SUNSET VALLEY
Season 2, Episode 7: "Elseworlds"
FADE IN.
INT. VOID – UNDEFINED SPACE – NIGHT
The screen is filled with complete blackness. There is no sound. Suddenly, the darkness begins to shift, as if something is coming into focus, slowly but surely. A flicker of light appears: weak, distant, like the glimmer of a far-off star. As the light grows, the void around it takes shape and the world reforms in an impossible, surreal way. A cityscape materializes out of thin air, a sprawling metropolis surrounded by lush, overgrown forests. The buildings are sleek and modern, but their shadows stretch too long, as though the laws of physics don’t apply here.
CUT TO:
EXT. CITYSCAPE – DAWN
The group, ELLIOT, SYLVIA, JONAS, MARGOT, SHERIFF HARLOW and PRISM, stand in the middle of an unfamiliar city.
ELLIOT
(panicking)
Where the hell are we now?
PRISM
(staring around)
Welcome to Elseworlds.
The group surveys their surroundings. The sky is a strange shade of violet, and the buildings have an almost alien quality. It feels like someone tried to replicate a normal world, but got everything slightly wrong.
SYLVIA
(looking up at the sky)
It’s all wrong. Everything looks messed up here.
MARGOT
(softly)
Why did you bring us here, Prism? Is there a way out of here around this place?
PRISM
(squinting at the horizon)
This is where the experiments are controlled. Somewhere here, there’s a building that holds the power to shut this place down for good... but that place is on the exact opposite side of the exit.
SYLVIA
(disturbed)
Are you telling us we have to choose between saving everyone or saving ourselves?
JONAS
(skeptical)
He didn’t say it. We can hit the power place and then head to the exit. Right, Prism?
A large screen on a building flickers to life. A cheerful tune plays over an ad for “Elseworlds,” the VO in a sickeningly sweet tone.
SCREEN VOICEOVER
(warmly)
“Welcome to Elseworlds! Where we make a better version of everything! Here, the world is as you want it. Come see the best of what could be. A new reality. A new you.”
The ad loops. The group is uneasy.
MARGOT
(ironically)
That doesn’t sound cult-ish at all.
PRISM
(shuddering)
This won’t be easy. No guarantees we win. We might make things worse. But we can’t waste time, follow me.
They head deeper in. Streets bustle with crowds of people, as if it’s a real city.
SYLVIA
(looking around)
This place feels so... normal. Do all these people work these “experiments,” Prism?
PRISM
(softly)
Yes. There are around three hundred thousand experiments running at the same time. Millions of people trapped here at any moment.
SYLVIA
(shocked)
Oh my. How long has this place been running?
PRISM
(softly)
I “arrived” here fifty years ago. I know I don’t look it, but time works differently here. I think it’s been at least a hundred years.
They stop at a storefront: “Pathfinder: Choose Your Own Adventure.” The door slides open, waiting.
SHERIFF HARLOW
(squinting)
Is this... the place?
MARGOT
(sarcastically)
Maybe we can choose our way home here.
They enter. A pristine white room of holographic displays, each showing different versions of themselves. Some a utopian world of green hills; others a perfect city, people always smiling, laughing.
A large screen at the back lights up. A holographic figure—a woman, mid-30s, smiling brightly.
HOLOGRAPHIC WOMAN
(welcoming)
Welcome to Pathfinder! Make the best version of yourself. Create the life you’ve always wanted, simply pick the world that speaks to you!
SYLVIA
(wary)
Are these realities real? Or just portals to other experiments?
PRISM
(laughing)
Oh, I forgot, your world hasn’t gotten the multiverse memo yet. Maybe we should move on.
The woman’s smile widens. Her motions are too perfect, robotic.
HOLOGRAPHIC WOMAN
With Pathfinder, your desires become reality. Pick your world and let it become yours. Live your perfect life. Become the best you.
The cadence turns hypnotic. Glowing buttons bloom across the display.
JONAS
(under his breath)
No, thanks. We just want the path home.
MARGOT
(stepping closer)
The multiverse... it looks... so pretty.
The screen glitches. A shadowy figure flickers into view, a man, face shrouded, radiating cold, malevolent energy.
THE CLOAKED MAN
(voice distorted)
You shouldn’t have come here. This world isn’t for you. I’m really starting to get mad. I’ll be there soon.
He vanishes. The store darkens. Holograms distort, glitching in and out.
SYLVIA
(panic rising)
We need to get out of here. Now.
ELLIOT
(nodding)
Yup, before he arrives.
They rush the exit—the door slams shut. The room shifts into a maze of impossible rooms, endless hallways, twisting corridors.
Lights flicker. In the distance, a shadow grows, racing toward them.
PRISM
(urgent)
We’re too late!
The shadow reaches them, enveloping the group in inky blackness.
TO BE CONTINUED…