Jack In The Box

00;00;10;29 - 00;00;30;27
John Carnack
No. I'll see him alone. Well, it's not like he can hurt me, is it? You've sealed him in a giant plastic cube. It'll be fine. You can all clear off and let me get on with it. Thanks.

00;00;30;29 - 00;00;35;12
Jack Doyle
Who's - who's that? Where - where did the security people go?

00;00;35;14 - 00;00;38;02
John Carnack
It's me. Jack.

00;00;38;04 - 00;00;39;17
Jack Doyle
John Carnack?.

00;00;39;19 - 00;00;40;14
John Carnack
Jack Doyle.

00;00;40;20 - 00;00;42;09
Jack Doyle
What on earth are you doing here?

00;00;42;12 - 00;00;46;13
John Carnack
I came to see you. I heard about your trouble.

00;00;46;15 - 00;00;51;19
Jack Doyle
Well, that’s very decent of you. I’d shake your hand, but I've been locked in a plastic box.

00;00;51;21 - 00;00;54;04
John Carnack
Well, people are worried about contamination.

00;00;54;06 - 00;01;00;28
Jack Doyle
Oh. That's why you're here. Not to see me. To take a look for the Department Of Midnight.

00;01;01;00 - 00;01;03;22
John Carnack
I really wish people would stop calling it that.

00;01;03;25 - 00;01;08;27
Jack Doyle
The Department of Experimental Oversight has no standing here, John.

00;01;08;29 - 00;01;10;09
John Carnack
Well, that remains to be seen.

00;01;10;12 - 00;01;22;11
Jack Doyle
John, I tripped over and spilled some stuff at Edward Manning's house. I wasn't in a lab. I wasn't performing experiments. And you know why I tripped and knocked things over, right?

00;01;22;13 - 00;01;24;20
John Carnack
Because you’d just found Edward Manning's body.

00;01;24;21 - 00;01;45;14
Jack Doyle
Because I’d just discovered the dead body of my employer, mentor, friend, Professor Edward Manning. It was shocking and I knocked some apparatus over. And now, instead of being able to grieve over Professor Manning and attend to his affairs, I've been sealed up in this stupid thing.

00;01;45;16 - 00;01;49;21
John Carnack
And you were found semi-conscious and babbling on the floor next to him.

00;01;49;23 - 00;01;55;11
Jack Doyle
Perhaps I fainted. It's not every day you trip over a dead man.

00;01;55;13 - 00;02;06;07
John Carnack
We have very different days. Thing is, Jack, whatever Manning was doing at home, it was dangerous.

00;02;06;10 - 00;02;13;29
Jack Doyle
It absolutely was not. Professor Manning was scrupulous, detail oriented -

00;02;14;01 - 00;02;17;10
John Carnack
It was. And you got exposed to it.

00;02;17;16 - 00;02;18;04
Jack Doyle
Bullshit!

00;02;18;08 - 00;02;22;17
John Carnack
Okay, okay. So., you know what dark matter is, right?

00;02;22;20 - 00;02;36;07
Jack Doyle
Some theoretical matter that supposedly fills all the gaps in the universe. Cosmologists love publishing nonsense papers about it. So, just like everybody else, I basically know nothing about it.

00;02;36;09 - 00;02;54;25
John Carnack
Dark matter, Jack, is the fifth form of matter. It's how the universe stores information. And forgive me, my old mate, but I think you know more about it than you think you do.

00;03;09;29 - 00;03;32;27
Narrator
The Bellport Theater On The Air presents, The Department Of Midnight. Created and written by Warren Ellis. Episode 102, Jack In The Box. Starring James Callis and Gildart Jackson.

00;03;32;29 - 00;03;43;28
Jack Doyle
I know that dark matter cannot be detected, so if you're positing that I have somehow been exposed to dark matter contamination, that's ludicrous on its face.

00;03;43;29 - 00;03;52;28
John Carnack
Jack. Jack. It's me. John. You don't have to talk to me like you're filling in for Manning on the fucking lecture circuit.

00;03;53;01 - 00;03;54;03
Jack Doyle
I don't know what you mean.

00;03;54;04 - 00;04;01;00
John Carnack
We've known each other for years, Jack. Don't talk to me like I'm a stranger. I want to get you out of there.

00;04;01;00 - 00;04;03;02
Jack Doyle
So, unlock the damn thing.

00;04;03;06 - 00;04;03;27
John Carnack
Not yet.

00;04;04;02 - 00;04;13;21
Jack Doyle
What are you waiting for? I've been here eight hours already, according to that clock up there. Where am I, anyway? This looks like a school sports hall.

00;04;13;24 - 00;04;21;11
John Carnack
Well, actually it is. We had to move fast, so we got access and set the isolation pod up in here. It had the necessary space.

00;04;21;13 - 00;04;26;09
Jack Doyle
So, where are the children? Did they all get given a day off school?

00;04;26;11 - 00;04;30;11
John Carnack
Well, Jack - uh - the schools are on summer break.

00;04;30;14 - 00;04;31;26
Jack Doyle
Well, how was I supposed to know that?

00;04;31;29 - 00;04;33;21
John Carnack
Because you have kids.

00;04;33;24 - 00;04;36;04
Jack Doyle
Sorry. I'm stressed.

00;04;36;06 - 00;04;38;04
John Carnack
Yeah, sure. Um - of course.

00;04;38;04 - 00;04;39;12
Jack Doyle
I'm fine, John.

00;04;39;16 - 00;04;46;04
John Carnack
Well, let's let's make sure that, okay? I'm here to make sure you get back to your family in one piece.

00;04;46;07 - 00;04;48;24
Jack Doyle
All right. Let's just get on with it, then.

00;04;48;27 - 00;04;53;16
John Carnack
Okay. So, why were you at Manning's house?

00;04;53;18 - 00;04;57;21
Jack Doyle
He didn't come into the lab, and he wasn't answering his phone.

00;04;57;24 - 00;04;58;25
John Carnack
You have keys to his home?

00;04;59;00 - 00;05;02;04
Jack Doyle
I'm his senior assistant and his friend. Of course I had keys!

00;05;02;04 - 00;05;04;05
John Carnack
But did you know he was ill?

00;05;04;07 - 00;05;09;19
Jack Doyle
He kept it from us. He was the sort of man who didn't like to worry people unduly.

00;05;09;22 - 00;05;10;21
John Carnack
Well, that surprises me.

00;05;10;26 - 00;05;11;19
Jack Doyle
Why?

00;05;11;21 - 00;05;15;08
John Carnack
Because I met him twice, and he was a nasty piece of shit both times.

00;05;15;11 - 00;05;16;28
Jack Doyle
Maybe he just didn't like you.

00;05;16;29 - 00;05;19;16
John Carnack
He certainly didn't like me. Or anyone else.

00;05;19;21 - 00;05;23;05
Jack Doyle
Well, he was good to me. I owe him everything.

00;05;23;11 - 00;05;29;07
John Carnack
You - you really - you really don't, You know. You're a brilliant scientist in your own right. You run Manning's lab.

00;05;29;10 - 00;05;34;23
Jack Doyle
But Professor Manning was a genius. I learned so much, John.

00;05;34;27 - 00;05;40;08
John Carnack
I'm sure you did. He was a clever old bastard. Well, what's your wife's cell phone number?

00;05;40;11 - 00;05;44;11
Jack Doyle
I couldn't tell you, John. Remembering my wife's cell phone number isn't my job.

00;05;44;17 - 00;05;54;03
John Carnack
No.. Okay. I need to check in with your wife after this and I couldn't for the life of me remember. Why was manning running experiments at home?

00;05;54;05 - 00;06;03;22
Jack Doyle
There's no law against it. He was always pursuing several different lines of enquiry at the same time. And I doubt any of them had to do with dark matter.

00;06;03;25 - 00;06;12;13
John Carnack
Well, that's where you're wrong. Because I've seen the room he was found in. Do you remember what I did at Wardenclyffe, in new Jersey?

00;06;12;16 - 00;06;13;13
Jack Doyle
No.

00;06;13;15 - 00;06;19;03
John Carnack
Really? That's interesting. What are your kids names again?

00;06;19;05 - 00;06;28;04
Jack Doyle
I don't think we were ever really so close that I knew all your jobs and travels, John. Or that I would ever tell you my children's names.

00;06;28;07 - 00;06;33;11
John Carnack
Really? Okay. You could just answer the question.

00;06;33;13 - 00;06;48;17
Jack Doyle
You could just ask the real questions and get this over with so I can leave. I'm not playing games here. I really don't appreciate the way you're treating me, John.

00;06;48;19 - 00;06;57;21
John Carnack
So. At the lab you and he ran. You were working on what? Neural networks, right?

00;06;57;23 - 00;07;00;12
Jack Doyle
Reductive, but close enough, I suppose.

00;07;00;14 - 00;07;03;23
John Carnack
And at home, Manning was playing with neural probes.

00;07;03;23 - 00;07;14;08
Jack Doyle
Oh, not really. You need a surgical unit and a robot for that. Inserting ultra-thin needles into human brains really isn't a home-brew kind of project.

00;07;14;12 - 00;07;24;25
John Carnack
Jack. I've seen what Manning was doing. He didn't need physical probes. He also had a dark matter attractor in his home.

00;07;24;27 - 00;07;26;00
Jack Doyle
There’s no such thing.

00;07;26;08 - 00;07;38;09
John Carnack
Yeah. I'm afraid there is. What's your mother's name? Alright. Why don't you tell me what a connectome is?

00;07;38;12 - 00;07;44;06
Jack Doyle
A complete map of neural connections in the brain. The mind's wiring diagram, if you like.

00;07;44;09 - 00;07;46;21
John Carnack
The information that describes a unique human mind.

00;07;46;26 - 00;07;48;03
Jack Doyle
Yes, that's what we believe.

00;07;48;04 - 00;07;57;28
John Carnack
Well, here's what I believe. Manning read out his own connectome at home using sensitive electromagnetic fields instead of needles. Quite brilliant.

00;07;58;02 - 00;07;58;21
Jack Doyle
If you say so.

00;07;58;28 - 00;08;11;26
John Carnack
I do. I do. I also think that he was aware of the experiments conducted at Wardenclyffe a few years ago that established that what we call dark matter is actually a medium that contains information. It's the fifth form of matter.

00;08;11;28 - 00;08;15;02
Jack Doyle
How would he be aware of that? He didn't read fringe nonsense.

00;08;15;02 - 00;08;23;29
John Carnack
Because I helped design the dark matter attractor he built at home. What's your mother's name, Jack? What's your wife's name? What are your children's names?

00;08;24;00 - 00;08;25;20
Jack Doyle
Would you please just stop?

00;08;25;21 - 00;08;32;04
John Carnack
Where do you live, Jack? Did you know Manning was dying?

00;08;32;07 - 00;08;36;00
Jack Doyle
No, not at all. He was a very private man.

00;08;36;03 - 00;09;14;04
John Carnack
So he died alone at home. And you were the one most likely to find him. So, he set a little trap for you. He collected dark matter, suspended his own connectome in it, and arranged things so you'd trip the transference circuit he set up in the room he died in. You don't know Jack's mother's name. Or his wife's. Or his kids. Because if there's one thing I do know about you, it's that you never found other people very interesting. I'd really like it if you'd stop pretending to be Jack Doyle now, Professor Manning.

00;09;14;07 - 00;09;24;20
Edward Manning
I'm almost relieved. Trying to make Jack sound like himself was becoming quite the strain.

00;09;24;22 - 00;09;26;01
John Carnack
Finally.

00;09;26;04 - 00;09;31;05
Edward Manning
What is his mother's name? I don't believe he ever mentioned her.

00;09;31;07 - 00;09;36;24
John Carnack
Oh, he never knew. He was raised by his aunt Alba.

00;09;36;26 - 00;09;38;11
Edward Manning
You arsehole.

00;09;38;13 - 00;09;47;29
John Carnack
So if I've guessed right, you've literally managed to lay your own connectome over Jack's and taken control of his brain and body. That's one for the books.

00;09;48;02 - 00;09;50;13
Edward Manning
Oh, I doubt there will be a book, Carnack.

00;09;50;20 - 00;09;52;04
John Carnack
Maybe I'll write it.

00;09;52;07 - 00;10;05;23
Edward Manning
Oh, no. You're going to be gone soon enough. Listen. Look closely at the plastic between us.

00;10;05;26 - 00;10;09;27
John Carnack
Oh. I see. It's freezing.

00;10;10;00 - 00;10;20;10
Edward Manning
Dark matter is strange stuff. I seem to remain perfectly viable, but everything around me seems to be getting very cold.

00;10;20;13 - 00;10;24;13
John Carnack
In folklore, cold areas are associated with hauntings.

00;10;24;15 - 00;10;36;02
Edward Manning
Yes, well, I can't speak to fairy tales. But when I discovered that what we call dark matter is in fact just low temperature, low energy storage mediums for information -
00;10;36;06 - 00;10;38;17
John Carnack
Oh, you discovered that, did you?

00;10;38;19 - 00;11;08;09
Edward Manning
It was implied by the Wardenclyffe papers, but I did the work. It was obvious, really. If nothing in the universe is truly destroyed, but we can't find its traces, what does it leave behind? Its information encoded in dark matter, which is undetectable by normal means. Problem solved.

00;11;08;11 - 00;11;12;01
John Carnack
Yes, it sounds familiar. You live up to your reputation, Professor Manning.

00;11;12;02 - 00;11;16;04
Edward Manning
I do have some small standing in the scientific community.

00;11;16;06 - 00;11;18;26
John Carnack
For being a colossal galloping knob end.

00;11;18;29 - 00;11;27;28
Edward Manning
You won't have time to regret saying that. But it does remove any residual guilt I might experience at what happens next.

00;11;28;00 - 00;11;30;22
John Carnack
What happens next?

00;11;30;24 - 00;11;31;27
Edward Manning
You'll see.

00;11;31;29 - 00;11;37;03
John Carnack
Why did you do it? Why did you outright plan to hijack your friend's body?

00;11;37;06 - 00;11;41;02
Edward Manning
To escape death, Obviously. Are you a complete moron?

00;11;41;08 - 00;11;42;29
John Carnack
I think you're missing my point.

00;11;43;02 - 00;11;55;24
Edward Manning
Oh, you mean why would I harm poor little Jack in this terrible way? Blanketing off his mind and covering it with my own? You self-righteous, whining little shit.

00;11;55;27 - 00;11;57;05
John Carnack
Yeah, something like that.

00;11;57;07 - 00;12;03;14
Edward Manning
Jack Doyle was an employee. A good one, mind. I'm not disrespecting his ability.

00;12;03;20 - 00;12;05;08
John Carnack
Just his body.

00;12;05;10 - 00;12;32;20
Edward Manning
You are missing my point. I have cheated death. Death no longer applies. I am fully alive in Jack's body. I have changed the world. We make sacrifices in experimentation all the time in order to change the world. This time, the sacrifice was his.

00;12;32;23 - 00;12;34;16
John Carnack
Well, you didn't give him a choice.

00;12;34;18 - 00;12;43;15
Edward Manning
Do we ever? Did you? Yes, Doctor Carnack, I know a little bit about who you are.

00;12;43;17 - 00;12;54;14
John Carnack
I never set out to deliberately harm anyone. You basically set up an animal trap for Jack and injected yourself into his head like poison. You knew he'd be the one to find you.

00;12;54;16 - 00;13;01;14
Edward Manning
Well, I hoped so. I was terrified that it’d be the cleaning lady. She has a wooden leg.

00;13;01;17 - 00;13;03;15
John Carnack
So, you wouldn't have got far on foot.

00;13;03;17 - 00;13;22;00
Edward Manning
Perhaps. I must say I feel very mobile in here. I can see the weak electromagnetic fields of your brain. Do you understand? I can see electromagnetic auras now.

00;13;22;03 - 00;13;24;08
John Carnack
Congratulations. You're dead Superman.

00;13;24;10 - 00;13;32;22
Edward Manning
And I can feel that I can connect to weak fields. And overwhelm them.

00;13;32;25 - 00;13;39;24
John Carnack
Dark matter tends not to like strong electromagnetic fields. They dispel it, and it scatters and goes dormant.

00;13;39;24 - 00;14;01;24
Edward Manning
Ah, that makes sense. It's that thing when you see paper and know instinctively that you can crumple it. The sense of something being fragile to your touch. Quite fascinating. I am dead but I live again. I remain human and yet more than human.

00;14;01;27 - 00;14;08;28
John Carnack
You have stolen a man's life. You've become a parasite. No more and no less.

00;14;09;00 - 00;14;27;09
Edward Manning
There's a fungus in the Blue Mountains of Oregon that occupies 2000 acres and is estimated to be some 8000 years old. Does it matter that it grows on dead things? It is alive. Forever.

00;14;27;15 - 00;14;30;05
John Carnack
I’m assuming you've given up getting out of that box.

00;14;30;08 - 00;14;55;08
Edward Manning
Not really. I'm currently thinking I will write your book for you. Give humanity the solution for death. Eventually. Once I've done some more experiments. Perhaps 50 years from now. Although, by the looks of you, you may not have 50 more years in you.

00;14;55;10 - 00;14;56;02
John Carnack
Whoops!

00;14;56;04 - 00;15;01;15
Edward Manning
Indeed. One good push and this whole plastic window will shatter.

00;15;01;19 - 00;15;03;23
John Carnack
Well, that will bring the security team running back in.

00;15;03;28 - 00;15;18;05
Edward Manning
Not soon enough. When I make contact with you, I will be able to transfer from Jack to you. And then you and I will walk out of here and leave Jack on the floor.

00;15;18;07 - 00;15;26;26
John Carnack
Well, thanks for telling me your ghostly mushroom evil plan -

00;15;26;26 - 00;15;32;18
Edward Manning
Alive!. Forever!

00;15;32;18 - 00;15;42;16
John Carnack
How do you like my strong electromagnetic field? Yeah, I remembered my taser this time.

00;15;42;18 - 00;15;45;26
Edward Manning
Fuck you!

00;15;46;03 - 00;15;50;22
Jack Doyle
John. John. It's me.

00;15;50;25 - 00;15;51;11
John Carnack
Are you sure?

00;15;51;13 - 00;15;52;27
Jack Doyle
John. It's Jack. Really.

00;15;52;27 - 00;15;54;03
John Carnack
What are your kids names?

00;15;54;09 - 00;15;57;13
Jack Doyle
Abel and Belinda.

00;15;57;15 - 00;16;01;16
John Carnack
Okay. But one more for luck, right?

00;16;01;18 - 00;16;10;01
Jack Doyle
No.

00;16;10;04 - 00;16;13;08
Narrator
Next time on The Department Of Midnight.

00;16;13;11 - 00;16;17;17
John Carnack
I would have thought there was a rule about doing your own mother's autopsy.

00;16;17;19 - 00;16;19;03
Jenny Sigsand
Yeah, that's what the guy at the lab said.

00;16;19;07 - 00;16;21;10
John Carnack
Yeah. What did you say to him?

00;16;21;13 - 00;16;26;25
Jenny Sigsand
If he kept talking, he'd be next on the slab and I do his autopsy while he was still alive.

00;16;26;27 - 00;16;33;01
John Carnack
Fair enough. God, this old place feels like it died with her.

00;16;33;03 - 00;16;40;26
Jenny Sigsand
Yeah. There's something really unsettling about it now. Like there's something in the walls.

00;16;40;28 - 00;16;47;19
John Carnack
So. The autopsy. What did you find?

00;16;47;21 - 00;16;54;21
Jenny Sigsand
It. It looked for all the world like part of her brain had melted.

00;16;54;23 - 00;18;09;13
Narrator
The Department Of Midnight is produced by Warren Ellis, Brian Gucciardo, Kevin and Diane Kolde, Fred Seibert. Main title and credit narration by Gildart Jackson. Casting and voice direction by Meredith Layne, CSA. Main title and score by Trey Toy. Dialogue editors Kevin and Diane Kolde. Recording coordinator Kathy Cavaiola. Dialogue recorded at Salami Studios. Lead dialogue mixer Mark Mercado. Assistant dialogue mixers Jonathan Bradley and Chris Story. Audio post production provided by Salami Studios. Post audio supervisor Peter DiRado. Sound design and editorial Paul Menichini, MPSE. Re-recording mixer Sean Jacobson. The Department Of Midnight is a production of The Bellport Theater On The Air. All rights reserved.