Drama

Fairy Tale Frequencies, drawing, Kaci O'Brien

Cipher by Eugene Channell and Gwen Brodsky

Characters:

Arthur Malik (AM)- A man going insane trying to decrypt the number station.

Calypso Webber (CW) - The girl on the receiving end of the radio.

Uriel Sabastion Brodsky (USB) - A humarian activist who was assassinated.

Francis Moore (FM) - Suspect for the murder of Uriel.

GWEN’S BASEMENT

Establishing a shot of the room at the back wall. Room is dark, only illuminated by moonlight and a computer screen. The news begins to play

VO

Breaking news, humanitarian activist Uriel Sabastion Brodsky was assassinated at 8:36 pm in the Asheville Motel 30 minutes outside of Memphis. Mr. Brodsky was coming home from a speech when a bullet pierced through the door. Authorities have brought a man named Francis Moore into custody as the lead suspect -

The recording cuts out. The instrumental to Daisy Bell begins to play followed by a voice naming these numbers: “.. / -.- -. --- .-- / - .... . .. .-. / -. .- -- . .-.-.-”

VO

71548 48082 04749 74887 97814 38581 67027 59262 53997 91821 19379 77936 03234 79015 07103 15620 96575 65018 27019 81029 72394 63480 73887 43396 43758 26907 38295 52761 99231 10281 01854 39004 14897 84158 88315 50749 73278 34140 25758 18176 93962 83417 72102 01371 11550 69476 79030 28103 63028 05081 49941 18927 20738 69016 18191 64222 01299 75197 34610 38142

While the numbers are playing. ARTHUR looks at the radio with a confused expression, picks up the radio and tries to inspect it, then finally takes out a tape recorder and presses play.

ARTHUR

Hey Calypso, I know you’re interested in strange technology happenings and I think I might got something for ya. So my radio station has been on the fritz recently and switching frequencies on the fly. I was listening to a news report when it randomly cut to a string of numbers. Doing some research into this, it is apparently a technique in which governments send encrypted messages to each other through radio frequencies. I got an audio recording of these numbers and I’ll try to catch the station again when it comes back on. I want to see if I can crack this code, just to see what it is. Let me know if you want more updates, this is something I’d like to pursue so I’d be happy to keep you into the loop. See ya.

ARTHUR (CONT.)

Hey Calypso. You told me to send you updates on the odd station thing so here I go. Apparently these things are called number stations and they are quite common. And.. I bought another radio, so far it hasn’t picked up anything but I got hope. As far as cracking the codes goes, I found out there are these things known as “One Time Pads” OTPs for short. If I can figure out the one time pad I can also figure out what the message means. My guess? It has something to do with the assassination of the political activist that I was listening to when the radio malfunctioned. I’m going to get back to work though, see ya!

ARTHUR (CONT.)

Hey Calypso. Guess what I got, a word. “And” right in the middle of the sequence. What does this mean? I don’t know! But it means I’m on a good track. I’ve been doing a lot more research on our government recently. Between the pentagon papers, the iran-contra affair, and even Watergate, it seems more and more likely the government is hiding secrets in these numbers. But I need to crack these codes to figure out what exactly is going on. I’m glad you’re here with me for this. See ya.

ARTHUR (CONT.)

Hey Calypso. I made a huge discovery! Another station. It seems as if the government is using multiple channels to convey this information. If I’m able to isolate all of them, I can work towards cracking all of them. So… I may have bought a few more radios. I know it’s a bad investment but this is more than an investment! This is history. I should probably get back to work. See ya.

ARTHUR (CONT.)

Hey Calypso. Nothing. No progress. I’ve tried code after code on station after station but nothing works. Still just “And.” But I got that, there has to be something greater beyond the numbers. I know I haven’t been at work recently but I swear a loss of a job isn’t the worst in the grand scheme of things. See ya.

ARTHUR (CONT.)

Hey Calypso. No updates. I’ve tried 263 OTPs. I’m tired.

ARTHUR (CONT.)

Charge! The word Charge! “And Charge”. The government is going to charge you! Charge us in currency? In a militant fashion? Who knows! But we need to prepare ourselves Calypso!

CALYPSO
Arthur.

ARTHUR
I’m glad you’re here for this discovery.

CALYPSO

Arthur, I’ve done some digging.

ARTHUR

What did you find? What did you find that I do not know? Tell me Calypso.

CALYPSO

Every resource I’ve looked at said that these pads were basically impossible to decrypt.

ARTHUR

That’s wrong. I know it's wrong. I did it. And charge. That's why I know it's wrong. You are wrong, Calypso. Well, lied to, but still wrong. I need someone to listen to me here. I’ve spent hours of my time doing this, with proof! And still you don’t believe me?

CALYPSO

Frankly Arthur, I don’t. I need you to calm down and listen to yourself. We can never know-

ARTHUR

YES! YES WE CAN. YOU DON”T KNOW ANYTHING.

[Arthur hangs up the phone and begins to violently sob]

71548 48082 04749 74887 97814 38581 67027 59262 53997 91821 19379 77936 03234 79015 07103 15620 96575 65018 27019 81029 72394 63480 73887 43396 43758 26907 38295 52761 99231 10281 01854 39004 14897 84158 88315 50749 73278 34140 25758 18176 93962 83417 72102 01371 11550 69476 79030 28103 63028 05081 49941 18927 20738 69016 18191 64222 01299 75197 34610 38142