ASIMOV- THE FUN THEY HAD.

(REWORKED)

SCENE1: MARGIE'S STUDY ROOM-YEAR 2157

( A futuristic room with a screen,a writing pad,and mechanical sounds. Margie is sitting with a
robotic teacher: Mrs Jones.)

Diary (Narrator)
Ah, my very first [Link] was 17th may [Link] became a technologically advanced
civilization, rockets raced through the stars, the spark of the moon was now half human and half
mineral and humans were getting ready to inhabit the various stars one could see. Despite such
advancements human society felt dystopian, it traded its kind and helpful nature for efficiency,
swapped its very soul for its achievements it no longer needed to earn. Although it was another
day of homeschool with their robo-tutor, one ordinary day was about to become extraordinary
for Margie and Tommy.
Margie: (sitting and trying to concentrate with a tablet on her desk)
Tommy: GUESS WHAT I FOUND, I JUS-
Margie: Keep your voice down, grandpa’s asleep. And not now tom, can’t get geography into my
head and neither can that tin can. Go watch something on your on tablet.

Tommy: Oh cmon, you are gonna wanna see this, behold ……. A Book ( pronounce as buuk).
(Margie stares), it was my grandfathers, I think. OH how He used to tell me of a time when all
the headlines, internet articles and even all our lessons used to be printed on these.

Margie: (looks almost amused, before turning her head back to her tablet.)
Tommy: Bro ? What’s wrong with you ?

Margie: Nothing with me, ill let you know whats wrong with that thing tom. What a waste that is,
the words don’t move, you can’t copy text, you can’t search the web, you can’t play games and
you can’t adjust the brightness on that THING. I suppose once we were done with this book, we
were supposed to throw it away. So wasteful.

Tommy: That is not what School was about, you know.

Margie: I know enough, and that dust bin Jones is making me learn more.

Mrs. jones (robotic tone)

I advise you to refrain from that language, dear Margie, I hope your last assignment is neat and
ready for submission. (Opens a pocket like slot). Please put your assignment in the-
(tommy quietly leaves with the unopened book)

Margie:
(Sighs) Oh yes of course. (Puts her tablet in the slot)
Jones
(robotically scans the room as if thinking something, 360 manner of turning its neck around)
A 20 out of 80, that is 7 points worth of a degrade from your previous assignment.

Margie: Sighs
Jones: As your robocorp Edu-assistant, I must inform you to increase your daily practice
sessions, refrain from-
(tommy enters, panicking, running away from something opposite to the stage entrance
thingies)

Tommy: AHH, what is that ! (hides behind the robo teacher)

(everyone looks at tommy)
(Book cheerfully enters the scene)

Book: OH, How very delightful, how incredibly bizarre, how spectacular oh how pleasing it is to
be finally opened again. Tell me mister, what’s todays date, I think I had to give a lecture at a
primary school today.

Jones: (looks and analyzes the book)

Today’s date is 17th may-
Book: Ah, still not too late after an eternity of slumber, I should -

jones: 2157 A.D.

(5 seconds of pure silence)
Book: WHAAAAAAAAATT???!!??!. Inconceivable, Urgh. This can’t be happening to meeee
(slight sob, covers face).

Tommy and Margie: It talks ?? How does it talk I cant believe what’s happening right now (start
conversing among themselves mention being in a dream)

Book: Alright ENOUGH with the chaos you Muppets, I won’t tolerate such buffoonery regarding
me or the reality of this situation. I am the Golden Standard of paper, the almighty of education,
I am the magical book of (some cool name).Now, I need to get back to a school, quick tell me
the quickest route to a school or library.

Margie: I haven’t heard any of those words in my entire life.

Jones: ( Putting his hands above in a tshape manner over the kids) I must report this deviation.
Paper books are outdated and inefficient. Schools and libraries are infrastructures of the past,
the outdated, past.

Book: (pauses in sheer shock)

Book: (Offended) I already told you what I won’t tolerate, you call me and my institutions
outdated, How ridiculous of factory milk to insult fine wine.
Tommy: what’s wine ?(utterly confused)
Margie: Shhh
Book: Here, I’ll show you what my time was about, be ready to dive into the miraculous past of
great mystery, great adventure, GREAT FUN AND GRRRREEAATT EDUCATION.

(Switch to a different corner or move a bit where lighting appears on the seats and desks
suddenly): FLASHBACK- OLD SCHOOL CLASSROOM, YEAR 2025

(Scene changes to a classroom with a blackboard, benches and students laughing. Ms. Clara
teaches at front)

Book:
Welcome to the 21st century, when the rays of the sun shined and bounced around the
classroom, the time when technology was beneficial and you people were its actual
beneficiaries, where school was a haven of skills, craftsman and sportsmanship, the harbor of
art, a living breathing collections of the most creative souls on planet earth. It was a place filled
with chalk dust and fun.

Ms. Clara:
Alright, alright class, I was very pleased with the projects you people submitted to me, you
people poured your tiny hearts and huge amounts of effort into these. Now, let’s get to
geography.

(The others, viewing the class from aside, book happy, tommy and jones confused, Margie
annoyed).

Tommy and Margie: They’re studying(confused) and a woman is teaching them ?

Jones: ( abrupt glitch like head movement) A living breathing Wo- Woman ? My algorithm finds
this false, Humans have never surpassed Robocop assistants in any academic tests, they
weren’t smart enough.

Book: (mocking robotic tone), uh huh, my kind apparatus, please tell me, what creature was
responsible for the creation of your corporation ?

Jones: ….. Human.

Crawford:
(Runs to the board)
Mrs Clara I finished the homework you gave us, it was so simple, I first though about just
memorizing the soil chart you gave us but all I did was imagine the terrain of the states whose
soil I had to identify and it just… it just snapped together in my mind.
Margie: (moves a bit closer and slightly tilts her head, admiring the teacher-student bond)
Mrs. Clara:
Oh Crawford let me see, (looks at map) EXCELLENT work Crawford. (gives him a high five)

Tommy: I have never seen such enthusiasm in either my teacher or myself.

Jones: (looks at Margie in a concerned manner)
It seems absurd to see students violating study time rules, but my environmental awareness
counter reads a 20/20 on student awareness.

(the children get up from their desks, toy around, talk laugh and leave talking

Tommy and Margie: All that FREEDOM ??

(Flashback ends, lights back to Margie's room)

(Scene goes back to the robotic dystopian classroom)
Book: (SIGHS) You know, I am a magical book belonging to a magical time, the time where fun
and development were related to one another where pleasure was found in learning, in school.

Margie:
I understand it now, just looking at how it was back then, it feels like I experienced a fairy tale, I
had no idea school could be so…fun.
Tommy: The times where your real friends weren’t just those who sat beside you, but also those
who stood in front of you and taught you. We've missed so much

Jones: (shows an expression of self-doubt, then looks at the book) My program doesn’t allow
me to abandon conversations, but for the first time I feel … speechless.

Book:
(Sighs)
All of you, listen. I can’t spend any longer here so listen up. Time only moves forward. But
memories…. They stay with you. These were my memories, now its time for you people to
make yours.

Scene 5: FINAL REFLECTION (Sudden light out with only Margie and tommy sitting together)

Margie:
(Sincerely)
I really wish I could have gone to that kind of school.

Tommy:
Yeah… the fun they had.
Jones: Hello, both of you.

Tommy: Sorry Mrs Jones but I just couldn’t figure out how to solve the fractions

Margie: Me too

Jones: Its quite alright, while against company protocol but, I wanted you both to record some
memories…..For your future, I got you guys diaries so you all could look into the past and
remember the fun you had.