The metamorphosis of a unique story.....FROM THE BEGINNING...

The Original TREATMENT for The Ethereal Plane

Dimensions
(a working title)
A Treatment by Clarke M. Smith
May 1999

Present time. A main character. Mid 30s. Computer engineer. Works in busy metropolitan office.
Life is normal for the most part; that is about to change. On his way to work one day, Dimen (working name) has a bizarre experience. Right in the middle of a busy city sidewalk, a loud thundering, subwoofer style sound almost breaks his eardrums. He bends over clutching his ears. He turns to a passerby. "Holy Crimony, did you hear that?"
The passerby looks at him confused. "What?"

It seems that no one else heard it. Just then, the world seems to 'slow down' severely. The basso profundo goes down several octaves, until the human ear can no longer even hear it. All sound disappears for Dimen, and a dream like existence takes over. He has stopped in his tracks, and looks around bewildered. Time, for everyone around him, slows down to a crawl. People right next to him appear to be moving at a snail's pace; yet Dimen moves normally.

"What the hell's going on…?"

He stares at the people in disbelief. Suddenly the color of the world turns a strangely artificial blue. Dimen looks up at the sun, thinking something overhead may have caused the colorization.

From out of some sort of invisible doorway, a curious looking individual emerges into the scene. He tells Dimen not to be afraid. They talk. Somehow, Dimen comes to the understanding, through a voice in his head, or the strange visitor, that the world and dimension as he knows it isn't the only one he lives in. There are 2 ancient alien races in the not so far away universe. But with all their technology and superior intellect, they are feuding adversaries. Long ago, at the Dawn of Man, one the alien races, who we will refer to as the Antags (working name), began an experiment with a savage and prehistoric planet - Earth. They blended their own DNA with Earth gorillas, and created a new species - human. They populated the planet with these creatures, a mix of super intelligence with savage, simple-minded animals.

Yes, we are the result, some _______hundred thousand years later. They have been monitoring their experiment ever since, staying out of the way and not altering the natural world they have helped create. The problem is, human beings have reached a level of intelligence the last 100 years that was unexpected. The Antags fear they will all be discovered soon, and feel its time to end the ancient experiment. Yes, that means the demise of mankind. But it is not only the fear of discovery; it is what they see. It is what they are tired of seeing. Earth is seen as barbaric wasteland, of fighting entities and hellish wars. It is constant, with absolutely no hope of change. What they really see is a failed experiment in the sense that war and atrocities have plagued the human race from the beginning. They believe it is the animal side in them that causes the problem. They simply want to end it, and start over. Do things different next time.

The other group, who we will call the Protags, has another agenda. They are quick to point out the mere fact that these so-called barbaric humans aren't so different than we (we, meaning the two alien races) aren't in the way that they too are feuding, and desiring to kill earthly creatures. This would make them just as guilty. They feel it is wrong to create life on this planet and then wipe it out. There are millions of people on this planet, most of them innocent. The Antags and the Protags have been feuding for over 90 years. Now, Earth is basically being protected from annihilation by the Antags. They are our last defense. They are the barrier between us and the Antags.

And that brings us to our central character. Dimen is one of several that the Protags have decided to contact. They offer the knowledge of what humans are 'made of' in the hopes that they will change, and maybe prove to the Antags that they are worth saving. Dimen then, is made to be like a profit of sorts, asked to warn the world with the dreaded knowledge he has, which is that if the human race doesn't change, then you can kiss your ass goodbye.

The aliens exist in an alternate dimension, unseen by humans. They have brought Dimen into their dimension where everything is on a different TIME level. That is, time moves at a very slow pace for them, enabling them to move around on earth undetected; they simply move too fast for the human eye to see. No one can see Dimen either; it's as if he was moving around them like a silent jet moving at the speed of light. This explains how UFOs are able to seem to move suddenly so fast, at unheard of, non-earthly speeds; they are simply returning to their dimension, hence the amazing speed. They disappear as they enter a dimension that we can't see.

With this knowledge, Dimen is put back into his own earthly dimension. Normal color returns and time 'speeds up' to its normal pace for this dimension. Dimen is left back on the sidewalk, a confused yet enlightened being.
It isn't long before an attempt is made on his life. In the dank underground parking lot of his townhouse complex, we find Dimen walking home. He is not only freaked out about his experience, but paranoid that he is being watched. Hell, the whole planet is being watched. But as the garage door opens, and a sinister looking sedan pulls in slowly, Dimen freezes. The car pulls in, turns, and heads for him. Dimen turns and runs the other way, into the elevator room, and up the stairs. Darkly dressed individuals coolly jump out of their sedan and start to chase him up the stairs. It is apparent to Dimen that these must be Antags chasing him. Somehow they found out that he was contacted by the Protags; and because he has been given the power to exist in both dimensions, he must now be destroyed!

Dimen runs for his life. He is about as frantic as I am to try and think of an ending!