The Means to Travel: A U.S. History Screenplay Assignment (Scene's 17-18)

SCENE 17

The trio is dropped yet again into a building. However, there are cameras spread around. The press is here.

As the trio is given a view of what's going on, the purple screen clicks and flashes with information once more.

On July 26, 1948 Harry S. Truman signed a document banning segregation in the Armed Forces.

They can hear cheering spreading around them. DAKOTA looks around in awe.

Executive Order 9981 stated that, "there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed forces without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin." It established the President's Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services to recommend revisions to military regulations in order to implement this policy.

The moment is joyous, DAKOTA looks happy. CARMON and KHAILEN stand off to the side as he begins to celebrate with a few others.

The screen flickers before showing RAYLENE, HOPE and DASEE sitting in a small lounge room.

They all look so tired.

RAYLENE:

I don't think us investigating and probing the other world is doing much.

HOPE:

It was worth a shot.

DASEE:

All we did was interfere with the signal. For 5 hours, they were off the grid after Ray tried to force a connection to Khailen's radio.

HOPE:

Look, we just need to get them back, that's our only goal.

RAYLENE:

Us trying to force it isn't getting anywhere. The waves connecting our worlds is already frayed, what happened when they were there the first time most likely changed because of it.

DASEE:

See? And that's why we should stop.

HOPE:

But maybe we can—

RAYLENE:

We can't force it, Hope. We just tried. It didn't work. All we did was make things worse.

DASEE:

Yeah, maybe we should just take a break. They came back on their own the first time. I think if we just leave it alone, it'll happen again.

HOPE looks down at her palms, clearly upset at her teammates content to stop trying. But she sighs and nods anyway.

HOPE:

Okay . . . We can stop.

The camera moves back, showing them sitting around the table before the screen slowly fades to black.

**End SCENE 17**

SCENE 18

The trio is dropped once more into a black room, the screen flashing before them. DAKOTA groans.

DAKOTA:

Come on, man! I miss the action! I miss the quests! Just sitting here watching a stupid screen is so boring!

KHAILEN:

Hush it. If we try to push the system, we might just risk breaking everything.

DAKOTA:

But this. Is. BORING!

CARMON:

Hey! Listen to the Captain! Hush it and watch the screen.

DAKOTA:

Fine.

The screen clicks on, showing static before it clicks to a scene.

Chairs appear behind the trio, allowing them a moment to sit and rest. They are unaware of RAYLENE, HOPE and DASEE's interferement, but it could be the reason why their quest system isn't working.

The screen flashes with a series of words again.

The Women's Army Auxiliary Corps accepted ages 21 through 45.

It provided women to fill supporting roles and freed up more men for combat duty- women would either take the place of a man at the training center or go to serve as clerks, typists, drivers, cooks and other unit cadres.

It took shortened training as they weren’t expected to go into battle, marching drills, military customs/courtesies, map reading, company administration, and supply and mess management.

The first trainees arrived at Fort Des Moines, Iowa on July 20th 1942. The group included 125 enlisted women and 440 officer candidates (40 of whom were African-Americans) for the WAAC Officer Candidate School (OCS). WAACs soon proved to be good Soldiers, and mastered their training with ease.

KHAILEN sits back in her seat, watching as the screen shows scenes like a movie. CARMON and DAKOTA are bickering somewhere behind them until they are yanked back and shoved into their chairs by an invisible force.

A quest pops up in front of them.

Quest: Pay attention.

They groan in annoyance, but oblige. The quest only popped up because Dakota was forcing himself to be distracted.

The screen clicks to another moment in time. White words appear at the bottom of each scene to explain what is going on, as they do not have any dialogue, just music.

On June 24, 1948, the Soviet authorities announced that the Autobahn, the highway connecting western Germany to Berlin, would be closed indefinitely “for repairs.” Then, they halted all road traffic from west to east, and barred all barge and rail traffic from entering West Berlin. Thus began the blockade of Berlin.

The Russians believed this would make it impossible for the people who lived there to get food or any other supplies and would eventually drive Britain, France and the U.S. out of the city for good.

Instead of retreating from West Berlin, however, the U.S. and its allies decided to supply their sectors of the city from the air. This effort, known as the “Berlin Airlift,” lasted for more than a year and carried more than 2.3 million tons of cargo into West Berlin.

Life in West Berlin during the blockade was not easy. Fuel and electricity were rationed, and the black market was the only place to obtain many goods. Still, most West Berliners supported the airlift and their western allies.

KHAILEN groans.

KHAILEN:

Good they managed to get food, but that's still terrible.

CARMON:

That's actually kind of cool how they thought of that.

DAKOTA hummed in agreement.

The screen flickers again to another scene, doing the same as the other.

In March 1945, the four major Allied powers proposed trying leading Nazi war criminals before a special international court.

Nuremberg, Germany was chosen as the location of the trials for being a focal point of Nazi propaganda rallies leading up to the war.

At the International Military Tribunal (IMT), which lasted from November 1945 to October 1946, 21 of the 24 indicted Nazi leaders stood trial for crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit these crimes.

Life in West Berlin during the blockade was not easy. Fuel and electricity were rationed, and the black market was the only place to obtain many goods. Still, most West Berliners supported the airlift and their western allies.

KHAILEN nods, resting her cheek against her knuckles. Everything is silent.

Then in a click, the screen shuts off. The white flash takes them away again before dropping them back at their base.

HOPE stands the moment she notices them. She turns to the others.

HOPE:

They're back!

RAYLENE and DASEE rush over, embracing the trio. CARMON looks slightly uncomfortable. She isn't one who likes touch.

KHAILEN pats HOPE's back.

KHAILEN:

Something was off about that. It had stopped giving us quests, it was just . . . it was something else.

DAKOTA:

Did you notice the screen switch colors too?

CARMON:

Well, I'm sure it will take us again soon. So, let's just be prepared. It's clearly unpredictable.

DAKOTA and KHAILEN nod in agreement. RAYLENE and HOPE look at each other before looking back at them.

RAYLENE:

Speaking of which . . .

HOPE:

There is something you need to see.

HOPE, RAYLENE and DASEE lead the trio away. The camera pans out, showing the group leaving the room. It flies out of a nearby window, taking an arch up into the sky while still being locked on the base. Then, it slowly rises to show the sky. It zooms in on the sun, letting the white streaks engulf it until a white flash appears and it goes quiet.

**End SCENE 18**