S02-E15 - THE DEATH RAY
INT. ANGEL AND MAYS VIRTUAL PIN BOARD ROOM
(ALEX, GANDER, SHARROW, SOPHIE, ZED)
ZED
OK, so let me run through the
basics of this beta test site I put
together. It was a mash up given
the short time, but I will fix up
the bugs as we progress. The space
is just a field of plain white at
the moment as I had no time to put
in walls, that will come later. My
thought was eventually to make each
case a room so we can pick out the
necessary information, however
since this is the only case loaded
at the moment, thats not needed
right! So if you sit over there
and close your eyes and you see the
icon that's flashing in the lower
right. Well just select that and
it instantiates the virtual
reality. Can you see my Avatar.
ALEX
Yes of course, but it's a little
more muscular and Rock Hudson, than
the reality, reality isn't it.
ZED
Well, OK you got me I used it for
my game playing days, no harm in a
little enhancement. It was easier
than creating one from scratch.
ALEX
Absolutely!
SHARROW
What does mine look like?
ZED
OK, just wait, I'll create a mirror
for you.
SHARROW
Oh, it's rather sex doll isn't it.
Where did you get this?
ZED
Well, I didn't have much time I had
to grab some stuff off the net.
ALEX
What's mine look like?
ZED
I picked a fighting amazon warrior,
from some old game. I thought that
matched your personality. Look
well go for a scan later and get
the avatars to match the reality,
but for now its not important.
ALEX
Hmmm, not too bad I suppose. I
wonder what SOPHIE looks like.
ZED
Oh, she is mega cool, she used to
be quite a big gamer in her teens
she had a custom avatar made. It's
got dynamic hair and glow eyes.
ALEX
Hmmmm, I'll bet, scantily clad no
doubt.
SOUND OF SOMEONE
ENTERING THE
VIRTUAL SPACE
SOPHIE
Hi guys, how are you going, just
finished the data load, thought I
would join you for the start of
analysis.
SHARROW
SOPHIE, your avatar has really long
hair, and it floats around. Is
that glowing sword really
necessary?
SOPHIE
Well, not for this, but for game
play, absolutely necessary. Its a
Sauron sword, cuts all code, no
exceptions. The hair thats for the
boys and some of the girls too,
it's a custom job, special
encrypted code. Cost quite a few
hundred hours of programmer time, a
number of dangerous liaisons, and a
chunk of game points.
SHARROW
Wow, It's weirdly mesmerising.
SOPHIE
Well, then, it was worth the
investment, after all, no self
respecting teenager would have a
rubbish avatar. Besides the boys
really like it. I have a brush in
my utility pack. They like to comb
it, but it costs them.
SHARROW
I'll bet, did you have a lot of
tangles then.
SOPHIE
Oh yes, it was happening all the
time, I needed a lot of
maintenance.
SHARROW
Yes, I can see that you would.
ALEX
Could I cut it off with that sword.
SOPHIE
Well, you might try, but this sword
only responds to me, like Thors
hammer.
ALEX
Ah.
SHARROW
Girls, and Zed, hang on. ZED can
you kill the reverberation in this
simulation, it sounds like a
church.
ZED
OK, hang on. (Pause) Hows that?
SHARROW
Thats better! Now lets just focus
shall we. How do we start the
process of using this fancy pants
set up. What do we do now?
ZED
Well, we have pre loaded so we
activate the visualisations of the
data sets,
BLEEP
you see these lines connecting
them, these are where the computers
have made some sort of link.
Most of them will be spurious, the
thicker the line the stronger the
correlation. So, what we need to do
is grab some of these and spread
them out and then go through the
links one by one. To open a link,
you grab it by hand like this and
it expands into you mind eye and
you can then look at the data.
ALEX
OK, so do we each grab a couple of
files and go through them.
SHARROW
Sounds like a plan.
BLEEPING AND
CLICKING, OH'S
AND AH'S.
SHARROW
OK I think I have found something
here. I connected one of those
astronomical catalogues to and
audio recording of the radio noise
and its come up with a link. Its
matched the frequency to a listed
item PSR B0329+54. It has some exo
planets orbiting and I think our
worm hole exited near one of them,
ZED
What was the error and correlation?
SHARROW
Oh, lets see, oh very low error,
99.9999% correlation any errors
were in our frequency measurement.
These things have a very, very
specific frequency. This one is
about three thousand four hundred
light years away
ALEX
So that confirms the worm hole
thingy, what we were experiencing
was the side wash from a neutron
star. So, yes, I would say this
phenomenon is some sort of 'gate'
across the universe.
ZED
Well, if its a neutron star, side
wash must be the correct term,
because if we got a full dose of
the radiation, it would burn us
away.
If it's a 'gate', perhaps its not
fully open, perhaps that's why it
fades in and out, the real question
is what is causing the gate to
open. Is it being opened from the
other end?
ALEX
Well, I hope not, I don't want
marauding aliens on top of the
radiation.
SHARROW
I don't think so, I think the local
environment around a neutron star
would not be conducive to
biological life, the energy might
be useful for A.I. but then they
would just open the gate and come
through, right? So this means my
thinking on this is that it must be
something local to our end of the
gate. If it's the remote end,
there is nothing we can do about
it. If its this end, we need to
find whatever it is and turn it
off.
ALEX
Exactly SHAS, but the people that
have this 'Gate', have the most
stupendous weapon.
SHARROW
Well, the same arguments go, in
that if they have this weapon, why
are they deploying it so randomly.
No I think its something else.
Let's look at the places this gate
appears, can we detect if any other
incursions happen in other rooms.
We can then correlate the
occurrences to other stuff. ZED do
we have the video feeds from all
the rooms in the Retrograde.
ZED
Yes, its this file set (pause).
Here catch.
SHARROW
Wow, you can throw, data around
like that.
ZED
Of course, you can kick it too!
That's for when you get frustrated.
ALEX
You know I'm getting to like this
place. ZED can you make a dart
board and a bin, both essential
items for our thought processes.
OK, I think I have the time line
here, lets make a mashup of these
data sets and see what comes up.
SOPHIE
Wow, the processors are working
hard, its taking a long time.
ZED
We it has to go through every frame
and there are hundreds of camera's,
especially after GANDER put several
in every room, including the guest
rooms. The servers are flat out.
ALEX
That spying is taking a bit of a
liberty, isn't it. Oh, I think
links are starting to appear, there
very faint.
ZED
Just wait a minute as more results
get processed.
ALEX
SOPHIE can you give me a hand to
get through these please
relationships.
SOPHIE
Sure, you do know I did an
artificial intelligence computer
science course. I have a two, one
rating for operation in virtual
environments.
ALEX
Well it sounds impressive.
ZED
It's a hard one to get, so yes it's
impressive.
SOPHIE
Thanks, ZED, you're pretty sharp
yourself.
Bleeping and pinging sounds
ALEX
Most of the ones I'm looking at are
just the frames in our corridor
showing the event that zapped us.
SOPHIE
What about this one here? It links
off to GANDER's store room. That's
usually locked.
SHARROW
Wow, that's interesting, it's
showing a slight increase in light
level at the same time as the event
we experienced. I wonder if it was
the radiation?
ALEX
Hmmm, that is weird, there is
something not right about this.
Sharrow can you flick me a map of
the inn please.
SHARROW
Ok, catch.
ALEX
Thanks. So the rooms here, and the
corridor is here, and the beam it
came out in this direction. Yep,
it can't directly be the beam
fluorescing something, it's in a
direction away from, the room.
ZED
I'm looking to see if there are
other camera's in the room. GANDER
may have some other security, I
think she installed separate
viewers direct to here feed, not on
the normal network. Hang on let me
talk to her.
BLEEP
ZED
Hello, GANDER, hi, it's ZED. We are
doing some data analysis on this
attack, and we need to get a closer
look into your, ahhh, 'treasure
room'. Did you install any more
monitoring devices after I did the
PWN attack on the security?
GANDER
Yes of course, but I'm not giving
you the codes. Argh, I'm not that
dumb.
SHARROW
ZED, let me talk to her. GANDER its
SHARROW, hi, look we need to get a
few more angles on that room, we've
seen something strange and need to
cross check. Is there any chance
you could flick the images over we
don't want access codes. One thing
though can you make sure they still
have the time stamps, were trying
to correlate with the incursion
events.
GANDER
Oh, well I suppose so. OK, give me
a minute, I need to access my
terminal.
SHARROW
Thanks GANDER, I'm feeling that
there is something in your room
that is causing these events. I
have a feeling I know what it is
but I want to confirm before
'jumping the gun'.
GANDER
OK I'm sending the files over.
SHARROW
OK ZED, can you relate these files
from GANDER, with the original
video files.
ZED
Will do. It will take a few minutes
to process, its a lot of data.
SHARROW
Yep, thanks. So SOPHIE I hear from
ZED you used to be a fairly
successful gamer?
SOPHIE
Well, it was another life, before
my change.
SHARROW
Change?
SOPHIE
Oh, didn't you know?
SHARROW
Ahh, no what?
SOPHIE
Well, I used to be called Michael.
SHARROW
Oh, I see, that kind of change.
SOPHIE
Yep, that kind of change alright.
SHARROW
Wow, big decision in life, but you
seem really happy and grounded.
Mind you perhaps a weaponised
SOPHIE, must have caused some boys
some pain.
SOPHIE
Yep, you better believe it and some
girls to. I had a girl friend
before the change, it was hard for
her, she couldn't really cope.
Most don't know, but I don't hide
it. It's no big thing really. Best
thing ever for me of course. I
found that I had to be honest with
myself. Thats the one person you
can't run away from. Right?
SHARROW
Totally! Took me until my mid
twenties to discover that. How did
GANDER take it, you seem to be
close?
SOPHIE
She was great, of course, very
close to the bone with her, she
understands, what it's like. RUDI
and the Cherries also got me off
the street and gave me a home, but
that was nothing to do with
transistion. I owe them big time,
besides I love those guys, they are
all family.
ZED
Links, coming through.
SOPHIE
Great we've got them.
SHARROW
Oh, look at this one, thats really
interesting. It's confirming there
really is a glow in the room, it
can see a slight reflection off the
wall.
SOPHIE
Its brighter in the left hand
corner.
If I triangulate with the previous
picture. Hang on let me merge the
data and set up an new analysis
verses the room map.
BLEEP
Got yah. Five meters from North
Wall, six meters from West wall.
ALEX
OK Lets go, before we get another
event. I have found the radiation
levels are increasing
exponentially. The next one will
burn out the walls. GANDER comms,
please meet us outside you
'treasure room' please, immediately
its really urgent.
GANDER
CHRISTOPHER, see you there.
INT. RETROGRADE GANDERS TREASURE ROOM
(ALEX, GANDER, RUDI, SHARROW, ZED)
SHARROW
OK, it's definitely in this pile
here. GANDER, I think I know whats
causing all these events.
GANDER
What the hell, come on lets hear it
then. I just call RUDI down, she
needs to be in on the loop.
RADIO NOISE
GANDER
RUDI, can you meet me on level six
beta at the store room, please, we
have found the source of the
problems. OK folks lets just wait a
minute for RUDI
DOOR OPENING
BLEEPS OF
SECURITY
RUDI enters the room with BOY
RUDI
GANDER, so who is it, where are
they.
GANDER
Its not a who, but a thing.
SHARROW, you found it, you explain
please.
SHARROW
RUDI, its the weird object we got
from the auction, that globe thing.
Well its not just the globe thing,
its the tree thing as well, or more
correctly its the two objects
together that causes the problem.
ALEX
Hah, that figures, that thing,
always gave me the creeps.
SHARROW
Look GANDER, lets admit it, we all
know its not made by human hands,
right? It's clearly an alien
object. It's time to come clean on
where you found it.
GANDER
OK. Look I new it was special,
thats why I have been hiding it.
When I first moved here, it was
bought from DOLIES father in sixty
six. Her mother died in an
accident, the family where having
real money issues so I bought it.
I didn't really want it, but I just
couldn't refuse, you see he was a
proud man, and I owed him. He did
some favours for me in the early
days. If I had just given him the
money, he wouldn't have taken it.
Now I don't know the full story but
he said he found it about a meter
down on an ice asteroid. The ice
had accumulated millions of years
before, so its old. They went
digging for ice and rock, but the
thing was caught on the tramp
magnet on the conveyor.
RUDI
Geese, the implications are
literally astronomical.
Confirmation of alien life, space
portals, radiation beams and a
deadly weapon.
ALEX
Well before we have a long
leisurely chat about this, how
about we deactivate it, before it
burns a hole right through the
station. Lets drag it away and
chuck it out the nearest air lock.
SHARROW
ALEX calm down we don't need to.
Look, guys, think about it, GANDER
had this down here since sixty six,
sitting quietly with no problems at
all. Is that right GANDER?
GANDER
Yes, like a say, never new what to
do with it.
SHARROW
Right, so what has changed,
something has activated it, right.
We find out what that is and turn
it off. Problem solved.
ALEX
Well problem not solved. That
'thing' look i'm calling it the
'spooky tree ball', is the most
powerful thing in human history.
Do we really want it sitting under
the inn. I'm going to find it
difficult to sleep at night.
RUDI
Well better here than in the hands
of the government, or some power
hungry maniac like STANK. It's an
opportunity and a threat, just like
any tool. It depends on how you
use it.
SHARROW
GANDER, is it in a case.
GANDER
Yes, after last time I thought it
was better not to have it on show,
it's in a flight case. I put the
ball and the tree thing in. Hang
on, let me think, yes its this one
here.
SHARROW
No signs of any burning of the case
or any marks at all. I was
expecting something.
ZED
Well, maybe it manifests it's
effects at a safe distance from the
'user', like a projection.
ALEX
So SHAS, what do you think it is?
SHARROW
I think it's a travel device. It
sets up a gate, through which the
user can move. It would need to be
self referential, so that the
object could be taken through the
gate to the other side, otherwise
whats the use, you wouldn't be able
to get back, so the space folding
can envelop itself and rollup.
ALEX
So then the visitor didn't go back,
otherwise the object wouldn't be
here. Perhaps we need to go back to
that asteroid to see if there is a
body or anything else.
RUDI
Then why is it, sending out beams
of radiation.
SHARROW
Oh, I think thats just accidental.
Its just us dumb monkey users.
Look if you gave a blow torch to a
cave man, they wouldn't know which
end to hold, they'd end up burning
their fingers. Dumb users hurt
themselves. Well this thing is the
same. It's perfectly safe if you
know how to use it. We are just
dumb enough to ask it to connect
through to the vicinity of a
neutron star. Thats why the
radiation level is changing, its
the other end of the portal moving
around, sometimes its nearer the
beam of the star, other times its
moving away, perhaps the connection
is not properly dialled in.
GANDER
Thats all well and good, but I'm
afraid to touch the box. Do we
open it up?
SHARROW
Open it up, we need to look at the
configuration.
SOUND OF FLIGHT
CASE BEING
OPENED
GANDER
Well, its not glowing.
SHARROW
GANDER, when you stored it before,
was the sphere, nestled in the tree
as it is now.
GANDER
I don't think so.
SHARROW
OK, it must be that when you bring
the two objects together, it
activates the portal, perhaps there
is some sort of attraction. You
see that its not quite touching at
the moment and its on its side.
Perhaps thermal movements or slight
orbital corrections bring the two
objects together and the portal
opens.
ALEX
SHAS be careful. I'm not toughing
that thing again, it gives me
nightmares.
SHARROW
OK I'm going to take the ball and
seperate it from the tree,
carfully.
SOUND OF ALIEN
DEVICE
ALEX
It's glowing, quick grab it, now,
before it opens another portal.
SHARROW
OK, oh, its weird, feels like its
trying to move.
ZED
Perhaps thats the haptic feedback.
Like gamer gloves, helps the 'user'
feel the controls.
SHARROW
Well, what ever it is its not
working for me. OK its out of the
tree cup, they are now separated.
The ball is still glowing, but its
slowly fading.
ZED
Well that thing is the most
valuable object in our solar
system. What should we do with it?
GANDER
Well certainly not give it to the
government, or anyone else for that
matter. I think we need to call a
meeting of those in the know. My
office half and hour. SHARROW, put
the ball in another flight case and
store it on the other side of the
room. Lock both the cases, and put
other stuff on top. No special
markings right.
SHARROW
Sure thing. ALEX can you find
another box please.
INT. RETROGRADE GANDERS OFFICE
GANDER
OK, so folks we are sitting on what
is the most powerful weapon in the
solar system, but also the most
amazing opportunity to explore and
find out more about this universe.
Agreed?
RUDI
It certainly presents a threat and
an opportunity, but GANDER you have
had it for years, why has it
suddenly become active?
SHARROW
I think its the proximity of both
devices, they have to touch each
other. The 'Portal Controller' is a
two part device, its totally safe
unless you let the halves meet.
ALEX
Well it still gives me the creeps,
we should just chuck it into the
sun.
SHARROW
I wouldn't recommend that. To
generate and manipulate space time
as it does, it will require huge
flows of energy. This device could
significantly disrupt the Sun. Who
knows whats inside, it might
contain singularities that could
consume the Solar System. Remember
we are primitives compared to this
technology.
RUDI
I totally agree SHARROW. According
to what I have been reading it
would also require the manipulation
of negative energy. I don't
understand any of it, but I don't
think that throwing it into the sun
is an option either, it's very
dangerous.
ZED
We need to study it, understand how
the interface works. It is the most
amazing gift. It is clearly alien
tech, possibly very old. GANDER can
you give more details on the exact
location where it was found?
GANDER
Well, as I said before. It was
found about the end of twenty sixty
one, on a cubewano asteroid, 253
Mathilde. The finders were
extracting a rock and ice slurry
when this thing turns up on the
tramp magnet. The tree shaped thing
was found first, then about six
months later the globe turned up.
They found their way to New London.
I purchased the tree part off of
DOLIES father before he died of
cancer. Just by chance really,
GARY, my partner, did some work for
one of the miners. Unfortunately
he couldn't pay, so he gave the
globe part in Liu of payment. It
ended up in my store when we took
back the inn.
SHARROW
Wow, probably the weirdest
coincidence in the whole solar
system. I think we obviously need
to keep it and study it, if not for
ourselves but for the greater good
of mankind.
What I can't figure out is how we
do that when it is so potentially
dangerous.
ALEX
Yes, you can't just set up a secret
lab under the Retrograde. It could
take out the whole of New London,
just with an incorrect squeeze of
the globe. If the portal had been a
tiny bit nearer the neutron star,
we and all matter in New London
would have been extruded through
the gate and plated on to the
surface of the star.
RUDI
Yes, that is the dilemma we face,
we would need to ensure absolute
security. If even a whisper of
this got out, every power faction
in the solar system would walk
straight through us in a blink of
an eye, to get hold of the portal
machine. This needs very careful
thought and planning. I propose we
do nothing apart from keep the
halves apart and very secure, no
changes to routines and no
discussion of the object. If our
security looks like its going to be
breached, we take one half of the
generator and flick it away in a
picket ship. That is the most
secure approach at the moment.
ALEX
I agree, even though I don't like
it in the inn.
SHARROW
Yes I also think thats the best
approach, it's been safely dormant
for many years.
ZED
Yes, but as soon as we have a lab
set up it needs study.
GANDER
Well ZED, that needs some heavy
duty scientists and equipment, and
security. How do we ensure that
one of the scientists doesn't blab
and then the bad guys come in all
guns blazing and duke it out to
control the solar system. Thats
the issue we face.
The less people that know about
this the more secure we will be.
RUDI
Can SOPHIE keep quiet about this.
GANDER
Yes, I fairly sure see is good, I
can vouch for her, she may give the
impression of a young girl but she
is very smart and totally loyal to
the Inn and the RCBS. She will not
be a security risk.
RUDI
Great, so I move, we just carry on
as if nothing has happened. I'll
convene another meeting if and when
we have option.
GANDER
Do you see any other option,
because I don't. I do think ZED is
correct we need to think how we
could set up a lab to figure this
thing out but not right now.
RUDI
Well, as you say, that will take
more resources than we could ever
bring to bare. Also as you
correctly stated, how could we
trust the scientists doing the
work, one of them will probably
talk. The only way we could
control it would be to locate the
lab at a very distant location and
then control all transport and
communications. It would be a
prison for anyone working there and
with the ever present danger of
opening the gate and killing
everyone. I can't see that we
would get anyone to sign up for
that gig.
GANDER
You could talk to KRIS she might
have sufficient resources.
RUDI
Yes but I need more time to truely
trust her. If we get this wrong
the consequences are enormous.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
END