Phase-Shift explores the first mission of constable Jen McLean, recently transferred to Mars Precinct City Dome. Jen is accompanied by an A.I. earring called K.1. also known as Kay. Kay is her mentor and is there to make sure she follows the correct course of action, as well as be the entrance into the world for the viewer, and comic relief where possible.
She has been sent by Mars Precinct to investigate a gun seller in the warehouse sector for possible sales of illegal space equipment. Nothing has yet been done on this case, so this is a standard buy-illegal-goods-and-arrest situation. However, the plan to buy a gun backfires, so to speak, when the proprietor, Drax, thinks Jen is a Spacian, – a member of a club that collects space equipment – and immediately shows her something ‘better’ – a phase-shift space suit that can enable users to pass through walls, ceilings and floors without touching them – predominantly used by miners in the asteroid belt for easy shifting to closed chambers.
But Jen has a history with these suits, and we hear a memory of yelling and screaming when she touches the display one. From then, her simple buy-and-arrest plan goes out the window. She wants Drax to not only know why phase-shift suits shouldn’t be sold on a planet, she also wants him to feel what she felt when she lost someone to a suit. Her experience is her motivation for breaking the plan. The story then follows her as she chases Drax in a suit into the sky and through the core of Mars before capturing him in space.
I was motivated to write this story as many science fiction stories feature phase-shift technology that doesn’t work logically, in my opinion. Even taking into consideration Newton’s Law of Motion, if you’ve shifted matter to a non-matter form, either by making yourself only seeable from another reality, or turning matter particles into light, then logically you’ve also shifted your mass and momentum to wherever you’ve gone. If something becomes phase-shifted it should instantly be disconnected from the speed of the orbit of the thing it’s on and, relatively, be thrown off or fall through it.
On the surface, it is a simple space opera with a bit of pseudoscience and humour, exploring how technology can be dangerous in the wrong hands. On another level, I’ve added genre elements to enable various audience members to find something in the script they might like. A possible romance. A twist. A fan club. An annoying A.I. A strong woman fighting her fears and influenced by her past. A rejection of Newtown’s Laws of Motion when multiverses are involved. A, hopefully, original idea of flying through the core of Mars. Allusions to space mining, some subtle references to 20th century sci-fi, and a few scientific facts help keep the story within the realm of possibility.
I hope you enjoy it.
Neil
Phase Shift
FADE IN:
EXT. PLANET MARS IN SPACE.
CUT TO:
EXT. A GREEN FORCE FIELD DOME ON MARS.
Force field flickers revealing tall buildings in the centre. Successively smaller buildings dot to the edge, surrounded by an expanse of desert.
CUT TO:
EXT. MARS WAREHOUSE PRECINCT – DAY
Undercover cop JEN MCLEAN (25) female across a road from a closed warehouse door. Small alien lizard runs past.
JEN
(nervous)
Bloody Marzimals.
She stares at the door, then touches her faceted A.I. crystal earring. K.1.(KAY) Androgynous. Snippy. Audible to JEN, not others.
K.1.
Mars Precinct Mission commenced. Ready, constable?
JEN
(whispering)
Glad you’re there, K.1. Please don’t call me constable. Not yet.
K.1.
Jen. Elevated pulse rate and adrenaline. Abort?
JEN
I’m fine. Now let me concentrate. Otherwise, I’m going to forget something.
K.1.
Like your shield?
Jen slides a finger across a circuit in her sleeve. A spark of electricity cascades across the front and back of her black clothing.
JEN
Shield engaged.
Jen straightens clothes. Deep breath. Strides towards the automatic sliding door, which opens.
INT. WAREHOUSE DISPLAY ROOM.
JEN
Hello?
Lights hum on. Stylish room. Gilded glass cases contain guns from eras of Earth’s history. Carpet floor. Red rock walls. Back area in shadow. Guns in all corners whirr to point at Jen. A crackle from the wall. A panel lights up.
DRAX (O.S.)
Sorry. Restroom. There soon.
JEN
Thanks.
Jen looks at some of the displays.
JEN
(whispering)
He sounds nice.
K.1.
Yes. Like a quiet neighbour.
DRAX (35) male walks out from the dark. White shirt, trousers, trimmed beard. A lever-shaped gun ending in three spheres is strapped to his side.
DRAX
Well, hello! Welcome to my collection. The best this side of Mars.
K.1
He’s the only gun seller on Mars. Laugh at his terrible joke.
Awkward pause, then Jen and Drax share a laugh. Drax picks up his nametag. Pins ‘DRAX’ to his lapel.
DRAX
How can I help you?
JEN
Well, um, Drax. A small handgun, just to protect myself. You know those marzimals are everywhere.
DRAX
Do you have a license?
JEN
Yes, of course.
Jen gives Drax a card from her sleeve. He scans it. Old mechanical device on the glass tabletop – dial-up modem noise. They wait awkwardly. Drax attempts a ‘sorry you have to wait’ smile. Jen bites her lip.
K.1.
Programmed it myself.
Device beeps. Drax hands the card back.
DRAX
(winks)
Can’t be too careful.
K.1. (V.O.)
Suspect’s pupils are dilated. Analysis indicates flirting will increase probability of an arrest.
JEN
What?
DRAX
I said, can’t be too careful. Even got guns pointed at every visitor.
Jen checks out the corner guns, shudders slightly, then turns back to DRAX.
JEN
I’m glad your security is, well, secure.
K.1.
As your mentor, I urge you to proceed with the flirting.
Jen coughs.
DRAX
Are you alright?
JEN
Yes. New to Mars. Still getting used to the, er, atmosphere.
Jen goes to reach for her ear then changes the movement and places her hand on the counter, closer to DRAX. She smiles. Drax’s eyes narrow slightly.
JEN
So, maybe something small. Light. I’m not good at reloading. My hands can get caught on the chamber. Feel that.
Jen stretches her palm out. Drax raises an eyebrow.
JEN
It’s okay.
Drax touches her palm briefly and she takes it back.
JEN
See? Like baby skin. Those old handguns would cut me. So, I heard you might have something from, well, elsewhere. You know. From. Out. There?
Drax frowns, then rolls his eyes.
DRAX
A Spacian. I knew it. You don’t really want a gun at all. You just want space stuff.
JEN
What?
DRAX
I told him not to tell anyone. He’s probably told the whole fan club. Typical.
K.1.
Spacians. Collectors of space equipment. Mostly Harmless. Cross-checking members’ visits. Confirmed. Arnold Charlie. Last week. Go with it.
JEN
Arny hasn’t told anyone else. I promise. I want to get what he got. If you have any left.
DRAX
Fine. Credits are credits.
Drax heads to the back of the room and enters a corridor.
Jen stays back for a moment.
JEN
(whispering)
Why don’t I know about this? What did Arnold buy?
K.1.
No record of a sale. I’ll search.
DRAX (O.S.)
Come on!
JEN
(Whispering)
This is not going as planned.
FADE TO:
INT. TUNNEL ROOM.
Circuit-covered black spacesuit with a rectangular backpack and funnels sits on a display stool, lit from above. Behind is a table in shadow covered in old exercise books and writing pads.
Drax slaps his hand on the helmet.
DRAX
They can fit so much tech in this bad boy. Phase-shift fields, rocket pack and boot thrusters. Six hours of air. You can slide through a wall, skip the lifts, swim inside the sun. This is my display model. I have other colours at the back.
Jen stares at the suit in recognition.
K.1.
Jackpot. Bingo. Yahtzee. Phase-shift suits are illegal on planets due to the loss of momentum and limited oxygen. There’s a case in progress. No access, yet.
JEN
You can’t have one here. I mean. How did you get it? How much?
Jen touches the suit. Unidentifiable yelling and screaming echo that only Jen can hear. A memory. The sound fades again when Drax speaks.
DRAX
Miners sell them. 10,000 credits, and it’s yours.
JEN
I can’t believe you’re selling these.
Jen tries to disguise her dismay. Drax doesn’t notice.
DRAX
I know, right? Almost impossible to get.
JEN
Yeah. There’s a reason for that. Tell me about the power when the suit shifts to the other reality. The power shifts there, too, right? So, how do you push in this reality?
K.1.
Easy, Jen. Make the sale. Arrest. Interrogate later.
DRAX
I never thought about it.
JEN
You’ve been selling this to civilians and you don’t know? Look it up. What if you phase-shifted on the ground?
Drax realises she’s being serious.
DRAX
Nothing. I guess. Let me check the manual.
Drax turns on a light and rummages through the stuff on his desk. Pulls out a tablet. Swipes pages. Shows Jen.
DRAX
Look here. Momentum lasts for a few seconds between shifts. Simply shift back to this one, thrust, then shift out again. Good for short hops.
JEN
Yes, but, what does it say about not being in flight? Last page. Drax swipes the tablet manual to the end.
Tablet lights up with “WARNING” then flashes “LOSS OF LIFE POSSIBLE IF USED NEAR PLANETARY MASS”. Drax gasps and drops it on the table.
DRAX
No. I’ll prove it. My customers.
Drax finds and flips open a dog-eared notepad to a page of names, addresses and prices in illegible handwriting. Seven lines of details.
K.1.
That’s why we couldn’t hack him. Recorded on actual paper. He must be loaded.
Drax holds the table above the page, and the details resolve on its screen to text of the seven, including Arnold Charlie.
“Unable to establish suit connection” icon appears next to each of the seven names.
DRAX
(horrified)
No. They can’t all be dead.
JEN
That’s why they’re for space only, right, Drax? If you fall through a ship, no problem. But if you fall through the ground–
Drax freezes, facing away from Jen, lifts his head, sighs and turns, holding the lever gun in one hand and the tablet in the other.
DRAX
Too many questions. I should have known you weren’t really a spacian. That earring. Bet it’s a Kay.
Drax presses a button on the side of the tablet and the earring flares.
K.1.
Battery. Can’t send for-
Jen touches the earring but can only hear static.
DRAX
Hands where I can see them.
Jen raises her hands.
JEN
These suits kill, Drax. Only trained people should use them.
DRAX
No. I don’t believe it. They can’t be dead.
JEN
Put the gun down, Drax. You’re only going to make this worse.
DRAX
I’m sorry.
He fires. The blast hits Jen in the chest throwing her back towards the display room.
FADE OUT
FADE IN:
INT. WAREHOUSE TUNNEL. (cont’d)
Jen’s shirt flickers and sparks. She groans and rubs her chest, then stumbles towards the display room.
INT. WAREHOUSE DISPLAY ROOM (cont’d)
As Jen enters, guns swivel and begin firing on her. Glass cases explode.
JEN
Goddamnit!
She retreats into the tunnel.
INT. WAREHOUSE TUNNEL (cont’d)
Jen runs past the suit display and sees a light at the end. Touches her earring.
JEN
(whispering)
Kay. Kay. Can you hear me? K.1. Come on. Recharge, damnit.
INT. STORAGE ROOM. BACK OF WAREHOUSE. (cont’d)
Tunnel ends in a storage room with a thick glass window. More suits are dotted around outside. Drax is inside in a white phase-shift suit, powering up. Jen shakes the door handle. Locked. She bangs on the window.
JEN
Drax. Don’t use the suit. It’ll kill you.
DRAX
I should have known you’d be wearing a shield. (Sighs) Too many mistakes.
He taps a button on his sleeve, and the roof above him opens. He immediately launches up through it.
JEN
No!
Jen wildly looks around. Sees one of the red phase-shift suits. Her only option.
JEN
(Squeezing earring)
Kay. Kay! I don’t want to do this. I need another suggestion.
Jen angrily hits the front of the red suit. It neatly splits open in the middle. She gets inside and it seals around her, powering up.
K.1.
Battery recharging. Pursue. No. Wait. Not in a suit.
JEN
Too late. Activating H.U.D.
A heads-up display appears on her helmet glass.
JEN
Asteroid mining group authorisation Jen McLean. Suit. Directions. Up, on-shift for ceiling, off-shift for sky. Lock on to nearest active phase-shift suit.
K.1.
So, you’ve driven one before.
Jen’s suit blasts upwards, flickers as it fades through the ceiling.
CUT TO:
Jen in red suit leaving the building, shifting from transparent to solid, right arm punching skyward.
CUT TO:
Jen’s P.O.V. Heads-up display. Green circle tracking a white suit blasting towards the dome ceiling.
CUT TO:
Jen fast approaching Drax.
K.1. (V.O.)
G-loc and cerebral hypoxia risk.
JEN (V.O.)
I’m not going to black out. Drax hasn’t had the training. Suit. Maximum two gravities.
K.1. (V.O.)
Speed approaching 70 kilometres per hour per second.
Jen almost reaches Drax, but he blasts away from her at the last second, becomes transparent and shoots through the dome ceiling.
Jen slows. Conversation continues from within the suit.
JEN
What are you doing? We have to arrest him!
K.1.
Abort mission. Too dangerous. Mars Traffic jurisdiction only.
JEN
Patch me through.
K.1.
Not responding. Phase-shifted. Cerebral hypoxia suspected.
JEN
So, he can’t shift back?
K.1.
Still not shifted.
JEN
Target the road. Accelerate to 2gs. Phase-shift before contact.
Jen’s suit turns and plummets back towards the ground.
K.1.
What are you doing?
JEN
Orbital speed of Mars?
K.1.
1,450 kilometres a minute. Zero percent chance of catching him at that speed.
JEN
Well. Maybe not here.
K.1.
I forbid it.
JEN
You can’t. It’s now a rescue.
CUT TO:
Horrified face of Drax in helmet, hands grasping at nothing, falling backwards towards the ground.
CUT TO:
Drax shoots past Jen, down through the street’s surface like a lightning bolt, leaving no mark.
Jen becomes transparent and plummets into the ground where Drax went.
CUT TO:
INT. MARS INTERIOR LEVELS
Jen’s P.O.V. High speed, passing through steel pipes, tunnels, a lake, a fossilized flying saucer, alien bones, ice, lava, then darkness while in the core.
Jen’s H.U.D shows outlines of metal deposits. Nickel, Iron, and other elements briefly flicker on screen.
JEN
We’re in the core already? Where is he?
K.1.
9 o’clock.
Drax’s position appears on the H.U.D.
JEN
I see him.
K.1.
Connection established. He’s awake.
JEN
Drax. Don’t phase shift out. You’re in the centre of Mars.
DRAX
Forget me. It’s over.
JEN
I’m not letting another shifty idiot die on my watch.
K.1
Exiting the core.
Jen’s P.O.V. Jen and Drax plummet back out of the ground on the other side of Mars and shoot into space like two bullets.
CUT TO:
Mars in space speeding away, becoming a small red ball. Transparent red suit gaining on the transparent white suit.
The red suit flickers, becomes solid, then fires rockets, closes in on the white suit. Flickers again and becomes transparent.
CUT TO:
Jen’s P.O.V. Reaching an arm out and grabbing Drax.
JEN
Suit. Phase shift both.
Both suits flicker and become solid.
JEN
Drax. You’re under arrest. Kay. Alert Mars Precinct. Let them know we have another one for their collection. Oh, and to hurry up. There’s not much air left.
K.1
Confirmed. Launching rescue craft now. Well done, constable McLean.
JEN
Is every day like this?
K.1.
No. Some days are actually exciting.
LATER
EXT. MARS WARHOUSE PRECINCT – EVENING
Jen outside warehouse, holding the dog-eared notebook.
JEN
Mars Precinct confirmed the other seven were rescued when they also fell through Mars. Why couldn’t the tablet connect to them?
K.1.
You wanted to teach Drax a lesson, so I blocked the signal. I’m not just a pretty facet.
Jen.
Thanks. But I’m not laughing at that terrible joke.
K.1.
Not even a smile?
JEN
Definitely not.