Thursday, May 1, 2014

Katabasis: Part 1

"If the elephants have past lives/yet are destined to always remember/it's no wonder how they scream/like you and I they must have some temper."
-Rachel Yamagata, Elephants

"The heart isn't a recording device."
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories


KATABASIS
by Maxton Young-Jones

Characters: 
Dana: Appears 40. Appears Female
The Examiner: Appears any or every age. Appears any or every gender.

DANA alone on a dark stage. There are two chairs. She is sitting in one, professionally. There are footsteps. They belong to THE EXAMINER who eventually enters the light. The EXAMINER sits in the other chair.

EXAMINER
You are here, because your memories are wrong.

(pause)

EXAMINER
Which is not to say that your thought patterns are outside acceptable Company parameters. There's some tendency towards hubris with a touch or two of raw ambition a little beyond the normative temperament markers. But as you know, we're more liberal then most Companies. We encourage our employees to not follow a strict mold, especially those marked for leadership like yourself. Furthermore how you remember the past ten years of your life show us that you are a valuable resource and well worth our time and investment.

DANA
Thank you, Examiner

EXAMINER
I was not being charitable. I was simply stating facts.

DANA
Then state another. How am I in error?

EXAMINER
You know why. Because beyond the last ten years of your life, there's nothing else. You don't remember it.

(pause)

DANA
No. No I don't.

EXAMINER
I'm going to need you elucidate.

DANA
 Everything before that is a bit vague. I wish I could be of more service.

EXAMINER
I'm surprised we haven't caught this sooner.

DANA
It's strange. I didn't notice it myself until five years ago.

EXAMINER
Interesting. You'd forgotten everything but the most recent events of your life and you didn't notice?

DANA
I had taught myself not to look.

EXAMINER
Usually that kind of self-delusion affects work performance. Yours has been acceptional. How did you manage that?

DANA
I'm very clever, Examiner.

EXAMINER
Ah. Hubris then.

DANA
I'm not discounting it. I've got a lot to be proud of, after all.

EXAMINER
You don't have any memories. How do you know? 

(pause)

EXAMINER
You put us in a difficult position, Dana. Normally you would be terminated but your place is so valued to The Board and to the The Company as a whole that we are willing to explore alternative means.

DANA
Which brings us to now.

EXAMINER
Which brings us to now, yes. Here is what is going to happen: I am going to enter your mind and rip your memories out one by one. This process is called 'Katabasis'. It is rarely performed anymore.

DANA
You can do that?

EXAMINER
You are concealing information from The Company that may or may not pose a risk. Faced with that reality we can do anything.

DANA
Not intentionally.

EXAMINER
You know that's irrelevant.

DANA
I guess I do. Am I permitted to ask you questions?

EXAMINER
By all means, but keep them brief.

DANA
What are you doing exactly?

EXAMINER
Ripping out your memories, although "Descending" into them is probably more accurate. My mind will be effected as well. 

DANA
But how?

EXAMINER
Beyond your clearance level, but you're a clever woman. You know what kind of tech we have. I'm sure you could guess.

DANA
Nanites in my Cerebral Cortex?

EXAMINER
You're wasting questions.

DANA
Fine. Why "Katabasis"?

EXAMINER
Because that's what it is: A descent into Hell. Old Earth  Philosophy and to a lesser extent, old earth Psychology used to tout the human mind and the human 'spirit' as something that yearned to be connected to everything around it. We are much wiser now.

DANA
(hesitantly) It's going to hurt, isn't it?

EXAMINER
Of course it is, but your cowardice towards pain is unbecoming. Self-delusion is not something we value. We are not savages that believe in 'triggers', or 'repression', or 'trauma'. We are a company and we believe in integrity. Either you survive this or you don't. We have faith in you. Don't prove us wrong.

DANA
I am not a coward. You go too far, Examiner. 

EXAMINER
There are holes in your mind. You ran from them. 

DANA
We'll fix that.

EXAMINER
Oh we will, will we? Alright. Let's descend.

He takes her hand. Slowly we hear a sound in the background distorted. Like a orchestra tuning it's instruments the sound slowly becomes less distorted and reaches a fortissimo. It is the sound of bullets, and bombs, and people dying Throughout Dana, does her best not to scream.

END PART I