Journey as a Writer

<pre>''EXT. SWAMPY ALIEN PLANET - NIGHT'' (set: $game to "Space Commando") An eight foot tall SPACE COMMANDO crawls through underbrush. As he crests a small hill, he sees two of the alien ENEMY who are chattering about what to do with their HUMAN PRISONER. Space Commando assesses the situation. He holsters his AUTORIFLE in favour of a dimly glowing ENERGY SWORD, and begins to creep forwards. MUM (O.S.) (shouting) Tony! Time stops. |[[Investigate the shouting->Dinner table.]] or [[keep playing.->Ignore.]]|

<pre>''INT. BEDROOM - EVENING'' (set: $ignore to "n") TONY, a short and scruffy boy of 13 with a controller in hand, stands from his messy bed and turns the Xbox 360 off on his way out of the room. ''INT. DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUS'' Tony jumps the last four stairs and lands in the dining room to behold the meal prepared for him: fish fingers, mash and peas. His mother doesn't look up as she speaks. MUM Heard me today then. Tony sits down next to his baby brother, and as he begins to tuck in, his father finishes his mouthful of food and cleares his throat. FATHER Decided on your GCSEs? |[[Lie to him->The Lie]], or [[admit that you haven't.->The Truth]]|

<pre>''INT. BEDROOM - EVENING'' (set: $ignore to "y") TONY, a short and scruffy boy of 13 with a controller in hand, sits on his messy bed engrossed in the TV screen. On it, the world of the $game unpauses and he continues his silent approach on the enemy, painstakingly. Just as the he's about to strike, Tony's FATHER leans into the bedroom and flicks the Xbox's power off at the wall. FATHER Dinner. TONY What the hell! I just lost hours of progress! The man shrugs the minor injustice off. ''INT. DINING ROOM - MOMENTS LATER'' Tony sits next to his baby brother in front of a plate of fish fingers, mash and peas. |Sit in silence or attempt to strike up a conversation.| (click: "Sit in silence")[Tony stares at his food, prodding it with his fork. FATHER Decided on your GCSEs? |[[Lie to him->The Lie]], or [[admit that you haven't.->The Truth]]|](click: "attempt to strike up a conversation")[Tony raises his head and forces a smile. TONY How was work, mum? She doesn't get a chance to respond. FATHER Decided on your GCSEs? |[[Lie to him->The Lie]], or [[admit that you haven't.->The Truth]]|]

<pre>''INT. DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUS'' TONY Yeah, I have. MUM The sciences? TONY ...Yeah. Tony thinks he's gotten away with it but his mother looks at him for the first time. MUM (accusing) What's the problem? Tony sinks a few miles back into his chair. A few moments pass while everyone looks at him before he manages to find the words. TONY I don't think I want to be a doctor like cousin James. MUM (angry) Well, what //do// you want? You're running out of time, Tony. TONY I think I want to work on videogames. It's what I love. When I try to think of a dream job- MUM (cutting him off) Don’t you want to do something more useful? You could do anything. Save lives. It'd be a waste to make silly games! Nobody is watching Tony's crestfallen face. [[Give up on the dream.]]

<pre>''INT. DINING ROOM - CONTINUOUS'' Tony sinks a few miles back into his chair. A few moments pass while everyone looks at him before he manages to find the words. TONY I, I don't think I want to be a doctor like cousin James. MUM (angry) Well, what //do// you want? You're running out of time, Tony. TONY I think I want to work on videogames. It's what I love. When I try to think of a dream job- MUM (cutting him off) Don’t you want to do something more useful? You could do anything. You know, save lives. It'd be a waste of your talents to make silly games. Nobody is watching Tony's crestfallen face. [[Give up on the dream.]]

**//Part One//** SELECT GAME: [[SPACE COMMANDO 2: THE COMMANDING->Space Commando]] [[JUNGLER 3->Jungler]]

<pre>''EXT. VIETNAM JUNGLE - NIGHT'' (set: $game to "Jungler") An eight foot tall Rambo-lookalike crawls through underbrush. As he crests a small hill, he sees two of the VIETCONG who are chattering about what to do with their AMERICAN PRISONER. The Jungler assesses the situation. He holsters his RIFLE in favour of a slightly rusted MACHETE, and begins to creep forwards. MUM (O.S.) (shouting) Tony! Time stops. |[[Investigate the shouting->Dinner table.]] or [[keep playing.->Ignore.]]|

**//Interlude//** <pre>''EXT. TERRACE ROOF - DAY'' The sun shines off of frost as Tony, a scene kid at 16, sits crosslegged on the freezing tiles writing on a notepad. He ignores his breath clouding in front of him. He puts the notebook down and scoots closer to the edge, now dangling his legs over the gutter. It's a long drop. He rocks on the edge. His composure breaks. TONY (suddenly enraged) FUUCCCKKKK! The shout echoes off the houses on the other side of the street. Nobody noticed the outburst. |[[Regain composure->Part Two]].|

**//Part Two//** <pre>''INT. CLASSROOM - DAY'' A LECTURER wanders among a class of university students. LECTURER ..and remember, the deadline is 3PM on the first of April! Tony is tired, bearded, and 24. He turns to SAM next to him as other students break out into a din of conversation, for the most part talking about their writing. SAM So how's the script coming along? TONY Actually good for once this week. Struggling for character though. I feel like I should know who my protagonist is by now,and I can't settle on anything past act one without that. SAM Have you tried going through the handout on character from last semester? It has a bunch of super easy shit you can use to help, like, flesh a character out. Tony gestures that he doesn't know the document in question. SAM (CONT'D) I'll send it ya, pal. Don't worry. The lecturer approaches. LECTURER So Tony. We haven't spoken about it yet. What's your idea? Tony looks uncomfortable. He isn't confident. |[[Overcome it and explain the apocalyptic Scifi idea->Lecturer]] or stay mute.| (click: "stay mute")[ Seeing him struggle to answer, Sam speaks up on his behalf and speaks confidently about Tony's historical biopic idea. (set: $sam to "at that point in history") [[Give Sam an appreciative glance.->Lecturer]] ] (click: "Overcome it and explain the apocalyptic Scifi idea")[(set: $sam to "in the aftermath of the intergalactic war")]

<pre>''INT. CLASSROOM - CONTINUOUS'' The lecturer listens, eyes darting about. Tony has gone slightly red. TONY It's a stupid idea really, but I just can't get it outta my head. LECTURER Not at all! That's a fascinating concept. Don't put yourself down, really, I really want to hear where you'll take this. One question... Our audio fades as the lecturer asks a series of indepth and rigorous questions about the concept. |Use this inspiration to [[get straight to work on the project]], or [[play videogames to reward yourself.]]|

<pre>''INT. STUDY - DAY'' Tony looks like he's been on Facebook for a few days straight now. He isn't enjoying anything anymore. He leans back in his chair, begins staring at the wall. We watch in time-lapse as he does nothing but stare at the wall and occasionally read then ignore a text message until late that night. We see his phone's lockscreen. The current time is 23:59 March 31^^st^^. Back on Tony, his face suddenly screws up into rage. Exhale through flared nostril. The phone ticks over to 00:00 April 1^^st^^. TONY FUCK! Fuck me. God fucking damn. [[Become a burden.]]

<pre>''INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY'' Tony looks like he's been playing videogames for a few days straight now. He isn't enjoying them anymore. He puts the controller down, begins staring at the wall. We watch in time-lapse as he does nothing but stare at the wall and occasionally read then ignore a text message until late that night. We see his phone's lockscreen. The current time is 23:59 March 31^^st^^. Back on Tony, his face suddenly screws up into rage. Exhale through flared nostril. The phone ticks over to 00:00 April 1^^st^^. TONY FUCK! Fuck me. God fucking damn. [[Become a burden.]]

**//Interlude//** <pre>''INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT'' Tony lies awake in bed at night, eyes looking upward. A young woman, VICKY, rolls over next to him and rubs her eyes. VICKY Why are you just lying there? TONY I just... VICKY It uni? Tony doesn't commit to an answer. VICKY (CONT'D) Breakfast tomorrow, we'll write a plan for the week. I'll make you stick to it. Deal? TONY Okay. Tony finally relaxes into the bed. TONY (CONT'D) I love you. |[[Shut your eyes->Part Three]].|

**//Part Three//** <pre>''INT. GAME STUDIO - DAY'' Tony, 35, sits at a desk. In front of him, a blank page stares. He strokes his now-clean-shaven chin. TONY (under breath) Fuuuuuck fuck fuck fuck. Sam, now 27, wheels their chair over. SAM What's up? TONY Try'na come up with ideas for collectible story extras in the Pavillion level. SAM Hmm. More about the political situation $sam? TONY Y'know what. No. But you //have// given me another idea. Tony laughs. Sam flips the bird before overdramatically wheeling away again. |Write a [[passage left by an orphan fleeing war->End]], or the [[letter of a Leiutenant to her husband->End]].| (click: "passage left by an orphan fleeing war")[(set: $audiolog to "shellshocked orphan")] (click: "letter of a Leiutenant to her husband")[(set: $audiolog to "widowed Leiutenant")]

<pre>''INT. GAME STUDIO - LATER'' Page filled, Tony rises from his desk. He heads toward the exit of the small office past half a dozen others still working. In the hall he bumps into Vicky. TONY There you are! I'm headed to the speaking thing at the uni. You storyboarding all day? VICKY Yeah. Stop writing crowd scenes. //I// hate them, but the animators'll flip a lid. Anyway, good luck. Tony makes a silly face in reply, they kiss each other goodbye, and he walks out of the room. We stay on Vicky as she walks over to his desk, glances through the open document he's been working on. Her face shifts to compassion, then to upset as she reads the fate of the $audiolog. Next to the computer sits an action figurine of the $game. </pre>**//END//**