“You are the child now.” [END EPISODE]
The bedroom wallpaper peels away to reveal a pulsating muscle wall. The gurney-bed folds into a fetal position and sinks into the floor.
“If your Beta-Father begins to cry oil, do not wipe his tears.”
“After the success of the Alpha model, we knew you wanted more. So we built the Beta series! More efficient! More affordable! Every Beta Father comes with 500 pre-programmed lullabies and a smile that never... quits.” Our Fathers -Ep.3 Beta- -Warped Animation-
A jaunty, out-of-tune music box melody. It skips every 4 seconds.
“Say yes.” SCENE 5: THE ORIGIN – BETA- Visual: Deep underground. The “Beta-” model is the prototype. It is chained to a wall. It has no face—just a smooth, wooden egg for a head. Cracks are forming.
Text appears, typed in real-time: “Beta units lack the Alpha’s restraint protocol. They do not protect the child. They merge with the child. The child becomes the Father. The Father becomes the home. There is no exit.” A child’s laugh, reversed. A man’s sob, played forward. “You are the child now
The camera pans over a row of Beta-Father units. They look like the original Father (tall, shadowy, smiling crescent moon eyes), but their textures are corrupted. They are made of burlap and rust. Their teeth are piano keys.
A Beta-Father weeping black crude oil onto a child’s blanket. The child tries to wipe it. The child’s hand dissolves.
“Why did you make me love if you didn’t want me to hold?” So we built the Beta series
A cartoon glove (Classic 1930s style, but with too many fingers) stamps the logo onto a wooden crate: .
“Lonely. LONELY. L O N E L Y.”
“Hello, little one. Are you... hungry?”
A thousand children singing “You Are My Sun” in reverse.
The Beta-Father enters. It walks on reverse-jointed legs. Its shadow moves before it does.