[distant high-school marching band] [summer insects] [metal washer drops onto wood] Twenty-eight. [washer drops] Twenty-nine. [small wooden creak] You nervous? No. Why not? Because if it breaks we learn where it was weak. [child-sized applause] [Fatbo laughs once] Oh, I like her. [huge bass drum enters] PUT WEIGHT ON IT [group] PUT WEIGHT ON IT Pretty little bridge Pretty little smile PUT WEIGHT ON IT [group] PUT WEIGHT ON IT Let's see what holds after a little while [brass band turns crooked] Paper flags Lemonade Fire trucks Future Builders Everybody gather round Fatbo found a load-bearing pillar Washer thirty [CLINK] Thirty-one [CLINK] Don't admire it. Test it. [group] PUT WEIGHT ON IT! You can paint it red You can paint it white Hang a ribbon off the side Call it strong Call it safe Call it trusted nationwide I don't wanna hear the brochure I wanna hear the wood. [bridge creaks] There. That little sound? That's the truth warming up. [heavy marching groove] PUT WEIGHT ON IT [group] WEIGHT! Till the pretty thing talks PUT WEIGHT ON IT [group] WEIGHT! Till the good paint cracks PUT WEIGHT ON IT [group] WEIGHT! If it says it'll hold everybody Fatbo says— Prove that. [school whistle] [band cuts] What do you wanna be when you grow up? Useful. [silence] Jesus. Couldn't you just say astronaut? [music resumes] Valedictorian medal medal another medal Volunteer hours science champion perfect little schedule Everybody clapping everybody leaning in People are good people are terrible sometimes before lunch [group laughter] Build something strong enough to survive the people using it Then don't stand around admiring it. [Fatbo whispers] Put weight on it. [low brass erupts] Years go by bridge gets bigger table turns into a country Same little hands same little question How much can it carry? Power ain't proof that anybody's right Power just makes being wrong expensive for everybody else [group] EVERYBODY ELSE! Good people? Nice. Good intentions? Cute. Systems don't survive because good people walk inside They survive because somebody planned for the day they don't. [snare roll stops dead] That's going on a wall somewhere. Fuck the wall. Put a washer on it. [CLINK] [group] PUT WEIGHT ON IT! [groove becomes slower and uglier] Everybody trusted the smile. Everybody trusted the voice. Everybody trusted the person who kept telling everybody not to trust people too much. [Fatbo laughs] That's good writing right there. [one trumpet plays a wrong note] Tell me you're sick. I'm not. Tell me somebody threatened you. Nobody did. Tell me anything that makes this make sense. Can't do that for you. Can't? Or won't? Both. [all drums stop] The bridge. The speeches. Systems. Failure. Weight. Trust. You've been telling us the whole fucking time. [silence] You didn't get here and break. [wood creaks] You got here. [another creak] You got here— [group whisper] On purpose. [full ensemble slams in] PUT WEIGHT ON IT! [group] ON PURPOSE! PUT WEIGHT ON IT! [group] ON PURPOSE! Everybody waited for the villain to grow fangs Nobody checked the person carrying the washers Everybody waited for madness Nobody checked the math. [parade drums accelerate] What are you hungry for? Quiet. Wrong career. Apparently. [brass players breathe without playing] Everything is a timing problem. No it isn't. Everything. Is. A timing problem. [clock ticks irregularly] How long? Long enough. How much? Enough. Enough for what? [all sound disappears] Enough. [one washer drops] Thirty-two. [bridge snaps] [children gasp] There it is. [Fatbo quietly] Found the weak spot. [broken sticks fall onto table] [group begins softly] PUT WEIGHT ON IT PUT WEIGHT ON IT PUT WEIGHT ON IT [drums return like a funeral parade] Thirty-one held. Thirty-two broke it. So what now? [child voice] Make thirty-two hold. [Fatbo pauses] Well shit. Again? [group] AGAIN! Again? [group louder] AGAIN! [brass erupts into warped victory march] Build it. Break it. Count it. Name it. Build it. Break it. Don't worship the frame of it. Trust it? Test it. Love it? Test it. Put your whole damn future on it? YOU BETTER FUCKING TEST IT. [group] PUT WEIGHT ON IT! PUT WEIGHT ON IT! PUT WEIGHT ON IT! [band suddenly stops] [one fresh craft stick placed on table] Again. [metal washer rolls in a circle] [roll slows] [roll stops] [end]
