S1E1 -Episode 1: Ylem

Hey forest friends and mushroom minions, it's Allison here, creator of Partial Veil. It is time to get stoked, pals, because Season 2 of Partial Veil debuts on August 18th. Also, we are gearing up for a Kickstarter campaign coming in November. This will be a pretty unique campaign, as there are pledge tiers where you, the listeners, will have the opportunity to directly impact what happens at the start of Season 3. Head to www.bit.

dot l y backslash partial veil or click the link in the show notes to sign up for notifications now without further ado on with the show Partial Veil contains extreme subject matter and mature content. Listener discretion is advised. A complete list of content warnings for this episode can be found in the show notes. For optimal audio experience... Yeah, you're gonna want those headphones. Date Wednesday, October 13th 1998. Distance from the moon, 385,020 kilometers.

Repent. And lead us not into temptation. Repent. Wait, stop. You need to listen to me. Baron PD, this is Ray. Oh, hey, Ray, it's Walter. Walter? Walter Ross? Heck, Walter, when's the last time I saw you? Was it at that Fourth of July party? The one at Ted and Annette's? Gosh, that must have been, what, two years now, eh? Yeah. Yeah, that seems about right.

Oh, well, Walter, I'll tell you what. How about you and Patty come by next week? I'll have Lois cook us up a roast or something. Oh, it'd be real good, Rick. It'd be nice to catch up. Yeah, it sure will be. Well, hey there, Walter. So what you calling for? Are those kids making a ruckus down at the Super Save again? Nah. No, it ain't that, Ray. It's... Well, I headed out early this morning to do some hunting.

Near to Carlson's place? Well, I wasn't but a few minutes in when I came across... Well, Ray, there's a body out there. Shucks. One got away from a hunter? What was it? A deer? Elk? No, no. Near as I can tell, Ray. And mind you, I didn't get too close. I'll tell you what, Ray. I think it was a human. Aw, heck!

What if he ran out of strength? Help! It's not like I ever wanted this life, to be a cop, to be back here. It just kind of happened, you know? This life does. Sure as shit didn't think I'd ever wind up back in Baron. Right, but you're missing the question. Huh? What do you mean? Let me put it this way. If you could do anything with your life...

If money wasn't an issue, if everything, everything in your past didn't matter, if you had the world at your fingertips, what would you want most of all? I... I already know it's not being a police officer in the backwoods of North Dakota. Well, you got that part right. Okay. Can I be honest with you, Hal? I don't really like questions like that. I think they're, um, I think they're dangerous. Dangerous? How so? Well, because it's just a fantasy, isn't it?

You can daydream all you want. It doesn't mean it's going to come true no matter how much you want it. Shit, I'm living proof of that. I mean, yeah, there was a time that I... I don't know, I thought things would happen, that I could make a difference, you know, that I thought I would matter more. You matter to me? Sure. Josie Ward.

Play along. Let go of that voice in your head saying nothing you do is good enough. That somehow you deserve everything that's happened to you. For a moment, let yourself want. Humor me. Close your eyes. No. Just close your eyes. Okay, fine. They're closed. Now what? Now? Let yourself dream. Right. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm serious. Take a breath. Let go of needing to be perfect. Let go of... Everyone else's expectations. If you could have anything. Fuck, I don't know. I think you do.

What? I think you know exactly what you want. I, um... What is with you tonight? You're usually not this, um... I... I think my tea is getting cold. Let it.

Officer Ward? Come in, Officer Ward? Officer Ward, do you copy? Josie, where the heck are ya? Yeah, this is Officer Ward. What's up, Ray? Sleeping on the job again, Jose? Yeah, well, hasn't been the best week, Ray. Speaking of your missing friend, that's probably why they want you. They? What do you mean, they? Those FBI agents, I guess. Uh, out in the woods near a halo's place. I'm so sorry, Josie. They found a body. A body? What do you mean? Whose body, Ray? Whose... Ray, whose body? Ray! Ray!

Really? What? Where? Where? Where the fuck is Bear in North Dakota? Yes, obviously North Dakota. Thank you for that brilliant insight. Fine. I can be at the airport in an hour. Wait! I want Agent Witt on this. Just make it happen. It's not him. It's not him. It's not him. Please don't let the human... Yeah, Lainey. What's up? Um, well... It's about your friend? The one that's missing? Yeah. Did somebody find him? Or did he just...

show up and make me look like a fool for reporting I'm missing in the first place. No, um, in fact, um, actually, the FBI are here. What? Here? In... In Baron? In room two, to be exact. Because of how? Uh... Yep. But I only just made the report yesterday. Did they say why they were here? They sure didn't. Um, but they do want to talk to you, so I guess you can ask them? Yeah, sure. Thanks, Lainey. You bet, Officer Ward!

Hi, agents. You wanted to talk to me? Yes, indeed. Please have a seat. Sure. This conversation is being recorded. This is Special Agent Diane Ramsey speaking. With me is Agent Arlene Witt. The date is Tuesday, October 12, 1998. The time is 4.42 p.m. Can you state your name for the record? Sure. It's Josephine Ward. Officer Josephine Ward.

Your local police force? Yes, I trained in Bismarck, worked there for almost 10 years, but I came back here to Barron about two years ago. My mom was sick. Someone needed to care for her. She, um... She passed away. You chose to stay in Baron. Well, I wouldn't say chose. She left a house. My mom left a house. It's my house now. It's for sale if you're looking for a place. I can't really leave until it sells. I need the money, so...

There's not exactly a thriving housing market here in Barron. You're originally from this area? Yes. Yes, I am. Miss Ward, we're here investigating the disappearance of Oliver Maynard Reese. Something amusing, Miss Ward? Oh, I am so sorry. It's just that, well, he didn't use that name. He hated the name Oliver, so it just seems strange to hear him call that. Well, Albert, what did you call him? Well...

Most people called him, well, they usually, they called him Halo. Like on an angel? Yeah, it's a dumb name, I know. I mean, it's kind of a cool story about how he got it, but, um... We're not here to talk about that. I'm sorry, Hal. I called him Hal. Hal. And you think that's a better nickname than Halo? Okay, can you just tell me why you're here? I mean, I know why you're here.

But why is the FBI investigating this? I mean, who is he? Shouldn't you be telling us that? Who is Oliver Reese? To you. Hal is my friend. How long have you known him? Not long. A year and a half, I guess. Met him shortly after I joined the police force in Barron. I think he'd been here for a year or so by that point.

How did you originally meet Mr. Reese? Well, it was a few weeks after I'd taken a job as an officer here. One night a call came in that some kids were being held hostage at a home on the outskirts of town. Sorry. So, some local teenagers had been snooping around this guy's property. I guess these kids thought it would be cool to, I don't know, check out whatever this foreign guy was doing in Barron.

So of course the idiots get caught. One of them managed to get away and called the police. So I showed up about ten minutes later. I looked in the window and sure enough, there are the kids. I could see that they were duct-taped chairs, but, uh, they were... they were laughing. Laughing? Well, yeah.

I saw the front door was actually open a crack, so I drew my gun. I went in and announced myself as Baron PD. There was a man standing with his back to the door. I yelled at him to put his hands in the air, which he did. And then... Then he turned around, and he had the biggest, most idiotic smile on his face, and he says, Ah, you've arrived. I thought he was some sort of psycho, but I don't know.

Something about that smile that was so sincere. And the duct tape kids? No, they were actually having a good time. Being duct taped to chairs? No, it was just a misunderstanding. So he accidentally duct taped children to some chairs. Okay, it wasn't... They weren't... They were like 17, 18. Old enough to know better than to go breaking into people's houses for fun. Old enough that being held against their will and duct taped to some furniture was somehow okay. Look...

It was just to teach them a lesson. Literally. That's what he was doing. He was teaching them. He figured that if they were that interested in knowing what he was doing, then they should learn about it. So he was telling them about... stuff. Physics, astronomy, I don't know, lab stuff, science-y stuff. Oh, and some hand-to-hand combat techniques, which apparently the kids said they actually enjoyed that part. Sounds like a well-rounded individual.

Except one thing really stands out. What's that? Duct-taping children. I think I've answered the question. What exactly is your relationship to Mr. Reese? I told you. He's a friend. Look, he's my friend. He's missing. And I just want... I just want to find him. I just want to know where he is. And if he's alive.

Yeah. You wanted to join the FBI. What? How did you... Of course you're the fucking FBI. Yeah, I did. About ten years ago. Ten years ago, and nine years ago, and eight and... Oh, and seven. Four times you applied. Finally you got too old to apply, hmm? How is this helping to find my friend? Your friend. is a very interesting individual, Miss Ward. Officer Ward. Of course. Well, that all seems to check out with your file. You have a file on me.

Oh, yes. Yes, we do. Tell us about Partial Veil Forest. The forest? Why do you want to know- We've heard you're a bit of a local celebrity here. When was it- 65? April, I believe? How old were you? Seven? Eight. I was eight. And how many days were you missing? Why don't you look at your notes and tell me? I assume it's all there. We'd like to hear it from your perspective. It's never a good idea to trust what you read in newspapers, right?

Besides, the information we found seems to be... unreliable at best. Some of us horses even got the year wrong. I'm sorry, do you hear that? Hear what? I... um... The forest, um... partial veil. You want to hear about the forest? Sure. It's been a while since I've had to do this, but here we go again. It was. 1965, it was April. My house, the one I'm in now, backs up to the woods. And for a lot of reasons, I spent most of my childhood playing outside.

I'd always been warned not to go too far into the woods, and I was an obedient kid, so I did what I was told. The last thing I wanted to do was have my dad angry at me, so I always made sure that no matter what... I could still see the house. The last thing I remember that day was running through the trees. And I fell and tripped on something.

I fell into this thick patch of moss and mushrooms. That's it. There's just nothing there. The next thing I remember is walking out of the woods. But that was three days later. Yeah, I know. But you have no memory at all of anything that went on during those three days. Nope. You spent three days lost in the woods in early April, yet you emerged from the ordeal like nothing had happened. The articles say your clothes were still clean and you didn't have a scratch on you.

Well, that'll teach you to trust everything you read in the newspapers, right? When I fell, I cut my knee. It wasn't too deep, but there was some blood. Okay. And? And? When I walked out of the forest three days later, it was still bleeding. Do you think Oliver Reese's disappearance could be related to yours? Fuck if I know.

The date is Wednesday, October 13, 1998. The time is 9.16 a.m. Can you state your name for the record? Of course. It's Grace Carlson. Mrs. Carlson. Can you tell us how you know Oliver Reese? Certainly. He's my neighbor. Well, our neighbor, my husband Eric and I. We've lived there for, oh, almost 40 years now. We moved there in 1951, just after we got married. We were so young. Eric is from Norway, and I met him when I was just 17. He was 21.

He had come to America to work at his uncle's shop in Grafton, and, well, I took one look at him and, whew, I was smitten. Thank you, Mrs. Carlson. Can you tell me when the last time you saw Mr. Reese was? Yes, certainly I can. Now keep in mind, Mr. Reese's house is more than just a stone's throw away from ours. Yes, we've been to Mr. Reese's house. We understand. Eric and I, well, we never had any children. It was always just the two of us, so we were quite excited when Mr. Reese moved in.

That house had been empty for several years, and it was beginning to be somewhat of an eyesore. Again, Mrs. Carlson, can you please tell us about the last time you saw Mr. Reese? Well, it was one week ago. Eric and I were on the front porch. I was knitting a blanket, and he was, oh, I don't know, fixing some little gadget of his. When Mr. Reese drove by, Eric and I waved, and Mr. Reese beaked the horn at us like usual.

We saw him pull up to his house and go inside. Well, that's all, really. But nothing seemed out of the ordinary. When I heard he had disappeared, well... I do hope he's all right. Mrs. Carlson, do you have any idea of Mr. Reese's whereabouts? Have you seen anyone at his home or any vehicles you didn't recognize? Oh, I'm afraid not, my dear.

Now that policewoman is there quite often. And that evening, the 6th, we saw that red pickup truck there again. That pretty young woman drives it. She visits him every so often. And you don't know the identity of this woman? I'm afraid not, my dear. Well, thank you for your time, Mrs. Carlson. Oh, not at all. I'm happy to assist. Such a shame to hear Mr. Reese is missing. I do hope he's...

All right. Uh, excuse me, but you said you wanted to know if anything out of the ordinary happened. Yes. And? Well... We just got a call from a hunter out back by Mr. Reese's place. Apparently he... Well, he stumbled across something in the woods. Okay. What did he find? Um, well, now, he said it was a, well, he said it was a body, a dead, a dead person, a human, a former human. Oh dear! Let's go.

Ah, Officer Ward. There you are. Is that... is that him? Is he dead? Well, he's certainly dead. What? Agent Will, can you lift up the tarp? Officer Ward, can you identify this man? That's not... That's not hell. That's not hell. Yes, we know. Why the fuck were you... Officer Ward, do you recognize this man? Yes, that's... That's Eric Carlson. That's Grace Carlson's husband.

This episode of Partial Veil featured Allison Cossett as Josie Ward, Peter Wicks as Halo Reese, Candace McAfee as Agent Diane Ramsey. Sarah Doreen McPhee as Agent Arlene Witt. Bjorn Munson as Ray. Nancy O'Fallon as Grace Carlson. Jason Tiber as Walter. Meredith Nudo as Lainey, Mikey Joaquin as Adam, Livia Zita as Ildiko, and Jandre Peacock and Jehovah Aroujo as the scientists.

Partial Veil was written, directed, and edited by Alison Cossett. Original music composed by Jakub Juranski. Partial Veil is a production of Islam Media. Islam Media. This is only the beginning. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... driving every region of space away from every other with a relenting ferocity. Yet the question of why is still a mystery.