Electracy in Outer Space.

This is a short screenplay I did for a uni course in '08 based on the concept of electracy (Google it if need be). 

ELECTRACY IN OUTER SPACE




By Jarred Kennedy



FADE IN…



The first thing we see is a computer, with the monitor showing it is currently in use. On the screen, one can see the game World of Warcraft is currently being played.



INT. BASEMENT – VERY EARLY MORNING



This is a lifeless basement if ever one existed. Painted white, with shut brown curtains probably covering closed windows doing absolutely nothing but complimenting the boring white walls. The basement is also appallingly unkempt: old, dilapidated chairs and a table are spread out around the room, surrounded by food wrappers, softdrink cans, beer bottles, pornographic magazines, cups, plates, and cutlery. Directly in shot, seated on a sofa that’s in such bad condition it looks like it was purchased from a secondhand store twenty years ago, sits nineteen-year-old Frank Gore.



Frank sits slumped back on the sofa, his belly almost bulging out from underneath his shirt, his fingers banging away at his keyboard as he explores the virtual world of the game. Next to him lie three opened bags of corn chips and two opened two-litre bottles of Coca-Cola. He takes his hands momentarily away from the keyboard to take a handful of the corn chips, which he eats, and then a huge swig of the Coca-Cola, which he swallows, and then goes back to the game. He does this in a constant loop every single day.



A black bar swirls clockwise across the screen to show the passing of morning to night, completely skipping the afternoon.



INT. BASEMENT – LATE EVENING



Not one thing has changed in the basement. Frank is quite evidently a computer game addict, and he’s probably in total denial about it. Still slumped back in the sofa like Homer Simpson, still with corn chips and Coca-Cola for what he calls “nutrition.” Yawning now, Frank is leaning, now staring much more closely at the computer screen. He is growing frustrated with the game that has robbed him of so much, and it’s about to make him snap.



FRANK



Fucking hell! I’ve been stuck on this level all fuckin' day!



Frank smacks the side of the monitor with the back of his right hand.



Unexpectedly, a MOBILE PHONE rings.

Frank leisurely rises from the sofa and waddles to the other side of the room to a bench, where his phone is. He picks it up and answers it.



FRANK



Hello?



CUT TO:



INT. BEDROOM – NIGHT



This particular room is equally as unkempt as Frank’s basement. In the distance we see an unmade bed in the right hand corner, and in the left can be seen a wardrobe. Posters of thrash metal bands like Sepultura, Nightwish, and Slayer coat the walls with a sense of anger, alienation and even hate.



In direct view, seated at a desk and likely staring at a computer, is BRUCE.



ON BRUCE: Nineteen, white, stocky build, PURPLE dyed hair and black fingernails. By the looks of him, Bruce is a devoted, unapologetic and proud fan of death metal music. He is wearing a black leather trench-coat, and is holding his phone up to his right ear whilst pressing the keys on his keyboard with his free hand.



BRUCE



Oi, Frank you fuckin' pussy! Are you gonna make a move on that hot chick from Denmark who’s playing right now or what?



Frank’s entire position in front of his computer screen has not changed.



FRANK



Nah, chicks don’t go for guys who do that.



BRUCE



How would you know? I mean yeah, I’ve never had a girlfriend but neither have you.



FRANK



Good point, I guess. You double dare me?



On the right-hand side of the screen there is a long list of users who are playing the game currently. Next to each name is a green dot which operates as a CHAT option. Frank clicks on the green dot next to the user evenstarangel90. A pop-up for chatting appears. Frank types in the box: “Hey, how you doin’? I’m RPGassassin89.” Five seconds pass, and a reply message appears: “Sorry, but I don’t like stalkers.”



Frank fists the desk.



FRANK



See, man? I told you.



BRUCE

(chuckling)



You fuckin' suck, dude. You totally came on way too strong.



Frank takes the phone away from his ear and looks skyward in fury.



FRANK

(shouting)



You are a fucking bully! To me and Bruce!



Completely unexpectedly, two large shafts of intense white light like spotlights come down over Bruce and Frank. They make unnaturally loud sounds, something like that of a massive garage door being opened. Both Frank and Bruce look up in shock – the shafts of light have no end in sight!



Now, the ground starts to shake around the both of them. This is an ominous sign suggesting danger, and the pair have both seen too many science-fiction films to know otherwise. Naturally, they’re both sweating.



Finally, they are slowly lifted off the ground, with the light shafts sucking them in like vortexes. Faster and faster, until they are being sucked through the sky, out of the Earth atmosphere entirely, through a BLACK HOLE, all the while screaming with piercing volume and the sound of the gravitational pull overwhelming, until the Moon and the base of an enormous space ship comes into view.



EXT. SPACESHIP – DARKNESS



This is no human spaceship. It is lime-green, with rivets, gun turrets and rocket launchers covering its every square metre, and shaped like two oversized boats on top of one another. It is an alien spaceship, and most certainly not carrying aliens like E.T.



A large dock roof opens at the vessel’s base. Frank and Bruce are still under control of the gravitational pull.



The dock door has opened by now.



INT. SPACESHIP – DARKNESS



If the exterior of the spaceship looked intimidating, the interior is terrifying. Beginning from the far left hand corner of the dock we pan to find light black walls, very little lighting, a row of storage racks filled with disused robots or robots in need of repair, and scariest of all, to the right of the dock door, a human head on a spit. Edvard Munch could not have painted something as worrying as this.



Frank and Bruce, now at the end of the shafts of white light, are floating above the still open door, but begin to fall. The door now closes at the speed of light, and they crash-land on it, falling on their stomachs.



Frank and Bruce finally rise and dust themselves off, checking for injuries. They are fine.



Frank and Bruce simultaneously look up and around their new surroundings. Initially both react anxiously, however that anxiety turns to extreme excitement when they realize what the dock reminds them of. Both look at each other with exuberance.



FRANK AND BRUCE

(together)



We’re in Starcraft! High-five, bro!



They high five each other.



The dock now goes from almost pitch black to blinding bright instantly. We now hear a bellowing and very authoritative voice, much like James Earl Jones. It is that of an alien.



ALIEN

(not seen; shouting)



Who said that?!



Frank and Bruce now realize this is no dream or game. They fall to the ground simultaneously, and hug each other in terror.



The two just lie on the ground still hugging each other in fear, almost frozen.



ALIEN

(not seen; even louder)



Who said that?!?!



Still shaking with terror, the boys finally find their feet and gradually are able to stand up.



BRUCE

W-w-we did!



Now the alien creature finally shows himself, teleporting into the shot.



ON ALIEN: this terrifying figure looks like the offspring of the Pale Man from Pan’s Labyrinth and the xenomorph from Alien. Seven foot tall, with wrinkled red skin, gills, no hair, a spiky tail, extended razor blades for fingernails and toenails, and bright yellow eyes. It oozes terror from every inch of its anatomy.



Frank and Bruce both scream at the very top of their lungs, and collapse to the ground in fear yet again.



This angers the creature.



ALIEN



Silence! Rise!



The boys do as they have been instructed. Standing completely straight and starting to sweat, Frank and Bruce are almost frozen solid as the creature begins to walk around them in a circle, inspecting them. It sneers continuously and makes a hissing sound as it examines Frank and Bruce’s clothing, appearances and builds.



ALIEN



Just… what the doctor prescribed. A fat slob, and a metal-head! Human scum at its most disposable! I imagine you are both wondering how you got here, and moreover, why you are here. Am I accurate in my presumptions?



Bruce is losing patience. He steps forward to face the creature in the eye.



BRUCE



What the fuck do you think?



Frank pulls him back.



FRANK



Now’s not the time for that attitude, you fuckhead! This thing looks like it’s gonna roast us on a spit and have its followers dance around the fire at the same time!



ALIEN



Hush! I have no plans at all to kill you!



(laughs)



Rather, I want to play a game with you, one which involves no bloodshed of any kind. At least, not if you make no errors. My name is Xerzjik, and I have a challenge for you. Just correctly answer a series of questions about a topic known as “electracy.” That is all the challenge entails. However, should you refuse to accept it, you will never be able to return home. Fail, and you will never return home. Never! Ever! This is not a dream you are having! This is not any kind of joke or hoax that you humans so commonly and poorly pull! Do both of you oxygen thieves understand me?!



FRANK AND BRUCE

(together)



Yes, Xerzjik!



XERZJIK

(bellowing)



What?!



FRANK AND BRUCE

(together)



Yes, Xerzjik, Your Majesty!



XERZJIK



Spoken like true prodigies. Here are your sources you will be needing.



Instantly, two thirty-centimetre thick slabs of bound paper (one for each boy) fall into Frank and Bruce’s hands. Frank and Bruce fall to the ground because of the weight of the documents.



They sit up on the floor of the dock, as Xerzjik leans down and stares icily in their faces.



XERZJIK



I would get reading if I were you. You have two days. Get one answer wrong, and you will never see your stupid, superfluous, insubordinate Earthling friends and relatives ever again, and they will have to bury empty coffins! Mwahahahahahaha!



Xerzjik presses a red button on the glove he is wearing on his left wrist. The dock roof opens, and he zooms out into space, staring at Frank and Bruce frighteningly.



CUT TO:



INT. SPACESHIP DOCK



Frank and Bruce and laying on the floor of the dock with the texts in front of them, opened by about a quarter of the pages. The two of them are scanning the writing with their eyes back and forth, back and forth, trying to get through as quickly as they can but slowly enough to take in every ounce of information as well.



In fast-motion, we see Frank and Bruce flicking through the humongous slabs of paper.



TITLE CARD: ELEVEN HOURS LATER



CUT TO:



INT. SPACESHIP DOCK – ELEVEN HOURS LATER



Frank and Bruce are still laying on the floor of the dock with the texts in front of them, only now they are half-asleep and fighting drowsiness in their aim of getting through the huge texts as soon as they possibly can. Bruce turns over one page and then yawns, with Frank following suit five seconds later.



TITLE CARD: NINE HOURS LATER



We can hear a slight beeping sound. It is an alarm on Bruce’s mobile phone going off. Hearing it, Bruce awakes with a jump. He takes the phone out of his jeans pocket, switches the alarm off and checks the time. It’s now 8:30 Earth time.



BRUCE



Man, we need to get reading again. One more day left!



Bruce leans over and shakes Frank’s shoulder to wake him. Frank opens his eyes for the new day, rubs them, stretches his arms and finally sits up.



Ironically, in front of Frank and Bruce are now the texts and two bowls of porridge. The boys are amazed.



FRANK



Do you think perhaps Xerzjik knows humans can’t study on an empty stomach?



Bruce laughs and grins appreciatively. Both of them prop their heads skyward.



FRANK AND BRUCE

(together)



Thank you, Xerzjik, Your Majesty!



Frank and Bruce each dive for their respective bowl and tuck in.

After a few mouthfuls, the two look at each other in realization of much time they have left before the quiz.



FRANK



I really think we should try to read this again.



BRUCE



Agreed.



Simultaneously, Frank and Bruce finish their breakfasts and start to while away at their texts for the second time.



Fade to black.



TITLE CARD: THE NEXT DAY



Frank and Bruce are by this time fast asleep on the ground of the dock. All of a sudden, the dock door opens, the sound waking them with a jump. Xerzjik appears in front of them, and he means business.



XERZJIK



The day of reckoning is upon us. Eat your human breakfast with haste.



In fast-motion, Frank and Bruce carry out Xerzjik’s orders. When they are done with this, both of them stand up straight.



XERZJIK



Guards!



Two alien guards appear, each wheeling a strange machine probably used for strapping dangerous life-forms into bed, that looks like a combination of an airport trolley and a straightjacket. They stop when they reach Xerzjik, Frank and Bruce.



XERZJIK



Strap them in.



Frank and Bruce turn to look at each other with anxiety.



Each guard pulls each of the boys away and begins to strap them into the contraptions. Frank and Bruce’s bodies are forced into the contraptions, then two sets of very thick bars of metal coming from the side are pushed down over their torsos and feet, securing them.



XERZJIK



Let’s get down to business.



He begins to lead the guards and Frank and Bruce away somewhere.



CUT TO: XERZJIK’S PALACE MAIN HALL – DAY



This is truly a room to behold. Huge and luxurious in its every square centrimetre, it’s like something no Impressionist painter would not go weak at the knees for. The walls have been painted a blazing gold colour, the architecture being the most perfect marble, and red-painted floors to top it all off. There is also a table and later a queen-size bed in the centre of the room each measuring about five metres, the bed coming complete with a curtain around its entire area.



Frank and Bruce have been wheeled to the very front of the hall. Now the guards begin to clip electricity cables to their fingertips. They each look anxious but appear to be hiding it quite well given the circumstances.



XERZJIK



Well, my human scum, this is what it has been about. I will cut straight to the chase. I am going to ask each of you five questions about the notion of electracy. If you get them all right, I will return you to your little planet and you will have lived to see another day. But, get just one answer incorrect and… here’s a demonstration of what will happen.



Xerzjik turns to his right. An alien, most likely a criminal alien, is also strapped into the same contraption and has electricity cables leading to a generator clipped to his fingertips. Xerzjik waltzes over to the generator and pushes a large black button which reads “DO NOT PUSH.”



Bolts of electricity race through the criminal alien’s body, shaking the alien wildly. After three seconds of this, the alien IMPLODES, its blood spilling and its body parts flying everywhere.



Frank and Bruce now freeze with terror. Finally, they SCREAM.



XERZJIK



Do not put all your fear and anxiety to waste yet! I haven’t even asked the first question! Since I understand neither of you will be able to decide amongst yourselves which of you would like to go first, I will do that for you. It’s you Frank.



Frank is now going white as a sheet.



XERZJIK



Be that as it may, with each question I will back and forth between you until we reach the end. That is, if we do reach the end. They are all true-or-false questions, and the more questions we get through, the harder the next question will be. You may take as long as you need to answer. Let us get this over with. Frank. The theorist Gregory Ulmer became one of the most renowned experts of electracy as a result of his text entitled Halflives: A Mystory.



Frank appears momentarily confident.



FRANK



True, Xerzjik, Your Majesty.



Xerzjik now turns to Bruce.



XERZJIK



Bruce. Gregory Ulmer once wrote that mystorys “were designed to simulate the experience of invention, the crossing of discourses that has been shown to occur in the invention process.”



BRUCE



True, Xerzjik, Your Majesty.



Xerzjik turns his focus again to Frank.



XERZJIK



Ulmer never wonders how a being can manage inventing something that will restrict the concept of technology to the home.



FRANK



False, Xerzjik, Your Majesty.



Xerzjik turns his attention back to Bruce



XERZJIK



One of Ulmer’s main arguments is that if electracy is to be introduced into schools, it has the potential to overcome the hurdles faced by any person who aims to surpass Enlightenment reason.



This time, Bruce thinks just for a moment.



BRUCE



True, Xerzjik, Your Majesty.



Once again, Xerzjik switches his focus back to Frank.



XERZJIK



On the nature of subjectivities that could be produced by a large-scale switch from literacy to electracy, Ulmer argues: “In the same way that the practice of reading privately and silently contributed to the formation of “self”, so too will performing hyperrhetoric contribute to a new subjectivication in the electronic apparatus (in which one will have to find a new term of self-reference, neither “parrot” as in the clan identity of the oral apparatus nor “me” in the individualism of literacy.”



Frank rubs his face in thought.



FRANK



True, Xerzjik, Your Majesty.



Once again, Xerzjik switches his focus back to Bruce.



XERZJIK



The article Halflives, a Mystory: Writing Hypertext to Learn was authored by Gregory Ulmer himself.



BRUCE



False, Xerzjik, Your Majesty.



Once again, Xerzjik switches his focus back to Frank.



XERZJIK



Tofts writes that electracy and mystory aim to produce universal truths.



Frank now rubs his face for ten seconds. He appears stumped, but it soon comes to him.



FRANK



False, Xerzjik, Your Majesty.



Once again, Xerzjik switches his focus back to Bruce.



XERZJIK



History is the very first element of mystory.



Bruce breathes in deeply.



BRUCE



True, Xerzjik, Your Majesty.



For the last time, Xerzjik switches his focus back to Frank.



XERZJIK



This is your final question, Frank. The term “hyperlogic” was coined by Darren Tofts in his essay Hyperlogic, the Avant-Garde and Other Transitive Acts.



Frank is now quivering with anxiety. He breathes in even more deeply time, rubbing his face agin. After ten seconds he finally looks up at Xerzjik.



FRANK



True, Xerzjik, Your Majesty.



For the last time, Xerzjik switches his focus back to Bruce.



XERZJIK



Bruce, this is your final question. The other four elements of mystory are herstory, mystery, my story and envois.



Like Frank, Bruce is now almost controlled by his anxiety. He takes a very long deep breath.



BRUCE



True, Xerzjik, Your Majesty.



Xerzjik remains silent for a few moments. Frank and Bruce look at each other, each of them wondering what their fate will be.



XERZJIK

(in alien language; subtitled)



Guards! Release them.



The two alien guards begin to unclip the electrical wires from Frank and Bruce’s fingers, and then free the two boys from the unnamed contraption.



XERZJIK



My deepest congratulations, Frank and Bruce. You have both beaten the game.



Frank and Bruce both now fall to the ground with relief. After five seconds they are able to find their feet again. They are ecstatic.



XERZJIK



You have proven how very wrong I was about you and your species. However, before I send you back to your families and your lives, I want to stress something to you. To begin with, I must confess you two were selected for this as I had been watching the two of you from space for some time. Watching how you do nothing except wasting away your lives by playing computer games. That will get you absolutely nowhere. I felt I had to enforce that upon you both. Electracy is a tool for staying on top of life, and it will become the way of the future. I was only so merciless with you because otherwise, my message would not have gotten through to either of you. Now that you have been put through such a terrifying experience, I want both you to promise me here and now that when you return to Earth, you will get out and grab life by the horns. Do you promise to do that?



BRUCE



Oh, we certainly do!



FRANK



Yes! One hundred percent!



XERZJIK



Good. I bid you both farewell now.



CUT TO: INT. FRANK’S BEDROOM – DAY



Nothing has changed in Frank’s bedroom since he left it. The large shafts of white light that lifted Frank and Bruce appear again in the room, only this time Frank falls back into the room and onto the floor. He lifts himself up on the floor and, tired, walks over to the bed and falls asleep instantly.



SUBTITLE: Frank went back to school and finished this time. He now works for the Commonwealth Bank.



CUT TO:



EXT. BRUCE’S BEDROOM – DAY



The shaft of white light has also come back into Bruce’s bedroom, and he also falls straight onto the carpet. Tired also, he too, walks over to his bed, slides onto it and falls straight asleep.



SUBTITLE: Bruce went back to school as well, and to university. He now works for a law firm.