# # TP5 - S2 - Sequences
[[TP5]]
Step Two
Leon senses the shape of the ImpVerse - a tiny bubble of frantic human conscious in The Abstract. He feels humility, interconnectedness and something else, watching. Leon searches the ImpVerse using a crytpic clue supplied by Ms. Penumbra to try and find the lock, using memories he does not have. He tears a hole in the ImpVerse and two memories return: a friend’s death and one of his mother. His mother’s memory absorbs him, until her watch triggers his connection with the present. He returns with an understanding of where to find the lock.
Central Dramatic Question
Will Leon decipher the cryptic clues and locate the lock in the ImpVerse?
Sequence One
Leon is overwhelmed by the force of his connection. His conscious is splintered and he senses the interconnectedness of The Impverse and an overwhelming sense of humilty. He manages to gather himself and reforms his connection to Nort, but senses that he is being watched. He reforms the connection to Suunto and finds out Ms. Penumbra does not know the location of the lock in the ImpVerse. She instead provides cryptic clues on how to find it.
Sequence Two
Unable to figure out the location, Leon rationalises using a deep diving technique to tear a hole to the fabric of the ImpVerse, even though ImpVerse security will be alerted. The memory of the death of a forgotten deep diving friend returns there, triggering his grief. He dwells a moment, before letting it fade. He begins to understand the connectedness of the fabric and is relieved to sense his mother there. He wants to go to her, but she is scattered. He knows it will surely derail his mission to try and locate her.
Sequence Three
Leon strums the fabric and moves through it. A memory of his mother ambushes him. They are in ImpCorp, connecting to the newly created ImpVerse. He notes the spark in her compared to the tired experience of the mother he met. The memory, enhanced by The Abstract, seduces him, until his mother gives him her father’s watch to wear. It triggers his memory of the present. When he returns, he sees the fabric clearly and figures a way to use it to locate the lock.
CDQ Answer
No. He does not find it, but he has a way of finding it.
Character Arc
Leon moves from fractured to feeling a crushing and empowering sense of humility — to — feeling relieved that he escaped the trap of the memory with a greater sense of focus on finding the lock.
Moral Dilemma
To immerse himself in his memories and stay floating amongst the fabric of the ImpVerse, or return to his quest to find the lock. Whether to let the ImpVerse and The Abstract flesh out his memories to near perfect detail, or experience them as if they were naturally experienced in his life - just faded recognitions, with momentary fragments of accuracy. To risk detection by tearing a hole in the ImpVerse fabric, or continue to pursue the lock the longer and likely futile, safe way.
Ms. Penumbra
Sequence One
In the console room, surrounded by scientists ported into the ImpVerse, Ms. Penumbra reflects on the moment Emmet told her to move on. He was going to be locked away. She vowed to free him instead. Fix has managed to disable the security feed, but Jem’s conscious requires a stonger connection to Leon. Ms Penumbra connects Leon to breathing apparatus, ties his leg to a cord, stabs him several times and pushes him into the fluid to enhance his ‘dirty’ connection. As Suunto protests, the porting machine signals a scientist is returning from The ImpVerse.
CDQ
Will Ms. Penumbra be able to create a stronger connection for Leon and remain undetected?
Sequence Two
Ms. Penumbra uses her only sedative dose on a waking scientist as Suunto protests over her treatment of Leon. Rankin arrives, furious. She tells him the blood is from a Catholic infiltrator. She notices Leon’s cord slipping and Suunto pressures her to save him. Rankin notices the cord and starts to reel it in. Ms. Penumbra regrets using her only sedative, and stabs him multiple times. She knows he will bleed out soon, and must find a way to stop him transitioning too quickly and exposing her.
Sequences Three
She uses her database of information to selectively return a scientist from the ImpVerse. Ms Penumbra blackmails her into trying to filter out the last hours of Rankin’s life as he transitions. She knows if he dies before it is put in place, she will be exposed, but she cannot bring herself to block his conscious like she did with Variel. Given his pale, unconscious state, she realises she may have to.
CDQ Answer
Yes. She strengthens Leon’s connection and remains undetected, but if Rankin dies before the memory wiping protocols can be written he will expose her and she will lose everything.
Character Arc
Ms. Penumbra moves from nevous and hopeful — to — regretting murdering Rankin, but realising it was inevitable if she is to free Emmet. She is also somewhat hopeful he will not die before the memory wiping protocols are created.
Moral Dilemma
To save Leon from being sucked into the vat, with little chance of retrieving his body, or maintain the ruse with Rankin. To murder Rankin in order to save herself and to give her the best chance of freeing Emmet. To try and wipe the last hours from his transition, instead of just blocking him from the ImpVerse and killing him permanently.
Option three
Sequence One. Fix gets access and wipes the last ten minutes of recording on the approach and disrupts the history of the console for the next fifteen or so. It is not perfect, but it should hold. She just does not want it to record what she is doing, or what Leon was doing.
A hundred or so scientists are hooked up to the ImpVerse machine - they stirred with the alarm going off, but appear to be settled now. If one returns, they will be exposed. She needs to hurry up.
Leon in the vat - needs a stronger connection. She lies about how to get it. She tells him it will look worse than it is, but she needs more blood. She knows how to cut. She is going to tip him in, but realises he will likely drown and Suunto wouldn’t like that. She puts on a breathing apparatus and wraps a cord around him and loops it over the rail. Then she stabs him violently and throws him in.
One of the scientists start to stir. She knows she is going to have to do something about that.
Sequence Two Ms. Penumbra removes a small pouch and pulls out a pin, laced with sedative. She pricks him and he slumps almost immediately. One dose. No more. If anyone else wakes, she will have to take more drastic measures.
Rankin arrives. He is pissed. Another two exective members are deadd. He notices the blood and asks who she has killed now. She tells him of the Catholic plot. She killed the infiltrator. He is in the soup. She is a dangerous person still. More than he knows, most likely. He tries to convince her to come to transition. She does not agree. The cord on Leon starts to pull away from the rail - the goo wants to take him further - builds pressure. They argue. He wants her to go. She knows she has to get the cord as it is about to release. Suunto is telling her to save him. Ranking notices, so she stabs him in the throat. He cannot believe it, but she tells him that she is too close. He needs to understand that. She has not killed him quickly. He will need to bleed out a while. He cannot transition yet. She applies first aid, then ties him up. This is all getting a bit messy. She reckons she has about fifteen minutes, maybe twenty. She knows he will not be able to call out from this room to call for help.
Sequence Three She tries to get Fix to get into the ImpVerse transition files, but he says no way. He just can’t from where he is. Its impossible to get into. That relies on the ImpVerse consoles to unite both sides. He can’t do that remotely. She has to do that one from in there.
She accesses the memories Suunto has of hers and uses them to access the names of compromised scientists she has not used. She realises the one she sedated was the best choice. She should have checked before using her sedative dose. Ranking would still be alive then. He deserved a better end than this. then again, he wont remember a thing if things go according to plan.
She removes a scientist from the machine and leverages him to adjust Rankin’s upload to the ImpVerse - ensure everything from his last hour is not included in the transition. He does not want to, so she leverages him, revealing what she has on him - it is loaded for release in five minutes unless she says otherwise. It’s a lie, but her reputation carries weight. If he refuses, she does the same to him and finds another high level controller to do it. No-one will find out. This console and room has no history for the next fifteen minutes or the last fifteen. As far as the logs show, he is still in the ImpVerse, working in his isolated bubble. He does what she asks and she tells him to return to his bubble. It never happened, or there are consequences for him and his loved ones, but she didnt have to say that. He is used to turning away from things that are morally corrupt - hints at the leverage. She knows he will not say a thing.
Musings
Problems: She doesnt know how to open the lock Infiltration team bearing down. Dementia getting worse Add to it - Fix can’t get a good enough connection to Leon - it needs to be strengthened.
Summary of this step - Need to make sure the tension does not fall away for her… we may need her doing something nasty to Rankin as well — that would be juicy….
Situation Prior in Leon’s Step: She has just told Leon the cryptic clues - no other help.Getting cryptic clues from theoretical ImpVerse scientist and philosopher about only those with no past can move through the ImpVerse freely, and see what it really is, as opposed to what their conscious tells them is there… Step One: Flashback of her time with Emmet - things getting fuzzier. Stimulant. She loves the rat and gives is affection. She connects to Fix, and she ports him into the machine, but he needs a stronger link to Leon, on the other side to get Jem to him. She preps Leon with a mask, oxygen tank and wire around his ankle, but she hesistates before doing all the steps. She does it because she may need him longer than the time it takes for him to drown. She sees scientists crowding the doorway at the mind scanner, and the team outside. Her time is up unless she can think. First things first, she makes a spectacle of stabbing Leon several times, pretends to cut his throat and pushes him in to the goo. She makes sure there is plenty of blood. Stronger connection guaranteed. He better work quickly. Rankin is there and the scientists part. They converse and a deal is made. He does not fully believe her, but he has enough doubts to delay the transition team. Why the violence? He thought she would enjoy one last rush. He is right. She did enjoy it. She lays out her plan: one scientist - a compromised one to manipulate - and the rest stay out. The perpetrator is dead - he’s a Catholic: Leon, a professional infiltrator - she was warned late, hence her running here. She works for a team, but will need some time to gather further information. She will bring them in for a thorough breaking down as soon as she can. Rankin had cut her off from her team, and wouldn’t take his calls. Blood everywhere, so she knows he is dead. She felt bone on the knife. He isnt coming back. The goo will eat him. Rankin checks the machine. All working it seems to be working. He killed one of the founders - not that it matters. He must have been trying to destroy the ImpVerse, or free them. He got one of them, and it was lucky that she arrived. Not that is really matters much anyway. They are almost redundant.
He tells her to do what she can. The threat appears to have been resolved outside. They seem to have gotten away. The building needs a good polish though. No casualites. Just bruised egos. It wont make the public. It is brazen though. He is concerned there may be something to her threat of the Catholics. He wants her to take charge of the investigation. She has a stay of transition. She says that is best, although her body does not like the idea of it too much longer. Maybe a couple of years, until it is all resolved - she wants time to get someone else in if Leon fails. He laughs and says she he can maybe buy her a few hours. She doesn’t need a body to keep working for ImpCorp. Did she ever think she was going to stop working, just because she had transitioned?
The squad is outside, waiting for her to leave the room. When she does, they will continue what they started, although, not with bullets this time. Let’s go with the nice booze, some music and a quiet injection instead, huh? He agrees.
Continue with this step. Reflection on how well she has prepared him. The cryptic clues have been composed of fragments of what she can find of Emmet from the early days.
Flashback - she wanted to find him and he said she will not be able to. She should give up and move on, but she will not. He was to be locked away - she needs to move on. He understands why it will happen. How can he stop what the ImpVerse will be? Just for himself? She says they should wait for another way. He tells her there is no other way.
Reflection - she found one of the theoretical scientists from the foundation of the ImpVerse. Only a person with no past can find their way through. And who does not have a past? She considers her dementia, but knows that she has too much past for it to work. Her past is the problem. It is an anchor that snags her below the water when she can least afford it - irony, as she is already fixed on the past. It is the present she has a problem with. And she has already tried. Hence the wiping of Leon’s memory. Repeatedly. He was not the only one, but he was the only one to survive. And he grew hungrier than the rest.
Works to open the portal from The Real, with a link to Leon. She opens access to Fix, who works from outside to enable them to work it from The Real as well. The rat needs to hide, but maintain connection to Leon. She takes a stimulant. So tired.
Opens gateway to Fix via the rat. Leon difficulty. Interference. Needs a stronger connection. Stabs and dips Leon in the goo - ads breathing mask though - compassion but thinks it appropriate. She might need him later. She also needs him to last longer than the next few minutes - mask and tank for maintennance. Just before Leon sequences two.
She is seen stabbing him in the back and pushing him in - thankfully the tank is not seen. He has a cable to him, if she needs to get him back, but he is out of reach. She tells them to leave him. He is not surviving what she did to him. They saw it. The goo will absorb him. He was dead before he went in. She made sure of that.
She can tell one of the scientists are talking to someone higher up. Likely Rankin. She sees him, more concerned about her than the ImpVerse, so she calls Rankin - call off the hit squad. She has just killed an infiltrator in the vat. There may be more about. This is a crisis. Catholic conspirator. She heard about him from one of her contacts. She had an inkling he was going to try, but they would not believe her they were even a threat. This is what you get when you deny there is even a darker part to the world. She got him before he could do anything, but she cannot be sure they are are not disrupting things through out hte building. She will deploy her resources to help find them. He says she does not have any more resources. She is no longer in charge of anything. She says is appears as though she is at the moment. Is he saying he is in control of this? He was the one who ignored her suggestions that an attack was imminent. And look where they are now? She tried to tell him, but he was more concerned with transitioning than protecting ImpCorp.
He folds. The transition squad is called off, for now. She had won that battle. He is coming down. He tells her he is coming down. She tells him not to bother. What will he add? She suggests he give her command of the squad. She will take care of screening the scientists in the room. He got in here somehow. She has already acertained that they got access to the mind scanner somehow. The register appears to have copied a profile - it seems to be hers. It is lucky she came here, or the entrance would not have been noticed. A double entry would have been the only suggestion something was off.
The squad is outside the room. It is best if she is able to screen the remaining scientists one by one and send them out. There are some things that a mind scanner do not pick up. If one made it in, there may be more. She says the first scientist - needs a better name - will stay with her to investigate the workings of the machine, just to be sure.
He reluctantly agrees. He is going to keep it between them both. He asks how her mind is. She says it has never been better. It is a lie. She is wavering. She lives for these moments. How many times does he think she has saved them in the past? He says probably more than he knows. She says it is definitely that many. She says she will get back to him within the hour. She says he needs to keep it tight. No-one can know about this. The conspirators need to think that the mission is going according to plan.
She has control of the room. It is an unexpected win, but she knows it will not last long. The scientist is searching the console. If they look too closesly though, her plan will unravel.
She leaves the room and eyes off the squad so she can make contact with her former number one. She asks him for information on a list of scientists but he is reluctant. She tells him she just had a word with Rankin, and she is back on control. He laughs and tells him he is happy with that. He was not looking forward to whoever it was they were sending over. He just found out about it this morning. He is sorry they are doing that to her. She says he still can’t lie for shit. He laughs, and says he is actually telling the truth. He likes working for someone he can’t trust, but in a good way. She always knew he had his back, and he always had hers. She agrees. He does not have confirmation, but will do it anyway for old times sake. He shares a name and tells her what he has been up to. She thanks him, and tells him she does not trust Rankin either, but she is going to run with it for now. He wishes her luck.
She ejects the scientists, who are fretting about the impverse, but she tells them they have had an infiltrator in the building. Any one of them could be involved. She is here to solve it. Anyone objecting and the transition team out there are here to detain under the assumption of guilt. A team member will be along to interview them soon. They are to plug back in and continue their work, or wait outside. They plug back in.
She tells the one she wants to stay and tells him he is to look like he is monotoring the machine, but not to do anything. He protests, and she says a few cryptic words to manipulate him to agreeing to do what she wants. She tells him there is something at play here bigger than he is. Rankin has authorised it. There has not been an infiltration by a foreign party. There has been one sanctioned by Rankin. He wished to test the security and it has failed. There is another conscious already logged in. He is in the soup. He is hooked up to the outside. His role is not to say a word. He is identified as compromised already. She is saving him by recruiting him. She intercepted the information about a year ago - she is using it to her advantage right now, but it will be a one off deal. Once he does nothing now, she will destroy the information from the database. No-one will know, apart from her. He still resists, but she tells him that he is not the only one she could have used from the team. He was just the first. By refusing, he is only delaying what she wants by about three minutes and will burn his time here.
Step Three:
Knew the lock would break, but had to free him. Emmett rejection - doesn’t remember. Clash with Leon -
Return to the real - wants to bring it all down but won’t be able to.
Scramble of scientists. She says she caught an infiltrator - stabbed him. She triggered the alarm. Rankin there. They converse. Can’t transition anymore - no IMPVERSE would mean murder. She will resign though. It looks like that Catholics won. She should have been able to stop them.
Stabilises connection. She can’t figure how - maybe Leon? She uploads latest info to Suunto. Mind bomb. Moment of transfer. Suunto - She took his memories and manipulated him. What she knew about ‘code word’ should tell her she is different. She takes her revenge. Mind bomb part two - using the code word Ms Penumbra said to her earlier. The present connections break. She loses stability and a permanent dementia moment takes over - a happy ending of sorts. Her life reduced to her moments with Emmett.
Sequence One Leon is overwhelmed by the force of his connection. His conscious is splintered and he is quickly ripped from Nort’s tether. He senses the vastness intricacy of The ImpVerse and its interconnectedness and feels an overwhelming sense of humilty and shame over his selfishness. He gathers himself and reforms his connection to Nort, but senses that he is being watched by something outside of the ImpVerse, in the Abstract. Ms. Penumbra provides Leon with cryptic instructions to help him find the lock. She does not know where it is in the ImpVerse, much to Leon’s disbelief. He knows he figure out the clues and find the lock in order to repay the team for all he has made them endure.
Sequence Two Leon realises that to find the lock, he is going to have to reconnect with memories of his past, which will be difficult given he does not have any. He realises that he will need to find them, in order to find the fabric of the ImpVerse and follow it to the location of the lock. Leon thinks of a concrete item in his life, and reimagines it before him - something he knows intimately, that he knows was present before he can remember - his watch. It appears before him, and he opens it. The Abstract fills in the parts and he gets a sense of connection. He follows the connection between the cogs, and works to create a tear in the ImpVerse. He knows that by doing so, he wil alert ImpVerse AI’s to investigate. He has to work quickly. He glimpses a memory in the dark and it comes to him. It is not a pleasant one - waking from a deep dive, having a member not return with him. He is disturbed and it brings him back to the moment, and he feels himself react, but he absorbs the memory and the details start to fade. He senses The Abstract trying to flesh the memory out for him, but he stops it. That memory should be able to fade. He steps through the tear and it closes behind him. He is between the ImpVerse and The Abstract.
Sequence Three Between the layers, Leon can sense more memories. Another memory returns, this time a pleasant one, and he indulges a moment in it. It warms him and he lets The Abstract flesh it out. It is a memory with his mother. He is with her in ImpCorp. She is setting them up to connect to The Abstract together. She is telling him about the mind connection they are going to have. He sees her excitement and is drawn in. He is apprehensive - he is just a child, but he looks on with his own eyes, with an adult awareness of himself. He sees his mother for the woman she was and realises the woman he met is different to the woman here. His memory mother is younger in her eyes - she is discovering the world. The mother he met was at the end of the discovery. He is absorbed by the memory and forgets what he is there for. He wants to rest a moment and experience this. He is captivated and it seduces him, until his mother gives him her watch to wear - she tells him of the story of the watch - it was her fathers. It is hers now. Someday it will be his. They dont have much, but it is something that links him to her. It will be his oneday. She places it on his wrist, to know that he is connected to her and to his grandfather who he never met. The watch triggers a connection to his present day and he scrambles back to the present to resume his quest. When he returns - he has a sense of the fabric of the ImpVerse that will lead him to the lock.
Tags: #template
#sequence
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