TSATG:Origins Script

From Openworldfilm

Contents 1 Scene 1: Creation 2 Scene 2: Destruction 3 Scene 3: Sentience 4 Scene 4: Confrontation 5 Scene 5: Aeon 6 Scene 6: Life 7 Scene 7: Evil 8 Scene 8: Return 9 Scene 9: Asteroid 10 Scene 10: Battle 11 Scene 11: Chase 12 Scene 12: Victory

Scene 1: Creation

Opening on darkness.

Music: Slow quiet string or synth chords build, as..

In the darkness, Nia becomes vaguely seen. Initially only a face, half seen, then a hand. We can see through her. She glows with a strong blue light. We focus on the hand, and see a small pile of grey dust, lit only by Nia's glow. The dust swirls into a vortex, then forms into a ring, initially spinning, then slowing, and standing on her palm. It becomes solid and hard. She blows through the ring and the wind changes into a swirl of blue mist, and the camera pans to follow it. As the mist evaporates, it leaves the sparkles of millions of stars being born. Suddenly there is light from these, and Nia's light seems to dim slightly. Nia passes a chain through the ring, and hangs it round her neck.

Voice over (Nia)

When it started, it was beautiful. It was clean, and pure, and there was nothing but the joy of the creation of it all in my mind. Trillions of stars and galaxies, planets beyond counting, all with a future. All with the gift of existence, of creation, and all with the chance of greater things. I was happy and, yes, a little naive. Even Gods have a little conceit when they are young.

A wisp of the blue mist passes close across the camera, causing the image behind to swirl as though a heat haze or a lens passes across the scene.

SFX hissing, turning to a rumble.

Voice over (Nia)

There is a beauty in the birth of a sun that no human has ever seen, or will ever comprehend. There is a million times more in birth of an entire universe. I basked in the power of it all, and wanted it to never end. Childish glee, I suppose it was, for as Gods go, I was young in those days. Star after star, galaxy after galaxy, I swept into existence, believing my universe to be perfect.

Cut to another view of the swirl. This is an implied Nia's eye view, and might possibly move and rock slightly, in the way the camera does in Firefly. The swirl coalesces into a dark point, as the fabric of space stretches into a deep well, then a spinning dark mass appears. As the ball spins, we start to spin with it, until we and it are travelling at the same speed, while the universe spins around us, nothing but a blur. The ball shrinks, cracks, and fire appears through the cracks. Suddenly there is a flash, and the ball flashes into a star.

Voice over (Nia)

But, for all of my enjoyment, even then I knew in my heart that the balance must be maintained, and that what I was doing was dangerous. For every thing created must end, and destruction comes to us all. Gravity, space and time themselves are inseparably interwoven, and the larger my universe became, the faster it headed for it's ultimate end.

Scene 2: Destruction

We spin away from the star, slowing until things come back into focus. A planet passes by. Suddenly it starts to veer in it's orbit, swinging away from its path, towards the edge of the screen, as the light grows brighter. Another star comes into view, just as the planet hits it. Huge balls of flame erupt, and then the planet simply vanishes, as the second star plunges on towards the new one.

Voice over (Nia)

All over the universe, things were still being created, but I noticed that they were being destroyed faster than they should. Initially I put this down to natural causes, and some time later I came to the belief that it was my own fault, in creating so much so quickly. I started to temper my desire to create with a little common sense. And for a while, things were fine.

We see Nia's blue glow between the two stars, - perhaps a hint of her hand, and a crackle of electricity, then they veer slightly yet obviously, and take up a tandem orbit.

Voice over (Nia)

Later I realised that there was something else going on.

Music: timpani and heavier beat cuts in, Lots of bass

The camera swings away from the stars, and then there is a rumble and low explosion, and a flash of light, and the camera pans back to the stars, to see them colliding and exploding. A wisp of Rhagen's red smoke whips out of view in a flash, behind a nearby planet. The camera follows, searching, and finds the wisp, which crackles off into the distance, with the camera in pursuit.

Voice over (Nia)

Rhagen, he called himself. Something unexpected and undesirable. Whether a side-effect, or an outside influence, I know not, but somehow, destruction had swirled in upon itself and became conscious. Destruction embodied. Not destruction by time, or gravity, or by any other law I had created, but just destruction for the sake of destruction. Feeding on the power that it unleashed, and growing stronger.

Music: Rhagen's theme, as the camera is following Rhagen's ethereal form from planet to planet. From time to time, we catch a glimpse of Rhagen's more corporeal form, whilst the opening credits roll. Fade at the end of credits, into...

Scene 3: Sentience

A long shot of a galaxy, still slightly showing Nia's blue haze at the edges, as a red crackle of Rhagen's influence passes across it. As the red passes, the suns explode, or die, or fade to dull red embers, leaving a dark rift across one arm of the galaxy.

SFX: faint, deep, angry, evil laughter. Music fades.

Scene 4: Confrontation

SFX: Loud whistling of wind.

We are on a barren rocky outcrop above a lake. A small pebble blows across the flat rock and falls into the depths beside it. Looking up, we see the milky way in an almost black sky. There is a crack as a pile of rocks break free from where they are piled and follow the small one over the edge of the outcropping. We see them start to fall, then they freeze in mid-air, as the sound of the wind stops, and there is Nia's glow. The camera pans up to the outcrop, to see Nia, now much more corporeal, but still unearthly, standing looking up towards the rift in the sky above and behind her. (This shot is repeated in other guises elsewhere) She calls up into the sky.

Nia

Rhagen, I command you, - come before me and explain yourself!

There is a pause. Nia becomes slightly angry and impatient.

Nia

Rhagen! You who dares to destroy my work, come forth and explain yourself before I lose my patience!

A red spark of light appear in front of her, and a crackle of red lightning from the sky, and there is Rhagen. He smiles cockily.

Nia

I was about to lose my temper.

Rhagen

(Sarcastic) Of course you were, little goddess. What were you going to do then? Destroy me? Why don't you try? Go ahead.(he pauses)

Nia

No, I choose not to. I can wipe this universe clean and start again in a second, but I'd rather have it the way it is. So, I'm commanding you to desist from this path of wanton destruction.

Rhagen

(calmly) You really believe you will have any power over me?

He waves a finger, and overhead a ball of flames plunges through the sky towards the planet.

Nia waves a finger, and it simply vanishes. He looks annoyed.

Nia

Don't try that around me again. From now on, you will only destroy what I command you to.

Rhagen

(Booming deep voice from all around the room) DO NOT COMMAND ME LITTLE GODDESS. You still don’t understand our situation, do you? With every act of destruction, I grow stronger, while you continue to weaken. Soon, you’ll be not much more than a memory, and I will rule this universe alone.

Nia

You will never be as strong as I, for I am your creator. You are just an undesirable part of my creation, and you will obey me.

Rhagen

(turns and rages towards the screen) I SAID SILENCE, LITTLE GODDESS.

Nia

(losing her patience) Stop calling me that .

Rhagen

(quiet again suddenly, stepping closer) Ha ha little goddess, I’ll call you whatever I please...

He turns to leave. Nia steps to stop him.

Nia

Rhagen.... stop!

Rhagen turns back, and hits her with every ounce of his force, magic and all. She flies back, hitting the rocks and bouncing off.

Rhagen

Consider this your only warning Niadaramid... we are done. Do not summon me here again.

He calls on all of his energies and the world warps as he brings them to bear on Nia. She is crushed to the ground for moment, then stands, her arms spread back and wide, absorbing his powers, and diverting them. He staggers, as all of his powers drain from him.

Nia

Rhagen, you seem to forget who is in the real power here. Get out of my sight, and stay that way. You are but a child, - my child, and I will forgive you that one outburst, but one more, and I will destroy you whatever the consequences.

She releases him and all of the magic vanishes in an instant. He gives her a foul look and turns away. Rhagen, in a last gesture of defiance, rises up, turns and roars down towards Nia, dissolving into fire and smoke as his jaws clench around her body, then he is gone.

Nia drops to her knees, exhausted and pummelled by the shock-wave, half hanging over the cliff. The camera comes in close and we see the conflict inside her. Tears come to her eyes, and one falls, freezing, like the rocks that fell, as it leaves her body. She stands, and takes the ring on the chain around her neck, looking at it. She takes the ring in both hands, as though to break it in two, but then thinks better of it.

Voice over (Nia)

I thought about ending this universe right there and then. All I had to do was break the ring that bound it together, and I could start over. Something held me back. A desire to correct the flaw in what was otherwise a beautiful place, perhaps, or a mother's love for a wayward child, or a desire not to have to leave my otherwise perfect haven. Rhagen had been correct in one thing, - at that time I could never destroy him. No, not quite that. I could never have brought myself to destroy him. At that time, I still believed that he was just a destructive child. Things would get worse before they got better. I still hoped for the best.

Nia raises a hand and blows more blue haze into the black sky, where the rift then heals. (This is a repeat of the earlier noted shot) The camera pans down to the rocks, still hanging in mid-air, then there is a blue flash, and they start to fall, as the sound of the wind starts up once more. Fade before the rocks hit the water below.

Scene 5: Aeon

SFX: crackling as Rhagen passes and dull explosion as the star explodes. Space, with a nearby star and planet.

Voice over (Nia)

And so began the battle. Endless planets, endless stars, and endless stretches of space became our hunting ground, with Rhagen always on the offensive, always destroying, whilst I fought to control him, to bring the unreasoning force to reason .

Rhagen passes, transparent like Nia was at the start. As his wake hits the star, it darkens, then explodes, engulfing the planet. We pull out dramatically, the zoom equivalent of a whip-pan, until we see the universe, with Rhagen's influence just a lightning fork of red rift across it, with Nia's blue haze following behind, healing the rift.

Slow fade.

Voice over (Nia)

It was a sad and bitter time.

Scene 6: Life

Voice over (Nia)

However, things were to change.

We fast rewind to the instant that the rocks started to fall, when they are still suspended in space, and zoom in to the teardrop hovering above them. We replay the blue flash and the rocks starting to fall, but this time, we follow the teardrop as it falls, zooming into it, and suddenly we can see an amoeba-like object inside it. It divides, once, twice, and suddenly we are pulling out as the teardrop falls away from us, and hits the surface of the water. As the ripples expand, we crossfade to a long shot of the earth, barren and lifeless. As we watch, the continents shift, and a green and blue spread across the planet. Clouds form, and life begins.

Scene 7: Evil

Voice over (Nia)

Life came to the universe, bringing a new hope, and a new joy. Initially just simple forms of life, but in no time at all, it seemed to me, sentient forms, - themselves capable of appreciating the universe I had made. This brought my happiness at the beauty of my universe back to me tenfold, but it held a deep and dreadful consequence.

Cut to Rhagen's half-transparent face against a dark background. The light of flames flicker across it, mixed with his own red glow. We hear a scream of agony.

Cut to an over the shoulder of a ball of fire with something struggling in the middle.

Cut away to a shot of a planet, seen from the distance.

Voice over (Nia)

Rhagen found a new source of power in taunting these weaker lifeforms. Suddenly he had someone to see his power, someone to fear him, someone to feel the pain and suffer the force of his destruction. It warped him even further. Now, he basked not only in his own self-importance, but in the awe and reverence he could strike into the hearts of those who had seen what he could do, and it changed him for the worse.

The planet looks peaceful and green, then suddenly Rhagen's power sweeps across it. We hear the distant, mixed sounds of war, death, and destruction. Rhagens laughter grows over the top, swamping the noises, as music builds into a climax. Sudden silence. The planet is left black and dead. The planet recedes as we fade to black, and remain so for the duration of the next speech.

Voice over (Nia)

No longer did he simply desire destruction, but for someone to feel that destruction. He sent evil, half-created things, - demons of sorts, the warped and disembodied lifeforce of those he had so corrupted and warped that they would do his bidding, to possess yet more people and drive them to turn on each other so he could watch, and gloat, and suck up the power that their agony and suffering created. No longer did he have to destroy entire planets to feel powerful, - he could destroy the life on the planet, piece by piece, individual by individual, inch by inch, and grow stronger with every second.

Over the above, we hear a single scream, for several seconds, then it stops, to be followed by sobbing. Rhagen can be heard gently chuckling as it fades away.

Scene 8: Return

We return to the shot of Nia, as used twice previously. Possibly she looks a touch older, a streak of white in her hair, perhaps. There is a wipe, or flicker of sorts in the image, and we see that in place of the black, star filled sky, it is now a dark blue, and she is now lit by the flickering of a lamp of candle off screen. In the sky, we see that the rift is back. We hear the sounds of night, with crickets, wind in the trees, etc. As we are looking at an upward angle, none of this need be modelled. It is implied by the fx. The camera pulls back and we see that she is standing on the top of a temple, with a doorway behind her, through which the fire or lamplight is flickering. She turns and enters the doorway. We see her sit, and she takes the ring in her hand and gazes contemplatively at it. She is in a largish throne-room or temple hall of sorts, with pillars and a roof high overhead.

Voice over (Nia)

He returned when he felt he was powerful enough. He thought I was older and weaker, but he had spent too much time around mortal creatures, and had forgotten that I was a God. His aim was to finish me once and for all, leaving him sole power in my universe. In that, he made a dangerous mistake. Humans were the descendants of the first life I made intentionally, and I had a special fondness for them and their planet. More importantly, they have a unique ability to turn adversity to their advantage. They can love and hope in the most dire circumstances, and destroy in the name of creation. I guess a little of me rubbed off on them in that respect.

Nia seems to come to a decision, and rubs the ring round and round with her finger, shaving off a tiny sliver of it into her palm. She puts the ring away, and starts to mould the stuff left in her hand, by murmuring something to it under her breath. As she does so, it forms into a tiny cube, with intricate carvings on it, and what looks like a tiny doorway in the side.

Scene 9: Asteroid

Voice over (Nia)

I came to a decision that night. I was torn between two terrible choices. I could destroy my firstborn, evil and unwanted yes, but still my first offspring, or I could let him destroy my other children. Mother's love is never easy, but I made my decision. I could never let Rhagen continue with his evil plans, yet I could never destroy him myself, for to do so would warp the balance of the universe beyond the point of no return. I had a plan, but it needed time to come to fruition. I had to wait until everything was in place, and the catalyst was prepared.

Nia stands and steps outside again. She looks into the sky, and traces something, as though finding something on a map. Suddenly, the cube rises from her hand, conveyed on a spark of her blue energy. She gestures, and the blue spark dims.

Voice over (Nia)

Rhagen must never guess what I was about to do. I had to have somewhere to run to that he would never suspect.

She closes her eyes and appears to go into a trance, while the box floats away into the sky, trailing the thinnest of wisps of blue cord behind it.

Cut to space, a dead, barren asteroid, about the size of the moon comes into view. We follow it, and see the blue spark approaching. As it approaches, it grows, the cube stretching first in one dimension, then another, until it is the size of a house, then even larger. A hole stretches in the side of the asteroid, and the cube vanishes inside. The hole closes over almost completely, leaving just a tiny crevice in the surface.

Cut back to Nia. She opens her eyes and smiles, then turns and steps back into the doorway.

Scene 10: Battle

Voice over (Nia)

Of course, he came back, as I knew he would.

Nia is making a drink at a stone table at one end of the temple. She pauses for an instant, then continues, moving to one side, and we see the entrance, with Rhagen standing in it.

Nia

So you finally came. I've been expecting you.

Rhagen

It is time for us to finish this, little goddess.

She sits, still calm and unaffected, and sips the drink.

Nia

Yes, I’m sure you think so. Why don't we sit and talk this over? You plan to kill me and taking the universe for yourself.

Rhagen stands over her and looks down. He is much more in control than in the previous scene. He starts to circle Nia.

Rhagen

Always talking Niadarmid, aren’t you?

He stops in front of her, and she looks up.

Nia

So stop talking and do something, then.

He strikes at her with a huge wave of energy, to find that she is standing behind him. The bowl is left spinning on the floor where she was sitting. He starts to turn, and she starts to circle him, causing him to have to turn further, then he turns back the other way.

She comes up close and whispers in his ear, taunting him.

Nia

Take your best shot.

She steps back a few paces as she speaks, until there is a good space between them.

Nia

I told you all those aeons ago that you had to stop your destructive ways, and you chose to ignore me. I didn't destroy you at the time because I didn't want to damage the universe I had created, but you have done far more damage than I ever would, and it is time to stop. So, take your best shot, and we will see who wins.

Rhagen needs no more prompting, and hits out at her with a bolt of energy, following it up with a leap towards her. Nia leaps sideways, avoiding the bulk of the energy, and holds up her palm, freezing him to the spot. He makes an effort and breaks free, lashing out and throwing her against the wall. Before she has a chance to recover, he hits her with an energy bolt, and she tries to absorb it, but staggers. She recovers for an instant, and a wall of blue energy forms around him.

Nia

You cannot win this Rhagen! You have left me no choice but to destroy you. If you had kept to a middle road, I could have tolerated you, but you have become distorted and evil.

Rhagen's energy is building up inside the blue 'cage' and starts to leak out.

He suddenly is free, red energy swamping the room. He strikes the ceiling, bringing huge rocks crashing to the ground, and making Nia dodge. Bolt after bolt of energy pours from him, as Nia deflects it. She rallies, and he is thrown through the wall, scattering stones, and leaving a huge hole. There is a thunderclap and he is back inside, behind her, picking her up and smashing her to the ground. She lies, catching her breath, obviously weakening.

Rhagen

Had enough little goddess?

Nia

I'm...I'm not even started yet. (she gasps)

Rhagen

Really?

He uses his energy to slam her into the roof, then back to the floor, where rocks dislodged from above fall on her. She deflects them as best she can, and he has to duck. The last one hits her hard, and she falls again, taking longer to get up. Before she is on her feet, he slams into her once again, and she is thrown across the floor, and out of the door of the temple into the night. He follows to the door, to see her ethereal form darting off into the night sky. He roars with anger and takes off in a flash.

Rhagen

Running will do you no good! I will hunt you to the ends of the universe.

He transforms to his ethereal form, and follows her into the sky.

Scene 11: Chase

We see the two streak across the sky. Cut to a long shot of the earth, with the two coming up from the night side. Rhagen catches up, and they spiral together for an instant, then Nia takes off at a tangent, zig-zagging as Rhagen follows on her heels.

A very long shot of earth, with the asteroid coming into view in the foreground, and we see Nia sweep around the asteroid, and vanish into a crevice in the surface. Rhagen is only a second behind, but he has to stop, hovering in a crackling energy above the surface, searching for where she went. He sees the crevice and in an instant has vanished after her.

Scene 12: Victory

Shot of a void under the ground, with the exterior of the tomb extending upwards into the dark. Nia's light is shining from the doorway, lighting the scene, as Rhagen, in ethereal form, erupts from a crack in the wall, and enters the door way at high speed.

Cut to the interior of the tomb. It is huge and silvery grey, with reflective surfaces, the combination of a hall of mirrors and a silver jewellery box turned inside out. It looks a bit like a cathedral, with reliefs on the walls, fluted columns, etc. At each end stands a dais, each holding an ark of sorts. One is transparent glass, gilded, while the other is dark red glass, with green copper fittings.

Rhagen flies in through the door in ethereal form, instantly changing to corporeal form and slamming into the opposite wall. Nia is standing by the transparent ark, looking strong and capable.

Nia

So, here we are at last.

Rhagen gets to his feet and goes to conjure his fire, to find that it doesn't happen. He approaches Nia as she talks.

Nia

Beautiful isn't it? (gesturing to the building) The stuff the universe was made of. It's also the stuff that keeps the universe together. You can't break it.

Rhagen grabs her by the throat. She waves a hand casually, and he flies across the room.

Nia

You thought you were so powerful, didn't you?

Rhagen

(roaring in rage) I am a God!

Nia

You are only a god inside my universe. I'm a god even outside it, which is where we are now. This, (she indicates) is a little bubble of nothing in the middle of the universe, and here you barely exist. You thought you won that last battle? Think again. You believed I was weak. You have spent so much time around mortals that you thought I was no challenge. You forget I'm a goddess, and I live forever. Did you think I couldn't do better than that? I can, and always could, destroy you without any more than a thought. What I wanted was to trap you here.

Rhagen turns suddenly to the doorway, finding it closed. He slams against it, finding no handle. He comes back towards Nia, who steps back.

Nia

The door closed the instant you came through it. Neither of us is going anywhere until it is opened from the outside, and that could be a while. Perhaps hundreds of years.

Rhagen

Then you are in for a bad time. Long before anyone comes, you will be gone.

He steps towards her threateningly.

Nia

You really don't get it do you? You have no powers of destruction in here. I'm going to rest now, and you can rant all you like.

Nia touches the ark beside her, and suddenly she is gone, leaving just the ark glowing with her blue light. Rhagen smashes at it, but has no effect. Having nothing else to vent his anger on, he crosses to the other ark, and picks it from the ground, and starts to smash it against the door. We hear the rhythmic smashing, and Rhagen's howls of rage as we cut to the outside of the tomb, then we are backing out of the crevice, then looking at the outside of the asteroid again. The echo of the hammering follow us. We end up looking at a recognisable section of terrain.

Voice over (Nia)

And so we waited. In human terms it was an age, but to a god, it was a moment. They came to the asteroid when I had expected them to, and then it was just a matter of time.

Slow cross-fade to the same shot, with a mining colony on it. Tracks and open cast mines, tunnels dug into the walls of crevasses, and other signs of heavy mining. In the distance, we can see a spacecraft taking off.

Suddenly a huge 18m high dumper truck passes over us, and we turn and follow it into the mouth of a huge tunnel. We hear the roar of the engine, and some CB type radio chatter between it and a controller.

Voice over (Nia)

Humans came to the asteroid, to mine it. Time had caught up with us, and humans had started to move out into the voids of space, finding these out of the way hunks of rock, and stripping all the useful materials from them.

Strings of lights illuminate the tunnel dimly, but the truck has headlights. We overtake the truck, passing faster into the tunnel, losing the sound of the truck, passing the monotonous strings of lights at speed.

Voice over (Nia)

They ripped up the surfaces, and built their towns in the debris, and they drilled into the deeps of the planet. Billions of tons of rock reduced to its raw atoms and shipped back to Earth, or off to other colonies. But humans are susceptible to suggestion, and Rhagen reached out from the tomb, warping the minds of some of those on the planet.

The camera cross-fades several times, each time to yet another stretch of tunnel. Sometimes we see trucks moving in one direction or another, giving the idea of miles of tunnel going on forever. Finally we see a brightly lit area ahead, which turns out to be the rear loading area of mining machine 42. It is perhaps 30m high and 40 wide, filling most of the tunnel. It is creeping very slowly away from us on skids. Great augers are dumping dust from the machine into a dumper backed up to the rear of it. As we approach, we hear the chatter between the auger operator and the truck driver, and the roar of the machinery.

Voice over (Nia)

Rhagen's possessed ones, his demons, were still out there, and they came with the humans, and found the traces of their god.

We 'fly' past, perhaps head height, towards the end of the tunnel, going a lot more slowly now, seeing the huge machine dragging itself along. We hear radio transmissions.

Controller

Tunnel 42, come in.

Pilot

Control this is Tunnel 42, go ahead.

Controller

Tunnel 42 you are off course. Please check your location and confirm.

Pilot

Will do. Wait one.

We continue past the engine section, and it starts to grow brighter as we approach the cutting head.

Controller

Tunnel 42?

Rhagen

(like a quiet whisper) Ignore him. Stay on course.

Voice over (Nia)

He planned to escape. All he needed was for the tomb to be found.

Controller

Tunnel 42, you are 3 clicks from your correct location. Stop immediately and we will provide correction co-ordinates to get you back on course.

Pilot

I must keep going. I cannot stop now.

Controller

(fading out) Tunnel 42, say again?

Rhagen

(louder) Stop here.

We hear the machine stop cutting, and it suddenly goes dark, lit only by the gantry lights along the side of the machine. A space-suited figure is walking ahead, towards a hatchway through the cutter.

We cut to a view of the front of the cutter, as the hatch starts to open. We see a hand emerge with a torch, and turn to see what the torch illuminates. It is the outside of the tomb.

Pilot

I see it!

Controller

Tunnel 42. Do you read me? Tunnel 42! What do you see?

Rhagen laughs

The pilot turns, and we see the face through the visor for the first time. It is a demoniacally distorted face, and red glows from the eyes.

Voice over (Nia)

And so began the next chapter. Hope for the best, plan for the worst. The Gods would return, and humans would feel their power.

End