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| Tyhry goes to Hollywood. |
Earth's First Telepath
{Credits roll over the Rational Wonder Films™ film titled: Earth's First Telepath. Slow camera zoom out from the title to reveal that the words "Earth's First Telepath" are displayed on a high-resolution computer display screen that is showing the following email:}
[insert image of Eddy Watson's cover letter for submission of his science fiction novel "First Telepath" to Rational Wonder Films.]
{Continue faster zoom out to a window beside the computer display that shows a view through the window of the surface of the Moon. Then the camera turns and the voices of a woman and a girl are heard. A tall and slender 12-year-old girl comes into view. She has long dark hair and is saying...}
MARDA: "Already? Today?"
{Continued zoom out; now a woman is seen... the alien, Manny the bumpha, in her human form. She is very tall and slender and has amazing blond hair that seems to be alive and magically swaying and twisting from the top of her head and flowing down her back}
MANNY: "There is no reason to delay. Your femtozoan is needed on Earth."
{Marda holds her hands out to her sides and giggles.} MARDA: "I feel like I should wish myself luck."
{Manny holds out a hand towards Marda and a stream of sparkling mist-like femtobots move from Marda's head into Manny's hand.} MANNY: Your clone on Earth will have a great adventure."
MARDA: "I can't believe I'm ready. I've imagined several more years of training."
MANNY: "I've played a trick on you Marda. There are two dozen cloned copies of you. Each of you has specialized on a specific mission objective. All of your femtozoans will be bundled together and transferred into your copy that is to be born on Earth. Together, all the femtozoans have all of the information required for mission success. So I have planned it, so it will be done."
{The stream of femtobots that comprised the extracted femtozoan ends and Manny lowers her out-stretched hand. Cross-dissolve to the Marda clone who is already on Earth. The ten-year-old Marda clone on Earth is undergoing physical therapy for her Cystic Fibrosis in the aftermath of a recent hospitalization for a severe lung infection. On the wall is an improvised "Welcome Home" sign. Watching Marda is her friend Tyhry Watson and Marda's mother. The physical therapist, Tyhry and Marda's mother are all wearing N95 masks. The physical therapist completes her work and speaks to Marda's mother, giving instructions for Marda's continued at-home recovery. Tyhry and Marda go down a hallway to Marda's bedroom. As the bedroom door closes, Marda coughs loudly then asks Tyhry:}
MARDA: "Do you know what you are doing?"
{Tyhry points a finger at Marda and a stream of sparkling femtobots leaves her finger and moves into Marda's thorax.} TYHRY: "No, but I've been practicing. And before you ask, my parents said yes." {The stream of femtobots ends.}
MARDA: "How soon will we know?" {Marda takes off her clothes and gets into her bed.}
"I expect you to show signs of improvement as early as tomorrow. That's why I want you sleeping over at my place. {Tyhry tucks in Marda and departs just as Marda's mother comes into the bedroom to check on Marda. Fade to black}
{Fade in on Tyhry's father inside the Watson family living room. EDDY WATSON (40s) sits at a desk, a 23andMe confirmation email visible on a large computer display screen. ZETA GOHRLAY (30s) emerges from the kitchen carrying two cups of tea. She has an ethereal quality - beautiful, but with something almost too perfect about her features.}
{Eddy complains...} EDDY: "I don't like it. She just spent a month in hospital. Almost died."
{Eddy takes a cup from Zeta.} ZETA: "Try to relax. Marda seems to be doing quite well." {Zeta sits in a large recliner that is positioned close to Eddy's desk. She sips the tea.} "I can't believe that Manny let your DNA get sequenced."
EDDY: "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe there is nothing unusual about my genome. I bet Manny won't show herself." {a tinkling sound, like a thousand delicate class goblets touching.}
{The air in the center of the room begins to shimmer like heat waves. Eddy and Zeta both look at the optical distortion in the center of the room. Manny the bumpha materializes, but the reactions of Zeta and Eddy are completely different.
{Zeta smiles with warm recognition.} ZETA: "Manny! Welcome back."
{Eddy is tense, rising to his feet.} EDDY: "Now? With Marda here?"
{The atmospheric shimmer dissipates and sparkling wisps of femtobots coalesces into the human form of Manny, her tall and slender otherworldly perfection is evident, but unlike Zeta who appears to be a normal woman of Earth, Manny has some unusual features; clearly she is non-human. Her alien features gradually shift into a more human appearance, though her eyes remain too large, too knowing.}
{Manny speaks to Zeta, with genuine affection} MANNY: "Hello, old friend. You look well. Motherhood suits you and tonight you care for two children."
ZETA: "Tyhry is a joy. I know you warned me long ago to expect Marda to come into our lives, but do mission parameters include this sleep over? I could not say 'no' to Tyhry."
{Eddy shifts uncomfortably at this exchange. Manny notices. Manny speaks first to Zeta and then to Eddy.} MANNY: "With her ability to telepathically monitor your thought processes, Tyhry has you wrapped around her finger. She knows exactly how to manipulate your behavior. Well, Eddy, you loose your bet."
EDDY: "So, you know what I did three weeks ago?" {He gestures toward his computer.}
MANNY: "You finally submitted a sample to 23andMe for gene sequencing."
EDDY: "You will finally allow me to have physical evidence... proof of alien intervention into Earth's cultural development and human evolution?"
{Zeta chuckles and speaks to her husband.} ZETA: "Eddy, don't jump to conclusions."
MANNY: "Your unusual DNA sequences have already been flagged for further analysis. A geneticist named Dr. Sarah Chen, a fan of your writing, has put two and two together. She identified genetic anomalies in your genome and she knows well your fictional fictional accounts of alien-induced genetic modifications described in your published stories."
{Down the hallway at the far end of the house, Tyhry is in her bedroom and telepathically "listening" to Manny and her parents. Having waited for Marda to fall deeply asleep, Tyhry walks to the living room.}
EDDY: "That's fantastic! I finally have physical evidence that-" {Seeing Tyhry in the room, Eddy falls silent.}
{Tyhry can telepathically "see" what Manny knows.} TYHRY: "Dr. Chen suspects that daddy's stories might be real accounts of the Secret History of Humanity."
{All three adults turn to look at Tyhry. Manny's expression shows something like pride.} MANNY: "Very good, Tyhry. Your telepathic abilities continue to develop, as I had hoped." {Manny crosses her arms and lectures Eddy.} "Do you think that Chen will stop with you? She'll want DNA from Zeta and Tyhry. If the government catches on, they'll take the DNA."
TYHRY: "They'll treat me like an alien? Turn me into a laboratory research project?"
EDDY: "Tyhry, can you really telepathically read Manny's thoughts?"
TYHRY: "Of course... Manny transmits her thoughts to me like a loud speaker blaring. I've been watching mom's and your minds my whole life. I can get the thoughts of anyone I care to link to, but Marda is my main concern. She does not deserve to suffer."
{Now accepting what he has long suspected about Tyhry's ability to 'read minds', Eddy speaks to Manny.} EDDY: "How is it possible for Tyhry to access the contents of other people's thoughts?"
MANNY: "I'll let Zeta explain that to you. I'm here to let you know that I've already erased the gene sequence data. I made it look like a server security breach. This will be the last nail in bankruptcy for 23andMe and in the turmoil, only Dr. Chen will be left wondering about your genome. Expect her to pop in for a visit." {Manny departs, seemingly disappearing.}
EDDY: "Zeta, what do you know about Tyhry? How can she access our thoughts?"
ZETA: "Manny provided Tyhry with advanced nanotechnology: kinites. Tyhry can place some of her kinites into a person's brain. They act like a receiver, resonating with on-going patterns of brain activity and transmitting the collected information to Tyhry."
TYHRY: "I started accessing mom's thoughts even while I was a fetus."
ZETA: "Tyhry, what did you mean when you said 'Marda is my main concern' ?"
TYHRY: "Marda is like you, mom, one of Manny's secret agents on Earth. Marda is part of my training. I've been learning how to reprogram some of my developmental control nanites. I'm using them to repair Marda's genetic defect."
EDDY: "Your training?"
TYHRY: "Manny is teaching me nanite programming. Watch this." {Tyhry waves one of her hands at her own hair and it takes on the magical appearance of Manny's beautiful hair.} "Manny showed me how to use hair nanites, but I had to promise not to show off in public."
{Exterior Watson Home – dark evening}
A car pulls into the driveway of a remote home in the desert of Arizona. The car stops in front of the house and a woman emerges. She stretches after a long drive and approached the front door of the house. Through the large front window, she sees Tyhry appear to magically transform her hair.
{Interior Watson Home. Tyhry is playing with her hair nanites, not aware that she is being seen by Sarah through the window. A chime from the doorbell echoes through the house.}
ZETA: {To Eddy} I’ll get that. A delivery this late?
{Zeta walks to the front door. Eddy remains seated on the couch, lost in thought, his gaze fixed on Tyhry.}
EDDY: Tyhry, there is someone outside who can see you through the window.
{Zeta opens the door. Dr. Sarah Chen stands on the doorstep, a briefcase in one hand, a tablet in the other. She looks a bit out of place, slightly nervous but determined.”
SARAH: Good evening. I’m Dr. Sarah Chen. I was hoping I could speak with Eddy Watson.
{Zeta's serene expression doesn't falter. She takes a moment, her eyes subtly scanning Sarah.}
ZETA: {Politely} Please, come in. I'm Zeta, Eddy's wife.
{Zeta steps aside, allowing Sarah to enter. As Sarah steps over the threshold, her attention is immediately focused on Tyhry, who is now playfully manipulating her hair with a brush.}
SARAH: {To Zeta, a bit thrown off.} Is she your daughter? She has... amazing hair.
TYHRY: I'm experimenting with static electricity effects. I put a charge into my hair and really fluff it up.
ZETA: Tyhry, could you close the blinds?
{Tyhry closes the blind of the front window then turns to smile impishly at Sarah and she used the hair brush and her nanites to generate a flamboyant flip of her long blond hair back over her shoulder.}
SARAH: {Slowly taking her eyes off of Tyhry's beautiful hair and speaking to Zeta.} I’m sorry to bother you so late, but I was quite shocked by Eddy's genomic data. It was… unexpected; I've never seen anything like it.
{Eddy, hearing the comments of Sarah, stands up from the couch. His anxiety is palpable.
EDDY: Dr. Chen? You work at 23andMe?
SARAH: {Fumbling with her tablet.} I did, until I was terminated yesterday. I took a copy of your sequence data and came looking for you. It’s almost as if your DNA is… fabricated... artificial. It is like something out of a science fiction story.
{Tyhry puts the hair brush back in her pocket and stops manipulating her hair. She has sent a swarm of her kinites into Sarah. Tyhry’s eyes narrow slightly as she uses her telepathic abilities to read the doctor's thoughts. The thoughts are a jumble of scientific jargon, professional curiosity, and a growing sense of unease.}
TYHRY: {Speaking to Eddy.} You can trust Sarah, dad. She's a fan of your fiction.
{Sarah looks startled at Tyhry's confident assessment.}
SARAH: How could she possibly know that? I never mentioned—
EDDY: {Interrupting, his voice heavy with resignation.} Because she can read your thoughts, Dr. Chen.
{Sarah's tablet slips slightly in her hands. She stares at Tyhry, then at Eddy.}
SARAH: That's... that's impossible. Telepathy is science fiction. It's the stuff of your novels.
TYHRY: {Matter-of-factly} My kinites are already in your brain, Dr. Chen. I can see that you've read all of daddy's books. Your favorite is "Neanderthal Dreams." You cried when Kala discovered she was the last of her kind.
{Sarah's face goes pale. She sets her tablet and briefcase down with shaking hands.}
SARAH: This isn't... this can't be real. I'm a scientist. I deal in facts, in evidence.
ZETA: {Gently} The evidence is right in front of you, Sarah. May I call you Sarah?
{Sarah nods mutely, still staring at Tyhry.}
EDDY: Dr. Chen, what you've discovered about my DNA... it's going to raise questions we're not ready to answer.
SARAH: {Finding her voice} The Neanderthal markers in your genome aren't random. They're... they're organized. Purposeful. Like someone crafted your genome from that of a Neanderthal.
TYHRY: {To Eddy.} She's thinking about publishing this, dad. About having the New York Times publish an account of your unusual genome.
SARAH: {Defensive} Of course I am! This is the discovery of the century! Proof of some kind of sophisticated genetic engineering of humans....
EDDY: {Standing, moving closer to Sarah} And what happens to my family when that story breaks? What happens to Zeta and Tyhry when the government decides too investigate their genomes, too?
{Sarah's expression shifts as the implications hit her.}
SARAH: They'd... they'd want to study you three like lab rats. Turn you all into test subjects... objects of scientific analysis.
ZETA: I'm sure Manny won't allow that.
{A long pause. Sarah looks around the room, taking in the normal family setting that now seems anything but normal.}
SARAH: {Speaking to Eddy.} Your stories... "The Bumpha Chronicles," "Galactic Gardeners," "The Zeptite Conspiracy"... they're not fiction, are they Your alien character... Manny the bumpha... she is real?
EDDY: Manny is a good friend of ours and she has revealed to my the 'Secret History of Humanity'... all that I have described in my novels. I've spent twenty years disguising the truth as entertainment. I suppose that is all part of Manny's plan for the future.
SARAH: {Suddenly animated} But people need to know! If there's really some ancient alien—
TYHRY: {Interrupting} This isn't about aliens. This is about making a better future for people of Earth. For example, my friend Marda. She didn't deserve to suffer because of a genetic defect.
SARAH: Marda? {Looking confused} Who's Marda?
ZETA: A friend of Tyhry's. She has cystic fibrosis. Had cystic fibrosis.
{Sarah's eyes widen with understanding.}
SARAH: You cured your friend? With alien nanotechnology.... {She sits down heavily} This is... this changes everything. Do you have any idea what this could mean for medicine? For humanity?
TYHRY: {Reading Sarah's thoughts} She's thinking about her cousin Marcus. He has Huntington's disease.
{Sarah gasps, looking at Tyhry with a mixture of wonder and fear.}
SARAH: Stop doing that! It's... it's violating.
TYHRY: I'm sorry. I'll have to learn how not to offend your sensibilities of cognitive privacy. But yes, I could probably help Marcus too.
{The room falls silent. Sarah stares at her hands, processing.}
SARAH: {Finally looking up} What do you want from me? Why are you telling me this?
EDDY: We didn't plan to tell you anything. You showed up at our door.
ZETA: {To Sarah} But now that you know, what will you do with this knowledge?
{Sarah picks up her tablet, stares at the genetic data displayed on the screen.}
SARAH: I... I don't know. Part of me wants to shout this from the rooftops. But part of me... {She looks at Tyhry} You're just a child. You shouldn't have to carry this burden.
TYHRY: {Softly} I'm not just a child. I'm the first step.
SARAH: The first step toward what?
{Before anyone can answer, the air in the room begins to shimmer again. The same tinkling sound fills the space.}
ZETA: {Sighing} Manny's back.
{The shimmer coalesces into Manny's form. Sarah drops her tablet, which clatters on the floor.}
SARAH: {Barely a whisper} What... what are you?
MANNY: {To Sarah, with a gentle smile} I'm Manny the bumpha. I've been expecting you, Sarah. We need to talk.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
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