AUDIO READING
Setting: Gate Area of ARKS Ship 02, Ur, just outside the medical facility.
Cast:
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NOLAND: Male Newman in his late-teens/early twenties
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KAYLA: His twin sister
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MATOI: Mysterious, white-haired girl who stands near the medical facility, as if waiting for someone.
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Assorted background characters
(Open, NOLAND is seated downstage-right. MATOI is standing upstage-left; throughout the scene, assorted background characters walk up to her, each pantomiming the same conversation as the last.)
NOLAND:
(to audience) Ever since I was little, I’ve had these really painful headaches that have left me with a sense of what can be best described as déjà vu. See, it’s not quite the same vague feeling that you are experiencing a moment you have before, it’s more a sudden sense that things aren’t the way there are supposed to be. Lately, though, it hasn’t just been that feeling; instead, I also get these flashes that are almost like memories, but they are not exactly mine.
KAYLA:
(off-stage-left) Noland!
NOLAND:
These flashes started happening the same day that increased Darker activity interrupted the final field test for the newest batch of ARKS. I had been helping with the evac of the examinees when I had another one of my headaches. I didn’t think much of it at first since they had been a normal thing in my life, but this time something was different. The pain hit me like I had been hit in the head with a boulder, and the next thing I know, I’m blacking out.
KAYLA:
(still off-stage-left, but slightly closer) Noooooooland!
NOLAND:
When I came to, I was in the medical bay with my sister looking at me with tears in her eyes. The doctor assured her I was fine, and I felt it, but what worried me was that I had a vague memory of finding a girl with white hair out in the forest.
(glances towards MATOI as she continues to pantomime with another person) Since then, I’ve had weekly check-ups here to assess if my headaches have turned into something that might interfere with my normal duties.
KAYLA:
(enter downstage-left, crossing to NOLAND, and stopping just next to him, slightly annoyed) Noland!
NOLAND:
(startled) WHA-WHAT?!...Oh. Wow. It’s just you, Kay. You freaked me out there for a bit.
KAYLA:
(her annoyance gives way to a concerned tone) Oh, no… I’m so sorry! Are you okay? Were you having one of your episodes? I’m so sorry I came so late today! Did you already have your checkup, or were you waiting for me? I…
NOLAND:
(interrupting her, in a very calm, if not slightly monotonous, tone) Yeah, no, I was just spacing out a bit. I just got out a few minutes ago. The doctor said that things are looking fine, and I should be cleared to get back to work soon. Everything’s fine.
KAYLA:
Alright, that’s good I guess.
(pepping up a bit, she walks around behind her seated brother) You just worry me when you zone out like that, baby brother.
(she hugs him from behind)
NOLAND:
(struggling against the tightening embrace, he eventually relents, and lets out a resigned sigh) I don’t know why you keep calling me that. I’m ten minutes older than you.
KAYLA:
(with a big smile across her face) Doesn’t matter. I took care of you when you were sick and when you got hurt since we were little, so you are my baby brother and I will worry about you no matter how much
“older” you are.
(she lets go but keeps her head on his shoulder, with her concern starting to show again) I know what the doctor said, but I want to hear from you how you’re doing. How have they been? The headaches, I mean.
NOLAND:
Well, the pain hasn’t been as bad as that one time, but… they’ve been happening more and more often.
(a brief silence as both know where the conversation is headed next)
KAYLA:
(walking back around and sitting next to her brother) What about the…
(struggles to find the right word) “visions” you said you were having? I know you haven’t wanted to talk to me about them, but I…
NOLAND:
(interrupting her) No, you’re right. I really do want to tell you, but I don’t want you to start thinking that I’m crazy.
KAYLA:
(despite the more somber mood, a slight smirk appears across her lips) You don’t have to worry about that. I’ve
known you were crazy since we were five.
NOLAND:
(smiling for the first time in the entire scene, he lightly pushes her with his shoulder, then tousles her hair) Alright, smartass. Here’s the thing, they’re not exactly visions. It’s more like I suddenly have vague memories that I shouldn’t have. But it’s not like they aren’t my memories; they are, just not
(gesturing with both hands in an up and down manner) this me.
KAYLA:
Okay, I think I kinda get it. It’s like you can remember things that you did, but it was some other you who did them?
NOLAND:
Yeah, that’s pretty dead on, actually. That’s not everything, though. You see that girl over there?
(indicates toward MATOI and her continued pantomime)
KAYLA:
(looking at MATOI) The one standing there by herself? Looks like she’s waiting for someone there.
NOLAND:
Yeah, her. I noticed her during my first checkup, but it wasn’t the first time I had seen her. She was the girl I “remembered” after I had blacked out.
(KAYLA nods, though she has a slightly puzzled look on her face) The thing is, I also have memories of speaking with her after that, but that was the
other me.
KAYLA:
Alright, and you think she has something to do with these new memories?
NOLAND:
What? No. Well, maybe. I hadn’t really considered that. That’s not my point. Something weird happens whenever I see her.
(he contemplates how to proceed)
KAYLA:
(intrigued, and a bit impatient) And that something is?
NOLAND:
Well, you said that she was standing by herself, right?
(KAYLA nods) I actually see someone standing there talking with her. Well, not exactly “someone,” more like a shadow of someone, but it’s like when you just catch someone out of the corner of your eye, as soon as I try to look directly at them, they’re gone.
KAYLA:
That is kinda weird. That could just be your eyes, though. We both have pretty bad vision.
NOLAND:
(he stands and moves centerstage as he speaks) No, I am definitely seeing them, and that isn’t exactly the weird part. It’s that it’s not always the same “someone” talking to her, and I recognize some of them, well as much as I can recognize someone by their silhouette. One time, I saw our combat instructor, Teresa.
(he turns back toward his sister) And another time, I saw you, Kay, but you were still talking to the doctor when I walked out into the lobby.
KAYLA:
(sits straight up) Okay, that’s actually really creepy. I don’t know what to say… This is a lot to take in.
NOLAND:
Yeah, imagine how I feel. You can see why I didn’t exactly want to mention it before.
KAYLA:
(standing up) I’m kinda sorry I asked you since now I’m the one who’s freaked out. (looking at her brother with a relieved smile) But I’m glad you decided to tell me. I
am going to need a bit of time to process all this, so let’s go get something to eat. I’m starving.
NOLAND:
Yeah, me, too… Let’s go.
(KAYLA exits stage-right, but NOLAND suddenly stops and turns toward MATOI, his back facing the audience. After a brief moment, he waves at her and she waves back)
NOLAND:
(still facing MATOI, but not speaking directly to her) Ever since I was a child, I suffered from headaches that gave me a sense something was wrong with the world around me.
(he turns toward the audience, now wearing a mask and a more confident posture) Perhaps this was the reason I was selected by Xion to save this girl. To set things right.
(the assorted background characters that spoke with MATOI throughout enter from all sides, including KAYLA, and face the audience)
ALL:
I will do everything in my power to fulfill Xion’s request, to unravel the threads of fate, and to protect that girl’s smile.
(End)
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