Act 2

Scene 1

[Neil appears out of thing air, showing up right next to Eva. She stares at Ib, who is staring up into the ceiling from her bed.]

[They are both inside Ib's room, but the world around them appears to be covered with static. The walls, Ib's furniture, even the bed that Ib lies on. Everything has a grainy appearance, except Ib herself, who is entirely opaque. Eva and Neil appear to be translucent.]

Neil: Set it so we are deleted. I really don't want to look at ourselves talk to her from...

[He checks his watch.]

Neil: [sighs] An hour ago? God, we better not be jumping back in her memories in hour increments, or I'm gonna go nuts.

Eva: I already removed ourselves. What took you so long?

Neil: Sherry came in. She was crazy worried, and I had to ease her fears about the procedure.

Eva: [deadpan] Only means that we really got our work cut out for us, if they're worried before we even figure out anything. Anyway, I also set the memory to reset itself as soon as we leave. Just in case something stupid happens.

[Neil adjusts his glasses.]

Neil: Good call. Let's go talk to Ib. And so far, judging by the Time Checker here, looks like the time seems accurate so far.

Eva: Perfect. [clears her throat] Deactivating cloaking device.

[As Eva and Neil become opaque, Neil snickers.]

Eva: What's so funny?

Neil: Have you seen that one video where a child places a hairband over his eyes saying "Activating cloaking device" and runs straight into a wall?

Eva: [monotonously] Focus, Neil.

Neil: I take that as a no, then. You would have laughed. [chuckles]

[Eva extends her hand to Ib.]

Eva: Hey there, Ib.

[Ib, with the doctor's request, takes her hand and gets up off of the bed.]

Ib: Oh, Eva. You surprised me!

[Eva hesitates for just a moment.]

Eva: Um... You remember what we were going to do, correct Ib?

Ib: Yes. You were going to help me remember where Mary came from.

[Neil turns around, away from Ib and Eva.]

Neil: [hushed] I still think that this case is ridiculous.

Eva: [hushed] Shut up, Neil.

Ib: How can I help you?

Neil: [hushed] Hmm... She never said that when we were here earlier.

Eva: So, this is what we're gonna do, Ib. We will be going back further and further in your memories based on small mementos that had value in your life. Do you have something of that sort, to help us get started?

[Eva looks around the room, at the numerous amounts of plush rabbits.]

Eva: Perhaps one of the plush toys lying around here?

Ib: Would this work? My dad gave this to me several months ago, and it's by far my favorite of the bunch.

[Ib turns over onto her bed, and picks up her white stuffed rabbit, and tries to hand it to Eva.]

Neil: That'll do.

[Ib's eyes light up.]

Ib: You know, all these rabbits in my room have a story.

[Ib gets up and goes to her desk. Still holding her white rabbit, she picks up a plush toy of a man wearing a bunny costume.]

Ib: This one is from a crane game I won when I was six years old! My family went to an amusement park over the summer, and it was fun place to visit!

[She puts that one down and picks up a very rotund plush toy with bunny ears sticking out of it.]

Ib: This was a Christmas present from when I was a baby-

Neil: [hushed] I think if I see another rabbit, I'm gonna go crazy.

[Eva holds Ib still by the shoulder.]

Eva: Ib, before you go on, may you please place the memento on the floor?

[Ib stops in place. With a puzzled look, she places the rabbit next to her desk. She looks up towards Eva.]

Ib: Like this, Eva?

Eva: [smiling] That's not the floor, but that's good enough for us.

Ib: Umm... what exactly are mementos?

Neil: Eh. You'll learn what it means in school. [eyes the white rabbit] Oh, can I-

Eva: No, Dr. Watts. [to Ib] What we're going to do is go back in the past, find something that can remind you of Mary's origin.

[A gong can be heard from the distance. Neil looks around.]

Neil: [hushed] What in the world was that?

Ib: You're right. I need to figure that out. I'm sorry, Eva.

Eva: No worries, Ib. We will be taking small steps through time, so it'll probably take a while. [frowning] And one more thing. You understand that we are going into your memories, right? Do you object to us looking through your memories?

Neil: That's right! I don't want to find anything terrible in there!

[Ib gets up, and backs up, distancing herself away from Neil. Eva glares at him.]

Eva: [hushed] Can you go any lower? LITTLE. KID. Remember?

Neil: [hushed] I always say the same thing. It's just a program.

Eva: [hushed] Neil, even if she is, she's still a little girl! How could you say that?!

[He shakes his head, and Eva shakes hers.]

Eva: Please forgive Dr. Watts about his misbe-

[Ib jumps back into her bed. Although her face still shows signs of fear, she seems to have regained composure.]

Ib: [closes her eyes] It's fine. I trust you both, with looking at all my memories, and finding out everything.

Neil: [hushed] Woah... I thought that she's a pretty shy girl, but who would have known that she's okay with trusting strangers?

Eva: [hushed] While I wouldn't want my own child having that trait, it'll help us with the search moving forward.

[She turns to Ib, and rubs her head gently, shifting her hair to the side. Neil shifts uncomfortably.]

Eva: [tenderly] Thank you, Ib. We'll take care of it from here.

Neil: [proudly] ... And pause!

[A flash of white light engulfs the room for a split second. Ib lies in place, motionless.]

Eva: You know, not all the functions for MWRS use voice control, right?

Neil: Yeah, but you gotta admit, it feels pretty epic exclaiming it to the heavens. By the way, is it just me, or is Ib acting very strange? She's nowhere this talkative, and what about that gong off in the distance?

Eva: I think it's part of MIPS, right?

Neil: Nope, I didn't activate it yet, since we only were talking to Ib on her own. We'll need it more for when we talk to the important people in her life.

Eva: [ponderously] Hmm... That's peculiar. Maybe because she's younger, perhaps she interprets a lot of events differently. It's quite easy for her to literally imagine a gong going off.

Neil: Possibly. But to be this outgoing? It's kinda off-putting.

[He stares at Ib, before turning to Eva.]

Neil: And since when did you and Ib get all buddy-buddy?

Eva: [confused] Umm... what do you mean?

Neil: I mean, in most of our cases, you don't dare even being in the same room as the kids running around. And suddenly, you're acting like- like- a mom to her!

[Eva takes a step backwards, away from Ib.]

Eva: I don't know. I have a soft spot for Ib, I guess.

Neil: And what's all this about "your child"? Do you plan on doing some adoption thing? Do you want to be a mom?

Eva: [sighs] No. I meant that more for the future than anything else.

[Neil slyly looks at Eva.]

Neil: Oh, so you're okay with having a child?

[She rolls her eyes.]

Eva: [exasperatedly] Again, in the future.

Neil: Tell me more!

Eva: [unhesitatingly] No, Neil.

Neil: [groans] Fine, fine, killjoy. By the way, why did we have to repeat ourselves from what we said back at the agency AND at her house?

Eva: It was a part of the contract, remember? It's one of the parts that always repeats itself on every contract.

[Neil scratches his head, and has a sheepish grin on his face. Eva looks up into the sky, hoping that something would strike down this poor fool.]

Eva: You didn't read the contract, did you?

Neil: [ignoring her question] Whatever, let's go to the next memory.

Eva: Right. [to herself] No, no you didn't.

[Neil and Eva placed their hands on top of the white rabbit doll. The rabbit began to shine many different colors. Squares of static engulf Eva. Before the same happens to Neil, he holds one last worried glance towards Eva, and then towards Ib. Soon after, the entire room quickly reset itself and faded to white.]