# LASER RIFLE · RE-LADDER SCRIPTS (KILLPAGES-E, 26 Oct) · 30 kills · scripts only, no code until approved Source: `_tools/ladder_lists/E.md` (laser 30). This fixes two things in every kill. First, the 16:10 ladder: six different pictures, where neighbouring levels differ by more than blood and width, each locked with `s.ladderEnd`. Second, the 22:40 horror bar: XT is a laser-specific horror close with a REAL dead face, held and readable in 1 s. **Approved 26 Oct with the sameness rule:** per weapon, at most TWO lone-head XTs (STRIKE, KEEPY-UPPY) and at most TWO boot/feet framings. AIR CON, PRISM, HEADWIND and THE LAST RING are rewritten below to match. **Rules applied to every kill below:** - **The laser's own wounds:** cauterised cuts that glow and then open and bleed, halves sliding apart on a sealed seam, burnt edges, steam, char, blisters. No new XT is built on a see-through hole or a back-fold (the saturated images). - **Faces:** - XT and VH: the d58W dead face (d58Wn, or the crafted variant named); - H: d58D or dark; - M: the X glyph is allowed; - L and VL: alive. L is out cold with stars; VL is an alive ending in its own picture, never an empty frame. - **VH is its own beat,** not XT minus blood. H and M each get their own close. - Each level's final camera is named. "Close" means the body or face fills at least a third of the frame. Faris is never the subject of a final. --- ## 1 · laser.wallpaper · WALLPAPER (castle tower · Chotu) Shared action: one point-blank bolt drives him into the tower face. - **XT:** He never peels out. The crater keeps him, flush in the stone: - the ribs fold in (an x-ray flash); - the bolt's burn through his chest is cauterised black with a glowing rim; - blood squeezes out round his outline and sheets down the wall. - Close on his face, pressed flat into the stone, eyes open (d58Wn), mortar dust settling on them. - **VH:** He peels out stiff and slaps face up on the stones under the crater. Low close on the floor: the dead face up, the chest burn smoking, and above him the empty crater dripping a red body print. - **H:** The crater only takes his back. He slides down the wall on a red smear and ends sitting against the tower, chin on his chest, the burn in his shirt still glowing. Close, dark face. - **M:** The shove bounces him off the wall. He drops on his face under a shallow body-shaped dent, a scorch on his back, X eyes. Floor-level two-shot of him and the dent. - **L:** He hits the wall flat, cartoon style, peels off backwards and lies on the stones, out cold, stars, smoke curling off the scorch. - **VL:** He ducks. The bolt blows his outline into the tower where he stood. He stands beside it, patting himself, staring at his own shape in the stone, alive. ## 2 · laser.stuckup · STUCK UP (castle walkway · Mikku) Shared action: a bolt from below drives him head-first up at the walkway. - **XT:** His head is through the planks to the neck like a mounted trophy: - the bolt has burnt his scalp bald and blistered; - splinters stand in his cheeks; - a cauterised ring is charred into his neck where the plank edge burnt in. - Faris sits beside the head, elbow on it. - Close on the trophy head, dead face (d58Wn), steam off the scalp. A red string runs from the gap to the floor below. - **VH:** Faris stamps the head back down through the hole. The body drops onto the stones below on its back. Close under the walkway: - the neck raw and blistered by the plank ring; - the dead face up, splinters in it; - the hole above with a red ring round it. - **H:** The head goes through and slips back out. He lies on the floor under the hole with a splinter through his cheek. Close, dark face. - **M:** He hits the underside of the walkway, crumples to the floor folded, X eyes, a dent in the planks above. Low two-shot. - **L:** He bangs his head on the underside and drops. Out cold, a lump rising, stars. Close. - **VL:** The bolt misses him and blows a hole in the walkway. He pokes his own head up through it, sees Faris, grins, ducks back down, alive. ## 3 · laser.missed-the-jump · MISSED THE JUMP (backyard deck · Nitha) Shared action: a bolt mid-leap re-routes her arc onto the deck corner. - **XT:** The corner takes her throat: - the head snaps back over the edge; - the throat tears and pumps; - the bolt's burn smokes in her side. - She hangs there by the torn throat. Close on the corner: her head bent back over it at a broken angle, the dead eyes upside down to us (d58Wn), the red running down the deck face. - **VH:** The throat tears and the drop takes her. She lands head first in the grass below, neck folded under her, the dead face sideways in the grass. A red trail runs down the deck face above her. Low close. - **H:** The corner takes her chest instead. She folds over the edge and hangs there like wet washing, arms dangling. Close from below on the dark face. - **M:** She clips the edge with her knees and drops flat on her back in the grass, X eyes, the burn smoking. Medium close. - **L:** The bolt knocks her short onto the lower deck. On her back, winded, out cold, stars. - **VL:** She gets the edge with her fingertips; the bolt sizzles past her hair. She hauls herself up and sits on the deck edge, legs dangling, gasping, alive. ## 4 · laser.air-con · AIR CON (rooftop AC unit · Amjad) Shared action: one bolt shoves him back into the fan. - **XT:** The grinding intake: - his torso jammed back-first in the blades, arms flung out; - the head lolled over the housing rim toward us, dead face (d58Wn), rain on it; - the motor smoking and grinding; - red mist pumping out of the exhaust into the rain. - Close on the housing. - **VH:** The fan takes him whole and spits the head out of the exhaust. It lies upright on the roof gravel beside the exhaust (not at Faris's boot): the face sliced in stripes by the blades, the dead eyes open, red mist settling on it. Close at the exhaust. - **H:** Only his arm goes in, ground off at the shoulder, the stump cauterised and smoking. He slumps against the housing in the red mist. Close, dark face. - **M:** The shove throws him against the grille. He slides down it and sits in the rain against the unit, the grille pattern burnt across his back, X eyes. Medium. - **L:** The fan's cut-out trips as he hits. He drops beside the unit, out cold, hair blown upright, stars in the rain. - **VL:** He grabs the roof rail as the fan pulls. His legs fly up toward it; it eats his shoe and spits it out. He hangs on until it dies, sock flapping, alive. ## 5 · laser.hold-on · HOLD ON (saloon balcony · Hiba) Shared action: three saves, each answered with a bolt. - **XT:** Close on the balcony lip: her severed forearm is still gripping it, the burnt-off end cauterised and smoking. Tilt down to her on the balcony below: - both shins snapped through the skin; - the dead face up at her own hand (d58Wn); - Faris's heel grinds the fingers and the hand drops beside her face. - **VH:** Both forearms are burnt off at the elbow. She falls flat on her back on the lower balcony, the stumps glowing. The dead face looks up at the lip, where both hands still hang gripping. Close. - **H:** The last bolt takes only her grip. She hits the balcony below on her back, one shin bent wrong, a burn across her knuckles. Close, dark face. - **M:** The bolt to the wrist makes her let go. Face down on the lower balcony, the wrist smoking, X eyes. Medium. - **L:** The bolt only stings her hand. She drops onto the balcony flat, winded, out cold, stars. - **VL:** Every bolt misses by a hair. On the third save she swings up and rolls onto the deck at Faris's feet. He leaves her there gasping, alive. ## 6 · laser.four-corners · FOUR CORNERS (saloon · Fayiz) Shared action: he kneels and begs; Faris circles; one bolt per limb. - **XT:** Close on the torso on its four cauterised stumps in the middle of the boards: - the chest burst open; - the heart on the boards in front of him, still beating; - the face frozen in the beg, mouth open, dead eyes (d58Wn). - The four limbs lie in the four corners, cut in as small insets. - **VH:** No heart shot. Arms and legs gone, the torso tips onto its face and rolls onto its side. Close on the face, mouth still open mid-beg, dead eyes, the stumps steaming. - **H:** Only the arms go. He kneels on with smoking shoulder stumps, then folds forward. Close: his forehead on the boards, the dark face turned to us. - **M:** The bolts shove instead of cutting. He's spun four times and ends spread-eagled face down in the middle of the floor, four scorch marks on him, X eyes. Top-down medium. - **L:** The first bolt knocks him back against the bar. He slumps there out cold, hands still pressed together, stars. - **VL:** He begs so well that Faris lowers the rifle and fires once into the boards between his knees. He crawls away under a table, shaking, alive. ## 7 · laser.headwind · HEADWIND (castle floor · Fida) Shared action: he walks into the whole gun; every bolt strips a layer. - **XT:** The camera is low and side-on along the floor, down the length of the skeleton where it fell. The half-face skull is nearest the lens: one cheek of skin and the dead eye in it (d58Xskull), smoking. Behind it the bones run away down the floor sprayed with him, the finger bones reaching toward a boot out of focus at the far end. - **VH:** The second cell finishes him. He falls face down at Faris's feet half stripped: the face peeled to the skull on one side, one arm to the bone, the torso raw. Close on the head turned to us: half skull, half dead face. - **H:** The first cell strips his face and front arm. He drops to his knees and over onto his side. Close: the arm to the bone, the face burned dark and smoking. - **M:** He gets three steps. The stream shoves him the length of the floor and he lies face up at the far end, scorched black head to foot, X eyes. Low medium. - **L:** The first bolt knocks him flat. He lies smoking lightly, hair blown back, out cold, stars. - **VL:** He leans into the stream like a gale and reaches the gun as it clicks empty. He tugs the barrel; Faris flicks his nose; he sits down hard, alive. ## 8 · laser.strike · STRIKE (saloon barrels · Amjad) Shared action: the bowler's release, the low bolt, he rolls into the barrels. - **XT:** Close at the end of the lane. His burning head has bowled on alone and stopped upright against the back wall: half the face charred, dead eyes open, flames licking up off the hair. Behind it lie the three burst barrels and his torso, the guts unspooled down the boards. - **VH:** The third barrel bursts his chest. He lies across its wreck burning, the ribs open, the dead face to us under the flames. Close. - **H:** The second barrel throws him into the third, and he stops folded round it, one arm gone, the stump burning. Close, dark face. - **M:** He rolls through all three and stops in the splinters, scorched and folded, X eyes. Medium. - **L:** He rolls into the first barrel, which rocks but holds. He unrolls beside it, out cold, stars. - **VL:** He unfolds a step short and sidesteps. The barrel bursts on its own behind him and he stands among the staves, singed, alive. ## 9 · laser.keepy-uppy · KEEPY-UPPY (backyard · Mikku) Shared action: the head comes off and Faris keeps it up; the body chases. - **XT:** Close at Faris's feet. The headless body lies face down, arms still reaching. Above it, the head balances on the muzzle: - the hat burnt off, an ear gone, the cheek split open; - the dead face looking down at its own body (d58Wn). - **VH:** The last touch drops the head into the body's own reaching hands. The body sits down slumped with its head in its lap. Close on the dead face up between its own hands. - **H:** One pop and the head falls face up in the grass; the body folds beside it. Close on the scorched head, dark face. - **M:** The bolt only takes his hat. Faris keeps the hat up while Mikku lies face up with a smoking burn across his forehead, X eyes. - **L:** The bolt grazes his scalp. He spins and sits down out cold, smoke off a bald stripe, stars. - **VL:** Faris keeps the hat up. Mikku chases it round the lawn and catches it at last. It has a smoking hole in it; he puts it on anyway, alive. ## 10 · laser.ten-count · TEN COUNT (castle, the cast ring · Chotu) Shared action: counted out like a boxer; each rise answered with a bolt. - **XT:** Close on the canvas at nine: - he lies on his back, the throat torn open; - the reaching hand is burnt off, the knee bent the wrong way; - his last hand rises, shakes and falls; - the dead face looks up at the referee (d58Wn). - **VH:** The count stops at eight; the throat bolt finishes him across the ropes. His head hangs over the apron upside down. Close on the upside-down dead face, the throat open. - **H:** At five, the kneecap bolt. He lies face down reaching for the ropes, the hand burnt. Close, dark face turned to us. - **M:** The first bolt puts his face into the canvas and he stays down. Ten is counted over him, X eyes. Low medium. - **L:** He gets up at nine; the shove drapes him over the bottom rope, out cold, stars. Faris raises his own hand. - **VL:** He beats the count, wobbling at nine with his fists up. Faris raises Chotu's hand like the winner and walks off, alive. ## 11 · laser.metronome · METRONOME (castle swinging ball · Nitha) Shared action: she dances to the ball's beat; each pass, a bolt. - **XT:** Close under the arc as the ball comes over the lens: - she rides it skewered through the back, the spike out of her chest; - a leg is gone at the hip; - the dead face hangs upside down toward us (d58Wn), headphones still on; - blood flings off her in a red curve onto the floor below. - Locked on the pass. - **VH:** The fourth pass smashes her against the walkway rail instead of skewering her. She drapes over it, back raked open, the leg gone, the dead face hanging toward us. Close. - **H:** The third pass rakes her back as she lies flat, and she doesn't rise. Face down on the walkway, the back torn, the ball sweeping over. Close, dark face. - **M:** The ball knocks her off the walkway. She lies on the stones below, music leaking from the headphones, X eyes. Medium. - **L:** The ball clips her headphones off. She drops flat on the walkway, out cold, stars, the ball swinging over her. - **VL:** She keeps the beat through every pass. Faris's last bolt cuts the chain; the ball flies off into the dark; she bows, alive. ## 12 · laser.lightning-rod · LIGHTNING ROD (rooftop antenna · Fayiz) Shared action: one bolt drops him onto the lightning rod; the sky does the rest. - **XT:** Close on the rod top after the third strike. A charred ribcage and skull hiss on the rod in the rain. The skull still wears the burnt rags of his face, the eyes boiled white (d58Wc), steam pouring off it, lit in flashes. - **VH:** Two strikes. He hangs on the rod blackened and smoking, the hat burnt off, the eyes boiled white. The next flash lights the dead face. Close. - **H:** One strike: the skeleton flash, then stillness. He hangs on the rod smoking, the dark face up into the rain. Close. - **M:** The bolt knocks him off the antenna onto the roof below, rain on his face, X eyes. The lightning hits the empty rod above him. Medium. - **L:** Knocked down by the bolt, he lies in a roof puddle out cold, stars, the rod smoking above. - **VL:** He clings to the antenna. Lightning hits it and he slides down it, hair on end and smoking, and sits on the roof blinking, alive. ## 13 · laser.scarecrow · SCARECROW (backyard post · Hiba) Shared action: three bolts hang her on the post; the straw hat; the crows. - **XT:** Close under the straw hat: - one eye pulled out on its nerve, hanging on her cheek (d58Xeye); - the cheek pecked open; - a crow on her shoulder with something red in its beak; - the post spike out through her chest, the moon behind. - **VH:** The post in close-medium. Her belly is torn open and the crows have dragged her guts across the lawn. She hangs still in the straw hat, the dead face down toward us. - **H:** The crows are only landing. She hangs with chin on chest, the hat tipped. Close, dark face. - **M:** The bolts weld only her sleeves. She hangs limp on the post with X eyes; the crows sit on the crossbar and don't touch her. - **L:** Hung by the sleeves, out cold, stars, a crow on her hat. - **VL:** She tears her sleeves free and drops. The crows chase her across the lawn and she dives into the hedge, alive. ## 14 · laser.prism · PRISM (castle · Fida) Shared action: the bolt through the crystal fans out into seven colours. - **XT:** The whole body lies fanned out across the stones in its seven slices, like a spectrum. Each cut face glows its own colour, then cools, opens and bleeds. The slice with the dead face (d58Wn) sits in the middle of the fan. Framed wide enough for the whole fan, low. - **VH:** The seven slices hang in the air glowing and he stands a beat longer. Then they slide apart along the sealed seams and drop. The head slice lands upright. Close as the colours cool. - **H:** Three cuts only. He falls in three pieces; the top piece has the dark face. Close. - **M:** The prism splits the bolt into seven harmless beams that hit him as a rainbow. He's knocked flat with coloured scorch stripes across him, X eyes. - **L:** The rainbow dazzles him. He staggers and faints with a rainbow on his face, stars. - **VL:** He catches the prism. The bolt bounces off it into the stones at Faris's feet. Fida laughs, alive. ## 15 · laser.the-last-ring · THE LAST RING (death realm → castle · Chotu) Shared action: rung out of the fighting ring; the throat under it swallows. - **XT:** Straight down from above into the steaming puddle of bile on the castle stones. His bones surface in it, and his face floats up at us: half dissolved, the dead eyes looking straight up into the lens (d58Wn), one arm gone, steam curling. - **VH:** He falls back out of the sky whole but digested: pale, blistered, the skin sloughing. Close face up on the stones, steaming, dead face. - **H:** The throat spits him back before swallowing. He lands on the stones slimed, one arm gone to a fang. Close, dark face. - **M:** He's rung out but not swallowed, and falls back onto the ring floor slimed, X eyes. Medium in the realm. - **L:** He hangs at the ring edge until the black sun sets. Back in the castle he lies at Faris's feet out cold, stars. - **VL:** He catches a fang and climbs back out. The ring dissolves round him and he sits on the castle stones, alive. ## 16 · laser.skin-classic · STAR KO (rooftops sky · Amjad) Shared action: a point-blank bolt sends him flying into the night sky. - **XT:** The red star pulses its last beats and drops as a shooting star. He crashes onto the roof in front of Faris in a burning heap. Close on the charred body: the chest burn cauterised and glowing, the dead face charred (d58Wc), rain hissing on it. - **VH:** He lands on a far rooftop, impaled on a TV antenna against the stars, the chest still burning. Long-lens close on the dead face. - **H:** He lands on his back on the far rooftop, the burn smoking. Long-lens close, dark face. - **M:** A red twinkle, then a splash: he drops into the water tank on the next roof and floats, X eyes. Long lens. - **L:** He flies into a washing line across the alley and hangs in the sheets, out cold, stars. - **VL:** The bolt only knocks his hat into the sky, and the hat becomes the twinkling star. He watches it go, alive. ## 17 · laser.skin-taped · DUCT TAPE (saloon · Fayiz) Shared action: the reload race; the taped rifle wins. - **XT:** Close on the floor: half his face burnt away to a charred skull, the other half his dead face (d58Xskull). A step away, his severed hand still holds the half-racked pistol, the wrist cauterised and smoking. - **VH:** The first bolt takes the hand; he drops to his knees clutching the stump; the second goes into his chest. He slumps on his knees against the bar, dead face, the hand and gun on the floor in front of him. Close. - **H:** One bolt through the chest throws him back over a table. Close: the dark face hanging over the table edge, the pistol still in his hand. - **M:** The bolt knocks the pistol away and him over: face down, a scorch on his back, X eyes. Faris re-tapes the rifle in the background. - **L:** The tape bolt fizzles. It only knocks him back into a chair, out cold, stars; the rifle sputters. - **VL:** Both guns jam. They stare at each other; Fayiz throws his pistol at Faris and runs out the door, alive. ## 18 · laser.skin-camo · PAINTED RED (castle · Amjad, invisible) Shared action: each graze paints a little more of the invisible man red. - **XT:** The last bolt bursts the red man open. As he dies the camo fails, and his face fades back into view in the middle of the man-shaped stain: the dead face (d58Wn), half visible, half painted in his own blood. Close. - **VH:** Painted red head to foot, he falls face up. Every feature is outlined in blood: a red mask of the dead face. Close. - **H:** Painted only to the waist, he falls. Close on the half-red figure with the dark face drawn in red. - **M:** One graze, a red forearm. The shove knocks him flat and the camo flickers off: him lying scorched, X eyes. - **L:** Knocked down, he flickers half visible, out cold, stars. - **VL:** He wipes the blood off and vanishes again. Fresh red footprints run off across the stones, alive. ## 19 · laser.skin-cartoon · ACCORDION (castle tower · Mikku) Shared action: slammed into the tower, he comes off pleated; every squeeze is a note. - **XT:** Close on the pleated pancake on the stones: - blood jets from every fold; - ribs poke out between the pleats; - his teeth are spread across the stones like piano keys; - the flattened face in the top pleat, dead eyes (d58Wn). - **VH:** The last squeeze plays one long note and he folds shut on the floor like a closed accordion, blood dripping from the folds. The dead face on top. Close. - **H:** He wheezes three steps and collapses in folds. Close, dark face. - **M:** Pleated, he wheezes and falls flat on one sad note, X eyes. - **L:** He boings back into shape and faints, stars. - **VL:** He un-pleats with a boing and plays himself a jaunty tune, alive. ## 20 · laser.skin-ice · UNDER THE ICE (backyard pond · Nitha) Shared action: driven through the ice; the hole; the frost seal. - **XT:** Close on the ice. Her hand is frozen up through the sealed hole, and Faris taps the fingers off one by one, red at the cores. Under the ice, her face is pressed up against it: the broken nose, a red cloud frozen round her head, the dead eyes open (d58Wu). - **VH:** No hand: her face is pressed to the underside of the ice, eyes open, a frozen red bloom from the nose. Close through the ice. - **H:** She drifts under the ice, the dark face just visible, bubbles frozen above her. Close. - **M:** She comes up through the hole and the bolt knocks her flat onto the ice. Spread-eagled, frost on her, X eyes. - **L:** She crawls out onto the ice and passes out shivering, out cold, stars. - **VL:** She bursts up through the ice, slides across it on her belly, scrambles onto the grass and sits hugging her knees, teeth chattering, alive. ## 21 · laser.skin-neon · GLOW STICK (roof edge → alley · Chotu) Shared action: the spine snaps over the roof edge and the break glows. - **XT:** Close on the two halves on the alley floor. The upper half glows pink through every crack, the dead face lit from inside (d58Wn), neon pink pouring out of the waist across the wet stones. - **VH:** Whole but broken. He lies in the alley glowing, the spine snapped, a bone spur out of his back, the dead face lit pink. Close. - **H:** He is bent backwards over the roof edge, the spine snapped, faintly glowing. Close on the upside-down dark face. - **M:** The bolt bends him back over the edge and he drops onto the roof, a faint glow, X eyes. - **L:** He hangs over the edge glowing faintly, out cold, stars. - **VL:** He springs back upright like a glow stick that didn't break, glowing faintly, and dances in the rain, alive. ## 22 · laser.skin-gold · MINTED (death realm, THE MINT · Hiba) Shared action: the chain, the crucible, the lever. **The gag coin final is dropped.** - **XT:** The chain hauls her back up out of the crucible: - gold is cased to her chest and peeling off her face; - the skin under it is cooked; - the dead eyes are gold-rimmed (d58Wn). - Close on the dripping gilded head, steam pouring off it, a drop of blood running out from under the gold. - **VH:** Lowered head first, screaming, the gold climbing her. She hangs by the ankles over the crucible gilded to the shoulders, the dead face cased in cooling gold. Close. - **H:** Dipped to the hair and hauled out, she hangs with a gold-crusted scalp. Close, dark face. - **M:** The chain snaps and she falls beside the crucible onto the foundry floor, gold splashed on her boots, X eyes. - **L:** The heat makes her faint. She hangs out cold over the crucible, stars, and Faris lets her down. - **VL:** She swings on the chain, kicks the lever back and drops onto the gantry, singed, alive. ## 23 · laser.mid-coat-hook · COAT HOOK (castle wall · Hiba) - **XT:** Close on her hanging from the welded collar: - the collar cut deep into the neck, smoking; - the face purple, tongue out, a nosebleed; - the dead eyes bulging (d58Xeye); - toes a hand above the floor. - **VH:** The collar tears and she drops. At the wall foot, a livid collar burn round the neck, the purple dead face. Close. - **H:** She hangs still, the dark face turned to the wall. Close from the side. - **M:** The collar rips and she drops, coat torn, X eyes. - **L:** She slips out of the coat. The coat hangs welded on the wall above her; she lies under it out cold, stars. - **VL:** She unbuttons and drops out of the coat, leaving it hanging, and walks off in her shirt, alive. ## 24 · laser.mid-burnt-page · BURNT PAGE (saloon · Fayiz) (FAIL: no body) - **XT:** The burn eats him from the chest outward and stops at his face. The last frame is his face alone, a paper cut-out of it on the boards: the ember rim smoulders round it, the edges curl black, the dead eyes are open (d58Wn). Close. - **VH:** The burn takes everything below the chest. His upper half lies on the boards, the edge glowing and flaking, the dead face up. Close. - **H:** The burn eats a hole in his chest and stops. He falls back; close on the dark face, the char ring smoking. - **M:** The burn fizzles. He falls flat with a charred ring on his shirt, X eyes. - **L:** Smoke, a cough. He falls out cold, stars. - **VL:** He pats the ember out with both hands, blows on his fingers, and runs, alive. ## 25 · laser.mid-pratfall · PRATFALL (backyard · Mikku) - **XT:** He lands on the back of his neck and the neck folds under at a right angle. Close: - the body folded, the feet above; - the dead face upside down to us (d58Wn); - a bone tenting the skin at the nape; - blood from the nose, the bolt's scorch on the grass beside him. - **VH:** He lands on his neck and topples flat, the head at a wrong angle. Close on the dead face. - **H:** He lands flat on his back with a bruise ring at the nape. Close, dark face. - **M:** He lands hard on his back, X eyes. Medium. - **L:** He lands on his backside and sits there out cold, stars. - **VL:** He lands on his feet, slides with his arms windmilling, and stays up, alive. ## 26 · laser.mid-called-shot · CALLED SHOT (castle · Chotu) - **XT:** The bolt takes the eye under the dot. Close: the socket cauterised black with a glowing rim, steam rising out of it, the mouth slack. He stands a beat and topples straight back; the dot stays on the wall behind him until it winks out. - **VH:** The bolt hits his forehead: a smoking cauterised dot, the eyes rolled up (d58Wn). He topples back. Close. - **H:** The bolt hits his chest. He topples; close, dark face. - **M:** The dot settles on his nose and the bolt hits it. He falls back, X eyes, nose smoking. - **L:** He goes so cross-eyed chasing the dot that he faints. The bolt passes over him; stars. - **VL:** He catches the dot in his palm. The bolt singes the palm; he blows on it and runs, alive. ## 27 · laser.mid-hiccups · HICCUPS (saloon · Amjad) - **XT:** The last hiccup tears the belly hole wide and blows out smoke and red. He folds onto his knees, head bowed. Close: the dead face (d58Wn), a last thin wisp rising from the torn hole. - **VH:** He folds onto his side, the hole smoking, the dead face to us. Close. - **H:** He folds onto his knees, forehead to the floor. Close, dark face. - **M:** One hiccup and he falls on his back, X eyes, a puff from the hole. - **L:** He hiccups himself dizzy and faints, stars. - **VL:** The hiccups stop. He grins, gives one last small hiccup, and runs, alive. ## 28 · laser.mid-the-glint · THE GLINT (castle · Fida) (the current XT is a see-through hole, saturated) - **XT:** The bolt slams her flat on the glint. Close on her head turned sideways on the stones, the dead eyes on the glint as it slides away from under her hands (d58Wn). Her back is burnt open, the cauterised wound steaming, blood spreading from under her. - **VH:** She's slammed flat over a smaller burn. The dead face sideways, the glint gone. Close. - **H:** She's slammed flat. Close, dark face. - **M:** Scorched and flattened, X eyes. - **L:** Still crouched, she's knocked out cold, stars. - **VL:** She pounces and gets the glint in her hands; she opens them and it's gone; she shrugs, alive. ## 29 · laser.anchored · ANCHORED (the Deep · Amjad) - **XT (keep the years):** The time-lapse to bone with the crab moving into the ribs. The skull keeps a rag of rotted face on one side with one clouded dead eye (d58Xu), so the face reads. Close on the skull and ribs. - **VH (its own beat):** No years. He drowns pinned by the snapped shin and drifts upright on his tether. Close up the light shaft on the dead face, the last bubble leaving his mouth, the red cloud round the shin. - **H:** A closed break, a dark cloud. Close, dark face. - **M:** Only the trouser leg is pinned. He drowns and the weed grows over him, X eyes. - **L:** The trouser leg is pinned and he passes out, bubbles. Close. - **VL:** He wriggles out of his trousers and kicks away; the anchor keeps the empty trousers, alive. ## 30 · laser.undertow · UNDERTOW (the Deep · Hiba + one) (FAIL: limbs only, no face) - **XT:** Her body sinks past the lens with the shoulder socket pumping red clouds, the skin boiled, blistered and peeling, the dead face toward us (d58Wu). Behind her, the two torn arms still locked wrist to wrist twirl down like a sycamore seed. Close on her. - **VH:** The arms tear without the boil. She sinks past, the socket pumping, the dead face. Close. - **H:** Only her arm tears; his grip breaks and he floats away. She sinks past. Close, dark face. - **M:** No tear: the grips break and they spin apart out cold, lobster red, X eyes. - **L:** They're thrown out of the column and splash down dizzy, out cold, bubbles. - **VL:** The column throws them up onto the wreck's deck, coughing and gripping each other, alive.