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Epiphany 03
By: Nathaniel Payne
EXT.
Derek and Sabrina sit on the grass in the preserve chatting it up.
Sabrina
I never thought I’d get a chance
to see this in my whole life, and now I have so much to live for, it seems a
shame I get to fulfil one of my heart’s greatest desires so early into it.
Derek
Maybe, but we’re under entirely
different circumstances. Usually a homecoming signifies the end of the journey,
not the beginning. Perhaps the next visit will.
Sabrina
Smiles.
I wish Pamona was here with me
right now. I left the only family I’ve ever known in my father. In all
likelihood I won’t get the chance to see him again.
Derek
I’m sure you will, maybe just not
in this life…
Sabrina
Maybe,
Derek
If it’s of any help, maybe the
next time you see him he’ll be with your mother. You will be able to complete
your family one day Sabrina.
Sabrina
Sheds a tear.
That would be nice.
Derek
Wipes her tear away.
We all have our reasons for doing
this, and we all need reasons to continue on with it, even if they are selfish
ones. We’ll reconcile space and time, just wait.
River
The Aeneid, the Odyssey, Jason
and the argonaughts, Oedipus…do you know what these all have in common dear
sister.
Lotus
Literature was never my
specialty,
River
Shakes
his head no.
All of these stories
involve very important women. Every great story ever told is always about a woman…when
written by a man, anyway.
Lotus
Fair enough, I assure
you River, my plan will work. There’s no need for you to get your panties in a
bunch.
River
It’s not mine I’m
worried about.
Lotus
Since when did you
become worried about me?
River
When was I not?
Lotus
I already told you
River, we’re not going to play this game again. You already hurt me once. As
much as it’s hard for you to believe, I am not your toy.
River
You are of great
importance to me and father, do not forget that.
Lotus
This is the last time
River. I will not play Bresis or Helen or Medea. I will fight when all others
fight. Just because you don’t want me to die, doesn’t mean I will not join in
my father’s cause.
River
Places
hand on her shoulder.
You are the one person
who has slipped through the cracks. I never intended to love you. You fester
inside my heart like an infection…and if you were to perish…
Lotus
You even make the most
beautiful things revolting. We were never meant to be, and will never be again.
I am sorry if I contaminate you with these thoughts or feelings that you can’t
control, but that’s your fault, not mine.
River
Kisses
Lotus.
Don’t die on me.
Lotus
Don’t worry, I don’t
plan to. But should I do, it won’t be on you.
Exits.
Int. Adrianna sits with Chris and Anthony in a palace reception
hall discussing the coming training and their plans once they return to Earth.
Chris
You two don’t have to
worry about me. Look, I know you’re worried that I’ll let the potential
devastation my power can bring weigh on me.
Anthony
We just, we figured
you’d have severe moral objections to carrying a genocidal weapon inside of
you.
Adrianna
We know how
unforgiving you are when it comes to yourself. We don’t want to see you eaten
by your own conscience.
Chris
If I wasn’t strong
enough, it would not have been given to me. I understand and appreciate your
worry, but I will not quantify your fears.
Adrianna
If we lose you Chris,
it’s the end for all of us. We need your leadership; you’re the one person who
can pull us together.
Anthony
We know you think
we’re overreacting, but I’ve known you a long time, second only to Kira. With
all do respect, you hate yourself more than any enemy we have encountered so
far.
Chris
I know you see me as
some brooding philosopher, but I’m fine. I’ve lived with the tragedy of death
before, and I will live the responsibility of causing it, or saving the world.
Adrianna
I trust you Chris, we
all do. As you said, all of our lives are ultimately in your hands, but we will
succeed or fail as a team. That’s what friendship is about.
Exits.
Anthony
Stands.
It’s not your fault
your parents are dead Chris, I know you think you’ve stopped believing that,
but the sadness in your face, the bags under your eyes, and your mourning
girlfriend say otherwise. We’re brothers you and I, always.
Exits.
INT. Anthony and Adrianna stand out in the hall.
Adrianna
Do you think he’ll
heed our words?
Chris
Truthfully, I don’t
know, he’s a stubborn sonofabitch. He refuses everything…if he doesn’t learn to
use his support pillars, the entire building will come crashing on his head…
Adrianna
But you don’t think
that’s going to happen do you?
Anthony
I don’t know. Like I
said, he’s stubborn.
Adrianna
Do you really think he
could kill us all?
Anthony
Sombre
look on his face as he stares
At
Adrianna.
I don’t doubt it for a
second; he needs a reason to never forgive himself.
EXT. near the lunar equator with a raging desert that turns into
sparse grassland, Jeremi and Jan-Ivar survey the troop deployment in their
strategic locals.
Jeremi
Touching
his earpiece communicator.
Jan-Ivar
We’ve averaged approx.
a force of 3,000 per individual in battalions of 1,000 and toons of 500. We
hope to divide them from their group of six strong. If they each have to
respond individually to this moon being attacked all-over all at once, we can
send in wave after wave of attacks and simply tire them out.
Jeremi
Kudos to you Jan. will
all positions be taken up on time?
Jan-Ivar
Naturally.
Jeremi
River’s bitch better’d
have a decent contingency plan if this doesn’t work.
Jan-Ivar
River made a mistake
by bringing her here. He allowed how he felt about here to get in his way of
making the best possible decision.
Jeremi
And apparently Lotus
has also decided to fight amongst the troops as well.
Jan-Ivar
With which battalion?
Jeremi
The third, the one
headed straight for the palace itself.
Jan-Ivar
But that’s the front
line!
Jeremi
I never said she was
the brightest of girls.
Jan-Ivar
And River?
Jeremi
He’s refusing to panic;
though he did force me to create precautionary cybernetic replacement parts
should anything happen to her. Her armour is also fitted with a tracking
device.
Jan-Ivar
He had better hope
this power we’re after is worth the risk. If anything happens to Yoshi’s
daughter, River would be killed.
Jeremi
Oh, it’s worth it,
trust me. Whatever those trespassers have in their possession will make my
career. The potential power we could harness with what they have would secure
the future of not only myself, but the Rising Arms Corporation for millennia to
come.
Jan-Ivar
Let’s just hope we’ve
got enough to stop them.
Jeremi
Trust me Jan, they’re
not invincible, even God must obey the laws of quantum physics.
INT. Sabrina sits in chambers with a council of 7 elder empaths and
telepaths. They arrange themselves in a semi-circle on floor mats and address
Sabrina’s concerns.
Sabrina
I grow weary of
housing these secrets that Pamona continues to share with me. The others are
not yet aware of the coming danger.
Elder 1
It is the nature of
things that there be shadows to distort the light. We know a great war will
come to us from aliens of another world which you share.
Elder 2
Do not be afraid, it
is at this juncture the universe will split and become nonexistent.
Sabrina
I’m sorry, I don’t
understand. Pamona has told me nothing of these things. And this isn’t written
in the Arcane Evolution anywhere.
Elder 3
All designs are flawed;
there will always be mystery in every seemingly clear answer.
Elder 4
We will work with you
Sabrina, but you must understand, you are not human, even though you feel like
one. You are a Xylian, a seeker, and only you can be the eyes and ears of the
deaf and blind.
Sabrina
But why must I keep
this from them, why must I alone suffer with this?
Elder 5
Knowledge is pain, to
know is to suffer. You suffer more than all except Chris because you must. He
suffers because he doesn’t know how not to.
Elder 6
You and Chris are the
only ones who understand you are bound by fate to suffer most. The other must
believe that there is free will in order to move forward.
Sabrina
I know. Pamona tells
me of Chris’ anguish, and that he in the end holds the final key. But why do
the others need free will?
Elder 7
With the illusion of
choice comes realisation that there can only be one answer: there are no
choices, only states of being. You too must understand that.
Elder 1
When the war comes to
us here, in the palace, you alone will defend us while the other march off with
theirs, and your instructor to the blood and mecha stained landscapes.
Sabrina
But why?
Elder 2
Because we will become
your tutors now, while Pamona attends to other matters. You will learn what is
necessary to take the next step.
Elder 3
Many will die in the
coming of the bleeding suns, and those who do will know their salvation and
complete the first level of the evolution.
Sabrina
Yes council. I
understand. I am a seeker first, and a Xylian second. All other ties are
irrelevant to the pursuit of the greater good.
Elder 4
We understand you
pain, we feel it like our own, but you are new and must understand that you do
not have to touch fire in order to know it may burn.
Elder 5
When we dismiss you,
tell you friends what we have prepared for you to tell them.
Sabrina
I will. And then I
will send them to their instructors to retrieve their constructed armours.
Elder 6
Not even the ruling
council of this moon knows we exist. To them we are legend, myth, apparitions.
We understand the power of the void, we commune with the void. We will teach
you how not simply to use it.
Sabrina
Bows
deeply. Stands.
I thank you for all of
the assistance.
Elder 7
Just one more thing.
Sabrina
Of course elder,
anything.
Elder 7
You will find the
seventh seeker when the universe collapses under the weight of its own lost
time. The hourglass which is nearly empty will never have begun.
Chris sits meditating later outside in an open field. He practises
his sword techniques with his eyes closed. He moves so fast the grasses and
trees are swaying violently to and fro.
Kira
Appears
undaunted by the strong winds.
I can do that too you
know.
Chris
Stops,
opens his eyes.
I know, but I can do
it in my sleep.
Kira
Walks to
him, wraps her arms around his waist.
I’m jealous; you dance
with your sword more than me.
Chris
Smiles.
You’ve said that
before.
Kira
Some things are better
in repetition…like our fighting. I’m worried about you.
Chris
Was it your idea to
send our well-intentioned misfit friends to talk to me?
Kira
No, it was entirely
Anthony’s doing.
Chris
Turns,
faces Kira.
Kisses
her.
I love you Fiona.
Kira
You have no choice;
thermodynamics won’t allow you to feel any other way. You love me because you
always have and always will…that energy is what ties us together. And what’s
more, I have no choice, I love you more.
Smiles.
Toys with his hair.
Chris
Neither created nor
destroyed, at least it’s comforting to know we’ll always bee drawn, and have
always been drawn to one another. I can’t even pretend to ever want to love
someone as much as I love, loved, and will continue to love you.
Kira
I know what you mean
Chris, and yes even if we fail and must do this all over again we will be
connected. But we won’t.
Chris
How can you be so
sure?
Kira
Because I know you,
you refuse to fail. I envy you for that.
Chris
Why?
Kira
Because you’re out
there, a free spirit doing things I can only dream.
Chris
But I envy you, you
have something I don’t.
Kira
What’s that?
Chris
Something to return to
when we get back to Earth, to the terrestrial bore we’ve always known. I would
trade everything I have that you envy, for something like that to come home to.
Kira
Puts her
head on his heart.
Before I heard that, I
only had one ear, or eyes, and only half of my heart. When I found you I was
complete, and you were too. Promise me you won’t forget that this is also part
of what we’re fighting for…the right to maintain our current identities….
Chris
Even if it takes my
dying breath, I promise.
