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ONE
Night-time. POLLYās office.
OWEN enters. He presents POLLY with a shiny black box. Itās a stylish, classy design.
OWEN Black Box.
POLLY What?
OWEN Itās called Black Box. I thought you might like to try it?
POLLY You got me a present?
OWEN Yes. No. Well. We got given them at work. Does that still count as a present?
POLLY Was it free?
OWEN Maybe.
POLLY Did you take it without anyone knowing?
OWEN Possibly.
POLLY Sounds more like petty theft than a present.
OWEN Look. I know this promotion isā¦ a lotā¦ and I know you love this stuff ā a new gadget to get to grips with, so I thought it might be a welcome distraction.
POLLY What does it do?
OWEN It relaxes you.
POLLY How?
OWEN Something about brainwaves, something about syncing to your heartbeat, something aboutā¦ I donāt know. But apparently you can have visions ā I thought at the very least it might be fun.
POLLY It feels like a very expensive thing to just get given.
OWEN Itās like the dealer giving the first gram out for free ā even the sick and the dying are a market, an infinite market. Open it.
POLLY Cynical, are you?
POLLY opens the box to find a headset. It should feel new and expensive without being too otherworldly.
OWEN The order arrived just as my patient went into cardiac arrest. This lovely old lady, flatlining, and the delivery boy is just hovering in the background looking for a signature. Tapping his pen against his pad.
POLLY Did she die? The woman.
OWEN Yeah. She was at least a hundred and forty. Polish. She went back to speaking Polish at the end. Saying prayers ā turns out the Polish for āamenā is just āamenā. Itās amazing how many people pray at the end. But death will die outā¦ eventually.
POLLY You know sometimesā¦ I forget.
OWEN What?
POLLY Youāre there. Doing that. At the endā¦
OWEN I change drips and clean out bedpans. Itās just body fluids.
POLLY But itās just soā¦ real.
OWEN shrugs.
OWEN Go on then ā Iāll be annoyed if I nicked it from work and you didnāt at least try it.
POLLY Alright! How do I /
OWEN Press power.
POLLY Thanks.
POLLY puts on the headset.
Nothing is /
VOICE Welcome to Black Box.
POLLY Can you hear that?
OWEN Yes. There must be / speakers.
VOICE Please state your name.
POLLY Polly.
VOICE Welcome ā Polly.
POLLY Thatās creepy.
VOICE Please state your reason for using the programme.
POLLY Because my husband made me.
VOICE Thank you ā Polly. We can tell by your heartbeat you are experiencing low levels of stress. We have automatically selected our relaxation mode.
POLLY Where does the Merlot come out of?
OWEN Just / breathe.
VOICE Please prepare yourself for Black Box.
POLLY Iāve got shit to do, Owen.
OWEN I know. But thatās not the / point
VOICE Please close your eyes.
POLLY I donāt feel very / relaxed
VOICE In five
four
OWEN Close your eyes.
VOICE three
POLLY Donāt watch me.
VOICE two
POLLY Donāt watch.
VOICE one
POLLY gestures for OWEN to leave.
OWEN Fine.
He leaves. She sits with the headset on and she closes her eyes.
VOICE Welcome to Black Box.
Silence.
POLLY tilts her head. Wriggles in her seat. Sighs.
POLLY Itās just. Nothing. A nothingness.
Not a sound. Not a glimmer. Not aā¦ focus. Polly.
Focus on feelingā¦ nothing. How the hell do you feel nothing?
Focus on feelingā¦ focus on feelingā¦ focus on and it foams up ā that familiar stomach swirl and whirl, with the motion that says I must. Move. Forward. As fingers twitch and itch...
