The Awakening

LOGLINE: When a hidden species plans to exterminate humans to save the planet, a flawed student-athlete must uncover the truth behind a terrible secret - one that could change the fate of humanity.

Award-winning script. 'Recommend' rating from Industrial Scripts.

THEMBA’S AWAKENING - SYNOPSIS

Guardians are a secret species on Earth, far older than humans. They derive their powers and lifespans from a mysterious LIFESTONE CRYSTAL which channels Earth's energy into their bodies.

As human activity continues to impact the planet, their crystals have begun to flicker…

Cape Town student rugby-player THEMBA cannot remember anything before his fourteenth year. His best friend, BLITS, quarrels with him about girlfriends. Themba says 'at least I'm with real women, not a stupid droid'. Blits is building a prototype droid called Cedrica.

LUCY, a Guardian Envoy, is sent from London to investigate Themba. Blits leaves for London to help his father, taking the Cedrica prototype with him.

In London, PASIPHAE, NYX, GUNTHER are Guardians at a droid-building company called Minos Tech. They have a terrifyingly simple plan to save the planet: exterminate humans. (Blits' father, DAWID, works for Minos Tech.)

In Cape Town, Lucy sees that Themba is being stalked by a Seeker (a Guardian assassin), KIOKO. She 'awakens' Themba: his memories start to return, and as soon as that happens, Kioko tries to kill him. Lucy and Themba escape and flee. Lucy reveals to Themba that his memories were 'blanked' because he knows something that is a threat to the Guardians who want to exterminate humans.

HAROLD (Lucy's father) is the leader of the Guardians (the Prime Protector) but in name only. Because he opposes killing humans, his powers have been removed by High Council, and he is allowed to live only because of his symbolic value to Guardians. But Harold has an agenda: he believes Themba might know where to find his banished knights - if they can restore Themba's memories.

In London, Pasiphae attends a demo by NYX, her lead-virologist, of a deadly new virus that kills humans within seconds.

Blits arrives in London to help his father, Dawid. They upgrade the Cedrica prototype into a deadly battle-droid for Minos.

Fleeing from Kioko, Lucy and Themba are deep in the Karoo desert. Themba dreams about a mysterious elephant: NKULULEKO.

Lucy tells him about the banished knights called the Bakoni. They were fearless warriors who protected the weak and restored justice, on behalf of the Prime Protector, but their lifestone crystals were confiscated and they were banished because they refused to cull humans. Everyone thinks they're dead.

Lucy spots ancient texts hidden in an elephant-tattoo on Themba's back: they are directions to a hidden Bakoni Enclave!

In London, Dawid and Blits present Cedrica to Pasiphae, Nyx and Gunther. (They believe they are building droids to replace human soldiers.) The real, hidden agenda, is that Pasiphae intends using the droids as virus-carriers to to infect and exterminate humans.

Kioko (the assassin) tracks down Themba and Lucy en route to the Bakoni Enclave. They fight. Nkululeko (the elephant) arrives and saves them. In an emotional scene, Themba and Nkululeko are re-united.

In London, Gunther uses Blits' technology to replace his crippled human limbs with bionic ones, but Blits warns: 'be careful what you wish for. The men I did this to before - they changed.' To make the Cedrica droid more intelligent, Blits and Nyx replace her processor with a deadly redstone crystal, with horrifying results: Cedrica becomes hyper-intelligent and teams up with a transformed Gunther. Since his operation, he HAS changed, working with Cedrica to take over Minos from his mother.

Themba and Lucy approach the hidden Enclave. A car approaches before they get there and three people get out, blocking their way. Themba recognises one of them as his father, and he remembers it was he who blanked Themba's memories.

In London, Cedrica and Gunther take over Project Phoenix, mass producing droids just like her. Pasiphae is powerless to stop them.