NARRATOR:
Two months in South America
Nothing but the Amazon
For as far as the eye can see
And the sound of building
Samuel Stratford
Stands on the sphere at noon
Spreading the mortar, he has his orders
The rains will be coming soon

SAMUEL:
Each word we write sets a brick
And we’re building a satellite

NARRATOR:
The news spread fast
That the sphere was back
To laborers all around the nation
They made the haul down
And soon that small town
More than doubled in population
People to dig the clay (check)
People to work the mill (check)
People to keep construction
Up and running until…
One bad thought
Can spoil the mood
One bad thing
Then bad attitude
One bad whe
El
Can slow things to a crawl
One bad word
Can spoil the day
One bad ingredient
Can ruin the clay
One bad brick
Can obliterate the wall
MARGARET:
Wait! Let me see that brick, Samuel

SAMUEL:
What’s the matter, Margaret?

MARGARET:
The batch that just came out of the mill are all
Crumbling. Too much lime in the clay. Again

SAMUEL:
We’re using the same materials every day. I don’t
Understand how some batches are perfect and
Others-

MARGARET:
I’m going to run some tests

SAMUEL:
Before you leave, can I just tell you that-

MARGARET:
Samuel, not now. (sighs) Just be careful

SAMUEL:
Yeah
NARRATOR:
One bad cloud
Can worsen the weather
One bad gust
Can loosen the tether
One bad apple
Per bunch can spoil them all
One bad taste
Can spoil the meal
One bad step
And you’re on your heels
One bad brick
Can obliterate the wall

ROSE:
John, Anna - I just got back from the east
Flywheel. There are fractures in the
Superstructure forty feet above ground

HERSCHEL:
Forty feet? If the outer casing were to shatter at
That height-

ANNA:
The entire flywheel would collapse
ROSE:
I don’t want this to sound paranoid, but the
Fractures are unnatural

ANNA:
What do you mean?

ROSE:
They’re inconsistent with stress fractures. They
Were done with a tool

CHORUS:
Two hundred thousand bricks

ANNA:
A big first step
But we have a schedule to keep

CHORUS:
Four hundred thousand bricks

SAMUEL:
Check every one
Consecutive days with no sleep

CHORUS:
Six hundred thousand bricks

MARGARET:
Tunnel vision
We can see the light

CHORUS:
Eight hundred thousand bricks

ROSE:
We’re almost there
But each day is a fight

HERSCHEL:
Charles, Margaret just completed her chemical
Tests on the bad bricks and found an excess of
Lime

CHARLES:
Lime is perfectly normal in bricks, John

HERSCHEL:
Not this much. Someone has been contaminating
Them. Between this and the damage to the
Flywheel towers - we have a saboteur

CHARLES:
Everything and everyone has been carefully
Curated for your ‘experiment’, how could there
Possibly be subterfuge?

HERSCHEL:
You’re the administrator of the township. You
Have to do something-

CHARLES:
I was put in charge by King William IV. Not you

NARRATOR:
One bad drip
Can lead to rust
One bad lie
Can shatter trust
One bad push
Can turn into a brawl
One bad break
Can take its toll
One bad spark
Can lose control
One bad brick
Can obliterate the wall
One bad brick
Can obliterate the wall