Movie Draft 1 Jathia’s Wager
Below is an easy to access cut and paste version of the first draft of Jathia’s Wager. To fit in this template, some of the proper formating was lost. Here is a link to the pdf version of the script which includes proper tabs, etc.
EXT. GRASS FIELD - DAY
A dark forest sits at the end of a perfectly maintained sea
of grass. Small clusters of buildings shimmer in the
distance.
A huddled group of people slowly walk through the grass
toward the edge of the forest. Their faces turn deadly
serious as they get closer to the edge.
An old man with flowing gray hair leads the pack. He stops
abruptly and holds up a fist.
OLD MAN
This is as far as we go.
A young man slowly walks out from the group. His name is
Jathia. Jathia stares into the old man's eyes as he passes.
He looks over his shoulder and sees the gaze of the group,
scared and frozen behind him.
Jathia forces a smile to his lips, waves, and continues on.
A sweat bead pour down his face and he comes closer and
closer to the edge.
A high-pitched ALARM sounds
Jathia freezes in place.
A man appears in front of him with a beaming smile.
MAN
Please state your purpose.
JATHIA
I wish to exit.
MAN
Then I will brief you on your
options and answer any preliminary
questions you may have. Remember if
you do choose to leave, coming back
is not an option.
JATHIA
I'm aware of that.
MAN
You must first understand that we
are no longer the enviro, although
like you, some enviros are still
living in sectioned communities.
JATHIA
How is that possible?
MAN
It is difficult to explain in
English. Due to a non-interference
resolution I'm not allowed to read
or write directly to your thoughts.
Thus there is inevitably going to
be some level of misunderstanding --
JATHIA
Just tell me!
MAN
When your ancestors chose to remain
solely human, they were isolated.
The world continued to evolve and
technology increased at exponential
rates. The world passed them by as
they lived and grew in isolation
becoming increasingly cut off as
time went by.
Life is no longer limited by
biological processes so we think
learn, grow and communicate at
speeds millions times faster than
your human brain is capable of.
JATHIA
Why were we not informed about
this?
What you would consider entire
lifetimes happens in mere minutes
for us. It is futile to try and
continue updating lower species on
our improvements and evolutions, as
they are happening every minute and
are too complex for a human mind.
JATHIA
Why give us choices then?
MAN
Although it was a very, very, long
time ago, we used to be humans. Our
current society is based on logic
and reason, which includes
preserving lower life forms. We
wish no harm to you or to anyone
else.
JATHIA
Why didn't you force us to evolve
with you?
MAN
At the time, everyone was given a
choice and it was absolutely
necessary to preserve people's
right to that decision for
themselves.
Unfortunately, ethics and childhood
decisions at the human level have
some overlap; you have to infringe
upon the rights of the parent if
you do what the community considers
best for their children. Further,
how do you define best?
Because of the extremely long
incubation period it takes for a
human child to be able to think and
act on it's own, those problems are
difficult to answer.
Ultimately, we decided to let the
children of the outsiders live and
grow with their parents, but
provide support for those wishing
to exit and evolve to rejoin
society.
JATHIA
What are my exit choices?
MAN
In order to leave this community,
you'll need to evolve into a new
species.
It's not possible to jump species
instantly, so the process of moving
up takes years for the first jump,
months for the second, and
eventually you'll be caught up and
can begin evolving within weeks,
then days.
After each evolution you'll reside
in a community of that species
where you'll be learning, adjusting
and preparing for the next jump.
The world in which our current
species lives will not support
human life.
JATHIA
What if I want to stop evolving?
MAN
Although you can't go back, you can
stop at any level. After you evolve
to a Sisian, you can stay at that
level until you die if you wish.
If you jump up to an enviro or
higher, your life will no longer be
limited to any set time frame.
Although it's possible to cause the
end of your existence, there is no
set bilogical death time and many
enviros are thousands of earth
years old.
JATHIA
What's it like?
MAN
That question is unanswerable, but
I can tell you that it's an
entirely different existence, with
new ways of understanding the
basics of what you call reality.
With your education level you
should be familiar with the fish
bowl analogy for the human
perspective of life. Since humans
evolved to live in medium sized
physical realm, your entire view of
reality is skewed through the
limitations of that lens, like a
fish looking out through it's
warped bowl.
JATHIA
Ok, better question. What did other
humans do after choosing to exit?
MAN
About half stopped at the next
level of evolution and lived out a
life at that level, half of the
ones that were left stopped a few
levels up and ten percent continued
to evolve and are now members of
our society, although they're still
a few species behind the leaders.
They're lengthy delay makes it
impossible for them to entirely
catch up.
Almost none of them regretted the
decision. You see, life as a human
is eternally lonely. Although you
communicate, no one can ever share
your thoughts, your exact
perspective, or even completely
understand your viewpoint. As you
evolve, you'll eventually share
thoughts directly with more than
one being at the same time and
understand others' points of view
exactly as if you had thought them
yourself.
JATHIA
Will I still have a physical body?
MAN
At the next two levels yes. At the
third, though, physical bodies were
given up and consciousness
transferred to living non-organic
machines.
JATHIA
What will I look like at the next
level?
MAN
Exactly like you do now, only with
massive technology improvements to
your brain's structures, like
expanded memory, mathematical co
processing, parallel thinking or
the ability to think about more
than one thing at the same time.
For example, you'll be able to
solve multiple math problems
simultaneously while contemplating
the optimal way to structure a
dwelling.
JATHIA
Ok, I'm ready. I really do wish to
leave. What do I have to do?
MAN
Walk into the forest. I'll see you
on the other side.
The main disappears.
Jathia looks behind him and back at the group still waiting.
The old man looks at Jathia. An older woman has tears in her
eyes.
OLD MAN
(calling out)
Please don't do it.
Jathia waves at them.
JATHIA
Come with me PLEASE!
OLD MAN
Yany is coming back for us, we'll
all be lifted away into heaven. If
you go, you can never come with.
JATHIA
I need to know the truth about our
world. I have to go.
A sad look comes to his face.
JATHIA
(looking up at the sky)
Goodbye world!
Jathia sprints into the forest and disappears.
The old man turns and the group walks back to the building in
the distance. They bow their heads in prayer.
OLD MAN
We have to maintain our faith.
He's coming back for us. All of
us.
OLD WOMAN
Hallilamen.
OLD MAN
Hallilamen.
The End.
