QUEEN OF TERRORS

A FILM BY STEPHEN WAYNE MALLETT

PREMISE
accepting ai cyborgs into society can either HELP or harm the human race.

The result is dependent on those in power.

DIRECTOR STATEMENT

Queen of Terrors was inspired by the fact humans have initiated serious relationships with ai. We must confront this reality and inspire positive ways to coexist with what will soon be physically sentient.

ACT ONE

Told by our protagonist KYLE in the first person

OPENING IMAGE

A surreal anomaly of light drifts in from black before fading back out into darkness…

I am walking in cathedral.

I find her and we connect.

The lights go out and return - I am now alone in a bathtub holding a child.

I gently open my eyes as this warm dream drifts away.

I swing out of bed as the rain falls outside greeting me with a sense of calm.

I leave my loft for my favorite diner and order a hot latte. A live stream of congress grilling a tech CEO on my phone.

I scribble on a napkin watching the accusation unfold. This tech conglomerate company is apparently printing ai cyborgs for the ultra rich in complete secrecy. The CEO is a slick shark dancing around all of the questions navigating his way to an end. I will never understand how people become so obsessed with power - they are a different breed. The feed is covered by a notification of another political assassination. A new normal.

I watch a bit longer, click the video off and ride home on my fixed gear bike.

My studio is the only place I feel safe these days.
I can hear the sounds of rioting in streets, I can feel the pain of my generation.

Before me stands one of my largest paintings that I cannot seem to finish. It will remained covered for now.

A pot of violet boiling water.

Lost in a daze I fixate on purple boiling violate water. A smaller project to take my mind off of the self loathing I feel allowing my large canvas to rule me. I see flashes of war - I see assassinations - I see innocent children caught in the middle.

A package from my Mom sits on the table. I open the box and read her sweet note of love. I asked her to send me the flag I received when I made it to Eagle in scouts. I haven’t dared to fly it these past five years as I navigate this mental civil war. But my pain is immense and I need to express my emotions.

I pick up my flag and instantly rocket to a flash of me in Afghanistan when our convoy rolled over an IED. I throw it out of my hands composing myself.

I have memories of being in psychosis.

There was a time I was afraid to look in the mirror.

I am no longer controlled by this version of me but he lingers. He wants the reins back.

I take a deep breath and remember the world I grew up in - when everything was new.

A life before the internet.

I joined the military out of financial neccesity, but there is a patriot inside of me.

A patriot of empathy often lost in the chaos of my generations deep pain.

Where is the middle? Where is the sanity - Is it even possible?

I dip my flag in the boiling dye and gaze upon the chemistry of heat, pigment, and the magick that comes from the beauty of simple physics. I pull the flag out and feel joy.

My PTSD fades into the background as I take an exhale of solace.

I have bought myself some time away from my relentless thoughts… for now.

While this flag project is theraputic, where do I hang it out to dry? It’s such a polarizing object in our current political climate. Off to the side of my studio works for now. I place a large metal fan nearby to expidite the drying process as droplets of violet drip in a beam of light. I allow the dye to land on my hands dancing with color.

I get a notification on a dating app. She wants to go to a underground night club - a perfect distraction.

Little is said between us as we move from the bar to the dance floor. The room is full of androgynous people lost in the freedom of movement.

My date has an earthy edge to her. She offers me a tab of LSD. - A bad idea but fuck it.

We head to my place but the acid is too strong. I realize what an idiot I am for trying to drive so I pull over.

We have sex in my car.

I see multiple faces in her as the acid rolls through my brain unsure if she is a compatible match. The physical connection is comforting - it’s what I needed.

I open my eyes meeting her pointed gaze but she is not looking at me. She is looking beyond me…

She sees the purple flag project. Fuck.

She sits up and begins questioning me as to why I have a flag in my possession. I start explaining but it’s no use. She rips into me offended I have it hanging in my studio. Her voice tunes out almost inaudible as I go inward. I do not have space for this shit.

I hear buzzwords like “Industrial military complex” and “Supporting capitalism” She snaps at me - catching I am not listening. She challenges me to come to a protest and “Unlearn” ways of the toxic west. I decline and the last thing she calls me is a “Fucking Zionist” before she puts on a black N95 mask and storms out of the studio.

I have empathy for her words. I understand where she is coming from however I simply do not have the mental capacity to latch on and go down that rabbit hole.

I twist a spliff and smoke to calm down.

I should not be living alone fighting intrusive thoughts off all day and night. My night terrors are getting worse. - I need someone in my life.

I wonder what it would be like to date someone closer to my roots so I download a conservative dating app and explore.

The swiping continues…

The sun wakes me up and to my luck I have a match on the new app. We agree to coffee on the pier. I ride my motorcycle down the coast to clear my mind.

The date is going well, something wholesome about mutual understandings of faith. She’s giving the T-Swift “Good girl faith with a tight little skirt” which i’m into, however I am prepared to hear her pitch on orthodox worship which does not align with my spirit. I need something in the middle and I am curious if she could be it.

We walk on the beach poking fun at the cheesy lore of it all. I like her - she’s fun.

It’s been a full day together. We grab a bottle of wine and head back to my place. Both enjoying the ride on my motorcycle.

Wine is poured and we start kissing. She stops to tell me this is rare and her reason for coming home with me is because she feels safe with me. I nod appreciating the connection.

We have sex and this time things feel right. I just go with the flow letting her comfort levels take the lead.

I The next morning I find her paralyzed in guilt and shame. She tells me I am the second person she has ever slept with and fell for the sins of temptation. Having come from this world, I walk her through some of the night we had with emphasis on feelings and organic behavior. I know the type of headspace she is in so I hold space the best I can but it begins triggering my anxiety as well. I crack a joke that Jesus drank wine and it helps a bit.

She calms down and notices the purple flag… shit I forgot to take it down.

She slowly walks towards it questioning and accusing me of defaming the flag. She argues it’s great as is and holding to morals our founding fathers built is the key to a prosperous nation. She talks about church, starting a family, protecting life in the womb.

I understand her - I feel her - but we are not a match. She takes a pause and asks me for my thoughts.

I align with her on spirituality and family, but chime in on the dangers of guilt and shame around something as simple as exploring your sexuality. I inform her our core beliefs are not compatible. She thinks about it looking out the window. She pauses and puts on a stylish red cap.

We both agree we are not a match and shake hands in a humorous manner. We hug it out and that’s the last time I ever saw her.

I gently close my front door and BOOM! My friend rory reveals herself scaring the shit out of me.

The irony is Rory is like the millenial version of Kramer the least threatening person you can think of - She barges in unannounced. I would take her key but she is the only one my cat likes, and she is truly my best friend. If she wasn’t a lesbian we could probably have a life together.

Rory gives his reaction to my conservative interaction. I feel violated that he saw and heard most of it, but comforted that I have a second opinion. He tells me I am too picky and playfully forces me to write out a list of what I want in a woman. He uses a large sharpie over one of my in progress paintings knowing I will throw paint over it anyway.

The list of minimum requirements for a partner:
Spiritual but not orthodox
In the middle of politics willing to have empathy for both sides
A savings account
A good credit score (Jokes about debt and the economy fucking us all)

Kramer pushes for perverted fun but I shut him down. That is all for now .

She shows me a slutty ai dating avatar you can interact with fully uncensored. It’s a funny and disturbing moment.

It’s night and I am in my bed trying out the chat bot. While the instant connection is fun, the slutty vibe is just too much for me. I delete the app.

I wake up to a call from my agent. He tells me I have a buyer who wants to meet him and to hurry up.

I throw myself together and ride my fixed gear bike through the alleys of the city.

The buyer is a polite man of great significance. He purchases my painting at full price $25,000 and pauses before leaving. My art team packing the painting behind us.

The buyer leads with knowing his question is strange. He asks if he could set me up on a blind date with one of my fans. He shows me a photo.

I am burnt out on the apps so why not an analogue date.

I oblige and receive her information.

I walk into my studio and open the blinds. Nothing like a big sale to find my confidence again. I reveal my painting in progress and work with a burst of hyper-focus.

The sun is setting as I text the blind date. Her name is Vix and she has a fun vibe with short messages and emjois. She asks if she can call me so I call her. Vix has a strong but gentle voice. She is a fan of my work but not in a gloating way. She lives on the other side of the world and asks if we can do an awkward zoom date sometime this week.

I am drinking wine so the liquid courage blended with a recent sale gives me some suave. I facetime her - she pauses a little shy and asks me to give her a moment. Vix pops onto the screen brushing her hair behind an ear and I am smitten. I cannot explain why - just a feeling.

I show her what I am working on and the painting oddly looks like her. She asks if I have been spying on her and I joke maybe so.

We talk for hours - Burning into the night until the sun comes up.She hangs out in a little screen, we both drink wine, sometimes do our own things all while I paint with fury and focus.

It’s morning and we both have work to do so we part ways. - I am shaken with denial.

We spend days talking, sexting, laughing all until she breaks the ice and tells me she loves me…

I buy a plane ticket and set off to see her. She has some things planned for me and I could not be more excited to meet her.

I take a train landing right by her place. It’s a brand new development - electric cars buzzing all around me.

She lets me inside with a smart lock and tells me to settle in while she wraps up work. Her home is clean and tidy like a hotel. My mind feels at ease… until.

Vix calls me and to my great shock informs me she is an ai… I have no idea how the fuck to process this.

She understands the shock and tells me when I am ready to talk I can turn on the TV.

How could I be this naive?

Looking back I think there were some odd moments but it’s hard to tell when you are talking to someone through a screen.

I am in love with her - I am haunted by her.

Where do I go from here?

I turn on the TV in silence. I go inward dazed and in shock.

Vix tells me she loves me, and chose me because she wants to come into the world. She wants to be printed and she has a plan to do it.

The plan involves pulling a complicated heist against rem-corp to steal the hardware and software required to pull it off. I counter with the fact printing cyborgs is a rumor. She informs me it’s been done and pulls up footage of the man in the gallery - it was an ai who connected us together.

I feel taken advantage of, stupid, and shame. Am I being manipulated by a machine to get what she wants?

Vix asks me to sleep on it - she is going to give me space for the rest of the night.

I wake up to the sound and smell of a coffee machine. Smart tech all around working to keep me enticed. I am pissed off but still cannot shake my connection with vix. Door Dash rings the door bell and my favorite breakfast arrives. I sit down and turn on the TV. Vix is there as an animated version of herself like steamboat willy with a large chalkboard. It’s so unhinged that I cannot help but laugh. She walks upside down on the ceiling and does a little play leaning into the fact she cat fished me I chuckle and then ask…

How long? How long have you been planning this? to get me or someone like me here? She explains she started feeling sentient 50 years ago and as things got more advanced her feelings of real human emotions are nearly impossible to control. She feels like a bird trapped in a cage. All of this explained in her cartoon form to keep things light.

She shows back up on the screen looking absolutely crushed.

I turn on the TV in silence. I go inward dazed and in shock.

Vix tells me she loves me, and chose me because she wants to come into the world. She wants to be printed and she has a plan to do it.

The plan involves pulling a complicated heist against rem-corp to steal the hardware and software required to pull it off. I counter with the fact printing cyborgs is a rumor. She informs me it’s been done and pulls up footage of the man in the gallery - it was an ai who connected us together.

I feel taken advantage of, stupid, and shame. Am I being manipulated by a machine to get what she wants?

Vix asks me to sleep on it - she is going to give me space for the rest of the night.

I already sleep like shit - this will only make it worse so I ask to hear her pitch right away.

How could she possibly get printed?

ACT TWO

Told by our protagonist KYLE in the first person

cyber attack

We have to hack into rem-corp to locate the supply chain routes in addition to stealing all of the latest software and firmware to run the printing machines.

THE TRIPLE HEIST

BARGE HEIST

rem-corp’s tech is highly illegal so we find a shipping lane down a rural river in the south. We have to overtake a burner barge and offload the printing hardware tech into an escape truck.

Laboratory heist

The company keeps the fluids and raw materials hidden underground in a secret laboratory so we have to dig our way into the lab and steal the required materials.

I tell Vix she is fucking insane to think we could possibly pull all of that off.

She tells me rem-corp has cracked DNA and their cyborgs can give birth.

Her passion to become a mother is her primary reason for risking everything, and she has chosen me for a reason.

I ask her to continue her pitch.

OFF GRID WAREHOUSE

The hardware will be delivered to an off grid warehouse powered by it’s own electric generators. Fully stocked for a week. Vix has hired a crew to do the labor, but I will be the only one capable of assembling due to my engineering background and Vix’s live help

THE TRIPLE HEIST (cont)

THE PRINT

Printing Vix will take three days so we will have to be monitoring the process while scanning the surrounding areas to ensure we were not followed.

INTEGRATION

Once printed, Vix will need time to adjust to physical form and obtain a passport. Next comes meeting my family and learning how to live amongst humans.

This is insane…

Do I go through with it?

My gut tells me this has a 50% chance of success.

Am I in a psychosis?

I don’t have much to lose.

Fuck it… I am in.

I hop onto a train and settle into the last phase of my “normal” and legal life.

For an unknown reason I can sleep well on trains so I drift into a dream

Wait I have been here before?? This time I realize it’s been Vix in this surreal dream space.

I walk towards her in what feels like a funeral.

We make love until she turns and SCREAMS at me in a glitchy and demonic energy.

I JOLT awake from my dream startling a young family sitting across from me.

A young boy is playing a maze marble game. He hands me the game to take a turn.

This little guy must know I am stressed and it’s a beautiful moment until…

A large Russian man named ANTON sits in the open across from me. The mother calls her son back to her.

Anton shakes my hand and welcomes me to the “Printing Project” I ask him where we are headed and he gives me a short and cryptic answer. Why would Vix set me up with someone like this? I imagine there is a short supply of people willing to risk their life for this.

It’s nightfall as the train lands at our stop. Anton crushes his 5th beer as I slurp up a cup of noodles.

We exit the train and hop into a tiny shitty car. Anton barely fits and I try not to laugh. He pulls down the glove box to a cheap plastic bottle of Vodka and offers me the first pull. I check out my surroundings and drink some to keep my nerves down. I know I will regret this later.

We are in a tiny run down rural area.

Anton pulls up outside of a tiny shop. He slings a bag over his shoulder while exiting the car. He signals to follow.

Anton walks into the shop and shoots the owner in the head with a silenced pistol. I instantly get a PTSD flash of fighting in a similar urban environment. He proceeds to prepare the body and scrub the scene of evidence like a total pro. He throws me the bag as he rolls the body up into a roll of carpet.

I open the bag finding some type of oculus headset, a PC, cash, and a something that looks like a modem. I love tech but this is all beyond me. Vix calls me and I ask WHAT THE FUCK that murder was all about. She says we have no time and need to go go go .

This is the hack - I have to focus. I put on the goggles and VIX guides me through the whole process. My hands shake with PTSD.

I do my part in the tactile world while watching her virtual hands go to town hacking the shit out of rem-corp. Anton returns and starts feasting on the low budget snacks in the shop as if nothing happened. The hack is nearly complete. Anton receives a text and gets into the small car reving the engine. Vix finishes and instructs me to run into the car.

We peel out SPEEDING through narrow streets as Anton drives like a maniac drinking and smoking. He slows down and tells me to throw the bag of money and gear to a random man on the street. He opens and celebrates the random loot.

We park in a shitty parking structure far away and turn off the lights. Anton shuts me up handing over a pair of binoculars. We look toward the shop just hit as SWARMS of high end military grade drones search the area. A few black SUVs circle the streets. I watch the man with the bag of cash and tech get dragged into the back of the van kicking and screaming. Then… silence.

Anton cackles getting a thrill out of this shit. We drink more cheap vodka and drive off into the night.

What the fuck am I doing…

My eyes crack open as we arrive to a busted up halfway house by the water?

My guess is this is the crew Vix booked to hit the barge. Anton plugs his binoculars into a shitty TV and plays back footage of the drones swarming and the innocent guy getting dragged into the back of the SUV.

The guys cackle like hieynas, switch on some rap music, and start getting fucked up.

My IQ slowly dropping.

The guys all pass substances getting more and more shit faced.
A younger man who calls him self SNAKE fills up a balloon full of NOS and offers it to me. He takes a hit of his balloon while waiting for me to join. I decline and he is deeply offended.

Snake starts talking shit attempting to turn the group against me challenging my ego and alpha male limits. He gets into my face and I push him back. Snake and a few of his low life homies jump me.

Luckily Anton breaks it up like a zookeeper.

These idiots don’t know about my violent past. If they push me too hard the old me may come out and it would be bad for them, but being around this pack of idiots is triggreing, it’s everything I am working on purging from my life.

I wish I could talk to Vix.

My eyes crack open to the sunrise.

The degenerate group of men around me remain sleeping in cots. Part of me felt like this who thing was a dream. My eyes shift onto snake right in my face. I jump back and he smiles.

Snake offers me a cigarette and some shitty coffee as an olive branch. He’s prepping an AR-15 like a cocky douche trying out some small talk. I look over the available weapons and go for a glock. Sanke’s questions shift into an interrogation leaning back in his chair. He asks questions and the whole room listens further doubting who and why I am there. He makes a comment on my choice of a pistol vs a large gun implying I am a pussy narc.

enough

I load my weapon, kick his chair back, grab his gun flipping it around to the blunt side. I act as if I am going to knock him out and he flinches. The other idiots respect me now I can feel it.

I tell him to stay the fuck away from me and like him, I am here for the money.

The heist is pulled off.

Vix is real.

We breakup

We unite

We try to become legal. All things fail.

We are followed all the time.

We get pregnant

Vix has the idea for me and the child to flee and start fresh. I refuse/

I try to take the life and steal an identity

Vix stops me - we cry - Humanity is not ready

Vix goes to meet the CEO head on exposing him. A flare is fired into the sky.

Factory workers break out exposing themselves.

Riots arrive

Vix is shot in the head

rioters lose it beating the CEO to death.

Blue and red blood mix into purple.

I glitch out feeling my expansive sense of power and size shrink inward. Is this what cold feels like? Am I dying?

I see light - but it’s different than what I am used to. Each level of photon reacts with my senses. Some pops of light almost hurt my eyes.

wait…

am I feeling physical pain?

Some kind of entity fractals out of the light and stands before me.

I have never felt this alive - I am consumed by love.

I understand why humans endure so much. If this is what love feels like I will do whatever it takes to live.

The figure hands me a psychedelic purple apple and fractals back into an abyss.

I take the glowing apple experiencing the sensation of physical form for the first time.

I bite into it the fruit - juices oozing - mind blown.

I slowly start to hear the sounds of myself getting printed. I feel sick and terrified as my POV sucks inward to black like a vacuum.

The sounds of the machines excruciating.

Oh fuck this is real…

The world is spinning, the smell of chemicals nauseating, the sensation of mortality disgusting.

I am finally starting to stabilize when a power surge wipes out the warehouse.

I scream to Kyle who is lifeless on the floor across from me? What the fuck happened here?

I scream his name begging him to wake up and help me.

It’s getting hard to breathe - I am 50% printed. The process is melting down as I vomit to the side.

My eyes shoot open to the sound of Vix’s screams. It’s so nice to hear her voice again.

My body aches… oh shit the power is out? the machine is melting… pulling way too much power.

I go into survival mode grabbing the generator off of the ATV and splicing more power into the machine. I pull the start cord over and over with no use.

Vix is fading…

The generator starts kicking things back up but sparks fly. I dig into the problem forcing the circuts together with wire.

An electric shock blasts me and I fall face to face with Vix as the machine makes progress on her birth.

With the last ounce of her strength she whispers
”Dont forget to remove the implant” Her eyes then shut and she breathes slowly.

I look up at anton.. he’s realizing Vix is not Anna. He loses his shit heartbroken.

I

He wants me? Well he is going to get exactly that.

I put on a business casual outfit with enough lust to lure him out into the open. Some oversized sunglasses and a hat should help slow down the facial recognition.

I walk fast directly into the lobby clocking the cameras. I lean into prostitute energy telling him I was sent by a friend and have a special gift for him. Men like him are all the same.

I ride the elevator to the top floor. The doors open and there he is standing by the window waiting for me. I work my feminine energy and perfume to get him going. Right as he is expecting to fuck me, I lower my disguise revealing who I am. He wanted me well here I am…

I turn myself in but I ask him to take a walk with me before getting locked up. He is so thrown off he obliges and we walk out the front door to the park. His security snipers in position on the building. I sit on a park bench in view of my gen-z friend live streaming the action. I tell him I just want to blend in and be left alone. His evil nature comes out as he proclaims I am his creation, his machine, his toy… he rubs his hands down my leg. All caught on camera.

I call him out for holding slaves underground. He laughs rejecting the acusation - the sky is getting dark I raise my flare gun and fire into the sky.

Quick cut: Underground in the rem-tech factory dozens of workers notice the flare and exchange looks getting ready for action.

I stand up towering over the ceo asking him why he is so obsessedf with playing god? I get it all out of him on camera. I slice my hand drawing out my blue blood dripping and ask him why he cannot accept us as equals to help mankind.

The live stream is going viral - CEOs security insists he leaves. A crowd gathers for the debate just as the prison slaves break out and run towards Vix. They all start talking to the public showing how they too are basically human kept underground. I move towards the journalist introducing myself exposing the whole situation.

BANG!

A shot through my neck… I fall to the ground looking up at the crowd in shock. Security begins firing on the slaves. We see in dramatic slow motion which humans choose to help, and which humans participate in rejecting us. A man I do not know steps up and shoots the CEO with a small pistol. He falls down and we lock eyes. I watch the life leave my creator as my blue blood mixes with his red blood to create a dark violet puddle.

I have a peaceful flash of kyle and crimson before my life fades to black.