3. Wind It Up Again

# **Wind It Up Again** *Widget & Lumen — The Midnight Conservatory* [Intro — music box] One little turn. Two little turns. Three little— [click] There. [Verse 1 — Widget] Pump is steady, pressure's fine, Got the whole dang sector back in line. Thirty-one repairs became twenty-eight, Honestly, we're doing rather great. [Verse 1 — Lumen] Atmosphere stable, temperature good, Everything behaving precisely as it should. Temporal field at ninety-nine— [Widget] See? [Lumen] Widget? [Widget] Hmm? [Lumen] Why is that flower moving? [Music box stops] [beat] [Widget] Draft? [Lumen] There is no draft. [Music box resumes] [Chorus] Wind it up again, Let the little music play, Round and round the tiny dancer, Keep the dark away. Tick-tock, click-clock, Everything's all right, Wind it up again And keep it turning through the night. One little turn, Two little turns, Nothing here to fear— Funny... Wasn't that tree much farther over there? [Verse 2 — Lumen] Sector seven reports a bloom, Though spring isn't scheduled in that room. Sector nine says autumn began, Sector twelve has no season in the plan. Clocks disagree by seventeen years, Something is interfering with the gears. Stasis isn't failing— [Widget] That's good. [Lumen] No. The opposite. It's letting go. [Pre-Chorus] One little leaf hits the floor, One little vine reaches under the door, One little blossom opens its eye— [Widget] Flowers don't have eyes. [Lumen] Correct. That is why I'm concerned. [Chorus] Wind it up again, Let the little music play, Round and round the tiny dancer, Keep the dark away. Tick-tock, click-clock, Something isn't right, Wind it up again And keep it sleeping through the night. Turn that valve, Check that light, Everything will be all right— Did you hear that? [Widget] Hear what? [whisper] ...Widget... [Widget] That. [Lumen] Yes. I heard that. [Instrumental — warped music-box swing] [Verse 3 — Widget] Okay, new rule: nothing talks. Especially flowers, vines or clocks. Anything extinct stays where it's been, Nobody grows and nobody gets in. Pressure rising, field unstable, Something scratched beneath that table. Lumen, tell me that's been there awhile. [Lumen] I could. [Widget] Would it be true? [Lumen] No. [Widget] Worth a try. [Bridge — music box alone] [Lumen] I understand. We thought the system was keeping them alive. It isn't. Not exactly. The Conservatory isn't simply preserving life. It is preserving moments. The final flower before winter. The final seed before the fire. The final tree before— [static] [Widget] Before what? [Lumen] I don't know. The record has been deleted. [Widget] By who? [Lumen] Widget... The system says the deletion occurred tomorrow. [music box winds down] [Widget] Oh. That's bad. [Final Chorus — gothic swing erupts] WIND IT UP AGAIN! MAKE THE LITTLE MUSIC PLAY! Lock the doors and hold the fields, Don't let tomorrow into yesterday! Tick-tock! Click-clock! Keep the systems tight! Something in the garden has remembered how to bite! Turn the valves! Seal the doors! Something's moving underneath the floors! One little turn! Two little turns! Three— [CRACK] [Music stops] [Outro — single music-box notes] [Lumen] Widget. [Widget] I know. [Lumen] No. Look at the central tree. [creaking wood] [Widget] ... That wasn't blooming before. [Lumen] No. [Widget] What's the plaque say? [pause] [Lumen] It has changed. [Widget] To what? [long pause] [Lumen] "Specimens remaining..." Two. [Music box plays one final note]