Vol. 1

0:00

[static]

["The Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa plays, it is a cheery and triumphant marching band song]

0:00

[static]

A graphic resembling a roman numeral clock has a banner in it that says, "Tempus Fugit." Underneath, the text in all caps says, "United States Department of Temporal Phenomena." Below the clock, it says, "Est. 1981."

[music]

Text on screen reads, "an unforeseen threat," in all caps and underlined.

Distorted AI Voice: We are currently recieving countless reports of an identified hostile organism that we'll refer to as Alternates.

There is a stick figure silhouette of a man, labeled, "Alternate."

Distorted AI Voice: Until we have a complete understanding of the threat, it's important to stay home, lock all doors and windows, and have access to a loaded firearm or any ranged weapons at all times.

There is an silhouette of a house, labeled "stay home"; a silhouette of a key, labeled, "secure all entrances"; and a silhouette of a rifle, labeled, "self defense."

Distorted AI Voice: You will know if an Alternate exists based solely on their physical characteristics.

A silhouette stick figure is seen.

Distorted AI Voice: If you see another person that looks identical to you, run away and hide.

The silhouette of the person is on the left, labeled, "real." A double sided arrow points to both them and a semi-transparent silhouette, which is labeled, "Alternate."

Distorted AI Voice: If you see a person that has a biologically impossible characteristic, run away and hide.

Three silhouettes are seen. The first has impossibly long arms that extend beyond the bottom of the screen. The second has an incredibly large head. The third is upside down.

Distorted AI Voice: If one manages to break into your home, refrain of any kind of communication or contact with the threat.

The semi-transparent figure, labeled, "Alternate," is seen inside, with the door to the right. A person hides underneath a dining table with chairs on both sides.

Distorted AI Voice: These intelligent lifeforms utilize elements of psychological warfare to take advantage of their victims.

The alternate figure is seen in the center, with blocked out words in their speech bubbles. Stick figures are seen bowing and crying to the Alternate.

Distorted AI Voice: While we heavily discourage any form of contact or communication with the Alternate, we make exceptions for attempts to executing them yourself.

At first, a stick figure stands alone. Then, it is labeled, "real," as it points a gun to the Alternate stick figure.

1:09

[static]

1:14

[music]

Text onscreen, in all caps, reads, "In the event of an Alternate encounter, follow the 'THINK' principle." There is a sound of a tape changing everytime to text changes. The text now is titled, "The T.H.I.N.K principle."

It says, "Tell: an authority figure about your encounter / Hinder: the alternate's movement / Identify: the class type / Neutralize: the alternate (if safe to do so)."

1:46

[silence]

The text says, "Kill Yourself: there's not enough room for the two of us."

1:51

[music]

Static, and then the text says, "Know Your Place: in reality."

Now, it says, "Know your enemy," in all caps and is underlined.

It says, "Type One: Doppergänger." It shows two pictures, showing two different people who look similar. The first pair are feminine, with thick dark hair. The second pair are masculine, with short brown hair.

Finally, it says, "Type Three," again, it shows pairs of people. The first shows a feminine person with long dark hair, next to them is someone with no face. The second shows a masculine person with very short dark hair, the figure next to him as their entire face shrouded in shadow, except for its very large eyes.

After static, the video bluescreens as the tape switches.

2:43

[white noise]

A picture of Mark Heathcliffe, labeled, "victim one," and Cesar Torres, labeled, "victim two." Their dialogue is written as captions above their respective picture. The background is black.

[phone dialing]

Cesar: Hey, it’s Cesar. I hope it’s not too late.

Mark: No, it’s fine, don’t worry. What’s up, are you alright?

Cesar: Yeah, it’s not me, it’s my mom. She’s knocked out cold and I have no idea why. I’m on my way to the ER, but can you do me a favor?

Mark: Yeah, of course. What is it?

Cesar: I just need you to come over and turn on the cameras we have set up. You know the ones we installed after we were robbed?

Mark: Oh, yeah. Would you mind if I asked why?

Cesar: Well.. she screamed really loud right before I found her on the ground. I—I just…

Mark: Well, do you have your doors and windows locked? Like what the broadcast told us to do.

Cesar: Yeah, that’s the weird part. Maybe she saw something, I don’t—I don’t know.

Mark: Alright, I mean, it shouldn’t be too bad. I’m just gonna switch them on and get outta there though. You know how I feel about your house.

Cesar: Yeah, that’s fine. One last thing, try to get a good view of the back—[glitches]

Mark's photo disappears while Cesars begins to loop as it moved up. It is then replaced by a shadowy face with a wide unsettling grin. The photos then return to normal.

Mark: ..Okay..?

Cesar: Alright, I gotta go—I’m almost at the hospital, thank you.

[phone clicks off]

4:26

The video fades to black before showing grayscale footage and audio of a car driving and pulling into a driveway.

[crickets]

[car door opens]

The video is black, except for static.

[white noise]

Several shots seen from a security camera. The first is of a staircase leading to a basement. The second shows what appears to be a gravestone shaped figure outside. The third shows a hallway. The sound of a door opening is heard as the screen shows the staircase again. It switches to outside shot with strange mechanical sounds.

Text shows up on screen, in all caps, it says, "motion detected at 03:31 am, recording start." It shows the hallway, then the staircase, and then the outside. The gravestone shaped figure now looks humanoid and is bent over. It shows the hallway again, a faint glass shatter can be heard, then the staircase, and the figure outside now look normal, with the faint sound of crickets. The hallway door is now open.

Text on screen, in all caps, says, "sound increase detected at 05:34 am, recording start."

6:51

Concerned Friend (presumably): Who are you? G-get away from me! No—[glitch]

The images of Mark and Cesar return, as Cesar's photo gets stretched and distorted. The background briefly becomes white before the enitre screen turns dark, except for a pair of wide eyes where Cesar's photo was. The screen turns completely dark before text on screen says, in all caps, "it followed me home, Cesar."

7:11

A video recording taken from Mark—on September 13th, 1992 at 10:30 PM—shows him zooming in on his bedroom door as the Alternate outside taunts him.

Alternate: [glitch] Come here, Mark. I have a gift for you-you-you! I have a presen-en-en-ent! I have a surprise! I will not hurt—

It switches to text in all caps that says, "I do not want to see what is on the other side. But it has been days. And nobody has come to help me."

[white noise]

7:51

Another video recording from Mark, now on September 15th, 1992.

[door creaks open]

Alternate: [laughing that grows more and more maniacal]

Mark: You fucking bastard!

[gun shot]

The entire screen turns bright red.

Text that reads, "uh oh! bad decision, mark!" in all lowercase.

[beeping]

[white noise]

8:12

It is now 10:59, on the same day. The recording is pitch black at first, then comes the sound of footsteps. But once the footsteps stop, a grainy image of someone's face is seen staring deeply into the camera with wide unsettling eyes.

[heavy breathing]

8:43

[phone dial up]

Phone Automatic Message: [beep] If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and try again. If you need help, hang up, and then dial your operator. [beep] If you’d like to make a call, please hang up and try again. If you need help, hang up, and then—

8:58

[rapid beeping]

Mark is seen laying on his bed, gun in hand. His face is blocked out by a large black rectangle. Text on top of him in all caps says, "nobody came for me."

The video bluescreens as the tapes are switched out.

9:13

The video starts with text that says, "attention," in all caps, bright red font. Underneath it in smaller, white font, says, "Viewing of the following footage is illegal and punishable by law if not previously cleared with your assisstant. If you have access to this recording and are not part of your local authority, please stop the video and discard of the tape immediatly."

[beep]

The text, in all caps, says, "Mandela County Police Department Training Video."

It then says, "Position: Call Operator."

Distorted AI Voice: While at the station, a situation may occur where the local 911 dispatchers run out of operators to handle calls, so they are given to us instead.

The text on screen writes out all of the dialogue. Paired with a silhouette of a phone with an arrow that points to a police badge.

Distorted AI Voice: There are three, and only three scenarios, that you will handle with a caller.

The text on screen says, in all caps, "the three common emergencies."

Distorted AI Voice: When a caller needs the police, send available personnel to the address.

First, text on screen says, "Police." Then a clip of a police car driving is seen.

Distorted AI Voice: When the caller has a fire related emergency, contact our neighboring department with an address and a brief description of the event.

Underneath "police," says, "fire." A clip of a firetruck driving out is seen.

Distorted AI Voice: When the caller has a medical emergency, immediately contact the Mandela Community Hospitalllll [glitch].

Underneath both is, "medical." An ambulance is seen driving until the glitch. Where the screen briefly turns black before turning bright blue with the word, "error" in the center.

Distorted AI Voice: Here at the Mandela County Police Department, we thank you for viewing this instruction—[glitch]

The video appears back to normal with the three emergencies written out until the glitch, where text at the bottom of the screen says, "encounter."

10:46

[static]

The text now says, "Do not help a caller reporting an alternate encounter. No matter how frantic their screams are. Calmly reassure the caller that help is on the way. The call can be ended when they stop responding to your questions. Do not speak too much. You might accidently reveal your fear."

[white noise]

11:13

Distorted AI Voice: Nothing is worth the risk. Nothing is worth the risk. Nothing is worth the risk. Nothing is worth the risk. Nothing is worth the risk. Nothing is worth the—

11:18

[white noise]

Black text against a white background, in all caps, reads, "Toddler Stress Assessment Video." Underneath it, in a smaller font, says, "Record your child's responses to the following media."

The text, says, "Section one." During each audio, the text, says, "[Audio Play]" in all caps. After each audio, the text says, "Record Response."

[tape placed in]

[bird chirps]

[tape taken out]

[tape placed in]

[baby laughing]

[tape taken out]

[tape placed in]

[sheep baa]

[tape taken out]

Instead of saying, "record response," the text at the bottom says, "daddy didnt tuck me in." Now, the text is at the top and says, "and there is a man in the closet."

The video glitches.

12:26

[white noise]

[several page turns]

Now shown is a series of drawings and writing, some with typos. The first says, "the scary night, by: Mark, age: 4." The second says, "school: Mandela elementary school. grade: 4k." The third says, "daddy didn't check under my bed last night." The fourth says, "so I went to mommy's room." The fifth says, "I was scared. there was scary knocking on the door." The sixth says, "and the scariest part is walking by the dark room by the stairs." The seventh is a drawing of a dark doorway by the stairs, with an arrow pointing to it, labeled, "scary." There is a stick figure on top of the stairs, labeled, "me." The eighth says, "almost at mommy's room. Then I saw the man in the corner." The ninth shows a childish drawing of a smiling man in a dark hood, he is labeled, "him." The tenth says, "and then I fell asleep. The end!!!!"

[static]

13:46

The video moves onto "Section Two."

[several beeps]

A series of pictures are shown, switching at every beep. They show: a gray cat, a family, and a blue balloon.

[low pitched beep]

The dark doorway by the stairs is shown.

[knocking]

The man Mark drew is now seen on screen accompanied with the text, "an intruder."

[white noise]

The video ends with the text saying, "Module Complete," in all caps. Underneath it, it says, "If anything unexpected occured during the test, let your advisor know immediately."