JAMIE
Give me a break! I told you I'm going! I just need a minute to…!
Abruptly the door HISSES shut behind her.
She whirls.
THE BEEP INCREASES SPEED.
And something SIZZLES, the HUM AND CRACKLE of electrical current.
She flinches, in agony, raising one hand, then another, trying to push herself off the floor. But the ceiling's so low she can't raise her back. She jerks one knee, then the other off the floor, desperate to minimize contact with the CRACKLING electrical current.
JAMIE
No! Please, stop! I'm going! 1 promise!
She scurries into the crawlspace.
At once, the CRACKLING current stops.
Her face is contorted with pain as she sprawls on her stomach. The crawlspace is so small it reminds us of an air-conditioning duct. She breathes heavily, exhausted by the electrical current, slumping in relief.
JAMIE
No more! This can't go on forever!
A sigh of despair.
JAMIE
Or maybe this is hell.
She crawls awkwardly, wincing, bumping her head on the ceiling, scraping her shoulders against the tight walls.
JAMIE
Maybe you never meant to keep your word. Maybe you're just playing with me? Are you enjoying this, putting me through my paces, watching the way I react. Am I just some kind of…? Just a cruel sadistic game to you?
With effort, Jamie reaches the end of the crawlspace and squirms toward another compartment. Her brow is moist. Her elbows and knees are dirty. The shoulders of her sweatshirt are frayed and grimy.
She musters strength and struggles to stand…wavers…leans against a wall.
Wiping sweat from her forehead, she stares ahead. What she sees makes her close her eyes in despair. She reopens them, squinting. Her voice cracks.
JAMIE
Why did you…? No! You broke the bargain again! You changed the rules! You…!
THE BEEP INCREASES.
With a sob, she struggles not to sink to the floor.
JAMIE
It's not the same! Why do you keep changing the…?
Now we see the room Jamie has entered. It's completely bare. More important, the floor tilts upward – severely.
JAMIE
Not the same. Not the same.
A SIREN WAILS.
JAMIE
I hear it, you…!
She staggers forward, reaches the incline, attempts to climb it while standing, but falls to her stomach and claws her way toward the top.
JAMIE
My name is Jamie Neal.
(claws upward)
I think.
(claws upward)
I'm twenty-eight.
(claws upward)
I think.
(claws upward)
Going on a hundred.
(claws upward)
I'm an assistant professor of…
Jamie hesitates, nods in fierce resolve, and continues crawling higher.
JAMIE
Deep-space…
Jamie hesitates again, shakes her head in confusion.
JAMIE
Psychology? I think. My specialty is…
She reaches the crest and slumps across it, head on one side, legs on the other.
JAMIE
Adaptation to confinement? How long, dear God? How long?
THE SIREN BLARES.
Jamie raises her weary head. Her determined eyes glare toward the ceiling.
JAMIE
I need to rest!
Again we hear the SIZZLE AND CRACKLE of electrical current.
Jamie screams. THE BEEP INCREASES. She strains to raise her body off the painful torturing peak of the slope. In a frenzy, she topples over the rim.
On the opposite side, she tumbles, groaning, down a slope. She lands hard on a level surface.
She struggles for breath, kneels, and manages to stand.
JAMIE
My name is Jamie Neal. I'm twenty-eight. I'm an assistant professor of…I'm a human being. And no matter how much you break your word, no matter how much you torture me…! I'll fight back! I swear it! I'll fight back!
THE SIREN WAILS.
JAMIE
flinches. THE BEEP INCREASES. But she stays in place.
Abruptly the current CRACKLES AND SIZZLES, and as if thrust by a cattle prod, she lurches forward. THE BEEP becomes EVEN MORE RAPID.
JAMIE
You broke your word! I'll break mine!
MORE CRACKLING AND SIZZLING.
Her face contorted with agony, Jamie stumbles across an open space and reaches a metal ladder. Prodded by the SIZZLING electrical current, she scurries upward.
JAMIE
Jamie Neal. Jamie Neal. Jamie Neal.
She disappears through a circle in the ceiling above the ladder.
The SIZZLING stops as Jamie topples from the ladder and lands hard in another area. Groaning, she slowly raises her head.
Squints.
Shakes her head to clear her vision.
JAMIE
(seeking refuge in her song)
"The oceans and the forests, the earth and the sky belong to you and me."
The room is filled with mirrors, like a "fun house" in an amusement park.
JAMIE
You changed it again!
With enormous effort, she stands. THE BEEP INCREASES.
JAMIE
It's all a lie! You never meant to…!
She struggles forward, glaring toward the mirrors.
Each reveals a different image. She's fat. She's thin. She's tall. She's short. She's twisted. Concave. Convex.
JAMIE
Now I'm the one who's a monster! You've turned me into…!
(recoils from the mirrors)
You! I'll get even! I swear I'll get even!
OFF STAGE, WE HEAR A HISS. Jamie spins in terror, THE BEEP EVEN FASTER. A door slides open. A shadow fills the entrance. Jamie cringes.
The shadow becomes a…what to call it?…not human…misshapen, with ganglia, and boils, and several eyes.
MONSTER
(voice distorted, an electronic simulation)
You've done very well. Today you've been especially adaptive…and especially amusing. You've earned your reward.
The monster raises a flat box.
MONSTER
Your nourishment. Just the way you prefer it. With double cheese and black olives.
JAMIE
I'm allergic to black olives.
The monster's grotesque arm sags.
MONSTER
I'm sorry. I'm new at this facility. I was told that your species craves those foods.
JAMIE
straightens, braces her shoulders, inhales, and glowers. THE BEEP BECOMES VERY RAPID.
JAMIE
And I told you I'd fight back. You broke your bargain. Now I'll break mine.
MONSTER
There's nothing you can do. This is the way things are. You have one more task to perform before you can eat.
Suddenly horizontal RAYS OF LIGHT fill the space between them. The rays are like transparent, multicolored poles in a grotesque climbing gym. They CRACKLE AND HISS with electrical current.
JAMIE
looks more angry.