Society Proceedings
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LinkedIn, the place to be, to be. Hey everyone, it's Trevor. Welcome to the final episode of Season 1. But don't worry, the team is already hard at work on Season 2, and we'll have more updates for you soon. In the meantime, we have some shorter episodes and bonus content that will be coming to your feeds beginning next month, and we've partnered with DFTBA, don't forget to be awesome, to create some pretty exciting merch. All this is to say, there'll be much more Mayfair very soon. So stay tuned, and thanks for listening.

We are The Watchers.

Unseeing.

Welcome to the Mayfair Watchers Society. First of all, everyone, good evening. I'm honored to host this latest meeting of the Mayfair Watchers Society. I'd like to welcome you into my home and say a special thanks to Arthur and Colleen who provided the snacks.

I trust you have all been sent the digest of last quarter's sightings and evidence. Some very juicy ones in there, I dare say, and a few that are worrying, too. I know we're all a little on edge with the canine creature that has been seen on the north side and the...

I think Erica called it the elongated humanoid by the old canal. Yeah. So we're asking all members to be particularly vigilant and to keep collecting sightings from around Mayfair as long as we remain discreet about it, okay?

So well done, Carlos, for the photograph from the old car plant. There's definitely something in that window. So we're looking at getting inside to have a look around, but only if we can work out a legal way to do it. None of us want to be busted for trespassing or vandalism.

And if anyone's thinking of sneaking in on their own, please don't. If crimes get linked back to the Mayfair Watchers Society, that's bad for all of us. We watch and record. We don't break in.

So, we're fortunate that we have all of our founder members at this meeting, and we're taking the opportunity to make this a discussion topic evening. Our topic is the one that I feel is discussed more than any other on our bulletin board and coffee nights. The topic of origins. Firstly, I'm sure you all know her, but I'll introduce Hannah Collins. Thanks, Jenny.

The first question I asked myself was, "Where do these things come from?" Well, the second. The first was, "Does it bite?" I know a lot of you believe the same thing I do. It's the only explanation that makes sense, even if the explanation is far from complete. These creatures are from somewhere else. Not from our world, or at least the version of our world that we know. Some of you think they are aliens.

They might be, but I think it's more likely that they're not from another planet, but another dimension. I can't say I'm too familiar with the physics, but there are plenty of scientists who have theorized there are other versions of our universe. There might be an infinite number of versions, all of them different. Some dimensions are just like this universe, some are so completely different, even space and time aren't the same.

I believe the creatures, the anomalies, invasives, whatever we want to call them, are from another dimension. As to how or why they came here, take your pick. Think of all the reasons people move around. They might be refugees, or searching for something they can't get elsewhere, they might be hunting for prey, or they might simply be lost somewhere.

We've long speculated that while some creatures are like animals, others are intelligent. And maybe the intelligent ones brought the animals through as pets, pack animals, hunting hounds, or food. Or they could all wander through places where the two dimensions touch or doors open between them and their presence is entirely accidental. What really interests me?

is if they are from another dimension, there must be a way from here to there, as well as from there to here. If they can come to our dimension, we must be able to get to theirs. Perhaps some of us do and never come back. Or some of our strange experiences are actually us wandering to our visitor's world and returning. That's what I find really fascinating. All the things we don't know.

We are the Uncoverers of the Unseen, and our mission is to find all the things the world doesn't know. Are you sure that's what we should be called? I don't think "Uncoverers" is really a word. Sure it is.

Gus, are we recording? Yeah, we're filming. But Hannah, if the things are unseen, how do we get them on tape? Guys, I'm the anchor. I'm in charge of the presenting. When you get your own show, you can criticize the script. Be careful with my dad's camcorder. If it gets broken, I'm dead meat. Don't worry, I'll stay at the back. The one at the back always dies first. We're not gonna die. Albert, stop scaring Claudia. Gus, how do I look? Well,

Like a girl standing outside a house, I guess. We're here at the abandoned Truman House on the edge of Mayfair, the center of horrific paranormal happenings. Some say this house is infested with the spirits of the dead. Is the house really haunted? Or is there a maniac or a vampire living here? The uncoverers of the unseen will investigate. I thought there were only some weird noises. Do you want to be famous or not?

You're the only one who'll get famous. Exactly. And I do want to be famous. We're going in. Keep the camera steady, Gus. Why wasn't it locked? It looks like it was broken open. Now, fellow uncoverers, the truth will be revealed. Thank you. I hope that one day, wherever these creatures come from, we'll be able to visit them. As long as they are willing to welcome us. Thank you.

Thank you, Hannah. Plenty to think about there. I know we've all got our own ideas about the origins of the creatures and why they seem to like Mayfair so much in particular. I'm happy to say that each of the founders has agreed to give us their own views on the matter. Gus, are you ready to take the stage, so to speak? Gus Willthrow, everybody. Good evening, everybody. It's been a while since I was at a meeting. My health hasn't been the best. The house isn't quite finished yet.

Mary, bless her, she helps best she can, but her stubborn fool of a husband keeps trying to do everything herself. It's also meant I haven't been out in the field much these last 18 months. Time was I'd be out on the trails in the day looking for tracks, staking out the likely gathering places at night. Saw more than a few creatures that way and got a lot of pictures. Of course, they don't photograph well for whatever reason, but I took a couple good ones. I'd say I have more experience with them than just about anyone else.

Not that it adds up to much, of course. No one really knows a spit about them. What I do know is the outdoors. And ever since I carried that old camcorder in that house, I knew these creatures weren't like deer or coyotes or even the chupacabra or bigfoot if you believe in them. They're not natural creatures. They don't grow, get old, and die like animals. They don't follow any of the same rules. Few times anyone's got access to a dead one, there aren't any organs or physical structures that make sense.

Some of them don't even have physical form. Shouldn't be alive. I don't think they are alive. More like they're created, conjured into being. I ask myself, what's more likely? That every rule of the natural world, biology, chemistry, and basic darn physics happens not to apply to these weird creatures, or that they're not really creatures at all. Something else.

I won't call it magic because there's people who think they know what magic is. Crystals and Dreamcatchers Brigade, raising their vibrations and manifesting their goals. Not that kind of magic, no. It's something else. Maybe it's what we call the occult. The one brings these things into being to do whatever it is they want doing. And they just cut them loose and they wander around making nuisance of themselves. Or perhaps some of them escape or the creators can't always send them back.

I see a couple of rolling eyes in the room. I'm not stupid, I know what it sounds like. Maybe I'm talking about robe-wearing weirdos chanting around a pentagram, but I doubt it. Might only be a couple of these magicians, I guess. I don't imagine a network of them, like everyone thought during the Satanic Panic. Could be there's only one. And yes, it's pretty outlandish, I grant you. I won't pretend it doesn't sound cuckoo, but is it more or less likely than another dimension or people's thoughts solidifying into these creatures?

I got no frame of reference for those either. So I'd say as far as we know, it's as likely to be magic as anything else. And are they really just here by chance? Feels a lot more logical for someone to have brought them here. There are a thousand legends about witches and sorcerers who can summon familiars. Maybe wherever those legends come from is happening for real right here. As for why Mayfair, maybe one of them lives here.

Maybe our town's a useful dumping ground for conjured critters. Of course, I could be completely wrong about all this. On balance, I probably am. The other theories make at least as much sense as mine. But just like with them, we'd be fools to discount the possibility these creatures are created deliberately by power we don't understand. Especially if we want to figure out what to do about them.

Guys, keep the flashlights steady. There's no point being here if we can't get anything on tape. It smells bad in here. Of course it does. It's abandoned. Abandoned?

There's mold all over the walls. Is it poisonous? If it is, we'll know pretty soon. It's not poisonous, Claudia. Just be careful. There's broken glass on the floor. Here we are in the front room of the ghost house. What horrible deeds were done here? Was someone murdered on that moldy couch? What evidence was burned in the fireplace? We may never know. I don't think any of those things happened, Hannah. Just...

Just hold the camera, Gus. You don't know anything about journalism. The kitchen's through here. It's gross. There's green stuff on the walls. Make sure you get some good shots of it, Gus. There aren't any ghosts in here, Hannah. Can we go now? No way. I'm not going without my story. Where are you even going to show it? I don't think TV stations buy camcorder film of abandoned buildings.

They do if there's a ghost. Guys, someone was in here. Look, in the grunge on the floor. They're a prince. Prince of what? I don't know. Not a shoe. Don't think it was a dog, either. Was it a ghost? Ghosts don't leave footprints. How do you know? Because ghosts don't exist. Then go up the stairs, see? Then we're going upstairs.

Careful. They don't look too safe. What if they collapse? They will die. Don't be silly. They won't collapse. Hey, Gus. Are you really sure about this? I don't think we're going to be on TV, but something was in here. And you want to know what it was, right? Right.

Everyone, everyone, I think I speak for us all if I say the pasta salad was a revelation. Well done, Colleen. Thank you. However, I see it's almost nine and we need to keep things moving if we're going to take off everything on the agenda. So now we have one of the pillars of Mayfair's community, Claudia Abbott. Why don't you step on up and give us your thoughts, Claudia?

Hello everybody! I'm sure I don't have as much insight as my fellow founders. I'm not much of a scientist or a rugged outdoorsy type. Even so, I've been here from the start. And living in Mayfair, I couldn't help but learn a little something about our odd little friends. I suppose I approach the whole matter from a compassionate standpoint.

"'I'm not saying I'm Mother Teresa. I don't mean that. It's more that I just see the world in terms of who needs help. That's why I ended up in social work, I expect. That's why when I see us logging all the sightings of these creatures and making plans to hunt them or scare them off, it makes me feel a little uneasy. Not that I don't think we're doing something important here.'

Understanding the world is good for everyone. But I think many of us see these creatures like baseball cards we're trying to collect or even like invading enemies we have to be ready to fight. What I've learned is that for all our diversity and the things that push us apart, we're much more alike than we are different. I think the same applies to these anomalies, exoforms, or whatever word we come up with.

Just coming up with a name for them makes them seem different to everything else. We're obsessed with separating them off from the world instead of thinking how they might fit into it. Maybe you think I'm a tree-hugging bleeding heart. You'd probably be right.

But I think these creatures are part of our world. Just think of the variety of living things around us. Microbes, redwood trees, blue whales, dogs and cats, us, and everything between. How many species have we not discovered yet?

There's so much we know, and so much we don't know, it seems ridiculous to discount the possibility these creatures are here, because they belong here. It's their world as much as it is ours.

Smart people have worked out how animals evolved into what they are now. But even smart people can miss things. Maybe there's a type of evolution we simply haven't studied and written down yet. A type that can lead to these types of creatures. And it could be a type of evolution that's happening right now much faster than we know about.

Is a natural origin for these creatures really less likely than coming from other dimensions or from outer space? Sure, those things could be true, but I think we should at least rule out something more earthly before we start looking to science fiction. Some of the creatures are intelligent or are more like energy patterns than physical beings. Could be they're evolved too, maybe out of us somehow.

Or they're from another dimension while the ones with bodies like animals are from Earth. Maybe what we think of as one phenomenon is actually a whole bunch of different things. So I guess my contribution to this discussion is maybe we're missing the answers because we look at these creatures in the assumption they're different from us.

Maybe we'll get a lot further if we start with how they're the same. Trevor Anderson here with an ad break. If you'd like to get early and ad-free access to Mayfair Watcher Society, consider supporting us on the Apollo Podcast app. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Whether you're selling a little or a lot.

Shopify helps you do your thing, however you cha-ching. From the launch your online shop stage, all the way to the we just hit a million orders stage. No matter what stage you're in, Shopify's there to help you grow. Sign up for a $1 per month trial period at shopify.com slash special offer, all lowercase. That's shopify.com slash special offer. And now, back to our show. Guys!

I'm scared. You can't back out now. Why not? Because you're part of the crew. Is that the bathroom through there? I think so. No way am I looking in the bathroom. I don't think there would be any ghosts in there.

What about this door? Probably the bedroom. Great! Maybe the bed will be empty, but then the bedclothes start moving like there's an invisible man in it. Albert, open the door. Why me? Because I'm the presenter, Gus is the cameraman, and Claudia's a little baby. Alright. Oh my god! Get out of the way! Run! Is anyone else still up here?

I fell over. Me. I hid in the bathroom. It's really disgusting in here. The others went downstairs, but to get down there, we have to go past that thing. Did you see it? Yes. What is it? How should I know? It looked like a big white giraffe, I guess.

I thought it was a big dog. Come on. We gotta get out of here. We'll go together. Don't forget my dad's camcorder. I got it right here. It landed on me. Come on. What are you doing? Come on, before it sees us. Oh, look at its leg. We gotta go. It's hurt. Are you hurt? Why are you guys still up here? Come on. Let's go.

It's not mean. I think it's hurt. It's like it's all bent. Look! What's going on? Claudia, what is it? Does anyone have some water? Uh, I have. Here. Are you thirsty? Here! Claudia, I don't think it's a dog. It's not a giraffe either. Something new, maybe? It must have got hurt and come into the house for shelter.

I guess that means it's pretty smart. Look! It's covered in white fur. Its face is like a lizard, maybe. How come you didn't run away? Because it's not dangerous. It's hurt. It reminds me of the horses that live in the field behind our house. They're friendly if you're friendly to them, too. It has a real long tongue, like a snake. Six legs? What is it? Maybe we've found a whole new species.

What do we call it? Which one of us will it be named after? Maybe all of us? We found it together. Hold up, wait. Alright, Gus, get me in the shot. Here we are at the haunted Truman House, where we have made the first ever sighting of Hannah's Monster. This ferocious beast must be responsible for all the paranormal activity in the area. Hannah's Monster...

It has a long neck. Let's just call it that. A long neck. We should look after it. It'll starve up here if it can't move. What does it eat? We'll have to find out. I don't know. My mom won't let us get a dog because she says it's too much responsibility. I don't think we can look after a whole monster. Just until it's better. And then what? We let it go.

Before we have our final speaker, I'd like to remind everyone that next month's meeting is at the Willinghams. The refreshments will be vegan, but carnivores are welcome to bring their own. We are still working on the discussion topics, but we will post them on the bulletin board once they're finalized. Speaking of which, we're fortunate enough to have all of the Society's founders here tonight. Albert Sterling has been waiting very patiently for his turn. Professor, the floor is all yours. Thank you, Jenny.

I admit, I haven't shown my face at the Society for a while, for which I apologise. The Biology faculty at the University can be rather unforgiving at this time of year. Herding undergraduates takes up far too much of my time. But I had to take the opportunity to meet up with my fellow Founders. Those opportunities are becoming all too rare. I always wanted to be an academic. There was something about lecturing people that young know-it-all Albert couldn't resist.

The choice to study biology, however, was undoubtedly spurred by what we found in the Truman House all those years ago. I was driven by a need to understand it. Not an intellectual curiosity, but more of an anxiety. We were afraid of what we don't understand, and I wanted to understand the strange creature so I wasn't afraid of it. And, if I could understand such an outlandish thing, then I could understand anything the world might throw at me, and never need to be afraid again.

Everyone told me I was the smart kid, but I could only see now just how stupid I was. That creature, and the others we have spent so much time cataloguing and searching for, cannot be understood. I turned every form of intellectual rigour at my disposal on the question of what they really are, where they come from, and how they came to share our world with us. And I always failed.

The Long Neck was a lot like an animal, but not quite. It did not function within the physical constraints of the animal kingdom. All animal life on Earth shares some common characteristics. It needs a source of energy, liquid water, and a source of organic molecules. The Long Neck did not. Yet here it was, lying in the master bedroom of the old Truman House.

I realize now what that really means. We cannot know where they came from. They are outside the simple mechanics of cause and effect that define our knowledge. We can never know because we are incapable of understanding it. And knowing would not benefit us anyway. We cannot interact with these creatures' origins, for they defy any attempt to comprehend them, let alone alter them.

We can only deal with the creatures themselves. We must avoid them when they are dangerous, live alongside them when they are not, and save ourselves the effort of trying to understand or predict them. It took me decades to realize this simple truth. The most difficult part was accepting I would never have the answers to the questions I was so desperate to ask. I simply conclude our visitors are... alien. Not from another planet, but...

Alien in that they are from a different order of existence than any we can study or grasp. I will not say the matter is subtle. I'm only one person and while I have dedicated much of my life to studying these creatures, the same is true of many of us here. And it is easy for an academic to find himself heading down dead ends where a more vital mind might happen upon the truth. But I urge you all to ask yourself: What are the questions we want answered?

Do we want to fill in a guidebook of these creatures as if they were a native bird species? Separating and categorizing them to take away their alien nature and reduce the anxiety they create in us? Or do we want to simply cope with the disturbing fact they exist? That, I feel, is the right question to ask. How do we bear the burden of simply existing alongside them? Once we have answered that, everything else is details.

I don't get why it hasn't eaten anything. It's been two weeks. It only drinks when we feed it from the bottle. It should be dead. Don't say that! It's not dead! But it should be! Animals all have to eat and drink! I know that. If the horses won't eat, they get weak and they can die. But the long neck isn't a horse or any other animal.

It has its own rules. It got stronger every day. You saw it the same as I did. I just wish we knew what it was. Oh, we do. It's a long neck. I mean whether it's a mammal or not. Where it comes from. That sort of thing. I remember my mom arguing with my dad. She said she had seen a bird out walking by the canal.

She said it was huge, like an aeroplane, and that it flew so low she was almost knocked over by the wind. My dad said she must be crazy because there weren't any birds that big. They had a big fight about it. Now, if the bird was real, it's like the long neck. They're both something that shouldn't be real. But we saw them anyway. Grrrr!

We're almost out. Come on, quit resisting. All right, come on. Come on. Oh, God. No, no, no, no, no. Don't let it get back into the house. Don't spook it again. You could help more. I'm doing all the work here. I'm directing. Keep it from kicking the door frame. How do I do that? Pull harder. Phew. We got it out. Does its leg look okay? It tried to kick me plenty of times. I'd say it's working just fine. Let's take the rope off.

Yep, yep. Ah, got it. You can go now. You're all better. You can go free. Yep, go on. You can't hang out here. Everyone will see you. Oh my god. Look at them all. Where did they all come from? Have they been waiting there this whole time? There must be 50 of them. Are you getting them on camera? Yeah, I think so. They're far away.

I don't know how it'll come out. Go on! Join the others! What's going on? It looks kinda like lightning. No, it's coming off them! It's going right up into the sky! What are they doing? We should get out of here. Run guys, run!

I can't believe we thought that thing would be friendly. Yeah, well, it was friendly. I seem to recall almost dying, Claudia. It wasn't hostile. We just didn't understand it. That's the problem. They could be all as friendly as puppies. That doesn't stop them from being dangerous. So we should try to understand them better.

Do you know there are people in Mayfair who are saying we should call in the Exterminators? I don't think anyone is saying that. Not on the bulletin board, of course. But I've heard some of them talking about it, when they don't think I'm around. And some members swear they've seen Exterminator scouts casing the town. You can't blame people for being afraid.

We never threatened these creatures. We did the opposite, and we only barely escaped. It's all very well saying we should try to understand them, but if they can't be understood, what other options are there? But you can't agree with wiping them out like an infestation of ants, right? Right, Albert? This is why we don't show our faces at the society meetings anymore.

I don't think we've pulled the same direction since the old Truman House. We kept it together long enough to start the Watchers Society, and I'm willing to bet we've collected more information on these creatures than anyone in the country. Don't do us down, Gus. We've done plenty together, whether we disagree or not. I'll drink to that. We have this bottle of white to finish off. Anyone want to join me? Ooh, sounds good to me.

So, what do you think the Longnecks were doing? When they were all gathered around the one we saved and made all that lightning? Going home, maybe? They weren't there afterwards. Communicating, maybe? I don't think it's possible to know. They don't have motivations or responses to stimuli as we understand them. Remember guys, that Longneck wouldn't have survived without us. We saved it. Can we all agree that was worth doing?

Of course. To the long neck? To the long neck! Thank you for listening, neighbor. Mayfair Watchers Society is based on the works of Trevor Henderson. Society Proceedings was written by Ben Counter. Jennifer Kaminsko was played by Maddie Moore. Hannah Collins was played by Janine Bauer. Albert Sterling was played by Vic Collins. Gus Withrow was played by Scott Paladin. Claudia Abbott was played by Katrina Pessina. The dialogue editor was Daisy McNamara. The sound designer was Brad Colebrook.

Music was by Matt Royberger. The showrunner was Pacifica Esobudaya. And the creative director was me, Trevor Henderson. Produced by Tom Owen and Brad Miska. A Bloody FM Show.