Perfect take & The Therapist’s Daughter

Set: Cabin 5.

Scarlett stood in position, chest rising and falling in slow, measured breaths. Her Ripley jumpsuit clung with sweat, her hair slightly disheveled. Her eyes were focused, locked in.

Across from her, Ian, in character as Ash. 

Yaphet in her character Parker, and Veronica in her character Lambert, were all on standby in their costumes. 

All set up.

The safety team set everything up perfectly. 

Alex stood behind the monitor, headset on. The crew had been briefed. Rehearsals had been tight. The stunt coordinator gave one final nod from the side of the set. The camera operator rolled his shoulders once, then raised the rig.

Alex's voice echoed across the soundstage. Calm. Steady.

"One take. Everyone ready. This is scene 41B. Tension, silence, violence. Real energy."

He paused for half a breath.

"Action."

Silence fell.

Ripley moved through the corridor, checking a screen, cautious, on edge. Her eyes scanned left, then right. Then, as she was about to go through the door, it sealed shut. 

She turned, surprised. Then Ash stepped into frame behind her, sudden, silent. Milky white sweat dripped from his forehead. 

His hand came fast.

He struck her. Clean, brutal. Scarlett stumbled backward, one hand to her cheek. Her hair whipped to the side. Another hit. She ducked, spun, and tried to run.

Ash grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her back. Scarlett shouted, pain sharp and real in her voice. She twisted, slamming an elbow into his ribs. Ian staggered slightly, but didn't let go.

Ripley broke free for half a second, panting, disoriented. She turned to run again.

Ash caught her.

He grabbed her by the arm and waist and flung her against the metal wall. Her body hit hard. The sound echoed. The force dropped her to her knees, stunned.

[Alex didn't blink. The cushioned walls are holding up, and so is the fake sound.]

Ash advanced, grabbed her again, lifted her roughly, and hurled her onto the cabin bed. She gasped, eyes closed, breath short. She was still processing the pain.

He loomed over her.

She twitched, breathing hard.

He stopped for a moment, looking around with an expressionless face.

Ash reached for the magazine and rolled it. 

Ripley's eyes locked on it, realization dawning in her expression. Her chest rose and fell faster.

Ash shoved the rolled magazine toward her mouth.

She fought. Arms flailing. Hands pushing. She turned her face, kicked, twisted, barely managing to keep the tube from forcing its way in.

The sound of the struggle was sharp. Raw. The panicked expression of Scarlett was on the spot.

The camera caught every inch. Every second. No cuts. No break.

Then the cabin door slammed open.

Parker burst in first, eyes wide, breath heavy. He saw Ripley pinned to the bed, Ash forcing the rolled magazine toward her face. Without thinking, he charged.

"Get off her!" Parker roared, grabbing Ash's arm and yanking hard.

But Ash didn't budge.

His grip stayed locked, mechanical, unrelenting. His focus didn't shift. Not once.

Lambert followed a second later, rushing in and grabbing Ash from behind, her arms wrapped around his torso in a desperate attempt to pull him off. Her voice cracked with panic.

"Stop it! Let her go!"

Ash's response was chilling. Robotic. Cold.

He reached up with his free hand and grabbed Parker's chest muscle in a crushing grip. Parker's scream tore through the set, sharp and real. He stumbled back, clutching his side, eyes wide in shock and pain.

"Goddamn it!" he shouted.

Ripley was still kicking, still struggling. The magazine caught the corner of her mouth. A thin cut opened on her lip. Blood, fake but convincing, started to trail down her chin.

Ash turned his head slightly, eyes unreadable.

Parker scrambled, pain written across his face. Then his hand found the extinguisher prop by the wall. He grabbed it without thinking.

He rushed forward.

First hit.

The extinguisher slammed against the side of Ash's head with a brutal clang.

Ash barely reacted.

Second hit.

Another slam. This time, Ash jerked, unbalanced. He staggered forward and collapsed onto the floor beside the bed.

Ripley rolled away instantly, gasping for air, curling up against the wall, hands over her face.

"Cut!" Alex's voice rang out through the headset.

Silence hit like a wave.

The entire crew was frozen.

Scarlett slumped on the bed, breathing heavily, lip stained with blood, and eyes unfocused. Ian was motionless on the ground, still in character, still holding his blank expression.

Alex stood up behind the monitor, pulled off his headset, and walked toward the set.

"Everyone okay?" he called.

Scarlett lifted a hand, thumb up, then let it flop back down. "That was… intense."

Ian sat up slowly, shaking his head. "Still got both eardrums. We're good."

Yaphet, playing Parker, exhaled loudly, wiping sweat off his brow. "Jesus, man. That grip. I forgot for a second it was fake."

Veronica stood behind him, visibly rattled. "No kidding. I thought he wasn't going to stop."

Alex stepped onto the set and gave Scarlett a quick once-over, crouching next to the bed. "You good? Anything pulled?"

She nodded slowly. "I'm fine. Just… give me water. Maybe Hulk Punch. Then ice cream."

Alex turned to the others and checked on them. Then...

He smiled. "We got it all on film. That was real. Brutal. Perfect. That was the biggest single-shot sequence we've shot so far. Nice. Keep going like this, and we'll wrap the shoot before the timeframe."

They took a break after that... The helpers bought water and everything they needed.

Veronica stretched her arms as she sat beside Alex and asked, "So, where are you going to upload the teaser?"

"On YT, tonight around 1 AM," Alex replied.

"I can't wait to see the reaction, and truth be told, I'm kinda jumpy right now. That scene was like, wow!" She said with a smile. 

"Thanks to you and everyone's performance. The credit goes to everyone," Alex replied while rewatching the scene on the screen.

Crew members grabbed coffee, water bottles, and protein bars. Makeup artists checked everyone's bruising makeup, sweat streaks, and touched up cuts. The fog machines were temporarily off, and the chill in the air lifted just slightly.

Scarlett sat on a folding chair, a wet towel draped around her neck, eyes closed. Her lip still held the fake blood cut, and she hadn't bothered to wipe it away completely.

Rachel brought her a can of Hulk Punch. "Here. You earned it."

Scarlett cracked it open with a hiss and took a long pull. "I feel like I've been in an actual fight. No offense to Ian, but he's got serious serial killer energy when he flips that switch."

Rachel glanced over at Ian, who was sipping tea with one hand and reading a paperback in the other like he hadn't just tried to murder someone on set. "Yeah, he's calm until he isn't. Terrifying in the best way."

Alex stood near the prop table with the effects team, going over the prosthetic dummy for the next sequence.

The Ash dummy was disturbingly realistic. Pale skin. Synthetic veins. Wires under the fake flesh. Its skull was rigged with a flexible plate beneath a silicone layer, ready to cave under a carefully choreographed blow.

The neck had been designed to split with a triggered mechanism, spraying a controlled burst of milky android fluid, an unsettling blend of corn syrup, cream, and a few proprietary FX ingredients.

Alex turned to the stunt team. "Keep the fluid burst within angle C. I want the initial spray to hit the camera shield. That way it splatters across the lens on playback."

"Got it," the lead FX guy said, making last-minute adjustments.

Veronica walked over, "So, let me guess. This next scene, we beat Ian's face in?"

Alex nodded. "Violently. Parker will smash him with the fire extinguisher. The rest will look in horror. The goal is to go from horror to shock to pure disbelief. This is where we reveal he's not human."

[30 minutes later]

Everyone was in place. 

Ash's body lay slumped against the wall, just where they'd left it. Parker stood nearby, fists clenched, chest rising and falling in quick, ragged breaths. Lambert clung to the corner, trembling. Ripley, still recovering from the earlier attack, sat against the far wall, knees up, lip bloodied and eyes locked on the android's body like it might get up again.

Alex's voice cut through the stillness from behind the monitor. "Scene 42. Roll. Action."

Parker stepped forward, fire extinguisher still clutched in his grip. His voice was barely more than a growl.

"What the hell is he?"

He didn't wait for an answer.

He raised the extinguisher.

Slam.

The prosthetic head jerked violently to the left.

Slam.

Another brutal strike. The skin split near the temple. Milky fluid hissed from the wound.

Slam.

The top of Ash's head caved inward. A burst of white, viscous android blood exploded upward, hitting the plastic lens cover of the camera. A perfect shot.

The dummy's eye twitched erratically. Then a wire snapped, and its jaw went slack.

The entire room froze. The only sound was Ripley's breathing.

Lambert whispered, her voice cracking, "That's not blood."

Alex leaned into his mic. "Push in. Camera two, zoom. Get close."

The camera moved in tight. Ash's ruined face was half-open, milky fluid bubbling from his mouth. Beneath the broken synthetic skin, tubing and wire frameworks pulsed with flickering current.

Ripley crawled forward. She reached out, her fingers brushing the exposed skull, then recoiling like she'd touched a live wire.

Ash suddenly twitched again.

Sparks shot from his neck.

Lambert screamed.

Parker raised the extinguisher again, but Alex's voice cut in.

"Hold."

Ash's mouth moved. Just barely. His head turned with a mechanical jerk.

"Cut."

Silence.

Then came the reaction.

Crew members broke into applause. The FX team whooped. A few people clapped their hands over their mouths. The prosthetic had worked perfectly. Fluid, sparks, skull caving, jaw slack, all in sync.

...

8:00 PM

The last camera rig was powered down. Monitors flicked to standby. The eerie glow that had soaked the set for hours dimmed, revealing the real color of the room beneath the FX haze: gray, scuffed concrete floors, scattered tape marks, and an exhausted crew slumped over gear crates.

Alex stood in the center, arms crossed, looking over the playback monitors with a focused stare. The final scene had gone perfectly. Everything synced. The prosthetic work, the lighting, the performances. It was raw, violent, and unforgettable.

Rachel stepped up beside him, tablet in hand, now held loosely at her side. Her bun had started to unravel, and her voice was softer than usual.

"That's a wrap for the day. You want to make the announcement?"

Alex nodded, then stepped forward, raising his voice just enough to reach everyone without needing a mic.

"Alright, everyone. That's it. We're done for today."

A low cheer rippled across the stage. Someone dropped their gear with a groan of relief. A few claps echoed from the lighting crew. Everyone was satisfied. Deep-in-your-bones satisfied.

"That was the most intense sequence we've shot yet," Alex added. "And you crushed it. All of you. If we keep up this pace, we'll wrap in less than two weeks."

Scarlett walked past, towel still around her neck, eyes tired but gleaming.

"I'm gonna need a chiropractor and an exorcist after today, but... damn, that was worth it."

Veronica gave her a thumbs-up as she peeled off a blood-smeared glove. "You were insane out there. That whole bed scene? I forgot it was fake."

Ian strolled by, now fully out of character, sipping something hot from a thermos. "I'm just glad I still have a spine. Props to whoever rigged that floor padding."

Yaphet nudged him with a grin. "You got your head caved in, and I still think you were the scariest thing in the room."

Crew members were loading equipment into carts. Makeup artists were wiping down brushes. The FX team had already boxed up the ruined Ash dummy, prepping it for repairs and reshoots.

Scarlett sank into a director's chair beside the camera pit.

Rachel leaned toward her. "You good?"

Scarlett nodded. "Yeah. Shaky, but good. That kind of adrenaline doesn't wear off fast."

Alex joined them, dropping into the chair next to hers. "It worked. All of it. You killed it today."

She raised her can in mock salute. "And you owe me a massage. Or ice cream. Or both."

"Done," he said.

Across the stage, Veronica helped Lambert out of her boots. "Can we all agree I get first pick at craft services tomorrow?"

Yaphet called out, "Only if you save me the last blueberry muffin."

Scarlett muttered, "If anyone eats my frosted cinnamon bar, I swear I'll go Ripley on their ass."

Everyone laughed. Even Rachel cracked a smile.

...

...

[Location: Max & Caroline's Cupcake Shop – 9:47 PM]

Sign: "Closing in 13 minutes. Enter at your own emotional risk."

The cupcake shop was winding down for the night. The last few trays of red velvet and lemon poppyseed sat under soft lights like sleepy soldiers after battle. Max had already popped the espresso machine into cleaning mode while Caroline counted receipts at the counter like she was solving the national debt.

That's when the front door flew open so hard, the little bell above it had a panic attack.

Claire Guinness, makeup smeared, hair a tornado of chaos, and crying like she just found out Ryan Gosling was married, stumbled in.

Max nearly dropped the muffin tray she was carrying. "Whoa! Crying girl at twelve o'clock!"

Caroline looked up, blinking. "Is that Claire? Claire Guinness?"

"Yup! She keeps delaying her marriage. Now look at her," Max mumbled.

Claire's eyeliner had gone rogue and was staging a protest halfway down her cheek. She looked around like she wasn't sure where she was.

"C-Cupcakes," she choked out. "I need… emotional carbs."

Max grabbed a dish towel and sprinted over. "Forget cupcakes, girl, do you need a shot of bourbon and a flamethrower?"

Caroline was right behind her. "Claire, honey, what happened?"

Claire sniffled like a broken kazoo. "I caught my fiancé… in bed…"

Max gasped. "With who? His coworker? A babysitter? A rogue yoga instructor named Karma?"

Claire wailed, "With my therapist's 18-year-old daughter!"

Max blinked. "I… okay, I didn't see that plot twist coming. You alright?"

---

[POWERSTONES AND REVIEWS PLS]

Support link: www.patr eon.com/UnknownMaster

[6 advance chs] [All chs available for all tiers]