Utilisateur:Destroy/bac-à-sable/TradC0DATexteOriginal/C0DA

Auteur réel : Michael Kirkbride Date de publication : 14/02/2014 Par Jubal-Lun-Sul, 5E 892-911 C0DA PAGE 1 IMG 1: ÉTENDU SUR TOUTE LA PAGE. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (VOIR LIEN ART REF) REGARDANT LE LECTEUR, MAIS SANS BRISER LE QUATRIÈME MUR. IL VOIT SIMPLEMENT QUELQUE CHOSE ET PAS NOUS, QUELQUE CHOSE DERRIÈRE NOUS. “DÉROULANT” DERRIÈRE LUI LE TEXTE SUIVANT. ====TEXTE SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE (POLICE DIFF)==== Ald Sotha Basse, 5E911 Maison Sul Maison Progénitrice, dûment noté sous la maison numérique, Approuvé Préfet de l'École Tournoyante Distribution Chronocule: décompte âmejoyaux: 78888-00-00-00-000 ====TEXTE CENTRE (POLICE REG)==== Mon nom est Jubal-lun-Sul, de la Maison Sul, dont le nom est connu et entendu à travers la Baie Cinglante et les Neuf fois Neuf Trônes. Notre seigneur est le Haut Alma Jaroon, de la Maison Jaroon, dont la cité est la Première Cité du Nouveau Nord, où tous ceux qui Allèrent-Au-Dessous depuis la Saison du Landfall s'établirent et firent la paix avec le Ver, quand nous n'étions pas Quatre-Vingt et Un peuples séparés mais Un, portant ensemble sur notre dos les tribrôles et creusant des tunnels par la lumière et la chaleur que tous les mers revêtaient, avec une égale poussière dans toutes les bouches. Mon nom de famille vient du premier enfant né dans les Velothiids, Haeko-dol-Sul, et, comme lui, nous sommes marchands de sel. Notre crête est la défense d'ivoire du tigre-chauve-souris. Notre lignée est immatriculée par C0DA. Les Numériques disent que nous venons d'une autre étoile, mais tant ont oublié. Pas moi, car mon lignage me garantit une audience avec Mémoire, et j'ai parlé avec les Roues de Lull. J'ai vu des preuves, comme tous ceux Montés durant la Saison du Landfall, quand les vents s'apaisent Au-delà, que tous peuvent effectuer le pèlerinage sous la bannière de Vehk et Vehk. Bien que beaucoup Au-delà ont renoncé à Mémoire, ils se souviennent aussi. PAGES 2-3 DOUBLE-PAGE ÉTENDUE AVEC ENCART: PAYSAGE VELOTHIID. Description: Nous sommes sous la surface de la lune, dans une série interconnectée de puissantes cavernes. Une grande cité rampe à travers toutes- ghettos creusés dans la roche, marchés rassemblés par chaque lac argenté, temples de quartz et de rubis se soulevant et s'élevant pour protéger les divers tunnels qui mènent dans et hors des cavernes. Les couleurs surgissent de tous côtés: lampes rouges, fermes cultivées de lichens et mousses rougeoyantes, et les signaux lumineux de transports de sacs-sloads dérivants et de cavaliers-guêpes vigilants. Foules de citoyens encapuchonnés s'accumulent de toutes parts, occasionnellement soutenant le palanquin de soie d'un marchand. Les serviteurs méchaniques circulent, leurs torses laissant des trainées de symboles mathématiques bleus blanchâtres. Cette civilisation s'étire même à travers les plafonds, avec de gigantesques stalactites servant de maisons à la noblesse, poinçonnées de fenêtres éclairées et de crêtes bannières, images stylisées d'étranges bêtes et d'inscriptions Daedriques. ====TEXTE SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE==== Jour présent. Velothiid. Désignation TEM: MORROWIND 2. Approuvé Préfet de l'École Tournoyante ENCART 1: EXT. MAISON SUL SOUS-MANOIR - “JOUR” Sur l'un des manoirs stalactites, un large, stylisé de la crête-bannière d'une défense d'ivoire galbée. C'est la Maison de Sul, et demeure de notre protagoniste. Une figure solitaire scrute la cité en contrebas depuis la terrasse d'un balcon. ====TEXTE CENTRE ENCART==== Ald Sotha. Sous-Manoir de la Maison Sul. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Ma famille a connu de meilleurs jours. Et mon but est de les retrouver. ====TEXTE INFÉRIEUR GAUCHE (POLICE TITRE)==== C0DA PAGE 4 IMG 1: EXT. MAISON SUL SOUS-MANOIR - “JOUR” Étroit à cette figure: Jubla-lun-Sul, un noble d'une trentaine d'années, drapé d'un kimono orné de tigres-chauves-souris styisées, ses longs cheveux gris nonchalamment détachés. Une petite torche tremble proche de lui. Il y a une arche sur la terrasse qui mène à une chambre faiblement éclairée. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== C'est un mensonge. Je veux plus que juste ça. Je veux une merveille pour la totalité de mon peuple. Appelez cela un copmlexe du messie, si vous le devez. Je ne le ferait pas sauf si vous êtes reconnu sous C0DA, du moins pas à voix haute, mais en toute honnêteté je le mérite probablement. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Mais, alors, les marchands de sel leurs sont donnés. C'est dans notre sang. IMG 2: INT. MAISON SUL SOUS-MANOIR - OBSERVATOIRE EST Jubal et sa torche marchent vers l'intérieur, à travers un “observatoire”— véritablement, un hall dont la pièce maîtresse est un planétaire fait de laiton et de fer forgé, comportant 16 planètes. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Après tout, la seule chose qui stoppa le Ver fut le sel. Ils y ont une vulnérabilité particulière. Du moins, ils en avaient une, mais ils se sont adaptés. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Mais, alors, le Ver s'adapte toujours. C'est dans leur agenda. IMG 3: INT. MAISON SUL SOUS-MANOIR - OBSERVATOIRE EST Divers miroirs de divination tapissent la pièce, leur magie enregistrant avec peine de pâles visions des tunnels qui entourent la cité. Des “télescopes” multi-articulés descendent du plafond nous laissant supposer qu'ils conduisent à l'extérieur sur la surface lunaire. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Ils ont d'abord fait ces tunnels. Alors nous avons pris possession du lieu et fait le reste. Mais nous ne sommes pas du tout supposés être ici. C'est en tout cas ce que je me dis sans cesse. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Voyez-vous, le fait est à propos du Ver qu'ils ne peuvent pas monter en Haut. Mais nous le pouvons. Et le faisons. Rectifions: certains d'entre nous le font, ceux qui sont autorisés.. IMG 4: INT. MAISON SUL SOUS-MANOIR - OBSERVATOIRE EST Jubal se tient devant l'un des miroirs, perdu dans ses pensées. Un tunnel massif y est presque indiscernable, une lampe rouge en illumine seulement une portion. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Tout le monde est autorisé durant n'importe quelle Saison du Landfall. Certains d'entre nous décident de ne pas le faire, depuis que c'est plus dangereux en Haut que ça ne l'est ici bas. Mais je devez y aller. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Je viens d'une très, très vieille famille. Les plus vieilles familles. Les progéniteurs. Une qui s'en est sortie, de plus, devrais-je ajouter. Le “premier enfant né Dessous” et toutes ces choses. En d'autres termes, nous avons l'histoire. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Si je n'étais pas parti? Les Numériques se seraient coincés les doigts dans des choses. Personne ne veut ça. Personne. C'est probablement pourquoi j'ai attendu si longtemps avant d'avoir mon propre enfant. PAGE 5 IMG 1: INT. TUNNEL VER VELOTHIID - TEMPS INDÉTERMINÉ Un tunnel de Ver, vaste, ses parois et son sol criblés de “trous sécurisés” pour permettre aux gens d'y sauter si un Ver approche. Trois petites figures visibles au loin, deux hommes dunmeri, un tenant une lampe rouge, et un serviteur flottant. ====TEXTE SUP2RIEUR GAUCHE (POLICE DIFF)==== Tunnel de Pèlerinage Sanctionné, 5E892 88ème Landfall Proximité de Menace Ver: Nulle. Architecture Tonale fixée sur le Thème: Opéra: Berceuse Approuvé Préfet de l'École Tournoyante ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Aucun enfant ne devrait avoir à voir ce qu'il y a vraiment là Haut. IMG 2: INT. TUNNEL VER VELOTHIID - TEMPS INDÉTERMINÉ Nous pouvons voir les figures maintenant: un Jubal plus jeune, habillé en robe pour la surface, plastron d'os, lunettes, heaume à visage ouvert. Il tient la lampe, une longue perche avec un ver-néon rouge se tortillant au bout. L'autre dunmer est Hlaalu Hir, habillé de même, mais son armure montre tous les signes de l'argent: bords d'ambre lacquée, badges de la station, une petite cape avec la crête de sa Maison: une parure d'écailles. Le serviteur est un ancien modèle: une tête de mort grimaçante en or et avec des yeux en lapis-lazuli, et une corde spinale rudimentaire tirant une ligne dans la poussière du sol du tunnel. ====HLAALU HIR==== Juste encore un peu, Jubal, ne t'inquiète pas. Garde ta lampe levée. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Pour quoi, muthsera? L'Alma a dit que le Ver n'interfèrerait pas, Hlaalu Hir. ====HLAALU HIR==== Ne sois pas si formel. Quoi qu'il en soit, on dirait plus qu'il ne peut pas. Je ne m'inquiète pas à leur sujet. ====HLAALU HIR (CONT’D)==== Et les lampes sont pour deux choses. Que l'on voit et que les coureurs des tunnels restent à l'écart. Ils n'aiment pas le rouge. IMG 3: INT. TUNNEL VER VELOTHIID - TEMPS INDÉTERMINÉ Ils sont désormais serrés, et pris dans la lumière rouge de leur lampe. Jubal regarde penaud et maladif; Hir sourit. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Je n'aime pas ça non plus. Ma tête. Ça nage. Devrait-je me prendre un deuxième cerveau? ====HLAALU HIR==== Ton bateau, Jubal, tu le fait flotter. Je ne m'y risquerait pas, pas aussi proche de la surface. Interférences lunaires et tout. Je ne voudrais pas de visions secondaires. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Quoi? ===SERVITEUR=== SILENCE ENCE/ENCE/ENCE. OUVERT ERT/ERT/ERT. SERVICE MÉMOIRE. MÉMOIRE FERMÉE ÉE/ÉE/ÉE. IMG 4: INT. TUNNEL VER VELOTHHID - TEMPS INDÉTERMINÉ Serrés. Des parties du tunnels ont des tableaux électriques enchâssés en leur sein. Le serviteur les scanne. Jubal et Hlaalu enveloppent leurs visages dans des écharpes de repos. ====HLAALU HIR==== Nous sommes ici. Tokbox, prépare la trappe. Et arrête de cliqueter, c'est ennuyeux. Prêt Jubal? ====SERVITEUR==== J'Y PEUX RIEN EN/EN/EN. HORLOGER SUR. L'HOR. LOGE. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Ma peur est/était illusoire. (Pourquoi est-ce que je parle comme ça?) Prêt, muthsera, ouvre la trappe. (Sans étonnement, le repos ne vient jamais.) Laisse-moi voir. PAGES 6-7 DOUBLE-PAGE ÉTENDUE: PAYSAGE LUNAIRE. Ils ont laissé le tunnel et marché en dehors sur la surface, des dunes de sable rouge, sucré, primant aussi loin que l'œil peut voir. Jubal et Hir scrutent le ciel. C'est une vision d'apocalypse. Une plus petite lune argentée siège dans le bord supérieur gauche, orbittant autour d'une planète brisée. La planète Nirn. “Terre.” Craquée, ouverte comme un champ d'astéroïdes encore maintenu dans un contour sphérique par des forces inconnues. Le côté droit de la planète se meut de roches et de feu en une horloge cosmique fantômatique. La planète a un “squelette” à l'intérieur, un système inter-solidaire d'engrenages et de pistons et de de roues, moitié-ici, moitié-ailleurs, recouverte d'une nébuleuse d'équations mathématiques que nous pouvons pas comprendre. ====TEXTE SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE=== La Roue Telle EST. Désignation TEM: NIRN. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Est..? HLAALU HIR Ouaip, c'est. Sympa, pas vrai? Les Roues de Lull, l'autre étoile, et cetera et tout ça, Nirn, d'où nous sommes venus. Regarde bien, parce qu'on ne revient pas. ===SERVITEUR=== HORLOGE. ===JUBAL-LUN-SUL=== Et je suis sensé lui poser une question? PAGE 8 ===IMG 1: EXT. MAISON SUL SOUS-MANOIR - “JOUR” De retour dans un des grands halls de la Maison Sul, de nos jours. Jubal et Hir discutent, marchants vers un salon de thé environnant. Ils sont habillés dans des vêtements ressemblant vaguement à des uniformes militaires. ====TEXTE SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE==== Ald Sotha. Sous-Manoir de la Maison Sul. Aujourd'hui. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Elle a dit… ====HLAALU HIR==== Jubal, mon velocipède est presque en train de vibrer. Je dois être quelque part et il le sait. Les syndicats ouvriers sont devenus pires que les logiciens mirroirs. Veut ça, a ci, mais hey, regarde, alors ceci va arriver. ‘Nouveau Nord’, mon cul. Tu connais la suite, alors dit-moi juste ce qu'elle a dit. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Hir, écoute. Elle a dit‘oui’. Elle a accepté de m'épouser. ====HLAALU HIR==== Attends… IMG 2: INT. MAISON SUL SOUS-MANOIR - SALON DE THÉ Alors que les serviteurs apportent le thé depuis un plus large serviteur Samovar, Jubal se retourne, son excitation désormais incontrôlée ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== ELLE A DIT OUI!! ====HLAALU HIR==== …? ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== ELLE A DIT OUI!! ====HLAALU HIR==== C'est le moment où je suis supposé étreindre— IMG 3: INT. MAISON SUL SOUS-MANOIR - SALON DE THÉ Jubal fait un câlin d'ours à son ami pendant que le serviteur porteur de thé flotte à proximité, essayant de ne pas paraître gênant. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== ELLE A DIT OUI!! ====HLAALU HIR==== Trois fois le rend réel, frère. Félicitation! Mais quelle affaire le fils d'un marchand de sel a à offrir au Haut Alma— ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== IL Y A UN MAIS! ====HLAALU HIR==== 'L'a crié. PAGE 9 IMG 1: INT. MAISON SUL SOUS-MANOIR - SALON DE THÉ Ils prennent finalement tous deux leur thé. Le sourire de Jubal est presque insupportable. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Hir, la Maison Sul s'unit à la Maison Jaroon! ====HLAALU HIR==== Je t'aime Jubal, mais les castes sont les castes. La désignation de ta famille n'est pas guerrier, c'est, eh bien, c'est sel. Alors, je suppose— IMG 2: INT. MAISON SUL SOUS-MANOIR - SALON DE THÉ Jubal prend un siège à une table géante. Derrière est hissée la crête-bannière de la Corne d'ivoire du Tigre-Chauve-Souris. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Oui, je dois chasser quelque chose pour mettre à l'épreuve mon nom! ====HLAALU HIR==== Tu es trop excité, et je suis vraiment désolé. Mais c'est la Saison du Sacrifice, Jubal. Elle t'envoie tuer le Ver, n'est-ce pas? IMG 3: INT. MAISON SUL SOUS-MANOIR - SALON DE THÉ Hir s'est assis aussi. Les deux amis discutants avec chacun à travers une distance ridicule. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Quoi? Non! Ma famille a déjà pris soin d'eux! C'est en partie pourquoi elle a dit oui! c'est tout à propos de ce pour quoi Mémoire m'a sélectionné! ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D)==== Je dois traquer et tuer un Numidium! PAGE 10 IMG 1: ÉTENDUE PLEINE PAGE. Le sable rouge de la lune. L'anéantissement de Nirn est éclipsé par le démeusuré Numidium, un robot fait de clous cuivrés, de la tête aux pieds, bataillant avec les divers minuscules dieux et héros qui s'opposent à lui. Certains volent sur d'étranges bêtes, d'autres volent de leur propre, d'autres encore utilisent des armes à rayons d'un âge révolu, pour finir, certains expulsent de la magie de leurs mains, yeux ou poitrines. Le Numidium, cependant, est victorieux dans cette bataille. Sans peine. Cela devrait être évident au vu des corps fumants qui jonchent le sol autour de ses pieds enflammés ====HLAALU HIR (V.O. SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE)==== C'est tout? ====HLAALU HIR (V.O. CONT’D - INFÉRIEUR DROIT) Ça n'a jamais tourné mal. PAGE 11 ===IMG 1: EXT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “JOUR” De nos jours, plan large, une des parties malfamées de la ville. Les bâtiments ici sont désordonnés, certains d'entre eux avec des étages supérieurs qui penchent dangereusement sur le côté. Mendiants et vauriens jouent dans les ordures. Au centre de tout, une salle d'hydromel ou club de gentlemen de mauvaise réputation. ====TEXTE SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE (POLICE DIFF)==== Ald Sotha. Le Corner Club. Après l'Audience. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (O.C.)==== Je crois que j'ai besoin d'un chat, Hir. ====HLAALU HIR (O.C.)==== Sérieusement? Est-ce que c'est un truc de Tigre-Chauve-Souris? ===IMG 2: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “JOUR” Au moins, c'est propre à l'intérieur. Les nobles se frottent aux charognards des tunnels. Serviteurs et démons apportent boissons et plateaux de viande de scribe à qui en demande. Il y a un cadavre assis seul dans une cabine que tous se contentent d'ignorer. Jubal et Hir sont assis à la meilleure des tables, avec une nourriture légèrement meilleure, accompagnée de chandelles. Une petite statuette d'un guerrier Khajiiti oublié est boulonnée au centre de la table, tenant une petite clochette. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Non. N'entraîne pas ma bannière là-dedans. Les tigres-chauves-souris sont— ====HLAALU HIR==== Les gens voient des choses différentes En-Haut. Faisons un autre tour, peut-être. Nique les chats.. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Muthsera, ils étaient là avant que nous y soyons. J'ai besoin de l'un d'eux. Tu détiens ce Corner Club, alors tu sais de quel genre je parle. IMG 3: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “JOUR” Hir tapote la cloche de la statuette avec une cuiller. FX SON: TING ====HLAALU HIR==== Bon. Okay. J'ai compris. On parle de visions secondaires. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Fais-le, Hir. Dis à leur khaj que je paierai. ====HLAALU HIR==== Sur la maison cette fois-ci. Tu as peur des aiguilles? IMG 4: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “JOUR” Un khajiit maigrelet approche de leur table, portant un large sac. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== … ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (cont’d)==== Oui. ====HLAALU HIR==== Compris. C'est un conduit, alors. PAGE 12 IMG 1: INT. TUNNEL VER VELOTHIID - TEMPS INDÉTERMINÉ Un tunnel ver. Différent d'avant. Jubal et Hir, vêtus de haillons, dans un cercle de lampes rouges. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Ce tunnel est-il sanctionné ? ====HLAALU HIR==== Nope. Tu pense que je suis stupide, Jubal ? IMG 2: INT. TUNNEL VER VELOTHIID - TEMPS INDÉTERMINÉ Jubal allume une longue pipe à skouma et inhale. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Pas du tout. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D)==== FNFFF ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D)==== Je pense que tu es mon ami. ====HLAALU HIR==== Bien. Prend-le doucement. Laisse le frapper quand il le veut et pas avant. Si tu précipite le skouma— ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== —“Mauvaises lunes dans un grand rêve.” J'ai compris. Juste. IMG 3: INT. TUNNEL VER VELOTHIID - TEMPS INDÉTERMINÉ Jubal exhale et tend la main vers un mur. Ses yeux emplis de rêves. Son nez saigne. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Juste. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D)==== Juste. Pas étonnant qu'ils cliquent. IMG 4: INT. TUNNEL VER VELOTHIID - TEMPS INDÉTERMINÉ TRÈS PROCHE: une gouttelette de sang tombe sur la main calme de Jubal. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Fais juste attention attention à moi. PAGE 13 IMG 1: ÉTENDU SUR TOUTE LA PAGE. Face lunaire. Les roues fantomatiques au sein de la planète morte. Les rouages ont des yeux. Des yeux de femme. Des yeux de femme avec des fentes pour iris. ====TEXTE SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE (POLICE DIFF)==== Observe. ====TEXTE SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE (POLICE CENTRE)==== L'Horloge. ====TEXTE SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE (POLICE DIFF)==== Tic-tac. Ça fait tic-tac encore et toujours. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Non. Ça cliquète. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D)==== Assez facile à confondre. PAGE 14 IMG 1: EXT. ALD SOTHA PLACE DU MARCHÉ 44 - “JOUR” Un marché tentaculaire, sur plusieurs niveaux, d'un style similaire aux Jardins Suspendus. Jubal et Hir revêtent leurs robes de noblesse. Cela fait se disperser la plupart des autres dunmers hors de leur chemin. Des centaines de dunmers sont présents, marchands, voleurs, au côtés de netchs mâles de chefs de la pègre auxquels sont attachés des têtes de serviteurs afin qu'ils puissent communiquer. Campements de khajiits chassant les garnements. ====TEXTE SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE (POLICE DIFF)==== Basse Ald Sotha Place du Marché 44. Présent. Approuvé Préfet de l'École Tournoyante ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Impressionnant. IMG 2: EXT. ALD SOTHA PLACE DU MARCHÉ 44 - “JOUR” Sur Jubla et Hir, passant par les échoppes marchandes: potterie, soie, sculptures lubriques, joailleries extraites de la surface. ====HLAALU HIR==== “Le jeune marié ne sera point condescendant.” ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Quoi? Je ne l'étais pas. Je n'ai seulement jamais été ici. ====HLAALU HIR==== Moi non plus. Au-delà des possessions familiales, des livres. Mais si tu traverse avec ça— ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Les Numériques savent-ils? PAGE 15 IMG 1: EXT. ALD SOTHA PLACE DU MARCHÉ 44 - “JOUR” Tous les marchands se sont réfugiés derrières leurs présentoirs. Un large doigt fantomatique pointe Jubla et Hir, venant de l'extérieur de la planche dessinée elle-même et à l'intérieur d'elle. ====HLAALU HIR==== Naturellement. Quand on parle du loup. ====DOIGT NUMÉRIQUE 1==== IMMATRICULÉ PAR C0DA. IMG 2: EXT. ALD SOTHA PLACE DU MARCHÉ 44 - “JOUR” Retour. Deux doigts envahissent la planche désormais, accusateurs, pointant Jubal. La foule du marché soit s'agenouille, soit fuit la scène. ====HLAALU HIR==== Contente-toi d'agir normalement. ====DOIGT NUMÉRIQUE 2==== JUBAL-LUN-SUL DE LA MAISON SUL. ====HLAALU HIR==== S'ils se mettent à jouer des instruments, pas d'inquiétude. Ils aiment la musique. Même si ça te semble différent de— ====DOIGT NUMÉRIQUE 1==== JE REGARDE CHAQUE NOUVELLE FENÊTRE. CHALEUR DE LA FOULE DU MARCHÉ. C'EST LA CITÉ DE DIEU, DIFFÉRENTE DES AUTRES. IMG 3: EXT. ALD SOTHA PLACE DU MARCHÉ 44 - “JOUR” Jubal avance, face aux doigts, au travers de la foule qui s'est prosternée. ====HLAALU HIR==== …et parfois ils font tout bonnement des trucs hors services. PAGE 16 IMG 1: EXT. ALD SOTHA PLACE DU MARCHÉ 44 - “JOUR” Hir ne s'approche pas plus. Une sévère lumière dorée commence à submerger le côté gauche de la planche. Jubal n'y prend pas gare. À la place, il nous pointe. ====DOIGT NUMÉRIQUE 1==== NOUS NE CHANTONS PAS POUR TOI, FILS HLAALU. NOUS CHANTONS POUR LUI. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Bien, alors, mais baissez d'un ton. Vous les effrayez tous. Vous êtes vraiment bruyants. IMG 2: EXT. ALD SOTHA PLACE DU MARCHÉ 44 - “JOUR” La lumière dorée s'intensifie et Jubal plus proche. Hir pose ses mains sur sa bouche, tentant d'attirer l'attention de son ami. ====DOIGT NUMÉRIQUE 1==== LE JEUNE MARIÉ NE SERA POINT CONDESCEDANT. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Il ne l'est pas. Il fait des achats. ====HLAALU HIR==== Um, Jubal. Regard de travers. ====DIGITAL FINGER 2==== TOUT LANGAGE EST BASÉ SUR LA SUBSTANCE. NE LAISSEZ PAS LES SOPHISTES VOUS TROMPER. IMG 3: EXT. ALD SOTHA PLACE DU MARCHÉ 44 - “JOUR” La lumière dorée n'est que plus puissante. Jubal lève la main vers le côté, indiquant le reste de la place du marché et sa population. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Je connais mes écrits, fantômes aux doigts effrayants. Bougez maintenant et laissez ces gens faire ce qu'ils ont à faire ici. C'est un marché, pour l'amour de Dieu. ====HLAALU HIR==== Je suis sérieux, Jubal. Ils ne sont pas effrayés par les Numériques. Ils sont— ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL==== Maintenant taisez-vous, tous! Il n'est d'aucun besoin de s'agenouiller ou de se prosterner. Il n'y a pas de castes ici! Du moins pas aujourd'hui. ===JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D)=== Levez-vous! Chacun de vous! Je ne cherche qu'à acheter une arme! PAGE 17 IMG 1: ÉTENDU SUR TOUTE LA PAGE. Vivec dans toute sa gloire, au sein d'un soleil d'or. Son corps moitié bleu, moitié doré, sa tête enflammée. Dans une main il porte Muatra, sa lance. Dans l'autre il porte un petit bouclier faite en coque d'insecte. Il lévite dans la position du lotus. Note de l'artiste: hors des détails sus-mentionnés, sentez-vous libres d'ajouter les vôtres. Nous regardons un dieu, ici. Rien de ce que vous ajoutez ne nécessite d'avoir du sens. ====VIVEC==== Peut-être puis-je aider. PAGE 18 IMG 1: EXT. VELOTH - JOUR Un ciel bleu, brillant, couvert par les rayons de soleil. Il y a un volcan au loin, en sommeil. Un petit garçon chimeri à la peau dorée regarde à cet endroit, sa main sur la tête d'un chien de nix endormi. ====TEXTE SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE (POLICE DIFF)==== Veloth. Tamriel. Nirn. Cœur Étoilé. ***Désignation TEM: MORROWIND (0). Ère Éffacée. Approuvé Préfet de l'École Tournoyante*** ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== À ce point, je devrais probablement expliquer qui était-ce. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O. - CONT’D)==== Il était un enfant de mon peuple autrefois sur notre vieille planète. Un enfant spécial. Il voyait les choses différemment de la plupart. IMG 2: INT. MONT ÉCARLATE L'enfant Vivec et trois amis, deux autres garçons et une fille, tous à la peau dorée, rampent à travers l'un des tunnels caverneux du volcan. De la lave en quelques lieux. Bien sûr. Ils sont enfants. Ça leur est égal. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Son nom était Vivec. Lui et quelques-uns de ses amis avaient trouvé une grotte très spéciale. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O. - CONT’D)==== Les noms de ses amis étaient Sotha Sil, Almalexia, et Nérévar. PIC 3: EXT. VELOTH - JOUR Le garçon Vivec a brisé ce qui semble être une pierre taillée en cœur. Il en donne alors des morceaux aux autres, dont les peaux prennent une teinte bleutée. Ils en semblent plus effrayés qu'il ne l'est. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== À l'intérieur de cette grotte, ils trouvèrent une pierre spéciale qui leur procura des pouvoirs. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O. - CONT’D)==== Alors ils retournèrent vers leurs maisons respectives. Ils pensaient pouvoir cacher ce qu'ils avaient trouvé. PIC 4: EXT. VELOTH - JOUR Image ridicule du garçon Vivec tenant sa part de la pierre devant sa tête tandis qu'il grandit jusqu'à la taille d'un géant! Il est maintenant devenu mi-or, mi-bleu. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Bien, ses amis le firent. Mais Vivec savait que son pays était assailli par des démons. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Ainsi il— ====VIVEC (POLICE STUPIDEMENT GROSSE)==== VIVEC FORME GÉANTE! ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== —disons, il utilisa ses pouvoirs pour chasser les démons. PAGE 19 ===IMG 1: EXT. VELOTH - LONGSANGLOT - LES QUAIS - JOUR Un jour grisonnant, poussiéreux, plein de cendres tombantes. Un Vivec adolescent, doré s'il n'avait pas été si sale, sans domicile, furieux, entassé avec d'autres des siens face aux quais. ====TEXTE SUPÉRIEUR GAUCHE (POLICE DIFF)==== Veloth. Tamriel. Nirn. Cœur Étoilé. ***TEM designate: MORROWIND (1). Ère Éffacée. Approuvé Préfet de l'École Tournoyante*** ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Le véritable problème est savoir quelle histoire lui fait justice. D'autant plus quand elle le font toutes. IMG 2: EXT. VELOTH - LONGSANGLOT - JOUR Vivec et les autres lèvent les yeux alors que les soldats de la Maison Indoril défilent, vêtus de masques d'or, coiffés de plumes, piétinant plus de poussière encore. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Vivec était le leader d'une bande d'adolescents vagabonds. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Ils auraient fait tout et n'importe quoi pour de l'argent. Tuer, voler, se prostituer. Ils étaient des catamites/gitons avec une rancœur et une habileté qui les forçaient à se concentrer. IMG 3: EXT. VELOTH - LONGSANGLOT - JOUR Un des soldats, portant un badge de rang, regarde Vivec et se gratte la tête. Nous pouvons voir qu'ils discutent. Nous pouvons aussi dire que Vivec est proche de cracher sur le masque du soldat. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Alors un jour, Vivec parla à un soldat qui vu quelque chose en lui. ====JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.)==== Quelque chose de spécial. Ce soldat se nommait lui-même Nérévar, de la Maison Indoril. (Ils ne sont plus là aujourd'hui. C'est une très vielle histoire.) IMG 4: EXT. VELOTH - LONGSANGLOT - JOUR An older Vivec, now dressed as a soldier himself, but no helmet. Instead he sports a mohawk and, holding a spear that he’s cobbled together, faces down an approaching army of ash monsters. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.) House Indoril was collecting an army to chase the demons out of their lands. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.) Vivec became one of their generals, but still refused to take their House name. He fought so well that eventually he became a god, so no one thought it wise to mention the above might be an insult. PAGE 20 PIC 1: TOMORROWIND – PULSE PLAZA - MORNING Large pic of people running around in a crowded chaos in the Neo-Victorian Tomorrowind version of Times Square. More than half of the people have TELEVISION SETS for heads, and these are chasing the others. The TELEVISION SET HEADS are only unified in their strange, replaced heads; otherwise, they are people from all walks of life: businessmer, construction workers, tourists of all stripes and races, vagrants. The speaking TELEVISION SET HEADS are spaced around the panel, each one chasing an uninfected CITIZEN. Their SPEECH BALLOONS are static-laden and jagged at the edges. TEXT UPPER LEFT (FONT DIFF) Veloth. Tamriel. Nirn. Starry Heart. TEM designate: TOMORROWIND. Era Erased. Whirling School Prefect Approved JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.) But let’s just go with my favorite. Every kid born in the Velothiid knows this version. I mean, it’s free on dreamsleeve streaming. TELEVISION SET HEAD ONE WATCH. (beat) ME. CITIZEN ONE GAAAAHHH! TELEVISION SET HEAD TWO WIDEST. SELECTION. LOWEST. PRICES. BEST. QUALITY. TELEVISION SET HEAD THREE FOLLOWING. THE. BREAK. CITIZEN TWO SOMEBODY HELP ME! CITIZEN THREE GET OUT OF MY WAAAAY! TELEVISION SET HEAD FOUR COMING. UP. NEXT! PIC 2: CLOSER near the edge of Pulse Plaza, Alandro Sul (see art ref) is running from a TELEVISION SET HEAD. Alandro has a camera around his neck and a signal watch around his left wrist, the source of the SOUND FX. TELEVISION SET HEAD LIQUIDATION! ALANDRO SUL ALANDRO SUL TO THE BIG V! COME IN COME IN COME IN! SOUND FX: ZZT ZZT ZZT. PIC 3: Alandro ducks into a nearby alleyway, the TELEVISION SET HEAD close behind. A frightened skooma-junky in the foreground notices them both approaching. ALANDRO SUL START RUNNING, BUDDY! TELEVISION SET HEAD EVERYTHING. SOUND FX: ZZT ZZT ZZT. PAGE 21 PIC 1: The junky is too slow. The TELEVISION SET HEAD grabs him as Alandro turns around raising his camera for a shot. The TELEVISION SET HEAD forces the junky to look into its screen-face. TELEVISION SET HEAD EVERYTHING. MUST. SOUND FX: ZZT ZZT ZZT. PIC 2: POV of Alandro’s camera, as the junky’s head turns into a television. TELEVISION SET HEAD EVERYTHING. MUST. GO. SOUND FX: SNAP! SOUND FX: ZZT ZZT ZZT. PIC 3: POV of Alandro’s camera, as the TWO TELEVISION SET HEADS stalk towards him— each speaking together, their SPEECH BALLOONS tangled. TELEVISION SET HEADS THAT. TINGLE. TELLS. YOU. IT’S. WORKING. SOUND FX: SNAP! SOUND FX: ZZT ZZT ZZT. PIC 4: Alandro lowering his camera, eyes wide. ALANDRO SUL AWW, NUTS. TELEVISION SET HEADS SWEEPING. THE. NATION. SOUND FX: ZZT ZZT ZZT. PAGE 22 PIC 1: In a blur, the two TELEVISION SET HEADS are entangled in metal pipes from the alleyway walls. Vivec hovers between them, smiling down at Alandro. Dust settles to the ground. VIVEC AREN’T YOU GETTING A LITTLE OLD FOR THIS, ALI? ALANDRO SUL V! THANK GOD! WHAT’S GOING ON? VIVEC SOMETHING STRANGE, THAT’S FOR SURE. APOLOGIES FOR THE DELAY, OLD PAL, BUT YOU CAN TURN YOUR SIGNAL WATCH OFF NOW. SOUND FX: ZZT ZZT ZZT PIC 2: On Vivec, who’s turned around, looking out the alley, his eyes glowing with his APOTHEOVISION. Alandro sheepishly clicks his signal watch off. VIVEC I WOULD’VE BEEN HERE SOONER, BUT THE MIMEODEMIC HAS SPREAD ALL THE WAY— (concentrating with his hyper-sight) —WELL, LOOKS LIKE ALL THE WAY TO MIDTOWN NOW. ALANDRO SUL TWO WEEKS UNTIL I RETIRE FROM THE NEGAZETTE AND THIS COMES UP? PIC 3: Vivec and Alandro, the former still in concentration. VIVEC (via mind-link) LEXIE? HOW’S THE POLYPORTAL? ALMALEXIA (via mind-link) READY WHEN YOU ARE, VIVEC! PIC 4: Vivec, floating, turns to Alandro, smiling, holding out a Muatra for his friend to hold on to. VIVEC ALI, WHAT SAY YOU GO INTO RETIREMENT WITH STYLE? PAGE 23 PIC 1: Vivec and Alandro in the alley. ALANDRO SUL DON’T GET ANGRY, V, BUT MAYBE WE SHOULD CALL, YOU KNOW— PIC 2: Vivec and Alandro, taking flight. VIVEC NEREVAR? ALANDRO SUL DUH. PIC 3: Vivec and Alandro, flying higher. VIVEC HA. WHICH ONE? GET READY. WE’RE HIGH ENOUGH TO DIVE IN. PAGES 24-25 DOUBLE PAGE SPLASH: Low angle looking up, as the five members of the Pseudo-6th-House (VIVEC, ALMALEXIA, SOTHA SIL, MOLAG BAL, and the UR) and Alandro Sul descend in a stable freefall through a monstrous white-hot interdimensional “tunnel” made out of liquid video. The walls of this tunnel look like waterfalls of elongated, gelatinous television screens, alien news channels, monster-filled sitcoms, and mercurial infomercials all stretching past at terminal velocity. Alandro looks quite terrified. He’s being held stable by his best pal, Vivec. Most of the super-people all look like they are having fun: Vivec is grinning, the Ur and Molag Bal are cracking jokes. Sotha Sil and Almalexia look stalwart and determined, but otherwise remain unshaken as they fall. This kind of stuff is completely normal to them. SOTHA SIL Everyone remember your pop-up blockers! Have your info-virals protex engaged! Lock and load! Almalexia will help us maintain physical and mental coherency! ALMALEXIA We’re freefalling in pure television foam, team! Ten seconds until the LZ and don’t waste one of them looking around or you risk pleasure-center infection! ALANDRO SUL HEY, V! IS IT TOO LATE TO CHANGE MY MIND?!? VIVEC YOU’RE ABOUT TO DOCUMENT THE PSEUDO-6TH-HOUSE PREVENTING EARTH’S INVASION BY THE INTELLECTIVE’S OWN VIDEOVERSE! TOUGHEN UP! (beat) HOW’S THE LZ, SIL? ALANDRO SUL THE INTELLECTIVE?!? SOTHA SIL ALMALEXIA AND I ARE STABILIZING A POCKET REAL, BROTHER! WE’LL HIT EARTH-TYPE GROUND! WE’RE ALSO WORKING ON GETTING THAT TINGLE OUT OF EVERYONE’S HEAD VIA OUR HYPER-AMYGDALAS! MOLAG BAL DAGOTH UR, QUIT STARING INTO THE SALES FOAM! THE UR BUT EVERYTHING’S ONLY $19.95! MOLAG BAL HEH. THE UR “MY GOD, IT’S FULL OF COMMERCIALS!” MOLAG BAL HA HA. PAGE 26 PIC 1: Large panel of the liquid video tunnel, ON VIVEC AND ALANDRO SUL. The UR can be seen in the background. ALANDRO SUL BUT WHO’S WATCHING THE CITY, V? VIVEC DON’T WORRY ABOUT TOMORROWIND, ALI, I CALLED IN THE NTH-GEN BOTTLEBOT RESERVES TO KEEP THE CITIZENS FROM HURTING EACH OTHER. IT’S ONLY THE INTELLECTIVE. RELAX AND ENJOY THIS. (beat) AND, AS ALWAYS, TRY NOT TO TAKE A PICTURE OF THE UR WHEN HE’S STARING RIGHT AT YOU, OKAY, PAL? WE HAVE ENOUGH ON OUR HANDS WITHOUT HIS SHARMAT SHOWING UP, TOO. LEXIE, SITREP! PIC 2: Almalexia, her eyes inky with some kind of negative energy. ALMALEXIA FOUR MORE SECONDS TO LANDFALL! PREPARE FOR A BIT OF DISTORTION AS THE LIQUID VIDEO SPLASHES UP ON ARRIVAL! I’LL USE MY INCONGRUITECH TO SYNTHESIZE THE WORST OF THE A/V INTO OUR OLFACTORY SENSES! PIC 3: On Molag Bal and the Ur, Sotha Sil sliding through the SALESFOAM in the background. MOLAG BAL SNIFF. SO NOW I’M SMELLING PRODUCT PLACEMENT. CUTE, LEXIE. PAGE 27 PIC 1: The team, falling through the salesfoam. THE UR WAIT, WE’VE GOT INCOMING! SOTHA SIL THE UR IS RIGHT! THE INFO-FOAM IS READING ALMALEXIA’S MANIPULATION AND FORMING COUNTER-RESPONSE SEX-AGGRESSION BREAKBEAT HORNET-SHAPED HOMING MISSILES OUT OF COUNTLESS GANGSTA RAP MUSIC VIDEOS! THIS MIGHT GET UGLY! PIC 2: Vivec, still holding Alandro, addressing the rest of the team. VIVEC NO LOSER TALK! WE’VE STOPPED THALMOR SUPER-SCIENTISTS, HIST PSYCHOPATHS, TAL(OS) MASTERMINDS, AND GIANT PLANET-BREATHING DEMONS, PEOPLE! DON’T TELL ME WE CAN’T FIND A WAY TO BEAT UP TELEVISION! PAGES 28-29 DOUBLE PAGE SPLASH with INSETS MAIN PIC: The double page splash is a giant pic of THE INTELLECTIVE (see Art Ref), bionic despot of a parallel reality. His “body” is in two halves: the massive bone-white jelly-mass of his GIGANTIC BRAIN-HEAD being lowered into a hundred-legged servo-walker. His bloated “face” splits into a perpetually maniacal grin, his eyes held open by hooks and wires to survey the cosmic channel surfing that is his home. There are several insets on the page, set in the liquid video landscape around The Intellective. Each inset is a gel screen, and each screen tuned to a different, hideous entertainment. Arrange the insets as you want; these pages are supposed to be disorienting. I mean, we are inside an alternate dimension ruled over by a brain-monster from the future. INSET PANEL (GEL SCREEN): Angelic rock stars ride their guitars past a glass tower of disgruntled office workers. INSET PANEL (GEL SCREEN): A manager screams: “What are you people staring at? Get back to work!“ INSET PANEL (GEL SCREEN): A rock star retorts from atop his floating guitar: “Get back to work? GET BACK TO ROCK!“ INSET PANEL (GEL SCREEN): A small fly on stage doing a standup comedian routine to an audience of spiders, a story covered by Sardy Sardukar, reporter of the Nth-Gen-Bottlebotley Beat. Fly: “[Open MANDALA (PEJORATIVE ACCESS), SPIDER EQUIVALENT (INSERT INTO UNCOMFORTABLE SEXIST JOKE) key wording/auto-COMEDY strategy/HUMOR VS. HUNGER]” INSET PANEL (GEL SCREEN): Spider audience, asking the same thing: “Eat or Enjoy or Eat or Enjoy?” INSET PANEL (GEL SCREEN): A line of golden-skinned sex-assassins, eyes flashing with blue-screen light. A scrolling video blurb floats beneath them: “TANTRICKSTER SEX ASSASSINS ALL ASK HOW MEGA IS YOUR MOJO IN MYFACE!!!” A creeper shot of Arkicide Demonicus, Daedric Fresh Printz of Bad Press looks both Sardy above and Vivec below, cuz 2 eyes suddenly. INSET PANEL (GEL SCREEN): Vivec, CLOSE UP. VIVEC (on gel screen) ZERO METHOD ZERO, PEOPLE! THE LAST TIME WE LET YAGRUM BAGARN THE INTELLECTIVE SLIP INTO OUR UNIVERSE, HE TRIED TO UPGRADE EVERYONE INTO ONE OF HIS OWN GIGANTIC METADELUSIONS! Back in the main spread, serpentine Tsaesci in lab coats and goggles oversee the upgrade of The Intellective, their lord and master. INSET PANEL (GEL SCREEN): Almalexia, CLOSE UP. ALMALEXIA (on gel screen) AKAVIRI MODEL CONCEPT-AUTHORING. FIGURES. Tsaesci 1: “You like?” Tsaesci 2: “You like?” Tsaesci 3: “You like?” Tsaesci 4: “You like?” Tsaesci 5: “You like?” THE INTELLECTIVE Oh, I don’t know. Can’t you JUST make it all more new? PAGE 30 PIC 1: Vivec CLOSE UP, separate gel screen than above, but same shot. VIVEC (on gel screen) THIS TIME AROUND, HE’S GOING FOR CONSUMER CULTURE AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL, WHICH IS ALMOST AS BAD! ALANDRO SUL HE’S MAKING ANOTHER NUMIDIUM?!? PIC 2: Vivec and Alandro. VIVEC WORSE, BUDDY. THEY’RE BUYING IT. PIC 3: Jubal in his study. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.) Needless to say, we did. We bought the whole shebang. Then time stopped making sense. Tomorrowind became that rotoscope deal you might fondly remember. And we ended up living on the moon. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O. - CONT’D) Rather, inside it. But I’ve found a way out. Alandro Sul was my ancestor. The escape route. I have the same confidence he did. It’s in my blood. PAGE 31 PIC 1: FULL PAGE SPLASH, character poses reminiscent of Page 10. THE PSEUDO-6th-HOUSE VERSUS THE NUMIDIUM IN THE INTELLECTIVE’S VIDEOVERSE, as photographed and documented by Alandro Sul. ALANDRO SUL (V.O.) OKAY, SO IT WAS WEIRD. BUT THEN, SO WAS EVERYTHING WHEN YOU WERE VIVEC’S BEST BUDDY. IN THE FORTY SOME ODD YEARS THAT I HAD KNOWN HIM, I COULDN’T TELL YOU THE NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SPECIES OF WEIRD I’VE SEEN. YOU NAME IT, AND SOME VILLAIN HAD PROBABLY TRIED IT, WORN IT, USED IT, ATE IT, SUBJECTED THEMSELVES OR THE WHOLE WORLD TO IT. AND VIVEC ALWAYS PUT THE WEIRDNESS DOWN. ALWAYS. HELL, I REMEMBER SEEING THE NEWSREELS OF HIM OVER TEARING STUFF UP IN ATMORA WHEN I WAS A LITTLE BOY, OVER AT THE WHIRLING SCHOOL THEATER. THEY’VE SHUT IT DOWN NOW. ONLY HAD ONE SCREEN. A BIG ONE, BIGGER THAN GOD’S FACE IT SEEMED, BUT ONLY ONE SCREEN. THE MULTIPLEXES HAVE TAKEN THOSE KINDS OF THEATERS OVER THESE DAYS. LOOKING AT THE PSEUDO-6TH-HOUSE FIGHT THE ANU-MINIONS OF THE INTELLECTIVE’S ALIENTERTAINMENT, WHERE EVERYTHING WAS A WASH OF MEDIA BLITZ AND NEWS BITES AND VIDEOGAME DYE ALL COME TO LIFE… WELL, I GUESS YOU CAN SEE WHERE I’M GOING WITH THIS. ANYHOW. ANYHOW, I RETIRE IN TWO WEEKS, HAVING BEEN A STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER AT THE TOMORROWIND GAZETTE FOR TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS. I STILL REMEMBER MY FIRST PICTURE OF VIVEC, SAVING A NETCH-ZEPPELIN FROM CRASHING INTO THE PNEUMATIC TUBES ABOVE PULSE PLAZA. IT’S NOT THAT HARD TO REMEMBER, THAT IMAGE. IT’S STILL USED IN THE MAGAZINES WHENEVER THEY DO A NEW BIOPIC OF THE BIG V. YOU’VE PROBABLY SEEN IT. WHO HASN’T? PAGE 32 PIC 1: FULL PAGE SPLASH with insets, character poses reminiscent of Pages 10 and 23. THE PSEUDO-6th-HOUSE VERSUS THE NUMIDIUM ON TOP OF THE CONTINENT OF TAMRIEL, as photographed and documented by Alandro Sul. Inset 1: On Molag Bal MOLAG BAL VIVEC, THE DWEMERI DEVICE, IT’S— Inset 2: On Vivec VIVEC I SEE IT, BAL! EVERYONE, GO GIANT-FORM! ALANDRO SUL (V.O.) WHAT’S THE WORD? SEMINAL? YEAH. SEMINAL PICTURE, THAT ONE. THEY’RE GONNA WIN THIS FIGHT. THEY’RE GONNA TAKE IT STRAIGHT TO THE INTELLECTIVE’S BIG OL’ ROBOT AND SOMEHOW PUNCH EVERYTHING BACK TO NORMAL. ALMALEXIA WILL TALK HER CRAZY TALK TO WHATEVER CONNECTION THE BAD GUY HAS TO OUR UNIVERSE AND IT’LL ALL FALL APART LIKE STRANDS AND EVERYONE ON NIRN WON’T HAVE TELEVISIONS FOR HEADS ANYMORE. MAYBE RIGHT BEFORE THAT, SOME TRICK OF THE INTELLECTIVE WILL SEEM TO TURN THE TIDE, LIKE, I DUNNO, A WHOLE CORPRUS ARMY OF HIST WILL FLOOD OUT OF THE SALESFOAM, BUT THE UR WILL SPLIT HIMSELF INTO A CASCADE OF DIFFERENT HERE AND NOWS AND TAKE CARE OF EVERY ONE OF THEM JUST AS SOTHA SIL STABILIZES THE SCENE WITH A WORD IN A LANGUAGE THAT DOESN’T EXIST YET, BECAUSE HE DOES STUFF LIKE THAT. THEY’RE OUR SUPER-PEOPLE. THEY ALL DO STUFF LIKE THAT. THE IMPOSSIBLE. THEY TAKE WHATEVER WEIRDNESS THAT THREATENS OUR WORLD, WHATEVER THE SCALE, AND SMACK IT BACK INTO SHAPE BY USING WHATEVER IMPOSSIBLE MEANS THEY HAVE INSIDE THEM. AND YOU KNOW WHY I’M SO CONFIDENT? BECAUSE I CAN’T IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE THEIR KIND OF IMPOSSIBLE… ISN’T. PAGE 33 PIC 1: EXT. ALD SOTHA MARKETPLACE 44 - “DAY” Back at the marketplace. Jubal has finally noticed Vivec’s appearance and he, like most everyone else, is taken aback. He doesn’t bow. He’s just shocked. TEXT UPPER LEFT (FONT DIFF) Ald Sotha Below Marketplace 44. Now. Whirling School Prefect Approved JUBAL-LUN-SUL I’m…not supposed to see you yet. PIC 2: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - EAST OBSERVATORY A golden glow subsides as Jubal and Vivec are now in House Sul’s tea room. They face one another in the same positions as they were at in the market. Jubal’s no longer shocked, however, he’s slightly perturbed. VIVEC Is this better? JUBAL-LUN-SUL No! JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) You just teleported both of us away from the marketplace in plain view. People will talk. PIC 3: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - EAST OBSERVATORY Vivec stands. No more floating lotus position. His spear and shield are likewise removed. Jubal has turned from him, dealing with some internal conflict. VIVEC I was only trying to help you. JUBAL-LUN-SUL You’re not hearing me. They’ll think I’m cheating. VIVEC I heard you. Did you hear me? JUBAL-LUN-SUL … JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) Yes. But not in the way I think you mean. PIC 4: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - EAST OBSERVATORY Vivec vanishes in a star of golden light. Jubal looks over his shoulder, frowning. JUBAL-LUN-SUL You “spoke of this in a previous life”— JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) —oh, sure. Just up and vanish. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) Sometimes? Sometimes, I think you’ve forgotten all the things you’ve ever said. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) I’m going to fix that, too. PAGE 34 PIC 1: EXT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - “NIGHT” Jubal stands on his terrace balcony, overlooking the city below. He’s wearing his kimono again. He’s had some time to think. PIC 2: EXT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - “NIGHT” Close and tighter on Jubal. He’s determined. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Tokbox, come. PIC 3: EXT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - “NIGHT” The servitor appears. Its death’s head visage is small comfort, but it’s enough to change Jubal’s expression, which is one of doubt now. SERVITOR HERE/ERE/ERE, MUTHSERA/ERA/ERA— JUBAL-LUN-SUL I’m sorry, that summoning was rude. There are no castes here, either. What’s your name? SERVITOR PERMISSION TO BE CONFUSED/USED/USED. DOES MODEL / MAKE / AAD SEMBLIO SECUNDA DELA NALIHHID CARPIO SEMBLEX / SATISFY THE HEAD OF HOUSE SUL? SERVITOR (CONT’D) DEAD LANGUAGE, CONTINUED MEANING, STRING-STRAND OF BOTH. MEANING REMAINS: IT’S MY NAME. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Then of course it does. I need you to send a demilitarized micro-wasp missile message to Hlaalu Hir. Priority: now. If we still have wax, then use the old seal. The one with the tusk. PAGE 35 PIC 1: EXT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - TEA ROOM - “DAY” Jubal still in his kimono, with Hlaalu Hir approaching. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Did you bring them all? HLAALU HIR I did. Wasn’t sure if you were half in the flin but I did it anyway. This cost me a lot. JUBAL-LUN-SUL I know. I’ll pay you back. HLAALU HIR Sure you will. Got a flask of sujama, if you need it. The sugar-surgeons say it’s going to take knives. PIC 2: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - TEA ROOM Jubal sits at the great table, his back to the coterie of khajiiti surgeons that start filling the room. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Then it’s probably a good thing I got over my fear of needles then, huh? HLAALU HIR Jubal. This is…um, I don’t know, but it’s… she’s not worth it. PIC 3: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - TEA ROOM Jubal has his hands outstretched on a dinner table, a few cat surgeons behind him. Their cat expressions are unreadable. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Sure, she is. We all are. Now hold my hands down. If I fight it— HLAALU HIR Fuck that. I told you it cost, and I couldn’t sell enough of the Under to get it back. You’re doing this. KHAJIIT SURGEON 1 Muthsera, should it please you, know that we have already perforated your back, neck spine, and ears with our own type of missiles. PIC 4: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - TEA ROOM Jubal, seated, is tripping balls, and he looks up. He has moons for irises, one silver, one red. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Say again. KHAJIIT SURGEON 2 He jests. They’re not missiles, they’re akin to what you call ‘whiskers’, only we have to throw them secretly at the patient when they’re not looking. Vabrissi, if you must know. KHAJIIT SURGEON 1 There is a proverb among my people. It goes: “Two moons, two paws, ten claws. Take but one away and you—“ JUBAL-LUN-SUL Dead language, continued meaning: cut them both off. PAGE 36 PIC 1: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal’s bachelor party at the Corner Club. Its regular patrons have been shown the door. Weirder guests have arrived: gods, monsters, gods and monsters. Jubal’s hands have been cut off. They are covered in bandages. He ignores the guests, and speaks to his friend. TEXT UPPER LEFT (FONT DIFF) Ald Sotha. The Corner Club. After the Operation. JUBAL-LUN-SUL I don’t— HLAALU HIR —recognize a lot of these people? Yeah. Turned into a cosmic shindig. Who knew? You ready? JUBAL-LUN-SUL I’m not sure. Do I look okay? HLAALU HIR For someone that just cut your hands off, sure. HLAALU HIR (CONT’D) On the day before you have to take your trial to prove you’re worthy of this wedding. Ask me? You’ll be fine. PIC 1: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal and Morihaus, seated together, the latter a winged minotaur. His bull head has a nose ring. TEXT UPPER LEFT (FONT DIFF) Later. JUBAL-LUN-SUL The nose ring. I really want to pull on that. Instinct. Sorry, I’m drunk. MORIHAUS They all want to pull on it. I mean, goes with the territory. JUBAL-LUN-SUL You’re the sire of the TEM, right? MORIHAUS ‘Third Empire Men’, yes. The ‘Thalmor Emissary Masser’, no. But then again they no longer exist. PIC 2: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal looks at the minotaur, giving half a smile. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Hnh. Timelines got broken. Makes it hard to put the right histories into place. In your version, you helped Men find their freedom, right? MORIHAUS No worries. I get it. I had an uncle had the same trouble, sorting out what when was when. Anyway, credit where credit’s due. MORIHAUS (CONT’D) In all honesty, I was a just demigod with a grudge on my shoulder. That whole freedom thing? That was my wife’s idea. PIC 3: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal sitting at the same table across from a Hist Tree. It’s wrapped itself all over its seat, its upper trunk and branches leaning down to not upset the ceiling. Tiny lizards and geckos crawl all over it. TEXT UPPER LEFT (FONT DIFF) Later. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Just a guess, Hist, but I’m betting you don’t give a shit. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) Okay, then listen to me. You’re not the Dwemer. I can probably safely say no one knows what you are. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) But the fact that you sent a fucking tree to my bachelor party says you’re listening. I won’t forget that. PAGE 37 PIC 1: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal and Almalexia, the Queen of the old Tribunal. She is slightly translucent but adorned in her ancient armor, tusked-mask and all. TEXT UPPER LEFT (FONT DIFF) Later. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Anyone else seeing you but me, Mercy? ALMALEXIA No, Son of Sul. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Good. Then what was he like? Your husband. Nerevar. ALMALEXIA Ha. Which one? PIC 2: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal alone at the table as a man-sized dragon approaches. It has no legs or limbs of any kind, only small and useless wings. JUBAL-LUN-SUL …bitch. AKATOSH May I sit? PIC 3: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Akatosh has managed to coil itself around its seat. Jubal leans back, drunk off his ass. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Sit. Will sit. Didn’t sit. How are you doing, Worm? AKATOSH Not well. I failed you. JUBAL-LUN-SUL You’re the god of time. You’ve always been on the clock. Clock’s broken. Are you sure this isn’t a self-imposed guilt trip? AKATOSH Maybe it is. PIC 4: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal has a moment of drunken clarity. He leans forward, holding up a bandaged wrist, forgetting for a moment he has no hand to motion with. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Hold on. AKATOSH Excuse me? JUBAL-LUN-SUL I’m not sure, really. But you I think you just said the magic word. AKATOSH I know. But, then, TIME IS BROKEN. AND ONLY WE CAN MEND IT. WE WILL ERASE YOU. PAGE 38 PIC 1: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal and Akatosh stare each other down, as Talos approaches. The latter is more Viking than Viking. His helmet has curled goat horns that are longer than his arms. His beard has to be wrapped up in his gigantic leather belt. In either hand, he carries a flagon of mead. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (to Akatosh) Walk away. You’re drinking with the groom on your brother’s dead body. Bad mojo, that, in any world. Yours is an empty threat. We’re spread too far for erasure now. But you knew that. AKATOSH FOLLOWING. THE. BREAK. JUBAL-LUN-SUL ANIMAL PICTURE, RUDE-WALKER, GO BACK TO THE LAMP THAT STAYS LIT IN WATER AND STORE NO MORE MESSAGES OF USELESS NOISE. WALK AWAY. WE’VE BEEN THROUGH THIS ALREADY. PIC 2: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” As Pic 1, only Talos is closer, smiling like Brian Blessed. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D)  ?PROUD RESIDUE, SOON DISPERSED, SERVE NO GUARANTEES MADE IN THOSE MOVIES AND DEMAND NOTHING OF ITS UNDER-SKIN. I AM THE GROOM. WALK AWAY. PIC 3: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Akatosh vanishes, leaving a greenish vapor. Talos, still holding the flagons, starts to sit. TALOS HO HA HO. Good one! JUBAL-LUN-SUL You, too, Tiber. Get back in line. PAGE 39 PIC 1: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Talos backs up, flagons in hand, his chest puffed out in great offense. A Nordic goddess, Kyne, approaches, with a hawk on each arm. TALOS Relax, moonboy, this is all just getting to your head. Shake the dragon and what not. That’s always a laugh, that. But to dismiss— JUBAL-LUN-SUL You mistake me, TAL(OS). Beware yourself. TALOS Watch. Your. Tongue. PIC 2: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal and Talos stare each other down, Kyne now close to the table, as her hawks fly off-screen. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Wrong response, Dragonborn. Faker. Half-beard. Borrower. VIRUS. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) NOW GET BACK IN LINE. If you’ve failed to notice, it’s not your party. PIC 3: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal and Kyne, with Talos backing away, frowning, still holding his flagons of mead. Priorities. KYNE I am the Wife of the Dragon of Time and the Mutant of Space. You, muthsera, are being most unkind to both. I blame the drink. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Stop it, Kyne. You are the mother of rain. Your banner is the Hawk. KYNE Wrong. I am the mother of tears. That kind of sadness has no banner. PAGE 40 PIC 1: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal and Kyne, whose head has turned into a hawk. JUBAL-LUN-SUL It should. We have them for everything else. KYNE Do you? Where then is the banner for apology? JUBAL-LUN-SUL … KYNE I think you should make it. And, as a wife, I would ask you to start with the manmer you called a ‘virus’. PIC 2: INT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal and Talos seated at the table. The flagons the former held are now toppled over before him. These guys are drunk. TEXT UPPER LEFT (FONT DIFF) Later. TALOS Women. JUBAL-LUN-SUL No, it’s more. It’s marriage. TALOS …I need more mead. PIC 3: EXT. ALD SOTHA - CORNER CLUB - “NIGHT” Jubal and Talos leave the party, holding each other up. JUBAL-LUN-SUL You don’t. Really, you don’t. That’s the half-measure we all take to deal with the very idea. Let’s just take a walk. There’s a tunnel nearby. TALOS Hmm/mm/mm. Processing/ing/ing/ing. TALOS (CONT’D) WHAT IS HAPPENING? I WAS THE MASTER OF THE LAST EMPIRE OF ALL MEN! I WAS THE RED JEWEL OF CONQUEST THAT MADE ALL THINGS RIGHT! WHY DID YOU CALL ME A VIRUS? PAGE 41 PIC 1: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal and Talos, outside now, in appropriate moonscape outfits. Jubal has his breather-scarves on. The “outfit” that Talos wears is particularly impressive: he’s just turned himself into platinum. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Because, one, I’m drunk and I see it now. Two, because you were at one time. You fed off of it. The mastery. And I can’t really blame you. Because the alternative? JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) The alternative means that one of us wins at the expense of the other. Just because. PIC 2: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Behind Jubal and Talos. Jubal points up to the great wash of light that was Nirn. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) See there? That’s where all of us used to live. But not without a price. Dead language, old meaning: The Arena. TALOS AURBIS. PIC 3: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal and Talos continue to stare at the Wheels of Lull. Talos, though, is starting to change. The platinum is going grey. The helmet he wears is fading from view. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Correct. Now get this: all of us? In the end, we were just put there to fight. More like, at the start. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) That’s simplifying things on some level I don’t get. TALOS Jubal-lun-Sul, you’re lying. PAGE 42 PIC 1: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal looks over at Talos, who has become Lorkhan (see ART REF). Lorkhan wears only a loincloth with the symbols of eyes stitched into it. His chest gapes open as a jagged hole. From it comes a harsh red glow the color of blood if blood was neon, and he has no heart. It should be plain whatever ripped out that heart did so violently. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Excuse me? TALOS/LORKHAN Anyone that cuts off their hands? They already get it. They knew they had the Arena in reach, but they decided to refuse it. PIC 2: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal watches Lorkhan as the latter holds out his hands to either side. The blood-red hole of his chest grows an eye. A woman’s eye. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Okay, you caught me… Lorkhan. It’s just way too familiar and it’s way too seductive. You know why? Just saying, you’ve chased that answer your whole life. TALOS/LORKHAN It was…it was the easy way out. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Exactly. PIC 3: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE The eye in Lorkhan’s chest is replaced again by the glow of neon blood. JUBAL-LUN-SUL I should meditate now. Time’s almost up. TALOS/LORKHAN And I’ve got work in the morning. JUBAL-LUN-SUL I’m sorry I called you a virus. You’re not. You’re a preacher. Good night. Give them all my love. PIC 4: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal sits down to meditate. Lorkhan begins to draw a circle around him in the red dust of the moon. TALOS/LORKHAN You’re forgetting something. PAGE 43 PIC 1: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal meditating in the circle. Silent panel. PIC 2: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal meditating in the circle. Silent panel. Larger, pulling back into the “sky”. PIC 3: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal meditating in the circle. Even larger, pulling back into the “sky”, foreground now filled by the giant spiky mass of the Numidium. TEXT UPPER LEFT (FONT DIFF) Above. The Battleground. PAGE 44 PIC 1: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal looking up at the Numidium. The shattered remnants of home beyond it. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Hello. NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) PIC 2: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE As Pic 1. JUBAL-LUN-SUL I guess you know the deal. I kill you now. NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL No, really, I do. I’d tell you it was my plan all along, but you don’t believe in those, do you? NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) PIC 3: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE As Pic 1. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Plans, I mean. But you will. Would you mind, you know, doing this face to face? NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL Serial contrarian to the last. Just do it. For both our sakes. I promise no tricks. PAGE 45 PIC 1: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal talks as the Numidium starts to shrink to a proper size. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Thank you. I mean that. The others got it all wrong. NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL Just get down here, already. That’s a good boy. PIC 2: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal talks as the Numidium continues to shrink. JUBAL-LUN-SUL In those others I include the ones who made you. The Dwemer. ‘The Dwarves’. Whatever. NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL Look, you don’t have to respond to anything I say if you don’t want to, but I already know you know that. So listen for once. Can you do that? NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) PIC 3: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal talks as the Numidium continues to shrink. JUBAL-LUN-SUL I’ll take that as a yes. And I know that any kind of ‘yes’ makes you do what you do, and that only ends in disaster, so hear me out. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) I’m going to start with some scripture from my people— NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) PAGE 46 PIC 1: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal and the Numidium face-to-face. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Whoa now, just listen. I promised no tricks. Can I just— NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL —okay, then. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) After that, I’ll end with some words of your people. PIC 2: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE As Pic 1. JUBAL-LUN-SUL “ACCORDING TO THE CODES OF MEPHALA, THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE THEORIST AND THE TERRORIST. EVEN THE MOST CHERISHED DESIRE DISAPPEARS IN THEIR HANDS. THIS IS WHY MEPHALA HAS BLACK HANDS. BRING BOTH OF YOURS TO EVERY ARGUMENT—“ NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL I know. Every other word makes you angry. Wrong word. Every assertion does. But just hear it out. NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL “THE ONE-HANDED KING FINDS NO REMEDY. WHEN YOU APPROACH GOD, HOWEVER, CUT BOTH OF THEM OFF. GOD HAS NO NEED OF THEORY AND HE IS ARMORED HEAD TO TOE IN TERROR.“ PIC 3: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE As Pic 1. NUMIDIUM … NUMIDIUM (CONT’D) (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL It’s literary and portentous. I get that. But the alternative? The words of yours? Those are easy. PIC 4: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal steps out of the circle. JUBAL-LUN-SUL “No.” JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) “No.” JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) “No.” JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) “No.” JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) “No.” PAGE 47 PIC 1: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal and the Numidium face-to-face. JUBAL-LUN-SUL I mean, really, you’re just being a brat. NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL Your philosophy is, for a lack of a better term, the Entitled Teenager. I know you wanted it to be something else. Something more pure, maybe, like Never Underestimate The Little Guy. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) But that just sucks, too. It gets you nowhere. It got us to this. Everyone ran here to get away from you. To avoid you. Landfall, day one. PIC 2: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE As Pic 1. JUBAL-LUN-SUL But at some point in time, we all have to grow up. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) Help me with my scarves. No hands of my own and all. NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL Do it. PIC 3: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Numidium begins to unwrap the scarves, exposing Jubal’s face. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Let’s face it. You were made to say “fuck it”. That’s not an answer that lasts. But, hey look, a lot of us took it to heart. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) Together, your people and mine, we joined forces, and said “fuck that shit” to the men that invaded our lands. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) Afterwards? Yeah, we turned on each other, like people do. But we took you. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) Because, hey, “fuck it, we won, we do what we want.” PIC 4: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Numidium and Jubal now truly face-to-face. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Then some other men invaded us. And they weren’t kidding around this time. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) Guess what? The only way we got out of it was to give you to them. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) Because, hey, “fuck it, they won, they get to do what they want.” PAGE 48 PIC 1: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal walking closer to the Numidium. NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL And the whole time? You were the escape route. You are ‘The Disappearance of the Dwarves’— NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL Wasn’t that hard to figure out. Mainly because other people did before me. But there was always this one unanswered question, tickling in the back brains. PIC 2: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Here it comes. Jubal halts, he needs an answer. JUBAL-LUN-SUL WHY DO YOU KEEP COMING BACK? JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) Red Mountain. Alinor. Reclaiming all the tone-shouts from Atmora that they took from YOU? JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) Stomping— to put it kindly— all of Hammerfell into the ocean to, I don’t know, remind its people of their history. And then you chased us here. What is the goddamn point? PIC 3: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE As Pic 2. JUBAL-LUN-SUL(CONT’D) I mean, really, and I’m really, really asking because no one ever has been, I think, brave enough: do you have some kind of unfinished business? NUMIDIUM MAYBE. PAGE 49 PIC 1: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE FULL PAGE SPLASH: Jubal and the Numidium face-to-face. Jubal is pointing at the Numidium with an arm that has no hand. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Don’t you dare do that! That’s the magic word and we promised no tricks! PAGE 50 PIC 1: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Jubal and the Numidium stare each other down. NUMIDIUM GREY AREA. GREY MAYBE. JUBAL-LUN-SUL I KNEW IT! NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) JUBAL-LUN-SUL YOU JUST WANTED TO WIN! PIC 2: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE As Pic 1. NUMIDIUM (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) NUMIDIUM YES. JUBAL-LUN-SUL …finally. Thank you. And I’m sorry. PAGE 51 PIC 1: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE The Numidium cocks its head. Jubal almost looks sorry for it. NUMIDIUM  ? JUBAL-LUN-SUL Don’t you get it? Your people tried to run, but couldn’t. My people have to run, and I needed to hear the way out. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) We’re finally talking the same language. PIC 2: EXT. LUNAR LANDSCAPE Larger pic for effect. Jubal cuts the Numidium’s head off with an empty speech balloon. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (SPEECH BALLOON EMPTY) PAGES 52-53 DOUBLE-PAGE SPLASH: LUNAR LANDSCAPE. Jubal lies exhausted on top of the decapitated body of the Numidium. It has no spikes now. It’s just a brass body with no head. Five different fingers point at the scene. Ghostly fingers. The Digitals. TEXT UPPER LEFT The Wheel As IS. TEM designate: LASTFALL. DIGITAL FINGER 1 REGISTERED BY C0DA. DIGITAL FINGER 2 NO MORE WHEEL. NO MORE LULL. DIGITAL FINGER 3 UNION. DIGITAL FINGER 4 THEN WE SING. DIGITAL FINGER 5 YES. TONAL ARCHITECTURE SET TO THEME: LOVELETTER: WEDDING: AMARANTH. PAGE 54 PIC 1: EXT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal is armored in the brass shell of the Numidium. His grey long hair is braided. He wears the crest-badge of his house. He has a hawk on one arm and a spear in the other. He is ready. TEXT UPPER LEFT (FONT DIFF) Ald Sotha. Under-Manor of House Sul. The Wedding Day. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (V.O.) “The fire is mine: let it consume thee, And make a secret door at the altar of the Aurbis, In the House of the Worm, Where we become safe, And looked after.” PIC 2: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal’s servitor appears, trying to take no notice of the change in clothes. SERVITOR GOOD MORNING, MUTHSERA. BIG DAY. PERMISSION TO CONGRATULATE/ATE/ATE— The servitor EXPLODES. PIC 3: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” The room is flooded with assassins from the Morag Tong. They are all masked, and carry varied weapons. All of them sport a Writ badge with Jubal’s tusk drawn hastily in blood. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Come forward, House Hlaalu. You told me it would cost. PAGE 55 PIC 1: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal waits as the Tong’s assassins surround them. Okay, let’s just call them what they are for the rest of this bit: dark elf ninjas. Hlaalu is simply wearing his military uniform, the same one he wore when hearing about the marriage. A formality. An important one in this culture. JUBAL-LUN-SUL The cats would cut off a Dunmer’s hands for free. “You think I’m stupid, Hir?” HLAALU HIR No. JUBAL-LUN-SUL So this is where all your money went. The Tong. HLAALU HIR Yes. HLAALU HIR (CONT’D) And other insurance policies. PIC 2: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Tight on Jubal, a micro-wasp missile slowly digging its way into his forehead. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Call it off, Hir. It’s hurting me. HLAALU HIR (O.C.) Me, too. PIC 3: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Tight on Hlaalu Hir, three more assassins approaching behind him. Hir’s expression is one of duty. HLAALU HIR All of this did. It’s hurt from the moment we started. I guess from the moment you started. I was there the whole time. HLAALU HIR (CONT’D) I told you this wasn’t worth it. I told you to stop. Want to know what hurts the most? PAGE 56 PIC 1: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal pulls the micro-wasp missile from his head with ghost hands that are rendered just like the digital fingers from before. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Hold that thought. PIC 2: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal throws the missile at a clustered group of the assassins, obliterating them. SFX: BDOOM! PIC 3: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal starts to run, lets his hawk fly. It vector strikes more ninjas. SFX: SQUAAAAAWKK! PIC 4: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal catapults over the planets of his Orrery, pouncing from one to the other, throwing his spear to kill four, ending with a throat-kick to end a fifth. PAGE 57 PIC 1: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” FULL PAGE SPLASH: Jubal is surrounded but still takes the time to address his old friend. Killing ninjas while he’s at it. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Tell me, Hir. I think I know. But, like you, I want to hear it from your own mouth. What hurt the most? HLAALU HIR You never told me what she said. PAGES 58-59 DOUBLE-PAGE SPLASH: LUNAR LANDSCAPE. Dunes of red, sugary sand leading as far as the eye can see. Jubal and Hir stare into the sky. It is a vision of apocalypse. A smaller, silver moon sits to the upper left, orbiting a shattered planet. The planet Nirn. “Earth.” Cracked open like an asteroid field still held into spherical shape by forces unknown. The right side of the planet moves from rock and fire to ghostly cosmic clockworks. The planet has a “skeleton” inside it, an interlocking system of gears and pistons and wheels, half-here, half-not, overlaid with a nebula of mathematical equations that we can’t understand. TEXT UPPER LEFT The Wheel As WAS. TEM designate: NIRN. JUBAL-LUN-SUL And I’m supposed to ask it a question? HLAALU HIR Yeah, but all private-like. We’ll back away. Give you some time. MEMORY HELLO. MY NAME IS MEMORY. THANK YOU FOR COMING. FEWER OF YOU DO WITH EACH PASSING YEAR. I GET LONELY. JUBAL-LUN-SUL …why? MEMORY BECAUSE I’M LEAVING. DON’T TELL THE OTHERS. IF THEY HEAR I AM, THEY’LL COME IN DROVES. MEMORY AND I HATE GOODBYES. PAGE 60 PIC 1: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal moves faster than we’ve ever seen, utterly ninja-killing the ninjas. Throat-kicking them all like a stairway, he jumps and grabs a planet from the Orrery. JUBAL-LUN-SUL My family’s name comes from the first child born in the Velothiid, Haeko-dol-Sul, and, like him, we are salt merchants. PIC 2: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal throws the planet at a group of ninjas, turning them into a star of blood-red paste. SOUND FX: THOOM! JUBAL-LUN-SUL Our crest is the tusk of the bat-tiger. PIC 3: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal is making his way closer to Hir. Digital fingers from off-screen are violently pressing the remaining ninjas into the floor. SOUND FX: SKNCH! SOUND FX: THKNCH! SOUND FX: STHPLAT! JUBAL-LUN-SUL Our bloodline is registered by C0DA. PAGE 61 PIC 1: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal has his ghost hands around Hir’s throat. Silent panel. PIC 2: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal chokes Hir to death. HLAALU HIR *uhk* PIC 3: INT. HOUSE SUL UNDER-MANOR - OBSERVATORY - “DAY” Jubal leaving the room. JUBAL-LUN-SUL Goodbye, House Hlaalu, you’re dead. And your crest dies with you. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) It was ugly, anyway. It’s always been the crest of compliance. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) You don’t get to know what she said. You would’ve just bought your way out. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (CONT’D) But go in peace knowing that she was right. Goodbyes are the worst. PAGE 62 PIC 1: EXT. THE TEMPLE BELOW Jubal is marrying the High Alma’s daughter at the Under-Temple of the Velothiid. The whole of Dunmer race is present. LARGE PIC. And it turns out, the High Alma’s daughter is Vivec. As a woman. The most beautiful woman you can draw. The priest is Lorkhan, his heart-hole exposed. JUBAL-LUN-SUL (EMPTY SPEECH BALLOON) PIC 2: EXT. THE TEMPLE BELOW Closer as Jubal recites his vows. We can kind of see that Lorkhan’s heart is perhaps a cage of a dragon. Akatosh. LORKHAN (EMPTY SPEECH BALLOON) PIC 3: EXT. THE TEMPLE BELOW Vivec recites hers. VIVEC (EMPTY SPEECH BALLOON) PAGE 63 PIC 1: EXT. THE TEMPLE BELOW Closer. Lorkhan’s heart-hole isn’t a cage at all. Or maybe it is. Akatosh, Time-Dragon, First Born, begins to eat his tail. The priest address the audience: if there are any here who would object. LORKHAN (EMPTY SPEECH BALLOON) PIC 2: EXT. THE TEMPLE BELOW None do. None would. VIVEC I— JUBAL-LUN-SUL I— VIVEC WE. JUBAL-LUN-SUL YES. PIC 3: EXT. THE TEMPLE BELOW The kiss. Lorkhan’s hole is no more. It’s healed. His heart is secure. All things are secure. PAGE 64 PIC 1: FULL PAGE SPLASH. THE COSMIC ISSUE— THE FIRST OF THE NU-MEN, A BABY MADE OF FLOWERS— LOOKING TO THE READER, BUT NOT BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL. IT’S IS SIMPLY SEEING SOMETHING WE’RE NOT, SOMETHING THAT’S BEHIND US. “SCROLLING” BEHIND IT IS THE FOLLOWING TEXT. TEXT UPPER LEFT (FONT DIFF) Ald Sotha Below, 5E911 House Sul Progenitor House, duly noted under the digital house, Whirling School Prefect Approved Chronocule Delivery: souljewel count: 78888-00-00-00-000 TEXT CENTER (FONT REG) My name is Jubal-lun-Sul, of House Sul, whose name is known and heard throughout the Scathing Bay and the Nine times Nine Thrones. Our lord is High Alma Jaroon, of House Jaroon, whose city is the First City of the New North, where all who Went Under from Landfall settled and made peace with the Worm, when we were not Eighty and One separate peoples but One, carrying the tibrols on our backs together and cutting tunnels by the light and heat that all mer wore, with equal dust in every mouth. My family’s name comes from the first child born in the Velothiid, Haeko-dol-Sul, and, like him, we are salt merchants. Our crest is the tusk of the bat-tiger. Our bloodline is registered by C0DA. The Digitals say we come from another star, but so many have forgotten. I have not, for my lineage granted me audience with Memory, and I have spoken with the Wheels of Lull. I have seen proof, as any who come Up during Landfall Season, when the winds die down enough Above that all may make pilgrimage under the banner of Vehk and Vehk. Though many Above have renounced Memory, they too remember. TEXT CENTER BOTTOM (FONT DIFF) NEW LANGUAGE, CONTINUED MEANING, STRING-STRAND OF BOTH. MEANING REMAINS: WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF WE.