Quiescent cancer cells, QCCs, can survive chemotherapy and radiotherapy by residing in G0 phase, but may reproliferate and result in cancer progression if not targeted with specific agents. Understanding the mechanisms of QCC survival and activation is crucial for developing effective therapeutic modalities to prevent cancer progression and recurrence. This article was authored by one N.H.Barnignable, Jikir 11, Mengfeng Liu, and others.


Update settings for YouTube, start video transmission, post tweet, stream starting soon.  This is Dr. Theron Sherman and my associate, Billeth. We are digitizing our signal. We are reticulating our splines. Please let us know if you hear us in the chat. We are going live for the SCP-7000 contest entries. Stream a number 14. Not 14 weeks because we did a couple multi-streams, but we are here. Chat let us know if you hear us while we're waiting for the chat to fill us in on our successful stream. Tiktok viewers, make sure all 157 of you head to the site 42 YouTube. Make sure to subscribe using your encrypted YouTube accounts. Do not use your civilian accounts. Again, Steve, the veil gets a little more ragged every time. It's like fishnets that are just a little too overused. You gotta retire those. Oy! Alright, we are being heard. Head over to YouTube so you can see my wonderful guest as well as our beautiful special effects budget. YouTube chat, we are here for you in three, two, one. Hey there, Foundation staff. This is Dr. Theron Sherman and my wonderful associate, Billeth. Welcome to another anomalous broadcast from site 42. Happy to be here. Happy to keep reading these. I hope that there's an end at some point. I'm not allowed to leave the studio until we've read them all and the food is getting very thin here. There's very little to eat. Everything we've told you about Dr. Samarian's tree fund, Billeth is having to do that remotely because the ankle chains are quite secure, contained and protected. This is true. This is true. I'm not looking forward to the amnestics either, but you know, I do it all for you, Samarian, who's definitely in the chat, I assume. Obviously Samarian's in the chat. Samarian is everywhere. Yes, sir. And we are starting off strong today with SCP-7599. Let's see what the name is for that one. SCP-7599 by, where is it? Where is it on the list? It's not even on my 7K list right here. Where'd it go? SCP-7599, also known as The Odds, eternally in his favor. That's unique. I've never heard that before. I like the title. Yeah, it's definitely not a reference to anything as far as I'm aware. Yeah, I've never heard it. It's very unique. And that is by. I can go down here and look at the history. That is by. It's not happy. It's not loading. Oh, here we go. It is by Golden Changes. Golden Changes, everyone. Alright, we are looking at the inter-reality communications and relations department database. Alright, let's dive right in. Let's see what this is about and why the audience didn't mesh with it today, unfortunately. Welcome, Director Adams. You are currently attempting to view files restricted to level 5, 7599 clearance. Please enter the correct password. Wrong attempts will lock you out of the terminal temporarily. Input, The Odds, eternally in his favor. Inter-reality communications and relations department database confirming password. Password accepted. You have been granted access to all files marked as 57599 clearance. Files available. IRCR Common Entries Archive 7599, 28th of March 2021. The others are temporarily available. I wonder if they'll show up later. Oh, now I have to rearrange the page for formatting. Notice from the Foundation Records and Information Security Administration. The following entry contains archived information pertaining to SCP-7599. Due to the updated container procedures, and oh my god, don't block my screen please, and the reclassification of SCP-7599, IRCR Administration has replaced this file with a new one containing revised information and has it locked to 57599 clearance. All mentioned in the original archive file have been wiped off the SCP database. To view the revision, please request 57599 clearance from a senior member of the IRCR department. Signed, Maria Jones, Director, RISA. Item number, SCP-7599. Classification level three, confidential. Containment class, safe. Disruption class of VLAM. Risk class, warning. Special Containment Procedures. Both SCP-7599 instances are currently contained in standard item storage lockers in Site-19. Personnel wishing to conduct tests with SCP-7599 are required to submit level three credentials to the current lead researcher, Footnote. As of the 29th of April 2020, Senior Researcher Maya Eldin, pictured as two instances of SCP-7599, 7599-1 and 7599-2. Description, quick distraction, and we're here. SCP-7599 refers to two six-faced cube-shaped black dice, both one centimeter in height, length, and width. The dice have standard numbers etched onto their faces, opposite sides adding up to seven, except for one of the die, SCP-7599-1, which has a symbol of a handshake on one of its sides instead of the one. The dice are made out of an unknown material, which resembles plastic and weight, reflectivity, and hardness. The anomalous effects of SCP-7599 manifest with at least one of the die are in close proximity to a human being. This person, hereby known as SCP-7599-A instance, will, from that point on, experience a large amount of events that can be considered lucky. The probability of these events occurring normally will, over time, lower. Examples of this phenomenon would include precisely guessing lottery numbers, winning in games that would be identified as gambling, and repeatedly being able to manipulate the results of a coin flip. Luck in situations not defined by computable probability, such as being able to survive usually fatal gunshots or crashes, or being able to accurately and exactly predict someone's personal info, have also been observed. See testing logs for more info. The Foundation's Inter-Reality Communications and Relations Department, known as the IRCR, discovered a class triangle, abnormality in an alternate reality on the 21st of March, 2019, while revealing realities for Project Probenum on the 1st of April, 2019. Another abnormality was detected, this time classified as Class C, footnote. Class triangle, sorry, class delta, abnormalities occur when a reality branches off from base timeline due to the activation of an anomaly. Class C abnormalities occur when more anomalies activate, but do significantly impact their reality. IRCR staff were unable to identify the source of the abnormalities, and thus the reality was added to the project and was first accessed by specialists on the 10th. On the 12th of November, 2019, the source of one of the abnormalities was pinpointed to the location of Jack Midway Doyle, hereby SCP-7599-A1, a male adult living by himself in Madison. Footnote, a city in the state of Wisconsin, a part of the USA. It was discovered that SCP-7599-A1 had been titled The Luckiest Man Alive on numerous occasions by news publications and television broadcasters in the reality. It was suspected that SCP-7599-A1 had some connection with the anomalous entity or was anomalous themselves. On the 14th, Dr. Erika Brom and her team were assigned with establishing communications with SCP-7599-A1. They ran extensive background checks and attempted to contact him via his cellular device on three separate occasions on the 14th and 15th, all of which failed. First successful contact with SCP-7599-A1 was made on the 16th of April by the IRCR, and they were interviewed by Dr. Brom. After information from this interview was compiled by the team and sent to Mobile Task Force TOW 51. Footnote, a Mobile Task Force unit that specialized in containment and recovery of SCP objects from urban environments. SCP-7599 was located and secured in baseline reality via search of the warehouse supplying the store SCP-7599-A1 had bought the dice from. See Addendum 7599-2 for the transcript of the interview. Addendum 7599-2, interview transcript, background information. Dr. Erika Brom is a communications expert in the IRCR specializing in interviewing high-importance targets and securing information from them. SCP-7599-A1 is an adult male from the reality 102 named Jack Midway Doyle, thought to have a connection with the two abnormalities detected in this reality. Dr. Brom was able to communicate with SCP-7599-A1 on the 16th of April 2019 through his personal cell phone. Interview lasted from 1042 to 1050. Interviewer, Dr. Erika Brom, interviewee, SCP-7599-A1. You want to be the POI? Absolutely. Let's do it. Begin log. Good evening, Mr. Doyle. Good evening. Who would this be? I don't use my personal phone number for business. This isn't about a business endeavor, Mr. Doyle. And regarding your name, it is one of the many things we know about you. We? Who are you exactly? I am Dr. Erika Brom. I am an inter-reality communication specialist. My job description or who I work for is an important. What's important is that you tell us the truth. I... I don't get it. Several seconds of silence ensues. Well, let's start simple. When did it start? Hmm? What do you mean? All of this. Your empire, so to speak. Your life was rather tough until something changed. Divorced, poor, lost custody of your child, dad battling with cancer. I'm sure many more problems. Until one fateful day. Something must have happened to you as everything just started going uphill from that point on. You know, I'm not really a fan of prank calls.  I promise, as we keep talking, everything. Dr. Brom is cut off as SCP-7599-81 hangs up his cellular device. Communications are re-established several minutes later. Mr.  It's not as easy as dialing a number for us.   Mr. Doyle, I understand it is difficult for you to cope with the current situation, but I implore you to listen to me. Several seconds of silence ensues. Finally broken by an audible gasp from SCP-7599-1. A gasp?  Fine. I'll give you five minutes.  But from what we can tell, you weren't always so fortunate. Something must have happened to you to facilitate this change. Do you have any ideas as to what that might have happened? Uh, no, not really. Really? Very well then. Do you recall the day you went to your ex-wife's home to visit your son for his birthday, but your ex-wife wouldn't let you?  It was the day you managed to put your life back together. You couldn't see your kid, but you got a job offer only a week later. So in essence, it was the last bad thing that happened to you. Did anything special happen to you in that one week period? I... I suppose. I just felt like everything was going uphill for me. I went to the pub that evening, me and a couple of my buddies played dice. I never won a dice until that day, but, you know, everything sort of just went in my favor. Felt like... Dr. Brahm interjected. What type of dice did you use? I bought them myself. They were like my lucky dice. I've kept them ever since. How did you get a hold of the dice? Uh, they were from a monopoly set I bought. Right. Tell me more about the monopoly set. Where'd you buy it? When? Is there anything special about the box it came in? You get the picture. What? Why are you asking me all this? I don't get it. With all due respect, Mr. Doyle, please cooperate with me. I've tried my best to be charitable with you, and I'm not one to use coercion, especially in such a situation. I think I still have the box. I'll go check really quick. But afterwards, I want a real good explanation. Certainly. You give some, you get some. Footsteps. Opening and closing of doors and drawers can be heard. Alright, I've got it. It's just a monopoly set.  Describe the set for me. SCP-7599-81 can be heard rotating the box on a solid surface. It is a little clear from his voice that he's getting irritated. It says monopoly. Las Vegas edition on the cover. I don't know how to explain it. It's monopoly. Anything out of the ordinary? I don't know. Mr. Doyle, would you be kind enough to look up the Las Vegas-themed monopoly set on the internet, please? Alright. SCP-7599-81 can be heard typing on his keyboard. Okay, now what? Take a close look. Is there really no difference between the original and the one you have? Uh, no? That complicates things.  The guy's holding a four-leaf clover instead of a stick. I see. But where did you buy the set from? Uh, hold on. Ah, I apologize, Mr. Doyle.  You bought it from the local Toys R Us in Madison. The fuck?  Thank you very much for cooperating, Mr. Doyle. I have a feeling this won't be the last time we speak. Wait, hold on. Take care, Mr. Doyle. I wish you luck.  End log. Conclusion. Information about SCP-7599 and the box it was initially packaged with was recorded by Dr. Brom and passed on to Mobile Task Force TOW-51 units. SCP-7599-81 attempted to call IRCR Communications again, but the call was left unanswered. Due to Brom's direct and questionable means of interviewing the subject, a vote among the Administratory Department for possible disciplinary action was held. This vote was vetoed by the Department Director. Addendum 7599-3 Testing Logs Testing was conducted by Dr. Robert Conwell on the 20th of October in Site Testing Lab C. Testing reason was to observe whether there was a gradual change in how lucky an SCP-7599-A instance was as time went on. Subject, Junior Researcher Aaron Cross, was handed SCP-7599-1 and told to hold it for a set amount of time that was increased across tests. After this, an unbiased random number generator was used to generate a number from 1 to 1000, three times in a row. Subject was asked to guess what the number was each time, and the generated number along with their answers were noted down. Computer Program Delta L, footnote, originally developed for the AIAD for usage in testing probability-related anomalies, was used to measure accuracy and standard deviation. Test 1, 1, 14, 100 hours, 1 minutes, I guess. Procedure, subject was not given SCP-7599 and was asked to guess the numbers. Result, table has subject response generated number deviation. Guess 1, 1, 12, 243, deviation of 131. Guess 2, 476, 900, deviation of 424. Guess 3, 736, 378, deviation 358. Standard deviation, footnote. The mean average of the deviations of each guess, standard deviation, can be used as a way of testing probability. 304.33, accurate guesses, none. Conclusion, subject utilized random guessing and no signs of unexpected probability were detected by Delta L. Test 2, 3 minutes later. Procedure, subject was given SCP-7599-1 for 20 minutes. Results, guess 1 was 468, the generated number was 315, the deviation was 153. Guess 2, the subject response was 172, generated number 257, deviation of 85. Guess 3, 682, generated number of 891, deviation 209. Standard deviation, 149, accurate guesses, none. Conclusion, Delta L detected guessing odds slightly higher than average, expected odds, showing an increase of precision from test 1. Test 3, what? Wait a minute. Was given 791-1 for 20 minutes, but the test only took place 3 minutes later. Oh, and then, I don't know how these timetables are working. No, it's an interesting usage of standard deviation. So at 1400 hours, 27 minutes, we had test 3. Procedure, subject was given SCP-7599-1 for 40 minutes. Results, guess 1, 128, generated number 214, deviation of 86. Guess 2, 191, generated number 056, deviation 135. Guess 3, 937, generated number 986, deviation 49. Standard deviation, 90, accurate guesses, none. Conclusion, Delta L once again detected luck in guessing higher than what was expected. Test 4, 1500 hours of minutes. Procedure, subject was given SCP-7599-1 for 1 hour. Pre-results, guess 1, 291, generated number 374, deviation 83. Guess 2, 712, generated number 633, deviation 79. Guess 3, 912, generated number 840, deviation 72. Standard deviation, 78, accurate guesses, none. Conclusion, Delta L reported the probability of subjects guesses being this precise as close to the previous test, being only slightly higher. Test 5, 1600 hours, 15 minutes. Procedure, subject was given SCP-7599-1 for 2 hours. Results, subject response, 098, generated number 147, deviation 49. Guess 2, 900, generated number 841, deviation 59. Guess 3, 498, generated number 433, deviation 65. Standard deviation, 57.66, accurate guesses, guess 1. That wasn't an accurate guess, it wasn't the same number. It's not at all accurate, what are you talking about? Conclusions, alerts of potential cheating were brought up by Delta L, notifying an abnormality in the subject's luck. What? Test 6, 1800 hours, 21 minutes. Procedure, given for 4 hours. Results, guess 1, 480, generated number 440, deviation 40. Guess 2, 316, generated number 376, deviation 60. Guess 3, 721, generated number 711, deviation 10. Standard deviation, 36.66, accurate guesses, guess 1, guess 3. What are you defining as accurate? What? Conclusion, once again, Delta L alerted possible cheating but also altered of the first pattern of regularity, mentioning that all of the subject responses share the same digit as the generated number. What are you calling an accurate guess? I don't get it. Final test 7, 2300 hours, 27 minutes. Procedure, 8 hours. Result, guess 1, 922, generated number 925, deviation 3. Guess 2, 24, generated number 60, deviation 36. Guess 3, 95, generated number 113, deviation 18, standard deviation 19. Accurate guesses, guess 1, guess 2, guess 3. I do not know what you're calling accurate. Conclusion, Delta L notified an extremely low standard deviation and thus declared that the odds of such an event were near impossible. All guesses have been marked accurate and guess 1 has been declared as close to perfect response. I mean, yeah, off by 3, I guess that's like really, really close for a random guess. I guess. If they defined accurate as within a range, I would get it, but right now I don't as a layman. And you said something about the standard deviation being weird, but I don't know what that means. And so, because I'm a theater college dropout, so continuing on. That's fair. Test 7599, 3, 1 conclusion. Testing finished at 2300 hours 10 minutes as measured by Delta L. There was an increase in luck in the subject's guesses measured through probability and standard deviation. These odds could not reasonably occur in normal conditions, effectively proving that SCP-7599, oh, we got an extra digit there, instances have more luck in guessing and predictions as time goes on. However, doing the same test with higher periods of time have been recommended to measure at which point a perfect response may occur. Testing log B. Testing was conducted by Dr. Maya Elden on the 27th of October in sight, testing lab A and B. Testing reason was to attempt to see if SCP-7599-A instances could accurately predict someone's personal information, thus proving that SCP-7599's luck is not limited to events with purely computable probabilities. The subjects chosen were junior researcher Cameron Knox and Agent Alice. They were asked to keep SCP-7599-1 and SCP-7599-2 respectively on them for 24 hours before testing commenced. They were both presented with three photos of three Foundation members, two of them deceased and one of them still alive and retired, all taken in the same year. They were then asked to randomly guess information such as their birth year, their death year or whether they were deceased, where they were born and where they died, what age they were aware when the pictures were taken, what their favorite animal was, what their favorite color was, where did they come from, where did they go, that I was just joking. The predictions were noted and once again put through Delta-L to test for accuracy. Test won 1200 hours 30 minutes, individual won. Photo was deceased researcher Sophia Semenov, born in 1956 in Kazan, Russia and died in 2004 in Glasgow, UK. Picture was taken in 2001 while she was at age of 46, a few years before she died in a car accident. Her favorite animals were snow leopards and her favorite color was red. Recorded answers. Subject camera in 1954. Subject accuracy, deviation 2, accurate. Footnote, short version of deviancy on measure of how far off a guess is from another one. Subject Alice was born in 1957, subject accuracy, deviation 1, very accurate. Death year 2003, deviation 1, very accurate. Subject Alice 2007. Deviation, subject accuracy, deviation 3. Place of birth, Russia. Subject accuracy, correct country, lacking city. Subject Alice, Chelny Russia. Subject accuracy, correct country, neighboring city. Place of death, Glasgow, Scotland. Subject accuracy, completely accurate. Subject Alice, Scotland. Subject accuracy, correct region, lacking region, slash city. Age of time of photo, subject camera in 42, deviation 4. Subject Alice, 44. Deviation 2, accurate. Favorite animal, feline. For Cameron, subject accuracy, correct genus-lacking species. Subject Alice, house cat. Subject accuracy, correct genus-wrong species. Subject Cameron says favorite color was yellow. Subject accuracy, incorrect warm color. Subject Alice, guessed red. Subject accuracy, exact color. Test, 2, 1200 hours, 48 minutes, individual 2. Photo is of currently alive Adam Evers, born 1972 in Washington, USA. Picture was taken in 2003 while he was age of 31. His favorite animals are turtles and his favorite color is green. Subject Cameron, guessed 1969. Deviation 3, accurate. Subject Alice, guessed 1976. Deviation 4. Death year, Cameron, guessed 2018. Accuracy, unable to distinguish whether deceased or not. Subject Alice, guessed 2000, redacted. Subject accuracy, current year, uncertain accuracy. Interesting. Place of birth, Cameron guessed USA. Subject accuracy, correct country-lacking city. Subject Alice, Toronto, Canada. Subject accuracy, neighboring country, inaccurate city. Place of death, Cameron said unsure. Accuracy, unable to analyze. Subject Alice, UK. Subject accuracy, current position, uncertain accuracy. Age to have a photo, Cameron guessed 31. Deviation 0, very accurate. Alice, guessed 28. Deviation 3, accurate. Subject animal, or favorite animals. Cameron guessed tortoise, correct order-wrong species. Alice guessed dog, inaccurate. Favorite color, blue. Cameron guessed incorrect, cold color. Blue was also Alice's guess incorrect, cold color. Test, 3, 1300 hours, 10 minutes, individual 3. Photo was of deceased field agent, Gary Christopher, born in 1979 in Leeds, UK and died in 2016 in London, UK. Picture was taken in 2015 while he was at the age of 37, shortly before he died during a field operation due to chest wounds. His favorite animals were dogs and his favorite color was white. Cameron guessed birth year, 1980. Subject accuracy, deviation 1, very accurate. Subject Alice guessed 1965. Subject accuracy was deviation 14, inaccurate. Death year, Cameron guessed 2013, deviation 2, accurate. Alice guessed 2016, deviation 1, very accurate. Place of birth, UK, Cameron guessed correct country, lacking city. Alice guessed London, UK, correct country, wrong city. Place of death, Ireland. Accuracy, neighboring country, lacking city. Subject Alice guessed London, UK, correct city. Age at time of photo, age 40, Cameron guessed deviation 3, accurate. 41 guessed Alice, deviation 4. Favorite animal, dog, Cameron guessed correct species. House cat, Alice guessed incorrect species. Favorite color, gray, Cameron guessed that was incorrect. Subject Alice guessed white, correct color. Test, 75, 99, 3, 2, conclusion. Testing finished at 1300 hours, 35 minutes. While Delta L concluded that the probability of certain guesses were much higher than usual, conclusive signs of cheating manipulation of luck were not detected. Testing considered inconclusive, and a second attempt is recommended. Please no, do not do it again, I don't want to read it again. Your terminal has received a notification. Click to view terminal notification. Your IRCR terminal has received the following notification. File list assigned to 5799 clearance has been updated. Return to terminal. Oh, dear God, help me. Okay, we're back to the terminal and we have an update for 102 on the 14th of February 2022. So, 11 months later, Valentine's Day specifically, interesting. Ooh, this is new. Reality 102, classification level beta 5, administrator. Exploration class, unexplored. Probeninum class, abyssal. Risk class, unknown. Description. I gotta move this so it's on screen. Okay, after all that rapping, give indulge Dr. Sherman for a minute to drink. Drink, water. Oh, me. Oh, my. Breathe in, breathe in, breathe in. Okay. All right, we're back. Description. Reality 102 is the designation of one of the three realities attached to Epsilon 5. Reality 102 shares connections with four other realities, 103, 104, 106, and 112. A potential connection with 105 is also believed to exist, however, this has not been proven or refuted. Due to a major CK class restructuring event thought to be connected to an anomalous source, Reality 102 has entered a state of partial collapse and has become an abyssal reality. Footnote. Abyssal realities, referred to realities which due to K-class events, have been irreversibly damaged. Such realities have had the borders around themselves melted away, thus allowing the void on the opposing side to seep in. Only one trace of life has been detected inside of 102, C-adenda. As Reality 102 is in a fractured state, the entry of an item or person into it will initiate a full-on collapse. A possible way to open up a gateway into it is being worked on, but further investigations into the internal parts of the reality via entry way into it has been restricted to protect the realities 102 is connected to. Usage under project Probenum. Reality 102 was first accessed before the CK class restructuring event, and it was deemed appropriate to be catalogued and utilized for the project due to its similarity to baseline reality. IRCR specialists first accessed it on the 10th of April 2019 and finally cut off access six days later on the 16th. Through intercepting the news, broadcasting and internet of the reality, the IRCR was able to detect and discover two separate anomalies. SCP 7599, which was discovered through a man by the name of Jack Whit Midway Doyle. Mr. Doyle had appeared on the news on three separate occasions in the last five days for winning the lottery twice in a row for being the survivor of a fatal car crash and for an interview by the Wisconsin State Journal where his emotional rags to riches story was discussed and revealed to the public. After multiple failed attempts, the IRCR set up communications with MVS phone call on the 16th of April, after which SCP 7599 was quickly found. The full discovery and interview log is present on SCP 7599's file. Is that going to link me back to where we were before? Or is that the next offset? This is where we previously were. Okay, so we do not need to read this again. So back to where we were. Next up, SCP redacted three digits, which was discovered after the IRCR investigated disappearances that occurred in White Pine Hollow Forest, a state force located in Iowa. Surveillance of this area showed SCP redacted dragging bodies from nearby areas into a den located in the middle of the forest. Agents quickly returned back to normal reality and alerted Mobile Task Force 8-10, codename C-No-Evil. Footnote, Mobile Task Force that specializes in the investigation, acquisition, and initial containment of objects or entities exhibiting visual cognitohazards to the presence of the SCP in the park. Mobile Task Force units successfully secured and contained it in baseline reality on the 18th. No other signs or indications of unknown and almost objects were observed during the six days the IRCR had contact with IRLD 102. Communications with the reality were not restored until Project Probenum was restarted and 102's current status was discovered by the IRCR. Addendum, recovered journal entries. The following journal entries were recovered after an internal scan of the reality was conducted by the IRCR to declare if any technological devices, anomalous or not, were remaining and still being actively used. Only two were found, both of which were located in Wisconsin, a state in the USA. Attempts to enter and download the files from outside of the reality via wavelength interception were conducted. While one of the devices could not be reached in any way, presumably due to the fact that it was a cellular device, the other one could be partial accessed. The device, a MacBook Air, could only have files from its Notes and Preview app downloaded. Most of the Notes were journal entries written through the 18th of March 2021 to the 21st of May the same year. No other Notes were written after that date. While an exact name was not discovered anywhere in the journal entries, they are presumed to belong to Jack Doyle. Due to mentions of SCP-7599, the interview with the IRCR conducted with him on the 16th and the events that fit the timeline the IRCR had plotted in the reality from the 10th to the 16th. Some of the entries have been omitted for brevity. View file 102 journal entries. Oh, sweet Fancy Moses. Hey, hey, Billith, welcome back. You were voicing Jack Midway Doyle, who, I must admit, has a dope-ass name. I like the name Jack Midway Doyle as a cool-like character name. Sure. But these are his journal entries. You want to hop in for a minute? Yeah, no problem. Yeah, it's not a problem at all. Lovely, my friend. All right. You already read the title of this collapsible, just making sure. You can start at Journal Entries March. Okay. Journal Entries March. Entry 1. March 18th, 2019. Monopoly. Terrible game. My son's birthday is coming up. And I remember from those Christmases when I was still with Angelina was how excited my son would get playing whichever board game she had chosen from the closet. I don't remember ever playing Monopoly, though. I had to hope that Angelina hadn't already bought him the game when I was gone. Bought it from Toys R Us. I haven't been over there since, ever since I was a child, but I have to admit there's a level of deep nostalgia one gets from going to places they haven't been to since their childhood. Everything was so vibrant, so colorful. And I almost considered buying myself a board game. A pack of cards, something like that. But I decided against it. After all, I'm already sacrificing some of my treatment in order to buy this gift. I certainly can't sacrifice more. It's a Las Vegas edition of the game. The edition doesn't really affect much in the game, just those funny player pieces and some design stuff. The vendor told me it was a, quote, special copy, though, something about a difference on the cover because it had been designed as a collector's item. Didn't charge me extra for it though, so not really buying what he said. You know, the salesman at Toys R Us. Alex's birthday is on the 21st, only three days. I'm sure Angelina won't let me stay for long. God knows if she even lets me inside, but I'll just have to hope for the best. Buying a gift for him and being unable to even give it would be a heart breaking. I'm sure he wants to see me again too. Well, I hope he does. Entry two, March 19th, 2019. I tried to call Angelina today. She doesn't normally pick up my calls, but I thought that she'd at least give me a chance two days before my son's own, my own son's birthday. No reply though. I tried a few more times later. I know she comes early, comes early from work on Fridays. Maybe she just has plans or she's purposefully ignoring me. I'm starting to think it's the latter. Went to the dock today. I'm running out of money to give her those chemo prescriptions. Not like I'm rich enough to afford health insurance either. Memo wage isn't cutting it for me anymore. At least dad's doing better. I called him to see how he was doing.  I'm starting to doubt whether he actually wants to or not. Entry three, March 21st, 2019. Went to Angelina's house with the gift. Never got her to pick up my calls, but I knew that she'd be home.  Ran the doorbell a few times. I knew she was purposefully not answering, but after a minute or two of waiting, she finally opened the door.  But you know what she did?  Son probably, presuming. Right outside her house. I tried to ring the bell a few more times, but she just wouldn't answer. I could hear her inside talking to Alex. Said I was a random homeless man. Alex probably believed it. He hasn't seen me in a few years. Started breaking down her doorstep, but it was of no use. Guess there's no going back. Decided to call my friends. She wasn't going to let me see my own kid on my birthday. There's nothing else I could do without feeling like I was going to start breaking down again. Maybe they'd help me relieve my frustration. Called Dave. He said that they were planning to go to the pub to play some dice.  But if I meant to, if I meant spending some time with people that actually care about me, I would do anything. We met up an hour later. I've lost the dice. I'd normally use playing, playing it a week prior, but I did have a monopoly set left to my hands. Just nick the dice. Is that to give it an actual game to someone else? Whenever I could. Maybe Dave could give it to his own son. Dice is a relatively simple game. Mostly luck. Entirely luck. Maybe a bit of smart probability, but you're not guaranteed to win or anything. I never won it before either because I was unlucky or I just had no idea how to calculate probability. But I suppose I got lucky today. Won my first game. Went for a bit of a risky strategy, but it certainly played off. Let me say there's nothing really quite set. There's nothing, there's really nothing quite as satisfying as beating your friends at a game. After being harassed about it for a few months, I finally had my first game in my pocket. Distracted me from the hellhole the rest of my day had been. And hey, I did also get five bucks. Not for a cup of coffee. How much are you betting that your pool is only totals to $5? I guess it's $1 each, maybe. Entry five. March 25th, 2019. Seems like Lady Luck started taking a fancy to me recently. Bought some scratch cards yesterday. You know, they're just gambling for idiots, but it's not like I had much to lose because $2 each. And even though the first three really didn't make it seem like I was going to get anything, I did snag a 20 from the fourth. $12. Not bad at all for something rigged for you. That's conditions also getting better. It's only been a week. So might be speaking too soon, but he told me he hasn't touched a cigarette since he started caught a lot less on the phone. So I believe he's telling the truth. Treated myself to some coffee at a cafe that opened up nearby at the apartment today.  Coffee is not as good as Maynard's coffee back home, though I doubt anyone could ever beat that. Am I right? But it certainly wasn't bad either. Might go there again whenever I have some extra change. Entry 6, March 28th, 2019. It's been a week since I last saw Angelina. I tried calling her another two or three times, all left without responses.  At least she hasn't gotten our straining order yet. Went to the cafe today again. Didn't have much in mind. Just wanted to enjoy some coffee on a Sunday morning. Wasn't in a particularly amazing mood or anything. It was one of those fancy rainy days, one where you just stare out of the window for hours on end with nothing to think about. The monotone was broken when I... The monotony was broken when I met this wonderful woman though. Her name's Sierra and she's beautiful.  She was certainly a lot better looking. It was about 12 and I was just finishing my coffee ready to leave. She just sort of came to the table and asked if anyone else was coming and made herself comfortable on the opposite bench. From there, well, she sparked a conversation with me. She's apparently Canadian, born in Toronto, raised there, studied in the U.S. before signed to live here permanently. She was a traveler by heart. I never really left the U.S. except when I visited my dad back in the U.K. So it was interesting to hear about all the places she had been to. Brazil, New Zealand, Indonesia, Japan, Turkey. She explained tales about all of them. Well, I just listened, sipping my coffee. Of course, the conversation got a bit more private after a while. I had finished talking about Angelina and she told me she divorced her ex-husband just a few days before. She was going on a work trip to Greece, wonderful country, as she had explained in much detail while we talked about her journeys. But her flight had been postponed to the following day due to weather conditions. So she went home, not telling her husband about it and caught him cheating on her. Some much younger American girl, apparently. And of course, their relationship cut off there started, their relationship cut off there, started crying and I tried to comfort her. Must have been rough on her, but I guess it was fortunate she caught on about the whole thing earlier. Unlike a certain someone. We continued talking for another two hours, just sitting and talking. I told her about my whole lung problems. Reassured her that it wasn't lethal or anything. And we just exchanged stories, memories and information. She had to leave eventually, had to meet a friend. But she did give me her number. I love, love this guy. This is a real, real complex character. Journal entries, April. April, entry eight, April 1st, 2019. Writing this at one in the morning. A bit of a busy night. One of my first proper date with Sierra called her in the morning, asked her if she had any plans, all that classic stuff. She said she didn't. I remembered that she had told me her favorite food was pizza. I proposed we go to a nearby Italian place. The food is a Michelin star level fantastic there, but the pizza and desserts are pretty good. And considering they're pretty cheap, it's well worth the money. I decided to be a bit risky and pay the whole bill, only about $10. And I'd been getting luckier with the scratch cards recently. So why not be a gentleman? We shared a margarita together. I had some soda and Sierra decided to go for a tiramisu. I think she liked it. So that's always a relief. Afterwards, we just sort of walked around town a bit, talked some more about life, our goals, all that classic cheesy stuff. We watched the night sky and a bit of silence. And Sierra even saw one of those shooting stars. She made a wish, kept it to herself, of course, but I have a feeling I know what it was. We decided to finish the night off with a trip to the cafe. Our cafe, where they were having some live music. Some group called the Brickle Brothers. We just drank some coffee, enjoyed the jazz, then went part of ways near midnight. Can't lie. It was the most fun I had in years. Okay, entry nine. April 5th, 2019. Something must have changed. The night was looking up for me all of a sudden. I've been just getting luckier. One of my first 50 from a scratch card and another 20 directly after. I'm not sure what the probability of that is, but I'm certain it's rather low. Dad's treatment is finally going successfully, combined with some lucky circumstances and the fact that he stopped with the cigarettes. It seems like he might actually have a chance of being healthy again. It's a slim chance, considering he's rather old and inactive even for his age, but still one that I hope for. My treatment is fine too. Finally, I was able to start buying meds again. Not all of them. Some of them have taken a pricing markup since the last bottom, but enough to keep me well for now. And well, the greatest thing that happened since that happened is that I got a job or well, a job offer counselor for a relatively big office.  I did an interview on Friday and if I passed that, there's an applied interview the following day. I've gotten quite used to those, so it should be a breeze. Let's hope I can keep this up. I feel like something good is awaiting me. Entry 11, April 11, 2019. I can't sleep.  I feel like I'm dreaming to be honest. There's good news and bad news. Well, both of them are technically good, but one, not as much. I'll start with the great news. I won the lottery. I didn't win the jackpot. God knows how rare that is. Just the 50,000, but still, that's a lot, considering it's a power ball. Enough to last me a few years if I'm wise with it and certainly enough to finally finish my treatment. Cashed in at their offices, did all the stuff the website told me, signed the back, keep it safe, don't tell anyone to cash in all of that. And they delivered it, 50,000, right into my bank account. No other questions asked. First person I told was obviously Sierra. I trusted her enough to not go telling everyone. And then I told Dave, Eric and all my other close friends who I trusted enough to keep my secret. Then me and Sierra got a tiny bit carried away. Maybe that wasn't a great idea, considering everyone who knows me seems to be calling me to congratulate me now. Dad seemed really excited about it too when I called him. Said I was getting what I deserved and classic moral about how hard workers get rewarded by God eventually, but a lottery. I told him I'd see if I could get the plane ticket to come visit him. Couldn't put my bank account in jeopardy anymore and I missed them a lot. I haven't seen them since university started. Second news is, well, I survived a car crash. It was the day before I won and I was in a taxi to go to Sierra. When we were admitted to away, some great SUV crashed directly into the side of the vehicle. Another van collided into the SUV. I was able to get out quickly, mostly unscathed, but those weren't so lucky. Taxi driver broke his arm and a couple in the SUV got slightly wounded. I didn't see the van driver again and the whole thing was big enough to attract the vultures that are news reporters, so I'm guessing something might have happened to him. One of the news reporters interviewed me for a minute or two, so I got a little prime time. Sierra said she saw it on the TV, so did some other people. Everyone said I was lucky to get on the news like that, but honestly, I'm more glad to be uninjured. How many more of these are there? Oh, okay, all right. Entry 13, April 16, 2019. Stuff's just getting weirder and weirder. I won the lottery. Again, another 50K in a row. I don't know what the probability of that is, but it's certainly nearing an extremely low barrier. In fact, they had to audit me at the offices for almost an hour just to make sure the victory was fraudulent. I'm pretty sure they're still suspicious of me. I decided that I certainly had enough money to go visit Dad now. Maybe I could buy Sierra a ticket too if she wanted to go to the UK again. Not the most happy or interesting place ever, but it's still a unique country. I went on the news a few more times in the last three days, mostly the state journal, but they also had me on an interview before a podcast dedicated to the news from Madison. Apparently going from being unable to pay your bills to slowly dying, and so somewhat mediocre financial position is something people find interesting, especially when it involves a random chance. Maybe some people just hope to get lucky too. Maybe it's inspired them. Oh, and yeah, I got the job. Interview was a breeze. Probably interview was even easier, and I passed through it all. I passed through all of it quicker than any other candidate. I got hired. Work started just this Monday. The job's nice, and thankfully a lot more financially stable than working at a restaurant. Strangest thing that happened to me though is I got a call today. It was early in the morning, and I was going to leave for work. My phone just started ringing. Someone calling my private phone number, the one nobody uses except Dad, Sierra, and maybe some close friends. I thought it was a wrong number situation at first, so I let it slide. Let's see.  They said they were someone called Dr. Brahm, some inter-reality communication specialist. God knows what that's meant to be. And they somehow had my name, my story, everything. Most of it was stuff that's already on the news, but they had a bit too much of my private information too. I tried to hang up, skate out of my mind, but they just relentlessly called me. I decided cooperation might be a good idea. They started asking all these personal questions, stuff about my lucky dice, the monopolies that I bought, my son's birthday, all that weird stuff. I kept asking and wondering when they were going to explain everything, but once again, once I was done explaining the set to them, they just hang up. Never gave me any details. They tried to call again, no reply. Either this is some elaborate joke, or I should be going to the police right about now. Yeah. All right. April 23rd, 2019, entry 14. I'm starting to get seriously concerned. I don't say that lightly like last time. I mean it. I'm being messed with. Got into another accident. This one was even worse. I was right in the bus to work when a white car just swerved right into us. And a roundabout. Worst part was this whole pile up happened on the road.  The consequences are worse too. One of the guys had this entire windshield shatter into his face. And he had some extreme bleeding. Most of the people in the bus, including me were fine at least the others. I'm not so sure. Also just found a random package at the door. I'm sure it wasn't meant for me, but there was no address on it. Opened it up and there was some new headphones inside. I'm not sure what they were. I'm not sure what they looked like. I don't know what they looked like. They looked like they costed a fortune. And I'm not really sure what to do with them. Just accept the lucky gift. Normally I just ignore these situations and not worry about them, but considering how many of these have started happening recently. I'm starting to think that someone's messing with me. Well, worse, giving me free gifts. I haven't gotten called again by the stalkers. Hope I never see their number again. Entry 16. April 30th, 2019. Dad is doing so well. I haven't smoked in nearly a month. His all-time record and things were finally looking up for him. I got the news. He died on Monday. A phone call from the hospital telling me it suffered a heart attack. Maybe related to a sickness. Maybe just random. Could have been either one of them. I couldn't go see him in his last moments. Not enough time to fly and see him who's gone in a few hours. Had gone peacefully enough at least funeral was yesterday. The book of flight all the way to the UK and Sierra decided to come with me. Said that I needed someone to support me. Tried to get her to stay, but she wouldn't budge. The funeral was a classic one. My dad was a Christian, so we had it at the church. Same one my mom's funeral had been in. There weren't many people, just family, friends. The people I knew he really cared about. I'm sure dad would have liked the funeral. He left all his inheritance to me. Not a lot, but everything the poor man had left. Just enough to finish treatment. He said he was always proud of me. Yet, sitting at the bar the following day, scratch cards in one hand and a beer in the other.  Where's the, I can't see the scroll wheel. So I'm just okay. All right. I was done here. I'm done. All right. Journal entries. May. May 2nd, 2019. Entry 17. It's late again, but I don't want to sleep. I can't sleep. I returned home yesterday. I didn't want to leave, but I had to return home for work for Sierra's job. My friends returned via plane, but I saw the day off. So I just spent it with Sierra. She's the only one keeping me sane at this point. Yet even that effect starting to wear off. I decided to take her on a date. Not a proper one. Just one of those classic dinner dates we used to have. It was no better place than the Italian nearby. Maybe, maybe a shared margarita or something different with a soda and a tiramisu on the side. That's what I was planning. That's all I wanted.  And I was crossing the road and out of nowhere, a speeding car pulled out from the side. Sierra was close, but I absolutely, I got absolutely demolished from the back. Car didn't stop, kept going, completely ignoring what they just did. I just fell to the ground. I thought it was over. Doc said most of my spine should have been damaged, but I'm fine. I fell perfectly. One of those lucky coincidences. Apparently I just have to do small stuff to help with the bruising. Apart from that, perfectly, utterly, completely all right. This has to be abnormal, right? Something must be going on here. Something has to be going on here. I'm convinced because of the people. I'm sure they've done something to me. They're messing with me. That last straw was today, but the two last lottery tickets, just two more to reassure myself. I wasn't going crazy. Two harmless little things. Harmless. A million. The jackpot. I'm sure. Took him a while. Five days. I was sorry. Entry 18. May 7th, 2019. Five days. I haven't crashed in the ticket. I haven't cashed in the ticket yet. I don't think I should. Someone's playing with you. The best thing to do is to fight the game. Resist it. Can't follow the path they lay for you. You need to counter it. You need to keep fighting. Went to the mall. Anywhere I go now, I'm afraid that something's going to happen. I can't keep my mind from overthinking. What if there was an accident? A robbery. But no, no one can ever really be ready. Can they? There was a shooting. Everything got locked off in a matter of seconds. Police got called immediately, but it was too late. I watched them search for every hiding spot, find people and deliver that little shot of the angel at death right into their skulls. Wow. Yet even though my heart was pounding and every part of me was soaked with the smell of sweat, they passed me. Robbers all got shot by police, apparently. I left them all. Another accident. An entire pile of cars crashed and smashed into each other. The road resembling a scrapyard more than anything. I stood in the middle watching as one of the cars motors ignited into flames. A dance of orange and yellow tendrils of fire playing together. 54 injured. Eight dead. One day. Entry 19. May 18, 2019. I don't think I can handle this anymore. Everything is wrong. Sierra started isolating herself from me. Maybe she thought I was going crazy. She probably am. So that broke the camel's back was when she saw all the lottery tickets. I stashed dozens of them inside my shelf. Almost all of them winning ones. She said she'd go to the police. That I was cheating. That I was some kind of criminal that she couldn't handle me anymore. I tried to convince her attempted to tell her this was some kind of God of missing with me, but she wouldn't. She wouldn't listen. So it was a lunatic. She's gone now. She only told me. She only told one person about the tickets in me. And they are two died on the way to the police station. Car accident. Sierra broke her entire rib cage bleeding out. And I never really heard what happened to our friend. Maybe something similar. All of my friends started leaving too. Now they're dropping like flies. Dave died from food poisoning. James from a house fire. Tina from a mugging. Maybe they got what they deserved. Maybe they didn't. All I know is that I'm alone. What? Entry 20. May 22, 2019. I can't feel myself anymore. This is a sense of paralysis. A complete loss of everything that has housed itself into me. There's people dying outside. I can't feel myself anymore. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. My idea was nothing but stupidity. When you resist the God's game, you've already lost because once you defy them, you hold enough power. They hold enough power for you to enact the consequences of such action. They've trapped you in their limitless grasp. They've hung you by the neck. We can sheepish. Yet no matter how dire the situation, I sense an impending escape. Entry 21. May 25, 2019. I suppose the end has come. I looked up at the sky. A red dot. They suspended in the air. They're coming back to the sky. We found a world around us. It's time to slowly expand and across the horizon, feeding off the sky itself. Is this a day breaks reference? Everyone is panicked. Everyone that's left. There's been hysteria for a week anyway.  I still had the dice. I haven't let go of them ever since I first touched them. I just prayed that I would finally escape this hellhole. Everything has been ruined. Entry 22. May 26, 2019. I still want to be remembered. I no longer feel sad, just some indescribable emotion that's filled me, something between melancholy and excitement, feeling every part of me in these last moments. I'll finish writing this, and then I'll watch the sky. I'll watch that abyss that in sky grew larger and larger, and I'll be the only one to ever know why. This is how it ends. I've beaten Brahms' game, I've beaten them, finally. Terminal Notification. Your IRCR terminal has received the following notification. Just assigned to five, seven, five, nine, nine clearance has been updated. Return to terminal. Intermediate reality, communications, relations, database, department, blah, blah, blah. We removed the first file. The second file is still there, but now we have the third file, July 1st, 2022. This is five months, four and a half months from the previous entry. Item number, SCP-7599, classification level five, top secret, containment class, esoteric, secondary class, neutralized, disruption class, unmeta, risk class, critical, special containment procedures. It is imperative that SCP-7599-1 and SCP-7599-2 are never found. Through the help of the IRCR, both instances of SCP-7599 have been contained inside of a


My vision is that not only work should be elevated to dignity, but that it also should cease certain kinds of activities to make room for what people want to do outside of their work. I mean, when you give your typical American a week, vacation a year or two and you have to sort of put in for it and ask for it, that doesn't create a healthy relationship to work. And I would say the proliferation of these bad conditions and crappy ways of being at work color the nation as a whole, you know? And it makes for a very bitter and brittle way of interacting with the world, unfortunately.


Family Theatre presents Lloyd Nolan, Wayne Morris, and Betty Lynn, but the Mutual Network in Cooperation with Family Theatre presents Wayne Morris and Betty Lynn in Branigan's Band. To introduce the drama, your host, Lloyd Nolan. Thank you, Tony LaFranco. Family Theatre's only purpose is to bring to everyone's attention a practice that must become an important part of our lives. If we are to win peace for ourselves, peace for our families, and peace for the world. Family Theatre urges you to pray. Pray together as a family. Tonight's Family Theatre takes great pleasure in presenting Branigan's Bat, starring Wayne Morris as Eddie and Betty Lynn as Olivia. You know, baseball's a funny game. I've been in and around a ballpark as a player or a manager for quite a while now, and there's still only one thing I know for sure. A good ball player's got to have self-confidence, always. And some of the things the average fan never hears about would... Well, maybe I better tell you the story of how I got started, and I guess I ought to begin it back in the Bush League with a girl named Olivia. And all the way home, is it still on? Shhh, Eddie's up, two outs, last of the nine. He swings and misses for strike two.  It's the pitch, he struck him out! Hoople goes down, swinging and... Oh, the poor darling, he must be so unhappy. Hmm, he isn't the only one, Olivia. Now, let's face the facts. Eddie isn't the smartest fella I've ever met, but you're very fond of him. Bond of him? I love him. I'm going to marry him. All right, the main thing I'm saying is he'll never amount to shucks as a baseball player. He just can't hit worth a darn. Where are you going? Come on out here and give me a hand with this stubble. What on earth are you going to do with the porch furniture? Well, Eddie likes to pace back and forth while he's brooding. I'm giving him a clear track. It's easier. Hmm, on him or on the furniture? On both. There, that's better. Would you like me to get my toolbox out and disassemble the porch swing? No, I'm going to need that. Now look here, daughter. Don't pop, really. Don't parents ever grow up? That's enough for now, Eddie. What's that? You've been walking the floor for over an hour.  There, that's better.  Just Joe Marsh, the catcher. He thinks he's a comic. A big smart aleck. He said, tell me, Hoopal, if Biff Brannigan is such a pal of yours, how come he never taught you to bat? You should have given him a good punch in the nose. He says I couldn't hit the floor with a broom unless I've been over. I'm beginning to think he's right. Eddie, I don't like that kind of talk. I'm sorry. I have faith in you, and so has Biff. He got you your chance here. If it wasn't for that, we might never have met each other. I know. If Biff believes in you, why can't you believe in yourself? Oh, I think it's worrying about Biff that's got me feeling so low. He must be awful sick, Olivia. And I shouldn't be lecturing you at a time like this. Did you get that call through? No. Long distance said the hospital switchboard was swamped. The whole country must be phoning to find out how he is. Biff will pull through, Eddie.  I still remember him like he was when I was a kid hanging around the ballpark back home. Brannigan, can I carry your stuff down to the locker room? Eddie, how come you're not in school? Well, I had a little argument, Mr. Brannigan. Who gave you that black eye? Stinky Davis. You want to see him. Fighting again, huh? I don't like that. Gosh, I just had a hit him. He insulted you. Oh, he did, huh? What'd he say about me? Well, he says you weren't as good as Babe Ruth, and I slugged him. Well, Eddie, maybe Stinky was right. No, sir. You're the best ballplayer in the whole darn world. Okay, okay. I don't want you slugging me, too. But listen to me for a minute, Eddie. Yes, Mr. Brannigan? Uh, my friends call me Biff. I don't want you getting into fights over me. You make up with Stinky, understand? If you say so, Mr. Brann... Biff. All right. Now come on in. I'll give you a workout.  Sure. Uh, careful, son. That hunk of wood is loaded with base hits. He must be a fine man, honey. He's the best there is. What time is it? Just nine o'clock. Why? I want to tune in on the sports summary program. Maybe they'll have a bulletin from the hospital. And so our time tonight will be devoted to a eulogy of a great athlete who died in his prime. Biff Brannigan was a national hero. His untimely death will shock him. Oh, Eddie. Oh, no. How awful. It isn't true. It's... it's gotta be a mistake. Eddie, come back. When Biff went down swinging, I folded up completely. I checked in at the ballpark every day, but I was just going through the motions, and it looked like I was all washed up in baseball. Then one day, while I was sitting on the bench, waiting my turn at the plate. Hey, slugger. Hey, you, Hoopo. Yeah. Package just come for you. Thanks. Hey, it's a bat. Ha! Someone's kidding you. What would you want with a bat? Look, there's some writing on the card. Yes, sir. This was his favorite, and I know he'd want you to have it. Good luck to you always, Betty Brannigan. Well, what do you know?  I can't. I gotta put this away.  If you don't, you're through. I've gotta get a hit. Well, if it ain't homerun, Hoopo, talking to himself again.  All right, Abbot, and get a look at the comedy of play ball. Lob and in here, lefty boy. Jump, just come up with some fresh air. You're right. Easy man up here. Right in here, now, boy. Right in here, now, boy. I just gotta get a hit. Careful, son. That hunk of wood is loaded with base hits. It got hot, and I just wouldn't cool off. Come early August, I was batting close to 400 and leading the league in homers and runs batted in. Olivia was happy, but kind of puzzled. Warm, isn't it?  What's troubling you, darling? Trouble? Why, nothing? Everything's fine? Great. Well, that's what I thought. And it's all happened so quickly that it seems like a miracle. Yeah, yeah, a miracle. By this time next year, you'll be in the big leagues and we'll be married. Won't that be wonderful? Yeah, yeah, wonderful. Uh, honey. Yes? I got a call from McKnight this afternoon. Old Sad Sam himself. Oh, they want you to come up this season. They want me to come up this week? No. Oh, hey, hey, take it easy. There's someone want to tell you. Oh, come on, East for the World Series and we'll be married in New York. World Series? They're eight games out of first place right now. Where do you get the idea that... Never you mind. My man will change all that as soon as he gets there. Now stop dodging. Oh, wait a minute. I gotta tell you that... What have you got to say for yourself? Okay, baby dog. Only seven weeks left in the season when I got there and it didn't look as if we were going to go any place special. But I hit four out of five my first time in the line-up and suddenly we all started playing over our heads. A minute, honey. You all right here? Not just fine, Eddie. If I were any closer, I'd need a first baseman's mitt. That sour-looking old goat. That Sad Sam McKnight. He's only the manager. With a face like that, I can see why they call him. Shh, shh, shh. Quieter he comes. Oh, Mack, this is Miss Denny. Olivia, this is Mr. McKnight. How do you do? Likewise, lady. No, Eddie. Okay, okay. I'm going. I'm going. Take care of my girl, Mack. Good luck, honey. What do you think of my Eddie, Mr. McKnight? How about calling me Mack, Miss Denny? Well, gladly, if you'll drop the Miss Denny and call me Olivia. Agreed. One thing, though, Mack. Yes. I can't abide a man who doesn't finish his sentences. What's on your mind? Yeah, we're going to get along fine. Eddie's a lucky boy, Olivia. And you're Irish and full of blinding. Now, out with it. Well, it's a hard thing to put a word to in the first place a manager loses a man like Biff Branigan and gets a boy like Eddie all in one year. Shouldn't be worrying at all. He should be counting his blessings. Which I am, manager. Which I am. But? But there's something funny, something I can't put my finger on. You see, Eddie never relaxes on or off the ball field. And he worries more about that big, brown bat of his than the young mother worries over her first born. Well? Well, aside from that, everything's fine. Oh, it's fine. I'd be crazy to try to change things around. What is it you want me to do now? Well, nothing for now, Olivia. Maybe nothing at all. Just try to get your boy to relax a bit. That's all. Mainly I wanted to know that I could depend on you that you would help me if I needed help. Of course. Any time and any way that I can. Well, thank you. And now keep your fingers crossed we're here again. Well, I kept right on counting the ball like a pile driver. And we knocked over the first two games like they were ducks in a shooting gallery. And the third game I came up to bat in the last half of the ninth with a score tied at three apiece. The pitcher tried to give me an intentional walk, but the third ball was a little too close to the plate. I reached across and... Right on goal. And what was that hunk of wood he was carrying? His bat hit... Eddie broke his bat. The fans all figured we were a sense to take the fourth game and the series, but they figured wrong. I folded up. The team fell apart and we dropped the next three games. Mac was afraid to shave himself or fear he'd cut his throat. He talked to me by the hour, but I just couldn't tell him what was bothering me. Sorry. Let's walk for a while if you don't mind the rain. Me, I like it. It gives us a day off just when we need it most. All right, Mac. But I don't know what's the matter with Eddie. I can't get anything out of him. Lately he's even taken to avoiding me. That's bad, honey. That's bad. You were my last hope. Well, there must be something, Mac. I'll have one more go at it. Maybe he'll break down and talk. Well, if he'd only do that, this way it's like fighting shadows. All right. I'll phone you if I find out anything. Phone me one way or the other, won't you? Olivia? Yes. Straighten him out. And I'll buy you the biggest wedding present in town. Have some idea what the trouble is? Why don't you forget about me? I'm just no good. That's all. Look at me, Eddie.  I guess I'll always love you, Olivia. But you shouldn't let that make any difference. I'm just a faker. That's not true. It is true. You just don't know how much of a phony I really am. Eddie Hoople, the sensational young slugger. Well, just because you're in a slump. Oh, slump my eye. I'm through. And what's more, I never was any good. Oh? Well, then suppose you tell me one thing. Who's the fellow who's been knocking all those baseballs over the fence? Biff Branigan. What?  That's right. And now you know. But he's dead. Yes, but I've been using his bat, the one Mrs. Branigan sent me. Now do you see why I'm such a phony? Do you mean to tell me? No, I don't believe it. Oh, it's true, all right. I've just been waltzing up there and going through the motions. Biff's been doing the hitting for me. Eddie Hoople, if you're trying to kid me... I tell you, Biff's been hitting him.  All right. Biff's been doing everything. You haven't had one thing to do with it. Well, just tell me this. What made him stop? I broke his bat. He had to stop. Eddie, do you believe in ghosts? Of course not. What kind of a sap do you think I am? Eddie... Eddie, darling, lie down. You've been under a strain the past few months. I guess I hadn't realized it. Well, now, relax and try and get a good night's sleep. I've got to attend to something, but I'll see you in the morning. That's the whole story, Mrs. Branigan. You may laugh now if you like, but thanks for inviting me out anyway. Well, you know, somehow I don't feel like laughing at all. Then you'll help me? Well, of course I'll help you. Only, well, perhaps you'd better tell me just what it is you want me to do. I want you to give Eddie another one of Biff's bats just before game time tomorrow afternoon. I was afraid you were going to ask me that. You... you won't do it? My dear, I can't do it. The only other bat of Biff's that I know about is in the baseball museum at Cooperstown. Oh, no. Oh, now they're there. Don't cry. There must be some weight. Wait a minute. Biff had all his bats made at Pauling's downtown near City Hall. You could go down there first thing tomorrow morning. That's right, and maybe they'd get... No, I forgot. Tomorrow's Sunday. They'd be closed. Chin up, honey. We aren't licked yet. We're not? No. Operator. Operator. What are you doing? Calling up the reserves. We've just begun to fight. Did you get the manager? No. His home still doesn't answer. Well, that's what I supposed. I called every other place I could think of. I left messages all over. You've been wonderful, honey, but I guess it's just no use. What time is it? I don't know. It was almost midnight when we got down here. Come on. Let's try the door again. Pauling should have a night watchman around somewhere. The rain's letting up. They'll play today. Never mind that. Here, I'll use my ring. And what do you think you're doing there? Oh, you frightened me. Did I now? I'm a bad boy. Oh, it's my fault, Officer. She's trying to get a bat for me. Oh. I suppose you need a bat at this hour of the morning because you have to win the World Series. That's right. Wait a minute. What she means is we need the bat so that Eddie Hoople can win the World Series. I might have guessed it. Hoople's been trying to play without a bat, all right. Yes. You see, he... She means he's been trying to play with the wrong bat. You know what I think? I think you're both bats, the pair of you. Come along. Officer. I said come along. I want you to meet the judge. The judge? Yeah.  You'll like him. And that's the story, Judge. We should be looking for Mr. Lawrence right now. We haven't got much time. And this Mr. Lawrence... He manages Paulings. He's a friend of Mrs. Branigan's. I see. And I've heard some weird stories in my days. You won't tell the newspapers, Judge. We don't want any publicity. Or have no fear, Madam. Have no desire to have my name mixed up in this melange of superstitious nonsense. Superstitious nonsense? Now, you just listen to me. Judge, would you mind emptying all the change out of your pockets? What for? Evidence, Judge. Well, come on. What are you afraid of? Oh, very well. There you are. Uh-huh, I see. Well, may I have them back now? Yes, I suppose so. I think I've wasted sufficient time on this patient. And where are your keys, Judge? They're in my top coat. Here, now stop that. Uh-huh. And what do you call this little furry thing on your key chain? Well, it's just... Well, it's only... Well... Yes, Judge? Well, it's only a rabbit's foot. Not really. Superstitious nonsense, Judge. Officer! Get me the head of the missing persons bureau. We've got to find this man, Lawrence, tonight. Phony. No good critter. Are you gonna take that kind of stuff? I... I guess they're right. You better bench me. Oh, sir, you're gonna sit this one out. You are critting. I'm sorry, Mac, but I just can't help it. But kid, don't you see, without you, we're whipped before we start. Then we're whipped, right now. And I thought you were a big leaguer. I thought you were Biff's boy. I was Biff's boy, all right, but I never was a big leaguer. I'm a faker. I always was, and I always will be. Oh, I don't believe that, son. That's the truth. It can't be.  I'll leave you alone, will you, Mac? All right. If you're sure, that's the way you want it. That's the way I want it. Well, then that's the way it's gonna be. From here on. Stubbs, you can't get into the resort section without I see your Stubbs. Okay, go ahead. Let me see your Stubbs here. Hey, hello, Miss Branigan.  Yes, I know. Will you let us through, please? Game started. We're in a hurry. Okay, go right on. Hey, hey, wait a minute, lady. Where are you going with that back? It's for Eddie Hoople. Eddie Hoople? He ain't even playing. That bum is sitting on... What do you mean, bum? Why, for two cents, I...  I didn't mean... Good, dear. I think we can get through now. Me and I have been trying to... Why, Betty, we're... Never mind all that. What inning is that? What's the score? It's a third inning. Two to nothing. We're losing. Well, where's Eddie? In the dugout. Well, get him over here. Ah, but... You asked me to help you. That's what I'm doing. You heard what the girl said, Matt. Get him over here. All right. Take the bet, Betty. Here he comes. I've got it. Good. Eddie, darling. Mrs. Branigan has something for you, and I... Well, you tell him, Betty. Eddie, this bet is for you. It was Biff's bet. And he always said it was loaded with homers. I know he'd want you to use it to win the series today. Gosh. See, I don't know how to... Oh, I could kiss you for this, Mrs. Branigan. Where? Oh, Eddie. I got one for you, too, honey, right after the game. Lawrence is the general manager of Paulings.  Mr. Lawrence? Well, Eddie, I spent most of last night in a good part of today with Miss Denning and Mrs. Branigan. I was... Oh, no, wait a minute. Quiet, Matt. Go ahead, Mr. Lawrence. Well, I took one of our stock bats, Eddie, and I altered it into a duplicate of the model used by the late Biff Branigan. Is that about it, Mrs. Denning? Yes, thank you, Mr. Lawrence. You mean to tell me that... Branigan never even saw the bat you used today, honey. You won the World Series all by yourself. Matt, did you hear that? It was me. I did it. And what's the matter with Matt? Sad Sam McKnight is smiling. Look, I think... I think Matt's beginning to laugh. Baseball is a funny game, all right. I came back next year and for ten years after that, and I never batted below 320. We got a letter from Matt just the other day. He's raising kumquats and cantaloupes on the biggest farm in Florida. Mac wanted to know if Olivia still has that placky center hanging over the fireplace. That's the one that the sportswriters gave him for being the smartest manager in baseball. Mac had him scratch his name out and put hers in. Mrs. Eddie Hoople. What do you know about that? This is Lloyd Nolan again. You know, whether we want to or not, we must all have some way of marking off boundaries between right and wrong. We must all have some code of do's and don'ts. And we find from experience that things run smoothest in our personal lives in an organization or in our home when we live by our do's and avoid the don'ts. Well, that's the way it is. And sooner or later, we all come to realize that we can't play the game, whether it's baseball or family life, without rules and prayer. Our contact with God is a basic rule for everyone because none of us can find full meaning and purpose in life if we lose contact with God, if we forget to pray. His prayer can do wonderful things. So if you want a sure way of keeping your family closely together, if you want unity and happiness in your home, keep your family in contact with God by the daily practice of family prayer. For the family that prays together stays together.  The script was written by Irwin Lieberman with music composed and conducted by Harry Zimmerman and was directed for Family Theatre by J.F. Mansfield. This series of Family Theatre broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you who felt the need for this type of program, by the mutual network which has responded to this need and by the hundreds of stars that stayed screen and radio who have so unselfishly given of their time and talent to appear on our Family Theatre stage.  This is Tony LaFranco expressing the wish of Family Theatre that the blessing of God may be upon you and your home and inviting you to join us next week at this time when Family Theatre will present Gene Crain and Gene Lockhart in the Woman's Touch. Join us, won't you?