Messages

[Interview with the Vampire]

I'm enjoying season 2 of Interview with the Vampire - episode one of which has a rather cool Fiends of the Eastern Front vibe about it. (Now there's something that would make a cool mini-series...)

Okay, I nearly enjoyed that one.

Maybe John Burdis over at the Cellar of Dredd might be a good custodian.

but they're not trying to manipulate our perceptions, oh no, they'd never do that...

PR departments, spin doctors, careful messaging - of course politicians, governments, media organizations, advertisers and corporations are trying to manipulate our perceptions. It's not a secret.

No, it's not a secret, and from the standpoint of freedom of speech everyone has the right to lie. If this is the case, then everyone also has the right to question those lies, or even question truths. However, we are currently enduring an age where questioning official narratives, bucking against the manipulation of our perceptions, has become socially unacceptable and borderline illegal. I find this situation intolerable - freedom of speech for them but not for us is fundamentally unjust - especially when the liars claim the power to weave those lies into legislation.

That's not surprising. A lot of these bots belong to governments - but they're not trying to manipulate our perceptions, oh no, they'd never do that...

I think that in recognising the state of Palestine, along with Spain and Norway, Ireland's government will upset those crazy Yankee senators even more. Good! And good on Ireland's government (and the rest) for doing so. The cynic in me thinks that these governments couldn't really care less (it took them months to do this, after all) and are only doing it because they have that politician's sense of which way the wind is blowing. Still, it's a small step in the right direction.

Now if only we could encourage our own shitty governments that genocide is wrong and not a business opportunity. I won't hold my breath.

Thanks for all your kind words, guys - very much appreciated 

Thanks for all the constructive criticism, guys. This any better...?

I think maybe the bio-chip stands out too much, now. *sigh* Why are these things never finished?

Thought I'd have a go at the blue guy. Seven hours and it still looks like I painted it with a (digital) chisel...

I haven't watched live t.v. for nearly a decade, driven away by incessant propaganda and infinities of drivel. In fact, Infinities of Drivel may become my pet name for Doctor Who if things don't improve soon.

I keep watching Who because every now and then we're treated to a Midnight or a Blink. 

Another frustrating disappointment this week. A good idea that fails to properly ignite.

[Atlas]

Atlas. A.I. v. Humanity in this sci-fi thriller. I didn't expect much here but I was pleasantly surprised. It ain't Trek or Wars but still well worth a watch.

Thanks, JBC 

Intriguing! This is a 3 parter, right?

Cheers - but no, it's just a 3 pager. 

Thanks, John. I was worried I hadn't got the Groundhog Day aspect of the story across without actually referencing Groundhog Day but it seems I managed it - even down to the absence of Andie McDowell!

Sharky's Fill3rs

The Time-Loop Killer (3P)

20~~~^~~~24



PAGE ONE (5F, TITLES)


PAGE ONE, FRAME ONE

Cyril Liryč, mid 50s, smartly dressed and well groomed, is chatting to Vicky March, a twenty-something graduate student, at the bar of a busy Liverpool nightclub. It is Saturday night, August 15th 1998, 11:36pm. Cyril is relaxed and confident, charming. Vicky has been enjoying Cyril's company all night and is relaxed in his presence.

CAP (CYRIL): "The first time I killed her I vomited for a week."

CYRIL: Fancy ditching this place? I know a jazz bar in Bootle.

VICKY: I... I love jazz.






PAGE ONE, FRAME TWO

Gentlemanly, Cyril leads Vicky out of the nightclub and onto the busy street, her hand in the crook of his arm.

CAP (CYRIL): "The second time gave me the shits as well."

CYRIL: Knew you would. / Classy girls all do.

VICKY: Ha! Flatterer.






PAGE ONE, FRAME THREE

Cyril leads an unsuspecting and slightly tipsy Vicky into a dark and deserted alley.

CAP (CYRIL): "After that it got easier."

CYRIL: Here, we'll cut through to the taxi rank.

VICKY: Are you sure, Joey?






PAGE ONE, FRAME FOUR

In the dark alley, with nobody else in sight, Vicky is suddenly disturbed by Cyril's words and pulls away from him a little. He doesn't try to stop her.

CAP (CYRIL): "These days it upsets me to not kill her."

CYRIL: You know this alley. / I've killed you here many times.

VICKY: You... I... Oh no...






PAGE ONE, FRAME FIVE


Cyril plunges a knife into Vicky's heart. He is efficient and quick so death is almost instantaneous. This doesn't have to be a graphic scene, the suggestion of the act may be sufficient.

CAP (CYRIL): "And I've perfected my technique now so it's quick and easy."

CYRIL: Don't go to Marsh & McLennan. / Late tonight, damn it.

CYRIL (JOIN): Maybe I can still get a kebab before the reset.




######





PAGE TWO (6F)

PAGE TWO, FRAME ONE

Cyril materialises inside his futuristic quarters, having been beamed there automatically by the time-bracelet on his wrist. He is still holding the knife but there is no blood at all on it or his clothes. The time is 12:01am on Saturday morning, the 15th of August 1998.

COMPUTER (JAG): Trans-mat complete. Welcome back, Administrator Liryč.

CYRIL: I need a kebab.

COMPUTER (JAG): Preparing. / This is your 1,418th cycle of the contracted 1,826. Facility status is satisfactory. Temporal flux is steady.






PAGE TWO, FRAME TWO

Cyril gets undressed, preparing for bed. A robot has entered with a fresh kebab on a plate.

COMPUTER (JAG): Supper is served.

CYRIL: Hm. / Any divergences?

COMPUTER (JAG): Negative. Were you expecting one?

CYRIL: No. I don't know. She still doesn't- / Nothing. / Wake me at six.






PAGE TWO, FRAME THREE

The next morning (Saturday August 15th 1998), 06:45am. Cyril is in his futuristic office. He is in his U.T.N. Temporal Transit Office uniform and holding a cup of coffee while studying a fairly short holographic itinerary for Cycle 8-1418.

CYRIL: Just cargo again today? No travellers?

COMPUTER (JAG): Affirmative.

CYRIL: Nothing you and the bots can't handle.

COMPUTER (JAG): Affirmative. Going out again?






PAGE TWO, FRAME FOUR

Dressed in smart contemporary 1998 clothes, Cyril walks away from his place of work, a large but unremarkable industrial unit located in the middle of an otherwise derelict and demolished section of a defunct part of Liverpool docks. The signage looks governmental and reads, "U.T.N. T.T.O. SUPPORT HUB 1998-08-15c." There is nobody else around. It's a sunny August morning, around 7am.

CYRIL: Don't contact me unless it's an emergency.

COMPUTER (JOIN?): Acknowledged. Should I monitor for divergences?

CYRIL: Just concentrate on running the hub and maintaining the Loop.






PAGE TWO, FRAME FIVE

Around 8am, a fairly respectable Liverpudlian residential street. Cyril stands on the pavement, watching a Transit van speeding by way too fast.

CAP (CYRIL): "The very first time I came out into the Loop, that van almost killed me.

CAP (CYRIL): "And if you die in the Loop, you die in the Arrow."






PAGE TWO, FRAME SIX

Across the street, Vicky is coming out of her house. She is still wearing her pyjamas, a long cardigan and a pair of boots. (She's off to the local corner shop.) Cyril watches from an unobtrusive vantage point.

CAP (CYRIL): "She pulled me away. Saved me. / So I owe her. Big time.

CAP (CYRIL): "If I approach her now, before she's bought bacon and coffee, she's likely to just blank me. / So I wait."




######





PAGE THREE (5F)

PAGE THREE, FRAME ONE

Around 8pm that evening. Cyril and Vicky are walking arm in arm amongst the Liverpool city centre Saturday night revellers. They are relaxed in each other's company, laughing and carefree.

CAP (CYRIL): "She once told me I reminded her of an older neighbour she'd had a crush on as a girl. / "A bit of 23rd Century research and I'm him.

CAP (CYRIL): "She falls for it almost every time."






PAGE THREE, FRAME TWO

Outside the Time Hub on the lonely wasteground, Cyril leads an uncertain Vicky out of a taxi. It is almost midnight.

CAP (CYRIL): "I thought repeated trauma might follow her out of the Loop, but she never remembers. / "Her timeline never changes.

VICKY: This doesn't look like a jazz club, Joey.

CAP (CYRIL): "So tonight I'll try something new."






PAGE THREE, FRAME THREE

Cyril rips the time-bracelet from his wrist. Vicky is confused and a little worried.

CYRIL: Vicky, listen to me. In February 2001 you'll be offered a job in New York.

VICKY: What are you talking-

TIME-BRACELET (JAG): Attention! Time loop reset in 10... 9... 8...





PAGE THREE, FRAME THREE (INSET)

The time-bracelet is crushed beneath Cyril's heel.

TIME-BRACELET (JAG): 7... 6. *

SFX: SKNCH






PAGE THREE, FRAME FOUR

Cyril produces a knife. Vicky is properly afraid now.

CYRIL: Do not take that job. / Remember!

VICKY: What are you...






PAGE THREE, FRAME FIVE

Cyril stabs himself in the heart at the stroke of midnight. Vicky can only watch in disbelief as the dying Cyril, and the time-hub, warp out of existence. The Loop is ending but Vicky is free of it. It is It is Sunday morning, August 16th 1998, 12:01am.

CAP (CYRIL): "Maybe this time.

CYRIL (DYING): Don't... go... to..*

VICKY: Joey...?

CAP (CYRIL): "Maybe this time she'll remember."


STRAP: The End...?

~~~^~~~