Setting: An abandoned house. Day.
At Rise: HANA and BOB, dressed in radiation suits, are supervising a group of nuclear cleanup robots.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————–
HANA: I think we’ll be done in the year ten thousand six hundred and fifty-six.
BOB: That means our descendants from four hundred and twenty-six generations will be able to enjoy this land again.
HANA: That’s inspiring.
BOB: If humans haven’t destroyed themselves by then.
HANA: How did you calculate that so quickly?
BOB: I’m a math genius. Used to work writing algorithms to solve complex problems.
HANA: Why are you here cleaning up nuclear waste? The future needs your brain!
BOB: Nah. It’s fine. I already created a computer to solve future problems based on my brain.
HANA: Wow. That’s amazing. Can you tell what I’m thinking?
BOB: I’m not a psychic. What did you do?
HANA: I’m here because my son hadn’t spoken to me in six years and my dog had just passed away. I figured I’d do this for the rest of my life. At least it would have meaning.
BOB: Sorry about your son, but I’m glad to have the company. They really need us.
HANA: Then after they did that news story about us my son calls me and says I have grandchildren. But it was too late. The town had already given me a goodbye party and my son said so many nice things about me.
BOB: That’s a good way to end things. If you had stayed, the relationship could go south again.
HANA: We couldn’t be around each other for more than fifteen minutes without fighting about something ridiculous.
BOB: My last girlfriend broke up with me because I wanted us to go skydiving. I did jump out of a plane one last time before coming here. There are worse retirements.
(Two of the nuclear cleanup robots walk up to HANA.)
HANA: And the robots kind of look like dogs.
(HANA pats the robots and they go back to cleaning.)
HANA: The only thing I’m sad about is that I won’t ever get to meet my grandchildren.
BOB: Yeah, that part sucks. But we’re doing this for the greater good.
HANA: Yes, we are.
BOB: I hope my descendants aren’t going to be privileged jerks.
HANA: That’d be disappointing.
THE END.
Photo Credit: WikemediaImages, “Nuclear Power Plant,” 2015