Marcus: Their faces are distorting ... like those paintings ...
Marcus: Is this also some kind of mass hysteria, or ...?
The opera house is bizarrely noisy, and the people within are restless.
Balcony Audience: Anyone seen my glasses? Could you pass them to me?
Balcony Audience: Oh, they've grown on my eyes. Don't mind me ...
The cheering crowd stands on their chairs, clapping uncontrollably, shouting with maddened fervor.
Back Audience: This is Tosca's kiss!
Back Audience: Come, friends, kith and kin! Take your daggers and get up there! We will all kill our own Scarpia!
Back Audience: Those so-called upper class people don't deserve the best seats!
Back Audience: Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore!
More and more people leave their seats, some shouting as they step up and over to lean over railings and into the aisles.
The music still plays, and the curtain has yet to fall.
Guest in Box: Splendid! I can almost feel the blood splashing on my face!
Guest in Box: There is no doubt this is art! The way in which reality replaces fantasy ... I've never seen a show like this before ...
Guest in Box: Selah, Orff, what happened? Have you got blood on your faces, too? Is this part of the show, or ...?
Guest in Box: Woww!
The crowd blends like a thick oil paint, surging and washing over every corner of the opera house.
Marcus: They're killing each other in a frenzy! Is no one noticing this?
Marcus: Madam Hofmann, I have an emergency here. I ...
Marcus stumbles, knocked over by the frenzied crowd, and the connection to her communicator is lost.
Marcus: No, I can't hear anything!
Marcus: The crowd won't let me leave ... I need to make way myself!
COMBAT
Someone rushes out from the shadows, drawing a sidearm.
Soldier: Quiet, be quiet!
Soldier: Go to hell, you terrorists!
If their arrival had meant to bring order, it succeeded only in making the scene that much more chaotic.
Gunshots, screams, roars, and bellows meld together.
A few staff members from the Foundation branch weave through the crowd, but they are either infected with hysteria or swept away in the flood of people.
Marcus dodges awkwardly among them, like a leaf in a rushing river.
Marcus: I need to ... I need to disperse them. At least open up the exit ...
Marcus: Ugh!
Hofmann: Marcus, what are you doing?! I said evacuate!!
Hofmann hurries from the other side of the curtain, pulling Marcus away from the swarming crowd.
Marcus: But people are dying! It is our duty to ...
Hofmann: I just got a message from the headquarters.
Hofmann: The Timekeeper has issued a twenty-four hour "Storm" warning.
Marcus: ... What?
Hofmann: The Manus has carried out several assassinations on the same day. The instability of this era has reached the Critical Point.
Hofmann: ... Which means the "Storm" is coming.
Marcus: ...
Marcus collapses to the ground.
Slowly, bewilderedly, she begins raking her hands through her hair.
Marcus: N-no ... No way ... The "Storm" ...
Marcus: It was me ... It was me ...
Marcus: It was me who started the chain reaction ... It was me who leaked out the details of the island ... It was me!
Hofmann: Get a hold of yourself, Marcus!
A pair of strong hands pull her up from the ground.
Hofmann: This is the "Storm" of time. Compared to the chaos it causes, you and I mean nothing more than a pebble.
Hofmann: It happened many times before you did anything, and it will happen countless times more.
Hofmann: The eras in history will disappear again and again, and so will the people. The situation can't get any worse.
Hofmann: The only thing we can do now is to find the ritual that grants immunity to the "Storm." It's the only way to save more lives!
Marcus: ...
Hofmann: The Foundation has issued the evacuation notice. All staff must return to the headquarters before the "Storm" arrives.
Hofmann: The closest evacuation point is Vienna Central Station. They'll pick us up there in two hours.
Marcus: Two hours?
Marcus recalls the map she saw on her way with picture clarity.
Marcus: It takes less than two hours to get ...
Hofmann: I know. There are still things we can do, before the "Storm" truly arrives.
Hofmann: But the enemies are probably much stronger than we are, and there will be no backup for us.
Not far away, the head of the Vienna branch lies slain, his face wrenched in horror, a testament to a crime.
Below the stage, people in fancy dress, in uniform, in costume, roar and surge about, forming an indistinguishable mass.
Marcus: You once told me what really scared you was not the threat to your life, but the possibility of dying ignorant.
Marcus: I think ... I understand what you mean now.
Marcus: I don't want that either ... I don't want to go back to the headquarters without doing anything at all!
Hofmann: ...
Hofmann: Well said, Marcus. Let's go.
Hofmann: Find Heinrich and Isolde. They might know the ritual, or have the clues we need.
Hofmann: We can still catch the last train if everything goes smoothly.
Hofmann expertly loads her weapon again, and Marcus grips her lamp tightly.
Hofmann: Kakania is not with you?
Marcus: Mmm, Ms. Kakania ran up to the stage. She and Isolde ...
Beyond the shoulders of the crowd, the green figure has disappeared from the stage.
Marcus squints, inspecting the curtains and stage props.
Marcus: Heinrich has enchanted all the props. There must be a hidden entrance to the secret chamber.
Marcus: I am sure ... Ms. Kakania and Isolde are still in this theater!
Hofmann: Come here!
The deep purple glow of an incantation radiates from the darkness.
Hofmann pulls Marcus back by the shoulder. The incantation flies past her hair, singeing it.
Heinrich: ...
The familiar figure of a gentleman flits into the scene.
Marcus: Heinrich!
A foot almost steps on air.
Hofmann: ...!
Hofmann: Ugh, there are traps under the floor!
This opera is silent.
No audience, no music, not a word or note from any actors.
A space to think.
Kakania: Isolde!
Cries echo from behind the curtain.
She opens her eyes as another protagonist leaps onto the stage.
Isolde: Doctor.