HARSH REALM “Absolute Elsewhere” By L.C. Holt TEASER EXT. 1212 WICKER AVENUE - NIGHT Legend: -WASHINGTON, D.C.- -REAL WORLD- A normal suburban, upper-class residence on the outskirts of the Nation’s Capitol. Suddenly, an ear-piercing SCREAM rings out from inside. INT. MASTER BEDROOM - NIGHT Where the house’s mommy and daddy sleep. At least they were sleeping, now the woman - JOELY BAKER, 30s - is sitting up in the bed, sweating as if she’s just awakened from the worst dream of her life. Her husband PHIL sits up beside her, comforting her with an arm around her shoulder. PHIL That’s the fifth time this week, huh? JOELY And the tenth this month. Worst nightmare of my life and it just keeps coming back. I’m running from somebody. PHIL But it’s just a nightmare. JOELY Yeah. Where’s the PM medicine? I always sleep better when I’m juiced. EXT. 1212 WICKER AVENUE - THE NEXT DAY It’s morning now. The sprinkler is on refreshing the front lawn. INT. KITCHEN - MORNING JOELY is talking on a portable telephone to a neighbor represented by a female VOICE. Oatmeal is cooking on the stove. A child, about 3, sits in a high-chair. VOICE And you keep having the same one over and over again? JOELY I wake up and I forget it. All I know is that it’s so terrible that PHIL gets freaked out. VOICE You know, if you absolutely wanted to, I know a man who could help. JOELY Really? I’d seriously consider doing anything just so long as I don’t have to go into another hospital. INT. PSYCHIATRIST’S OFFICE - DAY PAN OVER A WALL decorated with medical awards and a Ph.D., eventually finding JOELY lying on a black leather sofa. DR. MILTON GRAINGER, 55, sits beside her. He has a very soothing voice and a disposition becoming of his many awards. DR. GRAINGER How long have you been out of Valleypoint? JOELY It’s coming up on five months now. My life is perfectly fine aside from the dreams. DR. GRAINGER And you say you don’t remember the treatment you received there? JOELY They told me it will all come back to me. I hate to even mention this to you but I’ve been having trouble remembering PHIL and Baby Nikki. DR. GRAINGER Well, lets see what I can do about that. Have you ever been hypnotized before? JOELY I don’t think so. I don’t know. DR. GRAINGER It’s very simple on your part. All I need you to do is lie there and trust me. Please, relax yourself. JOELY I’ll try. JOELY’S POV: A traditional clock mounted on the wall across from her. The time is 1:17 in the afternoon. DR. GRAINGER Close your eyes. JOELY does. DR. GRAINGER I want you to envision a long staircase and you’re standing at the top of it. You begin moving down, slowly, step by step. The steps are black. You’re barefoot feeling the cool carpet between your toes. It’s cozy, like an old memory. Breathe deep in and out. JOELY is taking long, deep breaths now. DR. GRAINGER You’re getting nearer and nearer to the bottom. And then you see the last step. It’s not like the others. It’s gray. When you step on it, which is what you want to do now, you’ll be where the dreams take you. You will describe that place to me. There are five steps left until you reach the bottom. You begin to take them slowly, one by one. Five...four...three...two..one. SUDDEN FLASHES: Black and white images, very grainy: rebels in Harsh Realm running...among them, HOBBES and PINOCCHIO...a bridge hundreds of feet over a canyon where a river runs...and then Florence, turning and looking at the CAMERA. SHOCK CUT BACK TO: JOELY snapping awake so hard that she jerks forward on the couch and gasps. She’s sweating badly. JOELY’S POV: The same clock, seemingly moments later, now reads 2:11 in the afternoon. JOELY Oh my God. How long have I been under? DR. GRAINGER Nearly an hour. Don’t you remember any of the things you just told me? Dr. Grainger has a tape recorder, it’s wheels turning. He shuts it off now. Even he seems a little taken back at what he’s just heard. JOELY No...what did I say? What is wrong with me, Doctor? DR. GRAINGER Mrs. Baker, have you ever heard of past life regression? I’m preparing a writing project to cover this very subject. If you would like to meet more often, I can help you come to a deeper realization of the story you’ve just shared with me. It’s better that you discover it for yourself. JOELY If it’s in my head, I want to know about it. DR. GRAINGER In time, Mrs. Baker. Your problem -- no, not problem, wrong choice of words -- your experiences would be very valuable to me and my current endeavour. Would you consider it? JOELY, not seeing any other way, nods her head yes. DISSOLVE TO: EXT. 1212 WICKER AVENUE - DAY Legend: -ONE YEAR LATER- It looks like the same house but the paint job has changed from white to yellow signifying a long passage of time. INT. KITCHEN - DAY JOELY is in the kitchen, speaking on the portable telephone as before. Much happier it seems. Oatmeal is on the stove. In comes NIKKI, now 4 and much more grown up. VOICE How’s everything going? JOELY Honestly, for the first time since all that breakdown stuff happened, I feel like a whole person. Everything is so... NIKKI Momma! Momma! Somebody’s at the door for you. JOELY Thanks, Nikki baby. It’s probably another door- to-door jerk. I’ll call you back. INT. FOYER - DAY JOELY crosses from the kitchen to the front door, which is already partially open. She pulls it the rest of the way open to reveal, surprisingly, SOPHIE GREEN. Sophie stands there, something in her hand. Nikki hugs her mom around the waist and looks up at their visitor. JOELY Yes? Can I help you? SOPHIE (nervously) What a pretty little girl. Reminds me of my own, though she’s a bunch younger. I’m sorry to bother you, Mrs. Baker. You are JOELY Baker, right? JOELY Yes, what can I do for you? Sophie holds up what’s in her hand. It’s a dog-eared, hardcover book entitled “WHO WERE YOU BEFORE? BY DR. MILTON GRAINGER Ph.D.”. SOPHIE I read the book about your experiences and you mentioned a name that interests me. Tom Hobbes. Could you tell me how you knew him? ACT ONE INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY Sophie sits on the couch. Nikki plays with hot-wheel cars on the floor. JOELY hovers by the fireplace sipping scotch and caressing her wedding photo. SOPHIE Lovely house. JOELY You say that you knew this Tom Hobbes? SOPHIE I knew a Tom Hobbes, yes. JOELY (re: Nikki) She’s such a tomboy, but I’d have it no other way. Sophie smiles, she likes talking about the child but she’d rather talk about her fiance. JOELY Tell me your Hobbes, I’ll tell you mine. SOPHIE He was handsome and charming. A military man but his first and foremost dedication was to me and our family. Well, my family. He wasn’t around to she his daughter’s birth. They said he’s dead. JOELY I see. The Hobbes I knew, you understand, was from many years ago. Before this all happened to me, I never believed in past lives. My Hobbes was fighting a war for freedom so my shrink and I suspect it must have been around the Civil War period. There were others. A woman in particular. As you read in the book, even after a year I haven’t had a perfectly clear picture of my life in that time frame. I can only assume certain things. My place now is to try and fill in the pieces, make it a whole memory rather than just an incomplete puzzle. SOPHIE But your description. Listen, to be honest, I don’t know what I believe but I have hope and faith that... JOELY Let me guess, you’re looking for answers. Sophie nods her head yes. JOELY Then we’re both looking for the same thing just for different reasons. Do you know that I had what the old-timers use to call a nervous breakdown. There’s a fancier word for it now but it’s still a nervous breakdown. Because of this, I spent many a month in a mental institution and lost a lot of my life prior to being hospitalized. There are things that I’m still looking for. This discovery about my former lives, my past existences has only opened my mind further. Somehow I feel like I’m closer to finding the truth about myself, even though I’m looking into a point in history before I was even born as JOELY Olsen-Baker. SOPHIE You worked closely with Dr. Grainger in writing this book. He knows things that you can’t even remember from being under, right? Maybe he’d be willing to indulge the both of us. JOELY Your belief that I have something to tell you about a man I’ve only dreamt of, a man who might not even be real, or alive anymore, blows me away. SOPHIE Your memories from this book connected with me. I have to remain open-minded if I want Tom home. JOELY You honestly don’t think he’s dead, do you? SOPHIE No, I don’t. JOELY And you think I can help you somehow? SOPHIE Yes. JOELY It’s been a while since this began for me, but I’m willing to retrace my steps for you...and your Tom Hobbes. Sophie smiles, happy that another is willing to join her quest. And for all the right reasons. EXT. VALLEYPOINT MENTAL HOSPITAL - DAY Sophie’s car drives up carrying JOELY in the passenger’s seat and Baby Nikki in the car-seat in back. The hospital is deserted, windows boarded-up, marble walkway to the entrance cracked and mildewing. Sophie steps out of the car and heads toward the door where a yellow-and-black sign is posted. JOELY carries her little girl. NIKKI I wanna walk, momma. JOELY Not just yet, baby. There might be stickers around here. (to Sophie) What does it say? POSTED SIGN: “Condemned! Closed For Inspection and Renovation! For Patient Information call 555-514-9999”. SOPHIE Long story short, they’re gone. Everybody. Everything. If only we could... Sophie leans on the door to look in a window and that’s when she discovers it’s unlocked. Rusted but moving, it slides open. SOPHIE What do you think? JOELY An innocent look around never hurt anybody. SOPHIE Is this the way you remembered the place? JOELY Not really. It’s gone downhill fast. SOPHIE Do you want to take the baby in? JOELY Yeah, I’ll hold on to her. Sophie and JOELY go in. INT. CLASSROOM - DAY Though the place looks more like a room where surgeries would take place. There’s a rusting metal table surrounded by a circle of student’s desks. SOPHIE Is any of this ringing a bell? JOELY I don’t know. It’s weird. Some of it is. I don’t... SUDDEN FLASH CUTS TO: More black and white images: Florence aiming her weapon...the cold, worn face of a man...a tattoo of what looks like two wings. JOELY JERKS SO HARD that she nearly drops Baby Nikki. Sophie supports the child. Nikki begins crying. NIKKI Momma! Momma! SOPHIE Shhh, shhh, it’s okay. (to JOELY) What’s the matter? You look like you’ve just been run over twice by a ghost-mobile. JOELY I do remember this place. I was in this room. Why am I only remembering it now? SOPHIE What happened in here? JOELY Ms. Green, it has been a year and a half. And this is a part of my life I’ve tried to put behind me. SOPHIE But if something happened in here... Sophie sees the once-operating table. SOPHIE Was someone performing surgery on you. JOELY I don’t have any scars. Why would they do that? I was in here for a nervous breakdown. SOPHIE What caused it, JOELY? JOELY I...I don’t remember. SOPHIE Then how do you know you had a breakdown? JOELY Jesus Age, why else would I be in here? SOPHIE The question I wanna ask is why isn’t anyone here now? JOELY I can’t answer that anymore than you. I want to get outta here. I need some air. EXT. VALLEYPOINT MENTAL HOSPITAL - DAY JOELY stumbles outside and takes a deep breath. Sophie carries Nikki out, puts her down, and the child hurries to her mother. NIKKI Momma, I wanna go home. JOELY That’s where you’re going. SOPHIE Mrs. Baker, there’s something about this place and that room that’s triggered something inside you. I know it might be hard but you have to realize that... JOELY I’m not backing out of this, Ms. Green. I said she was going home. The two of us are going to see an old friend of mine. EXT. MEDICAL PLAZA - DAY Sophie’s car arrives with her and JOELY inside. JOELY nervously smokes. Sophie is on her cell phone. SOPHIE (on phone) Sarah, I do appreciate this. I’ll be home before nightfall, I promise. (to JOELY) Where are we? JOELY You know that old saying about moving up and out? Well, this is where Dr. Grainger moved up and out to. INT. PSYCHIATRIST’S OFFICE #2 - DAY The outer office, anyway. The one where a well-paid RECEPTIONIST sits in front of a wall saying “DR. MILTON GRAINGER CLINICAL PSYCHIATRY”. JOELY Hi, Penelope. RECEPTIONIST What a surprise, Mrs. Baker. How are we today? My, it has been a while. Can I help you? JOELY Is Milton in? RECEPTIONIST How very awkward you’d come now, just after he’s left on vacation. It’s going to be a tough three weeks for me, being his private answering service and all. JOELY The first time in ten years he takes a holiday and it’d be right when I need to talk with him. (to Receptionist) Do you have a number where I can reach him or a forwarding address. RECEPTIONIST One thing about Dr. Grainger, on the rare occasions he gets lost he really gets lost. If I were you, I wouldn’t plan on seeing or hearing from him at least until August the 1st. Sorry. Can I help? JOELY, feeling uncertainty about herself for the first time in a while, shakes her head no. Sophie and her leave. INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - DAY LANGLY sits reading Dr. Grainger’s book. PAN BACK to reveal Sophie and JOELY standing beside the computer console where FROHIKE is working. JOELY --And then I was returned to my family. They said my mental state had returned to normal and, for the most part, I was cured. LANGLY Hey, Frohike. What if I was like a ballerina in another life? FROHIKE Are you kidding? With those hips? Langly scoffs and stands, now addressing JOELY. LANGLY Sounds to me like you're a classic GBGP scenario. JOELY What? LANGLY Government-brainwashed-guinea-pig. Do you remember when your kid was born? JOELY Not expressly. FROHIKE How about your wedding day? JOELY They said there would be missing pieces, but that they would surface like twigs on the bank of a flowing stream. FROHIKE Twigs, huh? LANGLY Definitely government programming. FROHIKE We’ve seen it before. LANGLY Never a pretty picture. JOELY I Know Who I Am! Frohike brings something up on the computer, a photograph of Valleypoint in perfect working order. FROHIKE This is a photo of the institution you were supposedly committed in at the time it was last operational: 1972. JOELY But I was there a year and a half ago! A year and a half! FROHIKE At which time, according to this information, it was being secretly refurbished by the United States government. They bought the facility in 1984. JOELY But that doesn’t make sense... LANGLY Sure it does if you’re thinking fourth dimensionally: the government buys the place and brings it up to snuff long enough to conduct some kind of secret project at which point they abandon it to the elements, thereby successfully covering their tracks. They can always say, “Don’t know, never been there.” FROHIKE And whatever that secret project was, you were obviously involved. SOPHIE And so was Tom, right! FROHIKE Evidentially so. JOELY I don’t buy it. Just look up my past. It’s all on record, spelled out in black and white. FROHIKE I did already. A few more taps on the keyboard and Frohike brings up a picture and profile of JOELY Olsen-Baker. FROHIKE Your credit history is flawless, no loans, no criminal record. According to this, you should be next in line for an honorary sainthood. LANGLY Nobody’s past is that immaculate. FROHIKE I know this may be hard for you to swallow but, considering the fact you have no recollection of any of this stuff, that you’re simply taking the people who set you free’s word that you are who you are, no options should be dismissed. JOELY But Dr. Grainger said... LANGLY He can’t be trusted. For all we know, he could have been uploading all that mess into your brain to begin with. FROHIKE There’s only one way to know for sure. (aside) Where’s that damn book? TIME CUT TO: INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - LATER ANGLE - A BOOK Opened. It’s a yellow-and-black cover with the title “HYPNOTISM FOR DUMMIES”. ANGLE WIDENS: Frohike is the man reading. Sophie and Langly watch as he attempts to put JOELY under. It’s working. FROHIKE You’re reaching the end of your tunnel. There’s a light and voices and pictures. These pictures are from your past. When I snap my fingers, you will be there. You will tell me everything. Frohike snaps. MORE SUDDEN FLASHES TO: Black and white images: this time in the real world, in that classroom/surgery place where we see DOCTORS injecting an unconscious JOELY with a strange liquid. JOELY SPRINGS FORWARD, back in the Lone Gunmen HQ. LANGLY That was freaky. FROHIKE Do you remember any of what you just told us? LANGLY You were being tested or something. They were giving you some sort of weird-colored drug. JOELY rubs her face. JOELY Wings. I remember wings. A tattoo, an emblem. Red wings. LANGLY Maybe you were at Denny’s for the Tuesday night hot wings special. Frohike nudges him. LANGLY What?! They’re good! FROHIKE Mrs. Baker, do you have a picture of your supposed past. Something you were given upon leaving the hospital that was from before you went in. JOELY digs through her purse and comes out with a photo of herself hugging PHIL and Baby Nikki when the baby was only a few weeks old. FROHIKE Aha. (hands it to Langly) What do you make of this? LANGLY It’s a fake. Look. JOELY is given back the picture. Her and Sophie take a closer look. LANGLY See your neck, or lack thereof. Your head has been transposed on another woman’s body. It’s simply a high-tech, if not badly done, forgery. SOPHIE Oh my God... JOELY... FROHIKE Sorry. JOELY But, if I’m not JOELY Olsen-Baker then who am I? ACT TWO INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - DAY Resume: Sophie comforts JOELY on the sofa while Langly paces the room. Frohike stays behind his computer console. LANGLY If you think about it, it makes perfect sense. “JOELY Olsen Baker.” JOELY, Harris, & Baker -- the graphic design firm. You know those dinosaurs from Jurassic Park? Well, the JH&B folks were the forefathers of CGI imaging. FROHIKE And Olsen, as in General Olsen, as in General Philip R. Olsen, as in the guy killed a few years ago on a diplomacy mission in Bosnia. LANGLY How very 007-ish of them. Sophie turns to JOELY, who’s still a bit stunned by all of this. SOPHIE Let me make you some coffee, okay? JOELY nods yes and Sophie exits. Frohike is searching profiles on the database. LANGLY What I’m willing to bet is that your past life regressions are actually recollections of a very immediate time period. Something that the project, or a splinter faction thereof, had you involved in. FROHIKE And then they brainwashed you... LANGLY --So you’d forget. JOELY What you’re suggesting...my husband...my child...my house... LANGLY All cover jobs. JOELY But who am I and what were they doing with me?! LANGLY You said that they were injecting you with a strange type of serum. Maybe the memory lapse is a side effect from that drug. The CIA has been known to use such mind-altering substances on their subjects. A kind of souped-up whacky weed. FROHIKE Bingo! Frohike has pulled up a series of head-shots, female and male, from a military database. Most of the bios have been omitted. Langly and JOELY lean in for a closer look. Sophie returns with two cups of coffee. FROHIKE Look at all these people -- all members of U.S. Special Forces Units. All recruited. All erased. LANGLY The big, bad mammerjammer powers-to-be are at it again. But why are some of ‘em, like Miss Jane Doe here, re-emerging while others slip between the cracks forever? FROHIKE There’s only one way to find out. (to JOELY) We have to go deeper. Don’t worry, I’m practically a professional at this. (to Langly) Where’d I set the manual? JOELY glances at Sophie, worried. TIME CUT TO: INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - LATER JOELY is lying down again. Frohike’s nose is buried in the “FOR DUMMIES” book and Langly hovers over him. Sophie is off to the side nervously sipping coffee. FROHIKE You’re drifting down that tunnel again. It’s the same tunnel but it looks differently now that you’re moving faster. Faster. Faster. You’re going to go deeper this time. Deeper than you ever have been before and this time you will not be able to awaken from it until you here the following phrase. Uh...uh... LANGLY All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy! FROHIKE Okay. Notice yourself drifting closer, closer. Going faster now, speeding through the tunnel. Now there’s the light. You’re about to be consumed in it. You’re now consumed in it. What do you see? FLASH TO: EXT. FIELD - HARSH REALM - DAY Sun-soaked and tattered in her army uniform, JOELY looks different now. Her hair is shorter. She’s looking around. A group of rebel freedom fighters are running, from what it hasn’t been revealed. They are running straight for her. JOELY (V.O.) Oh my God, they’re going to trample me! Suddenly, they are upon her. One elbows her aside and knocks her to the ground. JOELY lying dazed in the grass. She reaches for her ankle that has been twisted and sees THE RED WINGS TATTOO - It’s on her own leg. Then, a friendly hand comes down and offers to help her up. JOELY is looking up at HOBBES. HOBBES Are you okay? And there’s PINOCCHIO. PINOCCHIO Excuse me, but do you wanna run from the bad guys with guns or should we stand here and let them shoot us? Hobbes helps JOELY to her feet and now they are both running, along with the crowd of rebels, from what is now revealed REPUBLICAN ARMY HUMVEES and GUARDSMEN hanging out of the windows, firing on them. A man beside Hobbes is shot and he digitizes. At the end of the field there’s a drop fifty feet into a river. Many of the people jump. On the edge, Hobbes and Pinocchio stop, turning to JOELY. HOBBES We have to jump. Can you make it? JOELY My ankle, I can feel stuff torn up in there. PINOCCHIO Well, either jump or stay here and die. Pinocchio picks her up into his arms and, holding her, he and Hobbes throw themselves off the bluff. FLASH TO: INT. SISTERHOOD BARN - DAY JOELY lies on a bed of hay, she’s slowly coming around. Kneeling beside her is FLORENCE. Florence is healing her ankle. She sees the red wing tattoo. Looks curiously at JOELY. JOELY Where am I? This place looks so familiar. I... With one squeeze of JOELY’s ankle, Florence is done. She offers JOELY a helping hand in getting up. JOELY I can't. I’ll hurt my ankle even worse if I... But she stands, with no pain. JOELY How did you do that? You’re a Sister, aren’t you? Florence nods her head yes. FLASH TO: INT. BAR - DAY Hobbes and Pinocchio sit at the bar, with Florence and JOELY beside them. PINOCCHIO So, what does that tattoo on your ankle mean? JOELY I’m with the United States government. I was sent in here as a moderator. (to Hobbes) You are the man I was ordered to evaluate and return with a profile of. But I’ve decided not to leave. HOBBES Why? JOELY There is a man here, a powerful man. PINOCCHIO Santiago. JOELY If I can destroy this man then there’s a possibility I can free all the others. My friends sent here before me, people like you. Florence writes something with her finger on the bar -- “YOU ARE IN DANGER”. JOELY nods her head yes. FROHIKE (V.O.) Who’s after you? Suddenly, the front door of the bar is BURST DOWN and a large, powerful-looking man in Project Harsh Realm attire is coming straight for them. He’s from the real world, this BOUNTY HUNTER. And he has his eye set on JOELY. JOELY Him! Several men step in the way of the Bounty Hunter but he effortlessly tosses them aside. ONE SMASHES THROUGH A POOL TABLE! PINOCCHIO Florence, get her outta here! JOELY and Florence head for the back exit. Pinocchio SMASHES a beer bottle over the Bounty Hunter’s head. He gives Pinocchio an evil stare and PUNCHES HIM! Pinocchio flies over the bar into the mirror on the other side. GLASS SHATTERS! Now, Hobbes has his pistol in the Bounty Hunter’s face. For the first time, the man stops. HOBBES Don’t even think about it. EXT. BAR - DAY Florence and JOELY head into the woods. Suddenly, HOBBES COMES FLYING THROUGH THE WALL OF THE BAR! He lands in the windshield of a car, unconscious. And here comes the Bounty Hunter, on a beeline for JOELY and Florence. FLASH TO: EXT. BRIDGE - DAY Florence, M-16 in hand, trots across a deserted bridge stretching over a flowing river. JOELY follows close behind. JOELY (V.O.) I’m somewhere else now. FROHIKE (V.O.) Where? JOELY (V.O.) A bridge. I’ve been here before. Suddenly, the Bounty Hunter comes down from the sky and lands behind JOELY, grabbing her by the shoulder. She turns, PUNCHING HIM FULL FORCE in the face! He’s stunned, backs off slightly. But he has something in his hand - CLOSE A syringe full of the strange-colored serum. Just before he can plunge this into JOELY’s body, Florence steps in between them, putting the M-16 to the Hunter’s chest and SQUEEZING THE TRIGGER! He’s riddled with bullets at point-blank range. He stumbles backwards, trips over the railing, and falls fifty or more feet into the water below. LOOKING DOWN Florence nor JOELY can see any trace of him in the rapidly flowing water. FROHIKE (V.O.) Okay, he’s dead now. Can you go back any further than this? Before you came to this new place. When you were still in the care of the project doctors? JOELY (V.O.) I don’t know. FROHIKE (V.O.) Try. SUPERIMPOSE, OVER FLORENCE’S FACE, rushing down a dark tunnel at a high speed toward the light at the end...being consumed in it... FADE UP: INT. CLASSROOM - DAY The light becomes the overhead light of the surgery table. We see everything in a POV SHOT looking up at the project DOCTORS. 1ST DOCTOR Don’t worry, Kelly, this will be painless. 2ND DOCTOR Remember, your time in the realm will be limited. You will do your duties and return as scheduled. CLOSE The injection of the strange serum into JOELY/Kelly’s arm. JOELY (V.O.) Kelly. My name is Kelly. FROHIKE (V.O.) Kelly what? Can you go back any further? Return to the tunnel and push backwards as hard as you can. JOELY (V.O.) It’s getting harder and harder. SUPERIMPOSE OVER THE DOCTORS, the tunnel rushing by. We’re moving deeper and deeper, past several outlets, toward the very end where the light is brighter than it’s ever been...and then we are consumed by it... FADE UP: INT. MAN IN CHARGE’S OFFICE - DAY JOELY/Kelly standing at the foot of the desk being given a file folder marked “HOBBES, T.F.” by the MAN IN CHARGE. She’s dressed in U.S. Army fatigues. MAN IN CHARGE Lt. Wallis, let me commend you for participating so wholehearted in this assignment. I can assure you that you’ll be given full validation for your compliance. KELLY If it’s grace under pressure that you need, I’m here, Colonel. MAN IN CHARGE Precisely why you’re so ideal as our new moderator. You’ll be given assignment and placement very soon. Until then, you will wait. We’ll contact you. Just then: FROHIKE (V.O.) All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. SLAM CUT TO: INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - DAY JOELY awakens, now fully remembering her past life and the fact that her real name is LT. KELLY WALLIS, not JOELY Baker. LANGLY What a trip that was, huh? Sophie agrees with a nod. KELLY I remember now. I remember everything. My apartment, my cat. All I had was a cat. I was never married. Jesus Age Christ, what did they do to me? FROHIKE You were apparently the willing subject in the project’s moderation procedures. The extent of which even we’re not clear on. KELLY A controlled environment. Like mice in a maze. LANGLY They purposely put you in so nobody else could get out? KELLY And when I wanted to shut it down from the inside... FROHIKE --Another moderator was sent in to eliminate you from the game. Forever. LANGLY But if you killed him, why aren’t you still in the game? Kelly is drawing a blank on that. KELLY I don’t know. They must have kept sending them in, one after the other. I want to go under again. Sophie comes into the conversation. SOPHIE Wait a minute! Nobody’s explained to me yet what Tom has to do with all this. KELLY The place where I was, is where he was. And he’s still there. SOPHIE If you can come out then he can. Kelly nods her head yes. Sophie looks at the Lone Gunmen. SOPHIE Then this could be the key to getting him home. ACT THREE INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - DAY Resume: everyone is as they were. LANGLY Okay, lets not jump the gun here. Are we all forgetting that these are some dangerous mo- fo’s? I need to make a call. Langly steps to the side with his cell phone. ON Sophie, Frohike, and Kelly. KELLY I’ve got to get outta here. There’s a few places I need to visit. I promise I’ll be back. SOPHIE I’m coming with you. Kelly and Sophie leave. ON Langly. LANGLY C’mon. C’mon, answer. INTERCUT WITH: INT. PROJECT OFFICES - DAY JOHN FITZGERALD BYERS is sitting at a programming station in the top-secret, high-security facility. He answers his cell phone. BYERS Hello? LANGLY Just checking in on you, honey. Listen, this may sound crazy and impossible but try and forget how crazy and impossible it is for a second and do us a favor. Go through the screening files of all in-game moderators for the last five years and see what you can come up with about a woman named Kelly Wallis. Lt. Kelly Wallis, to be exact. BYERS Are you nuts? That would be a major security breach. LANGLY So? What’s the problem? INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - DAY Langly hangs up on him. FROHIKE Hey Langly...the good lieutenant, do you think I’d be her type now that she’s officially single? LANGLY If she’s in as deep as I think she is, you might wanna think about becoming a necrophile. FROHIKE Ugh! Do you know how gross that is? EXT. HUDSON ST. APARTMENT COMPLEX - EVENING Legend: -KELLY’S APARTMENT COMPLEX- Not the coziness place in the world, but it’s certainly a nice haven for singles who live alone. INT. KELLY’S APARTMENT - EVENING Kelly opens the door and leads Sophie inside. The place is just as she left it, but you can tell no one’s lived here for a year and a half. The dust has built up. KELLY It’s weird, getting use to a life and then realizing it’s not your own. SOPHIE I understand the feeling. KELLY How did you meet those guys? SOPHIE Through a mutual friend. KELLY If memory serves, I have a bottle of bourbon stashed. Want some? Sophie nods. Kelly opens the entertainment center and pulls the bottle out. She pours some for Sophie and herself. KELLY I wanted to come back here. I wonder what they did with... A black cat noses it’s way out of the bedroom. KELLY Fluffy! The cat happily comes over and sits in Kelly’s lap. The kitty tries to stick her nose in the glass of bourbon. KELLY No, no. This is strictly for taller folks. SOPHIE She remembers you. KELLY Fluffy’s a he, actually. Only man in my life in years. Unless, of course, you count my quasi- husband. SOPHIE Do you realize how many lives these people have screwed up? KELLY Not anymore. Not if I can help it. Sitting down for a drink on the ole sofa and pettin’ Fluff wasn’t the only reason I came home tonight. Kelly finished off her drink and goes into the bedroom. Sophie’s eyes scan the walls. PAN OVER FRAMED PHOTOGRAPHS of Kelly in basic training...with her elderly mom and dad...graduating college. SOPHIE They’ve stolen so much from you. Kelly returns with a .45 Automatic. KELLY This is for personal defense. I think I’m going to either need it or some more insurance when they’ve discovered my memory’s back. SOPHIE You said before that we’re not going to let them get away with it. KELLY That’s right. SOPHIE What are we going to do? KELLY All that we can. INT. WASHINGTON POST OFFICES - NIGHT As a SECURITY GUARD is about to lock up the front doors for the night, Sophie and Kelly come knocking. GUARD We’re closing up. Check the business hours and come back tomorrow. KELLY With the story we have, you’re going to regret turning us away. INT. EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S OFFICE - NIGHT The editor-in-chief is a guy in his late-50s, smoking a cigar and sitting behind the biggest desk in the newspaper office. His name is MICKEY O’HALLORAN. Sophie and Kelly are present. O’HALLORAN I love a good Capitol Hill disaster story as much as the next editor-in-chief, but the CIA and DOD secretly plotting the abduction of military officers? This is a little much without unfounded proof. KELLY My proof is not unfounded. O’HALLORAN Maybe not but it’s extremely edgy. Almost too edgy for one of the country’s leading newspapers. Check with the Weekly World News. KELLY But it’s all true, and in my head! And the book! O’HALLORAN So we accredit your evidence to a hack like Grainger? The man’s books don’t even reach the Top 100. He’s a nobody who’s going to stay a nobody. For all I know this is some kind of publicity stunt from his publisher. Sophie snaps. SOPHIE Real lives are at stake here. O’HALLORAN Listen, you two look like a couple of descent, well-minded women, but there’s no way in hell the Washington Post is going to go on record as saying the Pentagon is involved in the shady disappearances of a bunch of people who could have, for all we know, simply dropped off the face of the earth. (beat) It wouldn’t be the first time people just got lost and didn’t wanna be found. I’m sorry. INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - NIGHT Sophie and Kelly return, quickly set upon by Frohike and Langly. LANGLY You’re back! (to Frohike) They’re back! FROHIKE We were getting worried. KELLY Nobody’s going to believe us. My life, everything that’s happened to me, is the world’s biggest joke and they’re all laughing. LANGLY We could’ve told you that. Happens every time, same thing over and over. Frohike nudges Langly again. FROHIKE I don’t think that’s what she wants to hear. LANGLY Hey, just ‘cause your sweet on her... FROHIKE Wanna broadcast it on CNN? LANGLY Anyhoo, we’ve got our man on the inside digging up what he can. I mean, be happy, lady, there are quite a few people here putting their lives on the line for you. Least of all the ones who are standing in this very room. KELLY I’m ready. I’m ready to go back again. TIME CUT TO: INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - LATER Kelly lies on her back for the third time on the Gunmen’s couch. Frohike puts her under his spell again. FROHIKE Moving down the tunnel once more. See the light? Rush toward it. Not as far as before. You’re now back right after our last regression. FLASH TO: EXT. WOODS - HARSH REALM - DAY Florence stalks cautiously as she leads Kelly through the over-grown forest. FROHIKE (V.O.) Where are you? KELLY (V.O.) Woods. Thick woods. FROHIKE (V.O.) Are you with Hobbes? KELLY (V.O.) No, I’m with the silent one. The healer. Florence. She’s my protector now, but we both feel the hunter breathing down our necks. Florence takes a wrong step and a rope hooks her foot. She’s dragged for several yards along the forest floor and then pulled up twelve feet off the ground into a tree. She hangs upside down. FLORENCE’S POV: The 2ND BOUNTY HUNTER stands before her, looking her in the eye, and smiling. The 2nd Hunter now turns to Kelly, heads in her direction. She doesn’t move, just stands strong like the soldier she is. Florence looks down, her M-16 is far beyond her grasp. KELLY You want me?! Come and get me! And Kelly begins running. She runs forever through the branches and vines, cutting her arms but not caring. The 2nd Hunter remains in close pursuit, he’s barely breaking a sweat. BACK TO FLORENCE She bends up, grabs the rope which holds her in the air, and, with a powerful karate chop, clean-cuts it in two. She drops. BACK TO KELLY She finds a tall cluster of branches and hides behind it. The 2nd Hunter appears, looking around, as if trying to sense where she is. He spots her and she begins running. So does he, but, forcefully and suddenly, Florence clothes-lines him and he drops to the dirt. She places the M-16 square on his forehead, but the Hunter snatches Florence’s feet from under her. He grabs her by the neck, lifting her and slamming her back against a tree trunk. Florence breaks free, head-butting the Hunter and shoving him away. She goes up in the air and kicks him in the head. The power of the blow sends the Hunter flipping. As soon as he hits, he recovers and is back on his feet. Florence comes for him but he has a knife. He slashes her stomach. She backs away, cautiously posed for attack. As the Hunter comes forward, Florence spins, catching him in the face with her elbow. He stumbles, comes again with the knife and Florence successfully pulls off the same move. Now, the 2nd Hunter is barely on his feet, his balance is wavering. Florence takes advantage of this and kicks him in the gut, followed by a punch to the face. The Hunter falls to the dirt, takes a good moment to recover and then returns to his feet. They are eyeing one another now, trying to size each other up. The Hunter lunges with the knife and it lodges in a tree trunk. Florence round-house punches him in the jaw, he stumbles. This guy loves taking punishment. They are circling one another. The Hunter jabs Florence right in the face and she goes to the dirt. He kicks her in the back and then stomps on her stomach. She’s hurt. The Hunter’s eyes fix on Kelly. Like the other, he too holds a deadly syringe of that strange liquid. He comes for her but Florence springs up behind him, chopping his shoulder blades. With one quick movement, Florence spins his head around, completely breaking it. The 2nd Hunter digitizes. Florence is bleeding and hurt, but she, nonetheless, picks up her M-16 and claims the Hunter’s knife from the tree as her own. She shrugs as if to say “He won’t need this anymore.” FLORENCE AND KELLY They have a new respect for one another. Suddenly, a new situation unfolds around them. They realize that they are surrounded on all sides, encircled by project DOCTORS. 1ST DOCTOR Our Bounty Hunters have not been successful at retrieving you, dear Lt. Wallis. 2ND DOCTOR If you really need a job done... 3RD DOCTOR --You must do it yourself. 1ST DOCTOR Why you refuse to return honestly perplexes us, Lt. Wallis. There is absolutely nothing for you here. KELLY All of these people. You can’t keep them trapped here. 1ST DOCTOR It is not your job to be their savior. Truly, we must screen our moderator more thoroughly in the future to avoid such ridiculous empathy. While Florence and Kelly were distracted by the 1st Doctor, the 3rd has slipped up from behind and injected Kelly in the arm with the syringe of serum. Florence grabs this Doctor’s arm, twisting it until it breaks. But it’s too late, Kelly flickers and then digitizes. CLOSE: Kelly’s eyes, in the real world, flutter and open. INT. CLASSROOM - DAY She awakens on the metal operating table with project Doctors surrounding her. Fiber-optic tubes are removed from her temples. 1ST DOCTOR Welcome back to the world of the living, Lieutenant. With reflexes like a tiger, Kelly has this Doctor by the throat, strangling him. 2ND DOCTOR We’ve got another head-trip! A Military Officer rushes in and clocks Kelly on the back of the skull with the butt of his rifle. She’s knocked to the floor. The 1st Doctor catches his breath. 1St DOCTOR Another one desensitized by that miserable program. (to the officer) Keep this one alive. You know what to do. INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - NIGHT Frohike snaps his fingers and Kelly wakes with a start. LANGLY And that must have been when they erased Kelly Wallis. FROHIKE And invented JOELY Baker. Kelly is sobbing into her hands. Sophie comforts her. KELLY How dare they...how dare they take my life away from me... SOPHIE There’s got to be rock-solid evidence back at Valleypoint. Something. LANGLY There’s only one way to find out. ACT FOUR EXT. VALLEYPOINT MENTAL HOSPITAL - NIGHT The deserted hospital looms like a monster in the shadowy night. Across the street, a van that says “MELVIN’S MOVING SERVICE” is parked. INT. MOVING VAN - NIGHT Frohike on a headset communicator to the girls who are apparently inside the facility. Langly uses an original builder’s blueprint to lead them. LANGLY Are they to the end of the corridor yet? FROHIKE Are you guys at the end of the corridor? SOPHIE (V.O.) Frohike, we know where the surgery room is. LANGLY If they know then why do they need me? FROHIKE Just in case, I guess. INT. CLASSROOM - NIGHT Dark and even more menacing in the moonlight that sneaks in from a hole in the upper right wall of the room. Sophie and Kelly, connected to the others in the van via their headsets, come in. SOPHIE We’re in the room. INT. MOVING VAN - NIGHT FROHIKE They’re in the room. LANGLY Okay, according to this there’s not a whole heck of a lot you can search through in there. The main observatory area and the one closet space. FROHIKE Okay, girls, INT. CLASSROOM - NIGHT FROHIKE (V.O.) check out the main observatory space and closet and then tell us when you’re ready to move deeper into the compound. KELLY Closet? SOPHIE Uh, Frohike, what closet? FROHIKE (V.O.) There’s not a closet on the...let me see that blueprint... LANGLY (V.O.) Stop! You’re wrinkling it! FROHIKE (V.O.) There’s not a closet to the left hand side of the door? Kelly and Sophie look. That is where they find the large, faded red emblem from Kelly’s flashbacks. The wings. SOPHIE Wings. Just like you described it. KELLY And no closet. SOPHIE I think there’s a closet here. Sophie begins feeling around the emblem, trying to find a way to make the wall suddenly and mysteriously open up. After a long while of this, they are both getting frustrated. They step back to re-evaluate and Sophie’s foot depressed a hidden button that was on the floor. The emblem rolls away into the wall revealing a small closet full of shelves. There are bottles and jars on the shelves. Each preserves a different part of the human brain in some kind of green liquid. Sophie picks up one of the jars, one that holds an entire human brain. INSERT JAR’S LABEL: “Property of the United States Government Project: Harsh Realm ID # FR116” SOPHIE I think we just found their trash can. Suddenly, LIGHTS -- FLASHLIGHTS! Sophie and Kelly are surrounded and all they see are Automatic rifles pointed in their direction. They put their hands up. The jar containing the brain SHATTERS ON THE FLOOR! These men are MP OFFICERS. MP OFFICER Hands behind your back. You’re under arrest. Move it! Move it! FROHIKE (V.O.) Hey! Hey, guys, what’s going on?! What did you find?! INT. MOVING VAN - NIGHT MP OFFICER (V.O.) Take ‘em outta here! You can read ‘em their rights outside! FROHIKE It's my humble opinion that they are in some deep doo-doo? Langly, who was trying to fold the blueprint back without wrinkles, looks up sharply. EXT. MILITARY BASE - NIGHT Legend: -FORT ZION AIR FORCE BASE- -OUTSIDE WASHINGTON, D.C.- An Army MP cargo van pulls to the gate and is let pass. In the distance, lights from a landing plane can be seen. INT. JAIL CELL - NIGHT MP’s lock Sophie and Kelly in. SOPHIE I guess my baby will have to grow up without her mother now. KELLY Scare tactics. SOPHIE What? KELLY They’re going to want to know what we do. Which is nothing. Just remember that. Sophie nods her head. INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT Sophie sits under the hot lamp being questioned by two company men. One is CIA AGENT MANCINI. The other, AGENT UNGER with the DOD. AGENT MANCINI Don’t worry, Ms. Green, we’re quite aware of your situation and we have no intention of prosecuting. What we do want to know is why you and Lt. Wallis were trespassing on government- owned property. It was condemned. Didn’t you fear for your own safety? SOPHIE Kelly -- Lt. Wallis -- was having lapses in her memory. We just thought we could jog it by going back to the place she last remembered. INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT Kelly under the hot lamps. AGENT UNGER The Department of Defense is troubled by your sudden lack of cooperation, Lt. Wallis. Could you explain this to us? KELLY Maybe you could explain to me why the DOD, and the CIA for that matter, felt the need to erase my identity. INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT Back to Sophie. SOPHIE Please, just let me go back to my daughter. AGENT MANCINI You will see her again, Ms. Green. Tonight even. But first... INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT Back to Kelly. AGENT UNGER --We need to know the truth. KELLY So do I. AGENT UNGER You should know better, Lieutenant. You should know better. INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - NIGHT Pounding on the thick metal door. Frohike snaps free the multiple locks and opens it. Byers comes in. LANGLY Where’ve you been? BYERS I found out where they’re holding the women. Fort Zion Air Force Base. FROHIKE What did you dig up about Kelly Wallis? BYERS Little to nothing. She was a voluntary test subject for a secondary experiment within the project. Frohike and Langly think about that for a minute. BYERS If I may say so, you might wanna reconsider using her as a contact in the future. How do we know she’s not a deceiver? FROHIKE She’s a deserter. BYERS Are you 100 percent sure? LANGLY Frohike’s sweet on her. It’s clouding his better judgment. The thought of her pulling the wool over our eyes crossed my mind more than once. FROHIKE Can we worry about getting them outta there alive for the moment? Frohike goes to a table that has tons and tons of different cell phones. He picks one. FROHIKE I know just who to call. INT. JAIL CELL - NIGHT Sophie and Kelly are lying on opposite beds. Just then, the cell door opens. JOHN DONOVAN, Agent of the USAMRIID, steps in, along with an MP OFFICER MP OFFICER #2 Ladies, you’re being released into the custody of the USAMRIID. Sophie and John make eye contact, he winks. JOHN Okay, Sophie Green and Kelly Wallis. You’re my problem now. Come along. MP OFFICER #2 Don’t you think you should cuff them? JOHN I don’t think that’ll be necessary. EXT. AIR FORCE PARKING LOT - NIGHT John Donovan leads Sophie and Kelly by the arm to his car. SOPHIE Not a minute too soon. JOHN Don’t thank me, thank Mr. Frohike, Langly, and Byers. SOPHIE I could give you a hug right here. JOHN Not yet. They’re still watching us. I’ll take a rain check though. John puts them in the back of his car and drives toward the gate. EXT. HUDSON ST. APARTMENT COMPLEX - NIGHT John lets Kelly out at her apartment building. Sophie gets out, too. JOHN Well, you are both now released on your own steam. Sophie, I’ll give you ride home if you want. SOPHIE Actually, I’m going to stick around here a while. Sophie hugs John Donovan. SOPHIE There’s that hug I promised you. JOHN You guys try and stay out of trouble. What I pull off once, I might not be able to again. KELLY Thank you, Agent Donovan. SOPHIE Thanks, John. INT. KELLY’S APARTMENT - NIGHT Kelly comes in, tossing her keys down. Sophie follows. KELLY It’s going to be morning soon. Can I make you a cup of coffee? SOPHIE Sure. KELLY I’ll be returning the favor. SOPHIE Can I use your phone? I need to let my sister know I’ll be home in a couple of hours. KELLY Be my guest. Sophie calls home. Kelly returns as Sophie is finishing the conversation with two cups of coffee. Sophie sits to drink hers, Kelly remains standing. SOPHIE I need to thank you. KELLY For what? SOPHIE The idea that Tom might be alive out there somewhere. KELLY I just wish I could’ve brought him home for you. Kelly turns and looks out the window. QUICK PAN DOWN A red dot on Kelly’s chest. Suddenly, a SILENCED SHOT SHATTERS THE GLASS and Kelly’s lifelessly body falls into the coffee table. Sophie drops on all fours. She hears the sound of wheels screeching away outside. She crawls to the telephone. OPERATOR 911, what is your emergency. SOPHIE Hudson Street Apartment Complex, someone has been murdered! Hurry! INT. SOPHIE’S CAR - NIGHT Sophie drives like a bat out of hell down the interstate. She’s calling home on her cell phone. It rings and rings. SOPHIE Answer! Answer! EXT. GREEN’S HOUSE - EARLY MORNING It’s dawn by the time Sophie’s car fish-tails into the driveway and she hurries to the front door. It’s locked, she uses her key to get inside. INT. LIVING ROOM - EARLY MORNING Sophie comes in, discovering SARAH asleep on the couch. She sighs in relief. A half full glass of orange juice sets on the coffee table. Sophie sits. Then, she realizes something. Sophie picks up the O.J. and smells it. Something’s not right. It’s drugged. Sophie gets to her feet and darts into the baby’s room. INT. BABY’S ROOM - EARLY MORNING Sophie slowly approaches the cradle, not quite sure of what she’ll find. SOPHIE’S POV Down at Faith, sleeping soundly under her quilt. A shiver of peace comes over her body. Her baby is alright. Then, she notices something. A card with neatly-printed words lying on the baby’s quilt. Sophie picks it up. INSERT THE CARD: “I Don’t Think You Know How Close We Are. This Is Your Final Warning.” By the time she’s done reading this, Sophie is shivering and tears are rolling down her cheeks. Her cell phone rings. She answers it but says nothing. INTERCUT WITH: INT. LONE GUNMEN HQ - EARLY MORNING Frohike is on the other side of the line. He’s talking on two cell phones at the same time. The one he has Sophie on and another he’s holding at his side for the moment. FROHIKE Sophie? SOPHIE Yes. FROHIKE Are you alright? What’s happened? SOPHIE Nothing. FROHIKE Listen, I have a friend of mine with the F- B-I on the other line and she’d love to look deeper into everything that’s happened. I told her about last night, Kelly Wallis, the works. SOPHIE It was a lie. FROHIKE What? SOPHIE We were being led on. Kelly was lying to us. There’s nothing to look into. I have to go, Frohike. Goodbye. And Sophie hangs up. Frohike can tell something’s not right here. He goes to the second cell phone. FROHIKE I’m sorry, Scully, I guess there’s nothing for you to investigate here. SCULLY’S VOICE What do you mean? The Lieutenant has gone back on her story? FROHIKE Yeah, I guess so. I don’t know what’s going on. I’ll have to get back to you. INT. BABY’S ROOM - EARLY MORNING CLOSE - Sophie’s eyes reading that threatening note over and over again. And welling up with tears. The End.