LYS Podcast Episode 11

-Intro-

AMANDA MORRISON VOICEOVER (AM V/O): Last episode, we learned that Lane Kelley had been experimenting on and with somebody he was simply calling Venus. We'd also learned that Pierre Lacroix, a research scientist from CERN we'd spoken with about that video featuring the artifact had been fired from CERN for gross negligence due to the death of two other scientists. Also fired was a woman named Colleen Danler. If that name sounds familiar it's because Pierre Lacroix asked us to contact a woman named Dr. Joan Danler. It turns out Joan Danler is Colleen Danler’s daughter. You're listening to the Leap Year society. I'm Amanda Morrison. Stay with us.

-Outro-

AM V/O: We'll have more information regarding Lane Kelly's mysterious Venus soon and we're trying to get in touch with Dr. Joan Danler, but first an update on the missing teenagers; the four kids from that geocaching video featuring the strange stone artifact.

MITCH SORENSEN (MS): So I finally managed to speak with somebody in charge.

AM: And?

MS: Like we thought they've all been officially reported missing.

AM: When exactly?

MS: The official story is that they didn't come home from camp.

AM: Camp?

MS: The four of them were working as counselors at what they call an “outdoor survival adventure experience.”

AM: Sounds exciting.

MS: It's pretty much what we used to call camping with a bit more geocaching

AM: And they didn't make it home?

MS: Apparently not.

AM: When did they record that video?

MS: At camp.

AM: Wait, so you mean to tell me that they never made it home after recording that video?

MS: That's what I'm saying.

AM: Wow, do we have any more information?

MS: Not really. The families aren't talking to the mainstream press which means they're definitely not talking to us.

AM: Online?

MS: Oh man conspiracy people are going nuts.

AM: Anything concrete?

MS: Not yet. We're looking into it.

COLIN ORRY (CO): I have a few feelers out and if any information slips through the cracks I’ll let you know.

AM: Thanks.

CO: You got it.

AM V/O: While waiting for Colin to dig up something on those missing teenagers, we received a call from a woman named Katie Holly, a part-time bartender at Murdock's pub. You'll remember we uncovered security footage of Weylen Taylor sitting in Murdoch's pub years after his disappearance from the University. Katie Holly agreed to meet with me for coffee.

-Coffee shop-

AM: Katie?

KATIE HOLLY (KH): Hi!

AM: Thanks for coming!

KH: You're welcome.

AM: Would you like anything besides coffee?

KH: No thank you, I'm good.

AM: Okay, so can you tell me everything you remember about the man in this photo?

KH: Well, like I told your producer on the phone I really don't remember much. Only that he started coming in regular a couple of years back. He would usually nurse a beer, maybe two, check his watch or phone a bunch of times and then leave.

AM: Did you speak with him?

KH: Sure.

AM: Do you remember what you talked about?

KH: Not much really. Niners, Giants, he was an A's fan I think.

AM: Anything else?

KH: Sometimes he'd get kind of weird.

AM: How do you mean?

KH: Well, sometimes he'd get in strange moods and start asking weird questions.

AM: Weird questions like what?

KH: I don't know, like do I believe in magic or aliens, or do I think there's a cat in a box or something.

AM: That does sound weird.

KH: Yeah.

AM: Can you tell me anything else about him?

KH: Well, I think he was waiting for somebody.

AM: Every day?

KH: Yeah, I know it was weird but he was-I mean he seemed patient, like he knew it might take a while.

AM: Did he ever speak with anybody there?

KH: Mainly just a few of the regulars until the last night the last night the night, before he stopped coming.

AM: What happened that night?

KH: Well, a woman entered and took a seat next to him at the bar. They spoke for a few minutes, and then she left. He paid his bill and then followed a few seconds later.

AM: Do you remember anything else?

KH: Not really, except that he left a tip.

AM: What do you mean?

KH: I mean, he had been coming for a year every night, never left a tip. Not a cent.

AM: But he left a tip that night?

KH: Sure did, a big one!

AM: How much?

KH: Nine hundred dollars!

AM V/O: That was all Katie could remember. I asked her to describe the woman who sat down with Weylen Taylor. She said she had bird-like features, tall with dark brown hair that was symmetrically gray at the temples, and bright green eyes. Eyes she never took off Taylor. Katie told me that it was odd, almost as if she was measuring him for something, and there was something else; she was dressed differently, a bit old fashioned-like. In Katie Holly’s words, she was trying to look like Betty Draper or something. Thanks to Katie Holly, we had some more information about Weylen Taylor, but what to make of it? The person he'd been waiting for apparently showed up, but what did it mean? What were they doing? It's as if each clue just deepens the mystery. So many people appear to be connected to whatever's going on in those videos and with a Bolchester alliance and, speaking of that mysterious organization, Mitch has an update.

AM: What's new with the Bolchester Alliance?

MS: Well, since that previous meeting there hasn't been much movement, just one email, a newsletter…until last night.

AM: What kind of newsletter?

MS: It's uh…it's interesting. I mean, I don't believe it's anything that significantly furthers our investigation, but it certainly feels unique. I'll upload it to our website.

AM: So you said there hadn't been much movement until last night?

MS: I did.

AM: What happened last night?

MS: I had a meeting.

AM: Were you able to record it?

MS: I thought so, but when I checked my recorder there was nothing but static.

AM: We'll have to get you a new recorder!

MS: I mean, I tested it when I got home. It seems to be working fine.

AM: Weird.

MS: Yeah.

AM: So, what happened at the meeting?

MS: It was brief. I mean, we looked at some amazing art, ate some amazing food, drank some amazing wine...

AM: That's it?

MS: We talked about philosophy.

AM: Like what?

MS: Like the history of it, you know, how certain philosophy relates to human behavior and how alchemy communicates with empathy, and-and the meaning of certain ancient rites and how they might manifest themselves today.

AM: Ok, I'm not sure, but that sounds like the kind of excitement somebody getting indoctrinated into a cult might display.

MS: Wow Amanda…um.

AM: I'm just saying! Mitch.

MS: Look, I get it, but it's not like that ok? It's not a-cult; it's Occult.

AM: Ok, you might want to unpack that a little.

MS: Alright, well one of the leaders of the Institute gave a speech.

AM: What kind of speech?

MS: It was kind of inspiring.

AM: What was that about?

MS: It was about the occult.

AM: What about it?

MS: Alright, I'll do my best to paraphrase. Ok, so she started talking about what the occult meant to her personally and then she went into how that informs what they hope to do with the Bolchester Alliance.

AM: Interesting position. You're sure this isn't a cult?

MS: No! I mean, I'm not sure, but no I don't think so. I mean, sure it's certainly possible, but they don't feel as “culty” to me as they used to.

AM: Why not?

MS: I'm not sure, but…I don't know maybe it was something about the way the woman spoke.

AM: Like, what kind of something?

MS: I don't know. She was, I mean, she was just so damn convincing.

AM: You said she started talking about the occult?

MS: Right, so she started with asking what we thought of when we thought of the occult and most people answer the usual way, you know, witches, Satan, pentagrams, etc.

AM: Right.

MS: But, she went on to explain that the Latin word “Occultus,” which gives us the occult, means hidden, secret, clandestine. Occult means knowledge of the hidden, there's nothing dark or evil or insidious about the occult, that's just superstitious nonsense. I mean, in reality the occult is just something we don't currently understand, something hidden, something we're working to uncover.

AM: We?

MS: Her, them, the “royal” we.

AM: Got it.

MS: And she went on to explain that at one point the secret societies believed that the occult was knowledge, which was meant only for certain people.

AM: Sounds like the Catholics.

MS: Yeah, exactly. The Catholics, the Knights Templar, the Freemasons, all of them. They did their best to keep knowledge hidden, and the woman said that what they're doing with the Bolchester Alliance is working to uncover knowledge to help humankind grow and change. I mean, for them they're looking at the occult as the study of a deeper more complex reality, the uncovering of a world of the spiritual, a world beyond our current understanding of reason and physical science.

AM: What do we know about her, the speaker?

MS: Not much. I wanted to take a picture with my phone but cellphones were prohibited.

AM: Huh. We’ll have to get you a hidden camera.

MS: Really?

AM: Yeah!

MS: Cool.

AM V/O: Mitch appeared pretty convinced that the Bolchester Alliance wasn't a cult. I wasn't so sure. So, at least for now that covers the missing teenagers and the Bolchester Alliance. There was something else remaining from our last episode, something I found very interesting: Venus, the last person Lane Kelly had been working with just before he slipped into his coma.

-Amanda dialing a number-

BRENDA HARRISON (BH): I do remember him working with somebody.

AM V/O: That's Brenda Harrison. She's Lane Kelly's sister. We spoke with her back in episode 6. Brenda has been kind enough to update us on her brother's condition from time to time.

AM: What can you tell me about the person your brother was working with?

BH: Well, she was a tiny thing. A bit of a hippie chick, if you know what I mean…I think she had toe rings.

AM: Yeah, sure.

BH: A lot of tattoos.

AM: Do you remember hearing the name Venus?

BH: What do you mean, like a code name?

AM: Maybe. Do you remember your brother referring to this woman by the name Venus specifically?

 BH: Sorry, no and I only met her once.

AM: When was that?

BH: I was picking my brother up for Thanksgiving dinner.

AM: Do you think your brother and this woman were together?

BH: Romantically?

AM: Yes.

BH: I don't think so. He probably would have invited her to Thanksgiving at my place. It was just the two of us. My brother wasn't shy-isn't shy.

AM: Right. Is there anything else you can think of?

BH: Her name was Iris.

AM: What?

BH: Iris Love. I remember because it was so…

AM: On the nose?

BH: Exactly, yes.

AM: Thank you so much for all of your help!

BH: You're welcome. Good luck.

AM: Thanks.

AM V/O: So, although I feel like maybe she could have led with the fact that the woman's name was Iris Love, Lane Kelly's sister is proving to be a very valuable resource. It didn't take us long to find the name “Iris Love” among Lane Kelly's blog posts and diary.

MS: What's the Flynn Initiative?

AM: What?

MS: Here he mentions it three times. Each time Iris love is circled among the list of names.

AM: Huh, let's look it up shall we?

MS: We shall.

AM: Here it is: The Flynn Initiative.

MS: Huh, it looks…

AM: Exactly like I'd expect it to look?

MS: Yep.

AM V/O: The Flynn Initiative was a corporate think-tank. There wasn't much information available online, which meant it was either quite small, or perhaps it was like all of the other agencies and organizations that we've encountered connected to the subject of this podcast, which brings us to the subject of this podcast, or at least the title: The Leap Year Society. It's been a while since we've heard that name, but that was about to change.

-Phone call with Colin Orry-

CO: You're right the Flynn initiative is, or was, a corporate think tank.

AM: Is or was?

CO: Well that depends where you look.

AM: It does?

CO: Yeah some chatter indicates it is up and running, others believe it closed down sometime around the dawn of the new millennium.

AM: What do we know about the Flynn Initiative?

CO: Well, we know that it's older than the Aspen Institute.

AM: The Aspen Institute?

CO: Founded in 1950, the Aspen Institute website tells us that they are “dedicated to fostering enlightened leadership to the appreciation of timeless ideas and values and open minded dialogue on contemporary issues.”

AM: Heady stuff.

CO: Yeah. Well, I found some evidence that a couple members of the Aspen Institute left that group for the Flynn Initiative, which one of them refers to as that “Boulder Institution”.

AM: Anything else?

CO: Yeah, in the same batch of correspondence, they mentioned something else.

AM: What?

CO: The Leap Year Society.

AM: In what context?

CO: They were discussing which of the two organizations, Aspen or Flynn was connected to a secret society.

AM: Any particular secret society?

CO: Oh, three were mentioned.

AM: What three?

CO: The Freemasons, the Illuminati, and the Leap Year Society.

AM: And which of the two organizations did they feel might be connected to one of these secret societies, Flynn or Aspen?

CO: They said they couldn't be sure, but that most signs pointed to the Flynn initiative.

AM: Where did you find this correspondence?

CO: Usenet.

AM: Usenet.

CO: A collection of news groups.

AM: I know what Usenet was.

CO: Is.

AM: Is? Really?

CO: Yeah!

AM: Ok, wow. But okay, are people still using it?

CO: Certain people.

AM: And you found the Leap Year Society mentioned in a news group about what exactly? Secret societies?

CO: It's called the Bread Shop.

AM V/O: The Bread Shop, a Usenet group founded to discuss fringe think tanks and thought experimentation, reference the Leap Year Society in relation to a think tank connected to Lane Kelly and somebody Kelly was working with named Iris Love. So, all we had to do now was find Iris Love and ask her what she was doing with Lane Kelly. Simple, right?

CO: There are a surprising number of Iris Loves on the internet.

AM: I'm not all that surprised.

CO: I thought we should focus our initial search here in San Francisco.

AM: Why?

CO: This is where Lane Kelly lives and it seems unlikely that he would recruit participants from outside the city unless he had to.

AM: Make sense.

CO: Which is why it's where I started.

AM: You found something!

CO: What makes you say that?

AM: I can hear it in your voice.

CO: What are you saying, you know me?

AM: I'm getting there. What did you find?

CO: Don't you mean “whom” did I find?

AM: You found her!

CO: I did!

AM: Iris Love?

CO: The one and only! And she's having a sale on Reiki this month! Double if you get a reading.

AM: What kind of reading?

CO: That's something I didn't want to get into.

AM: Where is she?

CO: She's waiting for your call!

AM: Thank you Colin.

CO: Mm-hmm, anytime.

AM V/O: Iris Love was short. She looked like a perfect 50’s movie star or a pin-up girl, only smaller and more tattooed. She was leaning against the counter in a coffee shop; the kind that would never sell tea or decaf. I waved and she made her way over.

IRIS LOVE (IL): Amanda?

AM: Yes, it's nice to meet you!

IL: You too.

AM:  So, this place is cool.

AM V/O: Iris wore black gloves cut off at the first knuckle and shuffled her feet nervously as we spoke.

AM: Did you know that Lane Kelly referred to you as Venus?

IL: Yes he believed his subjects should maintain their anonymity.

AM: So what were you doing with Lane Kelly? I'm sorry; do you mind me just diving in?

IL: No it's fine, I just wasn't prepared.

AM: Take your time.

IL: It's cool. Lane was helping me with something. Well, we were exchanging services. I do a reading for him and then we’d work on some of his stuff.

AM: Lane Kelly was helping you with something?

IL: Yes.

AM: What was it?

IL: M-my condition.

AM: What condition?

IL: The doctor called it Fregoli Delusion, but Lane didn't think I was deluded at all.

AM: Fregoli delusion?

IL: Yeah it's pretty out there.

AM V/O: Fregoli Delusion is defined by Wikipedia as “a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise.” It sounds absolutely terrifying.

AM: So, this might sound strange, but do you believe I'm somebody else?

IL: No.

AM: So it's random?

IL: I don't believe it is and neither did Lane, at least not in my case.

AM: What do you mean?

IL: I mean, Lane didn't believe I was delusional.

AM: What did he believe?

IL: Well, he believed they were actually following me.

AM: Who are they?

IL: Who is they.

AM: What do you mean?

IL: I mean Lane Kelly believed there was one person who was stepping into other people in order to follow me.

AM: What person? Iris?

IL: He called them X.

AM: X?

IL: Yes, just one letter.

AM: Why would this “X” be following you?

IL: Because they wanted me to join their cult.

AM: What cult?

IL: They call themselves the “The Ascendants.”

-Outro-