1.2 – Wake

IMMUNITIES ep 1.2 – WAKE

SETTING – Railroad embankment near the Scholl house. Distant train sound, closer sound of Roxanne walking on gravel. Sound of Dominic running on gravel starts distant and gets closer.

DOMINIC

Hey Rox! Wait up.

SOUND: Dominic’s running gets closer still, then skids to a halt.

ROXANNE

(subdued)

Hey, Dom.

DOMINIC

(confidential voice)

I missed you last night. What happened?

SOUND: Roxanne’s steps halt.

ROXANNE

I guess I slept through my alarm.

DOMINIC

(awkward)

Gotcha.

Beat.

DOMINIC

Should we get going?

ROXANNE

Yeh-

*starts to sob*

DOMINIC

(helpless)

Rox.

ROXANNE

Dom? I had the Dream.

DOMINIC

Hey hey hey, it’s okay.

ROXANNE

*tries to stifle sobs, hyperventilates*

SOUND: Dominic folds Roxanne in his arms. She leans her head against him.

SOUND: Two pairs of hard shoes on nearby pavement get steadily closer, then stop.

DOMINIC

Good morning, ladies.

WOMAN 1

Does your companion require assistance?

DOMINIC

She’ll be fine. It’s nothing.

WOMAN 1

Young lady, is there anything that you require?

ROXANNE

(breathy, barely able to speak)

No. Thank you.

WOMAN 1

Hmmm. We will leave you to yourselves then.

SOUND: Footsteps walk away.

ROXANNE

*resolutely inhales sniffles*

C’mon, let’s go.

SOUND: A train goes by, marking a lapse of time.

SETTING: A large park on the way to the center of town.

SOUND: Roxanne and Dominic are walking on a somewhat less noisy surface for some moments before either speaks.

DOMINIC

Y’know, everyone has the Dream sooner or later.

ROXANNE

I know. I’ve heard people talk about it, but I had no idea how bad it would feel. It’s like novocaine wearing off too soon.

DOMINIC

Just when you thought you were getting used to it.

ROXANNE

Yeah.

WEIRD GWEN (in distance, getting closer)

Zombies! They’re all zombies on both sides. They all want to label you. The first bunch make me sick at heart and the second make me sick in the head, They all want to put me in a box. “You’re a Beta!”, they say. I say: “Who gets to decide what I am? Me, and no one else except the creator.” You are all going to reap his wrath.

DOMINIC

Here’s Gwen. Do you have anything for her?

ROXANNE

Oh shit, I forgot.

DOMINIC

Here, take my banana.

ROXANNE

Are you trying to make up for last night?

DOMINIC

*chuckles nervously*

She won’t like that kind of talk.

ROXANNE

Truth. Hello Gwen!

WEIRD GWEN

And now these two. Why aren’t they the Betas? Have they been tested? Who even knows what they are?

DOMINIC

Here’s a bagel, Gwen. Keep your strength up.

ROXANNE

Here’s a banana.

WEIRD GWEN

Godless kids. Fornicators. No one knows what they are.

DOMINIC

Okay if we take a shortcut through your tunnel?

WEIRD GWEN

I suppose. But, does this come from them? Did they tell you to give it to me?

DOMINIC

(brainstorming)

We stole it, Gwen. It’s from them, but they didn’t know you’d be getting it.

WEIRD GWEN

Well, that’s the best you can expect then. You two go on and do whatever you’re thinking of doing.

ROXANNE

Good bye, Gwen.Thank you.

SETTING: Transition to tunnel under the rail embankment. A little echo-y.

WEIRD GWEN (diminishing)

They seem friendly. They say they’re trying to help you. But they’re always looking for a way to make you more like them. Anyone who says they love you is just trying to change you. Even God. But God really does mean it for the good. He made us in his own image so that we could know Godliness.

DOMINIC

I still remember when I first had the dream. It was like I was at a graduation party with a bunch of friends: people from work, and college, and I think junior high. People who wouldn’t even know each other. And we’re all drinking and laughing, and I’m trying to figure out which girl I’m going to make it with.

ROXANNE

(with an exaggerated judgmental weariness)

Of course.

DOMINIC

(playfully needling her)

Y’know what I mean, right? Which one is most likely to do it, go all the way, round the bases, get naked, bump-

ROXANNE

I get it! I am familiar with the concept of high school.

MUSIC – Weird humming chorus, punctuated with sound effects.

DOMINIC

And there’s this humming in the distance, but I barely notice it. And then this professor comes through giving out diplomas in leather folders, and the humming gets louder. And each time someone opens theirs, there’s a flash of light and then they get The Look. I tried to grab someone and get them to stop, but I couldn’t move, and then I felt like I couldn’t breathe, like the humming was suffocating me. And then…I woke up.

ROXANNE

Yow. And is it always the same for you?

DOMINIC

Different occasions, different people. But pretty much the same plotline. We’re doing our thing, then someone with The Look shows up, and pretty soon it takes everyone over. That’s The Dream.

ROXANNE

And everyone has The Dream?

DOMINIC

Everyone I’ve ever asked. Some people are glad when they have it because there’s a little slice of the way things were, some people rotate through whatever drugs they can find to try and stop it.

ROXANNE

Mine wasn’t really like that at all. It was just me and Shelly, and she was normal, but it wasn’t like I’d gone back to the old world, it was like she’d come to the new one. And, it didn’t end with her getting the Look. Just her falling asleep, though I was really afraid she’d change back while she was asleep.

DOMINIC

Change back. So you were aware the whole time that she’d been changed?

ROXANNE

Yeah.

DOMINIC

Yeah that’s not what people mean by The Dream. A big part of the Dream is forgetting what’s happened, and then remembering. Guess you’ve got your own special version.

ROXANNE

Lucky me. And you haven’t had one like mine?

DOMINIC

I think I had one once where my Mom was normal again, and we were just hanging out and being happy. But then I realized it was because I had the Look too, so I didn’t have to worry about anything anymore.

ROXANNE

*cold shiver*

DOMINIC

I know, right?

*pause*

Shelly, huh? What was she like?

ROXANNE

A brat like always. The bitch bit me!

*laughs, a little hysterically*

DOMINIC

*laughs, deliberately*

ROXANNE

She bit me in a dream and didn’t wake up and apologize.

DOMINIC

Kids today.

ROXANNE

No mark on my finger, though. I should have checked when I first got up, then I would have known right away it wasn’t real. But if I think back, I can still feel it.

DOMINIC

I don’t think I ever really feel stuff in dreams. Just sight and sound and sometimes that paralysis thing.

ROXANNE

Everyone’s different, I guess.

*pause*

So, how about I make it up to you tonight for keeping you waiting?

DOMINIC

Not sure I can. Cousin Nicole’s supposed to be back tonight. I’ve got an assignment to meet up with her and do some sneaking around for Major Craig.

ROXANNE

Oh that’s right. You said yesterday tonight was your resistance stuff.

DOMINIC

*mirthless chuckle*

It’s not just MY resistance stuff. “We are ALL the resistance”, remember?

ROXANNE

Yeah, but they never ask me to do things like that.

DOMINIC

I think they’re more careful with you because you’re a Stayer. And maybe they want to keep you clean because your Mom’s so high up. So the bad guys won’t expect it when we have you do something really important.

Beat.

ROXANNE

Do you think they’d ever ask me to kill her?

DOMINIC

*pause*

Nah. We don’t assassinate Lookers. There’s no point. They’re all alike.

ROXANNE

(weary)

Yeah. Do you see Major Craig, when you do those things?

DOMINIC

Almost never. He’s too busy to be where I am.

ROXANNE

When he gave us that speech, the “We’re ALL the resistance” speech, it was the first time I was able to pull this all together and make some kind of sense of it.

SOUND: REVERIE 2.1

JEFFERSON CRAIG

Evening, everyone. Now, coming in here, your neighbor Alice told me that she felt good knowing that someone from The Resistance was around. And, if you’ll allow me, Alice, I’d like to twist your words a little. I know exactly what you mean, and I sympathize. You’ve felt neglected and you’re glad that there are people on your side who are being sent to help you. But it’s important that we realize that We Are ALL The Resistance. We are all going to have to help each other, support each other, and where possible, protect each other. There are too few of us left to let ourselves be bystanders.

Now, let me paint the picture of just how few of us there are. Nearly ninety-nine percent of sighted humans on this planet are Altered, what some people call Lookers. Out of the remainder, ninety-five percent are Overlooked, unaltered only because they’ve never had contact with an Altered person. And the only thing that has effectively protected the Overlooked is us: The Immune. So since everyone here is immune, or else you wouldn’t be able to live in this area without being Altered, I feel even more comfortable in saying the future of humanity is depending on you. We are five percent of one percent, and we can’t let anyone go to waste.

Now, let me do a quick outline of how immunity works. I was briefed just before coming here by one of our top researchers on the subject, so you get the benefit of her latest work. Now, to understand immunity, you have to understand Alteration. When an Altered human looks an unaltered one in the eyes, they send out a kind of carrier wave, what we call the Primary Signal. The Primary Signal is what makes everything else they do possible. How many people here have been classified as Primary Immune? Most of you, I see. Well, what that means is that you do not receive the Primary Signal. It just doesn’t exist for you, they can look at you all day and nothing happens.

Now, after the Primary Immune, there are two other very significant groups, even if they’re underrepresented at this meeting. So, once a human picks up the Primary Signal, they receive two messages, which we call the Alpha Wave and the Beta Wave. The Alpha Wave disrupts logical reasoning and induces an urge to go to sleep. An urge that quickly becomes impossible to resist. And then during that sleep, the Beta Wave goes to work and changes the victim from Unaltered to Altered.

ALICE

*shudders*

JEFFERSON CRAIG

Are you okay there, Alice?

ALICE

(breathlessly)

I’m- I’m fine.

JEFFERSON CRAIG

Does anyone here know Alice? Can someone sit with her? Thank you. Yes, this is going to stir up some bad memories, but we can get through it if we help each other.

So, these two waves are where the terms Alpha Immune and Beta Immune come from. Alphas are immune to the Alpha wave, Betas to the Beta wave. But both kinds of immunity are double-edged swords.

An Alpha Immune can keep operating after they receive the signal, because the Alpha Wave doesn’t put them to sleep. But! They have to sleep sometime. And when they do, the Beta Wave goes to work. It doesn’t fully alter them; an Alpha Immune can’t transmit the alteration to new people, and they can’t communicate nonverbally with the Altered. If you talk to an Alpha, they sound a lot more like us than like them.

But the Beta Wave nevertheless alters their priorities and their reasoning, so that they think like the Altered and sympathize with them. In the long run, an Alpha Immune can be far more dangerous than a Looker. Fortunately, most Alphas voluntarily segregate themselves from us and live like the Altered to the extent that they can.

ROXANNE

Sounds sad.

JEFFERSON CRAIG

I’m sorry, your name is?

ROXANNE

Um- Roxanne Scholl. Sorry for interrupting.

JEFFERSON CRAIG

No worries, but will you please expand on what you said?

ROXANNE

Well, just that it sounds sad that the Alphas would believe so much in a way of life that they can’t actually take part in. So they don’t belong with us and they don’t belong with them.

JEFFERSON CRAIG

It’s an unenviable spot, I’ll give you that. But here’s where I’m going to play the tough guy for a second and remind everyone that The Alphas Are Our Enemies, and I’ll throw in that the Lookers are also our enemies, in case anyone needs reminding of that. That doesn’t mean that every interaction with either group has to be hostile; in fact, for now, we will be trying to cooperate with them wherever possible. And since both they and we have emotions, I’m sure that you will like or dislike individual Alphas and Altereds that you deal with. But what they want most in the world is to turn us into them, and what we want is to turn them back into us. The current truce rests on their belief that victory is inevitable, and our belief that life and hope are better than a violent confrontation in which we would be destroyed. So feel free to be civil with them, even to like them, but never trust them for even one second where The Resistance is concerned. Now, can anyone here name someone they know to be an Alpha? Yes, Nicole?

NICOLE

Carrie Kray?

SOUND: Rumble of dislike from the crowd.

JEFFERSON CRAIG

There you go, Carrie Kray. For reasons we’re still figuring out, the Alpha Wave can be transmitted and even recorded, though it gets weakened in the process, but the Beta Wave only works in person. So when news people were Altered, their broadcasts would make viewers nauseous and tired, but wouldn’t change them. This put the Altered invasion at a big disadvantage, because it seemed like they couldn’t use television as a takeover tool. But then they found Carrie Kray. Unlike them, she didn’t send out the Alpha wave, so people could watch her without getting sick. And also unlike them, she knew how to lie. And her lies and the damage they did are living proof of what one Alpha can do if we allow our trusting natures to overcome our reasonable suspicions.

So that’s enough about the Alphas. Next, there’s the Beta Immune, who get put to sleep but don’t change. That seems like a drag, and I’m sure it is, and prolonged exposure to the Altered can give the Betas brain damage and other health problems. But, Betas are also the most reliable alteration detectors we have. If looking at a person makes a Beta pass out, then that person is a Looker, end of story.

Now, those of you who didn’t raise your hands before, I see that a few of you are blind citizens, hello, welcome, but the rest, are you Betas? And have you stayed here voluntarily? Well thank you for your service. I know it can’t be easy. We’re going to try to resettle most of the local Betas in Overlook communities, and we’ll be attempting a census of housebound Betas who couldn’t be here, so we can get an idea of how big a job that’ll be. But we’ll always need your help.

ALICE

There’s Gwen, you can send her away any time you want.

SOUND: General laughter.

JEFFERSON CRAIG

Gwen?

NICOLE

Um, Gwen Flynn. We call her Weird Gwen. She lives in a box near the train bridge.

JEFFERSON CRAIG

WEIRD Gwen?

NICOLE

Uh, she says a lot of crazy things. Seems shellshocked. Might be because she’s a Beta.

ALICE

Nah, she was always like that.

SOUND: General laughter.

DOMINIC

Um, Mr. Craig?

JEFFERSON CRAIG

(trying not to scold)

Major, but what can I do for you, uh…?

DOMINIC

Dominic Evans. Well, while we’re stopped…when you explained how immunity works…thank you for that, by the way…something occurred to me: If someone wasn’t Primary Immune, but they were immune to both the Alpha wave and the Beta wave, they’d get the signal but be completely immune to it. Would they be any different from us?

JEFFERSON CRAIG

We don’t know of anyone like that, but the researcher I talked to did mention the possibility of such people existing. But to be both Alpha and Beta immune would be multiplying a tiny possibility by a tiny possibility. So there are at most only a handful of AlphaBetas scattered across the world.

DOMINIC

Oh, but she does have a word for them.

JEFFERSON CRAIG

(regrets having used the word)

Yes, she does. Which is as good place as any to mention the importance of building a habit of secrecy. Habit is important. If you build up the habit of only telling people what they need to know, then you reduce the risk that you or they will say something that should remain confidential.

SOUND: Long train whistle.

SETTING – SCHOLL HOUSE – Exterior

SOUND: Roxanne walks towards her house. Concrete. Crickets.

ROXANNE

Hey Dad.

RONALD

Roxanne. Very nice to see you.

ROXANNE

Interesting stuff up there in the sky?

RONALD

Always. How was your work?

ROXANNE

Fine. I guess a little boring. But don’t tell Mom I said that.

RONALD

I do not generally keep secrets from your mother.

ROXANNE

Yeah, I just don’t want her to think she won.

RONALD

I will attempt to convey the information in its full context, so she does not draw unwarranted conclusions.

ROXANNE

*chuckle*

Thanks.

SOUND: Roxanne starts to walk to the front door, but stops.

ROXANNE

Dad?

RONALD

Yes, Roxanne?

ROXANNE

You know, right, that, that while I’m happy to be here with you, I wish things were the way they were before?

RONALD

*short sigh*

Yes. We are all aware of that. But we know that you are trying your best to adapt. Adapt as far as your set of values will let you.

ROXANNE

But you…are you always glad that things are they way they are now?

RONALD

Roxanne…come into the house with me.

ROXANNE

Um okay.

SOUND: Door opens, footsteps, door closes. A drawer opens.

RONALD

Do you remember this photograph?

ROXANNE

Yeah, that’s us at Mom’s birthday, last year, before It happened. All smiles.

RONALD

Do those smiles seem genuine to you?

ROXANNE

*laughs*

I see what you mean. I guess Shelly’s is a little fake, and Mom’s a little forced, and mine might be a bit grudging. But then, I remember us taking it, so I know what to look for.

REVERIE 2.2 –

RONALD (reverie)

(already annoyed)

All right, everyone get together, we’ve just got twenty seconds. Come on. Smiles. Good Shelly, nice. Roxanne. Roxanne! Look at the camera. Let’s get this RIGHT this time!

SYLVIA (reverie)

Ronald, calm down. You’ll have a coronary.

RONALD (reverie)

I just don’t want to be running back and forth here all god-damned day.

SYLVIA (reverie)

It’s time…say cheese!

ALL SCHOLLS (reverie)

(each in their own characteristic way)

Cheese!

ROXANNE (present)

We were never at our best under pressure.

RONALD (present)

To my way of seeing it, we were never at our best at all. And now we, your mother, your sister and I…are. So no, I would not want to go back.

ROXANNE

*long, deep breath*

Okay. Thank you, Daddy. I think I understand. I’m going to take some food upstairs and stay in my room tonight.

RONALD

I will assure your mother that you will do so in a sanitary manner.

ROXANNE

I’ll try my best.

RONALD

That is all we can ask.

ROXANNE

Can I hold onto that picture for awhile?

RONALD

Of course.

SOUND: Roxanne goes up the stairs, closes her door, flops on the bed.

ROXANNE

You guys. I wanted to get away from you so much. And now you’re gone, and I’m holding on for dear life to whatever you left behind.

SETTING: DREAM GRADUATION

MUSIC: “Pomp & Circumstance” house re-mix. Echo-y voice reading names in alphabetical order, getting into the Es.

ALL THE YOUNG PEOPLE (severally and together)

Woo!

ROXANNE

Hey Dom!

DOMINIC

(a little stoned)

Rox! This. Is. The. Greatest.

ROXANNE

I doesn’t get any better, that’s for sure.

DOMINIC

Have you decided where you’re going to college yet?

ROXANNE

Don’t think about tomorrow. Just dance!

DOMINIC

Will do!

WOMAN 1

Dominic Evans.

DOMINIC

Hey, that’s me!

ROXANNE

No, don’t go up. Just keep dancing.

DOMINIC

*chuckles*

This is a blast, but I’ve got to go up. My Mom wants her picture of me with my diploma.

WOMAN 1

Dominic Evans.

ROXANNE

Forget your Mom.

DOMINIC

*still chuckling*

Forget my Mom?

ROXANNE

Come with me. Come on. I’ll do things your Mom won’t do.

DOMINIC

Creepy, yet enticing.

WOMAN 1

Dominic Evans.

DOMINIC

Hold that thought, I’ll be right back.

ROXANNE

No!

DOMINIC

Just a minute, Rox, I-mmmm-

SOUND: She kisses him violently.

DOMINIC & ROXANNE

-mmmmmMMMMMMMmmmm…

WOMAN 1

Well if Dominic won’t come to the podium, we’ll have to come to him. Everyone grab hold of Dominic.

DOMINIC

*exhale as the kiss is broken*

ROXANNE

No! I won’t let them get you! Get your damn hands off him! You can’t have him too! You already took everyone el- Wait, this makes no sense. He’s immune. HE’S IMMUNE! Even if he wanted to he cou- Uh- oh- wai- stah- ca- bree- thhhh.

[Uh oh, wait, stop, can’t breathe…]

SOUND: Changing dream realities.

SETTING: Roxanne’s bedroom again. Crickets. Characters are on the bed and make appropriate sounds when they move.

ROXANNE

*makes noises of struggling in her sleep*

SHELLY

(whisper-shouting)

Roxy!

ROXANNE

*makes a questioning noise*

SHELLY

Roxy, wake up. Quietly!

SOUND: A beat, and then Roxanne embraces Shelly desperately.

ROXANNE

Oh, Shelly. Shelly.

SHELLY

Yeah. Yeah.

ROXANNE

I love you. I never said it because I didn’t really know it but I love you. I love everybody, and now you’re all gone.

SHELLY

Roxy, you have to pull yourself together.

ROXANNE

Why? What does it matter?

SHELLY

Because I’m back. And I need your help.

ROXANNE

You’re just a dream.

SHELLY

No I am not. We may be talking in some kind of dream world, but I am real.

ROXANNE

You can’t be. I wish you were so much but you can’t. Yesterday was the worst day since it happened, because I let myself hope it could be different. But you were all Them, and even when Dad tried to be nice, he was still Them.

SHELLY

Okay, imagine for once that there’s someone in the world other than yourself, okay? What do you think my day was like?

ROXANNE

Your day?

SHELLY

I was there, the whole time. I saw the way you looked at me, but I couldn’t do anything. I was looking out of my eyes, but I couldn’t move them.

ROXANNE

Oh Jesus.

SHELLY

So I need to tell you about it, to make it count for something. If I’m just going to watch myself be an alien all day, without it meaning something to someone…I’d rather be asleep.

ROXANNE

I don’t understand. What all do you remember?

SHELLY

Nothing until last night. Everything since then.

ROXANNE

But, no one believes me. I’m not sure that I believe me. How can we prove it’s real?

SHELLY

*frustrated scoff, then…*

Ornithology!

ROXANNE

What?

SHELLY

Yesterday, I read a book about ornithology. Tomorrow I’m reading more. They have me reading books because I can share what I learn with other people. When we’re both looking at the sky.

ROXANNE

Why are you telling me this?

SHELLY

Ugh! And everyone says you’re the smart one.

SOUND: Roxanne’s alarm.

ROXANNE

(gathering strength)

*exhale*

Here we go.

SOUND: Roxanne turning on the shower.

ROXANNE

(it’s cold)

Whoof!

SOUND: Roxanne going down the stairs.

SYLVIA

Well, look who decided to dress up?

ROXANNE

It’s just a sweater, Mom.

SYLVIA

And it looks wonderful. People will take you very seriously. Well, your father is waiting. Have a good day at work, girls.

ROXANNE

Good-bye, Mom.

SOUND: Door closes.

ROXANNE

So, Shelly.

SHELLY

(not interested in talking)

Mmm-hmmm.

ROXANNE

What do they have you reading at work?

SHELLY

(suspicious)

hmmmMMMMM?.

ROXANNE

Anything interesting?

SHELLY

Is this in service of another joke?

ROXANNE

No joke, I swear. I’m just trying to know what your guys’ lives are like. So I can understand. Since I can’t just tap into it like you can.

SHELLY

All right. Birds of North America.

ROXANNE

(trying to play it cool)

Oh! Great. How is it?

SHELLY

It has a lot of information I did not previously possess.

ROXANNE

Oh! That sounds good.

SHELLY

Not all of it is immediately useful but…yes, mostly interesting…Thank you for asking.

SOUND: Shelly takes a couple spoonfuls of cereal, then stops.

SHELLY

And…you, what are you doing at your job?

ROXANNE

Um…we’re still stripping the guts out of old TVs and computer monitors. Now that we don’t need so many. Separating the useful parts from the recyclable plastic and the pollution hazards.

SHELLY

(a little forced)

Well that sounds useful.

ROXANNE

They tell us it is.

SHELLY

Then it must be. As you argued to our parents yesterday.

ROXANNE

Yeah. Well, I’ll just grab a couple things and I’m off to work.

SOUND: Refrigerator opens and closes. Roxanne begins to walk out.

SHELLY

Roxanne?

ROXANNE

Yes?

SHELLY

I hope that you have a good day at work.

ROXANNE

Thank you. I think I will.

SETTING – Railroad embankment.

SOUND: Train whistle.

SOUND: Dominic walking. Roxanne runs along the gravel to him and grabs him.

DOMINIC

Wha?!?

ROXANNE
*kisses him, several times, with fond sounds in between.*

DOMINIC

What’s that about?

ROXANNE

She’s still in there. My sister’s still in there. Maybe they all are.

SOUND: Hard shoe footsteps.

DOMINIC

The nosy ladies are coming, let’s move along a bit.

SOUND: Train whistle.

SETTING – Quieter path, as before.

ROXANNE

And so it worked. She was reading exactly what Shelly said she was reading. We’ve got to tell them.

DOMINIC

Tell who?

ROXANNE

The Resistance.

DOMINIC

(portentously)

We are ALL the resistance.

ROXANNE

Okay let it go, John Connor. You know what I mean: the real resistance, the full-timers. Major Craig. Nicole works with a lot of important people, right?

DOMINIC

(increasingly uncomfortable)

Okay, leaving aside Nicole’s big mouth, I’m not sure that’s a great idea.

WEIRD GWEN (getting steadily louder)

They have the faces of angels but souls of devils. Of machines. Some people say machines are soulless, but they have souls blacker than pitch. Their eyes are the eyes of the hypnotizing serpent!

DOMINIC

Hi Gwen, stay hydrated.

SOUND: Dominic puts down a plastic bottle.

ROXANNE

Here’s an apple, Gwen. You can use it as a prop for your serpent thing.

WEIRD GWEN

Your laughter will turn to tears and your joys to sorrows.

ROXANNE

Already happened, Gwen, but it’s coming back around. May we use your tunnel?

WEIRD GWEN

(suddenly friendly)

Of course you can, dear.

SETTING: Echo-y tunnel.

DOMINIC

*chuckles at Gwen’s turnabout*

I’ve got to admit, you’re a lot happier than yesterday. But that itself is kind of unsettling.

ROXANNE

I know that I sound crazy. I mean, if I heard this from someone else, I’d assume they just wanted it so bad, they made themselves believe it.

DOMINIC

Mm-hm.

ROXANNE

But that’s the exact reason to tell someone. So if this happens to other people, they’ll know they’re not crazy. If this is happening across the world, it could be really important.

*pause*

Don’t you think?

DOMINIC

You’re right about the crazy thing, but that’s not what worries me.

ROXANNE

What?

DOMINIC

People’s first thought will be “She’s crazy.” Second will be: “She hears the Lookers in her head. Maybe she’s an Alpha.”

ROXANNE

What? No. Really?

DOMINIC

Really. People are scared. Scared people act without thinking.

ROXANNE

But-

DOMINIC

You look normal. You sound normal. But so did Carrie Kray. How much do you really know about Alphas? Maybe some of them work for the Lookers without even knowing it.

SOUND: Roxanne stops their walk.

ROXANNE

Do you think I’m an Alpha?

DOMINIC

No.

ROXANNE

Do you think I’m crazy?

DOMINIC

No! But we can’t just barge in there talking about bird books. These are serious people. We have to see how this goes, then come forward at the right moment.

ROXANNE

So we wait?

DOMINIC

Yeah.

ROXANNE

God damn it! All we fucking do is wait.

DOMINIC

*long inhale*

Yeah.

SOUND: Walking on.

ROXANNE

Oh yeah, before all that with Shelly, I had The Dream. The real one, like you and everyone else have.

DOMINIC

Not fun, right?

ROXANNE

Not fun. I was afraid you’d go off and be a Looker with your Mom, like in your dream. But I held onto you as tight as I could. I was willing to fight or fuck or cry of do whatever it took to keep a hold of you.

DOMINIC

*another long inhale*

Let’s think of some other way we can prove the Shelly thing is real. Something they’ll have to believe.

SILENCE

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