11. Unboxing

09/06/23 • 17 min

"Unboxing" kickstarts Season 2 of Hell Gate City with a question. What would you do if you found a recording of a customer support phone call placed by someone you know after they died? Who is the mysterious customer from call record 3715? And who sent the creepy Polaroid and the stack of 50 discs to a rando teenager in Queens, NY? In this introductory episode, Kirby stands in as Virgil, guiding listeners and laying the groundwork for a cyber-odyssey into a phantasmagorical underworld like no other. Prepare to get prepared for S2 (codename: COMPANION).

The Glitch (in the Matrix) bonus audio story that goes with this chapter is titled “Boxed In.” It’s available on the show’s Patreon. New episodes Thursdays!

(To avoid spoilers, one must scroll to the end for content warnings.)

It's free to👂 but not free to make. Get the weekly Glitch bonus story when you 🤜 subscribe ➡️ https://www.patreon.com/hellgatecity

About the Show On the surface, Hell Gate City is an epic audio drama offered in the style of a local radio show for the fictional metropolis of Neo Amsterdam. But as the show’s host plumbs his unconscious mind using a Cyber Lucidity Dream-streamer on-air, he encounters a sinister web of evil stretching from his past into the present. Will he pick up the thread and follow it into the unknown, or stick with the program?
Season 1 After a dream-streaming device intended to increase ratings accidentally broadcasts his repressed memories of an eldritch murder, radio jockey Kirby Bevins embarks on a journey where he must overcome dark forces and folly to solve the crime before he becomes the next victim.
Season 2 What would you do if you found a recording of a customer support phone call placed by someone you know *after* they died? Season 2 shares the footage.
Content warnings for this episode include themes of death and the afterlife, alienation, medical neglect, crippling insurance debt, mention of serial killers, murder by a demon beast, abandonment, abduction, corporate malfeasance, body-snatching, and nonconsensual mind-swapping.
Answer this week's question for Episode 11 on Spotify or using our email 📧 [email protected]:
What caused the "blue light over New York” in December of 2018? (Wrong answers only!)

The Glitch (in the Matrix) bonus audio story that goes with this chapter is titled “Boxed In.” It’s available on the show’s Patreon. New episodes Thursdays!

(To avoid spoilers, one must scroll to the end for content warnings.)

It's free to👂 but not free to make. Get the weekly Glitch bonus story when you 🤜 subscribe ➡️ https://www.patreon.com/hellgatecity

Previous Episode

Trailer: Season 2 – Codename COMPANION

Hell Gate City Season 2 has begun with "Unboxing" (Episode 11). TRANSCRIPT AT END Hell Gate City is the award-winning comedy fiction audio series about a ragtag bunch of denizens struggling to survive a cyberpunk hellhole NYC. Celebrate Thornton Thursdays with: • New Episodes for Every Listener! • Glitch in the Matrix Bonus Tales for Members of the Inner Legion!! • Prereleases of next week's Episode and Bonus Tale for Dreamwalkers!!! Join the Inner Legion and micro-dose these nuggets of fun for as little as 18¢ a day: patreon.com/hellgatecity (We put specific content warnings at the bottom of show notes or the end of transcripts to avoid spoilers.) Show Synopsis On the surface, Hell Gate City is a rollicking audio saga about the community served by a local radio show for the fictional megacity Neo Amsterdam. It’s a genre-bending dark comedy with a heavy emphasis on cyberpunk themes, especially as applied to questions about the nature of consciousness, memory, and dreams. Hence, dreampunk. News As of August 2023, all listeners should embark on the listening journey by starting here – the fully reimagined Episode 0. "Cypher – Sabotage Exposed!". Then, proceed chronologically to Episodes 1, 2, 3, and so on. Season 2 – Codename COMPANION just launched in September 2023 with "Unboxing" (Episode 11). And COMPANION truly kicks into gear with the first 'proper' episode, "Tabula" (Episode 12). Season 1 After a dream-streaming device intended to increase ratings accidentally broadcasts his repressed memories of an eldritch murder, radio jockey Kirby Bevins must overcome dark forces and folly to solve the crime before he becomes the next victim. Season 2 The next chapter ushers listeners into the phantasmagorical side of Neo Amsterdam like never before by way of a recording – for quality assurance purposes – of a customer support call from a denizen trapped in a metaverse gone awry. Cruise the seamy underbelly of a virtual world beyond the veil. We love to hear from listeners. Feel free to email us at hellgatecity AT proton DOT me To learn more, including where to find transcripts, visit http://hellgatecity.com Stay rested, dream-hackers. You're going to need it. — TRANSCRIPT 0:00-0:10 – You receive a disturbing recording of a customer support call made by someone after they died. What do you do? 0:10-0:20 – The award-winning dreampunk podcast returns to answer the question in Season 2. 0:20-0:30 – Begin the journey as if some poor schlub’s digital afterlife depends on it. Listen to Hell Gate City, episode 11, right now.

Next Episode

12. Tabula

The mysterious customer from call record #3715 returns in the next chapter of Hell Gate City Season 2 – COMPANION. New episodes drop EVERY Thursday, with weekly ⁠bonus stories on Patreon!⁠ (N.B., Stupendously, Thursdays shower an inordinate amount of rewards upon Patrons in the Dreamwalker tier. They get to time-travel one week into the future and binge: A) Next week's prerelease episode *and* B) next week's 'Glitch in the Matrix' bonus tale... C) If for some glodforsaken reason they have fallen behind > a week, then they get to rip through FOUR veritable peaches of audio deliciousness. Suffice it to say, when you saunter 'cross the river of dreams, Thursday = Blursday (in the best way)!!! (We avoid spoilers by asking that you scroll to the end for content warnings.) "Tabula" (Episode 12) ushers listeners into the phantasmagorical side of Neo Amsterdam like never before by way of a recording – for quality assurance purposes – of a customer support call. The caller? A disgraced denizen in a metaverse gone awry. Cruise the seamy underbelly of a virtual world beyond the veil. Credits Screaming “Tabula,” episode 12 of Hell Gate City. “Tabula” was written, performed, and produced by Kevin Berrey, who also drew its cover art and composed its music. The Glitch (in the Matrix) bonus story that goes with this chapter is called “Gum Witch” and is available on the show’s Patreon at patreon.com/hellgatecity. Facts We forbid ads or sponsors. Instead, pledges from subscribing listeners keep our show going. For 18¢ a day, supporters get a weekly microdose of fun from Glitches in the Matrix, our bonus audio shorts after each episode. Plus, they get access to behind-the-scenes content, Q&As with the team, a chillaxing soundtrack collection, music prereleases, never-released song demos, director's field notes, an exclusive channel on Discord for discussing Glitches and insider tips, and more. The Inner Legion provides. You'll be extra grateful to have a crew in your sector come the next Cyber Purge. Once you're in the Legion, all you'll need to do is darken the door of any dingy — or chic — establishment in Hell Gate City and you'll garner untold reverence, respect, and awe. Denizens will salute you. Dwellers will follow your lead. And yes, Dendricks will envy your rizz, you courageous and steadfast members of the Neo Amsterdam Inner Legion Syndicate (NAILS). Because without NAILS, nothing in this town holds together. Follow us on social media: @hellgatecity For transcripts and more, visit ⁠⁠http://hellgatecity.com⁠⁠ And if you're liking the show, be a mensch and rate and review it on Spotify and Apple *right now*! 🌁 🌁 🌁 SPOILER ALERT: Beware... If you fail to stop scrolling now, you will risk seeing spoilers in content warnings below. 🌉 🌉 🌉 ❗️ !!️ !?️ ⚠️ Content warnings for this episode include: themes of death and the afterlife, alienation, mention of murder by demon beast, nausea, depression, severe poverty and homelessness, the battery of a mime, a lost tooth, a bloody facial tissue, job loss, abandonment, imprisonment, restraints, state-sponsored violence, non-consensual mind-swapping