Kafka Page #6

VOICE FROM BEHIND

Please sit down.

Kafka turns to see the last of the group come in, having

obviously tailed him all along. A burly man with a BEARD.

The leader of this anarchist cell.

Kafka sits down, in between a SOLEMN man with a moustache and

a woman with a POCKMARKED face. The seedy YOUTH who led him

in completes the circle.

BEARDED ANARCHIST

We'll save the introductions.

(takes his seat)

We don't know yet if you're friend

or foe.

KAFKA:

Strangers make better foes than

friends. Will you tell me who you

are altogether, if not individually?

POCKMARKED ANARCHIST

Heralds of a new age -- does that

sound immodest?

BEARDED ANARCHIST

You could say we represent the

unofficial view of a well-ordered

society.

KAFKA:

(to Gabriela)

Ah -- we're back to the "authorities"

you spoke of.

GABRIELA:

They're ubiquitous. What we try to

do ... is make them a little less so.

BEARDED ANARCHIST

Quite a disturbance tonight, yes?

And perhaps you recall last month --

the explosion at the Municipal

Courthouse that sent one of the

examining magistrates to join the

heavenly choir.

KAFKA:

(disbelieving)

... Was Eduard one of you?

YOUTHFUL ANARCHIST

The last to join us, the first to

leave us.

Gabriela darts a fierce look at her overly-flippant

colleague. And Kafka is sad about his dead friend for a

different reason.

KAFKA:

... Why take me into your confidence?

POCKMARKED ANARCHIST

That's obvious, isn't it? We

have an opening for a new member.

After a moment's pause, Kafka stands up.

GABRIELA:

I nominated you as a possible

candidate. You were Eduard's good

friend. He read me some of your

work.

KAFKA:

I've hardly published enough for

anyone to draw conclusions from.

GABRIELA:

You strike me as a man with a

defined notion of injustice -- a

high concern for the lot of your

fellow men. And yet you're able to

remain an outsider. With the

concomitant air of ... superiority?

BEARDED ANARCHIST

In short, a higher man. It's what

we want. It's what we need.

Kafka notices that the Bearded Anarchist has a tattoo on the

back of his hand.

KAFKA:

The distance to my fellow man is

for me quite a journey. As for

being an outsider, it's never been

a matter of choice.

YOUTHFUL ANARCHIST

(as Kafka starts to

leave)

-- They may have instituted proceedings

against you.

KAFKA:

(turns)

What proceedings?

POCKMARKED ANARCHIST

Preliminary investigations may already

be underway.

BEARDED ANARCHIST

You were his friend. One link is

all they need.

Kafka sits down again. He tries not to be distracted by the

Solemn Anarchist who says nothing but who takes an uncommon

interest in seeing how many matches there are in the matchbox

he's been fiddling with.

GABRIELA:

The day he died, Eduard was called

up to the Castle. Did you know that?

KAFKA:

(shakes his head)

What of it?

GABRIELA:

He was summoned to help correct a

minor discrepancy of some sort in

the Medical Records Division.

Apparently one of his claims was

relevant.

POCKMARKED ANARCHIST

-- Merely in the interests of order,

you understand. The officials at

the Castle like to cover their tracks.

GABRIELA:

He was never seen alive again.

KAFKA:

And you still maintain -- what?

That he was murdered.

GABRIELA:

He was murdered.

A skylight casts moonglow over the proceedings.

BEARDED ANARCHIST

As you can imagine, a pass into

the Castle -- hardly ever granted --

was an opportunity we couldn't

ignore.

YOUTHFUL ANARCHIST

The Castle represents every

anachronism that needs to be destroyed

if progress is to be made.

BEARDED ANARCHIST

As you know, it's not the most

accessible location. Far from being

depressed, Eduard was particularly

excited when he brought us the news

of this chance invitation. He set off

that evening carrying one of our

custom-made briefcases instead of

his own.

GABRIELA:

(gauging Kafka's reaction)

You're shocked at the thought of

Eduard tossing a bomb through a

window.

KAFKA:

I have no right to be, I know. My

experience with real life is

practically nil.

GABRIELA:

When you only see someone sitting at

a desk all day, it's liable to

create a false impression.

KAFKA:

People must think the same of me --

a quiet, dependable person.

BEARDED ANARCHIST

You don't have to accept everything

as true, my friend. You need only

accept it as necessary.

GABRIELA:

As the bomb never went off, we can

only assume he was caught with it --

and summarily executed.

POCKMARKED ANARCHIST

-- Merely in the interests of order.

BEARDED ANARCHIST

The formality of a trial would be too

costly for them. They're beginning

to understand that it's the ensuing

news of our actions that incites

support.

KAFKA:

Propaganda of the dead?

YOUTHFUL ANARCHIST

The Castle will deny he was there

any longer than his business required.

They're just file clerks up there. No

doubt he was handed over to the police

with the utmost discretion.

BEARDED ANARCHIST

In any event, we've felt no

repercussions as yet. Eduard must not

have talked. You're the one they

contacted.

KAFKA:

So that's who my foes are -- policemen

and file clerks. Law and order, you

might say.

The Solemn Anarchist looks up from his matchbox.

GABRIELA:

You think what we're doing is so

wrong? And what are you doing?

Pursuing goodness? For what? To

answer to some supreme tribunal?

KAFKA:

My only concern is the human

tribunal. Isn't it yours?

GABRIELA:

Yes -- which is why "quiet,

dependable people" have to take

charge of their own lives.

KAFKA:

At the cost of others? You accuse

people of murder without trial --

apparently without irony. Did you

go to the Castle with Eduard?

(apparently not)

Then you have no idea what really

might have happened that night at

all -- even before or after he got

there.

He stands to leave again.

GABRIELA:

Your human tribunal will betray

you. Just as its members will be

betrayed when they find no supreme

one

Kafka starts walking away.

GABRIELA:

Join us, Kafka.

Kafka keeps on going, the anarchists growing smaller as

they're left behind in their far corner of the long attic.

GABRIELA:

It's sheer folly for anyone to

try to pull through alone.

CUT:

MANIACAL LAUGHTER - BEFORE DAWN

Seeming to emanate from pitch blackness -- but then suddenly,

fast, out of a tunnel under a bridge come running three

terrified VAGRANTS, roused from slumber and scared out

their wits by the ghastly, crazed CACKLING chasing after

them, ECHOING under the arches.

They're at the river's edge, all running wildly, slipping and

stumbling, every man for himself, as they desperately try to

escape from whatever madness is closing in behind them.

Now from out of the tunnel appears their pursuer, seen only

from the back, literally shaking with insane, involuntary,

howling LAUGHTER. A horrific human hyena, far further gone

than the sad wretches he's cornered here on this foul,

moss-covered ledge in the cold wind.

Seeing him, the vagrants freeze in their various positions --

then turn in panic to flee again as he starts after them,

moving like an animal, a killer predator, laughing horribly

as he goes.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes