Episode 51 : Fear of Convergence

Skeleton General Skull Kaiser
(The Dark)

Skull Kaiser, formerly one of Samhain's greatest generals, stages a rebellion against impossible odds. The fate of countless worlds rests upon his ability to protect the Loss Queen and beat back her assailants. Along the way he is forced to fight old friends and make new allies...

Episode 51 : Fear of Convergence

Richard Shields is interviewing Strauss, asking him to describe something he already described to Dr. Gordon. Strauss does. It's the image of some alien, living thing that he thinks is a part of himself, the part that he cannot fathom. He describes it as looking like a log (for firewood, not for cabins) caked with rotting bark and old, dark green moss, but its insides are soft and white, like a loaf of tofu (!) so that it quivers, giving it the appearance of being both delicate and alive. Somehow, Strauss says, it's malignant. They discuss Strauss's preoccupation with wanting to do something important, but that his life has been rather uneventful in that respect. This information hits Shields very hard as he remembers Gordon's words about how Shields and Strauss seemed similar. They talk about guilt and how Strauss is struggling since he knows he should feel guilty but doesn't. He's been having other dreams where a ghost has been telling him that he'd done the right thing killing those 6 people. Strauss says that something is wrong with the Columbia Building. He asks if Shields visited it as he suggested. Shields repeats Strauss's question.

We cut to the following events as Shields provides a detached voice over that doesn't touch on any of the weirdness he encountered as he went to meet Gordon at the Columbia Building. We see Shields walking downtown when he becomes intrigued first by a woman who seems to look at him oddly. She's dressed in tattered tights, and layers of earth-toned clothing that seems like it may have been very colorful a long time ago. She's got an old, gray mink (complete with claws and a head) on her shoulders. He follows her into a department store and instantly loses sight of her. He looks around and sees a rat wriggle down an aisle. Then he sees another and another, and other small animals seem to have infested the place. The air in the store is hazy and dirty and all the people inside are hunched over, holding their stomachs or mouths, some collapse, some vomit, some merely convulse sickly. Terror is evident on Shields's face then everything suddenly looks normal. He sees the woman, who smiles at him, and he leaves the department store. He focuses on the height of the Columbia Building, which marks his destination and continues toward it. As he goes, a man in a sharp black suit falls into step beside him. He's wearing sunglasses, his hair is slicked back, and there's a diminutive lotus in his lapel that stands in contrast to his dark suit. Shields begins to feel a little self-conscious and finally the man speaks to him without turning. He says that it's a beautiful day, then leans a bit towards Shields and says to follow him, that he knows a short cut. This is of course completely unexpected, but Shields, with a look of confusion on his face, decides to follow the man. They turn down an alley, the man in the black suit taking the lead, and follow what seems an impossible maze of countless deserted alleys. The man's lead increases until he he turns a corner before Shields and once Shields rounds the same corner, the man is gone. But, Shields instantly covers his mouth and nose with his hands and nearly vomits for the horrible stench. He looks around him and the walls of the buildings are running, as if they've been coated with swamp-like putrefaction. Only, it isn't covering the walls, the walls themselves are rotting, wet and fetid. Shields spins around and sees that this condition is true of all the walls around him, they're pouring down into the alley. He turns again to the alley's exit and sees the Columbia Building right in front of him, but it's not whole anymore—there's a giant bean stalk (the Undead Vine, actually) that's destroyed most of the building and there is a what seems to be a haze of spores all throughout the air.

Shields drops his hands from his face to gape in awe, and just as he is about to scream, there's a flash and everything is back to normal. The Columbia Building is intact, the walls around him aren't rotting, there is however the faint trace of the stench of putrefaction. He walks out of the alleyway to meet Gordon who's already standing outside the building. Shields's voice-over continues explaining that Gordon actually witnessed Strauss's murders, and he gave Shields an enthusiastically detailed account.

Shields becomes quiet for a bit and Strauss says that Shields saw something at the Columbia Building, too. Shields becomes angry and demands to know what he's supposed to have seen besides a cleaned-up crime scene narrated by an eyewitness. Shields brings up the question of guilt again and Strauss says that he wants to feel guilty but he can't. Even though he was out of his senses at the time, Strauss clearly remembers believing those 6 people to be evil, that they had to die. Shields is incredulous and questions this, going back to the ordinary career Strauss has had, asking him if this wasn't just some kind of fantasy to try to create meaning in his life. Strauss bows his head and, almost tearfully, says he doesn't know.

To Be Continued...