Here are the first four scenes of Chromium Gardens, a new one-act I've written for a festival of plays set in the future. It is inspired by Ray Bradbury's short story, Marionette's, Inc., from his book The Illustrated Man.

Scene 1. JASON and LANE, a married couple, seated for dinner. They eat in silence, then:

LANE
How is it?

Long moment.

JASON
Hmmm? Oh. (Beat) It's good. It's delicious.

They continue eating.

LANE
Is everything all right?

Beat

JASON
Oh. (Beat) Yes. Everything's fine.

He continues eating. LANE watches him.

LANE
I love you. You know that, don't you? You're everything I ever wanted or will ever want.

Pause

JASON
I love you. I love you too.

Lights Out

Scene 2.
JASON sits on a commuter train, crowded with strap hangers.

Shadows pass over JASON and his fellow travelers, who all wear white paper hospital masks that reveal dull, empty eyes.

The train stops, and quickly empties, leaving JASON alone. We hear the doors close.

CONDUCTOR (VOICE)
Next stop, Chromium Gardens.

JASON is distracted. He notices a tin toy robot that someone has left behind.

The TOY sits on its side, moving, but unable to walk.

JASON removes his mask to consider it.

Lights Out

Scene 3.
JASON and his COWORKER sit at tiny cubicles. They wear ear bud headphones and use each hand to busily tap away at flat white tablets full of buttons. A blue light flickers across their faces as they work.

JASON removes his earphones and walks over to COWORKER.

JASON
Hey...you want to sneak out and get some fresh air?

Long pause

COWORKER
(Does not look up)
No.

JASON
(Beat)
Are you okay?

COWORKER
(Working)
Busy.

JASON
Listen, I have something I need to talk to you about.

COWORKER
(Working)
Can't.

JASON
I'm having some problems at home. With Lane. (Beat) Or maybe it's me, I don't know...

Coworker stops working. He looks up at JASON.

COWORKER
(Ever so slightly more polite)
I'm sorry. In the middle of something.

JASON
Okay. (Beat) All right.

COWORKER
Jason?

JASON
Yes?

COWORKER
I find my work very satisfying.

JASON
Okay.

COWORKER
I love my job. I can't and won't do anything to jeopardize my standing here.

Lights out

Scene 3.
JASON at a park bench, wearing his paper mask.

He stares off into space. Can we hear the sound of the toy robot?

COWORKER, in a new set of clothes, approaches JASON.

COWORKER
Jason!

JASON
Change your mind?

COWORKER
(Giddy)
What? I've been trying to track you down for days.

JASON
Days?

COWORKER
(Conspiratorially excited, about to burst)
I've been having the time of my life. I've got so much to tell you!

JASON
What are you talking about?

COWORKER
That guy you're working with up in that morgue? That's not me!

JASON
What?

COWORKER
That's not me up there!

JASON
Sorry? Did you--

COWORKER
That guy you've been sitting next to? (Excited whisper) It's not me!

JASON
No? Who is it?

COWORKER
(Careful to say it out loud)
It's a replacement.

JASON
A replacement?

COWORKER
Yes, it's an exact duplicate of myself, a genetically engineered doppelganger. I ordered it.

He hands JASON a card.

JASON
Second Chance Enterprises?

COWORKER
Cutting-edge stuff. It's made with my own DNA, but has a circuitry-based brain. It had you fooled, right?

JASON
Yes. I, guess. How did you manage?

COWORKER
It was the simplest thing. I told my wife I was going on a business trip. I left, and my replacement took over.

JASON
And your wife, your kids? They didn't notice?

COWORKER
Not a thing.

JASON
Why?

COWORKER
Why? Why? With that job? You've met my wife. I couldn't take it anymore. Second Chance gave me a solution. A solution where no one is hurt. My wife is none the wiser, my kids still have their Dad. They couldn't be happier. I couldn't be happier.

JASON
What have you been up to?

COWORKER
What haven't I been up to? Traveling, I've been off-planet twice.

JASON
You've been to the colonies?

COWORKER
I've been up to ears in women, Jason. It's taken twenty years off me. (Beat) I'm a new man.

JASON
Don't you miss your family?

COWORKER
I miss them as much as they miss me. I'm sorry, I should be going. It would be awkward to bump into my replacement, you know? Bad form.

JASON
I don't think you have to worry about that. Did you know you got a raise?

COWORKER
Go figure, that thing is better at being me than I ever was.

He stands. Shakes JASON's hand.

Hey, have fun back at the office. I'll send you a postcard.

He's gone.

JASON is left holding the card.

He coughs. Puts on his paper mask and stares at the card.

Lights out

Image, Toy tin robot in the show by Jonathan McIntosh, 2003.
This file is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.