Scene 7: The Miracle Machine
(The same setting as scene 5, but all the tombstones have been cleared. Instead, small cages litter the space. The distant screams of children can be heard occasionally in the background. There is a large machine with a crank STAGE LEFT connected to multiple cables that lay along the stage floor or varying sizes. Some cables connect to the cages, while others go offstage)
JACOB: Hurry up Mephistopheles, we’re almost there.
MEPHISTOPHELES 1: Give me a second, I’m not as young as I used to be. (M1 takes a second to look around) This place is different from the last time I’ve been here.
JACOB: I took the liberty of making the necessary changes to make room for my machine. It takes a lot of energy to do what we are attempting.
(As JACOB and M1 make their way toward the crank, M1 is grabbed by an unseen child in a cage that he walks past. The child is horribly disfigured by burns and scars. Several pieces are missing from the body)
CHILD: Please, save me mister. I just want to go home.
M1: Jesus Christ! Let go of me! What is that thing?
JACOB: The remnants of a failed experiment.
M1: Experiment for what?
JACOB: Remember when we first met to discuss my project all those years ago? How I told you that we could use the energy created by separating a soul from its body? We’ll this is the aftermath. When the two are separated, both entities remain alive. One made of pure energy, the soul, and one of flesh, the shell. While the shell continues to live, eventually it will decay into nothing without the will of a soul to hold it together. But a soul? That will continue to live on until the Tapestry ceases to exist. The soul is the essence that keeps the Tapestry alive. Normally when a person dies, their soul is ferried to the outer edges of the Tapestry, where it can merge with the strands and be reborn, strengthening the bonds that hold everything together. But my machine not only captures the energy created by splitting a soul and its shell, but it also captures the soul itself allowing me to use it as fuel for larger actions.
M1: And what happens to the shells that remain once the process is done?
JACOB: I throw them away. They have no use after their soul has been extracted. Besides, they wither away into nothing anyway.
M1: But they’re still alive. Why not show mercy on them?
JACOB: It’s not my job to shelter them! Why should I show them mercy when the world certainly hasn’t shown me any!
M1: You’ve changed a lot from when we first met. You’re stronger now, more assertive. You don’t wait for the world to hand you your life anymore. I hope that continues after today. Don’t worry Jacob, we will get Elizabeth back for you.
JACOB: Don’t you ever say her name! Don’t you dare! It’s your fault were in this mess in the first place!
M1: And I said I was sorry, didn’t I? How was I supposed to know you were stupid enough to tell Elizabeth about our agreement? To know that she would be stupid enough to show up?
JACOB: It was your job, M! (JACOB takes a second to breathe) Enough, of this! The only thing I want to think about right now is firing up the Machine.
(JACOB beings to connect and adjust the cables connected into the crank)
M1: (M1 waits several moments before speaking) I’ve been wondering for a while now, why children?
JACOB: Because the younger a person is, the less realities they inhabit and create as their futures branch off. The purer a soul is, the closer it is to being in its original form from before the Split, and the more energy it contains from Primordia, the singularity point.
M1: But why did you need so many? It took us months to collect the numbers you needed! Doesn’t that seem a bit excessive to you?
JACOB: When my Machine is used to pull an item from another reality, it takes a lot of energy. Even more so when we want to pull back a person. What we are doing goes far beyond that. We are using my machine to reach back into a very specific set of strands, to pull back a very specific version of a human being whose soul is also connected to the strands. This isn't some object that’s the same between a thousand worlds. This type of miracle requires insane amounts of energy. I’m not even sure three hundred thousand is enough.
M1: You make them sound like chattel
JACOB: In the end, we’re all just chattel for those stronger than ourselves. The playthings of the gods and prophets of old, and now of the twisted strings binding us to our misery. It’s ready M. Are you sure you have the correct moment and place in time?
M1: I’m certain. I had to lose a lot for this. This is the Elizabeth you want (M1 hands JACOB a piece of paper with complex coordinates printed on it)
JACOB: This better be right M, for your sake. (JACOB places the coordinates into the Machine) Now, your job is to turn this crank as fast as you can until the Machine has collected enough energy to power itself. Once that happens you must let go immediately or you’ll lose an arm. See this red button? Once I have Elizabeth you have to press it immediately. My Machine acts as a doorway and if it isn’t closed fast enough other things could enter, or Elizabeth might be pulled back through. You do not stop the Machine before she comes through? Do you understand?
M1: Yes. I won't fuck up your plan. I promise.
JACOB: Ok. When I tell you to, start cranking.
(JACOB makes his way to CENTER STAGE before calling out to M1)
JACOB: You can start.
(M1 begins to turn the crank on the Machine. As he does this, a green light strikes JACOB from STAGE LEFT, who proceeds to grab the light. Seconds later, a blue light strikes JACOB from STAGE RIGHT, and it is grabbed as well. As the intensity of the lights grows, the sounds of the screaming children intensify. Loud screams can be heard from each of the cages. The SYMPHONY starts to move in the background. As the screams continue, the lights connected to JACOB intensify even more, causing him to struggle. JACOB cries out in pain as a red light coming from behind strikes his head. JACOB falls to the floor as the sounds of spinning gears rises from out of the Machine. With a loud crack, M1 is thrown off the Machine as it begins to operate itself. The red light on JACOB grows as the symphony bring in a rotating doorframe UPSTAGE CENTER. The RAVEN and EMILY walk a good distance behind the door. JACOB cries out in agony)
M1: Jacob, we have to stop this! You’re killing yourself!
JACOB: We don’t stop until she is through! Do you hear me!
(The screams of the children are even louder now, morphing to demonic cries of anguish. The SYMPHONY finishes placing the door as the RAVEN and EMILY approach, holding hands. She looks up at the RAVEN who ushers her out of ELYSIUM and into the GRAVEYARD. M1 throws himself onto the red button as EMILY goes through the door, a brief flash of blue strikes her face as she falls through the door and onto the floor, the three lights go out and JACOB collapses, exhausted. The SYMPHONY takes the machine and door offstage. M1 searches the stage for the machine)
M1: God damnit! Where did it go?
(As M1 searches for the machine, he stumbles upon EMILY. After looking her over, he starts to laugh)
M1: Marvelous, simply marvelous. She’s going to be very pleased about this. I can see such terrible things in her future. I can already smell the ashes of tomorrow
(M1 goes over to JACOB, and helps him stand)
JACOB: Did she make it?
M1: Oh yes. The process was a tremendous success. Your machine, however, is gone.
JACOB: Good. Bring me to her. The machine is no longer my concern.
(M1 helps JACOB over to EMILY. JACOB collapses onto the floor and pulls EMILY in close. As he looks over her face, JACOB is enraged)
JACOB: What did you do? This isn’t who I told you to bring me! This isn’t Elizabeth!
M1: Oh, I assure you that it is. The exact one as specified as well. A little young perhaps, but it’s the same one. I’d bet my soul on it if I had one.
JACOB: A little young? She looks like she’s eight. This isn’t my Elizabeth. This is her when we first met! And her skin, look at it! It's like diamonds! Is she even human?
M1: All the better! You’ll have another whole lifetime with her.
JACOB: This isn’t what we agreed on M! Our deal is done!
M1: No, it's not! I held up my end of the bargain, now you’ll hold up your end! I didn’t have to do this for you, you know. I risked my life for this! It’s not my fault your stupid machine wasn’t as perfect as you thought it was.
JACOB: Get away from us! After today, we’re done Mephistopheles! All you’ve done since you came into my life was cause me nothing but pain. I never want to see you again.
M1: Pain? I broke my back for you and your project! I taught you everything I know about the Tapestry, how to control and wield your powers after she died! I gave everything I had for you. You were my son! And now because you couldn’t take a second to check your aim, I’m the one to blame? Because you couldn’t operate your own machine? No, Jacob, we will see each other again. Don’t forget that you begged me for this. You cried and whined and complained until I was the one who let you set up another deal. And now that deal is signed and done. You have twenty years Jacob. Enjoy them while you can, because when the moon is at its apex, I will come to collect. Destiny itself demands it!
JACOB: I won’t let you! I’ll rebuild the Miracle Machine, and I’ll find the real Elizabeth, and when I do, I’ll make sure you can never find us!
M1: You ignorant fool. Run from your fate all you want, but the strands will always pull you back into place. You have no choice in the matter. Constants will always remain fixed.
JACOB: What?
M1: Goodbye Jacob. I hope you come to understand that everything I did was for you. It's going to be a rough twenty years Jacob. For the both of us.
(BLACKOUT)
