Who Named You Charley?

Mel

Wednesday, June 27, 1973. Early evening. Archie and Charley are driving home in his brick red woodgrain ‘71 Dodge Monaco with Charley slurping up the last of her McDonald's milk sitting in the way back. Archie is having trouble getting his typical station on the radio. And much to Charley's frustration, he's surfing the channels, maddeningly passing by one good song after another!

Then seemingly tired, Archie briefly stops on Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall." He lingers just long enough for Charley to get into its lyrics.

Have you been, my darling young one?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
Walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways
Stepped in the middle of seven sad forests
Been out in front of a dozen dead oceans
I've been ten thousand miles in a mouth of a graveyard
It's a hard and it's a hard and it's a hard and it's a hard

And it's a hard rain's a gonna fall
Oh what did you see, my blue eyed

Then just as the song is getting good, Archie dials the radio nob some more before landing on a nondescript news station. From the back seat.

“Slurpppp, Dad? Slurrppp, Dad?? Do you think Viv is perhaps a clairvoyant?”

Rob

" … Viv?" It takes Archie a second to recognize who Charley's referring to. "You mean Genevieve Abeille?" (At what point did the team decide to refer to our person of interest as "Viv," he wonders.)

He turns down the radio (" … the senator, while insisting he was not intoxicated, could not explain his nudity … ") so he can talk to Charley all the way in the back. "There's nothing in her file about … that sort of thing, but it might explain what happened with Jocasta. Did she seem to know things that she should not have known?"

Mel

"Yes. No, you're right. There isn't. But, when I talked to Houdini about her, he mentioned a clairvoyant, Madame Blavatsky, and the Theosophical Society. Dini isn't always able to explain what he means. But Viv a clairvoyant? A seer? If so, her ability isn't overt. It seems to me as though, her power of seeing is.. It's more subtle, closer to revealing hidden truths, seeing people for who they are. You know, like at their core."

Charley smiling to herself thinking about having that ability and Archie then adds. "Dad, I love you."

Rob

Archie is struggling a bit to keep up with all this, while driving, and only able to see Charley in the rearview. "You … talked … to Houdini … about … Viv?" (I don't think he knows that Charley kept the tape, just for starters) "How did you … well, I love you too, Charley."

"Did you feel like Abeille — Genevieve — could … see you for who you are?"

Mel

"Oh, remember when Eddie was trying to decide who he should write about for his history report?? Yeah, and I said,' Houdini!' remember? Well, I yeah. I kept him. I thought you knew."

Then she looks deeply at the vinyl upholstery of the car seat. "I don't know? It did feel like she did. Nothing supernatural happened with my interaction with her though. I was more wondering about Jo's strange experience."

She's now picking at the lining of the seat. With a heavy sigh, "I mean, what do you think, Dad? About the supernatural abilities, hers, mine. And, well, Jo, Mitch, and Roger’s too."

(I wonder, do the Ransoms go to church on Sundays?)

Rob

(I think they do not go to church any more. Archie is up front about being a Mormon and believing in God but doesn't talk about it much, certainly not at work. It is entirely possible that Melanie has gingerly brought up the subject of God, Jesus, and the LDS Church around Charley.)

"Well, I … We see a lot of funny stuff in the work we do, Charley. You and I both know there are things that are awfully hard to explain. Mostly I try to focus on what's right in front of me, on things I can see and touch, and let folks who are smarter than me figure the how and why of it." "But if you're asking me what I believe in, I guess I'd say: there's science, which explains a whole lot; there's tricks, which our enemies play on us; … and sometimes, there are miracles. But knowing which is which, that's the sixty-four dollar question."

"What do you think about all this supernatural stuff? Do you think you have... memories of other lives?"

Mel

Charley is trying to read what she can see of Archie’s face in the rearview mirror. And cautiously says, “Yes. I do. And other things like my two friends you can’t see.”

Rob

I think Archie's expression stays pretty neutral as he focuses on traffic for a bit. "Oh. You have friends that other people can't see?"

"Can you … tell me about them?"

Mel

"Fi and Foe. They well, I haven't seen much of them lately. The last time was England? It's just, I know what an imaginary friend is, and they are more than that."

"Imaginary. It's just not the right." It's the first time Charley has talked about them, and it's a struggle. "It's more like receiving a transmission from the radio or TV. But with spirits? Or something? I don't know, maybe like Roger’s loas? I'm sorry. It's not important. I haven't seen them in a while."

Rob

"No, it is important. Or at least, I'm glad we're talking about this. And I think maybe I do understand, at least a little."

"Maybe your friends are a little like Hobo Stan, and the Dragon Lady, and Enki? Because I know what you mean, 'imaginary' isn't the right word. I mean, I know I made Stanley and his friends, at least I made their bodies, out of foam and felt and whatnot. But they've definitely got minds of their own. They know things I don't know and they say things I would never say. I know folks think it's a little funny, and it can even be a little scary sometimes to let them out, but it's also useful to me, to talk to them when I need them, and then put them away in their cases."

"I've wondered if Roger's, uh, 'friends' aren't the same sort of thing. Marshall calls them ‘automated personae subroutines,’ which sounds awfully scientific."

Mel

Charley chuckles at that and adds, "Not in front of Roger he wouldn't."

Rob

I think maybe they drive for a while in silence. Which is not necessarily bad silence, just letting things sit where they left them. But when they pull into the driveway (assuming we were driving home as per above), before getting out, Archie turns in his seat to look at Charley in the back and says, "There is one thing I wanted to ask you, Charley."

"You told me your mother named you Lily. It's a lovely name. But … who named you Charley?"

Mel

As they pull into the driveway, Charley starts to undo the seatbelt but struggles with unlocking it. Her attempt at freeing herself from the restraint is stopped short with Archie's question. She looks out at the house, then at him, and, with a sigh, answers, "SANDMAN did." Her words are slow and heavy. "All of the kids in the program were. Well, not named, but cataloged." Charley tugs at the seatbelt in frustration a few more times before continuing, "I was subject C-001. I later graduated to being called Charley."

Not wanting to see Archie's expression, she closes her eyes. "I don't know. It was not good there, Dad. When I wasn't with a Doctor, I was alone. Alone in a room, with a bed, a TV and nothing more. At least at first." She stops to look back at the house covered in purples and pinks from the dusk evening light. Then whispers to herself, "It was easy to be mixed up." She looks at Archie hearing the car keys jingle, and him shift in his seat.

"Dad, maybe Fi and Foe are just imaginary. It was easy to be mixed up at Granite Peak. That program, it was about being your best. And to do that, they told me I needed to forget things and people. That those memories would prevent me from reaching my full potential. But I didn't want to! I didn't want to forget. But with the medicine and being alone, I started to. So when Fi first came, whispering in my ear stories about her life in ancient Assyria, it didn't seem weird. She taught me how to keep safe what they wanted me to forget. And Foe he's a blacksmith, so he knows about being strong."

Charley smiles, remembering more, "Oh, and he had stories too! Of his life in England, how he knew the real Robin Hood. Who he said was nothing like Errol Flynn." Her smile fades, "They seemed real. All of it seemed very real. But what was, and what wasn't at, Granite Peak?" Charley shakes her head. "And if they aren't, does that mean? What I thought, I didn't forget about my life before, that it's imagined too?"

She looks at the now dark house, illuminated by the glimmer of summer fireflies and the warm light from inside. "But it doesn't matter now. Things are good. I'm happy. So maybe my past should be left there. Like history B, the more you acknowledge it, the more power it has. It was a mistake talking to Abeille about my dream! She's an unknown. Marshall was right; I said too much. And it's left me vulnerable." Her resolve and voice grow stronger as she tugs at her seatbelt in a last-ditch effort to escape it.

"I just need to focus on our mission of saving the world! (tug) That's what I can do! (tug) That's who I am! (tug) Oh, I'm hungry; what's mom made for dinner?" And with a "click," the seatbelt drops to her side.

Rob

Yeah, I don't think Archie has anything he can say to that (for once this week ). He sits with it a second, then looks as cheerful as he can. "I think Thursday is … pork chops? Let's go see!" And takes her hand as they head in to the house.