Work Text:
Will -
Here's everything I was able to find about ReInKarnate. Amy and Cindy Danvers have both said they're willing to talk on the record as long as the questions are vetted in advance.
Good luck with the documentary.
Jay
Interview with Amy Danvers, April 12 20XX, regarding ReInKarnate:
AD: I don’t know how it worked. That’s the thing I want you to know, right off the bat. All the theories, everything people have said – they’re just theories. I don’t know how it worked.
INTERVIEWER: In the book you wrote…AD: Co-wrote. David [note: the husband] was the one who came up with the idea originally. It was his project. It was – we’d just lost his mom, he wanted to honor her memory –
INTERVIEWER: Did he…talk to you about it? Before he tested it, I mean, with –
AD: No. [long pause] If he had, I mean –
AD: What you have to understand is, I would have told him no.
Video footage: episode of news segment from [station name redacted], aired July 26, 20XX:
[A young girl missing her front teeth smiles at the camera before blowing out the candles on a cake. The cake is decorated with plastic horses. Behind the camera is a chair with a portrait of an older woman. Her hair is gray, cut short and curled close to her head. She’s smiling uncomfortably. She has glasses and is wearing a strand of pearls. She is very made-up.]
REPORTER: For some children, their birthday is one of the most exciting days of the year. Gifts, friends and cake make a birthday a very special occasion. For Cindy Monaghan, however, her birthday is not the day of the year she looks forward to most.
[Camera cuts to a woman on a sofa, her arm around the same child that was previously blowing out candles on a cake. Beside the woman, on her other side, is the same portrait that was previously on the chair. Text on the screen identifies her as: AMY MONAGHAN, CINDY MONAGHAN’S MOM.]
AM: We’ve never kept it a secret, you know? Maybe it’s a little weird, but…it’s not like we could have. She’s always known who she was before.
REPORTER: Cindy Monaghan is not like other children. While most of us can’t remember our past lives, Cindy can.
AM: My husband, David – he’d been reading about different religious traditions, what happens to us after we die. He’d just lost his mom, and, well. He found this book about, uh, reincarnation. He thought –
REPORTER: Cindy Monaghan doesn’t celebrate her birthday. She celebrates her “death day”: the day that her previous self ceased to exist.
AM: He started reading it, and he had this idea –
Home video of subject CINDY MONAGHAN, playing on the front lawn. It’s a clear day, sometime in early fall. The leaves on the maple tree are bright yellow, and there is a pile of them off to the side of the frame. She does a cartwheel, tilting from one hand to the other effortlessly, beaming as she does. Her new teeth are just coming in.
CM: David, David! Did you see?
DM (PRESUMED, BEHIND CAMERA): I did, sweetheart. Do it again?
CM does a second cartwheel, this one less perfect than the first. She falls, her arm wobbling midway through the landing, and sits on the lawn for a moment, her lip wobbling.
CM: I don’t want you to keep that video, David. It wasn’t a good one.
DM: Sweetheart…
CM: I only want your memories of me to be good ones.
Video of DAVID MONAGHAN, CEO of ReInKarnate, talking to investors. He stands before a podium in a suit and tie, a PowerPoint (too far away to read successfully) on a screen behind him.
DM: Thank you for joining me here today. I want to introduce you to someone very special. Amy, honey? Can you bring her out?
[AMY MONAGHAN emerges from backstage. She is wearing a form-fitting pale blue dress, her hair loose. With her is CINDY MONAGHAN, wearing a blue Alice in Wonderland dress that is the same shade as her mothers, her hair in two braids.]
DM: I’d like you to meet the one who inspired this project – my daughter, Cindy Monaghan.
CM: David, I keep telling you, my name is Ruth.
DM: Cindy was the first one on which we tested our proprietary technology – what we at ReInKarnate will use to ensure that you come back with full memories of your past life.
Home video of subject CINDY MONAGHAN, sitting in footie pajamas before a gas fireplace. She has a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. There is a Christmas garland hanging over the mantel, with three stockings bearing the names CINDY, DAVID, and AMY. The stockings are filled. AMY MONAGHAN approaches from off-screen, a wrapped gift in her hands.
AM: This one’s from Santa, sweetheart. Do you –
CM: Santa isn’t real, Amy. We’ve talked about this.
AM: Sweetheart –
CM: I’m not a child. I won’t be condescended to.
AM: Cindy –
CM: Ruth, Amy. You knew me before I died. You can call me Ruth.
TRANSCRIPT OF CUSTODY TRIAL, AMY DANVERS V. DAVID MONAGHAN, REGARDING PETITION FOR FULL CUSTODY OF THEIR DAUGHTER, CINDY MONAGHAN, BY AMY DANVERS:
REPRESENTATIVE FOR DAVID MONAGHAN: Mrs. Monaghan –
AD: Danvers, please. Our divorce was finalized three days ago. Ms. Danvers.
DM REP: Congratulations, Ms. Danvers. Now. You state that you saw your now ex-husband ‘berating’ your daughter before a dance recital, to the point of tears.
AD: That’s correct.
DM REP: And you decided to file your petition for full custody based on that interaction.
AD: Yes.
DM REP: No other interactions? You have no other concerns about your daughter’s care?
AD: I –
DM REP: Might I remind you, Ms. Danvers, that during the initial divorce proceedings, you told this court that you were, quote, “uninterested in pursuing full custody. Cindy deserves to have both parents in her life.” End quote.
AD: I did say that.
DM REP: Ms. Danvers, what changed?
AD: Do you know anything about reincarnation? Past lives? Is it something that you believe in? Because my husband does. He was convinced he’d found a way to guarantee that our daughter – that Cindy – was the reincarnation of his dead mother. He believed it, he sold the world on it, sold other people that they would be reincarnated into a chosen child when they died, he made her believe it – and then, when she turned ten, she forgot all of it. All the past-life stuff, gone. He’s never forgiven her for that. All the money is gone, the bottom fell out of it. Was it real or not, I mean – I don’t know. He says it was. I didn’t know his mother well before she passed. I thought – I mean –
DM REP: Ms. Danvers, that’s enough.
AD: At the recital, he was berating her because she didn’t want to dance. Screaming at her, because she didn’t want to do ballet. His mother did ballet as a little girl. She wants to do gymnastics. I said I’d pay for it. He said no.
DM REP: Ms. Danvers –
AD: Doesn’t she deserve to be her own person?
Home video of subject CINDY MONAGHAN, sitting in front of a mirror. Behind her, filming, is DAVID MONAGHAN. She is brushing her hair while her father films.
DM: Can’t you do this one thing for me?
CM: I really don’t want to, Dad.DM: David. You’ve always called me David.
CM: You’re my dad. Why can’t I call you Dad?
DM: I wasn’t always your dad, was I?
CM: I don’t know.DM: Remember when you were younger? You used to call me “David”. You said that we should call you “Ruth”.
CM: Dad.
DM: Not Dad, David. You used to remember. Don’t you remember?
CM: No. I don’t –
DM: Just try. You can remember if you try.
Interview with Amy Danvers, April 12 20XX, regarding ReInKarnate:
INTERVIEWER: The thing everyone wants to know, of course, is –
AD: “Was it real?” Yeah. I get asked that a lot. [long pause] I mean, I don’t –
INTERVIEWER: The paper published in Nature was very convincing.
AD: Yes, it was.
INTERVIEWER: Did you ever suspect…?
AD: That he’d faked it? No. I get asked that a lot, too.
INTERVIEWER: What happened?
AD: Reincarnation doesn’t mean a perfect copy. You’re supposed to learn from your past lives, aren’t you?
INTERVIEWER: Meaning…?AD: She became her own person.
TRANSCRIPT OF CUSTODY TRIAL, AMY DANVERS V. DAVID MONAGHAN, REGARDING PETITION FOR MODIFICATION OF CUSTODY ORDER (FULL CUSTODY) OF THEIR DAUGHTER, CINDY MONAGHAN, BY DAVID MONAGHAN:
REPRESENTATIVE FOR DAVID MONAGHAN: Mr. Monaghan would like to state his continued willingness to modify his initial petition, granting partial custody Ms. Danvers, on the contingency that she remain on medication and undergo therapy with a licensed professional.
REPRESENTATIVE FOR AMY DANVERS: Ms. Danvers has provided for the court a full medical history, including most recent psychiatric evaluation, in which it was found that she is of sound mind and does not meet the diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder as indicated by Mr. Monaghan, nor any other Cluster B personality disorder. This information is provided voluntarily by Ms. Danvers after having signed a waiver with the clinician to share her personal health information with the court.
REP FOR DM: Your honor, the psychiatric evaluation in question was performed over six months ago. There have been significant concerns raised regarding Ms. Danver’s soundness of mind since that point. In the interest of fairness –
PRESIDING JUDGE: In the interest of fairness, I will note here that Mr. Monaghan has requested that Ms. Danvers undergo psychiatric evaluation no fewer than eight times. None of the eight separate evaluations have revealed any deficit or untreated disorder that would prevent Ms. Danvers from adequately caring for their daughter. Ms. Danvers has willingly subjected herself to home visits, is reported as having been cooperative by the guardian ad litem appointed by the court, and is noted in Miss Monaghan’s own notes as being the parent she would prefer to continue living with. Now: is there a compelling reason why I should remove a healthy, happy child from the home of her preferred parent?
REP FOR DM: Your honor…
REP FOR AD: Your honor, David Monaghan has indicated in his filings with the court that he believes Cindy Monaghan to be the reincarnation of his dead mother. Cindy has indicated he refuses to use the correct name for her, referring to her as “Ruth”, and has tried repeatedly to influence her hobbies, interests, and extracurricular activities to match those of the deceased. We ask you, yet again, to dismiss this case without modification of the custody order.
Interview with Cindy Danvers for the podcast, “Ghosts of Silicon Valley Episode 43: David Monaghan Raises the Dead”:
HOST: Okay, so. Let’s start from the beginning.
[clip of DAVID MONAGHAN plays] “What if I told you, I’ve found a way to ensure some part of you lives on…forever? Memories intact? Not the same body, but the same soul. What would you say to me?”
[sound effect of someone hitting a pause button]
CD, laughing: God, he really…he really sold it, didn’t he?
HOST: Well? What would you say to him?
CD: That he was fucking nuts? Wait, shit – am I allowed to swear? Fuck.
HOST, now laughing too: You’re allowed to swear.
CD: Oh thank God. Though – my mom’s going to listen to this, probably, so if you don’t mind beeping me…
HOST: No beeps! We die like men.
CD: Goddammit. Sorry, Mom. Um –
HOST: You were saying, though?
CD: He wasn’t really promising reincarnation. Or like – if he’d actually read some of the theology stuff, instead of just the weird – airport books about Buddhism, I guess, he would have maybe learned something –HOST: Airport books?
CD: Yeah, you know, like – Malcolm Gladwell and stuff. Science dumbed down for the masses. Or religion, I guess, in Dad’s case.
HOST: Religion, right. You think –
CD: Yeah, if he’d read an actual book, or talked to – well, anyone, he would have learned –
HOST: I have to ask, before we go on: are you the reincarnation of your grandmother?
CD: [long pause] I mean, fuck, does it matter?
Interview with Amy Danvers, April 12 20XX, regarding ReInKarnate:
INTERVIEWER: “She became her own person”. What do you mean?
AD: David wanted to believe, always, that she was going to be a perfect copy of his mother. He didn’t realize – you’re supposed to learn; you’re not supposed to repeat the same mistakes. You’re not going to be the same, because you won’t have the same experiences –
INTERVIEWER: The question of nature versus nurture.
AD [clearly uncomfortable; long pause]: Yeah, I mean. There’s not – the nature isn’t the same. She wasn’t – her body was different. Her mind, you know. How could she not be different, too?
Interview with Cindy Danvers for the podcast, “Ghosts of Silicon Valley Episode 43: David Monaghan Raises the Dead”:
[clip of David Monaghan plays] “You’d tell me I’m crazy, right? That what I’ve done is literally insane? But I can do it, and I can guarantee that you’ll remember everything about your past life in your new body.
[sound effect of someone hitting a pause button]
CD: The thing is, you don’t remember forever. Like, it’s – you get a window where you can kind of remember, and then it’s like –
HOST: You forget.
CD: Yeah, you forget. You’re supposed to be able to move on.
HOST: Did he ever…forgive you? For moving on?
CD: We talked a little, before he died. Stomach cancer, you know – same thing that took his mom. I got tested; I don’t have the gene, thank God. Uh. No. He never did.HOST: What?
CD: He never forgave me. Up until the very end – he called me Ruth. Wanted me to talk to him about his own childhood.
HOST: That’s…very –
CD: He died when I was 20. Totally bankrupt. My mom paid for him to do in-home hospice – after ReInKarnate folded, he had nothing.
HOST: He called you Ruth?
CD: My grandmother’s name.
HOST: Whoa. That’s…
CD: I don’t think he ever really got past her death.
Voice recording of interaction between CINDY DANVERS (MONAGHAN) and DAVID MONAGHAN, made shortly before his death:
CD: Are you comfortable? Can we…?
DM: Ruth. Ruth, tell me, was I good, Ruth?
CD: Dad…
DM [weeping sounds]: Please just give this to me, kiddo. Please.
CD: Dad, please –
DM: Please, Ruth, please –
CD: I’m not Ruth, Dad.
DM: [incomprehensible noises]
CD: I’ll come back later.
Interview with Amy Danvers, April 12 20XX, regarding ReInKarnate:
AD: Yeah, I did pay for his medical care. My dad had died two years earlier; we sold his house and had some money left. It was very – I knew David didn’t have any money.
INTERVIEWER: Because of the lawsuits, or…?
AD [long pause]: ReInKarnate had folded. The – that everyone forgets, at age ten, like it’s some sort of a switch that flips off, yeah. People were angry. He prevailed, in those suits – he’d done all his homework, you know, and he didn’t offer a guarantee. No, it was more – he spent the rest of his life trying to get Ruth back. His mother, I mean.
INTERVIEWER: He couldn’t accept…?
AD: That Cindy wasn’t Ruth, and wasn’t ever going to be Ruth? No. I don’t think he ever did.
AD: We see what we want to see. He couldn’t – he never wanted to see her for what she was, only what he thought she should be. Does that make sense?
INTERVIEWER: It does.
AD: He never saw her. He never wanted to.
Home video of CINDY DANVERS (MONAGHAN) with AMY DANVERS. Both women are sitting in front of a mirror. AMY DANVERS is doing her makeup (foundation) while CINDY DANVERS films her, smiling.
CD: God, the older I get, the more I look like you.
AD: The older you get, the more you look like yourself, you mean.
CD: I don’t mind looking like you. You’re pretty.
AD: For being an old lady, you mean?
CD: I mean – yeah.
[both laughing]
CD: Thanks, Mom. You know?
AD: I know, sweetheart. I love you.
CD: [barely audible] Yeah. I love you, too.