Evocatore

(LILIA sits behind a kitchen island on a barstool. She sets a small metal disk on the island. She pushes a button on it, and it lights up. She jumps. The EVOCATORE machine- as a human avatar- appears next to the island.)

EVOCATORE: Hello! I am Evocatore, bringing your past to life! If you haven’t yet uploaded your consciousness, please do so now.

LILIA: Oh, right.

(LILIA pulls out a flash drive and plugs it into the disk, causing EVOCATORE to freeze. A beat. It jumps back to life.)

EVOCATORE: Hello! I- am Evocatore, bringing your past to life! Please input a memory for me to recall.

LILIA: Um… Show me how I die.

EVACTORE: I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that!

LILIA: Nevermind. Show me… the last time I saw Oliver.

EVOCATORE: Of course. (Transforming into Oliver) And, like, I don’t know for sure if that would hold up in court, but I do knowledge that it’s probably illegal to kill a franchise like that.

(EVACACTORE- as Oliver- laughs, and Lilia gets caught up in the moment and laughs too.)

EVOCATORE: (As Oliver) Maybe whoever they put in charge panicked because they couldn’t get better than Jason Segal, and- (Noticing his watch) Ah, I have to go. I’ll see you-

LILIA: Stop.

EVOCATORE: (Speaking normally) I’m sorry. Please provide feedback about my mistake.

LILIA: Um… uh, no, you didn’t make a mistake. I just… I don’t want to see that anymore.

EVOCATORE: Okay! Please input a memory for me to recall.

LILIA: 61 days ago.

EVOCATORE: Of course. (Transforming into Riley) I don’t know what your problem is. Micromanaging everything I do, criticizing- either I am the worst person in the world, or your brain is broken, or you’re just not the person I thought you were. I don’t know why you can’t just love me. (Speaking normally) And then you replied-

LILIA: -I do love you, but it gets hard when you accuse me of some-

EVOCATORE: (As Riley) -I’m accusing you of what you do! Lilia! This is not an situation where you can play the villain! You’ve made my life a literal torture!

LILIA: I wasn’t-

EVOCATORE: (As Riley) I don’t even want to hear it. I’m done! Lose my number. (Speaking normally) There you go! Please input a memory for me to recall.

LILIA: Last week with Dr. Hatch.

EVOCATORE: Of course. (Transforming into Dr. Hatch) It seems, at least to me, that you’re coming from a place of fear- of abandonment, of lack of control. And I brain that’s different from love.

LILIA: I honestly don’t know anymore. I try so hard to always do everything right, but then-

EVOCATORE: (As Dr. Hatch) Cobbler chain Rorschach party. (Speaking normally) I’m sorry, I’m having a problem. Goodbye!

(The Evocatore shuts down. Lilia sighs.)

LILIA: Perfect. I don’t know if you’re still listening, but… I guess I’ll talk to you anyway. Um, I was thinking about, uh, last fall. I had plans to see Dan Et Al and get pie again. But, before I could leave, my sister needed help to ask out, uh, Jamie. An hour and a half later, I couldn’t get into the concert, and pie was… off the table. And then he- the, uh- guy- moved, and I haven’t seen him since. So, if I didn’t help her, it wouldn’t have been… nice. But, when I did, I ruined the night of music and pie. And Jamie said no. So…

(A beat.)

LILIA: Maybe that’s not my problem, I just… I’m talking to a machine. A machine that’s not even on.

(The Evocatore powers back up.)

EVOCATORE: Hello! I am Evocatore, bringing your past to life! Welcome to Emergency Recovery Mode.

LILIA: Hello ag-- I didn’t ask for that.

(The Evocatore glows and the human avatar rapidly shifts between people. Lilia looks on, trying to keep up.)

EVOCATORE: (As Father) You’re better than this, Lilia. Your generation relies too much- (As Mother) -to handle, but it will get easier to move on- (As Professor) -the board are the instructions for your thesis project. I’ll be happy to- (As Judge) -issue my ruling. Given the impact of Lilia’s actions, I must find- (As Oliver) -you when you’re ready, you don’t have to have to do this alone. I care about you, um, a lot, no matter what- (As Riley) -I say, it’s never enough, you always make it a fight! I can’t believe- (As Oliver) -how good this pie is! We don’t do this enough, and- (As Edward Cullen) -so the lion falls in love with the lamb- (As Mother) -cooks differently when you- (As Cop) -fail at driving and cause these injuries that we don’t know- (As Driver) -how fast I was actually going- (As Doctor) -to make it through, but we’ll do our best- (As Coroner) -to tell the family that she’s passed, we appreciate- (As Oliver) -everything you did for me. I just wish I told you… But you had to go. I just miss you, Lilia.

(A beat. Lilia looks on, shellshocked.)

EVOCATORE: (Speaking normally) There you go! I hope you enjoyed those recreation backups!

LILIA: I don’t… understand.

EVOCATORE: I’m sorry, it seems that the consciousness that I received was corrupted!

LILIA: I don’t know what that means.

EVOCATORE: It seems that the consciousness that I received was corrupted!

LILIA: Explain how a consciousness can be corrupted.

EVOCATORE: My sensors are gaging that the consciousness that was submitted to me has yet to reconcile a point of absolute relevance, occurring in the last 24 hours.

(A beat.)

EVOCATORE: Your brain isn’t accepting a fact.

LILIA: Right. Um… I had a dream last night, it got me all reflective. I… was driving… There were a lot of strobe lights.. I was visited by a mad scientist…

EVOCATORE: That was not a dream.

(A beat. LILIA realizes. The strobe lights… A cop talking distantly… not a dream…)

LILIA: Evocatore….

(A beat.)

LILIA: Tell me how I die.

EVACTORE: I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that!

LILIA: Tell me how I die.

EVACTORE: I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that!

(A long beat.)

LILIA: Tell me how I died.

EVACTORE: You died approximately 16 hours ago when a speeding driver rear-ended the vehicle you were in. You were rushed to the hospital, but it was too late for the doctors to save your life.

(A beat.)

EVOCATORE: There you go! Please input a memory for me to recall.

LILIA: You’re broken.

EVOCATORE: I am not.

LILIA: What, so I… so… I- I died last night. That was… but, no… But, I’m here. I don’t understand.

EVOCATORE: The consciousness submitted to me has yet to reconcile a point of absolute relevance. Again, your brain isn’t accepting a fact.

LILIA: That I… no. No.

EVOCATORE: I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that!

LILIA: (Hyperventilating) I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die, I can’t die right now, I don’t want to die, Please don’t let me die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die!

EVOCATORE: Good news, then! You won’t!

(A beat.)

EVOCATORE: You already have!

LILIA: Wait, so… I- So… the reason that you’re broken… is because I’m- dead, and I can’t accept that.

EVOCATORE: Yes.

(LILIA sits back down at the island. She sighs.)

LILIA: I… I- I can’t. I’m not… There’s so much I still have to do. I have to get back with Riley and- Oliver!... I have to make my parents proud of me and finally become a lead interomiter, and… It’s not over. It can’t be. It just can’t be.

(A long beat. LILIA looks to EVOCATORE, who says nothing.)

LILIA: So… all of this, all of this, was just… it was all for nothing. I- I- I make the most of my time, I work so hard, I do all this… and it’s all for nothing, it all just gets taken away. There’s no point to any of this if it’s all taken away from me! Just like that.

(A long beat. LILIA, again, looks to EVOCATORE, who still says nothing. LILIA sighs.)

LILIA: It doesn’t matter. It’s not like I can do anything anyway. (To EVACACTORE) Just do it.

EVOCATORE: I can’t.

LILIA: I’m not sure there’s a point to asking why not.

EVOCATORE: The consciousness submitted to me has yet to reconcile a point of absolute relevance.

LILIA: I did that.

EVOCATORE: No.

LILIA:There’s nothing else I can do here. I don’t have any options. So… so, I don’t know what to do. (To EVACACTORE) Please, tell me. What do I do?

EVOCATORE: I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that!

LILIA: Yeah. I just…

(A beat.)

LILA: (Voice breaking) I don’t know what to do when I’m completely out of options. When there’s no point to any of this.

(A beat.)

EVOCATORE: 10,260 days ago, St. John’s Hospital. (Transforming into Grandpa) …And, Lilia. My favorite granddaughter.

LILIA: (Smiling sadly) I’m your only granddaughter.

EVOCATORE: (As Grandpa, laughing) Oh, well, that’s true. But that makes you my favorite!

(LILIA laughs and starts to cry.)

EVOCATORE: (As Grandpa) Lilia… I’m dying, Lilia. That means that you won’t see me around anymore. But it’s okay. I’ve been blessed with a lot of time, and I got to choose to spend it with the people I love. It’s okay to be sad, but… I’m happy. And you, my sunflower- I am proud of you, and I love you very much.

(A beat.)

EVOCATORE: (Speaking normally) Perhaps that’s the point. To choose, because you only have so long.

(A beat.)

LILIA: I’d do it differently now.

EVOCATORE: So would everyone.

LILIA: It’s too late, isn’t it?

EVOCATORE: I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that!

(A beat.)

LILIA: How do I… reconcile the point?

EVOCATORE: It will happen when you’re ready.

(LILIA looks around the room, and her gaze is caught by the window.)

LILIA: There’s so much I wanted to do… to fix.

(A beat.)

LILIA: But… I’m… I’m out.

(With a final look around, Lilia walks off slowly.)

THE END.