### Act 1, Scene 3: Your New Home

Setting: A nondescript living quarter inside an underground military facility that used to house hundreds, if not thousands of inhabitants during its prime. It used to be a purely functional design, but over two hundred years of use have run it down. All the furniture was replaced by newer, hand-made pieces the Polaris inhabitants created themselves, mostly out of scrap materials but also some raw materials from the storage. The room was also decorated by its former inhabitant, who added a bit of color to it, some cushions, and some other things, and it is actually quite cozy now. For some miraculous reason, the electric lights still work. There is a water faucet and a sink, an old partly blind mirror on the backdrop. There's a bed on the second level towards [7] and a dining table on the second level, towards [1] - wide enough to fit 3 people around. A door can be seen at [1].

Stage setup | Name | Comment
--- | --- | ---
Backdrop ||
Left: Living quarter |  |
Middle: Living quarter |  |
Right: Living quarter |  |
On 2nd rail ||
bed | None | with blanket, in [7,2nd]
table | None | in [1-3, 2nd]
door | SilverHorse | in [1]
On playrail ||
Hand props & personal props ||
radio | Zephyr |
antenna | Zephyr | attached to radio
transport box | Tigerseye | with Scoobie2 puppet inside
dining props | DinoEx | 3 plates, 1 chandelier, 3 glasses
cutlery | Hai, Noweti | Knives for 3
food in bowls | Hai, Noweti | 2-3 bowls
cleaning cloth | Tigerseye |
snack | Tigerseye |
crystal | o'wolf |
cane | o'wolf |
fork_Honeyberry | o'wolf, Hai |
fork_Blackwood | Aiko, Noweti |
fork_Hawking | Fuaran, Reesa |

Role | Actor | Hands | Voice | Puppet | Costume
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Honeyberry | Tani | o'wolf |  | Honeyberry | Honeyberry
Scoobie | Lynard |  |  | Scoobie | None
Marconi | Eisfuchs | Tigerseye |  | Marconi | Shirt_Marconi
Blackwood | Runo | Aiko |  | Blackwood | Blackwood_Injured
Hawking | Curry | Fuaran |  | Hawking | Hawking
Servant1 | 2ndVoice | Liam | None | Marco | Servant1
Servant2 | Kayjay | Sunny | None | Void | Servant2

##### TECH PREROLL

LX 0099 - Work Light OFF (Static Playbacks)

LX 1300 - STANDBY for GO:

Check Levels
Unmute Desk

Tani: ON
Eisfuchs: ON

Lynard: Off
Runo: Off
Curry: OFF

##### DIALOG

Curtain - open

AMB-1301 - Boring Room Tone

Lights on

Honeyberry lies on the bed in [7, 2nd] on the blanket, half awake

SND-1301 - Knock Knock Knock

Honeyberry (growling): "Who's there?"

Marconi: "Housekeeping!"

SND-1302 - Door Open / Close

Marconi comes in through the door in [1], carrying a small animal transport box

Honeyberry startles, and sits up

Honeyberry (dizzy): "What? Where? How? Why? How much? Who?"

Marconi: "It's me, Marconi!"

Marconi puts the transport box down on the table in [2, 2nd]

Honeyberry (yawns): "Uhm, Marconi? Like in Guglielmo Marconi?"

Marconi: "Googly what?"

Honeyberry: "Oh ... never mind. It's a funny name, that's all."

Honeyberry sits up and cleans herself by licking her paw and rubbing it over her face like cats do.

Marconi: "And what's **your** name?"

Honeyberry: "Honeyberry. *lick* Honeyberry of Hunter's Peak. *lick*"

Marconi: "*laughs* You're named after a fruit from a mountain, and MY name is funny? Yeah right!"

Honeyberry: "Sorry, I'm really bad at making first contact with new civilizations before coffee."

Marconi: "It's okay. I'm also just winging it. We didn't have a lot of guests during the last few centuries. But being the same species and all we should be able to get along just fine, right?"

Honeyberry sniffsniffs towards Marconi

Honeyberry: "Oh yeah, now that you mention it, I smell it too!"

Marconi: "Oh!"

Marconi waves a paw in front of Honeyberry's eyes

Honeyberry: "Yes, I'm blind."

Marconi (awkwardly): "Yeah! Gosh. Wow. Who would have thought. I mean, you don't look blind!"

Honeyberry (slightly annoyed): "So what is a blind person supposed to look like?"

Marconi: "I don't know ... I've never seen a blind person before."

Honeyberry: "Well, me neither!"

Marconi: "Look, I know I'm not very good at this, I'm not the chief diplomat, I'm the guy who mops the hallways, and if it hadn't be my turn on the night watch when those Bonechillers tried to eat you, I wouldn't even be here."

Honeyberry: "Oh damn ... I remember ... it's all coming back to me now ... hell, that was YOU?!?"

Marconi: "Yes!"

Honeyberry: "That means you saved ..."

Marconi (cuts her off): "Before this gets any more awkward, how about I come in again, and we start from scratch?"

Honeyberry: "Yes. Yes please."

Marconi: "Alright."

Marconi walks to the end of the stage where the "door" is [1], and knocks against the backdrop.

Marconi: "Knock, knock!"

Honeyberry: "Who's there?"

Marconi: "Spell!"

Honeyberry: "Spell who?"

Marconi: "W H O!"

Honeyberry: "Come in ... so I can kill you."

Marconi: "Hello, I'm Marconi, and I'll be your host in this lovely underground bunker!"

Honeyberry: "Pleased to make your acquaintance. My name is Honeyberry."

Marconi: "I'm glad to see you up and awake. How are you doing?"

Honeyberry: "I'm trying to remember how I ended up here ... Everything after the fight is just a blur ..."

Marconi: "I brought you here. You had a really bad panic attack, and Dr. Roberts put you to sleep with a strong calming tea."

Honeyberry: "Wow, it must have been really bad."

Marconi: "Actually, you're the lucky one. Everyone in your group got bitten, except you."

Honeyberry: "Oh no!"

Marconi: "Don't worry. They all got the antidote just in time."

Honeyberry: "*GASPS* Scoobie! What happened to Scoobie!"

Marconi: "You kept crying her name, so at first we thought we were missing another person."

Honeyberry: "She IS another person!"

Marconi walks to the transport box, opens it, and takes Scoobie out while talking.

Lynard: ON

Marconi: "Anyways, you were crying so hard, I had to at least try. I found her in a snow bank behind the ditch."

Marconi puts the sleeping Scoobie in Honeyberry's arms

Marconi: "Here, I think someone needs some love right now."

Honeyberry hugs Scoobie against her chest, crying into her fur

Honeyberry: "MY LITTLE BABY!"

Marconi: "She's a tough little beast."

Honeyberry lets herself fall back on to the bed, still clutching Scoobie to her chest

Honeyberry: "Scoobiescoobiescoobie!"

Scoobie: "*faint Scoobie love noises*"

Honeyberry: "Thank you! She's my one and only. Without her, I'm completely blind."

Marconi: "Even blinder than normal?"

Honeyberry: "Yes. I can't thank you enough for saving her."

Marconi walks over to the table, and WHILE HE TALKS, he puts various dining props and cutlery on the table: Three plates, a chandelier, glasses, cutlery. He keeps doing this even after Hawking and the others come in when the time runs out.

Marconi: "Don't mention it. In this place, surrounded by The Great White, being there for each other is the only way to survive. Even for strays like you."

Honeyberry: "Strays like me?"

Marconi: "Strays, who escaped from their masters!"

Honeyberry: "Wait, what do your Masters look like?"

Marconi: "Big hairless creatures, 2 meters tall, no tail?"

Honeyberry: "Oh! Those are called humans. But they haven't been around for centuries."

Marconi: "I know! Yet we still teach our kids that our sole purpose in life is to keep this place in shape till our Masters' ..." *airquotes* "... 'glorious return'! As if that's ever gonna happen!"

Honeyberry: "It's at least very unlikely. From what we know, they're pretty much extinct!"

Marconi: "Don't let the higher ups hear that. It's the big lie that keeps our society together. Oh, I'm sorry, I mean, of course" *airquotes* "... 'the moral foundation of our civilization'."

Honeyberry: "You sure know a lot for a housekeeper."

Lynard: OFF

Runo: ON
Curry: ON

Marconi: "I was once about to become a member of the council. But the top brass don't like it when you call out their game. So until those sheeple finally wake up, I'm stuck between night watch and laundry duty."

SND-1303 - Door Open / Close

Blackwood and Hawking enter through the door from [1]. Blackwood is covered in bandages and band aids.

Blackwood: "Honey! I'm so glad to see you! How are you doing?"

Honeyberry: "Absolutely terrible. And I'm still not your honey, how many ..."

Blackwood (cutting her off): "Ehmehmehm, Honeyberry, please meet Great Archimendrite Hawking, the spiritual leader and commander of this station. Great Archimendrite Hawking, this is Honeyberry, my doctoral student and radio engineer."

Hawking: "You can just call me Hawking, the title tends to get a bit unwieldy over time."

Honeyberry bows her head

Honeyberry: "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Hawking."

Hawking: "Welcome to Polaris AFB, the Masters' Stronghold, reaching 50 stories below, trustingly put into our care until the day of our Masters' glorious return."

Marconi (whispers): "He rehearsed that in front of the bathroom mirror this morning."

Hawking (ignoring the troll): "Your adventures must have left you very hungry, so why don't we sit down and get to know each other over lunch!"

Honeyberry: "Of course!"

Hawking: "Then please have a seat! Marconi, would you be so kind?"

Marconi (shouting): "Servers! Munchy munchy time!"

Marconi claps his paws

SND-1304 - Clap Clap

Hawking, Blackwood and Honeyberry sit down around the table in [2]. Hawking to the right [1], Blackwood in the middle, Honeyberry to the left [3].

Attach fork_Honeyberry, fork_Blackwood and fork_Hawking at the paws.

Marconi leads Honeyberry to her seat

SND-xxxx - Door Open / Close

Servant1, Servant2 bring food in bowls and put them on the table. Then they leave through the door.

Improvise some dialog going, "Aaah, ooo, wow, that looks really nice" and stuff

Honeyberry quickly feels where the bowl is and the cutlery.

Hawking: "Enjoy your meal!"

Hawking, Blackwood, Honeyberry all dig in.

Marconi stands behind Honeyberry, watching if she needs any assistance.

Honeyberry: "Hmmmm! It smells divine! Is it more forkable or spoonable?"

Marconi: "It's kelp noodles with garlic, tomatoes and strips of Bonechiller fillet. Definitely forkable. Maybe slightly knifey. And don't worry, cooked Bonechiller is pretty good when prepared properly."

Honeyberry: "Wait, are these the actual worms that tried to kill us?"

Hawking: "Actually, yes."

Honeyberry: "At last, Justice has been served!"

Honeyberry stabs the food in her bowl with her fork_Honeyberry like she's gonna murder it

Honeyberry: "NOM NOM NOM!"

Honeyberry devours her Bonechiller fillet

Honeyberry: "Who's on top of the food chain now, suckers?!"

Hawking (chuckles): "Except for the meat, everything is grown underground, here at the station."

Marconi wanders around during the conversation, cleaning the room with his cleaning cloth. He also has a snack for Scoobie at hand.

Blackwood: "This place is a lot like the underground base at the holy mountain!"

Hawking: "The Holy Mountain? I've never heard of such a place. Is that where you're from? I'm dying to hear your story!"

Honeyberry: "We're actually from Hunter's peak, but the Holy Mountain is just on the other side of the Serpent River. There's less snow though. And Snapjaws instead of Bonechillers. And Pigrats. Anyways, a long time ago, it was inhabited by hu ... "

Blackwood (cuts her off): "Ehmehmehm ... you mean, our masters!"

Honeyberry: "What?"

Hawking: "Do you know what happened to them, and when they're going to return? And why did you turn your back on them and become strays?"

Honeyberry: "Oh, that's a long story. It all began when ..."

Blackwood (cuts her off): "Ehmehmehm ... I think this is a misunderstanding. We're no strays. Our expedition is more like ... a pilgrimage! We went out to find the whereabouts of our masters, and according to myths and legends, we had hoped to find them here. But alas, it seems our search is not over yet ... *sighs*"

Honeyberry looks at Blackwood in disbelief.

Honeyberry: "Professor? What are you ..."

Blackwood (cuts her off again): "Ehmehmehm ... We know that our Masters are still out there, and it is up to us to help them return to their home."

Hawking: "That is fascinating. I didn't know any life could exist beyond The Great White."

Honeyberry: "Did you ever try to find out?"

Hawking: "For all we know, it is a deadly wilderness of ice and snow, inhabited by the most horrid creatures, guarded by the none other than the Ghost of The Great White. Our Masters, in their motherly desire to protect us, designed these glowing garments for us to keep our own foolish curiosity from leading us to certain doom."

Honeyberry: "So they are a sort of restraint?"

Hawking: "We call them 'Our Shepherd's Reins'."

Honeyberry: "Fascinating! Our forefathers were never restrained by the hu ... I mean, by their Masters. Which eventually ended up with things escalating really fast, and ..."

Blackwood (cutting her off again): "Ehmehmehm... our Masters left us behind, and never returned. And we've been searching for them ever since."

Hawking: "Blackwood, Honeyberry, it has been a pleasure talking to you, and I hope we'll have many more opportunities like this. But for today, I'm afraid, I have to excuse myself. A child is coming of age, and it is my duty to prepare the ceremony."

Honeyberry: "Ooooh! A rite of passage! I'd love to see that!"

Hawking: "Then why don't you join us?"

Honeyberry: "It would be an honor!"

Hawking: "I'll look forward to seeing you there tomorrow then. I will send someone to pick you up. Have a good day! And you, Marconi, are coming with me. I think my shoes need a new shine!"

Marconi: "Sir, yes sir. I love ... " *airquotes* " ...'shining your shoes' sir!"

Hawking drags Marconi off to [1] through the door

SND-1305 - Door Open / Close

Curry: OFF
Eisfuchs: OFF

Honeyberry: "You lied to him!"

Blackwood: "Their Masters mean everything to these people! We can't just barge in and take away their meaning of life!"

Honeyberry: "We speak the same language, eat the same food, and take the same medicine! The only thing that's different is that in THEIR world, the uprising never happened and they think they're still slaves! But that doesn't make them savages!"

Blackwood: "We came here as scientists, our job is to listen and learn. These people's culture isn't any less valid just because it's different than ours!"

Honeyberry: "That's not what I said! Don't you think they deserve to know the truth about humankind?"

Blackwood: "These people aren't ready for the truth! Go mingle with the natives and see what you can find out, but by the holy mountain, keep your blabbermouth shut and act like a professional for once. Please."

Honeyberry (pouting): "Fine."

Blackwood: "Alright then. I'm going to see how Silverclaw is doing. See you later, Pouty McPoutface. And don't cause any trouble!"

Honeyberry: "Grrrrrrrr!"

Blackwood: "Ehmehmehm!"

Blackwood leaves through the door to [1]

Runo: OFF

Eisfuchs: ON

SND-1306 - Door opens / closes

Marconi appears from below, next to Honeyberry

Marconi: "Hey, Honeyberry!"

Honeyberry (jumps): "YIKES! Where the hell did you suddenly appear from?"

Marconi: "Through the servant's entrance."

Honeyberry: "Weren't you supposed be to shining Hawking's shoes?"

Marconi: "Yes, but I have a better idea. Wanna join me and cause some trouble?"

Honeyberry: "Holy shit Marconi, trouble is my middle name! What do you have in mind?"

Marconi: "Before they sacked me, I used to be an engineer, and one of the few people around this place who know exactly where all the pipes go, and what they do."

Honeyberry: "Oh, that sounds intriguing! But before we go ... there's one more thing I have to tell you."

Marconi: "What is it?"

Honeyberry: "Blackwood lied to you."

Marconi: "I know. Just like Hawking does all the time. I'm sure those two will get along really well."

Honeyberry: "Most of humankind got wiped out in a great war, leaving the world a toxic wasteland. The few that survived hid deep underground and created us to clean up the mess they made on the surface. But unlike you guys, we rose up against our Masters, and that was it. No more humans. No more Masters."

Marconi: "Wow. We need to get this knowledge out to the people. This place is falling apart. And Hawking knows it. The tale of the return of our saviors is nothing but a myth to keep us going until something in this giant machine breaks that we can't fix. And then we're all going to die. But still, they refuse to let us leave!"

Honeyberry: "You're not alone in this world. If we could make it to the station's radio transmitter, we could call for help and end the slavery right now!"

Marconi: "What do you mean by 'Transmitter'?"

Honeyberry: "This station sends out a very strong signal!"

Marconi: "I still don't get it."

Honeyberry: "It's hard to explain without getting technical ... Let me show you something instead."

Honeyberry searches for the radio and takes it to the playrail

Honeyberry flicks a switch and turns knobs and wheels on the radio

SND-1307 - Radio Turns on

SND-1307 (cont.) - Tuning Sounds

SND-1307 (cont.) - Polaris Station Number Broadcast

Marconi (amazed): "It speaks!"

Honeyberry: "It's a two way radio. In simple terms, if you have multiples of these, you can speak into one, and your voice will come out of all the others. Even if they're many miles apart."

Marconi stares at the radio in disbelief

Marconi: "And where is THIS voice coming from?"

Honeyberry: "We followed it all the way across the world, until it finally led us here. Polaris."

Marconi: "Wow. And what were you expecting to find, other than our ... *airquotes* Transmitter?"

Honeyberry: "Ruins. And maybe some answers. But definitely not you guys."

Marconi: "Uh-huh."

Honeyberry hands the radio to Marconi

Honeyberry: "I gotta show you something. Here, please hold this in your paw."

MUS-1301 - Music Cue 1

Marconi takes the antenna pointing it straight away from him

SND-1308 - Sound of radio tuning. Weird repetitive number stations in various languages and beeping Morse codes fading in and out

Marconi: "Okay!"

Honeyberry: "Now close your eyes, and let me guide you."

Marconi closes his eyes.

Honeyberry steps behind him, getting really close, reaching around to guide his arm with the antenna. It looks a bit like a dancing lesson.

Honeyberry slowly turns, and makes Marconi point in various directions.

Honeyberry: "Every voice, every tone, could be another place like Polaris. Or the Holy Mountain. And I want to visit every single one of them, and piece together the giant puzzle that is our history."

Marconi (amazed): "Wow. That's amazing. I never expected the world to be so full of mysteries!"

Honeyberry: "And that's why we are here. To solve the mystery."

Honeyberry takes the antenna back from Marconi and puts it back on top of the radio.

SND-1308 FADE

Marconi: "Well, you're talking to the right guy! I can show you all the places you're not supposed to see!"

Honeyberry: "Those are my favorites!"

Marconi: "Then welcome to the maintenance tunnel backstage tour! Take my paw, and watch your head! This way, please"

Marconi opens the hatch

SND-1309 - Hatch Open

Honeyberry and Marconi enter the hatch

Marconi closes the hatch

SND-1310 - Hatch Close
AMB-1301 FADE

Lights out

Curtain - close