorine out of your eyes, you're hearing that [ga-doong, ga-doong]. You also, underneath that, you just hear like a
Voice from the Intake (Ross) 48:28
[light ragged breathing] Come. Home.
Ross Bryant 48:42
and, yeah, that's what your Spot Hidden gets you. And for a moment, there is a slight glow in that intake filter that just kind of like passes as the moon rises behind you. It's as though you see the moon reflected for a moment. And then it's gone.
cuppycup 49:01
Are the others like, in my sight line at this moment? [-goong]
Josephine McAdam 49:05
Yeah, we're just on the ed- I feel like we're watching you from the [-goong] from around like...
cuppycup 49:10
If I see other people, I'll be brave enough to actually take a closer look. Can I, like, go get real close to the intake filter?
Paula Deming 49:17
Oh, my God,
Finn (Josephine) 49:18
Get those pH levels while you're in there, man.
cuppycup 49:20
Oh yeah, I did grab the testing kit.
Ross Bryant 49:23
You got the testing kit? I wanna say the testing kit is right up on the lip of the pool,
cuppycup 49:26
Yeah, yeah,
Ross Bryant 49:27
Yeah, you're going right up to the little filter?
cuppycup 49:31
Yeah, especially when I see the glow. Did I hear? Did I make out "Come home"? Is that what the voice said?
Ross Bryant 49:35
That's what it sounded like. It was probably the wind, though.
cuppycup 49:35
Yeah, yeah, of course,
Paula Deming 49:35
Yeah, yeah it was probably the wind.
Josephine McAdam 49:38
Yeah, yeah,
cuppycup 49:40
But I will take a look, because maybe somebody, like lost something in the pool. Could be something cool.
Ross Bryant 49:46
Are you reaching in?
cuppycup 49:47
Oh, hell yeah. Of course. [sounds of distress from the other players] I'm an 18 year old badass with the Anarchist Cookbook. I'm reaching in. [laughter]
Ross Bryant 49:55
Okay, great,
Josephine McAdam 49:55
Yeah,
Ross Bryant 49:56
You're peering in, and you don't see anything. You don't see anything reflective in there. You know, it's plastic and concrete, and then it feeds down into the pipes that undergird this whole park, feeding water into the various slides and pools. You don't see anything in there when you draw closer, but you said you're reaching in.
cuppycup 50:17
Yeah, I think he will. He's gonna reach in without thinking about it too much.
Ross Bryant 50:20
Great. You reach in.
cuppycup 50:21
I don't feel like this is unusual, like we're dislodging things all the time.
Paula Deming 50:25
Yeah,
cuppycup 50:25
Yeah,
Ross Bryant 50:26
Yeah. Of course, you've reached into these before. There's, like, aqua socks and flip flops and water wings and goggles and t-shirts are always getting clogged in here. And you reach in, feeling around for what you assume must be back in here. There's got to be like, probably a piece of clothing that someone- that got, like, taken off by the wave pool, that got sucked into the filter. You do feel something. It suddenly envelops your arm up to the elbow. And then just sort of strokes it [gasps from the players] gently off to the fingertips. It's not flesh. It's not a hand. It's hair. [more sounds of distress and disgust from the players]
Corey Turner (cuppycup) 51:18
What the fuck? [laughter]