Brief

In its current form, it is overlong and containing different tenses. See below for a simpler and more proper logline--

A tough-as-nails Martian cop with the ability to manipulate metal finds herself paired with another woman with her same abilities and hunted by sadistic cyborgs at the behest of a shadowy, malevolent organization.

What We Liked

What stands out about this work is how gung-ho it is for action, spectacle, and entertainment. This is to say that this work knows what its priorities are-- Most simply put, to enthrall the audience. The fight scenes stand out as the key virtues of this script-- Epic in their nature thanks to the special abilities and forms of its heroes and villains.

Film: This work is a solid candidate for adaptation on the big screen thanks to its bombastic action and high-stakes. LIVING METAL features a diverse array of characters with fascinating physiques and special abilities. They clash in memorable and epic ways on many occasions, and this work crescendos with a brutal, hard-fought battle. All in all, the fight scenes are sure to attract and to dazzle fans of action and sci-fi.

TV: This is a fair candidate for adaptation to TV thanks to the unique world it is set within. The notion of a far-future Mars civilization existing uneasily under the thumb of an oppressive Earth strikes as memorable and interesting. People would be drawn to this work as a TV show given that the runtimes would afford the opportunity to more fully build out this world and to characterize the many conflicts, side conflicts, and the complex web of characters, which include several interesting side characters.

Key points: 1. The unique location-- Presenting ample opportunity for world-building.
2. The terrifying villain in Nakita-- Formidable thanks to her lethal skills and sadistic personality.
3. The memorable supporting villain in Core-- An absolute brute and competent foe to our heroes.
4. The explosive finale-- An extravaganza that delivers for fans of the genres.
5. The high stakes-- Not only are our heroes risking all, but their actions have implications for not one, but two different planets.

Synopsis

As Mars commemorates its 100 year anniversary of a treaty with the Earth's united government, an explosion takes out a vital communications tower in the Mars badlands. Cocky, tough-as-nails police official ANNA MATRIX, 20s, is swept up in the blast. She has a scuffle with a handful of members of the """"Red Skull Gang,"""" the equivalent of a Martian biker gang, who she deems responsible for the charge. But Anna is soon called off by Earth security forces, including the sure-of-himself LANCE STORM, since she's within their jurisdiction. Little does she know that Earth official DR. JOHN LORICK paid for the explosion. Not long after, a team of researchers called NEOS descend into an abandoned lab, one idle since the war and owned by the formidable corporation CTC. They are followed by a military force, evidently set on apprehending and removing them from the forbidden, abandoned lab. Inside, the Neos come across a woman, SARA JESSICA BENNETT, 30, who has recently awoken and has a foggy memory. Sara becomes defensive, using powers to manipulate metal to decimate many of the troops. Partial cyborg CINDY and her colleague ALEX are spared thanks to their unthreatening postures.

As Anna is begrudgingly paired with a new partner at the station named JOHNNY REED, Sara wakes in a lab. She is supervised by Alex, Cindy, and fellow scientist MARK. Sara comes to terms with her apparent powers, while Alex and Cindy tell her that she is evidently a relic of an old Martian initiative to create supersoldiers in the fight against Earth.

They tell Sara that Earth and Mars have an uneasy treaty, where Earth is an oppressive colonizer that demands cumbersome taxes from Mars' populace. They also warn her that both the Earth government as well as CTC are searching for her. Mark takes Sara to a bar, where Anna and a friend happen to be headed. Inside, Sara bumps into Anna, spilling a drink all over her. Anna pours one on Sara in return. The two decide to have a literal fist fight, each certain they are going to win. To their mutual surprise, they are an even match, and a wild showdown ensues. They both have cybernetic enhancements, able to harden their bodies into metal. In the end, Anna becomes afraid of Sara's sheer power when she begins to lose control. Anna helps subdue Sara, as Earth's security forces swoop in, trying to capture Sara. Cindy arrives, and she and Mark help Sara escape, while Anna recovers and ponders next steps.

Alex and Cindy soon head to CTC, where they have day jobs. Apart from Cindy, Alex witnesses Dr. John, who we met earlier, awaken another being at the behest of the formidable, in-charge cyborg CORE. The being, NAKITA, is another cybernetically enhanced woman, akin to Anna and Sara. Nakita, though, is sadistic. Following orders, she captures and nearly kills Alex. Cindy soon finds him bleeding and takes him back to their secret lab, but Nakita follows them. Meanwhile, Anna is questioned by the police about the fight. She links up with her partner Johnny, and Anna wonders if CTC is behind the bombing that ravaged their abandoned lab. Earth's Lance joins the two as they head to the destroyed lab, where Anna gathers evidence of the metal-powered supersoldier experiments, but a troop of Earth's security come to apprehend them. With her enhancements, Anna quickly defeats them. Johnny is injured and heads to the hospital, while separately, Cindy takes the wounded Alex to the hospital as well.

John and Core rendezvous with the head of the CTC company, MAXAMILLION ZA'CRAN. He is marveled by Nakita and vows to continue his grandfather's legacy. He orders John and Core to track down and retrieve Sara with Nakita's help. First, John and Core head to pay the GRAND JAGUAR, the leader of the Red Skulls. However, when chastised, Nakita starts a fight with some of the members, quickly eviscerating them. The Grand Jaguar soon stands up to her, but she quickly overpowers him, too, with her metal bending prowess. They pay the leader what he is owed for the for-hire bombing, but a blast goes off once they leave, killing the last of the Red Skulls. Sara and Mark head to a fight club, where Sara seeks to hone her skills inside the ring. Soon, Anna arrives, seeking to unwind, but when she sees Sara, she challenges her to another fight. As they tussle, Anna tries to speak with and make a connection with Sara-- They are of the same kind after all. Soon, Core identifies Sara, and he orders two massive cyborgs to restrain Sara and Anna. However, Anna discharges an EMP blast from within herself, depleting the cyborgs, and Core and co. are forced to retreat.

The women escape into the bowels of the city. Sara soon has a vision of her past-- 100 years ago, she was a cop. After being shot, she was taken by a pre-cybernetic Core to be put in the """"Living Metal"""" program. In the vision, Core persuades Sara's husband to sign away her life rights to the program. Sara also had a son, and a dark, ethereal, mysterious figure warns that her son is still alive. Anna reveals that she woke up with no memory either, before becoming a cop. Meanwhile, Nakita pays a visit to an Earth ambassador to get information on Anna and to coerce him into working under her thumb. Sara and Anna rendezvous with Johnny, Cindy, and Alex at the hospital. The heroes and Neos have been blamed for the attack on the ambassador, and they deliberate on what steps to take next, becoming privy to the threat of hundreds of other Living Metal subjects being killed off by the Earth's government-- evidently a measure to ensure Mars never rises up against Earth.

Alex--who knows the location of the hundreds of Living Metal subjects--is taken and held by Earth's forces, led by Lance. Anna and Sara head to Lance's last known location, battling a slew of cyborgs along the way. Nakita tortures Alex in the CTC building, seeking to wrestle the lab location from him. Anna, Sara, Johnny, and Cindy make plans to rescue Alex-- Anna and Sara will be the distractions, while Cindy will try to retrieve Alex. Suddenly, a bullet blasts through and kills Johnny, fired by none other than Nakita. Sara and Anna suit up-- melding weapons and jet packs to their metal hybrid bodies. En route to rescue Alex, they do battle with a series of mechanized figures, and they eventually make way for Cindy to break into the CTC building. Cindy engages Dr. John in battle before she can get to Alex, but she becomes overwhelmed when Nakita intervenes, too. Luckily, Anna appears and delivers a devastating blow to the malicious Nakita. Cindy and Alex reunite as Anna and Nakita continue to engage in a violent combat. All the while, Sara confronts Core, challenging him on why he took her away from her family for the Living Metal program.

When Anna eventually defeats Nakita, she connects into Nakita's subconscious and views her memories. She discovers that she and Nakita are sisters and that they were taken in by the Living Metal program as girls. However, for killing Johnny, Anna lets Nakita fall a great distance into urban wreckage. Sara eventually overcomes Core after an extreme battle. She demands answers from the decimated cyborg regarding her lost child from before entering the Living Metal program. However, Core reveals that he has merely been piloted remotely. Anna and Sara decide to flee, but they are crossed by Dr. John in a mech suit. Alex appears in a mech of his own to save the two women.

In the aftermath of the climactic battle, Anna and Sara say their goodbyes to Alex, Cindy, and also Mark. Now fugitives from Earth's forces as well as from CTC, they prepare a """"space van"""" to leave Mars for Earth, where they figure they will be least expected. Meanwhile, Core digs Nakita out of the rubble-- She is still alive.

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