A One-Act Play

CAST:
Junior Scientist Xinaya
Costume: Short and slender, this female lucidian hardly looks old enough to have attained the rank of scientist. She stands barely tall enough to look over laboratory counters and tends to carry herself with a nervous, eager-to-please air. The pale green crystal of her features is still soft and undefined with youth, giving her a gentler, more vulnerable appearance than most lucidians. However, she wears her spotless white lab coat with pride and her glittering emerald eyes shine with intellect and energy that are clear to see.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace
Costume: Clad in scales of crystalline armour, this custodian wears a stern, dutiful expression as well as a pair of maces at his waist at all times. His broad shoulders and long, muscled limbs give the impression of competence and fitness. Coppery red feathers adorn both his large, powerful wings and the crown of his head, their vivid colour a sharp contrast to his pale skin and sharp grey eyes. However, when he smiles, his features soften and his eyes reveal a warmer, kindlier disposition.

SCENE:
Atop the Amethyst Generator, a single crystal bridge stretches upward from the platform supporting the generator to the massive chamber that houses the Transdimensional Flux Core. From above, the Amethyst Generator looks even more complicated and elaborated, with countless crystal tubes, levers, wires, and displays attached to the central core, which pulses violently with bright violet light. Along the bridge, dozens of crystalline pipes and conduits conduct energy toward the central chamber. The surroundings constantly pulse with dazzling light in complex patterns and blinding electric sparks that dance across the wires and conduits at unpredictable times and intervals.

ONE ACT

As the curtains part across the stage, glowing violet light fills the auditorium as the slender crystal bridge that connects the Amethyst Generator to the Transdimensional Flux Core is unveiled. Clear crystal conduits and pipes conduct energy to the generator to the central chamber with bright pulses of plum-coloured light.

Junior Scientist Xinaya stands in the middle of the bridge, her white lab coat contrasting with the pale-green crystal of her short, slim figure. Standing with her back to the audience, she appears absorbed in attaching a complicated-looking calibration device to an energy conduit.

XINAYA: (turning around to face the audience) Bah! How many times has the Senior Scientist lectured me about the Demon Lords being in the details? Two - no, three years I spent crafting this device, making sure it was capable of optimising the flow of energy to the central core without overloading.

XINAYA: (in frustration) So, why won't it work?

Junior Scientist Xinaya finally seems to adjust the device's settings and position in the conduit to her satisfaction. Stepping back, she takes a moment to admire her work.

XINAYA: (pushing the large "On" button on the device) Aha! At last, it's in place. Now, to turn it on…

An eye-wateringly bright arc of pure energy flashes across the bridge as Xinaya activates the energy-calibration device, followed immediately by a shower of brilliant white sparks. Some sparks land on other conduits and pipes, and others strike Xinaya's skin, causing her to gasp in pain. Most of the blazing sparks of energy, though, fall onto the crystal bridge and quickly melt the surface with their heat.

Junior Scientist Xinaya lets out a cry of panic as the bridge beneath her feet turns as thick and viscous as mud and she begins sinking into the melting crystal. Waving her arms, Xinaya tries to grab hold of something, which only causes her to sink even faster. Soon, she is up to her neck in melted crystal.

XINAYA: Help! I'm trapped! Someone help me!

The cold, monotone voice of the alarms speaks from the surroundings, drowning her out, "ALERT. Unexpected malfunction has occurred at the Amethyst Generator. Energy overload imminent. Immediate action is required."

Drawn by the blaring alarms, groups of inspectors, custodians, and comptrollers rush toward the Transdimensional Flux Core to assess the dire situation. Gasps of horror echo across the crystal bridge when they behold the melted crystal of the bridge and the burned, blackened crystal pipes and conduits.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace rushes onto the bridge along with his fellow custodians. Scanning the vicinity quickly but thoroughly, he is the first to spot Xinaya trapped in the liquid, melted crystal of the bridge.

TULOMRIC: (pointing at Xinaya) Look there! Isn't that one of the lucidian scientists there on the bridge? We have to get her out!

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace leads a group of his fellow custodians forward to help Xinaya out, while others check the generators for damage. The melted crystal is like quicksand underfoot, though, and anyone who attempts to reach her is clearly in the danger of sinking as well.

Retreating from the crystal, the custodians shout encouraging words to the lucidian scientist and try to come up with an alternative method of rescue. One of them throws a rope to Xinaya, who pulls a hand free of the crystalline mire and tries to move, but immediately sinks a little deeper.

TULOMRIC: This will never do. Wait a moment, and let me see if I can help.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace bravely wades forward into the quagmire of melting crystal, wincing as he feels its viscous heat through his scale mail but enduring the pain resolutely. He fights his way forward until he is just barely within arm's reach of the rope and Xinaya's free hand.

TULOMRIC: Don't move, Junior Scientist. We'll have you out of here in a moment. Just stay still, and we'll find a way. This shouldn't take more than a moment. Let me see...

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace stretches his long arms forward as far as they can go and manages to grasp the end of the rope with his fingertips. Slowly and carefully, he tugs it toward Xinaya and ties it in a knot around her outstretched wrist. Then he signals to his fellow custodians to pull on the other end of the rope.

As soon as the rope tenses, though, Xinaya lets out a scream of pain. They tried again, and slowly her shoulder and arms emerged from the crystalline muck, but they cannot manage to move her any further. She still remains trapped.

XINAYA: Stop! It's not working!

XINAYA: (gasping with pain) It's my legs... I think there are impurities in the crystal, air bubbles creating suction. They're pulling me down...

XINAYA: Perhaps if you..." Pausing for a moment, she clears her throat and assumes a more peremptory, high-caste tone. "I mean, get some poles or more ropes and construct a lever or fulcrum! I believe that might help lift me out more efficiently. Hurry!

Following the Junior Scientist's instructions, the custodians hasten to acquire the materials she described and return with coils of rope and two flat crystal planks. For the next few hours, they struggle to knot the planks and ropes together in a workable configuration that can extricate Xinaya from the crystalline quicksand in which she is caught.

Every tug, however, proves agonising for Xinaya, and none of their efforts manage to budge her further out of the crystal. Discouraged by the seeming hopelessness of the situation, the other custodians drift away one by one, preferring to assist Senior Scientists with running diagnostic tests on the generators.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace stubbornly remains upon the bridge, scowling at his colleagues' retreating backs.

TULOMRIC: (balling his hands into fists) Isn't the life of one scientist worth more than checking for the hundredth time that the generators are working normally?

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace unravels the last attempt at a lever and lays one crystal plank atop the melted crystal to hold his weight. Then he inches forward along the plank until he is only a few feet away from Xinaya. He places the other plank under the Junior Scientist's arms to help buoy her up.

XINAYA: (slightly out of breath) I am...much obliged to you, Custodian. Now...now that the crystal is starting to cool, it is starting to harden around me. It is getting more difficult for me to maintain my position.

TULOMRIC: (his voice softening) Don't worry, Junior Scientist, I promise we'll get you out of here.

XINAYA: (weakly) I've been thinking about it... What we need is a resonating harmonic pump that can break up the air bubbles. I've seen one before, in the Institute. You need to get hold of it.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace immediately calls over the closest scientist he can see to request the pump. To their disappointment, though, the scientist tells the determined trill and the ensnared lucidian that the pump is being used in a classified scientific experiment and cannot be released until the following day.

TULOMRIC: We can't wait that long! Hurry, get it as fast as you can! By the order of the city!

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace pulls out three sets of official requisition forms bearing a red "Emergency Directive" seal from his pack, scribbles his signature and orders on all of them, and throws them directly into the scientist's arms.

TULOMRIC: (in a hard voice) Take those and show them to your superiors, so they'll release the pump. Please. A scientist's life is at stake here!

Startled, the scientist takes one look at the triplicate set of forms in his arms and opens his mouth as if to protest. Then he looks over at Xinaya's head and shoulders poking out of the crystal bridge and scurries away.

TULOMRIC: (turning back to Xinaya) Keep strong, Junior Scientist. We'll get that pump soon." Trying to change the subject, he asks, "What is your name? How did you get in the middle of all this?

XINAYA: (slightly breathlessly) I am Junior Scientist Xinaya, of the Amethyst Research Laboratory. I was working on a device to...increase the efficiency of the energy flow to the central chamber. But it seems the device still needs...a little improvement.

TULOMRIC: Tell me, how was your device supposed to work?

XINAYA: (her face brightening) Oh! Well, you see, I noticed while studying the Transdimensional Flux Core...as part of my University thesis that some of the energy from the generators is lost during transfer to the Core due to...

XINAYA: Well, I don't know how familiar you are with how the Core operates, but some of the energy is lost due to magnetic resonance with the crystalline conduits. And this made me think, "What if I...?"

The two continue talking, as Xinaya grows more animated describing the inner workings and mechanisms of her energy-efficiency device. In great detail, she describes the difficult research process that led her to formulate a method to increase the efficiency of the energy flow from the generator to the Transdimensional Flux Core.

Junior Scientist Xinaya 's voice grows softer, though, and she starts shuddering as the melted crystal continues to constrict her body and starts cutting off her breath even more.

TULOMRIC: Are you ill? Your crystal is growing darker..." He presses his hand against Xinaya's forehead and winces. "You feel feverish, Junior Scientist. If only there was something that we could do!

XINAYA: (fighting to stay calm) Stay with me, please. It is not that I am afraid, of course. But I do not think I...wish to be alone during this ordeal.

TULOMRIC: Of course I will stay with you, as long as we are both here.

Seeking to pass the hours, Tulomric assumes a hopeful, optimistic tone and promises her that the pump would arrive soon. Then they would utilise it to break up the air bubbles inside the melted crystal, pull Xinaya free, and transport her to the Institute's medical facilities.

Junior Scientist Xinaya tries to smile as she listens, though her hands tremble as they grasp the glass plank holding her up above the crystalline mire's surface.

XINAYA: I...I am sure that everything will happen as you say. Our citizens' efficiency is the envy of all other cities, after all." She falters for a moment to catch her breath and then asks, "What about you? Tell me about yourself, Custodian.

TULOMRIC: Me? Well, I serve the Collective as a custodian of the peace in the lower wards.

XINAYA: (smiling) I should have guessed. What do you normally do in the lower wards, when you are not kneeling beside a pit of bubbling crystal and keeping trapped scientists company?

Perceiving her wish to keep her mind off her predicament, Tulomric obligingly begins telling Xinaya about his duties patrolling the lower wards of Hallifax. To entertain her, he narrates several amusing incidents he remembers from working at the Canine Management Division and the Commissariat of Offspring Temporary Management.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace smiles warmly at Xinaya as he concludes each tale of mishaps with an instructive moral and a cheerful ending.

Junior Scientist Xinaya chuckles softly at his stories, but it emerges more as a rattling sound. The smile on her face fades as she prods the surface of the crystal bridge and it barely yields to her touch, growing ever more rigid.

In the sudden sombre silence that falls between them, the whistle of the wind can be heard from outside, a forlorn and desolate sound.

XINAYA: (in a soft murmur) The wind is weeping too." A single tear rolls down her pale-green cheek, refracting the light into tiny splinters of rainbow colour.

TULOMRIC: Don't cry, Junior Scientist. You mustn't lose hope.

XINAYA: You know, you might as well call me Xinaya. Standing on protocol doesn't seem -quite- so important at the moment. What is your name, Custodian?

TULOMRIC: Tulomric Linnery, Junior Sci- I mean, Xinaya.

Junior Scientist Xinaya lets out a soft laugh, which sounds more like a croak. The laugh turns into a series of spasmodic coughs, each one coming out hoarser than the one before.

XINAYA: (tiredly) I have only been part of the Matrix Research Institute for three years. I thought I had …decades of experimentation and discovery ahead of me. Now it seems I barely...have hours left.

TULOMRIC: (fiercely) You must not despair, Jun- that is, Xinaya! Have faith in our bureaucrats. Even now, they may be securing the pump that will pull you out of the bridge.

Junior Scientist Xinaya starts to open her mouth, but then shakes her head firmly in negation. She attempts to wave her hand dismissively, but by now only her fingers are free, and her gesture turns into a shaky fluttering of her fingers.

XINAYA: No, Custodian Tulomric. I think it may already be too late for me.

TULOMRIC: (with a horrified gasp) W-what do you mean, J- Xinaya?

XINAYA: I mean that the crystal around me is hardening much too fast. It is…already pressing in on my chest. The suction force acting on my legs is no longer the main problem. I fear the crystal itself...will not yield and release me even if we obtained the pump in time.

TULOMRIC: But surely…

XINAYA: (cutting him off) Even if the resonating harmonic pump did arrive in time and did function correctly, however, I...believe that...I am already becoming part of the crystal. Of the bridge.

XINAYA: If I were to be pulled out, no matter how quickly...the structure of the bridge itself might become compromised. It will crack, for certain. It may even collapse. And that would be...a disaster.

TULOMRIC: It would be a disaster, you are right. The generators might be damaged even worse, the wards would be in chaos, people would be hurt, even killed...

TULOMRIC: (focusing again) But I cannot simply let you die!

The glow of the Transdimensional Flux Core falls across both their faces as they gaze at each other silently. Tulomric's last words hang in the air between them, as though charged with electric energy.

XINAYA: (at last) You must, Tulomric. You must let me die.

Even as she speaks these fateful words, Xinaya slowly but inexorably continues to sink deeper into the crystal. By now, it has reached above her chin and covers everything but the tips of her pale-green fingers. Her breath comes in short, agonised gasps now, each one looking as though it might be her last.

TULOMRIC: (slowly) No. No. I refuse to accept it. There must be some other way! Some way for you to live.

XINAYA: I have calculated it. I have thought of every feasible possibility open to us. There is no other way. This is how it must be. The end of...my experiment.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace 's shoulders slump and the light in his eyes dies out as acceptance sets in. In a few minutes, he appears to have aged a hundred years.

TULOMRIC: If it must be...Xinaya.

Junior Scientist Xinaya 's lips curl up at the ends in the faintest smile, sweet and sad. Her crystalline flesh gives a small pulse of warm, emerald-coloured light.

XINAYA: You finally said it...my name. Was it so hard?

TULOMRIC: No. No, it was not so hard, in the end." He draws in a long, shuddering breath, his shoulders slumping, and forces himself to smile back at her. "Be strong, Xinaya.

XINAYA: (barely above a whisper) How not? I am...becoming a part of Hallifax now... It is an honour.

Junior Scientist Xinaya's eyelids flutter closed, and she draws in her final breath.

With her face still upturned toward Tulomric, the scientist is finally and completely submerged in the crystal, which closes over her head and settles into rigidity.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace cautiously reaches out to touch the surface and gasps in surprise as he runs his hand across its solid, unyielding surface. Beneath the surface, Xinaya's pale-green crystal is no longer visible. Silently, he picks up the crystal plank that served as her life buoy and presses it tightly against his chest.

In the distance, raised voices call out for Tulomric, shouting that they have finally gotten hold of the resonating harmonic pump. The scientist whom he had shouted at originally appears behind the custodian, waving a handful of release forms with the ink still fresh upon them.

TULOMRIC: Don't bother. She is already gone.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace pushes past the scientist without another word and presses through the crowd of bureaucrats carrying the pump behind him. In the silence that descends after his last words, his steps echo like clear, ringing chimes against the crystalline walkways as he leaves the bridge, the generators, and Xinaya behind.

The stage lights go dim as Tulomric walks away into the distance, and the stage goes dark. However, the curtains on either side of the stage do not fall, not quite yet.

Instead, after a moment, the stage lights brighten again to reveal the crystal bridge over the Amethyst Generator once more. The low hum of the generators and the Transdimensional Flux Core make it clear that they are functioning at maximum efficiency again.

In the middle of the bridge, close to where Xinaya sank into the crystal, a group of Institute scientists in white laboratory coats fiddle with complicated instruments and the conduits along the bridge.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace stands behind them and supervises their work silently. Still looking a hundred years old, he is positioned almost exactly where he once knelt beside the sinking Xinaya.

TULOMRIC: (in a tone that brooks no argument) Yes, there, just over that spot. That's where your perfected energy calibrators must go.

TULOMRIC: (in a quieter voice) She would have liked that.

Darting a few curious or irritated looks his way, the scientists nevertheless manage to fasten the intricate, streamlined energy calibration devices along the many conduits that conduct energy from the generator to the Core.

Pronouncing their work to be finished, the scientists turn to leave the crystal bridge, discussing among themselves the promising results of the perfected energy calibrator that was originally developed by that young Junior Scientist...what was her name? Xira? Xina?

TULOMRIC: (softly) Xinaya. Her name was Xinaya.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace gives one last look toward the spot where he finally had to let Xinaya go, his grey eyes haunted and full of questions, as though he is still wondering what he could have done to save her.

Tulomric, Custodian of Peace finally turns away and leaves the bridge, his expression solemn and his head held high, to resume his duties and his inspections within the lower wards of Hallifax.

Behind them, the energy calibrators light up with a clear, pale green glow. The conduits glow brighter and begin humming even more frequently as the energy within them is channelled more quickly and efficiently into the Flux Core.

END