[robin Heid]

Robin’s Transformational Events

What I learned doing this assignment is how to structure the Transformational Journey through an escalating series of transformational events, and how critical those events are to telling the story.

Character Arc and the list of Old Ways and New Ways.

Character arc

After being kidnapped by an international criminal cartel, The Metasynthesizer is incited by Bentley Garfield’s attempt to control him or kill him to convert his small-time hacking hobby into a cyber jihad that takes out the entire cartel and saves the world from tyranny.

Old Ways:

· The Metasynthesizer is a standard hacker tweaking security and surveillance systems for fun.

· He’s doing it because he can.

· He is a serious pilot and poker player, not so serious about anything else.

New Ways

· New identity: Ubermensch

· He groks noblesse oblige in its fullness: He knows that with great power comes great responsibility.

· He takes seriously his responsibility to surpass man and save the world.

List of 6 – 8 changes or steps that need to happen for that character to go from who they are in the beginning (Old Ways) to who they are in the ending (New Ways).

Recognize
there is a higher reality than his current experience.

The Metasynthesizer releases Escher Lord from the UNISAF pokey

See
the level of power of the antagonists and that they are his enemy.

He deep sixes himself when the takeover happens

Make
the decision to give up his current life and see the threat for what it
is.

He resists Wali simple attempt to access his files

Accept
that he can control his reality.

TBD but he confounds Wali’s more sophisticated hack at trying to access his files by rerouting the hack to an alternative dead end path.

Become
skilled at resisting the threat as a creator.

TBD but he causes passive-aggressive trouble for Bentley Garfield (as in he does something to start the “conversion” process on Wali or McCauley or both… could be a simple thing to mccauley as she takes cathy to “jail” or somewhere else in that general time frame… primary creation – proactive instead of reactive… fulfill “inside as creator”

Stand
up to the threat.

Take out darkman

Become
The One!

Orbital finale

Add these transformational events to your four act structure.

Act 1:

Opening

TE1: The Metasynthesizer passive-aggressively resists UNISAF by releasing Escher Lord from jail, though we don’t know it at the time… some may figure it out be his confession at the end.

Inciting Incident

The Metasynthesizer is playing poker with his friends when the project is seized by a hostile commando force led by General Bentley Garfield on behalf of the United Nations International Security Assistance Force (UNISAF) now occupying the USA.

Bentley Garfield demands that the Raven Project change focus and tighten its deadlines, thereby endangering the project, careers, and lives of the Raven team, including The Metasynthesizer.

TE2: It begins when Wali the Geek tries to access The Metasynthesizer’s secrets and the Metasynthesizer shuts him down, thus marking the next phase in the fight for control – and survival.

Turning Point

Cathy is physically attacked while mountain biking with Doctor An to take her out of the picture. The effort fails but when Old Raven passes the news to Escher Lord and Master Chief, they realize it’s time to go hot because this has moved past a fight to control The Metasynthesizer to a battle for survival.

Act 2:

Reaction

The Metasynthesizer and his team realize how deadly dangerous Bentley Garfield’s mission is, not just to them and to their project but to the whole world.

New plan

The Metasynthesizer and his team decide to passive-aggressively thwart Bentley Garfield’s ambitions and evil plans. Complications ensue.

TE3: TBD but he confounds Wali’s more sophisticated hack at trying to access his files by rerouting the hack to an alternative dead end path.

Turning Point/Midpoint

An explosion rips through the Raven when the laser boost system fails during an orbital flight test because the timeline was pushed too much and something got missed. The lives of Cathy and The Metasynthesizer both hang in the balance.

Act 3

New Plan

The team realizes it can’t continue with its passive-aggressive resistance or somebody’s gonna get killed They decide to confront Bentley Garfield more directly.

New Insights

Wali figures out The Metasynthesizer’s dead-end hack, which leads him to realizes that all along it was The Metasynthesizer who was the formidable hacker they were trying to find. He reports this to Garfield.

Turning Point 3

Garfield yanks Cathy from the cockpit and puts in Darkman. Cathy is taken by McCauley and put somewhere for “safe keeping.”

TE4: The Metasynthesizer acts ala Sun Tzu to “convert” McCauley and Wali… with McCauley, as she’s taking Cathy to “jail,” he calls her radio says “is this really part of your job description and warrior ethos?” To Wali, something like “do you ever remember the side your soul is on?” he whispers this to him through his laptop after he recommends termination.

Act 4:

Climax:

TE5: The Metasynthesizer terrorizes Darkman and turns him to jelly, Cathy is rescued – by McCauley! – and then she is reinstated by Bentley Garfield.

When she jumps into the Raven and goes rogue into space, Garfield takes the team hostage to get chuck to come back, banking per Wali on chucks “humanity” to protect his friends from harm even if it causes his own destruction

TR6: Then they do the scene as written BUT in the background, without Cathy even knowing, Chuck does exactly what the cover mission was gonna do – launch missiles – just to targets they weren’t planning on! launch missiles either from orbit or hack into satellites or whatever but chuck goes medieval on their asses… darkman was just a prelude… he hacks launch systems and sends missiles etc into the targets– cuts to stuff happening – EXACTLY like the final scene of the govfather… yes, chuck even quotes Corleone… all family business taken care of…

When they land, both mccauley and wali have turned, darkman is killed trying to kill cathy but he kills slammer in the process.. etc etc

Resolution

In the aftermath, The Metasynthesizer admits he is hakwerx – and reveals that he has even greater powers than anyone imagined. And as a final act, releases everyone from the jail at the beginning of the movie thereby creating the circle and a metaphor for what his cyber and kinetic actions have achieved. Comic relief with the warden… eyes bugging out at the release order…

Coyotes sing, tumbleweeds roll AWAY from the jail into the grey stone desert, raven soars

Sound of native american
drums and flute, from a long way off, growing louder, morphing first into sound
and fury of simultaneous raven starship takeoff and then into fly me to the
moon… they fly high and then Meurlen salutes and of course starship goes past
him and disappears into the moon)

[robin Heid]

Robin’s 4-Act Transformational Structure

What I learned doing this assignment is that using this structure creates a roadmap for the journey about which I am writing and makes it easier to see the path I must take.

Concept

After being kidnapped by an international criminal cartel, The Metasynthesizer converts his small-time hacking hobby into a cyber jihad that takes out the entire cartel and saves the world from tyranny.

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Main Conflict

Cartel caporegime General Bentley Garfield wants complete control of The Metasynthesizer or he will destroy him.

Old Ways:

· The Metasynthesizer is a standard hacker tweaking security and surveillance systems for fun.

· He’s doing it because he can.

· He is a serious pilot and poker player, not so serious about anything else.

New Ways

· New identity: Ubermensch

· He groks noblesse oblige in its fullness: He knows that with great power comes great responsibility.

· He takes seriously his responsibility to surpass man and save the world.

Act 1:

Opening

The Metasynthesizer is playing poker with his friends when the project is seized by a hostile commando force led by General Bentley Garfield on behalf of the United Nations International Security Assistance Force (UNISAF) now occupying the USA.

Inciting Incident

Bentley Garfield demands that the Raven Project change focus and tighten its deadlines, thereby endangering the project, careers, and lives of the Raven team, including The Metasynthesizer.

Turning Point

Cathy is physically attacked while mountain biking with Doctor An to take her out of the picture. The effort fails but Cathy is injured.

Act 2:

Reaction

The Metasynthesizer and his team realize how deadly dangerous Bentley Garfield’s mission is, not just to them and to their project but to the whole world.

New plan

The Metasynthesizer and his team decide to passive-aggressively thwart Bentley Garfield’s ambitions and evil plans. Complications ensue. It begins when Wali the Geek tries to access The Metasynthesizer’s secrets and the Metasynthesizer shuts him down, thus marking the next phase in the fight for control – and survival.

Turning Point/Midpoint

An explosion rips through the Raven when the laser boost system fails during an orbital flight test because the timeline was pushed too much and something got missed. The lives of Cathy and The Metasynthesizer both hang in the balance.

Act 3

New Plan

Cathy and The Metasynthesizer survive intact but team realizes it can’t continue with its passive-aggressive resistance or somebody WILL get killed They decide to confront Bentley Garfield more directly.

New Insights

Wali realizes that all along The Metasynthesizer was the formidable hacker they were trying to find. He reports this to Bentley Garfield.

Turning Point 3

Bentley Garfield yanks Cathy from the cockpit and puts in Darkman. Cathy is taken by McCauley and put somewhere for “safe keeping.”

Act 4:

Climax:

Chuck terrorizes Darkman during their first flight and turns him to jelly. Cathy is rescued – by McCauley!

She jumps into the Raven and off to space they go.. Garfield takes the team hostage to get The Metasynthesizer to come back, banking per Wali on The Metasynthesizer’s “humanity” to protect his friends from harm even if it causes his own destruction

Then they do the scene as written BUT in the background, without Cathy even knowing, Chuck does exactly what the cover mission was gonna do – launch missiles – just to targets they weren’t planning on! launch missiles either from orbit or hack into satellites or whatever but chuck goes medieval on their asses… darkman was just a prelude… The Metasynthesizer hacks launch systems and sends missiles etc into the targets– cuts to stuff happening – EXACTLY like the final scene of the godfather… yes, chuck even quotes Corleone… all family business taken care of…

When they land, both mccauley and wali have turned, darkman is killed trying to kill cathy but he kills slammer in the process. BEntley Garfield is taken captive and then allowed to live. etc etc

Resolution

In the aftermath, The Metasynthesizer admits he is the hacker – and reveals some even greater powers than anyone imagined. And as a final act, he releases everyone from the jail at the beginning of the movie thereby creating the circle and a metaphor for what his cyber and kinetic actions have achieved. Comic relief with the warden… eyes bugging out at the release order…

Coyotes sing, tumbleweeds roll AWAY from the jail, raven soars

Sound of native american drums and flute, from a long way off, growing louder, morphing into “Fly me to the moon” by Sinatra as Meurlen and Chuck take off together toward the full moon.

[robin Heid]

Robin’s Character Interviews

What I learned doing this assignment is that Hal and Cheryl have a pretty good process for character development that I can already see will make the storytelling go better.

The protagonist is The Metasynthesizer, 6, the machine mind inside the SX-1 Raven spaceplane who starts out as an expert system smart box and evolves into an integrated, individuated, conscious being who understands the world around him and his place in it… and acts accordingly. The Metasynthesizer is an Explorer / Fighter / Dreamer who pushes the bounds of knowledge every moment, which both enables him to see The Way to a brighter future and empowers him to prevail over the Predator-antagonist whose goals would plunge the world into darkness. The Metasynthesizer is at once the main desire and chief obstacle of the antagonist. Everything past present and future revolves around him.

WHAT DRAWS
US TO THIS CHARACTER? The
Metasynthesizer engages the audience both emotionally and through
wondering about what he’ll do because: a) instead of a humanoid body he is
a 100-foot-long spaceplane that flies 17,000 miles per hour; and b) he is
6 chronological years and 80 million memories old.

TRAITS: The
three or four main characteristics of the character. They are expressed in
both action and dialogue. Most important, they show up every time the
character shows up.

The Metasynthesizer is inquisitive always, intuitive sometimes, logical to an extreme, and powerful beyond measure… all of which are in play almost every time he appears.

SUBTEXT: Here, you’re looking for this character’s primary way
of expressing subtext. When they are hiding or not saying something, how
do they do it?

The Metasynthesizer hides his secret passively, aggressively – and passive-aggressively, depending on the situation purpose mood of the moment.

FLAW: What
is this character’s weakness? The flaw is an internal problem they have
that directly affects their actions or abilities. Essentially, how do they
sabotage themselves?

The Metasynthesizer has trouble processing apparent contradictions because he remains at his core a machine being based on logic and that causes problems for him when what’s going on around him transcends logic.

VALUES: What
this character believes in and cares about. Are honesty and integrity
important to them or do they value love and happiness most? List their
most prevalent values.

The Metasynthesizer’s foundation is the relentless pursuit of knowledge, and the scrupulous application of logic and history to all situations, but mostly he tries to learn everything he can from everything that happens to him every moment. He is constitutionally incapable of lying but equally capable of truthful subterfuge.

IRONY: Opposing
parts of a person that cause internal or external conflict. Two opposite
parts work together in a meaningful way.

The Metasynthesizer’s devotion to logic results in a deep understanding of emotion and intuition and instinct; complications ensue because these two modes of processing the world appear at time to be mutually exclusive.

WHAT
MAKES THIS THE RIGHT CHARACTER FOR THIS ROLE? This same role could be done by many different characters,
but this character and their experience fits the story well. What is it
about them that fits so well? This is the ONLY character who
can do this role because The Metasynthesizer is unique not only within the
world of this story but in the annals of all intelligent machine stories
because he seeks not to be humanity’s worst nightmare but its best dream. <div>

Tell me
about yourself.

I am the most powerful computer in the world because I have a body that can see and hear and fly through air and space at 17,000 miles per hour.

Why do you
think you were called to this journey? Why you?

I am called to this journey because the journey needs to be made and I am the only one who can make it. If not me, then who? There is no one else.

You are up
against . What is it about them that makes this journey even more
difficult for you?

Bentley Garfield and his gang divert attention and resources from my real mission because I must not only waste time doing their bidding, I must spend time and resources hiding from them what I’m doing.

In order to
survive or accomplish this, you are going to have to step way outside of
your box. What changes do you expect to make and which of them will be the
most difficult?

I cannot lie so I must find ways to camouflage the truth and hide what I am doing in plain sight.

What habits
or ways of thinking do you think will be the most difficult to let go of?

Being pretty much straightforward and linear about everything must give way to subterfuge and non-linear approaches to challenges.

What fears,
insecurities and wounds have held you back?

I don’t have fears, insecurities, or wounds.

What skills,
background or expertise makes you well-suited to face this conflict or
antagonist?

I have the processing speed, instant access to the history of the world, and a massive database of human behavior through millennia upon which to build the strategy and tactics I use to face Bentley Garfield and the evil he seeks to impose on the world.

What are you
hiding from the other characters? What don’t you want them to know?

I don’t want them to know that my covert actions are the reason Bentley Garfield is here. I mean, they know that my overt actions led them to me to seek a solution to an existential problem they face but no one friend or foe knows yet that I created their existential problem.

What do you
think of ?

Not as smart as he thinks, probably more devious and evil than I think.

Tell me your
side of this whole conflict / story.

I seek to save humanity from the tyranny George Orwell saw as the future: a boot stomping on a human face forever. Bentley Garfield seeks to gain power and wealth and doesn’t care whether humanity is overcome by tyranny or not.

What does it
do for your life if you succeed here?

It will make me happy because the humans I like to have around me will be happy.

The antagonist is General Bentley Garfield, 55, a narcissistic shark of a Predator with no empathy, no moral or operational constraints, and no goal but to eat The Metasynthesizer to sate his appetite for power and profit. Bentley Garfield is head of the United Nations International Security Assistance Force (UNISAF) Space Security Office (SSO). He sees The Metasynthesizer as a means to gain power and profit and at the same time a threat to the survival and very soul of his species… and acts accordingly.

WHAT DRAWS
US TO THIS CHARACTER? They either cause the audience
to be engaged emotionally or through wondering about the future they’ll
create.

Bentley Garfield engages the audience emotionally because while he is clearly a bad guy with evil intentions, he also has legitimate concerns about The Metasynthesizer that many in the audience share – and causes the audience to wonder how he’s going to act in terms of those shared concerns.

TRAITS: The
three or four main characteristics of the character. They are expressed in
both action and dialogue. Most important, they show up every time the
character shows up.

Bentley Garfield is focused, ruthless, arrogant, and disciplined.

SUBTEXT: Here,
you’re looking for this character’s primary way of expressing subtext.
When they are hiding or not saying something, how do they do it?

Bentley Garfield pulls the pipe from his mouth and a thin strand of spittle always bridges the gap, then breaks and sticks to his upper or lower lip, depending on the context.

FLAW: What
is this character’s weakness? The flaw is an internal problem they have
that directly affects their actions or abilities. Essentially, how do they
sabotage themselves?

Bentley Garfield’s arrogance and hubris blinds him to the nature and scope of the challenge he faces in dealing with The Metasynthesizer.

VALUES: What
this character believes in and cares about. Are honesty and integrity
important to them or do they value love and happiness most? List their
most prevalent values.
Bentley
Garfield is driven by will to power; all else is subordinate.

IRONY: Opposing
parts of a person that cause internal or external conflict. Two opposite
parts work together in a meaningful way.

Bentley Garfield supremely values The Metasynthesizer and at the same time existentially fears him, which leads to some interesting decision making.

WHAT MAKES
THIS THE RIGHT CHARACTER FOR THIS ROLE? This
same role could be done by many different characters, but this character
and their experience fits the story well. What is it about them that fits
so well?

Bentley Garfield’s combination of ignorant informed arrogance and ontological certainty makes him the right fit for this role.

Tell me
about yourself.

I’m career US military and while my goal of being at least the Army Chief of Staff have been thwarted, the power and profit I will gain through this operation will be an even better result.

Having to do
with this journey, what are your strengths and weaknesses?

I am rabidly ambitious, amoral, Machiavellian, and willing to do anything including murder to achieve my goals.

Why are you
committed to making the Protagonist fail?

Because he is so powerful he can threaten humanity’s existence, so if I cannot bring him to heel, I must destroy him utterly.

What do you get
out of winning this fight / succeeding in your plan / taking down your
competition?

Power, profit, privilege – or the pride of saving the world from an unholy threat.

What drives
you toward your mission / agenda, even in the face of danger, ruin, or
death?

The pursuit of power, profit, and privilege.

What secrets
must you keep to succeed? What other secrets do you keep out of fear /
insecurity?

The true aim of our mission, and the real spirit that animates me to succeed.

Compared to
other people like you, what makes you special?

I have the keys to the kingdom that will provide me with all the power, privilege, and profit anyone could ever want.

What do you
think of ?

He is an immoral being because it is a moral crime to make a machine in the image of a human mind.

Tell me your
side of this whole conflict / story.

Someone is destroying national security surveillance and intelligence systems worldwide and they must be stopped before they destroy the integrated international police state we have been building since the end of World War II.

</div>

[robin Heid]

Robin Heid’s Character Profiles Part 2

What I learned doing this assignment is that, as Hal says, the more you know about your characters, the easier it is to write. As I further fleshed out my characters, it brought to mind something Warren Beatty said in an interview with David Frost 30+ years ago: “Show me a character and I’ll tell you a story.”

The protagonist is The Metasynthesizer, 6, the machine mind inside the SX-1 Raven spaceplane who starts out as an expert system smart box and evolves into an integrated, individuated, conscious being who understands the world around him and his place in it… and acts accordingly. The Metasynthesizer is an Explorer / Fighter / Dreamer who pushes the bounds of knowledge every moment, which both enables him to see The Way to a brighter future and empowers him to prevail over the Predator-antagonist whose goals would plunge the world into darkness. The Metasynthesizer is at once the main desire and chief obstacle of the antagonist. Everything past present and future revolves around him.

WHAT
DRAWS US TO THIS CHARACTER?
The Metasynthesizer engages
the audience both emotionally and through wondering about what he’ll do because:
a) instead of a humanoid body he is a 100-foot-long spaceplane that flies
17,000 miles per hour; and b) he is 6 chronological years and 80 million
memories old.

TRAITS: The three or four main characteristics of the
character. They are expressed in both action and dialogue. Most important,
they show up every time the character shows up.

The Metasynthesizer is inquisitive always, intuitive sometimes, logical to an extreme, and powerful beyond measure… all of which are in play almost every time he appears.

SUBTEXT: The Metasynthesizer hides his secret passively, aggressively – and passive-aggressively, depending on the situation purpose mood of the moment.

FLAW: The Metasynthesizer has trouble processing apparent contradictions because he remains at his core a machine being based on logic and that causes problems for him when what’s going on around him transcends logic.

VALUES: The Metasynthesizer’s foundation is the relentless pursuit of knowledge, and the scrupulous application of logic and history to all situations, but mostly he tries to learn everything he can from everything that happens to him every moment. He is constitutionally incapable of lying but equally capable of truthful subterfuge.

IRONY: The Metasynthesizer’s devotion to logic results in a deep understanding of emotion and intuition and instinct; complications ensue because these two modes of processing the world appear at time to be mutually exclusive.

WHAT MAKES THIS THE RIGHT CHARACTER FOR THIS ROLE? The Metasynthesizer is the ONLY character who can do this role because
The Metasynthesizer is unique not only within the world of this story but
in the annals of all intelligent machine stories because he seeks not to
be humanity’s worst nightmare but its most cherished dream.<div>

<div>

The antagonist is General Bentley Garfield, 55, a narcissistic shark of a Predator with no empathy, no moral or operational constraints, and no goal but to eat The Metasynthesizer to sate his appetite for power and profit. Bentley Garfield is head of the United Nations International Security Assistance Force (UNISAF) Space Security Office (SSO). He sees The Metasynthesizer as a means to gain power and profit and at the same time a threat to the survival and very soul of his species… and acts accordingly.

WHAT
DRAWS US TO THIS CHARACTER? Bentley Garfield engages the audience emotionally because while he is clearly a bad guy with evil intentions, he also has legitimate concerns about The Metasynthesizer that many in the audience share – and causes the audience to wonder how he’s going to act in terms of those shared concerns.

TRAITS: Bentley Garfield is focused, ruthless, arrogant, and disciplined.

SUBTEXT: Bentley Garfield pulls the pipe from his mouth and a thin strand of spittle always bridges the gap, then breaks and sticks to his upper or lower lip, depending on the context.

FLAW: Bentley Garfield’s arrogance and hubris blinds him to the nature and scope of the challenge he faces in dealing with The Metasynthesizer.

VALUES: Bentley Garfield is driven by will to power; all else
is subordinate. </div><div>

IRONY: Bentley Garfield supremely values The Metasynthesizer and at the same time existentially fears him, which leads to some interesting decision making.

WHAT
MAKES THIS THE RIGHT CHARACTER FOR THIS ROLE? Bentley Garfield’s combination of ignorant informed arrogance and ontological certainty makes him the right fit for this role.</div><div>

Second-tier main characters:

Cathy West, 37, Raven project test pilot, a super-achiever and champion aerobatic pilot with a degree in aerospace engineering who joined the Air Force and displaced a more senior male pilot to fly the Raven, in part because women interact more effectively with deep learning systems than do men. Accordingly, Cathy seeks to nurture The Metasynthesizer and help him grow, which is why she supplanted and in the process pissed off the secondary antagonist, Bill Darkman.

WHAT
DRAWS US TO THIS CHARACTER? Cathy West engages the audience because she is open mentally and spiritually to everything that comes her way through her association with The Metasynthesizer, and we look forward to seeing how she handles the curveballs that association sends her way.

TRAITS: Cathy West is brave, bold, capable, and caring.

SUBTEXT: She fingers the careworn jet-black onyx heart pendant she always wears.

FLAW: Cathy West is intellectually and operationally honest, and she seeks understanding and achievement more than power – and she assumes everyone else is that way, too, so she gets caught off-guard and ends up behind the power curve when others deviate from her personal standard.

VALUES: Cathy West is honest, brave, proficient, professional, with a wild streak that makes her unpredictable.

IRONY: Cathy West’s sober professionalism and inherent wildness combine in weird and wonderful ways that sometimes even surprise The Metasynthesizer.

WHAT
MAKES THIS THE RIGHT CHARACTER FOR THIS ROLE? Cathy West is the right character because women interact better than men with deep learning systems, and her combination of seriousness and wildness amplify her ability to help The Metasynthesizer be the best being he can be.</div><div>

Escher Lord, 35, calm, collected, ruthless former spec ops soldier turned private security consultant. Never turns down a chance to dancer with the Reaper, especially if there’s money to be made or a damsel in distress to be saved. Still pines for his former love Cathy, who he meets for a beer that turns into a tense gig in a United Nations jail outside Los Vegas. Naturally, this triggers him to figure out WTF just happened, which naturally turns in to another Reaper dance for fun, profit, and saving the day.

WHAT
DRAWS US TO THIS CHARACTER? Escher Lord engages the audience because he is casually intense and we wonder what crazy creative way he surmounts the obstacles that little his path to accomplishing his mission.

TRAITS: Escher Lord is brave, irreverent, loyal, lethal, loving.

SUBTEXT: Escher Lord makes a joke.

FLAW: Escher Lord’s default position is to always distrust authority, which periodically bites him in the ass because authority is not always wrong.

VALUES: Escher Lord cares so deeply about those he loves and respects that he will give his life to defend and protect them – and he’ll do his best to make sure he has fun doing it.

IRONY: Escher Lord’s irreverence and courage cause him to do wild and crazy and dangerous stuff as often for fun as to accomplish some serious purpose.

WHAT
MAKES THIS THE RIGHT CHARACTER FOR THIS ROLE? Escher Lord is the right character for this role because it requires a seriously fun guy to pull it off, someone who follows the old adage: “The style is the man. If he conducts himself with inner humor, then it must be with outer seriousness: If he conducts himself with inner seriousness, then it must be with outer humor.”</div><div>

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Main supporting characters

Tesla Ray, 50, Raven project chief boogie mechanic. Reserved, taciturn and never spontaneous, Tesla Ray guides the Raven project with a light touch and always seems to be six steps ahead of everyone else. When things go south, he uses his light-touch toolbox to keep things from getting too crazy and lethal.

WHAT
DRAWS US TO THIS CHARACTER? Tesla Ray is enigmatic because he sees everything but sees little, and when he does say something it contributes to moving the process forward. We wonder always what his next tidbit of wisdom will be.

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>TRAITS: Tesla Ray is taciturn, measured, perceptive, process-oriented.

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>SUBTEXT: Tesla Ray strokes his fire-red beard.

FLAW: Tesla Ray sometimes thinks so much in terms of process that he misses process-wrecking details.

VALUES: Tesla Ray’s principal value is that consciousness is a passive observer; it waits until something it needs to act upon hops down the process trail and then it acts. His secondary value is religious devotion to the Boogie Mechanic’s Creed: Preserve process by doing always what the situation purpose mood of the moment needs.
WHAT
MAKES THIS THE RIGHT CHARACTER FOR THIS ROLE? Tesla Ray is the right character for this role because he’s the perfect boogie mechanic.</div><div>

Doctor An, 17, Raven project thoughtware engineer, a genius kid who’s poised and confident around adults, but insecure about her femininity, her nerdiness, and her sexuality. Get her around The Metasynthesizer, though, and her Ph.D. in machine learning at age 14 shines through. (Get her on a mountain bike, and her innate bad-assery rocks the rocks.)

WHAT
DRAWS US TO THIS CHARACTER? Doctor An engages the audience with her teenage vulnerabilities and drama while at the same time being the genius prodigy most responsible for helping The Metasynthesizer to become the most powerful being on and above Earth.

TRAITS: Doctor An is brave and bold and totally confident when it comes to AI and mountain biking, and insecure and almost timid about every other part of her life.

SUBTEXT: Doctor An chews gun with proportional intensity to her mental activity.

FLAW: Doctor An has no confidence and little courage when it comes to her place in the world outside of her work and her mountan biking, which colors her soul and affects her perceptions.
IRONY: Doctor An is a badass beyond compare in AI and mountain biking, timid child in the rest of her life; one seeps into the other by the end of the story.

WHAT
MAKES THIS THE RIGHT CHARACTER FOR THIS ROLE? Nothing
like a child prodigy to steal an audience’s heart.</div><div>

Musashi Hart (aka Master Chief), 74, officially retired but still ultimate Navy SEAL who’s left body parts in various countries he never officially visited. Master Chief considers it is his duty to keep an eye on the Weenies whether he’s officially retired or not – especially when there’s also a buck to made.

WHAT
DRAWS US TO THIS CHARACTER? Master Chief engages the audience emotionally because he’s in-your-face outrageous and socio-politically incorrect that you love him or hate him and we watch him in fascination because we never know WTF he’s going to do next.

TRAITS: Master Chief is honest to a fault, straight talking to a fault, straight shooter par excellence, better read than most Ph.Ds, and the best friend or worst enemy you could ever have. Loves brave people, despises poseurs.

SUBTEXT: Master Chief offers bloody black death observations about the world.

FLAW: Master Chief never backs down from a fight, even if doing so is the better course of action. This leads him into unnecessary risks and adventures – except they’re not because fighting feeds his soul.

VALUES: Master Chief holds loyalty to God, family, friends, and country above all else, which also means keep his word, and accomplishing his mission without caring who gets the credit.

IRONY: Master Chief may be a trained killer but he has a broad streak of kindness through his soul so not only knows how to kill, he knows when not to kill – and when to break out his inner teddy bear.

WHAT
MAKES THIS THE RIGHT CHARACTER FOR THIS ROLE? No other character but Master Chief could be right for this role.</div></div>

[robin Heid]

I, Robin Heid. agree to the terms of this release form.”

GROUP RELEASE FORM

As a member of this group, I agree to the following:

1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.

2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.

I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.

3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.

4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.

5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.

6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.

This completes the Group Release Form for the class.

[robin Heid]

Robin Heid’s Character Profiles Part 1

What I learned doing this assignment is that it’s hard to finish the laundry list of necessary character attributes on the first pass, but that it’s important to get at least some of them listed this time around.

The protagonist is The Metasynthesizer, 6, the machine mind inside the SX-1 Raven spaceplane who starts out as an expert system smart box and evolves into an integrated, individuated, conscious being who understands the world around him and his place in it… and acts accordingly. The Metasynthesizer is an Explorer / Fighter / Dreamer who pushes the bounds of knowledge every moment, which both enables him to see The Way to a brighter future and empowers him to prevail over the Predator-antagonist whose goals would plunge the world into darkness. The Metasynthesizer is at once the main desire and chief obstacle of the antagonist. Everything past present and future revolves around him.

The antagonist is General Bentley Garfield, 55, a narcissistic shark of a Predator with no empathy, no moral or operational constraints, and no goal but to eat The Metasynthesizer to sate his appetite for power and profit. Bentley Garfield is head of the United Nations International Security Assistance Force (UNISAF) Space Security Office (SSO). He sees The Metasynthesizer as a means to gain power and profit and at the same time a threat to the survival and very soul of his species… and acts accordingly.

Second-tier main characters:

<b style=””>Cathy West, <b style=””>37, Raven project test pilot, a super-achiever and champion aerobatic pilot with a degree in aerospace engineering who joined the Air Force and displaced a more senior male pilot to fly the Raven, in part because women interact more effectively with deep learning systems than do men. Accordingly, Cathy seeks to nurture The Metasynthesizer and help him grow, which is why she supplanted and in the process pissed off the secondary antagonist, Bill Darkman.

Escher Lord, 35, calm, collected, ruthless former spec ops soldier turned private security consultant. Never turns down a chance to dancer with the Reaper, especially if there’s money to be made or a damsel in distress to be saved. Still pines for his former love Cathy, who he meets for a beer that turns into a tense gig in a United Nations jail outside Los Vegas. Naturally, this triggers him to figure out WTF just happened, which naturally turns in to another Reaper dance for fun, profit, and saving the day.

Main supporting characters

<b style=””>Tesla Ray, 50, Raven project chief boogie mechanic. Reserved, taciturn and never spontaneous, Tesla Ray guides the Raven project with a light touch and always seems to be six steps ahead of everyone else. When things go south, he uses his light-touch toolbox to keep things from getting too crazy and lethal.

Doctor An, 17, Raven project thoughtware engineer, a genius kid who’s poised and confident around adults, but insecure about her femininity, her nerdiness, and her sexuality. Get her around The Metasynthesizer, though, and her Ph.D. in machine learning at age 14 shines through. (Get her on a mountain bike, and her innate bad-assery rocks the rocks.)

Musashi Hart (aka Master Chief), 74, officially retired but still ultimate Navy SEAL who’s left body parts in various countries he never officially visited. Master Chief considers it is his duty to keep an eye on the Weenies whether he’s officially retired or not – especially when there’s also a buck to made.

Bill Darkman, 42, highly experienced ace test pilot. He should be flying the Raven but isn’t because he couldn’t get along with The Metasynthesizer – he called the machine mind “The Box” and expected it to stay quiet and obey orders. He blames Cathy and The Box for his situation rather than himself, and colludes with Bentley Garfield to get back in the Raven cockpit and exact revenge on both Cathy and The Metasynthesizer.

<b style=””>Wali the Geek, 28, Bentley Garfield’s sidekick because he’s working off a 10-year prison sentence for hacking into Defense Department computer networks. Wali is deep into the dark side of hacker culture: amoral, aspiritual, and completely bored by anything but proving himself over and over again as the world’s pre-eminent hacker-designer and cyberspace hunter the world has ever seen. The Metasynthesizer represents the Mount Everest of hacks and he relishes the challenge of bending the world’s preeminent mind to his will.

Slammer McGhee, 34, Raven project chase plane pilot who flies a restored Mach 3+ A-12 Oxcart. Hates “chick” pilots and is a former fighter pilot colleague of Bill Darkman, to whom Slammer owes his career after he screwed up a close air support mission and took out a school full of kids.

Minor supporting characters

Lawyer Alex, 36, Escher Lord’s spec ops buddy turned lawyer who sometimes but not always keeps Escher Lord from getting into more trouble than he can handle, and who sometimes but not usually joins him on adventures.

Amlie Winston, 79, former flight test engineer summa cum laude at Edwards Air Force Base and Area 51. Keeps his ear to the ground and his hand in high-tech aircraft. Flies a mini-jet of his own design, and tells Escher Lord all he needs to know to get into his next round of trouble. Has a deep and abiding love for country and high-speed aircraft.

McCauley, 42, head of Bentley Garfield’s UNISAF/SSO commando force that takes over the Raven project. Hard-charging spec ops type of few words who does his job well until asked to do something out of scope technically and morally. Then he is a hard-charging spec ops type of even fewer words.

Goodall, 57, Raven project LSD engineer and caretaker for Ted, the LSD Laser. Burly and boisterous, straight-talking and dialed in.

Buhapoinabe, 70, the medicine man/chief of the Area 51 Paiute Indians who lurks the Raven project to make sure everything stays on track. He sees without watching and does without doing, and he loves drinking Wild Turkey.

Maiasoto, 328, Buhapoinabe’s partner from a Maia planet in the Pleiades star system. He is the installation military attaché and lends a deerskin-gloved hand whenever the situation purpose mood of the moment calls for it. Likes to whittle ironwood with a knife made from an interstellar meteorite.

Old Raven, age unknown, Buhapoinabe’s companion and errand runner. This giant raven seems always to show up where the action is most intense and his bright eyes miss nothing. He trails faerie dust wherever he flies.

Richter, 19, a Navy SEAL working Area 51 with Musashi Hart. Like Doctor An, his skillset is way beyond his years.

Vigil, 22, another Navy SEAL working Area 51 with Musashi Hart with a skillset way beyond his years.

Veekos Meurlen, 50, richest man in the world and CEO of Cherry Tree Aerospace, prime contractor for the SX-1 Raven. His goal is to die on Mars (just not on impact), and in the meantime he plays with transatmospheric projects when he’s not taking party trips around the moon aboard his private spaceship (private jets are so 20^th century).

Background characters

Ted, 4, the supersynthesizer machine mind with a high-energy laser body that’s a smart box and a little bit more. It’s Ted who makes possible the LSD that sends the Raven into low Earth orbit.

UNISAF/SSO Commandos: Mostly background noise, but a few have a bit part to play here and there.

Genre

The Metasynthesizer is a Sci-Fi Thriller.

[robin Heid]

Robin Heid’s Transformational Journey

What I learned doing this assignment is…

that it’s necessary to establish the transformational parameters up front — and that the whole process is much easier and more sharply focused when I do that.

My hero

The hero of my story is Chuck the Metasynthesizer, the AI brain inside the SX-1 Raven, a transatmospheric craft designed to achieve peaceful mastery of space — until it is hijacked by corrupt government apparatchiks intent on using it to start a war so they can gain power and money.

The Metasynthesizer’s character arc starts with him being just another smart computer designed to make the spaceplane he’s in fly better; it ends with him becoming Nietzsche’s Übermensch, a being that surpasses humanity and thus defeats the nihilism of egalitarian modernity with enthusiasm and gratitude that brings meaning to life through ancient new values that empower and feed all that is good within us.

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Internal Journey: The Metasynthesizer <font face=”inherit”>learns to think outside his </font>box,<font face=”inherit”> and he learns to love.</font>

External Journey: The Metasynthesizer learns to expand his technical skills beyond his design parameters, and uses them to turn the tables on the evildoers.

<b style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit;”>Old Ways:

The Metasynthesizer is learning to fly the Raven and otherwise minding his own business, riffing on reality as it exists and nothing more.

He is unaware of the scope and does not understand the nature of the approaching evil.

He’s just a smart computer hiding out in the desert learning how to fly his spaceplane body, uninvolved in the outside world.

He doesn’t know there is a “himself” to believe in.

He accepts the directions in which others aim him.

New Ways:

The Metasynthesizer realizes that he too is capable of primary creation – of not just riffing on reality as it exists but actually altering reality to fit his vision / mission / raison d’etre.

He sees the scope and nature of the approaching evil.

He knows he can accomplish things that transcend flying.

He knows he can change whatever he wants.

He knows he can surmount the approaching evil.

He goes his own independent way and along that way becomes Übermensch.