etc. Presents: ‘Mind Games’ Characters: 1. Ruby: RPG Elf/Companion 1 - played by Violet 2. Garnet: RPG Elf/Companion 2 - played by Georgia 3. Jordan: Real-life sibling - played by Alex 4. Major Mitch Black: VR Military Grunt – played by Sam 5. Starlight: VR Sibling - played by Shaina 6. DJ: Jordan's Real-life best friend - played by Isabelle 7. Totally Tina 2.0: VR Perky Puzzle Hero – played by Sophia 8. Jenna: Sibling lost in game - played by Katherine 9. Lucien: Evil VR Wizard - played by Andy 10. Evalon: VR Chillout/Sandbox Hero - played by KJ 11. OS1: Voice of Vortex/Game Master – played by Ilana Plot Notes: In the near future, VR has replaced most standard videogames, with the most advanced setup being the 'Vortex', allowing seamless integration of several gaming worlds and a full virtual ‘life’ from one hub world. Jenna and Jordan are two siblings whose family is fairly well-off financially, but lacking in warmth, especially since the recent loss of their mother. With an emotionally-absent father and school/social pressures mounting in real life, Jenna retreats more and more into Vortex, where her virtual sibling Starlight and her AI companions are becoming more attractive than reality. In the meantime, real-life sibling Jordan and best friend DJ are left behind. Over a summer, they dive into Vortex themselves, trying to understand Jenna’s need to escape while uncovering her reasons for not wanting to come back. Scene 1: Jenna's Head (Lights up on JENNA's bedroom. She lives in a well-to-do house, with several geek culture/video game posters around her room. There is a large TV and a new Virtual Reality system off to the side. JENNA is sleeping on her bed in the center of the room; suddenly, she pops up, scared by a nightmare.) JENNA: Mom!! (JENNA's MOM comes in.) MOM: Jenna... JENNA: Mom, oh thank GOD. I had this terrible nightmare and.../ MOM: /Jenna, you can't keep doing this. JENNA: Doing what? Having dreams? Look, Mom, I'm sorry if I woke you but.../ MOM: /I'm not here, Jenna. JENNA: ...what? MOM: You have to let me go, baby girl. JENNA: What are you/ MOM: /It's Ok....you've got your Dad, and Jordan and DJ.. JENNA: Mom, what are you saying!? This is crazy, you're standing right.../ MOM: It's time to wake up now, honey. (JENNA's MOM starts to leave.) JENNA: No, Mom, don't go! MOM: You'll be OK, sweetie... JENNA: No, wait!!! My nightmare, it... MOM: It's time to wake up, Jenna... JENNA: /...it looked just like this. MOM: It's time to/ JORDAN <yelling through the door>: /WAKE UP, JENNA! We're gonna be late for school, jeez! (Energetic music begins now as the lights abruptly shift. JENNA realizes she's been dreaming again.) JENNA: Right... RIGHT! School! Um.... I'll be right there! (JENNA jumps out of bed in her pajamas and frantically looks around for something to wear. JORDAN busts into the room.) JORDAN: Jen, What. The. Heck!? Did you not hear me knock, like 40 minutes ago? JENNA: Umm... JORDAN: /or hear DJ calling your phone 15 thousand times? I could hear it from MY room! JENNA: I'm sorry... JORDAN: Whatever. Look, I brought you some of my stuff, since you've gone all Obi Wan Kenobi and haven't left your room to do laundry since April. Put this and this and this on; you'll look less tragic. JENNA: Hey... JORDAN: You've got 5 minutes before we have to be outside, or we're going to miss the bus, which means we'll be late, which means we'll get detention, which means I'll be SUPER pissed, because unlike you, I don't want to spend my entire weekend indoors. Again. JENNA: Jeez, harsh. JORDAN: Truthful, J. I know you're going through some kind of "Miss Misunderstood", ‘Rebel Yell’-type thing at the moment, but some of us don't have time to put our lives on hold, ok? I’ve got tests and friends and stuff to do after school, all of which require me getting TO school to get school over with. Now change! (JORDAN leaves. JENNA waits until she is gone, then mocks her.) JENNA: "Wah, I'm Jordan and I have tests and friends and"/ JORDAN (from outside the door): /I can HEAR you, butt face! JENNA (to herself): Whatever... SONG: “A New Story”: JENNA: It’s not about being misunderstood It’s not a fight for what’s right or what’s ‘good’ I’m not rebelling just to rebel I’m not re-telling the lyrics I yelled before I’m just one kid in a big universe I know that others have it much worse I wish it made more sense in my head why the feeling part of me feels mostly dead The world keeps asking, but I don’t know I’m making all this up as I go I’ll have the answers when I say so But for now, peace out; I’m laying low A new story is what I’m after And tall tales take time A new story to copy over mistakes in mine I’m rewriting my adolescence line by line in my new story all the glory is mine JORDAN: Stop conversing with the voices in your head and let's. GO! JENNA: ‘Voices in my head’? Please... (The voices in JENNA's head appear on-stage.) VOICES: …Yo! JENNA: Maybe she's got a point. ALL but JENNA: Sometimes, the stories we tell Don’t paint our picture so well Sometimes, the plotlines are skewed and we re-arrange the way we’re viewed Slowly but surely, anxiety grows You try to hide it, so nobody knows Go ‘bout your business, living a lie while your whole life passes you by The world keeps pushing us down the road Fears appear from the seeds we sowed So we march on with a heavy load feeling like we’ve lost the secret code And now a new story is what we’re after We long to connect A new story where no one’s role is the big reject We’re all begging for space and time to have the freedom to select A brand new story where we all can connect ALL: What will it take to make it? before we break before we’re broken Where’s the escape from waking up where it’s fake? Where no one’s woken Up We’re drowned in doubt so let’s log on and let’s check out It might not be a perfect ending but it’s a start To our new story it’s what we’re after We long to connect A new story where no one’s role is the big reject We’re all begging for space and time to have the freedom to select A brand new story where we all can connect JENNA: ALL but JENNA: A new story Sometimes, the stories is what I’m after we tell And tall tales take time Don’t paint our picture so well A new story Sometimes, the plotlines to copy over are skewed, mistakes in mine and we rearrange the way we’re viewed I’m rewriting We’re all begging my adolescence for space and time to have the line by line freedom to select in my new story a brand new story all the glory is mine where we all can connect ALL: What will it take to make it? before we break What will it take?!? JORDAN: Come ON! (JORDAN breaks the final pose, grabs JENNA, and yanks her off-stage as the others look on.) LIGHTS OUT. Scene 2: After School (Back at JENNA and JORDAN’s house, after school. JENNA stomps in, throws her backpack on the ground, and plops onto her bed, defeated by another day. JORDAN stops at the doorway.) JORDAN: See, that wasn’t so bad, right?! Another day of school done! We killed it! JENNA: (head in pillow) Meh. JORDAN: Can I come in? JENNA: ….Meh. JORDAN: Well, with that kind of enthusiasm, how could I say no?!? …so, Dad left us some of those disgusting Pizza Popper things; should we make 70 or so and watch Gilmore Girls re-runs? JENNA: I dunno. JORDAN: Or… oh, Katie gave me some really real-looking temporary tattoos. Wanna get tatted like a trucker and freak the old man out when he gets home? JENNA: …Maybe later. JORDAN: We could tell him we joined a high school biker gang… JENNA: Jordan… JORDAN: Not exciting enough, huh? Hmm…. We could…. Start a YouTube channel of us just eating soup and call it “Soup Tube”! ….we could break into the veterinarian’s office and steal all the ferrets! ….we could hack the government’s website and replace every other word with “poop”? I dunno, give me somethin’ to work with here! JENNA: Sis, look, I’m… JORDAN: /Just not in the mood right now, right? Yeah, so you’ve told me. For weeks now. JENNA: Look, I don’t know what you want from me… JORDAN: I want my sister back! This moping around is totally lame. JENNA: Well I’m sorry I can’t be little Miss Perky all the time, Princess/ JORDAN: /I lost her too! …Did you forget that?! JENNA: No. But you seem to. Mom’s barely been gone a month, and you’re bouncing around, acting like Pizza Poppers are the biggest thing going.