Characters in order of appearance
Location EXT. THE GREAT FOUNDATION
Script Fateus and Luness are walking through a crowd toward a line of people standing on the edge of a platform. The edge of the platform is in the shape of a ‘U’ with people standing all around it, huddled together. Beyond the drop across from where they stand is a slightly elevated marble column with official Anythian members seated at it’s rear. Two decorated masked soldiers known as Hopen stand at the front of the marble pillar holding their weapons in a guard stance. Other Hopen are seen walking in an orderly fashion behind people standing at the platform’s ledge. These Hopen are holding small knives and slicing small cuts at the right side of each persons neck. Fateus and Luness spot Lace, Cadence and Atom near the platform’s edge and begin approaching them. From Fateus’s perspective we see Atom talking with Cadence briefly before kneeling down to talk with Lace at her eye level. Atom then stands and leaves Cadence and Lace disappearing off into the crowd. ”That is a really long way down isn’t it?” ”Can’t someone just jump down there and offer their life so we don’t have to be at this stupid ceremony?” ”Lacey.” laughing ”I’m pretty sure the idea of this, ‘stupid ceremony’, isn’t just about an offering. Although, it really is a miracle no one hasn’t accidentally fallen down there, I mean, especially with all this rain.” Lace grabs at Cadence from behind and pretends to push him over the edge. ”There’s always a first.” ”Hey. Hey!” Cadence freaks out and steps away from the ledge as they both start laughing. Luness and Fateus arrive. ”Lady Luness. So good to see you again.” ”Oh such a pleasure you are Cadence.” Both Cadence and Luness embrace each other. ”I do hope we didn’t miss anything.” ”Oh no, not at all. Atom just left us then to take his seat. And the Hopens are still making their rounds. Oh. Behind you my lady.” Luness turns to see one of the Hopens looking directly at her through their mask with stern eyes. ”Oh sorry.” She slowly crouches down and tilts her head so as the Hopen can reach her neck with the knife. The Hopen holds up the knife ready to slice at her neck but notices there is no previous scar or marking. The Hopen looks at Luness with concern, she gives him a warm smile back. He proceeds anyways and slices along the right side of her neck. Luness does not react and instead stands back up straight and looks at the Hopen. She slightly bows towards him with thanks. The Hopen turns and walks away. There is a short pause as both Luness and Cadence conform themselves having seen what just happened. Both Cadence and Luness move to stand by each other’s side at the platforms edge. Cadence leans in to speak with Luness at a lowered volume. ”Y’know my lady, if it isn’t too inconvenient for you. There are a few things I think we need discuss. Would you care to meet at the Den after the ceremony’s finish?” Luness looks up at him in the eyes. ”Of course Cadence. I would like that.” smiling
Next to Cadence and Luness stand Fateus then Lace who are having their necks cut. Fateus doesn’t react to his cutting but Lace moans in pain as the knife traces hers. Fateus raises his right hand and touches the cut on his neck with his middle and fore fingers. He lowers his hand to inspect the blood on his finger tips. ”You’re not meant to do that you idiot.” Lace pinches the cut on Fateus’s neck. ”Ow! What the heck!” ”Don’t touch it. Otherwise you won’t have enough blood.” ”Lace, it’s an open wound. The blood isn’t going anywhere.” A water droplet lands on Lace’s cut washing some of the blood away. ”Oh look your blood is gone too, here let me.” Fateus quickly pinches hard at Lace’s cut. ”Arh! Ow! You fucker!” Fateus snickers to himself. ”Oh h-he-hey guys.” stuttering tourette's Another young kid, Kurst, steps over behind Lace greeting the two. He stands with both his hands in his back pockets. Pulling them out occasionally during his short bursts of Tourette's. ”Ay Kurstius! How you been man?” ”Hello Kurst.” ”I’m o-okay I guess. You mind if I s-stand here w-wi-with both of you g-guh g-gur-g. Piss! Fuck!” Moments after Kurst’s tourettes hit, Fateus quietly chuckles to himself trying to be sleek. Lace notices and subtly kicks him in the foot. ”It’s alright Kurstius. Stand wherever you want bro, here.” Lace reaches into her pocket and pulls out a cigarette handing it to Kurst. ”I snagged this from my dad before he left this morning.” ”Thanks Lacey, I really ap-preciate it.”
We then cut to different shots around the ceremony with more people moving toward the platform’s edge. During these shots we see Kurst looking over across the edge to see an older man (Vox) standing with a younger boy (Omally) with a smug look on his face. Both Vox and Kurst exchange brief eye contact. The shots then continue of different ceremonial activities, including a shot of Atom, a founder, who sit quietly beside others at the rear of the marble pillar. Eventually we are met with a shot of Randers and Desean. Both the father and son are huddled between other people underneath a covered area of the platform. Randers has just had his neck cut by the Hopen as the Hopen now approaches Desean. A young boy with a small oxygen tube on his face. The tube runs out from behind his ears and through the side of his upper nose. “Please daddy. Do I have to do it? I’m scared.” Randers places a hand on his son’s shoulder. ”It is okay my son. You do not need to fear.” The Hopen unveils the small knife, turning toward the boy. This catches Desean’s attention causing him to take a step back, shaking his head. “No, no! I can’t, I won’t!” frantic Desean begins to cry, so Randers raises his hand toward the Hopen. ”Please. Allow us a moment.” The Hopen looks at Randers in the eyes, emotionless, before turning and walking away. Randers kneels down in front of his son, grasping the boy’s shoulders with his hands. He lifts the boys chin with his fingers, forcing Desean to make eye contact. ”Hey… Hey. Look at me. I promise you. There’s nothing to worry about.” Desean looks up at his father showing tears streaking down his face. He wipes at them while he sniffles his nose. ”Give me your hand?” The boy does as instructed placing his hand within his fathers. Randers raises their hands towards his own neck, keeping eye contact with the boy. He lightly touches the boys fingers on the blood of his small cut. Desean makes a grimacing uncomfortable expression. Randers lets go of his son’s hands allowing Desean to inspect the blood. He touches his fingers together, stretching out the fluid. “It’s thick. I don’t like it, I don’t like the colour.” eery ”That’s the Iron in the blood.” Randers raises his hand lightly grabbing at the Oxygen tube on Desean’s face. ”Y’know your air tube, that helps you breathe?” Desean gives back small nod. ”Well that air is recycling the Iron in through your heart, causing your blood to be red.” Randers traces his finger down from the boy’s air tube to his heart, illustrating as he talks. “Y’know what the rest of the blood is right?” energetic Desean shakes head. ”Give me your hand again?” Desean places his hand back into the palm of Randers. Randers then slowly moves both their hands outwards toward the platform. Eventually their hands exit out from the cover that they both stand under. Rain trickles down into their palms, quickly filling them up with water. ”Really?” energetic The spike of energy coming from Desean’s voice pulls Randers attention back to his son. He looks deep into his eyes, smiling happily by his son’s innocence. As he continues to talk he doesn’t take his eyes off Desean, keeping a loving focus and interest upon him. **”Yeah. Over half our bodies are water Desean. Just like the Green needs the water to reproduce, we need the water for our blood.” Short pause. ”You have every right to be afraid, Desean. Our Blood isn’t typically meant to leave our bodies. But its just a drop.” Randers takes his son’s other free hand with his own and raises it. Showing again the small amount of blood that Desean touched earlier. As Randers continues talking, he looks at Desean’s air tube and then the water in the both of their hands. ”So as long as you keep breathing air, and keep drinking water. Just like the Green, your blood will reproduce.” smiling Desean innocently smiles back to his father.
We cut to the two Hopen who stand at the pillars front, blowing into their weapons that are pointed up at the sky. Their weapons are also instruments that produce a loud high pitch digeridoo sound. After a short while the two Hopen abruptly stop as the hand of Mother is thrown into the air. She stands between the Hopen at the pillars front holding the palm of her hand to the air. ”People of the Anyth! People of the Great Foundation! People, of Optanity! Reside with the Mother today, and prolong the nature of tomorrow. Here and now we remember as the 1500th year since our blessed founding fathers revived great lengths from the Terra War. Here and now we remember a time for not even humanity’s loss of hope had even the will to defy itself. No matter any loss, we gain. Even a child lost upon an alien world, can still explore. Mother Nature awaits, for god’s work… is no accident!” Toward the end of her speech, two servant-like Hopens bring over heavy buckets to the front of the pillar. As the Mother says her final word she throws out her arms to the air as both guarding Hopens kick the buckets over. Thick blood aggressively spills out of the buckets over the marble flooring. The Blood seeps it’s way toward and over the pillar’s edge. The Hopen positioned orderly throughout the people begin yelling in sequence. ”Hopen! Hopen! Hopen!” With every word the Hopen slam the end of their weapon into the ground causing a loud thud to echo across the Foundation. And after their final word a long silence falls throughout the crowd. During this moment all the people including the main characters flick their right thumb across the cut on their necks. Blood drops from all sides of the platform fly through the air colliding with the already large pool of blood that runs down the pillar. The Mother begins to walk forward over the blood until she reaches the platform’s edge. She looks down at the drop lifting her palms outwards facing down. Suddenly she grips into her hands with her sharp knife fingers, piercing her skin. Blood flows out from her hand trickling down into the void below.