Beyond The Vale

"Beyond The Vale" is the ninth song from Act I of The Smashing Pumpkins' 2023 rock opera, ATUM. The song was named in honor of Billy Corgan's close friend, Lisa Vale. 

Synopsis
Within the ATUM story, we are now back on Earth where Osyraa and her friend Nighthawk have the geocoordinates to a treasure chest that was given to them by June. They do not know the coordinates and message came from space. They think it has something to do with Shiny, but generally speaking they don't fully understand what they're doing and think it's all some sort of internet game.

Osyraa and Nighthawk drive to an abandoned warehouse to find the chest to find they are being followed by "the government authority that oversees all dissonant activity", known as XI. The agency is seeking to intercept them and kill them both, as they aren't supposed to have what's in the chest, and whatever it may be is very dangerous to the government authority. Osyraa and Nighthawk get out of their car when XI fires laser guns at them. They're able to evade the shooting by running into the warehouse. They narrowly escape with both the chest and their lives.

"Beyond The Vale" is sung from the perspective of XI. The agency all wear the same clothes and look very similar, without an apparent leader. When they speak, they all speak together as one. Corgan referred to them as the "gray area of authority."