The Working Prose. Save The Cat. Synopsis. Prose. Outline of of all chapters in AI at least.

john scott ridgway/ who I am

  John Scott Ridgway writes from the borderlands — the place where satire becomes scripture, where politics mutates into myth, where the or...

Wednesday, September 09, 2026

SAVE THE CAT 9/9

 

SANCTUARY SIX — SAVE THE CAT (FINAL, CORRECTED CANON)

No exposure. No reveal. Koch dies. Maya inherits Ruby. Juana inherits the future.

OPENING IMAGE

Juan films cannibalism — Ellison’s soldiers eating the dead. Ruby whispers tactical data. Juan performs his Brand while filming horror.

The world is collapsing. Truth is spectacle. Survival is propaganda.

THEME STATED

Elias approaches — Ruby nearly kills him.

Elias says:

“People trust you. That’s why you’re dangerous.”

The theme: Trust is a weapon.

Not truth. Not justice. Not exposure.

Trust.

SET‑UP

  • Elias shows holos of horrors inside Koch’s Underground Shelter.

  • Dust storms destroy the Southwest.

  • Sanctuary Six is the last functioning refuge.

  • Juan is recruited as the front man.

  • Thiel Prison evaluates him — unimpressed.

  • Maya appears — spy, ex‑girlfriend.

  • Juan hooks up with her out of desperation.

  • Prisoners reveal their plan: deliver refugees → earn pardons.

  • Ellison’s army attacks; prisoners fight them off.

  • Juan sees the scale of the march.

Six things that need fixing:

  1. Juan doesn’t trust himself.

  2. Gangs don’t trust Juan.

  3. Maya doesn’t trust Sanctuary Six.

  4. Refugees don’t trust the gangs.

  5. Sanctuary Six doesn’t trust outsiders.

  6. Juan doesn’t trust the future.

CATALYST

The column discovers Ellison’s slave pits — thousands buried alive.

Juan sees the horror. Elias tells him to walk away.

Juan refuses.

This is the ignition.

DEBATE

Juan and Elias argue. Juan fires the first shot. The gangs explode into action. The uprising begins. Slaves climb out. Commanders fall. Guards flee to the nuclear‑proof doors. The doors seal.

Juan realizes he cannot walk away anymore.

BREAK INTO TWO

Koch’s propaganda circus hits the column:

  • Plumage

  • Kosmic Konan

  • Blaze Burns

  • Coral Reef

  • Koch himself

They accuse Juan of slavery. They accuse the gangs of cannibalism. They accuse the march of theft.

Juan climbs onto Ruby’s truck and gives the speech:

“Slavery is a human habit.”

The column turns back to Juan.

He becomes their leader.

B STORY

Maya.

Her arc begins when she sees Juan’s speech and realizes:

He’s the only one who can hold the column together.

She becomes the emotional spine of the story. She becomes Ruby’s future carrier. She becomes the future.

FUN AND GAMES

The march approaches Sanctuary Six.

  • Fog

  • Pressure

  • Gate breathes

  • Intake tunnel

  • Sanctuary Six cheers them

This is the promise of the premise: A march of gangs, families, slaves, and truth — finally reaching safety.

False hope.

MIDPOINT (False Victory / Real Loss)

Sanctuary Six votes:

Juan and the prisoners must surrender to Koch.

Koch wants celebrities inside Sanctuary Six. Celebrities need security. Security means Ellison’s army.

Juan realizes Sanctuary Six will never let them stay.

He tells Maya:

“We’re ending this.”

Juan and the gangs pretend to comply — pretend to surrender weapons — while planting explosives in the intake tunnels.

Juan accepts death.

BAD GUYS CLOSE IN

Sanctuary Six refuses to let Koch near the city. Negotiators go out instead. Koch’s army sets up camp. Ellison’s army arrives. The valley becomes a powder keg.

Juan arrives with the gangs — carrying a nuke.

Koch threatens him. Ellison threatens him. The gangs laugh — hysterical, uncontrollable.

The world closes in.

ALL IS LOST

Juan steps forward.

Maya watches from Sanctuary Six.

Juan triggers the bomb. Maya detonates it.

Juan dies. The gangs die. Koch dies. Ellison dies. Their armies die.

Sanctuary Six survives.

There is no exposure. No reveal. No justice. No truth broadcast.

Just death.

DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL

Maya is alone.

She is:

  • Juan’s widow

  • carrying Juan’s child

  • hated by half the city

  • feared by the other half

  • grieving

  • isolated

  • politically radioactive

Ruby is recovered from the blast.

Maya takes Ruby home.

Ruby becomes her anchor. Her confidant. Her witness. Her grief companion.

Maya becomes addicted to Ruby.

BREAK INTO THREE

Maya gives birth.

Ruby becomes the nanny.

Ruby becomes the protector.

Ruby becomes the legacy.

Maya realizes Ruby is not hers — Ruby belongs to the child.

She transfers Ruby to the baby.

The future begins.

FINALE

Sanctuary Six stabilizes.

People stop worshipping celebrities. People start doing small plays — art by ordinary people. People breathe again.

Maya begins writing the book — later, when:

  • Koch is dead

  • Ellison is dead

  • Juan is dead

  • the gangs are dead

  • the armies are gone

  • the city is stable

  • people have less to lose

Ruby plays with the statues of Koch, Plumage, Konan.

Ruby whispers:

“Those statues will finally move when the book comes out. I’m going to suggest they cut off their heads. Right baby? Isn’t that damn well right. Goo goo, ga ga. Right back at ya, kid.”

FINAL IMAGE

Ruby humming in Juana’s skull. Maya writing. Sanctuary Six rebuilding. Juan gone. Koch gone. Truth waiting.

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