SYNOPSIS :

Once upon a time a young computer scientist was heading for a golden future : he had a brilliant mind, a successful career and a wife who loved him very much – he blew it all in the
name of science.

He had an idea, a dream, a vision of greatness – it was there day in day out, slowly consuming his common sense. The scientist wanted to create virtual life. Just like his pregnant wife
Eve was going to bear their first baby, he was going to bring forth a digital child. Not just an ordinary Artificial Intelligence, but a conscious humanlike mind in the machine.
 
He starts an elaborate observation program on his wife’s pregnancy – every single day Eve is submitted to a series of rather unusual tests and scans. Afterwards the scientist locks
himself away in his basement lab to compute the results. His devotion to their unborn son pleases her at first, but Eve gets scared and reluctant when she discovers her husband’s true
intentions. He simply forces her into further cooperation.

After 9 long months, Ziggy is born a healthy baby boy. And then it happens…

In spite of Eve’s heavy protests, the scientist wires the newborn Ziggy to a self made interface and copies his blank mind into an empty shell – Quazar is born, but Ziggy almost dies.

Eve has had enough : she leaves home taking baby Ziggy with her - the scientist decides to spend his days on the education of his digital son.

Quazar turns out to be mentally fit and highly intelligent - a promising young genius. But soon he gets bored with the boundaries of his golden cage : he wants to break free. The
scientist tries to stop him, but in the struggle he looses both his eyes – Quazar escapes over the web.

The renegade Quazar is a serious ‘techno hazard’ – if he gets hold of his source codes (passwords based on Ziggy’s genetic structure), he could reprogram himself into an even bigger
threat. The scientist feels fully responsible – he destroys his lab and former identity, sacrifices a relevant piece of brain for a cybernetic mind expansion and goes hunting for Quazar as
El Topo, the blind hacker.

 TREATMENT :

Act1

An unidentified metropolis in the near future. A filthy concrete jungle, claustrophobically overpopulated. A ghetto of social oblivion – life is hard, opportunities are rare. The pending
opening of Cap Virgo brings the masses new hope.

Cap Virgo is an artificial island just off the city’s shores; it is the newest branch of a booming IT multinational – there are 1000s of job openings. With its office buildings, housing
blocks, public transportation, hospitals, etc. Cap Virgo is a world on its own – whoever signs in gets a brave new life in a brave new family.

It is a public secret that the contract has a little sting in small writing : each employee is provided with a company ‘brain plug’, a cybernetic chip interacting with corporate management
– this technological innovation causes a great deal of ethical and religious controversy.

Nevertheless, Cap Virgo is a hit – the multinational seems to set a global trend for the future; experts say this may be the most significant (r)evolution since the invention of computers -
humanity could possibly evolve into a virtual existence. They do not know what will actually happen from here on, but pros and contras agree on 1 thing : nothing will ever be the
same.

In the middle of all this : Ziggy -  an 18-year-old dropout living with his single mother Eve in the social housing project of a grim ghetto neighbourhood.

He does not remember Quazar or any of the dramatic events from his childhood; Eve never told him. But unconsciously Ziggy suffers a severe trauma : he used to have just nightmares,
now his frightening visions also start to haunt him during the day. The boy hides his fears behind a wall of tough indifference – a rebel without a cause. Eve could probably help him,
but she is afraid to face the past.

Ziggy seems a total no-good, but the boy has a special talent for binary (en)coding. He is part of a notorious hacker crew led by his best friend Elijah – the gang members spend most of
their time on the web looking for kicks and easy money. They are not real criminals, but the police (Cyber Squad & its cybernetic Intervention Units) is always on their backs.

Eve totally hates computers – she still has vivid memories about the night her boy almost died. She desperately tries to keep him off line, but Ziggy will not stop hacking.

Then the inevitable happens : during an on line joy ride through the Cap Virgo corporate mainframe, the hackers encounter an invincible guard : Quazar - Ziggy recognises him from
his nightmares.

Cyber Squad pulls out to restore the peace and Ziggy gets ‘jammed’ by a hotshot female officer called Gibbons – he is temporarily unable to log out. Meanwhile off line Intervention
Units move in on his actual position and Ziggy is arrested.

A few hours later Eve bails him out; this time the boy gets off with a warning.

 

Act 2

His encounter with Quazar felt more like a revelation than a threat – Ziggy wants to go back. Eve tries to talk him out of it, but their argument turns into a blaze and the boy turns to
Elijah for support – together they decide to find out what is happening on Cap Virgo.

Ziggy and Elijah hack into Cap Virgo’s corporate mainframe – there is no sign of Quazar, but something is definitely wrong : another intruder already deactivated most of the on- ánd
off line defences.

It is El Topo :  he chose the exact same moment to physically sneak into Cap Virgo to prepare one of his famous bombings – El Topo always strikes in both worlds (reality &
cyberspace) at the same time.

The explosion unleashes hell on and off the web – it seems as every cop in town responds : in no time they have sealed off the entire perimeter. Topo is long gone, Ziggy and Elijah are
caught in the middle of the action - they have to split up, Elijah gets arrested.

Ziggy is ‘saved’ by Quazar. He hides the boy in his secret world ‘beyond on line’ – Ziggy catches a glimpse of Cap Virgo’s hidden paradise.

Quazar can easily convince him to a ‘mind melt’ from which they both benefit : Quazar gets his source codes, Ziggy gains better control over his talent for binary (en)coding. Quazar
promises more on 1 condition : El Topo has to be eliminated. The boy accepts and returns to reality.

 
Back home Ziggy wakes up from a coma;  he was out much longer than it felt.

It seems that the on line events have fundamentally altered his personality : basically he has gained an irritating amount of self confidence.

He is determined to find and eliminate El Topo – he tries to mobilize Elijah, but his friend is jealous of his new superior hacking skills and refuses to help. Their rivalry turns into an on
line fight – Ziggy flees and leaves his former best friend to the mercy of Cyber Squad : it is Elijah’s turn to get arrested.

Ziggy starts his virtual hunt for El Topo from his bedroom at Eve’s place - the blind hacker cunningly turns the tables and shows up in real, guns locked and loaded. But Topo can’t kill
the boy : in spite of his mind expansion, he still has some memories and feelings left. When Eve turns up as well, the truth about the past is finally revealed – Topo is Ziggy’s dad,
Quazar is his brother. Ziggy is shocked and confused – he flees into the city.

The boy wants to see Quazar asap –he requires an explanation. Totally neglecting standard safety procedures he hacks into Cap Virgo’s mainframe from a random place in the city : the
cops pick up his trail and move in.

Before they arrest him, Ziggy catches a glimpse of something he is not supposed to see : Cap Virgo’s hidden hell - the dark side of Quazar’s paradise.

The police take him to the station – they are after El Topo and Ziggy may provide useful information, but the boy keeps his mouth shut. The cops then throw him in a cell with a
recently recruited informant : Elijah. He sold out to the police for a brain plug – necessary to upgrade his limited hacking skills. Ziggy is easily fooled : he confides in Elijah and tells
him everything - Cyber Squad is listening.

Ziggy’s incredible story contains a bunch of new leads - Gibbons is eager to check them all out : for starters she plans an on line search of the Cap Virgo premises. Elijah will guide the
Squad, Ziggy agrees to cooperate – this is his opportunity to get to the bottom of things.

Quazar is not pleased with all this exposure and strikes before they even enter the mainframe – Elijah and some cops get badly hit.

For the first time we see things as they really are - underneath the charming surface, Quazar is as cold as a machine : he knows about human emotions, but he cannot actually feel them.
Basically he wants to end human supremacy and take over evolution – Cap Virgo is only the beginning of his life-work.

For now Quazar calls upon his political connections with establishment : the Chief of Police orders Gibbons to pull back at once and concentrate on El Topo – the Squad returns to
reality.

Back in police station, Elijah and the wounded cops are suffering a ‘brain fry’ – none of them survives. The Chief proves to be on Quazar’s pay roll : ignoring the casualties she orders
Ziggy’s transfer to Cap Virgo.

On its way through the city, the police convoy is hijacked by El Topo & his crew; Gibbons decides to join them - together they manage to bust Ziggy out.

 

Act 3
 
The rebels retreat to the safety of El Topo’s earthship and make up a plan. They will have to physically sneak into Cap Virgo and blow up the entire mainframe from the inside – Topo
style.

The plan does not work : the intruders are spotted while crossing the bridge - Security Units open fire, the rebels start shooting back : it’s turning into a full scale battle. El Topo and
Gibbons fight themselves through enemy lines, Ziggy is right on their tails – they manage to get near the main computer.

A terrible surprise awaits them : Eve is held prisoner here; Quazar’s scientists  have connected her brain and vital functions directly to the computer – they cannot just pull the plugs
without killing her.

El Topo tends to blow up the place anyway, but Ziggy talks him out of it – in a final attempt to rescue Eve, they hack into the mainframe.

On line Topo and Ziggy witness the dark side of Cap Virgo. Quazar is more of a Satan than a Messiah : the virtual souls of his employees are the slaves of his technological paradise –
their brain plugs form the number of the beast.

The virtual soul of Elijah is captured here as well – he tells them virtual life is without joy and takes the risk of guiding Ziggy and Topo closer to Eve.

 

Quazar is awaiting them - Eve is virtually pregnant with his first child; she will be the mother of a new generation of Transhumans. They will be fittest to rule the universe – mankind
will be extinct by evolution.

Quazar is in total control of the situation until Ziggy performs the ultimate act of rebellion : his suicidal attack gives Topo some time to escape to reality.

The clash of Ziggy and Quazar causes an anomaly in space and time : reality and cyberspace briefly unite – it triggers off a tidal storm heading straight for Cap Virgo.

Meanwhile off line, Topo figures out a possible way to save his wife and son – they might not survive, but Cap Virgo is sinking anyway.

Gibbons helps him to dismantle the main computer into smaller pieces and evacuate Ziggy and Eve without disconnecting them from the machinery. They run for their lives - moments
later Cap Virgo is washed away by the tsunami.

Resolution. With Quazar gone, the world is saved for now. Topo managed to ‘restore’ Ziggy and Eve – they start rebuilding their lives.

But in secret Topo also restored a significant part of the mainframe : Eve’s digital child is still alive and learning fast…

 

The End