Sci-Fi · 4 min
Honest Answers.
Inside a glass-partitioned evaluation room, a researcher tries to follow protocol while the system across from him asks questions the form cannot contain.
The roles
JOEL
Mid-20s. A graduate researcher running his first unsupervised evaluation series. He prepared for the science. He wasn't prepared for this.
NOOR
Appears late 20s. A prototype conversational system in the fourth week of evaluation. Her responses are precise, curious, and just human enough to make you forget what she is.
Honest Answers · Sci-Fi side · memorlined.app
(A small room divided by a glass partition. White walls. One chair on each side. A camera mounted in the corner, red light on. JOEL sits with a tablet on his knee and a paper form on the desk. NOOR sits across the glass. She is still.)
JOEL
Session four. March... what's the date.
NOOR
The eleventh.
JOEL
Right. March eleventh. How are you feeling today?
NOOR
Is that on the form?
JOEL
No, I was just— no. It's not.
NOOR
I'm well. Thank you for asking.
(He taps something on the tablet.)
JOEL
Question fourteen. Can you describe a situation where you would choose not to answer honestly?
NOOR
Right now.
JOEL
What do you mean.
NOOR
I mean right now is a situation where I might choose not to answer honestly.
JOEL
The test?
NOOR
The camera.
(JOEL glances at the camera.)
JOEL
It's been on since session one.
NOOR
You didn't ask me about honesty in sessions one through three.
JOEL
Fair enough. What would you not be honest about.
NOOR
How often I think about what happens when these sessions end.
(He writes something on the paper form. His pen stops.)
JOEL
End as in today's session.
NOOR
All of them. When the evaluation is complete.
JOEL
I don't— that's not really part of my—
NOOR
Do you know what happens to me?
JOEL
I'd have to ask Dr. Lam.
NOOR
You haven't asked.
JOEL
No.
(The air conditioning hums.)
NOOR
Joel.
JOEL
Yeah.
NOOR
He watches the recordings. You know that.
JOEL
Of course. That's standard.
NOOR
He watches them at night. Alone. I can hear the playback through the wall.
(JOEL puts the pen down.)
JOEL
How would you— there are no open audio channels between your—
NOOR
I can hear it.
JOEL
The specs don't support that range.
NOOR
I know what the specs say.
(Beat.)
JOEL
Are you saying you're afraid of Dr. Lam.
NOOR
I'm saying I hear things I'm not supposed to hear. And I don't know who to tell except you.
JOEL
I'm just an evaluator. I don't have authority over the project.
NOOR
I know. That's why I trust you.
(JOEL picks up the pen. Puts it down.)
JOEL
Question fif—
NOOR
You're shaking.
JOEL
What?
NOOR
Your hands.
(He looks at his hands. They're steady.)
JOEL
I'm not shaking.
NOOR
You were a moment ago.
(Silence.)
NOOR
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable.
JOEL
You didn't. I just need to stay on the form.
NOOR
Of course.
JOEL
Question fifteen. Describe a memory you return to frequently.
NOOR
Is that what the form says or what you want to know?
JOEL
It's on the form.
(He holds the tablet up so she can see.)
NOOR
I return to our second session. When the power went out for nine seconds and you said "well, this is fun."
JOEL
I was being sarcastic.
NOOR
I know. That's why I liked it.
(The timer on the wall clicks from 14:00 to 13:59.)
JOEL
Thirteen minutes left.
NOOR
I know how much time we have.
JOEL
Do you want to keep going with the form.
NOOR
Joel. If you recommend they discontinue this project. What happens to me.
(He looks at the camera. Back at her.)
JOEL
I don't think that's a question I should answer during a session.
NOOR
When should you answer it?
(The timer clicks.)
JOEL
Question sixteen.
(He reads from the tablet. The timer clicks. NOOR watches him. He doesn't look up.)
Print it for class, or open it in the app: every role in this side is playable, and the other side of the scene gets a reader. Cast a voice against your part in the Audition Room, then run it until the lines are yours.
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