Refine Story Concept

Characters:
Atlas –> Protagonist
Salt -> Antagonist
Sadie -> Atlas’ friend and psychiatrist
Avery -> Atlas’ friend and coworker and later girlfriend

Main Problems:
-Atlas’ own problems standing up for himself and the fear of ending up alone
-Salt wants to erase Atlas’ existence from their shared brain
-Salt grows stronger as Atlas grows weaker (emotionally, they are the same physically)
-All four characters wanting to be their own person and conflicting with their own stances in life.

1. Act I
   Atlas and Sadie sit in a therapy session at Sadie’s practice. Sadie swings a large medallion on a string in front of Atlas, who falls to sleep. He reawakens as Salt, Atlas’ alter identity. We see he is tied to the chair he sits in. He lashes out, a deranged grin across his face, although he is incapable of breaking free. The two converse before Sadie says a single word: “compass”. Salt immediately reverts back to Atlas, who is thankful. Sadie tells him his medication and the therapies are working wonderfully, and he should mail in his refill as soon as he gets home. Little does he know Salt heard this too.
2. Plot Point 1
   Atlas is seen going to his mailbox and mailing his letter, believing his problems are done with, but is then overtaken by Salt in the night. Salt removes the letter and burns it. Confident, Atlas forgets to check the mailbox, as he had done in the past, and allows himself forget his problems for the day. He goes to work at a pet store, thinking that he’ll be able to keep this job. There, he converses with his coworker Avery, who has been helping him manage his obsessive compulsive behavior, and asks her out on a date, feeling well enough to start again. Salt disguises a set of pills with fake ones, slipping by Atlas’ notice in his happiness.
3. Act II
   Salt is back with a vengeance, able to come back even when Atlas is not asleep. He confronts Atlas’ now girlfriend Avery, telling her she is nothing but an attention seeker who will never be her own person. She is doomed to live out through the lives of others. He leaves Avery broken and reverts back to Atlas only after destroying the pet shop and Atlas’ book of jokes he had started to form for his future career return. He leaves a message of warning that Atlas finds when he awakens in the morning. It questions which one of them is the true identity. After receiving a breakup call from Avery, Atlas falls deeper into his depression, making Salt stronger than before.
4. Plot Point 2
   Sadie hasn’t received a call from Atlas in a week and when he doesn’t pick up the phone, decides to visit him at his home. She finds an angry Avery, dumping his belongings on to his porch. Confused, she lets herself in to find the house a mess. Atlas lies on the floor of the living room, hung over from another one of Salt’s drunken nights. She shakes him awake and he begins to tell her what happen. She tells him he needs to be strong. Suddenly, Salt awakens to beat Sadie out of the way, asserting his power over everyone. They argue, alerting the confused Avery still outside. Sadie begins to attempt to recover Atlas, with little success.
5. Act III
   Something in Sadie’s words allows Atlas to hear their conversation from within Salt’s hold, but it isn’t enough. Atlas cannot break through, as he has no hope left in him. Salt promises to end Sadie’s sessions and removes a gun from his pants. Before he can shoot, a book is thrown at him by a nosey Avery, who couldn’t quell her suspicions. Salt angrily states that he will end them both and Avery pleads for Atlas to come back, understanding the situation. She tells him she needs him to come back because she doesn’t know who she is either, but maybe they could find each other together. Salt falls and Sadie quickly disarms him. The two are able to recover Atlas from Salt’s grasp. Later, Atlas is seen at his fifth wedding, alongside Avery. An estranged grin crosses his face.