The Magnetrinic Verses

## S.1 E.2 "The Magnetrinic Verses": Summary

* It's been three weeks since the events of "Predator."
* Barney "Knee" and Dutch have not been found. Investigators questioned Chris DeWitt, who partially recovered from his state of trauma, and told them that the boys were headed west to escape their home lives and join the Mag-Fishing Fleet in the Pacific NW. Evidence found in the boys' rooms and school lockers backed this up. Mr. Patrick Gilfoy, the school guidance councilor, remembered the boys both asking about the fishing industry. The case was closed.
* Chris DeWitt was sent to a state psychiatric institution in Baltimore, MD.
* Shannon Locke, who wasn't with them during those events, doesn't believe that Dutch and Knee ran away. She also knows that Veronica Kirkshaw and the Autobots are somehow involved.
* Veronica can't remember what happened that night between when she sat in her car outside the theater, and when she woke up in the Scrap Yard.
* Garrett is preparing to celebrate Independency Day.
* There's an unusual "hum" sound coming from The Loop

### Thursday, July 2, 1987

#### Garrett (Various Locations)

* Samantha Kirkshaw is surreptitiously browsing comics at The Paperback Exchange while waiting for her sister, Veronica, who is at the hair salon a few doors down. Miss Maggie, the owner, comments on her powerful, energetic aura and sets aside an issue of Spiderman tucked inside Good Housekeeping for her.
* George Butts is at the Starlight Skating Roller Rink and encounters Shannon Locke. She's wearing a diamond (in make-up) around one eye. She tells him that she knows he has something to do with the disappearance of Dutch and Knee. Shannon tells George if Dutch and Knee aren't found, she's going to kill his friends, and names Sam in particular.
* Ben McKenzie stops by Jerry Baker's house. Sometimes he stays overnight at the kids' hideout (which Ben calls "The Falcon") when things are too rough at home. He stayed there the previous night and something weird happened. They head off to go collect the other kids.
* Casey Mitchell enters The Paperback Exchange looking for Gary Meyers. Gary gives him an issue of Spider-man that has had a corner sliced off so it's no longer in mint condition.
* Mitch and Sam leave the Paperback Exchange and encounter Ben and Jerry on their bikes. Ben tells them all that when he was staying at the Falcon the prior night, all the trucks turned on, and the magnets underneath glowed. He plays a tape of the tonal sounds that the trucks made as they lit up. He also reports that a wind came through and cleared everything out from under the trucks.
* Veronica leaves the salon, picks up Sam and begins to head out in her car, as she does she spots the crew and gives a nod in their direction. Jerry returns guns, and Mitch spots Veronica's small smile in return.
* George Butts leaves the roller rink and sees Sam outside of a clothing store. He tells her that he ran into Shannon and Sam should steer clear of her, because Shannon wants to kill her. Sam tells George about how she's worried about Veronica, who has been odd and silent since the events of the movie theater. George tries to talk to her but Veronica won't give him the time of day. When Veronica is done shopping, the three head off together to the Independence day celebration.
* Ben, Jerry and Mitch head to their hideout at the Magnetrine Truck Graveyard, where Ben shows the others that the ground has been cleared by the high winds that accompanied the strange events from the night before. He explains that it lasted about a minute and it started exactly at 10PM. Both Jerry and Mitch remembered hearing an odd humming sound coming from The Loop at that time the night before.
* They realize that George Butts' father works at the Loop, and thinking that George might know something, they decide to ask him what he might know and maybe borrow a video camera from him so that they can record the events if they happen again.
* Before they leave, Mitch tells them that the night they found Veronica, he saw the Predator behind them. He proposed that Chris saw the Predator, and that it "got" Dutch and Knee. Both Ben and Jerry disbelieve what they're hearing.
* Back in town, Veronica drops Sam and George off on Mainstreet for the festivities and tells Sam that she'll be back to pick her up at 11PM.
* Mitch, Ben and Jerry cruise into Garrett on their bikes and race up to Sam and George. They talk about the noise from the other night. The boys tell George and Sam about their hideout and about the Magnetrine trucks coming to life at the same time as the noise. George is invited to camp out with them in their hideout. He also promises to bring his mom's video camera.
* After a stop to collect Sam's bike and George's mother's video camera, they head back to the hideout.

#### Magnetrine Truck Graveyard

* When back inside the hideout, Mitch tells George and Sam that he saw Predator and shares his theory about Chris, Dutch, and Knee. Neither of them believes him either.
* They set up the camera to capture the trucks and set the time to begin recording at 10PM.
* At 10PM there is whirring/humming noise from the Loop, a rush of wind, and the Falcon and the other magtrucks begin to vibrate, and shake violently. There are bright flashes from outside. In less than a minute, it's all over.
* When they exit to check the video, the ground is oddly clear, dense, and smooth.
* On the camcorder, the microphone picks up tones. The video shows the mag-pods of trucks illuminate in circular lights that seem to beat in a sequence at different intervals during the 40-43 second burst. Each time one of the circles begins to light, they hear a different tone.
* They write down the notes of the tones, and they notice that the ground underneath the mag-pods is being impacted in waves - that it is vibrating and either making the note or the note is causing the vibration. They figure out the sequence that the trucks are lighting up, and also that the trucks are entirely disconnected from electricity, so there should be no way for them to power up. After some discussion, they decide to talk to their science teacher, Mr. Derry, the next day to see if he has any idea how these trucks may be wirelessly receiving electricity.
* The wrong side of the tracks boys spend the night in their hideout while the rich kids head home. Veronica's car is not in the driveway the next day.

#### Garrett

* The kids go to see Mr. Derry the next day and they find him at the Elementary school between summer classes.
* They show him the video, and after evaluating it (not sure what he's seeing) he suggests to them that the sound waves needs a focus of some kind (like a needle on a record player, or a crystal, or some kind of focusing instrument). When he's told that it's a local video, he suddenly gets very uncomfortable, clearly worried that they'll be overheard speaking.
* They head to the Paperback Exchange and ask Sam asks Miss Maggie for a crystal who gives one to her, then goes into the back room. As the kids leave, they snag the gigantic foot-long crystal near the front door and take that with them.

#### Magnetrine Truck Graveyard

* Back at the graveyard, Mitch spends the day collecting copper wire. George identifies the most active magpods and Mitch runs wire from them to a central nest of wires that Sam places the crystal into.
* That night, at 10PM when the magtrucks begin hum and come alive, the wires begin to shiver with power and it's clear that the crystal is going to fall out of the nest. Jerry runs down to make sure that it is reseated. As he walks back to the hideout, energy can be seen arcing between his buttons. "I probably have super powers now." He says.
* Underneath the crystal they see some words written, "On March 24th, 1988, we will destroy the world. Stop us. Loop."
* That night, before sleep, Jerry tries to power up the robot with his new super power, but nothing happens. But that night, as they are all asleep, the arm of the robot moves.

## Characters

* Barney "Knee"
* Dutch
* Chris DeWitt
* Mr. Patrick Gilfoy
* Shannon Locke
* Veronica Kirkshaw
* Miss Maggie
* Gary Meyers
* Mr. Derry

## Locations

* The Loop
* The Paperback Exchange
* Starlight Skating Roller Rink
* The Paperback Exchange
* The Falcon
* Magnetrine Truck Graveyard
* Edgar Allen Poe Middle School