 |
| Image by Leonardo. |
INTERVENTION
TEASER
FADE IN:
EXT. SPACE - NIGHT
 |
| Movie poster by ImageFX. |
BUMPHA VOICE (V.O.)
In the vastness of time,
civilizations rise and fall like waves upon an endless shore. Some
burn bright and fade. Others endure, reaching toward something
greater. And some... require a guiding hand.
A SHIMMER in space - barely perceptible, like heat waves - moves through the starfield.
BUMPHA VOICE (V.O.) (CONT'D)
We are the
Bumpha. We have watched since before your sun ignited. We do not
conquer. We do not command. We intervene.
INT. BUMPHA VESSEL - CONTINUOUS
Not a ship as humans understand it. A space of pure energy and crystalline structures at scales beyond human perception. Within this space, MARY CHEN stands. She is 28, Asian-American, intelligent eyes, practical demeanor. She wears a simple jumpsuit - future fashion, but not ostentatious.
AMBER BUMPHA
You understand what we ask of
you?
MARY
(steady, but uncertain)
You want me to
go back. To 1935. To live an entire life in the past.
VIOLET BUMPHA
Not you. A copy of you. A
femtozoan - composed of hierion matter, containing your complete
neural pattern, your memories, your essence.
MARY
(trying to grasp it)
And this...
copy... will integrate with a human embryo?
BLUE BUMPHA
The femtozoan will guide the
developing mind. Shape key decisions. In 1966, this person will
suggest certain stories. Television programs that will prepare
humanity for what must come.
MARY
The Psilari. The First Contact that goes
wrong.
AMBER BUMPHA
That could go catastrophically
wrong. Without preparation, humanity will not understand hierion
physics in time. The Psilari will die. Humanity will lose its first
true opportunity to meet another intelligence on equal terms.
MARY
(quiet)
VIOLET BUMPHA
She will be human. The femtozoan
operates at a scale beneath conscious awareness. She will have
intuitions, dreams, creative insights. She will believe them to be
her own.
MARY
(struggling)
Is that... is that
ethical? Creating a life just to serve a mission?
BLUE BUMPHA
She will live fully. Love. Create.
Contribute. Her life will have meaning beyond the intervention. But
yes, she will serve a purpose larger than herself. As do all
conscious beings, whether they know it or not.
MARY
(pause, then resolute)
When do we
begin?
AMBER BUMPHA
Now.
The Bumpha glow brighter. Mary closes her eyes.
FADE TO WHITE.
ACT ONE
FADE IN:
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - NEW YORK - DAY - 1935
A woman holds a newborn. The father peers over her shoulder, beaming.
FATHER
MOTHER
Mary Castellano. Our little miracle.
EXTREME CLOSE-UP on the baby's eyes. For just a moment, they seem to shimmer with an impossible depth.
DISSOLVE TO:
MONTAGE - MARY'S CHILDHOOD (1935-1945)
-- Young Mary, age 5, drawing pictures of strange geometric patterns. Her mother looks confused but charmed.
-- Mary, age 8, in a library, reading Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, completely absorbed.
-- Mary, age 10, having a nightmare. She wakes gasping, describing to her mother: "Tiny machines... smaller than anything... building things molecule by molecule..." Her mother soothes her: "Just a dream, honey."
-- Mary, age 12, writing in a journal, pages filled with sketches of molecular structures she couldn't possibly understand at that age.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK - CLASSROOM - DAY - 1952
Mary, now 17, sits in a chemistry class. The PROFESSOR draws a benzene ring on the blackboard.
PROFESSOR
The benzene molecule - six carbon
atoms in a perfect ring. One of nature's most elegant structures.
MARY
Professor, what if molecules could be
linked not by sharing electrons, but by something smaller? Particles
that operate at a much tinier scale?
PROFESSOR
(kindly but dismissive)
Miss
Castellano, we understand atomic bonds quite well. There's nothing
"smaller" that could create molecular linkages.
MARY
(backing down)
Of course. Sorry.
Just... thinking out loud.
She writes in her notebook, but we glimpse her sketch: water molecules linked by tiny bridge structures.
INT. MARY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT - 1954
Mary, 19, sits at a typewriter. Pages scattered around her - she's writing a story. The title page reads: "THE WATER WALKERS - A Science Fiction Story by M. Castellano"
Her roommate, JULIA, enters with coffee.
JULIA
Still at it? You've been typing for six
hours.
MARY
(distant, focused)
I can see it,
Jules. This whole world. Water that's not water anymore. Linked into
chains that think, that remember...
JULIA
(reading over her shoulder)
MARY
(uncertain)
I don't know. Dreams,
maybe? Sometimes I wake up and it's all so clear, like I'm
remembering something instead of making it up.
JULIA
Well, it's brilliant. You should send it
to Amazing Stories.
MARY
(smiling)
Maybe I will.
She returns to typing. Camera PUSHES IN on her face - concentration, inspiration, something deeper she can't name.
INT. DESILU STUDIOS - OUTER OFFICE - DAY - 1964
Mary, now 29, sits at a secretary's desk. More professional attire, hair styled for the era. She's typing a letter when JOHN BLACK enters - late 30s, energetic, carrying a leather portfolio stuffed with papers.
JOHN
You must be Mary. They said I'd have
secretarial assistance. John Black.
MARY
(standing, shaking hands)
Mary
Castellano. Well, Mary Black now, actually. Just married last month.
JOHN
(startled, then laughing)
Black?
Really? That'll confuse the office.
MARY
(smiling)
JOHN
Not unless my family's been keeping
secrets. Well, Mary Black, I hope you're ready. Gene Roddenberry's
Star Trek project is... ambitious. Lots of scripts to wrangle.
MARY
I'm ready. And Mr. Black - John - I
should mention, I write a little myself. Science fiction stories. If
you ever need ideas...
JOHN
(interested)
Published?
MARY
A few short stories. Galaxy Magazine, If,
Analog...
JOHN
(impressed)
Then you'll be more than a
secretary. Gene's always looking for fresh concepts. You have
anything in mind?
MARY
(carefully)
Actually... yes. Something
about a planet where water becomes something else. Something complex.
And it affects the crew in unexpected ways.
JOHN
(intrigued)
Go on.
MARY
(warming to it)
The crew beams down to
investigate an ancient, frozen world. They bring back contamination -
water molecules that have been changed at a molecular level. It
spreads through the ship. Acts like intoxication, but it's something
stranger. Something no one's ever encountered before.
(excited)
And the ship's in danger? They have to solve it while dealing with the effects?
MARY
Exactly. But here's the key - the water
isn't just a threat. It's a message. From a civilization that existed
long ago. They're trying to communicate, but humans don't understand
the medium.
John stares at her, wheels turning.
JOHN
Mary, that's... that's a whole episode
right there. I'm pitching story ideas to Gene next week. Can you
write this up? A treatment, maybe three pages?
MARY
(controlled excitement)
I can have it
to you tomorrow.
JOHN
Tomorrow's perfect. This could be
something special.
Mary returns to her desk. As John walks away, she opens a drawer and pulls out a worn notebook - the same one from her college days. She flips through pages of sketches, diagrams, story fragments accumulated over years.
She pauses on one page: a detailed drawing of water molecules linked by tiny bridges, dated 1952. Beneath it, her younger handwriting: "Someday this will matter."
Mary stares at the drawing, a flicker of something - recognition? confusion? - crossing her face.
MARY
(whisper to herself)
How did I know?
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT ONE
ACT TWO
FADE IN:
INT. GENE RODDENBERRY'S OFFICE - DESILU STUDIOS - DAY - 1965
John Black sits across from GENE RODDENBERRY (44, visionary, charismatic). Mary's three-page treatment sits on Gene's desk.
GENE
"The Naked Time." I like it.
The intoxication angle gives us character drama. Spock showing
emotion, Kirk confronting his loneliness...
JOHN
Mary's ideas about the science are solid
too. This "complex water molecule" concept feels real, even
though it's completely fictional.
GENE
That's the sweet spot. Make it feel
possible. Make people wonder.
(pause)
John, who is this Mary
Castellano?
JOHN
Mary Black now - she married over the
summer. She's my secretary, but she's got writing chops. Published in
the SF magazines.
GENE
Bring her to the next story meeting. I
want to hear more about how her mind works.
JOHN
GENE
(intrigued)
I'm listening.
JOHN
Two series. One follows scientists in the
future dealing with this water molecule technology - medical
applications, social implications. Call it "Aqualink."
GENE
Medical drama meets SF. Could work. And
the other?
JOHN
That's the wild one. It's about... well,
about hidden forces guiding human history. Advanced aliens who
intervene without revealing themselves. Time travel, manipulation of
events, but all for benevolent purposes.
GENE
(leaning back)
"Intervention."
That's what you'd call it?
JOHN
That's Mary's title. She's got a whole
mythology worked out. Ancient artificial beings called the Bumpha.
Technology that works at scales smaller than atoms. And a human agent
- sent back in time to 1935 to plant ideas that will help humanity
prepare for First Contact.
GENE
(pause, studying John)
That's...
ambitious. Heady. It's asking the audience to think about free will,
destiny, whether we're really in control of our own progress.
JOHN
Mary says science fiction should make
people question their assumptions.
(smiling)
I like this woman. All right, tell her to develop both concepts. Two-page treatments for the pilot episodes. If "The Naked Time" works, if Star Trek catches on, maybe Desilu will finance them.
JOHN
I'll let her know.
GENE
John? Where does she get these ideas?
This Bumpha concept, the femtobot technology, the time travel
intervention... it's all so specific. So thought-through.
JOHN
(shrugging)
She says she reads a lot.
Dreams a lot. I asked her the same thing once. She said... what was
it... "Sometimes ideas feel like memories." Whatever that
means.
Gene nods slowly, thoughtful.
INT. MARY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT - 1965
Mary sits at a desk in a modest apartment. Her husband, ROBERT BLACK (32, accountant, kind face), brings her tea.
ROBERT
MARY
Gene wants treatments for both series.
This is the "Intervention" pilot. I'm calling it "The
Long Way Home."
ROBERT
(reading over her shoulder)
"Mary
Chen is recruited by the Bumpha to become an Interventionist. Her
consciousness will be copied into hierion matter and sent back to
1935..." Honey, this is really meta. You're writing about
someone named Mary being sent back to 1935. That's the year you were
born.
MARY
(pausing, troubled)
I know. It's... I
don't know why I chose that year. It just felt right.
ROBERT
And "hierion matter"?
"Femtozoan technology"? Where are you getting these terms?
MARY
(frustrated)
I don't know, Rob. They
just come to me. Sometimes I wake up at 3 AM with a complete
technical concept in my head, and I have to write it down before I
forget it. Like... like someone's dictating it to me.
ROBERT
(concerned)
Maybe you should take a
break. You've been pushing hard since you started at Desilu.
MARY
I can't stop now. This feels important.
Like if I don't write these stories, something terrible will happen.
Which is crazy, I know. They're just TV shows.
ROBERT
(gently)
Mary, they are just TV
shows. Fiction. They can't hurt anyone if you don't write them.
MARY
(quietly)
What if they're not just
fiction?
ROBERT
What do you mean?
MARY
(shaking her head)
Nothing. Never
mind. I'm just tired.
She returns to typing. Robert watches her, worried, then leaves her to work.
CLOSE ON Mary's face as she types. A single tear rolls down her cheek, though she doesn't seem to notice.
INT. DESILU CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY - 1966
Gene, John, Mary, and several DESILU EXECUTIVES sit around a table. On the table: ratings reports, advertising revenue projections.
EXECUTIVE #1
Star Trek is performing beyond
all expectations. The "Naked Time" episode specifically
generated huge audience response. Letters pouring in asking about the
science.
GENE
That's Mary's doing. She made the
fictional science feel real.
EXECUTIVE #2
We're prepared to green-light
both "Aqualink" and "Intervention" for pilot
production. Six episodes each, initially. If they perform like Star
Trek, we'll order full seasons.
MARY
(barely contained excitement)
Thank
you. You won't regret this.
EXECUTIVE #1
MARY
(passionate)
That's exactly why we
should tell it. Science fiction isn't just about rockets and ray
guns. It's about exploring ideas that matter. Free will versus
destiny. Whether guidance from a wiser source is help or control.
These are questions people should wrestle with.
GENE
(smiling)
I couldn't have said it
better myself.
EXECUTIVE #2
All right. Production begins next
month. John, you'll be co-producer on both series. Mary, you're head
writer for both, with story editor credit on Star Trek.
Congratulations.
They shake hands around the table. As others file out, Gene holds Mary back.
GENE
Mary, off the record - you know these
concepts are going to make people think you believe in this stuff,
right? Ancient aliens, hidden interventions... you'll get letters
from conspiracy theorists.
MARY
(meeting his eyes)
Gene, what if the
best science fiction is the kind that makes you wonder where the
fiction ends and the possibility begins?
GENE
(studying her)
You're an unusual
woman, Mary Black.
(small smile)
I've been told that before.
Gene exits. Mary stands alone in the conference room, looking out the window at the Hollywood skyline.
MARY (V.O.)
Sometimes I wonder if I'm
remembering the future. If the stories I write are less invention and
more... prophecy. But that's impossible. Isn't it?
She touches her temple, a gesture of uncertainty.
FADE TO:
INT. MARY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT - DREAM SEQUENCE
Mary asleep in bed. Robert beside her, also sleeping.
In the dream:
Mary stands in a space of pure light. The three Bumpha - amber, blue, violet - surround her.
VIOLET BUMPHA
You are doing well, Mary.
MARY
(in the dream, aware)
This isn't real.
You're not real.
AMBER BUMPHA
We are as real as you allow us to
be. The stories you write will echo through centuries.
BLUE BUMPHA
In 2265, a starship will encounter
a dying world. Your stories will prepare humanity to understand what
they find.
MARY
I'm just a writer. I make up stories. I can't prepare humanity for anything.
VIOLET BUMPHA
You are more than you know. And
less than you fear. Write the stories, Mary. Trust the visions.
MARY
Who am I? Really?
AMBER BUMPHA
You are Mary Castellano Black.
Born 1935. Wife. Writer. Human.
BLUE BUMPHA
And you are also an echo from the
future. A message sent backward through time.
VIOLET BUMPHA
Both are true. Neither is
complete.
The light intensifies, becoming unbearable.
Mary WAKES with a gasp.
INT. MARY'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS - NIGHT
Robert stirs beside her.
ROBERT
(sleepy)
You okay?
MARY
(breathing hard)
Just a dream. Go back
to sleep.
Robert does. Mary sits up, goes to her desk, turns on the lamp. Opens her notebook to a fresh page.
"INTERVENTION - Season 1, Episode 2: 'The Dreams That Guide Us'"
Her hand moves across the page, swift and certain, as if taking dictation.
FADE OUT.
END OF ACT TWO
ACT THREE
FADE IN:
INT. SOUND STAGE - DESILU STUDIOS - DAY - 1967
The "Intervention" pilot is being filmed. The set represents the Bumpha vessel - crystalline structures, soft lighting, otherworldly.
Mary stands behind the director, watching the scene: The actress playing MARY CHEN (the character) stands before the Bumpha (represented by lighting effects and voice actors).
MARY CHEN (CHARACTER)
And the person living
that life - my copy - she won't know? She'll think she's just...
human?
VIOLET BUMPHA (V.O.)
She will be human. The
femtozoan operates at a scale beneath conscious awareness.
Real Mary watches, her face unreadable. John approaches.
JOHN
Surreal, isn't it? Watching actors
perform something you created.
MARY
(distant)
It's more than that. It's
watching my dreams become... solid. Real in a different way.
JOHN
MARY
She's not playing me. Mary Chen is a
character. Fictional.
JOHN
(gently)
Mary, you named the character
after yourself. You set her recruitment in 3192 and her insertion
point in 1935 - your birth year. You wrote her with an Asian
background, just like your mother's side. The resemblance isn't
exactly subtle.
MARY
(deflecting)
Writers always pull from
personal experience.
JOHN
This feels like more than that. Sometimes
when you describe the Bumpha, or explain hierion physics, you don't
sound like you're inventing. You sound like you're... remembering.
MARY
(turning to face him)
What are you
suggesting, John?
JOHN
(pause, then laughing it off)
Nothing.
You're just very convincing. That's what makes it great science
fiction.
MARY
(relieved)
Exactly. Fiction.
Make-believe. Entertainment.
But her hands are trembling slightly. She clasps them together.
DIRECTOR (O.S.)
Cut! That's a wrap on Scene
14. Setting up for Scene 15 - 1935 hospital room.
That's the birth scene. Want to watch?
MARY
(quickly)
No. I have script revisions
for "Aqualink" to finish. I'll be in my office.
She exits quickly. John watches her go, troubled.
INT. MARY'S OFFICE - DESILU STUDIOS - CONTINUOUS
Mary enters, closes the door, leans against it. Her breathing is rapid.
She goes to her desk, opens the bottom drawer, pulls out her old notebook - the one she's kept since college.
Flips through pages:
1952: Drawings of molecules linked by invisible bonds
1955: A story fragment about "machines smaller than cells"
1958: The term "femtobot" written and underlined
1961: A sketch of three glowing columns labeled "The Teachers"
Mary stares at the 1961 sketch. The columns look exactly like the Bumpha in her script.
MARY
(whisper)
I drew this five years
before I wrote the pilot. How did I know?
She flips to the first page of the notebook. In teenage handwriting from 1950:
"These dreams feel like memories from someone else's life. Or maybe from my own life that hasn't happened yet?"
MARY (CONT'D)
(into phone)
Dr. Brenner?
This is Mary Black. I know it's short notice, but I need to schedule
an appointment... Yes, it's somewhat urgent... Thursday would be
fine... Thank you.
She hangs up. Sits in silence.
A KNOCK on the door. Gene enters.
GENE
Mary? Dailies from "Intervention"
look fantastic. Network executives screening it tomorrow are going to
love it.
MARY
(composing herself)
That's good news.
GENE
(noticing her state)
You all right?
You look shaken.
MARY
I'm fine. Just... it's overwhelming,
seeing something you imagined become real.
GENE
(sitting)
I want to ask you something,
and I want an honest answer. Where do these ideas really come from?
The Bumpha, hierion physics, femtozoans - it's too detailed, too
consistent to just be made up. Are you basing this on some scientific
theory I don't know about?
MARY
(careful)
No. There's no science
behind it. It's pure speculation.
Then how do you keep it all straight? You've written fifteen episode outlines for "Intervention," and every single one builds on the hierion physics you established. Most writers would contradict themselves or forget details. You never do.
MARY
I keep good notes.
GENE
(persistent)
Mary, I've been in this
business a long time. I know the difference between research and
something else. Sometimes you look like you're channeling this
material, not creating it.
MARY
(meeting his eyes)
Would it bother you
if I said I don't fully understand it myself? That sometimes I sit
down to write and the stories just... flow out? Like I'm transcribing
something rather than inventing it?
GENE
(thoughtful)
Not bother. Intrigue. The
best creative work often comes from the subconscious. Maybe your mind
is synthesizing things you've read, experiences you've had, dreams
you've forgotten, and it comes out as this intricate mythology.
MARY
(grateful for the explanation)
Maybe
that's it.
GENE
Or maybe...
(pause, smiling)
...maybe
the Bumpha are real, and you're their agent, and "Intervention"
is your way of telling us the truth disguised as fiction.
MARY
That would make a great episode.
GENE
(standing)
Actually, it would. You
should write it. "The Writer's Paradox" - an
Interventionist who reveals the truth by pretending it's fiction. No
one believes her because they think it's just a story.
He exits. Mary sits frozen.
MARY
(barely audible)
I am writing it.
Right now.
She turns to her typewriter. Types a new title page:
"INTERVENTION - Season 2, Episode 1: 'The Writer's Paradox'"
Her fingers fly across the keys.
FADE TO:
INT. PSYCHIATRIST'S OFFICE - DAY - 1967
Mary sits across from DR. BRENNER (55, thoughtful, professional).
DR. BRENNER
You said on the phone it was
urgent. What's troubling you, Mary?
MARY
I'm having difficulty distinguishing
between imagination and... something else. I write science fiction
for television. Very detailed, technical science fiction. But I don't
know where the ideas come from.
DR. BRENNER
Creative inspiration is often
mysterious. That's not unusual for writers.
It's more than that. I have notebooks going back to when I was twelve. Drawings, concepts, technical terms that shouldn't make sense to a child. But they're all consistent with what I'm writing now. Like I've been building toward this my whole life without knowing it.
DR. BRENNER
And this troubles you because...?
MARY
(struggling)
Because sometimes I
wonder if I'm remembering instead of imagining. If someone put these
ideas in my head. Or if... if I'm not entirely who I think I am.
DR. BRENNER
(carefully)
Mary, are you
concerned you might be experiencing delusions? Hearing voices, seeing
things that aren't there?
MARY
No. Nothing like that. It's more subtle.
Dreams that feel too real. Knowledge I shouldn't have. A sense that
I'm fulfilling a purpose someone else designed for me.
DR. BRENNER
The human mind is remarkable at
pattern recognition - sometimes too good. We see connections that may
not exist. You're a creative person working intensely on complex
material. It's natural for it to bleed into your dreams, your sense
of self.
MARY
So I'm not... there's nothing wrong with
me?
DR. BRENNER
I don't see evidence of mental
illness. You're self-aware, functional, successful. You're
experiencing something many creative people do - the feeling that
your best work comes from outside yourself. Writers talk about
characters "telling them" what to do. It's a metaphor for
the subconscious mind.
MARY
A metaphor.
DR. BRENNER
However, if these feelings persist
or intensify, we should continue talking. The line between
inspiration and obsession can blur.
MARY
Thank you, Doctor. I feel better.
She doesn't look better.
INT. MARY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT - 1967
Mary and Robert watch television. The premiere of "INTERVENTION" - Episode 1 is airing.
ON SCREEN: The actress playing Mary Chen stands before the Bumpha.
MARY CHEN (ON SCREEN)
And this... copy... will
integrate with a human embryo?
Robert glances at Mary. She's transfixed by the screen, barely breathing.
BUMPHA (ON SCREEN)
The femtozoan will guide
the developing mind. Shape key decisions.
ROBERT
(quietly)
Are you okay, honey?
MARY
(not looking away from screen)
I need
to know something, Rob. When we first met, in 1963... did I seem
normal to you?
ROBERT
(confused by the question)
Normal?
You seemed brilliant. Creative. A little mysterious, maybe. Why?
Did I ever say or do anything that made you think I was... different? Not quite like other people?
ROBERT
(concerned)
Mary, what's this about?
MARY
(turning to him)
Just answer. Please.
ROBERT
(thinking)
There was one thing.
Early on, you woke up from a nightmare. You were crying, and you
said... you said, "What if I'm not really here? What if I'm just
an echo of someone else?" I asked what you meant, and you said
you didn't remember saying it. That you'd been dreaming.
MARY
(hollow)
I don't remember that.
ROBERT
It was just a dream, Mary. We all say
strange things in our sleep.
On screen, the episode continues. Baby Mary is born in 1935.
Real Mary watches, and a single tear traces down her cheek.
FADE TO:
INT. DESILU STUDIOS - SOUND STAGE - DAY - 1968
A celebration. Banners: "INTERVENTION - RENEWED FOR SEASON 2!" and "AQUALINK - HIGHEST RATED NEW SERIES!"
Gene, John, Mary, cast, crew all celebrating. Champagne flows.
GENE
Three hit series! Star Trek, Aqualink, Intervention! We're making history here, people!
Applause. Cheers.
Gene pulls Mary aside.
GENE
This is all because of you. Your vision.
Your ideas. How does it feel?
MARY
(quiet)
Like I've done what I was
supposed to do.
GENE
Strange way to put it. You sound like
you're finished.
MARY
(looking around at the celebration)
No,
not finished. Just... beginning to understand.
GENE
Understand what?
MARY
That maybe the best stories are the ones
that change people. That prepare them for possibilities they never
imagined. That make the future real before it happens.
GENE
(raising his glass)
To making the
future real. And to Mary Black, who dreams bigger than the rest of
us.
They clink glasses. But Mary's expression is distant, almost sad.
FADE TO:
EXT. SPACE - NIGHT
BUMPHA VOICE (V.O.)
She does not know what she
truly is. Perhaps she never will. But the stories are told. The seeds
are planted. In three centuries, humans will understand hierion
physics. They will be ready when the Psilari arrive. And Mary Black -
both of her - will have made it possible.
SECOND BUMPHA VOICE (V.O.)
Is it ethical, what
we have done?
FIRST BUMPHA VOICE (V.O.)
She lives. She
creates. She matters. And because of her, millions more will live. Is
that not enough?
THIRD BUMPHA VOICE (V.O.)
The question may not
be for us to answer.
The shimmer in space moves on, heading toward distant stars.
FADE TO:
INT. MARY'S HOME OFFICE - NIGHT - 1968
Mary sits at her typewriter. Alone. She types:
"INTERVENTION - Season 3, Episode 1: 'The Truth Within The Lie'"
She pauses. Adds a note in the margin:
"In this episode, Mary Chen - now living as a human in 1968 - begins to suspect her true nature. She finds evidence. Old notebooks. Dreams that are too real. And she must decide: continue the mission, or reveal the truth?"
Mary stops typing. Stares at what she's written.
She reaches for her old notebook. Opens it to a blank page at the back. Writes:
She closes the notebook. Waits.
Nothing happens.
Mary smiles sadly, shakes her head at herself.
MARY
I'm talking to myself in a notebook. Dr.
Brenner would have a field day.
She returns to her typewriter.
But then - a sensation. A warmth in her chest, so subtle she almost misses it. A feeling of... recognition. Affirmation.
Mary's hands hover over the keys. Her eyes widen slightly.
MARY (whisper) You're real.
The warmth pulses gently, then fades.
Mary sits very still for a long moment. Then, with trembling hands, she opens the notebook again. Writes:
"I'll keep telling the stories. I'll make sure humanity is ready. But I need to know - when this is over, when the mission is complete... will you let me remember? Will I know who I really was?"
She waits. Nothing.
Mary closes the notebook with finality. Takes a deep breath. Returns to the typewriter.
MARY (CONT'D) (to herself, resolute) Whether you answer or not, the work matters. The stories matter.
DISSOLVE TO:
INT. CLASSROOM - UNIVERSITY - DAY - 2025
A PHYSICS PROFESSOR (40s) stands before a lecture hall of students. On the screen behind her: molecular diagrams.
PROFESSOR Conventional chemistry tells us molecules bond through electron sharing. But recent theoretical work suggests the possibility of exotic particles operating at femtoscale - that's 10 to the minus 15 meters, folks - that could create entirely new types of bonds.
A STUDENT raises her hand.
STUDENT Professor Chen, isn't that basically the plot of that old 1960s show? "Aqualink"?
PROFESSOR CHEN (smiling) Actually, yes. My grandmother used to say that show inspired her to study chemistry. Mary Black's scripts were remarkably prescient. Of course, she was writing fiction, but sometimes fiction points toward possibilities science hasn't explored yet.
STUDENT Think we'll ever discover these femtoscale particles?
PROFESSOR CHEN If they exist? Maybe in a few centuries. We're nowhere near the technology required to detect or manipulate anything at that scale.
STUDENT What if they do exist? What if Black somehow knew?
PROFESSOR CHEN (laughing) Then I'd say the Bumpha did a pretty good job with their intervention.
PROFESSOR CHEN (CONT'D) (softly) Thanks for the roadmap, Great-Grandma Mary.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. SPACE - STARSHIP ENTERPRISE - 2265
The Enterprise hangs in orbit above a frozen world.
INT. ENTERPRISE BRIDGE - CONTINUOUS
KIRK sits in the captain's chair. SPOCK at his station.
SPOCK Captain, sensors detect the planet below is undergoing catastrophic destabilization. Mass readings are fluctuating.
KIRK Mr. Spock, analysis?
SPOCK Unknown, Captain. The planet appears to be... disintegrating. Losing coherence at the molecular level.
KIRK Life signs?
SPOCK None detected. However, there are unusual energy signatures consistent with advanced technology - far beyond Federation capabilities.
KIRK Recommend we beam down a landing party. The science team needs to see this.
SPOCK Agreed. However, I suggest extreme caution. Whatever destroyed this civilization may still be present.
Kirk nods. Stands.
KIRK Mr. Spock, you're with me. Yeoman Rand, Dr. McCoy, and security detail. We beam down in ten minutes.
UHURA Captain, I'm picking up something odd from our library computer. It's flagged this mission.
KIRK Flagged it how?
UHURA There's a reference file attached to this planetary system. Historical entertainment archives. A television program from the 1960s called "Aqualink."
KIRK Entertainment? Why would that be flagged for a science mission?
UHURA (reading) Apparently the show depicted a scenario similar to what we're encountering. A frozen world with exotic molecular chemistry. Water transformed into complex chains. The file notes the show was "remarkably prescient regarding theoretical hierion physics."
SPOCK (raising eyebrow) Hierion physics. A theoretical framework that has yet to be validated. Intriguing that a television writer from the 20th century would independently conceptualize it.
KIRK Who wrote it?
UHURA (checking) Created by Mary Black. Also credited on another series called "Intervention" - about time travel and alien manipulation of human history.
SPOCK Coincidental, perhaps, that we are now encountering a situation she fictionally depicted three hundred years ago.
KIRK Or perhaps Ms. Black had a better imagination than we give her credit for. Let's go see if her fiction has any bearing on our reality.
Kirk and Spock exit. Camera holds on Uhura, who pulls up an image on her screen - a photograph of Mary Black from 1967.
FADE TO:
INT. MARY'S APARTMENT - NIGHT - 1968 (INTERCUT WITH ENTERPRISE)
Mary sits at her typewriter. She's older now - early 30s, showing signs of strain. Her hands hover over the keys.
She's writing "AQUALINK - Season 3, Episode 14: 'The Ancient World.'"
The page describes a starship encountering a frozen planet where water has been transformed. Where an ancient civilization died leaving only molecular echoes.
Mary types: "The Captain doesn't know yet, but his ship has been guided here. Not by accident, but by design. The disease they bring back isn't just contamination - it's communication. The dying civilization's last message."
She stops. Rubs her temples.
MARY (to herself) Three more episodes. "The Naked Time" films next month. Then the backdoor pilot for "Aqualink" Season 4. This is it. This is when everything connects.
A pause. Then she adds a handwritten note in the margin:
"Note to self: Make sure the water molecule diagrams are EXACT. Someone will need them. Someday."
INTERCUT TO:
INT. ENTERPRISE - TRANSPORTER ROOM - 2265
Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and landing party materialize on the transporter pad, returning from the planet surface.
Kirk is staggering slightly. So is Riley. They're showing early signs of infection.
KIRK I'm fine, Bones. Just... cold down there.
SPOCK Doctor, I recommend immediate quarantine protocols. We may have brought back contamination.
McCOY Agreed. Everyone to Sickbay, now.
As they exit, Kirk touches his face - his hand comes away damp.
KIRK (confused) Why am I sweating?
INTERCUT BACK TO:
INT. MARY'S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS - 1968
Mary writes frantically now, as if in a trance:
"The infection spreads through perspiration. It mimics intoxication. The crew's inhibitions dissolve. They act on suppressed emotions. But this is not an attack - it is an attempt at contact. The water chains are trying to be understood."
She stops. Stares at what she's written.
MARY (shaking) I can see it. I can see them on the ship. Three hundred years from now. They're touching the contaminated surfaces. They're bringing it back aboard.
She clutches the edge of the desk.
MARY (CONT'D) This isn't a story. This is... happening. Will happen. Is happening.
She picks up the phone with shaking hands. Dials.
MARY (CONT'D) (into phone) John? I'm sorry it's late. I need you to look at the "Naked Time" script... Yes, tonight... Because I need to add something. A detail about the cure. Specific chemical compounds that will counteract the infection... No, I don't know how I know, I just... John, please trust me. This is important. Write this down...
FADE TO:
INT. MARY'S HOME OFFICE - DAY - 1969
Mary sits across from John and Gene. All three look at scripts spread across the desk.
GENE Mary, I have to ask. Are you all right? Your scripts for the last six months - they're brilliant, but there's an intensity to them that concerns me.
MARY I'm fine. Just focused.
JOHN You're more than focused. You're driven. "The Naked Time" airs next week. The backdoor pilot elements for "Aqualink" and "Intervention" are seamless. The network is already talking about green-lighting both series. But you look exhausted.
MARY There's still so much to write. Season outlines for both shows. The mythology needs to be complete. Consistent. Future viewers need to be able to follow the hierion physics from episode to episode. It has to be perfect.
GENE (gently) Mary, they're TV shows. They don't have to be perfect. They just have to be entertaining.
MARY (intense) No. You're wrong. They have to be perfect. They have to be accurate. People will need this information. Students. Scientists. People who haven't been born yet.
JOHN (exchanging worried looks with Gene) Mary, listen to yourself. You're talking about these shows like they're instruction manuals, not entertainment.
MARY (catching herself) I'm sorry. I just... I care about the work. Is that so wrong?
GENE Of course not. But we care about you too. When's the last time you took a day off?
JOHN We're going to hold you to that.
They gather the scripts and leave. Mary sits alone.
She opens her old notebook. Pages and pages of detailed technical notes, diagrams, molecular structures. Decades of accumulated knowledge she shouldn't have.
She writes one more entry:
"If I am both Mary Black and something else - if part of me is from the future, guiding the part of me that is purely human - then I want the human part to say this: Thank you. Thank you for choosing my life. Thank you for making my work matter. Even if I never fully understand, even if I never remember... thank you."
She closes the notebook. Wipes her eyes.
MARY (whisper) It's almost done. Just a little longer.
FADE TO:
INT. LIVING ROOM - MARY'S HOME - NIGHT - 1966
The Black family - Mary, Robert, and several FRIENDS - gather around the television.
FRIEND #1 This is exciting! Your episode, Mary!
ROBERT (proud) Co-written with John, but the concept was all Mary's.
The Star Trek theme plays. "The Naked Time" begins.
Mary watches, tense, as the Enterprise orbits Psi 2000. As the landing party beams down to the frozen, dying world.
FRIEND #2 (laughing) "Complex chain of molecules." You come up with the most delightfully absurd science-sounding dialogue, Mary.
MARY (distant) It's not absurd. It's real.
FRIEND #2 (thinking she's joking) Oh, sure. And I suppose the Bumpha are real too?
Everyone laughs. Except Mary.
ROBERT (noticing) Honey, are you okay?
MARY (forcing a smile) Fine. Just nervous seeing my work on screen.
But her hands are clenched in her lap, knuckles white.
As the episode progresses - the crew becoming infected, Spock showing emotion, Kirk wrestling with loneliness - Mary mouths some of the dialogue along with the actors, as if she's memorized every word. Or as if she's hearing it for the second time.
When the episode ends with the Enterprise thrown backward in time, Mary's eyes are wet.
FRIEND #1 That was fantastic! And that ending - time travel! Are you going to do a follow-up?
MARY (softly) Eventually. In about two hundred and eighty years.
FRIEND #1 (laughing) What?
MARY (recovering) I mean, maybe a sequel episode. We'll see.
The friends depart, congratulating her. Robert closes the door behind them.
ROBERT Mary, what's going on? Really?
ROBERT (alarmed) Mary, you need to call Dr. Brenner. Tonight.
MARY (shaking her head) No. I'm not crazy. I'm not delusional. I'm just... awake. More awake than I've ever been. And I can see the pattern. The stories I write aren't fiction. They're prophecy. Blueprint. Warning and preparation.
ROBERT They're television shows, Mary! Made-up stories!
MARY (meeting his eyes) Then why do I know exactly how hierion-hadron bonds form when that science won't be discovered for seven hundred years? Why can I draw molecular diagrams that feel like memory instead of imagination? Why does every word I write feel like dictation from someone who's already lived through what I'm describing?
ROBERT (frightened) Because you're an incredibly creative writer who's been working too hard. That's all.
Mary stares at him. Then nods slowly.
MARY You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just exhausted. Let's go to bed.
But as they turn out the lights and head upstairs, Mary pauses at her office door. Looks back at her desk, at the typewriter, at the notebooks.
MARY (whisper) I won't stop. I'll finish what you started. What we started. I promise.
The warmth in her chest pulses once, gently, in response.
Mary smiles through tears, and heads upstairs.
TAG
FADE IN:
EXT. EARTH - SPACE STATION - 2746
A massive orbital facility. Through the windows, Earth gleams below.
INT. SPACE STATION - OBSERVATION DECK - CONTINUOUS
ADMIRAL PATTERSON (60s, weathered, wise) stands before a viewport. A HISTORIAN (30s, eager) approaches with a data pad.
HISTORIAN Admiral, you asked for the research on Mary Black?
PATTERSON Yes. What did you find?
HISTORIAN She died in 2025, age 90. Incredibly productive career - over 200 television scripts, including the foundational episodes of "Aqualink" and "Intervention." Both series ran for seven seasons each, spawned multiple spin-offs, influenced generations of scientists.
PATTERSON Did she ever know? About the Enterprise, the Psilari, any of it?
HISTORIAN (checking data) No indication she did. She retired in 2010, gave a few interviews where she expressed hope that her shows inspired people to think about science and the future. She seemed... content. At peace.
PATTERSON The timing is remarkable. "The Naked Time" aired in 1966. The Enterprise encounters Psi 2000 in 2265 - exactly when needed. Black's scripts prepared three centuries of scientists to understand hierion physics just in time for First Contact.
HISTORIAN You think the Bumpha are real? That they actually sent someone back to plant those stories?
HISTORIAN The Enterprise arrives tomorrow. With the Psilari femtobots still in the crew.
PATTERSON
And we're ready to help them. Because of television shows from eight hundred years ago.
(pause)
Reality, fiction, prophecy, coincidence - maybe those boundaries aren't as clear as we like to think.
HISTORIAN Admiral, there's one more thing. We found this in the historical archives. A notebook belonging to Mary Black, preserved by her family, donated to the Smithsonian in 2087.
He hands Patterson a data pad displaying a scanned page. Mary's handwriting from 1969:
"To whoever finds this: The stories I wrote are true. They haven't happened yet, but they will. Trust the science. Save the Psilari. And remember - sometimes the best way to tell the truth is to call it fiction."
Patterson stares at the message.
PATTERSON (softly) She knew. Somehow, she knew.
HISTORIAN Or she hoped. Maybe that's the same thing.
They stand together, looking out at Earth, waiting for a starship from the past that carries the future.
FADE OUT.
END CREDITS
MARY (V.O.)
(elderly but vibrant)
People ask me where the ideas came from. The Bumpha, hierion physics, the intervention scenarios. Honestly? I don't fully know. Sometimes I felt like I was remembering instead of inventing. Like someone was whispering stories in my ear, and my job was just to write them down. Sounds crazy, I know.
(pause)
But here's what I believe: The best science fiction isn't about predicting the future. It's about creating it. If enough people read a story, believe in it, work toward it... fiction becomes blueprint. Imagination becomes reality. Maybe that's the real intervention - not aliens manipulating us, but stories inspiring us to become more than we were.
(pause)
I hope in a few hundred years, someone discovers hierion particles. I hope humanity meets another intelligent species and handles it with wisdom. And if any of my stories helped make that possible... well, that would be a pretty good legacy for a girl from Queens who just liked to dream.
FADE TO BLACK.
THE END
PRODUCTION NOTES (Mary's handwritten additions to the script):
"Gene - I know this is heavy for a pilot. But trust me, audiences are ready for this. They want to think about big questions. Free will. Destiny. Whether we're alone in making our choices.
Also - and I can't stress this enough - the hierion physics terminology must be consistent across ALL episodes of both Intervention and Aqualink. I've created a technical bible (attached) that every writer needs to follow. Future continuity depends on it.
Yes, I know how that sounds. Just... trust me. Please.
-Mary"
______THE END________
Next: my version of the story.
 |
| Visit the Gallery of Movies, Book and Magazine Covers |
No comments:
Post a Comment