District 10?

Here are my thoughts as to what might happen in the sequel to District 9, District 10:

District 10 is a gulag-style camp that will provide a majority of South Africa’s electrical energy supply. The prawns are forced to construct a powerful geothermal source that uses the flow of mantle convection currents to generate electricity. The machinery is capable of withstanding up to approximately 10,000 degrees Celsius, according to tests by Multi National United (or MNU, for short).

Politicians claim that they are “working with the prawns, marking a new era in renewable energies and advanced technologies.” Advertisements show supposedly happy prawn children living in District 10, playing on designated playground equipment, but many suspect that it is staged. Yet human rights activists have a hard time proving that MNU’s treatment of the prawns violates the constitution of South Africa or the United Nations’ Charter on Human Rights, since many view the prawns as not covered by “human” rights.

Model neighborhoods are staged on the outskirts of District 10, and are the only ones permitting photography by the general public. They are white domes resembling large, clean humanitarian aid tents. A select few prawns (the “good ones”), live in these tents and create a positive image for the public. Leaked drone footage, however, proves that the camp is made up of barracks-style quarters.

Interviewees voice their opinions on the camp, with a worker in District 10 saying that “the Prawns are very happy here. I think that if they had stayed in District 9, they would have all died out.” A South African historian points out that District 9 greatly resembled District 6 from the apartheid era. “History is repeating itself: there are Prawns in the District, they sit there for 20 years, the government decides to move them out, and then they bulldoze the whole thing, just like what they did with District 6.”

The camera then moves to a particular bunk bed in District 10. The time is 03:59. The clock strikes 4 and a loud alarm rings. The prawns begin shifting. A guard bangs his pistol on the lockers and yells, “Get up, you lazy f***s!” The camera pans in to a particular prawn as he gets out of his sawdust mattress and begins preparing to head to his assigned storage box. Beforehand, he quickly checks under his mattress when the guard is not looking. He then heads to his box. From there, he takes his toolbox to go to work. He will be working long, grueling hours.

“Form fives,” a guard instructs. He begins counting off each group of prawns.

We then see the prawns working on a drill that is creating the space for the power plant. Because the drill is submerged in high-temperature crust, the prawns must continually replace parts. Some die from heat injuries, some die from exhaustion, and others die from malnutrition alone. During work, our particular prawn takes a little bit of oil grease and balls it up in a little cloth. He also steals a light gray cloth and tucks it into his toolbox.

The prawn marches along with his fellow prisoners back to the barracks, very late at night. “Dinner” is short, and the prawns receive very small rations. Our prawn, shortly before lights out, takes a metal flower from under his mattress, in a place that the guards would never check. He quickly puts it back and lays down. Unlike the other prawns, however, he doesn’t sleep. When all the guards leave, the prawn gets up and manages to sneak out of the compound. There is a little bit of sticky goo dripping from the upper bunk bed, which he scrapes up. He goes outside with his oil grease and cloth. He begins to write on a concrete wall.

I am

He then covers up the incomplete message with the cloth, using the goo to hold it to the wall.

Every day onwards he writes more words in the message, covering it up every time. One day, he leaves it uncovered.

That morning, a guard spots a message written in black fluid on a concrete wall.

I am Wikus van der Merve. I have become one of them. They are not prawns. Their true name is []. Proof is below.

A metal flower is seen “planted” in the ground. On its left are two messages conveying the same thing in Prawnese and in English:

Do not take. It means a lot to me.

At first, people believe it is just a trick, and that someone broke into District 10 to write the message. A “vulnerability search” is issued, but no potential entrances seem to have been compromised or otherwise modified. The news reporters show the flower and the “do not take” message. When Wikus’s wife, Tania, sees this, she confronts her father angrily. He tells her that, in fact, MNU knows that it was a trick, and that someone who knew one of her friends (that supposedly knew about the flower) did it. However, Tania does not believe this at all, and blasts her father for illegally experimenting on prawns. He acknowledges that “maybe we went a little too far,” but he tells her that MNU was “only experimenting on prawns for the betterment of both prawns and humans.”

“Wikus is gone, Tania. Your husband is gone. It’s going to be okay.”

“No, he’s not. No, I’m going to find him!”

“You really think Wikus is still running around somewhere, looking for you?”

“Yes! YES! He’s in District 10, and I know it! You saw the news, dad! You saw the news!”

“Yes, but the news can make lies to rile up the public.”

“Just go away! Get out of my house! I said go!” He leaves the house without a word.

Tania turns on the news.

“Multi National United, a major weapons manufacturer responsible for the movement of the prawns into District 10, now faces court in Johannesburg for allegations of unethical treatment of prawns. Fundiswa Mhlanga, who published MNU’s files, has been held in Sun City prison for nearly three years. His trial will be the biggest human rights case this court has seen since the days of Nelson Mandela.”

The camera then cuts to Wikus conversing with another prawn.

“Christopher promised earlier to fix me and turn me back into a human in three solar years.”

“Not surprised. Sounds like him.”

“You knew him?”

“Yes.”

“Family?”

“He is my brother. Where is his wife and child?”

“His wife was killed by MNU. The child went with him.”

The other prawn appears to sigh.

“Is he going to come back?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where did he go, then?”

“He must have gone to Zar.”

“What is Zar?”

“Not our home world.”

“Why won’t he go back there?”

“A great war with another race killed billions of us. We set our ship’s course for nowhere. It was by pure luck that we found a planet with a breathable atmosphere and drinkable water. For one and a half solar cycles we starved on that ship. And then you humans oppress us on your world.”

“What is Christopher doing on Zar, then?”

“We made a plan. He will get the ship repaired and restocked there. The people over there are friendly. He was correct about three years. He will come back.”

November, 2012

The ship arrives, looking no different than the previous encounter. It gradually descends onto the former site of District 9. The sight is now on every major news channel. The world is waiting. Various newscasters and interviewees begin to speculate about the return of the ship.

Excerpts of TV news reports…

“People in Johnannesburg are yet again pouring out of their offices. After three years and two months, the ship has returned to

Johannesburg. Everyone is now asking, why?”

“We can see now that the ship is hovering above the former site of District 9. It looks like they have come back for revenge, but we are not sure,” says an American newscaster while watching the helicopter footage.

“I believe they are going to attack us, maybe MNU for what they did,” says an interviewee from Namibia.

“I don’t think they are going to attack humanity. Maybe they’ll reconcile with us,” says another in German with English subtitles.

“There are no more prawns in District 9. Why has the ship come back there? Do they know?” asks AfricaNews.

Some time later, MNU re-enters the ship with guns at the ready. The holes they had drilled three years prior are still present. However, there is no dense crowd of prawns this time. Christopher appears from the vast dark chamber. MNU guards raise their weapons.

“Where are my people?” he asks. The translator speaks to the guards.

“They are located in another place. District 10. It is 300km away.”

“Take me to them.”

The plot would go on to show that MNU does not want to release the prawns back to their ship (which now has a sufficient supply of food). MNU refuses to release the prawns because they are in the process of constructing the power plant. The UN convenes a meeting and many arguments take place. Wikus's wife, Tania, sneaks into the camp and asks various prawns to find Wikus, while trying to avoid the guards. She successfully finds him and his flower but cannot understand him. He makes gestures that indicate the ship, points to his face, and points to Tania’s. She realizes Wikus is implying that he can be fixed on the ship.

The decision of Mhlanga v. Multi National United Corporation is not known, but it sparks lots of protests around the globe. “Free Mhlanga!” people chant. Various scenes of the court case are interspersed with other scenes in the movie, when they become relevant to the broader implications of a scene.

That was my imagining of what would happen in District 10. Hope you enjoyed it!

Kyujin