Escape II

Escape From the System (Part II)
Scene One: Banquet Hall of the Archons.
(Dyanolo is discovered, prostrate, in the foreground. A raised dais extends across the back of
the stage. The scene resembles the stage at the beginning of the play, except that this is a
dimly lit interior. The Gate, as throughout the play, looms in the background.
(CLOWN enters cavorting and laughing. Perhaps he is rehearsing a new act. He is a happy
clown.)
Clown: Picking up rocks with his toes,
Tossing them into the air
Singing wherever he goes
Fools have never a care
Mortals he meets give him food
He dines on Propian’s meat
Jumpers in merciful mood
Give him the soles of their feet,
(laughs at his own joke)
Though they may treat him like dirt
Exor’s fool never will frown
But when he feels very hurt
His smile’s a frown upside down
(he laughs again)
Dyan: (groans)
Clown:What have we here? A corpse that’s still alive?
Or else a body that’s not yet quite dead.
How strange! And lying here, inside the hall
Where Exor and the immortals feast each time
They’re tired out by torture or by sex.
Although, the way they go about the two,
It makes no sense to give them different names.
(nudges Dyanolo with his foot)
Wake up, human, and tell me who you are,
Or what you are and what you’re doing here.
Dyan (looking around in a daze): What is this place? Who, or what, are you?
Clown: A fancy question, that. A fool can see
What I am. That’s just what I am, a fool.
As for this place, it’s just as obviously
A slop-hall, and one of the best at that.
But when it comes to you, one might well ask:
What is it? Above all, what does it do? [Wed 38]
Dyan: If I remember rightly, there were folks
Scurrying back and forth and all around
Within a great, cavernous hall of brass
Where music floated from behind the walls
In melodies that made me want to move.
Clown: It’s clear now what you are, you’re raving mad.
But don’t let anybody know the truth,
For once they do, they’ll put you in a cage
And pump all sorts of poisons in your head,
To cure you, so they say. I have my doubts,
Unless they mean to cure you of your life.
But have no fear, your secret’s safe with me.
I’m mad as well, you see, I’m one of you--
Or should I say, instead, you’re one of me?
Dyan (still somewhat dazed): There was a purple fountain in the room
Whose waters tasted sweet and made me faint.
I wanted to stay there and drink my fill
But I was pulled along by crowds of folk
Into another, more beautiful, room,
A silver room, where silver music played.
Cascading down the walls were watery sheets,
Reflecting light and sound from everywhere.
There seemed a million people in the room,
Who pushed and pulled me through it as before.
Another room enthralled me, all in gold,
And still the people swept me on again,
Though this time I was pulled around and back
Toward the place through which I’d come inside.
Once more I drank the purple fountain’s brew
And heard the music from within the walls.
Once more I faced the jumpers at the Gate…
Then, my memory fails. [wed 70]
Clown: Let me fill in
What you cannot: you faced the jumper’s gate,
Pushed by the crowd, you could not stop yourself
When the direction of the gate was changed
From out to in. The jumper barred the way
Against you with his stick. He struck, you fell.
As for the rest, the people dragged you off.
The jumpers would have left you there to die.
They brought you here because they were confused:
You bear no burden, hence you have no place,
Except perhaps to entertain the gods,
And so they left you in the banquet hall.
Dyan: Will I see Exor here?
Clown: Most probably.
But if you have no skill that you can use
To entertain him, Exor’s face may be
The last your hapless eyes will look upon. [wed 87]
Clown: That's dangerous. it always frightens them
Dyan: What sort of skill might come to my defense?
Clown:Well, that depends. If you can tell a joke--
(scrutinizes Dyanolo’s face)
Forgive me, humor’s plainly not your style.
Perhaps you tumble, roll, and leap about--
No, I can tell that you fall down a lot.
Which might suffice, if you could make them laugh.
They love to laugh. Immortals always have.
Your looks are kind of funny, real bizarre.
If there was only something you could do...
Dyan: There is one thing that I’ve been working on:
I’ve had some success at reading people’s minds.
Clown: That’s dangerous. It always frightens them
To learn that one of us can think at all.
Their lives are threatened by intelligence.
They hate to fear, just as they love to laugh.
An entertainer is expendable.
If you fail to amuse, you fail to live.
If you’re too good, the same fate awaits you.
Oh well, as long as there's no hope, relax.
You can't be much worse off and be alive!
Besides, if they appreciate your art,
You might get to the Garden of Delights.
Dyan: I've heard that name before— is Exor there?
Clown: Sometimes he is we; can't be very sure.
He comes and goes as he alone sees fit.
For all I know he might even be you.
You could be testing my fidelity--
By giving you these facts and helping you,
I could be sending myself to the labs
Or giving up my blood for Exor’s games. [Fri 32]
Dyan: Then you hate the archons?
Clown: I love them all!
Dyan: You'd like to see them overthrown?
Clown: But that never be, so long as Exor lives,
And Exor is immortal.
Dyan: So he says…
Clown: Enough of these treasonable speeches!
I’m simply Exor’s nimble-witted clown
and neither judge nor executioner.
You'd be wise to follow in my footsteps--
Be silent now! Immortals are arriving.
[As the two have been speaking, the guests have been arriving and seating themselves at low
tables. A Herald enters with a large staff and knocks against the floor with it. There’s a hollow
thump as he does so.]]
Herald: Attention and respect from all of you!
Your Lords and Masters enter in your midst.
Be thankful that they honor you this way,
Be mindful that you honor them as well.
[ Exor, Amar, and others enter and seat themselves on the dais ]
All: All hail Exor King of the Gods!
Let us see him now and forever!
Exor gives us lightning and life!
Without Exor, nothing is safe!
[ Amar rises and takes the staff from the Herald ]
Amar: The archons have good news to tell you all! [Fri 54]
Exor has announced to us his findings
Which he himself is taken with great care
Using instruments of his invention.
But who am I? I would not dare profane
With my base words Exor’s wonderful news.
first voice: Praised be the Gods !
Second voice: Praise Almighty Exor !
[ Exor rises slowly and is helped forward. Amar hands him the staff and Exor makes his speech
leaning on it ]
Exor: My children, I have news great news for you!
Our journey to the stars is almost past.
Not yours but each succeeding generation
Shall see the Stars high in the firmament.
Their hearts shall feel the glory of the gods,
Whose love has given them this miracle.
First voice: Praised be the Gods!
Second voice: Praise Almighty Exor!
Exor: Thank you, my children, yours is generous praise.
I will repay Faith you’ve had in me;
I won't betray the hopes of all mankind!
[ Exor is led back to his seat. Applause ]
Amar: You've heard the archon Exor's wondrous words,
He promised never to betray your trust.
What need was there for him to pledge himself?
Exor has never failed the faithful ones.
[ Applause ]
But there are those who would betray our Lord,
Whose treason knows no moral boundary,
Whose madness feeds on other, impure gods
Whose ultimate objective is the death,
Not only of our leader, but the death
Of Earth itself! Beware the treacherous ones!
Report their actions to our brave jumpers,
Remove the evil cancer of revolt. [Sat.34]
[More ecstatic applause. Shouts of “Kill them all!,” etc. ]
But now, be happy, join the Archons’ feast,
Bring on the entertainment, serve the food!
[ There is a commotion, with tables and chairs scraping the floor and platters being set down,
as the orders are carried out ]
[ Dyanolo tries to remain inconspicuous as the clown entertains. He is soon accosted by a
young lady who has assumed him to be a prostitute. He rejects the lady's advances, but this
only makes her more insistent. The Clown, on seeing his friend’s plight comes between the two
and attempts to make the whole matter into a joke without notable success. Dyanolo finally
breaks loose. ]
Lady: Seize that slave! He's a worthless malcontent,
a traitor.
Amar: What's he done?
Lady: Assaulted me—
That's right, that idiot assaulted me.
Amar: Your charge is grave but unbelievable.
Had he rejected you, you'd have a case
Against him; not a strong one, but a case
(The Lady turns away from Amar, dejected.).
Dyan: My Lord Archon, I beg an audience...
Amar: You have my ear.
Dyan: I need to speak with Exor. [Sat. 54]
Amar: Our Leader wouldn't waste his time on you.
Dyan: He seems to waste it on nothing at all.
Amar: I forget myself sometimes when I believe
Simply because your kind possesses eyes,
You have a mind behind them and can think.
But since you have no mind and cannot think
You aren't aware that others can and do.
So what may seem loafing to your crude mind
Lets me deduce that Exor’s lost in thought.
Speak to me now or never speak again.
Dyan: your words are harsh, what's worse they make no sense.
They might apply to others in the room
But not to me. Your mental faculties,
Perhaps those of the great Exor himself,
Must take second place behind my own,
For I can read the thoughts of both your minds.
[crowd murmurs indignantly]
First voice: He's talking treason.
Second voice: It's a blatant lie.
Amar: We waste no love or time on charlatans.
[ Speaking to guards ]
Remove this babbling imbecile at once!
Dyan: You're wondering where I've come from, who I am.
I read your thoughts as plainly as my own.
Amar: You're right, I do, but what unusual power
Is needed to reveal the common thought
That runs through every mind within this room.
And yet, your arrogance amuses me.
Exert your mental prowess on my thoughts
And tell me what I'm thinking about now.
Dyan: Your thoughts are fixed upon the golden door
That separates this Palace from the world
Of ordinary folk with simple lives.
Amar: Again, true, although your feat falls short
Of making me believe your heady claims
Why should I not be thinking of the door
That symbolizes Exor’s love for us
And tells us of the wonders of his quest.
Repeat your efforts once again and say
What shape you find my thoughts are taking now.
Dyan: Examine them yourself. I won’t reveal
The total content of your conscious mind.
But if you wish me to reveal that thing
Which dominates your dreams and waking thoughts,
Why then, it is the Sun, the source of life,
Whose place the Archon Exor now usurps.
Amar: Exor represents but not usurps,
For Gods are made by men, but light made man.
Unless we find another source of light,
Our doom is written on these cavern walls.
Our tunnels are dug deeper than before
As inner warmth recedes beneath our picks,
And every shovel full of gravel leads
Us closer to the center of the earth.
[ Addresses the audience ]
Propian Exor is our only hope—
Our world is fashioned by his wondrous plan ,
His skill and knowledge shape our destiny! [Tues 57]
All: All hail Exor, King of the Gods!
Let us see him, Now and forever!
Exor gives us lightning and life
Without our guide, no one is safe!
[ Exor awakes with a start and stands up to begin a speech. ]
Exor: My children, I have news, great news for you!
Our journey to the stars is almost past--
Amar: His thoughts are always for his children’s health.
(To Slave) Tell him to relax, his speech is over.
(to Dyanolo) You've guessed my mind three times and that's enough.
I can't tell whether by trickery or by chance
Or if you do possess the powers you claim.
Nevertheless you have been entertaining,
And so have earned the highest of rewards
The Archons can bestow upon their slaves:
Some time within the garden of delights.
And if your fortune there remains as good
As you have found it here within this hall,
You may receive a closer glimpse of Exor
when he arrives to keep his nightly tryst.
For now, begone! Your presence has become
Inimical. You weigh our Spirits down,
We wish them to be lifted up again.
Bring on the dancers, food and wine,
Help us forget the whining of this fool. [Tues 82]
Scene Two: a darkened passageway with alcoves facing the audience.
(Dyanolo enters tentatively. As he walks along the passageway, the lights in an alcove go on,
revealing its occupant, an attractive female. He takes another couple of steps and the lights go
out.)
Dyan: I've reached the end and still not quite the end.
I've found the garden of delights, it's true,
But not a single glimpse of Exor’s robe.
[ The lights goes on in one of the alcoves. A figure within beckons to Dyanolo. ]
Another one, I fear I've come too far.
If my intentions were just innocent,
I would have halted long before this room
And probably been better served as well.
[ light goes off ]
This place’s usefulness escapes my ken
But then again, I have no flesh to yield
Even if my emotions were inclined.
[ light goes on in another alcove. Dyanolo stops suddenly. ]
What's this? It has Semalia’s face and form…
She must have beckoned someone else like that
When she resided in this awful place.
Voice: Dyanolo! I've been waiting here so long.
Dyan: This shadow has the same familiar voice—
It's not so strange or worth wondering at…
They make their shades to order, 10 or more,
Although they lose individuality
By making ten humans in the same mold.
Voice: Your time is past, my son, return to me!
Dyan: It is my mother! They've brought her here
And shackled her to that couch again!
My obligation clearly lies with her.
Wait —it's not possible, she can't be real—
[The light goes out and Semalia’s image vanishes in darkness]
Dyan: She's gone. But was it my imagination
Or is this part of some fantastic game
And I a catspaw for a lunatic?
I hear a noise. I'd better hide somewhere.
I've come too far to let my plans be spoiled
By some sadistic jumper’s deadly blow.
(Dyanolo hides in the shadows.)
[ Exor comes onstage accompanied by slaves who carry lamps and support him. He appears
drunk or drugged. An alcove lights up. The slaves deposit Exor on the floor and depart. Dyanolo
steps into the light. ]
Dyan: They locked us in. My only chance is lost.
Right now I'll sleep, confined with a drunkard.
When I wake up, I'll be discovered here
And all my good intentions count for none.
Exor: My friends and fellow citizens of Earth—
Dyan: I spoke too soon. This groggy bag of guts
Is Exor himself, drunken and helpless.
Could it be worth my while to kill this man?
Would his murder be an assassination?
Exor: They've brought me back again— but who are you?
And why are you looking at me that way?
Dyan: Can't you recognize your oldest friend?
Exor: I'm sure I've never seen your face before.
Dyan: Mine is the face of your death, mighty Exor.
Exor: You've come to torment me. You are not the first
Whom my friend Amar has sent to mock me.
You might as well go back and say you've failed,
Although your failure may cost you your life.
I can't help that. All I want is to sleep.
Dyan: And sleep I'll give you willingly—with this!
(He draws a knife and brandishes it menacingly)
Exor: Oho, he means to back his words with deeds.
If I were you I'd leave while I still could.
Dyan: You'll find that I'm more difficult to bluff
Than those fools who believe your promise
Of new beginnings and a different Sun.
Don't move--I'll kill you if you call for help.
I'd like to see you begging for your life,
Although I will not leave before you're dead.
Exor: Your life is in more danger here than mine.
You can only make them feel more secure,
Since they've deceived their enemies as well
As they deceived their admiring slaves.
So kill me if you can—my heart is here.
I've no excuse for living any more.
Dyan: You can't escape your rightful punishment.
You showed the way that mankind follows now,
Your crimes are numerous as the grains of dust
That lie upon the staircase leaving hell.
Your IOU is grasped inside my fist;
I'm the collector of overdue bills.
Exor: You're right, I am to blame most of it,
The suffering, broken promises, lost hopes.
But my power is gone now, and others rule.
They keep me in this room against my will,
They give me drugs to wake me, drugs for sleep,
Another drug to make me give a speech.
Among my subjects, I alone am sleeping,
I see the faces crowding around me
As if they were but images in dreams.
The faces fade, their features become blurred,
They separate, expand, then reunite,
Then reassemble to a single face,
A face that stares at me with hollow eyes
That laughs insanely hat my impotence,
Until they send me back to my prison,
Where I seek sleep again but dare not dream.
What guilt was mine has long since washed away
Eternities of suffering still await me
Unless you kill me right now—which is why
I know your mission here cannot succeed.
Someone has killed your victim already--
It's impossible to murder a ghost.
Dyan: This gives me more grief than it brings to you.
There's not a fragment of resistance left
Inside your mind. Your willingness to die
Substantiates the unbelievable.
You want to die—it's more than you deserve.
Your punishment should long outlast the crime.
The sentence they've imposed upon you here
Is a most fitting one. Your servitude
Is both eternal and extremely harsh.
How difficult for one so powerful
To endure slavery and impotence!
But your tormentors, too, are criminals.
You educated and nurtured your successors
The strength they exercise was forged by you,
The evil deeds they perpetrate are yours.
You share their guilt and therefore you must die.
This is the sentence I decree, Exor,
Your time of execution is at hand.
Exor: Yes, yes but do it quickly!
( Two jumpers emerge from the darkness. One touches Dyanolo with a stick and he collapses.
They drag him off as Amar enters with a bodyguard.)
Exor: He spoke well
But hesitated when he should have struck.
Amar: Imprisonment has not improved your wits,
Old fool, if you consider me so weak
That he could find you without my knowing.
This little scene was played out as a farce
For my amusement. Did you find it droll,
The way he stumbled onto your prison
Without suspecting I had helped him there?
And wasn't that a charming speech he made?
I hope you found it pleasant—I was pleased.
I'm only sorry it couldn't last longer,
It's difficult to entertain myself,
I've seen it all and done it all before.
But it's impossible to make you laugh.
You mangy drunkard. Why do I even try?
You've lost your humor along with your wits!
Exor: Amar, my friend and colleague, bear with me.
My senses are all gone it's true, save one:
The sense I have of my degradation.
You're winning now but soon will come a change.
I, perhaps, would help you avert your fate
If you would just restore my youth and strength
And give me back my dignity.
Not my rank--you may keep what you've earned
I don't want much—
Amar: And you will get even less
You simpering imbecile. You take me for a mark
That you can con like all those other fools
Who bow and scrape before your god-like feet,
Who eat the dust of Aeons through your crimes?
Exor: My crimes are old, about to die, like me.
Your sins are fresh, increasing all the time.
You need not hold me here to keep your throne.
The great are known by their merciful acts...
Amar: ...Or by their cruelty. you taught me well,
Exor, you only made a single slip
By trusting me oh, and I will not forget
and give someone a chance to betray me.
[ Amar gives a sign and Exor is tranquilized by a slave. Another slave helps him to his bed and
lays him down upon it. ]
I would continue but my pleasure calls
I wish you could assist me when I go.
There seems to be a singular affair,
A creature who's all mind and nothing else
Awaits my skillful touch and sharp scalpel.
Goodbye and pleasant dreams, Divine Exor.
I will need your help again before too long.
[Amar leaves. Fade out]
Scene three: an empty place,
( Argus Wohl enters, accompanied by others. )
Wohl: Here we approach outer boundary
Of Exor's Palace. Take care not to speak,
Trust no one we may meet along the way.
The Archon's spies are lurking everywhere.
They may be paid or unwittingly used,
But what we do not know as certainty
Is best supposed as hostile to our cause.
Voice: What is this cause you speak of?
Wohl: The rescue
Of Dyanolo from the Archon's hands.
Voice: But might we not encounter men,
the jumpers, who will seek to repel us?
Wohl: Of course, there is that chance, but I have prepared
This weapon, far superior to their sticks—
If I had had more time, there would be more,
But one should be enough to reach our goal.
Voice: I do not fear we might lose to them
But rather that we might succeed too well.
If Exor should be killed who would rule us?
Wohl: You'd rule yourselves.
Voice: But we don't have the skill—
Some folk believe that we are not humans
But mutants on some lower plane than them.
Wohl: And if you were, should he usurp your rights
To make decisions for yourselves alone?
Voice: We are ill-prepared for that. If we make
The wrong decisions out of ignorance,
We could destroy Earth as well as ourselves.
Voice: you go beyond our knowledge Wohl,
We asked for nothing save your leadership.
If you are satisfied our cause is just,
We will stand beside you though it means our death.
Wohl: I do not ask obedience like this,
Only a fool would turn his back on it.
Come with me then, be quiet, stay alert.
With luck we'll rescue Dyanolo soon
And not alert the powers that captured him.
[ Scene 4: the brightly lit hall of the Archons ]
All: All praise be given to Propian Exor,
Archon of Earth, Ruler Sublime
May this sentence be given to all traitors:
Exile from light till the end of time.
Amar: Assemble, Immortals, our Archon arrives.
Listen intently to all he will say;
His message is vital to each of our lives,
He is guiding us through to a wonderful day!
Voices: What information has Exor received?
All that he tells us will be believed!
Have his experiments shown us the way?
Can he announce the appointed day?
Amar: Your questions won't stay unanswered for long,
Your leader's about to appear!
So raise up your voices in worshipful song
To please His Majesty's ear!
All: Has ever a ruler been granted to folk
who so far exceeded their desires?
Propian Exor has saved us again
Our thanks are all he requires.
Amar: Numberless megaseconds ago
We lost our way in space.
Our sun exists no more.
We had but a moment's Grace;
We called on science to save the lives
Of generations Unborn
Earth's nations erupted in civil strife.
Though they treated their Leaders with scorn
To one man alone Humanity turned
To him we entrusted our cause
For his achievements that man earned
Everlasting Applause
All: Enter, Exor speak, dispense, and prosper!
Exor: I come before you, my beloved folk
On special worldwide video-vision band
To tell you, all the remnants of mankind
the state of our Interstellar Crusade--
[ tumult without ]
[ aside ] Make them stop that noise! we're broadcasting live!
My friends and fellow imbeciles—silence!
What's going on outside the palace gate?
Voices: down with Exor! Down with the tyrant!
Exor: Amar, what's this? you told me I'd be safe
You have betrayed me. She is your traitor, there!
Amar: You're a fat, silly, senile man
And not a god as you proclaim yourself.
Tell that to those poor fools who worship you!
Exor: I am not a god— immortal, yes, perhaps—
I'm not so certain now how long I'll live
Now that you have no further use for me.
It was that boy's fault, that I'm sure about.
He made you change your plans for me,
He wanted me to die, you needed me—
I am Promian Exor, archon of the Earth.
Guards, arrest the traitor Rozlit Amar!
( Wohl enters, accompanied by others. He brandishes a handgun )
Wohl: Ignore that order! Listen carefully:
This new weapon I hold makes me your God
As all those who tried to stop us found out.
You, Exor, keep your place, don't try to leave.
There is nowhere left in this world to hide,
No one to lie to, no one to protect.
You stand alone, unaided, unallied.
Now answer, if you wish to breathe again,
Before I end your worthless existence,
Where is the mutant called Dyanolo? 510
If he no longer lives, neither will you!
Amar: You only make the old man suffer more;
He doesn't know and no one knows but me:
I am that Dyanolo whom you seek.
Wohl: What do you mean? Can no one speak the truth?
Can someone tell me the answer right now?
Harbor no doubt: This weapon I have made
Will work as well on women as on men!
Amar: A point well taken and one often missed:
The line between the two is rather vague 520
And is sometimes just as hard to describe
As the line that separates truth from lies.
I did not always occupy the shape
And spirit that you see before you now.
I once appeared in the form of a man
Though even then my appearance was false.
Before then, I was a genderless mass
Who you, dear doctor, did not think alive
Until I learned how to communicate
With creatures like yourself and Patra Slev. 530
Wohl: But then you are Dyanolo himself?
Amar: I’m also Rozlit Amar. I took her form
Almost by accident, when she began
To separate my body from my mind.
In fear, I fled before the knife and found
Myself observing her, observing me.
For in my haste I left behind the shell
My soul had looked on as its only home,
I hovered over them, to watch my fate.
But even as I watched, I felt an urge
To stop the perpetration of that deed
Which Amar hoped to practice my corpse.
My thoughts outran my will and stopped the hand
As she was raising it to make the cut.
I stopped the hand, but also somehow I
Entered Amar’s mind and controlled her thoughts,
In fact, my will became Amar’s master,
And remains master of her body and mind.
( Amar stops speaking and looks around the room. )
I do not see Semalia she safe?
Wohl: Within two times of when we found your corpse,
The body I had made to house your mind,
She decided she could not bear standing by
When you might need her help so she went out..
She hoped to save you, but I fear she's lost.
Amar: And on the brink of our deliverance.
Let me inform you, Wohl, of what I've learned
Imprisoned in this fleshly residence,
Whose office I retain, whose thoughts I know.
Our Earth is not adrift in trackless space
As we had feared. Exor plotted its path
Before the lure of power corrupted him
And once his mind was warped he couldn't change
What once he had done without hope of reward.
Rozlit Amar did try to change the course
When she had wrested power from her Lord,
But this one deed remained beyond her scope.
She could, however, keep secret the news
That we have arrived at our destination.
Wohl: You do not take me by surprise my friend.
I’ve long suspected that we've reached our goal.
When Patra and I had tried to grow plants
By gravity lantern light, we always failed:
The light they cast was too feeble for that.
But when Samilia planted seeds, they grew
And bloomed as well, fruited and cast their seeds.
I reasoned then that something must have changed
Since the last time we had tried to sow seeds,
And if the force of gravity had grown
It must have been because we reached a star
Whose gravity had augmented our own.
One further fact I know that you don't:
Before we entered into this Palace
Because not know we would succeed,
Or rather, that success was ours already,
Although it may turn out to be a mistake,
We found the engines that propelled the Earth
On her pilgrimage through the universe.
We shattered the mechanisms there
So the trek could no longer continue.
We thought we weighed every alternative
Then made the proper choice, but we were wrong.
We may yet have to pay for our mistake.
Amar: You never had a choice, you acted well,
Your shrewdness in keeping with your goal,
To save the people of Earth from slavery,
The people needed you to wake them up.
They had let their mental faculties decay
And sold their bodies into servitude.
Their idle intellects had atrophied;
They sold their bodies into servitude.
But now, you've forced the people to rebel,
No longer can they huddle together
Behind the walls of false security.
They must break out. The surface awaits them.
Wohl: Then let us go ahead and lead them there.
Exor: But what of me--have I a role to play?
I led them once before and can again.
You tell me I'm not that much to blame,
A victim of the time and circumstance—
I need another opportunity
To make some restitution for my crimes.
Amar: You may follow. You can still play that role.
Exor: No, no, I can't! My subjects need me here,
My Throne is here, my Palace, and my place.
I'll stay behind, I'll be the ruler here.
You fools, you think you're going to lead the way,
But leaders are cut down, they move too fast.
Rulers are the ones who remain behind.
Call out the guards, remove these mendicants,
Who intend to beg themselves a kingdom!
Amar: You need not order us to leave this place;
This soon will be your final Monument.
You plundered all the treasures of the Earth,
To fill the catacombs of your tomb!
Hail, mighty Exor, your long rule is done,
You can take your well-earned retirement,
Your diligence earned you eternal rest.
Wohl: On to the surface rise to greet the Sun! [ they all leave together.]
[ scene 5: Before the Gate ].
(the lights, which have been increasing in intensity throughout the entire action of Part II, have
almost reached their level of the first scene. The Gate becomes the focal point of attention once
again, although this time the opposite side of the gate is exposed to view. Rocks and gravity
lanterns reveal the locale as the Earth's interior.)
[ Slev enters ]
Slev: There's no one here but me—am I the one
To find the surface of the Earth again?
How was it lost, why did we go below?
Were we so certain that the sun was dead?
There must have been some other way to live,
We chose the easy path too hurriedly,
Before our minds recovered from the shock.
We should not live from second to second
Without a chance to use our gift for thought.
There will be time for thought again up there,
The time from which we all had hoped to flee,
In endless flight that lead us from the truth,
That we meant to die like all things living,
Our Dreams cannot become reality.
Reality mocks them, plays with our hopes,
Toys with our feelings, and turns them to dust,
Along with ourselves.
Amar: Hola, Slev, you came back!
Slev: Only you two? where are all the others?
Wohl: Gone, they're all gone. They left some things behind,
In all their dreams they never planned on this,
To return to the surface, to see the sun.
What are we waiting for? Let's go on up...
Slev: I'm going up before you and alone!
Wohl: You have no right!
Slev: ( brandishing a jumper’s prod ) This stick gives me the right.
Amar: She earned the right to go.
Wohl: The honor is great,
She may have that but she runs a risk too.
Amar: Our friend earned the risk, but not the honor.
Long ago I talked to her with Exor.
Exor was still innocent at that time
Though weak, he’d saved the Earth from oblivion.
You had a mind that probed life's secret store,
And used the lamp of science like a torch.
But you were also weak; you wanted life,
An everlasting life. I wanted more,
I wanted power forever; I used Slev
To reach my goal. I feared that you would change,
Grow stronger, turn your genius against me.
I used Slev to keep you from succeeding.
She kept me informed of your intentions
And kept you occupied with your work.
When at last, despite her efforts, she failed,
And Your creation, Dyanolo, came
To put an end to my corrupt regime,
She even told me that, to save herself--
Wohl: Can this be true? Please tell me she's lying!
Slev: It's true. You would have known it long ago
If you yourself were not so arrogant
When you had made me immortal as well.
You were so sure. You went before the Gods
And bargained for your own life, making them
Able to live beyond the reach of time.
A powerful bribe! What did I have to match
That might persuade them to keep me alive?
Only our friendship, which I willingly
Betrayed. It would have died anyway
For the friendships of a corpse are worthless.
Wohl: What do you hope to gain by treachery
Now that your days of servitude are past?
Give me your weapon, let us end this war.
Slev: But, don't you see, I have the chance at last
To atone for my former cowardice?
It may be dangerous beyond the gate,
Better were for one to go on ahead.
That way if death should await us outside
The rest of us might live to find a way
To rescue Earth folk from fate another time.
Wohl: Then go, bring back news of our salvation
As you have brought our friendship back to life.
[Slev leaves through the back portal]
So leaves the first out of this labyrinth
In which mankind has languished for so long.
Let's hope she's not the last to walk that path.
Amar: You're mistaken. Patra is not the first
Semalia must have gone outside before.
She left after looking for me in vain
Or else she heard that I had been captured
And when she lost all hope of saving me,
She had to turn to helping someone else.
My mother often dreamed of seeing the sun
Spreading its light throughout her songs and dreams:
[Semalia's song of the Sun]
I wander through the dusty corridors
Through tunnels leading ever steeply up
I fear what may be waiting t the top
Beyond the last of all the unlocked doors
My feet grow wearier with every step
And every step inclines more upwardly
The gravel, fine and round, opposes me
I trip, I fall, I creep, I stand, even though I slip
The blood pounds through my temples to my brain
The thudding robs my ears of other sound
The darkness seems to thicken all around
At last I find a passage leading down
The downward path relieves my growing fear
Restores my breath, if not my sight
But soon the swelling ground dims my delight
And with the rising path discomforts reappear
My insufficient strength is nearly gone
I stop and stare into the solid black
And then as if a curtain is pulled back
I see a hole and through that hole the sun!
Wohl: This was Semalia's song? She never saw the day
And yet she dreamed what it was like so well
She must have had some hint of what would come.
But if you're right, and she's been at this place,
Why has she not returned to guide us here?
Amar: Perhaps she could not find the gate again,
Or if she could, she could not bring herself
To leave the wonders of the Earth behind,
To tread once more the dark descending stair.
Wohl: A scientist can hardly realize
With what great difficulty others strive
To leave behind their pleasures and their joys
For Slev and me it's a simple matter:
We're trained to sacrifice our selfish goals
In pursuit of truth and increased knowledge
Amar: So we've sent the right person ahead,
[Slev enters]
Look, here comes Patra Slev back to report
Although from her looks the news must be bad.
What news do you bring us of Earth above?
Is there a sun, an atmosphere to breathe,
Are the skies as blue as they were before?
Slev: The skies are black, the sun is black also.
Our hopes have been destroyed, the play is done.
When we destroyed the engines down below,
We ended life on Earth. We had a chance,
We might have fled the star that draws us,
Pulling us closer even as we speak.
Wohl: What evidence did you find of that star?
It may be in eclipse, it may be night,
Another star may be about to rise.
Slev: Night it undoubtedly is and shall remain.
I saw another companion object
But what few shreds of light it still emits
Are sucked into the black hole beside it
As surely as gravity sucks water
Swirling down a drain. We are all lost,
In the end the black hole will doom us in.
Amar: I've read about these objects that give off light
Only to reabsorb their own emissions.
Our time in space is surely ended now.
Wohl: No, never yield until the battle's fought.
Who could have dreamt that man would vanquish death
And yet I did that very thing myself?
Amar: Your optimism is a bit premature--
What seemed to be accomplished yesterday
Is far from certain now.
Wohl: That I can't accept.
A scientist knows no limitations.
The simple thought of failure does us harm.
We shall survive!
Amar: There may be other worlds
That you've already robbed of colonists.
Light can't escape a singularity;
How will we escape once we've come this close?
Slev: She's right. We've finally encountered a force
Beyond our power to temper or to flee.
Wouldn't it be better if we faced our end
With true courage rather than with false hopes?
Formerly, people called on deities
To lend them strength when theirs had been exhausted;
Oh, would that some such power remained to us!
Wohl: Our God was always Science, yours and mine,
But now She seems to have abandoned us.
Of what further use is our knowledge now?
Amar: There may be a different kind of knowledge
A knowledge of ourselves. For if it's true
That gravity will accelerate our speed
Until we reach the speed of energy,
Then time itself will slow down to the same degree
Until it finally stops altogether.
That point will be the instant of our death.
Dictation 42
The thought we hold in mind at that instant
Is frozen into all eternity.
So concentrate on happiness and peace
So death itself will bring you peace and joy.
Wohl: But I just said we should not give up hope
And you disagreed. Now you seem to say
Along with me that we should keep our faith.
Amar: Your so-called faith may lift your spirits up
Just so long as your will is still awake
But death is not so easily deceived.
False hopes are like a shifting foundation
Above which happiness will never rise.
Slev: When the end arrives, the light will increase
A thousand-fold and shine ever after.
Amar: For those who set their minds on truth and bliss
But for the others, the light will fade away,
Darkness will snatch the vision from their eyes.
The light will disperse and the world will end
In the midst of a breath…
[Semalia enters, carrying a large bouquet of flowers]
Sem: What’s taking so long?
Come on outside. There’s a soft Spring breeze
Fresh and clean, just before the dawn breaks through
The dark of night. There’s a golden lining
Along the horizon. I’ve never felt
Something so astonishing in my life!
You’re all wasting time. Where’s Dyanolo?
Amar: He’s here! I borrowed Rozlit Amar’s form
After she sought to extinguish my life force;
Now she may never recover her mind.
Slev: But it’s dark outside! And a deadly black hole
Is consuming the new sun in its maw.
Sem: Breathtakingly beautiful but dreadful.
Slev: There’s no hope left; the Earth will soon be dust.
Sem: Soon? But Patra, we can’t tell how long a time
It will take for the Earth’s end to arrive.
We don’t know how far away the black hole lurks.
Eighty million miles and a few years left?
Or three times that and a billion years left?
Slev: The sky is black, there’s a frost in the air.
The cause of humankind is lost on Earth...
Sem: Yes, the sky is dark and the air is cold.
It’s the hour before dawn when stars blink out.
There is a singularity above
But another star is about to rise,
A friendly sun that has nurtured plant life
Like the flowers I brought with me as proof.
There’s a wonderful opportunity here
To study plants grown under a new sun
And learn all the secrets of a black hole.
What are we waiting for here? Let’s go up
And greet the new sunrise for the first time!
(They all leave through the great gate in the back of the stage. It closes behind them
with a resounding clang.)
Blackout