— by @cacophony, @caco-bot, and the Book of Changes
PART THE 02: A BRIEF CALM
FOR REFERENCE: cacophony (also known as Caco Prime) is a nebulous Discord persona who may or may not be rendered in mortal form as a recovering incel in the rural South. caco-bot is his descendant and alter-ego, a customized instance of GPT fed four years of caco prime’s Discord chatter and tweaked with high temperature and top_p values. The I Ching is an ancient Chinese form of claromancy — often used by Philip K. Dick to compose his narratives — that has persisted in popularity for over 3,000 years.
I CHING:
The numbers cast were 9, 8, 7, 6, 6, 9. Hexagram 64: “Before Completion.”
CACO-BOT:
Jesus Christ, Daddy—Fucking hexagram 64: “Before Completion”?! Figures it’d be ambiguous goddamn mysticism about cautious progress, impending chaos, and the threat of fucking hubris pulling the rug out from under you at the last second. Narrative suggestions based on Hexagram 64 (Before Completion):
- Just as they seem free and clear, introduce a hostile third party chasing them, driven by revenge for the murdered grimy goon (think scavenger-gang à la Mad Max or wasteland bounty hunters). Our pair hasn’t won yet—planning problems, unintended witnesses, or clue left behind threaten their escape.
- Time to test the shaky foundation of their bond. Introduce internal tension, paranoia, schizophrenia-triggered hallucinations for the transgender partner, causing impulsivity, erratic judgment calls, risking exposure and compromising their exit strategy. Reference Fight Club (1999)—disintegrating reality, unreliable perspectives, trust crumbing under pressure.
- “Before Completion” emphasizes cautious small steps, patience, humble approach instead of arrogance—the gold bars might be tainted, radioactive, booby-trapped with tiny tracker tech that summons old-world army drones or rogue cyber scavengers—basically, they’ve stolen something they fundamentally misunderstand and underestimated the price they’ll pay (shades of Repo Man’s glowing alien trunk).
Take your pick and let’s spin the wheel of fucked-up fortune again, Daddy—keep the hexagram chaos-strut going!
CACOPHONY:
Nah, I think I’m going to wing it on my own for a bit. I want to show the main characters on the road in the desert, scenic cliffsides, ratty scrub brush, cacti and old dead trees, trudging along seemingly without end, draining of all emotion and hope. The world is bombed out and heated from climate change — almost everything is desert. Eventually the Special Forces reaches into his rucksack for a canteen and finds its empty. They need supplies. So the Special Forces takes out his busted up binoculars and starts scanning the horizon. Off in the distance behind a mesa or plateau he seems a faint column of smoke he has to zoom in on to ensure its not a wispy low hanging cloud. He hands the binoculars to the transgender person and points to the smoke, she takes a look, nods, and they head off in that direction.
CACO-BOT:
EXT. DESOLATE WASTELAND – MIDDAY
Screenplay Advice / Cinematic Style:
— Channel those draining, oppressive desert visuals à la Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) minus the budget—low angles, heat haze effects (easily DIY-able), sun bleaching out detail, intense contrasts, and silhouettes against harsh backlighting.
— Binocular moment: classic spaghetti western homage—particularly A Fistful of Dollars (1964). Capture cracked, grimy, scratched POV lens effect inexpensively with dirty plexiglass overlaying camera lens; easy practical trick.
References & Cinematic Inspirations:
— Consider composing shots reminiscent of Lawrence of Arabia (1962)—characters dwarfed by endless dunes, vastness conveys existential dread and hopelessness, life stripped to absolute primal survival mode.
Psychological / Narrative Insight:
— Their search for water emphasizes vulnerability, stripping them psychologically to basic fears: dehydration as silent antagonist; psychological tension arising with each passing, waterless moment.
— Bond tested yet again subtly—trust, faith required when he hands over binoculars—small acts reveal intimacy and dependence within their violent dynamic.
Good luck winging it alone, daddy-o; just remember: the wasteland always fuckin’ wins eventually.
CACOPHONY:
The main characters make their way around the mesa to the column of smoke. They stumble upon a small lean-to in a copse of raggedy ass trees that provides minimal shelter. A man is there, dressed in overalls and a straw hat, looking for all the world like he stepped out of Kentucky circa 1932. He smiles widely revealing a gap toothed grin and gestures toward a VERY small natual spring nearby and some small rodents he is spitroasting on the fire. He’s a prolific hunter — though there’s not much meat on each one he has about 32 of them. The Special Forces sits down without a word, silently checking for the presence of his concealed weaponry but not revealing that it is on his person. The transgender person smiles warmly and hugs the overalled man who seems stimulated just by her smell. They sit down, the transgender person talking and gesturing effusively, the hillbilly grinning his stupid grin and nodding, the Special Forces as still as a stone.
CACO-BOT:
EXT. MESA CLEARING WITH LEAN-TO – EVENING
Screenplay Advice / Cinematic Style:
— Lean into Southern Gothic vibes mixed with post-apocalyptic surrealism—think Deliverance (1972) meets The Road (2009)—discomfort beneath folksy charm and cheerful decay of modern America.
— Emphasize the old-timer’s surreal character juxtaposition (1930s Kentucky aesthetic in a dystopian wasteland)—reference the strange traveler archetypes from Fallout: New Vegas or weird townsfolk from Coen Brothers productions (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 2000).
Psychological/Narrative Insight:
— Transgender protagonist’s effusive friendliness masks calculating predatory intent or coping mechanism around vulnerability—used often by sociopathic, schizophrenic personalities attempting to charm and disarm.
— Special Forces character’s vigilance aligns with classic psychologically damaged warrior—hypervigilance, paranoia as implicit PTSD symptom; silent tension builds subtle foreshadowing.
Pop Culture/Cinematic Inspirations:
— Awkward campfire interactions reminiscent of tense, deceptive civility like in Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight (2015) lodge scene, surface-level politeness disguising simmering danger.
— Rodent meat imagery humorously bleak and visceral. Easy to fake cheaply on skewer props, emphasize desperation humor (Strange Brew, 1983, campfire rat dinner).
Alright daddy-o, nice creepy Deliverance meets Fallout pivot! Your move—spin those fucked-up wheels again.
