Nightlight ------ copyright 1997 by jcn december 11, 1997 part i. ------- SETTING: The back row of the sun lab. The clock on the computer screen says that it is 2:50am, but to the occupants of this room, time has ceased to have any meaning. AT RISE: Many bleary eyed students are sitting and standing. A student talks to his TA. Coke and Mountain Dew bottles are scattered along the back table. Everyone is pretending to work. Nobody is. JESSE is sitting at the end of the row, headphones on, CD player spinning. He's listening to Pippin. He needed a break from the Ministry that was on earlier. He's been working on this program since Friday, and has not really slept more that a couple of hours a night. He is tired and he has been here all night. This program was due project that was due last week. He has just sent off an email to his professor asking, nay, begging for an extension after the fact. He takes off his headphones and listens in on some of the conversations that are going on around him. JON How long were you up during cs32? MY LAN 79. FROSH 1 (incredulously) 79 hours?! FROSH 2 Since we're cs, we're not expected to be normal anyway. People are like "Oh, you're cs anyway." (NATE walks in, with another conspiracy theory) NATE (in a hushed voice) I think that girl thinks I was hitting on her. JESSE What did you do? NATE I scanned in her paper for her. JESSE Nate. You're gay. (NATE leaves. SAM and SETH enter, talking about the papers that SAM as to write. One about the theory of relativity and one about the Vietnam war.) SAMANTHA (turns from her node next to JESSE) How relative was vietnam? JESSE My Dad was in vietnam. MY LAN (leans over from two nodes over) Mine wasn't. He ran away to the coast guard where he drank lots of scotch. SETH (turns to JESSE) And it's been passed down to the next generation... (SETH gets up to leave. DANAH is by the door, about to leave.) NATE Danah! Stop grabbing me! DANAH Oh Nate, I want you! (JESSE sighs. He really can't take much more of this. He puts his head phones back on. This time, it's the Murmurs. Chick rock and all that. Good stuff. He really doesn't have time to be here. But he has to finish off his program before he goes home to tackle the 10 page paper that was due last week. He is not looking forward to the next few days. He looks at the clock. It is now 3:45am.) JESSE Shit. part ii. -------- SETTING: The back row of the sun lab. The clock on the computer screen says that it is 7:04am, but to the occupants of this room, time has ceased to have any meaning. AT RISE: The lab is considerably emptier. A debate that has been raging for the last 4 hours is coming to an end. Discussion about the future, computers, the internet, thinking big and the people who are going to do it. The only noise in the lab now is the sound of the air getting pumped in, and the sounds of the keyboards clacking. JESSE is sitting at the end of the row. His cd player sits in front of him. Music isn't going to help any more. He is still awake. TIM (mumbling to himself.) Where am I? Am i in block alloc or what? (SAM enters.) SAM So, wanna go to Dunkin's? (JESSE looks at him and shakes his head no.) JESSE No, sorry. I'm going home. SAM You know you're going to rot in hell for that? (SAM exits. JESSE takes one last look around him and realizes that he has wasted his evening. With a heavy heart packs up his cd player and cds, puts on his coat and backpack and walks out of the lab.) JESSE Good night Samantha... err, morning. SAMANTHA Later Jesse. JESSE Fuck. (JESSE sighs.)