In Darkness

This is the seventeenth episode of SAYER, and the fifth episode of Season Two. It also marks the first appearance of Amanda Jones.

Synopsis
Resident Amanda Jones, your years of work as a Level 1 Maintenance Worker have not gone unnoticed. Ærolith Dynamics is proud to present you with a frosted bakery item and a work day brimming with things to maintain.

Further Information
SAYER contacts Resident Amanda Jones on her way to Halcyon Tower's Stairwell G, in order to congratulate her for reaching her fifth anniversary of living and working on Typhon. To celebrate, she is promised a cupcake during her next recreation period, and is reminded not to share it because it has already been accounted for on her ration card (and that ration sharing is unacceptable besides).

Once at Stairwell G, SAYER notes that it is dark, but that it is probably best for Resident Jones to see it in this state before going about correcting it. It touches on the idea that the light sources on Typhon are designed not to burn out, and are superior to even the best light bulbs on Earth--so the cause must be a circuit rather than the light source itself. While Resident Jones gets a headlamp from her toolbox, SAYER muses on darkness and describes its sense of "vision" afforded by sensors. To that end, it provides a physical description of Resident Jones, including her current blood pressure and carrier status for haemophilia, and describes its vision as "quite clear" despite not having sight in the same way humans do.

SAYER guides Resident Jones toward the circuit needing repair, two floors below. As it begins to make an announcement, it is interrupted by static. When it speaks again, it informs Resident Jones that there seems to be an anomaly two floors below, similar to the one that had appeared previously in Stairwell F when it was unofficially renamed The Stairwell of Leng. At this moment, her headlamp also malfunctions.

An alert is issued that there is an anomaly in Stairwell G, between floors 87 and 88, and that all residents should avoid the area. Further, a research team has been dispatched and all residents will be required to vacate the area on their arrival.

Addressing Resident Jones again, SAYER says that Ærolith is aware of her desire to transfer away from tier 1 maintenance work, but that they are reluctant to move people out of these positions because so many are needed. However, this is of a lower priority than figuring out the anomalies, and given her outstanding record, Resident Jones is promoted to a tier 1 field researcher so that she may be tasked with investigating. It issues another alert ordering residents to disperse before urging Resident Jones to hurry to reach the anomaly before other residents arrive. It notes that the previous research team became unresponsive after their encounter with it and that it disrupts the sensors, so it is still unclear what the anomaly is.

When she has reached it, Resident Jones has her eyes closed and SAYER insists that she open them to describe what she sees. She begins to breathe heavily, and her heart rate and blood pressure increase, but she is unable to verbally report anything. Eventually, the chanting of the Church of Derleth can be heard, as well as banging on the stairwell door. SAYER advises Resident Jones to run, and encourages her to move downward, as residents above have managed to break a lock and enter the stairwell. It stops her, however, and redirects her back upwards when it realizes that there is something below which its scanners cannot recognize.

This means that she arrives in front of the anomaly again, and, this time, is drawn into the chanting. SAYER deems her unresponsive and says it will check back in with her later--and that her cupcake will be waiting.

Alerts
A public safety notice is issued to alert residents that the Halcyon medical staff have noticed that participants in the Aquatic Games (held in reactor five's cooling facility the previous week) have begun to exhibit a luminescent effect, approximately equivalent to a 20 watt bulb. It is likely that affected residents will be reassigned to areas where this glow will help reduce power consumption, and the medical staff assures there will be no further side effects.

Trivia

 * Resident Jones has been approximately four to five minutes early for every assignment she has ever received, and her expected arrival times for her assignments have been adjusted four minutes and thirty-two seconds as a result.
 * This episode takes place 63 days after the anomaly first appeared in Stairwell F.

Credits
SAYER is voiced and produced by Adam Bash.

This episode was written by Jonah Gregory.

Intro and outro music composed by Jesse “Main Finger” Gregory.

Additional music by Kai Engel.

Listen to the episode here.