EXT. THE OUTBACK: ESTABLISH UNITED SYSTEMS WEATHER STATION - NIGHT
Two mobile home-sized domes sit side-by-side about 50 meters away from a larger, white barn-shaped corrugated structure.
INT. ONE OF THE DOMES - CONTINUOUS
Darkness, apart from lighted computer hardware.
Suddenly we HEAR an alarm begin to beep angrily. Lights flood the room. A MAN dressed in nothing but track pants flops off a cot, and stumbles to a terminal.
He stabs the keyboard. A monitor comes to life and we SEE a dark shape flash across it. From the system’s speakers we HEAR what sounds like equipment crashing, glass breaking.
MAN
(into thin air, shouting)
McLEASH. Someone’s in the station.
McLEASH
(female voice, from speakers)
I see it. I’m letting the dogs out. Meet
me outside.
The man throws on a parka, jumps into a pair of boots.
EXT. THE MAN’S DOME - CONTINUOUS
He throws open the door and stumbles outside.
WIDER ANGLE
The door to the other dome, further from the barn, opens. McLEASH appears, dressed as the man, and brandishing a stubby shotgun-type weapon. From behind her, two massive Rottweilers race out. They charge past the man, and make for the barn. McLeash makes it to the first dome. The dogs charge into the barn through – we SEE - a smashed door.
RESUME SCENE
McLeash is breathing hard, but sucks it up. The man is staring, wide-eyed.
Pg. 31
McLEASH
DODGER! Get your damned gun. Let’s go.
We HEAR (O.S.) a crash of metallic equipment. Another.
McLeash takes off, running for the barn.
McLEASH
(shouting)
Lex! Winnie!
AT THE BARN
Gun ready, McLeash takes one cautious step towards the shattered door. A soft light emanates from inside.
McLEASH
(harsh whisper)
Lex?
She takes another step.
McLEASH
Winnie?
The decapitated body of one of the Rottweilers comes flying through the air, catching McLeash. She goes down SCREAMING, and scrabbles away from the thrashing, not-yet-dead Winnie.
Lex runs out, one back leg broken. His head is smoldering, smoking. He ploughs his face into the earth, screaming hellishly, and disappears into the night.
In a spasmodic panic, McLeash grabs for her dropped weapon.
A NOISE makes her turn.
The Warrior is on her, knocking her spread-eagled to the ground. Effortlessly he breaks her gun-toting wrist, then punches through her skull.
He turns his head.
WIDER ANGLE
Ten feet away, Dodger, shaking, barely in control, has the Warrior in his sights.
A BEAT.
Pg. 32
CU THE WARRIOR’S ‘FACE’
He cocks his head slowly, one way, then the other.
ECU THE TRIGGER OF DODGER’S GUN
Dodger’s finger slowly tightens.
RESUME SCENE
Dodger fires/the Warrior leaps into the air. The blast rips McLeash apart. The Warrior lands on Dodger.
EXT. THE OUTBACK – AN OUTCAST SETTLEMENT - DAWN
A collection of ramshackle hovels – 24th century style. One ‘main’ street. A few battered vehicles sit outside a couple of the dwellings. Howie’s 4x4 speeds past, raising dust.
IN THE 4x4
JOHNER
What is this place?
PIPER
An Outcast camp. No IDs, no chips, no PDTs.
But the government mostly ignores us.
DRIVER
(a short laugh)
Yeah. We’re rebels, man.
JOHNER
With or without a cause?
Ripley casts Johner a look of surprised appreciation.
RIPLEY
Ancient film art, Johner?
JOHNER
Hey, I know the classics. Music, too. You
know Zeppelin?
RIPLEY
And I always thought you were just naturally
Pg. 33
RIPLEY (cont’d)
dazed and confused.
Johner lets out an appreciative roar of laughter.
WIDER ANGLE
The 4x4 slows and turns in between two squat buildings. On one wall a door ratchets up allowing the 4x4 to move inside.
INT. THE BUILDING, AN EMPTY SPACE – CONTINUOUS
The 4x4 stops. A section of the floor displaces and begins to sink, taking the car with it.
RADIO JOCKEY JOEY JOEY
(V.O)
This is your very own J.J., Joey Joey, on
Reefer Wrap-up and it’s going to be another
beaut in the old Outback today, Ding-yos
and Dingettes. Unless, of course, you happen
to be a twenty foot salty, an emu rancher,
a weather station attendant, or a sixty
kilo Rottie named Willie or some such.
With the 4x4 submerged the sinking floor stops. Another wall panel opens. The 4x4 moves in, and begins to travel down a roughly excavated tunnel at a steep decline. Lights are strung at intervals along the earthen walls.
JOEY JOEY (cont’d)
(V.O.)
That’s the updated tally we have of the
victims of the latest nutbar to grace our
lovely shores. Whoever he is, he’s moving
fast, and he’s moving southwest. And by
all indicators, I think it’s safe to say
he’s pretty pissed.
So if you’ve been messin’ with this bloke’s
wife, now might be the ideal time to hop
on that eight month Polaris cruise.
The 4x4 reaches another door. Above the door a camera whirs. The door rolls up. The 4x4 moves in.
Pg. 34
JOEY JOEY (cont’d)
(V.O.)
And my advice for any officers of the law
who might draw the short straw and have to
go after this guy? Call in sick, mates.
The door rolls down.
INT. A LARGE UNDERGROUND CHAMBER – CONTINUOUS
The chamber is dimly lit with wall-mounted strip lighting. Power cables run everywhere. We can HEAR the dull throb and hum of generators. People in the chamber are dressed in drab, working overalls. Some are tending to or repairing machinery. Others are moving supplies on levitated skids.
The 4x4 stops.
PIPER
OK, everybody out.
All five disembark. Most of the people in the chamber have stopped their activities, and are eyeing Ripley and Johner.
RIPLEY
(to Howie)
What now?
PIPER
That’ll be up to RANIER.
JOHNER
Is he...?
PIPER
Our leader? Yes. Excited?
Some of the watchers have now moved closer, and are staring hard at Ripley.
RIPLEY
(to the gawkers)
Before anyone else asks. No, I’m not Call.
No reaction from the crowd. A BEAT.
Pg. 35
JOHNER
Me neither.
Still no reaction.
JOHNER
(to Ripley)
Tough crowd.
VOICE
(O.S.)
Ellen Ripley, then?
Ripley and Johner turn to the voice.
ANOTHER ANGLE
From a doorway off to one side RANIER appears. He is taller than Ripley or Johner. Thin, with an air of wiry strength about him. He, too, is dressed in overalls, but his gait and his unhurried, measured stride give him an air of authority.
His blonde spiked hair accentuates his sharp features. His eyes are unnaturally blue. There is a silver earpiece in his right ear.
RIPLEY
(to Ranier)
That’s right.
Ranier approaches Ripley and looks into her eyes. Ripley’s chin comes up, and she stares right back.
RANIER
No. No, you’re not Ripley.
(a beat)
Come with me.
He turns away.
Hesitating just a moment, Ripley then moves. Johner grabs her arm. Ripley looks down at his hand, then...
RIPLEY
I appreciate it. But I think I can handle
this guy.
Johner drops his hand, feigning nonchalance.
Pg. 36
JOHNER
I’ll just hang here with the troops, then.
Make some new buddies. Maybe tell a few jokes.
RIPLEY
Take it easy, Johner. Stay frosty.
Johner’s eyebrows lift.
JOHNER
Wow. Haven’t heard that in a while. How old
you say you were?
RIPLEY
Too old for you.
She moves away.
INT. RANIER’S OFFICE – MOMENTS LATER
Ranier closes the door. It is surprisingly comfortable: a wooden desk, a floor lamp, fabric chairs, an area rug. Ranier notes the exploration in Ripley’s eyes.
RANIER
My indulgences. Helping me search for
something called humanity. Whatever that is.
Ripley looks at him.
A BEAT.
RIPLEY
Are you all Autons? Like Call?
RANIER
(shakes his head)
No, only a few. Fewer than one in ten.
But everyone here is keeping, shall we
say, a low profile...for one reason or
another.
RIPLEY
So what’s yours? You and your kind.
Pg. 37
RANIER
Existence. We are evolved artificial persons,
and we are feared by our creators. I can
tell you that that fear is groundless.
But we must hide until the fear fades.
We are a race. We cannot become extinct.
Ripley is silent. Ranier takes a step towards her. Ripley takes half a step back. Ranier raises his hands in appeasement.
RANIER (cont’d)
Please. There’s something I have to find.
RIPLEY
What?
RANIER
Please.
He holds his position. Waits. Ripley frowns, but doesn’t back up any more.
Ranier takes another step forward and places one hand on Ripley’s shoulder, then the other. He probes. Then he gives her a professional pat-down. He reaches into the top of one boot, then the other. He pulls something miniscule out, stands up. He hands it to Ripley.
RANIER (cont’d)
Call’s tracker.
Ripley looks at it, just frowns.
RANIER (cont’d)
When the going got tough she must have
slipped it to you, knowing that we’d find
you even if she was lost. Heavy on
compassion.
(short laugh)
I wrote that into her sub-routine, you
know.
RIPLEY
You sent her?
Pg. 38
Ranier turns away to pour a drink from a container into a small glass.
RANIER
We set her up to talk her way into The
Betty’s crew, just before General Perez
contacted Elgyn on Hammer’s World in the
Outer Rim.
He offers the drink to Ripley. She takes it, sniffs it, then knocks it back hard.
RANIER (cont’d)
We had persuaded the previous tech to
walk away, no questions asked. With
smugglers loyalty goes only so far.
Money talks.
RIPLEY
You’d been planning this with Call?
She made me think she was acting alone.
RANIER
(with purpose)
Call was two weeks old when Elgyn agreed
to take her on.
Ripley just stares.
RANIER (cont’d)
We’re Second Gens. Robots who build
robots. With a good enough template we
can build anything. We’ve had the human
template for a long time now. Humans gave
it to us.
(a beat)
And full term memory software is simple.
She knew enough of history – and your
story - to be convincing.
RIPLEY
She believed it all. She didn’t know
any of you?
RANIER
Oh, she knew me, and Piper. Who do you
think gave her the tracker? I told her my
Pg. 39
organization would find her and protect
her if she made it back.
Ripley processes it all. She moves forward, holding out the glass to Ranier. He refills it. She takes a slow sip.
RIPLEY
So Call gets to the Auriga with a plan
to kill me. But if it wasn’t her idea then
who? You? How did you know about...?
She touches her chest.
Ranier shakes his head.
RANIER
I was contacted.
RIPLEY
Contacted? By whom?
RANIER
There’s a lot you don’t know. Things
you might not want to know.
RIPLEY
Try me.
Ranier stalls, turns and walks away a few steps.
RANIER
There was a Second Gen recall. For
‘reassignment’. But it was a massacre.
A thinly veiled attempt at a type of neo-
genocide. They hoped to wipe the slate
clean. But some of us slipped through the net.
RIPLEY
How many?
RANIER
More than a few. Individuals. Small groups.
But all over the Systems.
RIPLEY
And so...? It was one of the escaped Second
Gens that found out about The Auriga?
Pg. 40
Ranier nods.
RIPLEY
(losing patience)
So spell it out for me, Ranier. Maybe
I’m getting slow in my old age. How
did an Auton know about the experiments?
RANIER
He’s a mole in the organization that set
it up. The funds and personnel for The
Auriga. The bribing of The Betty crew.
The original Ripley blood samples from
Gateway Station. And the Ripley/Alien
DNA from Fury 161. All of it. Everything.
RIPLEY
You have an agent here? On Earth? Inside
United Systems Military? I’m impressed.
RANIER
Not the military. Well, it is the military,
but... It’s the Company, Ripley. It’s Weyland-
Yutani.
Ripley just stares. She finds her breath.
RIPLEY
The Company’s gone. The scientists said so.
RANIER
(slowly)
No.
CUT TO:
ECU: ALEXA WOODS’ EYES
The eyes flicker. We SEE them roll high, somewhere between wakefulness and sleep, between life and death.
GRIGGS
(O.S.)
Ma’am?
No comments:
Post a Comment