(Figaro approaches the black thing in front of him carefully, and tentatively picks it up from the ground with two fingers. Keeping it far, far away, he speaks to it the other way round.)
Si, signore, I can. And I will try, if only it will help me get out of this nightmare.
These devices are a means of communicating remotely within this town, Mayfield. You can use them to reach one specific person, or anyone who happens to be listening -- or that's how it was explained to me when I arrived a couple of days ago. Somewhere inside your house there should be a tome called a "phone book" that lists numbers you can dial to reach anyone in specific.
[ He pauses, to see if the other man still follows. ]
Ah, so they are like letters, only instead of writing them out we speak our words, and these devices serve as a means of relaying them between us? How easy it is then for the townspeople to converse with each other. How do these marvels work? I should get one for my shop back in Seville.
I have no idea how they work. My world has a plant called whisperweed that behaves in a similar fashion, but that doesn't seem to be the basis behind these telephones.
And regarding your home in... Seville, you said? You should know that, as of right now, nobody has found a way to escape this town.
Ah ha ha, excuse me signore, but...did you just say, "Your world"? Are you from the New World, err, what was it called again...that's right, "America"?
(The last four syllables are sang out in arpeggios too, but the speaker sounds very unsure and worried.)
THIS is America? Surely there has been some mistake somewhere, signore. America is a colony of Inglaterra, is it not? It certainly does not have most of the odd contraptions I've seen in this household. In fact, it is behind on most of the newest trends in Europe. This is based on what I've heard, of course.
The ones responsible for our abductions have taken us from many different worlds. Where I come from, there is no such nation as America -- or Inglaterra. My apologies, but I won't be able to help you with that question.
[ A pause, while he considers how best to explain. ]
I know of life on other planets -- on the moon orbiting my own, for example -- but what's going on here seems to be different from that. [ It's too much of a coincidence that so many people are familiar with the name "America". ] I don't know that anyone but our captors themselves are capable of shedding more light on it.
It's called a telephone.
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Ciello, what sorcery is this!?
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...can you still hear me?
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Si, signore, I can. And I will try, if only it will help me get out of this nightmare.
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These devices are a means of communicating remotely within this town, Mayfield. You can use them to reach one specific person, or anyone who happens to be listening -- or that's how it was explained to me when I arrived a couple of days ago. Somewhere inside your house there should be a tome called a "phone book" that lists numbers you can dial to reach anyone in specific.
[ He pauses, to see if the other man still follows. ]
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I have no idea how they work. My world has a plant called whisperweed that behaves in a similar fashion, but that doesn't seem to be the basis behind these telephones.
And regarding your home in... Seville, you said? You should know that, as of right now, nobody has found a way to escape this town.
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(The last four syllables are sang out in arpeggios too, but the speaker sounds very unsure and worried.)
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No, I am not. America is the name of the nation we are in right now, though. You're familiar with it?
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Signore, you mentioned that we came from, ah, "different worlds". Could you care to enlighten me?
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I know of life on other planets -- on the moon orbiting my own, for example -- but what's going on here seems to be different from that. [ It's too much of a coincidence that so many people are familiar with the name "America". ] I don't know that anyone but our captors themselves are capable of shedding more light on it.
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(Figaro gives the receiver a weird look.)
Signore, are you well? Perhaps I should accompany you to the doctor?
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