The three of them huddled around the dusty sofa in the sitting room, and River placed the tape cassette into the player nervously.

Click.

The tape crackled.

Static fills the room.

A warm, gentle voice begins to talk.

"Hello, my little Rivet"

River's eyes widen as her memories seem to unlock.

"If you're listening to this, then you finally found your way home"

A small laugh from her mother makes River smile.

"I suppose you are wondering why I always called you Rivet.

When you were young, maybe three, nothing in this house was safe!. You'd wander around with your father's little screwdriver, trying to fix everything.

One afternoon the house was very quiet, and I found you sitting on the kitchen floor surrounded by a pile of screws. You'd taken my favourite radio apart.

I was ready to be cross... until you looked up and said, 'I make it better, mummy'

Your father laughed so hard he cried!

From that day on you were our little Rivet"

River smiles through her tears.

The tone changes, and River searches for Max's hand

"And your name..

I called you River because rivers never stop.

People can build walls. They can build dams. They can try and force a river where they want it to go..

But eventually

A river always finds another path.

I wanted you to know no matter what happens to us...

A long silence ..

"River.. I need you to know something..

One is that I love you to your very bones and then some.

Two, I did NOT die"

"Your father and I worked for a government program. We were doing research on technology after the great collapse and well...

The government wanted us to work on newer models of the existing technology that already controlled the Under, and we refused.

They wanted to erase more than noise, and in other great Cities all over the planet. They wanted obedience. They have been controlling what people can hear and also remember.

I stole evidence and tried to hide it; we thought exposing them would save everyone..

Instead... they killed almost everyone who tried.

Most of my colleagues disappeared, some executed, but one survived.

Dr Evelyn Heart!..

She was brilliant... kinder than any of us deserved. When they couldnt make her continue her work, they erased her memories and sent her to the Under"

River looks at Max and Leo with wide eyes.

"If she's still alive, find her. She won't remember me or you because the Under has that effect on people; she would need to be freed"

River frowns.

Evelyn.

Max pauses the tape as he sees River deep in thought.

River thinks back, and she sees a memory.

Rough, oil-stained hands guide hers over a broken machine.

"Don't force it", the woman had always told her.

Another memory .

The same woman handing River a tiny screwdriver.

"Machines tell you what's wrong if you learn to listen", she would sign slowly and teach her at the same time. River was always confused because she couldnt hear the machines, but the woman taught her to listen through touch.

Another flash.

River aged nine, crying after failing to repair something.

The woman kneels beside her.

"Every machine breaks things before they learn to fix them"

River took a deep breath.

She whispers,

"...Mae"

Max looks at her.

"What?"

"The woman...my teacher..

Everyone called her Mae"

Leo's eyes widen.

"She taught you everything"

"She never remembered where she'd come from"

River nodded to Max to finish the tape.

"If you've inherited your father's mind, you'll understand this.

Follow the river until it ends, and the three mountains begin....

I don't know how old you are now, River?

I don't know if your hair is still impossible to brush?

I don't know if you still sing when you think nobodys listening"

Her mother's voice becomes shaky

"But if you're hearing my voice..

then you survived, and if you survived

I know you'll come find me"

Click.

Max and Leo give River a gentle smile as they hide the tears that fell as they listened to the gentle and most beautiful voice. Max wipes his jumper sleeve over his eyes and takes a deep breath.

River stands and walks to the middle of the sitting room. The silence feels different now.

Not empty.

Comfortable. As if the house has finally been able to tell its story.

She walks over to the fireplace and runs her hand along the shelf.

"I don't want to leave "

Max doesn't try to persuade her.

"You don't have to... not yet"

Leo quietly packs up the food and supplies, and Max joins him, working together for the girl they both care about.

While they pack, River wonders what her bedroom was like and heads up the creaky stairs. The wallpaper hung down, and the furniture had been thrown over in the search.

River smiles.

In the corner sits a small wooden toolbox. She opens it and sees the small screwdriver and nuts and bolts. Under them is a little matchbox that has a faded label.

Rivets Treasure.

She laughs through her tears.

Inside is a little brass rivet. River takes off her silver chain from around her neck and hangs the rivet on her chain so it can always be close to her heart, a connection to her home.

Max and Leo wait by the front door as River comes back down. As they leave, River stops on the doorstep and turns back.

"I'll come back"

Max looks at her 'I know"

She closes the front door gently, not because she's leaving forever.

Because this time...

She knows she'll find her way home again.

As they walk away from the house, River holds her treasure to her chest.

She looks at Max and Leo ahead, then whispers to herself,

"I'm coming, Mum"

For years, River had carried the pain of believing she'd been left behind. Now she knew the truth. Her parents hadn't abandoned her but sacrificed everything to keep her safe. The wound she had carried for so long could finally begin to..

heal.