[all content Copyright © 1993-2021 Jim Ward-Nichols]
FADE IN:
EXT. LOWER MANHATTAN, NEW YORK CITY -- DAY 1
The formerly bustling metropolis is now a barren landscape
of twisted metal and concrete rubble.
"Street level" is now at subway level, broken stairways and
railings climb skyward to a street long since destroyed. What remains of the skyline is a jagged mishmash
of grotesque metal sculptures intermittently framed by random buildings
seemingly untouched by the holocaust that razed most of the island. Ironically, among the edifices spared is
"FAO Schwartz", which now stands two-stories taller, showing its subterranean
guts owing to the lack of a 5th Avenue.
The camera pans to reveal US Special Tactical Agent GINA GANTLY, squad
leader of an elite Special Forces Group.
The squad's mission today is to locate, subdue, sedate and apprehend
Unknown Hostile Lifeform Eleven-Twenty-Two (UHL-1122). UHL-1122 is an extremely intelligent
creature that is a mutated combination of humanoid, reptile, and biomechanical
components that resulted from the absorption of the radiation from the many neutron
weapons used during The Final Conflict. UHL-1122
is an endoskeletal biped whose various organs are held in place by a thin
membrane of translucent cartilage. It
wears a protective "suit" of reactive armor. It has no visible eyes. It communicates to its minions using an
audible "language" comprised of binary chirps. Its offensive/defensive weapons are a kluge
of Chinese tactical nukes, directed energy plasma weapons and incongruously, an Egyptian Scimitar. UHL- 1122 controls the island south of Tribeca through
a caste of minions, many of whom are similarly disfigured mutants.
Gina and her team are quietly exiting a stealth APC
concealed in the one remaining tube of the Holland Tunnel.
GINA - Flanking pattern Delta-eight. Comm traffic on VLF Mode 3 only. Let's move out.
Gina and her team are equipped with an abundance of
classified, above-top-secret weapons.
Among them are the EHA-2 rail-gun.
These weapons fire a projectile within which is a sub-atomic singularity
-- a microscopic "black hole". Once released from its
tritium-magnetic shell, the target implodes into a time-space event horizon.
GINA (CONT'D) (under her breath) - Okay asshole. Let’s dance.
Each squad member is equipped with the Lockheed Terex
airdyne, a personal mobility device that can silently glide the soldier over
uneven terrain and with the greatly minimized chances of triggering land mines
or booby traps.
Lance Corporal BRINK O'HARA is just completing the fold-out
assembly of his airdyne. His Battlefield
Situation Display comes to life.
O'HARA - The FOFO is coming in. (he shows the display to
Gina) Everybody's accounted for. (pointing) There's the bogey.
GINA - Is he by himself?
O'HARA - Hard to say.
No UAV data yet.
GINA - Flannagan!
Where's air support?
Lieutenant MAX FLANNAGAN is an aviator "on-loan"
from the Colonial Air Force. He is an
arrogant misogynist who takes great personal pride in humiliating Gina whenever
a chance arises.
FLANNAGAN - Air support is standing by. UAVs are loitering over Brooklyn, downwind.
We don't want to spook them with the noise.
GINA -We need better BSD recon.
FLANNAGAN -It's your call but...
GINA - Move them in.
Flannagan begrudgingly signals his minions to move Unmanned
Aerial Vehicles equipped with high-resolution infrared and X- ray sensors to
gather imagery of UHL-1122's position and situation. The squad disperses in a carefully rehearsed
flanking pattern aboard the airdynes.
INT. RUINS OF FREEDOM TOWER ATRIUM -- DAY 2
UHL-1122 is sitting atop a stainless steel contraption that
resembles a throne. It's long, extended
carapace which one could assume is its "face" is pointed skyward, as
if in meditation. Another creature
enters the room. It's "mouth"
opens, emitting a binary burst of "0's" and "1's".
CREATURE 1 (in English sub-titles) - The air. It moves in a strange way. Seismic anomalies
are near.
UHL-1122 ceases its meditation and "looks" at the
creature. After a pause for thought, it responds.
UHL-1122 (in English sub-titles) Humans. I sensed it.
Deploy countermeasures. So
arrogant, they are. Time that they
should learn humility.
EXT. CANAL STREET -- CONTINUOUS
A gaggle of airdynes pass overhead.
FLANNAGAN (to Gina) - New tactical.
Gina engages her head-up display. The BSD (Battlefield Situation Display) now
clearly shows UHL-1122 is alone but on the move. The FOFO (Friend or Foe) data overlay shows
the positions of the other members of UHL-1122's caste and their position in
relation to Gina's team. Clusters of
"friendly" targets are centered in Battery Park and the site of the
Downtown Heliport.
GINA - What are those sensor returns at Houston Street?
FLANNAGAN - I don't...
The answer to Gina's question is delivered swiftly and
horribly as hundreds of shiny flying nanobots dismember Flannagan from the
torso out. Gina is spared only because
she was in the cone of protection immediately behind him. She directs the
airdyne down an alley to avoid the next swarm.
GINA (into VLF translator) - Man down! The fucker knows we're coming. Take evasive action. Swarm of nanno-wasps took him apart!
O'HARA -My God Gina!
What's happening? (referring to the BSD display)
The display shows that fully half of the squad is
"OTS" (out of service) and presumed dead.
GINA (into VLF translator) - Attack mode Golf Echo... attack
mode Golf Echo.
O'HARA - You sure about that?
GINA - Let them eat static.
Each member of the team steps off their airdyne, sets the
controls to "auto loiter", and the comm systems to "ECM"
and resumes the attack on foot. The
airdyne's comm systems are now emitting a cacophony of high-powered digital
gibberish. The nanobots' navigational
algorithms are confused by this and give chase to the airdynes, which now have
been reduced in functionality to that of essentially very expensive
"chaff".
INT. RUINS OF FREEDOM TOWER ATRIUM -- CONTINUOUS
CREATURE 1 (in English sub-titles) (referring to a graphic
display device) - Their machines seem to wonder aimlessly. Our countermeasures follow them.
UHL-1122 (in English subtitles) - It's a ruse, they'll soon
be here.
UHL-1122 - clambers toward a weapons locker and extracts several
plasma weapons and the scimitar.
UHL-1122 (CONT'D) (in English sub-titles) - We bring the
fight to them.
UHL-1122 and several of his minions march briskly through a
steel-lined blast door.
EXT. HOUSTON STREET -- CONTINUOUS
What remains of the squad has begun to converge on the ruins
that once were the Freedom Towers. Using
advanced urban warfare tactics, their progress is careful, measured and almost
undetectable.
O'HARA - He's on the move.
He's...they are almost on top of us!
GINA -Where? How?
O'HARA (almost in a panic) - I don't know! I don't know!
O'Hara sweeps a portable sensor toward the ground. There under us. Somehow they're under us.
GINA - I thought we had this area fully mapped.
O'HARA - Apparently we missed something.
At that moment, a squad member begins firing his weapon
wildly into the ground.
SQUAD MEMBER 1 - The ground!
It's liquefying! I could see them
moving under me!
As Gina steps toward him to get a glimpse of what he is
shooting at he suddenly is pulled right through the concrete, severing his
right arm in the process. All that
remains is his helmet and his arm, still clutching the rail-gun. Suddenly, in
only a few second's time, three more squad members meet the same fate. They're screams can be heard echoing in the distance.
GINA (into the VLF translator) - Fall back! Back to Canal Stree...
As O'Hara, Gina and the remaining squad members pivot to
retreat, they are blocked by several mutant combatants. A squad member reacts by firing his EHA-2
Rail-gun. The projectile prescribes a
deep black line centered directly on a creature. The line resembles a tear in space with
objects nearby seeming to bend into it.
The projectile bursts on impact causing the singularity contained within
it to begin its inexorable collapse of mass, time and space nearest the event
horizon. The creature is essentially
turned inside out, collapsing into an infinitely small quantum particle. Light
bends near the event until the utter annihilation is complete.
The creatures are frozen with fear. They separate as UHL- 1122 makes a dramatic
entrance. Gina, O'Hara and the lone
remaining squad member now stand opposite UHL-1122 and his henchmen. O'Hara raises his rail gun. UHL-1122 raises
his hand as if to signal surrender. It
then slowly touches a button located on its thorax. A translation device.
UHL-1122 (filtered) - Impressive. Insanely destructive. Very impressive. But it must have a range limit, a minimum
range.
Gina and O'Hara are impressed that UHL-1122 has correctly
determined that the EHA-2 cannot be fired in close proximity as it would also
annihilate the user. They wonder if it
will use this assumption to exploit a tactical disadvantage.
GINA - Our orders are to take you into custody. Just you.
Not them. (gesturing to the other creatures)
UHL-1122 (filtered) Custody.
A quaint concept.
At that moment, a crack of conventional weapons fire is
heard. The projectile impacts UHL-1122's reactive armor. The section of armor explodes outward
disintegrating the incoming missile.
Gina swivels to see where the fire is coming from. High and to her right are two squad members
who have taken up sniper positions. A
second crack is heard.
This projectile hits precisely where the first one did,
except this time, the armor has already been depleted. The second missile pierces the armor,
severely injuring UHL-1122.
When Gina swivels back around to face UHL-1122, it has
lunged toward her in a blind rage. She
gropes for the EHA-2 rail- gun and attempts to pull the trigger. The weapon will not fire, the close-range
lockout engaged. UHL-1122 effortlessly bats the weapon from her hand like a
toy. O'Hara and the other squad members
are now engaged in a fire-fight with the other creatures.
UHL-1122 grabs Gina by the waist.
UHL-1122 (CONT'D) (filtered) - In another reality we might
have been friends.
It extracts the scimitar from its scabbard.
GINA - I'm not dying by your hand. Not here, not now, not today. That's not the deal I made.
UHL-1122 (filtered) - Check the fine print.
Gina's agonized scream is cut short as UHL-1122 summarily
decapitates her, Gina's body falling to the ground while he holds her head in
his hand. The raging firefight
continues. UHL-1122 bellows digital orders while hoisting Gina's head skyward.
FADE OUT:
TITLE SEQUENCE
FADE IN:
EXT. THE LOTS -- DAY 1
It is a typical gray day at The Lots. The perpetual acid rains and cold winds
heighten the misery that comprise this destitute vagrant camp that is The
Lots. The LOT MAN navigates through a
maze of junk and rusting discards, washing machines, old cars, pieces of fallen
aircraft -- some of which have been fashioned into improvised living quarters.
Indeed everything is improvised here, open-air markets, bathing and toilet
facilities... everything.
Scattered through The Lots are numerous four-sided pole-
mounted video kiosks, the sole source of information or entertainment in The
Lots. The kiosks command standing- room
crowds around the clock. Only one
programming channel is available on the kiosks -- THE TUBE. As the Lot Man passes one, an Asian woman can
be seen smiling, swallowing a pill, exhorting the viewer to take whatever she's
taking, usually birth control pills or sedatives.
As The Lot Man approaches another kiosk, the crowd
surrounding it becomes excited. Some
people are gasping, others applaud and yet others are yelling expletives. Lot Man is intrigued as to what provoked this
reaction. He edges closer to the screen.
P.O.V. VIDIOSK -- CONTINUOUS
A synthetic, digitally-generated image of the TUBE ANNOUNCER
appears. (Live hosts have long since
been replaced by digital counterparts).
TUBE ANNOUNCER - With the words "check the fine
print", Hostile Lifeform eleven-twenty-two ended the record-breaking run
of Gina Gantly of New Marina Del Rey earlier today.
The display changes to a slow-motion replay of the final
moments of Gina's life.
TUBE ANNOUNCER (CONT'D) - After over three weeks of
successful challenges, Gina lost her head over this one with UHL getting away
with nothing but a scratch and an impressive last-minute victory.
The picture cuts to the announcer's digital visage
superimposed over a studio with a live audience.
TUBE ANNOUNCER (CONT'D) - Join us tomorrow when a former
school teacher from Long Beach Prime suits up for...
The audience shouts in unison as the theme music begins.
TUBE ANNOUNCER (CONT'D) (with audience) – WIN… YOUR… DREAM!!
EXT. THE LOTS – CONTINUOUS
The Lot Man reacts with jaded disgust over what now seems to
pass for entertainment.