SCENE SUMMARY
Torm awakens shackled inside a floating iron prison in a black void, surrounded by demons holding the chains of her cage, while the cries of her suffering sister echo through tunnels below. A terrifying Dark Queen — a manifestation of Torm’s buried guilt and emotional repression — rises before her and confronts her about her obsession with curing Shadow Fever. The Queen reveals that Torm’s guilt is the true prison preventing her from saving her sister. As visions of her dying sister, metallic souls, and monstrous machines torment her, Torm admits her deepest fear: that her curiosity and fascination with solving the fever may outweigh her love. The Queen urges her to let go of guilt and embrace the joy of discovery, insisting that the cure can only come if she stops allowing her sister’s pain to consume her focus. Torm forces herself to drown out the cries and concentrate on the machinery, formulas, and scientific processes filling her mind. When she finally releases her guilt, angels appear and destroy the demons, freeing her from the cage as the prison transforms into a vast surreal laboratory where she can work freely on the cure. But the guilt quickly returns, reimprisoning her as horrifying visions of her sister decaying and demons closing in overwhelm her. Desperately repeating that her sister is safe within the “power of a dream,” Torm clings to sanity until a sudden warmth clears the nightmare, transporting her peacefully into the Garden of Souls.
10. HEART WALTZ
17. GUILT
Torm is unconscious and shackled inside a circular iron cage floating in darkness. Chains connect to every iron arm and are held by demons standing on platforms around the outer perimeter of the floating prison. Torm is suddenly awakened by the sound of her sister’s cries.
SISTER
Help... Torm... the pain!!!
Her sister is carried through tunnels by massive demons along rails and tracks.
Torm sees a large cage ascending from the black abyss. When the cage reaches her level, the iron bars open, revealing the Dark Queen. Her skin is white and cracked, and a golden face crown covered in diamonds rests upon her head, with thin chains hanging from it. Her dress is shaped like a cage, with gold plates holding rows of white fabric pinned together by golden pyramidal spikes. Golden rib-like metal tubes hang from her corset, while a flowing white back piece is supported by thin golden rods fanning outward like a blooming peacock.
The Queen steps onto a platform carried down an aisle of smoke carved like marble, twisting into complex fractals. The imperial pathway is lined with towering cage-like columns of iron and stone leading directly to Torm’s floating prison. The Queen is an emotional avatar, born from suppression to cope with hidden guilt, now here to speak.
DARK QUEEN
Torm and sister, shadow and river. So close to a cure, yet still blind to it. Why, Torm? Why leave your sister in pain?
TORM
The rivers stopped flowing. I can’t make the mineral vapor without them. I had to leave to get the waters flowing again.
DARK QUEEN
You have come far to hide from yourself. Tears cover your face, but inside, your smile is as dry as the river.
TORM
I’m not trying to hide... I’m trying to save my sister. I love her more than anything. Where is my sister?
DARK QUEEN
Sweet little sister. Innocent little sister. Lying dying in a dream.
In the dark embrace of Shadow Fever, all alone in a cold corner of a dream
Translucent metallic souls of her sister emerge from thin air and swim past Torm, crying for help.
SISTER
Save me... don’t leave me here to die!
DARK QUEEN
Why do you silence the whispering joy while working on her fever? You can save her. What are you afraid to see, Torm?
TORM
I’m scared my curiosity will outweigh my love.
DARK QUEEN
And that is why she still has the fever. But you can save her, Torm!
TORM
How?
DARK QUEEN
Your cage is made of guilt. Let go, and you are free.
TORM
Why should I feel any joy in something that causes my sister so much pain? I shouldn’t feel any pleasure at all.
DARK QUEEN
It is the joy of discovery you possess, not joy in her suffering. Let go of your guilt and save your sister.
SISTER
Why did you leave me behind to die, Torm?
Her sister’s voice echoes through the void.
TORM
No, sister! I didn’t leave you to die. I’m trying to get the rivers flowing again. We just need more time. I would never hurt you!
Torm sees her sister floating in white cloth as a massive machine closes in from both sides.
DARK QUEEN
Let go of your guilt and save your sister.
THE SISTER souls continue swimming past Torm, crying for help.
TORM
I’m trying... but her cries are too loud!
DARK QUEEN
Let the gears of your curiosity drown out her cries. Focus on the fever.
Torm closes her eyes and shifts her focus to the gears of the giant machine, trying to ignore her sister’s screams. She retreats inward, letting go of the voices.
Chemical formulas and laboratory procedures flood her mind, competing directly with her sister’s cries. Soon, Torm channels all the energy of her mind into curiosity, but the giant machine is too close to stop.
Torm opens her eyes and releases her guilt. The demons surrounding her cage are destroyed by angels manifesting from thin air. With only a touch of light, the demons disintegrate, releasing their grip on the chains. Torm is freed from her shackles.
The cage transforms into a new laboratory configuration. Chemical formulas and intricate smoke patterns float around her as she works on Shadow Fever. Now free from guilt and unbound, she can finally focus on finding a cure.
The massive machine surrounding her sister opens, revealing a biomechanical form connected to mechanical tubes as the apparatus retracts. A workstation rises before Torm. At its center is a set of massive gears filled with water, held within a brass framework.
But guilt overtakes her once again, and the cage reforms around her. She watches her sister decay as a tunnel of demons opens below. Torm sits at the center, eyes tightly shut, while the camera slowly crawls toward her face.
TORM
This isn’t real. My sister is safe and shielded in the power of a dream. No! This isn’t real... this isn’t real.
My sister is safe... my sister is safe... my sister is safe and shielded in the power of a dream. My sister is safe and shielded in the power of a dream!!!
The camera moves in close to Torm’s face. She feels warmth against her cheek, and the tornado of pain dissolves around her.
She is now in the Garden of Souls.
Safe.
SISTER
Help... Torm... the pain!!!
Her sister is carried through tunnels by massive demons along rails and tracks.
Torm sees a large cage ascending from the black abyss. When the cage reaches her level, the iron bars open, revealing the Dark Queen. Her skin is white and cracked, and a golden face crown covered in diamonds rests upon her head, with thin chains hanging from it. Her dress is shaped like a cage, with gold plates holding rows of white fabric pinned together by golden pyramidal spikes. Golden rib-like metal tubes hang from her corset, while a flowing white back piece is supported by thin golden rods fanning outward like a blooming peacock.
The Queen steps onto a platform carried down an aisle of smoke carved like marble, twisting into complex fractals. The imperial pathway is lined with towering cage-like columns of iron and stone leading directly to Torm’s floating prison. The Queen is an emotional avatar, born from suppression to cope with hidden guilt, now here to speak.
DARK QUEEN
Torm and sister, shadow and river. So close to a cure, yet still blind to it. Why, Torm? Why leave your sister in pain?
TORM
The rivers stopped flowing. I can’t make the mineral vapor without them. I had to leave to get the waters flowing again.
DARK QUEEN
You have come far to hide from yourself. Tears cover your face, but inside, your smile is as dry as the river.
TORM
I’m not trying to hide... I’m trying to save my sister. I love her more than anything. Where is my sister?
DARK QUEEN
Sweet little sister. Innocent little sister. Lying dying in a dream.
In the dark embrace of Shadow Fever, all alone in a cold corner of a dream
Translucent metallic souls of her sister emerge from thin air and swim past Torm, crying for help.
SISTER
Save me... don’t leave me here to die!
DARK QUEEN
Why do you silence the whispering joy while working on her fever? You can save her. What are you afraid to see, Torm?
TORM
I’m scared my curiosity will outweigh my love.
DARK QUEEN
And that is why she still has the fever. But you can save her, Torm!
TORM
How?
DARK QUEEN
Your cage is made of guilt. Let go, and you are free.
TORM
Why should I feel any joy in something that causes my sister so much pain? I shouldn’t feel any pleasure at all.
DARK QUEEN
It is the joy of discovery you possess, not joy in her suffering. Let go of your guilt and save your sister.
SISTER
Why did you leave me behind to die, Torm?
Her sister’s voice echoes through the void.
TORM
No, sister! I didn’t leave you to die. I’m trying to get the rivers flowing again. We just need more time. I would never hurt you!
Torm sees her sister floating in white cloth as a massive machine closes in from both sides.
DARK QUEEN
Let go of your guilt and save your sister.
THE SISTER souls continue swimming past Torm, crying for help.
TORM
I’m trying... but her cries are too loud!
DARK QUEEN
Let the gears of your curiosity drown out her cries. Focus on the fever.
Torm closes her eyes and shifts her focus to the gears of the giant machine, trying to ignore her sister’s screams. She retreats inward, letting go of the voices.
Chemical formulas and laboratory procedures flood her mind, competing directly with her sister’s cries. Soon, Torm channels all the energy of her mind into curiosity, but the giant machine is too close to stop.
Torm opens her eyes and releases her guilt. The demons surrounding her cage are destroyed by angels manifesting from thin air. With only a touch of light, the demons disintegrate, releasing their grip on the chains. Torm is freed from her shackles.
The cage transforms into a new laboratory configuration. Chemical formulas and intricate smoke patterns float around her as she works on Shadow Fever. Now free from guilt and unbound, she can finally focus on finding a cure.
The massive machine surrounding her sister opens, revealing a biomechanical form connected to mechanical tubes as the apparatus retracts. A workstation rises before Torm. At its center is a set of massive gears filled with water, held within a brass framework.
But guilt overtakes her once again, and the cage reforms around her. She watches her sister decay as a tunnel of demons opens below. Torm sits at the center, eyes tightly shut, while the camera slowly crawls toward her face.
TORM
This isn’t real. My sister is safe and shielded in the power of a dream. No! This isn’t real... this isn’t real.
My sister is safe... my sister is safe... my sister is safe and shielded in the power of a dream. My sister is safe and shielded in the power of a dream!!!
The camera moves in close to Torm’s face. She feels warmth against her cheek, and the tornado of pain dissolves around her.
She is now in the Garden of Souls.
Safe.