When her ex-business partner begs her to resolve an issue with his new software, a hacker learns that the app actually exposes its users to a weird, parallel dimension that places them in grave danger.

SYNOPSIS:

a contemporary riff on H.P. Lovecraft’s classic, short story, From Beyond

Late at night, a programmer (Harrie, she, 30s) is interrupted while working, by a phone call from her ex-business partner, begging for help.

The next day she is driven by her friend (Phyl, they, 30s) to the ex-partner’s mansion in the country. There, the ex-partner (Crawford, he, 40s) asks Harrie to code a “worm” that will destroy all copies of an app he has released for testing.

Harrie is furious that Crawford is knowingly asking her to breach the conditions of her parole. She and Phyl go to leave, but Crawford convinces them to stay so he can demonstrate to them what the problem is.

In his lab, Crawford runs the app for Harrie and Phyl. They stare at a monitor which plays strange patterns and weird sounds. At first amused and then impressed by the experience, the two are soon frozen in fear as strange creatures appear around them. When a creature actually cuts Phyl, the two destroy the monitor, banishing the creatures.

The two find Crawford in the control room, unconscious and his skin punctured by dozens of holes. To their surprise he is still alive and, after a time, is capable of speaking.

Harrie tells Crawford that she now agrees the app must be destroyed and is willing to help him. Crawford, however, seems to have had a change of heart. Their argument becomes heated and ends abruptly when Phyl smashes an inkjet printer over Crawford’s head. Harrie’s shock at Phyl’s action is soon replaced by horror, when dozens of creatures emerge from Crawford’s body. The two flee with the laptop, as the creatures and a mutated Crawford pursue them.

They get to Phyl’s van and drive it into a brick shed on the property, hoping to lure Crawford into it. The plan works, but they find themselves trapped inside the shed. Phyl helps Harrie escape with the laptop through a window set high in the wall, just as the Crawford and his creatures burst into the shed. Phyl waits until Crawford is deep inside the shed and then sets it on fire. Phyl manages to escape, just before the van’s fuel tank explodes. The creatures all vanish.

Harrie and Phyl decide to return to the mansion, determined to code a worm that will destroy Crawford’s app.

Meanwhile, in the US, a mother discovers her son in their basement, sitting before his gaming computer and covered in creatures. She screams and tries to run, but the creatures chase after her and engulf her.

• Screenplay available upon request: robert@assortedprojects.net– there is potential to develop the premise into a feature-length screenplay