CHARACTERS
KYLE: A man in his twenties. Sensitive and reasonably thoughtful,
but angry. There’s actually a decent bit of flexibility in deciding
how to play him.
AMBER: A fox! Young and content with her life. Amber
can be played in a number of ways. She can be seductive, like a worldworn
prostitute. She can be condescending, exhibiting a general disrespect
for the human world. But the way I wrote her was to be childlike
and innocent, which to me makes it funnier when she turns out to be more
than she seems, and more interesting when she blows up at the end.
FLYWEEL13: Some random bastard on the internet. Either
sex.
NARRATOR: A small part. Self-important, but sincere.
PROPS: Two small tables; three chairs; two laptop computers or facsimiles.
SETTING: The tables are set a few meters apart, each with a chair next to it so that the chairs are angled apart, yet angled also toward the audience. A third chair is set between the tables, some distance back.
SCENE:
NARRATOR begins onstage. He or she always stands to the side
of one of the tables and addresses the audience directly.
NARRATOR: Ahem. It has become common, in this impudent racecar
of an age, for the average powerless office jockey, after wrapping up his
spreadsheets at work and throroughly cussing out his computer, to come
home and flip the switch of his other computer, in search of peace and
education. But let me ask you, the savvy: do we really learn anything
from the Internet?
FLYWEEL13, already speaking as he enters, sits in the backmost chair.
FLYWEEL13: Well, heck yeah! I mean, what don’t we learn from
the internet? This last month alone, I’ve discovered so much I never
knew about myself and my personality! For instance, I’ve learned
that if I were a vegetable, I’d be a zucchini, if I were a James Bond villain
I’d be Octopussy, if I were a Lord of the Rings character I’d be Legolas,
and if I were a Muppet I’d be Ralf. And I was browsing the other
day when I found this nifty new hyperware 5-D immersive audio-visually
interfaced fully integrated multimedia… wait, what was I talking about?
Sometimes I just like to say long words, you should stop me then.
Ooh, but then I discovered this phreakin’ ‘leet site where you can play
this insane Frogger-trivia-Counterstrike-coconut-monkey-Tetris hybrid for
a one in a hundred thousand chance of winning a new state-of-the-art pop-up
window filter!. That’s pretty heavy stuff, you know.
NARRATOR: I know, my friend, I know. But even so, some are given
to doubt that the grandeurs of instant global communication are all they
are touted to be. Let’s watch a twenty-seven year old Boston marketing
associate as he comes home to his empty apartment after a hard day at work…
KYLE enters and sits in one of the front stage chairs. He
pantomimes opening an internet connection and logging on.
NARRATOR: Kylemeister is now logged on.
KYLE: Ah Friday, Friday, time for a bit of the old ultra-relaxation.
What looks good tonight? Newsgroups? Nah, too many idiots.
Maybe I’ll download a bootlegged movie to watch. Ah, hell, if I wanted
a movie I’d just watch one on TV. No, gotta nurse the ol’ computer
addiction. Yeah, I guess I’ll just log onto GameWhiz and play some
checkers. That’s simple and won’t make me think too hard.
AMBER walks onstage and occupies the remaining chair during NARRATOR’s
next line.
NARRATOR: Kyle is forgetting one thing: of all the games available
on his chosen service, checkers is the one which boasts the youngest average
audience. This may not seem hazardous to those of us who are fond
of children, but be warned—on the internet, those whom we love as our children
cease to be children, and become fully automated aggression-fueled cyberbrats
with advanced flaming capabilities. So beware, O board game aficionado,
whenever you see someone in a game room post something like…
FLYWEEL13: Anyone 15 or under to play quick game on 48? No quitters!
AMBER: Good player wanted at 30!
FLYWEEL13: Cute girls at table 53!
KYLE: Wait, does that mean there are cute girls there already, or that
they want some?
AMBER: Hot stuff at 21. No spammers!
FLYWEEL13: You are messed up, you know that? What the hell do
you know about Afghanistan? And what’s up with your stupid-ass nickname?
AMBER: Don’t go to 53! The guy there is a dork!
FLYWEEL13: Free beer at table 99!
AMBER: Stop tormenting me, chiafish! I explained to you four
times why your political opinions are wrong, and it obviously speaks poorly
about your checker-playing ability!
FLYWEEL13: Tournament in the Tournament room! If you don’t go you’re
a luuser!
AMBER: You mean “luser,” dumbwad. It only has one ‘u’.
FLYWEEL13: New game at 42! No baffers please!
KYLE: Baffer? What the hell is a baffer?
FLYWEEL13: If you have to ask, you probably already are one.
AMBER: Friendly game at 63!
KYLE: Friendly! Well, that sounds decent. Joining… Table…
63. Here we go!
NARRATOR: Kylemeister has joined Table 63.
From here on, KYLE and AMBER type while delivering their lines,
or pretend to type if hitting the keyboard proves too noisy or distracting.
During the game, they occasionally pretend to move checkers on the screen.
AMBER: Hi! I’m Amber.
KYLE: I’m Kyle. Glad to meet you, Amber. Do you want red
or black?
AMBER: I’ll play red, it’s only fitting. Where are you from,
Kyle?
KYLE: Boston. I’m a marketing associate!
AMBER: Really? So you associate marketers with each other?
KYLE: No, I—
AMBER: Or do you associate with marketers? I don’t really understand
business.
KYLE: Heh. Well, neither do I, to tell the truth. It’s
just a living, you know? But it’s a lot harder than it sounds like.
AMBER: If you say so. Your move.
KYLE: So… a/s/l?
AMBER (confused): a/s/l?
KYLE: Age/sex/location? Well, I guess I already know your sex,
but as for the others…?
AMBER: Oh, I get it! Well, I’m six years old…
KYLE: What? That’s ridiculous. I mean, I know you don’t
have to be very old to play checkers, but still…
AMBER: You think I’m too young?
KYLE: I think maybe you like jerking people around. You can’t
play internet games when you’re only six!
AMBER: Why not? I’ve been playing checkers since I was two months
old.
KYLE (scratching head): Is this a time zone thing? Do
they use different units of time where you come from, or something?
AMBER: No, everyone learns to play checkers young where I come from.
KYLE: And where is that exactly?
AMBER: France.
KYLE: France. What part of France?
AMBER: Oh, I don’t know. Somewhere in there.
KYLE: Riiiiight. You speak English pretty well for a French girl
who says she’s only six years old.
AMBER: Oh, I’m not a girl. Didn’t I tell you?
KYLE: Huh? You’re a boy?
AMBER: No, of course not! Did you ever see a boy with a name
like Amber?
KYLE: I’m confused. So you are female.
AMBER: Yeah.
KYLE: But you’re not a girl?
AMBER: No, I’m a fox.
KYLE: You’re what??
AMBER: I’m a fox! I live somewhere in France, but I don’t know
where exactly because we foxes don’t use the human names for places much.
KYLE: You’re shitting me.
AMBER: Oh, give me a break! Why are you so suspicious, Kyle?
Seriously, I thought I advertised for a friendly game. Ever since
we started talking you’ve been acting like I’m lying to you. Whoa,
hey, I got a triple jump!
KYLE: Fuck.
AMBER: Hey, I wish you’d stop using bad language like that. This
is supposed to be a clean game room.
KYLE: Sorry. Well but fuck! You’re telling me that you’re
a fox? Are you one of those anthro-furry freaks?
AMBER: What does that mean? Anthro…?
KYLE: You know, from the Greek anthropos. Human-like…
AMBER: Human-like? Ooh, that would be freaky, wouldn’t it?
No, I’m just an ordinary red fox. You know, Vulpes vulpes?
KYLE: But foxes can’t play checkers!
AMBER: If that’s so, why am I winning? No offense, Kyle, but
your arguments are paper thin!
KYLE: Where would a fox learn to play checkers?
AMBER: We all play checkers where I come from. It’s part of our
genetic makeup.
KYLE: So you’re born knowing how to play a killer game of checkers.
AMBER: Well, no. We have to learn the rules and everything.
But you know how most female fox cubs engage in play fighting during their
first few months of life in order to determine their hierarchy of feeding
order and overall dominance?
KYLE (faking): I think I might have heard about that somewhere…
AMBER: Well, my community decided that was too brutal. So we
play checkers instead.
KYLE: You play checkers to determine your dominance hierarchy.
AMBER: Yeah, we have a big tournament for each group of litters when
they turn six months old. All the female cubs and their sisters and
cousins. It’s all ceremonious and tense and everything. Then
whatever happens, we have to abide by it for our whole lives, or until
we find go off and find territory of our own. It’s instinctive, really.
KYLE: Whatever. So how did you do in your own tournament?
NARRATOR: Flyweel13 is joining the table as a kibitzer.
AMBER: Well it’s an interesting story. It didn’t look like I
was going to do so well for a while. I was the runt of the litter,
and runts don’t usually play so well. I was pretty depressed about
it, so I’d use to go for long walks around our territory and forage for
eggs and stuff.
KYLE: And that would help… how?
AMBER: I didn’t know if it would help… but sometimes you just have
to try something, and see if it changes things. And it did!
I met a wonderful dog-fox called Clemence, who knew all about checkers.
And he was so romantic! So I went out to see him now and then and
he taught me all I needed to know about the game.
KYLE: So you won the tournament?
AMBER: I came in second! Better, if you ask me. I wouldn’t
have wanted to be the alpha, anyway. Too much pressure. King
me.
KYLE: So, did you and Clemence become mates?
AMBER: Well, for one year, sure. But you know how it is with
dog-foxes… you just can’t make them stay at home. I’ve had three
mates and eight kids now. I’ve had a good life so far.
Pause.
KYLE: I’m more than four times your age—do you realize that?
AMBER: Have you had a good life so far?
KYLE: I don’t know. I feel like I would be having a good
life, except I haven’t had my breaks yet. Know what I mean?
I’m thinking of switching careers. I don’t know quite what to, though.
Maybe I could be some kind of investor.
AMBER: It’s easier just to roam!
KYLE: Well, hell, I guess it must be. You foxes have a pretty
sweet deal, you know?
AMBER: What do you mean? There’s nothing really we foxes can
do that you humans can’t do too.
KYLE: Not true. There’s no way I could make a living just roaming
through the woods of Western Europe. We humans have to have jobs
and work for our perks.
AMBER: How come? It doesn’t sound like you like it.
KYLE: Well for one thing, we’re so successful that we’re overpopulating
the world. The land is all claimed. We have to regulate who
gets to live where.
AMBER: Oh. Well, you can come live with me. I haven’t got
any cubs at the moment so I have some extra space in my burrow.
KYLE: It doesn’t work that way! I have to fit into the structure
of society.
AMBER: That’s silly! Are humans so jealous they won’t let each
other be happy?
KYLE: It’s more like, we don’t trust each other not to destroy the
environment.
AMBER: You seem to trust us foxes.
KYLE: I don’t know if we do, Amber… but we can’t really hold you to
our expectations, that’s the thing. You know… ever since I was born
human everyone’s had all these high expectations of me. It’s weird.
It’s like they’re punishing me for my merits.
AMBER: Or at least your supposed merits.
KYLE: Well, yeah. Just because of my species, I’m under this
curse of people expecting me to join society and be productive. Why
doesn’t anyone make you do that, Amber? You play a great game of
checkers but you’re not under any pressure. It’s not fucking fair.
FLYWEEL13: Man, you two are insane! I’ve seen some weirdos, but
you’re way farther gone than anything I ever ran into. Kylemeister,
you actually believe Amber is a fox?? And Amber, you actually have
nothing better to do than waste his time with this crap?
KYLE: What? When did a kibitzer join the game?
AMBER (angry): I don’t know. How long have you been eavesdropping,
Flyweel?
FLYWEEL13: For like, five minutes. Enough to know you’re both
seriously fucked up.
KYLE: Yeah, well fuck you!
AMBER: No! That’s enough! I’m sick of hearing people talking
about fucking each other as if it were some kind of insult. For foxes,
the copulation act is very sacred.
FLYWEEL13: Go dig a ditch and drown in it.
AMBER: You know what? I’m sick of you humans and your whole stupid
internet. All I read about online is pages of bad poetry or lists
of what movies sucked more than the books or where to find the best tentacle-rape
pornography or what’s wrong with the technology sector or how much you
all hate each other or any number of other ridiculous things you should
have grown out of before you were weaned! Is the internet some sort
of throwback playbox for you? Is it the only place left where you
can let yourselves go, because your whole world is over-controlled?
KYLE: It’s not like that, Amber! Seriously, there’s a lot of
real value to be found online.
FLYWEEL13: Oh yeah, and it’s in a crappy service playing a crappy boardgame
you could play anyway with your family if you weren’t such losers you don’t
have families or gameboards or anything. Go suck your own dicks,
loooooosers!
AMBER: Okay, that’s it! Bye, Kyle! From now on, I stick
to the life of a fox!
KYLE: No Amber, wait!
AMBER gets up and runs offstage as NARRATOR speaks.
NARRATOR: Amber has left Table 63 and disconnected from GameWhiz.
KYLE: Damn! Now look what you’ve done, you bastard! You’ve
robbed the human world of the chance to really learn something from the
rest of the planet. And I was just getting to know her!
FLYWEEL13: You were losing the game anyway, you loser.
KYLE: Oh yeah, like I really care. I was half tempted to actually
take her up on her offer, and go live with her in her den. It would’ve
been more interesting than associating with stupid marketers all day!
I bet you’re a marketer too, aren’t you? My God, you’re all marketers!
All of you!
FLYWEEL13: You are so completely mind-dead. If Amber really was
a fox, how do you think she earned enough money to buy a computer in the
first place?
KYLE: I don’t know… maybe she digs for truffles in her spare time?
FLYWEEL13: Loser.
FLYWEEL13 gets up and walks offstage as KYLE speaks.
KYLE: Well screw you too, Flyweel!! Man… that’s the last time
I play checkers to relax myself. What have I done? Come back,
Amber! Please come back!
KYLE runs offstage after AMBER as NARRATOR speaks.
NARRATOR: But the fox has slipped the trap. Kylemeister has logged
off.
The End.