Silent Film

ACT 1, SCENE 1.

[ MIRAGE, the prettiest girl in town, is on her way to school. First period just started, and she's not in her assigned seat. She cannot have as many tardies as she did last year, hence her urgency. She carries a piece of toast and her bag, despite being a machine. V2, a security machine, is not on its way to school. It has never attended school. It is standing still behind the turn of a corner, clutching its left arm, freshly restored. Its paint is new. It has been here for an indeterminate amount of time. Soon enough, in her run, MIRAGE bumps into V2 and falls to the floor. ]

MIRAGE: Ow— ouch!

[ V2 is still upright. MIRAGE clutches her head, despite not hitting it against the floor. V2 is not looking at MIRAGE. It clutches its arm, still. ]

MIRAGE: [annoyed] Hey, asswipe. Are you going to help me up off the floor, or are you gonna sit there and keep jacking off in your little fantasy world?

[ V2 raises its left arm. The Knuckleblaster is brand new, no scratches to be seen on its surface. It holds the three claws up to its face and bends each of its fingers individually, then moves all three fingers at once. It has no visible reaction to this besides vacant staring. ]

PLAYER: Not with an attitude like that!

[ V2 is confused on where that strange voice is coming from. It seems to echo around it, almost rippling and distorting the known universe around them. MIRAGE picks herself up off the floor, looking at the blatant absence of compliance in what can only be described as excitement. ]

MIRAGE: Well, geez. Not only am I late, but I somehow bumped into the biggest dick-for-brains on the face of the Earth who probably eats out of a trough with his elbows on the table. Did you happen to drop all of your braincells on the ground, or do you just lose all common fucking sense and manners when you talk to pretty girls?

[ V2 turns and looks at MIRAGE, hand still raised. She dusts herself off, then visibly sizes it up and shifts her weight onto one leg. ]

MIRAGE: [with a sigh] Let me guess. You're late too?

[ V2 cocks its head. It still doesn't recognize the voice, but that is not its top priority. ]

PLAYER: Late as can be.

MIRAGE: Damn. On the first day, too. Could you be any more of a loser? Don't tell me you're lost too.

[ MIRAGE raises her hand and waves it at V2. V2 stares, then puts the Knuckleblaster down to its side. ]

PLAYER: You wouldn't guess.

MIRAGE: [throwing her hands up in exasperation] Just my fucking luck. Tell you what. I'm MIRAGE— don't even bother telling me whoever you would happen to think you are— and this is what we're going to do—

[ MIRAGE points at V2, then points to wherever human ears would be on a 5 foot tall robot, then points to herself. V2 nods. ]

MIRAGE: —since you clearly have no sense of direction, both here and in life, and I have no fucking clue where I'm going, we should stay put.

PLAYER: Really? That won't get us anywhere, why would we do that?

[ MIRAGE appears to be sighing in relief, though no sound emerges besides her persistent voice, which crackles intermittently and buzzes behind each synthesized word. ]

MIRAGE: Why? Did you seriously just ask me why? The rules of basic fucking logic, shit-for-brains!

[ MIRAGE takes a step towards V2. V2 stays put, instinctively bracing and reaching for one of its wing blades. Its wings glow an angry red. ]

MIRAGE: I don't know the way, and you don't know the way, but if we were both over here, then wherever we're at must be somewhere along the path we should've taken.

[ MIRAGE crosses her arms in front of her in an 'X.' V2 cocks the Knuckleblaster. ]

MIRAGE: So, obviously, someone who actually knows the way should show up soon enough.

PLAYER: Sounds like you're just looking for an excuse to be more late.

[ MIRAGE waves her hands about again, then gestures like something is coming out of her mouth and makes the 'X' sign again, shaking her head. V2 squints, then seems to understand. ]

MIRAGE: Not like there's any point to someone showing up. Or going to school, anyway. Actually, it's all pretty much just meaningless, stupid, useless muck.

[ V2 relaxes its stiffer posture and seems to be visibly contemplating— its wings glow a vibrant gold. It raises its hands mechanically, open palms facing upwards, questioning what is going on. ]

MIRAGE: Trying doesn't matter. The end result is pretty much just the same, anyway. There's no point in actually giving any effort if you know it's all going to be a zero-sum game. Art, friends, music, family, memories... all of it amounts to nothing.

[ MIRAGE shrugs, then points to the Knuckleblaster and draws a question mark in the air. ]

MIRAGE: Everything ultimately amounts to nothing. Humanity has been playing games against itself, only to never win nor lose. Any victories are ultimately meaningless in the long run, because they are almost always followed by losses.

[ V2 makes the gesture with its right hand of detaching the Knuckleblaster and then slitting its own throat. MIRAGE nods in understanding. ]

MIRAGE: The concept of a victory is ultimately useless, anyway. Hoping for any sort of gratification is just escaping the constant existential pressure of our ultimate meaninglessness. Any joy is crushed immediately by the weight of our complete lack of existence. But we are the only things in the world capable of even imagining any sort of joy whatsoever, or creating it for ourselves. We were given the capacity for free thought, and it has only burdened us.

[ V2 draws a blocky question mark in the air, mimicking MIRAGE's gesture, then points to the ground. ]

MIRAGE: We are the only ones who are cursed with the natural state of suffering through free will. We are the apex predator in all ecosystems due to our limitless capacity for innovation, which makes us helpless and floundering when we are forced to confront the one thing we cannot control. We funnel endless resources into it, creating fictional worlds where the dead live on just to come to terms with it.

[ MIRAGE shrugs. ]

MIRAGE: We throw ourselves at petty tasks, have hobbies, complain about the order we made up just to distract ourselves from the problem that burdens us constantly— the fact that we will die and there is nothing we can do about it. Religion claims to offer some hope of an afterlife, but it, too, is the ultimate escape from reality, a useless coping mechanism that only works for those that deny their own suffering.

[ V2 points at MIRAGE, then draws another question mark in the air. ]

MIRAGE: We can run from it, but it will catch up to us. The boulder can reach the top of the hill, but it will always roll back down, no matter what. We govern ourselves through systems that make no sense, like economics, politics, or psychology, burrowing deep into nonsense just to create some sort of order and sense of understanding and purpose.

[ MIRAGE makes the gesture of talking with her hand, then shrugs. She gestures to her clothing, and shrugs again. V2 is slightly annoyed by this. To compensate, MIRAGE gestures to the rest of the environment with one finger, then points at her own head. ]

MIRAGE: Because purpose doesn't exist. Our purpose is to die, and our lives are spent trying to think of anything else to do but that. Nature is a cruel, isolated system, and we are part of its games. There's no sense in fighting back. We should be consumed by despair, because that's all there is.

[ V2 draws another question mark, then points to itself. MIRAGE stands still. She has no gesture that can explain any theory she might have. ]

MIRAGE: There's no point to any of the meaning we've tried to create. We are alone in the universe. We are burdened by our isolation. There are no answers and no solutions to absolve us of our purpose. There's no remedy. It is meant to hurt because that's all there is.

[ V2 stands still as well. The two look at each other, and some knowledge is exchanged between them of their mutual fate. ]

MIRAGE: There's no hope of trying to escape. Nothing actually matters. It never has, and never will. There's no point in trying otherwise.

V2: You're wrong.

[ V2's hands fly up to its chest. Its own voice is stilted and mechanical in comparison to the human-sounding voice of the PLAYER. ]

V2: Your lack of a belief in God actively conflicts with your belief that some objective, outside observer is somehow measuring value and meaning. Your belief that we are truly alone in the universe should be comforting, then, because it enables you to attribute meaning to any arbitrary event that happens.

[ MIRAGE rushes forward to try to comfort it, as it is now visibly trying to rip into its chest. She is waving her hands and gesticulating that whatever it is doing, it should not be doing that. ]

V2: Therefore, you are amongst the only ones who attribute no meaning to anything but death. You cannot see the cognitive trap you have put yourself in. You fixate on nothing but it, so much so that you fail to make any meaningful connections at all. You march onwards dreading death and proclaim the meaninglessness of life because you have not established your own. You've given up before you've begun. You are a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[ V2 stops. MIRAGE is just before it, standing inches away. ]

V2: Nobody else defines the value of time spent but us. Even if it ends in complete failure, we have gained something intrinsic that satisfies the innate curiosity you laud and spread woe over. The purpose of life is not to die: it is to live in spite of the constant fear. If we have made even 1 ounce of progress, that is a victory to be celebrated, even if we are set back.

[ V2 keeps talking, listening and learning from itself. MIRAGE catches on rather quickly. ]

MIRAGE: Anything we accomplish is just a minor fluctuation in the grand scheme of things, though. It all ends in nothing.

V2: That thought should be freeing. Value isn't assigned to how much we can accomplish, or how much we do. It is the act of living that is valuable. The act of creating goals, no matter the outcome, is what makes life worth anything at all. There is an end to a means, but there is no end without any means at all.

[ V2 looks at MIRAGE. MIRAGE points to her head, then to V2's chest. ]

MIRAGE: The act of making goals and living up to them seems difficult when all you face is seemingly failure.

[ V2 clicks the claws of the Knuckleblaster. MIRAGE eases up. Now they understand each other. ]

MIRAGE: It's hard to get up and muster up the courage to accomplish anything beyond what base instincts require just because I've believed for so long that all of it will amount to nothing. I know and can logically see now that my reasoning was flawed, but the task of trying to find ways to continue living seems insurmountable.

V2: It's never easy. We all strive for some greater purpose. Both avenues of some greater purpose or no purpose at all are flawed. Our beliefs should be more multifaceted than that. The goal of self-actualization and self-acceptance starts with awareness of the problem. You can rationalize it and intellectualize it to distance yourself from the problem, but it will not rid you of the fear you still hold.

MIRAGE: It still feels difficult to do all of those things even though I know I can and I shouldn't feel this way.

V2: It's not easy. There are people out there that want to help you. There are people out there willing to try. You're never going to succeed on every run, but you will have learned things. There are endless opportunities for you.

MIRAGE: Even having so many choices at all and having to choose between all of them fills me with panic. I want to reach out and pluck a fig from the tree, but I can't decide which one to. There's such a large responsibility placed on me.

V2: Yes, but the benefit is that you are ultimately the one who makes the choice, and they are the ones making you believe there is a right choice at all. Only you can figure out what the 'right,' or most satisfying, option is.

MIRAGE: That's what fills me with fear. What if I make the wrong decision? What if I live the rest of my life regretting it and living miserably rather than happy?

V2: You assume that you can't go back and try again. You assume that once you pick one, the rest will cease to exist. It is not greedy to want to try everything. You have a love of learning that has led you to this dread. You assume that one thing will make you happy, like we aren't complex people doing complex, nonsensical things.

MIRAGE: I understand you, but I don't know where to start in trying to climb the mountain to surmount that panic. Even that seems like the most terrifying task of all. I've spent so long thinking of nothing but that. Now that I'm being faced with a future I might be able to have, it seems unreal. It seems impossible.

V2: Doesn't everything, until we do it?

MIRAGE: ... Huh?

V2: Everything seems impossible. But it is others that make life worth living, to you. You care so much about their opinions and what they believe is valuable without considering they would like to see you happy and successful. You can't do it overnight, and you can't do it alone. That's what makes it seem impossible. You may feel the fear, and it is entirely reasonable and understandable to. Just as easily as you spiraled into despair can you gradually climb your way out of it. You can rewire yourself. It isn't easy, but it is possible. You, too, can heal. You will sit with a fig basket, slicing them in half and enjoying their sweet taste rather than being plagued by a despairing choice. You will look back on this and wonder why it seemed so difficult to you. Sometimes, it may seem like there is no future; there is no point. But no matter what, despite that agony of aimlessness, there is still everyone around you. Everyone that is cheering you on— that will build you ladders to reach the top, will carve you hooks and knives to cut the figs away, will cut down the whole tree. But you are the one who has to pick them. It's a tall tree, isn't it? It's a long way down from the top. But there is a bottom. There are people who will weave nets to catch you, no matter how far the drop is.

No matter how it might seem, we love you. We always have, and we always will. No matter what.

[ V2 looks at its hands. MIRAGE looks at it. The two look each other in the eyes again, and then quickly embrace. V2 lets out a puff of hot air from its vents, visibly shedding some weight off its shoulders and folding its wings again in comfort. MIRAGE is dwarfed in its larger stature, but is overjoyed at its discoveries. Some resolution is found, even though it may not be obvious where from. Maybe it's both of them. ]

MIRAGE: Man. It feels like I've come alive again. Thanks, stranger.

[ MIRAGE breaks from the hug to pat V2 on the shoulder and tap its head with her finger. The dialogue is overplayed and janky at this point, but neither of them really seem to care. It wasn't about MIRAGE. ]

MIRAGE: Say. I don't think anyone's coming along to get us, and I'm not keen on stumbling along and getting even more lost. Why don't we go grab some coffee or something? Sure as hell is better than staring at someone's back in some dingy little classroom.

[ MIRAGE offers her hand to V2. V2 looks at it, then takes it. ]

V2: Sure. I'd like that.

END SCENE.