I am NEVER letting you in - Therapist Plays No I'm Not A Human - 5

Added: 2026-06-04

[00:00:00]Hello, and welcome back to Therapist Plays. No, I'm not a human. Okay, we are on our second day of not testing people.

[00:00:07]And we're really only doing this because the bald man said we should. And he gave us a cat, which makes me want to trust him. Now, I have not been a trusting man in this particular play through. For good reason, we're constantly on high alert that anyone who we've let into our house, which has been everyone so far, could be a violent, dangerous impostor of a human who are also victims of the same problems that all other humans have.

[00:00:37]So, it's all very confusing.

[00:00:39]And I am looking for something to grasp onto here.

[00:00:43]>> [snorts] >> And the man gave us a cat, which has been a net good for us. Now, this is uh I'm not sure what the decision-making process was in putting this little fellow in the game, but I think it's actually one of the most brilliant things about it. Because, as I am experiencing right this second, with my cat making biscuits on my stomach, my brain is receiving a very special hormone called oxytocin, which if you're not familiar, is a very important part of our biology because it's actually the thing that enables attachment, trust, and connection. And it's very hard to get oxytocin by yourself. It's kind of reliant on having like a positive interaction with something else.

[00:01:31]And uh well, we've had like little crumbs of positive interactions with various people and or visitors in this game so far. But even the ones that like we have a positive affiliation with, like the neighbor's daughter, it's kind of a sad conversation that we're having with her. But this Um that's sweet oxytocin.

[00:01:52]>> [laughter] >> It truly is a healing chemical.

[00:01:56]Now, we have already fed the cat for today.

[00:02:00]But, there is no quota on petting the cat. Look at those digital hearts flying off of him.

[00:02:06]Oh my gosh, this just has so much healing potential.

[00:02:08]And it also points to a really necessary acknowledgement as a part of like everything we've talked about in this playthrough and all across this channel, which is that not everything in mental health is intrapsychic.

[00:02:25]Basically meaning like as a function of our cognitions and the internal personality. A lot of therapeutic focus is on things like self-esteem and meaning and like I spent a lot of time in that department myself, but we know too much about the modern science of mental health to like not include the biological aspects. Most especially like neurotransmitters and hormonal functions of things like this and dopamine and cortisol and all the rest.

[00:02:57]Because there are very predictable behaviors that result in deficiencies from these things. For example, a lack of this oxytocin, even if you have relationships in your life, can lead to feelings of alienation, which means you might withdraw from people that you're actually quite close to. It can reduce motivation, cause anxiety, makes us feel lonely, feel stressed. So, even if you have people surrounding you, it's not a just a function of like oh, I can mentally acknowledge the close relationship I have with someone. Like if there is a biological reduction of this like very important chemical, you can be surrounded by positive relationships and feel extremely alienated from them, which then confuses the mind. And like that's a really common sign of depression for a lot of people >> [snorts] >> is it's so easy to look at someone's life and say like they've got good friends, they've got good family, like they're involved in all these activities, but like why are they depressed?

[00:04:05]Don't they see the meaning in life or is it a personality thing or they not motivated and it's like well yes, they're not motivated but not because of always a mental function.

[00:04:16]Many times a biological one. It's all influenced by environment and stress and definitely a lot of this too. Um you have to look at everything to explain an aberration. If someone's got like a really like depressed presentation and like you look around at their life and it doesn't make sense why, then you have to look at more than just the social and internal things that can contribute to that.

[00:04:41]We here are in an environment and situation that are very well compatible with the state of mind of our character.

[00:04:49]Uh this is a depressing situation. It's very scary.

[00:04:52]And so it's not a surprise that we are lacking in this and various other things. Dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, like lots of really essential stuff. Um which we'll dig into. But all that is to say the cat and the person who delivered it to us or who is responsible for it arriving, its arrival um has been one of the natural positive consequences of this situation.

[00:05:17]And is very likely contributing to like the fact that we don't want to blow these people's heads off.

[00:05:25]At least yet.

[00:05:27]We get a cat and suddenly we're also given guidance not to uh test or blast anyone. It just makes sense. It's it's kind of brilliant. As a game mechanic and storytelling device.

[00:05:39]And one of the things that this actually can affect is insomnia.

[00:05:44]Um and so it would not be a surprise that we sleep very well tonight.

[00:05:50]With the cat here.

[00:05:51]A restful sleep, a safe sleep. But, it is like the beginning of the day. We've only been awake for a little while, and we haven't tested anyone. So, we are going to have to drink some beers to knock out. So, let's do that now.

[00:06:06]Made us nice and sleepy.

[00:06:08]And uh it's time to see what happens overnight.

[00:06:16]Now, let's see what the evening has in store for us. First, let's take a peek out the window, which I am certain should give me a sense of calm and security because FEMA has been out there for several days now, making the area safe, tracking down all those teenage visitors, igniting the homes of those harboring suspicious individuals, and cleaning the streets of sleeping bombs.

[00:06:41]That's what FEMA's been up to this whole time.

[00:06:45]A group of evicted stand by your neighbor's ruined house.

[00:06:49]They are in shock, whispering amongst themselves.

[00:06:52]Okay, so that must be all of the people who Well, it could have been the ones who were in his house, or it could just be sort of a traveling group of the evicted.

[00:07:03]They look like they want to take shelter there. But, is there any place left to hide from all of this? Any place in the world? Apparently, our house.

[00:07:10]>> [laughter] >> Apparently, our house is the place, the only place left for that.

[00:07:18]On the path stands a man armed with an assault rifle.

[00:07:21]He looks completely insane.

[00:07:24]His jacket is covered with torn out teeth, eyes, and who knows what else.

[00:07:28]It's hard to make out from here.

[00:07:31]What if they're trophies? What if he kills not for defense, but for sport?

[00:07:37]Love how we're coming up with a whole narrative, which aside from like the tooth-sewn jacket we're in a very similar situation here.

[00:07:46]Just a man and his shot piece uh against the dangers of the world.

[00:07:50]Whatever the case, you hope you're not his enemy.

[00:07:56]I better make sure my my hands are washed and my teeth are not too perfect in case he wants to come in.

[00:08:05]Okay, we're out this side.

[00:08:09]Want to pull him things a man with a sign that reads "You took everything from me."

[00:08:14]Was he robbed?

[00:08:16]Did FEMA take his family?

[00:08:18]Your mind races, but there's no answer.

[00:08:22]Only guesses.

[00:08:24]Those are pretty good guesses uh all things considered, which you know, every time we look out the window it leads to a major deficit in this because it is alerting us to the declining connection between ourselves and the world and the world from itself and from people in general.

[00:08:42]Like we need this to function.

[00:08:44]Um it's not optional for health. And it doesn't always need to come from like social interaction >> [snorts] >> and people need varying levels of this to function well. So, it's totally fine if someone's just like a loner type, you know, our protagonist.

[00:08:59]He hasn't been highly dependent on like having relationships his whole life because his survival conditions throughout life didn't require that.

[00:09:08]Like we didn't have positive parental dynamics or primary caregivers or anything like that, but we still have a capacity to connect with someone like the neighbor and care for his daughter and you know, to empathize with people as they come into our house, but I do think that everything we're seeing around us is natural that even though we can function on, you know, very little of this, our sense of connection and attachment and capacity to trust is declining very quickly.

[00:09:36]But I know what will help.

[00:09:38]If we have some new friends.

[00:09:41]Hello there.

[00:09:42]Tell me, can I trust you?

[00:09:45]You're not with FEMA, are you?

[00:09:49]Trust me with what? No, I'm not with FEMA, but what do you want to trust me with exactly?

[00:09:54]With important information, of course.

[00:09:56]I need a safe place to hide out and continue my research.

[00:09:59]I'm carrying some documents with very sensitive information. He looks very, um, informed.

[00:10:06]It's something about the shirt tuck and he's got some sort of document coming out of his pocket. Pen in the pocket square. I mean, this man is doing research.

[00:10:14]We're talking kilotons of state secrets, all of which I plan to make public.

[00:10:20]Uh, where did it Well, he probably got it from FEMA.

[00:10:23]It'd be from like a dead FEMA agent or something. But, what kind of secrets?

[00:10:28]Brace yourself, my friend. The scales are about to fall from your eyes.

[00:10:33]The scales?

[00:10:35]Election rigging, prove the moon landing was fake.

[00:10:44]Government mind control through fast food.

[00:10:46]Yes, really. And finally, the truth behind those potato-flavored chips.

[00:10:51]What does that even mean?

[00:10:53]They're an abomination of science.

[00:11:00]We were close.

[00:11:01]Maybe he's operating on like two truths in a lie logic. Like, he's probably got some state secrets, but some of it's [ __ ] I don't know.

[00:11:08]Why don't you come on in and we'll find out. I knew I could trust you. Believe me, I've seen the truth. Forget all the lies you've been told.

[00:11:16]Will do.

[00:11:18]Okay, who's next? I grown to find this very predictable that I will always get at least three new friends every single evening. And that predictability is helping me regulate myself because the uncertainty is causing me way too much anxiety. So, it's Who's next? Hey, buddy. Got room in there for a stand-up guy like me?

[00:11:37]I think we do. I think we do. How do I know you're really a stand-up guy?

[00:11:42]Believe me, I've got the biggest heart of any man you'll ever meet. He's got a great smile, big wide laugh lines, and he's probably a hoot.

[00:11:51]>> [laughter] >> Sure, I might punch out folks with perfect teeth and pretty eyes, but only cuz I envy them.

[00:12:01]>> [laughter] >> Come on now, I'm messing with you.

[00:12:07]This guy is great. One or two weird traits doesn't make you a visitor. I would never hurt anyone over their teeth or their eyes or whatever they're saying on TV. I couldn't even Never mind.

[00:12:21]You sound kind of tipsy. Have you been drinking?

[00:12:25]Yeah, and what would that indicate, Protagonist?

[00:12:29]We've been drinking.

[00:12:30]Constantly, like every day.

[00:12:33]What are you, some kind of comedian? I'm not that kind of stand-up guy. But hey, what's wrong with being a little funny when the world's falling apart? Nothing, actually.

[00:12:42]Laughing will keep you sane, buddy, even if everything else is going to hell.

[00:12:46]Without him, I'd be long gone.

[00:12:50]I have to agree, one of the great contributors to oxytocin is laughter.

[00:12:56]Genuine. Laughter fosters connection with people, can help distract from our problems, and it even releases endorphins, which are natural painkillers, which could be helpful for things like headaches and muscular tension, and very likely other things that we're dealing with as a result of a highly stressful environment.

[00:13:17]So, this guy is going to help us heal as well.

[00:13:21]Sorry if my jokes rub you the wrong way.

[00:13:22]I'm just trying to keep it together, you know?

[00:13:25]That's [ __ ] real, dude.

[00:13:27]So, uh you going to let me in? Yes.

[00:13:30]Thanks a ton.

[00:13:31]I'd be all alone otherwise.

[00:13:35]We're getting some great pulls and some great [laughter] some great refresh pulls here at the front door. Look at this guy. He could use some laughter, I'm sure. Hey.

[00:13:47]Can you let me in, pal?

[00:13:51]>> [laughter] >> I love that our options are who are you?

[00:13:54]As if that would be more immediately helpful in understanding than what happened to him. [ __ ] it. Let's not be judgmental.

[00:14:01]Who knows? Maybe something didn't happen to him.

[00:14:05]Maybe that's just how he is.

[00:14:07]Let's just ask, who are you?

[00:14:09]I'm Herman.

[00:14:13]It was the right question to ask.

[00:14:15]I got caught out in the sun while we were fighting forest fires today.

[00:14:20]Thick smoke helped us prevent uh helped prevent us from getting completely burned alive, but still horrible.

[00:14:28]The trees they went up like matchsticks.

[00:14:33]I've never seen anything like it.

[00:14:35]Smoldering animal carcasses covered the forest floor.

[00:14:39]Why aren't you at a hospital? Well, probably because the hospitals are overrun with FEMA agents.

[00:14:44]And um it would be very difficult, I'm sure, to detect the signs of a visitor from someone who has had some tissue scarring and various other things as a result of the burning.

[00:14:56]So, probably that's the reason he's not at a hospital. Let's ask him what he's going to do.

[00:15:02]I wanted to keep putting out those fires. I wish I could have died back there instead of the guys.

[00:15:09]This man is an angel.

[00:15:12]But they made it pretty clear.

[00:15:13]>> [cough] >> I've done enough.

[00:15:17]Now I can't get home.

[00:15:18]Public transport ain't running no more.

[00:15:21]The only thing I can do now is rely on human kindness.

[00:15:25]Ah, this is like the perfect triplet to stoke the flames of empathy in my oxytocin deficient brain.

[00:15:35]Come on in, friend.

[00:15:37]Everybody comes in.

[00:15:39]Thanks, pal.

[00:15:40]I don't think I'll be in your hair for too long.

[00:15:43]At least I won't have to die alone in the dirt.

[00:15:46]No, no, you'll die here with company.

[00:15:52]>> [clears throat] [laughter] >> This game's crazy.

[00:15:55]They gave us this slip of paper at work before we went out to put the fires out.

[00:15:59]It's a mandate telling us to report to to a FEMA quarantine zone. But why would I go if everyone who does ends up dead?

[00:16:06]This man is still thinking very clearly.

[00:16:09]Here, I don't need it anyways. You can throw it away or use it for something else. Ooh, we got a FEMA notice.

[00:16:15]I don't want to give a FEMA notice to anyone, you guys. I like everyone.

[00:16:18]Everyone in this house is great right now. I'm feeling very fulfilled, like I've got a little family of misfits in my home.

[00:16:27]And look, no one even died tonight.

[00:16:29]Everyone is safe because of the cat.

[00:16:34]Or maybe it doesn't even have anything to do with the cat. Maybe they're just all human.

[00:16:40]>> [laughter] >> My conspiracy-minded brain is just It's only at the extremes. Either everyone is a visitor or everyone's a human.

[00:16:48]There's no nuance in this world anymore.

[00:16:53]Good afternoon. This is the news.

[00:16:55]We bring you an important update. New details have emerged regarding an incident that unfolded in the city.

[00:17:01]It seems one of the city's quarantine zones came under attack from an armed individual.

[00:17:05]The suspect's motive remains unclear at this time and it's unknown if the attacker had any accomplices.

[00:17:10]Notably, several unverified individuals have also escaped the quarantine zone.

[00:17:17]That's curious. Uh something happened to the broadcast.

[00:17:21]Oh.

[00:17:22]What is this?

[00:17:24]Silence is the harbinger of death.

[00:17:27]Sinister quiet that drains the soul.

[00:17:30]But worse than the emptiness is the ringing.

[00:17:34]A distant funeral now growing ever louder.

[00:17:38]Hey, this isn't the news.

[00:17:40]>> [laughter] >> The bells toll for us all filling our ears with endless din.

[00:17:46]caught in webs.

[00:17:47]X.

[00:17:49]>> [laughter] >> What is this?

[00:17:51]An infernal nest where visitors thrive.

[00:17:53]Tangled deep in sticky sustenance.

[00:17:56]Se- Saramon inundance. Saramon inundance.

[00:18:00]Saramon inundance.

[00:18:02]Uh some sort of Latin.

[00:18:06]Bugs in the ear? Is that Is that what we're seeing here?

[00:18:12]Up next, a special report on the temporary suspension of corpse disposal.

[00:18:17]>> [laughter] >> Oh, I better make sure I catch that.

[00:18:21]Uh okay.

[00:18:23]That was strange.

[00:18:26]Today's incident has sparked numerous theories.

[00:18:28]Some reports to describe a lone shooter, while others mention an armed group dressed in hooded clothing.

[00:18:35]However, the city's greatest challenge may still lie ahead. Due to the lockdown measures imposed, corpse disposal in surrounding areas has been temporarily suspended.

[00:18:43]Residential inspections, however, will continue as Yeah, of course they will.

[00:18:50]Corpse is aren't a danger to us.

[00:18:52]It's only the live ones. If you're able to cremate the deceased, do so immediately. If not, please wait until the situation is resolved before surrendering any accumulated remains.

[00:19:02]That's the latest for now. Stay tuned. I actually am kind of curious what we've been doing with the um remains.

[00:19:10]We just been tossing them outside.

[00:19:14]Leaving them for compost.

[00:19:21]Okay, first thing for the day before we check the radio is I need some more of that oxytocin. Now, where is my cat?

[00:19:30]Ah.

[00:19:32]There is the kitty.

[00:19:33]Perched up.

[00:19:40]And I'll tell you what else, another big part of why this is helping so much I think right now is in a weird way the cat is also doing something really essential for a therapist to do, but anyone who works with or is a figure of support [clears throat] for people with trauma, which is coregulating, okay?

[00:20:05]Because our mirror neurons, the things that help us interpret and respond to the affect and behaviors and emotions of other people, they're pretty responsive to like regulation in your environment. Right now the cat is I mean, look how happy he is. He's probably the calmest soul in this building right now.

[00:20:24]Uh just living his little life as a big giant cat, bigger than a radio, twice the size even, well-fed, well-petted, just living his best life. And he is really setting the standard for calmness in the environment. One of the most important things you can do as a therapist or helper of any sort is be calm yourself. [music] The amount of times, I can't even tell you, that I have seen things in a clinical environment go south with clients who have severe trauma or are just having like a really bad day and we're seeing some erratic behavior.

[00:20:55]When you meet them with the same kind of intensity, like, "You need to calm down.

[00:21:01]It's not appropriate for you to be acting like this." Or, you know, when when you take their uh intensity as a sign of disrespect. I've seen so many times people come at clients with, "I understand you're upset, but you can't talk to me like that."

[00:21:15]Like, knock that [ __ ] off if this is in any way part of your repertoire.

[00:21:19]Like, you need to be able to, one, remove your ego from the situation, that like a person disrespecting you somehow overrides the need to continue to care for them.

[00:21:34]And second of all, you need to be able to keep your own [ __ ] together.

[00:21:37]I truly believe you cannot be a therapist. And there are other roles where this is important, but like therapy especially, you have to be the most composed person in that relationship, because this is essential for helping someone compose themselves, right? That you can model that. And there have been so many times where like I have had to remove that person who is, you know, meeting the client at that level of intensity or even um going beyond that.

[00:22:04]And then not even doing any soothing like with the client. I It's not a situation where I have to say, "Oh, calm down. Let's do some grounding." or anything. Literally just pulling them aside, taking them maybe outside to where there's some fresh air, just taking them out of a claustrophobic environment, and just starting to talk to them. Even if they're shouting, even if they're still, you know, bouncing around the walls, just maintaining a a positive affect or even just a neutral one and talking to them as if there's [music] no cause for alarm because there isn't any. Like, something that they're dealing with might be, you know, going on internally. When we're stressed, right? And you're having this like overwhelm feeling, it really reduces our ability to check reality.

[00:22:49]Right? That's also involved in all of this. When you're stressed, adrenaline and cortisol spike, and that makes it very hard to use logic and reasoning and to do much of this reality checking. And so we feel overwhelmed and often perceive there to be more danger than there actually is.

[00:23:08]I'm not talking about a situation where there is danger. I'm talking about one where there isn't and they're just going through something difficult and uh we are in a situation where there are difficult things happening and the cat is helping us co-regulate. It's bringing my cortisol down. It's helping me reduce my adrenaline.

[00:23:24]And it's giving me oxytocin. And so it's basically the most important thing that we can do every day before we have to do all of the scary hard things like pointing guns at people.

[00:23:34]It's not as grumpy as you first thought.

[00:23:36]We're probably also helping the cat in some ways.

[00:23:39]Looks like it's starting to get used to you.

[00:23:42]I love this creature.

[00:23:48]My cat seems to like the creature as well.

[00:23:51]This is just so amusing how [ __ ] big it is. It's a giant cat. Okay, now let's check the radio and now now we have a little more ability to deal with the stress.

[00:24:00]Those weren't the ones who I saw it.

[00:24:07]I saw what?

[00:24:09]That's there.

[00:24:12]That it wasn't human.

[00:24:18]Hm.

[00:24:20]Not as informative as some prior broadcasts. Okay, well, now that we've done a little bit of that, let's um meet our new friends and check in with our old ones.

[00:24:35]I actually really like that the two of these paired up.

[00:24:38]I don't know why but it feels like a good fit. Let's check in with our new resident first.

[00:24:43]It's so goddamn hot.

[00:24:46]How are you feeling, friend?

[00:24:48]Seems like it's even worse than I thought.

[00:24:50]Damn it.

[00:24:52]Don't think I'll hold out longer than a week.

[00:24:54]It eased the pain me little when you let me in, though.

[00:24:57]Thank you.

[00:24:59]But now I'm just sitting here while the rest of the guys are out there dying.

[00:25:03]I could have stayed with them.

[00:25:05]It's not like I've got anything to lose.

[00:25:07]Already on the way out, after all.

[00:25:10]Ow.

[00:25:11]I hope that they can strike up a conversation about the inherent uh endurance of the human spirit.

[00:25:18]Did you need something? Yes.

[00:25:20]What story do you have for me today?

[00:25:22]There are still plenty of stories left to tell about the dead rising and the lives of those left behind.

[00:25:27]About a devil in human form knocking on doors and asking questions till sunrise.

[00:25:33]When the crimson sun's wrath fell upon humanity, cursing their harvests and laying waste to the rivers.

[00:25:40]But there was one brave soul or a team of stout-hearted folk or an entire nation who would save the world.

[00:25:48]Good always won. I want to believe that this will pass, too.

[00:25:51]That there will come a year, a day, a moment when all this ends.

[00:25:55]And our parents will be alive and everyone will be able to do what they love and Forgive me, please. I got carried away.

[00:26:03]I think I need a little time alone.

[00:26:05]No, friend. He's He's getting carried away with like optimism.

[00:26:10]>> [laughter] >> Aw. I really enjoyed that story, though.

[00:26:15]I would like to hear more.

[00:26:19]Uh interject a I'm surprised to still see him here. I thought he was leaving. Well, that's it.

[00:26:24]Run out of steam.

[00:26:25]Aren't you going to leave?

[00:26:27]Yeah, but I wanted to warn you first.

[00:26:30]I saw something bad out the window last night. Was going to wake you, but figured I'd let you sleep.

[00:26:35]Just be careful, okay?

[00:26:37]Death's on your tail, for sure. What a nice thing. This is a very nice man.

[00:26:42]I don't even know how to explain that. I got this weird tingling all over.

[00:26:45]Probably from all the caffeine.

[00:26:47]But that's not the point. I just felt like I had to warn you, okay?

[00:26:51]Before something bad happens.

[00:26:53]Maybe you should think about leaving, too.

[00:26:56]Don't look at me like that. I get it.

[00:26:58]I'm talking nonsense.

[00:27:00]Whatever.

[00:27:01]Anyway, consider yourself warned.

[00:27:04]That's it. For real this time.

[00:27:06]Hope you don't burn like the rest of them.

[00:27:08]Oh, he really is gone. What a nice thing from that nice young man to warn us about the encroachment of death.

[00:27:19]Well, that's sad. I need to pick me up.

[00:27:21]Hey buddy, what's on your mind?

[00:27:24]How's it going?

[00:27:25]Feeling just fine, buddy.

[00:27:27]I took a peek inside your fridge, by the way.

[00:27:31]If I knew you had that much beer, how'd you score it anyway? Your uncle work at a brewery or something?

[00:27:37]Whatever. You can keep your secrets.

[00:27:41]What a mess, huh? In a different world, we could be drinking cold ones and watching the big game. You'd even meet Hey, are you okay? Let Let's check in, friend.

[00:27:54]Hm?

[00:27:55]What?

[00:27:56]Oh, forget it.

[00:27:58]It's fine. No, the the smiley gentleman, he's suddenly become somber.

[00:28:03]Oh, it's so often that the most damaged souls have THE BIGGEST HEARTS.

[00:28:10]OH, GOSH.

[00:28:13]We've been getting a crop of people that are much less scary types and more sad types recently. Like everyone's just got such a heartbreaking story.

[00:28:24]Ooh, I don't know about this pairing, though.

[00:28:26]A conspiracy man and young girl.

[00:28:31]Got something to share?

[00:28:33]What are those papers, friend?

[00:28:36]You would not believe what's in these files. Seriously, some of it's actually pretty darn fascinating. Take a this one for instance.

[00:28:43]This theory is especially curious.

[00:28:45]He claims visitors aren't actually real, but they're part of a secret government plan to prune the population.

[00:28:51]Quite a compelling read, and oddly it kind of makes sense if you really think about it.

[00:28:56]Now consider, overpopulation is a known problem, yes?

[00:29:00]It is simply the truth of our society.

[00:29:03]Suppose this is how the government has decided to handle it, hm?

[00:29:08]Well, actually he just stops right in the middle of a statement like that.

[00:29:16]I mean, he's not saying things that are too dissimilar to what I was saying just episode or two ago.

[00:29:26]I just think we landed on the moon though.

[00:29:28]He's a little off the mark on that one.

[00:29:30]Just imagine him standing in the room with the young girl, and she's like, "My dad was killed by a monster." And he's like, "Your dad wasn't killed by a monster, unless you count men as monsters.

[00:29:42]Have you really thought about what a monster is, young girl? The monsters are the ones with the gas masks, and the black hats, and the machine guns."

[00:29:50]Well, I'm saying it in a crazy way, but it's also true.

[00:29:54]Look at these documents, young girl.

[00:29:57]Wipe your tears with research, and expand your mind with the truth.

[00:30:05]The I don't like I don't want this to be my option here. The this is all I have to say to her to proceed?

[00:30:12]Well, I wouldn't ask her this, but this looks like the only option besides um Well, dehumanizing her or sending her to FEMA, so.

[00:30:21]Next up is what happened.

[00:30:24]Oh, that's that's the whole thing. Okay.

[00:30:28]I don't really feel good about leaving her alone with the the gentleman.

[00:30:33]What's up, dude?

[00:30:35]Something wrong?

[00:30:36]Dude, where are your movies? You got like zero tapes in here.

[00:30:40]Do you even watch anything? Like, I'm dying of boredom boredom over here, man.

[00:30:46]But I don't have any don't have any movies.

[00:30:50]Whoa, man, you can't be serious. No way.

[00:30:54]You are serious. Like, you got a TV in your room, dude, and you ain't got any movies?

[00:31:00]This party sucks.

[00:31:02]I thought you'd be cool.

[00:31:03]This isn't Are you here to party or just a bunch? Well, in his own way, I mean, he's dealing with the crisis with humor.

[00:31:11]He's a little more aloof than the smiley gentleman in the other room.

[00:31:15]There's something to the smiley comedian guy who his facade fell for a moment.

[00:31:21]Like this psychic coping with humor, which is not a bad thing. I think that he coping with humor is great, honestly.

[00:31:27]Uh like I said, it's releases endorphins, which is actually good for you.

[00:31:32]Um but the facade of that fell away in a sense, and we saw, you know, some tenderness to him, and we just haven't seen that from this guy.

[00:31:40]And it seems like the protagonist thinks that he truly isn't taking anything seriously, but he's in his own sort of way coping with things.

[00:31:49]Come on, man. My TV back home's hella toasted, dude. I was hoping you'd save me from dying of total boredom. But, no.

[00:31:58]You're like such a buzzkill, man.

[00:32:02]Interesting that we basically have the same uh response as we did with the Among Us guy.

[00:32:08]Which I guess they are similar in a way, like the protagonist doesn't like them because they're kind of slackers, or they seem ignorant or absent-minded.

[00:32:20]Which also goes in line with like Right, you need to accept what happened, which is what we're saying to the little girl.

[00:32:26]So, there's a pattern here of like what has the protagonist learned?

[00:32:32]Well, that acceptance of reality, despite all of the harshness of it is necessary even at the cost of your own ability to cope with that reality.

[00:32:43]And I would never in a million years say that like it's preferable to deny reality as opposed to accept it. However, there is a way that you could over stigmatize the power of perception to make us cope with reality. And our ability to influence our own perception is like so fundamentally human. The ability to dissociate, right? To detach from the present moment is very useful in survival situations, which is fundamentally not an acceptance of reality. Like if you're experiencing something extremely traumatic in the moment, it is a natural function that your brain is equipped with to detach from that moment in order to preserve your psyche and also to regulate the the biological functions.

[00:33:26]That's not an incorrect or dysfunction of the mind to be able to do that.

[00:33:32]It's an ability. And we can become over reliant upon it and now we dissociate from things too readily and uh then it becomes sort of maladaptive to things. But the fact that we do it isn't a bad thing. The fact that we can use imagination to cope with things. For example, I have flight anxiety.

[00:33:52]Mostly on the takeoff and landing parts and mostly because it like upsets my stomach and I get sick and then I get anxiety and then the anxiety makes me feel more sick and and then my mind gets twisted up in all kinds of stuff.

[00:34:07]So when I am like taking off and landing on flights, I do not want someone shaking me like be present, Brady. Be present with your anxiety and your your sickness. Like I do not want to accept reality there. I'm not denying that it is what I'm experiencing, but I really do need to sort of imagine myself elsewhere.

[00:34:26]I don't need grounding.

[00:34:29]Grounding is going to help me reattach to reality when I'm dissociating in a bad way or when I'm too anxious when there's no actual perceivable threat, right?

[00:34:38]Different techniques for different situations. Sometimes you actually need to detach from reality momentarily. Um and that's a pretty healthy coping response in a lot of cases, especially if you're doing it intentionally.

[00:34:50]The gentleman that we've met so far, this one and the Among Us guy, they are detached from reality.

[00:34:56]>> [music] >> And maybe not so intentionally like the comedian. He he seems to like kind of know that he's a bit sad inside.

[00:35:05]Um these two like he's like, "This is a party, you know, you're such a buzzkill. He's too much of a realist." But an inability to acknowledge reality is not a fundamental defect necessarily.

[00:35:21]It is a coping style.

[00:35:23]Maybe we just don't like his personality or something cuz it's just not someone that we get on with in that way. But we just have some biases and judgments.

[00:35:34]But I think this is something with some nuance to it, >> [music] >> which is to say that the protagonist seems to have a very hard-line you have to accept reality. I mean, it's literally what we're saying to the young girl, but we're also like "No, bro, you're delusional."

[00:35:50]There is only one way to live through this and it's by taking it super seriously all the time.

[00:35:56]One theory that I would have for why the protagonist has developed such a a rigid perspective that way is also back to a lot of this um neurochemistry, which I'll finish out the conversation with this guy and then I'll touch on.

[00:36:11]>> [snorts] >> Um "You need to calm down if you want to survive."

[00:36:17]"Like chillax, dude. This place like totally sucks, but it's better than being on the streets.

[00:36:22]Just at least let me watch some TV, man.

[00:36:25]Come on."

[00:36:26]He's really not such a bad guy. In fact, I kind of like him the more I talk to him.

[00:36:30]But why is our protagonist like this?

[00:36:32]How has it become a function of his own way of dealing with stress? Well, when we have reductions in things like dopamine and oxytocin, like you see some of those depression and anxiety symptoms pop up. But there are three biochemicals that when they have increases, they're very um dramatic effects as well.

[00:36:53]And they are adrenaline, noradrenaline, sometimes also called norepinephrine, and cortisol.

[00:37:04]These increase during the stress response, especially during moments of trauma will have quite the huge surge of these things, but also in situations where the trauma is more complex, like let's say a toxic upbringing, where we had neglectful or abusive caregivers and right, all the stuff that we kind of already know about the protagonist's life. Now, it's important to remember that these are like natural good biological functions that we have to deal with crises, right? Like everything I'm going to describe, it's supposed to do that, temporarily, to deal with the crisis, and then they're supposed to modulate back down.

[00:37:41]Because when our adrenaline spikes, lots of our energy is sent to our muscles to keep them tense and ready to act, and it's redirected away from like the non-essential organs like digestion. So, that's great when you're fighting for your life, but if you just have like a toxic environment where you're kind of having to be hypervigilant and stressed, like you're just surrounded by [ __ ] parents or the environment's dangerous, like that's not a fight-or-flight situation constantly, but the adrenaline constantly being up, it's going to lead to stomach issues.

[00:38:17]Ulcers, acid reflux, indigestion, and it's supposed to do that. Like that is the natural function of like an adrenaline spike, but um it's not supposed to have prolonged effects. So, this is going to impacts our natural like rest and digest systems. It will impact our blood pressure. It will impact like muscular tension. And so, like this is really not great for prolonged adrenaline spike.

[00:38:44]When cortisol is up, like I mentioned, it kind of reduces our ability to check in with reality. And um it also impacts our ability to inhibit our own behaviors, right? It makes us more impulsive.

[00:38:56]So, that we can react quickly to stressors. Prolonged high levels of cortisol makes us just more impulsive in general, more likely to treat our own other issues as a result of stress with things like uh overeating or substance abuse. And when noradrenaline is spiked, this is what deals with our alertness.

[00:39:19]This is constantly running in our body, but during moments of acute stress, right? This spikes up, and it makes us a lot more hypervigilant. This is great for temporarily surviving a crisis, but when we're in a constant state of high alert, it's exhausting, and it will start to affect our mind's attention to stressors and the stuff that gives us anxiety. And so, what you often see from people with complex traumas, like the protagonist, is even when situations are calm, someone's still on a high level of alertness. And that's just a natural function of the brain's ability to divert resources to that. But what you get is excessive worrying. Like not being able to turn off the mind's constantly running over issues and threats and things even when there's nothing bad happening. Like that is not always an intrapsychic cognitive behavioral thing.

[00:40:14]That is the natural predictable behavior that comes from prolonged increases of noradrenaline.

[00:40:23]Not a defect, not a psychological disorder, um but actually an adaptation to, you know, the trauma that someone's experienced. That has not been addressed yet, okay? But it's not disorderly. And this is again one of the most confusing parts of people's own journey with mental health, but also like some therapists.

[00:40:42]Which is that we think it's all mental, like I may not have any major problems going on, but I can't stop worrying about stuff. Is my brain just broken? Is it my personality type? Like, you know, is there something wrong with the way my mind works? No.

[00:40:56]There is a predictable biological response occurring that impacts all of those mental functions in a way that causes additional distress. And so it's like absolutely something worth dealing with, but it's not a defect. It's not a defect in the same way that like if my car battery dies, my car will stop working.

[00:41:18]Like that isn't a an aberration. Like that's not a disorderly result of something that's supposed to function normally. When the battery is dead, the car stops working.

[00:41:30]When you have spikes in these essential hormones that impact stress, your body reacts, your mind interprets, and the behaviors that follow are very obvious.

[00:41:42]High levels of adrenaline makes us more fearful, makes us want to withdraw more and be more avoidant. High levels of noradrenaline makes us more agitated and aggressive because this is high level of alertness and perceptibility to threats, like more sensitive to issues. And so that can make us like more overly controlling, more judgmental, like it's harder to empathize with people. And high levels of cortisol makes us more impulsive and also like more forgetful.

[00:42:10]So what are we seeing from our protagonist? Why does he come so forcefully towards people with this like you need to accept reality? Well, I think he's overloaded with all of this stuff.

[00:42:24]And they are the obvious predictable responses to both his upbringing, but also the environment that he's currently in. And it would be a mistake to interpret this as it often is for people when they look at themselves to say that this just makes him a bad guy or like a defective person.

[00:42:42]Like if you're struggling with attention and interpersonal relationships and like even have some health issues, it's not all going to be explained by what I'm describing, but some of it can be accounted for by stress and many other environmental influences and the intrapsychic stuff, like how you actually perceive these things and give meaning to them and maybe contribute to them because of your perception.

[00:43:08]I think most especially our protagonist has this sense that like, well, being on high alert, having that those high levels of noradrenaline has been a part of our survival to detect the microtonality changes in an abusive parent to make sure that we didn't say something that would get us hit by them.

[00:43:28]To avoid dangerous things both in our personal life and in our surroundings, right? We need that high adrenaline, which has probably made us more isolative. And both of those things in combination has like really left us with not very many personal connections, limited oxytocin, limited capacity to attach.

[00:43:48]And so we're just not very personable in general, right? And we look down on people who seem to be lacking some of this alertness. Like, you're having too easy of a time here, man. Like you should be more in this like constant state of, you know, traumatic alertness that I'm in.

[00:44:07]And maybe so. like maybe based on the circumstances you should be. But the fact is that guy has had a different life experience than us. He's experiencing this situation different from us. Most people don't know any of this [ __ ] and so we just look at it as like well, it's all just personality.

[00:44:22]He's just a loser.

[00:44:24]He's just an idiot.

[00:44:26]Or the protagonist is just an [ __ ] And it's like we only have labels for describing how people are and very limited ways of describing how they became that way.

[00:44:40]I do not see anyone in this environment acting in a way right now that is like abnormal for the circumstances that they're in.

[00:44:49]We're going to see different reactions to those things, but if we were looking for something truly disorderly it's going to be something that isn't explainable by sociological, environmental, and psychological circumstances. And really there's very little of that so far.

[00:45:10]Little girl is traumatized cuz her dad's dead and like she's completely powerless to do anything about it.

[00:45:17]Research man is on the right track with distrusting the government. Like he's quite perceptive to a lot of the things going on and probably has just you know, wrapped up everything else that seems confusing in that.

[00:45:32]>> [sighs] >> Smiley guy, I mean he is doing his best to make the most of life, you know, by smiling through it even though inside he's living the longest night of his soul.

[00:45:47]The young lady here finding himself slipping into stories of optimism that help him interpret the harsh nature of the world and you can see the way he grimaced when he like walked back into reality.

[00:46:00]And it's like that's what our protagonist is trying to force on people is like Hey, [ __ ] drop the optimist act, okay?

[00:46:08]You're in reality right now and reality [ __ ] sucks and it does. It's not that it doesn't.

[00:46:14]But it would be wrong to critique, I think, people for trying their best to cope with it and some of that is going to be one step away from reality. Like maybe you know, living in some level of the metaphorical interpretation of it. Some of it's going to be two steps. Like ignoring the problem and some of it's going to be three. Like a more deeper sort of delusion about like whether anything is actually happening or not.

[00:46:40]I think everybody here is trying to make that sense of things including the conspiracy guy. Like his way of dealing with it is by saying that it can't be this visitor crisis. It's all government. There has to be a design to it. Like how can the world just fall apart naturally?

[00:46:57]Someone must be influencing it and this guy, I mean, he's having the most appropriate biological and psychological response to everything that's going on.

[00:47:07]And then there's the theater man.

[00:47:10]Who I haven't checked in with yet, but I also have not found anything particularly aberrant about his behavior or presentation.

[00:47:17]But I hope this kind of gets across like the way that we should be looking at people.

[00:47:24]The way that we should try to understand their behaviors and everything that happens interpersonally as more than just a function of the way that they think about things. Like that's important as well, but I feel like we talk enough about that on this channel and elsewhere.

[00:47:41]Um and very rarely address many of the things that underlie and influence the cognitive world. The good thing either way is that both are addressable with different things, okay?

[00:47:56]Therapy is going to help address the cognitive side of things.

[00:48:00]Your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, how they make up your personality, the narratives of your life, and the meaning and all the rest. Okay, those are all intrapsychic.

[00:48:10]A skilled therapist can teach and help with the somatic side, right? The balance of these hormones and neurotransmitters.

[00:48:21]Some therapies are specifically designed to address somatic issues. Um and the limitations come through with like well, a really good therapy session isn't going to fix someone's [ __ ] home environment. You can provide coping skills to deal with that. But the truth is that some issues require broader systemic change.

[00:48:42]A school counselor can only help so much with a kid who is having erratic behavior in a classroom. They can talk about their feelings, they can help address some of the emotional things, but if that child is going back into a toxic classroom, a toxic peer environment, a toxic home environment, then you're dealing with a lot of underlying biological and other emotional influences that are not necessarily surmountable by an individual's willpower to sort of change the makeup of their mind with cognitive behavioral interventions.

[00:49:19]And so what you get instead is a school counselor tries to help a child it doesn't work at full capacity. Child still has attention issues.

[00:49:29]High adrenaline.

[00:49:30]Doesn't seem very motivated for school.

[00:49:33]High cortisol. And is acting out when addressed, usually by authority figures who end up starting a power struggle with the child, and then interacting with that like high level of noradrenaline, which is um going to activate some of that aggressive behavior.

[00:49:49]This is just It's child.

[00:49:52]Unmotivated, lazy.

[00:49:55]All attributed to to the personality.

[00:49:57]When actually all of those behaviors are predictable responses to known biochemical, emotional, and psychological interactions.

[00:50:08]We've got a lot of work to do in the world.

[00:50:12]Everyone to um address these things at both the individual and the systemic level. But uh I'm doing my part explaining it through this like video game narrative.

[00:50:27]To explain why someone like the protagonist here and you know I don't know. There's so many people who have played this game and connect with these characters and maybe they don't know why.

[00:50:37]Well, these games act as like kind of a tabula rasa of the human experience.

[00:50:43]I don't think that the developers of this game you know, I know all of the interweavings of like neurochemistry and like decided that they would design a character's backstory to accurately reflect everything that I'm talking about here in a sequential format. Like you don't need to know all this stuff.

[00:50:58]I'm just telling you cuz I think it's interesting and it's helpful for context, but some of it's also intuitive. You had a bad childhood.

[00:51:06]And now you it's like kind of an [ __ ] when he's grown up, you know? Like that's really not that complicated.

[00:51:11]However, if you want to drill down to how exactly that occurred and why it's sustained and what the reasons that it has persisted and not been addressed, well, then okay, we can step into all this detail. But there are actually very few things in my mind at least that are truly either unexplainable or are true aberrations as in like they describe something occurring not in response to a predictable event.

[00:51:41]My car breaks down because something broke in it. That's predictable. That's not a mystery event in that sense.

[00:51:48]Okay, rant over.

[00:51:49]Let's check in with our theater friend.

[00:51:53]So, what's the story with the collectors?

[00:51:55]Uh I guess that means we've like reached the end of his story.

[00:52:03]Cuz it's been another day and he doesn't have anything more to say.

[00:52:09]Okay.

[00:52:10]Well, I believe we're still not supposed to test anyone for at least one more day.

[00:52:15]And I think that includes ourselves. So, I think we can just go to sleep for the evening.

[00:52:25]And then the bald man can tell me what all of this was for.

[00:52:30]First, I'm going to feed the cat.

[00:52:38]His little face is hard to read, but he is pretty sure he's happy.

[00:52:42]Yes, we can sleep peacefully tonight.

[00:52:46]And of course, I'm going to pick up the cat.

[00:52:55]I feel like it's letting me hold it for longer, which is making me exceedingly happy and gracious. Um one thing to do before we go to bed though is uh Let's get on the telly.

[00:53:09]No.

[00:53:10]Got some cigarettes.

[00:53:13]I forget what these were for.

[00:53:15]I don't think we need one right now, though.

[00:53:18]Um I don't believe any of these other numbers are going to work anymore.

[00:53:29]Yeah.

[00:53:32]So, let's call for rest.

[00:53:38]Maybe we can get some more cat food.

[00:53:41]We We accept your order.

[00:53:43]What order did I already log?

[00:53:45]There's a temporary limit the number of orders.

[00:53:49]Uh okay.

[00:53:51]Maybe I did order something. Well, let's call that girl's friend.

[00:54:01]Hello.

[00:54:03]Hi, may I speak with your daughter?

[00:54:06]That's a very strange question to ask a stranger on the phone.

[00:54:12]Um What about this though? Would it be okay if your daughter came over to play with her friend?

[00:54:18]Our little girl, she She died.

[00:54:24]We had to We had to kill her.

[00:54:32]What?

[00:54:35]We killed her.

[00:54:36]It had to be done. Believe me.

[00:54:39]Every sign matched what we were being told. My husband insisted.

[00:54:48]She was a visitor.

[00:54:51]You hear me?

[00:54:52]Every single sign was saying so. Oh my god.

[00:54:55]I knew her inside out. That's how I was able to notice signs so quickly.

[00:54:59]Everything matched.

[00:55:01]As soon as I told my husband, he he dealt with the visitor right away.

[00:55:07]I wanted to kill him myself at first.

[00:55:09]But I eventually realized that was never our daughter.

[00:55:15]My husband helped me understand that.

[00:55:19]Now I only regret that we never asked that invader what she did to our little one.

[00:55:25]Sorry.

[00:55:26]Don't call here again.

[00:55:27]Please.

[00:55:37]Holy [ __ ] You know, I think on the grand scheme of things our protagonist as I was kind of pointing out last time is holding it together decently well.

[00:55:51]His shock to that scenario I think is quite revealing.

[00:55:56]That he is not all the way in on the signs determine a visitor. I think he's sort of like me where he's kind of realizing this [ __ ] just seems kind of random and visitor or not, it's not like that is much of a deviation from like what human is except that they might be like a little more dangerous.

[00:56:21]Now, um this is also another reason why like let's say you were doing therapy for that family who had to reconcile a decision like that with their own survival. Okay, it's even more extreme than what I talked about for the protagonist last episode. Well, the reason that it is worth talking about and knowing about all of these natural biological functions and how they impact mental health is not to use that as a path to forgive or to justify behaviors that result from these different kinds of overwhelm. That is not the goal at all.

[00:57:01]It's not to say, "Oh, your behavior is forgivable cuz it's explained by a predictable biological response."

[00:57:07]We still have human choice and there is still personality involved in that choice. It is only to say there are reasons why those choices seemed to be solutions to the problem you were having at the time you were having it and in the environment that you were having it.

[00:57:27]And who you were at that moment. If that is a stepping stone to the person's own internal model of what self-forgiveness can look like.

[00:57:35]That's really okay for them. That's up to them, but it would be inaccurate to exclude what are observable scientific processes which affects our mind and our ability to think rationally and make decisions in crisis scenarios.

[00:57:55]Like this information is available to us to help understand how the mind becomes compromised.

[00:58:03]Our protagonist's mind is compromised.

[00:58:05]So is everyone's here.

[00:58:08]But they're compromised for predictable reasons.

[00:58:11]It's not at all to say that the behaviors are appropriate or desirable or in any sense. It's complicated.

[00:58:18]It is quite complicated.

[00:58:21]Hospitality day.

[00:58:26]And that ear must be from the new sign that we got, but we didn't actually check anybody because the cat saved us.

[00:58:34]Well, it's time to go to sleep and see um if if this has been a total waste of our time to um not be testing people this whole time. I really am curious to see what what the cat has in store for us.

[00:58:50]We're going to be close to the end of this soon as well, right?

[00:58:57]A group of evicted by FEMA has settled into your neighbor's ruins.

[00:59:02]Though little remains, the basement seems to be intact.

[00:59:06]Basement.

[00:59:08]Small pocket of safety.

[00:59:09]How long can they keep hiding?

[00:59:12]Okay. I've been finding it a little suspicious that my basement is um there.

[00:59:19]>> [laughter] >> Perhaps we will have to retreat into it.

[00:59:23]But maybe we could also tunnel over to the neighbors.

[00:59:28]Small groups carrying their belongings gather nearby. They whisper, careful not to be heard by FEMA officers.

[00:59:35]Looks like they're from the quarantine zones and are moving into former residence homes.

[00:59:41]Now the hanging man looks like a grim welcome sign.

[00:59:48]This is so depressing. [laughter] >> [music] >> Okay, we forgot to look at this one.

[00:59:53]Oh.

[00:59:54]The doggies are back.

[00:59:56]Wild dogs roam the streets.

[00:59:58]Uh look at them. They're still maintaining a sense of community.

[01:00:03]Their bodies bear shallow burns. Hunger wears them thin.

[01:00:07]Inside your house, you don't fear them.

[01:00:10]What do I have to be afraid of?

[01:00:12]But now you can't shake the feeling that it's better not to go outside.

[01:00:16]I choose to interpret this positively.

[01:00:19]Those dogs have learned to take care of one another.

[01:00:25]The [ __ ] is FEMA doing here? I thought I was safe.

[01:00:29]And the cat.

[01:00:30]Hello. We require more test subjects from you.

[01:00:34]The sooner we get them, the better.

[01:00:37]But I But I fed the cat.

[01:00:43]What's going on in the city?

[01:00:45]Repercussions.

[01:00:48]Keep resisting and there'll be even more outbreaks that need wiping out.

[01:00:54]What exactly would personal resistance to your [ __ ] [ __ ] do to spread the non-virus of being a visitor?

[01:01:04]Hiding visitors only makes them multiply. That's inherently not true.

[01:01:09]And that only leads to more violence.

[01:01:13]I'm here to stop the violence. Bang.

[01:01:21]Uh how long is all this going to continue?

[01:01:25]We're still studying the cause of these events. Stay out of our way. I'm literally just in my home doing nothing.

[01:01:31]Hard to say when things will return to normal. We need to run more tests to keep things under control.

[01:01:38]Cooperate with us and this will be all over before you know it.

[01:01:44]Uh, I I fed the cat.

[01:01:50]I don't have to hand someone over.

[01:01:53]No!

[01:01:55]This time we need to No!

[01:01:57]Hand two of your residents over.

[01:02:00]No!

[01:02:02]No, no, I'm done.

[01:02:04][ __ ] sake, have it your way.

[01:02:06]You enjoying the view behind me?

[01:02:08]That's what happens when you stubborn [ __ ] like you get in our way.

[01:02:12]Resist and it'll happen again.

[01:02:16]It's just getting blatantly more authoritarian.

[01:02:19]We care Oh, yes.

[01:02:21]I can tell by the burning buildings and the dead people in the street and the crippling anxiety of everyone who's interacted with the FEMA officer that you're the safest thing in the environment for them.

[01:02:33]Just give us people.

[01:02:36]NO! [screaming] NO!

[01:02:43]They're my two favorite people.

[01:02:45]No! I I thought that I because I fed the cat that everyone was safe, but I didn't think that they were in danger from [ __ ] FEMA.

[01:02:53]Oh my god! No!

[01:02:56]Where's my shotgun?

[01:02:59]NO!

[01:03:08]OH! I What have I done? I I have sent them to their [ __ ] deaths.

[01:03:15]They trusted me.

[01:03:19]God, I can't believe I didn't [ __ ] think that. I I thought feeding the cat was all I needed to do.

[01:03:27]That happened so obvious in hindsight.

[01:03:30]I knew that you had to give the FEMA slips.

[01:03:34]So that FEMA I think because they didn't take someone last night, I thought I I associated feeding the cat with the house just having a an aura of safety around it.

[01:03:53]Oh, man, they didn't deserve that. They so did not deserve that.

[01:03:59]I mean, no one in the house currently does.

[01:04:02]But why did it have to be those two?

[01:04:04]I really wanted to get to know the smiley guy.

[01:04:06]You can even see how hard it is like for the protagonist and me by association, role-playing him.

[01:04:14]But FEMA is entirely in control of who they take. I mean, being able to give someone a notice is like that only marginally affects things. Ultimately, FEMA's going to take whoever they want. Like I could have given one notice out and they said, "We're taking an extra person." So like I was never really in control of this. But I think it would be so easy to blame yourself for not doing enough to protect them.

[01:04:37]And it's all because of [ __ ] FEMA.

[01:04:43]Why don't you come into my house, FEMA?

[01:04:46]Why don't you come sit down on the floor underneath all my father's old belongings?

[01:04:53]Take a rest in the closet.

[01:04:55]Have yourself a nice sleep. The house is protected from visitors. If you're so scared of them, this is the one place in the [ __ ] world right now where the visitors aren't dangerous because I have a cat.

[01:05:08]So come on in. Come on in and take a rest. You deserve it. You You've been working so hard to keep us all safe.

[01:05:16]Just don't be surprised if you wake up with a [ __ ] shotgun staring you down in the face.

[01:05:22]I can only dream of such a [ __ ] thing.

[01:05:24]>> [gasps] >> Okay.

[01:05:27]Okay.

[01:05:29]It is what it is.

[01:05:31]Just have to accept reality.

[01:05:34]Uh it's it's tough for me to roleplay this guy.

[01:05:38]Okay.

[01:05:40]Well, we got to replace them now with new friends, so Yes.

[01:05:46]Your house is perfect. I can feel it.

[01:05:51]What exactly do you feel?

[01:05:53]Death.

[01:05:54]Death has taken a liking to your house.

[01:05:57]She's quite fond of it.

[01:05:59]I don't know how many died here, but her presence is strong.

[01:06:06]Um you look like some kind of cultist freak.

[01:06:09]>> [laughter] >> So judgemental.

[01:06:14]Let's hear from them.

[01:06:16]Who even are you?

[01:06:18]Why are you dressed like that?

[01:06:20]We are the harbingers of a new faith, the orators of a hallowed doctrine.

[01:06:25]Death has come. She wishes only to soothe humanity, to free us from our chaos, bitterness, and bedlam.

[01:06:33]We are simply helping her draw closer.

[01:06:36]That's the only way to find salvation.

[01:06:38]There's no going back.

[01:06:41]Um what do you want?

[01:06:44]We must perform the burial rites and raise anew.

[01:06:48]Your house is perfect for it. Yes.

[01:06:51]Death's influence is strong here.

[01:06:55]What's been happening here anyway?

[01:06:57]In any case, let my brothers trespass here. Protect them.

[01:07:02]They must survive long enough to complete their tasks.

[01:07:07]I'm not exactly burning with excitement at the prospect.

[01:07:11]Yeah, we're not really. Perhaps you'll end up burning after all.

[01:07:14]Watch over my people and remember if one of them dies house will be reduced to nothing.

[01:07:21][music] Forgive me.

[01:07:23]But there would be no other way to accomplish our divine mission.

[01:07:28]>> [laughter] >> Then I'll just shoot you all.

[01:07:33]Honestly, I could go either way with this. We could be pretty upset right now that FEMA just took two of our best boys.

[01:07:41]Feeling pretty aggressive.

[01:07:43]I've kind of gotten used to the company though, so uh How bad could it be? Come on in. Just Just come in it.

[01:07:53]They shall not need much time, but still watch over them. See you later.

[01:07:58]I'll come to check on them.

[01:08:00]Right.

[01:08:03]Oh.

[01:08:04]It's the guy from earlier.

[01:08:06]Keeping your distance, huh?

[01:08:08]Good.

[01:08:09]That improves your odds of survival.

[01:08:12]Unless you're a visitor.

[01:08:15]Who are you?

[01:08:17]Someone who's here to clean up the filth.

[01:08:20]My neighborhood's been dealt with.

[01:08:23]You don't need to know nothing else about me.

[01:08:26]Um >> [laughter] >> Is that a broom in your hands?

[01:08:31]What's with the gears? Is that supposed to make you a visit a visitor proof?

[01:08:34]It's a good question.

[01:08:35]Visitor proof?

[01:08:37]Oh, you mean this necklace?

[01:08:40]It's a good term. I'll have to start using that.

[01:08:42]It's a reminder so I don't forget how many houses and how many towns I've purged.

[01:08:48]I'll pull a single tooth from each visitor.

[01:08:52]They're easiest trophies to take.

[01:08:54]And if one really leaves an impression on me I might take something else.

[01:09:00]Yeah, what's your [ __ ] business with me, friend?

[01:09:04]Hold it.

[01:09:05]You already asked your questions.

[01:09:07]Now ask mine.

[01:09:09]Anything going on in this neighborhood?

[01:09:11]Any threats I should keep an eye out for?

[01:09:14]Visitors keep showing up, but I've got a gun of my own.

[01:09:17]Uh yeah, FEMA has been taking back FEMA could be visitors.

[01:09:21]FEMA could be visitors. Also, well, there was that actual visitor who annihilated the patrol.

[01:09:29]I want to go for maximum chaos though.

[01:09:30]If I could get him fighting with FEMA, that'd be great.

[01:09:34]They know what they're doing.

[01:09:36]They've got their ways of spotting visitor signs.

[01:09:40]Why would you bring that Oh, [ __ ] >> [laughter] >> Okay, I didn't expect him to be on FEMA's side.

[01:09:49]Why would you bring them out?

[01:09:50]Suspicious.

[01:09:52]Got someone I need to check on. I'll be back later.

[01:09:55]You've piqued my interest.

[01:10:01]Okay.

[01:10:02]Hey, where's that guy who brought me the cat?

[01:10:06]Hey, uh hello, I guess. If that's better. Is this like your place?

[01:10:11]I mean, your house, sir?

[01:10:15]Oh, yeah, it's mine. Are you looking for someone?

[01:10:18]No, I just need to crash for a bit or something.

[01:10:21]I'm sick of hiding in basements.

[01:10:23]Keep this up, I'll probably forget how to talk soon.

[01:10:26]Not that you care.

[01:10:29]Uh so, safe bet that she doesn't have parents anymore. What are you doing hiding out in basements? I'm traveling, I guess.

[01:10:36]Want to see the world.

[01:10:37]Different places.

[01:10:39]Maybe I'll find a new home somewhere.

[01:10:40]Ah, this is reminding me of the human that I shot.

[01:10:48]He also just wanted to see the world.

[01:10:50]I hope I don't have to do the same to her.

[01:10:53]But I'm broke. So, it's either making deals for a room or sneaking into basements.

[01:10:57]Whatever.

[01:10:58]That's life.

[01:11:00]Sometimes you just run into total jerks, though.

[01:11:03]So, try anything creepy, and I'll punch your freaking lights out.

[01:11:10]Honestly, pretty fair. Come on in.

[01:11:15]Never mind. You've already got that crying girl on the spot that ties the house together.

[01:11:21]What?

[01:11:23]The neighbor's daughter?

[01:11:25]If I'm going to stay, then we're doing things my way.

[01:11:28]Hey, that rhymed.

[01:11:31]What? No, I'm not kicking them out. You can leave then. [ __ ] off.

[01:11:36]>> [laughter] >> Look, I just lost two real ones, okay?

[01:11:44]I'm not not getting rid of the rest I got. I like them.

[01:11:47]I shouldn't have wasted my time on you.

[01:11:48]Yep.

[01:11:50]Whatever.

[01:11:53]Care.

[01:11:55]And [ __ ] fine.

[01:12:00]Right here.

[01:12:02]My mates and my cat.

[01:12:05]That's right. It's greatest thing I got going for me right now.

[01:12:10]Another day down.

[01:12:13]Good afternoon. You're watching the news.

[01:12:16]FEMA is currently assisting victims of the quarantine zone attack.

[01:12:19]Due to overcrowding in existing facilities, the agency has made the following decision. Evacuated residents will be temporarily housed in buildings on the outskirts of the city.

[01:12:28]Fortunately, local homeowners are cooperating with FEMA and have offered shelter.

[01:12:36]Not this homeowner.

[01:12:37]As of this report, only a portion of the escaped individuals have been located.

[01:12:41]Thankfully, a new identifier has been announced by officials earlier today.

[01:12:46]Bleeding gums.

[01:12:50]>> [snorts] >> All right.

[01:12:51]If an individual showing this comes to your door, do not engage.

[01:12:55]Wait for a scheduled FEMA patrol and report the suspect to the relevant authorities. And remember, stay where you are and await further instructions.

[01:13:02]That's the latest for now.

[01:13:05]Yeah. Next up, a special report on dangerous new cult.

[01:13:10]Dangerous cult, you say?

[01:13:13]The visitors aren't just hiding among us. They may be infiltrating our very thoughts.

[01:13:18]Multiple cities are now reporting outbreaks of organized cult activity.

[01:13:22]Charges against them include ritual sacrifice, worship of an unknown deity, and possible ties to the visitors themselves.

[01:13:29]According to these new reports, the cult has taken a public stand against FEMA.

[01:13:36]Are they wrong to do that?

[01:13:37]What began as harmless evangelizing has now escalated into direct action.

[01:13:42]Some experts believe that the cult may even be responsible for the recent violent incidents in the city.

[01:13:48]Viewers are urged to avoid contact with these so-called new believers.

[01:13:52]Aiding or sympathizing with any cultists may result in arrest or criminal charges.

[01:13:58]That's the latest for now.

[01:13:59]Stay tuned.

[01:14:03]Okay.

[01:14:05]I think that's probably referring to um these these ones, which uh we're going to check in with at the top of the next episode.

[01:14:16]On World Thank You Day.

[01:14:20]Oh, goodness.

[01:14:22]Okay. Well, I learned something new today, which is that uh the cat can't do everything, unfortunately. Can't solve everything.

[01:14:33]Um we're going to Wasn't there a third person?

[01:14:38]No, it was the cultist, the young girl, and the machine gun guy.

[01:14:43]Okay.

[01:14:49]I'm a little disappointed in you, friend.

[01:14:51]For not being able to solve every problem.

[01:15:01]Um Who am I kidding? I can't stay mad at you for very long.

[01:15:09]Give him a nice little warm back.

[01:15:16]Well, folks, that brings us to the end of our episode. I feel like I've made some miscalculations.

[01:15:22]This time.

[01:15:24]I can't believe I got my boys taken by FEMA.

[01:15:27]Uh Well, for now, that is where we're going to end things. We must be getting closer to the end. And uh I am curious what everyone thinks about the people that are currently in our house. I've been loving all of the interpretations and ways that people relate to the characters and that sort of thing. And yeah, I can see that it would be so easy to just think in one or two dimensions about many of these characters that the way that they present or the way that they act. I think the game does a good job of interacting with some of the common biases and assumptions that we have as people when we interact with those who are different from us or present strange in some way.

[01:16:07]But I hope if anything, today's episode kind of helps you understand that not everything about a person comes down to personality characteristics.

[01:16:17]It's so easy to frame things in that way. They're like, "This person is a jerk. This person is an idiot. This person is incompetent.

[01:16:27]That child is bad."

[01:16:29]And to overlook what are pretty complicated, but also understandable underlying mechanics of biology, psychology, and the way that our environment and circumstances affect those things.

[01:16:42]>> [snorts] >> If nothing else, if you've related to anything I've discussed here about um you know, why some people struggle with things like attention or motivation or depression, I personally find that when I speak about these things with clients and even for myself, um it's not that it like takes the full burden off of a person to know that there are things outside of their immediate grasp that influence those conditions, but I have found it to have some alleviating effect for a person to know that okay, the way that I feel is kind of a natural response of what I've been through.

[01:17:22]And yes, there are things I need to do about that, better ways I need to cope, ways I need to develop myself, but perhaps I can step away from the fundamental assumption that I am just [ __ ] up.

[01:17:37]No, this is very likely not the case.

[01:17:41]It's very likely the case that normative responses to other issues have just not been addressed yet.

[01:17:49]And maybe some of these things can start pointing us in the right direction.

[01:17:53]So, with that all said, as always, thank you for watching. Be good to yourselves, and I'll see you next time.