Work Text:
Time: Unknown
Location: Desert, in a small car heading west to the city
Characters: Woman, Pauling
(Act 1)
Pauling: I’m driving a barely functional blue used car, hurrying to the city. I have urgent matters to attend to; someone needs me. I just need to get things done, focus on the task at hand, and not ask too many questions about the rest. Ah, it’s so hot! Outside is a desert that looks like an ocean of sand! This is how it is here; when you drive out of the city, if you lose focus for just a moment, you won’t recognize the scenery outside anymore—
Pauling: Suddenly, I see a woman standing by the roadside, wearing a trench coat. A headscarf and sunglasses cover her face, as if she knew I would pass by here and was waving at me. I stop the car and roll down the window. The woman’s voice is very hoarse; she must be thirsty. If she speaks even a single word, her vocal cords might crack and bleed.
Woman: West, right?
Pauling: Do you need a ride? But I’m in a hurry; I can only take you into the city.
Woman: I know.
Pauling: Alright, let me open the door for you... my car is a bit—
Woman: I know.
Pauling: The woman walked around to the back of the car, and before I could tell her about the car’s issues—after she opened the door, she had to lift it a little and then slam it shut with force to close it. Yet she managed to do it. Perhaps she was just someone who was rough with closing doors.
Pauling: At this moment, I noticed that she had a layer of dust on her. But this car is already so worn out; I don’t mind that much.
Woman: (sneering) You're always so busy.
Pauling: I noticed the disdain in her tone, and I felt dissatisfied that she was asking for help while being so rude. I was still on my way, so what did she mean by that? So I said...
Pauling: Huh? What did you say? I didn't catch that.
Woman: I said, people like us are always so busy that we don't even have time to rest.
Pauling: How can you tell that I'm busy?
Woman: It's written all over your face. You have dark circles and bags under your eyes, but your eyes are bright. There are two possibilities. First, you've been drinking coffee or energy drinks and are addicted to them; second, you're working on something you find meaningful and are willing to labor tirelessly... this behavior is dangerous for you.
Pauling: (awkwardly chuckles twice) Oh, work isn't easy these days. So, are you in the same situation?
Woman: I used to be. But now I've lost my job.
Pauling: I'm sorry to hear that.
Woman: And my purpose in life.
Pauling: I didn't know how to respond appropriately. The hum of the air conditioning in the car maintained this strange silence, filled with the smell of mildew and gasoline... I pressed the accelerator and could feel the tires struggling and slipping on the gravel road. I was busy; I needed to get to the city as quickly as possible, not just because I had work to do... I didn't like this woman; she was rude and desperate. My sense of time became confused, and everything around me looked the same. I couldn't help but wonder, was my car really moving?
Woman: I was just betrayed by the person I deeply love.
Pauling: ... I'm sorry to hear that.
Woman: She is a very bad woman.
Pauling: Is she your lover?
Woman: (angrily) No.
Pauling: Then, is she a family member?
Woman: (dejectedly) No.
Pauling: Who is she then?
Woman: What has happened has happened; who she is doesn't matter. What matters is that she has deeply hurt me, treating me like a pawn. With the whispers of a lover, the authority of a mother, and years of familiarity, she has mixed my respect, affection, and desire for her all together... making me willingly help her carry out the most foolish and selfish plan in the world.
Pauling: (absently) That sounds terrible.
Woman: (coldly) You must have people like that around you too.
Pauling: I don't know, maybe, I've never really noticed.
Woman: Tell me about some good deeds of good people; I've already faced such a great betrayal that I'm about to stop believing in the brilliance of human nature.
Pauling: I have someone I really respect; she is a diligent and intelligent person, and she has a great plan that should benefit the whole world. Right now, I'm busy helping her, and I need to go find her employees.
Woman: She will die.
Pauling: (surprised, chuckling in disbelief) Yeah, everyone will die.
Woman: (coldly) You don't understand. She is going to die soon.
Pauling: I can hardly believe what I just heard. What is this strange woman's purpose? To provoke me? I should have never let her in the car.
Pauling: (angrily) You are truly an unreasonable person. I said I was sorry for what happened to you, but it’s not my fault—of course, it’s not yours either... You really don’t need to anger someone who is willing to give you a ride!
Woman: You’re wrong, that is our fault.
Pauling: Don’t joke around, I don’t know you. And I’m in a hurry; I don’t want to get entangled with you any further. I promise I will let you out as soon as we enter the city.
Pauling: We fell into silence again, and for a moment, I felt sorry. Maybe I was too harsh on a sad woman; it must be because the sunlight is too glaring... The sound of the tires on the road was grating, and the tiny grains of sand hitting the windshield felt like little bullets. Suddenly, I saw in the rearview mirror that the woman took off her sunglasses and headscarf, revealing her... revealing... revealing my...
Woman: Tell me, is it loyalty that makes one foolish, or is it foolishness that makes one loyal?
Pauling: Who are you?
Pauling: Oh. No... I feel dizzy. This can’t be real; it must be an illusion. Why? Am I overworked? Is it a mirage created by caffeine? Why, why does she have my face?
Woman: I am Pauling, Miss Pauling. I come from the future to tell you some very sad news... that is, all your efforts have been nothing but a joke. You don't even know why these stories began or why they ended. (Deliberately sorrowful) Even if you hold power in your hands, you don't dare to use it at all, because we are just like dogs, needing to be led by a leash; otherwise, we wouldn't be able to walk.
Pauling: I can't believe you. You have no evidence.
Woman: (Frowning) Then what makes you believe her?
Pauling: This...
Woman: (Laughs awkwardly and loudly) I have evidence. I can prove that you achieved your lifelong dream. Didn't you want to stay by her side forever, to be the only one she could rely on? Let me tell you what happened in the end... She revealed her most incompetent and selfish grand ambition right in front of you! You once thought that perhaps this was a great plan, or maybe an evil one; you didn't care. But you never considered that all those years of struggle and trust were merely for her meaningless revenge that no one cared about! In the end, the detestable Helen and the foolish Mann turned into the same pile of ashes, right on my body.
Pauling: I pulled over urgently and covered my ears. My rational mind tells me that this is all fake, yet my tears just won't stop. What am I so sad about? Clearly, everything she said has no evidence... She, she could be a robot created by any party for the sake of victory, no matter what she is. But why can't I stop my tears? Why does my heart feel like it can barely beat? Such intense anxiety, and the ominous premonition that everything is unfolding just as her prophecy said, is about to crush me!
Woman: I know you definitely won't believe me, because before everything happened, I wouldn't have believed anything anyone said to me, as long as it was about the administrator... I only ever trusted my nearsighted eyes, my ears that always miss information, and my fundamentally unreliable brain, just because she once had high hopes for me.
Pauling: (sobbing) If you could go back to this moment, would you really make a different decision?
Woman: (in shock) I have to leave.
Pauling: She opened the car door and left alone before I could even react, putting on her sunglasses and headscarf to hide her face. I watched her skillfully close the door of that old car and accurately name the administrator and Mr. Mann, along with her grand plans. I began to doubt... Could it be that everything she said was true? Have I worked so hard for the administrator, only to find that I hold no place in her heart? I wiped my tears with my arm, but they kept flowing out, as if my lungs, my throat, and my eyes were forcing them out of my body... I was busy; I couldn't stop. I still had to go pick up those mercenaries. Her words meant nothing; they were all lies, surely fabricated by one side for victory, to sway me. I pressed down on the gas pedal, the tires squealing in protest, and the scenery outside blurred like a continuous painting, endlessly cycling. Why can I never reach my destination? Why? Why? Why—ah!
(After the curtain falls, the curtain immediately opens.)
(Act 2)
Pauling: My body is drenched in hot sweat. Suddenly, I wake up from the steering wheel, looking around. I'm still outside the city. I recognize this is the spot where the woman asked me for a ride... or at least I thought it was. I haven't moved even a kilometer; I actually fell asleep in this stuffy car? Am I asleep or awake right now? Was everything that just happened real? Or was it just a dream?
Pauling: My phone in my pocket suddenly rings. I know it must be the administrator calling. I don't know if I should answer this call! Ah, even though I asked such a question, she surely knows I would cling to the bliss of ignorance. Even if I know what might happen in the future, I still hold onto a glimmer of hope. I can't believe myself; I find it harder to trust myself than her!
I hesitated for a long time, until the call ended, and the other party stubbornly redialed, redialed, redialed...
(The phone continues to ring, and Pauling hesitates on stage. The curtain does not fall until every audience member loses patience and leaves the theater.)
(End of the play)