SGU: ORIGINS - BUILDERS

FADE IN:

# DESTINY BRIDGE. VOLKER, PARK, BRODY at the Consoles. RUSH at the Captain chair. CMBR 'signal' on MONITORS (from different angles).

PARK
I got 10% coincidence for the adjusted Riemann Function against the known parts of the signal.

VOLKER
Not much better than my "Zero Point Rift" theory.

BRODY
90% uncertainty over data that's 99% gaps isn't a great match.

Standing beside the Captain chair:

PERRY (smiling, to RUSH)
Talking with yourself again, honey?

They're ALONE. The Consoles are EMPTY. CMBR 'signal' fades away on MONITORS.

RUSH
They help with different perspectives.

PERRY
(smiling)
So do I. We got another data packet from Destiny: they left the galaxy safely, despite a small drone ambush.

Happy, LEANING for a quick PECK:

RUSH
Great news!
(stops just before contact)
How small?

MAN VOICE
(Off Screen)
Dr. Nicholas Rush? We need to talk.

RUSH
Yeah? Who is it?

FADE TO:


# WHITE NOTHINGNESS. RUSH, alone, looks around. Checks his hands, hair.

MAN VOICE (O.S)
We sent a message to your ship, with the simulacra of your dead comrades.

WOMAN VOICE (O.S)
Communication has been harder than expected.




S     *     G     *     U


                       STARGATE   (@)   UNIVERSE                        .


ORIGINS



-+-        BUILDERS        -+-




RUSH
The Planet Builders?

MAN VOICE (O.S)
Apologies, but the truth is... complicated.

Not quite buying it:

RUSH
Look, I'd really love to know, but, y'see, I have things to do. Elsewhere.

SWITCH To:


* Eden PLANET. AFTERNOON. Familiar WOODS, RIVERS, PRAIRIES, EMPTY of any complex animals. Far behind the tallest TREES, the MYSTERY OBELISK peeks.

WHITE-ROBED WOMAN
(one of the dead comrades?)
Space is relative. As is time.

RUSH, surprised, reels a bit.

CUT To:


* Eden PLANET. NIGHT. Changed (more alien) WOODS, no obelisk. 2 Mid-size MOONS shine brightly on: All kinds of small & big ALIEN fauna around, going about their business, running, hopping, flying, screeching... The place is full of life!

WHITE-ROBED URSINI
Or appearance. Our physical form is... too alien for you.

WHITE-ROBED NAKAI
Perhaps this is more... agreeable?

REELING again:

RUSH
No! No... it was okay before. As... humans.

They comply.

RUSH
Thanks. You must be... energy beings. Ascended?

WHITE-ROBED MAN
(one of the dead comrades?)
That'd be the closest... analog. There's many levels of energy and being.

W.R.W
Ours, when we finally reached it, wasn't as peaceful as expected.

Strolling:

W.R.M
Full-out war was why none of those Ascended before us ever called back.

W.R.W
We contacted our world to tell 'em something was wrong.

FLASHBACK:


* SPACE. An 'advanced' PLANET SILHOUETTED against a FIERY star's growing CORONA.

W.R.M (O.S)
But one of the warring factions seized the opportunity to reach and burn down our planet!

END FLASHBACK


Drinking some SPRING WATER with his hand:

RUSH
Whoa... that must have... my condolences.

W.R.W
We had to flee. Spent centuries hiding from 'em.

W.R.M
Met friends along the way, though.

W.R.W
Some light between all the darkness.

FADE TO:


* Eden PLANET. Pre-DAWN. GARDEN WOODS. Plenty of TALL big-eyed Gorilla-like ALIEN people (with varied FUR, GARMENTS, and chattering PETS) stroll around, gathering supplies, socializing, etc.

W.R.M (O.S)
The Gentle Giants were masters of the Life Sciences.

W.R.W (O.S)
Advanced enough to be potential candidates for Ascension.

Strolling UNSEEN among the natives:

W.R.M
They tweaked their pets' genetic codes to improve intelligence and singing abilities.

Listening to a small bat-like PET's spirited tweet-SONG:

RUSH
How... uplifting.
(carefully TOUCHES a youngling's thick golden MANE)
Are they really... ?

W.R.W
Closest analog your mind can provide, or accept.

In the distance, harmonious CLARION calls start to be heard, repeated. Some of the alien GORILLAS look towards the BRIGHTENING horizon, SING the same call.

W.R.M
They also tweaked their entire biosphere to better withstand their sun's radiation.

A bloated ORANGE-RED sun starts RISING, its light SCORCHING.

Gorillas, pets, and all fauna FLEE to hidden UNDERGROUND passages and recesses.

W.R.W
Alas, their star was swelling into a Red Giant.

Most flora RETREATS sensitive flowers, leaves, et al, into trunks, exoskeletons, etc.

W.R.M
And it was taking them too long to develop Interstellar Flight.



# UNDERGROUND CLASSROOM, packed full. ARTIFICIAL LIGHT. A red-haired GORILLA-TEACHER (in one of 'em white ROBES) fills a WHITEBOARD with GRAPHS & EQUATIONS.

W.R.W (O.S)
Our new-found friends were helping them, discreetly.

RISE TO:


* SPACE. Huge ORANGE-RED star, FLARING. As a large CORONAL MASS EJECTION approaches Eden, it is DEFLECTED by an unseen energy SHIELD.

BEYOND:


* SPACE. NEIGHBORING FAT YOUNG BLUE STAR, surrounded by debris.

W.R.M (O.S)
We tried another way.

The star DEVELOPS some hyperactive HOTSPOTS that grow into OVERSIZE 'MAGNETIC' PLASMA ARCHES/LOOPS.

After some giant EXPLOSIONS / PYROTECHNICS, plasma CONVERGES/FLOWS into a few more-or-less stable PLASMA STREAMS/JETS.

As these INTENSIFY, the star MOVES, ever-so-slightly.



* SPACE. Huge ORANGE-RED star. The (somewhat downsized) BLUE star approaches, its PLASMA STREAMS going OFF frequently, varying direction.

W.R.W (O.S)
War in the higher planes raged on for decades, while we toiled. Others joined us.

W.R.M
Many like-minded companions. Exhilarating.



* Eden PLANET. MORNING. GARDEN WOODS.

RUSH
Wait a minute: You used another star to scoop up an inhabited planet away from its primary?

W.R.W
Not as easy as it sounds.



* Eden PLANET. TIMELAPSE. Both RED and BLUE suns alternate in the sky, alone or together. Slightly CHAOTIC.

W.R.M (O.S)
Unfortunately, our efforts [+] were noticed.

W.R.W
The war found us in our hour of triumph.

W.R.M
The planet was attacked. Fleeing wasn't an option.



* SPACE. Eden PLANET. A huge 'electrified' EXPLOSION is barely DEFLECTED by the (improved) unseen energy SHIELD.

W.R.W (O.S)
We fought to defend it. For years, we held our ground.

W.R.M (O.S)
We paid dearly for it.



* SPACE. Huge ORANGE-RED star, going NOVA. The ballooning SHOCKWAVE reaches the fleeing BLUE star (with sputtering Plasma Streams) + trailing Eden (minus its 2 moons), but is (mostly) DEFLECTED.

W.R.W (O.S)
We were expelled from the galaxy!



* Eden PLANET. TIMELAPSE. BLUE sun becomes a FILTERED white-yellow, alternates with deep dark NIGHTS devoid of any visible stars or MOONS, except a DWINDLING 'blob' GALAXY.

W.R.M (O.S)
There was no pursuit. We had nowhere to go.

W.R.W (O.S)
Only the immensity of the intergalactic void.

Orbital MIRRORS replace the lost moons. Alien Gorillas (+PETS) CHORUS a slow sad SONG into the night.

W.R.M (O.S)
Alas, a weapon of war had been used against the planet's biosphere.

W.R.W (O.S)
It mutated a minor pathogen into a tool of evil.



* Eden PLANET. TIMELAPSE. Plants turn YELLOW/BROWN, CRUMBLE and die. Feral animals fight and DIE. Alien GORILLAS, perched on high trees, HOWL incoherently, THROW things...

W.R.M (O.S)
Spreading like wildfire, it targeted the genetic code tweaks related to intelligence and radiation resistance, then everything else.

W.R.W (O.S)
Reverting in 1 generation the advances of many.



# UNDERGROUND LABS, half-empty. ARTIFICIAL LIGHT. A few GORILLA-SCIENTISTS in Bio-Hazard suits, hard at work. The red-haired GORILLA-TEACHER lies DEAD on a table (in an isolated QUARANTINE ROOM, with plenty of BRAIN SCANS).

W.R.M (O.S)
It took all their science and efforts to keep mature lifeforms stable.

W.R.W (O.S)
But developing organisms, including their offspring, were a lost cause.

W.R.M (O.S)
They were doomed, and knew it.



* Eden PLANET. MORNING. Dilapidated GARDEN WOODS.

Strolling in the general direction of the OBELISK:

W.R.W
In 4 generations, their society devolved into a few tribes of savages fighting for survival, their wisdom all but forgotten.

There's a big alien gorilla's SKULL next to a tree, a large (stone-tipped, broken) SPEAR nearby.

W.R.M
8 generations later, they faced extinction.

W.R.W
The same grim fate that befell most of the upper animals and all of the delicately engineered plant life.

At the small VALLEY where the OBELISK should be:

Gorilla-operated MACHINERY excavates a big deep PIT.

W.R.M (O.S)
Well ahead of that, in one last grand gesture, they had started a swansong project to record and broadcast all their knowledge, their ideals...

Her hands holding 1 of the small bat-like pets (ASLEEP):

W.R.W
Plus all the living marvels of their wonderful planet.

Bat-pet WAKES up, spreads WINGS, tweet-WARBLES something, FLIES AWAY.

FAST-FORWARD TO:


* SPRAWLING WORKSITE. DAY. BIG peculiarly-shaped & engraved WALLS being erected. No Gorillas or other animals around. Plant life + trees visibly CHANGED (jungle-like, recovering?).

W.R.M (O.S)
A monument, but also a gift to whoever might find it.

Aerial VIEW of:

The OBELISK being BUILT, using no machinery, only unseen FORCEFIELDS.

W.R.W (O.S)
We finished it on their behalf, with the only addition of a subspace shifter.

W.R.M (O.S)
So their messages would reach others in decades instead of millennia.

Concealing his awe:

RUSH
So, you managed to reach another galaxy?

W.R.W
(grim)
Not without paying a price.



* SPACE. Restless BLUE star. The Plasma Streams FORM again.

W.R.M (O.S)
We had 350000 years of travel ahead, far longer than the planet's limited energy planes could sustain us. Unless we changed course.

W.R.W (O.S)
Many spent their forces so a few would have a chance.

FAST-FORWARD TO:

The BLUE star is SMALLER. A familiar-looking Galaxy GROWS ahead, then AROUND.

W.R.M (O.S)
After 200000 years, we were anxious to finally leave our death-infused lifeboat.

W.R.W (O.S)
We forgot that it could be of interest to others.

Their VOICES FADING:

W.R.M (O.S)
Or that it could become... less than hospitable for 'em.

W.R.W (O.S)
For that we are truly sorry.

FADE TO:


# WHITE NOTHINGNESS. RUSH, alone.

RUSH
Wait! The war! What was it about? In your home galaxy!?

Reappearing:

W.R.M
Same as all wars: power, freedom.

W.R.W
Authority versus diversity.

W.R.M
Stagnation versus evolution.

W.R.W
Death, or life.

W.R.M
Life is important, worth fighting for.

Linking hands with her partner:

W.R.W
Love too.

They vanish.

BACK TO:


# BRIDGE. Same [+] as before, with RUSH still LEANING for a peck.

As PERRY KISSES him, he REACTS.

PERRY
What's the matter?

Looking around:

RUSH
I just... received... another data packet.

PERRY
Yeah? Where from?


END

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