Codex First Draft

Codex Script

Open to a large hallway filled with stasis pods. They are arranged in rows extending into the horizon; most of them appear dead, aside from one in the foreground, which sports a red light. A body is visible inside.

Zoom in on the active stasis pod. A young woman is inside. An umbilical cord is attached to her mouth. She is unconscious.

Close up of her eyes. She opens them. She pauses for a moment, puzzled, her eyes darting around her surroundings before she begins to panic and struggle. The light on the exterior of the stasis pod turns green.

With a cacophony of whirring sounds, the umbilical cord is detached and the pod releases the young woman, depositing her onto the floor. She lands on her hands and knees.

Claire: *COUGH* *WHEEZE*

She slowly gets to her feet, disoriented. She glances down the hallway, visibly afraid.

Claire: Alex…?

Claire: Hello? HELLO?

Her breath quickens in panic.

Claire: Is anybody there?

She turns to one of the other pods and peers inside. She finds a man’s decaying corpse.

Claire: OH JESUS!

She stumbles backwards and falls to the floor.  She begins crying and huddles in a ball.

She sobs for a while before noises down the corridor to her right catch her attention. She glances down the hallway in both directions, noting that the pathway to her left is blocked off by fallen debris. She hesitates before getting up and following the rows of stasis pods toward the noise.

She emerges from the corridor into a gigantic enclosure. Hanging from the ceiling are countless tendrils that hang to the floor, each splitting into a network of progressively smaller limbs as they reach the tip. Some of them are busy piecing together everyday objects and structures that resemble an average house, while others appear dead, hanging limply to the ground. For the most part the houses seem relatively normal, but several are somewhat off, including one with an inverted roof.
Claire hesitantly moves into the enclosure and explores one of the houses, which she finds replete with furniture and various appliances. She digs through the drawers of a dresser and finds clothing. It’s a bit too big for her, but she decides clothes are clothes and puts them on.  She pulls her hair into a ponytail and leaves.

After following the walls for a bit, she finds a corridor leading out of the enclosure, and takes it. About halfway in, her hears a clicking, clacking sound, similar to two planks of wood banging together. She pauses for a moment, but decides to ignore it.

Claire exits to corridor, bringing her into a smaller, much more dilapidated room, with various forms of vegetation pressing through the cracks in the walls and floor. She cautiously ventures further into the room, only to be stopped dead in her tracks by a creature digging through a pile of refuse. It hears her and spins around, barking something in a language Claire doesn’t understand.

The creature is about half Claire’s height with a long, broad, round body that tapers into a stubby tail. Its head is flat and rectangular with two grooves on either side that end in a pair of a beady black eyes. On the opposite side of the grooves are two compact eyes raised above the rest of the head by stalks. On the underside of the head are two curled limbs tipped with black fangs, positioned in front of a pair of circular mouths. Two muscular arms tipped with two fingers and two thumbs dangle from its undercarriage. Instead of traditional legs, the creature has a pair of naturally evolved wheels, comprised of ten solid, fiberous “spokes” tipped with claws that can be furled into a single limb for better mobility on rough terrain and for use while climbing.

The creature hisses at her before turning over its shoulder and shouting something. Two more of the creatures emerge from behind debris and charge at her. Claire screams and runs, shuffling under a small overhanging of metallic rubbish in the hopes that the aliens won’t be able to follow her. One of the creatures stops at the entrance and collapses its “spokes”, thrusting the limb into the opening in attempt to snag Claire with its claws.  Claire kicks at it, but eventually one of its claws snag her pant-leg.

Just as the creature pulls at it, a large, rectangular black foot drops from above and crushes its head. The foot pushes the alien’s corpse out of the way and steps out of view, the other creatures shrieking in the background. Claire pokes her head out from under the debris and sees a different creature, large (about half the size of an elephant) and gray, dispatching the remaining two wheeled aliens in a similar manner.

The creature has a short body sitting on four legs that resemble large, sturdy, segmented tentacles tipped with rectangular feet that each have four toes. Its head is triangular and massive, roughly one third of its whole body, with two rows of heat pits (similar to a viper’s) sitting in the middle of its face, two pairs of eyes nested at the ends of them. On its back are six flat spikes roughly four feet tall, with smaller spikes nestled in small pits at the base. It has a large, ovoid tail that acts as a counter balance to the creatures large head, and has a pair arms protruding from its chest, each complete with a hand with eight tentacle “fingers”.

With the Wheeler’s taken care of, the quadrupedal alien approachesClaire, the spikes on its back vibrating to produce the clacking sound she heard earlier. It extends a tentacled hand to her; in response Claire retreats back into the overhanging in fear.

Male voice: HEY! Get the fuck away from her!

A young man with mid-length red hair enters from an opening on the right side of the room, a backpack on his back and a shotgun in his hands. He fires one round into the air before taking aim at the gray creature.

Man: FUCK OFF!

He fires a round into the alien’s side. The creature jerks in pain before turning around and barreling through a patch of debris, creating an opening behind it. The man glares as it retreats before walking over to Claire. He bends down to help her up. She takes his hand and once up, she pulls him into a hug.

Claire: Oh god, I thought I’d never see another human face again…

Man: Whoa whoa whoa, watch the gun- yeah, me too.

The man holds Claire at arm’s length, looking her over.

Man: Are you alright? Did that thing hurt you?

Claire: No, I mean…yeah, I’m fine. I almost shit my pants, but I’m fine.

Claire glances over her shoulder at the exit left by the creature.

Claire: That thing though…I think it saved my life…

The man peers at the opening and shrugs.

Man: Well, whatever. It’s gone now.

He extends a hand.

Man: I’m Matt. You?

Claire: Claire.

She shakes his hand. Matt turns toward the Wheeler corpses.

Matt: So, uh, It’s a pleasure to meet you and all, but we should probably try to find a way out of here.

Claire: Yeah, that’s… probably a good idea.

They leave through the opening left by the gray creature and follow it down another hallway. On either side are several openings, but at the far end is a massive door with strange inscriptions on it. As soon as they reach it a small, circular piece of machinery embedded in the wall buzzes to life. Matt lowers his shotgun at it. A lens on the front of the device turns green before emitting a strip of light that scans Claire and Matt. It lets off a chime before turning back off.

Suddenly the door rumbles to life and begins crawling upward, revealing an exit to the outside.

Matt: Holy shit…

The pair glance at each other. Claire shrugs, and the two of them walk through the exit. From one of the openings in the hallway, the gray creature watches them leave.

It’s night time outside. The pair find themselves on a platform several stories tall, a sprawling jungle beneath them. Claire leans over, hands on her knees, and sighs. Matt, meanwhile, stares upwards, dumbstruck.

Claire: Jesus. We’re outside. We made it.

Matt: Uh…

Claire: What?

Matt: Look up.

Claire:  What are you-?

Claire cranes her head upward and gasps. The Milky Way stretches from horizon to horizon as usual, but the rest of the sky is dominated by a huge, second galaxy, giving off enough light to read by. The two of them stare, at a loss for words.

Matt: Where the fuck are we…?

Claire opens her mouth to respond, but is cut off by an obstreperous, booming noise.

BROOONG

BROOONG

Claire and Matt fall to their knees and clasp their hands over their ears. Behind them is a stone tower that reaches hundreds of feet into the air, built into a wall of similar height so long that it disappears into the distance on either side. A huge pillar of light fires into the sky from the tip of the tower, disappearing once the ringing stops.

Matt: *picking up his shotgun and rising to his feet* The fuck was that about?!

Claire gasps and points.

Claire: Look!

Off in the distance, a red flare streams upward over a collection of lights resembling a city.

Matt: What…?

Claire: A city!

The two of them stare, Claire’s brows furrowed in thought.

Claire: I think we should follow it.

Matt: What?

Claire: The flare. I think we should follow it.

Matt: Are you serious? We have no idea what’s over there! ANYTHING could have sent up that flare! Besides, we don’t even know how long it will take us to get there!

Claire: Whoever fired it off is obviously trying to get our attention.

Matt: Yeah, probably to lure us in and eat us alive or something.

Claire: Look, do you have a better idea? If you want to stay here, that’s fine by me, have fun hanging out with the murderbeasts, but I’m going.

Claire begins walking off towards a set of stairs leading downwards from the left side of the platform.

Matt: Urgh, goddammit, hold up, I’m coming.


It’s morning. Matt and Claire balance over a fallen log to cross a creek.

Matt: So, where ya from?

Claire: Berkeley, but I was born in Illinois.

Matt: Berkeley, huh? Were you studying there?

Claire: Yeah, psychology. What about you?

Matt: Columbus, Georgia. Worked in my pop’s autoshop.

Claire: Oh? How’s that?

Matt: It’s alright I guess. Hard work, though; old man runs a tight ship.

The pair step off of the log.

Matt: So you getting close to graduating?

Claire: Yeah. I’m supposed to graduate in three…

Claire stops in her tracks. Matt turns toward her. Tears are welling up in her eyes.

Matt: You okay?

Claire puts her hands on her knees and starts sobbing.

Claire: No…no…

Matt walks over to her.

Claire: I was supposed to graduate in three months…I was engaged…and now I’m in the middle of fucking who knows where, with no idea what’s going on.

Matt puts a hand on her shoulder.

Claire: Listen, it’s okay, it’s-

She pushes him away.

Claire: For all we know we’ve been abducted by fucking aliens, Matt! THIS IS THE COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF OKAY!

She slumps her shoulders and continues crying.

Claire: I can’t believe this is happening. I just want to go home…

Matt: Hey…hey…calm down…

He hugs her.

Matt: It’s alright. I’m sure there’s a way back, we just have to figure it out.

Claire sniffles and wipes tears from her eyes.

Claire: Alex is probably freaking out looking for me right now.

Matt: Alex?

Claire: My fiancé.

Matt: Ah…well, we’re on the right track. You had a good feeling about this place we’re headed to; we’ll get some answers and figure everything out.

Claire: …Thanks.

Matt: Yeah… and hey…

Matt smiles weakly.

Matt: At least they didn’t probe us…

Claire gives Matt a dire look.

Matt: …Sorry.

Matt clears his throat and looks over his shoulder.

Matt: Um, yeah. We should probably keep walking, that place looked a good ways away.

Claire: Right. Are we sure we’re headed in the right direction?

Matt: Well, as far as I know. It couldn’t really tell what direction it was in since it was night and a- BEHIND YO-

A creature in a black uniform grabs Claire, by the arms, while a second knocks Matt to the ground with a strange rifle with three barrels. Six more of the aliens file in behind it, each carrying a similar weapon.

Claire: AUUUGH!

The creature levels the gun at Matt, who’s gasping for breath. The alien is bipedal, with digitigrade legs, slightly shorter than the average male human. It’s covered in short brown hair save for its face and neck. It has a long snout that slopes into a shape similar to a camel’s with four nostrils, two in front and two along the top. Atop it’s head is a pair of pointed ears, and along its neck are two sets of ridges on either side of the throat, whisker-like hairs protruding from the ends of them. Its eyes are large and orange, the pupils black pinholes.

Creature: WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN OUR TERRITORY, FLATFACE?

Matt: *cough* Wh-what territory? I have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about?

Creature: Why are you on this side of the border?

Matt: WHAT BORDER?!

The creature lowers its rifle slightly.

Creature: Where are you from?

Matt: Columbus, Georgia! Listen we have no idea what’s going on, plea-

The creature blinks.

Creature: That tower, to the south. Did you come from there?

Matt: Uh…yeah…I guess we did.

The creature turns to one of its fellows.

Creature: Kos Veska.

The second creature furrows its brows.

Second creature: Zjevak? Ozjek veska desh vi? Ezek es?

Creature: Vis.

Matt looks on, bewildered.

Matt: Wait, what are you saying to that guy?

The creature turns back to Matt.

Creature: I told him you are “reborn”. The first in 22 years.

Claire: What?

Creature: Reborn. Everything that lives here woke up in one of those towers. Everyone thought yours was dead.

Claire: Okay, can we, uh, back up a minute? You speak ENGLISH?

The creature sighs and lowers its rifle.

Creature: Yes. I have, unfortunately, spent a lot of time around your people.

Claire: Our people..? So there ARE other humans here!

Creature: Yes. There’s a settlement just a half a day’s walk north east of here, and I’m sure they’d be happy to fill you in on everything. We, however, have better things to do.

The creature begins to turn away.

Claire: Wait- What…what ARE you?

The creature snorts.

Creature: We are Vazjati. I am Zjarl Vawn Tulis.

Claire: Okay, can you at least tell us what brought us here? What the walls are for?

Zjarl: Nobody knows what brought us here. All we know is that the walls separate environments, one enclosure for the species of each planet.

Claire: Each species…? Then why are you in this one?

Zjarl: Because our people came from the same planet. We just came after yours.

Claire: After…? What do you mea-

Zjarl: After. After you disappeared. Died. Went extinct.

Claire stares, befuddled.

Claire: We died? What…what happened…?

Zjarl: You fought a war. And you lost. Now excuse us, we have no more time for you to waste. Keep heading east until you leave the forests. You’re less likely to get shot that way.

Zjarl and his men turn and step through the brush, leaving Matt and Claire to themselves, mouths agape.

Matt: …what the fuck.