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[Soft radio playing]
[Bath water running]
[Distant eerie singing]
Kiki's voice: Lala used to say
[Gaelic] Se aon rud tìm mar a tha sinne ga thomhas, agus se rud eile tìm nadar.
There is human time,
and there is wild time…
I walked into the water
[Waves crashing]
[Footsteps on the shore]
[Transmitter turned on]
Erik: All set this end. Are you ok?
Josh: I'm just approaching the cove now mate.
Erik: Stay calm - keep your head.
Erik: You're gonnae be catching a whopper.
Erik: You'll be fine. Moon's out. They're around a bonfire. Lay the nets.
[Ominous music]
[Footsteps on the shore]
Erik: We've got details on fourteen selkies living in the cove so
Erik: - the trick is to find one you like the look of.
Josh: Right.
Erik: This is gonnae be for life, pal.
Josh: They're singing.
Erik: Don't stop listening to my voice. They're no sirens.
Josh: I think I'm in love -
Erik: No, no, no, no, no - stay with me pal.
Erik: Remember - in - out.
Erik: Don't just stand there like a lemon, you'll be eaten alive.
Josh: And she's mine once I've got the pelt.
Erik: Exactly. You've paid a lot of money for this. You never have to be lonely again.
[Footsteps]
[Ominous music]
[Heavy breathing]
[Ominous music]
[Waves]
[Footsteps in water]
[Wind]
[A drum beat]
[Sounds of the sea]
Voiceover:I didn't look at you, wouldn't look at you - once
let alone twice when you were
some broke-ass jerkoff making minimum
wage because you weren't some
Arrested Development meathead good at sports giving out your letterman jacket
just as easily as they were giving out chlamydia and BJ's. Before the personal trainer and
the legacy, before you made VP at a
Fortune 500, before you, my friend, made it big.
Now they see you. They fucking smell you.
But they don’t see you. Don’t know how hard
it is to…How the loneliness might drive a lesser man - a fucking
pussy-whipped beta cuck of a man - insane.
It’s not you. It’s me.
Do you remember that, my friend?
It’s not you. It’s me.
Damn straight it’s you, sweetheart. After a while, they all look alike. Vapid.
Disloyal. Gold digging.You deserve better, my friend. Say it with me.
I DESERVE BETTER.
Now they can’t stop throwing themselves at you.
And you, my friend, you know enough about the world to throw ‘em back.
Fucking small fry. Fuck them. You’re not a charity. And what they’re offering ain’t worth baiting
your hook for. Where's the challenge?
Where's the prize? You enjoy the thrill
of the chase. Big game. High risk. High reward.
Go - go look in the mirror. Right now. Right now!
Look more closely at yourself than
any one of these bitches ever will.
They don’t see that loneliness like we do. Etched on your goddamn skin,
weighing heavily on your very soul.
It’s fucking plain as plain can be.
Question: Why don’t they see it?
Answer: They don’t want you.
hey want your money/they want your power/
they want your wealth/they want your fame.
And even if you’re too humble to think you have any of that,
these fucking botox sharks, with their charred bras
and their double standards, they smell blood.
They want every last little crumb you have.
They want the reflected fucking glory.
You deserve nothing less than a goddess, my friend,
but the gods don’t exist anymore.
It’s just guys like us running the show.
The gods are a myth. We’re the gods now.
You, Sir, are a prince among men. A hero of old - Hercules, Achilles.
Atlas with the weight of the world on his shoulders.
It is lonely at the fucking top.
Paradise is a myth, old chum.
Or so I thought. I used to think a lot of things were myth.
Like the perfect woman. The dedicated angel in amongst all the harpies.
A  goddamned pearl before swine. That I was wrong.
Erik here at Trophy/Wife showed me the error of my ways.
Showed me a different way.
The scales fell from my eyes in favour of silky smooth slick-ass HIDE..
If you’re looking for that perfect mate and helpmeet, companion and confidante,
then you know who to contact to seal the
deal. Trophy/Wife accepts all reputable
cryptocurrency.
[Sea waves splashing]
[Odd singing]
[On the transmitter]
Erik: Stay cool, Josh, stay with me -
Josh: They've scattered.
Josh: One’s run into the net - she’s caught in it - her ankle’s caught.
Erik: Watch the shape-shifting. Make her feel safe.
Josh: Woah, woah woah woah - easy.
Gealach: Let me go, filthy human! Set me free.
Josh: Please - please calm down. I can’t help you unless you..
Erik: Safe.
Gealach: You want my pelt. You do, to claim my soul.
Erik: You’re a good guy, Josh. I’m a good guy too, pal.
Josh: No, no, no - no please, I’m a good guy.
Josh: Let me just cut this, this netting.
Gealach: The sea will claim what’s hers and you will die
Gealach: Your body left to rot in the Abyss -
Food for eels and bone to turn to sand
Josh: Please just let me help you -
Gealach: Nothing can be spared for the likes of you
Gealach: Reeking pitiful soulless ben adam -
Josh: Please, I just …
Erik: Watch it Josh careful -
Josh: I've watched you -
Gealach: Watching waiting foolish boy to try
Gealach: And take what is not yours to sell and buy -
Josh: No! Not sell. I - no - I just meant, I’d seen you - here, on the beach.
Erik: Ask her her name pal, show her some humanity.
Josh: What's your name?
Gealach: What is my name, if you could try to flail
Gealach: To say it; would take tongues of ancient scale -
Josh: It’s easy, [hold] still - I’m Josh.
Gealach: It used to be a word of Moyse’s folk,
Gealach:  For gleaming shining Moon, the Celtics spoke,
Gealach:  Do not think I would give it willingly
Gealach: When your name lands with harsh and wanton stroke
Gealach: I’m called - for under moonlight I am found -
Gealach: And known by curséd passers-by who’ve drowned.
Gealach: Gealach hazoleach bashamayim.
Josh: Gealach
Gealach: Gealach
Josh: That Gaelic?
Gealach: A mermaid found a swimming lad -
Gealach: Picked him up..
Josh: What are you -
Gealach: ..for her own
[Josh heavy breathing]
Gealach: Pressed her body to his body, laughed
Josh: You're free, I freed you
Gealach: and plunging down -
Gealach: Forgot in cruel happiness -
Josh: No! Please -
Gealach: That even lovers drown.
[Silence]
Erik: Josh?
Erik: Josh?
Erik: Josh?
Erik: Fuck.
[A deafening wind]
Kiki: IS THIS THE GUEST HOUSE?
Jenny: NO, NO IT’S NOT THE GUEST HOUSE –
Jenny: THAT’S WAY UP OVER THE OTHER SIDE!
Jenny: LOOK AT YOU – WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, OUT HERE IN WEATHER LIKE THIS?
 
Kiki: I WAS LOOKING FOR THE GUEST HOUSE!
Jenny: GOD I HOPE THE SITE’S HOLDING.
Kiki: WHAT?
Jenny: I SAID I HOPE [...] – AWWH, GET IN.
[Creaky door opening]
Jenny: I can’t believe I found you – crikey – what were you doing in the water?!
Kiki: I was swimming - jumped in at Kirkwall -
Jenny: You swam from Kirkwall?! In this weather?!
Kiki: I'm a swimmer.
Jenny: At this time of year?
Jenny: And you’re looking for the guest house?
Jenny: It’s way up over the other side - there’s nothing much in the way of anything round here.
Kiki: Lucky I found you then. What are you doing over here?
Jenny: Just been stayi.... - Checking the site.
Kiki: In this weather?
Jenny: I've actually got some things to be
getting on with
Kiki: You don’t happen to have a towel or anything, do you?
Jenny: We’ve a... tea-towel. That’s probably the...
Jenny: it's a little stained. Sorry.
Jenny: There will be stuff at the guest house.
Kiki: Thanks. Your fire’s nearly out. Do - d’you mind?
Kiki: It's not too much trouble is it?
Jenny: Well, I -
Jenny: there aren't many logs left I was hoping...of course well you know you really would
Jenny: be much more comfortable much better off, over at the guest house.
Jenny: It's not far. Maybe an eleven minute...
[Tea kettle whistles]
Jenny: I mean, I know the path well, I’ve lived here ten years.
Jenny: Perhaps I could... sorry, but why exactly are you here?
Jenny: D’you know what, it doesn’t matter.
Jenny: Just stay here by the fire for a few minutes.
Jenny: I'm sure the wind and rain will die down.
Kiki: Thanks.
Kiki: I am really sorry if I’m putting you
Jenny: Tea?
Jenny: A cup of tea?
Kiki: Sure
[Sound of tea pouring]
Kiki: Thanks
Kiki: I should have planned the route better.
Jenny: Did you say you were a professional swimmer?
Kiki: A few competitions
Jenny: Any I’d have seen on the telly?
Kiki: The Commonwealth Games?
Jenny: Oh my goodness, that is something.
Jenny: I love watching the swimming best. When was that?
Kiki: 2014.
Jenny: Yes! Who was it that year?
Kiki: Bronze.
Kiki: You probably wouldn't remember me
Jenny: You know - you [...] -
Kiki: It was a very long time ago.
Jenny: Yes! You’re not ah..
Jenny: Oh, Sarah / A... ?
Kiki: Oh no... No, no, no. No. You wouldn't remember me.
Kiki: I'm Kiki - please just call me Kiki.
Jenny: Ah - Kiki.
Jenny: You’ll laugh, but you kinda remind me of…
[Kiki breathes in ... glitching sound]
Jenny: Oh, I understand.
Jenny: I didn't even... well you were much younger
before Kiki -  oh what a nice name.
Jenny: I'm Jenny, Jane, Jenny.
Jenny: I thought you’d retired from it all -
Kiki: Yes, yes I sort of did.
Kiki: Needed to sort my life out really.
Jenny: Good lord, your lips are blue.
Jenny: Shouldn't you have someone in a boat
ready to wrap you up once you're out or
something?
Kiki: Well, usually. Bit of an impulse swim.
Kiki: Since I arrived here in Orkney I've just
kept wanting to jump into the sea and
Kiki: then this afternoon I did. Probably the
first time since, anyway I felt alive again.
Jenny: Yes... yes the water can do that.
Kiki: Thanks.
Jenny: It's getting dark
Jenny: Once you're dry, I'll walk you over to
the guest house I've got a torch
Kiki: Is that a wardrobe?
Jenny: It's a cupboard really.
Kiki: You don’t happen to have any spare clothes, do you?
Jenny: I - I can look.
Jenny: I’ve got a few things here but I wouldn’t say we’re the same size -
Kiki: No-
Jenny: No offence
Kiki: None taken.
Kiki: Even just a spare coat, cold weather stuff?
Kiki: Where exactly are we?
Kiki: The world's most remote museum?
Jenny: Hardly Tristan da Cunha.
Jenny: Anglanadh, the er - Archaeological Station.
Jenny: Aha. Trackies. And a hoodie.
Jenny: They belong to - I don’t know exactly but a lot of the archaeologists keep spare clothes
Jenny: just in case they get muddied at the site.
Jenny: [heard far away] And. A blanket.
Kiki: Could've done with that ten minutes ago.
Jenny: Right. Would you like the blanket?
Kiki: I think the hoodie'll be enough.
Jenny: Sure?
Kiki: Well, if you insist.
Jenny: If i insi
Kiki: It is - pretty cold.
[Something shatters]
Kiki: Oh... shit.
Jenny: What?
Kiki: I -
Jenny: Oh no! The torch!
Kiki: Sorry! Sorry.
Jenny: It's fine.
Jenny: I'll clear it -
Jenny: just - just sit by the fire and warm up and -
Kiki: The blanket? I am sorry. Really.
Jenny: It's fine.
Kiki: Thank you for doing all this.
Jenny: God this tea’s cold. Hmm.
Jenny: Aha! I knew it.
Jenny: There’s some gin here, if you’d prefer something alcoholic -
Jenny: and that might be better at warming you than the tea. Don't know about a mixer.
Jenny: Aha - well Erik certainly had his priorities right when stocking this place
Jenny: fancy a G&T? I mean, T for tonic, not for tea. I mean that’d be awful.
Kiki: Sure.
[Sound of pouring]
Jenny: We may as well stay in for the night.
Jenny: No ice - pity.
Jenny: Sláinte.
Kiki: Cheers
Jenny: Cheers
[Glasses clinking]
[Sound of a soft radio]
Kiki: So a research station.
Kiki: Erik the boss?
[Gurgled cries through a transmitter]
[Thumping]
Erik: Josh? [banging sounds] Josh?
Erik: Fuck.
Jenny: Erik? Erik??
Erik: Jenny, fuck.
Erik: What the hell are you doing here?
Jenny: What's going on? Why are you all the way out here?
Erik: Jenny, she got him - she attacked him
[Sound of waves and seagulls]
[Soft radio playing indoors]
Jenny: Erik is in charge. Of everything.
Jenny: Almost everything.
Jenny: ‘bio-behavioural strategist...
Jenny: He was a member of a few off-radar online communities
Jenny: He'll invite men up here on hunting expeditions
Jenny: You should see some of them.
Jenny: Lacking, I don't know what. You know the kind, always holding
a fish in their online... profiles.
Jenny: It's a horrible venture.
Jenny: You'll think I'm mad but it's common knowledge round here -
Kiki: What?
Jenny: The seal folk. Have you ever heard of them?
Kiki: Maybe... only from stories my Lala used to tell me - my grandmother.
Kiki: Mermaids right? Just with seal-skins.
Jenny: Selkie-folk. Folklore - only - only here, it isn’t.
Kiki: Are you telling me that you’re a -
Jenny: No! No, I mean, I’m a regular - I’m human.
Jenny: They're... A lot of them died on land.
Jenny:  A selkie’ll stay as near to the pelt as she can - a magnetic pull -
Jenny: nothing else really matters to a selkie.
Jenny: She can’t get back in the water -  she can’t live, naked on land.
Jenny: If she gets her pelt back, usually she’d head straight back to the water.
Jenny: You see, once a man’s got a selkie’s sealskin,
Jenny: she has to follow him - she can’t really do anything else.
Jenny: Oil magnates, politicians, oligarchs,
Jenny: people pay a lot for the privilege of having a selkie-wife -
Jenny: Cash. We lived pretty comfortably.
[A glass breaks]
Kiki: Did you see that?
Jenny: What do you - shit. Christ, woman are you always so ....?
Kiki: A face! Fuck!
Jenny: Someone at the window? What?
Kiki: A face - a bloody...face
Jenny: What did he look like?!
 
Kiki: He?! I don’t bloody know, it was just a face - look
Kiki: Fuck, my hand -
Jenny: You're bleeding. Here.
Kiki: I thought you said there was nobody round this way.
Jenny: There wasn’t - there isn’t.
Jenny: There wasn’t anyone - lightning, the storm - your mind playing tricks.
Kiki: Go and look!
Jenny: There’s nothing there - really.
Jenny: Just the sea.
Jenny: Are you ok?
Kiki: My heart's racing.
Jenny: You’re easily spooked.
Kiki: You said 'he'.
Jenny: did I?
Jenny: You must be exhausted. Dehydration, maybe. You swam a long way.
Jenny: You're tipsy. I’m tipsy.
Jenny: Or maybe we've just not drunk enough. Another?
Jenny: It's safe here,  we're fine. It's just a storm. There's nobody out there.
Jenny: The worst is over. The worst is over.
