Episode 2 – Replaceable
Most people are more accepting of others nowadays. Parents will tell their children that they can be whatever they want if they only put in the time and effort necessary. Ray is one of those children who was told to be accepting to his adopted brother named Raymond. They’ve been getting together well so far, but there’s something about Raymond that makes Ray feel off. He is great at everything he does and fits in almost too perfectly into the family when he arrived.
Raymond was adopted because he was the only child of a recently deceased friend of the family. Ray has heard of Raymond before, but never thought their first meeting would be under these conditions. Before he came into the family, Ray heard how much of a blessing he was to his mother who relied on him in her last days. Despite her recent passing, Raymond doesn’t appear to be sad or slowed down. Both children and adults admire him for his strength except for Ray who is uneased by it.
Regardless of his feelings, Ray accepts Raymond into the family and just brushes off his feelings as silly feelings though he can’t help but still feel them, especially now. After another day of school, Raymond helps clean up after dinner and spends time with his parents while Ray relaxes by the TV. He feels separated, which is a feeling he tries to get rid of by thinking to himself that he wouldn’t add anything meaningful to the conversation. Right now, he’s going to watch a show he hasn’t heard of until now. It’s called Adventures Into the Forbidden. He heard of it from the others in school and from what he heard, he thought it might be interesting to watch. Even though he thinks the puppet and teaching elements are childish, he wants to hear the deeper lessons and see the darker things that show up in the show for entertainment.
The show starts with the name of the puppet appearing on the screen. Sage the Soldier, a green puppet dressed in a green shirt with a helmet. It has brown patches on its face, shirt, and helmet that are supposed to be dirt. In its right hand is what looks to be a toy version of a Tommy gun.
“Hello, boys and girls! I’m Sage the Soldier,” the puppet says in a cheery girl voice. “For first-time viewers, it must surprise you that I’m a girl.”
The puppet seemed to have read Ray’s mind as he is surprised about exactly what she said.
“Appearances can be deceiving. That is why you shouldn’t let what you have now define who you are. You can be whatever you put your mind to! The army is a male dominated job, so women don’t usually go into it. My parents told me that I should try something else, but I wanted to be a soldier for my country, so that’s what I did. Despite all the challenges and doubts, I became a soldier! Now, don’t think that just because I became a soldier means that you should too if you don’t want to, this isn’t an advertisement for them. I’m just here to give you encouraging advice on doing what you want to!”
Sage moves to a shooting range. She aims her gun at the targets.
“There will always be challenges in life, but you can get through them with the right answer.”
She shoots a target.
“Doubts.”
She shoots another.
“Bullies.”
And another.
“Fear.”
And another.
“Competition.”
This target appeared to have the face of Raymond before being shot.
“Other people will be your biggest obstacle, but always remember that anyone can be whatever they want. Anything at all.”
Sage shoots again only for the bullet to ricochet back to her and tear off her arm to reveal a human finger.
“Sage! Are you okay?” a nearby puppet soldier asks.
“Of course I am! Puppets don’t feel pain, silly!” Both puppets laugh. “That’s it for me, boys and girls. I’ll be back with a new arm next time you see me. Thanks for watching!”
The show ends with Sage and the other puppet waving goodbye. Ray thinks to himself that the show wasn’t too bad and plans on watching it tomorrow. During the next day of school, Ray watches as Raymond gets more attention than him. When Raymond makes a mistake, people laugh with him and gently correct him, but when Ray makes a mistake, he is corrected normally, and no one says anything. Because of all the attention given to Raymond, no one talks to Ray as he is isolated from everyone else; however, Ray chooses not to let his feelings get to him.
“Raymond has had it rough. He deserves some love and attention,” Ray says to himself.
When they get home and eat dinner, Raymond is asked about his day while Ray is barely asked anything.
“It’s okay. He deserves it now,” Ray mutters to himself.
“Hmm? Is something the matter, Ray?” his mother asks.
“Huh? No.”
“Okay. I want you boys to know that both your dad and I have lost our jobs.”
“What?”
“The company thought two other workers were better suited to our position, so they replaced us, but you shouldn’t worry. We still have jobs though they won’t pay as much, which means we won’t be able to give you as much.”
“That’s fine. You’ve given me more than enough by allowing me to be part of your family,” Raymond says.
“Aww. That’s so sweet.”
“Brown noser,” Ray mutters.
Not wanting to hear Raymond talk in fear of hating him, Ray goes to the TV to turn on Adventures Into the Forbidden. He hopes to catch another Sage episode and that’s exactly what appears to happen.
“Hello, boys and girls! My name is Sage the Soldier!” the puppet says in a slightly deeper female voice, “As you might’ve noticed from my voice, I am not the same Sage that you know and love. Unfortunately for her, her injuries were too great, and she died from her wounds. It’s a shame that we don’t have any doctors on this show. There’s no reason to worry though because I’m here! I was inspired by Sage’s lessons and here I am! Even you can be like your heroes if you put your mind to it. You can even be better than them and replace them!”
Ray can’t help but think about his parents getting replaced in their jobs. He remembers them getting gifts and parties for their hard work.
“How easily people are replaced nowadays. Isn’t it amazing that people are becoming who they want to be? It may be at the cost of someone else’s job, but it’s that other person’s fault for not doing enough for their career. It’s just common sense that the people who replace others are better than them at a fundamental level.”
There’s a deafening silence that fills the air as what Sage said sits in Ray’s head.
“Am I saying that I’m better than the original Sage? I am. I’m better than everything she was at. Just watch me shoot.”
Sage shoots all the targets behind her with pinpoint precision.
“Did you see that? I can even shoot without looking.”
Sage shoots a target without looking, but the bullet ricochets and shoots off her head. Ray is shocked by this until he sees her head move its way back to her head.
“Didn’t even feel a thin-”
Her head then falls apart before the TV cuts to static. Ray is shocked by the conclusion until he turns around to see Raymond watching the TV.
“What did you think of that?” Ray asks him.
“I thought it was really dark. I didn’t like how they presented loneliness in such a harsh way,” Raymond says.
“Loneliness?”
“You’re pretty brave to watch a show like this. I could barely handle it.”
“The show wasn’t about loneliness. Sage was talking about people replacing each other because certain people work others than others.”
“What?”
“It-nevermind.”
Not in a mood to argue, Ray walks away to his room to sleep. His mom walks into the room and stands above Ray.
“Are you okay, Ray?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“I don’t think you are. What’s the matter? Does it have something to do with Raymond? You’ve been acting strange ever since he came here.”
“Nothing’s the matter. He’s okay. He’s better than okay. Everyone seems to like him more than me.”
“He does do a lot. He gets good grades, makes lots of friends, and gets people to laugh. Raymond has been through a lot, but he came out stronger because of it. Maybe you should do the same, okay?”
“…okay.”
Ray’s mom kisses Ray on the head before leaving the room. Ray then shoves his head into the pillow and tightly grips it.
“Raymond this. Raymond that. He’s such a great person compared to me. Everyone loves him and he hardly ever makes a mistake. He’s everything that my parents want and more!” Ray screams into his pillow.
After a few hours of steaming with his anger and sadness, Ray goes to sleep. Even in his dreams, he can’t escape Raymond being loved by other people while he is pushed to the side. It doesn’t help that when Ray wakes up he goes through almost exactly what he went through in his dream. His mind races with anger and sadness at being ignored and disregarded in favor of his adoptive brother. When he gets home, he quickly eats his dinner to watch Adventures Into the Forbidden to take his mind off this and maybe learn something good.
“Hello, boys and girls! My name is Sage the Soldier!” the puppet says in a noticeably deeper voice, “I’m sorry to inform you all, but the last Sage died. You can’t heal a shattered head after all! Unlike the other two Sages, I’m a boy. Sage is a unisex name, which means that either a boy or girl could have it.”
Ray isn’t too shocked by seeing another Sage on the show. Instead, he just wants to see what’s going to happen.
“With that out of the way, let’s talk about today’s lesson. As you can see, when one soldier dies, another replaces them. The army doesn’t have any use for a dead soldier so why bother keeping them around. It’s just like useless people in real life. When they’re replaced, what’s the point of keeping them around? What’s the point of having a person around who isn’t as good as the others? They just hurt their families, friends, and everyone around them because they’re weak.”
Targets start popping up behind Sage.
“Weak, weak, weak, weak, weak!” Sage says as he shoots the targets into pieces with his Tommy gun. These targets appear to have Ray’s face on them.
Once things settle down, he turns back to the camera before shooting it.
“Weak.”
Sage slowly approaches the broken camera.
“If you’re weak and aren’t useful to the people around you, you might as well disappear or better yet, leave this life because it would be better if you didn’t exist.”
The show then abruptly ends as things become much clearer to Ray. He shouldn’t hate Raymond. He shouldn’t even try to get to his level. Instead, he should just leave. If his parents are okay with being replaced in their jobs, then Ray is okay with being replaced as their son. Raymond got what he wanted. He did everything he could and became a son to Ray’s parents. He doesn’t look at them as he exits the house while Raymond and his parents are having another fun conversation. While walking his neighborhood’s streets, he feels like he’s doing the right thing.
That is until he thinks he sees a life-sized version of Sage in the darkness. Sage reaches out to him and despite seeing his hands, he feels as if he’s touching him with a longer pair of invisible hands.
“It would be better if you didn’t exist,” Sage says before disappearing.
Feeling colder than ever, Ray keeps walking away from his home. He considers taking his own life as continues further into the dark night.
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