December Challenge: The Long Holiday Signal
Theme: Dual-Tone Monologue (Broadcast + Breakdown)
Inspiration: Starfield — isolation, endurance, and the need to be heard
Tone: Hopeful on the surface, unraveling underneath
Voice: Gender-neutral
Script
(Old holiday song fades out. Tinny, distant, looping for years. The broadcast light clicks on.)
[MIC ON] DJ (bright and practiced)
That was “[Name of Song]” by the incomparable [Artist]. A timeless classic, still shining brighter than the emergency lights in Bay Three.
You’re tuned to Echo Relay 9, broadcasting live — or close enough — wishing every ship out there a warm and safe holiday cycle.
If you’re passing through the Perseus Line tonight, keep your course steady and your spirits higher than your fuel levels.
(Button click. The mic clicks off, but soft holiday music continues quietly underneath.)
[MIC OFF] DJ (murmuring to self, tired)
Fuel levels. Right.
Haven’t seen a tanker in seven… maybe eight cycles.
Still here. Still talking.
Still pretending someone’s out there.
(They lean back. The faint hum of the ship undercuts the music.)
[MIC OFF] DJ
The board says I’ve got listeners.
Twenty-three green lights.
They blink like applause.
Maybe it’s feedback.
Maybe it’s ghosts.
Maybe it’s the crew.
(A soft laugh, brittle and lonely.)
[MIC OFF] DJ
“Keep the frequency warm.”
That’s what Command said.
Didn’t say how long.
Didn’t say what to do when the songs ran out.
Didn’t say what to do when the food did.
(They trail off. The music keeps looping, warped from repetition. After a moment, they exhale and lean forward again.)
[MIC ON] DJ
That was “[Name of Song]” by [Artist], and this next one is for you, wherever you are.
(next song plays)
[MIC ON by accident] DJ (quiet, unaware)
I tried turning it off once.
Whole place went dead.
Didn’t like the quiet.
The quiet starts talking back.
(A beat. They notice the broadcast light still glowing.)
[MIC ON] DJ realizes (startled, then forces a laugh)
Shhi... And now ha ha ha... for anyone still drifting in the dark… or pretending not to be… here’s one more called “[Name of Song]” by [Artist], to keep the cold away.
(Music fades up, full volume now — a distant, warbling holiday instrumental.
Underneath it, barely audible, the DJ hums a few bars, off-key and broken.
Static swells. Transmission cuts to silence.)
Notes from the Mob
December’s challenge wrapped the year with a study in contrast and control.
Actors stepped into the lonely booth of a forgotten Starfield relay operator, practicing the shift between the public voice that smiles through static and the private one that cracks in the silence.
Performers experimented with music layering, mic toggles, and emotional pacing — learning how restraint and unraveling can share the same breath.
Many used real royalty-free holiday songs, choosing pieces that captured both nostalgia and isolation.
The result was a haunting close to the year: a celebration of connection, even when no one’s left to answer.
