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Jesse talks about being born in the Visser building. Mr. Davenport reassures Dan, but only slightly. And Samuel lectures his congregation regarding cycles, stories, and exploitation.
Summary[]
Melody interviews Jesse Lewis, a teenager living in Visser who works as a "runner," delivering mysterious objects to the residents of the tower. The two discuss the Historical Preservation Society and "the song" people hear in Visser. Dan begins to grow suspicious of the contents of the tapes. Jesse records a meeting of The Society, in which Samuel recounts the history of Visser to his followers, but is discovered by The Society.
- Tape 1: Melody is interviewing Jesse Lewis on April 12th, 6:31 pm, on the 12th floor of Visser. Jesse’s mother gave birth to him in the stairwell of Visser because it was too late to reach the hospital. Jesse’s typical day involves going to school, work, and sleep. He works as a runner- essentially going on shopping trips for the people in Visser that are old, disabled, or the ones who simply don’t like going out- the shut-ins. He says the shut-ins have asked him for some weird “hoarder shit” in the past, including every purple object on the east side of the bodega, a cup of water from the Hudson mixed with three of Jesse’s own tears, and five watch calculators that had been set to 5318008. They tape the shopping list and the money to the door, and Jesse leaves the items for them outside, so he has never seen any of the shut-ins. When Melody asks him if he has noticed anything weird about the building, he tells her that everything seems pretty normal to him. Melody urges him to see things from an outsider’s perspective. He talks about the drug activity on the eighth floor, and “the song”, which he finds himself humming sometimes, but these are not especially strange to him. The historical society (“Samuel’s thing”, as he calls it), does disturb him. He does not like that Samuel seems to have a hold on all the members, and that several tenants, including Jacob, Ashari, Marina, Gladys have been roped into the society.
After this tape, Dan calls Davenport and threatens to leave if he doesn’t get an explanation for the weird stuff on the tapes. Davenport says that HHCNYS is interested in the accounts of the residents of Visser because they all come from a low income background, and studies have shown that mental illness is very prevalent in low-income urban communities. Dan asks him about Melody and he says he doesn’t know who she is. Davenport reminds Dan that leaving would be breaking contract and does not want to get lawyers involved. Dan hangs up, resigned.
- Tape 2: Jesse is making a recording on April 13th, at 5:48pm, on the 6th floor of Visser. He is hiding in a closet with a tape recorder, on an assignment from Melody. Multiple people have gathered in Gladys’s apartment for the biweekly meeting of the Visser Historical Research and Preservation Society. Jacob makes starting announcements and invites Samuel to speak. Samuel tells the audience about the scattered records for the origins of the Visser building, about the fact that they can all FEEL the building, about the origins of New York City. He then monologues about “cycles, cycles of stories we tell ourselves. We are part of a snake the size of the world and it is devouring its own tail to stay alive. An ouroboros. There is nothing new under the sun. Circles of repeated, rhyming history. History that is built on blood.” He then goes on to say that Visser is “… unique. A crossroads or an axle or a fulcrum”, and that “...everyone in this room feels the wordless language of this structure. It’s primal desire.” He then turns cold and says “everyone but one”. He calls out to Jesse and asks him to turn his recorder off.