EPISODE SIX – DRAW THE LINE
A young Valentine is
speaking to someone filming him as he moves forward with his handgun drawn. He
wears a smart red jacket.
Valentine (whispers): Of course we have to be
very quiet now because behind that door over there is what we believe to be a
laboratory where illegal drugs are being manufactured. (Holds up three fingers) OK, now we go on three… two… one… Go!
He kicks down the door and
enters a laboratory where a lone scientist type works.
Valentine: Freeze, KGB!
Wimpy Scientist: I surrender, I surrender!
A key turns in a lock, in a
door. On the back of the door is taped an Aerosmith
poster. It’s Valentine, entering a room which has him on TV.
Valentine: Hey honey, I’m here, and
oh look… for some reason, I’m also there. (Points
at TV)
Elli is setting the table.
Elli: Did you know that
Valentine turns off the TV.
Valentine: Brings back memories…
Elli: Dinner is served. (Curtsies) Now what’s so special about
today that requires such an elaborate setting?
Valentine gets down on one
knee and pulls a little box from his pocket.
TITLE CARD: DRAW THE LINE
Valentine and Elli are now
eating.
Elli: I didn’t say no, I just
said I’d think about it.
Valentine: I’ll tell you something
Elli. That sounds like no to me.
Elli: When you do things like
leave in the middle of the night while I’m sleeping, desperately seek to hide
our relationship from others, and most importantly of all, not
tell me you’re still married, I have a hard time believing you take us
seriously.
Valentine: Hey, who told you that? I
annulled that marriage years ago, you know.
Elli: That’s not the point; you
never even told me that you were married in the first place. And
what about everything else? I feel like you’re ashamed of me. Do you know how that feels? Three years! And you’re still
this way! Why?
Valentine: Man, the way you women
always go on, I thought you’d love this! I don’t need this. I thought tonight
would be really good, really special, but you had to go and mess it up with
your drama again!
Valentine gets up and jumps
on the couch.
Valentine: I’m gonna
watch myself on television.
Elli: Yeah,
that’s it, run away and sulk again instead of talking with me.
Valentine lights a
cigarette.
Elli: Don’t you dare smoke in my
living room!
Valentine jumps back up and
exits, slamming he door behind him as he goes.
INT. DOJO
Two men wearing full body
leather armour are sparring with katanas. One is
clearly attacking a whole lot more than the other. After a series of brutal
attacks, the attacker tears the armour.
Vahe:
Man, alright, that’s enough! You win, calm down!
They stop, sit down and
remove their masks (They being Vahe and Valentine)
Vahe:
Something bothering you?
Valentine: Not really. Just stupid
things
Vahe:
Woman troubles?
Valentine: Something like that.
Vahe:
Well then, let Vahe the tender bartender help you
solve them.
Valentine: Thanks, but the tender
bartender can’t be of much help right now. This is a marriage thing.
Beat
Vahe:
Congratulations!
Valentine: Nah. Can you believe it,
she rejected me. Well… “Think about it”. Honestly, I thought she’d be ecstatic.
Vahe takes a swig of his energy drink.
Valentine: Really, I suppose that’s
not what’s really bothering me right now though… Really, I was thinking of Su.
Vahe:
Ah…
Valentine: Everything about Su… the
KGB, the syndicates, my father, Sha’arad, all that
went on during that time. I’d have to tell her, wouldn’t I?
The men sit in silence.
EXT. ELLI’S APARTMENT
Elli is exiting her
apartment. Up to her comes a short hyperactive guy.
Baxter: Hi, Elli!
Elli: Hi there, Baxter!
Valentine comes up the
steps. Elli spies him.
Baxter: Have you had a chance to
look over that block ownership proposal yet?
Elli: It seems like a good idea.
I’ll make sure to sign it.
Baxter: Excellent! And er, have you given any more thought to that date?
Elli (strikes an alluring
pose):
Well, I might just give in to your charms.
Baxter smiles goofily and
jogs off.
Valentine: Oi,
oi! What the hell was that all about?
Elli: Jealous?
Valentine: Of that runt? Hardly.
Uncomfortable silence
Valentine: Elli, I’m-
Elli: Sorry. Me
too. You were trying to take a step forward and I flew off on my own
frustrations. Even though you’ve never been as open with me as you should have,
it’s just because there’s probably a lot in your past you’re uncomfortable with
sharing. But you want to try and make it work. Right?
Valentine: I don’t think I need to
say anything more.
Elli: Let me see that ring
again.
Valentine puts the ring on
Elli’s finger as she smiles.
Valentine: Come, I’ll drive you to
work. (they walk) So, who was that guy?
Elli: Baxter? He’s another
tenant in this building.
Valentine: What’s that proposal thing
he was talking about.
Elli: It’s a plan for the
tenants to buy out this apartment block from SataM,
the corporation which owns it.
Valentine: You don’t need that
though. When we are married, you would live in my house, right?
Elli: I guess so. But it would
still be good to have my own property. With the influx to the city, rentable
housing is turning from a commodity to a necessity.
They enter the lift.
Valentine: Most country folk live in
the slums though.
Elli: Well, Baxter says that on
root net growth and common inflation perfunctory principle, the property value
will sky rocket from independent ownership giving a surplus gain on top of
filling the remaining flats. He knows a lot about this kind of business, he’s a
financial planner for EmeraldChaos.
Valentine: That doesn’t sound… Hm?
Elli: What’s up?
Valentine: Nothing. I thought I
remembered something.
The lift opens back up and
they exit.
INT. BLUE LAGOON
Valentine is at the bar
with Armside.
Armside:
Man, I can’t believe you’re marrying Elli! How crazy is that? How long have you
been tagging her for?
Valentine: Three years.
Armside:
That the truth? Holy shit, partner, I can’t believe I never picked up on that!
Now that I think back, there’s always been chemistry, a certain je ne sais
quoi, but I assumed it was just you being your natural self! You’ll hit on
anything that walks on two legs! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
Valentine: How many have you had?
The answer is… half a
bottle of beer.
Vahe:
Scotch on the rocks and a strawberry daiquiri, easy on the daiquiri.
He slides the drinks over
to Valentine and Armside respectively.
Vahe:
I couldn’t help but overhear, you overcame your troubles, Valentine?
Valentine: Nice going, Lieutenant
Loudmouth (slaps Armside
on the back of the head)
Vahe:
Hey, congratulations! What did the office think?
Valentine: Most of them were pretty
shocked. (Quick flashes of Armside, Remington, and Hagen looking extremely shocked and
surprised) But
Armside slurps his drink.
Armside:
Wow. You can really taste the strawberries.
Valentine: Matt… If
I said… If I said “SataM”
and “EmeraldChaos”. What would you think?
Armside suddenly look serious.
Armside:
Red Swallow.
Valentine: Yeah.
Armside:
That’s a thing of the past. Why do you bring it up now?
Valentine: Life… is a never ending
series of complications.
BREAK
INT. RED STAR COMPUTER ROOM
Remington is at the
computer while Valentine watches pensively.
Remington: What was his name?
Valentine: Kenneth Baxter.
Remington: Baxter… Baxter… Yeah, here
he is. He’s been with Emerald for almost twenty years now. Pretty
high level too.
Valentine: Man, he’s worth enough to
buy out that block ten times over!
Remington: Valentine, if I stay on
their network for too much longer, I’ll be detected.
Valentine: It’s ok, pull out. I know
what I needed to know.
Elli enters.
Elli: Marco, I- is that Baxter?
Remington logs off from the
Emerald network.
Elli: I told you there’s nothing
going on, I was just teasing you.
Valentine: I know, I know.
Elli eyeballs Valentine.
Elli: Here’s a copy of the block
proposal.
Valentine takes the sheaf
of papers from Elli.
Valentine: Ok! Nick here knows
everything there is to know about the finance world (slaps Remington on the back)
Remington: Yeah, because that’s really
why I work here.
Valentine: We’ll get the best deal
for you.
Elli: Ok.
She exits, feeling very
much more suspicious than when she entered.
EXT. STREETS
A shot of Valentine driving
too fast at night
INT.
APARTMENT BLOCK
Valentine bangs furiously
on a door eventually opened by Baxter.
Valentine: Red Swallow.
Baxter tries to shut the
door, but Valentine barges into it, knocking Baxter back. Valentine enters and
shuts the door quietly behind him. Baxter sits on the floor and holds his
bleeding lip.
Valentine: Once upon a time, I knew a
fellow called Yukio who told me about a great scam he had running. You see, he
was the boss of a large, powerful syndicate named Red Swallow. One of the
corporations controlled by Red Swallow would buy up slum properties in the
numbered sectors, clean them out and rent them as affordable accommodation.
Another of the corporations owned by the syndicate would then send
representatives to make contact with the tenants on the property with a win-win
ownership proposition, the only catch of it being that from the information
they gave as part of the deal, it was possible to use their signature traces to
clean out banks under rival ownership, then siphon the haul into a phoney
charity. When that was finished, the poor chumps who lived in the building were
left destitute when their assets got seized by the parent corporation, and the
slum was torched to remove the evidence… Nice, huh?
Baxter: Who are you and what are
you accusing me of?
Valentine: I didn’t accuse you of
anything, I was just telling a story. Which I’ll continue.
Normally, I’d be very much against this sort of thing. But the money from the
charity eventually found its way into the defence sector of the government, and
was used to fund the Knight Bridge Guard, of which I was a part.
Baxter’s hand slowly creeps
towards an open drawer.
Valentine: But, as all good things
tend to, the scams had to abort when other sectors of the government caught
wind of what was going on and ordered an investigation. But it seems that it
never really stopped after all…
Baxter: I don’t understand what
you’re saying.
Valentine: Don’t play games with me,
you little shit headed idiot!
Valentine grabs Baxter by
his collar and pins him to the wall but Baxter was able to pull something from
the drawer, which he holds out, presses a button on and speaks into.
Baxter: Red Alert, Sector DS-88!
Repeat, Red Alert, Sector DS-88!
Valentine: Shit!
Valentine throws Baxter to
the ground and runs out the door down the stairs, gunning down two advancing
goons, gets in his car and scrams.
INT. RED STAR COMPUTER ROOM
Remington is working at the
computer Valentine is loading guns. Elli pops her head round the door.
Elli: Marco, can I talk to you
in private for a moment?
INT. RED STAR TRAINING ROOM
Elli: What do you have to say for
yourself?
Valentine: About what?
Elli: You know full well about
what! You broke Baxter’s jaw and accused him of-
Valentine: I barely touched that
moron!
Elli: He’s pressing charges.
Valentine: That guy is a snake in the
grass, Elli, you can’t trust him at all.
Elli: I already told you, I was
just-
Valentine: I know! It’s not about
that!
Elli: Then what is it about?
Valentine: I- I can’t tell you. I
don’t want you involved in it. Please, you have to promise me you won’t sign
that deal he’s pushing.
Elli: I already did.
Valentine: Shit! (Punches the wall)
Elli: Marco! Tell me what’s
going on!
Valentine: I have to go.
Elli: Don’t you dare leave! You
have to talk to me, open up! If you leave now, I might as well give you this
ring back!
Valentine seems to think,
but then leaves.
EXT. VALENTINE’S CAR
Valentine is driving too
fast again. Remington is with him.
INT. CAR PARK
The sun does not shine in
this dark place. Valentine and Remington lie in wait as Baxter approaches carrying
a briefcase. When he gets close enough, they pounce. Valentine pins his arms
and Remington (who has slipped on brass knuckle gloves) breaks his jaw (for
real this time) followed by a blow to the abdomen and two hard punches in the
ribs.
Valentine: Where are the documents
for the Dobuita Sector 88 block deal? In your briefcase?
Baxter shakes his head
“no”.
Valentine: Don’t tell me you already
processed them.
Baxter shakes his head
“yes”.
Valentine: Is Yukio still Red
Sparrow’s boss?
Baxter shakes his head
“no”.
Valentine: Do you know what happened
to him?
Baxter shakes his head
“no”.
Valentine: Alright. You’re free to
go…
Baxter seems to relax, but
then notices that Remington has handed Valentine a handgun. Valentine holds the
gun in Baxter’s hand, and places it to his head.
Valentine: …To Hell.
*BLAM*
INT. VALENTINE’S CAR
Valentine: Trust. I may not tell you
everything. Some things, you won’t want to hear. But the most important thing
is you know that you will always be able to trust me.
Elli is standing next to
the window looking at a large pile of rubble.
Elli: It was not possible for me
to foresee Baxter committing suicide and my building getting bombed.
Valentine: I warned you. It’s your
own fault that your stuff got destroyed.
A pause of silence as Elli
tilts her head.
Valentine: Let’s go home.
Elli gets in the car.
Valentine: You can’t change what
happened in the past. You just have to draw a line under it and know that… know
that… know that I’m always right!
Elli: What kind of selfish crap
is that?
Valentine: Have I ever been wrong?
Elli: Plenty of times!
On they bicker…
END – CHECKMATE, HONEY
Episode Seven preview
Valentine: Kids! These days, they
think they know everything and that they are always right! Was I like that when
I was a kid? Well, I definitely am now. But can I overcome my own prejudices
and join in their fun…? Ha! Fat chance. Next episode, Rock in a