golgothika
outline
setting/time: Futuristic city. Permanent night.
Main characters:
Helmut Muckenstich - young man in love with the daughter of the
world's most powerful man. Earnest, honest...a reluctant hero. Muckenstich is German for
"gnat bite."
Warner Herzog - World's most powerful man. Owns everything.
Evil. Lives in a massive tombstone-shaped tower in the middle of the city.
Wyoming - daughter of Warner Herzog. Strong. Lovely.
Independent.
Wednesday13 - Young girl. 13 years old. Intelligent.
Constantly telling bad jokes. Wise. May be a clone, she doesn't know. Mysterious origins.
She has no electronic implants, which is unique in a world of wired people. Lives in
junkyard outside the city.
Blixa Danzig - World's deadliest assassin. Recluse.
Ex-soldier. Lives in wasteland. Former body-guard to Herzog. Noble. Violent. 8 feet tall.
Half man, half machine.
Ignatz - A dragon.
Gabrielle - An angel.
Tai Ch'ung - Assassin. Bio-engineered
monster. 12 feet tall. Glass face with worms inside.
Background
In the future people download their minds into
small, indestructible computer chips. Biotechnology has advanced to the point where bodies
are manufactured (grown in vats)... any kind of body: human, animal, mythological,
whatever. People download their minds onto computer chips and if they feel like being a
dragon, they can be: the chip is simply placed inside a bio-engineered dragon. The World
Court created a mandate giving every person on earth access to this technology. From poor
to rich, anyone can live virtually forever in whatever sort of body they choose.
The world court’s Gerechterweise mandate of 2291 entitled every
citizen of the world access to brain enhancing and consciousness-downloading micro-chip
technology. At one time this wondrous technology was available to only the most wealthy
and well-connected. the 2291 decision changed all of that... the world court argued that
this technology is a basic human birth-right. they considered it to be the legacy of
humanity's technological prowess... the greatest weapon in the war against illness and
ignorance - the war against death. considering the potential benefits to the human race,
the court decided that the mind enhancement technology and hardware should be made
available, at no cost, to every human being on the face of the planet.
The computer chips are manufactured by one person : Warner Herzog.
Herzog has been secretly installing extra programming in the chips.
Helmut Muckenstich and Herzog's daughter (Wyoming) learn about this. They do not know
exactly what Herzog is planning, but they know he is doing something evil. They try to
stop him. They fail. Herzog banishes the two to the darkest part of the city - a section
called "Hell."
The streets of Hell are a nightmare that even Heironymus Bosch could
never have imagined. The Gerechterweise mandate was a good thing...for most people. This
is the age of some of the greatest human achievements, yet is also humankind’s most
perverse age. Give a freak access to mind enhancing and mind encoding technology, combine
it with biological engineering, and...well...let’s just say there are monsters in
hell. Real monsters.
There are Japanese gangs of dragons who have turned whole
neighborhoods of abandoned tenements into steaming cave-like lairs... There are German
gangs of vampyres, werewolves, and golems constantly on the hunt... the Germans are best
known for their Mech: armored conglomerations of human flesh and mechanical accoutrements.
the Chinese gangs are the worst. They have no scruples. they have no limits. They will
stick a human mind into anything... machine guns, tanks, buildings, bridges, fish,
clothing... even giants loaded up with entire villages of minds.
Before Herzog banished Wyoming and Helmut, he tortured them. He
turned Wyoming into a Marilyn. Marilyns are mute prostitutes with the body and face of
Marilyn Monroe. The city is full of them. Herzog also downloaded Helmut's mind onto a
computer chip and stuck the chip into the body of a four-foot-tall gargoyle. A toad.
Wyoming works at a bar/whorehouse called The Dollhouse. Helmut works
at The Dollhouse as well - as a bouncer. Wyoming thinks Helmut is dead. Helmut
surreptitiously protects Wyoming. He has not made her aware of his true identity because
he feels guilty. Helmut feels he is responsible for their dire situation.
The story begins:
A Chinese gang led by the monster Tai Ch'ung kidnaps Wyoming from
The Dollhouse. Helmut tries to stop the gang, fails, and is nearly killed. Helmut realizes
the gang was sent by Wyoming's father, Warner Herzog. The gang was sent to retrieve his
daughter and kill Helmut.
Helmut makes his way through the city to Herzog's monolithic tower.
The tower is surrounded by a moat and it is guarded by automatic weapons. Helmut intends
to storm the tower in a hopeless attempt to rescue Wyoming... Surprisingly, he is simply
allowed to enter. The "front door" of the tower is the relocated Notre Dame
cathedral (Herzog bought it from France when the country went bankrupt).
Helmut enters the church. It is empty. He sees a box on the altar.
He approaches the altar and finds a note left for him from Herzog. It reads "This is
yours to keep. If you can take it."
Tai Ch'ung suddenly appears. Tai Ch'ung and Helmut battle each
other. Helmut looses the fight and lies paralyzed on the floor. Herzog appears, berates
Helmut for being a failure and tells him "This is what you get for meddling in my
business." Herzog opens the box. A small, delicate, winged creature crawls out of it.
Herzog tells Helmut, "Meet your son."
Wyoming was pregnant when Herzog made her into a Marilyn. The foetus
was removed and allowed to develop. Herzog made a new winged body for it. It flies up into
the rafters of the church. Tai Ch'ung finishes off Helmut. He blacks out.
Helmut wakes inside a ruined cathedral. A waif-like angel
(Gabrielle) is standing over him. Helmut has no arms or legs, he is just a torso (he has
been mutilated by Tai Ch'ung). Helmut is disorientated, he does not know how much time has
passed or where he is. The angel tells him he is safe and explains that he is in Heaven
and that the cathedral he is in is called Golgothika. She tells him God became wrathful
and destroyed Heaven - burning everything and enslaving everyone. God sent seven Leviathan
to destroy the Heaven. The Leviathan are large bio-mechanical worms (like the worms in
Dune, only mechanical in appearance).
Gabrielle gives wooden arms and legs to Helmut - complicated
contraptions of wood, leather, pulleys and brass gears. She tells him "Iggy the
dragon made these for you."
Gabrielle leads Helmut to the bell tower. She gestures at the ruined
landscape below, the black sun above. "Heaven," She says. Waste stretches across
the horizon - ruined buildings, scorched earth. Helmut sees a tower in the distance, the
only structure still standing. The tower looks exactly like Herzog's. Gabrielle explains,
"That is the house of God." Gabrielle tells Helmut that God cannot see or harm
anyone who is inside the Golgothika cathedral.
Helmut thinks he has woken to a future time where Herzog has
destroyed the city and enslaved the population. He is confused. He explores the cathedral.
In the sub-basement he meets Ignatz the dragon. Ignatz is hostile and speaks in enigmatic
riddles. He tells Helmut that he is destined to right the wrongs of God, that he is the
Lamb, The Cipher, God's Own Medicine...
Helmut plans to make his way to the tower. If he can get to the
tower (the only thing that looks familiar to him), he might be able to figure out where
and when he is. Ignatz helps Helmut leave the cathedral.
On the way to the tower, Helmut is attacked by one of God's angels -
a powerful, demonic creature which nearly kills him.
As Helmut is getting the life beaten out of him, his vision blurs
and sparks. Suddenly he is not being attacked by a demonic creature, but rather a large,
black robot. He also discovers that his new wooden arms and legs are gone and that he is
not in Heaven, but a junk pile. Helmut thinks the cathedral, Gabrielle, and Ignatz were
just a dream.
Herzog's voice speaks from a small speaker on the side of the
robotic death machine: "Tai Ch'ung failed to finish you. Your body was thrown out
with the trash. Now that you have been found, this Hunter-Killer will finish you! It will
rip the chip from your skull and destroy it once and for all!"
The robot suddenly explodes. It has been shot by Wednesday13. She
stands on top of a mound of trash, over-sized gun slung over her shoulder "You
okay?" she says.
Wednesday13 rigs a stretcher for Helmut's torso and drags him across
an endless wasteland. This place is called The Waste: a dump on the outskirts of the city.
In the distance Helmut can see the city. It is still standing.
Wednesday13 brings Helmut to an abandoned oil refinery. She lives inside the refinery with
Blixa Danzig.
Blixa Danzig tells Helmut his story: 10 years ago, he was bodyguard
and soldier for Warner Herzog. Danzig fought and won Herzog's trade wars (Mars, Io, East
Texas) and helped to establish him as the world's most powerful man. Danzig's last job for
Herzog: steal a computer chip from scientists in Prague. Danzig's entire crew is killed
during this operation.
Danzig delivers the chip to Herzog. Herzog attempts to kill him, but
instead kills the woman Danzig loves. Danzig escapes and vows to take revenge on Herzog.
Danzig escapes to The Waste where he has been amassing weaponry: specifically billions of
dead rats he has retro-fitted with cybernetic motors, limbs...and explosives. The
reanimated rats can penetrate the defenses around Herzog's tower. They are small, so they
would remain undetected by the automatic sensors.
Danzig knows what Herzog has been placing on the computer chips
which are inside every human being's brain. Danzig knows what the extra programming is
for. He explains to Helmut:
"IT'S A SWITCH. HERZOG PUT A SWITCH IN THE CHIPS.
NEURAL HARDWARE WIRES DIRECTLY INTO THE PERCEPTUAL PARTS OF THE
BRAIN. THAT CHIP I GOT FOR HERZOG IN PRAGUE was the final piece he needed to complete his
plan... it gives HIM TOTAL CONTROL of those perceptual centers.
HE HAS FLIPPED THE SWITCH. RIGHT NOW, EVERYONE IS SEEING AND
EXPERIENCING WHAT HERZOG WANTS THEM TO SEE AND FEEL.
EVERYONE IS NOW LIVING IN A WORLD WHERE HERZOG IS GOD... AND NO ONE
KNOWS A SWITCH HAS BEEN THROWN.
THEY DO NOT REMEMBER THE REAL WORLD.
THEY ARE IN HELL AND THEY BELIEVE THINGS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THAT
WAY."
When Helmut woke in the cathedral and saw a burned Heaven, he was
seeing the virtual world Herzog created. When the demon was attacking Helmut, he flipped
back into reality and saw that the demon was actually a robot. Helmut's chip has
malfunctioned - allowing him to flip back and forth between reality and Herzog's virtual
world.
Danzig gives Helmut a new set of arms and legs. This time it's steel
and hydraulics. Danzig explains that the only way to end Herzog's virtual reality is to
kill Herzog and take the master chip out of his head. If the virtual reality is not shut
down in 12 hours, it becomes permanent.
Herzog has created a virtual world where he is God because he
believes the same trick has already been played on the human race - that reality as we
know it is fake, an illusion created by someone...or something. Herzog: insane
megalomaniac.
Helmut agrees to help Danzig fight Herzog. Danzig operates on
Helmut. Danzig rigs the chip in Helmut's head so that he can voluntarily flip back and
forth between reality and the world Herzog has created. No one else can do this - only
Helmut. Helmut will automatically switch into Herzog's virtual world when he nears
Herzog's tower. To make the switch back to reality, Helmut has to click his heels together
three times. Helmut can switch back to reality only once... for ten minutes. In that
window of time, he must kill Herzog. Danzig's plan is to send Helmut into Herzog's tower.
Within 12 hours, Helmut has to locate Herzog in the virtual world, flip back to reality,
and kill him.
If Helmut fails there is plan B: The rats. The rats will follow
Helmut like a pied piper. If Helmut fails to kill Herzog, the rats will swarm Herzog's
tower and destroy it.
Danzig outfits Helmut with a bunch of cool-looking, lethal sci-fi
weaponry... and a sword.
Garbage trains run back and forth from Herzog's tower to The Waste.
Danzig and Wednesday13 attack a garbage train and secret Helmut on a boxcar. The train
takes Helmut to Herzog's tower.
The train passes through the city. Helmut witnesses atrocity: people
enslaved. Concentration camps... When the train nears Herzog's tower, Helmut begins to
flip back into the virtual world. Images of suffering angels with broken wings are
overlayed onto what he really sees: people slaving away under the watchful eyes of Hunter
Killer robots.
Helmut jumps from the train just as the train enters the tower. He
lands on a massive pile of skulls which surrounds the base of the tower. Helmut sees a
construction suit - a large hydraulic device used for construction (re: Aliens). He climbs
into the suit, blending in with the rest of the laborers.
As Helmut enters the tower he automatically flips back into Herzog's
virtual reality. He is no longer inside a construction machine, now he inside a large,
red, muscular demon (everything in the real world has a nightmarish equivalent in Herzog's
virtual reality).
Working muscle and bone from inside the demon, Helmut
"drives" the demon's body. He steers it into the tower and climbs a shaft which
runs through the center of the tower. He is heading for Herzog's throne room (map provided
by Danzig).
Halfway up the shaft Helmut hears a flapping noise. His son. His son
flaps around his head and flies into a small alcove. Helmut follows. He finds large
pod-like sacs hanging from the ceiling. Prisoners entombed. His son leads him to one sac
in particular. Wyoming is inside. Helmut breaks the sac open and gently lifts her out. She
wakes up. She sees a demon standing over her. She backs away in fear. Helmut breaks
through the demon's skin and crawls out of its body. Wyoming recognizes him as the bouncer
from The Dollhouse (remember; she believes Helmut is dead).
Helmut hooks a special microphone to Wyoming's neck so she can
speak. Helmut says "It's me. It's Helmut." She backs away again, fearing a
trick. Helmut tells her something that only the two of them would know about. He tells her
about the day he proposed to her. She believes this four foot green gargoyle is really the
man she loves. They hug. They Cry. Helmut tells her everything - including the fact that
the thing flapping around their heads is their son.
The three continue up the shaft. At the top: a throne room open to
the sky. Storm clouds roll in. Herzog sits on the throne. Helmut shoots him. Herzog is
thrown across the room.
Helmut rushes to where Herzog lies. He draws his sword, intending to
sever Herzog's head and take the master computer chip. Herzog laughs "You think you
can kill GOD??!!" Herzog transforms into a giant monster and begins bashing Helmut.
"This is my world - I can be anything I want, I can do anything I want!"
Helmut clicks his heels together three times. Whooosh they are back
in reality. Herzog is shocked. Helmut begins thrashing him. Just as Helmut is about to cut
Herzog's head off, a robotic arm grabs his sword. Helmut spins around and sees a robot
with his face - his original human face. Herzog had saved Helmut's old body. This robot
has Helmut's heart, lungs, bones, and face. Helmut can see his old internal organs through
small windows on the side of the robot's body.
The robot begins thrashing Helmut. Helmut kills the robot by
breaking the windows and pulling the heart out. His old heart. He crushes it with his bare
hands.
Helmut staggers to Herzog again, intending to take his head. Too
late. Ten minutes are up. Helmut flips back to virtual reality. Herzog turns into a cloud
of flies and vanishes. The flies coalesce on the opposite side of the room. The tower
shakes, clouds boil, lightning flashes, Leviathan burst from the earth around the tower...
Herzog: "Too late Helmut! I win! My world is permanent now!!!"
Helmut:"I have something for you." Helmut tosses a rat
onto Herzog. The rat bites. Herzog screams in pain. Billions of rats swarm out of the
ground and envelope the tower. The tower begins to fall.
Helmut grabs Wyoming and his son. They jump down the shaft as the
tower begins to crumble.
At the bottom of the shaft Helmut procures a small recording device.
He attaches electrodes to Wyoming and his son's head. Hits a button. "Record." A
meter shows the recording progress. It is encoding their minds onto a new computer chip.
Just in time. Counter reads: "process complete." The tower
explodes. Sky splits open. Sun shatters. Fade to white... Helmut has saved the world.
Epilogue.
Young boy's voice: "Hey dad? you okay? Mom wants you at the
cornfield." A young boy, face proud and beaming.
Shot of Helmut's face. Helmut is human again. Helmut and the boy
walk across a green field. We see a nice mid-western country house in the background:
crops growing, horses, cows, windmill, mountains and sea in the distant background. A
blue-sky paradise. The two approach a lovely young woman picking corn. Wyoming. Herself
again.
If Herzog could create a world, then so could Helmut. A paradise of
his own where he can live happily ever after with his family.
"I built this world. Just for us. The chip we are stored on
lies under tons of rubble: the ruins of Herzog's tower. We are safe. This is our home...
and we are expanding."
Wyoming turns around. Happy. She is pregnant.
the end
