[Play] Rossom Act 1, Scene 4 - Continued

 Marcus:

From the mind of a playwright

Came the heart of a poet

Rossom the mantle he chose

Hearing not  horror

But wonder unimagined

He sought out all the genomes of the Earth

Therein he chose those that he could mold

He hammered and he begged and he borrowed

And in the end he made something entirely new

Something not altogether human

But something that could resemble man

That could serve man

Augment him through its service

A noble companion in a new age

Like the Steed and the Hound of time of old

Now a faithful hand meet for the age of stars

Stella:

But what is a mind?

And how to recreate it in biology?

He had every great mind in the world try

None could give him what he wanted

Then he tried it himself

Using simulation after simulation

He was getting nowhere until he noticed

That the animals in the simulation were doing better than his people

So through a combination of Algae

And simulations of Cuttlefish

He gave us our minds

We act human

Marcus:

And seem human

Helena:

But our minds are modeled off a poisonous fish

Marcus:

But a very clever fish at that.

Helena:

Many people have tried to unlock how Rossom did this

None have succeeded

He guards the secret at all times

Keeping a key around his neck

Ready to swallow it if need be.

Swamp Castle - Long Time Passing

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[Play] Rossom, Act 1 Scene 4

 Scene-Factory 22.  Sulla and Marcus stand side by side.  Marcus has a ‘Model 1’ next to him and Sulla has a ‘model 42’ next to her

Domin

This is our factory museum.  

Helena

But….there are no exhibits.

Domin

These two robots are the exhibits.  Marcus, say hello.

Marcus

Hello

Helena

Hello

Marcus

Pleased to meet you

Helena

Pleased to meet you as well.

Marcus

Lovely weather we’re-

Domin makes a cutting motion with his hand.

Domin

That’s social engagement.  They will both do that all day if you let them.  Small talk is easy.   Sulla, start museum presentation

Sulla

Hello.  And welcome to Factory 22, the most recent factory on the Island.  Our Founder, Barret Rossom, believed in the idea of our creation from a young age.  In fact, born Isaac Jordan Lysenko, he legally had his name changed when he turned 18.  A brilliant scientist, he was determined to carry out the dreams of...

Helena [Interrupts Sulla, Sulla continues talking but with less volume while Domin and Helena talk]

Hello Sulla

Domin

She won’t stop her presentation once she starts.

Helena

Really?

Domin

Nope.  Not when you have admin access like I do.

Sulla

...The opportunity to build his dream of making the fictional Robots a reality, using an actual Algae based protoplasm infused with metallic intake to reclaim the historic definition of ROBOT as an organic, mechanical highly adaptable life form capable of making life better for all of humanity...

Helena

Original definition?

Domin

There was a play.  Rossum's Universal Robots.  Rossom, our Rossom, not the fictional one, wanted to make the play happen so much that he built the real thing.

Helena

But…

Sulla

...16 PhDs including Biochemistry, Biophysics, Applied Chemistry and...

Domin

It was a play.  This is reality.

Helena

Didn’t that play ...end badly?

Domin

This is reality.

Helena

But/

Marcus 

/Cutting edge science like never before, changing the world from mountain to shore

Domin clicks a button to fast forward.  Maybe a remote control.

Stella

...Once the hard work of making protoplasm was done, the real work could begin.  Rossom’s son the positronic genius...

Domin clicks a button to fast forward.

Marcus

...With a team of cutting edge User Interactive Designers to give us that extra human appeal while avoiding that nasty uncanny valley...

Domin clicks a button to fast forward.

Stella

...What is the measure of a man? What is the sum of his parts? Well, it turns out those parts is 5 million two hundred and seventy five times seven.  Really, just a simple matter of...

Domin clicks a button to fast forward.

Marcus

...Lobbied congress to overcome the barbaric prejudice against artificial life forms.  But by showing a series of cute child sized singer robots, Rossom charmed...

Domin clicks a button to fast forward.

Stella

...We’re not human at all even though we look that way.  I don’t earn money, I have no preferences but the satisfaction of a long strong day of work here at Universal Robots...

Domin clicks a button to fast forward.

Marcus

...I don’t think they believe us Stel...

Domin clicks a button to fast forward.

Helena

Wait a minute.

Domin clicks pause.

Domin

What? 

Helena

What the heck are you showing me? You clicked through that presentation before/

Domin

/I’m getting to it/

Helena

/Before I could see anything.

Domin 

You’ll be here all week, you can come back and see it after, but trust me, it makes my point for me.

Helena

Can you please stop forwarding through what they want to say?

Domin

Fine.  But that’s the point, they don’t WANT anything except maybe to do their job.

Stella

Thank you Helena, I take pride in my tasks and enjoy doing them in their entirety.

Marcus

I agree.

Domin

No lip from you two, go back to your presentation.

Helena

Wasn’t the whole point of showing me this to show me how they can’t have souls?

Domin

I…(drifts off to silence)

Helena

Please continue.  (to Marcus and Stella) I am sure there is some great pearl of wisdom buried in all of this.

(Marcus and Stella look at Helena and Domin.  They are both silent. Helena looks at Domin.)

Helena

Why don’t you let them show me without you here?

Domin

This is ridiculous.  You can’t just….

Helena

I was told unfettered and unrestricted access to the whole island.

Domin

WHAT? Who told you that?

Helena

Mr. Rossom himself.  (Shows him a piece of paper.  Domin walks over and looks at it.  He looks back at her, unbelieving, and stomps off.)

Why did you wait?

Stella

You obviously wanted us to.

Marcus

We are both programmed to anticipate your needs, including non verbal communication.

Helena: Oh.  Oh, thank you.

Stella: Were we wrong to do this?

Helena: No.  No, that's fine.  Can you tell me the parts you skipped?

Marcus: Would you prefer us to start at the beginning?

Helena: No.  I guess not.  What do you think it was that he wanted to show me?

Stella: I think he wanted us to show you how we are only machines.  We are organic, but essentially machines.

Helena: I don't understand

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[Play] Rossom, Act 1 Scene 3

 Scene - Multimedia - Texts show, one after the other

Krysie 

I upgraded the robot

Diana

Oh?

Krysie

I gave it a sense of taste.

Diana

I can see how that would be useful for cookies.

Krysie

I made it eat the catbox.

Diana 

LOL!

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[Play] Rossom - Act 1, Scene 2

 Act I - Scene 2

Alquist walks to the side of the stage.  Helena enters looking wide eyed and off the boat.

Alquist: 

Behold the missionary

Here to save the souls of robots

Here to help the artificial humans

Become more human

And unleash chaos well deserved on humanity.

Vast in scope the island was

Towering factories made of glistening steel

Painted slogans showing man and robot 

Working together side by side

Not paying much attention

To how most of the time the human commanded

And the robots did the work.

Know your history

Remember it

Where did that term ‘Robot’ come from

The play’s the thing

Some men heed a warning given

Shelly was the first

But others followed

Asimov, Bradbury, Orwell

But Kopek

He stands out in my eye

For some men read a prophecy of doom and heed it

And others think, “What a great idea!”

Enter Middle Management

Domin enters from the opposite direction of Helena.

Alquist:

We shall call him Domin

And her Helena

Players in the game Rossum set up

Thinking the rules did not apply to him.

I will let them speak for themselves

Helena:

There it is

Such an island of new souls

Not abominations 

Not spiritless horrors

But wide eyed innocents

Uncorrupted by Adam’s fall

Sinless

Let us be wiser than our forebears

And spare them the suffering 

We as humans have inflicted one unto another

Something better

Something pure

A new beginning

This spiritual enterprise lights my being

Let us try anew

Let us draw our new siblings unto God

Helena:

[To Domin] Hello, thank you for seeing me.

Domin:

 I had to see it for myself.

Helena: 

See what?

Domin:

Just who it was your church paid good money to come and preach to toasters.

Helena

Don’t call them that

Domin

Toasters?

Helena

Yes.  These are living beings.

Domin

Do you even know what you’re talking about?  They breathe maybe, they bleed, sure alright, but alive? They can’t reproduce.

Helena

(blushing) I am not here to talk about robot sex.

Domin

They can’t.  They’re not anatomically capable.  There’s a secret formula the boss has; he knows it and no one else.  That’s it.  Robots can’t make other robots.

Helena

But...why?

Domin

Well aside from it being a really stupid thing to do to let machines make machines, and trade secrecy; self replicating machines also violates about eleven international treaties.  We make toasters, not trouble.

(takes out recorder)

Note to self, give that to marketing; copyright it.  Toasters not Trouble.  Scratch that, it sounds stupid now that I say it again out loud.

Helena

Don’t you care about their souls?

Domin

Souls? Are you kidding me? [Pause] You really believe that, don’t you.

Helena

I do.

Domin

Let me show you something.

Helena and Domin exit.