Singapore Polytechnic School of Communication, Arts and Social Sciences Diploma in Creative Writing for TV and New Media

(DTVM)

SC8113 Character and Plot Development CA10 AY2011/2012 Semester 1

By: Ng Ching Peng, P1020922, DTVM 01

Ciro, from Ward C of the asylum, delivers medical reports to Ward As supervisor, an old man named Alfred. When questioned about working overtime, he replies that he lives alone and is fine with his work. Ciro is warned that Ward A houses very dangerous patients, and people from other Wards lack the experience to handle them.

Ciro takes the staircase, as the lift is crowded. He stops, noticing the second floors scenery. It is too empty, too white. Driven by curiosity, he enters.

Identical metal doors line the corridor. Ciro glimpses patients in rooms. Suddenly, he notices someone watching him through the doors window. Freaked out, Ciro turns but bumps into Frey, who is visiting. Ciro recognizes Frey as Head, and is distant. Ciro claims to be lost, not wanting to be caught sneaking around. He is directed to the stairs.

Frey opens the ward door. A girl stands in the middle of the white room, dressed in standard hospital gown attire, with a white ID band around her ankle. Frey greets her as Menma.

Ciro finds himself being attacked by Menma, who has dashed past Frey. He flees downstairs.

Ward A is in chaos. The exit locks just as Ciro reaches it. Menma corners him, claiming to know him. Suddenly, someone drags her off this is Marcus, who was at the waiting area. Frey dashes in and Marcus chides him for being careless on their visit. Frey apologizes to Ciro. Ciro learns that the girls name

is Menma. Marcus impatiently informs Frey to hurry up they have a conference later. Alfred arrives as Frey and Marcus leave, telling a confused Ciro to take the day off.

Outside the wards, all things seem bright and beautiful. The eye-scan on the wall confirms Ciros identity. The wall shifts to allow him through. Ciro walks home. The asylums artificial climate contrasts with the technological feel of the city of Geist. Ciro reaches home. He switches on the TV and sees Frey on it this is the conference Marcus was referring to. Frey announces the progress of the evacuation plan, where the four Districts surrounding Geist are cleared out to solve overpopulation in the walled floating city. District West & South have been evacuated. Negotiations are undergoing with the Lord of District North. It is difficult to evacuate District East, as it has been wrapped in a power struggle since its Lord vanished four years back. Ciro does not think much of Freys words the government never mattered to him. He falls asleep on the couch.

Ciro wakes up suddenly, hearing a noise upstairs. He investigates his room and is jumped by Menma, still in hospital attire.

Menma appears frantic, saying the police are coming for them because they are connected. Ciro thinks she is an insane escapee and locks her in. Sirens approach. Someone knocks on his door.

Ciro answers and is caught by Marcus. Police storm his house. Ciro hears of Project Lacuna for the first time when Marcus says that Ciro will be rewritten again. Marcus says that it means Ciro will cease to exist. Marcus seems to regard Ciro as a criminal, and says he will be hunted if he runs. Ciro is locked in a cell a black box suspended by four Riders on Icarus bikes.

Inside the cell, Ciro cannot see anything. Fearing for his life, he attempts to break out but it is futile. The police burst into Ciros room but find the window forced open. On the rooftop, Menma watches the four Riders leave with Ciros cell between them. She takes a running leap off the roof. The box grinds to a halt and loosens a sign that someone has disrupted at least one Rider. Ciro throws himself against it and stumbles out.

Menma has knocked a Rider off his bike. Marcus corners Ciro and Menma. Ciro only afraid that Marcus will chase him down. He is shot at, but Menma takes the bullet for him. This convinces Ciro that Menma is definitely his safer bet, and chooses to save her. He drags her to the fallen bike, accidentally switching to Flight Mode. He takes to the sky and Marcus gives chase. Menma tells Ciro what the mind forgets, the body remembers. Ciro finds that he can operate the bike, despite a rocky start. They shake off some Riders. Ciro enters the darker alleys towards District North despite Menmas protests, driving through the fenced border.

Marcus is forced to halt. The Districts are separate from Geist. The government cannot follow into a place outside their jurisdiction. District Norths outskirts seem abandoned. Ciro fumes at Menma running with her has made him a wanted criminal too. Menma asks if he really prefers his old mundane lifestyle, and Ciro cannot answer. Ciro wants a way out, as he is now a fugitive. Menma suggests stealing from The Needle, the main government building, to blackmail their way out. Ciro agrees. Ciro wants Menma out of his life. Menma only cares for Ciros past self. There is animosity between them as they are using each other for their own ends. Menma is still bleeding. Ciro speeds up.

Marcus enters Freys office, announcing that Ciro and Menma escaped. Frey stops organizing his files on a huge digital touch-screen. Frey and Marcus conversation hints that Ciro used to be the leader of rebels that caused chaos by attacking The Needle, and Menma was working with him. Frey and Marcus had captured them, but now they have escaped. Ciro and Menma are now on District North territory, and Frey doesnt dare cross the path of Owl, the Lord there. Both Frey and Marcus do not know what Owl looks like, and Owl keeps refusing to evacuate District North. Mid-conversation, Frey has a seizure he gets flashbacks, showing him playing with another child. Marcus questions Freys ability to be Head in his condition. He thinks Frey will cause more trouble by having seizures during meetings, as has happened in the past. Frey insists that he can handle everything. There will be a broadcast soon, to maintain his public image as well as calm the public. Frey leaves, telling Marcus to track Ciro and Menma.

Frey reaches the broadcast room, still experiencing flashes. He hesitates, but opens the door. In the office, Marcus is displeased at Freys actions. He pulls up a map of Geist, zooming in on a blinking red dot in District North.

Meanwhile, Ciro explains the border law to Menma. The four Districts are not part of the city, so the government cannot meddle here. He drove in to stop Marcus. District Norths Lord, Owl, is also the only person to ever steal successfully from The Needle. Ciro wants to seek Owls help. However, Ciro is intimidated and Menma doubts they will succeed. Ciro notices Menma bleeding heavily from her wound.

Ciro drives through a low passageway. Menma mentions that Ciro should not be scared, as he was once Lord of District East. Ciro is disbelieving. A bike exiting an adjacent passageway stops them.

A gang surrounds them. Their leader, a tall redheaded woman, contemplates capturing them. A cube in her hands broadcasts live: Frey is on air, reassuring the public that Ciro and Menma will be caught. She cuts it off, saying that Frey is too soft. Menma makes to attack, but Ciro bargains to exchange their bike to treat Menmas wound. Menma is no use to him dead. The woman is impressed by this and agrees. As her men take the bike apart, she leads them through a maze of housing.

They find themselves in a hideout filled with updated technology. This makes Ciro suspicious, and he asks for the womans identity. She reveals herself to be Owl. Menma panics and runs, but collapses from her wound and is carried off. Owl assures that she doesnt kill guests. Ciro is still wary. She leads him to a smaller room and Ciro finds himself locked in. Angry, he looks for an exit and finds a file about Project Lacuna. Recalling Marcus mentioning the Project, Ciro reads it.

It is late and everyone is leaving. It is revealed that Frey was brought up in the government buildings and lives there. Frey wants to look into Project Lacuna alone, suspecting that the flashes he sees are actually suppressed memories. Marcus is suspicious, but Frey chases him away.

Even as Head, Frey has to sneak into the Library, avoiding detection. He draws up files on Project Lacuna. Project Lacuna started as research on the human mind. It examines how memories can be altered to change a person. It has been used repeatedly to make people forget themselves, to turn bad into good, or to suppress or remove the memory of unhappy events. All memories are stored in a placed called the Archives. Frey realizes his seizures are symptoms of a failed rewrite. He reads about a rewrite the process of overwriting a person completely by fabricating their entire past.

Ciro finds out the same. The file hints at his past it says that the leaders of the First Rebellion were involved with the Project, and the leader of the Second had been subject to what his parents created.

Frey is nearly caught by a guard. Alarmed, he closes the files and escapes. Ciros file refers to a missing memory sample. Horrified by the nature of Project Lacuna and questioning his past, Ciro is now more determined to find out the truth of his past. He finds a secret door behind the bookcase.

Ciro follows the dark passageway to a room. He finds Owl there, watching a memory clip. This is a variation of the scene in Freys seizures. She is unsurprised to see him, saying that she locked him up so he would come here. Owl confirms that she is watching the sample the file referred to, saying she knows who Ciro really is. Ciro wants answers, but she tells him that its Menma he should be asking. Ciro asks for her help, but Owl reveals her past she broke into The Needle once in her youth, but ended up being the sole survivor. She lost her friends over a careless decision and does not want a repeat incident. Ciro understands, but his own existence is at stake here. He puts aside his fear of Owl and boldly promises to help steal whatever she wants. Owl sees another way to profit. She agrees, handing him the memory clip, telling Ciro to pass this to Frey.

Ciro needs to inform Menma. He receives directions to her room, but finds the window forced open. Instinct leads him to the rooftop, where he finds her overlooking the Districts lights. Her wound seems better. Menma is surprised to see him. She thanks him for treating her wound, and the animosity between them seems to diminish.

Ciro tells Menma that Owl is helping them, and they will start tomorrow. He expects Menma to get angry, but instead she quietly accepts. Ciro is puzzled

by her behaviour, and Menma explains that Ciro did the same for her in the past. Ciro asks her what he used to be like.

Menma says he was the Leader of The Second Rebellion, and the person who helped her survive when their parents were killed in The First Rebellion. When their raid on The Needle failed, Ciro was taken to the asylum to become an experiment. Menma feigned insanity to follow him, but was locked away alone for four years. She misses Ciro from back then he was a kind leader, and her closest friend. They are the only remaining members of their generation.

Ciro realizes that Menma wants him to regain his memories, erasing his current existence, so she can have her old friend back. However, stunned by how much his past matters to her, Ciro is driven to affirm the truth for himself, to validate his current existence. Menma is also beginning to realise that Ciro isnt so bad now, and these feelings are in conflict with her initial goal of getting rid of him. Confused, she wants to be left alone. Ciro leaves.

Ciro heads back and finds Owl, wanting to discuss something with her. On the rooftop, the ID band around Menmas ankle blinks red.

Ciro is woken the next day by an attack on the hideout. Rushing outside, he meets up with Menma. Owl is securing her people. Ciro realizes that Frey has attacked the hideout when he sees the police. This breaks the border law, but shows that Frey is desperate. Marcus and Frey spot him and Menma, and separate them. Marcus fights Ciro, while Frey fights Menma. During the chase-fight throughout the District, Menmas goal to kill Frey is revealed. Menma is angry and spiteful. She hates him for everything that happened in the past, because he shut down the rebellion and took Ciro away. However, Frey stands by his own justice that the rebellion was a terrorist organization, and doesnt hesitate to subdue Menma. A black holding box takes Menma away.

Ciro slowly discovers that his body can use more weaponry than he thought during his fight with Marcus. However, Marcus is still more experienced and subdues him. Marcus is glad both Ciro and Menma are going to be rewritten by Project Lacuna. Ciro resists, not wanting to forget himself, but is taken away. He drops the memory clip. Marcus notices, and picks it up.

In the cell, Frey speaks to Ciro. Ciro demands to know why Frey supports Project Lacuna. Frey says that they are both looking for the same truth behind the Project, but criminals like Ciro and Menma should be rewritten. Ciro is angered that Frey would let Project Lacuna continue. Frey empathises with Ciro but cannot free him, as Ciro is a criminal and Frey needs to maintain his public image. However, they both feel a sense of kinship with the other, as they are trying to find out the truth about themselves.

Frey leaves. Anxious to find Menma, Ciro tricks a guard and escapes his cell.

Ciro finds Menma, who has broken out on her own. They head towards the Archives, where memories are kept. However, they are spotted and swarmed by guards. They separate after a brief chase-fight, when Menma tells him to leave her behind. Ciro finds himself reluctant, but escapes alone. Menma is surprised at her own actions. Unknown to them both, they are slowly becoming friends.

Ciro reaches the Archives. He searches through the clips, and finds one with his name on it. He hesitates, unsure if he wants to confront the person he used to be. However, he remembers how much Menma sacrificed for this, and watches it. In the Library, Marcus watches the unmarked clip. He looks through records it was the object stolen by Owl years back. The memories are labeled as Freys.

Ciro watches his memories on a screen. He sees Menma, his old friends, his parents, and brother revealed to be Frey. Frey was part of The First Rebellion, taken away to become an experiment before him. Frey later came back but as Head to capture Ciro during The Second Rebellion, with no recollection of who he once was. Ciro doesnt know how to handle the fact that he was really the previous Lord of District East, and now he has a brother who is an experiment like him. However, his old memories dont naturally come back. Suddenly, Frey enters the room. Marcus heads to Freys office but no one is there. He tries to track Frey but finds all surveillance jammed. Marcus is angered and storms off. He decides to do something about Frey, because it is unfair to him that an experiment should lead the city. In District North, Owls crew is jamming the cameras in The Needle. Owl knew that the unmarked memory clip was Freys. She wanted Ciro to cause upheaval by showing Freys memories to him, so she could take over governments system in the mess. Things did not go as planned but she got the chaos she wanted. Pleased, she heads off to complete the last part of her bargain.

In the Archives, Frey and Ciro confront each other. Frey claims Project Lacuna gives people a chance to start over. Ciro objects. Frey has another seizure when he sees Ciros memories on the screen. Freys flashbacks mirror what is on the screen and he is confused.

Ciro tells Frey the truth about their pasts. They are examples of why the Project should not continue it is not right to force someone to forget themselves, to rewrite a persons existence. Frey is uncertain and wants more proof. Ciro recalls seeing Freys memories before Owl was watching them. He realizes that he dropped the clip, and that Marcus has it. Frey decides to find it to affirm the truth.

Frey says he was informed before he left that Menma was about to be rewritten. Ciro realizes that despite initially wanting Menma out of his life, he doesnt want her to forget him. She has become his important friend. He has to choose to steal the memories so he can bargain his way out, or to put aside his ultimate goal to save Menma?

In the lab, Menma is being strapped down. She tries to resist but is locked into place. Suddenly, the door breaks open and Ciro storms in. Menma has never seen him so angry in her life. Ciro says that while he accepts his past, he is not that person anymore. Who he was does not make him who he is. He wants to live in the present. Ciro breaks Menma out of the lab, locking everyone else in.

Frey reaches his office, but Marcus is not there. Marcus walks in from behind, revealing that he knows the truth about Freys past. He feels that Frey is a failure and has started a military coup dtat. Alarmed, Frey runs.

Ciro finds himself worried for Frey when chaos engulfs the building. Ciro and Menma are escaping, but Ciro changes course to look for Frey.

They find Frey halfway, learning of the coup. Ciro wants to escape with him. Menma attacks Frey but is stopped by Ciro. She learns that Ciro and Frey are brothers. Frey is afraid of Menma. Ciro tells Menma that she has to let go of her hatred, explaining Freys situation. Menma accepts that her present relationships (her friendship with the current Ciro) are more important, and gives up on her revenge. Frey and Menmas relationship is tense, as Menma still thinks he is useless. However, Frey knows how they can escape and directs them to the garage, where all Icarus bikes are stored.

They force their way in and steal Icarus bikes, riding off as Marcus gives chase through Geist. Ciro leads them into District East.

They meet up with Owl who is surprised to see Frey. Frey is also shocked to learn that Owl is the Lord of District North. Owl relays the backup plan to force

their way over the wall this was what Ciro discussed with her. Owl intends to blow a part of the wall up. Frey suggests moving further into District East the farther areas have been cleared by the evacuation plans, so no one will get hurt.

The four of them split up during the ensuing chase. Owl goes to set up explosives. Menmas bike is destroyed. She uses Freys, driving them both to a safe spot while Ciro insists on confronting Marcus.

Marcus and Ciro fight. Owl detonates the bomb too early. Ciro realizes that hes too close to the wall, and is nearly crushed by falling metal. Ciro questions Marcus and Marcus reveals that he is tired of living in Freys shadow. Marcus thinks Frey is incompetent and hesitant. To him, Project Lacuna is a great contribution to science and experiments like Frey are not human. Ciro rebuts that this is precisely why Geist needs Frey instead of people like Marcus. Angered, Marcus knocks Ciro off his bike.

Ciro scrambles to survive. He realizes that Marcus will kill Frey, Menma and Owl. Ciro is conflicted over whether he should allow himself to become a murderer, but he makes his choice. He lures Marcus into a corner, taunting him to distract him, and Marcus is seemingly crushed under a falling chunk. Ciro nearly dies as well, but is saved when Menma speeds in and grabs him. Ciro is thankful, and Menma echoes that she doesnt want him to die on her either cementing their friendship.

They make their way to Frey and Owl, who have bonded over similarities in how they lead their people. Owl understands Frey better, agreeing to help him in exchange for merging District North with the city. Menma thinks Frey lacks resolve, but accepts him as Head. Ciro knows that he has to leave his brother behind he cannot live as a wanted criminal, and Frey insists on rebuilding Geists system. The brothers say their goodbyes. Ciro leaves with Menma, promising to return someday.

Two years later, Ciro leaves his workplace at a caf in another city. Menma picks him up on a bike. Screens around them broadcast news. Geist is rebuilt. The Districts are being restored. Project Lacuna has stopped. Ciro affirms that they will return, and wonders how Owl and Frey are doing. They draw up in front of an apartment building.

(3574 words)