Chapter Text
[CLICK]
MARTIN
[Quietly] S-Statement of…
[SHAKY SIGH]
…
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MARTIN
St…
…
S-St…
[CHOKED, MUFFLED SOBBING]
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MARTIN
…
[LOUDER, CLEARER SOBBING]
…
[CLICK]
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BASIRA
Statement of Basira Hussain, 25th October, regarding the events after the world ended.
[CHAIR CREAKS]
Statement begins.
BASIRA (STATEMENT)
Everyone remembers. It’s been a week since… well. The people — the Watched — they remember. They remember their Watchers, the avatars. I don’t know if J— if the plan was successful, if the Fears are no longer in this reality or not. Nothing feels different.
The only difference is that the avatars that survived the apocalypse have apparently become powerless. Simon Fairchild, an avatar of the Vast, was brutally murdered by an angry mob, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. I don’t know if it’s because of the Fears leaving this world, or because the change back has weakened them.
The Magnus Institute has been reduced to rubble. There was almost nothing salvageable left. Melanie, Georgie and I explored the remains not even a day after. I was sifting through the remains alongside Georgie, and I found a tape recorder underneath a piece of debris, which surprisingly still worked. I turned it on, hoping it might give me… something. A sign, I guess…? I don’t know.
It didn’t. We said a few words, I turned it off and put it in one of the bags we had brought to keep anything we found. Other than the tape recorder, there wasn’t much. There were a couple books that were being stored in Artefact Storage, I believe. None of us touched them, we’re not stupid. We don’t know for sure if the Fears are gone, and I’m not about to get cursed by a Leitner to find out.
Shortly after putting away the tape recorder, Georgie yelled for me. I ran over as quickly as I could, nearly tripping on a large piece of debris on the way. As I neared, it seemed as if she had found a body, pinned under the rubble. As Georgie and I cleared the debris off of them, we realized two things; one, that it was Martin, and two, that he was still alive — and hurt badly. I immediately yelled for Melanie to call an ambulance.
The ambulance arrived quickly, thankfully. People were still disoriented from the apocalypse, but it was like… as if you were startled awake from a bad dream. You’re not there anymore, and you still have to get out of bed and go to work, but your mind lingers on the nightmare the rest of the day. So, it wasn’t as if society had completely come to a halt after the apocalypse.
Anyway, Martin had bruises over one whole side of his body, as well as a large gash on his right shoulder. It looked like his injuries were from the debris. None of them were extensive enough to explain why he had that much blood covering him — but he won’t talk about it. Considering there’s still no sign of Jon, they are very likely connected, but…
All Martin will say about the matter is that Jon is dead. He says it with a sad sort of confidence. I think he knows something we don’t, but I don’t want to press it. I know how hard it is to… have a loved one die. And considering the amount of blood on him when we found him, I think maybe Jon had done something incredibly stupid before his death.
Best not to dwell on it, though. What’s done is done, and we never found Jon’s body in the rubble. Martin is healing well from his injuries, and laying low in case anyone from his… domain comes after him. We talked a bit, right after he was discharged from the hospital. I took him to his flat, since he was adamant against taking public transport. I asked why, and he told me. He didn’t want anyone to recognize him.
He described his domain in a way that reminded me of Jon. I bet Jon was the one who told him about it. Considering how small it was, and how little he was actually there, I don’t think Martin’s in any real danger. The people in his domain… I doubt they’re the type of person to seek him out and kill him. I don’t know — maybe they are. But I’m hoping they aren’t.
I asked him if he wanted to come with me, Georgie, and Melanie, you know. I asked him probably five times, and he declined every time. Just… for the record, we’re not abandoning him. We just… need to get away for a while. From London. Rosie’s coming with us, too, and some people from Artefact Storage. Rosie’s friends. We’re actually taking a trip to America — going to go see all of the popular landmarks on the East Coast. It was Rosie’s idea, and she invited us all to come along.
I don’t want to leave Martin alone, but… he needs some time, I think. I know I do — did, after Daisy. I understand. I’ve given him my number, in case he needs anything from me while in America. Although we weren’t really the best of friends during my time in the Institute… He’s not a bad person. He’s just… broken, now. Like I said. I understand. I didn’t tell him that, but I think he knows. I’m the only one he’ll talk to about the apocalypse — he’ll shut down if it’s anyone else.
They’re rebuilding the Institute, by the way. I don’t know who the Head is, now, but from what I’ve heard, Elias didn’t make any plans except for Peter Lukas, and they’re both dead now, so. I suppose there will be someone new. Martin told me he wants to stay, and continue working in the Archives. I asked if that was a good idea, and he didn’t respond.
I don’t think it’s a good idea, and I told him that, but he seems set on it. Maybe he’ll come around after he’s grieved a bit more. Although, whoever’s keeping the Institute running called him yesterday, and asked if he wanted the job. He didn’t tell me that, but I got the same call, since I was the only other archival assistant on record who… wasn’t considered dead by the police.
I’m assuming he’ll be appointed Head Archivist, considering he’s the only one left out of us who’s still working there. I really, really don’t think it’ll be good for him. He needs… he needs closure. I hope continuing that work gives him that, at least, but I doubt it will. It wouldn't, for me.
I… don’t know what I’m going to do after our trip to America. Certainly not go back to the police force. I guess I’ll figure it out. Maybe… maybe I’ll help Martin, if he hasn’t realized being Head Archivist is a stupid idea by then. Keep an eye on him, at least. Make sure he isn’t doing something… drastic.
I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Other than a nearly worldwide hunt for avatars in people's spare time, the world is basically back to normal. Like I said, it feels as if we just woke up from a nightmare. Some people are denying it happened, some people are creating religious cults about it. There’s a popular Internet forum talking about people’s experiences. It’s organized with Smirke’s Fourteen, so I suppose someone who knew what was going on made it.
The… the website is… unsettling, sometimes. Obviously people’s experiences with the apocalypse would be unsettling, but I mean… I’ve looked at the forums of people in that Eye domain. The Eye domain. Jon… They know. The Eye told them about—about the Archivist, how he ended the world. They don’t know everything, but… they know enough to hate him. They know enough to want him dead. I’m almost glad he already is. Almost.
There’s one other thing, though. The website… the formatting is… unusual. There’s regular forums where people discuss things, but remember how I said earlier people talk about their experiences? There’s a form they fill out and post. There’s — there’s no other way to say this. The website calls them statements.
I don’t know what this means. Neither does Martin. I tried to suggest to him that maybe the Fears weren’t gone, and that Jon wasn't… but Martin immediately denied it. He said he couldn’t give himself false hope. I don’t know. I want to believe that maybe it’s a coincidence, but… I don’t know. Maybe another Eye avatar organized it so they could feed. If the Fears haven’t left, of course. Maybe people just… knew that’s what they’re supposed to be called, like how they know the Archivist is the reason for the world’s end.
BASIRA
That’s about it, I suppose. Statement ends.
[A LOUD KNOCK ON THE DOOR]
Come in!
MARTIN
[DOOR SWINGS OPEN]
Oh — are you still —
BASIRA
Just finished, actually.
MARTIN
O-oh. Good.
…
Thanks, by the way. For doing this.
BASIRA
You’re welcome. As long as I never have to do it again.
MARTIN
Trust me, you, you won’t. I just…
BASIRA
[Softly] Yeah.
…
[CHAIR SCRAPES ACROSS THE FLOOR]
MARTIN
I-I just, I’m sorry for… for making you do it. I couldn’t —
BASIRA
It’s alright, I kind of wanted to talk about it anyway. Besides, I like the tape recorder better than that stupid forum.
MARTIN
[Soft laugh] Y-Yeah. I get that.
BASIRA
…
[Awkwardly] Do you want, um…
MARTIN
Hm?
BASIRA
Never mind. How are you feeling?
MARTIN
…
[Considering] Okay, I think.
BASIRA
‘Okay’ is good.
MARTIN
Yeah. [Softer] Yeah.
BASIRA
You can still come with us, you know. We still have the plane tickets.
MARTIN
[Slightly alarmed] W-What? I thought I told you to cancel those! That’s like, a couple hundred at least — let me pay you back.
BASIRA
It’s alright, Rosie can manage. She’s practically a millionaire. Eli— um, she got a lot of money from the Institute.
MARTIN
Still.
…
I don’t... I don’t want to go. I’m sorry.
BASIRA
[Sigh] Alright. Suit yourself.
MARTIN
But — uh, if you… if you would send me some pictures, maybe.
BASIRA
I can do that.
MARTIN
Good. Cool.
[LONG PAUSE]
Are you… still recording…?
BASIRA
Oh — I forgot about that. I’m so used to them turning off on their own.
MARTIN
[Soft chuckle] Yeah.
[CLICK]
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MARTIN
Basira left to, um, to go pack.
I hope they all have a good time in America. They’ll be gone, uh, until…
[PAGE FLIPS]
Until November 1st. [Chuckles] Staying for Halloween, I guess. Although, I doubt anyone is going to do Halloween this year.
…
[CHAIR CREAKS LOUDLY]
I, I… [Shaky sigh] I don’t think the Fears are gone. I don’t have any proof, it’s just a hunch, but…
The, um, the website, that Basira mentioned. It doesn’t say anything about specifically the apocalypse, the only rules are that your experience has to be genuine. At first, people just wrote about their time in their domains…
Now they’re discussing other things. Now that… now that people are more likely to believe them, they’ve started… talking about it.
I’m going to keep watch over the website for a while, at least until the Institute is back up and running. If there are any new… statements, I suppose, ones that have happened after the, um, the apocalypse, then…
I guess there’s no way to tell if the statements are true or not, though.
Unless… unless they corrupt if I record them on my computer.
[Sigh] I’ll do some tests, I guess.
…
[SHAKY BREATHING]
I… I miss…
[LOUD EXHALE, FOLLOWED BY A SNIFF]
I, I’m, I’m sorry. I can’t… I can’t…
…
I’ll… tomorrow. [More confidently] I’ll talk about it tomorrow.
[ANOTHER SNIFF]
Um… I should. I’m going to go to the store. Buy some flowers. I don’t know—I, um, I don’t know which kind h-he likes. [Voice breaks] Liked. I’ll just… I…
The, the Institute, um. About three days after the end of the apocalypse, every missing person w-was declared dead. The Institute paid f-for the gravestones, for Daisy and… [Trails off]
Usually it takes a few months for a gravestone, but… I guess the Institute thought it best to keep the graves unmarked. Otherwise, otherwise people might… um. No one really likes the Archivist, so. It’s not like there’s a b-body anyway. Just a formality.
…
I haven’t gone yet. I’ll… tomorrow. Tomorrow.
…