Story (design practice 2)
November 4, 2013 § Leave a comment
ARTICLE: Communist Driver’s Arrest in Hong Kong Becomes Internet Sensation
STORY
Jimmy Lai’s finger rests on the left click of his mouse, quivering slightly. His cursor hovers above the onscreen button labelled “upload”. He stares for a while, slowly deciding whether to click, or instead delete the video from existence. Jimmy was nervous, fearful of what might happen if he went through with it. Many chilling rumours had found their way to his ears recently you see, telling of unsettling conspiracies of corruption in the Chinese Communist Party, that the leader of this party, whose name is Xi Jinping, was in fact a high profile member of the Chinese mafia. Mr Lai is a proud man however, and he had not once backed down from publishing any story no matter how controversial… But this footage could bring a lot more than just insults and empty threats; the threat could be very real this time round, if the rumours are true. “They are just empty, made up conspiracies” He thought to himself, “think of the hits, think of the money”. Jimmy was not wrong, as most of the country is heavily against the CCP and would relish the opportunity to see a member get their comeuppance at the hands of the law. His mind was finally made up at this moment, and with a decisive click of the mouse he shut down his laptop and climbed into bed, those frightening thoughts now pushed to the back of his mind.
1 Day Later
Li Cheng’s eyes dart around the dimly lit room, each wall painted a bloody red. He looked from face to face, and the faces of his associates, co-workers, friends, stared disapprovingly back. He felt his heart pounding loud and fast in his chest, so fast it must have been close to failure, Li hoped it would. Cheng knew why he was here, and he knew what was about to happen, but he dreaded it all the same. He looked down at the rope tightly and painfully binding him to the chair. He couldn’t move, there was no escape. Minutes passed but to Li they felt like hours. Everyone stood eerily still, locking their eyes on Mr Cheng, watching him sweat, watching him squirm.
A door opens behind him, causing him to startle. He hears footsteps make their way towards him, getting louder and louder. They suddenly stop right behind his chair, Li was frozen still, his heart in his throat. A few seconds go by before a voice asks, “Do you have a drinking problem, Mr Cheng?” the man standing behind him spoke with a soft, calm voice. Li was a little surprised by this question given the circumstances, however he knew that this voice belonged his boss, Xi Jinping, and terrible fear rapidly came back to him. “W-what?” Li rasped, “a drinking problem, are you an alcoholic Mr Cheng?” Xi enquired calmly again. Li had seen this once before, except last time he was stood among his co-workers watching on as his boss toyed with another poor soul before he killed him. Xi would do this to every person who wronged him or his party, serving as a warning to those in the room that this is what they can expect if they anger him. “Please… don’t kill me” Li said, his voice uneven and shaky. Jinping sighed heavily “well, we’ll see about that, but first, please answer my question” He walked around to face Li and crouched down, looking him in the eyes. Li stared back into his expressionless face and muttered under his breath “yes… yes I have a d-drinking problem.” Xi stood up quickly and began pacing about the room, “well, at least we’ve got that out in the open now, it feels better don’t you think?” Li was silent. “Ah, whatever the case, my mother was also an alcoholic, and as much as I hated her for it at least she was smart enough to not go driving her car whilst being horrendously over the limit. She was a disgrace to my father, and he couldn’t take it, so one day he made it stop, or at least, he told me he did. I haven’t seen my mother since. But you see I get why he did that, because as people in our positions we need to be respected… or feared.
How do you achieve respect when you have someone making a fool out of you at every turn?” Jinping had stopped pacing and was now stood still in front of Mr Cheng. He reached with his right hand into the left inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small karambit knife. The extremely sharp, curved blade glinted in the light as Xi gripped it tightly in his fist. “You already know the answer, Mr Cheng” Xi proclaimed in a deep, intimidating tone as he moved slowly around to the back of the chair, pulling the knife up to Li’s neck, gripping his head by the hair with his left hand. Li was whimpering, tears flowing freely down his face. He wanted to scream, but all he managed was a quiet “please… no” before Xi pulled the knife across his neck, cutting through both carotid arteries with ease. Many members of the audience grimaced as Li Cheng’s blood spilled all over the floor, some even dared to look away from the grisly scene. Xi watched as Li bled out, wiping his knife on Li’s shoulder. As Li Cheng gasped his last breath, Xi put the knife back in his pocket, turned around, and walked calmly out of the room.
2 Days Later
Jin Bao sat down in his reclining chair, staring out the window with a mug of coffee in his hand. He looked at the car that had been parked outside across the road for over 2 days now. The occupants were police officers, there because of Jin’s wife Chun Bao finding a death threat in the mail. Jin thought she had over-reacted by calling the police; this was more than likely just some kid’s idea of a funny joke. Given the circumstances, however, Jin could understand her reaction. He had just arrested a fairly high ranking member of the CCP on video after all, and that video had gone viral with hundreds of thousands of hits in the past few days alone. That wasn’t his fault, Jin thought. If his supervisor hadn’t sold the tape to the publication “Apple Daily” there would be none of this trouble or paranoia. Jin was sick of it; he couldn’t leave the house just to grab some milk from the corner shop without his all new personal security detail following him everywhere. He couldn’t blame them, they were just doing their jobs, but that didn’t make it any less irritating. He finished his coffee and decided to go buy a DVD or a book to help pass his time… it was going to be at least 2 weeks before he’s allowed to work again. “Chun” he called, “in here” said a voice that came from the study down the hall, “I’m gonna go out, buy a movie or something, want anything?”, “no I’m good… just take care of yourself, alright?” Chun said, worriedly. Jin rolled his eyes as he unlocked the front door, “I’ll be fine, back in half an hour”, “bye” said Chun as Jin closes the door.
He walks over to the garage, unlocks the side door and walks in. He’s unexpectedly greeted by the presence of the dark shape of a man stood next to his car. Instinct kicks in as Jin launches himself at the man, grabbing him and slamming him into the concrete floor face down. He pulls his type 77 handgun out of its holster, flips the safety off and presses it against the base of the intruder’s skull. “Don’t shoot! I’m not here to hurt you!” exclaimed the intruder. “Who are you and why are you here?” Jin growled, “M-my name is Jimmy Lai, I’m the journalist who uploaded that video of you… I’m here because I don’t know where else I can go!” gasped Jimmy, “why not the police? What happened to you?” Jin enquired, “I will gladly a-answer your questions sir, but it’s a little difficult with your knee pressing into m-my spine” Jimmy rasped. Jin handcuffed him and pulled him to his feet, still with his gun trained on Mr Lai’s face. “Alright, answer them” Jin said angrily, “okay okay, the police are way too corrupt, I came to you because I at least have some reason to think you aren’t, plus I have to imagine you are in a similar danger that I’m in right now- “what, because you received a threat?” interrupts Jin “surely you should be used to that, you’re a damn journalist”, “trust me, this one isn’t empty, the threat is real… please help me, I don’t have any protection like you do, I- “shut up… and just, how did you sneak in here past that protection?” Jin interrupted again. There was a slight pause before Jimmy spoke, “I snuck in the boot when your wife was out shopping, it was unlocked… please, it was the only way I…” Jimmy trailed off as Jin was staring at him angrily. “Turn around” Jin said bluntly. “What, why?” asked Jimmy, “I’m gonna un-cuff you, just turn around” Jimmy hesitated before turning around. Jin had lied about un-cuffing him, instead he span the gun around and gripped the barrel with the handle facing downwards. With a strong and hard swing Jin cracked the metal handle of the gun around the back of Jimmy Lai’s head, knocking him out instantly. Jin paused in silence for a moment, making sure he wasn’t getting back up. He then opens the boot and heaves Jimmy’s limp body into it, cuffing his hands and feet before gagging him. After pulling open the garage door he climbed into the driver’s seat, turning the key in the ignition. Reversing the car carefully out of the narrow garage, a slight smile formed on his face, “Xi is going to reward me generously for this one” he thought.
Story Initial Character Proposals
November 4, 2013 § Leave a comment
Jimmy Lai:
– Grey V-neck sleeveless sweater over a blue long sleeved t-shirt. Dark blue denim jeans, black trainers.
– Slightly heavy set, 5ft 9.
– Laptop, pens, house/car keys, briefcase, usb memory stick, wallet containing ID, credit cards.
– Lives in a flat on the Sai Wan estate.
– Likes to eat sweet and sour pork.
– Enjoys stalking celebrities for story opportunities, also enjoys watching cheesy romantic comedies.
– Works as a journalist at newspaper publication “Apple Daily”.
– Has a lot of pride for his work.
– Age: 28
Xi Jinping:
– Black suit, black shirt, red tie.
– 6ft 6, slim.
– Briefcase, mobile phone, handgun with silencer (QSZ-92, laptop.
– Likes wonton soup.
– Head of both the CCP and the Chinese mafia.
– Dislikes killing or hurting people, but it is something he feels he must do to those who wrong him.
– Lives in mountainside mansion in Hong Kong
– Has a passion for his party, anyone who tries to publicly shame or insult it will anger him greatly.
– Age: 52
Li Cheng:
– Grey suit, white shirt, red tie.
– 6ft 2.
– Briefcase, phone, keys, bottle of whiskey.
– Lives in upper class house.
– Fairly high up member of the CCP, knows that many of his co-workers have ties to the mafia.
– Thinks himself above the law because of his position.
– He is an alcoholic.
– Likes chow mein.
– Enjoys 80s action films.
– The CCP member who was arrested and humiliated in the video.
– Age: 32
Jin Bao
– Policeman who arrested Li Cheng.
– 6ft 4
– Black tank top, grey Adidas tracksuit pants, blue trainers.
– Lives with wife in middle class house.
– Type 77 sidearm pistol, wallet, credit cards, keys, etc.
– Knows a variety of martial arts, extensively.
– Generally eats very healthy.
– Age: 35
Chun Bao
– Jin Bao’s wife.
– 5ft 6
– White shirt, brown jacket, blue jeans, white trainers.
– Purse/handbag, keys, phone, etc…
– Likes to eat peking roasted duck.
– Age: 31
jack brook 
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