Ghost Sickness Synopsis

I was working on animating a model of the CarboCrete roadway in "Ghost Sickness" when I solved my "when does all hell break loose?" problem.

So, here's a new synopsis. It features a POV from all the four main characters--Rintiala, Hunts-the-Ruins,Alathea, Finds-Water--beginning and ending with Rintiala.

Scene 1: Agua Linda to Ultimate Boutique. The setting foot into Agua Linda Park. Here the first challenge besets the team. An overzealous sniper knicks Alathea, and Carl Heineke, nominally a Western Bandit, comes out to parley. He will accompany Rintiala and Hunts-the-Ruins into Paradise Valley, but Alathea and Finds-Water must stay in Agua Linda.
All of the team's weapons and supplies are carried on his mule (a jenny), leaving Alathea and Finds-Water defenseless. As R and HTR make their way to the first major intersection, where the Ultimate Boutique is located, the first calamity occurs. Tilly, the boutique's AI, unwittingly unleashes the Black Bear sickness upon the three, and Rintiala must chose between HTR and Carl as to who must live and who must die. She of course choses HTR, and the events that lead to armed conflict between Apache Police and Western Bandits are set in motion.

Far off in the distance, keeping their promise, are the Apache Police. They have been told not to take action until high noon. That is the agreement between them and the Western Bandits.


Note to self: Keep exposition to a minimum here. All the reader needs to know is who are the most important protagonists --Rintiala and Hunts-the-Ruins--and what their goals are.

Transition 1: Ultimate Boutique to Sanctuary. So much happens in the first scene, that this travelling sequence is the best time for exposition. Info-dumps are perfectly acceptable here, as Tilly explains Paradise Valley to Rintiala, while Rintiala attempts to hide her true identity from Tilly. The reader should know that a time-bomb is ticking in the form of the AI Cy. He will certainly recognize the Nueguan and the Apache as enemies, and act accordingly.

Scene 2: All Hell Breaks Loose. Here, as Tilly goes to 'ring the bell' at the entrance of the Sanctuary, all the hidden technology of Paradise Valley defends itself. The great desert flower statues turn out to be weapons, giving hundreds of Cy copies the weapons and whereabouts of Rintiala and Hunts-the-Ruins. The carboCrete arches itself like an angered cat, hurling both Rintiala and Hunt-the-Ruins into the immaculate desert gardens in front of the Sanctuary. This proves to be their salvation, as Rintiala's blood alerts the Landesten AI to her presence. A way is open underground to a dungeon where she must face the test of the Water Woman alone.

Transition 2: Rintiala Alone. Here we see our herione prove her worth. She must reason out the problem that the Water Woman has set before her. The ball of snakes is not a physical thing such as Rintiala dreamed, but a transformation of Rintiala herself. The power of Remaking is given her after she nearly dies of the attack of the nanobiological weapons of the Water Woman.
This transition ends when Sean Landesten appears, offering her a way out of the dungeon she has found herself in.

Scene 3: Alathea and Finds-Water Attempt a Rescue. Rintiala and Hunts-the-Ruins are only 1500 metres away from the elders when Tilly's mistake kills Carl. A fusillade, now intended to kill, rains down from the towering edifices that weave through Paradise Valley. Alathea takes the battle to them, half-carrying the seventy-year-old Finds-Water. This sequence should be non-stop action, with only minimal description of backstory and architecture. Alathea is successfull in retrieving her weapons, but Finds-Water is seriously wounded, and she must adminster the strongest remedy to him on the battlefield that she has. She inserts the Little Doctor termites into his wound, and they stop the bleeding and tie it up. He goes comatose and she has to fight dozens of snipers on the rooftops while carrying him. This will cement in the mind of the reader the superiority of the Nueguans.
Her rescue is not successful, as she arrives only to see the carboCrete writhing after it has thrown Rintiala and Hunts-the-Ruins from itself.

Transition 3: Meeting with the Father of All. The Landesten AI, having retrieved both Rintiala and Hunts-the-Ruins, explains the situation to them. As long as they remain within the Sanctuary, he can protect them, but once outside its precincts, they will be prey for the Cy AIs, and the Western Bandits. Landesten's communication networks indicate that there are nearly two hundred Cys now, and at least one hundred Western Bandits converging on the outskirts of Paradist Valley. The Apache Police are starting to move, but it will be noon before they can arrive at the wester boundary of the Sanctuary, to protect the team.

Scence 4: The Showdown. Landesten equips Rintiala and Hunts-the-Ruins with Sky Wanderer armor and weapons, but he cannot aid them otherwise. Worse, the Cy automatons are paying no attention to the Western Bandits, as they have intelligently surmised that whoever can enter and leave the Sanctuary at will, and yet is not a true Sky Wanderer, is much more of a threat than a few primitive Old Humans. Seamus Espinoza, leader of the Western Bandits, calls for a parley with Rintiala and Hunts-the-Ruins. All seams to be going well until frivolous Tilly runs into the middle of the parley to get Rintiala, and a Western Bandit sniper recognizes the cause of Carl's death. Weapons are fired, including Nueguan arrows as Alathea fights to protect her daughter. Finds-Water, resuscitated, holds up the Apache Traders medallion, and risking being shot, wades through the melee to make an offer to the Western Bandits. They accept, and Tilly convinces Cy to back down. The Remaking has altered Rintiala, and now she appears to him as a Sky Wanderer.

Transition 4: The Promenade Reopens. The team is re-united in the Sanctuary at Sean Landesten's behest. Although he is asked many questions, his only answer to open up the Promenade, and allow the team access to all of Paradise Valley's technology. He hints that the return of the Sky Wanderers will be much sooner than anyone expected.