SOMA | The Meme Dump
LEVON
So what’s she paying you for? Why not burn it herself?
JUNE
She’s paying for the permission to burn it. And for a supportive audience.
LEVON
I don’t have anything left to burn...
JUNE
I doubt that.
The women put on filtration masks and help the dowager load the incinerator. One of them feeds an area rug into furnace. The lights of the worker’s village glow slightly brighter.
LEVON
It burns so quickly...
JUNE
There's a plaque on Wellington street that describes a great fire that burned down old Toronto. Imagine that. Roasting a whole city. All the storefronts. All the trees. All the telephone poles. You'd have no bearings. Nothing to tie you to a spot.
LEVON
Last time I was on mushrooms, I stared up at the sky. There was nothing tall enough around me to be in view. All I could see was sky in all directions. With no landmarks, I started to have the feeling I was floating upward. I started thinking about being on a tiny little planet, flying through space. It's an obvious, I guess, but I realized there's no roof on the world. And it freaked me out.
JUNE
There's no roof on the world... Strange how all the stuff around us, all the buildings and phone poles and weird people, they act like an anchor, don't they? Visual reassurance that we’re separate from that 130
SOMA | The Meme Dump
void. There's no roof on the world. That’s some powerful stoner wisdom.
LEVON
What would I have to do to stay with you?
JUNE
I don’t think it would be good for you.
LEVON
Please. I’ll do anything. I want to pledge.
June looks at him sternly.
JUNE
Initiation is no joke, kiddo. You’re incapable of taking this bonfire seriously. Because you’ve never had any serious wealth to lose.
LEVON
I’ll do something harder, then. I’ll fight somebody! I don’t give a frig!
June stands up. She looms over Levon.
JUNE
Tough talk, dog walker. Understand, there’s no doovers with me, Levon. If you fail the initiation, you can’t come back here.
Levon nods reflexively. June slaps his face.
JUNE
I’m serious. This is a religious matter for me. If you flunk out, I have to excommunicate you. To do otherwise would undermine my bond with the rest of the company.
Levon straightens his posture. June’s eyes widen. She clinches her corncob pipe between her teeth, puffs out a cloud of smoke like a dragon. Levon sees the incinerator’s fire reflected in her eyes.