EPISODE 3: HUMAN AFTER ALL (2)
[[SFX: Enforcer One, ship sounds]]
[[Pause]] Huh. You know, it's just occurred to me that they might be using a technique called [[air quotes]] “solitary confinement” to mentally weaken me. The only thing is, I'm not sure it will work on me? Not that I'm, like, super tough or anything. I've just spent most of my life in solitary confinement.
The worst thing about being trapped in here is that I'm cold, and a little bored. But really, you can never be bored if you have problems to solve, and I've got a nice healthy dollop of those.
Now, if you really want to mentally break me? Mom told me once about these things called ‘cocktail parties' where people dare each other to stay the longest in a room packed with hot, sweaty, loud people where you can't hear yourself think and strangers take turns asking you stupid questions.
Or you could just throw me into a tank with some fish. [[Shudders]] … Hm. In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have said that aloud. Or recorded it. Even for posterity.
I'm going back to sleep.
SCENE 3
[[SFX: Enforcer One Cell]]
X: Day… I don't know. 10,307... 8... or 9? Hour unknown. It's weird, how I've had a lifetime of interactions with plants and birds and bacteria and even Charlotte, and how during that time none of them have run me through an emotional wringer quite like the brief little interactions I've had through the slot in my prison cell's door with the other human beings.
That's right -- they are fellow human beings.
Not that that was surprising, really -- I'd calculated less than a one percent chance of them being anything else, especially since they were bipedal, humanoid, and proportionally relative to me.
(They're taller than I am, and leaner, but that's not really surprising since Dad was kinda short, and I'm 100% non-GMO.)
Anyway. Something clicked at the door, and the metal rectangle slid open, and there they were -- a slide-mounted sampling of three human faces side by side, taken from eyebrow to bridge of nose. But despite being of similar height, they each looked very different.
From left to right was a pale face with pale eyes, a tan face with black eyes, and a brown face with brown eyes.
It was… the feeling was indescribably and powerfully weird. I felt like I was watching a movie, but with no clue of how it would end -- and yet full control to affect that unknown ending. If that makes sense. I stood up, despite the nausea and headache and intermittent shivers, despite my suddenly-racing heart -- and after an indeterminable amount of time, I moved toward them.
I can't really explain it -- it wasn't voluntary. It was like a magnetic pull. Or like I was back in that fugue state. One of my hands may have even reached up, toward the slot. It might have been shaking. As I moved forward, all three figures moved back, I assumed out of caution, and I saw that a fourth figure stood slightly behind them -- again, the same height, but this one was still dressed in the suit from earlier. It was the one whose suit did not have the breathing apparatus.
They didn't do or say anything -- they just stared at me. And then the slat slammed shut again, and their footsteps faded away.
[[Wryly]] ...You know, this whole time, I've been asking myself what Dr. Sattler would do, but… maybe I should be asking what the velociraptors would do.
Penned up in their cage, their lives reduced to waiting, watching, and being watched. Systematically testing the fence for weaknesses. Biding their time. Clever girls.
Maybe if I'm very good --
[[Slight gasp]] Oh -- someone's coming.
SCENE 4
[[SFX: Enforcer One Cell]]
[[SFX: Slat opens. X shifts (hands & feet on metal).]]
X: [[Weakly]] Oh, hi. Glad to see you haven't forgotten me. [[Gets up, moves toward the door]] Don't worry -- I'm not going to hurt you.
Thor: [[Chuckles, stage left]]
Cpt Chen: Stay back.
X: You, in the middle. You're Captain Miles Chen, right?
Cpt Chen: [[Momentarily surprised, but recovers quickly]] Yes. And you are… “X”?
X: ...Yyyyes. Pleased to meet you, as I believe the saying goes. May I go back to my ship now? I think I have a concussion, and I'd like to treat it. Also, it's very cold in here. And it smells like garbage.
Thor: [[SFX: Snorts, stage left]]
Cpt Chen: [[Shakes his head no.]] Negative. First, we'll need you to answer some questions.
X: [[Incredulous]] ...Really?! You dock with my ship, force entry onboard, smash my face in, and kidnap me -- and now you need something from me? What makes you think I'm in any kind of mood to do you a favor?
[[SFX: Shifting bootsteps in the corridor]]
Cpt Chen: You're our prisoner, and you will answer our questions -- under your own volition, or under duress. Your choice.
X: Point of order -- I'm not anyone's anything. Let me go back to the Cavatica, and I'll think about answering your questions. [[Brief pause, tone softens]] Please. My work is very important.
Cpt Chen: Let me make one thing very clear: We are the authority out here. We're where it all starts, and where it all stops. We may not know your name, if you even have one, but we do know that the Cavatica launched just over 30 years ago with two scientists on board -- a Dr. Rousseau and a Dr. Singh.
Since you're not either of them, it doesn't take a genius to figure out where you came from -- and in that case, you have no leverage over us. You are in no position to bargain. You have no official identity and no corporateship. You are completely undocumented and, according to all official data banks, you do not exist.
Cpt Chen, cont'd: [[Steps closer to the door, jabs a finger at her]] There is no one in the entire universe outside of this ship who even knows you are here. No one is going to save you, and no one will miss you when you are gone. You are alone.
X: All right, well let me make one thing very clear. You can threaten to kill me or make me disappear or whatever, but that won't do you any good. You need something from me, and I can't give it to you if I'm dead. In fact, not helping you will actually increase my lifespan, as there's no guarantee you won't kill me once I give you what you need. Your best bet is to keep me alive and cooperative, which means not acting like a jerk.
Chance: [[Stage right]] We can always drug or torture answers out of you.
X: Yeah, that would count as acting like a jerk. [[Turns back to Captain Miles Chen]] And what you need from me isn't just simple information, is it? It's my work. It's me. And you can't get what you need if I am unable to fully function, physically or mentally.
Cpt Chen: [[Eyes her for a moment.]] Thor. Chance. Dismissed.
[[SFX: Pause, then footsteps stride away in a matching cadence down the hall, disappearing through a hydraulic door at the end of it.]]
Cpt Chen: You too, Kai. ...But first, send an official memo to Ms. Moretti informing her that assets Alpha and Omega have been neutralized, and that Bay Two requires a secondary inspection.
Kai: Roger that. [[Hesitates]] Sir, I observe signs of illness in the captive that need immediate treatment if her work and information are to remain viable.
Cpt Chen: Then please send Dr. Keane down here, too. Dismissed.
[[SFX: Kai's footsteps stride away down the same hall as Chance and Thor, and disappears through a hydraulic door at the end of the corridor.]]
Cpt Chen: Look. I don't want to hurt you, “X”. But I have a job to do. You seem like a rational individual. How can we both get what we want?
X: [[Thinks through how she wants this to play out.]] What's the job you have to do? Be honest with me and I'll be honest with you.
...Also, I'm going to sit down just for a while so I don't throw up again.
Cpt Chen: [[Gamely, after a moment]] All right. First: why did you want that recorder back so badly?
X: Scientific research and monitoring. My turn: what's this job you have to do?
Cpt Chen: My primary objective is to get information out of you -- who you are, how you got onto that ship, the nature of your work there.
X: How did your fleet find the Cavatica?
Cpt Chen: [[Vaguely amused]] Long-range distress beacon, on a priority frequency. Tends to draw attention.
X: [[Mutters]] Stupid button. Okay. Your turn.
Cpt Chen: What is the nature of your work aboard the Cavatica?
X: I'm a researcher. My primary objective, as you would say, is to monitor the radiation levels given off by Ra-1079 and ensure its continued stability. Secondary duties include the care and maintenance of the ecosystem aboard the Cavatica.
Cpt Chen: [[Interested]] My crew found the… garden pod. Is it really powering the rest of the ship?
X: That is two questions in a row. Answer my next one, and then I'll answer yours.
Cpt Chen: [[Nods]] Fair enough.
X: What's Earth like?
Cpt Chen: [[Stares at her for a couple beats with a small frown that she doesn't understand]] I don't know.
… Now, my question. The garden pod?
X: I rigged up the hydroponic system to the dash core using scavenged analog components. The schematics are back on the Cavatica if you really want to look at them. And the glasshouse isn't powering the entire ship -- just the three pods that I prioritized when the Cavatica's engines began to die.
Cpt Chen: Two of the eight… pods are magnetically sealed, and we haven't been able to access them. What are they?
X: You are very bad at this. It's my turn to ask a question. What is the nature of your interest in my ship?
[[SFX: Pause, door opening and approaching footsteps down a corridor]]
X: [[Getting up again]] Who's that?
Cpt Chen: This is Dr. Keane. She's here to provide you with medical attention. I'll need you to stand against the opposite wall while we open the door.
X: Hold on a sec. Do you plan to shoot, maim, or kill me, Dr. Keane? Dr Keane: [[Startled, perhaps a little offended]] I'm a doctor.
X: Yeah, that's not incredibly reassuring.
Dr Keane: ...No.
X: Hmm. All right. The Cavatica's infirmary is busted, anyway. But no sudden movements. And do not touch me.
Cpt Chen: Please note that I am procedurally obligated to tell you that if you set one foot in the direction of this door when it opens, I'll shoot. Do you understand?
X: Got it.
[[SFX: The door opens with a reverberating creak, and Captain Miles Chen enters first, followed by Dr. Keane. The doctor rolls a chair-like contraption toward X.]]
X: [[Backs away suspiciously]] What's that?
Dr Keane: It's just a wheelchair. Please, have a seat.
X: Why?
Dr Keane: I don't want you falling apart before we get you to the infirmary.
X: Um. Are those restraints?
Dr Keane: Yes. They're here to ensure that you don't run off or hurt us, and that you don't give anyone on the ship a reason to hurt you. Now sit.
[[SFX: X pauses, eyes Chen's gun, and then sits. Sound of restraints snapping into place on hands and legs.]]
X: [[Twisting to look back at Chen]] So… you still haven't answered my question. What's your interest in my ship?
Cpt Chen: I'll explain on the way to the infirmary.
X: Okay. Also, could you not point that gun at me?
Cpt Chen: Negative. Standard operating procedure.
[[SFX: Captain Chen and Dr. Keane wheel X out of the cell into the bright white corridor. We hear their bootsteps, the wheels of the wheelchair, and a garbled overhead announcement that echoes in a ghostly fashion.]]