A Sci-Fi Drama
by
Miglė Anušauskaitė & Shahar Fineberg
Set in the near future where body-renting technology is commercially available, a struggling young woman infects herself with a sentient virus in the hopes of saving her ailing mother.
The near future. Neural mapping technology has become commercially available, and body switching agencies are the latest fad for the rich and powerful. Clients’ neurological connections are switched onto a host body that they can enjoy for up to 24 hours. The client’s body, now hosting the rentee’s mind, is kept under surveillance at the agency’s detention center.
Kira, 25, works around the clock to support herself and her mother. Her mother is in hospital, awaiting a heart transplant, but the world is corrupt: Her operation is postponed, for the third time, for reasons that Kira understands only too well. She decides that bribing the medical staff is the only choice for her mother’s operation to take place.
Renting her body to an agency, as unpleasant as it is, is the quickest way to get the money.
But the little money Kira is able to raise has no effect in the world she lives in.
What she needs is influence.
After her night at the agency detention center, Kira becomes aware of a hack in the body renting technology: Andre, 27, a handsome stoner dude and veteran body renter, informs her of some sort of virus in the system that allows you to control not only the body renting system, but other mainframe systems as well.
The only catch: You need to get infected with the virus to be able to use it.
Kira recognizes her chance: She must contract the virus and use it to modify the hospital records.
With the help of Andre and Felix, a teenage tech genius, Kira powers her way through corruption, greed and depravity on her quest to save her mother.
But the deeper she goes, the more intimate with and dependent she becomes on her virus.
And the virus has its own desires, too.
Science fiction doesn't mean expensive.
Our visual references are Timothy Greenberg's Living with Yourself (in terms of technology) and the Safdie brothers' Uncut Gems (pacing, camera, city image).
That is to say, the body-swap center will not be some ultra-modern and contrived facility, but will rather resemble an ordinary clinic.
Also, of course, we do not assume any bright and futuristic signs of the future, like flying cars and phones that can play 3D holograms. This is a realistic world, familiar to us all.
KIRA, 25
Kira lives with her ailing mother. She is intense and hardworking, working several bartending jobs, and yet never seems to catch a break. Besides her childhood friend Christine, she does not seem to have much of a social life. Once infected with the Virus, Kira develops a strange yet intimate bond with it, and discovers not only resourcefulness within herself but also a sense of joy and humor. The Virus’ betrayal will put Kira’s character to the ultimate test.
ANDRE, 27
Andre is an ex-male model and current pothead. His good looks served him well in his past career and continue to do so as a regular body-renter. As such, the Virus once infected Andre, but left shortly due to the dilapidated state of Andre’s brain. Andre spends his days smoking pot and playing video games with his teenage buddy Felix. A lazy romantic at heart, Andre falls in love with Kira, willing to sacrifice not only his dignity for her but his life as well.
MICHAEL, 40
Michael, a rich asshole, is heir to a small fortune that allows him to lead a playboy’s life. He regularly pays for body-renting services, using the bodies he rents to explore his depraved sexual fantasies. His use and abuse of Kira will incur her unrelenting wrath.
FELIX, 14
A high-school dropout, is a free-minded tech whiz. When not spending time programming in his makeshift hi-tech lab, he volunteers at a retirement home where he enjoys playing board games with the elderly. Albeit to a lesser extent, he also enjoys gaming with Andre, who is often the butt of Felix’s jokes and sharp wit. Despite his genius, Felix seems to have met his match in the form of the Virus.
THE VIRUS aka RASPUTIN
The Virus is a seemingly sentient digital consciousness that has mutated and evolved through the body-renting neural network technology. Trapped within a mainframe, it infects patients, among whom Andre, in order to enjoy the experience of having a body. When infected, hosts gain the Virus’s ability to hack data systems and manipulate them to their, or its, ends. Kira is the first host the Virus infects that seems to be a perfect fit: The symbiosis is so harmonious that the Virus envisions a permanent takeover of Kira’s body.
RANA, 65
Rana, Kira's mother, has spent the last few years in and out of hospital. She now awaits a heart transplant that is constantly postponed. Kira accidentally infects her with the Virus, who uses her as a data storage unit.
CHRISTINE, 25
Christine works as a resident intern at the hospital where Kira’s mother is hospitalized. Childhood friend of Kira’s, she also used to work in body-renting, to support herself during her studies. Unlike Kira, Christine has managed to get her life on track. She helps Kira out of a sense of duty but cannot help herself from judging her friend’s life-choices.
Contact
Authors
Screenwriter, radio host, translator.
Originally from Jerusalem, now residing in Paris. Author of comics, and producer and host of a program about contemporary Yiddish culture on French radio. A radio actor, Shahar has recently participated in a production for Carnegie Hall. Is currently developing an original comedy series for French television.
Comics artist, playwright, translator.
Living in Vilnius, Miglė is one of Lithuania's most prominent comic artists. She is the author of several award-winning books and a regular contributor to literary magazines and cultural programs. In 2022, her first original murder mystery radio play aired on Lithuanian National Radio and received positive reviews.
Script Consultant
Screenwriter, script doctor, editor
The Place of Power
Treatment and screenplay available upon request