Leaving Planet Earth

by Lewis Hetherington

  MEEKA: I know. But wouldn't you both like to see him more often?

  HARPER: It works for me.

  HAL: Yeah maybe sometimes I would, but this is the way it has to be. He's being nurtured in a protective environment for a while –

  MEEKA: Do you ever think about what it might have been like to have a child on Old Earth?

  HAL: I wouldn't have had a child on Old Earth.

  HARPER: No way.

  HAL: How could I give someone life on a dying planet? What would my son think of me?

  MEEKA: How do you want your son to think of you?

  HAL: Just as someone who gave them a chance to have a good life.

  HARPER: That's the amazing thing about the Birthing Programme. Me and Hal have created a child, who is native to this beautiful planet. He's one of the first of a new generation who are living a better life.

  MEEKA: I hope so.

  HARPER: I'm going to get you that beer.

  HAL: Look Meeka I'm probably gonna sound like a total knob but they are going to have a better life because of what you do. What you and the other Pioneer guys do is. I couldn't do it. You found this place and it really is better. And we have to keep working to protect that but still. We're at the dawn of a new era. And my spreadsheets are extraordinary but you've really done stuff. And that's, well, good.

  MEEKA: Thanks Hal.

  HAL: I didn't sound like a knob then?

  MEEKA: Well you did, but I appreciate the effort.

  HAL: Meeka. You are an actual Cosmoboy. That's how people will talk about you. When I'm fat and old, I can tell everyone, that on the eve of Final Closure, I was in a bar having a beer with the person who discovered New Earth. And I won't even tell anyone you're a dickhead.

  HARPER gives them their beers.

  HARPER: Here we go.

  HAL: Here's to Final Closure, to New Earth and to 1.5 per cent beer.

  HARPER: To beer.

  MEEKA: Cheers guys.

  MEEKA drinks and begins to leave.

  MEEKA: See you later.

  The lights flicker and the scene disappears.

  The audiences’ Quantifiers begin to light up and the Gatekeeper's Bell chimes out. The group's MENTOR comes through the door and invites the audiences to exit.

  THE ATRIUM: ONE

  VELA and BOY.

  All three audience groups are led into the Atrium. VELA is there – walking down the central staircase. An image of a young BOY appears before her. The BOY’s voice is recorded and haunts the whole space.

  BOY: Vela.

  I think I'm quite ill. Mum says I have to try really hard to get better. But I'm just really tired and it's like, it's like my skeleton hurts and my skin and everything.

  I have this dream with the Gatekeeper and like when I push him off the mountain he falls and explodes on the rocks and everything, and then he is just next to me, but he isn't friendly. He is laughing but it's sort of like horrible laughing.

  And my hair falls out and then my teeth. And he just keeps laughing. And then he grabs me on my arm and drags me up into the sky and I'm being sick everywhere but we just get higher and higher and then we're right up in space and I'm still being sick everywhere.

  I think maybe he's trying to get rid of me. Maybe he's trying to get rid of all of us. Maybe he tricked us.

  Sometimes I hear this like really loud breathing. In and out. Like it's the whole planet.

  And then sometimes I think it's going to take a really big breath in, and then do such a big breath out that it will throw us all off the ground and we'll shoot out into space.

  And we'll float about and freeze and die.

  VELA gets to the bottom of the stairs and walks across the floor of the Atrium. As the BOY finishes speaking she has a sharp and sudden intake of breath, she has to have a moment to steady herself.

  HARPER rushes across to assist her.

  HARPER: Vela!

  The following dialogue is from the Atrium floor so barely audible.

  VELA: Yes?

  HARPER: Are you… Are you OK?

  VELA: I'm fine.

  HARPER: Can I…

  VELA: What?

  HARPER: You looked –

  VELA: I'm fine.

  HARPER: …

  VELA: Do you need something?

  HARPER: No, I'm fine.

  VELA: Good.

  HARPER: I'm about to do the new visualisation with the, if you want to –

  VELA: I've got a lot to get on with.

  HARPER: Of course.

  VELA walks away. HARPER comes up the stairs to address the audience.

  OLD EARTH VISUALISATION EXERCISE

  HARPER stands on the balustrade and addresses the whole audience.

  HARPER: Hello everyone. Well done so far. We know we're asking you to take in a lot, but trust us, we know what we're doing.

  Right now we are going to share in a brand new visualisation exercise that Vela has written for us. She asked that I stress to you how important these words will become to all New Earthers once we commit to Final Closure. You will be encouraged to learn and recite the following words as often as you need to. You can do this on your own, in groups – whatever your Wellness requires – to ensure you aren't looking back into the darkness but forward across the stars.

  Okay? Let's begin

  The lights change in the space. HARPER is surrounded by light. She draws our focus into the middle of the space, which is empty but filled with moving lights.

  Think of Old Earth.

  Think of the place you grew up. Think of where you began your life. And now think of how everything began.

  Empty black space. And then rocks and dust and matter collide and crash together to form a crag of rock which swells and grows, pulling close everything which comes near, becoming a globe, turning at terrific speed. Blue and green and perfect. Oceans and rock and green spin in that blank black space.

  And from that ocean planet we are born. Cells divide and mutate and grow in the waters and life is formed and creatures rise out the waters and walk the soil and the land welcomes them and these creatures they walk upright standing ever taller and they develop language and culture and technology and the ability to destroy but also to make themselves better.

  And the Earth keeps spinning and humanity grows and grows, the rise now is exponential. The bloodshed and advancement is almost impossible to measure. Lands and empires rise and fall and the very spin of the Earth seems to get faster and faster. And that Green and Blue turns to Brown and Grey as the Earth withers and gets tired, as we take as much as we possibly can whilst it still has something to give.

  And we rattle through three world wars in the blink of an eye. And we begin to think of leaving. And we send things to orbit, shuttles and satellites reaching out, circling and tracing lines over and over humanity. Millions of them, a haze of machines cluster around the planet.

  Childish as humanity still is, we are giddy at the thought of exploring.

  Childish as humanity is, we are angry that our Parent Planet has to die. Has to expire.

  Out of the dense matter that now surrounds it, a light appears. Leaping far beyond orbit. Appearing and disappearing. A light jumping across the expanse of our Galaxy, over and over again. Searching. Finally that light comes to rest. The Galactic Futures Organisation find New Earth.

  We walk out. We look forward.

  And somewhere in the distance, in the corner of your eye you see Earth spinning and toppling out of control. Before it implodes. Blinks out of existence. Back to black space.

  Old Earth releases us.

  And we truly become the second generation of humanity. Energised by the fire that brought us here we inherit clean air which revitalises us. Once again we have space to think and dream.

  Silence.

  The lights return to their original state.

  The Atrium Voice rings out asking the audience to move on. The building and everyone in it, is on the move again. The three audience groups are led b
ack on their individual journeys and into their next space.

  OLD EARTH MUSEUM

  GUARD EXPERIENCE.

  MENTOR: Hi, are you happy to do the induction with this group now?

  JOHN: Happy might be pushing it.

  MENTOR: Yes. Right well. I'll leave them with you.

  The audience are led into the Old Earth Museum.

  JOHN: Come in. All the way. Don't be worried. I know the past can feel intimidating when you're working to look forward but you're safe here.

  He steps up on to a small platform

  So…this is the Old Earth Museum. Well, it's the central exhibition space and the area of the museum you'll be visiting most. Of course, what you see here is just a fraction of what we have in the archive. Everything in here is on a rolling curation and the space is currently curated under the themes Cultural, Technological and Personal.

  Now unlike some of the other spaces you'll be in today, the Old Earth Museum is a resource for all citizens, not just the latest arrivals. Visiting the museum is an integral part of Vela's system and your attendance here will be scheduled in as part of your personal programme, even once you're Beyond The Wall. Typically each new arrival is asked to visit the museum once every ten cycles. Then, depending upon your data your visits here will gradually be reduced until… Well the theory is, that eventually you will no longer need to visit at all.

  Lights flicker.

  I know most likely you're interested in your personal submissions. Most people come to see a picture of their old dead dog a hundred times before they bother to look up the Magna Carta. I guess that is fair enough.

  Lights flicker and there is a pulsing sound.

  Sorry we've been getting a lot of that. I reckon its the voices of history trying to talk to me – or maybe Old Earth itself! I was told to try and add some jokes into this induction. Nevermind.

  He moves over towards the Memory Bank.

  As part of your visits here you will be invited to experience the Memory Bank, which can be very disorientating at first, but soon you'll come to realise that it is a profoundly important part of your transitioning process. Over the next few cycles you will be asked to select five Old Earth memories which will be rebuilt as a sort of immersive experience. Technically it's a pharmacologically enhanced cross sensory procedure. Like a lucid dream, but much more intense. Your visits will be supervised, either by myself or one of my colleagues and these experiences must be handled sensibly. Access to them is severely restricted. Overuse can result in…well, it's just not recommended. It's probably why they put me on the door – to put you off coming in too often!

  Pause.

  The key with the Old Earth Museum is that it must be taken seriously. Yes, we are all here to look forward and yes, we are all trying to stave off The Pull and so we must not get caught up in nostalgia. But you must think of your time here like a vaccine. In order to immunise you from The Pull the museum enables you to self-administer a small dose of what you are fighting off within a controlled environment. Your commitment to Vela's system is imperative to your survival.

  Beat.

  And now for the fun bit! Your personal submissions.

  He goes to his computer.

  I'm just going to access the group's data.

  We won't go through all your items individually on this first visit – the digital archive is there for you to look at – but if you do want to zoom in on your submission, let me know the next time you visit and we'll pull it up for you.

  There's also a generic databank of items which are designed to match your profile and put you at ease. So if you come up sir, and scan your Quantifier. The system thinks you might find it reassuring to see…

  An image pops up.

  A parrot! There you go.

  Lights flicker and the pulsing sound continues.

  What? Please stop.

  He goes to leave.

  Right. I've really got to go and investigate this. That's everything from me anyway. Now it's time for you to explore the exhibits. Have a look around until your Quantifiers light up and you hear the Gatekeeper Bell calling you to the next space

  He exits.

  The flickering of lights and the sound of a memory breaking through.

  THE GUARD AND VELA WAIT AT THE MEMORY BANK

  We see JOHN leaning over the Memory Bank activator. VELA is waiting. They are deep in conversation.

  VELA: She used to call me The Snake. Or Snakey if she was being nice.

  JOHN: That was her being nice?

  VELA: Sibling affection! She claimed it was because of my ability to shed one life and move smoothly onto the next.

  JOHN: Right.

  VELA: But really it's because I used to have a lisp.

  JOHN: What happened?

  VELA: I trained myself out of it when I was nine.

  JOHN: That is some, determination.

  VELA: I was an intense child.

  JOHN: Who'd have thought?

  VELA: Just get it working will you.

  Beat.

  Do you know what is wrong with it?

  JOHN: It's just full of glitches.

  VELA: In what way?

  JOHN: Sometimes it sticks on one memory, repeating it and then at other times it crackles into life on its own; playing memories at random. It's been doing it quite a lot. Not for any of my colleagues though, just me –

  VELA: We should get someone to look at –

  JOHN: No, that's not necessary –

  VELA: We need to ensure the memory bank is secure. We can't afford to lose anyone's memory rations, especially once we have completed Final Closure.

  JOHN: I'm listening to it; I'm figuring it out.

  JOHN’s attention goes back to the monitor.

  Beat.

  What if Old Earth find a way to get in touch with us?

  VELA: They won't. We will be completely blocking all communication signals.

  JOHN: But what if they don't want Final Closure? What if they find a way to reconnect –

  VELA: They won't. The time has come to end our relationship with Old Earth.

  JOHN: Okay.

  He goes back to trying to fix the problem.

  JOHN: I'm looking forward to meeting your sister when she arrives.

  VELA: Yeah? I think you'd get on. The memory bank is an incredible resource, but it is only palliative. Images and words slipping over one another. When she gets here and I can actually hear her voice, and hold her, in the flesh.

  JOHN: Are you OK?

  VELA: Of course. You don't need to be concerned for me.

  JOHN: Well who else is?

  VELA: Her arrival is the final stage for me in my personal programme. It's actually beneficial for me to be experiencing this acute longing in the same way as so many others are. It enables me to better understand.

  JOHN: What if she doesn't come?

  Beat.

  VELA: Why would you say that?

  JOHN: Why did you put her on the last Jump?

  VELA: She chose that one. You're not waiting for anyone are you?

  JOHN: No. No. Just me and my wife.

  VELA: I've never asked whether you have children?

  JOHN: No. We always talked about it, for years on Old Earth but we kept putting it off. And then, well then it was too late.

  VELA: Have you considered enrolling upon the programme here? There aren't the same biological restrictions…

  JOHN: No, no.

  VELA: You don't want children?

  JOHN: Do you?

  VELA: …

  JOHN: My wife has discovered a new life here. She loves being Beyond The Wall. She's been working with a laughter consultant. She said she's always wanted a ‘tinkling laugh’ and now with only minor laser surgery and a few thousand credits.

  She never comes here, apart from when she has to of course. She doesn't have the inclination. She's considering becoming an internal experience designer, whatever that is.

  VELA: She's making good progress.
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br />   JOHN: I'm a much less effective individual unit.

  VELA: Well you can develop.

  JOHN: I'm not sure I'm supposed to develop.

  VELA: Maybe you don't want to.

  JOHN: My wife says I should be better at getting distracted. That's the way to go, she says. You see, people like me are dying out Vela. I'm a relic. I'm one step from being stuffed and put on display in this place.

  VELA: Why do you say that?

  JOHN: I spent my youth arrogant enough to think that I understood the whole of humanity and that I could predict its future. I wanted to shock people with my vision of a painful slow extinction. But now I sort of feel like my purpose here is to prod gently. A sanitised rebellion.

  VELA: Your ideas attracted a lot of interest.

  JOHN: That's an exaggeration. One book which excited a couple of lonely nihilists.

  VELA: I've read your book.

  JOHN: Well, that puts my readership almost into double figures!

  VELA: Don't be modest. Yes what you wrote about was dark but you were attempting to look humanity in the face. To make us judge ourselves.

  JOHN: And that's why I'm a relic. That way of thinking is not for New Earthers.

  VELA: Maybe not at the moment.

  JOHN: People can't be bothered to look back and feel bad.

  VELA: People are working hard to look forward and feel OK.

  JOHN: Yes I know but can't we do both?

  VELA: We can't trust everyone to look through a glass darkly and not get lost in it.

  JOHN: If we can't trust people, what do we have?

  VELA: Are you saying you think we've done the wrong thing?

  JOHN: I always thought the idea of living in space was ridiculous. A pipe dream of little boys who wanted to shoot laser guns.

  I thought the whole idea was arrogant and idiotic. I never really believed it would happen, so it was easy to sit at home and rant at my wife. The GFO have just got themselves a shiny logo which they are plastering over the festering mess we've got ourselves into.

  But when they began advertising for the preparatory team I found myself at my computer submitting an application. And when we were offered a place, I accepted. I didn't waver.

  VELA: There's nothing wrong with that.