Tavie Anna Bee 424-832-7530 beesbuzzery@yahoo.com
Strings: Changing Time
TREATMENT for "STRINGS"
While working as a civilian research scientist at an Air Force facility, James Edgerton is asked to
evaluate an object found in a cave near the base. When he approaches the glowing, pyramid-shaped,
spiked, black obsidian object, it starts to pulse faster and vibrate, producing sparks from its interior
that move toward the spikes. One large spark shoots out of the top spike, arches over, and enters his
head. He spasms and collapses.
Thus begins "Strings" a one hour, human condition, dramatic television series enabled by a Science
Fiction hypothesis.
After three days of intensive evaluation at a military hospital, James returns to work to discover that,
through a computer, his scientist father, Charles, has established communication with the black
obsidian object and has named her Janet-7. His research discovered that her "sparks" pulsate and
vibrate identically to James' brain pattern (revealed by an EEG), and she can only reach her peak
potential when he is present. Further research reveals that Janet-7 is capable of accurately
pinpointing junctions in jumbled time strings. This makes it possible for an individual to connect
with, and travel from the present day in a personal, parallel, alternate, time dimension to the
present day in a former dimension created by a life-changing decision.
During his 20-year career in the Air Force, James was on the promotional fast track. However,
while in command of a mission overseas, his unit suffered heavy casualties prompting James to reevaluate
his future. After determining that he was not politically astute, nor interested enough, to
eventually try for selection to the Joint Chiefs, and having postponed his personal life because of his
hazardous duty, he chose to retire. On his first day back in his home town, he attends a reception at
Nellis AFB. He is introduced to his future wife by Julius Jensen, a long-time rival both in college
and in the Air Force, and the current commander of the base where James and his father work. The
rivalry is one-sided, as James clearly is, and always has been, the victor in any real or imagined
conflict.
A planned vacation takes James and his family to the largest shopping mall in America (over
700,000 visitors, both local and international, per week), where his wife has a birthday surprise. She
introduces him to Elizabeth Stone, a real estate agent who sold a travel agency to his wife as an
investment for their future. As they leave the mall they are involved in a chain-reaction accident that
kills his wife and child and leaves James in a coma with brain damage and a break in his timeline.
When Charles gets this news, he steals Janet-7 and uses her to "repair" the brain damage. James
then sets up a real travel agency which hides his actual purpose: he offers to all those who were
present at the mall, on the day of the accident, the trip of a lifetime ─ to visit and explore, in the
present day, an alternate, parallel, time dimension that has been created by a life-changing decision.
Backed by a diverse crew, including Elizabeth Stone, Robert Beaumont, Keenan Smythe and
Melanie Kim, James travels the alternate, parallel, personal, time dimensions of others with the goal
of finding one in which his wife and child are alive so he can have them back in his life, and, while
searching for the timeline "string" they want to explore, he captures their memories and uses their
recollections to discover who, or what, caused the accident.
SOME CHARACTERS
JAMES EDGERTON
James is a supremely brilliant scientist and MIT graduate with special forces military service. He is
now employed as a civilian research scientist at a top secret Air Force base. His easy-going
personality, charisma, and matinee idol looks hide a no-nonsense command style that endears him to
all those fortunate to be associated with him. Capable of seemingly effortless perfection, he inspires
others to attempt to be the very best in their contribution to whatever project they're assigned.
ELIZABETH STONE
A mysterious, exotic, African-American beauty, who represents herself variously as a real estate
agent, a private investment advisor, and an officer of Homeland Security. She is attracted to James
but seems to know too much about him from the start. Even though James and Keenan appear to be
in charge, it's Elizabeth who chooses the "travelers", directs their visits, and conducts the follow-up.
Her choices appear to be helping James with his goals but serve a dual purpose as she has a hidden
agenda ─ to find the identity of the leaders of an organization known as INK which is a powerful
military alliance between Iran and North Korea secretly brokered and financed by Russia. She has a
personal reason for wanting to end their existence.
KEENAN SMYTHE
Keenan and James have been best friends since high school. Finding the day-to-day discipline of
science to be very boring, Keenan, an African-American, dropped out of MIT before graduating. He
felt there was more to life than being sheltered in a lab and believes that most high-genius, Mensa
intellectuals "buy into" the egghead persona and don't use their brilliance to enhance their financial
or social standing. He is a self-made multi-millionaire and relishes the challenge of building the
travel agency into a successful business. He finds Elizabeth fascinating and doesn't hide his interest
in her.
MELANIE KIM
An Asian-American, scientific technician who has returned to college to change her status from
technician to scientist. She always sees the humor in most situations no matter how serious and
tends to relieve a tense situation with laughter. This humor also hides a career plan that is driven and
very ambitious. James is mentoring her and attempts to tame her volatile persona and prevent career
destruction. She covets Elizabeth's position and sees Robert as a rival for promotion.
ROBERT BEAUMONT
A superb computer scientist and, at 18, the youngest of the group. Even though he seems to
understand more about Janet-7 than anyone else, he provides the means through which concepts are
explained and some mistakes made. His formative years, spent solely in educational pursuits, have
left social skills inadequately developed. Emotional decisions are avoided rather than confronted
and his pursuit of Melanie is strained, awkward and usually misunderstood. Scientific decisions are
easy. Personal decisions are difficult. With the help of the other team-members, a well-rounded,
confident, and ambitious personality emerges.
SAMPLE EPISODES
THE OBLIVION OF LAUGHTER
A construction worker, in a family where all the males work in the same "macho" industry, travels to an
alternate, personal, parallel, time dimension where he has thrived as a landscape designer. Here he
overcame the humiliation caused by his siblings' laughter and taunting when he wanted to help his
mother with the gardening. In this timeline, James sees himself, Charles, and his wife, operating only a
regular travel agency, but there is no sign of his son, Matthew, or of Janet-7.
The team discovers that derisive laughter can sometimes be very cruel, cause emotional scars in others,
and have life-changing consequences. James backtracks to where the Homeland Security car that
escaped the accident came from and discovers that it was following the van that caused the accident.
TWIN HEROES
A former chemical plant security guard developed a debilitating terminal condition (Lou Gehrig's
disease), believed to be caused by exposure to a chemical spill. She saved lives by leading the workers
out of the danger area and into the showers. She chose the chemical plant assignment so she could have
weekends and holidays off to be with her family. She "travels" to an alternate, personal, parallel, time
dimension where she chooses to work at the mall. Fame and wealth follow when she receives national
media attention by saving lives when an airplane crashes into the mall, however, here she is estranged
from her family.
The security guard remembers seeing a person wearing a dark trench coat and a hat that conceals
features, carrying a large briefcase. This person unlocked a door that leads to the roof area closest to the
street where the accident occurred. The team realizes that values may change from timeline to timeline
but basic personality traits remain constant.
KILLING TIME
A Mafia don turns leadership of the family's concerns over to his grandson. Feeling that the only
retirement the grandson will allow is death, the grandfather's contract assassin seeks a safe place to
"retire" with all her earnings intact. Having been recruited by the don after killing her father when she
was fourteen, she "travels" to an alternate, personal, parallel, time dimension where she did not carry out
her plan and where she is a real estate agent. She also discovers that her father was not the cause of the
problems in her family.
James and Robert explore the mall's roof where they find evidence of a sniper's shooting position. Using
the mall security surveillance tapes, they trace the shooter's path back to the parking garage and uncover
a conversation with a vaguely familiar person (Elizabeth), who is adept at avoiding the cameras in the
parking garage near where James had parked his rental car.
PRISON vs. PRISON
An hybristophiliac (prison groupie), met a prison inmate through correspondence and married him in a
ceremony held at the prison. He will soon be released. She "travels" to an alternate, personal, parallel,
time dimension where she never corresponded with the inmate and, instead, married the suitor she
rejected in favor of the convict.
James finds that we construct our own prisons when a fixation dominates our life. Elizabeth expresses
concern that his obsession with finding his wife and son is imprisoning him in a place where he'll never
be open to love again. James notes that, from the bus window, the hybristophiliac saw an unusual tattoo,
with Korean characters, on the forearm of one of the van's occupants. Robert discovers attempts to
breach the firewalls protecting the main computer.
