### Act 2, Scene 4: The Bunker

- Setting: An old, abandoned laboratory. It's gloomy, most of the lights are missing. Old, empty small animal cages are stacked up on tables on the second level. They have partly fallen over, and are casting shadows against the back wall. There is a fire extinguisher mounted on the wall, and a computer screen dimly blinking an error message. A sprayed-on-label on the back wall says "LAB-G-34 - ANIMAL TESTING".
- Stage setup:
- 2nd Rail: tables with cages left and right
- Props: Fire extinguisher (Zefiro)
- PreRec:

Character | Actor / Hands (Voice) | Puppet | Clothing | Accessoires
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Riversong | Eisfuchs / Tigerseye | Riversong |  |
Longleaf | Curry / Jyanon | Hare |  |
Bottlebrush | Lynard / Kayjay | Bottlebrush |  |
Sparky | Dragony / o'wolf | Sparky |  |
Rebels | Pan, Liam, Reesa, Runo | Cheetah, Savannah, Octavia |  |

INTRO

Computer: "This is Archive Recording 446389. Starting Playback."

door opening

Jeff (agitated): "Max, I need to talk to you."

Max: "Uhm … Jeff, sorry, I'm in the middle of a phone call and …"

Jeff: "It's important."

Max: "Uh, all right. (to the phone) Can I call you back? Great, thanks."

beep

Max: "Allright now, what is it."

Jeff: "We've got to stop this madness!"

Max: "What happened?"

Jeff: "It doesn't work. It never will. And you know it. Goldberg's team started another trial run of Strain C. And this time it didn't just go wrong. No, it went horribly wrong."

Max: "The subjects are all volunteers, and they all know about the risks. We all need to make sacrifices if we want humanity to prevail."

Jeff: "Oh, that's so easy to say if you weren't there. It seemed to work for a minute or so, but then there was a glitch in the communication matrix and everything went out of control! Can you imagine what it looks like if a million nanites suddenly start slicing randomly through a man's body?"

Max: "No, but …."

Jeff: "It's the most disturbing thing I've ever had to see in my entire life! He was turned into a bloody pulp as if someone had turned on a giant blender. All the while he was fully conscious. And it didn't stop at that. The medics jumped forward to help him, and as soon as they touched him, the nanites entered their bodies. They both lost their hands before the safeguards kicked in and the swarm shut itself down. It was a goddamn massacre!"

Max: "Jeff … I'm so sorry you had to see this. But what else are we supposed to do, if we ever want to be able to survive on the surface again?" Jeff: "I have no perfect solution, Max. We're all just poking about in the fog. But this technology was designed to be part of a machine. A military killing machine, at that. It's a foolish idea to believe you can somehow reprogram it to repeair a human body instead of a tank. What if the swarm doesn't shut down the next time, and it wipes us all out?"

Max: "You need help Jeff. Please …"

Jeff: "No, you need help! This isn't ethical! It's not even rational!"

Max: "Please, Jeff, calm down. You should take a few weeks off, and talk to the counsellor."

Jeff: "Take a few weeks off? Oh no. I'll tell you what I do: I quit! "

Max: "And let the geneticists win the race?"

Jeff: "Oh! You think it's a competition? Geneticists against Nanotechnologists? And if they win, we lose? Has it ever occured to you, that if either team wins, nobody loses? But if we wipe out our own crew, we all lose!"

Max: "I don't know about you, but I want the real humanity back - A civilization of actual, genuine humans. Not some tarnished, diluted chimera. What is life worth if we no longer know, who we are? There is only one human race, and if I had to sacrifice my own life to save it, I would do it. If you have a problem with that, you have no place in this organisation."

Jeff: "The old times are gone, Max. And nothing will ever bring them back. Evolution knows only one direction: And that is forward."

Max: "So you're changing camps?"

Jeff: "Yes, I'm sorry Max. I used to believe in nanotechnology, but today's incident has opened my eyes. If I have the choice between creating new life, and taking it away, I know what's right. You'll have my papers by tomorrow. Good night, Max."

door slamming shut

MAIN DIALOGUE

Curtain - open

All Lights out, Pitch Black

AMB-0801 - Drippy Bunker

SND-0801 Thumping noises
SND-0801 (cont.) Door flying open
SND-0801 (cont.) Light Switch

The light flickers on in the room

Bottlebrush comes in from [7], followed by Sparky, Longleaf, Riversong and a few rebels. The rebels gather on second level.

Bottlebrush: "Come in everybody, the keepers don't know about this entrance, so we should be safe here for a while."

Riversong: "Where … are we?"

Bottlebrush: "We're inside the holy mountain. The Keepers' stronghold at the summit is just a very small part of a much larger underground complex. This part was sealed off a long time ago. It's the last place they'll be expecting us."

Riversong: "Amazing. And it was all built by the humans?"

Bottlebrush: "Yes. Unlike the ruins you can find outside, this place here was built to last centuries. This place was once a refuge for thousands of people, the final remains of a dying civilization."

Riversong: "How do you know about all this?"

Bottlebrush: "Fireheart studied the documents the humans left behind in this stronghold. He shared centuries of history with us, so we could use it to build a new world."

PRE-0801 - Sparky: "Can we save the history lessons for another time? All we had went up in flames anyway!"

Bottlebrush: "That makes spreading the word even more important!"

PRE-0802 - Sparky (angry): "You know what's important to me right now? All my friends are dead! That is important!"

Bottlebrush: "I'm sorry. I can't turn back time. I never liked the idea to take the Keepers' Stronghold by force. I think we should have put more effort in actually educating the people! But it was Stormrunner's decision to make - he was the leader, not me."

PRE-0803 - Sparky (angry): "Ah! And now you're in charge? Are you ready to lead us?"

Longleaf: "He's the one who saved your sorry ass. You should show some respect!"

PRE-0804 - Sparky: "Fuck you! My friends are dead, and he is all words, and no action!"

Longleaf explodes with rage

Longleaf (enraged): "You want action? Here!"

SND-0802 Fighting

Longleaf punches Sparky straight in the face.

PRE-0804- Sparky: "Arrrgh! COME HERE YOU BASTARD!"

Longleaf and Sparky start a brawl

Longleaf (angry): "I … will … fucking … kill … you …"

Everyone else except Riversong and Bottlebrush joins the brawl, punching each other

Bottlebrush takes the fire extinguisher

Bottlebrush sprays the fighters with the fire extinguisher

SND-0803 Wooooooooosh
SND-0802 STOP

Bottlebrush: "Will you CHILL THE FUCK OUT! Stop fighting! I said stop!"

PRE-0806 - Sparky: "Gaaaaaargh!! *cough* *ack* *spit*"

Longleaf: "Hurrrrrrgh!! *gag* *cough*"

Everybody stops fighting, coughing.

Bottlebrush (outraged): "Listen to me! They were my friends, too! Do you even realize what happened here tonight? Stormrunner is dead! We are on our own! We must stand together!"

Everyone awkwardly looks at the ground

PRE-0807 - Sparky (timid): "I'm sorry. It's just … it's all been a bit too much."

Sparky starts sobbing

Longleaf hugs Sparky.

Riversong: "I'm the one who needs to be sorry here. If we hadn't come to your camp, I'm sure things would have turned out differently."

Bottlebrush: "Actually, I'm very glad you found us. If there's anyone to blame, then it's me. I had all the puzzle pieces, and I knew something was wrong, but by the time I figured it out, Ironwill was already burning down the camp."

Riversong: "By the time you figured WHAT out?"

Bottlebrush: "Why Frostwind never showed any symptoms of the plague all these years! It was so obvious, but I didn't see it. In order for her to survive, Fireheart must have somehow supplied her mother with the radiation remedy …"

Riversong: "Radiation … what?"

Bottlebrush: "Radiation damages the body's DNA. But the humans found a way to repair the damage using swarms of specially programmed nanites that will …"

PRE-0808 - Sparky (interrupts him): "What Brushie here is trying to say is that the Keepers have a huge machine that spits out little green pills. And if you take one every week you won't get the plague."

Bottlebrush: "Exactly. Frostwind suddenly getting the plague means she no longer got the medicine. And that in turn means something must have happened to her father! I could have warned Stormrunner, but it totally didn't occur to me something could be wrong!"

Longleaf: "It's alright Brushie. We cling to our hopes. It's how we keep going in times like these, right?"

Riversong: "Do you think Frostwind is still alive?"

Bottlebrush: "Yes. I saw Ironwill carrying her out of the camp. She must have something he wants."

Riversong (excited): "So she could be in this very building?"

Bottlebush: "Maybe. Maybe not. But you can't just walk upstairs from here and burst into the Keepers' living room. The inhabited area is pretty well sealed off. And even if you'd find a way, they have ways of detecting intruders you can't even imagine."

Riversong: "But we can't just sit here and do nothing, either! Frostwind might only have a few more days left to live! You said the keepers have a cure. If all we need is a handful of pills then we might …"

Bottlebrush laughs

Riversong: "What's so funny about that?"

Bottlebrush: "The machine that produces the shadow remedy is the single most well protected thing in the entire Stronghold. The holy of holies."

Riversong: "What makes it so important? The Keepers don't even GET the plague!"

Bottlebrush: "Or do they? Here's a little history lessen for you: The radiation that causes the dark plague is the very same thing that nearly wiped out humanity. If humans still existed, and you put one of them in the middle of Ferndale marketplace, he would get sick and die. "

Riversong: "But we're not human!"

Bottlebrush: "Oh yes we are. In many ways. Especially the Keepers."

Riversong: "What?!"

Bottlebrush: "Look around you. What do you see?"

Riversong (frightened): "It looks like … cages …"

Bottlebrush: "Your own ancestors might once have lived in one of these cages. We're not the creation of gods. We're the creation of humans, my friend. We're surrogates, bred to live in a world no longer inhabitable for their own kind. The Keepers are our own prototypes. They have human blood. They are not immune to radiation, and without the remedy, they die. All of them. Guess why they are not allowed to breed with us commoners. And guess why they're protecting the holy mountain like life itself!"

Riversong (breathless): "Wow. That is … just wow. I … I don't know what to say."

PRE-0809 - Sparky: "Yeah, it floored me too. The first 20 times I heard it."

Riversong: "Okay. Alright. Fine. I understand now what I'm up against. But you know what? I once lost a loved one because I was too afraid to take things into my own hands, and I'd rather die trying than make that same mistake again. I must go."

Bottlebrush: "But we can't come with you."

Riversong: "I understand. But please, at least tell me how to get there."

Bottlebrush (sighs): "All right. It was nice knowing you."

Lights out

Curtain - close