poly_chromatic | ❖ 001

[The lady looking curiously into the camera could have just stepped out of a time machine, or a nuclear bunker that's been sealed up for the last sixty years. She's dressed in a luxurious velvet evening dress and her pin curls are draped elegantly round her face, which is full of nervous excitement as she glances round her. She's still a little bewildered by her surroundings, but she's clearly trying to make the best of them.]

Is this on? [A small, delighted laugh.] I never thought I'd be able to film anything like this - that's just for big time Hollywood people. This place sure is great, having this sort of technology readily available. It's so futuristic.

[She pans the camera round the Square briefly, before the shot returns to her face, looking a little more confused now.] Is there one of these buildings that's better than the others? To live in, I mean. I can't tell just by looking - is there one that the right sort of people tend to go for, or do I just plump for one and make the best of it? ...If there's one that's known for housing troublemakers, I'd rather avoid it.

[Now she adopts her most charming smile.]And if this really has worked and people can actually see me on this, then I've been awfully rude in not telling you my name. It's Ruby. I've figured by now that I'm probably stuck here, but if there actually is a bus back to New York that I could catch, I'd appreciate being pointed in the right direction.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No bus, I'm afraid. Nor airplane, nor ship. I should say "welcome," but most people don't find it a very welcoming place, at first.

So I've heard. I'm not sure I like the idea of being brought here one bit, but I suppose if there really isn't any way out then I'll just have to make the best of it.

What a refreshing sense of optimism.

[A pause.]

You may find that optimism a bit damped when you realize the extent of the City's manipulations.

Manipulations? [She sounds very worried indeed then.] Do you mean the curses? Someone explained those to me already, they sound quite awful.

I mean the curses, yes, but I also refer to the... deities. Or at least those who call themselves deities.

Deities? As in, gods? [Wholly unimpressed now.] That's something I don't hold with at all, I'm afraid.

Nor do I, but whoever they are, they think highly of themselves, and seem to have a certain degree of control over the whole City. To call them deities is ridiculous, but they're frustrating nevertheless.

So between gods and curses, I should kiss goodbye any idea of actually having any amount of control over what happens to me here. That's just perfect.

That's needlessly bleak. While your control over your situation is considerably curtailed, there are still plenty of things one can do here to further their own interests.

Like what? Find an apartment, get a job, and just carry on as if nothing's happened? [She sighs.] I was just managing to get things back on track when this happened. ...But then, I guess this could be a fresh start of sorts, even if it wasn't the one I was looking for.

You may find certain opportunities here. Of course, that depends entirely upon what you do back home.

I was a-- [She stops, corrects herself.] I mean, I am a singer. A pretty good one, even if I do say so myself. The talk of New York for a good while. [Until that publicity had turned against her.]

In that case, I imagine you'll be able to find employment here easily enough. One thing the City seems to excel at is providing entertainment -- the work ethic in other areas, however, is questionable at best.

That's a relief. I'll start enquiring into places as soon as I've got an apartment sorted, then. What's wrong with the work ethic in other businesses, if you don't mind my asking?

The problem I've found here is that people simply aren't motivated to work hard or advance themselves in a City that, they feel, will thwart their efforts at every turn. Whether that's true or not is irrelevant -- they should place importance upon the hard work itself, not the potential difficulties that may arise.

And if they're not motivated to work hard, I suppose they expect everyone else to provide for them, instead? [She sounds a little contemptuous of the idea.]

[Ah, he quite approves of that contempt.]

Perhaps not fully, but there is a certain expectation that people will help each other out, that charity is readily accessible, that everything will be all right in the end. It's ridiculous, really, especially in a city dictated, seemingly, by the whims of inscrutable "Deities," but there you have it.

Well, with that attitude all they're doing is essentially giving these "Deities" control over them. And I can tell you from experience that the only way things will be all right in the end is if you make them all right.

I'm in total agreement, of course, but trying to talk sense into them is...

[A pause.]

Problematic.

Yes, I can see how it would be. But unfortunately, if that's already engrained in the society here, it makes changing it a very tall order.

Still, one feels a certain compulsion to do so.

I have to admire you for that. Maybe one day you'll get through to them.

That's certainly the hope. I don't intend to let them wear me down.

May I ask what time you're from, if you find this futuristic?

Certainly. I'm from 1952. [And it still felt surreal saying that.]

Ah.

[He sounds almost pleased.]

A contemporary of mine, of sorts. I'm from 1959.

Voice

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