D E T E C T I V E _ O R I G I N S

I was the best damn detective in the whole precinct.

But I got fired from my job, boss told me to take a break, that I couldn’t be the man I once was. He said that I should cash in on my holiday hours, maybe spend some time with my family.


Chief: “You’ve lost your senses son”

Detective: “Which one?...”

Chief: “I don’t want to do this to you Samson but it’s for the best, I’m gonna need your badge.”

Detective: “I get it chief, you can’t have a blind man stumbling around on the streets, representing the force can you?”

(Places badge on the table)

Chief: “You’re a good kid son, one of the finest I’ve ever worked with. I know you’re down on your luck right now but somethin’ll come up for for ya.”


That’s when it all came back to me, I remembered... The cold case...


(Exits office into hallway)

Chief: “Here let me help ya out son.”

Detective: “I’ll manage sir, I’ve walked these halls too many times to forget them.”

Detective: “I guess this’ll be the last time you see my pretty face around here though.”


Yeah I was blind, lost my sense of smell, half of my hearing, and my body was almost completely numb. It tingled sometimes, kinda like pins & needles, it sure made walking difficult. Didn’t matter much though, I knew where the hell I was going.

I went to my old desk to gather my shit, wasn’t much there but it was still somehow more than I remembered ever having.


(Clears table of co worker by accident, as co worker sits there trying to work)

Co-worker 1: “Hey!”

Co-worker 2: “Let him, he’s sick”


Memories were all I had anymore, of how things were, how they are. At that moment I felt that I needed to hold onto as many of those memories as I could, to keep some small part of myself alive... To keep myself sane.


(Has his head down as he walks through the hallways, his former colleagues almost hide from him, whispering to each other about him.)


I didn’t have any family to go and spend time with, still don’t. The force was always my true family, my brothers and sisters. I felt like Cain in the story of Cain and Abel, the chief was god, banishing me from my home.


(leaves the station and walks into the middle of the road, hailing for a cab as a car swerves to avoid hitting him)

“BEEEEP BEEEEEEP”

Road Rager: “WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING JACKASS”

(taxi stops in front of detective and he gets in)

Taxi driver: “Hop in fella, where ya headin’?”

Detective: “Take me to the fish market“

Taxi driver: “Yeah sure boss, it's the least I can do after almost running you over there haha!”

(Detective gets into the backseat as they drive through the city towards the fish market)


Apparently a lot changed while I was asleep. New buildings getting built, old ones going down. New highways, street lights. New concerns for the environment and the economy. At least that’s what I’m told. It all sounds like the same old shit to me. I don’t need to see it. I feel it all. Around me. The only thing changing is time itself, and I’m slowly figuring out how relative it really is…


Taxi driver: “The fish market is a strange place now huh? No fish! Too much mercury in them or something. Everything is all fake there now, but they still call it fish. Tastes the same at least. Weird times though aye?”

Detective: “Mm”

(Arrives at the markets and spends some time stumbling around, navigating through them, heading towards a large, lone building. We see a hooded silhouette, walking away from the site.)


For the first time since the accident, I felt something. Some form of energy pulled me to where I needed to go. My destiny.


(Detective carefully pushes open the door)

“CREEEEEAK”

(Door opens up to a large, dark, mostly empty room)


The feeling vanished. As quickly as it had come about, it was gone.


(Detective slowly stumbles around the room)

Detective: “What am I even looking for?”

Detective: “Why am I back here!?”

Detective: “What am I supposed to find?”

(A tall man in a lab coat appears behind him, pointing a gun to his head.)

Scientist: “It seems that you’ve returned to finally die detective.”

Detective: “Former detective now actually.”

Scientist: “Well, I’m sorry to hear that, but unfortunately I can’t stay and catch up, I really must get going.”


I could feel the cold steel of his pistol, gently brushing against the back of my head. The overwhelming sensation of detachment, of reckless intent, as he spoke to me. Memories of that night started coming back to me, details of what happened.


Scientist: “As for you, you’ve really made my job a lot easier.”

Scientist: “So thank you detective... and goodbye.”


In those last moments I felt the fear of losing something, of helplessness. That thought rattled around in my bones, like a familiar fall, from a time ago.


*FLASHBACK TO THE PAST*


(Driving in the night)


I was following up on an old cold case after a long shift. Chief had told me over a year ago to quit thinking about it, but I couldn’t... Something about it didn’t seem right, it had an unnatural aura around it that I had to penetrate.

People all around town had started getting sick, disappearances were going up, some of the sick folks were even beginning to change physically, like it was some kinda crazy new drug or something. We never managed to find any suspects, no patterns, no connections. But about two years or so after it was classified as an unsolved case, I interviewed the different victims, all of the friends and families that I could find of those missing people, I had finally traced it all back to one area, one place... The fish market. I didn’t know what was going on, who was importing the drug or whatever it was, but I knew I’d find some answers somewhere in the fish market.


(Arrives at the fish market, it’s dark, there is a night sale tonight though, and several eateries are open for the evening.)


I had spoken with some of the local vendors and fishermen in the weeks prior to this day. I asked them if they had seen anything out of the ordinary, any unusual customers, trucks, fish, anything. I didn’t get much out of them, just complaints about each other, a bunch a racial crap, nothing useful, until I met Susan.

We became good friends pretty fast, Susan wasn’t her real name but she said that it made it easier for the Americans to call her that. She was a kind hearted woman, and perceptive, she liked to talk to me, we would eat crab cakes together, and she’d always ask how I was doing, about my personal life, but most importantly, she had plenty of information.


(flashing memories of Detective and Susan happily eating together)


Susan told me about strange men in lab coats, quickly walking through the market, all black cars with the windows tinted, too fancy for this part of town. She mentioned unmarked trucks and vans, making secret deliveries, at all kinds of irregular hours. I figured that there had to be a secret building of some design, a base of operations within the fish market, tying all of these things together at a single point, and as soon as I finally discovered the purpose of it all, one big piece of undeniable evidence.


(Susan is serving customers as The Detective walks by)

Susan: “Mr Samson, Hello!”

Detective: “Hey Susan, I’m just here to check out the new stall in town, I hear their shrimp are to die for.”

Susan: “Yes of course! It’s right down the back of the markets, past the chilli squid and to the left, no signs yet, you can’t miss it!”


She winked as I continued my way towards the building. I felt good, there was almost a skip in my step, this was the first real break in the case that I had gotten. I just hoped that it wasn’t too little too late.


(image of the building as detective approaches)


There it was, as bland as can be, tucked away right at the back of the fish market. A few empty cars around, consistent with Susan’s descriptions. This was it. A Fort Knox of answers just waiting to be found.

This thing was built to keep people out, no windows, no side doors, just a chained up fire exit and the front entrance. A big heavy steel door, old and used but it looked like it might have had a card reader for entry.

That’s when my opportunity presented itself, a woman in a lab coat came out the door, she quickly walked away and into the busy market.


(Detective reaches the door before it closes and manages to sneak in)


It's like I was in a whole other world once I got inside the building. Like a goddamn Singapore hospital, or Area 51. Everything was clean, modern, and expensive looking.


Detective: “Sure as shit they ain’t keeping any fish here.”


I heard footsteps from across the room. Looked like a security guard of some kind, a big guy, walking away from the entrance.


(Detective hides behind wall, peeking to survey the room)


I noticed this big space right in the middle of the room, surrounded by glass. It looked like a giant shower for quarantining or something, and then I saw someone in there, someone small on the ground.


(Detective slowly moves closer to the glass room, passing a computer on a desk, the computer has S.W.I.P.E. branding on it)


As I approached the glass I saw that the room was airtight, and there was only one door to get in or out, which was shut.


(Flashing red light above a danger sign on the door)


It was… A kid… Just a little kid... Playing with his toys…

A goldfish in a bowl, unaware of the poison about to be poured into the water.

The room got a whole lot brighter, two tubes opposite each other, connected to the outside of the glass started glowing, rumbling, and getting louder like they were charging up for something. A lethal experiment.


“ZZZZZZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPP”

“WWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM”

(Tension builds, wordless sequence of events)

(he sees the child sitting behind the glass, the boy has a smile on his face, he has no idea what is going on around him. The Detective runs over to the door, and pulls on it desperately, blatantly ignoring to keep a low profile.)

(He pulls out his gun and shoots a few rounds at the glass door, it is bulletproof of course. Then he sees an emergency open switch, he hits it, and the door unlocks.)

(He runs into the room and goes to grab the kid as the tubes are about to explode into the room… The Detective drops to the ground and wraps his arms around the boy, but as soon as he does the kid dematerialises through his fingers like smoke.)

(A white explosion in the glass room engulfs the detective, he is on his knees, looking at his empty hands, his eyes wide open, shocked and traumatised.)

...

(Explosion passes as the security guard and scientist rush into the room to inspect the detective, he is lifelessly lying on the floor.)

Security Guard: “I think he’s dead! He’s got a badge on him too!”

Scientist: “Shit. He’s a cop. Get him out of here.”


I busted through the door and ran in, I went to grab him as the tubes were about to explode into the room… I dropped to the ground and wrapped my arms around the boy, but as soon as I did he vanished through my hands, it was like he evaporated… Then the lights got real bright, that's the last thing I remember. The last thing I ever saw.


(The scientist and the security guard drag the detective outside, to the docks behind the building)

Security Guard: “What are we gonna do with him out here?”

Scientist: “Toss him into the river. We can’t have anyone find out about this, god knows how he even found out about our operation.”

Security Guard: “I don’t think I’m ok with this, I mean it was an accident! We could call somebody?!”

(Scientist takes the detective’s gun from his body, then kicks him off of the edge and into the water.)

Security Guard: “What the hell are you doing?!”

Scientist: “Consider yourself relieved of your duties, we were never here and you never worked for us. Got it?”


*FLASHFORWARD TO PRESENT TIME*


I may not remember everything that happened to me very clearly, but I dreamt a lot while I was unconscious for all of that time.


“BANG”

(The scientist shoots the detective in the back of the head)


Right after the kid disappeared from my arms I saw the edge of the universe, deep space in all of its wonder, and its emptiness.


(Close up of detective’s face)


I saw the creation of all things, and the end of all life.


(Depiction of the big bang)


I saw gods, heroes and villains.


(Dark silhouettes of various Pollyverse characters)

(Back to the present, detective picks up busted bullet from the floor, examining it, its glowing, it passed right through him)

Scientist: “What the?!”

(Detective starts glowing, he is surrounded with white energy, he spins around and wrestles his gun from the scientist)

“POP”

“POW”

(The scientist shoots him in the stomach two times before the detective manages to take his gun back. The detective's jacket opens up to reveal a cosmic-like body as the bullets whizz straight through him.)

(Scientist falls to the floor, detective stands over him, pointing the gun)

Detective: “You should have finished me off when you had the chance.”

(Detective shoots the scientist, but the scientist blocks the bullet with his hand which is now made of concrete.)

Scientist: “You aren’t the only one who has picked up a few new tricks, Detective.”

(The scientist smiles)