Scene 5

[Neil and Eva are inside Ib's room, a week later. Sun shines through the pined window and on to an enigmatic machine placed underneath the broken ceiling light. The machine has a gaming keyboard and a translucent blue monitor, lacking any physical edges for its screens. Wires streaming from it are connected to both power outlets underneath Ib's desk. Strange, metallic yet cushioned helmets are lying on the floor. Ib is lying in her bed and under her bed sheets with her stuffed rabbits, snug and warm. Eva is sitting on a stool in front of the machine, typing away on the machine, the blue monitors flashing lights, code sequences, and images too complex for the average person to understand.]

[Neil kneels over to where Ib is laying down.]

Neil: So Ib, are you ready?

[Ib nods her head. With a slam on the last, clicky keystroke, Eva swivels around to face Neil and Ib, raising her finger up.]

Eva: For this to work, you have to go to sleep. But not asleep to the point where you're dreaming, but it's preferable that you are in non-REM sleep. Because of that, it'll feel like you have been sleeping for half an hour to an hour and a half.

[Ib nods her head again, but her face shows that she obviously doesn't clearly understand everything that was said to her.]

Ib: Um... Okay. What about my parents? And what about Mary?

Eva: Don't worry. They'll still be here. Once all three of us are in the...

[She pauses and physically cringes.]

Eva: "Memory-Weaver." When we are all in there, your parents will most likely watch over you, me, and Dr. Watts. But, even if they don't, it's not like we are in different buildings or anything. I already told them that they should stay in the house, and they can witness the procedure if they wish. They'll be fine, and you'll be fine.

Neil: Although, it is a little bit boring, since all they see are three people with helmets on, looking like they're taking a nap.

Ib: Okay. Should I go to sleep now, Eva?

Eva: If you may.

Ib: Okay.

[Ib gently closes her eyes, clenching the white rabbit doll in her arms, and falls asleep. Neil picks up one of the helmets, and gently places it on Ib's head. Eva turns around and continues typing on the machine. Several beeps come from the machine, and Eva gives Neil a thumbs up.]

Neil: You like my gaming keyboard?

Eva: Actually, yeah. It's so satisfying to type on, even though it's a little loud for my taste.

[She continues typing.]

Neil: I got it off of Amazeon. The place for all your good goods, with just a hint of unethical labor!

Eva: [flatly] Don't get me involved in your pyramid scheme. By the way, this isn't the normal MWRS we usually use before. You know why we're using this one instead?

Neil: [smirks] So, as the resident technician specialist, I have a duty to test some of the different MWRS's that we use back at Sigmund. This one is a prototype. All functionalities we used before will be available, but there's one super epic thing this baby uses: memory-individual personality substitution. MIPS, for short.

Eva: Isn't MIPS something else? Like... Million instructions per second? I think it's a computer science thing.

Neil: I don't know, I'm not a computer scientist, just a mad one!

[Neil extends his arms and dynamically imitates a cartoonish super villain, pose and all.]

Neil: [shouting, but restrained] MUAH-HAH-HAH! Tremble before my might!

Eva: So, Dr. Dork, what does it do, then?

[She stops typing.]

Neil: [sighs] The main purpose of MIPS here is so that we can interact with everyone else in Ib's memory. Normally, in our usual MWRS, all the important people in Ib's memory are completely non-interactable. We would only be able to interact with her. With MIPS, we can totally talk to anyone else, but there's a crummy catch attached to it.

Eva: Their personalities are probably constructed based on Ib's biases, right?

Neil: Exactly. They'd act like how Ib expects them to act. Which means there's a chance we might see Mary act like not a jerk because Ib may think of Mary as not a jerk, for example. That is, if MIPS is active.

Eva: I mean, everyone's memories are just a little tainted by personal bias. The way one person remembers something will be different from another person remembering the same event.

Neil: That's true. With MIPS, it's probably double true then. If it isn't active, then the memory would probably play out as normal, at least in Ib's eyes, and Mary would be her normal jerky self.

Eva: Neil, take it easy on the kid. Even though we don't know where she's from, she is still just a kid. [pauses] But wait, that'd also mean we might not be able to find mementos if MIPS is active and the memory plays out.

Neil: [slaps his forehead] Oh shucks, you're right. I didn't consider that.

Eva: [grins] Glad one of us has more foresight than a deer in headlights.

[Neil slaps the air towards Eva, before his eyes light up.]

Neil: Oh right, there is one other thing! I'll be right back, I left it in the car.

[Neil steps out of the room. Eva continues typing on the machine. A loud thud comes from outside Ib's room. A small smile forms on Eva's face.]

Neil: [yelling] Gah... Why'd you trip me? Hey, come back here!

Eva: I got a feeling Mary did that. Whoever that little girl is, if she does things like that to Neil, I think she might grow up very well.

[Eva quietly chuckles to herself. Quick footsteps sound past the door. For a brief moment, Mary is seen running past, looking inside, and Eva takes notice. Heavier footsteps are walking away from the door. Eva types a little bit more, ignoring Mary's dangerous curiosity, and another beep comes from the machine. Eva walks away from the machine, and stretches. Mary suddenly runs away from the door, and Neil returns with a tiny tear on his left pant leg. Eva points at the tear.]

Eva: Mary tripped you?

Neil: Yup. Look at my pants! Ugh, I am SO resetting her over and over once we're in Ib's memories.

Eva: Calm down, you child, you say that like every other case. What were you getting?

Neil: [smugly] This.

[Neil extends his hand to show a wide metallic watch on his wrist, almost hidden from his lab coat. The outline for the numbers on the watch appear to go back as far as decades, but no numbers appear to be on the watch.]

Eva: Oh. That's the prototype Time Checker. I thought it wasn't ready for us to use just yet.

[She moves closer to the watch, to examine it.]

Neil: Yeah. The guys back at the lab needed testing for this watch as well, and they wanted to use this special case with Ib as the perfect real world testing ground. The Time Checker's pretty good for checking time over long gaps, but it needs to be fine-tuned so it can measure days and hours, even though those perfectionists want to measure milliseconds. That's a little overkill in my opinion, but that's just me.

[Neil suddenly jerks away, placing his hand behind his back.]

Neil: And you breathing on it might break it!

Eva: I see, you jerk. [rolls her eyes] Well, at any rate, I don't think the watch is gonna be a problem.

[Eva cracks her knuckles.]

Eva: Are you ready?

Neil: Aye aye, captain! [salutes her]

Eva: [deflated] Ohh...

Neil: Just lemme bring in a chair for myself before we get started.

Eva: [sweetly] Or, you can use the chair I have, and I can get a chair.

[Neil stares at the splintered wooden stool Eva is sitting on.]

Neil: Hah! No thanks. And I guess while I'm getting it, I should let Alaric and Sherry know that we're starting the operation.

Eva: [sighs] Fine. Just make it quick. Ib's been in the system for some time already.

[Neil leaves the room. Eva picks up a helmet and places it on her lap. A couple of moments later, Neil comes back with a very comfortable looking arm chair. The cushions are puffy and the armrests soft and untouched. Even the chair smells new.]

Neil: Those two said that they weren't going to be coming in just yet. They'll go in as soon as they're worried or if there's something they need to take care of.

Eva: Fair enough. Alright, let's go. First stop is Ib's most recent memory!

[Eva puts on her helmet. The lights on Ib's and Eva's helmet begin to glow and blink. Neil picks up the last helmet on the floor, and sits at the armchair. Before he places the helmet on his head, Sherry knocks on the open door, before walking in. Mary is peering from the door, behind Sherry.]

Neil: [scoffs] Worried already? That was fast. What's up?

Sherry: I was just wondering. I don't know how any of this works, but what would happen if you get disconnected from that machine abruptly?

Neil: [frowning] Well, It'd take about a couple of seconds for me or Eva to readjust to the real world, ideally. And if both me and Eva are disconnected and we didn't create a save state...

[Neil glances over at Ib.]

Neil: Well, things could get very unstable. Her memories may be shifted around randomly, some memories may be lost, or worst of all, new memories may be made, conflicting with the old ones. She, as a person, would cease to function. That's why we typically work on geezers instead of kids.

Sherry: [yelling] This is bad! You mean Ib's in danger?

Neil: Sherry, relax. As long as we aren't disconnected, she should be fine. And there's two of us! Not to mention, due to an accident with some idiot in the agency, the memory-weaver now has its own power source. It's also connected to your house's electricity, sure. But it's a back up, just in case the worst possible thing happens. If anything, me and Dr. Eva are in more danger, because we'd lose our minds if Ib's helmet gets tampered with and removed, effectively killing us. But we already lost count of how many cases we done, so it's no big deal!

Sherry: [worried] If you say so...

Neil: And like I usually say to all my clients, we're the best in the agency.

[He pounds his fist against his chest.]

Sherry: You said that?

Neil: I might have said that to Alaric... Did I?

[Neil rubs an invisible beard.]

Neil: I don't know and I don't remember. But don't worry. Your daughter's in good hands, Sherry.

Sherry: Okay. I trust you. But-

Neil: Another "but"?

[Sherry looks away.]

Sherry: Sorry. [pauses] I trust you, Dr. Watts. Please, take care of my daughter.

[Neil nods. Sherry leaves the room, shutting the door. Mary is gone, but it's unclear of when she left.]

Neil: Alrighty. Now, let's get started...

[He stares at Ib and Eva, both connected to the system.]

Neil: Oh shoot! I gotta hurry up!

[Neil quickly places on the helmet. As his body leans back on his chair, the helmet lights up, and Neil is now in the system.]

[Moments pass.]

[The lights on the computer and the helmets worn by Neil, Eva and Ib, continue to shimmer and shower the room in colored lights.]

[The sunlight drifts from the machine to the wall.]

[The sterile room's warmth slowly grows, the machine emanating heat with the three dormant bodies in the room.]

[Nothing but moments of silence, save for the whirring of the machine and occasional beeps.]

[Until the door opens.]

[Alone, Mary walks into the room, and hovers her hand over Ib's helmet.]

Act 1 End