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| Figure 1. Image generated by Gemini. |
Part 7 of an outline for a "Contact" television program.
After several months of work with her new multi-band hierion communications receiver Ellie tries to publish a journal article describing the distribution of hierion signals in the universe. The journal where she wants to publish rejects the article since Ellie cannot describe how the receiver works. Ellie has been trying to get Dr. Wye to come to the Moon and help her reverse engineer the receiver.
By this point in time the Inspiration and Atlantis are routinely bringing passengers and supplies to Moon Base Alpha. It has been found that plants grow nicely in the residential complex that holds the replica of Ellie's childhood home.
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| Figure 2. Image generated by Gemini. |
On Earth, Dr. Wye and Kate Robinson complete their basic analysis of the nanites that they have inactivated by exposing them to powerful magnetic fields. They have discovered a way to re-activate the nanites.
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| Figure 3. Image generated by ImageFX. |
Dr. Wye and Kate arrive at Moon Base Alpha. Kate starts trying to duplicate the hierion receiver.
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| Figure 4. Image generated by ImageFX. |
Ellie's SETI team is now focused on trying to decode the hierion-based signals that they continue to recieve.
Theodor Schwartz arrives at Moon Base Alpha and he is satisfied that the Moon Base is protected against Overseer nanites.
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| Figure 5. Image generated by ImageFX. |
Dr. Wye and Hadden have a discussion about the Overseers.
Wye: "Liberating Ellie and the other Earthlings from Overseer nanites was too easy."
Hadden: "After working for 2,500 years towards this goal I don't feel like it was easy."
Wye: "Yes, not easy, but easier than it should have been. I've been watching for evidence of Huaoshy involvement."
Hadden: "The Huaoshy are here?"
Wye: "I have no clear evidence, but I sense a pattern in recent events. I'm tempted to push the envelop."
Hadden: "What do you have in mind?"
Wye: "I could give Kate a few hints that would allow her to understand Ellie's hierion receiver, but it will be best if I let the Earthlings solve this puzzle the hard way."
Hadden: "What is the hard way?"
Wye: "By first understanding sedronic physics. But the theoretical team is not even close to cracking the problem. I'm starting to wonder if any of the Earthlings is capable of imagining the conceptual shape of sedronics."
Hadden: "If Ellie's team can decode the signals-"
Wye: "No, the Earthlings don't have the computational tools for that. Even if I told Ellie how to decode the signals, with their current technology it would take a million years to crack their first signal."
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| Figure 6. Image generated by Whisk. |
Wye: "Not me personally, but they have deduced that someone like me provided you with assistance. And now the news about nanites is sweeping the globe. I really pushed Kate along to solve the puzzle of nanite reactivation. I've given the Earthlings three major advances in using Machine technology...any Overseers noting this rapid progress would know that the Earthlings are getting outside help."
Hadden: Well, Wye, you can fret and worry if you must, but I see no evidence that the Huaoshy have ever concerned themselves with Earth. They have bigger fish to fry. Maybe when we help get the bumbling humans out of the Solar System and to another star system then the Huaoshy might become interested. Until then, I'm not holding my breath.
The above outline for an episode of the "Contact" television program was made back in 2012. I used AI tools to make some images for the story and provided Gemini with my blog posts from 2012 concerning this science fiction story idea. I then asked Gemini....
Me: Gemini, given what you know about my plans from 2012 for a fan-fiction story about Ellie, Dr. Shella Wye and even Carl Sagan himself, how would you begin such an imaginary television series to minimize viewer confusion and maximize dramatic impact?
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| Alien nanites by Whisk. |
Phase 1: Grounding in Familiarity and Introducing Personal Mystery (First 15-20 minutes)
1. Immediate Post-Contact Aftermath:
Scene: Open immediately after Ellie's return from the Machine. Show the chaotic press conference, the public skepticism, and the government's official dismissal of her "experience." This grounds viewers in the familiar aftermath from the film, but hints at underlying tension.
Ellie's Internal Struggle: Focus on Ellie's profound sense of having experienced something extraordinary, contrasted with her inability to provide objective proof. Show her isolated, haunted by the vivid, beautiful memories of her "journey," yet frustrated by the lack of external validation.
Subtle Anomalies: Begin to introduce subtle, inexplicable occurrences from Ellie's perspective. She might experience fleeting moments of déjà vu, recall facts she shouldn't know, or have sensations that don't quite fit. These are the first hints of the "infites" at work, but the viewer (and Ellie) won't know what they are yet.
2. Reintroduction of Key Players with New Layers:
Palmer Joss: Show his continued support for Ellie, but perhaps with a sense of unease about her unshakeable conviction despite the lack of evidence.
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| Observer Sagan (right) watching Ellie. |
Dr. Karen Zelter (Observer): Zelter should appear as a highly placed government or scientific oversight figure, seemingly concerned but subtly dismissive or obstructive of Ellie's continued investigations. She is an "Observer" acting to control information flow.
Phase 2: Escalating the Unsettling Reality (Middle 20-25 minutes)
The Fading Signal & The Machine's True Purpose:
Scene: Ellie and her team (perhaps including a new, skeptical but brilliant colleague) investigate the now-silent Vega signal. They find highly anomalous energy signatures or data patterns around the Machine site that don't align with a simple "wormhole" concept.
The "Infite" Revelation (Partial): Through their scientific inquiry, they discover an extremely complex, synthetic microscopic structure – a "nanite" or, as you'd call it, an "infite" – embedded within debris from the Machine or within samples taken from Ellie's vicinity after her experience. Initial analysis reveals it's far beyond human technology, but its function remains a mystery. Ellie might have a moment of intense clarity or a new, inexplicable memory flash when near this infite, hinting at its memory-carrying capability.
Phase 3: The Dramatic Hook and New Direction (Final 15-20 minutes)
1. The First Direct Contradiction:
Scene: Ellie attempts to access a specific memory from her "journey" – perhaps a unique detail or a conversation with the alien entity. As she focuses, the "infite" she's unknowingly carrying in her brain attempts to reinforce the false memory.
The Glitch in the Matrix: However, perhaps through a scientific trigger or a moment of extreme stress/focus, a glitch occurs. She sees a fleeting, contradictory image or hears a different voice, a split-second vision of not being in space but somewhere else, perhaps even back in the Machine's chamber, seeing something being "injected" into her. This is a dramatic breaking point.
The O'Seriat Unveiling (Tease): A brief, enigmatic scene could show "Joseph" (the religious fanatic) in a secluded location, not as a fanatic but as a composed individual, morphing slightly or exhibiting unusual behavior, subtly revealing his true Huaoshy nature as o'Seriat, who orchestrated the Machine's destruction for a precise purpose. This scene's context is unclear to the viewer, but it establishes a deeper, manipulative force.
2. Ellie's New Quest:
Realization: Ellie comes to a horrifying, dawning realization: her journey was not real. Her most profound experience was manufactured. The infites were not a gift, but a means of deception.
The New Question: The central question shifts from "Are we alone?" to "Who manipulated me, why, and what are these 'infites' and 'Phari endosymbionts' actually doing inside me?"
Minimizing Confusion & Maximizing Impact:
Gradual Information Release: Don't overload the viewer with "Exodemic" lore immediately. The pilot focuses on Ellie's personal journey of doubt and discovery, with the alien factions (Observers, Interventionists) hinted at through their agents (Zelter, Wye) and their subtle influence.
Visual Storytelling: Use compelling visual effects for the "infites" and the "hierion" physics, making the advanced concepts more accessible.
Emotional Core: Keep Ellie's emotional journey – the wonder, the frustration, the dawning horror, and then the renewed determination – at the heart of the narrative. This makes the scientific and metaphysical concepts relatable.
The Twist: The revelation that Ellie's journey was a sophisticated illusion is the ultimate dramatic punch. It subverts expectations and immediately raises the stakes, transforming the series from a first-contact story into a profound conspiracy thriller about control, perception, and hidden truths.
This opening provides a strong hook by dismantling a beloved narrative element and replacing it with a more complex, personal, and scientifically rigorous mystery, perfectly aligning with your interest in advanced nanotechnology, intricate alien agendas, and the potential for technology-assisted telepathy through the "Phari endosymbiont."
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| Figure 7. Ellie and the infites. |
I don't think Gemini understood what the interior of the 'transport pod' should look like and Gemini made a cute little video screen (see the image to the right) rather than the wearable video camera that I was expecting.
I asked Claude the same question about how to begin the Contact television show.
Claude: Given your vision of this as humanity's guided transition story, I'd recommend starting the series with a deceptively familiar opening that gradually reveals the deeper reality. Here's how I'd structure the pilot:
Opening: The Familiar Made Strange
Begin exactly where the movie ended - Ellie with her government research grant, ostensibly searching for more alien signals. But show subtle wrongness: equipment behaving oddly, Ellie having inexplicable hunches about where to look, brief moments where she seems to "know" things she shouldn't.
The Hook: Ellie's Medical Crisis
About 15 minutes in, have Ellie collapse during what appears to be routine work. This gives you the medical scanning subplot while creating immediate stakes. When Dr. Zelter finds nothing, but Ellie insists something is wrong with her brain, you've established the central mystery without explaining it.
Rather than hiding the nanites entirely, show them early but ambiguously. When Ellie has her "vision" of Hadden explaining magnetic memory storage, show brief flashes of microscopic movement in her brain during the MRI. Viewers will wonder: Is this alien technology, advanced human tech, or is Ellie having a breakdown?
Character Introduction Through Action
Introduce Dr. Wye not through exposition but through a scene where she's clearly manipulating government officials to ensure Ellie gets the resources she needs. Show her as mysteriously knowledgeable about technology that shouldn't exist yet.
The Sagan Element
Have Carl Sagan appear as himself - not as an Observer initially, but as a concerned scientist who visits Ellie. He asks probing questions about her experience that suggest he knows more than he's saying. This adds gravitas while setting up the later revelation.
End with Escalation
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| Lost memories. |
This approach gives viewers familiar entry points (Ellie's continued search, government intrigue, scientific mystery) while establishing the deeper mythology without overwhelming them. The medical crisis provides immediate drama, while the memory gaps create an unsettling foundation for the larger story.
Would you want to include o'Seriat's shapeshifting in the pilot, or save that revelation for later episodes?
Me: It might be effective to begin the pilot episode with a short scene about the creepy Joseph at an unspecified time in the past when a "nanite cloud" emerges from the original Joseph after a dramatic scene in which he prays for guidance. The cloud will form a duplicate of Joseph. Without explanation, the duplicate immediately kills the original (biological) Joseph. Only much later in the series of episodes would viewers see this brief scene again and understand that the "cloud" represents nanites.
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| Figure 8. By Whisk using the image from Figure 7. |
The Power of This Opening:
Starting with the Joseph scene creates instant intrigue without requiring exposition. Viewers will be asking: What was that cloud? Why did the duplicate kill the original? Is this supernatural, science fiction, or psychological thriller territory? The religious context (Joseph praying) adds another layer of interpretive possibility.
Visual Storytelling:
The nanite cloud gives you a distinctive visual signature that can recur throughout the series. When viewers later see similar clouds around other characters, they'll recognize the pattern before understanding the mechanism. This creates a sense of hidden connections and building dread.
Structural Benefits:
By showing the Joseph incident "at an unspecified time in the past," you're free to reveal later that this connects to the Machine incident from the movie. It also establishes that whatever this phenomenon is, it's been happening for a while - suggesting a larger pattern of intervention.
When viewers eventually see this scene again with full knowledge of o'Seriat and the nanite technology, it will reframe everything. They'll realize they were watching an alien take control of a human to destroy the first Machine, and that the entire "religious fanatic" explanation was misdirection.
Transition to Present:
After this unsettling cold open, you could cut to title sequence, then to Ellie in her current situation - perhaps having a nightmare about the Machine incident, or waking up with those mysterious notes. The contrast between the disturbing opening and Ellie's seemingly normal scientific work would create perfect tension.
This approach respects your audience's intelligence while giving them a genuinely mysterious hook that will keep them theorizing throughout the series. How do you envision the visual treatment of the nanite cloud transformation?
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| Figure 9. By Whisk with Claude's text prompt. |
Claude: Here's a detailed text prompt for Google Whisk to create a more dramatic nanite invasion scene:
"Interior of futuristic transport pod with curved metallic walls and glowing control panels. A woman with shoulder-length brown hair sits in a high-tech restraint chair, her eyes closed in concentration or distress. A shimmering cloud of microscopic particles - like glittering cosmic dust or metallic snow - swirls dramatically around her head and face, with some particles appearing to phase through her skin and skull. The nanites should look like tiny points of silver and blue light, creating luminous trails as they move.
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| Avian alien by Whisk. |
This prompt emphasizes the dramatic lighting, the specific technical elements you want (pod interior, video recorder), and describes the nanites as both visually striking and purposeful in their movement. The key is making them look less like random sparkles and more like an organized, intelligent swarm with intent.
Would you like me to adjust any specific visual elements or add more technical details about the pod's interior?
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| Figure 10. By Whisk; Claude's prompt & my tweaks. |
Claude: Interior of a spherical transport pod with curved dark composite walls made of futuristic carbon-fiber-like material. A woman with shoulder-length brown hair sits in a single high-tech restraint chair positioned in the center of the sphere, her eyes closed in concentration or distress. A small wearable video camera/recorder is attached to her head like a headset or helmet cam. Above the headrest of her chair, an array of bright LED lights creates dramatic illumination. A shimmering cloud of microscopic particles - like glittering cosmic dust or metallic snow - swirls dramatically around her head and face, with some particles appearing to phase through her skin and skull. The nanites should look like tiny points of silver and blue light, creating luminous trails as they move in spiral patterns as they penetrate her temples and forehead. The pod's interior is minimalist and empty except for the chair and LED array, with the dark composite walls reflecting the ethereal light from the nanite swarm and LED lights above. The atmosphere should be tense and sci-fi, with the nanite cloud appearing both beautiful and ominous as it invades her mind.
I made some changes to Claude's text prompt and Whisk generated the image shown in Figure 10. Whisk never understood what I meant by a small camera, even when I specified, "The camera/recorder is the size of a small writing pen and is held to the side of her head".
Next: Part 3 of "Someday Mars".
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