Nox
Act 1
Fade in:
STOCK FOOTAGE: BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF CAMPUS.
Black. BITS PILANI, PILANI
Black. NOX
Fade to:
Int. Akshay - Afternoon
There is a big box of knives in the frame.
Black. Day 1
Rishit is seen crouching and inspecting the knives.
Black. RISHIT
Tanay comes into the frame.
Tanay
There's no way you're buying one more.
Rishit looks at Tanay.
Rishit
I can explain. I don't wanna ruin my favorite one for this.
INSERT: In the forest-like area behind Cvr, Rishit is looking at a map.
BACK TO SCENE
Tanay sneers.
Tanay
Do you have any idea about how creepy that sounds?
Rishit smiles.
Rishit puts a cheap but sharp knife in his basket. Tanay drops a cup into the basket.
They start moving towards the billing counter.
Rishit
So, what's your plan after-
Tanay stops, goes to the beverages section, and pulls out a Coke can. Rishit signals 2 with his hands, and Tanay pulls out another.
Tanay
I have practice in the evening. You?
The billing line is empty, they place their items.
Rishit
I'm clubless so I'm kinda free. Though, I'd like you to see something.
Rishit pays with cash.
Tanay
What is it?
They move towards the entrance-exit.
Cut to:
Ext. Akshay - continuous
Rishit
You'll see.
They move towards their bicycles.
Tanay
Just tell me in brief. Don't leave me hanging.
rishit
We'll be figuring that out together.
Cut to:
Black. day 0
The mentioned Pov effects are visible. Refer readme
INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - NIGHT
RISHIT is seen rummaging through his cupboard. His bed is full of the contents of the cupboard. Rishit sighs. He half closes the cupboard door but stops. He opens it again. He looks at a particular groove. (See Illust.1) He stretches his hands towards it. The shot changes to outside the cupboard, and we see him holding an old pen drive. He examines it closely. It’s a plain, silver pendrive with no markings.
RISHIT
What's this? Does this belong to my room-pop or what?
Cut to:
Int. RISHIT'S ROOM - continuous
We see Rishit in front of his laptop on a desk. He appears to be hesitating to insert the pen drive. He puts it in.
Rishit
What the hell?
Show the list of files on the screen as in List.1
There are a hundred files, mostly videos, with suggestive titles. (He is in list mode, so thumbnails aren't visible). Note that the date-added property in the list is clearly visible. It should be 2019.
Rishit pulls it out. Rishit falls to his bed.
Rishit
And here I was thinking I might have found something interesting. It's just a collection some poor guy forgot to take.
Rishit raises an eyebrow.
Rishit
Wait. Why would someone have to hide their porn in a boys' hostel?
Rishit gets back up goes to his laptop and puts it back in again. We can see his scrolling quickly He stops, sorts by type, and scrolls with a bit less speed.
A file named "pornFile.txt" is seen.
Rishit clicks on it.
Rishit
What the.
White. The map is provided in this drive itself. White. Find the truth if you feel you're worthy of it.
Rishit changes the tab back to the folder and starts scrolling through the picture files. He stops
Rishit
Filenames really aren't helping, dude. Sounds like there's only one way.
Cut to:
int. rishit's room - continuous
We see Rishit, with the screen away from us, pressing the next button continuously.
Rishit (v.o.)
Found it!
We see a map with cvr bhavawn's back forest-y area marked.
Rishit (v.o.)
Something is asking to be uncovered.
Rishit puts on his jacket.
Cut to:
Black. Day 1 Or should it be Day 2? leave it as day 1.Black. SHREYA
Ext. Akshay - evening
This part has been changed according to the details. Shreya is supposed to find the second capsule due to Nirmaan cleaning dutyA group of students wearing a hairnet and broom with them are seen. SHREYA is one of them.
group leader
Just because the workers are on strike, doesn't excuse the campus to look unclean. Clean considering that it's your home.
Students groan.
Group leader
We'll start from Saraswati mandir. Group 2, go west, and Group 1, that is, my group, will go east.
Shreya (V.o.)
Why did I miss so many meets? I wouldn't have been forced to do this.
Shreya's group (group 1) is seen moving.
Cut to:
IN FRONT OF SHIV GANGA:
Shreya is seen picking up a Coke can. She is moving towards a dustbin. She stops. We see a few small puppies running into a thick bush. Refer illust. Show the position of the bush, and how it is supposed to look.
Shreya looks intrigued. She throws the can and moves towards the puppies.
She crouches and tries to look into the bush while looking excited. She finds a few puppies sleeping. A metal box is also shown with the puppies.
Group leader
Shreya! What are you doing?
Shreya
I uh, found something.
Group leader
Just throw it, we're done here.
Shreya stands up and moves towards her group.
Cut to:
int. Shreya's room - Later that evening
Shreya opens her door and enters her room. She immediately falls on her bed.
SHREYA
Phew.
She opens her phone and starts scrolling.
Tanya comes in with wet hair (implying that she has just had a bath)
SHREYA
How the hell do you have a bath in this cold when the water heater's not working?
Prerna
I'm more surprised YOU haven't had a bath. I was out for Martial arts practice, and I sweat a lot.
SHREYA
Well, the only thing that required cleaning was a little bit of garbage on the campus. Barely 2 days have gone since the strike and they're worried about cleanliness.
Prerna pauses.
Prerna
I'm trying not to, but I'm judging.
SHREYA
Oh, come on.
Prerna shrugs.
Prerna
Anyways, someone asked me a riddle. It's about a location in here.
Cut to: Black. Tanay
int. sac - Earlier that evening
The scene should not have any effects that Shreya/Rishit had in their pov.
We watch 18 people running. Prerna is behind Tanay.
Tanay
Hey Prerna.
Prerna
Yeah?
Tanay
I stumbled upon a riddle. Mind if I ask you?
Prerna
Sure, go ahead.
Tanay
It goes like this.
White. Start-420.
Tanay(V.o.)
"Start 420"
Prerna frowns in confusion.
White. Follow the light at sunrise.
Tanay(V.o.)
Follow the light at sunrise.
White. Stop when blocked.
Tanay(V.o.)
And to stop when blocked.
There is a pause.
Prerna giggles.
Prerna
Are you sure that it wasn't some stupid reddit post by a child?
Tanay shrugs.
Tanay
though, except for the 420 part, the instructions seem pretty clear.
Cut To:
Black. SHREYA
int. Shreya's room - Evening
Show the following shot again.
prerna
Anyways, someone asked me a riddle. It's about a location in here.
Back to the present:
SHREYA
Shoot.
Prerna
It goes like this - Start 420, Follow the light at sunrise, and stop when blocked. Ring any bells?
SHREYA
What kind of stupid riddle is that?
Prerna
Well apparently it really is an actual riddle.
Shreya
Hmm. What's 420 supposed to be?
Shreya (V.O.)
Wait.
Flashback to:
The frame has the scene where the couple was seen smoking by Shreya. It should be from her perspective. The couple quickly tries to put their cigarettes out because Shreya's group members are behind her. Keep this shot quick.
Back to the present:
Shreya quickly jolts towards her phone and starts tapping. She is seen opening the map app.
prerna
Did you actually freaking realise something?
shreya
Yeah, maybe. 420. Cannabis. Do you remember how that senior told us about the benches at cnot being a smoking hotspot?
Prerna
Damn.
Shreya zooms and finds cnot.
SHREYA
So east from here and we'd arrive at.. Shiv Ga-
Shreya pauses. She raises an eyebrow.
Prerna
Shiv Ganga? I'd say that's a landmark too, couldn't they just point directly to it?
Shreya isn't responding.
Shreya (V.o.)
Isn't Shiv Ganga where I saw that box in the bushes?
Prerna
You alright?
SHREYA
Yeah... ig.
Frame pauses on Shreya's face for a moment.
Fade to:
Black. RISHIT black. day 2
Int. ltc - morning
We see a shot of Rishit in the class, barely managing to stay awake.
CAMERA ZOOMS IN on Rishit, while the background sounds become muffled but loud. (Not really sure how to explain this, an example needs to be provided.)
Smash Cut to:
Montage - Rishit searching for the second capsule
==-- Ext. Behind cvr bhawan - afternoon:==
It's silent. The forest-like area is visible. Rishit is looking at the map. The place marked on it is where he's standing.
Rishit (V.o.)
Nothing here.
==-- Ext. at gd Birla statue - afternoon:==
==-- Ext. Sky lawns==
Rishit
And here I was thinking that the places were marked in case I couldn't solve the riddle.
Rishit somehow tears his map.
Get back to this once you make the entire map yourself. incomplete
END MONTAGE
Black. Tanay
Int. Tanay's room - Afternoon
Tanay is on his bed. His phone chimes. It's a message from an unknown number. He clicks on the notification. It's from "~shreya" Tanay raises an eyebrow.
White. Hi. We see the message in Tanay's phone as well. The same for the following messages. White. I'm Shreya. White. I got your number from Prerna. You probably don't know me. White. I want to know about the riddle you asked Prerna.
Tanay looks flustered and confused.
We hear the door open. It's ANSH.
ANsh
Uh hey Tanay, up for T.T.?
Tanay puts his phone away.
Tanay
Uh yeah, I'll uhh come after a while.
Ansh
Nah I leave for my lab in 40 mins.
Tanay
Okay, sure. I'll be there in 5.
Ansh is seen leaving the room
Ansh (O.s.)
Okay!
Tanay sighs. He moves toward his bed and falls on it.
Tanay looks back at his phone. He begins typing.
Rishit walks in.
Rishit
Does S9 accept cash? Also, Ansh told me to remind you about bringing your own paddle if you were gonna go play TT.
Ansh
I don't think they do. And thanks for the reminders.
Rishit
Okay, sure.
Rishit leaves. Tanay looks at his phone again.
Grey. Sure, it went like this. Grey. Start-420, and Follow the light at sunrise. Stop when blocked.
White. I know the riddle. I want to know about where you encountered this.
Grey. My friend asked me. Why are you so curious about this though?
White. Could you give me his number? I think I might know something your friend might want to know.
Grey. Uh sure... It's XXXXXXXXXX.
White. Thanks.
Tanay (V.o.)
Well, this might be interesting.
Cut to:
Black. RISHIT
Int. Hostel hallway - Afternoon
COMING UP FROM STAIRS
Ansh is seen coming from the opposite direction.
Ansh
Hey if you're going to Tanay's room, tell him that he would need to bring his own paddle for TT, in case he's coming.
Rishit
Okay-
Ansh hurries away
IN FRONT OF TANAY'S ROOM
Rishit opens the door.
Rishit
Does S9 accept cash?
Cut to:
Black. Day 3 Black. SHREYA
Ext. shiv ganga - morning
Shreya is standing in front of the bush.
SHREYA (v.o.)
There goes my breakfast break.
She leans forward and takes the box out. She opens it. It has something written on the inside of the lid.
"Find the truth if you feel you're worthy" is written on the box with a permanent marker. There is a poorly placed ==QR code==. There is also a map in it.
Black. Find the truth if you feel you're worthy of it.
Cut to:
The mentioned Pov. effects fade away.
int. Shreya's room - afternoon
Black.
SHreya (v.o.)
... What the hell was that?
We see Shreya in her room, sitting at her desk. We see a website opened that is a base 32 decoder-encoder
White. Well it seems like you managed to guess what this was.
White. I hope you thought it was base 64 and got disappointed in yourself.
White. Anyways, take the map in the first box, and merge the maps. The centroid of the points is the place to look for the final piece.
She hears a knock. She opens the door. It's Prerna.
Prerna
Already skipping lectures, are we?
Shreya looks at her face and tilts her head.
Cut to:
Black. RISHIT
Int. Bio lab - evening
The teacher is briefing the experiment. Rishit has zoned out. He is suddenly poked in his back.
Rishit
(softly)
Ouch!
Shreya
(Whispers)
Hey, are you Rishit?
Rishit
(Whispers)
Yeah, how do you know me?
Shreya
(Whispers)
It's a long story. This might make this believable.
Rishit
(Whispers)
What-
Shreya
(Whispers)
I have the second capsule.
Rishit quickly turns his head towards Shreya.
Lab instructor
Get started, everyone.
Rishit
Great, I missed the entire thing. Shreya raises an eyebrow.
Shreya
I'm pretty sure you were zoning out
Rishit
No, I wasn't-
Shreya
Yeah sure, just get going. I asked my friend to brief me beforehand.
Rishit
Okay, I just- I don't wanna lose marks here, so let's discuss after the lab?
Shreya Shrugs
Match cut to:
Ext. fd3 - Morning
Rishit and Shreya are walking away from the FD3 entrance.
Rishit
Okay, so how the hell do you know about the capsules?
SHreya
So the da-
Rishit
And how did you know I had one?
Shreya
My frie-
Shreya is looking annoyed.
Rishit
What else do you kno-
SHreya
(louder)
LET ME SPEAK, WILL YOU?
Rishit pauses. He's a bit taken aback.
Rishit
(softly)
Okay...
Shreya
I found a box during my cleaning duty.
Rishit
You're in Nirmaan too?
Shreya
Half the campus is. Anyways, It had a QR code stuck to the inside of its lid and a map. And a note.
Rishit
Wait, where did you find it?
Shreya
Shiv Ganga. 420 was supposed to mean cnot place. It is infamous for it.
Rishit
Ah. Didn't know that.
Shreya
The QR had a message that told me to use the map in the second and the first capsule and find the centroid.
Rishit
Could you send a pic of the second map?
Shreya
Give me your phone number.
Rishit hands out his phone. Shreya types in her number.
Cut to:
Black. TANAY
int. common room - evening
Tanay and Ansh are playing TT. The scene starts with an ongoing rally between them. Ansh is sweating.
Ansh
I'm having to go easy on you dude.
Tanay smirks
Tanay
No, you're not.
Ansh misses. He smiles and picks up the ball. He passes it to Tanay.
Tanay serves.
Tanay
By the way, what were you gonna tell me about?
Ansh
It was about uh- . Let's talk about that in private later.
Tanay
What's so private about it?
Ansh
You'll know when you listen.
Tanay misses. Tanay shrugs and picks up the ball.
Cut to:
Black. Day 4 Black. RISHIT
ext. saraswati mandir - Morning
Shreya and Rishit are at the saraswati mandir.
SHreya
Let's get this over with.
They search for the temple. Show a Montage of several shots of them searching around.
Back to the scene-
Rishit
Do we even know what we're searching for?
SAKET is seen in the background.
Shreya
A keyword perhaps. The pen drive mentioned that it used stenography on the files. Seems like the person really didn't want people to figure this out quickly.
rishit
Oh come o-
Rishit falls because of dew on the grass.
Rishit
OW!
Rishit puts pressure on his knee but stops after a second. He leans again.
Rishit
The hell? There is an engraving done on it. It said "JOUNKQ"
Black. JOUNKQ
Cut to:
Int. Rishit's room - continuous
We see a shot of Rishit putting the pen drive in his laptop. His phone is on speaker and is on his table.
Shreya (over phone)
You can see it yet?
RIshit
Just plugged it in.
Shreya (over phone)
Hurry up.
Rishit
How was I supposed to view the embedded files, again?
Shreya (over phone)
Check what app was mentioned in the... uh.. porn.txt or something file.
RIshit
Yeah found it, Installing it now.
Rishit opens the app, and types in the location.
White. Enter Passkey
Rishit types in JOUNKQ. It extracts quite a few files.
Rishit
It's uhh... another breadcrumb. There are a few password-protected pdfs and a text file.
Shreya
Zip and send them to me.
Rishit
On it.
We see a scene of him zipping files.
Cut to:
Black. SAKET
int. saket's room - night
We see Saket in his room.
Saket (V.o)
I hope I'm just overthinking this.
He hears a knock. He opens the door. Its ansh.
ash
I... need more... of it...
Saket
Man, you really need to chill. At this rate, you're gonna kill yourself
Ansh
(frustrated)
I'd rather die from that than die from not having it.
Saket
Seriously-
Ansh
Do you want me to tell everyone about how you messed up that de-
Saket
Okay okay- I get it. But- Just don't go overboard, even I'd get in trouble if you-
Ansh
Just give it to me.
Saket sighs. Saket opens his cupboard and pulls out a small plastic bag.
Saket
This is the last one for now.
Ansh snatches it from his hand.
Ansh
Okay
Ansh leaves without closing the door.
Cut to:
Black. SHREYA
int. Shreya's room - afternoon
Shreya has her laptop open. The clock on the wall says 12:48.
Shreya (v.o.)
I don't think brute-forcing the password is possible in a plausible timeframe, but what's the harm in trying?
She puts her hand on her forehead and sighs.
Shreya (v.o.)
Well, at least Rishit is also doing it for his half of the files.
Prerna
I'm leaving for my lecture.
Prerna gets out of the room. After 4 seconds, She comes in again, picks up her keys, and leaves.
Her phone rings. It is Rishit. She picks up the call.
Shreya
Hello?
Rishit
It's bad.
Cut to:
Black. Rishit
int. rishit's room - earlier that afternoon
Rishit is seen reading a textbook.
His phone chimes. It's an unknown number. The time reads 12:34.
White. Stop looking for it. White. It's too soon. White. I haven't hidden completely yet.
Rishit looks confused. He types in his phone.
Grey. Explain.
White. I was trying to expose a dangerous group on campus, but I couldn't because it could be traced back to me.
White. I need to be completely hidden before you reveal the information to everyone.
White. You're dealing with dangerous people.
Rishit looks a bit pale.
Grey. What do you mean? Grey. How do you know that I- Were you the one who set this up?
White. Just... Don't do anything for now, or you'll be risking your life and mine.
Rishit widens his eyes.
Fade to:
Act 2
Black. Day 5
Montage - back to life
==-- INT. RISHIT'S ROOM - EVENING== A shot of Rishit putting the pen drive into the groove that he found it in. He tosses his box on the ledge where things are stored.
==-- INT. SHREYA'S ROOM - EVENING== A shot of Shreya putting the second box in her closet.
==-- INT. HOSTEL COMMON ROOM - EVENING== A shot of Tanay playing TT with the wall.
==-- INT. SAKET'S ROOM - NIGHT== A mute shot of Saket on the call, frustrated.
ON-SCREEN TEXT: Day 6 (Linger for 3 seconds)
==-- INT. LTC - MORNING== A shot of Shreya entering the lecture hall. The effects mentioned are even more visible.
ON-SCREEN TEXT: Day 7 (Linger for 3 seconds)
==-- INT. TANAY/ANSH'S ROOM - NIGHT== Ansh is at his room. He is seen inhaling a last line. He falls unconscious. Tanay is sleeping.
END MONTAGE
Cut to:
Black. SHREYA Black. Day 8
ext. ltc - afternoon
Shreya is walking away from the LTC with the other students.
rishit
Hey Shreya!
Rishit comes into the frame.
Rishit
I need to discuss something serious.
Shreya
What happened?
Rishit
Meet me at ToTT this evening.
Shreya
Can't do, I'm making up for skipping previous meets for Nirmaan. Let's meet at 10 pm.
Rishit
Okay.
Match cut to:
int. Tott - night
Shreya is waiting at the table near the beverages corner. There are two cups of coffee on the table. Rishit enters the frame.
Rishit
Hey.
Shreya
Hi, what did you want to talk about?
Rishit
It's uh- about the password-protected files.
Shreya widens her eyes.
Shreya
DIDN'T WE AGREE TO STOP-
A person in the background, on the table beside them turns their way. It is Saket.
Rishit
Quieter, please...
SHreya
But-
Rishit
I managed to crack one of those files' password. It seems that this guy is an Alumni who was part of a branch of cartel in the campus
Shreya
A what?
Rishit
Yeah it was surprising to me as well. The thing is, Tanay overheard his roommate talking to a senior to get some drugs, and I think that guy is part of the cartel that is mentioned in this file.
Shreya
We... should report this to the authorities-
Rishit
We don't know who all are involved, we should report this only when we know the entire story.
Shreya frowns.
Shreya
Are you out of your mind?
Rishit
Please, people are being affected by this and this needs to be stopped.
Shreya
Aaahgg Dammnit. I can't put up with this anymore.
Shreya gets up and starts leaving.
Rishit
Wait!
Rishit tries to follow her, but Shreya gives Rishit a scary look.
Fade to:
Black. Saket Black. Day 9
Int. saket's room - night
Saket is on his desk, he is looking nervous. His hand in on his phone, a number is dialed in. He is about to press "Call". A knock is heard. Saket turns off the phone and moves towards the door to open it. It is Ansh. He looks very pale. His fingertips are blue.
Saket
Oh my god, dude you really got to stop thi-
Ansh
(Yells)
JUST GIVE ME THE NEW BATCH ALREADY! I KNOW IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ARRIVED BY NOW
Saket
Dude-
Ansh
Just. Give. Me. The. Batch.
Saket stops, and sighs. He moves towards his cupboard again and takes out another plastic bag.
Ansh is tries snatching again. Saket doesn't let go. Ansh pulls again, and Saket lets go.
Ansh puts it in his pocket and gets out of his room.
Cut to:
Black. TANAY Black. Day 10
INT. COMMON ROOM - EVENING
Rishit and Tanay are seen playing TT.
Rishit
I really don't like playing TT. I barely manage to respond your shots.
Tanay
Just a few days and you'll be addicted. I'm sure.
Rishit
Something really doesn't get addictive if you're losing most of the times.
Rishit misses. Rishit bends over and picks up the ball.
Rishit
See? Anyways let's go to DCC. Dinner is shit today.
Tanay
Sure.
They are seen moving out of the common room.
Int. outside tanay's room - Continuous
Rishit and Tanay are seen moving towards Tanay's room.
Rishit
So, how's your progress?
Tanay
What progress?
Rishit Smirks.
Rishit
You know what I'm talking about~
We suddenly hear gurgling sounds. Rishit and Tanay look alarmed and rush towards the door.
They open the door.
Ansh is lying on the floor, gurgling. Foam is coming out of his mouth.
Tanay freezes. Rishit quickly dials a number.
Rishit
WAIT HERE, I'LL GET HELP.
Tanay doesn't respond.
Screen starts to fade. Rishit rushes out of the frame. 2 seconds later a few guys come in, and take Ansh outside the room.
Fade To:
Act 3
Black. SHREYA Black. Day 11
int. shreya's room - evening
Shreya is typing on her phone. She is messaging Rishit.
"I got the news. It must be hard on Tanay. I'm sorry." is the latest message on the screen.
A new message appears.
White. Meet me at ToTT. Today. 10 pm again.
Match cut to:
INT. ToTT - night
Shreya walks in. Rishit is at the counter.
Shreya
Hi.
Rishit.
Hi...
The guy inside the counter gives them 2 cups of hot chocolate
Shreya
So, uh- how's Tanay.
Rishit
He seems to managing himself. I wanted to tell you that the file that wasn't password-protected.
shreya
I- I already decided I'm not gonna be a part of-
Rishit gets frustrated and cuts her off.
Rishit
A GUY. JUST. DIED. Due to this. WE CAN'T JUST IGNORE THIS.
Rishit calms down.
Rishit
Please. Just see this through.
Shreya hesitates.
Shreya
...Fine.
Rishit
This file says that this should be the last clue. It said something along the lines of-
White. Take what you name me and peer at my core,
White. Each piece that you find is a numeric score.
White. Break me apart, it’s a simple trick,
White. Their aggregate is the key you seek.
FADE TO:
Black. To be continued.