Field Test - A Chrononauts story (For the Millarworld Annual contest)

Yup, I joined a contest. I don’t usually join in one, but I just had to when I saw an article about it. And since I didn’t win, I want to share the story I wrote to whoever reads this. I had fun writing and thinking about it for a couple of days, and I hope you enjoy reading it as well. I’m no writer, but I tried.

Here you go.

Field Test

Page One

1. Open with a shot of a large room with the Time Machine. Only Corbin is there, working on what seems to be a late night shift again for him since nobody is around. But Danny arrives, carrying a box.
   DANNY: Hey, Corbin! I got something for you.
   CORBIN: At this late hour? I hope it’s worth it Danny.
2. Medium shot of Danny from the waist up, carrying the box. Hss face, beaming with confidence.
   DANNY: Chronosuit prototype. Care to fit it?
3. Medium shot of Corbin turning around to face Danny, happy to hear the news.
   CORBIN: That fast? It’s only been a couple of months!. You sir, are a genius.
   DANNY: Ha! But not that genius as you, Corbin. Go ahead and try it on. I hope I got the measurements right.
4. The following sequence is split into 3 small panels:

• Close up shot of Corbin’s left/right foot. He is putting on the shoes that comes with the suit.
  CORBIN: Well, so far, you got the foot size right. Ha! So, when did you managed to finish this?
  DANNY: A couple of days ago. I fitted mine and all is good. I managed to test the suit too. Going backwards and forwards in time. I managed to go to —
• Medium, partial shot/view of Corbin’s left/right arm going in the sleeves of the suit.
  CORBIN: WHAT?!?!
  DANNY: Why would I spoil your maiden voyage? Ladies first, right?..Kidding!
• Corbin puts the Chronosuit helmet on.
  CORBIN: Thanks for keeping that in mind, Danny.
  DANNY: Hey, what are friends for, as what they always say!

Page Two

1. Medium shot of Corbin wearing the suit, facing Danny. His hands making a gesture on how does he look like.
   CORBIN: So?
   DANNY: Smashing, Corbin. Smashing.
2. Focus on Corbin’s waist, where the buttons for the Chronosuit are. He accidentally presses a button on the Chronosuit
   DANNY: Be mindful of the switch though. It’s previously charged from the last test so it’s —
3. A hole with blasts of energy appeared where Corbin is standing. He disappears in front of Danny eyes. Danny looks surprised and is taken aback in what had just happened.
   DANNY: — active.
4. Traveling back in time, we see Corbin in a crouched position, breaking his fall. Above him is the hole that the Chronosuit produced. He arrives on a location that is high on altitude. The surroundings are rocky and/or icy in nature. Where he’s at, it seems he’s somewhere on a side of a mountain.
   CORBIN: Shit.
5. Corbin fumbles with the buttons of the Chronosuit, with the hopes of getting back quickly as possible.
   CORBIN: Great, the display’s not working. Where could I be? But, yeah, I have to go.
6. An arrow whizzed passed by him. It missed him by a couple of inches.
   CORBIN: !?!?

Page 3

1. Corbin turns to the direction where the arrow came from. From a distance he could see a shape of a man, taking aim with its bow.
   CORBIN: Yeah, I think I really have to go.
2. Close up on the antagonist. Male, between 30–40 years old. He seems to be strong, muscular, and imposing. Wearing animal hide and carrying weapons, he might be some sort of a hunter or a warrior for his respective tribe. Wielding a bow, he releases an arrow, apparently aimed at Corbin.
   CORBIN: What a way to die.
3. At a split second, a man blocked Corbin, taking the arrow. He is hit at the back. Upper left shoulder.
   CORBIN: !?!?
4. The identity of the person who saved Corbin is revealed. His face looks old, but his body is chiseled, muscled. Long, white hair. Sporting a beard. Looking at Corbin, it seems that he is in pain the moment he felt the arrow pierce through his shoulders. ****This person is apparently Otzi the Iceman — the prehistoric man that was discovered in the 90’s in the Austria-Italy mountain ranges.
5. Corbin, in the nick of time, presses the button again to jump back to the present while the person who saved him got his unlucky fate — Another hostile person which seems to be with the man who shot the arrow, managed to get close to them and strike Otzi with a blunt weapon to the head.

Page 4

1. Switch back to the Research Facility. Danny, with his back facing towards us (the reader’s perspective), sees Corbin suddenly appearing, coming back from his sudden, accidental, yet quick trip back in time.
   DANNY: Corbin!
   CORBIN: Thanks for reminding me about the button, Danny! But, damn! That was scary!
2. Medium shot of Corbin taking off the suit. You can’t paint his face though, if he’s angry or happy with what had just transpired. Danny seems happy since it validates that his Chronosuit is working. .
   DANNY: Hahaha! But, hey, at least we know it’s working.
   CORBIN: Haha.
   DANNY: The calibrations aren’t that much done yet, so it’s a random time and location jump for testing purposes. And let’s fix ‘the hole’ so it doesn’t materialize on the ground….So, where did it take you?
3. Aerial/Top view shot of Otzi surrounded by the two assailants. Blood can be seen around Otzi’s body.
   CORBIN: Somewhere cold.
4. Pull further back of the previous shot. Otzi’s body is now half buried in snow.
   CORBIN: But the man I saw back there, he’s kinda familiar. I’ve seen that face in a museum in Italy. Bolzano, South Tyrol.
   DANNY: Otzi the Iceman?
   CORBIN: Hm. He got shot by an arrow.
   DANNY: Oh. Well, at least you know the truth now on how he died.
5. Pull further back. All white.

I can still remember the Time Magazine that my Dad had when I was a kid about The Iceman. I was so fascinated about it at that time, that somehow it stuck into me. When I was thinking of the story and where I’ll take it, this (and a couple of other ideas) was on the top of my list, then eventually I used this particular historical character. I decided to use Otzi the Iceman since I wanted to use a character from the past that isn’t historically famous, but somehow has a significant contribution in the field of Archaeology. And since there’s only speculations and theories on how he died, I thought that this was a nice twist to his fate.

So, there you go. Now, you know how Otzi the Iceman died…Kidding.