Episode 1

• GENOCY

  [INSIDE THE HOLDING CELL]

  OFFICER:
  Remain still. I will now remove your collar.

  (the arm drone walks off camera but can be heard walking away)

  OFFICER:
  Get your clothes and get dressed.

  (Lijho turns the corner and walks toward the Ryuka station)

  OFFICER:
  This is a one-way Ryuka. There is-

  (the camera shows a close up of the console with Lijho walking toward the dais in the background)

  LIJHO:
  I already know where I’m going. Paseo City. 722

  OFFICER:
  Please take your position on the dais. Paseo City 722 will be the destination. Please confirm.

  LIJHO:
  Paseo 722, confirmed.

  OFFICER:
  Remain still. Ryuka begins in 3-2-1n text goes here

• DINER SCENE

  [WAITRESS FROM ACROSS THE DINER]

  WAITRESS:
  Sit anywhere you like!

  [LIJHO SITS AT THE COUNTER LOOKING AROUND]

  WAITRESS:
  Well well well, long time no see. (sarcastically)

  [LIJHO SMIRKS]

  [THE WAITRESS SETS THE COFFEE MUG IN FRONT OF LIJHO AND POURS HIM A CUP]

  WAITRESS:
  Don’t you worry, this is on the house.

  LIJHO:
  Hey, I’m always down for free coffee.

  WAITRESS:
  Uh huh, so where have you been? Feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.

  LIJHO:
  (smiles, and the camera stays on Lijho)

  WAITRESS:
  Mhmm lemme guess. Another mission. You hungry? You want your usual?

  LIJHO:
  You still remember my usual?

  [THE WAITRESS SMIRKS AND WALKS OFF TO GO WAIT ON OTHER CUSTOMERS AND RUN FOOD
  LIJHO SITS AT THE COUNTER DRINKING HIS COFFEE]

  WAITRESS:
  So what are you gonna do now that you’re back?
  
  (kitchen bell dings)
  
  Oop, hold that thought, I think you’re food’s up.
  
  (waitress comes back and sets plate of food in front of Lijho)
  
  SO, what are you gonna do now that you’re back?

  LIJHO:
  I dunno. Think I’m just gonna lay low for a little while. Well, you know… till the Paseo has another assignment for me. Hopefully nothing too crazy though, don’t worry.

  WAITRESS:
  (waitress walks off sarcastically saying over her shoulder)
  I wasn’t worried.

  [LIJHO SITS AT THE COUNTER SIPPING HIS COFFEE WITH HIS DIRTY PLATE IN FRONT OF HIM. HYPERLAPSE THE BUSY DINER, THEN THE CAMERA GOES BACK TO WHERE LIJHO WAS SITTING TO FIND HIS DIRTY PLATE AND EMPTY COFFEE CUP SITTING ON THE COUNTER, BUT HE’S GONE.]

• DALLAN REUNION

  [DALLAN SLIDES THE DOOR OPEN, BUT THE CAMERA CUTS BACK TO LIJHO]

  DALLAN:
  Nooooo way… what the HELL?! Look at you, you’re back!

  LIJHO:‍ ‍
  Look at me? Look at YOU! You work for the Paseo now?!

  DALLAN:
  I know right? (laughing) Me of all people. It’s a long story. Speaking of, I actually need to head out. (he puts on his EIC card, pointing to it)
  Duty calls.
  Are you gonna hang out here, or…

  LIJHO:
  Nah, I’m starving, I think I’m gonna hit up the diner and grab a bite to eat. Been awhile since I’ve had a decent meal.

  DALLAN:
  The diner is ‘decent meal’?

  [DALLAN SLIDES THE DOOR CLOSED AND THE TWO WALK DOWN THE HALLWAY TOGETHER AS THE CONVERSATION TRAILS OFF]

  [THE TWO ARE WALKING OF THE BUILDING SAYING GOODBYE]

  DALLAN:
  I assume you’re crashing here tonight?

  LIJHO:
  That’s the plan.

  DALLAN:
  Alright bro I gotta run I’ll talk at ya later!

  LIJHO:
  Sounds good, have fun up there.

  [LIJHO STARES UP AT THE SUN AGAIN, SUSPICIOUSLY]

  LIJHO:
  What is going on? (he says to himself under his breath, thinking out loud)ext goes here

• EARTHQUAKE

  (the scene opens with quiet shots of Paseo City at night. Lijho is asleep on the couch when suddenly the earthquake hits)

  LIJHO:
  What the hell is that?! (says to himself, being startled awake)

  (Lijho continues to lay on the couch as the earthquake subsides. He looks around startled and uneasy)

  (he walks through the apartment to Dallan’s bedroom door, which is cracked, pushes it open slightly to see Dallan sound asleep and unaware of the quake)

  (Lijho goes back to the couch, and begrudgingly goes back to sleep)

  (The next morning Lijho stirs awake on the couch again. It is now daytime, and Dallan is in the kitchen making coffee. He brings Lijho a cup of coffee and sits at his feet on the couch)

  DALLAN:
  How’d you sleep?

  LIJHO:
  Honestly I don’t even think I did.

  DALLAN:
  Oh damn really, why?

  LIJHO:
  No idea. Honestly… everything feels different.

  DALLAN:
  Having trouble adjusting to the outside world?

  LIJHO:
  I don’t know. Something just feels… off. Like yesterday when I walked out of the Ryuka station, I look up at the Paseo Star, and it just looks.. bigger than I remember it. And at first I thought, OK you’ve been on Genocy for 3 years, you forgot what things look like on the planet, everything’s gonna be different.. fine, but I swear, it just looked bigger. Same thing like when I walked out of the diner yesterday and I looked up at the star… something deep down just told me… thats not… right. And you know we had an earthquake in the middle of the night right?

  DALLAN:
  Oh shit, I must have slept right through it.

  LIJHO:
  Yeah you did. But I guess the bigger question for me is why are we even having earthquakes? Isn’t the Plate System supposed to keep that from happening?

  DALLAN:
  Yeah, and believe it or not they are. After the first one we had, we ran a bunch of system checks on Lizan…
  (Lizan marker)
  Everything was normal. We’ve actually been having quite a few earthquakes lately. Not enough to really cause any problems though. Just a few tremors here and there. We pretty much think it’s just the plates releasing stress. We’re all just kinda used to it now I guess. I should have told you, my bad. Didn’t even think about it.

  (Lijho takes a sip of coffee and pauses, looking down into his coffee cup thinking)

  LIJHO:
  But that’s what doesn’t make sense- if the Plate System is doing it’s job and functioning normally, there should be no earthquakes.

  DALLAN:
  Well yes and no. The Plate System basically works off the magnetic field of the planet core. It uses magnetic harmonics to stabilize the magnetic fields of the planet. If the planet’s magnetic field is, let’s say +10, the Plate System will put out a magnetic field of -10 to cancel it out. It’s like balancing weight on a scale, except with magnetic fields. That’s how they can precisely control the movement of the planet crust. It’s been doing its job exactly as it’s supposed to, but the magnetic field of the planet has been spiking here and there recently. Nothing to worry about though, it’s nothing the Plate System can’t handle, it’s just.. hiccups.

  (Lijho looks back at Dallan suspiciously, but doesn’t say anything)

  DALLAN:
  Oh God I know that look... This is gonna be your new obsession now isn’t it…

  (the camera cuts to Lijho’s face, unchanged)

  DALLAN:
  .

  (Lijho chuckles and takes a sip of his coffee)

• LANFERNO

  (Chlor is typing at his computer when he looks up to see Lijho walking toward him)

  CHLOR
  Well well well, look who’s back
  (camera cuts to Lijho who smiles, the two embrace for a hug)

  CHLOR
  You know I missed that accent! How’s business?

  CHLOR:
  Hey I’m not going hungry, ya know?

  LIJHO:
  Well that’s good news.

  CHLOR
  Yeah man. Speaking of business… are you back for good?

  LIJHO
  Yeah. Laying low for now, but yeah.

  CHLOR:
  Good. Because I have a… welcome home present for you. Come on I’ll show you.

  (Chlor leads Lijho into the back room of Lanferno)

  CHLOR:
  (rummaging through drawers)
  So… I got this right after you went to Genocy on your little government vacation-

  LIJHO
  Yeah. Vacation on a prison asteroid

  CHLOR
  Yeah well I don’t even know who it belongs to. I.. obtained.. it, but haven’t been able to see who it belongs to, and haven’t really wanted to try. Last thing I need is to go digging around trying to find who this thing belongs to, and get a visit from the Paseo. I was thinking I just give it to you and let you find out who it belongs to since you work for the Paseo anyway, that way you can return it without anyone ever needing to know my hands ever touched it.

  LIJHO
  Good thinking. Do you even know what’s on here?

  CHLOR
  As curious as I am, I don’t want to even begin to look to see what’s on that thing. All I know is that it belongs to a very high ranking official in the Paseo, which means you didn’t get it from me because I’ve never seen that thing before in my life.

  LIJHO
  Ah. Well I assume you’ll let me do my research here then? I can’t do it out there with all those people, and I sure as hell can’t do it anywhere near the Paseo—
  (Lijho is interrupted by Chlor)

  CHLOR
  Hey brother, you already know I’m a big fan of plausible deniability. Mi casa es su casa. You can use this room all you want. I don’t see a thing. Speaking of which, my coffee is waiting for me.
  (Chlor says walking away)
  I sure hope nothing disappears while I’m gone…

  (Lijho puts the EIC in his pocket and looks down at the ground)

  [THE SCENE FOLLOWS CHLOR BACK INTO THE LOBBY AREA OF LANFERNO, AND HE SEES LIJHO IS GONE, AND THE EIC IS MISSING.
  THE CAMERA CUTS TO CHLOR WHO HAS A SMUG “TOLD YOU SO” GRIN.
  FADE TO BLACK]

LIEUTENANT
(as LIEUTENANT is talking, cut to the things he is talking about one by one, and overlay the audio so it’s just loud enough to hear. The buzzing of the tattoo laser, the humming of the different colored gates)
"Inmates, your attention. This is your orientation to this facility, so pay attention, because none of this will be repeated. For those of you who may be thinking about it, escape is not possible. This compound is built into one of thousands of asteroids in orbit. You are a needle in a planet-sized haystack. That collar around your neck is what allows you movement throughout this compound. There are forcefields all throughout this prison. Pay close attention to the light on your collar. You may ONLY pass through the field that matches your color. If your light is red, you can ONLY move through red fields. If your light is blue, you can only move through blue fields. Around the inside of your collar is an iris. If you attempt to remove the collar, the iris will close and your head will go with it. These are Arm Drones. They maintain this facility and everyone in it, including you.. and me. ”

[THE DOOR OPENS AND THE ARM DRONES SPEAK IN UNISON]
ARM DRONE:
Inmate70429-083 please rise.
Your collar is now red. Please come with me.
I am to accompany you to the Ryuka to be released.

ARM DRONE:
Inmate, please accompany me to the Ryuka to be released.

[INSIDE THE HOLDING CELL]

OFFICER:
Remain still. I will now remove your collar.

(the arm drone walks off camera but can be heard walking away)

OFFICER:
Get your clothes and get dressed.

(Lijho turns the corner and walks toward the Ryuka station)

OFFICER:
This is a one-way Ryuka. There is-

(the camera shows a close up of the console with Lijho walking toward the dais in the background)

LIJHO:
I already know where I’m going. Paseo City. 722

OFFICER:
Please take your position on the dais. Paseo City 722 will be the destination. Please confirm.

LIJHO:
Paseo 722, confirmed.

OFFICER:
Remain still. Ryuka begins in 3-2-1

[DALLAN SLIDES THE DOOR OPEN, BUT THE CAMERA CUTS BACK TO LIJHO]

DALLAN:
Nooooo way… what the HELL?! Look at you, you’re back!

LIJHO:
Look at me? Look at YOU! You work for the Paseo now?!

DALLAN:
I know right? (laughing) Me of all people. It’s a long story. Speaking of, I actually need to head out. (he puts on his EIC card, pointing to it)
Duty calls.
Are you gonna hang out here, or…

LIJHO:
Nah, I’m starving, I think I’m gonna hit up the diner and grab a bite to eat. Been awhile since I’ve had a decent meal.

DALLAN:
The diner is ‘decent meal’?

[DALLAN SLIDES THE DOOR CLOSED AND THE TWO WALK DOWN THE HALLWAY TOGETHER AS THE CONVERSATION TRAILS OFF]

[THE TWO ARE WALKING OF THE BUILDING SAYING GOODBYE]

DALLAN:
I assume you’re crashing here tonight?

LIJHO:
That’s the plan.

DALLAN:
Alright bro I gotta run I’ll talk at ya later!

LIJHO:
Sounds good, have fun up there.

[LIJHO STARES UP AT THE SUN AGAIN, SUSPICIOUSLY]

LIJHO:
What is going on? (he says to himself under his breath, thinking out loud)

DINER

[AT THE DINER IN PASEO CITY]

[WAITRESS FROM ACROSS THE DINER]

WAITRESS:
Sit anywhere you like!

[LIJHO SITS AT THE COUNTER LOOKING AROUND]

WAITRESS:
Well well well, long time no see. (sarcastically)

[LIJHO SMIRKS]

[THE WAITRESS SETS THE COFFEE MUG IN FRONT OF LIJHO AND POURS HIM A CUP]

WAITRESS:
Don’t you worry, this is on the house.

LIJHO:
Hey, I’m always down for free coffee.

WAITRESS:
Uh huh, so where have you been? Feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.

LIJHO:
(smiles, and the camera stays on Lijho)

WAITRESS:
Mhmm lemme guess. Another mission. You hungry? You want your usual?

LIJHO:
You still remember my usual?

[THE WAITRESS SMIRKS AND WALKS OFF TO GO WAIT ON OTHER CUSTOMERS AND RUN FOOD
LIJHO SITS AT THE COUNTER DRINKING HIS COFFEE]

WAITRESS:
So what are you gonna do now that you’re back?

(kitchen bell dings)

Oop, hold that thought, I think you’re food’s up.

(waitress comes back and sets plate of food in front of Lijho)

SO, what are you gonna do now that you’re back?

LIJHO:
I dunno. Think I’m just gonna lay low for a little while. Well, you know… till the Paseo has another assignment for me. Hopefully nothing too crazy though, don’t worry.

WAITRESS:
(waitress walks off sarcastically saying over her shoulder)
I wasn’t worried.

[LIJHO SITS AT THE COUNTER SIPPING HIS COFFEE WITH HIS DIRTY PLATE IN FRONT OF HIM. HYPERLAPSE THE BUSY DINER, THEN THE CAMERA GOES BACK TO WHERE LIJHO WAS SITTING TO FIND HIS DIRTY PLATE AND EMPTY COFFEE CUP SITTING ON THE COUNTER, BUT HE’S GONE.]

[MEOW WOLF REGGAE SONG]

LANFERNO

Scene: Lanferno – Interior

(Chlor is typing at his computer when the door handle turns and the door creaks open)

CHLOR
Hoooly shit.
(camera cuts to Lijho who smiles, the two embrace for a hug)

CHLOR
Thought you were on Genocy.

LIJHO
I was. Just got out today actually.

CHLOR:
And so you come here to see me?

LIJHO:
What can I say? I missed that accent. How you been?

CHLOR:
(pats his stomach)
Well I haven’t been going hungry.

LIJHO:
Well that’s good news.

CHLOR
Yeah man. Speaking of business… I have a little… welcome home present for you…

LIJHO
(stares at Chlor with an eyebrow raised)
My first day out of prison and you’re already trying to send me back.

CHLOR:
You were undercover working for the Paseo. Big difference from doing hard time. BUT…

(Chlor slides an EIC across the counter to Lijho)

LIJHO:
Where did you get that

CHLOR
(gestures that his lips are sealed)

LIJHO
What I mean- is anybody looking for it?

CHLOR
I dunno. I don’t even know who it belongs to. I.. obtained.. it, but haven’t been able to see who it belongs to, and haven’t really wanted to try. Last thing I need is to go digging around trying to find who this thing belongs to, and get a visit from the Paseo asking questions that I can’t answer. I was thinking I just give it to you and let you find out who it belongs to since you work for the Paseo anyway, that way you can return it without anyone ever needing to know my hands ever touched it.

LIJHO
Fair enough. I got you. Do you even know what’s on here?

CHLOR
As curious as I am, I don’t want to even begin to look to see what’s on that thing. All I know is that it belongs to a very high ranking official in the Paseo, which means I’ve never seen that thing before in my life, if you get my drift.

LIJHO
Ah.

CHLOR
Well I just realized my coffee is empty. I think I’ll go get more. I sure hope nothing on the desk disappears while I’m gone…

(Lijho puts the EIC in his hand, and plays with it. He puts it in his pocket and looks down at the ground)

[THE SCENE FOLLOWS CHLOR BACK INTO THE LOBBY AREA OF LANFERNO, AND HE SEES LIJHO IS GONE, AND THE EIC IS MISSING.
THE CAMERA CUTS TO CHLOR WHO HAS A SMUG “TOLD YOU SO” GRIN.
FADE TO BLACK]

EARTHQUAKE

(the scene opens with quiet shots of Paseo City at night. Lijho is asleep on the couch when suddenly the earthquake hits)

LIJHO:
What the hell is that?! (says to himself, being startled awake)

(Lijho continues to lay on the couch as the earthquake subsides. He looks around startled and uneasy)

(he walks through the apartment to Dallan’s bedroom door, which is cracked, pushes it open slightly to see Dallan sound asleep and unaware of the quake)

(Lijho goes back to the couch, and begrudgingly goes back to sleep)

(The next morning Lijho stirs awake on the couch again. It is now daytime, and Dallan is in the kitchen making coffee. He brings Lijho a cup of coffee and sits at his feet on the couch)

DALLAN:
How’d you sleep?

LIJHO:
Honestly I don’t even think I did.

DALLAN:
Oh damn really, why?

LIJHO:
No idea. Honestly… everything feels different.

DALLAN:
Having trouble re-adjusting to the outside world?

LIJHO:
I don’t know. Something just feels… off. Like yesterday when I walked out of the Ryuka station, I look up at the Star, and it just looks.. bigger than I remember it. And at first I thought, OK you’ve been on Genocy, you haven’t seen it in awhile, you forgot what things look like on the planet.. fine, but I swear, it just looked bigger. Same thing like when I walked out of the diner yesterday and I looked up at the star… something deep down just told me… thats not… right. And you know we had an earthquake in the middle of the night right?

DALLAN:
Oh shit, I must have slept right through it.

LIJHO:
Yeah you did. But I guess the bigger question for me is why are we even having earthquakes? Isn’t the Plate System supposed to keep that from happening?

DALLAN:
Yeah, and believe it or not they are. After the first one we had, we ran a bunch of system checks on Lizan…
(Lizan marker)
Everything was normal. We’ve actually been having quite a few earthquakes lately. Not enough to really cause any problems though. Just a few tremors here and there. We pretty much think it’s just the plates releasing stress. We’re all just kinda used to it now I guess. I should have told you, my bad. Didn’t even think about it.

(Lijho takes a sip of coffee and pauses, looking down into his coffee cup thinking)

LIJHO:
But that’s what doesn’t make sense- if the Plate System is doing it’s job and functioning normally, there should be no earthquakes.

DALLAN:
Well yes and no. The Plate System basically works off the magnetic field of the planet core. It uses magnetic harmonics to stabilize the magnetic fields of the planet. If the planet’s magnetic field is, let’s say +10, the Plate System will put out a magnetic field of -10 to cancel it out. It’s like balancing weight on a scale, except with magnetic fields. That’s how they can precisely control the movement of the planet crust. It’s been doing its job exactly as it’s supposed to, but the magnetic field of the planet has been spiking here and there recently. Nothing to worry about though, it’s nothing the Plate System can’t handle, it’s just.. hiccups.

(Lijho looks back at Dallan suspiciously, but doesn’t say anything)

DALLAN:
Oh God I know that look... This is gonna be your new obsession now isn’t it…

(the camera cuts to Lijho’s face, unchanged)

DALLAN:
.

(Lijho chuckles and takes a sip of his coffee)