Episode 204

"Voices Carry" aired on March 1, 2016.

Summary
The episode begins with Alex interviewing Leo Krumpsten, a professional geocacher, but her narration dissolves into a dialogue with Nic, where he explains they just needed to try out this test pilot segment while the implications behind the death of Maddie Franks were determined, before they could continue investigating.

Alex's Insomnia
Alex records a sleep note as per her doctor's advice, noting the producers were worried about her health and the effect of her and Nic's gruesome discovery in the last episode, but they didn't want to change the direction of the show any more than Alex did. But Alex is still finding it difficult to stay asleep, being woken up by "running thoughts". In another sleep note, Alex awakes with questions about Coralee and Dr. Strand: is Coralee still alive? Is the podcast somehow putting Strand in danger?

Alex brings one of her sleep notes to the studio and plays it for Nic. Somehow, she had made another recording after the one she remembers leaving, but it's five minutes of dead air. Nic dismisses the event as Alex hitting the record button in her sleep, though she can't explain how she also turned it off.

Alex has another session with Dr. Bernier, where she suggests Alex avoid the internet for a week. Alex confesses it was only roughly an hour before she was back online.

Alex later brings Nic another sleep journal recording, where knocking can be heard after each question she asks aloud, seemingly following a pattern of "one for yes, two for no" after each query. Nic suggests it could be noise from pipes, but Alex says she didn't hear the knocks while she was recording. They both consider the case of Simon Reese's bilocation as an explanation.

Nic later asks Alex to listen to the file that they believed to be an accidental recording. When he turns up the volume, a female voice can be heard whispering "Azazeel" repeatedly. Alex says it must be Amalia, but Nic reveals that it can't be, as the recording was made on a night when Amalia was staying with him. He concludes that the voice must belong to Alex.

Song of Omphalos
Alex interviews Brenda Miller, a grimoire collector, to analyze the pages of the notebook that belonged to the man believed to be a Brother of the Mount, who killed himself when he was discovered by authorities in Colville. After she posted a few of the pages to an online forum, "boobliophile69" messaged Brenda, but ceased contact when she mentioned she was working with the people of the Black Tapes. However, a dealer in Poland noticed some of the spells resembled language used in The Song of Omphalos, an ancient scroll whose existence has yet to be proven, but is supposed to be based on the earliest evidence of musical composition, the Seikilos epitaph. The dealer said this book could have consisted of demonic songs, and the Song of Omphalos was thought to usher in the age of demonic rule, the end of the universe as we know it.

When Strand arrives in Seattle, Alex asks him about the Song of Omphalos, and whether the Order of the Cenophus may be trying to usher in the apocalypse by opening gateways between our world and hell, via Brother Black's completion of Scriabin's Mysterium. Strand admits the Order could believe this, but the belief in the apocalypse is characteristic of any cult. However, he says there are enough similarities in the symbols discovered in different parts of the world possibly connected with the Order, to be worth investigating.

Strand's Decline
Nic tells Alex that Dr. Strand's assistant, Ruby, called the studio concerned about Strand; he's been losing weight and he hardly leaves his office. Alex calls Strand and he asks her to set up a meeting with Amalia when he's next in Seattle, as he has questions about her time in Russia.

When Strand arrives he meets Amalia at the studio and they go into the control room to talk. While Alex and Nic are waiting in the lobby, Alex decides to switch on the talkback mic to listen in on their conversation, despite Nic's protests. She hears Strand ask Amalia about an auction, where a striking blonde woman who spoke Russian won a particular bid, though Amalia wonders how Strand could have known this.

Unsound Countdown Timer
Nic shows Alex a countdown timer he discovered on an online forum, counting down to April 23rd, 2016 at 3:15 PM, which he realized would have been exactly a year to the date the staff at PNWS first heard the Unsound. He admits he doesn't know how anyone outside of the office would know when they first listened to the file.

Meeting with Tannis Braun
Alex calls Tannis Braun to see if he has any insight into Strand's decline, as they seem familiar with each other though their current relationship seems acrimonious. Braun believes Strand is unsettled by his abilities, having positioned himself in such a way that he doesn't necessarily have to disprove paranormal events, but rather leaves the burden of proof with people claiming that it's real, like Braun. Alex asks if Braun has theories on the black tapes, and he suggests Alex goes "deeper, not wider", telling her to ask Strand about a tape labelled "Cheryl", suggesting it contains a "web of darkness at the center of everything".

Alex Confronts Nic
When Nic again expresses his disapproval of Alex listening in on Strand and Amalia's conversation, she challenges him and asks if he would have cared if it was just Strand in the room, or if this case was different because Amalia was involved, wondering if Nic is seeing Amalia again. Nic asks that Alex stop recording, and she explains after that they "made up", as it wasn't their first disagreement and probably wouldn't be their last.

Recurring Characters
Alex Reagan, host and producer

Nic Silver, producer

Dr. Richard Strand, paranormal investigator

Amalia Chenkova, journalist

Guest Characters
Leo Krumpsten, geocacher

Brenda Miller, grimoire collector

Dr. Monique Bernier, sleep doctor

Tannis Braun, paranormal investigator