This is work in progress. Pacing might be rough and abrupt. Right now I want to know:

• Is it interesting? Moment to moment are you curious and engaged? Why or why not?
• What do you think about the characters? What type of person do you think they are? Do the conversations flow?

ACT 1 🔗

– LIVE ACTION – 🔗

Ash is sitting in her kitchen. The camera is close to her face. She’s on her phone but not really looking. Her husband (Andrew) is moving around and talking. The space is small, and Andrew brushes past her as he’s navigating around trying to find a space to hang a new plant.

She’s present to Andrew, there is love there. Andrew is so happy to talk and share his day and Ash likes seeing him happy. She knows sharing means so much for him.

But it takes effort to meet Andrew’s energy. Ash’s jaw is tight, her mind easily drifts, and she needs to refocus to keep attention.

There’s a sudden rumble around her, a low-pitched noise that doesn’t belong. The camera moves in closer still. Time slows with the exception of Ash’s pupils dashing around. What is happening?

Reality rips and we match cut to Ash’s eyes waking up in a dark carriage. Warning lights are flickering, Ash stumbles out of the carriage.

–TRANSITION TO GAME GRAPHICS– 🔗

Locked top down camera, portrait pictures are used during dialogue

9 Platforms don’t gate the player and it’s always possible to walk away, information is the key to progress, so players may rush forward if they know what to do, but NPC will respond appropriately to your behaviour.

Platform A2 - An impossible space 🔗

Ash steps out onto a platform. The train’s track stretches in a straight line into the starry void in both directions. She’s standing on a square station platform seemingly suspended in air.

It’s humid and her senses are overloaded. She stumbles over to a corner of the platform where the railing looks stable in order to grab something physical and ground herself in this impossible environment.

Ash reaches for her own face with her hands. *Clink* The surface is hard and smooth like ceramic. There’s a shape for her eye but nothing where the mouth and nose is supposed to be. Ash tries to make a sound but can’t.

On the platform’s south edge there’s a panel that accepts input. Through clues in the environment Ash is able to work out what’s needed. Once activated a bridge will lead Ash south to B2.

Ash cautiously moves across.

Platform B2 - One new and one familiar face 🔗

We arrive at a new square platform, it’s green and humid, a wooden construction is going upward and carries water down in channels. Plants and greenery are hanging from the irrigation system. They’re all dripping, making it feel like it’s raining.

Lots of pots with plants decorate the ground and raised platforms. The plants look cared for. In the center of the platform is a figure. They are wearing a robe and a bizarre frog mask on their face. (There is a face behind it, right?. Their posture is nervous, and it appears as if they’ve been waiting for Ash. In their arms is an impressive flower, it looks heavy.

GUIDE: Welcome to Somia!

They bow, and put the flower down in front of them. Still bowing, they step back and expand their arms outward as they slowly lift their gaze. The gesture looks ritual and probably meant to be graceful but the person is a little uncoordinated.

GUIDE: My name is Guide. If you let me, I can adjust your masks so that we can talk.

The person in the Frog mask doesn’t motion towards Ash. They don’t raise their hands. Instead, they take a passive stance with their arms down.

If we walk up to Guide

GUIDE: Will you let me adjust your mask? Don’t worry, you will not turn into a frog.

if nod

GUIDE: Thank you. Now, I can either explain and point, so you can do it all yourself or, I can help directly with the manipulation, it will make it a bit easier but I’ll need to place my hand on your face. Is that ok?

If nod

GUIDE: Please take a seat.

They motion to a bench next to a large potplant.

If we sit down

GUIDE: When I place my hand on your mask you’ll see it but you won’t feel it. Close your eyes and move your facial muscles around as you know them. Initially, nothing moves like usual which will feel weird. But continue to visualize the muscles; stretch and scrunch. Don’t strain or do it too fast. You should start to feel my hands, nod your head when you do.

Guide slowly moves their hand towards Ash’s face. Their fingers and sleeves show traces of dirt and greenery.

Through audio, or haptic feedback we’re able to notice a change

GUIDE: Good, keep your eyes closed and place your own hands on the mask now. You feel how the surface has turned soft. Push it in lightly and just stop when it feels familiar. You know your face, you know what feels right. You won’t need to sculpt, just press and let go until it feels right and the mask will find its place. Open your eyes when you feel like yourself.

Through visual, audio, or haptic feedback we’re able to sense something’s snap into place.

We can see our face from the intro. Ash stands up and faces Guide.

ASH: How did I die?

GUIDE: Oh no, you’re not dead.

Ash awaits Guide to continue but they don’t. They keep a passive stance but as silence continues it starts to feel a bit like a standoff. No expression can be read on their frog mask.

ASH: How did I get here? Where am I?

GUIDE: The carriage you were on failed to pass this station’s check. The station does that, when it feels threatened by a passenger. As a fallback all its occupants are woken up.

ASH: I don’t understand. Are there others?
GUIDE: Yes, each carriage has 4 passengers.

A red light start to blink by on the Eastern side of the platform

GUIDE: The platforms are still reacting to your arrival. I’m sorry, I’ll need to keep the bridges open or we will be locked out for a while.

Guide moves over to a panel on the eastern side of the platform. Next to a bridge just like the one Ash crossed getting here.

GUIDE: It’s possible for you to return home.

They face Ash.

GUIDE: Please cross the bridge here, and I’ll meet up with you shortly. Please pass my apologies to the others. I’ll be a bit longer than I promised.

Guide moves around the platform, like they’re looking for something.

GUIDE: Here!

Guide seats themself cross legged on the ground, focuses, pulls their sleeves up (it looks cool), with force they pushes their hands into the dirt and, like a light switch, their head slumps..

ASH: Are you ok? (No response)

A beat… Then Guide’s body, slightly off balance, rolls forward and their face goes into the dirt. (awkward, uncool)

If the player approach Guide the get no response, Option to sit their body up

Platform C3 Meeting another Passenger 🔗

This platform is also dense with greenery, a canopy of leaves and brushes hanging down from above. Wherever they’re growing from, it’s somewhere above you can’t see. In the center of the platform water is falling into a pool and then runs off the side of the platform.

There are 2 people here, Mosse who is passed out by this platform’s south panel and Matt who is sitting by a tree, he is hunched over, somehow looking both defeated and determined.

MATT: You’re the last one? Is our green “helper” coming too?

ASH: They went to sleep or something. I don’t quite know. Sorry. Can you just please tell me what is happening? I just want someone. With a face. To tell me what’s happening to me.

Matt looks around and raises his arms.

MATT: Apparently we’ve “awoken up”. (He says dryly and lets his arms fall) Didn’t the frog person tell you? Or do you have a problem with people in frog masks? I do. Didn’t think I was a frog racist but here we are.

Matt takes a deep breath, then focuses and looks directly at Ash.

MATT: Do you trust them? When they say we can get back?

ASH: I.. They helped me with this, (Points at face). Said something about platforms feeling threatened by a passenger. I didn’t quite understand.

MATT: Oh yeah, that. Have you made credible threats to space deities in the past week?

ASH: I have not.

MATT: Did you kidnap me? (He looks directly at Ash intently)

ASH: No.

Matt seems to accept the answer. He takes a deep breath.

MATT: What is your name?

ASH: Ash.

MATT: I’m Matt and I need to get back home Ash. I have to.

If we walk up to Matt to talk more

A Were you also on the train?

(Matt and Ash share more info about the last thing they remembered. We learn that Matt is a father and very concerned about his daughter)

B What happened to him? (person lying down by the panel)

MATT: That’s Mosse, he went and put his fingers into “space instrument”. I’ve been trying to wake him up. But no dice.

(Matt share some how he and Mosse ended did when they arrived at Platform C3 and what caused the Moose to fall unconscious)

C Guide said they’ll be a bit longer

(Matt recalls that he got verbally aggressive towards Guide. He expresses guilt for his behaviour, but maintains suspicion towards them.)

---

Dialogue Test Ash and Mosse, later in Act 1 🔗

In these conversations:

Mosse is testing the water with Ash. He sees Ash as someone quite attractive, and therefore assumes their life is great. A lot of Mosse’s insecurities are apparent, but he’s quite intelligent and perceptive. He continues to probe Ash as he is surprised to learn things about her he can relate to.

ASH: You’ve changed your face again. I don’t mind, but I think it’s making Matt and Gab a bit uncomfortable.
MOSSE: Were you popular in school?
ASH: Why do you ask?
MOSSE: I bet you were popular.
ASH: I wasn’t one of the cool kids if that’s what you think.
MOSSE: But you had friends.
ASH: I had one friend that treated me badly, but I had better friends when I got older and now I have Andrew.

MOSSE: Do you think girls have it easier?
ASH: With what?
MOSSE: Everything.
ASH: No, I think girls have it harder. More rules, less freedom,
ASH: I would love for it to be as easy for me as to walk around anywhere at any time.

MOSSE (Frustrated): And I would like to walk around not assessed as a potential threat. A thing to avoid and turn away from.

MOSSE: … (calms down)

MOSSE: What happened to your friends?
ASH: What do you mean?
MOSSE : You said you had friends.
ASH: They’re still my friends, I just don’t see them as much after we moved.
MOSSE: Do you miss them?
ASH: I miss the times we had. But they live family-focused lives now. I do too I guess.