When the Ancient Gods Return | "They Have Been They Will Be" Audio Drama

0:00 Speaker 1: Hi, this is Winslow.

0:01 Speaker 2: This is Crimson.

0:02 Speaker 1: And if you like what we're doing, hit the like button. And if you want to hear more, subscribe. And please share it to all your friends. Everybody, everybody.

0:29 Speaker 3: With this key, you unlock the world to your dreams. What lies beyond could be the doorway to nightmare. Come in. Welcome. I'm your host for the Doorway to Nightmare. Have you ever looked up at the night sky, the billions of stars that surround our planet and the galaxy? Have you ever wondered, in the vastness of space, what could be out there? Nice.

1:29 Speaker 1: And this is why you called me up here?

1:32 Speaker 2: I know, I know. It sounds fantastic, Leo. But the math doesn't lie. I've checked the figures over and over again.

1:39 Speaker 1: Look, Pamela, you are one of the brightest and most brilliant astronomers that I know of. You actually believe that this meteor is heading towards the Earth?

1:53 Speaker 2: It's not a question of is it heading towards us. The question is, what is it?

1:59 Speaker 1: I don't understand. That's why I.

2:00 Speaker 2: Called you, Leo. I don't think it's a meteor at all.

2:03 Speaker 1: Then what is it?

2:06 Speaker 2: Something much, much worse.

2:12 Speaker 3: Our mystery drama, They Have Been, They Will Be, was written especially for Doorway to Nightmare by Winslow Swan and edited by Crimson McKenzie. Our stars, Brenna Faith, Crimson McKenzie, and Winslow Swan. It is sponsored in part by Swanage Press. I'll be back shortly with Act One. Act One Astronomy is a very specialized field in the world of science. It takes approximately nine years to fully educate and prepare oneself to look up into the night sky.

3:08 Speaker 2: Jennifer, do you have last night's photos?

3:10 Speaker 4: Yes, Dr.

3:11 Speaker 2: Howler.

3:11 Speaker 4: I mapped out section 274 this afternoon.

3:14 Speaker 2: Thank you, Jen. What would I do without you?

3:18 Speaker 4: Run screaming into the night?

3:20 Speaker 2: You're probably right.

3:21 Speaker 4: I was also able to contact Dr. Fairfax. He said that he could be here this evening around 10.

3:26 Speaker 2: Oh, I almost forgot.

3:28 Speaker 4: How do you know Dr. Fairfax?

3:30 Speaker 2: He was the head of Polymar when I interned there. Leo and I became close friends, and he always told me to contact him if I ever had a problem.

3:38 Speaker 4: Do we have a problem?

3:40 Speaker 1: I'm not sure.

3:43 Speaker 2: Did you also get batch 183 developed?

3:46 Speaker 4: I left them on your desk as you requested.

3:48 Speaker 2: Thank you, Jen. I need to take a look at them before Leo arrives.

3:58 Speaker 1: Ah, Pamela, Pamela. How is my favorite intern doing on such a beautiful evening?

4:05 Speaker 2: Oh, Leo. It's so good of you to come on such a short notice.

4:10 Speaker 3: Oh, Pamela.

4:11 Speaker 1: I don't spend much time these days stargazing, unless it's in my backyard.

4:18 Speaker 2: You mean they finally bring you off of Palomar?

4:20 Speaker 1: Oh, no, no. I'm still the head honcho there. I just don't get to look into the big eye as much as I would like to.

4:31 Speaker 2: Their pet name for the telescope. I'm surprised that it's still in use.

4:35 Speaker 1: Well, the Hubble is fine, but I still prefer to gaze at the galaxy through the big eye.

4:42 Speaker 2: Not much for the digital age, are you, Leo?

4:45 Speaker 1: I still don't know how to send an email.

4:50 Speaker 2: Still the same old Dr. Fairfax I used to get coffee for.

4:55 Speaker 1: Speaking of which.

4:56 Speaker 2: Way ahead of you. Here you are. Three sugars, two creams.

4:59 Speaker 3: You remembered.

5:04 Speaker 1: Delicious. Now tell me, what was so urgent that you needed me here tonight?

5:11 Speaker 2: It's almost 1113. We have already opened the dome and the computer is taking tonight's readings.

5:16 Speaker 1: What is so special about 1113?

5:20 Speaker 2: I want you to see it for yourself.

5:22 Speaker 1: Have you discovered some new star that we can name after you?

5:27 Speaker 2: I'm not quite sure what I have discovered. All that I do know for certainty is that it is heading straight for Earth.

5:43 Speaker 5: We have the coordinates programmed in, Dr.

5:45 Speaker 2: Haller. Thank you, Jennifer. Oh, this is Jennifer Maynard. She's up for her master's and is interning here. Jen, this is Dr. Leo Fairfax.

5:54 Speaker 4: It's an honor to meet you, sir.

5:56 Speaker 1: Oh, the pleasure is all mine. Now, what am I supposed to be looking at?

6:01 Speaker 2: I don't want to simply point it out.

6:04 Speaker 1: The student becomes the teacher, eh?

6:06 Speaker 2: Just look in the southern quadrant.

6:09 Speaker 1: All right.

6:12 Speaker 3: Hmm.

6:13 Speaker 1: I don't see anything unusual.

6:17 Speaker 2: Keep looking.

6:17 Speaker 4: 45 seconds.

6:19 Speaker 1: What happens in 45? Just keep looking. I still don't see... Wait. What is that?

6:31 Speaker 4: 1113 on the dot, Dr.

6:34 Speaker 1: Haller. Why, it's incredible. It seems to be glowing a green... Wait, wait. What happened?

6:44 Speaker 2: What did you see, Leo?

6:46 Speaker 1: I'm not sure. But whatever it was, it has simply vanished.

7:03 Speaker 2: I think you might need a little something stronger than coffee.

7:09 Speaker 1: Oh, thank you. Now tell me, What exactly did I see?

7:14 Speaker 2: First, I want you to take a look at these. I'm giving them to you in reverse order.

7:21 Speaker 1: It's the same thing. Exactly.

7:23 Speaker 2: And it's getting closer to Earth by the day.

7:26 Speaker 1: A comet? Or a meteor?

7:29 Speaker 2: That's what we thought, at first.

7:32 Speaker 1: When was first?

7:33 Speaker 2: About two weeks ago. Jennifer was monitoring that part of the sky when the telescope first picked it up. Of course, when she came to me, the thing was already gone. After a few days, we realized that it only appears at 1113. And then, for no known scientific reason, it simply vanishes. As if it had never been there to start.

7:56 Speaker 1: You do realize that what you are saying is quite impossible.

8:01 Speaker 2: Don't you think I know that? But the pictures and the math don't lie.

8:05 Speaker 1: So, Pamela, what do you think that it is?

8:08 Speaker 2: Take a look at the pictures again.

8:10 Speaker 1: Alright, but what am I supposed to be?

8:13 Speaker 2: Look at them very carefully.

8:15 Speaker 1: I still don't understand.

8:18 Speaker 3: Wait.

8:20 Speaker 1: But that is impossible.

8:21 Speaker 2: What do you see now?

8:22 Speaker 1: It's just not possible. Whatever that thing is, it seems to be changing its shape.

8:32 Speaker 3: Exactly!

8:33 Speaker 2: We know that a meteor will rotate and we can get a different angle, but completely change its shape?

8:39 Speaker 1: Have you talked to anyone else about this?

8:41 Speaker 2: If you mean NASA or the White House, forget it. That's why I called you first. They would never believe me.

8:48 Speaker 1: What are those things surrounding this shape?

8:52 Speaker 2: In my honest opinion, they appear to be something like... like tentacles.

8:59 Speaker 1: Oh, gases exploding from the meteor?

9:03 Speaker 2: Gases that keep their shape? And is it just me, or Does that resemble an eye?

9:22 Speaker 3: Astronomy is probably the few exact sciences in the world today. Using mathematical equations and measurements, over 90% of the known galaxy has been mapped. But what, you may ask, could lie in the unknown 10%? I'll be back shortly with that too. Stephen Hawking once said, Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Try to make sense of what you see and wonder about what makes the universe exist. Be curious.

10:19 Speaker 4: It's almost 11.13, Doctor.

10:21 Speaker 2: Thank you, Jen. Well, Leo, would you like to do the honors tonight?

10:26 Speaker 1: I believe so. Are all of the video stations running?

10:30 Speaker 4: Yes, Doctor.

10:32 Speaker 1: Why don't you just call me Leo? There are too many doctors around here. All right, Leo.

10:39 Speaker 4: Two minutes before our friend appears.

10:41 Speaker 1: Pamela, have you given it a name yet?

10:44 Speaker 2: Not really. Its designation is XY.

10:48 Speaker 4: Almost time. Wonder what it will look like tonight.

10:51 Speaker 2: Anything, Leo?

10:53 Speaker 1: Not yet. Perhaps it has somehow changed its course. Oh, there you are. Can we get a little more magnification?

11:05 Speaker 4: Coming right up. I'm increasing it ten times.

11:07 Speaker 3: Ah, yes.

11:09 Speaker 1: There it is. What the hell is that?

11:15 Speaker 2: What do you see?

11:16 Speaker 1: No.

11:16 Speaker 4: No.

11:18 Speaker 1: It can't be!

11:20 Speaker 2: Now I need a drink.

11:37 Speaker 4: Here are the latest pics. I've also transferred the video to your station in here.

11:41 Speaker 2: Thank you, Jen.

11:42 Speaker 4: Pamela, may I ask you something?

11:44 Speaker 2: Of course.

11:45 Speaker 4: What do you think that it is?

11:46 Speaker 1: My dear Jennifer, that is what we're going to try to determine tonight.

11:51 Speaker 2: What did you see tonight, Leo?

11:53 Speaker 1: I can only think of one word to describe what I saw.

11:57 Speaker 2: Which is?

11:58 Speaker 1: A nightmare. Alright, pause the video right there. Do you see it?

12:08 Speaker 2: I see it. I just don't believe it.

12:11 Speaker 1: What exactly do you see?

12:13 Speaker 2: It's almost like a A gigantic octopus with hundreds of tentacles.

12:20 Speaker 1: Anything else?

12:21 Speaker 2: Yes.

12:23 Speaker 1: Eyes.

12:24 Speaker 2: Millions of eyes.

12:25 Speaker 1: Jennifer, do you see it as well?

12:27 Speaker 4: Yes, I do, Leo. But like Dr. Howler, I don't believe it.

12:32 Speaker 1: All right. What do we know and what do we think that we know?

12:37 Speaker 5: We know that there is something in the southern quadrant of the galaxy that only appears at 1113 each evening. We know that it is traveling at a high rate of speed and heading towards the Earth.

12:47 Speaker 1: And at an accelerated speed. Pam, have you managed to do the calculations as to when our visitor will arrive?

12:55 Speaker 2: Working on them now. But they make no sense.

12:58 Speaker 4: Does any of this make sense?

13:00 Speaker 1: Let me know as soon as you get those figures.

13:03 Speaker 2: Leo, I've seen that image somewhere else, but I can't place it.

13:08 Speaker 1: Oh, I've seen it as well. It's in my library at home. It used to hang in my office at Palomar.

13:17 Speaker 2: That's it! Some sort of weird pang you had that always seemed to give me the shivers. I often wondered why you even put up such a grotesque thing in your office.

13:27 Speaker 4: To make the interns nervous?

13:30 Speaker 1: I simply thought of it as a work of art.

13:33 Speaker 4: What was it?

13:34 Speaker 1: An artist's rendering of the old ones.

13:39 Speaker 4: What are the old ones?

13:41 Speaker 2: Now wait a minute, Leo. It's only a story.

13:44 Speaker 1: Are we so sure? You know, most fiction has a small hint of fact about it. How do we know that they did not exist?

13:56 Speaker 4: But what are they?

13:57 Speaker 1: The old ones were considered gods. According to legend, they were the ones who created this planet. And if you delve deep enough into theology, you will find that each religion contains a bit of similarity. But no one really knows which is the truth.

14:16 Speaker 4: But what happened to them?

14:18 Speaker 1: Well, it depends on who you ask. They simply disappeared. It wasn't until the early 1900s when they began to appear in stories, mostly written by H.P. Lovecraft.

14:29 Speaker 3: Who?

14:30 Speaker 2: A writer of horror who began publishing in 1923. He had an entire mythos about the Old Ones. These gods that gave us this planet.

14:41 Speaker 4: And that's what our meteor looks like?

14:43 Speaker 1: Can you deny the fact that it changes form each night? I've never known a meteor to do that.

14:52 Speaker 2: All right, Leo. Let's just say that whatever that thing is out there, it's coming to Earth.

14:59 Speaker 4: Why?

15:00 Speaker 2: After all these billions of years, if you believe the stories, why would they come now?

15:06 Speaker 1: That is the question, isn't it? More importantly, what would be their purpose?

15:20 Speaker 3: What could be the purpose for any being not of this earth to come? Looking at the latest pictures, Leo's hands begin to shake. The answers that his mind are coming up with are creating a fear inside that he has never known before. I shall return with Act 3 shortly.

15:58 Speaker 3: For the past two nights, Leo, Pamela, and Jennifer have been seeing something that defies all scientific logic. They are currently waiting for the time of 1113, when they will see the meteor again.

16:16 Speaker 4: Everything is ready.

16:17 Speaker 2: About a minute to go.

16:19 Speaker 1: Did you get those calculations?

16:21 Speaker 2: If it stays on course, it should reach the Earth in about six months.

16:25 Speaker 1: With it constantly changing each night, I don't think there is any way to tell how big it actually is.

16:32 Speaker 4: It's almost time.

16:34 Speaker 1: I'm ready. What the... That's just not possible.

16:40 Speaker 2: What is it, Leo?

16:41 Speaker 1: It seems to be much closer than it was last night. Give me the readings as soon as you can, Jennifer.

17:00 Speaker 2: Well, Leo, your calculations are correct.

17:04 Speaker 1: As well as yours from last night. You tell me six months, but where that thing is at now, it's only a matter of six days. Perhaps less than that.

17:17 Speaker 4: Shouldn't we call someone?

17:19 Speaker 2: And tell them what, Jen? A fictional god from the imagination of a horror writer is coming?

17:24 Speaker 1: Thousands of meteors hit the Earth every day, Jennifer.

17:28 Speaker 4: But you said that it wasn't like a meteor at all.

17:31 Speaker 1: I'm not sure what it is. Perhaps by tonight, we will know.

17:36 Speaker 2: Leo, tell me straight. What do you really think?

17:43 Speaker 1: Pamela, Lovecraft believed in cosmicism. The belief that mankind is really insignificant in the grand scheme of the universe.

17:56 Speaker 2: So what do you think is going to happen?

17:57 Speaker 1: Well, if you believe in the mythos behind what Lovecraft wrote, then the gods are coming back. Perhaps to reclaim this planet that they once called their own.

18:11 Speaker 2: And what happens to us?

18:14 Speaker 3: I don't know.

18:16 Speaker 1: The End.

18:31 Speaker 2: Leo, why are you outside?

18:33 Speaker 1: I don't think that we will need to use the telescope tonight if our calculations are correct.

18:42 Speaker 2: So we just stand here and wait?

18:43 Speaker 1: I cannot think of anything better to do. Where is Jennifer?

18:50 Speaker 2: She said something about going to see her parents before.

18:55 Speaker 1: before... Every religion on Earth hold some belief in how the planet was created. Even science has its own theory. Of course, we will never actually know, since none of us were there.

19:16 Speaker 2: It's almost 1113. What do we do?

19:20 Speaker 1: Whatever it is, it should appear in the skies. Over in that direction, I believe. I can only speculate as to why they have decided to return to the Earth.

19:34 Speaker 2: Only a couple minutes to go.

19:36 Speaker 1: Your theory? Perhaps they have been watching us for a long time. They saw what we have done to this paradise. Maybe... just maybe they thought to themselves that they had been and they will be again and so.

20:00 Speaker 2: What happens to us in.

20:03 Speaker 1: The grand scheme of the universe does it really matter H.P.

20:17 Speaker 3: Lovecraft once wrote, The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear. And the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. You have no fear that I'll return shortly. there have been many stories that depict the annihilation of our planet from aliens to asteroids and even mankind itself I try not to dwell on it too much and look forward to yet another day another month another year Our cast included Crimson McKenzie, Brenna Faith, and Winslow Swan. The story was edited by Crimson McKenzie, and the entire production was under the direction of Winslow Swan.

21:30 Speaker 3: And now, a preview of our next tale.

21:35 Speaker 2: Alex, maybe I shouldn't have taken on this case.

21:38 Speaker 1: Having second thoughts, Sidney?

21:41 Speaker 2: I have less than three days to find the evidence from a case that is over five years old.

21:46 Speaker 1: Didn't Ferraro give you anything to go on?

21:50 Speaker 2: Tony Ferrari is probably a part of this mess. Only three days, Alex. Then the state will execute a man. An innocent man.

22:03 Speaker 3: Doorway to Nightmare is brought to you in part by Swanage Press. This is your host inviting you to return with us through the doorway to nightmare for another adventure into the world of your terrifying imagination. Until next time, slumber peacefully. Epilogue. The butler did it.