Original Screenplay

by

Chip Proser

May 20, 1984

First Draft

A STRANGE LANDSCAPE.

Like the surface of some alien planet. CELESTIAL FORMS spin

in the distance. DROP DOWN over a topography of rolling hills.

ALVIN 5 - THE POD

A titanium alloy sphere; the strongest form to withstand

great pressures. A streamlined mantle houses propellers,

batteries, articulated arms - one containing a carbon-dioxide

laser. Maneuvering thrusters protrude next to antennae.

WEIRD SUBMARINE FORMS

glow in artificial light. We float over undulating undersea

hills. Tendrils of beautiful growths wave in the currents.

AL (VO)

...one small schlep for mankind...

INT. - ALVIN 5

THE MAN INSIDE is Al Viola, 35, ex-Marine, ex-astronaut.

He holds a doctorate in Medieval Languages from the Sorbonne.

He is worldly, highly trained. Right now he's elated as well.

AL

...but it means money in

the bank to me.

A VOICE cuts in - The Mission Control Officer - COLIN

COLIN - VO

Could you to stop counting

your profits long enough for

a systems check...

AL

This is a small breakthrough.

I've a right to make a statement.

A LAB SOMEWHERE

Technicians cluster around VIDEO SCREENS showing

feeds from LVIN'S MULTIPLE CAMERAS. One shot from the housing

faces forward. Another is of Al at the controls. Exotic equipment

surrounds him. A CLOCK is prominent. It reads: ELAPSED

MISSION TIME - 1 hour, 14 minutes. A third camera fixed to

a long extension arm, articulates 360% and shoots back to

show the POD.

COLIN

What a pain in the...Where did we

get this prima donna?...(into mike)

Then do try to keep it dignified.

Puns are a sign of oxygen

deprivation of the brain. Now give

us bank three, if you would.

AL

Alright, alright! Air filtration,

88; battery load, 76;...

Reception is perfect. Al reports full success. He reads off

instrument readings rapidly. His voice is clipped

and precise...a test pilot. Behind him, packed into every corner

of the tiny cockpit, are computers and scientific instruments.

THE LAB TECHNICIANS are taut, organized and highly

disciplined. There is a sense of purpose, of very important business.

THE SUBMERSIBLE swoops through valleys lined with

stranger growths. The craft is perfectly balanced, responsive

to the pilot's lightest touch.

END TITLES

SILICON VALLEY - DAWN

A peaceful setting; flowers on low, rolling hills, a high-tech

building complex - UNITED SYNERGISTIC TECHNOLOGIES.

TWO MEN ON A HILL OVERLOOKING UST.

They are fooling with something. It goes off. A rocket flares out in the

direction of the building, The rocketeer guides the flight of

the Remotely Piloted Vehicle on a video monitor.

ABOVE THE BUILDING, retro jets slow the craft. A small braking

chute blooms. It settles, braking jets fire briefly as it lands

softly on the rooftop air duct.

THE ROCKETEER hits a button; blue flame shoots out

the underside of the vehicle. It burns a tiny pinpoint through

the duct.

INT. UNITED SYNERGISTIC TECHNOLOGIES - A HIGH-TECH LAB

THE SAME ONE, SAME TIME - A TECH turns from the video

monitors and looks through a window into the main experimental

area...A maze of equipment. Some bizarre, tension-filled procedure

is going on. Techs in the control room smoke like fiends. Others

in the clean-room are enclosed head to foot in sterile coveralls.

CONTROL ROOM

Engineers note and dismiss a READING...

ENG 1

Air temp just went up.

ENG 2

We're drawing lots of power.

INT. UST FRONT OFFICE

Salesmen, job seekers crowd the busy

lobby. One applicant, Joe Doakes, 30, has a air of

desperation. His tie is too tight. His hair won't behave. He's

nicked himself shaving. The surveillance cameras make him nervous.

He checks his watch impatiently, rises and crosses to the receptionist.

JOE

Remember me?

She barely looks up...a 40 watt smile.

JOE

Joe Doakes? It's quarter to 10...

RECEPTIONIST.

I'm sorry. We're running behind.

So many applicants...so few jobs...

If you'll just have a seat.

JOE

I have a seat. I've had it since nine.

RECEPTIONIST.

...Mr. Athol will be with you as soon as

possible. Will you be able to wait?

JOE (he turns)

You're just lucky I need this job.

RECEPTIONIST.

Is there anything else?

JOE

A drink...

RECEPTIONIST.

Water fountain's through that door,

down the hall.

JOE

Thanks.

THE ROOF

The landing craft withdraws its torch,

deploys a nozzle-arm. PSSSSCCCHHHT. A colorless gas is emitted.

- A hallucinogen; debilitating but not fatal...not even

unpleasant. t makes people highly suggestible, pliable, complacent.

INT. LAB AND CONTROL ROOM-

Slowly, almost imperceptibly,

the hubbub and chatter die off. People stand and sit

as before, but slowly slow down...Cigarettes slow halfway to the

mouth...Coffee cups stop in mid-sip. In the lab, procedures just...slow.

A man at a control board looks down as if, suddenly, it's

all Greek...the lights and buttons suddenly foreign to him. Others

seem bemused, daydreaming...They smile at each other and

try to think of something to say. Some of them giggle.

EXT. THE VALLEY

A CHOPPER glides through the pass

and settles on the UST landing pad. Five figures exit the chopper,

all dressed alike; dark coveralls and boots, motorcycle

helmets with reflectored visors...A PRECISION ATTACK.

THE INTRUDERS - walk to the access door. They are

armed, disciplined, well drilled. Movement is unhurried

but efficient. They carry submachine guns. A GUARD eyes them placidly.

Their LEADER speaks through a radio directly into the UST

intercom. He is assured and calm. The GUARD is bemused... drugged.

LEADER

Hello.

GUARD

Hello

LEADER

We'd like to come in.

The guard is lethargic. The gas has sapped his will.

One part of his brain cannot accept what he is about to do. He

giggles softly at the thought of it, even as he is compelled to

obey.

GUARD

(giggling)

You'd like...to come in...

LEADER

Open the door please.

GUARD

(still giggling)

Open the door?... Certainly.

The door pops open. They enter and pass the bemused

guard.

LEADER

Thank you.

GUARD

My pleasure.

INT. LAB AREA

Everyone is smiling...stoned. The

LEADER speaks to them like children, not to be funny, but because

low-key orders are the most efficient. They are completely

suggestible.

LEADER

Hello.

TECH

Hello.

LEADER

We've come for the PEM114.

Where is it?

TECH 2

Right there.

LEADER

Thank you.

The INTRUDERS step up to the lab equipment. Another

tech...steps forward...He is struggling against the effects of

the drug.

TECH 3

Wait.

LEADER

Why?

TECH 3

You can't take that.

LEADER

Why not?

TECH 3

The experiment. The danger...

THE VOICE is soothing, calming, hypnotic, but the

submachine guns are always in position.

LEADER

It's alright.

TECH 3

It is?

LEADER

It will be fine. You have another.

TECH 3

Just one. The back up.

LEADER

Could I have it, please.

TECH 3

I can't get it out. It would take hours.

LEADER

That's alright. Just tear it apart.

TECH 3

Tear it apart?

LEADER

Yes.

TECH 3

Ahhh...Okay?!!!

He tears into a complex web of electronic circuitry,

ripping wires and circuit boards apart. With a POP, the circuits

go out.

The lights dip, the OVERHEAD VIDEO SCREENS go out

as the TECH comes up with the MAIN CIRCUIT BOARD.

THE SHRIEK of an ALARM SIREN. Suddenly a door swings

open. The LEADER'S gun swings on the figure in the doorway...Joe

Doakes. Joe stands in shock, looks at the gun, swings the

door shut behind him. The ALARM CUTS OUT. Everyone in the room

stares at him. he stands there rumpled and bemused, blinking

at them; Dustin Hoffman on drugs. Finally, the LEADER sees

he's no threat, relaxes his grip on the gun. The LEADER snaps out:

LEADER

What do you want?

JOE (stoned innocent)

Drink of water...?

A beat, then the LEADER relaxes...He waves Joe away...

LEADER

Go get a drink.

This has the force of suggestion...Joe turns and

walks through and out of the room...looking for a drink. The LEADER

motions to INTRUDER 2 to continue.

INTRUDER 2

The PEM114?

TECH 2

Yes, that's it.

LEADER

Give it to me.

He does. Another tech offers the Leader the spare.

He holds the tiny circuit board in his palm, removes one chip.

LEADER

This the only spare?

TECH 2

Yes.

LEADER

The other working.

TECH 2

Perfectly.

The Leader has something in his hand, a CLICK, a

WHOOSH. A butane lighter melts the circuit board to microscopic

slag. The Tech looks at his scorched hand, the destroyed

silicon bead. is voice is still slightly amused.

TECH 2

Ow?...

LEADER

It'l be alright.

TECH 2

It will.

LEADER

It doesn't hurt.

TECH 2

No?

The Leader pauses for a moment, amused by their sheep-like

acquiescence. His next suggestion is droll.

LEADER

It tickles.

The tech looks at his smoking hand in dismay...then

incredibly finds something amusing in his second degree burn.

He starts to laugh...it tickles...The other techs look confused,

then it's contagious. They start to laugh too.

INTRUDER 5, steps into the room full of laughing

idiots. He moves to the LEADER. They speak quickly and both

leave.

INT. HIGH TECH EXPERIMENT AREA

The LEADER is surprised.

LEADER

What's this?

INT 5

They're further along

than we thought.

CU - an empty beaker on a pad surrounded by exotic

equipment.

INT 5

...Looks almost ready to go.

A WALKIE-TALKIE SQUAWKS.

W/T (V.O.)

...response to door alarm...

LEADER

Time to go...(looks at the

beaker) It doesn't matter.

We have the PEM.

They turn and exit the room. As they do, the LEADER

notices Joe aimlessly examining the wall of equipment nearby.

Joe is really stoned...He's fooling with a control panel, flicking

switches on and off. He notices the INTRUDERS. Caught, he tries

to make the best of it. He smooths his hair, spins and comes

to a half-assed kind of attention. As he turns, he knocks some wildly

expensive piece of equipment to the floor. Joe grimaces and

straightens his tie, making it much worse. The LEADER comes close

to him, stares at him, thoughtfully. Joe blinks back, trying to

clear his head in case speaking is required...The leader looks at

the smashed equipment. Joe looks at it guiltily. The Radio SQUAWKS.

The Leader decides. Abruptly, he kicks the equipment

out of his way. It smashes against the back wall. Joe winces...the

Leader turns and stalks out of the room. Joe holds his attention

position for a moment, like a good scout, then seems

to find himself lost and alone in a room full of strange

equipment.

MAIN ROOM

OTHER INTRUDERS finish taking apart the equipment.

The LEADER addresses the crowd, a James Mason-ish

air about him.

LEADER

We must be off. Goodbye.

TECHS

Goodbye...Goodbye...

They all wish them goodbye...smiles and laughter

all around. The one who struggled steps forward.

He struggles again...

TECH 3

Who....are...you?

INTRUDER 5 just laughs, but the LEADER turns back to TECH 3.

LEADER

I'm ...your mother.

CLOSE UP - TECH 3

Stunned and confused...He shakes his head and blinks rapidly.

He rubs his eyes.

TECH 3'S POV

Before his eyes, the IMAGE OF THE LEADER shrinks down

and transforms itself into that of a grey haired old lady.

TECH 3 - can't believe it.

TECH 3

Mom...what are you doing here?

LEADER

Leaving, now go to sleep.

...all of you.

Some of them do. The INTRUDERS step back through

the door. The TECHS look at each other blankly. Then they look

at the ceiling ...the walls...their shoes, anything. In the video

monitoring section, others watch the INTRUDERS leave on SCREENS...Their

faces register nothing. The LEADER pauses...A final

command...

LEADER

Give me the surveillance camera videotapes.

The video tech does.

INT LAB - HOURS LATER

FRANTIC - Crawling with security people.

The scene of the crime. No clues. No leads. A Security

Man, FINNEGAN, interrogates the techs...

FINNEGAN

...Well who did it look like?

Tech 3 squirms in his seat...embarrassed...humiliated.

He doesn't answer..The interrogator stands over him,

intimidating. Finally, defiantly, the tech states the ludicrous.

TECH 2

My mother.

INT. CONTROL ROOM

COLIN walks up to the CHIEF DETECTIVE. He shrugs. In B.G.

through a glass partition...and on TV monitors, other security

men question other techs.

FINNEGAN

Who'd it look like to you?

TECH 1

My dog.

COLIN turns to the detective.

FINNEGAN

Mass hypnosis. Short term memory loss.

Some kind of hallucinogenic gas...

MYER

Kind of stuff the army's been working on.

COLIN

Surveillance Cameras?

FINNEGAN

They took the tapes.

COLIN

You have nothing...

FINNEGAN

We don't even know where

to start. What about these people?

What do we do with them?

He indicates glass wall through which they can see the

bystanders, including Joe, being questioned one at a time..

Joe looks a little queasy. He burps...an uneasy stomach.

COLIN

We'll have to let them go.

FINNEGAN

Surveilliance on them all.

COLIN looks uncomfortable at the thought. Tech 2 steps through a

door and catches his eye. He excuses himself as the FINNEGAN

turns back to study his suspects in the window.

INT. LAB. - TECH 2 is panicked. He speaks quietly, intensely.

TECH 2

The P.E.M. It's gone...

They must have it.

COLIN

How did they know? No one knew.

TECH 2

Whoever has it, can leapfrog

generations of technology.

We gotta get it back.

TECH 3

Screw the PEM...What about Al...

TECH 2

Poor bastard.

AL - IN THE POD

fighting for his life. The pod is slammed and buffeted. Al

struggles with the controls as the POD tumbles..

AL

Come in, control...Do you read me?

Come in...damn!

He flips frantically through the controls.

AL

Okay guys, what's going on?

Who turned out the lights?

He tries one system, then the other.

AL

This wasn't in the plan.

Then it dawns on him: he may be in big trouble.

AL (resigned, professional)

Damn...10:03...Something's gone wrong.

Experiencing extreme turbulence. Unable

to control the capsule.. Appear to be

tumbling. Exterior envirnment dark.

Lost radio contact. Cause...unknown.

Power failure?.. maybe...an earthquake.

HE THROWS A SWITCH: SUCCESS! LIGHT FLICKERS ACROSS HIS FACE.

AL

Wait a minute...Got power...Going

to external floods....Holy...Shit!!!

THE POD - A different LAND...Turbulent, convulsive ...alive. THE

POD seems to drop through an enormous tunnel...like a marble in a

sewer. It churns in a mass of liquid. Semi-solid forms SLAM

against the housing and rush on. They are enormous forms...

balls, discs, rods...chains...They swirl in the ebb, then drop

away before us...WE TUMBLE, GLANCE OFF A WALL, SPIN TO SEE A NEW

WAVE DESCEND UPON US... AND . Al sets his thrusters at full

forward for maximum manoueverability in the flow and powers

through the vortexes...His voice is tight with effort, concern.

AL

Where in the....YEAOOOW!!!

THE BOTTOM DROPS AWAY. An abyss opens up before him.

THE POD - plunges through the hole and FALLS...FALLS...FALLS

INTO a smoking churning cavern. It hits the surface of something,

plunges through into the darker depths...of a ROARING, GROANING,

BUBBLING INFERNO....

INSIDE - AL has browned out from the impact. He now comes

around...dazed. He is once more in darkness...The dark masses

block his floodlights, throwing weird shadows...He switches over

to infrared imaging...

Infrared imaging displays THE ENVIRNMENT on his cockpit glass in

a HEADS-UP-DISPLAY.

AL

CHRIS, if this is one of your jokes....

SAN FRANCISCO. EXT. STREET - A WORKING-CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD -

A UNITED SYSTEMS TECHNOLOGY VAN pulls up.

INT. VAN - THE FINNEGAN DRIVES. JOE SITS CONFUSED in the

passenger seat.

FINNEGAN

Now remember, your short term

memory may have been affected.

JOE

What?

FINNEGAN

Your memory.

JOE

What about it?

FINNEGAN

It may have been affected.

JOE

Oh.

FINNEGAN

You may not remember things.

JOE

What things?

FINNEGAN

I don't know...the last couple

of hours...last few days.

JOE

Oh...that's okay.

FINNEGAN

When you do...

JOE

Do what?

FINNEGAN

When you remember...

JOE

Remember what?

FINNEGAN

Anything....You call us

right away. You got that?

JOE

Yeah. If I remember anything...

I call ...you

FINNEGAN

Right.

JOE

Who...are you?

FINNEGAN

Sergeant Finnegan. Name's

right there on the card. Are

you sure you're alright?

JOE

How do I look?

FINNEGAN

Fine. You look fine.

JOE

Thanks.

FINNEGAN

Well...

JOE

Well what?

FINNEGAN

We're here.

JOE

Here?

FINNEGAN

Home. Your home. The address

on your form.

JOE

Oh.

FINNEGAN

Don't you want to get out?

JOE

Oh....Sure.

FINNEGAN

Why don't you lie down until

you feel better.

JOE

I feel fine.

FINNEGAN

You'll feel better

JOE

I will?

FINNEGAN

Look, we'll bring your car home.

just take it easy until the effects

wear off. You need anything,

just call this number.

He offers him a card. Joe turns away.

FINNEGAN

Joe.

JOE

What?

FINNEGAN

Take the card.

JOE

Oh yeah, thanks...

The van pulls away. Joe turns, looks up at his apartment house,

seems to forget what he's doing...and wanders off down the

street. He acts strangely. There's an odd whistling in his ear.

INT. AL IN THE POD - INFRARED IMAGING - shows where he is...A

vast submarine cavern. He moves forward, swinging the POD in an

arc through the churning waters. He turns to his computers and

sensors for an answer.

MONITORS. - A diagram appears. A wire-frame representation of

Al's envirnment...

AL

What the hell is this?

He programs the computer to manipulate the image. The computer

program turns it inside out; gives it an external, omniscient POV

and we understand: It's a man. The pinpoint representing the POD

is in the stomach.

AL - ALMOST - SHOCKED INTO SILENCE.

AL

Alright guys, the joke's

gone far enough.

MOLLOYS BAR - A NEIGHBORHOOD HANG-OUT. Dazed, Joe enters and

sits at the bar. He's greeted like a regular.

MOLLOY.

Joe. How's it going?

How'd it go with that job?

JOE

What job?

MOLLOY (A beat)

Hey...look...this one's on me.

He sets a beer in front of Joe, moves off down the bar. On the

TV at the end of the bar...a NEWS REPORT. Joe stares at the TV.

TV - A REPORTER does a STAND-UP in front of U.S.T. MAIN GATE.

REPORTER

All we know, is that something has gone

wrong here, but so far...no one is talking

about it. Ron Golloway, with the ACTIONCAM...

INSIDE - INT. THE POD - AL checks his envirnmental analysers.

AL

Stomach acid! This stuff's caustic.

SUDDENLY, THE STOMACH CHURNS...A NEW WAVE OF FOAMY LIQUID ROARS

DOWN THE ESOPHAGUS AND ENGULFS THE POD.

INSIDE - AL - ON THE ANALYSERS - A READOUT: ALCOHOL.

AL

You guy's are...DRUNK! (FURIOUS)

Okay, buster, I don't know who you

are, but if I ever get out of you,

you're in big trouble.

INSIDE THE STOMACH - THE POD SPEEDS TOWARD THE STOMACH

WALL...THE CARBON-DIOXIDE LASER FIRES OPENING A HOLE IN THE

STOMACH WALL. THE POD BLASTS THROUGH.

INSIDE A CAPILLARY - THE POD BREAKS THROUGH THE WALL AND IS

CARRIED AWAY IN THE BLOOD FLOW.

INT. POD -

A WIRE-FRAME REPRESENTATION OF THE BODY

guides Al as he powers the POD ahead. The capillary branches

into larger and larger vessels...The pressure and speed builds

with every branch...Al has to fly like crazy to avoid collision

with solid particles. On the monitors he watchs the sonar/

computer imaging to guide his navigation.

EXT. POD

He enters a main artery. The walls bulge with each

pump of the heart...then up ahead, the heart. he tries to back

down, reverse his thrust but it's no good; He is being sucked in.

Nowhere to turn...no way to escape...He decides and THRUSTS FULL

FORWARD into the heart.

WHOOSH. He is pulled into a VENTRICAL, spun....THE WORLD BLURRS

as he is expelled in a surge of blood and pushed up the artery.

Spinning wildly, he fights for control, swings into a vein.

THE TUNNEL gets smaller. He checks his navigation aids...It

branches..Al cuts into the --- artery and up the neck into the

base of the head...before him...a barrier...a membrane appears...

INSIDE - INT. THE POD

AL pulls up in an eddy and aims the laser at the membrane...It slices a neat hole

through it. The FLOW bursts through the breach and carries the POD with it.

OTHER SIDE OF THE MEMBRANE - Al swings the pod around...He is in

another...region...where the water is still. He swings the laser

around again and spot welds the tear in the membrane....before he

can complete the job...a treelike thing is swept into the hole by

the flood. Other debris collect behind it until the hole is

sealed shut...Slowly the current dies.

INSIDE - EXT. THE POD

Al has just slipped through the BLOOD/BRAIN barrier and has taken up

residence in the left VENTRICLE - A FLUID FILLED CAVITY in the brain.

INSIDE - INT. THE POD

AL stations himself near a nerve bundle.

AL

You'll wish you never

thought of this.

He sets a contact arm of the POD for high-voltage electrical

charge...picks a nerve at random...an hits the trigger.

ZZZZAAAPPP! A charge hits the nerve.

OUTSIDE - INT. THE BAR

JOE flies off the barstool and hits the floor with a thud. He looks around,

dazed...then slowly climbs back up. Molloy rushes over, concerned, but says nothing.

INSIDE - INT. THE POD

Al's envirnment has been agitated a little, but not much. He takes up position

again at the nerve bundle, selects another nerve...hits the charge trigger.

OUTSIDE - INT. THE BAR -

JOE shakes his head...He is seeing the weirdest shit on television...

then all over the walls...VISIONS. All of a sudden it's amusing...very funny.

Very very funny. He falls off the stool again in convulsive laughter.

INSIDE - INT. THE POD - AL

Is getting shaken all over the place. He cuts the circuit.

OUTSIDE - INT. THE BAR

JOE, on the floor again, stops laughing as suddenly as he began. He crawls back up

on the barstool, more confused than ever.

JOE

Well, think I'll go home.

MOLLOY

Are you okay?

JOE

Fine...fine. No problem. Just

tired, that's all...

INSIDE - INT. THE POD -

AL hits another nerve bundle with the probe. Now he gets DISTORTED SOUNDS...

TV REPORTER (VO)

...accident site at UNITED SYSTEMS LABS...

AL

Oh, shit.

A STRANGE LANDSCAPE - THE SAME AS SCENE ONE.

THE SAME SCENE; THE SAME SHOTS. Suddenly time RUSHES FORWARD. Al's voice squeaks, the action accellerates.

LEADER (VO)

Run past this stuff.

THE VISUALS SPEED EVEN FASTER. SOMEBODY is running the tapes of

the EXPERIMENT right before the attack...FAST FORWARD.

INTRUDER

You won't believe this.

INT. LAB - The INTRUDERS SLOW the tape and watch with interest.

CU.- THE BEAKER on the pedestal surrounded by EXOTIC EQUIPMENT.

LEADER

What's the hell is this?

INTRUDER (AMAZED)

They've gone ahead. They did it.

SURVEILLANCE CAMERA POV - THE ATTACK. The INTRUDERS - TAPE WINDS

FAST FORWARD - Someone in authority speaks with a Scottish Burr.

BURR

The craft, that man....

INTRUDER

When we got there, it was gone...

CONTROL ROOM - ANGLE ON COLIN and TECHS.

They look ...drugged.

LEADER

What happened?

INT. LAB - PEDESTAL

- Just then, a door in the B.G. opens. Joe, dizzily enters, looks around, grabs the

first liquid he sees and drinks it down... The BEAKER.

MONITOR - THE IMAGE of Al in the POD breaks up, goes off.

LEADER (VO)

That Idiot!

BURR (VO)

Who is that?

LEADER (VO)

Nobody..just wanted a drink.

BURR (VO)

Someone is the idiot...

TECH 2 (VO)

What about the pilot?

BURR (VO)

How long could his power last?

TECH 2 (VO)

In that envirnment, I don't think

it matters.

INT 3 (VO)

What a way to go!

BURR (VO)

Dead or alive, there's a lot

that machine could tell us.

INT 3 (VO)

We better get to him fast.

INT 2 (VO)

Yeah, one pepperoni pizza,

it might be too late.

EXT. STREET. JOE STOPS AT A BUS STOP - WAITS.

INSIDE - INT. THE POD

AL hears the STREETSOUNDS - Is reprogramming the computer...To transmit.

AL

Hello, Hello. Can you hear me?

He throws a few more switches...

AL

Hello...Hello. Come in...

Whoever you are...Hello!

EXT. STREET - A BUS pulls up, JOE gets on it.

INT. BUS-

EMPTY EXCEPT FOR A WOMAN IN THE BACK. Joe sits a few

seats from her, holding his head. As he watches the passing

street scenes through the window, the SOUND gets louder...then

distorted...enhanced...The SOUNDS FOLD BACK, REVERBERATE on

themselves...AN ACID FLASHBACK, is Joe's first thought...The

SOUND is getting very weird. It slows up, speeds down...Filters

chop the highs, the lows off...He's definitely HEARING THINGS.

A VOICE OVER

Can you hear me?

Joe looks around...No one in the bus but him and the woman. He

turns to her.

JOE

Of course, I can.

Her eyes flick to him, nervously...Then her face becomes a mask.

She stares straight ahead, gripping her bag, tightly.

INSIDE - INT. THE POD -

AL celebrates.

AL

Yahooo! It works!!!...

Excitedly, he hits the transmit button again.

OUTSIDE - ON THE BUS -

JOE stares at his hands...blinking...

AL (VO)

You can hear me!

Joe looks up at the woman.

JOE

You don't have to yell.

She moves a seat away. Joe is confused and insulted. He turns

back to the window, mumbling.

AL (VO)

Then, answer me...

Joe turns to the woman, exasperated...She looks up, worried.

JOE

I did. I said I can hear you

just fine. What do you want?

She turns to him and confronts the problem directly.

WOMAN

Who, me?

Joe looks around...yep, there's no one else there.

JOE

Yes...What is it?

WOMAN

What's what?

JOE

What do you want?

WOMAN

Nothing.

JOE

What did you say?

WOMAN

Nothing.

JOE

What?

WOMAN

I said...I didn't say..anything!

JOE

Then who did?

WOMAN

You did.

JOE

No I didn't. You said something first.

AL (VO)

I said something.

JOE

I know you did!

Joe is confused now, because, although she responded to him, her

mouth didn't seem to move. And now, she does it again!

AL (VO)

No, not her. Me.

JOE (SHOUTING. FRUSTRATED)

Who's you?

The woman's now terrified. She locks eyes with Joe as she

slowing rises and backs away. He shouts after her.

AL (VO)

My name is AL.

JOE

Al ???!!!

He looks wildly around the bus...under the seats. The woman

scurries to the front of the bus. She has a quick word with the

bus driver. The driver looks up at Joe in the rear view mirror.

JOE - A stupid grin on his face. He knows someone is fucking

with him. Maybe this whole thing is a joke. He baits the voice.

JOE

Where are you,...Al?

AL (VO)

You're not gonna believe this...

JOE

Try me.

AL (VO)

I'm...inside you.

A LONG PAUSE WHILE JOE THINKS ABOUT THIS.

FRONT OF THE BUS - The DRIVER and WOMAN stare at this lunatic.

JOE - SUDDENLY, HE JUMPS UP. SCREAMING AND POINTING AT THEM.

JOE

Okay...which one of you guy's

the ventriloquist???!!!

The driver's mouth drops open...He glances back at traffic.

He's about to rear-end a car. He SLAMS the brakes and swerves to

the side...the woman SCREAMS as she's thrown down the stairs.

JOE - swings from a pole as the bus SWERVES... HORNS BLAST as

the driver SWINGS back into his lane, barely avoiding a head-on.

Joe rushes up the isle, irate.

JOE

You trying to kill us? Cut the shit and concentrate

on your driving!

INSIDE - INT. THE POD -

AL is getting bounced all over.

AL

Calm down! Don't worry!

OUTSIDE

Joe talks at the driver...who thinks he's got a madman on his hands.

JOE

Either drive or talk.

Don't do both.

Then I won't worry.

The driver pulls the bus over to the curb. Sets the brake. The

woman painfully pulls herself up.

AL (VO)

It's not him.

Joe turns to the woman.

JOE

Oh...and who is it!?

WOMAN

I didn't say anything.

JOE (answering Al)

Why not?

DRIVER

Are you alright?

AL (VO)

You'll find this hard to accept.

JOE

Try me.

The driver thinks this is a challenge.

DRIVER

Alright, get off the bus.

JOE (indignant)

It's not my stop.

DRIVER

You'll have to leave.

JOE

What for?

DRIVER

...creating a disturbance.

JOE

Me?...! You created it. I'm

the one that's being disturbed.

WOMAN

You can say that again.

Joe looks at her, innocent and hurt. He turns back to the

driver. He's gotten up from his seat. He's big and mean.

EXT. BUS

JOE flys out the door, lands hard on his knees and skids into a bush.

JOE

Hey!!!

He jumps up, shakes his fist at the bus as it pulls away.

JOE

I'm reporting you to the

.....transit authority!!!

INSIDE - INT. THE POD -

AL

What's going on?

OUTSIDE - EXT. STREET

Joe, points at the retreating bus...

JOE (furious)

That fucker...he's...he's...

He stops in mid-sentence as he realizes...THE VOICE...He glances

around furtively...at the voice. Now he's starting to feel that

he may be talking to himself...He mumbles self-consciously.

JOE

...reporting....him...

ventriloquism...On a bus

AL (VO)

Don't do that.

JOE

Why not.

He stops in his tracks, spins around...Nobody near him. He

groans, puts his head in his hands.

JOE

Arrrgh!

AL (VO)

It wasn't him.

JOE

Who was it?

AL (VO)

Me.

JOE

Who?

AL (VO)

Al.

JOE (looks around him.)

Where are you, Al?

INSIDE - INT. THE POD-

AL struggles to find the right words.

OUTSIDE

- JOE goes rustling through the bushes...Passers-by look

at him queerly. He passes a mailbox...stops. Looks at it.

JOE

Al.

AL (VO)

Yes?

JOE

This candid camera?

He peers into the mailbox. Pedestrians look at him strangely.

One man comes up to mail a letter...hesitates.

INSIDE - INT. THE POD

- AL hesitates, not quite sure how to tell him. Finally, he just blurts it out.

AL (VO)

I'm in your head.

Joe's reply is flat, toneless.

JOE

You're in my head...

AL (VO)

Yes.

JOE

Your name is Al...

AL (VO)

Yes.

JOE

I see...

Joe turns to see the letter-mailer staring a him.

JOE

No...no...it's nothing..

Rehearsing a play...

(STALKS OFF)

What light through yonder

window breaks...It is Al...

and he's in my head.

AL (VO)

What is your name?

JOE

You're in my head? You don't

know my name?

AL (VO)

I just got here.

JOE

What??? You lose your lease

on a condo?

AL (VO)

Where are we?

JOE

Where are we? We're on the street.

We're walking down the street. We're

talking to ourselves. People are

staring at us.

AL (VO)

What street?

JOE

What street?! We're walking down

QUEER STREET. We coming to Dopey Drive.

We're about to be put somewhere quiet where

they won't mind that we talk to ourselves.

AL (VO)

Why don't we go home?

JOE

Go home. Good idea. Get some rest.

AL (VO)

...I need to make a phone call.

JOE

Do me a favor, Al.

AL (VO)

Yeah?

JOE

Shut up!

INT. JOE'S APARTMENT

... that of a semi-impoverished single man.

Pictures of Baseball players taped to the walls. Half broken

electronic gear all over the place. Joe wanders/rushes in, stands

confused amidst the debris.

JOE

Somebody's been here.

AL (VO)

Where are we now?

JOE

My place, can't you see?

AL (VO)

No.

JOE

You're in my head, you can

talk to me and hear what I say,

but you can't see anything.

AL (VO)

Right.

JOE

Kind of an oversight, wouldn't you say.

AL (VO)

I'm working on it. Soon as I find

the right nerve bundle.

JOE

Nerve bundle! What are you doing?

You just leave the nerve bundles right

where they are.

INSIDE - THE POD - AL

The POD moves slightly in the intercranial fluid. Al senses movement.

AL

What are you doing?

JOE'S APARTMENT

Joe roots through his goods which are strewn all over the floor.

JOE

Wait a minute, they didn't take

anything...I'm not even worth

robbing...This...they just messed it up

(HE THINKS)... Maybe I did it.

He turns, goes into the bedroom and roots around in the closet.

A secret hiding hole behind a board, he brings out a small object

wrapped in a cloth. He opens it up...a pistol and shells.

AL

Who are you?

JOE

Who am I?

AL

Yeah...Who?

JOE

Well...If you're in my head...

to you, I'm...GOD!

Unloads clip, checks it.

AL

Quit screwing around, this is important.

JOE

It's my head, I'll be the judge

of that. Anyway, who are you?

AL

I told you, my name is Al.

JOE

What are you doing in my head, Al?

Slams clip in.

AL

I'm a test pilot...

JOE (patronizing)

...Test pilot. Uh huh.

What do you test?

AL

You've heard of the PEM114...

JOE

That a new Datsun?

INSIDE - THE POD - AL

Worried frantic, he jumps to conclusions.

AL

Don't screw with me, Buster. I don't

know how you got into U.S.T. or

where you got this crazy idea, but

you get me back to the lab right now.

Joe grabs his head in frustration.

JOE

Are you threatening me?

AL

I'm trying to get you to

listen to reason.

Flips off safety.

JOE (condescending)

Reason...Ah hah...

AL (VO)

Look! I didn't ask to be in you.

Don't blame me for it. You did it.

JOE

Me? What'd I do?

AL (VO)

Yeah. What did you do? You explain it.

...why I'm not at the lab right now,

in my tube, with my crew. Explain that!

JOE

I don't know what you're talking about.

AL (VO)

The Nicholson Node. I suppose you haven't

heard of that either.

JOE

No.

AL (VO)

You've heard of U.S.T.?

JOE

I just went there for a job.

AL (VO)

Then how'd I get here?

Joes thinks he's nuts but finally gets mad, yells at the VOICE.

JOE

I don't know. Now Fuck Off!

Strangely, that calms Al down...

AL (VO)

I know...it sounds insane.

JOE

You said it.

Joe chambers a round...Al HEARS, he senses something.

AL (VO)

What are you doing?

JOE

Loading a gun.

AL

What for?

JOE

Kill myself.

AL

Are you crazy?

JOE

Yep.

AL

Don't do it. (thinks a second)

Don't aim at the head.

JOE

Used to be, things were bad.

No job...no money...no girl.

Now I got all that and I'm crazy too.

AL

You're not crazy.

JOE

Hear voices don't I.