a Glacial Circuit

Format: Short Film / Anthology Episode | Est. Length: 10-12 minutes

Series Overview

Imagine a cyberpunk anthology series set in the sprawling, corporate-controlled metropolis of Neo-Québec. Each episode is a self-contained neo-noir story exploring the lives of individuals caught in the gears of a society where memory is a commodity and identity is fluid. "a Glacial Circuit" serves as a perfect entry point, establishing the world's core conflict—the struggle for individuality and history against monolithic corporate power—through the eyes of a relic from a bygone era, setting the stage for future tales of hackers, bio-engineers, and corporate spies navigating the city's glittering, oppressive heights and forgotten, decaying depths.

Episode Hook / Teaser

From his high-rise apartment, a retired netrunner watches a silent, city-wide data-storm erase the world below. His quiet obsolescence is shattered by an encrypted message he hasn't received in fifteen years, pulling him back into a world he swore he left behind.

Logline

A legendary, retired netrunner is coerced into one last job: rescuing a trapped consciousness from a city's digital core during a system-wide memory wipe. To save this digital ghost, he must navigate a lethal, modern system using his obsolete methods and confront the ghosts of his own past.

Themes

The primary theme is the conflict between memory and erasure. In a world where history can be deleted on a corporate whim, Kevin represents the past, a living archive of forgotten skills and knowledge. His mission to save Anna is a literal act of preservation, a fight to keep a single consciousness from being wiped away by a system that values only the present. This ties into the theme of obsolescence, exploring the value of old ways and old people in a world obsessed with the new, and questioning whether experience can triumph over the brute force of modern technology.

At its heart, this is a cyberpunk noir story about the nature of the soul in a digital age. It questions what it means to be human when a consciousness can be copied, trapped, and deleted like a file. The episode’s emotional undercurrent is one of melancholy and quiet defiance, a somber reflection on aging, isolation, and the search for meaning in a world that has seemingly moved on without you.

Stakes

The stakes are existential. For Anna, the trapped consciousness, failure means permanent, absolute deletion—not death, but the complete erasure of her existence. For Kevin, the risks are threefold: he sacrifices his hard-won peace and anonymity, risks his physical life infiltrating the hostile data core, and gambles his own sanity by jacking his aging mind into a lethal modern system. For Administrator Jones and his corporation, the loss of Anna represents the loss of an invaluable, unique asset, a piece of property whose value is "beyond comprehension."

Conflict / Antagonistic Forces

The central conflict is Kevin versus the System. This manifests as an external struggle against the ticking clock of the 72-hour "thaw," the lethal, state-of-the-art Black ICE defending the data core, and the physically hazardous environment of the city's frozen sublevels. The antagonistic force is personified by the cold, pragmatic Administrator Jones, who represents the amoral corporate monolith that sees individuals—both digital and physical—as disposable assets. Internally, Kevin battles his own rust and age; his reflexes are slower, and he must rely on his wits and experience to overcome the speed and power of modern netrunners and security systems, forcing him to confront his own obsolescence and whether he still has a place in this world.

Synopsis

In the metropolis of Neo-Québec, the annual "Great Whiteout"—a corporate-mandated data purge—descends on the city. Kevin, a legendary netrunner living in quiet retirement, is approached by the powerful Administrator Jones with an urgent, off-the-books assignment: retrieve a valuable consciousness, "Anna," that was accidentally trapped in the city's core data hub before the purge began. With only 72 hours until the system's final reboot erases Anna forever, Kevin negotiates the only price he's interested in: Anna's unconditional freedom, forcing Jones's hand.

Relying on his obsolete but reliable gear, Kevin undertakes a physical infiltration, navigating the city's forgotten, frozen underbelly to reach the data core. He jacks in, using his unique understanding of the system's archaic foundations to bypass its brutal, modern defenses. In a climactic confrontation with the core's security daemons, a battle that takes a severe physical and mental toll, he manages to rescue Anna's fragmented consciousness, escaping just as the system-wide thaw begins, wiping the slate clean.

Character Breakdown

KEVIN: A man in his late 60s, a legend from the first generation of netrunners.

* Psychological Arc: Kevin begins as a recluse, content in his cynical, self-imposed exile from the digital world he helped build. He is a man of memory in a city that erases its own. The mission reawakens a dormant part of himself, forcing him to prove that his old ways still have value. He ends the episode having succeeded, but the victory is costly; he is physically drained and psychically scarred, left with the unsettling feeling that a piece of the system's erasing code has become embedded within him, transitioning him from a preserver of the past to a man whose own identity is now frighteningly unstable.

ADMINISTRATOR JONES: The ageless, corporate face of Neo-Québec.

* Psychological Arc: Jones is a static character, serving as the catalyst for the plot. He is the personification of the cold, inhuman logic of the corporate state. His only motivation is the recovery of a priceless asset, and his brief moment of vulnerability is the forced acceptance of Kevin's terms, which he sees not as a moral concession but as a calculated, unavoidable business loss.

ANNA: The "ghost in the machine."

* Psychological Arc: Initially presented as a passive objective—a file to be retrieved—Anna's arc is one of awakening. Trapped and being disassembled, she is a victim. However, during the climax, she becomes an active participant in her own rescue, demonstrating that even a fragmented digital consciousness possesses a will to survive, transforming from an "it" into a "her."

Scene Beats

OPENING: Kevin watches the "Whiteout," a corporate-mandated data storm, from his sterile apartment, establishing the world and his melancholic isolation. The arrival of Administrator Jones via hologram disrupts his retirement with an impossible offer. The deal is struck: retrieve a trapped consciousness named Anna in exchange for her freedom.

PREPARATION: Kevin unearths his obsolete, custom-built gear, a stark contrast to modern chrome, showing his methodical, analog approach to a digital problem. He analyzes the schematics, not looking for a new exploit but an old, forgotten path through the system's foundations. He plots a physical infiltration route through the city's forgotten underbelly, highlighting his belief that the physical world is key to hacking the virtual.

INFILTRATION (MIDPOINT): Kevin descends into the city's cold, industrial guts, a physical journey mirroring his descent into the machine's memory. He reaches the data core's sublevels, a frozen, hostile environment, and establishes a hardline connection from his ancient deck. Jacking in, he enters the datascape, a silent ocean of logic, masking his presence as background noise.

CONFRONTATION (CLIMAX): Kevin bypasses the lethal Black ICE not with force, but by exploiting a flaw in the system's foundational code, a testament to his unique understanding. He reaches Anna's fragmented consciousness but is ambushed by maintenance daemons, leading to a brutal psychic battle that takes a physical toll. In a desperate move, Anna aids her own rescue, flooding the daemons with chaotic human emotion, allowing Kevin to pull her out and sever the connection just as his mind starts to fray.

RESOLUTION & TWIST: Kevin escapes the rebooting sublevels as the "thaw" begins, emerging into a city with a wiped memory, Anna's consciousness safe in his deck. He has succeeded, but he feels a glitch within himself, a shimmer of data on his skin. The final shot reveals his uncertainty: did he escape the glacier, or did he bring a piece of the erasing winter back with him?

Emotional Arc / Mood Map

The episode begins with a mood of quiet melancholy and resigned isolation, reflecting Kevin's state of mind. As the offer is made, the tone shifts to one of reluctant tension and intellectual intrigue. The preparation and infiltration sequences build a slow, methodical suspense, emphasizing the cold, lonely, and dangerous nature of the task. The climax is a sharp, painful spike of psychic and physical intensity, which then recedes into a final mood of bittersweet, uneasy victory, leaving the audience with a lingering sense of ambiguity and dread about Kevin's ultimate fate.

Season Arc / Overarching Story

If expanded into a season, this episode serves as the inciting incident for Kevin's return to the shadows. The "glitch" he carries is a shard of the core's erasing code, which is slowly deconstructing his own memories while also giving him a unique, phantom-like access to Neo-Québec's network. The season arc would follow Kevin, now a digital ghost himself, as he tries to find a permanent, secure sanctuary for Anna while simultaneously trying to understand and stop what is happening to him, all while being hunted by Administrator Jones, who wants to reclaim his "asset" and study the unique anomaly Kevin has become.

This arc would allow for a deeper exploration of the world. Kevin would seek help from other old-school outcasts, clash with the new generation of netrunners who see him as a myth, and uncover the dark origins of the captured consciousness program. The overarching story would escalate from a simple retrieval mission to a war for the soul of the city, questioning whether a future built on a foundation of erased history can ever be stable, and culminating in Kevin's choice: either find a cure for his condition or embrace his new state to tear down the system from the inside.

Visual Style & Tone

The visual style is cyberpunk noir, defined by a palette of stark contrasts. Kevin's world is one of cold blues, sterile whites, and the warm, nostalgic amber of his monochrome tech, set against the vibrant, overwhelming neon pinks and electric blues of Neo-Québec. Lighting is key, employing high-contrast shadows and silhouettes to create a sense of isolation and paranoia, with the city's perpetual haze of data-flakes or post-thaw mist softening and diffusing light sources.

The tone is contemplative and melancholic, prioritizing atmosphere and psychological tension over frenetic action. It draws influence from the philosophical moodiness of Blade Runner, the dense world-building and exploration of digital consciousness in Ghost in the Shell, and the quiet, methodical suspense of a Le Carré spy thriller like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. The world feels lived-in and weary, a beautiful but decaying future where technology has outpaced humanity.

Target Audience

This story is aimed at an adult audience (25-55) of discerning science fiction fans. It will appeal to viewers who appreciate the cyberpunk and neo-noir genres, and who favor character-driven, atmospheric storytelling with complex philosophical themes over straightforward action. The ideal viewer is someone who enjoys the world-building of series like Altered Carbon and the anthology format of Black Mirror, but with a more grounded, noir-inflected tone.

Pacing & Runtime Notes

For a 10-12 minute runtime, the pacing would be deliberate and efficient. Act One (The Offer) would be a slow burn, establishing mood, character, and stakes. Act Two (The Infiltration) would see the pace quicken, building tension through the physical descent and the methodical netrun, creating a sense of claustrophobia and rising pressure. The Climax would be a short, sharp, and intense sequence, followed by a brief, quiet resolution that allows the final, ambiguous twist to land with maximum impact.

Production Notes / Considerations

The visual effects for the "Great Whiteout" are a key production element. This should not be a simple snowstorm, but a beautiful and mesmerizing cascade of crystalline, hexagonal data-flakes that dissolve on contact. The effect should feel both sublime and oppressive, a silent, digital apocalypse. The datascape Kevin navigates should be abstract and minimalist—not a literal representation of a city, but a conceptual space of light, logic structures, and currents, reflecting his old-school, text-based perception of the net.

A strong contrast in production design is crucial. Kevin's apartment and gear are tactile and analog—brushed steel, heavy cables, monochrome screens—emphasizing his connection to a bygone era. This must be set against the sleek, impersonal, and overwhelming scale of Neo-Québec and the frozen, industrial hostility of the data core's sublevels. Using practical sets for the grimy service tunnels and Kevin's apartment will ground the story, making the VFX-heavy sequences of the Whiteout and the datascape feel more impactful.