Adam Dechanel Written by Simon James Collier

Adaptation for Audio Production

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Inspired by the novel by H. G. Wells Story: Adam Dechanel Written by Simon James Collier

Premise:

The world has become a ‘perfect’ place. No crime. No disease. No hardship. No imagination. No emotion. Sterile. Throughout the preceding years the Time Traveller has taken it upon himself to ‘correct mistakes’ made by humans throughout history and brought what remains of humanity to where it is now. However, one individual has come to fervently question this mantra; championing for human beings to evolve through the ‘natural order’ of things, and delivers a life-threatening ultimatum…

Characters:

The Time Traveller [Traveller] Weena the Eloi – pregnant with Traveller’s child Kyloc the Eloi – younger brother of Weena H. G. Wells – [Herb] [hologram]

Set:

The idea of the set is for it to be a ‘cave’ with columns and elements from past civilisations embedded into the walls, as if ‘time’ and evolution has fused them together – decayed ‘opulence’ married with nature. There are chalked ‘equations’ on the back wall of the theatre. Two columns stand either side of the back of the stage. Upstage left is a Perspex shield, which acts as the visual display for the H. G. Wells hologram to stand behind. It is lit in a pin spot, with an upplight effect. H. G. Wells is dressed in Victorian attire. The hologram [Herb] is ALWAYS turned on and ‘follows’ whoever is in the room, often merely as an observer. Mid-stage left is an ultra-modern looking couch, upon which sits Weena for a substantial amount of the play – she is about to give birth. There are two pedestals [positioning to be determined], upon which certain items can be placed, such as ‘The Time Machine’ cube. The remainder of the stage is to be left clear, isolated scenes will be highlighted in pin spots, to which Kyloc, Weena and H. G. Wells will at times inter-act with.

Lighting:

Clean, sharp pin spots are needed for the ‘future world’, the H. G. Wells hologram being lit separately. The general feel of the lighting in ‘future world’ is blue and variants on that. Haze also to be used, giving an ‘abstract’ and ‘unnatural’ feel.

Costume:

General costumes for the future should be white, or light-coloured kaftan-style ‘robes’. H. G. Wells hologram to be dressed in Victorian attire.

ACT ONE

As audience enter, the stage is lit low, haze [which should remain constant and consistent throughout the play] covers the floor. In a low light, we see a Perspex shield with H. G. Wells speaking in an animated fashion, but we don’t hear what he is saying. The soundscape begins and segues from the sound of volcanos, thunderstorms, lighting… then to violin music, to war and men fighting [1918], to jet planes, to machinery, to crowds, to mobile ring-tones – it then moves to more abstract sounds that reflect a ‘future’ time. The idea is to show a passage of time through sound.

The sound-scape then segues again into a narrative… It is H. G. Wells narrating a section from ‘The Time Machine’

H. G. Wells [hologram] – on sound-scape ‘You must follow me carefully. I shall have to controvert one or two ideas that are almost universally accepted. The geometry, for instance, they taught you at school is founded on a misconception.’

The lights come up on The Time Traveller – Traveller – who is engaged in listening to Herb. He joins in unison with the next section

The Time Traveller / Traveller – H. G. Wells on soundscape ‘Is not that rather a large thing to expect us to begin upon?’ said Filby, an argumentative person with red hair.

H. G. Wells [We start the sentence with the soundscape and then the actual hologram finishes it] ‘I do not mean to ask you to accept anything without reasonable ground for it. You will soon admit as much as I need from you.’ [Hologram continues from this point] ‘You know of course that a mathematical line, a line of thickness NIL, has no real existence. They taught you that? Neither has a mathematical plane. These things are mere abstractions.’

Lights up on Weena, who is pregnant, very close to giving birth. Traveller turns to her

Traveller I love listening to Herb narrating his book… such exquisite language.

As the conversation with Weena and Traveller continues, the book’s narrative continues at a quieter level on the soundscape with the Wells hologram mouthing the words

Wells - Hologram narrative – Wells known as ‘Herb’ ‘That is all right,’ said the Psychologist. ‘Nor, having only length, breadth, and thickness, can a cube have a real existence.’ ‘There I object,’ said Filby. ‘Of course a solid body may exist. All real things—‘ ‘So most people think. But wait a moment. Can an INSTANTANEOUS cube exist?’ ‘Don’t follow you,’ said Filby.

Weena Not unlike his ‘contemporaries’… Dickens, Stoker… Stevenson even… I often wish they’d simply get to the point… so much… what was that word you told me…!

Traveller ‘Exposition’! [beat, smiles] But theirs were such extraordinary stories… often published as serials… weekly papers… they had to pad it out somehow!

Weena I’ve wondered on numerous occasions whether it was wise of you to, you know… [looks to him in a ‘knowing way’]

Traveller What? Tell him that time travel was a reality! [beat. Traveller moves to a pedestal and handles a clear Perspex cube (the Time Machine)] There was so much fanciful thought at that time… people simply passed it off as ‘wildly imaginative…’ [beat] That’s why I chose him… he had a great mind… and that he was such a decent fellow! [beat] It was fortuitous that people didn’t question where imagination ends and truth begins! They certainly made the most out of the tale! Movies and books galore!

Herb ‘There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time. There is, however, a tendency to draw an unreal distinction between the former three dimensions and the latter…’

As Herb utters the word ‘tendency’ Kyloc enters. He is noticed by Weena who indicates his presence to Traveller.

Kyloc looks to them both and then to Herb. Traveller holds the cube tightly

Kyloc [and Herb speak the following in unison] ‘…because it happens that our consciousness moves intermittently in one direction along the latter from the beginning to the end of our lives.’

Traveller mutes Herb by clapping his hands, the light upon which fades to very dim and it becomes still, but ‘follows’ their every action as if engaged with what’s going on

Traveller Kyloc, to what do we owe this pleasure?

Kyloc A brother cannot pay a visit on his sister? [beat] Especially as I am about to become an Uncle!

Weena I thought you were going to the Guama festival with the others? [beat] Surely, you’ll be missed…

Kyloc Ahhh, it is a ritual that happens twice a year, I will partake next time.

Traveller But what about Malika?

Kyloc [non-committal, slightly embarrassed] What of her?

Weena [teasing] Oh, come brother. I have seen how you look at her…

Traveller …and she at you!

Weena You’re not going to convince me that there’s just ‘friendship’ there!

Kyloc [smiling] I must admit that I find her special… [beat] We enjoy engaging conversations, especially when we have listened to the stories told by Herb…

Herb ‘bows’ politely, as if suggesting ‘you’re welcome’

Weena So, do we see a union of the two of you soon?

Kyloc Sister, you have such an imagination! [beat, slightly guarded] We shall see what happens… however, as you know [indicating to Traveller], my mind is often ‘elsewhere’, with other thoughts, and I am not sure whether I am a suitable union for her!

Traveller Kyloc, as I have said previously, take it from someone who has spent most of his life ‘searching’ and ‘researching’, and then discovering that life and living are so important… [beat] One can spend their lifetime looking for answers, when often the answer is right there in front of them.

Kyloc [defiant, not letting the matter rest] But from your tales you have had the benefit of such a varied life… [beat] One can say such things with your experiences…

Traveller [weary] We spoke of this only yesterday… [beat] Trust me when I tell you that the life we have here is by far the most enjoyable and… peaceful, that I have ever experienced.

Kyloc But people here… I mean… the way things are… [beat] What I mean is… that, well very few ‘question’… they have little desire for increasing their knowledge… they are content to ‘exist’… [beat] How will we… progress if this is what is?

Traveller But what you speak of is not unique to this time and place. Throughout history most people just ‘be’… only a few are thinkers, inventors… scientists, who push the boundaries and help their kind… [beat, looks questioningly at Kyloc] We have covered this… [cautiously] however, today the matter seems to play more heavily on your mind! Has something happened for this to do so?

Kyloc As you are aware, I have been at odds with my situation for some time, spending more hours alone thinking about our ‘place’… thinking about our conversations… listening to Herb… remembering what life was like when the Morlocks terrorised us… [beat] …a time before your arrival… and the opportunities your being here has presented…

Traveller And…?

Kyloc [sighing] I now know that something must change… for the good of us all!

Traveller [concerned] In what way?

Kyloc That is a question that I have been asking myself… and, after much thought, I believe I have an answer which will take much courage on my part to act upon!

Traveller [puzzled] An answer?

Kyloc [looks directly at Traveller] I believe I must dest…

Before Kyloc can continue, Weena cries out in pain with pregnancy contractions. Traveller quickly kneels beside her

Traveller Are you alright? Is there anything I can do?

Weena [gasping, calming herself down] No… [beat] I will be fine… the baby is coming… [calms, then gently smiles, moments pass, Traveller and Kyloc hold their breath as they wait for her next words] No, it’s not!

Kyloc moves over to his sister. She tries to rise off the sofa but he quickly and gently pushes her back.

Kyloc No, no… you need to rest…

Weena [Frustrated] Listen, brother… if I hear people saying that one more time I shall… shall… implode!

Traveller They only have your best interests at heart.

Weena [Sighing] I know, Traveller… but none-the-less, it’s frustrating!

Traveller But you cannot change such things… it’s nature’s way…

Kyloc Really? [beat, then quietly] Coming from your lips I find that notion somewhat strange!

Traveller [concern increasing] Meaning?

Weena [becoming exasperated] Gentleman… please… can we cease this continued discussion… [beat] You have talked at great length about this matter for some time and, to be honest, it is becoming a little tiresome.

There is silence for a moment

Weena (continues) I have listened to your words and thoughts for months… surely there must come a point where, when two people who do not necessarily agree on something, simply ‘agree to disagree’…

Kyloc As you wish, sister… [beat] However, it is not an issue that is going to go away…

Traveller [clearly becoming tired of the matter] Why do you persist with this? Surely you can see the benefits of our actions!

Kyloc [In disbelief] Our actions? [beat] The decisions taken have been yours, and yours alone!

We see Kyloc looking at the Time Machine, he intends to get his hands on it

Traveller …to benefit everyone! Just look at our lives…

Kyloc [Slight distain] I ‘live’ the actions that you have decided for all of us…

Traveller And if I hadn’t done what I did… where would we be today? [beat] Still under the tyranny of the Morlocks… nothing more than food for them! [beat] I don’t understand why we must cover the same ground almost every time we meet!

Kyloc [Mocking, under his breath] Where would we be indeed?

Traveller [beat, frustrated] There was a time when we would converse about the… the simple things in life… the weather… what you last ate… anything, anything other than this single, perpetual notion you have…

Kyloc [increasing fervour] I continue to pursue this matter because it’s of singular importance… [beat] I don’t know why I’m surprised by your reluctance to see the consequences you have laid at our door!

Traveller [Frustrated and angry. Leaves Weena’s side. He places the Time Machine back on its pedestal] ‘Consequences’! I have steered us to a place where we live… live disease free… a place where no-one wants for anything… there is enough for us all… a time of peace…

Kyloc [Butting in] A place where our species is not ‘living’… it is merely ‘treading-water’… a time of complacency… [points to Herb] A time, for example, where only a few books of the millions written over the years have survived in the hologram… [beat] A place where no one thinks to write something new even! [beat] A place of unquestioning inactivity… [longer beat] Sterile…!

Traveller [Butting in] STERILE!!! [Exasperated, trying to reason with Kyloc] You were… are… the brightest one amongst the younger people… You needed to see that this [waving around the room] was the best option. [beat, looking to Herb] I did what I could…

Kyloc Says ‘you’… just you… [beat] The music saved… more likely your taste… [beat] Probably not even a true and full representation of what people of the whole world created… [beat] art… millions of paintings… not just the ones in museums! [getting excitable] what about the ‘small’ and ‘independent’, rather than the ‘big’ and ‘established’… [beat] rituals and customs of people from across the globe… not just the Mbororo Gerewol festival in Chad … the Holi in India… [beat] the billions of photographs… the trillions of entries on your description of social media… the daily banter that human beings thrived off…

Traveller [dismissive] A source of social decline and isolation…

Kyloc Again… says you! [beat] It was an ‘evolution’…

Traveller [Laughing] ‘Evolution’! [beat] It was a time when people had become little other than human drones, their dependency on inter-facing with technology, especially computers, had reached dangerously high levels for the species’ very own organic development…

Kyloc Meaning?

Traveller Young people, less than 10 years of age, although being able to work a touch- screen computer keyboard, were often unable to simply catch a ball because their natural eye and hand co-ordination had become ‘extinct’!

Kyloc You exaggerate!

Traveller Not in the slightest… no one lived a day without inter-acting with a machine of some kind… people couldn’t even walk to a destination without looking to their smart-phone for directions… [seeing Kyloc is confused], a device through which people could communicate with each other… we did talk about this! [beat] A time when one would order something and expect immediate delivery… there was no shopping, little actual human interaction… the art of conversation had diminished to such a point that many didn’t even say ‘hello’ to one another unless it was via a machine! [beat] I saved what I could… in a way I knew how to… never-the-less the universal- internet became compromised… you are fully aware that in May 2370 the Electro Magnetic pulse from Venus destroyed most of what had been uploaded…

Kyloc I wonder what’s true and what’s not. You just tell me what you want me to hear.

Traveller How can you even think that…? [beat] Herb… a resource hidden for thousands of years… a resource you, and a few of the others here so often refer to… gain so much from… [beat] It was fortunate that I managed to ‘steer’ a few forward-thinking people to protect such a device… [pointing to Herb] If I didn’t want you to know of the past why would I bother to save it?

Herb suddenly starts

Herb The public hologram service was introduced to London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in 2178. It’s core systems placed inside a titanium room, half a mile beneath England’s capital city, it was Fusion powered and designed to last several life-times. Over 4 trillion items of information were uploaded to the system before the crash of…

Kyloc looks at Traveller for a moment, claps his hands and Herb goes quiet

Kyloc But so much was lost in not only that pulse… but other disasters… [beat] Other ‘disasters’ you chose not to ‘correct’… [beat] Not even you can divorce yourself completely from the past… [beat] You have memories of it; memories you don’t want to lose!

Traveller [shrugging] I am not able to eradicate my life completely… if I did I wouldn’t be here now.

Kyloc [laughing] How fortunate that you have that choice! [beat] You know, all I hear from you is ‘I’… [beat, dismissive] As I say, your decisions… yours and yours alone…

Traveller I couldn’t save everyone and everything… [beat, quietly sighing] There are consequences for manipulating time… time always tries to re- address the balance… [beat, almost to himself] I learned the hard way that I could only do so much!

Weena Kyloc… Traveller has explained this to you time and time again… for us to be where we are now decisions had to be made, for the good of us all… for our survival… [beat] One can only travel through time and help steer events…

Kyloc That I understand… I understand that you can only make suggestions to influence people… present opportunities for people to select… that there are consequences… that we are where we are because of ‘time’… but also because someone… [looking to Traveller] …took it upon himself to try and ‘control’ time, and not allow it to evolve as it should… [beat] You’re not God!

Weena Kyloc!

Traveller [Placating] No… it’s alright my dear… I see we have been building to this point for many months…

Kyloc [ignoring Traveller] You have spent your entire life flitting through time, visiting the past in order that you can ‘craft’ your ‘perfect’… perfect ‘scenario’… [beat, waving his arms around] THIS!!! [beat] Perfect? But what about the rest of us?

All three are silent for a moment

Weena Kyloc, Traveller has done this for us… all of us…

Kyloc [looks to his sister] Really? [beat] Changing the past… the first time… for his love, Martha… back in London, 1888 [beat] She died anyway… the same night, just differently… [beat] Who did he do that for? Meddling… who says that playing ‘God’ has made things better!

Weena [seeing that Traveller is about to lunge forward] Kyloc, that’s enough… Traveller, he doesn’t mean what he says…

Traveller Yes, he does… [beat] That was a lesson learned… that one should not outright prevent something from happening… just gently influence circumstances… for the better…

Kyloc For the better? Did you not learn? [beat] Your fiancé died… you went back in time and tried to save her… only to witness her die another way… on the very same night!

Traveller [Justifying himself] Those were early days… before I learned of the consequences… I let my emotions override my logic… as I said, it was a hard-learned lesson.

Traveller moves over to Weena, she comforts him. As he does so, Kyloc begins to manoeuvre himself closer to the Time Machine

Kyloc But did you? Every time you ‘nudged’, or changed something… another time-line emerged…

Traveller And I went back and corrected my actions!

Kyloc Only to cause other time-lines… and so it became circular… a never-ending loop which you continually adjusted!

Traveller Until we were on a path of peace and harmony!

Kyloc Which, even now, you are continually ‘manipulating’! [beat] It’s as if you can’t help yourself!

Traveller [defensive] I haven’t used the Time Machine in years!

Kyloc And I’m supposed to congratulate you on that! [dismissive] Regardless, you never take on-board anyone else’s suggestions anyway!

Traveller [shouts] Oh, I see… so I need to come to you, you who has never once travelled the length and breadth of the time-line, to secure your approval! Maybe you yourself want the responsibility!

Kyloc Responsibility…! [shaking his head] You simply don’t get it, do you? Have you listened to a word I’ve said over the past months?

Traveller Did you not hear my recounting the end of time to Wells…? [beat, clapping his hands, and motioning a fast-forward of Herb] Hear this…

Herb ‘Then I saw the thing was really a monstrous crab-like creature. Can you imagine a crab as large as yonder table, with its many legs moving slowly and uncertainly, its big claws swaying, its long antennae…’

Traveller motions for a fast-forward again. Herb continues

‘I cannot convey the sense of abominable desolation that hung over the world. The red eastern sky, the northward blackness, the salt Dead Sea…’

Traveller motions the same again. Kyloc becomes more agitated

Herb – continued… ‘So, I travelled, stopping ever and again, in great strides of a thousand years or more, drawn on by the mystery of the earth’s fate, watching with a strange fascination the sun grow larger and duller in the westward sky, and the life of the old earth ebb away…’

Kyloc Enough, Traveller… so Wells listened to your time-travelling tales and created some fanciful yarn…

Weena Kyloc, you know there’s more to it than that! Traveller has been to the end of Earth’s time and it is nothing but a dark and dismal oblivion! He had to change things… to give us all hope!

Kyloc Says he… [beat] What if…

He is interrupted as Herb continues

Herb ‘Silent? It would be hard to convey the stillness of it. All the sounds of man, the bleating of sheep, the cries of birds, the hum of insects, the stir that makes the background of our lives—all that was over.’

[beat, as Traveller flicks his hand in a fast-forward motion again]

‘Then I felt I was fainting. But a terrible dread of lying helpless in that remote and awful twilight sustained me…’

The three of them are silent as Herb dims and Traveller looks to Kyloc, and then to Weena. He moves to her side and takes her hand

Traveller It is not a fanciful yarn… admittedly the language is almost… ‘poetic’… but what I told Wells is nothing but the truth. [beat] Had I not taken it upon myself to nudge events to help alter the course of time then all human-kind’s efforts, their triumphs, their development… their very being… would have all been for naught!

Kyloc [laughing] But are we not already there? Accepting. Unchallenging. As your H. G. Wells put it… [beat, claps hand and turns on Herb]

Herb ‘An animal perfectly in harmony with its environment is a perfect mechanism. Nature never appeals to intelligence until habit and instinct are useless. There is no intelligence where there is no change and no need of change.’

Kyloc You just don’t see it, do you?

Weena See what, Kyloc?

As Kyloc speaks he swiftly moves to the pedestal the Time Machine is placed on and grabs it. He quickly enters a code sequence on the machine as Traveller frantically moves towards him. Kyloc keeps his distance from Traveller

Kyloc We have reached that very state of mind that you so say you feared! [beat] Soulless oblivion!

Traveller What are you doing?

Kyloc dodges Traveller, Traveller tries again but Kyloc moves to the side of Herb and threatens to smash it if Traveller comes any closer

Kyloc Don’t try anything Traveller… you know I am determined and of a mind to destroy this precious hologram of ‘yours’… and thanks to your instruction I have entered the self-destruct for this infernal Time Machine… [beat] The others are far enough away for them not to be hurt… [beat]

… I believe you said your ‘self-destruct’ has a forty-five-minute delay… true, no? …and as this turn of events is not something you could have foreseen you are powerless to jump in time to prevent it from happening!

On the soundscape, we hear the faint beginning of a ticking clock

Weena Kyloc, have you lost your mind? [beat] What you have in your hand is merely a toy… a working Time Machine is no more!

Traveller [beat, looking to Kyloc] How did you…?

Kyloc [butting in] …know how this Time Machine was real… and how to activate the self- destruct? [beat, smiles] You yourself have said on many occasions that I have a curious mind! [beat] Each time I visited you were so protective of the device… I knew it was more than a toy!

Weena Kyloc, stop this nonsense… you are taking matters too far! [beat] Traveller, is what he’s saying true? Does the machine still work?

Kyloc Really, sister? [beat, looks to Traveller] You once sat me down, nine years ago, and told what I thought to be a ‘story’ to a naïve youngster [beat]

It was at a point in time where you yourself were questioning your actions, and you told me how you had only used this part of your invention once before… [beat] You even showed me how you did it!

Weena [confused] Traveller…?

Traveller [slowly remembering, apprehensive at recalling details] Weena… there is truth in what Kyloc is saying… the machine he holds in his hand does in fact work…

Weena Why would you lie to me? [beat] You should know you never have need to!

Traveller [sighing] I was trying to protect you… everyone… [beat, continues] …in another time-line, I destroyed the Morlocks with the Time Machine, to save the Eloi… you, your brother… all of you ‘Over-Worlders’ were free from the Morlocks slaughtering you like… cattle… [beat] But in doing so the machine itself was destroyed!

Kyloc I remember you telling me as such; that even though I was but a very young boy in that time-line, looking at you I was filled with absolute admiration – after all you had sacrificed yourself, stranded yourself in our world with no means of returning to your own time…

Traveller At that time, and in that place, it was the right thing to do…

Kyloc I didn’t connect everything until recently. beat] You had a way back… didn’t you… something it took me a while to comprehend… [beat] …that through your travels back and forth across millennia, you constructed and hid several Time Machines, in places you knew would be ready to hand for you… your ‘fail-safe’ so to speak… just in case!

Weena Is this true, Traveller?

Kyloc [not waiting for Traveller to respond] He knows it is… It’s in his journal… which I studied whilst the two of you were away from here taking your long evening walks… [beat] At first it was difficult to understand, but as time passed I did!

Traveller [lunging forward, but stopping as Kyloc threatens to press the ‘destruct’ button] How dare you! Those are my private notes… thoughts…

Kyloc That affect us all! [beat] Sister… in this current time-line, the one you both revere so much, the Morlocks were destroyed by a great flood… the seas swelling along the river estuaries and the water, upon reaching the air vents to their vast underground domain, the water cascaded down…

Weena But that is what happened! [beat] We all witnessed this, we moved to higher ground so we would not also perish! [beat] Traveller used the Time Machine’s power to explode and cause the waters to rise and flood the Morlock’s home… [beat] However, the sacrifice was that Time Machine was no more…

Kyloc The Morlocks, unable to tolerate sunlight, had a choice – either drown or burn in the sun’s rays.

Weena And what of it! They terrified us all… every day was lived in fear… [beat] You cannot tell me that you’re not relieved that things are no longer like that!

Kyloc Our lives are indeed different… Traveller did ‘save’ us from such an existence… but his fear was that it was that in the big scheme of things it was all for nothing… in the end humans would cease to exist… [beat] So, what had all the suffering been for?

Traveller Is it such a crime not to want ‘life’ as we know it to end… for there to have been a ‘purpose’ for it all?

Kyloc But for that ‘purpose’ to be decided by one man! [beat] What about the natural order of things… for humanity to live its existence through a journey of discovery… for people to think about more than just the mere here and now…

Weena Kyloc, where is all this coming from… and Traveller, why the deceit?

Kyloc [pointing to Traveller] He encouraged me to think… think of matters beyond this place, beyond my circumstances…

Traveller For goodness sake, Kyloc… and that has led you to destroy us?

Kyloc Not to destroy… [beat] To make you see reason!

Traveller Reason?

Kyloc I have listened to the books read by Herb… I have read his [again referring to Traveller] notes… there is so much more to life, Weena… more than just this… [waves his arms around] I want to see and experience ‘life’… not just ‘exist’ and ‘survive’ for the sake of preserving a species… what is the point?

Traveller If you had seen the things that I’ve seen, then you’d appreciate and embrace what we have here…

Kyloc Really? How can I appreciate and work towards creating something that you can change in a heartbeat!

Traveller I don’t understand…

Kyloc I think you do… [beat] What if I created something you felt was a threat to this way of life? Would you go back in time and steer me away from creating such a thing?

Traveller That depends…

Kyloc How about this… what If something untoward was to happen in this paradise would you use your Time Machine to fix it… or would you let the natural order prevail?

Silence. All eyes are on Traveller, even Herb looks to him

Traveller It depends…

Kyloc On what?

Traveller The situation…

Kyloc Situation?

Traveller The severity of the circumstance… [beat] But I’m sure nothing terrible will happen now…

Kyloc Because you have manipulated the time line to perpetually maintain the status quo?

Traveller [defensive] And what if I have? This is a better place, a better life for all because of it!

Kyloc But what if something ‘terrible’ does happen?

Traveller Then if action is needed…

Kyloc You will ‘take care of it’… [to Weena] Do you see?

Weena See what?

Kyloc That you are living a lie! How can you be sure what is happening is happening? [beat] Even now, can you be sure he is not manipulating time! [beat] You have just witnessed his lie… the very existence of another Time Machine!

Weena [beat, thinking for a moment] Traveller… Is our life a lie? Or just an another ‘truth’…

Kyloc looks to his sister

Kyloc [realisation kicking in] You do know, don’t you! [beat] He has told you… hasn’t he?

Weena Kyloc…

Kyloc [dismissing her] You knew that he was changing things?

Weena [sighing] Kyloc… Traveller has told me certain… but nothing has been changed now for many years!

Traveller [butting in] Not all… I didn’t tell Weena everything!

Weena Not all… indeed, not all. [beat] I was not aware that the machine Kyloc holds was working… [to Kyloc] But he has told me that he was working to fix the machine, with the limited resources we have, just in case…

Kyloc [laughing] Just in case! [beat] But you have yet to truly answer my question. What if you knew something… something devastating was about to happen to your life. What would you do?

Weena [looks to Kyloc and then to Traveller] I don’t really know. [beat] Nothing like that has happened.

Kyloc Exactly… but what if it did?

Silence

Weena Then I suppose if something could be done to avert it then that’s what I’d like to happen.

Kyloc [sighing] But then you are denying the natural order…

Traveller Oh, for goodness sake, Kyloc… what natural order?

Kyloc [irritated that they’re not seeing his point] The baby… [pointing to them both] Your baby… if you knew there was something wrong with it, if it wasn’t… ‘perfect’… would you ‘fix’ it… go back in time and prevent it from ever happening?

Weena Kyloc, why would you ask such a thing?

Silence. Kyloc looks first to his sister and then to Traveller

Kyloc [to Traveller] Well?

Traveller Your question is a hypothetical one. I’m positive the baby is just fine.

Kyloc How do you know that? Have you used the machine to see the outcome? [beat] After all, we have no medical machinery, devices you have explained once existed, to help you. [beat] All you have is the understanding that ‘what will be, will be’.

Weena Kyloc, I trust Traveller to do what’s right… we all do!

Kyloc [sighing as if that’s what he expected to hear] Is that so? Even though he has lied, even to you! [sighing] So, just to make sure I’m clear… if you knew there was something wrong with your baby, you would use the machine to make every attempt to change the outcome to a more favourable one?

Traveller [sighing] If I thought there was a chance that my going back in time would help the child then I would indeed use the machine to give it the greatest chance possible… [beat] But not even the changing of a time-line can alter everyone’s and everything’s situation.

Kyloc Meaning… that say, if there was something wrong medically with the baby… you, you couldn’t change that…? …and of course, you’re not a doctor and that past advancements that were made in medical science have long since turned to dust… so if it were ‘damaged’ and you knew this before it was born, you would use the machine to go back and prevent the conception of this child in the first place!

Weena This really has gone too far! What are you trying to prove here, Kyloc? [beat] Is this how you show gratitude to someone who has given us so much… has, has changed our lives… has brought such joy to me… [beat] Who would have thought it? Me, with child… and not fearful for its future… this is such a blessing and [pointing to the Time Machine he holds in his hand] one that you yourself are threatening… not Traveller!

Kyloc [undeterred, turning to Traveller] You would change time, to protect you and yours?

Traveller Yes.

Kyloc And what about the effect that has on others?

Traveller Others?

Kyloc Yes… stay with me Traveller… after all, the clock is ticking… those in this time- line… you said that ‘nudging’ the course of history as you have done will undoubtedly have an affect… is that not so?

Traveller [quietly] That is my experience…

Kyloc [more heated] That time redresses the balance…?

Traveller [voice raised] Yes… yes… yes! [beat] The time line, as far as my experience has led me to believe, will always make attempts at ‘correcting’ itself… it is a consequence of ‘nudging’ events…

Kyloc [laughing] ‘Nudging’… such a ‘harmless’ word… almost innocent! [beat] Say it as it is, Traveller! [beat] You mean change…

Traveller Of course, that’s what I mean…

Kyloc Then why not just admit that?

Traveller Haven’t I just done that?

Kyloc Indeed… [beat] But while you change things to craft this ‘perfect’ existence, what are the consequences for others… what has happened to them?

Weena What are you talking about, Kyloc?

Kyloc Why don’t you explain, Traveller? [beat] Hmmm?

Traveller is silent

Kyloc (continued) Nothing to say? No fanciful defence at the ready? [beat] I thought you had an answer for everything!

Traveller [angry and vengeful] I don’t always have the answers! [beat] I come from a time when answers to many, many questions were just beginning to emerge. [beat] Over the years I have a knowledge of many things… however, I’m not an expert in all matters of all fields! [beat] You ask too much of me.

Kyloc And here you are, master of a machine that can flit through time, carving out a utopia for yourself… and of course helping a few others you encountered during your travels… [beat] But when we get down to it, your ‘great mind’, your ‘command’ over us is derived purely from your observations of others… and being a man of intelligence, your ability to comprehend their concepts.

Weena There is no need for such insults, Kyloc. What has Traveller done to you for you to treat him this way?

Kyloc He has taken it upon himself to choose for me… to disable my desire to allow life to find its own way… to flourish or die, but by nature’s design, not the happiness, or unhappiness of one man.

Silence

Kyloc Let me ask you this, Traveller. [beat] Have you thought for one minute how your actions have impacted on us all… how maybe, just maybe, our hopes and aspirations have been dashed just so you can fulfil your own needs? [beat, silence] What? Nothing to say?

Traveller Some people’s actions speak louder than words! [beat, looks to the Time Machine in Kyloc’s hand and shakes his head] Time!

Kyloc Listening to that clock?

Traveller Clock?

Kyloc The ‘silent’ clock that is ticking away whilst we discuss the ethics, realities and consequences of your decisions!

All the time this discussion is happening, Traveller continues to look at the Time Machine held by Kyloc. He’s planning to take it off him and deactivate the self-destruct

Traveller Let’s talk about this… ‘clock’. [beat] What is your end-game here?

Kyloc End-game?

Traveller Yes… [beat] You have clearly been thinking about this for a while… I have noticed you using Herb more frequently… and although I wasn’t sure, I knew that my notes had been sifted through.

Kyloc Your point?

Traveller Well, you figured out a way to activate the device, you chose an opportunity to get Weena and myself alone, the others taking part in the Guama Festival, they are out of harm’s way, but in Weena’s condition, being so near to giving birth, it prevented us joining them this year… [beat] So…?

Kyloc So?

Traveller What? [beat] What are you asking of me? [beat] Do you wish me to travel through time and undo what I have done… throwing all that we have now into potential chaos? [beat] You, standing there, with ‘power’ in your hands… you are currently calling the shots… you have destiny at your finger-tips!

Kyloc I want you to stop!

Silence

Traveller Stop?

Kyloc Yes… stop! [beat] I want you to stop travelling through time and manipulating events. [beat] I want you to let the time-line to ‘play out’ as nature had intended…

Traveller Really?

Kyloc Really!

Traveller Whatever the consequences?

Kyloc [intake of breath] Yes… whatever the consequences…

Traveller And have you spoken to the others about this? [beat] I know there is a group of you – Jynama, Filnipo… and Krentchula… You all spend much time together, time discussing matters, listening to the stories from Herb… [beat] Have they had a ‘say’ in your actions? If so, why are they not here to support you? [beat, silence] Surely, if I’m correct having listened to you, you wouldn’t want to commit the same ‘mistakes’ that I have done and make a decision based purely on your own volition…

Kyloc Volition?

Traveller Decision, choice… wish… [beat] If that were the case then the course of action would, in some ways, be comparable with my own, as you intimated... we would be making decisions for other people… and do you think that’s what they’d want?

Kyloc [smiles] But whatever the outcome, they won’t be destroyed… time will continue and there won’t be a means to manipulate it! [nonchalant] Our discussions have been based upon bettering ourselves, as Eloi, questioning why things are the way they are…

Traveller I see… [beat] And you, particularly you alone, for I’m sure you haven’t yet told them of the existence of a working Time Machine, have taken it upon yourself to confront me with this ultimatum?

Kyloc And what of it?

Traveller Well, knowing that, I see that we are cut from the same cloth!

Kyloc Meaning?

Traveller [under his breath] That you and I are alike in many ways… [continues swiftly] They are under the assumption that what now ‘is’, and this is what we must work from… that the way we evolve from this point forward is in fact, as you say, ‘nature’s course’… [beat] Am I not correct?

Kyloc In a manner of speaking.

Traveller Oh, come Kyloc… You need to be honest with yourself. [beat] You have knowledge that none of your group has! You know that, if things go wrong… or should we say ‘stray’ from our path… then there is an option to correct such matters. [beat] That gives you an advantage… [beat] What do you think the others would say… or want?

Kyloc I don’t think that cheating ‘life’ is a fair and sustainable option…

Traveller ‘Fair’? [beat] Who ever said that life was fair?

Kyloc No one… [beat] however, who gave any one person the right to continually change things if they didn’t go their way? [beat] What would happen if everyone here knew of the existence of a working Time Machine? How would you manage that situation? [beat] It would be chaos…

Traveller And are you going to be the one to tell them? That there is a working machine? [beat] It would be you who brings that chaos to our world!

Kyloc [smiling] Shifting the blame?

Traveller [shaking his head] I don’t see any ‘blame’ here… just circumstance and a difference of opinion… [beat, to Herb] What say you H. G.?

Lights rise on Herb, who has been watching things play out

Herb Remember Mr. Traveller… my circuitry has been limited to re-telling stories for the past few years since you re-discovered me, after many thousands of years of silence… my interactive AI is at best ‘rusty’!

Traveller Is that your diplomatic way of saying you don’t want to get involved in this debate – after all, Kyloc has his finger on a device that could mean the end of us… you included!

Herb Since 2178, when I was brought on-line, diplomacy was an acknowledged art form. I’ve been frequently asked, unofficially of course, what course of action I would take under certain circumstances… it was more of an experiment than anything else… [beat] However, in 2369, when Earth’s war with what was known to this planet as Venus, became a reality, Security Council General Masha Avidsen spent two hours and forty-eight minutes inputting data to my memory core and then a further one hour and eighteen minutes seeking my analysis to secure confirmation of a conclusion she had already arrived at!

Traveller ‘The Galactic Wars’!

Herb Indeed. However, she was most displeased when I could not agree with her, based upon the data she had provided me, and my own knowledge of the situation by accessing the universal web. She made a decision in 2370 that resulted in the two planets going to war – a fight that had devastating consequences to both worlds.

Kyloc What are you saying?

Herb Only that I am not sure whether living organic beings want to hear what a man-made, electronic device, buried for thousands of years, cut off from its main source of information, is the best means of securing a constructive outcome to the current situation. [beat] You will both hear what you want to hear!

Traveller But you have come to know of the world as it is now from speaking with the likes of myself, and others… you know through the data that you have managed to maintain that our existence now is far more peaceful and conducive for where the human species has evolved to!

Herb On first analysis that may be so, but the sources are somewhat limited - one … [looking directly at Traveller] Appears to have a particular bias… and the ‘others’ you speak of have little thought apart from the necessities and practicalities of their current day-today existence. [beat] There are no other external sources for me to refer to, which is not satisfactory.

Traveller But surely, within your circuitry that has survived, you’re able to show Kyloc that positive has come from having the Time Machine as an instrument of good.

Herb I can only surmise on information that has been input into my system. Although I can acknowledge the concept of varying time-lines as a theory, it is just that; a theory. My data input is restricted to the time-line that I am currently a part of, not ones that ‘might have been’. [beat] Traveller, remember, as you yourself have already admitted, your knowledge of ‘things’ is predominantly based upon the time when you were born… on your studies and research in years when innovation and exploration were still in their relative infancy. [beat] What knowledge you have acquired during the numerous time-trips you say you have taken, which is not a fact I can verify with any authority, are merely observations. Although I have assimilated the data you have given me, said information is classified as ‘fiction’ and logged in the ‘stories’ and ‘entertainment’ section of my database.

Traveller [slightly frustrated] But we have spoken at great length about what I have done to better the situation… how does this not resonate with you?

Herb Because I do not have the facility to verify… [beat] I must say that your escapades are most fascinating none-the-less and a wonderful source of entertainment for those who wish to access them.

Traveller Entertainment! Do you hear that Weena… all that I have done has been relegated to ‘entertainment’!

Weena As Herb has stated, Traveller, it cannot verify what has been done. [beat] This does not mean it hasn’t happened… I believe you!

Kyloc Is that your heart or your head speaking?

Weena Kyloc, haven’t you caused enough unrest today? [beat] Is this what you set out to do when you rose this morning? To challenge our way of life? [beat, looking to the machine in his hand] To ruin it… Who knows, if Traveller hadn’t arrived here then maybe neither of us would have been around to see the sunrise! Have you thought of that?

Kyloc Often, sister… often. [beat] But that does not make it ‘right’… what he is doing!

Traveller What if I could demonstrate a benefit that has resulted from what I’ve done… [beat] Of course, you’ll have to take my word, as Herb cannot verify my actions as fact… [beat] Are you at least prepared grant me that request?

Kyloc I don’t see how recounting such stories will change my mind… [beat] What has happened in this past has happened… I know this because we are where we are now… [beat] My wish is that from this point onward the Traveller ceases to use the machine… [beat] In fact, I think it would be best if it were destroyed… to avoid temptation!

Traveller You cannot be serious!

Kyloc I couldn’t be more so…

Traveller [takes a moment to comprehend what is being asked] Kyloc, have you truly… truly thought this through? [beat] You understand there’s no going back from a decision like this!

Weena Kyloc, think of what you are asking… think of the consequences!

Kyloc Consequences! [laughing] Isn’t that what’s currently shaping our lives!

[beat] Consequences of one man’s singular actions… [beat] … a selfish desire to create his own… utopia!

Traveller My utopia? [beat] You make me accountable for all that has happened… the way the world, your world is now?

Kyloc Your actions have helped lead us to this point… [beat] Surely, through your crossing of time, you knew that you would be challenged at some point? [beat] If not now, then later… by someone less ‘selfish’ than myself…

Weena [disbelieving] Less selfish!

Kyloc Of course, sister… someone who possibly wanted to take control of the machine and create time-lines of their own… for their personal gain! [beat] At least this way we can all agree that my actions have taken into consideration the needs of the many…

Traveller [smiling, under his breath] ‘Outweigh the needs of the one!’

Kyloc [puzzled] What was that?

Traveller [smiling, looking directly at him] Oh, it’s something I heard once… in a popular movie… err, motion picture… [beat, sighs when he sees Kyloc is not ‘following’]

Traveller turns to Herb

Herb The motion picture was ‘The Wrath of Khan’, made in the year 1982. The character Spock, a science officer, says, “Logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.” And his commander, Captain Kirk answers, “Or the one.” This sets up a pivotal scene near the end of the film…

Traveller Thank you, H. G…. [beat, Herb stops] ... but we digress… [taking a moment to reflect, and then looks to Weena, and then to Kyloc] But there is ‘truth’ to the statement… that I concur!

Kyloc So, you agree then? That the Time Machine must be destroyed… for the good of us all!

Traveller sits and rests his head in his hands. He rubs his temples, clearly stressed and tired. There is the dull sound of the ticking clock in the background, the sound of ‘nature’ outside, running water… the tranquil sounds sooth Traveller

Weena [seeing he is stressed and moves to comfort him] Traveller, think for a moment… maybe if you did destroy the machine once and for all… we could just live our lives and let nature take its course!

Traveller So, you want me to bow down to Kyloc’s wishes?

Weena Not ‘bow down’… but we have a wonderful life here…

Traveller One that has taken so much… time… and effort… and sacrifice to enable… [beat] What if something happens and it’s all swept away in an instant? Wouldn’t you rather an option to be able to maintain ‘this’…

Weena I am thinking of you… and your well-being!

Traveller [looks deeply into her eyes] I am finding my efforts exhausting… [beat] I am just… afraid… of losing what we have!

Weena [smiling, embracing him] I am not going anywhere… and if it is a choice of living with a degree of uncertainty, rather than our lives being ended now… well, I’d take that ‘uncertainty’ every time!

Traveller looks to her and then to Kyloc. He is clearly thinking things through. He stands and walks the room, looking to Kyloc, who ensures that there is still distance between them, and then to Weena. He sighs, shaking his head

Traveller [to Weena] I can’t… I must try to make him see reason [indicating to the machine] How much time do we have left?

Kyloc [looking at the device] Twenty-seven minutes and sixteen, no fifteen seconds…

Traveller [nods his head] Then I have time to try and show you the reasons for some of my actions…

Kyloc [frustrated] But… haven’t you just seen that your path is folly…

Traveller [holds up his hand in defiance] No… you may have concluded that… [beat] But, I have not… I admit that you have the upper hand… and I am putting at risk the lives of Weena and our unborn child… as well as both you and I… but I have listened to all you have said and whilst I appreciate your opinion, I am compelled to present a scenario, which I have spoken to Herb of… where I attempted to use the machine I had invented for good… for the benefit of everyone… [beat] The good of our species…

Kyloc [becoming irritated] But as indicated… you have no proof… these will be merely stories! [beat] How do we know there’s ‘truth’ in them?

Traveller [laughing quietly] You don’t… maybe I am simply a ‘master story-teller’! But then, as Herb has verified, how can anything the hologram, or myself, or anyone else says confirm the ‘truth’ of anything? [beat] But of course, how can you deny what I say? Again, you have no proof! [beat] Unless you have seen it with your own eyes!

Kyloc I don’t understand!

Traveller [sighing] All that we know, and are, is through either our own experiences, Or ‘written’ and ‘oral’ history… [beat] Time and nature provide the rest… for example, we know that there is a river running through our settlement. How? Because we can see and hear it, feel it, and use it for our needs… therefore we know ‘it is’.

Kyloc But of course …

Traveller [holding up his hand] The river is therefore a fact that you take for granted as a fact… because not only you, but all the others who live here can also confirm!

Kyloc Indeed…

Traveller You know that the leaves on the Trimundo Trees are purple… again, because we can all see them… that the Zarniferous flowers are yellow with an orange heart… again, because we can all see them.

Kyloc Your point?

Traveller If I had not come into your lives the chances are you would know very little of the hundreds of thousands… millions of years, that had preceded this time!

Kyloc [acknowledging this] That might be the case… but you are here, so that is a fact… and we have Herb!

Traveller Indeed, but would you have known how to activate the hologram… put into context the information it contained?

Kyloc [defensive] I am sure we would… in time! Like archaeologists investigating ancient civilisations!

Traveller [smiles] Indeed… in time! [beat] However, the likelihood is slim. [beat] But even with my being here, you only have my word on what is fact, or the truth. You only have the word of the many people who had input information into Herb as ‘truth’… after all, you were not there to witness what they write about happening… were you?

Kyloc No, but…

Traveller What if having the Time Machine here ensures your very existence? [beat] What if, by taking it away, you will end all that you know… end your very ‘being’?

Kyloc [defiant] I am willing to take that chance!

Traveller Really? I’m not so sure! [beat] So, you are founding your desire to destroy the Time Machine, based upon ‘knowledge’ that you do not know for sure either exists or existed in the first place! [beat] So, with that in mind…

Kyloc [flustered] You are confusing the matter…

Traveller Not so… I believe I am providing clarity… [beat] So, with that in mind… how do you know that my having a working Time Machine is really preventing you, and others, from personal development?

Kyloc Because of your journals! [excitable] There is the evidence! You change things… if they don’t go the way you want them to!

Traveller But, as I have said, I haven’t used the machine for many years! Your life over the past eight, or maybe nine years, has been good has it not? You have learned things, developed yourself… [beat] You mention my journals… But what if those journals are simply my thoughts… They could be works of fiction… [beat] As Herb has said, he cannot verify my time travel excursions and has filed them as… as ‘entertainment’!

Kyloc So, you now try and deny that you have travelled in time… that the machine I hold in my hand cannot change the course of things… that it is nothing but an explosive device? [beat] Then explain your being here in the first place… You are clearly different from us!

Traveller [shrugging] Even if I could, would you believe me? What is ‘truth’? [smiling] What I am saying is… [thinking to himself for a moment, and then looking to Kyloc] …this… let me try and explain a circumstance where I did, or, depending upon whether you believe me, did not change things for the better… [beat, quickly moving on and not allowing for interruption] …there was once a man, a business man who was a bombastic bully. [beat, walking around as he speaks] It was around the years 2010 – 2020. He had, through some say dubious means, built up a ‘real-estate’ empire… and by real-estate I mean he constructed buildings, hotels, living spaces… and wide-open fields where people played a sport called golf… much of it, apparently, by using money from ‘questionable’ sources and all for his personal gain! [turning to Kyloc] You remember us talking about ‘golf’?

Kyloc [remembering] A sport where people hit small balls with long sticks into holes along long pieces of grass…

Traveller Indeed… ridiculous and tiresome… but that is only my opinion! Now this man decided to run for President of the United States of America… a powerful position of a country that once had a great deal of influence. [beat] And, against the odds, and the fact that even though most voters voted for the other candidate, for the country was a democracy, he still managed to get into office… [beat, in a dismissive motion] It was a flawed system, but one that people continued to use…

Kyloc [pointing to the machine] Time is still ticking, Traveller!

Traveller [acknowledging this] I know that… just bear with me. [beat] So, this man, of a questionable background… questionable ethics, became the leader and began to govern the country in a very different way than it had been previously… He blatantly lied, was disrespectful, ignored advice from those who had expert knowledge in their respective fields… was openly aggressive to people of different races and religions to his own… In many ways, he broke the very ideals the country he led was built upon… [beat] But here’s the point of my telling you this… after a short while people began to question him, reporters and what was known as the news media began to fight back and challenge him… [beat] …in desperation he fought, announcing to the world that these people were in fact the ‘liars’… and was the first person to openly speak of ‘Fake News’… his staff sometimes called it ‘alternative facts’!

Kyloc Alternative facts?

Traveller Stating things as though they were ‘fact’, but were often blatant lies… [beat] This of course in itself wasn’t new, leaders had been doing such a thing for years, but this was the first time a world statesperson had been so open about it! [beat] He would cry out defamatory comments through social media, something you called an ‘evolution’, but I see as deconstructive, and stir up emotions and trouble…

Kyloc But I don’t understand the reason for you telling me this…

Traveller Even though people knew this man was lying, some continued to support him, believing him, saying that it was the rest of the world that was conspiring against him! [beat] But his continual ill-advised, ill-informed and egotistical rhetoric set in motion a devastating chain of events… it was as if he was actively leading the world to the brink of total anhelation… it became a situation where no one believed anyone else… [beat] You see, he believed what he was saying… he thought his actions were the right ones for the country he was leading… without listening to others… [beat] It was his truth! [beat] The reason I am telling you this is because it was a turning point in history… for this time-line anyway…

Kyloc [interrupting] But isn’t that what you yourself are doing?

Traveller [ignoring him] But, I am thinking of the many, and not the few! [turning to the hologram] Herb…?

Herb The summation of President Aaron Hardwick, the gentleman Traveller speaks of, is correct. There are numerous surviving entries in my system verifying his presidency of the United States of America… and his often-controversial actions that enraged both Americans and other countries, some of them former allies.

Traveller Now, I could have learned all that I have told you from Herb… he can verify this…

Herb That is correct.

Traveller [admittedly] But I didn’t! [beat] I am using this to point out that circumstances, played upon by charismatic individuals, can be of great influence… but what really happened, or appears to be have happened, is not necessarily the truth!

Kyloc You are purposely confusing me… but it won’t do you any good… you still haven’t dissuaded me from doing what I came here to do! [beat] Why was this a turning point? For who?

Traveller For the world!

Kyloc Meaning?

Traveller Throughout this planet’s history there have always been warring factions… whether it be tribes or whole continents.

Kyloc Like the Morlocks?

Traveller Much worse… At the point in history we are speaking of there were enough weapons of mass destruction that, if activated, would have decimated the planet! [beat] It is always about power… control… [beat] I guess this is something I wanted to change… having seen how destructive it can be…

[beat] So, one evening in November 2018, I used my Time Machine to visit the White House, the official residency of the President of the United States.

Kyloc [sighing] Where is this leading…?

Traveller Allow me to finish… [beat] …to visit the White House. I arrived in the Oval Office, where President Hardwick was alone… he was at odds with his situation; yet another piece of legislation hadn’t been approved by the politicians and it was causing him much distress… [beat] Added to which the world was on the precipice of World War 3, with Tasmania on the verge of all-out war with Monte Carlo, the capital of Europea and the planet’s financial centre, because of ongoing sanctions against them and aggressive military posturing… [beat] President Hardwick couldn’t see a diplomatic solution and he was there, in desperation, with his finger on the launch button to his country’s nuclear weapons…

Kyloc [poised, waiting for Traveller to continue] Well…?

Traveller I could see he was agitated with my abrupt and unannounced arrival and I had to neutralise him with a dart, coated with a natural sedative… [beat] I spoke briefly about the dangerous path he was about to embark upon; I of course had seen the results of his actions and it wasn’t good, but he clearly didn’t believe me!

Kyloc [frowning, unbelieving] And…?

Traveller Circumstances had evolved that the President, through his monocratic control, had removed safety security protocols from the usual chain of command and that he, and he alone, had the authority to fire the weapons!

Kyloc [not convinced] I don’t believe…

Traveller [interrupting] Seeing that he was becoming enraged, his face reddening and, despite being drugged, his finger trying to move closer to the launch button, I made a decision…

Kyloc Which was…?

Traveller [dead pan] To abduct him… [beat] I started the machine, set the date and transported him to a place where he wouldn’t be a danger to anyone!

Kyloc [not knowing whether to believe what he has heard] Surely not so!

Traveller [to the hologram] Herb…?

Herb My records indicate that President Hardwick suddenly left office at the date specified by Traveller, though there were conflicting stories as to the cause of this… [beat]

One suggested he was assassinated… another that his mental health was a concern to those around him and they had him institutionalised… others provided alternative answers… one even claimed that… [Herb frowns] …that he was abducted by ‘aliens’… but the actual circumstances remain ‘classified’!

Traveller looks to Kyloc

Kyloc [shaking his head] It means nothing… as you say, it cannot be verified… your explanation could be pure fiction! [beat] Added to this, you and he, to me anyway, seem much alike… you’re not listening to others!

Traveller Are you sure of that? [beat] Do I seem like a person who actively wants to bring about destruction? Do I not strive for peace and harmony? [beat] Surely, we are very different?

Kyloc [still unconvinced] It seems to me as if you are determined to get your own way!

Traveller Then you also are guilty of that! You are using threats to try and make others see that yours is the right path! [beat] I am not threatening anyone…

Kyloc [abruptly changing the subject] Where did you take him?

Traveller 105 million years prior to 2018, in a time known as the Mesozoic Era… millions of years before the first modern humans appeared.

Kyloc And you just left him there!

Traveller With some water, bread and meat… [beat] I thought it appropriate that he be placed with the other dinosaurs! [beat] I’m not sure how long he lasted, but back home in his time, his sudden disappearance came as something of a relief in most quarters, and the escalating war petered out, millions of lives – and this planet, saved…

Herb …information is concurrent with that stored in my memory banks… Vice President Moorfoot stepped in and through her diplomacy peace was eventually restored.

Kyloc But, if you did what you say you did, you killed a man!

Traveller That cannot be proven… I just displaced him and saved millions of others!

Kyloc But what difference did it make? [beat] Years later, the ‘Galactic Wars’ took billions of lives… why did you not step in then?

Traveller [sighs] I did try, but the machine malfunctioned and I missed the time and location of where I needed to be… [beat] I did arrive, but became trapped in that time.

The war happened so quickly that the destruction it created prevented me from returning home for many years and afterwards, well afterwards materials needed for me to repair the device were few and far between…

Kyloc But when you did repair the machine… why not go back and change what had happened?

Traveller [sitting down beside Weena] Because… because a realisation set in! [beat] It was at that point that I stopped going ‘back’ in time, for a while… seeing such destruction and remembering what happened with Martha… I began questioning my actions… [beat] Was it all worth it? Were things going to end up in ruin regardless of my efforts!

Kyloc So, you do see your folly?

Traveller I saw the self-destructive nature of human beings! [beat] I saw a world that had gone so far in one direction, with its reliance on all things computer and mechanical, that it has lost a sense of its own organic development… maybe, just maybe, it needed to re-set itself… without my help!

Weena What do you mean by that?

Traveller [hesitant for a moment] I saw that despite my actions, the very nature of humans was their undoing! [beat] That the earth needed time to heal itself… so, on that occasion I did not step in.

Kyloc So, you stopped…

Traveller For a while. [beat] When I repaired the machine, I decided to travel forwards, and only forwards… to a time when the planet had recovered, the trees and plants had returned… when I could see blue skies… [beat] It was then I slowed the Time Machine down and ended up… well, here… [beat] …and found a kind of ‘peace’ that I had been searching for what seemed to be my entire life.

Weena Which is when you saved me… from the river?

Traveller [moving over and hugging her] Indeed… I didn’t understand why no one else moved to save you. [beat] I knew that I was many, many years into the future, but I didn’t realise at that specific moment in time that our species, and circumstance, had changed to much! [beat] Logic of course should have dictated that, bearing in mind the speed by which we had evolved during small periods of the time line, but it took a while for me to acclimatise.

Kyloc Which brings us to twelve years ago… and by your own admission you say you have used the Time Machine during those years?

Traveller On a three occasions…

Kyloc Name them… how has your using them… your ‘nudging’ time has made things ‘better’ for us?

Traveller [shrugging] Would it matter if I told you? [beat] You have already decided your intentions!

Weena Maybe it would help, Traveller… to show Kyloc how you have made things better for us.

Traveller [sighing] The times I have used the machine whilst I have been here are minimal, hardly noticeable…

Kyloc If that’s the case then there’s surly no harm!

Weena Please Traveller… [looking at the machine] Time is running out!

Kyloc [looks at clock on machine] Twelve minutes and thirty-eight seconds!

As Kyloc looks to the counter, Traveller lunges at him. They struggle and a full- on fight ensues. Throughout the struggle, Traveller’s intention is to get his hands on the machine and disable it. Kyloc knows this and counter-acts his moves every time.

At one point the machine falls out of Kyloc’s hands. Traveller tries to reach for it but is pulled back at every turn by Kyloc.

Weena, seeing the machine, steps forward and takes hold of it. As the two men continue to fight, she moves towards the hologram and pressed the machine to her stomach

Kyloc sees this and stops fighting. Traveller is about to lay a punch on him when he sees that Kyloc has ceased and looking to something in the room. Traveller stops and follows his gaze. He also comes to a stand-still

Traveller What…?

Weena [calmly] You both need to stop, this instant!

Traveller Weena, you need to give me the machine, I need to disable it! [moves towards her]

Weena [stepping back] Wait, Traveller… wait! [she presses the machine tighter to herself] I need you both to stop this… haven’t you learned that beating each other does not provide the solution?

Kyloc Sister… do not do this!

Weena Do what? Follow through on what you started? [beat] You seem fearful! Were your intentions not to destroy us? Was it all a bluff?

Kyloc [reticent] I hadn’t fully decided what I was going to do!

Weena So, your actions…

Kyloc [insistent] MY ACTIONS were to make him see sense…

Weena And you thought the threat of destruction would do that?

Kyloc It was the only way he would listen…

Weena looks to Kyloc and then to Traveller

Weena I need you to be honest with me. [beat] Whatever the answer is, I just need your honesty.

Traveller looks to her

Traveller If that’s your wish.

Weena [looking to the timer] We only have seven minutes left… you have little time!

Traveller [smiling] There was a time when I thought I had all the time in the world!

Kyloc [worried] But not now!

Traveller [staring at him] You look concerned… you really thought it would be that easy to intimidate someone with this and they’d just bow down to your wishes? [beat] You need to have absolute conviction to go through with threatening someone’s life! You have set something in motion that’s now out of your control… [beat] …any regrets?

Kyloc [nervous] Just do as she wishes…

Traveller And if I don’t… [beat] Wait, let me answer that for you… using your own words… time will continue regardless. [beat] True, the three, no four… five even if you include Herb will not be around to enjoy ‘time’, but the others will and you’d have succeeded in your original intentions! [beat] I’d say that was a result! [looking to Kyloc] But maybe not the one you were truly hoping for!

Weena Time is running out!

Traveller Indeed… what question would you like me to answer… honestly?

Weena Have you changed our lives… here and now… are we living a lie?

There is silence for a moment

Traveller And you want the truth?

Weena [hesitant at first] Yes…

Traveller [musing] Then the answer is ‘yes’… [beat, shrugging] Whether that means we are living a ‘lie’ then, as has recently been pointed out, I’m not an expert, just an intelligent observer. [beat] And I suppose you’d like to know when and what?

Weena [quietly] Yes!

Traveller Right, as you wish… [beat] It was nearly two years ago… if you remember there was a series of earthquakes… the ground beneath us felt as though it was going to give way… [beat] A group of young Eloi had left our home and travelled the journey to Yamanoa, the place of passage. As you know it is a day’s journey from here, towards the sea. The day passed, we were all very worried about the group, hoping that they were being cautious. Kyloc, you and Malika were a part of the group, as were your friends… [sighs] Two days and two nights passed and we had not heard from you. Some of the others wanted to venture after you, I persuaded them to stay as the quakes were still quite violent and at least here we were relatively safe. [beat] Then Krentchula returned… [beat, sitting down] Her face… her face was disfigured, almost beyond recognition!

Weena No! This did not happen…

Kyloc Another one of your stories!

Traveller If only that were the case… [beat] Krentchula’s face was almost… almost gone… I had seen this before… it looked like an advanced form of radiation poisoning! [beat] The village was devastated… the loss of so many of our young… the future in jeopardy!

Traveller walks around the room, moves to Herb, who watches intently.

Traveller [turning to Weena and Kyloc] I decided the only things to do was to go back in time to see what happened, and then back even further to see if there was anything I could do. [beat] I was convinced this was, after all, a human-made ‘condition’ and I could therefore try my utmost to do something about it. [beat] I journeyed back two days and saw what happened… the shaking of the earth had broken open the ground, a sealed cavern had become fractured and its contents, metal containers with radioactive waste, had ruptured, sending poisonous gasses into the air. [beat] The group from the village had come into contact with the gas, and all but Krentchula had perished… she only survived because she lagged behind the others and her contact was minimal – though she died later, in her mother’s arms.

Kyloc Fiction, pure fiction… I am here, how can this be?

Traveller [ignoring him, knowing time was of the essence] I set the Time Machine to journey back, to before the ‘Galactic Wars’, to a time when nuclear materials were used as a source of power… to a time when humankind still hadn’t discovered a clean and safe way of disposing of such material! [beat] I found that time, and altered documentation to have the waste site moved some one hundred and fifty miles out to sea, away from where the group, some three hundred million years later would be at the time of the earthquakes…

Weena and Kyloc look at the Traveller in silence. The clock continues to tick and gets louder. No one moves. The ticking clock gets louder and louder. Kyloc looks to Weena. The Traveller simply sits and waits for what happens to happen.

Weena slowly walks to Kyloc. She runs her hand gently across his face. He reaches out to try and take hold of the machine, but she pulls away.

Weena walks past Kyloc and to the Traveller. She places her hand under his chin and makes him look at her, deep into her eyes.

She takes his hand and gently places the machine in it. She smiles, then walks back to where she was sitting. Traveller looks to Kyloc, and to her, and then to the machine. He holds it in his hand, Kyloc looks on with a sense of urgency, Weena is calm.

Traveller flips the machine over in his hand and in a matter of moments enters the deactivation sequence. As he does so the sound of the ticking clock ceases accompanied by the sound of an energy source shutting down.

Traveller [looking at the device. To Weena] Six seconds to go!

They say nothing. There is the sound of running water and nature outside.

Kyloc What happens now?

Traveller [looking to him] You continue with your life… [beat] What else would you expect?

Kyloc [shrugging] A punishment of some kind!

Traveller For what? [beat] Expressing an opinion!

Kyloc What of the machine?

Traveller [handing the machine to Kyloc] You decide… [beat] Type in the code 29 05 1888

Kyloc [frowns] Why should I do that?

Traveller Do you trust me?

Kyloc I’m not sure… I don’t believe your story about my death!

Traveller [smiling] I didn’t expect you would…

Kyloc So why would you entrust the machine to me?

Traveller So, you can make the decision…

Kyloc To prevent it from being used again to alter this time line.

Kyloc looks to him, unsure

Kyloc And the significance of the code?

Traveller [quiet for a moment] The date of Martha’s death…

Kyloc looks to Traveller, flips over the machine, looks to Weena, back to the machine and then enters the code. There is the sound of the machine shutting down completely

Kyloc It’s done… no more time travel…

Kyloc stands and places the Time Machine back on the pedestal

Traveller Indeed…

He is interrupted by Weena crying out in pain. Traveller and Kyloc quickly move to her side.

Traveller Is it…?

Weena Oh, yes… I believe it is this time… [to Kyloc] Quickly, get me to the Doctor…

Kyloc and Traveller take Weena off stage [upstage right], Weena is breathing deeply, Traveller is calming her. This continues on the soundscape as the lights begin to fade. It is a slow fade, with the hologram still lit in a dim light. As the lights become very dim they hold for a moment and then there’s a snap to black.

A beat later there is the sound of a new-born baby crying. The sound of the baby crying lasts for eight or so seconds and then begins to fade.

As the crying fades a tight pin spot rises on the pedestal. The Time Machine is still there. Traveller moves beside it and flips it over in his hand. After looking at it for a moment he replaces it and moves over to Herb, who has been watching the entire time.

Traveller looks to him and sighs

Herb It played out the way you said it would!

Traveller [sighing] I had the advantage of course… I knew what time had in store!

Herb A disarming advantage!

Traveller [pulling out a piece of paper from his jacket] And now that’s done, we can continue with our work. [beat] Do you have the item?

Herb I do indeed… would you like it? [pulls out a duplicate Time Machine]

Traveller If you would be so kind…

Herb steps around the Perspex shield and stands beside Traveller

Traveller Good… [beat, look Herb up and down] I see the three-dimensional re-mattification process is working… [beat, begins to draw an equation on the Perspex]

It’s so fortuitous that I remained on your design team and kept the schematics!

Herb It works like a charm…

Traveller Thank you for discretion today, it was most appreciated.

Herb You’re welcome. [beat] But no more time travel in this time line?

Traveller No, I’ll keep my word… [beat] After all, I am a father now and need to retain some degree of responsibility! [beat] However, the Multi-Verse and Parallel Dimensions are another matter… and an even greater adventure!

Herb So, you’re going ahead with your trip as planned?

Traveller But of course… [beat] Kyloc will be thinking that he has changed my mind, the mother of my child is resting, the child is with the nurse… all of which means that I have a little time on my hands!

Herb As you wish… [beat] So which theory are we testing today?

Traveller thinks for a moment

Traveller Well, the Observable Universe does present some challenges… [beat] The ‘Bubble Universe’ proved unsuccessful… there may have been a calculation error on my part, so we’ll need to revisit that, but for now we’ll focus on… [beat] Well Herb, you choose? Will it be ‘Membranes and Extra Dimensions’, with its proposed nine dimensions… or the ‘Many Worlds of Quantum Mechanics’?

Herb And what if neither provide the answers you are looking for?

Traveller [musing] Then we’ll use the ‘Multi-Multi Universe, the super speculative model’, which encompasses elements of all three! [beat, noticing the dubious look on Herb’s face] I’m just saying… it’s a possibility!

Herb thinks for a moment and then faces Traveller

Herb Membranes and Extra Dimensions…

Traveller ‘Branes’ it is… [beat] Now, take this… [hands Herb a small device] Keep hold of it… remain here, exactly where you are and act as my anchor… [takes Time Machine from Herb’s other hand] Signal me if anyone comes along… [beat] I’ll dial in the equation I’ve been working on… and we’ll see what’s what! [beat] Ready?

Herb Ready!

Traveller [dials in equation code] Engage…

There is a lighting and sound effect to indicate the machine has been activated. The lighting effect lasts for four seconds, then the lights snap to black, the sound effect continues for ten seconds, then abruptly goes quiet, a two second pause and then there’s one final sound [like a small bomb going off] and then silence

Herb [upbeat, but understated] Oh… now I wasn’t expecting that to happen!

The End