A look back at Script Frenzy 2011!
A few pages of my Script Frenzy screenplay from last year, and no I did not finish it! Yes I know, shame! It started off as a simple idea then morphed into stranger fields like metaphysics, the nature of perception it’s self, religion and lots more. I know, I got carried away with a good idea, that soon became a great idea, which at times for us writers, can also mean an impossible idea!
Lidia is a world with the usual cyberpunk themes and a few new ones. Corporations that rival for power, as governments bend to their power. Social differences are vast and near permanent! Mega cities and mega slums. World wide connections dependent on bio components, I call Technicians.
The tag line was, “Evolution is not always forwards, at times it moves back.”
‘Lidia’ A Script by Akil N. DeBerry
Cyberpunk
(UNEDITED)
FADE IN:
EXT. OUTER CITY - THE FIELDS - DAY
A group of young boys sit, crouched beside a wide ribbon of
trash and debris. They dig in the trash until their hands
strike a dampness that covers their hands with cold water.
They take an assortment of varying sized buckets, stained
and dirty, and plunge them beneath the trash using the holes
they dug by hand. When they pull the buckets up, they splash
with the cold river water that lays beneath the thick veneer
of trash and waste.
With their buckets in hand they run up a narrow trail,
littered with trash and covered by a dense forest canopy.
They stop and and look at their home.
EXT. OUTER CITY - THE GROVE - DAY
The Grove, a mega slum towering into the sky on the backs of
oblong and misshaped buildings built from the very trash of
the mega city of Lidia, and topped with a forest, that fill
it’s combined roofs.
The boys continue their run through the thick masses that
fill the cramped slum, of winding streets and narrow spaces.
They come to an entrance at the base of one of the massive
buildings and run inside.
INT. SLUM BUILDING - DAY
They run up a flight of lopsided stairs. A combination of
electrical cables and roots webbing and knotting along the
buildings’ ceilings and walls, of it’s dark lightless halls
and corridors.
They come to a large room that has a rift in its ceiling,
leaving it open to the sky, hundreds of feet up. A group of
men man a fire pit that holds a massive cauldron of bubbling
water in which the young boys add their contribution from
the river.
MAN 1
Nicely done, boys.
The man gives each of them an approving smile and then goes
back to manning the flames.
The men place a large metal top on top the cauldron, that
has a long spout that runs down and drips the steamed water
into large buckets.
The men grab buckets of clean water and begin to carry them
deeper into the building. The young boys, taking two of them
to carry a single bucket follow the men slowly but
determinedly.
They come to a door surrounded by people, all carrying
worried or concerned expression.
The sound of CRIES and MOANING permeate the door from the
other side.
The men place the buckets of water down, next to the door. A
woman opens the door as they do, the SCREAMS of pain fill
the long narrow halls.
MIDWIFE 1
Thank you, more then enough.
She forced a smile.
MAN 1
Is there anything else we can do.
MIDWIFE 1
No, no the others should be on
their way with…
The women stops and looks down the corridor in the opposite
direction the men came from, as did everyone. A group of
women where moving almost at a run for the room.
MIDWIFE 1
Here they are. No, we need nothing
else but stay close, just encase.
MAN 1
Of course.
The group of women finish the distance to the door and hand
the MIDWIFE a bundle of tattered rages.
WOMEN 2
They’re the cleanest we could find,
I hope it’s enough.
MIDWIFE 1
It will have to be.
SCREAMS fill the corridor from behind the door.
INT. SLUM BUILDING - LIVING SPACE - DAY
In the the filth and dirt that covers the tight, cramp room,
a young women CRIES out in pain, surrounded by a small group
of women. Candles fill the windowless room with a warm
light.
A man sits in a corner and looks on with concern flooding
his features.
The young women is giving birth.
She wales as she pushes, as the Midwives help as much as
they can.
The young women CRIES out and one of the Midwives around her
reaches down and pulls up into view, a baby boy.
A midwife brings the bundle of tattered rags and unrolls
them. She then shakes her head at the dirt stained cloths.
She looks down at her dress, a much cleaner garment even
with the edged border of grime along the dress’s hem. The
midwife looks to the others and shrugs. She drops the rages
and tears a good portion of her dress, shakes it free of
loose dirt and then hands it to the others.
They rap the baby in the dress and hand the baby to the
mother. The man in the corner, the father, moves to the
mother and kisses them both.
FADE TO:
EXT. OUTER CITY - THE FIELDS - DAY
Ten years later.
A boy runs through the fields of trash with his friends,
laughing and playing.
They come up to a clearing and pause in awe as they gaze
into the distance.
The boy looks on, smiling.
A loud spike of STATIC burst into life, and only the boy
reacts to the deafening sound.
He becomes scared and frightened as his vision pixalates,
and the sound of STATIC and countless VOICES grow in his
head. He falls to the ground screaming. His friends crowed
around him, in worry.
The boy squeezes his he eyes Shut.
BOY’S POV
In the blackness the hectic waling of VOICES, STATIC and the
boys quickened BREATHING peak, then begin to slowly fade as
the boys BREATHING slows and steadies. Replaced by a growing
sound of a woman’s SINGING, but that to quickly fades.
RETURN TO SCENE:
The boy opens his eyes, his friends help him up with worried
faces. The boy looks to them smiling, and then locks eyes
with the mega city of Lidia in the distance.
FADE TO:
INT. OUTER CITY - THE GROVE - DAY
A year later.
The boy walks through the body packed streets, the towering
slums blocking much of the open sky, the forest on their
tops blocking what ever was left.
The boy shakes his head, and looks disoriented. He moves to
a side alley and hunches in the filth. The crushing sound of
STATIC and VOICES fill his head. He shakes in pain.
He closes his eyes, and begins to breath deeply. The sound
of STATIC and VOICES fade and becomes slowly replaced by a
woman’s SINGING, but that to quickly fades.
The boy open’s his eyes and smiles.
FADE TO:
INT. SLUM BUILDING - BOY’S ROOM - DAY
The boy lights a candle, filling his cramped, windowless
room with orange light. He sits down in a corner of the room
and closes his eyes. He breaths deeply.
He moves his head about, as if searching for something with
his closed eyes. Turning his head to the side, he hears it.
Lowly, barely audible to him, he hears the sound of a woman
SINGING, but it soon fades away. He open’s his eyes and
smiles. With a face of triumph he closes his eyes and again
try’s to hear the song.
EXT. SLUM BUILDING - ROOF - DAY
Climbing from out of a crack that splits the buildings open,
the boy pulls hims self up to it’s roof. He walks amongst
the sea of antenna and wires that cover the roof almost as
thickly as the dense roots. Antenna stand attached to
anything, building or tree trunk clustering the elevated
forest bed with webs of metal.
He comes to the edge of the forest, and the edge of the
buildings’ roof and sits against a broad tree trunk, facing
the mega city in the distance. Holding his folded knees in
his arms he closes his eyes and concentrates.
GROVE FOREST - TIME LAPSE MONTAGE
The boy holds his siting position, but his cloths and hair
rapidly change as the sky turns from day to night and back
again.
As he sits the sounds of STATIC and countless VOICES grow so
loud that they become no longer distinguishable.
The boy’s head turns to the side and concentration fills his
features. The sound of his slow and steady BREATHING begins
to over power the noise of STATIC and VOICES.
All the sounds slowly begin to fade away, leaving the boy in
a soundless void.
And out of this void a faint sound of SINGING grows slowly,
until it fills everything, the slum, the forest, and the
boy.
The boy open’s his eyes and smiles, the sound of SINGING
staying with him, and not once fading.
FADE TO:
INT. REPUBLIC OF LIDIA - KARDON CORPORATION HQ - MEETING
ROOM - DAY
A group of men sit around a table, in a grand room that
looks out over the entire city.
CHAIRMEN DIRECTOR SMITH
It has come to my attention that
our population of Techs has
steadily been dropping, what is the
reason?
DIRECTOR JOHNSON
It is true, I fear Mr. Chairmen.
Other companies have been sending
out heavy recruiting patrols, to
every possible corner of the world.
Even here, foreign corporations
have invaded our land and stole our
most precious commodity.
DIRECTOR WILLIAMS
It was only last quarter when a
division of our men stumbled across
a foreign cell. We attempted to
capture one alive, but by the time
the smoke cleared all were
terminated.
CHAIRMEN DIRECTOR SMITH
What is our current holdings in
terms of Technicians?
DIRECTOR JONES
Currently our bank of Technicians
numbers 60,000 fully trained and
operational and an additional
12,000, currently in training.
CHAIRMEN DIRECTOR SMITH
And our competition?
DIRECTOR JONES
As our current information holds,
Steiner Corp. a mere 30,000. Horak
Industries an estimated 52,000.
Morozov Inc. 26,000. And our main
comparator Thomson Dynamics,
68,000.
The room of men shift in their seats uncomfortably.
CHAIRMEN DIRECTOR SMITH
As of today, all Tech recruiting
will be boosted by 40%. We are the
world’s great power, and it will
remain so! Director Jones.
DIRECTOR JONES
Yes, Mr. Chairmen?
CHAIRMEN DIRECTOR SMITH
Amplify and boost all city wide
signals. I want every last soul,
sensitive to Analog Sickness to cry
out in the streets for our gracious
help. Every soul inside… and
outside the city.
The corporation finds more techs in the Grove then the city,
because signals a far weaker normally when they leave the
city. So the Corporation aims signals directly at the Grove
to gather all the A.S. victims that they had missed over the
past years.
DIRECTOR JONES
As you wish, Mr. Chairmen.
INT. REPUBLIC OF LIDIA - KARDON CORPORATION TOWER - CONTROL
ROOM - DAY
Director Jones walks through the highly advanced building to
the main control room.
A scientist looks to him as he walks into the room.
Director Jones nodes to the scientist, then leaves.
The scientist moves to a control board, and begins the
process of amping the city’s signals.
INT. SLUM BUILDING - BOY’S ROOM - NIGHT
The boy lays in his bed, asleep and dreaming soundly along
with the sound of a woman’s SINGING.
The SINGING is slowly replaced by a deafening amount of
STATIC and VOICES. The boy wakes in shock to the noise, and
stumbles to his feet.
Confused, he stands still and closes his eyes, breathing
deeply. The sounds begin to lower, but then stop.
The boy open’s his eyes, fear filling his face as the sound
of STATIC and VOICES fill his head, yet not till bursting.
He falls to his knees and begins to rock back and forth.
CITY OF LIDIA - MONTAGE
INT. REPUBLIC OF LIDIA - GROCERY STORE - DAY
A women is busy at work in a grocery store. She falls to the
ground screaming, holding her head in her hands.
A group of men, Recruiters, walk into the grocery store
through the crowd of people standing over the women. One of
the Recruiters places a small device on her neck. The women
stops shouting.
The Recruiters walk her to their vehicle out side.
EXT. REPUBLIC OF LIDIA - STREET - DAY
A man driving his vehicle, jumps and grabs his head in shock
as it’s filled with a crushing noise of STATIC and VOICES.
He swerves off the road and into a building.
Recruiters arrive and walk up to the crashed vehicle. They
open the vehicle door, and the man is still inside, rocking
back and forth. One of them place a small device on his neck
and he stops screaming.
The Recruiters walk the man to their vehicle.
EXT. REPUBLIC OF LIDIA - STREETS - DAY
SCREAMS of pain and fear fill the streets of Lidia, as
hundreds of Recruiters fill and scour the streets, Their
vehicles filling the streets of the city.
FADE TO:
EXT. OUTER CITY - THE GROVE - MONTAGE
Recruiters walk and fill the streets and buildings,
searching. Groups of recruiters enter the hundreds of
buildings, as other groups exit with a person in their
custody, a small device flashing on their necks.
INT. SLUM BUILDING - DAY
A group of armed Recruiters walk through the dark
corridors, as people try their best to get out of their way.
RECRUITER 1
What are we doing back in this
sector?
RECRUITER 2
Scouts were receiving some strange
signal patterns in this area,
possibly a Corporation Cell.
RECRUITER 3
So, here to investigate, and if
need be…
RECRUITER 3 locks and loads his weapon.
RECRUITER 3
Terminate.
The squad of Recruiters come to a door, and position them
selves around it.
RECRUITER 1
Go!
The squad burst into the room.
INT. SLUM BUILDING - LIVING SPACE - DAY
The squad discover a single man and a single women in the
room, force them to the ground, and search the room.
A pair move on to the other rooms but find nothing. Upon the
last room, they burst in, guns ready to fire.
INT. SLUM BUILDING - BOY’S ROOM - DAY
The boy sits in the corner of the room, completely oblivious
to the armed men, rocking back and forth. Not making a
single sound, eyes closed.
The Recruiters enter the room, and look at the boy
curiously.
RECRUITER 1
Have you ever seen that?
RECRUITER 2
Never.
RECRUITER 3
He’s suffering from A.S., but he’s
holding the full force of it back
somehow. I’ve never meet one that
wasn’t screaming.
RECRUITER 1
Parks! Get me a reading!
Recruiter PARKS pulls from his belt pouch a scanning device
and holds it in front of the boy.
RECRUITER PARKS
He’s reading hot sir. Sir…
RECRUITER 1
What is it Parks?
RECRUITER PARKS
This boy… the boy is the
disturbance, all signals around him
are being… bent away?
RECRUITER 1
Snap him out of it, tag him!
Parks pulls a tag from his pouch and places it on the boy’s
neck, the tag begins to flash. The boy open’s his eyes.
BOY
Who are you. Where’s mom and dad?
RECRUITER 1
What were you doing, just now?
BOY
(confusedly)
Listening.
RECRUITER 1
To what?
BOY
The music. It helps keep the noise
out. Where’s mom and dad?
RECRUITER 1
You’ve got new parents now.
The lead Recruiter turns from the boy, to his men.
RECRUITER 1
Call HQ, tell them we have
something… something new.
EXT. OUTER CITY - THE GROVE - DAY
The group of armed Recruiters and the Boy exit the building.
They walk through the Grove as the other Recruiters go about
their work. But as they move through the slum the eyes of
everyone falls on the small boy and the armed Recruiters
escorting him, with guns drawn.
They arrive at their vehicle and help the boy in.
The Vehicle moves out, at the head of a progression of like
Vehicles, that run back endlessly into the slum
INT. RECRUITER VEHICLE - DAY
RECRUITER 1
What are HQ’s orders?
The Recruiter driving answers.
DRIVING RECRUITER
We haven’t been able to get a clear
line. We’re getting nothing but
noise, there’s interference coming
from somewhere.
All the Recruiter’s in the back of the vehicle look to each
other then at the young boy, who sits smiling deeply.
RECRUITER 2
Can’t be. Is his tag working, he
should be shielded.
RECRUITER 1
Parks?
Recruiter Parks takes out a scanner and checks the tag.
RECRUITER PARKS
No the tag is working properly,
but… He’s receiving signals any
way. Not signals…
BOY’S POV
The boy looks up to the Recruiters talking, but hears
nothing they say. Their voices are muted by the sound of a
woman’s SINGING.
RETURN TO SCENE:
RECRUITER PARKS (CONT’D)
Noise? He’s forcefully pulling
noise through the shield tag?
The Recruiters look at each other uncomfortably.
RETURN TO SCENE:
FADE TO:
INT. RECRUITER PROCESSING CENTER - DAY
The Recruiter’s vehicle comes to a stop in a massive room,
lined with similar vehicles and other types.
A stream of people, escorted by Recruiters are making their
way through the room, to a white hall in the distance.
The vehicle door opens and the Recruiter’s hop out, still
carrying their guns at the ready. They make sure the area is
secure, and then motion for the boy to come out.
The boy steps out and looks at the cleanness of the room.
The Recruiters begin to move and the boy follows.
The boy looks ahead at the white hall, where everyone one is
headed, but then looks confused when the armed Recruiters
veer him to the right to a large elevator.
The boy enters the elevator, followed by the Recruiters, who
surround him, facing out as the elevator doors close.
INT. RECRUITER PROCESSING CENTER - SHUTTLE ROOM - DAY
The elevator opens, then the armed Recruiters exit, keeping
an eye on the perimeter.
The shuttle room is lined with, great tubes, which are
filled with open topped shuttles, that ride an electric
single rail.
The boy is escorted to the arriving shuttle. With part of
the group of Recruiters sitting in front and the other
behind him, the shuttle moves down the rail at a ever
growing speed.
They travel a dark tunnel lined with lights, until up ahead,
day light strikes the tunnel tube.
INT./EXT. SHUTTLE TUNNEL/CITY OF LIDIA - DAY
The shuttle tube exits the walled tunnel and exits into the
open air of the city, miles into the air, yet still between
the countless spires, towers and sky scrapers that fill the
sky endlessly in the distance.
The shuttle travels through the tube, about the building
tops, and the boy raises from his seat in shock, at The City
of Lidia.
INT. KARDON CORPORATION SCIENCE LABS - DAY
The shuttle stops inside a room part of the main lobby of
the building. Hundreds of people walk about, in fine dress
or lab coats, going about their task.
The boy exits the shuttle and is escorted through the the
crowds, surrounded by a perimeter of the armed Recruiters,
and the massive lobby pauses and watches their progression.
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - DAY
The young boy sits in the middle of a room, void of any
color but white. A bright light shining on him from above,
leaving shadows in the corners of the room. One of the rooms
walls, was completely glass, that only reflected the young
boys image.
He sits, frightened. A VOICE sounds in the room from the
walls.
VOICE (O.S.)
What is your name?
BOY
Akeno.
VOICE (O.S.)
And how do you feel, Akeno?
AKENO
Fine.
VOICE (O.S.)
And now?
The room floods with signals, and AKENO grabs his head in
shock, closing his eyes, he rocks back and forth.
He begins to breath deeply, and the sounds of VOICES and
STATIC begin to fade, yet never leave him.
He looks up, shaking his head.
VOICE (O.S.)
What are you doing, are you aware
of what you are doing, Akeno.
AKENO
Breathing, it helps the noise stop.
VOICE (O.S.)
Yes it does. Who trained you,
taught you how to, to breath?
AKENO
I did.
VOICE (O.S.)
You?
AKENO
No.
VOICE (O.S.)
Then who?
AKENO
The song, I learned from the song.
VOICE (O.S.)
Song?
INT. OBSERVATION ROOM - OBSERVING ROOM - DAY
A group of men stand behind another, dressed in white lab
coats. In a dark narrow room, with one of it’s walls made of
a glass that looked in of young Akeno.
The man at the front of the group speaks, never looking away
from Akeno on the other side of the glass.
VOICE
Interesting. Have him enter Tech
training, as all the others, but
keep a close eye on him. His
abilities to dampen signals around
him may mature into something else,
with teaching.
The men behind the man all node in agreement.
INT. KARDON CORPORATION TRAINING FACILITY - MONTAGE
In a massive room with a high ceiling, hundreds of young
children sit cross legged on the floor, all dressed
identically. They sit motionlessly, eyes closed, features
firm, Akeno sits among them.
In a large room, 50 young children sit upon the floor, each
of their eyes following the movement of their instructor, as
he walks back and forth across the front of the room.
INT. KARDON CORPORATION TRAINING FACILITY - BOARD ROOM - DAY
In a long room, lined with windows that run it’s length,
showing the city of Lidia on the other side. A long row of
children sit upon the floor, facing each other with a large
display screen between them. The display is sectioned into
small grid blocks. Their is one white block at the bottom of
the display, representing the child facing the display, and
a black block at the top of the display, representing the
child on the other side of the display. An image appears on
the screen of their Instructor.
INSTRUCTOR
These are gird boards, the object
of this exercise is to capture all
the grids. When a grid is being
contested by your opponent, the
grid will begin to flash, giving
you warning. So you must capture
grids as quickly as possible, and
over ride the grids your opponent
has already taken… understood?
The children all node to their INSTRUCTOR.
INSTRUCTOR
Good, then begin.
The children close their eyes, some of their faces straining
with concentration. At first the grids light slowly towards
the opposite side of the board, but soon the children get
the trick of it and girds begin to flash endlessly across
the boards of the room, a small noise sounding as a child
wins a match.
Akeno sits with eyes close like the rest, his face calm
without effort. The board before him lighting up faster then
any other, and sounding with a small noise. Faster and
faster Akeno wins his matches, until there is hardly a
second between the beginning of a match and the sounding of
a winners NOISE. His board springing with life, with lights,
devouring his opponents grids in a flash.
As Akeno continues to consecrate harder and harder, a faint
sound begins to fill his head, the sound of SINGING. He
slowly opens his eyes, then slowly turns his head to look
behind him at the Lidia city scape. The sound grows.
The sound of the winners NOISE, sounding off constantly
draws the attention of all the other children in the room,
they all open their eyes to look down the row at Akeno, all
other games stopping, only his board lighting up.
Akeno board flashes with light, but stops, the sound of
SINGING leaving his head. He turns from the window and looks
at the board, a confusion covering his face. He bends and
looks around the board to his opponent. He sees the child on
the other side, sweating profusely and breathing heavy, eyes
closed with exhaustion.
Akeno bends himself straight again then notices the stares
of the other children, and attempts to shrink in size,
bringing his arms and head close to his body.
A door opens at the far end of the room, the Instructor
enters and walks down to Akeno’s board, on the other side
and checks up on the exhausted child.
INSTRUCTOR
Are you okay?
The Child nodes to him. The Instructor motions for the child
to move to the side, and he takes the child’s seat.
Akeno tight in his ball, notices nothing until his boards
begins to light up. He looks up and sees a small grouping of
white lights, slowly being to flicker and turn black. He
straightens himself, then closes his eyes.
The white grids, all of them stop flickering. The ring of
black grids around his white begin to flash, then turn
white, but then the same black grids begin to flash again,
turning back to black.
Akeno concentration deepens as his face begins to reveal
just how how much, but his features begin to loosen and calm
as the sound of SINGING grows within his head. Akeno opens
his eye’s and turns again to the city behind him, the
SINGING grows louder.
The Instructor sits, eyes closed, face calm as he captures
another one of Akeno’s girds. But then the board remains
still for a second, and the Instructors’ face begins to
reveal confusion. One of his blocks begin to flash, one
lining Akeno’s last remaining grid, then another on the
opposite side of the board, then another, and another. The
Instructors face begins to strain, and he opens his eyes as
everyone of his grids begin to flash. As he looks on in
disbelief, everyone of his blocks are captured and the
winners NOISE sounds. Akeno stands, and walks to the side of
the board and bows to the Instructor.
AKENO
Teacher, how is it a Technician is
granted permission to leave the
premises?
The Instructor looks up to the Akeno, he’s head still bent
waiting on his reply, and smiles to him proudly.
INSTRUCTOR
Technician’s are the very reason
the world is able to function.
There is no service or commodity
valued greater, and no item more
sought. To be able to leave Kardon
premises a Technician must be of
weapon grade, so that they may
protect themselves if need be.
Akeno looks up, turns to the window behind him then back to
his Instructor…
