10 characters: Mayor, Ahmadi, Announcer, Judge, Marissa, Stone, Ambassador Five, Larissa, Peters, Crowd
Click on a character's name to get their lines highlighted.
Ahmadi (35 lines, 341 words, 9%) - [Paul Knierim] Detective Arash Ahmadi is young (24) and eager, but hasn't had a lot to investigate until now. He's infatuated with Larissa Flint.
Peters (5 lines, 350 words, 9.24%) - [David Loftus] Salish Peters, chief mechanic. Great-grandfather was the first mission commander, and he never tires of telling people so and relating the stories of Earth he remembers hearing from great-grandpa. Sensible, direct, kind of average working Joe. Middle aged, has husband and two grown kids.
Stone (42 lines, 835 words, 22.04%) - [John Gaunce] Doctor Stone. Willing to do whatever it takes to save patients, even if it goes against the laws or morals of society. Is frustrated by societal resistance to experimentation and progress, thinks Earth-sourced ethics need to be updated for life in interstellar space. Just a touch of mad scientist, but really means well and the audience will be torn on whether to approve of the methods.
Mayor (44 lines, 1168 words, 30.83%) - [Roger Arnold] The leader of the asteroid, as yet unnamed as everyone just calls him mayor because he's been mayor so long and will continue in the role as long as he wants. Tends to be impatient and sarcastic with underlings but can turn on the charm and make a good speech when needed. In his 60s but not thinking about retirement.
Marissa (22 lines, 186 words, 4.91%) - [Virginia Hargrove] Marissa Flint. 26 years old, older sister of Larissa. Overprotective toward Larissa but means well. Essentially raised Larissa since mother died and father was often absent. Can be a bit antagonistic when she takes a dislike to someone.
Larissa (11 lines, 129 words, 3.41%) - [Lindsay Townsend] Larissa Flint. Younger sister of Marissa. Wants more independence and feels a bit resentful. Apprentice mechanic. Young (18), eager, optimistic and inexperienced. Academically-gifted quick learner.
Ambassador Five (11 lines, 197 words, 5.2%) - [espeak] Ambassador Five is a Centaurian. They communicate non-verbally, so in order to be understood by humans they wear machine translators.
Judge (26 lines, 294 words, 7.76%) - [Rachel Pulliam] Judge Lee is the justice. Competent, legally-minded and formal but compassionate underneath. Seeks to defuse situations.
Announcer (2 lines, 149 words, 3.93%) - [Erin Suminsby] Reads opening, closing and credits.
Crowd (8 lines, 139 words, 3.67%) - Gets mixed into crowd effects in various spots.
Script format: Margined | Marginless (for phone viewing)
Listen along as you read:
1 Mayor: Detective Ahmadi, I hereby order you to carry out your duty as our law enforcement officer by arresting Doctor Stone.
2 Ahmadi: I’m afraid I can’t do that, mayor.
3 Mayor: Then I hereby relieve you of duty and declare a citizen’s arrest.
4 Ahmadi: I won’t allow that either.
5 Mayor: [angry] You’re finished, Ahmadi.
6 Ahmadi: Maybe, but Larissa isn’t.
7 SOUND: opening theme
8
Announcer:
QuietPlease dot org presents “253 Mathilde”.
At the turn of the 22nd century, the asteroid 253 Mathilde was converted into an interstellar spaceship. Now 92 years into a 780 year mission, generations have come and gone.
Episode three - Trial.
9 SOUND: mayor’s office, bunch of people talking softly with concern amongst themselves
10 Mayor: Alright, we’ve got enough people now.
11 Judge: For *what*, mayor?
12 Mayor: I’m calling up the militia. That’ll be all of you.
13 SOUND: crowd buzz of surprise
14 Judge: With respect, mayor, that’s never been done before.
15 Mayor: We’ve never had a detective who flagrantly refused to enforce the law before. Detective Ahmadi is guilty of unauthorized visits to the Centaurians, illegal acquisition of Centaurian technology, aiding and abetting the cloning of a human being, plotting to murder the cloned human being, and refusing my direct order to arrest Doctor Stone for carrying out human cloning with intent to murder.
16 SOUND: some gasps and chatter in the crowd
17 Mayor: They’re in the medical center. Marissa Flint is also in there and may aid them, but she doesn’t need to be arrested if she doesn’t make trouble. I believe they’re all unarmed and not expecting us, so we’ll move in quick and overwhelm them with our numbers so nobody gets hurt.
18 SOUND: scene transition
19 Ahmadi: The mayor will be back, and not alone.
20 Marissa: Are you sure?
21 Ahmadi: [sarcastically] Does our mayor strike you as someone who calmly accepts defiance?
22 Marissa: What can we do?
23 Ahmadi: First, I’ll lock the door.
24 SOUND: touch input followed by locking sound
25 Ahmadi: But it won’t take him long to override that, so let’s get some things stacked in front of it.
26 Stone: [critically] Pushing things against the door isn’t going to help. In our gravity, even our most massive objects won't have much friction with the floor. A group of people are going to be able to push through.
27 Ahmadi: Then what can we do?
28 SOUND: footsteps, sound of something metallic being taken out of a drawer, more footsteps
29 Stone: Here, use this to cut a hole in the wall to the left of the door, about waist height… you should find the opening mechanism in there, if you destroy it then they’ll have to cut their way in.
30 Ahmadi: That should buy us some time.
31 Marissa: I hope you have something useful in mind for that time.
32 SOUND: cutting through wall, sound of breaking something
33 Ahmadi: I’m thinking.
34 Marissa: Think faster. You know the law, do you know any loopholes that can buy us a day or two?
35 SOUND: muffled noise of a crowd outside, muffled noise of mayor fruitlessly pushing buttons
36 Mayor: [sfx: muffled] [shouting] By order of the mayor, you are to open this door immediately! Failure to do so will result in another charge against you.
37 Stone: [loudly] I’m conducting an experiment, opening the door would put other compartments at unacceptable risk of radiation exposure!
38 Mayor: [sfx: muffled] [loudly] Nobody’s buying what you’re selling, Doctor Stone. I see you've destroyed the door mechanism, but that's not going to stop us. We’ll break it down, or we'll cut a hole in it if we have to!
39 SOUND: people trying to break door down
40 Ahmadi: [softly] I have an idea.
41 Marissa: Then go for it.
42 Ahmadi: [loudly] Is Judge Lee among you? I’ll only speak to Judge Lee.
43 SOUND: muffled crowd muttering
44 Judge: [sfx: muffled] [loudly] I’m here, detective.
45 Ahmadi: Judge, we invoke our right to immediate trial before incarceration.
46 SOUND: muffled surprise from crowd
47 Judge: [sfx: muffled] Very well. Let me in.
48 Ahmadi: I’m sorry I can’t do that right now, the mechanism is broken. But we can handle the preliminaries talking through the door like this.
49 Judge: [sfx: muffled] Mayor, who do you choose to prosecute this case?
50 Mayor: [sfx: muffled] [annoyed] Can’t you see they’re just going to try to keep us out with procedural delays?!
51 Judge: [sfx: muffled] They’re exercising legitimate rights established in our law, mayor. Choose a prosecutor.
52 Mayor: [sfx: muffled] I choose myself.
53 Judge: [sfx: muffled] Very well. What are your charges?
54 Mayor: [sfx: muffled] Detective Ahmadi is charged with acquisition of Centaurian technology, aiding and abetting the cloning of a human being, plotting to murder the cloned human being, refusing my direct order to carry out his job, and resisting arrest. Doctor Stone is charged with use of Centaurian technology, human cloning, intent to murder the clone, and resisting arrest. No charges against Marissa Flint at present.
55 Judge: [sfx: muffled] Defendants, who do you choose to represent you?
56 Ahmadi: We choose to represent ourselves.
57 Stone: [softly] Would’ve been nice if you’d asked me first.
58 Judge: [sfx: muffled] So noted.
59 Ahmadi: The defense requests two days to prepare.
60 Mayor: [sfx: muffled] Bullshit!
61 Judge: [sfx: muffled] It doesn’t seem an unreasonably long time to prepare a case.
62 Stone: [softly] 36 hours would be enough.
63 Ahmadi: [loudly] We can be flexible, how about 36 hours?
64 Mayor: [sfx: muffled] *sighs* Fine, 36 hours.
65 Ahmadi: Meanwhile, we’ll stay confined here so the doctor can continue treating his patients.
66 Mayor: [sfx: muffled] That’s outrageous! There's a baby in there whose life is in danger from them!
67 Stone: [loudly] You know we can't graft a baby brain into Larissa Flint. Even with growth accelerant, the clone won't be big enough for transplant for months. We want to keep it alive right now more than anyone and nobody is better equipped to do that than I am.
68 Judge: [sfx: muffled] Under the circumstances, I grant the motion to reconvene here in 36 hours.
69 Mayor: [sfx: muffled] We still need to get in there, and there's no better time than the present! I expect you all to help me get through this door!
70 SOUND: muffled grumbling crowd
71 Judge: [sfx: muffled] No need for that, we'll open it tomorrow. Go home. Justice will be done.
72 SOUND: crowd breaks up and quiets down
73 SOUND: scene transition
74 SOUND: mayor's office room tone. door opens, footsteps enter [will Centaurian footsteps sound different?
75 Ambassador Five: Are you the new mayor?
76 Mayor: Ambassador, I’ve been mayor for seventeen years.
77 Ambassador Five: I was last awakened thirty three years ago.
78 Mayor: Didn’t I meet you about ten years ago during the water crisis?
79 Ambassador Five: No, you must be confusing me with one of the other ambassadors. For what purpose did you summon me?
80 Mayor: What did Detective Ahmadi offer you?
81 Ambassador Five: Excuse me, mayor? I don’t understand.
82 Mayor: In exchange for the technology you provided.
83 Ambassador Five: It was a gift, mayor.
84 Mayor: [skeptical] A gift?
85 Ambassador Five: I was made to understand you do gifts in your culture, has this changed since the last time I was awake?
86 Mayor: We have gifts, but we tend not to gift things of such value to strangers without expecting something in return. And a *Centaurian* would *never* do something without a logical reason.
87 Ambassador Five: You humans think of us like we're machines, because you can only hear the machines translating to you. And you think of us as all the same because your inability to comprehend our names leads you to number us. We’re individuals, and I have compassion when I hear someone is suffering or dying like this Larissa Flint.
88 Mayor: You don’t seem to have much compassion for her clone that's going to be harvested.
89 Ambassador Five: That’s not a person, it’s simply a potential. It understands nothing.
90 Mayor: Well, we humans believe life is sacred.
91 Ambassador Five: Except for the animals you eat, the ecosystems you destroy, the people you let die so that you don’t have to technically take a life?
92 Mayor: It’s not your call to make. As the mayor, it’s *my* call. And *all* technology sharing must be approved through my office, do you understand?
93 Ambassador Five: You humans and your obsession with hierarchical social systems. You would probably arrest your own mothers if they violated your command structure.
94 Mayor: Ambassador, this is a human asteroid and you’re just a guest on it. You’ll obey our command structure while you’re here. When we get to Proxima, my descendants will accept the Centaurian way of doing things.
95 Ambassador Five: I wonder if they will. May I return to my section now, mayor?
96 Mayor: Yes, please do.
97 SOUND: walks out, door opens and closes
98 SOUND: perhaps a musical bridge that suggests passage of time
99 SOUND: medical center sounds, brief footsteps
100 Stone: Let’s see if it’s ready now.
101 SOUND: opening the drawer, sloshing
102 Larissa: [give me about 30 seconds of soft intermittent crying sounds like an adult baby]
103 Stone: I’d say say it looks old enough, wouldn’t you?
104 Marissa: My god, it looks exactly like Larissa! And the way it’s looking at me… can’t you put it to sleep?
105 Stone: Soon enough.
106 Marissa: I wish we didn't have to kill it.
107 Ahmadi: There's no other way to save Larissa. We're doing the right thing.
108
Marissa:
I still don’t get why you’re so invested, detective.
It was easy for me when it was a baby, but now that it looks like her…
109 Stone: Remember this is practically an empty husk. It has no idea who you are or what we’re saying.
110 Ahmadi: We only have 5 hours left before the trial. Is that enough time, Doctor?
111 Stone: Yes, it’s ready for harvesting now so if the two of you will help me out as temporary nurses we can get this done in a few hours.
112 Marissa: I can't help kill this thing that looks exactly like my sister. I can't look at it anymore.
113 Stone: Ahmadi and I can handle it while you go prep Larissa.
114 Marissa: Okay.
115 Stone: You *are* both sure you want me to do this, right? There'll be no going back.
116 Marissa: Yes.
117 Ahmadi: I'm sure, let's start.
118 SOUND: surgical instrument clatter
119 SOUND: music bridge to convey passage of time
120 Stone: ... and that should do it, let's get her skull back on and all sewn up.
121 Marissa: When will we know? When will she wake up?
122 Stone: Probably just a couple hours, to both questions.
123 SOUND: music bridge to convey passage of time
124 Judge: The prosecution may proceed.
125 SOUND: rustling of preparation
126
Mayor:
This is fundamentally a very simple case. Nobody disputes what happened. The defendants admit their unauthorized acquisition of Centaurian technology and their decision to illegally create a human clone, and they've even confessed to killing that clone while they were awaiting trial, although they claim it's somehow not murder. As the other crimes are uncontested and pale in comparison, let's focus on the murder. Section 1 subsection B of our penal code defines the crime of murder as the taking of a human or Centaurian life without consent. This is clearly what happened. If Larissa Flint is a human being, and we all know she is, then her clone being a genetic duplicate is obviously also a human being. According to our law this was no mere medical procedure, it was a premeditated murder -- the fact that the victim was created for the sole purpose of being murdered does not change anything, except for proving the premeditated nature of the crime.
Doctor Stone, on what basis and precedent do you claim this to have been anything other than premeditated murder?
127 Stone: I'd like to draw the court's attention to the parallels between this case and the fight for abortion rights in the 20th and 21st centuries. There too, conservative forces argued that a creature with no experience of the outside world had some inalienable right to survival when the mother wanted to abort it. Some went as far as to forfeit the mother's right to life in favor of the fetus' supposed right to life.
128 Mayor: Your analogy is misguided, Doctor. Anti-abortion laws forced a woman to carry a child against her will -- but nobody was being forced to carry the clone you created inside their body. Abortion rights were simply about bodily autonomy. The only bodily autonomy at issue today is that of the clone, who never consented to being murdered and harvested.
129 Stone: But if we acknowledge that the life of a fetus is not paramount over the life of an adult, then we must acknowledge that the life of this clone which had less lived experience than a fetus is not paramount over the life of Larissa Flint.
130 Mayor: Nobody can be compelled by the law to spend nine months nursing a dependent being on life support against their will. But at the point when she was murdered this clone was an independent being who did not depend on anyone, at least not any specific person, same as any post-birth baby except for her teenage-looking body.
131 Stone: You're ignoring my point.
132 Mayor: You think just because somebody is dying that means anyone less developed can be sacrificed and scavenged to keep that person alive? Should we always kill our children when we need a compatible organ donor? Maybe our young adults too, since they're less valuable than our experienced elders? Do you have any conception of what a monstrous society you're proposing, Doctor Stone?
133 Stone: [a bit taken aback] There has to be a cutoff. Of course there has to be a cutoff.
134 Mayor: And where do you draw that line?
135 Stone: I draw it at the point where a person becomes more practically sentient and self-reflective than the kinds of lower animals we wouldn't hesitate to harvest to save a person.
136 Mayor: But this clone at the time you murdered her was as intelligent as any 18 year old woman, wasn't she? Her brain was a fully-developed adult brain?
137 Stone: I said practically, not theoretically. A biological capability for language is not language, a biological capability for complex self-reflection is not the same as having actually achieved it, the capability to understand life is not an understanding of life. It's still a creature of instinct until it gains experience.
138 Mayor: And who gave *you* the right to decide this?
139 Stone: Excuse me, mayor?
140 Mayor: Who gave you the right to draw that line there and declare that this woman's capability didn't count because you judged she hadn't actualized it?
141 Stone: I'm a doctor. It's in the job description.
142 Mayor: You're a doctor, not a dictator. It's our law which has the authority to draw the line and tell doctors what to do. Our law says that anyone who has been born has a right to bodily autonomy, a right to live.
143 Stone: With respect, mayor, the law wasn't written with this scenario in mind.
144 Mayor: I submit that the anti-cloning law was written with exactly this scenario in mind, but at any rate it's not up to you to overturn a law when you think it contains an oversight. Most criminals think the law they're breaking was a mistake, if we leave it up to each person to decide which laws deserve to be obeyed then the whole fabric of our society is at risk.
145 Stone: Civil disobedience of unjust laws is a time-honored tradition.
146 SOUND: gavel pounding
147 Judge: Ten minute recess.
148 SOUND: general movement noises and light background conversations
149 Ahmadi: You should've been a lawyer, doctor.
150 Stone: I actually did one of my apprenticeships under Judge Okonkwo, but I couldn't stand being told that what the law said had to take precedent over what I knew was right. Most of our laws were written by narrow-minded people who came from quite literally a very different world than ours.
151 Marissa: [sfx: approaching] Doctor, I think she's waking up!
152 SOUND: Stone and Ahmadi stand and walk over
153 Larissa: [groans lightly like waking up]
154 Marissa: Larissa, can you hear me?
155 Larissa: [groggy] Where... what?
156 Stone: How do you feel?
157 Larissa: I feel... different.
158 Stone: Can you move all your limbs? Any paralysis anywhere?
159 SOUND: shifting in bed
160 Larissa: Yeah, I can move. Ribs hurt. Left leg hurts. But... my mind, I don't quite feel myself in my mind.
161 Marissa: You've been through a lot, sis. Give it time.
162 SOUND: fade out fade in
163 SOUND: gavel pounding, silencing of background conversations
164 Judge: Let's proceed with the defense. I understand you both have witnesses to call?
165 Ahmadi: Yes your honor, I'd like to call Salish Peters.
166 Marissa: [snorts in disagreement] That asshole?
167 SOUND: peters stands and walks to podium
168 Ahmadi: Mr. Peters, would you briefly describe the accident for us in your own words?
169 Peters: [struggling to justify his choices to himself] As you all know, there was an explosion in the primary reactor during the launch day party. Larissa Flint has been apprenticing with me for nearly a year and she has a real talent for noticing mechanical abnormalities others might miss. And she was with me at the time because we'd been talking at the party when it happened. So when I realized a surface inspection was necessary, I decided to take her with me.
170 Marissa: [scoffs]
171 Peters: [troubled by the memory] She was running a deep scan when she accidentally triggered an exhaust valve, and it sent her flying. We tried to help her use her air to maneuver, but there wasn't enough time and she came down hard. I was taking as big of leaps as I could but it took me a minute to get to where she landed, and I saw her helmet visor was smashed. Moving as fast as I could, it still took a few minutes to carry her back to the airlock. By the time the airlock cycled she'd been without air for about eight minutes, and I thought we'd lost her. With CPR I was able to get her breathing again and her heart beating before the doctor took over, but I knew there wasn't much hope for her brain after so long.
172 Ahmadi: Mr. Peters, in that moment, what would you have given to save her?
173 Peters: Anything. My life.
174 Ahmadi: How about a two day old clone's life? Would you have grown and harvested the clone, if it'd been up to you?
175 Peters: Absolutely.
176 Ahmadi: Why? There are some here who say it's wrong.
177
Peters:
I'm a mechanic, I've always been a mechanic. When one of the systems we rely on breaks down -- say the heating system, or a waste processor -- when that happens, I'd never hesitate to take a part out of a backup unit in storage and use it to fix the live unit. We always prioritize the active unit over the things we might potentially use in the future.
Larissa Flint is someone we rely on. Probably the most gifted apprentice I've ever had. She's part of the fabric of our community. We owed it to her and to ourselves to save her, and if that means taking parts from a clone which has never truly lived or contributed anything else to anyone, then so be it. Easiest decision in our world.
178 Ahmadi: Thank you, Peters.
179 SOUND: peters shuffles off
180 Judge: Doctor Stone, I believe you also have a witness?
181 Stone: I have two witnesses to call. First, the so-called victim.
182 Judge: The deceased clone?
183 Stone: That's correct, your honor.
184 Judge: How are you planning to do that?
185 Stone: I submit the medical center security video from 12 hours ago, when I brought it out for the last growth accelerant injection.
186 Judge: Proceed.
187 SOUND: button pressed, video plays
188 SOUND: drawer opens, sloshing - processed slightly
189 Stone: [sfx: processed] My, aren't you growing quick. Just about teenaged already I think.
190 Larissa: [sfx: processed] 10 seconds of adult baby soft crying sounds
191 SOUND: button pressed again as video ends
192 Stone: And now, in hopes that you'll recognize the difference, I call Larissa Flint.
193 Judge: Proceed.
194 SOUND: walking away then wheeling bed back... remember bed won't weigh much
195 Stone: Actually she needs to stay in bed, but I'll bring it over.
196 Mayor: Seriously?
197 Stone: Larissa, please tell the court your memory of what happened.
198 Larissa: I was on the surface, I accidentally released a valve that sent me flying, I came crashing down and my helmet shattered. It felt like my whole face was bruising and the air was being forced out of my lungs, most horrible thing I've ever felt, most helpless I've ever felt. And then after a few seconds I woke up on this medical bed, and that was just a few minutes ago.
199 Stone: You remember nothing between being on the surface and waking up here?
200 Larissa: Nothing.
201 Stone: With some brain scans as additional evidence I submit that Larissa Flint was effectively dead despite her body being alive -- essentially the same state her clone was in for its whole existence.
202 Mayor: But the clone's brain was undamaged!
203 Stone: Structurally undamaged, but there was no experience accumulated in it yet to damage. The clone was like a new empty nanodisk, which I've salvaged parts from to recover a nanodisk containing 18 years of our most valued critical data.
204 Mayor: People are not nanodisks.
205 Stone: Irrelevant. The analogy I'm making is clear. Using the brain that'd never really lived to fix the brain with the 18 years experience is just as obvious a choice as sacrificing the empty nanodisk to recover the old one. I rest my case.
206 Judge: Detective Ahmadi, do you have anything more you'd like to add for your defense?
207 Ahmadi: Only that I acted quickly and I did what I had to do to save Larissa Flint's life. I'd do it again without hesitation. I rest my case.
208 Judge: Would the prosecution like to offer a closing thought?
209 Mayor: Our law is clear that these actions were crimes, no matter what the motives and no matter what your personal opinion of the outcome may be.
210 Judge: Defense?
211 Stone: A clone of Larissa Flint's DNA without experiences is not Larissa Flint or even a real differentiated individual, just a potential. I will never regret using it to save the real Larissa Flint.
212 Judge: I'll withdraw to consider the evidence and return to render a judgement when I'm ready.
213 SOUND: buzz of a few people talking and moving
214 Larissa: Doctor, detective... no matter how this comes out, I want to thank you both for saving my life.
215 Stone: [with pride] Just doing my job.
216 Ahmadi: Even if I spend the rest of my life incarcerated, it'll have been worth it.
217 Larissa: Thanks again, detective.
218 Marissa: [probing] Why? Why will it have been worth it, detective?
219 Ahmadi: [fumbles] Uh, well, saving a life!
220 Marissa: [scowling] Oh boy. You've got a crush on her, don't you?
221 Larissa: [giggles] You're blushing, detective!
222 Marissa: How old are you, detective?
223 Ahmadi: Twenty-four.
224 Marissa: Then stay the hell away from my eighteen year old sister.
225 Ahmadi: [heartbroken] I guess if I'm in the cell I won't have much choice anyway.
226 Marissa: [coldly] Good.
227 Stone: Well, this got awkward.
228 SOUND: fade out and back in to indicate time passing
229 SOUND: gavel bangs
230 Judge: The facts of this case are clear, and the laws are clear. Doctor Stone and Detective Ahmadi did resist arrest, they did unlawfully conspire to aquire and use cloning technology, and they did unlawfully end a human life. I have no choice but to find both of you guilty on all charges.
231 SOUND: semi-shocked chatter [may need to assign lines for that and mix it into background], then judge bangs gavel for attention
232 Judge: But we all know Larissa Flint, some better than others. Who among us isn't happy to have her back with us instead of that vacant clone? I cannot in good conscience condemn people for doing exactly what I would've done given the same opportunity, and what I absolutely believe was the right thing to do. Accordingly, I sentence you both to a hundred yuan fine.
233 SOUND: mayor slams something into table
234 Mayor: [furious] This is lawlessness! Anarchy! An affront to those who created our law! It's spit in the face of the majority who still believe in our law!
235 SOUND: music rises under to transition out of scene
236 SOUND: door opens, footsteps enter, door closes
237 Ahmadi: [with dread] You wanted to see me, mayor?
238 Mayor: Mr. Ahmadi, I've officially relieved you of all your duties permanently. I've designated Aranya Saetang as your successor, but you won't play any role in her training, I'll handle that.
239 Ahmadi: [defeated] May I go?
240 Mayor: [with spite] Go find a hole to crawl into, and be thankful for your undeserved freedom.
241 SOUND: footsteps exit, door opens and closes
242 SOUND: closing music
243 Announcer: You've been listening to “Two Fifty-Three Mathilde”, episode three - Trial. Created, written, produced and directed by Paul Knierim. The mayor is Roger Arnold. Doctor Stone is John Gaunce. Arash Ahmadi is Paul Knierim. Judge Lee is Rachel Pulliam. Marissa Flint is Virginia Hargrove. Ambassador Five is espeak. Larissa Flint is Lindsay Townsend. Chief Mech Salish Peters is David Loftus. Crowd noises included Emily Aichele and Paul Knierim. The announcer is Erin Suminsby. Sound effects and music courtesy free sound dot org and free p d dot com. Additional music by audionautix dot com. This program is licensed for free reuse and redistribution. Hear more episodes at quietplease dot org slash two fifty-three.
244 Crowd: [concerned and confused] What are we doing here? Why would the mayor call this many people to his office? Do you think there's a serious problem?
245 Crowd: [buzz of surprise] Wow! Can he do that?! Has that ever been done?!
246 Crowd: [gasp] Oh no, I can't believe they'd do that! They seemed like good people! Pillars of our community turning to crime!
247 Crowd: [a little agitated] Okay, we're here. Now how do we get inside? Do you think they're going to resist? How much force should we use? Let me through, I can handle this.
248 Crowd: [surprise] Immediate trial? What are they up to? Is this a trick?
249 Crowd: [grumbling] But why should we? Do we have to do what the mayor says? Does the judge outrank him?
250 Crowd: [crowd breaking up, relief] Alright, we've done our duty, let's go home. Time for lunch.
251 Crowd: [light background conversation] Interesting case, I'm not sure what to think. Do you think they're guilty? There's extenuating circumstances though.