Chapter 1 plot outline

Click..

Click click...

Whirrrrrrrrr...



A bleak snowscape stretches as far as I can see... Colossal giants of steel and stone surrond me, hunched and bowed from years of neglect. I scan the horizon, my vision slowly coming into focus.



This world is cold. Lonely. All but forgotten now, with me but a traveler in the endless snowscape. All the people are gone now, this city left as a graveyard, a testement to civilizations long gone. This was a sprawling metropolis once, and if I look back far enough I can recall every brick. But look at it now... Crumbling and in despair. It wasn't supposed to be like this.



***

Men sit all around, anxiously looking amongst themselves as a clock ticks decisively in the otherwise silent room. A soft click as the door opens... A man strides in. I recognize him, but I know not where from... He looks old, weary, yet strong. Like a statue slowly worn away by the wind and rain. His suit is freshly pressed, with no distinguising features. Very plain, yet it is clear he commands respect.. It must be his eyes. His gaze still carries a hard authority, his eyes piercing and stern. I'm sure I know him...

"Good afternoon gentlemen... I wish it could be under better circumstances that we meet today, but if they were better, this meeting would not be necessary. We have gone to war. Our enemy struck first, overrunning a small island province off our western coast. We haven't been able to get an accurate count, but at this time it appears no one survived the attack. I had hoped this day would never come... But it would seem these dark days are ours to cope with."

The man pauses, looking at his feet... It's hard to tell if he's composing himself, or hiding from the frightened men surrounding him. Whispers begin to move about the room, drifting from place to place, almost without a voice to speak them..

"We do not enter this unprepared. For some time now, we had anticipated this... Brazen attack on our soil. Our best minds have been working on several projects for some time now to ensure our continued survival throughout this crisis. Several of those I'm referring to are present today. From the reports I have received, we still need more time before their work will bear fruit, allowing us to leave this behind us. In the meantime, I ask for the cooperation of all of you to weather this storm."

In the far corner of the room, one of the faceless men stands. There are stars and brightly colored bars across his uniform... He must command some level of authority to carry so many badges.

"Sir! My men are ready to deploy at a moment's notice. Let the eggheads keep scribbling away in their books, this war can be won by our own military! Give the order sir, and I promise you we'll crush them beneath the boot of this great nation!"

He's so loud... Not at all like the other. His voice is overbearing, but fragile. It lacks the strength of the man in the suit. You'd think that with all those awards he would be more of a lion than a mouse...

"Calm yourself, General. We don't know the extent of their own military might. Our focus right now will be on defense, the preservation of life within our borders. I'll not send all of our soldiers off to die on some God forsaken rock, leaving our citizens with no one to protect them. You'll find that I've already prepared an outline of our military objectives, as well as orders that are being issued to address this threat."

...So the man in the suit is in charge of the man with stars. Suit waves his hand, and as though from his shadow another man steps out, handing a folder of papers to Stars. Where did that man come from? How did I not see him before? Perhaps he is the security for Suit... He must be very good at his job. A meek "Yes, sir..." can be heard from Stars' corner of the room.

"This council is adjurned for the time being. I will meet with each of you individually in the coming days to discuss our plans moving forward. If you'll excuse me, I must go prepare to address our people"

And with that, Suit leaves the room.. A few more muttered whispers before the rest of the faceless men in the crowd disperse, funnelling out through shadowed doors, off to wherever they came from. Slowly my memory fades to black..

***

End of Chapter 1 plot point overview.

Characters involved-
ARC-1E (Automated Responsive Cybernetic - 1st Edition) - Narrating overview from first person
Suit - President figure of the nation in which ARC-1E (hereafter "Archie")
General - Leading Military figure of Archie's nation. Second only to Suit in military command chain
Shadow - Security figure for Suit, only noticed when attention drawn to him by Suit. Clearly very good at his job.
Faceless - Other politican, religious, military, and scientific figures from the nation. For purposes of opening chapter, will be drawn without faces. Prominent members will begin to receive more detail as story progresses, gaining additional features with each additional appearance (first hair, then mouth+nose, followed by eyes)

Timeline - Story begins in "present day", 'snow' covered wasteland. Stark black and white contrast. Archie is the only character present during these scenes. Following, when flashback begins, 50's era war room, complete with world map and semicircular table around which Faceless sit. Drowned out, cold colors.

***For my reference, but feel free to read***

For flashback, "Water color" style? Maybe, try with one page. Also stenciled colors, pastels, and faded out colors like an old comic book. Compare and determine before moving forward. May want to try applying a filter, using only one color outside of black and white for effect. Also, need to determine how to portray Archie's internal monologue. Thought bubbles are a no-no, this is a serious story. Little yellow boxes, ala Deadpool? Perhaps, tho different color. Specific border/background image perhaps? Maybe aqua. Aqua is a good color. Doesn't seem to overpower the black/white of present day, would go well with color scheme of flashbacks.

Decide on image to use for Chapter 1 cover. "Uncle Sam" image to be saved for later chapter, but don't want to risk giving away spoilers with chapter 1 image either. Should be clear from start that Archie is a robot, so no worries there. Maybe adapt iconic super hero image from 40s/50s? Think Superman or Captain America. Look for inspiration from more wartime propaganda images as well.