Tongues of Fire
And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Opening Title Card: Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.”
On a movie set. Three crews, each with cameras. One is filming a movie production; the second is producing a documentary about the making of the above movie; the third is producing a commentary on the practices of the documentary film crew. All faces are covered by identical masks: alabaster, smooth, grotesque expressions of either despondency or ecstasy. From the third crew, a drunken sod known only for his muttering — a stream of bitter, self-disgusted phrases no one understands, yet from which everyone recoils — approaches the prop table. He takes a cigarette from his mouth. He presses it into a wooden crucifix. The cigarette extinguishes; the crucifix does not. It smolders, then blooms.
The fire approaches.
CREW 1 – ACTOR A: … Confirm whether pyro was authorized through special effects or art department.
CREW 1 – ACTOR B: No pyro listed on the pre-call sheet. Scene 47A had no environmental variance flagged.
CREW 1 – ACTOR C: Should we treat this as an improvisational staging insert?
CREW 1 – ACTOR D: (consulting a technical manual) Unless direction indicates otherwise, we preserve scene fidelity and continue under assumed blocking.
CREW 1 – CAMERA OPERATOR: Maintaining shot stability. Framing remains viable. Luminance is increasing … (produces a pen, writes in a notebook) noted in production protocol for visibility.
CREW 1 – SOUND TECH: Audio saturation is approaching threshold. Ambient crackle will need filtering in post.
CREW 1 – DIRECTOR: We bank everything. If it’s clean, it’s usable. If it’s not, it’s an outtake with narrative value.
CREW 2 – DOC CAMERAPERSON: … They haven’t broken character. Continuing documentation.
CREW 2 – DOC PRODUCER: This footage now qualifies as unmediated onset event. Keep coverage wide.
CREW 2 – DOC SOUND: Confirming atmospheric texture is within usable parameters. No intervention logged.
CREW 3 – META OBSERVER 1: Documentary crew has initiated passive response protocol. No deviation from capture behavior.
CREW 3 – META OBSERVER 2: They’re treating the escalation as material. No indication of triage hierarchy.
CREW 3 – META OBSERVER 3: Maintain third-order distance. Observing the observer in crisis is the crisis.
CREW 1 – ACTOR A: Left visual channel is occluded. Thermal interference obstructs eye contact.
CREW 1 – ACTOR B: Unless prompted, remain on eyeline. Assume continuity overrides comfort.
CREW 1 – ACTOR C: Safety rig appears compromised.
CREW 1 – ACTOR D: If integrity fails, collapse becomes set dressing.
CREW 2 – DOC CAMERAPERSON: Crew One is not responding to hazard indicators. Movement minimal. Posture suggests scene commitment.
CREW 2 – DOC PRODUCER: They may interpret hazard as in-character metaphor. Maintain framing.
CREW 2 – DOC SOUND: Registering increased vocal distress. Do not interrupt.
CREW 3 – META OBSERVER 1: This is no longer a reaction. It’s a terminal loop.
CREW 3 – META OBSERVER 2: Narrative structure has overridden emergency protocol.
CREW 3 – META OBSERVER 3: Record until transmission halts …
All crews, the sets, and their equipment are silently consumed by the fire.
Such is the fate of those who mock.
Only the crucifix survives.
Closing Title Card: “I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.”