Act I - Scene 2 Discount Octopus INT. A SCIENCE LAB IN SOUTHERN LOUISIANA – SUMMER 1925. (There is a taxidermy owl near the entrance. Near a desk there are scientific drawings of insects on an easel.) JOHNNY Dr. Erik? Got your delivery. ERIK Yes, come in, good morning, Jonathan. JOHNNY Let me get this crate untied. I have three yellow snappers and some shrimp for you. ERIK Is that all? JOHNNY And a discount octopus! 8 legs for the price of 2! ERIK That’s wonderful. Speaking of, come look at this specimen. You see this spider wrapping its prey? Soon it will be immobile. Can you fathom if something so durable were taken to the scale of man? JOHNNY I’m fine with that being the fly’s problem. I’d hate to be tied down like that. (JOHNNY wraps the rope from the crate into a loop around his arm.) ERIK Give me a moment to put these away. I will have your payment. Is it 20? 25? JOHNNY 25 if you don’t mind. I’m a little short on rent. ERIK I suppose you’ll join the search to get the reward then. JOHNNY Reward? ERIK You joker! Everyone has been talking about it. The grave that was robbed. There’s a reward for whoever finds the stolen ring. JOHNNY I had no idea! ERIK Yes, well if you find any ghostly adornments in the bayou, don’t forget to knock on the chapel door this Saturday at midnight. A compensation much more than 25, I’ll say! About five hundred-fold. I’ll be back shortly. (As ERIK briefly exits to another room JOHNNY paces in front of the stuffed owl.) JOHNNY Saturday. Only a few days from now. Where does one look for something like that? I’m no jewel hunter. But I don’t have many options, do I. Who would rob a grave? Who, um, would… Whooo… Whooo… ERIK If you like that owl, come here. Look out the window toward the house across the way. You see on the river, the little island just before it? JOHNNY Yes, I see it. ERIK That nest is the offspring of the offspring of the bird you were, um, confiding in just now. It is a wonder to me. They make their home here. As if they know their ancestor is near and wait to reclaim him. Anyway, here’s 30. Bring more crustaceans next time. JOHNNY You are kind. Thank you. (JOHNNY Exits. ERIK looks out the window.) ERIK What is this? Do you invite my eyes again? (ERIK exits the lab holding the binoculars and sits on the PERCH. On stage, the PERCH looms intrusively over PENNY’s living room. It represents ERIK’s partial view into PENNY’s home. It persists while the scene changes from ERIK’s lab to PENNY’s house.) ERIK Do you dance about that small view for me? Your movements color the canvas yet I only see a mere corner. I am anxious for each glance. Oh, how your flickering image tangles my thoughts. (End Scene.) Act I - Scene 3 Destin la Vue INT. PENNY’S HOUSE – LATE MORNING. (From the PERCH, ERIK watches IRIS whenever she crosses into the living room to clean. Away from the living room window, PENNY’s house extends to a kitchen and dining area beyond ERIK’s view. PENNY is reading books at the dining table. ERIK cannot hear PENNY or IRIS from the PERCH, nor can they hear him.) ERIK Why would science study any other creature? IRIS I am sweating like a horse. PENNY Thank you for opening the window, Iris, the light is helping. ERIK Will you, someday, meet me at our island between? Or must I find the courage and cross over? Could we become birds? Soaring in secret silence under a rising moon? IRIS Another spider. To the sink with you! (IRIS scoops up the spider and carries it beyond ERIK’s view.) ERIK Ah to be that little creature, whose web is destroyed and rebuilt daily, but at the gain of endless chances to see you completely. (The spider bites IRIS.) IRIS Ouch! ERIK With what gentleness you usher him aside. IRIS Foul Pest! Die! (IRIS stomps on the spider.) ERIK Does he too bide himself for weeks to make himself known? (IRIS moves near the living room window again.) IRIS And I don’t take a gift for granted, but the sun really cooks me up under this wig. Starts feeling like I got a critter on me. You know that creepy feeling? PENNY Give it time. You’ll get used to the heat. ERIK Or could your hair be a crimson torch to ignite my nights? A light which warms me greater than the sun itself as it shines upon my very soul like- (JOHNNY knocks from off stage.) JOHNNY (O.S) Mrs. Le Sueur? Delivery. PENNY Just a moment! I know you still want to keep things quiet, but some day you’ll want to meet someone new. This young man has always been polite to me, and he’s kind of cute too. IRIS Thanks Penny, but I’m looking for peace, not love. (IRIS closes the window shutters and exits.) ERIK And my vision leaves me. What purpose for my eyes now? What else transpires in that house? I will wonder as I study lesser things. (ERIK dismounts the PERCH and exits.) PENNY Come in. Hello! JOHNNY Good morning. Sorry about my wet shoes here. PENNY That’s no problem. That looks like 3 lengths of rope. I owe 15? JOHNNY It’s a little shy of 3 lengths. Just 10 is ok. PENNY Thank you, Jonathan. I have it right here for you. Say, would you have time for tea today? JOHNNY Sure, you’re my last delivery. I’d like that. PENNY Have a seat. I’ve got something to show you. (PENNY begins rummaging through piles of fabric in the background.) JOHNNY “Ancient Legends of the Far East?” Hmm. “Moon God… Destin la Vue?” What are you reading here? PENNY Destiny’s Vision. It’s a mystical object! Do you believe in mystical objects? JOHNNY I believe in mystical objections. “Binding heart to …something… verte Signet? Séance? Smudge? ripped page…” It’s hard to follow this! (PENNY is suddenly behind JOHNNY holding a marionette.) PENNY Look! JOHNNY Bah! PENNY I added a little bow tie. Cute, right? JOHNNY Wow you’ve really made his face look real now. He’ll be quite the showman in the right hands. Where’d you get this book? It looks new. I mean, old, but new to you right? PENNY I’ve had it for a short while. You know, people come to get a coat fixed and things fall out of the pockets. You’d be surprised what gets forgotten. Here, look at this one. JOHNNY “Property of Pierre Gillet de le Mamelon. Destroy if found.” Seems to be an old journal. PENNY And guess what else. Do you recognize the name? JOHNNY I never met the guy, no. PENNY The reward. These books belonged to the dead man who was robbed at the cemetery near Delacroix. There are some eerie things here. I feel like I’m supposed to piece something together. (JOHNNY flips to a random page of Pierre’s Journal.) JOHNNY “1821 June 4 - Today I learned the eye on my hand can be used for more than rescuing a little girl caught in a hunter’s trap. I was called ‘the boy who could find the lost’, but now I can be ‘the finder of kisses’. I told Jean-Raul he should talk to the girl he likes. He was so scared. It was funny to watch, but I bet my life it will work every time.” PENNY I’ve been thinking. Maybe you could look them over and tell me how they strike you. It might even help us get that reward. We could split it. JOHNNY Why me? I’m no detective. PENNY Let’s just say it’s awful hard to trust people these days. Surely, you’ve been looking for it too, right? JOHNNY Just heard about it this morning. Right now, I have next to nothing, so I have next to nothing to lose. I’ll give it a try. Be back soon. PENNY Till then. (End Scene.)

LONNA Hold it! Hooold it! Hoooold the door! DAVID (To his phone.) Because I need more time. I can’t be in two places. You know this. Can we just cooperate please? LONNA Hands full here, big guy! Door! Hold! (DAVID and LONNA move past one another and each gives the other a disapproving look. The door closes. LONNA pauses, kicks the door, puts a bag down, and tries to open it but fails.) DAVID That’s exactly right. This IS about letting him down. I understand that. I understand that. (Pulls phone away from his ear and looks at LONNA for sympathy, then shrugs and talks into the air.) I understand that. I understand that. (Puts his phone back to his ear.) Hello? Helloooo? Jamie? Ugh. LONNA Hung up on you huh? I don’t blame them. DAVID Excuse me? LONNA Your little conversation. That’s what you get for not paying attention to other people. DAVID If you must know, my signal dropped. Shouldn’t you be off to your private yacht instead of harassing the proletariat? LONNA I’d love to but… The-Door. Is-Locked. DAVID You have to turn the handle. But thank you for yelling in the background during my life-altering phone call. Hey, this door is locked. LONNA Tadaaaa! DAVID Well, I guess you’ll have to take the loot from your therapy shopping the long way. Good Luck. LONNA (Whispering.) That side’s locked too. DAVID Damnit! This side is locked too! LONNA Ahoy! Welcome aboard. Toot toot.

KATCH I always feel like they are trying to calculate my soul. ZEPH He’s more concerned about his own soul, I assure you. KATCH Oh, so they think they have souls now, too? ZEPH Might I remind you that we are paying customers, spiritual matters aside. KATCH Yeah, yeah. Your jars will get to the squid people down there. TURNER I’m all set here whenever you are ready. ZEPH Good. Tell the Cephabrachia that we’ve arrived. We just need to do some final checks. TURNER Will do. (TURNER plays a jazzy bass riff. After a moment there is a counterpoint bass riff reply from under the water.) TURNER They say they are ready to receive the terrariums, where is Moog? (MOOG enters. He looks at the stock of terrariums. He beeps and scans. He talks in an automatic metallic voice.) MOOG I am here. Counting terrarium units. Three hundred six. Scanning structural integrities. No anomalies detected. Counting larvae. Five thousand, four hundred, thirty three. Retrieving nanobot diagnostics. No Errors. Analyzing seed germination state… ZEPH That’s enough. Let’s skip ahead to the ocean currents. How will they fall? MOOG Predicting drift. Tolerance Acceptable. Plotting bathymetry. Site location confirmed. ZEPH Thanks, brother. You can switch to personality mode now. (MOOG now talks in a normal human voice.) MOOG It’s about time. I’m not an appliance, you know. SARA If you are brothers, how come he looks old like Daddy but you look young? Are you a robot? My daddy says robots can be bad. MOOG Well, I don’t like to call myself a bad robot. You know, I heard there would be a wonderful little girl on this trip, so I brought you a real flower. It’s a violet, see? SARA Wow! It looks just like the moon cloud! So pretty! Daddy, is this a real flower? Is it?