# CLUSTER BOMB · RE-LADDER SCRIPTS (KILLPAGES-E, 26 Oct) · 44 kills · scripts only, no code until approved **Sources:** - `_tools/ladder_lists/L.md` (cluster 43 + the mids); - L's queue note in `_tools/coord/AGENT_SLOTS.md`: DUCK AND COVER's blank white XT, HERO OF THE DAY's XT = VH and empty VL, LIQUEFACTION's VH = H, JOYRIDE and CANNONBALL's empty VLs; - the current films (SUM, and the audit renders in `Scratch/killpages-e/out/aud/cluster/`). The same two fixes as the laser and beam batches: 1. **The 16:10 ladder:** six different pictures, where neighbouring levels differ by more than blood and width, each locked with `s.ladderEnd`. 2. **The horror bar:** XT is a cluster-specific horror close with a REAL dead face, held and readable in 1 s at phone size. **Rules applied to every kill below:** - **The cluster's own wounds.** The XT reads as what six bomblets do, not "a body in a pool": - peppered with shrapnel holes, each a dark pit with a red lip; - limbs torn off at the joints, with ragged stumps; - powder burns: blackened skin stippled with grit; - blood from the ears (the overpressure); - bomblet casing fragments standing in the flesh; - the blast's shove: bodies thrown into, through or onto things; - and whatever the pops broke in the kill's own set (the desk, the jeep, the cannon, the castle). - **Faces:** - XT and VH: the d58W dead face (d58Wn, d58Wc where it is burned, d58Wu under water); - H: d58D on a LIT victim, never murk; - M: X allowed; - L: alive, out cold, stars; - VL: alive, in its own picture, never an empty frame. The "puffs out" and empty-arena VLs become alive endings. - **Headgear:** face-covering headgear comes off at XT, VH and H: Fayiz's visor, Chotu's headband, Amjad's cap, Mikku's beanie. - **Framing:** - XT, VH and H are genuinely different pictures, using two of re-stage / roll / placement-foreground / insert (07:29); - Faris is never the subject of a final, at most an edge; - "close" means the body or face fills at least a third of the frame; - VL finals are framed wide enough for a standing figure. - **No hanging** (§9 04:59 and RPG HALF-MAST's ownership of the head-down hang): nothing dangles by the neck or the feet at any level, in the final or in the film. - **No new XT on a see-through hole.** - **Sameness:** at most two lone-head or boot framings across the weapon. - **Performance (user, 26 Oct, "so laggy"):** built cheap. Bold drawn shapes, held poses and pins, a few decals. No new masses of particles or ribbons. len stays at 15 s or less. --- ## BATCH 1 (9): the five L flagged, then their neighbours in films 3 and 4 ### 1 · cluster.duck-and-cover · DUCK AND COVER (atrium · Nitha · the 1950s civil-defence film) Shared action: she drops under the desk by the book; five pops on the desk; the sixth rolls under it with her. The film stays black and white throughout. **Its one colour is her blood, which comes in red.** - **XT:** The flash holds, then fades to a picture. - The desk is blown up and over onto its back. - She lies where it stood, on her side, still in the duck-and-cover crouch. Her clasped hands are gone at the wrists, and the back of her neck is peppered black. - Her d58W face is turned to the lens. The only red in the film runs out from under her across the grey floor. - The film jitters in the gate; the narrator card reads "REMEMBER...". - Close on the face and the stumps. - **VH:** The blast drives the desk down on top of her. She is pinned under the cracked desktop with only her head and one arm out, d58W face sideways on the floor in a black pool (no colour at VH). The THE END card comes down at the top edge. A rolled medium. - **H:** The blast throws her out from under the desk into the aisle, onto her back among the scattered civil-defence pamphlets. The projector's flickering beam lights her d58D face. A tight insert, rolled the other way. - **M:** She crawls out from under the desk and collapses, X eyes, a curl of smoke from her hair. The card reads "...AND COVER!". Medium. - **L:** The blast pops the desk lid up and it slams down on her head. She sits up under the desk, dazed, stars. - **VL:** She kicks the sixth back out from under the desk. It rolls into the waste-paper bin and pops there, harmlessly. She sits up straight behind her desk, hands folded: the card reads "A+ NITHA!". Alive. ### 2 · cluster.hero-of-the-day · HERO OF THE DAY (forts arch top · Fayiz, with Amjad) Shared action: Amjad shoves Fayiz down on the six and backs off with his hands up. - **XT:** Kept, since it passes the bar: Fayiz's body blown open across Amjad, the guts out, the dead eye. Locked as it is. Visor off. - **VH:** The sixth flips Fayiz onto his back on the stone, apart from Amjad. - His whole front is peppered black, one arm gone at the elbow, his d58W face up to the sky. - Amjad crawls away along the frame edge. - A low rolled close with the arch's parapet in the foreground. - **H:** A rolled insert on Fayiz's d58D face pressed to the scorched stone, lit by the low sun. Amjad's boots back out of the top of the frame. - **M:** Fayiz flat on his front, smoking, X eyes. Amjad sits on his backside beside him, alive and appalled. Medium. - **L:** Fayiz grabs Amjad's collar and they go down together. The six pop under them as black puffs: Fayiz out cold on his back, stars; Amjad dazed against him. - **VL:** Fayiz sidesteps the shove. Amjad stumbles over the six, and they go off as harmless sparkler pops. Both stand blackened, coughing, glaring at each other. Alive. ### 3 · cluster.liquefaction · LIQUEFACTION (backyard lawn · Mikku) Shared action: six shocks turn the lawn to jelly; he sinks; the shaking stops and the lawn sets hard. - **XT:** The lawn sets round him at the chest. The setting soil crushes him: blood forced out of his mouth, nose and ears onto the grass, a cracked ring of turf round him, one arm out flat. His d58W face is at grass level. A low close across the lawn (not a lone head: the shoulders and the arm are in). - **VH:** He sinks further. Only his face and one reaching hand are left above the set turf, the face tipped back flat at the level of the grass, d58W, blood in the eyes. A top-lit close, rolled. - **H:** The lawn sets at his waist with him folded forward over it, his d58D face sideways on the grass, lit by the backyard lamp. His beanie lies on the lawn. An insert from the side, the lamp post in the foreground. - **M:** It sets at his knees: he has toppled backwards, stuck by the shins, X eyes, arms flung out. Medium. - **L:** It sets round his ankles: the last jolt sits him down hard, dazed, stars, his feet locked in the lawn. - **VL:** He leaps onto the patio slabs as the lawn turns to jelly, and Faris's garden gnome sinks instead. He laughs at the gnome's hat going under. Alive. ### 4 · cluster.fizz · FIZZ (forts pool · Nitha) Shared action: shoved in by the first pop; the other five fizz like giant effervescent tablets and the froth closes over her. - **XT:** The froth turns pink, then red, and slides off her as it dies. She lies face up on the pool's edge, half out of the water. - The skin of her face is scalded raw by the fizz, with pink foam welling from her open mouth. - Her eyes are glazed (d58Wu); her curled hand is still up. - A close on the frothing face (it used to be buried under the foam). - **VH:** She is still under the mound. The foam thins over her face, and her d58Wu face shows through a gap in it, pink froth bubbling up from her lips. A rolled close into the foam. - **H:** The foam has gone grey. She floats face up in the shallows, her d58D face drowned, lit by the pool light under the water. An insert from the edge, with the pool's rim in the foreground. - **M:** She has crawled half out, slumped over the rim, coated white, X eyes. Medium. - **L:** She coughs up a gout of foam, flops onto the rim and passes out, stars. - **VL:** The fizz lifts her up on the swelling mound, and she surfs it to the side, laughing, blowing foam off her palm. Alive. ### 5 · cluster.empty-bin · EMPTY BIN (retro desktop · Hiba) Shared action: the pops blow her back across the taskbar against the Recycle Bin; the cursor drags her into it. - **XT (no gag: a pixel horror):** The delete stalls: "FILE IN USE". She is half deleted, from the feet up to the ribs. - Her top half sits slumped in the bin. - The cut is a jagged staircase of pixels: raw red pixel meat, white pixel bone, red pixels dripping off it into the bin. - Her d58W face hangs over the bin's rim. - A close on the face over the pixel stump. - **VH:** The bin's lid slams down on her as it empties, crushing her head and shoulders into its grille. The d58W face is pressed through the bars, a red error dialog behind it. A rolled close. - **H:** The bin spits her back out onto the desktop as a broken icon: she lies on her back framed by a dashed "corrupted" outline, d58D face, lit by the screen's glow. An insert. - **M:** Her X-eyed face stuck to the bin as its icon, the bin now labelled "Hiba (1)". Medium on the icon. - **L:** Cancel at the last moment: the cursor drops her on the desktop, and she lies dazed under a "(Not Responding)" title bar, stars. - **VL:** "Cannot find HIBA". She peeks out from behind the error dialog, sticks her tongue out at the cursor, and ducks back. Alive (her current VL frame is the dialog alone). ### 6 · cluster.joyride · JOYRIDE (base · Fayiz) Shared action: the pops jam the throttle; the jeep pitch-poles over the stone block; he is thrown head first at the guard hut's wall. - **XT:** Head first into the hut wall. He slides down it, leaving a red smear, and ends crumpled at its foot. - The top of his skull is split from the impact, blood sheets down his d58W face, the visor is cracked off beside him. - The jeep burns on its roof behind him. - A close on the face under the smear. - **VH:** He comes down across the upturned jeep's chassis, his back broken over the axle, d58W face upside down to us, one wheel still turning by his head. A rolled medium, the wheel in the foreground. - **H:** The jeep comes down on its roof on top of him: his top half sticks out from under it, d58D face, lit by the jeep's one surviving headlight. An insert in the headlight. - **M:** Thrown onto the deck: X eyes, flat on his back, the jeep's loose wheel rolling past him. Medium. - **L:** The jeep stalls against the block and he goes into the windscreen. He climbs out and sits by the front wheel, dazed, stars. - **VL (it is the empty arena now):** He bails out before the block, tucks and rolls across the deck and comes up on his feet. The jeep pitch-poles behind him and lands on its roof. He dusts himself off and gives Faris a thumbs up. Alive. ### 7 · cluster.cannonball · CANNONBALL (castle · Fayiz) Shared action: the six slip down the bore and fire him out early and low; he falls short of his net. - **XT:** Face first into the far tower's wall under the net. - He sticks a beat, then slides down, leaving a red crater print on the stone. - At the foot he lies face up: the helmet cracked off beside him, the face caved in at the nose and brow (d58W), both forearms snapped back from bracing. - The empty net sways above. - A close on the caved face, the print above it. - **VH:** He hits the net's iron frame instead and wraps round the pole at the waist, his spine broken backwards, folded over it with his d58W face toward us. The net is torn beside him. A rolled medium. - **H:** He drops into the courtyard short of the tower and lies broken in the dirt, d58D face, lit by a wall torch, the cannon's smoke drifting through the foreground. An insert. - **M:** He hits the net's rim and the net comes down over him: X eyes through the mesh, lying at the tower's foot. Medium. - **L:** He makes the net but it tears; he drops into the hay cart below, out cold in the hay, stars. - **VL (it is the empty wall with the torch now):** The early shot still carries: he lands in the net, bounces, flips out onto the tower top, lands on his feet and takes a bow. Alive. ### 8 · cluster.sixies · SIXIES (pirate deck · Fida) Shared action: on a jacks reflex she sweeps all six into her fist; they go off one after another. - **XT:** The six go off in her fist. - The hand is gone, the forearm shredded to the elbow, casing fragments standing in her cheek. - Her jaw is knocked crooked, blood from her ears, her d58W face peppered. - She lies on her back among the scattered jacks, the shredded arm laid out beside her (never across the face). - A close on the face. - **VH:** The last pop takes the whole arm off at the shoulder. She lies on her side facing the lost arm on the boards, her d58W face toward it, the little red ball against her cheek. A rolled close. - **H:** She sits slumped against the mast, the blackened fist in her lap, her d58D face lit by the ship's lantern. An insert, the lantern in the foreground. - **M:** She lies on the deck, X eyes, her fist smoking, the jacks round her head. Medium. - **L:** Out cold on her back, stars, the little red ball bouncing on her belly. - **VL (it is the deck with the ball now):** On the same reflex she flings all six over the rail. They pop in the sea, and she catches the red ball without looking. Alive. ### 9 · cluster.bouncy-castle · BOUNCY CASTLE (desert forts · Chotu) Shared action: the pops punch holes in the castle and rip the blower hose; it collapses on him. - **XT:** The six went off with him on the sprung floor. - The floor burst under him; he lies in the torn vinyl, peppered with holes. - A turret's flagpole is driven through his chest, the headband off. - His d58W face is up, blood pooling in the slack vinyl round him. - A close (his body used to be hidden in the castle). - **VH:** The canopy comes down and the vinyl sucks tight over him. His d58W face is pressed up through the thin red vinyl, mouth open, the features in relief, two hissing holes beside it. A rolled close. - **H:** He crawls out of the collapsed doorway and dies there, half out, his d58D face on the sand, lit by the low sun. An insert, the sagging turret in the foreground. - **M:** A turret folds over on top of him: X eyes, his legs sticking out from under it. Medium. - **L:** The last bounce throws him out over the wall onto the sand: out cold, stars. - **VL:** He bounces out over the wall as the castle deflates and lands on his feet on the sand, grinning, the castle sagging behind him. Alive. --- Next batches, scripts first, one at a time: - **B2:** the tail-wrap eight (hexagon, foxhole, one-in-a-thousand, divided, clean-sheet, staircase, lap-of-honour, canopy) and the deep two (last-broadside, fools-gold). - **B3:** brolly, the-heavy-bag, bunting, the-shelter, the-hamster-wheel, the-minefield, the-blink. - **B4:** the seven skins. - **B5:** the ten mids. --- ## BATCH 2 (10): the tail-wrap eight (XT = VH with less blood, H to VL one wide shot) and the deep two ### 10 · cluster.hexagon · HEXAGON (backyard · Amjad) Shared action: six misses in a ring; every pressure ring bruises his lungs; he laughs, coughs pink froth, sits down and tips over. - **XT (kept, it passes):** - On his knees, folded forward. - His face is a mask of the overpressure: blood from the ears, the nose and the eyes, pink froth at the lips. - d58W, cap off. A close. - **VH:** He goes over onto his back between two scorch marks, the laugh set on his d58W face, blood trickling from both ears into the grass, froth on his lips. A low rolled close, a scorch mark in the foreground. - **H:** He sits slumped against the fence with his head lolled sideways, d58D face lit by the garden light. An insert. - **M:** He lies on his side in the middle of the six scorch marks, X eyes, coughing smoke. A medium that shows the ring of scorches. - **L:** The rings knock the wind out of him. He sits down hard, out cold sitting up, stars. - **VL:** He laughs at six misses and does a little dance in the ring. A late pop under his heel makes him hop. Alive. ### 11 · cluster.foxhole · FOXHOLE (backyard · Chotu in a tin helmet) Shared action: he dives head first into the first crater; five waves of earth bury him. - **XT:** The sixth lands in the hole with him, and the mound erupts. - He is thrown half out onto the crater's rim, both legs gone at the knees back into the hole. - Face and chest are peppered black with grit and casing; the helmet is blown off, dented, beside him. - d58W face. A close. - **VH:** Buried to the chest: his head and one arm are out of the fresh earth, the face caked, the mouth packed with soil, the d58W eyes open, the helmet gone. A rolled close at ground level. - **H:** Only his face shows through the loose earth at the edge of the mound, d58D, lit by a flare. An insert, the helmet in the foreground. - **M:** Buried to the waist, slumped over the rim, the helmet pushed back, X eyes. Medium. - **L:** The last blast throws him out of the hole. He lies on the rim spitting dirt, dazed, stars. - **VL:** He digs out between waves, climbs out of the far side and tips the dirt out of his helmet. Alive. ### 12 · cluster.one-in-a-thousand · ONE IN A THOUSAND (castle · Fida) Shared action: six pops, not a scratch; then the tiny red dot over her heart; the replay finds the one fragment. - **XT:** She lies on her back in the clean ring of floor. - The dot has bloomed into a wide red stain across her shirt. - Her d58W face is still half smiling, eyes open. - A bold lens inset shows the fragment lodged in the heart muscle. - A close (the face used to be out of frame). - **VH:** She sits slumped in the clean ring with her head back, d58W, the stain spreading, the six scorch marks round her. A rolled medium. - **H:** She is folded forward, a hand on the dot, her d58D face turned sideways, lit by a wall torch. An insert. - **M:** She faints flat on her back in the ring, X eyes, the dot still small. Medium. - **L:** A fragment grazes her ear: one drop of blood, and she sits down dazed, stars. - **VL:** The red dot is a ladybird. It flies off her shirt and she laughs. Alive. ### 13 · cluster.divided · DIVIDED (castle · Hiba, with Fayiz) Shared action: a bomblet between their feet; each pop drags them further apart; neither lets go. - **XT:** The arms tear off at the shoulders. - Hiba slides to the wall at her end and lies on her back, the shoulder a ragged stump. - Her d58W face is turned to the middle, where the two arms lie locked wrist to wrist on the scorch. - A close on the face and the stump, the locked arms behind (it was dark and small, with no face). - **VH:** They tear at the elbows instead. She is slammed face first into the wall and slides down it, turned to us, d58W. The two locked forearms are in the foreground. A rolled close. - **H:** The arms hold and dislocate: she lies with her arm still stretched toward his, her hand still gripping, the shoulder out of its socket, d58D face lit. An insert on the face and the grip. - **M:** They let go at the last pop and slide to opposite ends, X eyes. Medium on Hiba. - **L:** They hold on and spin round each other like skaters, then both sit down dizzy, stars. - **VL:** They let go and cartwheel clear of the pops, landing on their feet at opposite ends, glaring at each other. Alive. ### 14 · cluster.clean-sheet · CLEAN SHEET (castle · Mikku in goal) Shared action: he saves all six; his first save rolls back between his legs and pops at his heel. - **XT (kept, it passes):** the body riddled with bomblet holes in a pool, the face showing. Gloves and beanie off. - **VH:** The pop at his heel takes both legs off at the knees. He skids face first and ends propped on his elbows, his d58W face lifted toward us, the goal behind him. A low rolled close. - **H:** He skids into the post and lies against it, d58D face lit by the floodlight. An insert, the post in the foreground. - **M:** Face down at the end of the skid, the X eyes turned to us, his gloves out ahead of him. Medium. - **L:** The pop skids him into his own net. He lies tangled in it, out cold, stars. - **VL:** He back-heels the blinking bomblet out of the goal. It pops harmlessly beside Faris, and he roars SAVED! again. Alive. ### 15 · cluster.staircase · STAIRCASE (pirate · Nitha) Shared action: the six bounce down the flight at her; the first sends her down it end over end; the last bounces down after her. - **XT:** Crumpled at the foot, the neck bent wrong. The last bomblet pops against her cheek and tears it open to the teeth; the headphones are blown off. d58W face. A close at the foot of the stairs. - **VH:** She stops halfway down, sprawled across the steps on her back, a bomblet pit in her chest, d58W face toward us. A rolled medium, the step edges in the foreground. - **H:** At the foot on her back, the last bomblet blinking out beside her cheek, her d58D face lit by the ship's lantern. An insert. - **M:** Crumpled at the foot, X eyes, the headphones askew. Medium. - **L:** She tumbles to the foot and sits there dazed, stars; the last bomblet fizzles. - **VL:** She grabs the banister and vaults over it onto the deck below, while the bomblets bounce down past her. Alive. ### 16 · cluster.lap-of-honour · LAP OF HONOUR (base · Amjad) Shared action: he catches the shell; the six go down his clothes and fly him round the arena one pop at a time. - **XT:** He lands sitting at Faris's feet (the boots at the frame edge: one of the two boot framings), then tips over. - Through the rags: blackened, peppered burns where each one went off, on his chest, back and thighs. - Smoke curls out of his mouth. d58W face, cap gone. - A close. - **VH:** The last pop, under his collar, slams him up into the ceiling lamp. He drops under the broken lamp with his neck burned black, d58W. A rolled close, the lamp's glass in the foreground. - **H:** He comes down across a crate, his d58D face lit by the base floodlight. An insert. - **M:** He lands on his back by the far wall, smoking, X eyes. Medium. - **L:** He lands sitting, hair on end, puffing a smoke ring, dazed, stars. - **VL:** He strips off the jacket with the six inside and flings it. The jacket flies the lap on its own and lands on Faris's head. He laughs in his vest. Alive. ### 17 · cluster.canopy · CANOPY (backyard edge · Fayiz) Shared action: the shell splits inside his parachute; the six tear the silk away panel by panel. - **XT (it was a silk bundle falling out of frame):** We see where he lands: broken on the rocks below the edge. - The torn silk is half off him; the holes pepper him and the canopy alike. - Visor off, d58W face. - A close. - **VH:** He lands wrapped, and the silk is torn open over his face only: a d58W face framed by the shroud. A rolled close. - **H:** He comes down in the hedge, half in it, his d58D face out of the leaves, lit by the porch light. An insert. - **M:** He lands in the paddling pool, X eyes, the silk floating round him. Medium. - **L:** The chute half holds; he lands hard and sits tangled in the silk, dazed, stars. - **VL:** He cuts the shredded chute away, pops his reserve, floats down and waves. Alive. ### 18 · cluster.last-broadside · LAST BROADSIDE (deep wreck gun deck · Mikku) Shared action: the last pop fires the old cannon; it recoils into him. - **XT (it was an unreadable red cloud):** The recoil crushes his chest between the breech and the deck post. - Ribs out; his d58Wu face is above the breech, eyes bulging. - The blood drifts as one bold ribbon, not a cloud. - Lit by the shaft through the gunport. A close. - **VH:** The recoil throws him back against the hull and the gun's wheel rolls onto his legs, pinning him. His d58Wu face is up, a string of bubbles from his mouth. A rolled close in the gunport light. - **H:** He drifts slowly down to the deck beside the cannon, his d58Du face lit by the gunport shaft. An insert, the cannon's mouth in the foreground. - **M:** The jolt knocks him out: he floats face up in the gun deck, X eyes. Medium. - **L:** The shock wave tumbles him; he floats dazed, a ring of bubbles round his head for stars. - **VL:** He kicks off the gun as it fires and rides the recoil out through the gunport like a torpedo, grinning. Alive. ### 19 · cluster.fools-gold · FOOL'S GOLD (deep wreck hold · Hiba) Shared action: she stuffs a bomblet down her shirt with the coins; the pop drives the shirtful of gold through her. - **XT (it was tiny and blurred):** The gold sinks back off her face. - She lies in the hoard to the chest, her shirt torn open, coins driven into her chest like rivets. - Her d58Wu face is up, eyes open, a coin in her mouth. - The blood drifts as one bold ribbon. A close. - **VH:** Under the gold to the chin, only her face and her clenched fist are up, d58Wu. A rolled close. - **H:** She lies across the treasure chest's lip, her d58Du face lit by the lantern beam through the hatch. An insert. - **M:** Knocked flat in the coins, X eyes, gold in her hair. Medium. - **L:** The pop throws gold in her face; she floats up out of the hoard dazed, stars. - **VL:** She feels the beep, pulls the bomblet out of her shirt and flings it into the pile. The gold blast lifts her up through the hatch with a fist of coins, grinning. Alive. --- ## BATCH 3 (7): ladders that already pass (keep the ladder, give each a cluster XT), plus the two realms (tail-wrap) ### 20 · cluster.brolly · BROLLY (rooftops in the rain · Mikku) The ladder passes, so keep VH to VL. Two checks: the beanie comes off at VH and H, and nothing reads as hanging. - **XT:** He hits the wet street on his back. - The wrecked umbrella comes down the rain after him and lands spike first: the snapped rib is driven through his chest. - The pops' burns are on his hands, beanie off. - His d58W face lies in the puddle, the lit windows reflected round it. - A close on the face and the rib (it was a body in a pool). ### 21 · cluster.the-heavy-bag · THE HEAVY BAG (tower gym · Amjad) The ladder passes; keep VH to VL, cap off at VH and H. - **XT:** The haymaker. He comes down flat with his neck twisted too far. - His face is beaten in: one eye swollen shut, the nose flattened, the lip split, d58W. - The bag's chain, shaken loose by the sixth, lets go, and the bag drops onto his chest. It stops swinging. - A close on the face under the bag (it fell over with a little blood). ### 22 · cluster.bunting · BUNTING (canyon gully · Chotu) The ladder passes; keep VH to VL, headband off at VH and H. - **XT:** He slams into the rock face and slides down it. - The last beads went off round his fists: both hands gone, the stumps raw. - His face is flattened on one side from the rock, d58W. - The little flags settle over him like a party. - A close on the face, the stumps and the flags. ### 23 · cluster.the-shelter · THE SHELTER (backyard air raid · Amjad) The ladder passes; keep VH to VL, cap off at VH and H. - **XT:** Six bongs of overpressure inside the tin. - He slumps out of the door onto the step, with blood running from both ears, the nose and the eyes. - His face is frozen with the hands still clamped over his ears; d58W eyes show between the fingers. - The shelter stands undented behind him. - A close on the face on the step. ### 24 · cluster.the-hamster-wheel · THE HAMSTER WHEEL (kitchen counter · Mikku) The ladder passes; keep VH to VL, beanie off at VH and H. - **XT:** Flung round inside the wheel, he is broken on the spokes. - He ends folded at the bottom with an arm and a leg threaded through the wire, bent the wrong way. - His d58W face is pressed against the mesh, the beanie lost. - A close through the spokes on the face (the wire is a thin foreground, not a see-through hole). ### 25 · cluster.the-minefield · THE MINEFIELD (realm · Chotu) A tail-wrap kill. - **XT (kept, it passes):** torn open, gore, a wide pool. Headband off. - **VH:** He lifts his foot after the years. The mine throws him back into the long grass with both legs gone, the bird's nest beside his head, d58W face. A rolled close. - **H:** The mine takes only the foot. He sits back in the moss, holding the stump, his d58D face lit by the white sky. An insert. - **M:** It blows him onto his back: X eyes, smoking, the nest on his chest. Medium. - **L:** The click... a dud. The years of fear catch up with him and he faints, stars. - **VL:** He lifts his foot: the "mine" is a rusted tin can. He kicks it away, and the bird stays on his head. Alive. ### 26 · cluster.the-blink · THE BLINK (realm · Fida) A tail-wrap kill. - **XT:** She comes back out of the point of light unfolding the wrong way. - She is folded backwards at the waist, her limbs bent against their joints. - The bomblet is pushed into her breastbone, glowing red through the splayed ribs. - Her d58W face is between her own ankles, eyes open. - A close on the face and the glowing chest (it was a body in a pool). - **VH:** She lies on her back covered in the dead's bloody handprints, on her face and arms, the bomblet dark in her chest, d58W. A rolled close. - **H:** She unfolds halfway and stops, kneeling bent back, her d58D face lit by the bomblet's last blink. An insert. - **M:** She drops onto her back with X eyes, the bomblet dark at her side. Medium. - **L:** The blinking stops; she faints, stars. - **VL:** She flicks the bomblet away. The crowd goes out with its blink, and she sits laughing in the plain temple. Alive.