A locked room on the Moon. One minute of stillness-or one act of mercy-decides Earth's fate. In the molten aftermath of nuclear war, six strangers wake inside a lunar capsule withtwo ways to unlock the future: hold one minute of true stillness together, or offer aforgiveness that costs something. The room measures every attempt-spikes of noise whenego wins, gains of coherence when grace lands-and posts the result in cold, public light. The Burning Orb - Reader Edition is an intimate, one-set science-drama for six actorsand one voice. It asks what consent means under pressure; whether a crowd can choose ahuman good; and what it might take to earn a second chance without becoming the kind ofpeople who squander it. High concept, high stakes: "Stillness primes; forgiveness binds." The system only opens when someone pays a real cost now. Stage-ready clarity: Clean scene cards and a console legend make the instrumented world legible on the page. Reader Edition tools: Brief glossary, Dramatis Personae, and a "how to read" guide support non-theater readers. Themes: consent and mercy, crowd vs. conscience, systems that measure meaning, love as work. For readers of speculative theater and near-future SF, The Burning Orb is a precise, human tragedy that turns on a simple, impossible question: Is a reset worth anything ifwe don't change who we are?