VIKKI: Hello, misfits and miscreants, fighters and fifth columnists, detectives and double agents, spies, snoopers and spooks. And of course… darling listeners, and non-listeners. It’s me, the one known far and wide as Vikki Other. This… is Radio Other.

[INTRO MUSIC]

Welcome back, lovely doves and possum-puffs! It’s me, Vikki. Howya doin? Golly gosh, I wish I could just wrap all you up in a big cuddle-bug hug and squeeze you to major organ failure! I unfortunately don’t have a licence to kill yet. Not even a fake one off of Amazon. Back in seventh grade me and the gang were sitting down to watch cartoons - y’know Candle Cove, Bobble the Clown. The classics! We stumbled across an ad for a merchant nearby selling fake IDs and licences, so obviously, we all decided we needed to go, like, right then.

At midnight, we all wore the mask of an old lost god and painted our hands with the blood of a pig - well, actually, just paint, since Ellie’s parents are vegetarian and didn’t want us messing with animal sacrifices until we were old enough - and all walked down to the Laughing Lake. The Lake tossed some impressively creative insults at us, but we fought back with wit and large rocks. Finally, we got past it, and met up with the guy. Good thing, his stock was just as awesome as promised, and we got SO many illegal certifications it was honestly not safe. Bad thing, he was part of a multi-level marketing scheme for an Aztec demon involving blood pacts and a lot of low quality makeup.

On an unrelated note, there’s still 8 unopened boxes of nine year old cosmetics in my closet at home, if anyone’s interested! You too could be your own master of sins.

…

I don’t know why I keep rambling. I think I’m… avoiding opening these. Though I couldn’t tell you why.

Whatever. Here we go.

[DEEP BREATH]

File one on JFK is a death certificate, and file two is a record of his mortgage on his house… both of which Ellie already told me about. Which leaves file three.

Which is an audio clip.

[PAUSE]

File three, John F Kennedy Jr.

[TYPING, CLICKING]

[FILE LOADS]

Recording starts.

[FINAL BUTTON CLICK]

[DRIPPING NOISES. WALKING]

JFK JR: Hello?

BELDAM MATEO: Hello.

JFK JR: You- you’re Beldam Mateo. Right?

BELDAM MATEO: Most just know me as the Weaver. Though the weaver of shadows and lies is the full title.

JFK JR: R-right. Yes.

BELDAM MATEO: Mm.

JFK JR: Jesus- could you- stop doing that with your fingers?

BELDAM MATEO: Which ones?

JFK JR: All, please- oh my God. Sorry. Didn’t see the second set of arms- that’s-

BELDAM MATEO: There’s 80 fingers in total. 20 per hand. Which means 80 strings to weave on.

JFK, nervous: I figured as much, yes. Just- I’m unused to seeing people with… oddities such as yourself.

BELDAM MATEO: I’m aware. That’s why I started wearing the porcelain mask. People don’t like looking at exposed rot, you know. [SHE LAUGHS]

JFK JR: I know.

[A PAUSE]

BELDAM MATEO: John F Kennedy Jr, hm? Your name is certainly a fussy one. Caused a stir amongst those below. Even a few above.

JFK JR: People know me?

BELDAM MATEO: Not many. I don’t. [SHE SNORTS] I’ve been rather enlightened to your case, though… and my, it is quite an interesting one. From another world now, are you?

JFK JR: I believe that is, somehow, the position I’ve found myself in. Yes.

BELDAM MATEO: I don’t work in time lines, poppet. I work in life lines. What connects us all together. What weaves us into place.

JFK JR: And- that’s exactly what I wanted to ask about. You can… see threads?

BELDAM MATEO: I can.

JFK JR: So, hypothetically, you’d be able to see people who came from the same world as me?

BELDAM MATEO: I suppose that is within the realm of possibility.

[SHUFFLING SOUNDS]

Give me another name. Someone else who you know is from your world.

JFK JR: I…

My Carolyn. Carolyn Bessett Kennedy.

BELDAM MATEO: Wait.

[A SLOW HUMMING. SOUNDS?]

BELDAM MATEO: Too tangled. There’s too many threads there to pick one I don’t already know. I need someone more distant. Less connected.

[A LONG SILENCE]

JFK Jr: Marilyn Monroe.

BELDAM MATEO: … okay.

[SHE INHALES. A TENSE CHORD OF ORCHESTRAL BS. AND…]

BELDAM MATEO: Ah. The beautiful woman from Camelot… There’s. Many of them. Somewhere. At the edges. Two… two close by.

JFK JR: Close by? As in, near R'lyeh?

BELDAM MATEO: Yes. Lyonesse? No… nowhere near Kitzeh either. No, none of the major cities.

[A CREEPY SOUND PLAYS]

BELDAM MATEO: [VOICE CREEPY AND ECHOEY] Take the southern passage out of town. Towards the mountains. Go west at the base. When you find the edge, there will be a large lake, shrouded in fog. On the other side, will be the wrought iron of a cemetery fence. Keep going until you find the river. Here, it is safe. Follow the stream down, and you’ll find a road leading off - an opening.

Enter.

This is where you’ll find her. Where you’ll find them. The two birds of your feather, the same strings of your strange guitar.

[THE TENSION BREAKS]]

JFK JR: That’s… are you sure? It’s that simple?

BELDAM MATEO: Well, I can’t tell you how simple it’ll really be. But in theory, yes…

JFK JR: Thank you.

BELDAM MATEO: That’s all in the way of help, I’m afraid. Now, unless you have any other questions, I’d say you should leave. I’ll send you a message discussing… payment, later.

JFK JR: Of course, of course. Thank you again.

BELDAM MATEO: Don’t thank me. It’s my job.

JFK JR: Right.

BELDAM MATEO: Mm.

[FOOTSTEPS - THEN, PAUSE]

JFK JR: One last thing… what’s the town’s name?

BELDAM MATEO: I believe it’s … Uncanny Valley.

[TAPE ENDS]

VIKKI OTHER: … another one?

There’s another person like Leila here?

Oh my… this feels big. Why didn’t they answer our flyer? Were the afraid of revealing their truth? Of being cast out by a land that had not birthed them outright, not felt their first steps and heartbeats?

… but who would that be?

I can’t think of anyone else. I know I don’t know everyone, but I know a good chunk, and almost everyone here has families that go back enough generations for it to be impossible.

So who else is an Outlier?

Who is the other Leila Singh?

…

There’s 4 files on me.

One is an… arrest record. One a court record. One a record of my release.

And the fourth…

The fourth isn’t something I recognise.

It’s another audio file.

File three, Vikki Other.

[TYPING, CLICKING]

[FILE LOADS]

Recording starts.

[FINAL BUTTON CLICK]

SOMERSET: Begin log. Interview conducted by Phillip Somerset on… July 7th, 2010. Interview begins. Can I get your name and age?

MAXWELL GEARS: Maxwell Gears… 19?

SOMERSET: Good. Alright, Mx Gears. Now. Do you know why you’re here?

MAXWELL GEARS: …No. And please, just call me Max.

SOMERSET: Right. Well, Mx Gears, you’re here because we have some questions we’d like you to answer.

MAXWELL GEARS: I… where am I? How did I get here?

SOMERSET: Mild amnestics. You’ll have a couple more of those before you leave so you don’t remember any of this.

MAXWELL GEARS: … did I do something? I promise, I’m not criminal or anything, and my parents have been part of the town forever and never-

SOMERSET: trust me, we know everything about you. Age, weight, heart condition-

MAXWELL GEARS: Sorry,, heart condition?

SOMERSET: Just faulty wiring in the spring region. Don’t worry, it’s not your main concern. You should get those elbow bolts checked out though - they grew back improperly after your baby ones fell out and might need to be redrilled- But- that’s besides the point. You won’t remember anyway. We have questions.

[PAUSE]

SOMERSET: Please indicate you can hear us, Mr Gears.

MAXWELL GEARS: … okay.

SOMERSET: Right. Thank you. Let’s begin. I’m going to ask you questions, and I’d like you to answer them. Don’t lie. It won’t work. Can you do that?

MAXWELL GEARS:... yeah.

SOMERSET: Good. Question one: Where were you on June 13th, last month?

MAXWELL GEARS: What? I- [PAUSE, hesitant] Walking. Through the woods.

SOMERSET: Was anyone with you?

MAXWELL GEARS: Y-yeah. My friend, Anthony. I- [Deep breath] I’m guessing you’re asking about the kid, huh?

SOMERSET: If you could elaborate on that, yes. It would be very useful to our work.

MAXWELL GEARS: Right.

We were in a more sparse part of the woods - directly South of the Laughing Lake and east of the radio building, you know? Yeah. So, Brett had been supposed to come with us, but he’s off trying to get his weird ghost TV show greenlit. Mindy, Ant and I’s friend, wanted us to go get her a few types of bark for her poppets. Obviously, she couldn’t do it, wheelchair and all- But then, that’s when it got weird.

Things got really quiet. And then, my vision… switched. Like it was changing channels. It was a… cornfield. The sky was so blue. Cloudless. And golden corn up to my waist, stretching on for acres, to a forever distant line of trees. It was so, so… quiet. Uncanny. Surreal, maybe. I noticed a flash of colour, and realised there was a folded paper on the ground. I reached down, and I picked it up. It was one of those kid’s colouring book pages, with pictures of cute cryptids and scenes from the Bloody Bloody Fae Wars.

This one had a cosy bookshop and a cat to fill in. It had been left blank though, and instead, some kid had scribbled all over the back. A cow, a dark man with a crown of feathers. A girl in a red dress with… no face.

The wind came cold and like fingers on my neck. I shuddered. Then the field was gone, just like that, and we were back in the forest. Except… standing before us, there was this… house.

Not really even that. It was just a wooden platform and beams for walls. Not more than an outline, really. A skeleton. Inside, wrapped in this odd sort of chrysalis, was the kid.

It looked like it was sleeping, but I never got close enough to tell if it was breathing. There were vines trapping it to the pulsating earthy mass. Anthony was muttering, and I took a step closer, it was just so… weird.

The vines were thick and black, with green veins threaded through, glowing faintly. The kid looked normal, other than the whole odd pod they’d been strapped to. They had something clutched in their hand, letting out a loud static buzz, like a wasp or a cicada.

The hum… it dug into my brain. I wanted to get closer. Either to find out what it was, or just to find a way to turn it off. I couldn't pull away. Then Anthony screamed, and that snapped me out of it. He’d found a bunch of big black spiders and… well, he’s not the most courageous guy?

After that, things were… normal.

Is that enough?

SOMERSET: Yes, I believe so… one more- can you describe what the kid looked like?

MAXWELL GEARS: Um. Not really- I mean- shorter hair? Shorts and a t- shirt, I think? It was just a kid.

SOMERSET: …right.

MAXWELL GEARS: Hang on- I… I have the drawing still.

SOMERSET: You took it with you? It was tangible?

MAXWELL GEARS: Yeah. I don’t know how. Frankly… don’t want to.

SOMERSET: Oh.

MAXWELL GEARS: Here.

[RUSTLING OF PAPER]

MAXWELL GEARS: If you want more, you should ask Anthony. I mean, it’’s been a bit since I’ve heard from him, but he has a much better memory for these things.

SOMERSET: Yes. Well, I’m afraid that's out of the question. Anthony is… unavailable at the moment.

MAXWELL GEARS: I… unavai… [PANICKED] What did you do with him?

SOMERSET: Now, Mr Gears, there’s no need to get your wires in a twist-

MAXWELL GEARS: No. Don’t tell me what to do. I swear to god, if you did something to Anthony-

SOMERSET: Sanders? Knock him out.

MAXWELL GEARS: Don’t you dare, I will- agh! I…

[THUD]

SOMERSET: I’ll send for amnestics. For now… keep an eye on them.

SOMERSET: End log.

[TAPE ENDS]

VIKKI OTHER: And that’s related to… me? How is that related to-

[GASP]

VIKKI OTHER: Wait… that kid.

Is that…

Is that what it was like when I arrived? Black vines and…. I don’t remember any of that…

A field… drawings?

…

Something here is… something’s not right. I’m so close to it but… why won’t my mind let me solve this? What’s the missing link to unlock this mystical mystery?

I don’t know.

[DEEP BREATH]

But maybe this last tape does.

WBY-OGD-E

F:

Notes on the study of blood compounds seen in non-otherworld residents.

The following is a test run on samples of blood taken from six individuals: Three human Otherworld natives, two American-born Non-Otherworld humans, and one European-born non-otherworld native, formerly human.

Two of these individuals live in Uncanny Valley, one is from El Dorado, and one from Vineta. The last two are from Camelot, the capital city of Greater Adria.

It’s been found that blood-typing methods implemented for otherworld natives are unusable for other-world non-natives. While overlap can be seen in O blood types, non-O blood differs greatly.

While Otherworld natives often use XYOZ blood typing structures, with Z to represent a “Zero” for rarer null blood types.

Two of the non-natives had what we currently are classifying as AB blood. One had O. The non-human participant was… unusable due to the acidity.

Further testing will have to be conducted.

[TAPE ENDS]

VIKKI OTHER: I started trying to figure out what WBY-OGD-E could mean. OGD could be an anagram of GOD, but it also is the common acronym for… the Order Of the Golden Dawn. Our third government branch, before they ritualistically sealed themselves away in the library of Alexandria, never to be heard from again.

But that doesn’t make much sense…. Unless…

On my stringboard, we have 2 of the government branches listed - both from the dollar bill I found. The New World Order and the Illuminati. But what if this is the third connection? What if all of them are tied back to this America place, somehow? And what about this… European thing? Is that part of America too?

…

It seems possible.

…

Hang on.

The…

OH MY GOLLY GOODNESS TO THE GRACES.

THE BLOOD DRIVE.

THIS IS WHERE THE BLOOD WENT.

I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GODS. BUT NO. IT’S BLOOD FOR THE GOVERNMENT!

[THEY JUMP UP]

HA! TAKE THAT, GEORGE! TAKE THAT, STRINGBOARD! VIKKI OTHER IS ON THE CASE, MAKING CONNECTIONS AND KICKING BUTT! BECAUSE I’M JUST THAT AWES- oh golly, oh jeepers, okay- getting down from the table before I fall.

So this is it! That’s the tie-in!!

Our government somehow pulled people from this world into the Otherworld because of a political rivalry! That’s why the government symbols tie over - we used to have some sort of alliance with them. Then… then I think we started investigating them. But they broke free?

I don’t know. But I get it now. It was revenge, carried out by our government against America.

Oh my Illuminati.

I need to go find Ellie and tell her this- I don’t care if she’s done- she has to know about this-

[ SOUNDS OF SLAMMING DOORS, FOOTSTEPS]

VIKKI OTHER: ELLIE! ELLIE!! C’MON!!

Oh JELLYBEANS-

LIZZY: Vikki, there you are.

VIKKI OTHER: What the sweet candied petunias are you doing here?

LIZZY: Doesn’t matter. We need to talk.

[EPiSODE END]