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A bionic man must regain his memory to save a dead world, b4 forgotten enemies silence him |
EXT. MOUNTAINS OF TRASH - NIGHT - RAINING A MAN IN TATTERED DESERT CLOTHES tops a peak... He drags a SACK of his daily scavengings. Face covered with a crude gas mask. Atop the mound, he stares out, over the landscape. His garbage mountain is just one of an immense chain, stretching for miles in all directions... A city on the horizon. Barren wasteland in between. TRASH PILE - DESCENT The Desert Man slides and hops his way down... Stopping now and then to grab any electronics he finds. VALLEY Blistered hands shoveling through trash. He grabs an OLD PHONE, inspecting it for flaws, turning it over in his hands. Tosses it in his Sack. A glint of sun reflects off a metal corner. Catching The Desert Man's eye... He digs around the shiny protrusion. Revealing one side of a METAL BOX... Rubbing his chin, the Desert Man decides to keep digging. He shovels with both hands, motivated by curiosity. Freeing a... METAL COFFIN. It slides with trash to the ground. A HUMAN HAND emerges after the displacement... The Desert Man pulls on the Hand. Nothing... Clearing waste around the Hand. He frees it a bit more. Pulling harder. With all his weight... A NAKED, BIONIC MAN emerges. Limp, unmoving. The Desert Man looks closer, intrigued by this unique find... The Bionic Man's body is an elegant blend of man and machine. A spider-web of synthetic fibers, sparking and damaged. Weaving through muscle and skin... He is more than human. The next phase. The Desert Man checks the Bionic Man's pulse. Nothing. Ear to his heart. The Desert Man SNIFFS the body. He's dead. Grubby fingers tracing bio-plastic body mods... The Desert Man ties the Corpse and his Sack to the Metal Coffin. Drags them to.. EXT. TUNNEL - ENTRANCE - NIGHT The Desert Man stops by an OLD BRICK DOOR, hidden amidst piling trash. He opens it, and slides his finds inside. INT. DESERT MAN'S HOME - NIGHT A long forgotten subway system, crumbled and moldy. The Desert Man has set up an oil lamp, cot, gallons of water, a small fire. He takes off his mask... Revealing a SUBHUMAN CREATURE. Puss oozing from open sores that consume his face. He inspects the.. METAL BOX The Desert Man's fingers trace the edges. Looking for a way in. He finds one. Opening to find... A hermetically sealed plastic bag. A BEIGE FORM hidden within. The Desert Man SNIFFS, sensing a familiar smell. Excited now, he unzips the bag. Revealing... A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN, sharp cheekbones and full lips complimented by alabaster skin. But she too is unconscious. Thin wires connect her to an electronic panel inside the Metal Coffin, keeping her alive. Scratching his head, the Desert Man is confused, but unquestionably pleased... He glances back and forth between the Bionic Man and the Woman in the Coffin. CLAPPING, bouncing, GRUNTING with joy. He hops to the.. FIRE AT THE CENTER OF THE ROOM Mounts a kettle. Stoking the flame. Tossing in moldy and rotten vegetables. The Desert Man picks up the Bionic Man's Body. Lays it on a.. TABLE He takes a closer look. Puts his nose to the Bionic Man's flesh. SNIFFING the corpse. The Bionic Man was a natural adonis, and completely devoid of hair. Thick braids of blood-red filaments track the Bionic Man's spine. Branching out through his limbs... The Bionic Man is as manufactured as he is homegrown. The Desert Man retrieves a CARVING KNIFE. Licks his lips... Cuts into flesh on the Bionic Man's thigh.. BIONIC MAN'S EYE It fires open. His iris a vibrant white-blue. But the pupil is not a natural one... Hundreds of micro-metallic components scrambling in unison. Augmenting the human iris. The eye scans the room, terrified, confused.. The Bionic Man jumps to his feet. Shoves the Desert Man to the corner. Takes off into.. CATACOMBS He quickly gets lost in twisting tunnels. A caged animal... The Bionic Man glances about, anywhere, everywhere. Turning himself in circles. The Desert Man catches up. Nears the Bionic Man like he would a tranquilized bear. Hands up.. DESERT MAN I don't want to hurt you. FROM BIONIC MAN'S POV As the Desert Man speaks... A semi-transparent holo-screen blinks on, millimeters from the Bionic Man's retina. To him, it appears conveniently sized for viewing. BIONIC MAN'S POV He sees - Blinking LED letters. The letters read: Language Identified: English. Germanic roots. The hologram intrigues the Bionic Man, he watches it intently. DESERT MAN I found you. In the Fill Mountains. I'm Bob. Each word Bob speaks conjures a mini holo-definition for the Bionic Man. Levitating in his vision, but invisible to Bob. BOB Are you alright? The Bionic Man listening to Bob as he watches vivid holograms. Every word in each holo-definition branches to its own meaning, and compounded. Creating a tree that stretches to the entire Webster's Dictionary... The Bionic Man absorbs it all, learning at the speed of light. Mystified. Mouth agape. BOB (CONT'D) Are you listening? The Bionic Man is pulled back to the conversation. Focusing on eye contact with Bob. BIONIC MAN Yes. Bob takes a moment, struggling to find the right words. BOB How'd you get out there? The Bionic Man furrows his brow, grasping at this thoughts. But he's stumped. BIONIC MAN Don't know. BOB You don't remember? Bob shakes his head to solidify his point. As the Bionic Man looks at him... A hologram 'connect-the-dots' maps Bob's facial expression... Another hologram appears for the Bionic Man, a list of human facial expressions. Scanning the list, he lands upon: 'NEGATIVE.' The Bionic Man mimics Bob's head shaking 'no,' albeit awkwardly and a second too late. Bob can't help but CHUCKLE. BOB (CONT'D) Who are you? The Bionic Man's answer is a blank stare, he doesn't understand. If Bob didn't know better, he'd assume the Bionic Man had never thought about it before. BOB (CONT'D) I'm Bob. You are... A hologram shows the Bionic Man definitions of 'the Self.' A holo-nametag for BOB appears, hovering over Bob's shoulder. BIONIC MAN Who am I? He's stumped again. Worrying them both... The Bionic Man's head spins. Hand on the table to stabilize himself. But it's not working. HYPERVENTILATING... The Bionic Man passes out. Bob can't catch him in time. EXT. PYRAMID-ESQUE COMPLEX - NIGHT - RAINING Establishing. A SIGN reads: 'NORTHSHIRE PHARMACEUTICALS.' Accompanied by a chic emblem: An artistic rendering of a man operating on himself. INT. NORTHSHIRE - PENTHOUSE OFFICE - NIGHT - RAINING An aquarium is built into the angular, stone slab structure. It continues beneath the floor to an open stream and pond... Patches of tropical trees and bush dot the chamber. Ornate landscaping connects the arboreal islands. Spectacular birds FLUTTER THEIR WINGS. A PARAKEET flies to a... TOWERING GLASS WALL Landing on A LONE MAN gazing out... He is tall, wiry, intense. Always the smartest man in the room. Too smart for his own good, his wisdom eats at his very soul: DR. JULIAN FERRAIRA. He surveys the metropolis... A brilliant view of hundreds of towering skyscrapers. Hologram ads the size of football fields... Millions of people a thousand stories below. Ocean on the horizon. KNOCK AT THE DOOR. An UNDERLING enters. UNDERLING Mr. Ferraira. There's something you need to see. FERRAIRA Send it to my Signal Feed. The Underling nods. Leaves. Ferraira's index finger raises a CONTACT LENS, pulsing the color spectrum... Calmly places it on his iris. FERRAIRA'S POV A hologram login confirming Ferraira's retinal print. An amorphous 3D hologram appears in front of him. Molding itself. Taking shape. Into... An HD diorama of Bob pulling the Bionic Man and Metal Coffin from the Trash Fill Mountains. Ferraira is stunned, doesn't believe what he sees. He closes his eyes... And reality fades... INT. MASSIVE CAVE ATRIUM - VIRTUAL Ferraira's pixels materialize in near total darkness. Stalactites DRIPPING into pools a hundred feet below. He waits amidst the rock formations. Nervous, he flattens the virtual creases in his suit. A child seeing the Principal... A SHADOWED MAN appears, the one for whom Ferraira waits. FERRAIRA There has been a disturbing development. He has resurfaced. SHADOWED MAN He's been dead for years. Now a mutant has found his corpse. It means nothing. FERRAIRA We underestimated him before. SHADOWED MAN That was when he was alive. Ferraira fails to bite his tongue. FERRAIRA With everything on the line, the sacrifices we've made- The words coming slower, as if Ferraira's fighting to suppress painful memories. FERRAIRA (CONT'D) The lives lost. He regains composure. FERRAIRA (CONT'D) We cannot afford to let this, experiment, get in our way. If he ever told anyone what he knows, it could undo everything- SHADOWED MAN Then make sure he doesn't. Get to Washington and retrieve those files. FERRAIRA How will I find him? SHADOWED MAN Activate the prototype. That worries Ferraira. His eyes shoot up, locking with the Shadowed Man's gaze for the first time. It took Ferraira a lot of courage to do so. FERRAIRA The project isn't ready for field tests. We only have one prototype. SHADOWED MAN Is that one prototype functional? Ferraira SIGHS, knowing he's lost. FERRAIRA Yes. SHADOWED MAN See to it. Personally. Ferraira nods, and the virtual cave fades. BIONIC MAN'S DREAM - FOREST - TROPICAL - DAY The Bionic Man and the Comatose Woman stalking through thick underbrush... They find what they seek. Looking to each other, excited, accomplished, fire in their eyes... Palms closing around ODONTOGLOSSUM CRISPUM. A rare orchid. Delicate. Like a white satin negligee. The scene melting into... AN INFERNO. The Comatose Woman's CRIES OF PAIN. INT. BOB'S HIDEOUT - NIGHT The Bionic Man jumps awake. Strides to the... METAL COFFIN - OPEN Holograms appear in his vision... Simple, 3D images of a 'COFFIN,' as he looks at the physical Coffin. Accompanied by relevant information, details, history of Coffin use in human cultures... Holograms shifting to identify the metal concentrations that make up the Coffin itself... 20% Aluminum. 40% Iron. 15% Titanium. 25% Alkaloids... The Bionic Man rubs his hand over the metal. Learning from a dozen holograms at once. The images shift to a holo- TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS. 3D images of the different metals. Chemical structure. Atomic weight. The Bionic Man's focus shifts to the.. COMATOSE WOMAN The Bionic Man scanning the Woman's too-flawless skin. Too symmetrical bone structure... The holo-images change to display the definitions of 'FEMALE.' Anatomical images, chromosomal data... The Bionic Man is captivated. Concentrating on the holo-data and images. Explaining the world to him... The Bionic Man's holograms shift focus to the Woman herself. Age, height, weight, vital signs, genetic code. All at once. His fingers stretch cautiously to her face. When they touch... MEMORY FLASHES OF THE BIONIC MAN WITH THE COMATOSE WOMAN - VARIOUS SHOTS BATHROOM: Her brushing her teeth. Him behind, arms at her hips, kissing her neck. GROTTO: She dives after him into deep blue water, surrounded by beautiful cliffs. IN BED: Their eyes locked. And they can't wait a second longer. Pouncing on each other. BOB'S HIDEOUT - PRESENT Startled, the Bionic Man falls to his ass... The fragmented memories have taken hold of him. Standing, his gaze locked on the Woman, ominous and confused... The Bionic Man shakes the Woman, but she won't wake. He brushes hair from her closed eye. Appreciating her beauty... Index finger tracing sharp cheekbones, soft lips... He plants a tear-filled, passionate kiss on her forehead. IN THE OTHER ROOM Bob hears the COMMOTION. Joins the Bionic Man at the... COMATOSE WOMAN'S SIDE Startling the Bionic Man, he jumps to a defensive position.. Bob throws his hands up, slows his roll. BOB I don't want to hurt you. The Bionic Man shows Bob the cut on his thigh. BOB (CONT'D) These are the wastes. A man must survive. That doesn't relax the Bionic Man, who still learns new words and phrases as they speak. Accompanied by relevant images. BOB (CONT'D) I thought you were already dead. I am not a killer. Just hungry. Not that I could kill you. You're some kind of cyborg, aren't you? Holo-data about 'CYBORG' flashing in the Bionic Man's vision. Definitions, images, political essays. BOB (CONT'D) Aren't you? The Bionic Man's face twists into a concerned realization, mouth curling at the sides, almost ready to vomit. The Bionic Man's gaze fires to the Woman... BIONIC MAN She knows. BOB What? BIONIC MAN She knows. BOB She knows what? Who you are? Yes? Bob nodding. The Bionic Man scanning his expression, referencing the list of human emotions, landing on, 'AFFIRMATIVE.' The Bionic Man mimics Bob's nod, as awkwardly late as last time. BOB (CONT'D) But you don't know who you are? How can you not know? The Bionic Man turns away, unwilling to accept it. Bob eases off the gas, mercifully. BOB (CONT'D) That's okay. It must be coming back. BIONIC MAN Fragments. BOB Tortoise not the hare, right? Bob CHUCKLES to himself. The Bionic Man face-mapping 'LAUGHTER.' The Bionic Man doesn't get the reference, but LAUGHS because he was supposed to. Though he does so unnaturally, and much too loud. Bob thinks it's strange, but moves on. BOB (CONT'D) I'm taking my salvage into the city today. You'll be able to find your answers there. INT. SUBWAY TUNNELS - NIGHT Bob leading the Bionic Man through dank catacombs... The Bionic Man carries the Woman's Coffin like it were a stack of firewood. EXT. TRASH FILL MOUNTAINS - NIGHT - RAINING A HOVERCRAFT landing. The door opens, and Ferraira gets out. FERRAIRA GABRIEL PROTOTYPE. Activate. INSIDE THE HOVERCRAFT MACHINERY WHURRING. A SHADOWED FIGURE stands: GABRIEL. Walking out of the dark. To reveal... A Cyborg, far more modified than the Bionic Man. Gabriel's synthetic parts have consumed any humanity.... His face shines with synthetic upgrades. But it's not really a face. A creepy, unresponsive gelatin mold is as close as Gabriel comes to flesh. With limited movement angles for facial 'muscles,' Gabriel has a finite number of combinations. His expressions are a series of over-exaggerated, pre-set emotions. GABRIEL What is my directive? His voice REVERBERATES through muffled steel. FERRAIRA Find, "Adam." You have samples of his DNA installed on your hard drive. Track the source. Gabriel streaks into the trash piles like a missile. INT. SUBWAY TUNNELS - NIGHT Bob creeping through darkness, the Bionic Man copying his every step. CLACK! Some bricks are dislodged. EERIE LAUGHTER ECHOING... Bob pulls them to a halt... BIONIC MAN What? Bob SHUSHES him... GAH! A SUBHUMAN CREATURE dives from the shadows. Lunging at Bob... The Bionic Man drops the Coffin. Grabs the Creature's throat mid-air. Flings it to a wall. But he and Bob are surrounded. By... A DOZEN CREATURES. They attack in unison. SCREECHES of more coming... The Bionic Man reacts on instinct. Faster than any human... Compared to him, the Creatures move in slow-mo, helpless to the Bionic Man's inhuman speeds... CRUNCH! Left hook to a Creature's jaw. SNAP! Elbow to the nose. WHAM! Kicks another in the chest. Launching him. Rams a fourth's head into brick. They can't track his too-fast reflexes. By the time they attack, he's darted behind for the kill.... He stomps the final Creature's neck. KRSCHK! The Bionic Man calms his breathing, coming down from an adrenaline high. Returning from a trance... He looks around him, watching life leave the Creature's bodies... Which disturbs him, deeply, he has to look away. Getting dizzy... The Bionic Man throws up. ON THE GROUND Bob was wounded. And MORE CREATURES are crawling out of the walls. Storming down the tunnel. Dozens... BOB Please, you have to help me! The Bionic Man picks Bob up, sprinting down the tunnel, carrying the Coffin under one arm and Bob under the other. But there are too many Creatures, surrounding them. BOB (CONT'D) You have to drop the box! BIONIC MAN But she knows! BOB She's dead! And the Creatures are upon them... The Bionic Man running... Creatures grab at Bob. The Bionic Man fights the first wave off, but they are getting swarmed... A Creature pulls Bob from the Bionic Man, dragging him to the ground. BOB (CONT'D) Help! The Creatures tear at Bob's flesh. The Bionic Man tries to save him, but there are too many. But the feast is distracting the Creatures. Clearing a path... The Bionic Man grits his teeth. Forces himself to turn away. And takes off. BOB (CONT'D) No! CRUNCH! SQUISH! The Creatures consume Bob alive. The Bionic Man sprints away, trying not to hear. But his hyper-senses make that impossible. INT. BOB'S HIDEOUT - NIGHT The Cyborg Gabriel scans the empty room... His vision stopping on a drop of the Bionic Man's blood, from Bob's CARVING KNIFE. A hologram confirms it's a match. GABRIEL (into comm) I've found him. INT. SUBWAY TUNNEL - NIGHT The Bionic Man nears a LIGHT AHEAD, following it outside... EXT. OLD TOWN - D.C. - NIGHT - RAINING The Bionic emerges to see... The City has been bombed into oblivion. It is partially rebuilt, but the repairs are makeshift... Rusted office buildings and cheap apartments. Twisting metal. Dank corners. 3D holograms hawk insurance, cars, underwear. Crowding the sky. Suffocating the air. The Bionic Man wanders through urban decay. Eyes scanning each windowed, concrete cube with awe only a child knows. As the Bionic Man looks at different buildings, holo-screens appear, detailing that building's address, the company that owns it, what occurs inside, etc. INT. SUBWAY TUNNELS - NIGHT Gabriel dusting himself off after killing DOZENS OF CANNIBALS. He examines Bob's remains, confirming that that is not his target. Gabriel finds some of the Bionic Man's skin cells, and follows the trail. EXT. NATIONAL MALL MARKETPLACE - NIGHT - RAINING The Bionic Man carrying the Metal Coffin amidst SHOULDER-TO SHOULDER CROWDS. Marching through the National Mall... The Monuments have deteriorated. Lincoln is headless, handless, the remains of his left leg lie in a heap at the base... THE MALL has been repurposed as a hectic bazaar. THOUSANDS OF CUSTOMERS flood the marketplace. The Bionic Man enters the fray, curious but intimidated. He passes through.. ROWS OF CHEAP TENTS Out of which: IMPOVERISHED MASSES sell products from food and furniture, to futuristic trinkets and jewelry out of makeshift shops... PROSTITUTES entice from the shadows. THUGS, GRANDMAS, and CHILDREN pedal weapons and ammo. Thousands of holo-ads illuminate the MALL in flashing neon... Some a hundred feet across, other ads are life-sized scenes and human-esque, hologram pitch men. But one hologram holds dominion: GIANT HOLOGRAM BUST OF AN INTENSE MAN Powerful, calculating, covered with war medals. RICHARD LESCHER. The hologram bust of Lescher lords over the marketplace, a thousand smaller copies paint the buildings. LESCHER HOLOGRAM Times are tough. War is Hard. God Bless America. TENTSHOPS The Bionic Man carries the Coffin through crowded alleys, perusing different stores. Holograms appear, detailing info on various objects he sees: Typewriter, Cat, Rifle. FROM THE SHADOWS Gabriel watches the Market, looking for his mark. Scanning all he sees, he locates the Bionic Man. GABRIEL (into comm) Eyes on target. FERRAIRA Don't let him get away. I'll be right there. EXT. NATIONAL MALL MARKETPLACE - NIGHT - RAINING The Bionic Man shoving through thickening crowds... HUNDREDS SHOUTING IN THE DISTANCE! Behind him, a PROTEST HUNDREDS STRONG marches right at him... But the crowd is too dense to escape. The Protest hits the Bionic Man like a wave. Knocking him off balance... He drops the Coffin. It tumbles into the... GUTTERS The Coffin SPLASHING in yellow-green sewage, twenty feet below. The Bionic Man chases after it, readying himself to jump... But A MAN'S HAND grabs his shoulder, stopping him. The Bionic Man turns, too fast for a human, startling the Man who stopped him... The Man is a battle-worn veteran, perhaps too worn, something inside him never came back. A scar stretches over a synthetic eye, though it is much less advanced than the Bionic Man's. The interloper blinks surprise, as if he's 'refreshing' his vision, to make sure he was correct. The Man regains his composure, intrigued. MAN I served in the War. Fought from Cairo to the Urals. Saw a lotta fucked up shit, man. Lotta guys got hurt, lot of them patched up with these Frankenstein upgrades. He points to his eye. MAN (CONT'D) But I never seen mods like yours, man. These are high-tech! These don't exist, fiction stuff. He looks at the Bionic Man, almost too interested. MAN (CONT'D) Where'd ya get 'em? The Bionic Man looks away, bashful. MAN (CONT'D) No worries. Any friend of the revolution is a friend of mine. I'm Don. Don reaches out his hand, it hovers between the two men, unanswered... The Bionic Man stares at Don's hand, then back at Don. The Bionic Man lifts his own hand, inspecting his palm. Don grasps the Bionic Man's hand with a firm shake. Judgemental confusion painted on his face. He pats the Bionic Man's shoulder, getting their feet moving, blending within the Protest. DON You are a friend to the revolution? The Bionic Man's answer is a blank, quizzical stare. DON (CONT'D) That's why we're here. PROTEST Signal is control! Don throws up his arms, basking in the CHANTS. Joining in. He looks back to the Bionic Man, as if he's sharing a guarded secret. DON They monitor it, you know. They read it. They tell us what to think with it, subliminal, brain waves, gamma rays, microwaves. That piques the Bionic Man's interest. Half his focus on the seemingly random data holograms conjured by Don's ranting. BIONIC MAN What do they watch? Who is they? Don't understand. Don's caught off guard, frozen momentarily. It transforms to excitement, that he gets to expound his ideas. DON The all-eternal they, man. Them- Don throws a few quick nods to the sky. DON (CONT'D) Up, up, up top. The Bionic Man doesn't follow. DON (CONT'D) Corporations, Government, Churches, everything. Not all of them are goners but the machine keeps churning. Watching and indoctrinating. Indoctrinating and watching. The Signal itself is their toy, their voice, their ear, their eyes and noses. The Bionic Man can't keep up. His hologram feed is a frenzied mess. Taking a moment to collect his thoughts.. BIONIC MAN What is the Signal? Don CHUCKLES, thinks its a lame joke. Stares at the Bionic Man, whose curious look tells Don he's not kidding. DON The Signal, man. Google and data and news and Facebook. Signal controls it all. They own the servers, they own the internet. As Don speaks, the Bionic Man watches holograms detailing the Signal Corporation, based in Shanghai. Signal Corp controls 98% of internet traffic. Other holograms detail the nature of the internet, its origins and stock prices. DON (CONT'D) They see it all, they hear it all, they say it all. It is theirs as we are ours as they are them and everywhere. The Bionic Man is more confused than before. ANGRY SHOUTING AHEAD! The Bionic Man leans about to see why. But Don already knows.. DON (CONT'D) Rothschild. Fucking Frankensteins. That scares the Bionic Man, who conjures holograms about ROTHSCHILD PRIVATE SECURITY. A corporate military operation. The Protest marches toward a.. RIOT SHIELD PHALANX - MIDDLE OF NATIONAL MALL MARKETPLACE The Riot Shields are held by A SQUAD OF ROTHSCHILD COMMANDOS. Marching in too-perfect unison. Each of them stoic as a rock. ROTHSCHILD COMMANDO Disperse. Return to your homes. DON Oink, oink! Piggy squeal! REEEEEERRRRRR! REEEEERRRRRR! Don LAUGHS. The Bionic Man is offput, but forces LAUGHTER anyway, because he knows he's supposed to. The Protest tosses rocks and bottles at the Riot Shield Phalanx, but the Protest's momentum is halted with twenty yards to spare. The commotion is too much for the Bionic Man's hyper-senses. Covering his ears. SHOUTING OVER EVERYTHING. He falls to his knees. Rothschild Troops fire water hoses into the crowd. Creating chaos. The Protest disperses. CIVILIANS SCREAMING! The Bionic Man on the ground. He reaches critical mass. Eyes rolling to the back of his head. He collapses... WHAM! SPARKS! Electricity for three blocks goes out. Startling everyone in the Market. Catching a CLOAKED OBSERVER'S interest. Lights flickering back to life. But the Bionic Man is still unconscious. Rothschild Troops move toward the Bionic Man. But the Cloaked Observer intervenes. Dragging him to.. REFLECTION POOL - DRY The empty pool is filled with neon dressed PARTYERS. A DJ on stage, surrounded by SEXY DANCERS... The Cloaked Observer pulls the Bionic Man, who slowly comes to, through the crowd... Everyone in the Crowd stands awkwardly still and quiet, with no direction for their energy. Until... Electricity reboots. BASS BUMPING BACK ON. CHEERS FROM THE CROWD. The pool explodes with motion, like a switch was flipped. The Observer that saved the Bionic Man joins in, instinctively. But the Bionic Man is just trying not to bump into people. The Observer sees Rothschild Troops nearing. Pulls the Bionic Man deeper into.. THE CROWD Gyrating bodies. Pulsing with the MUSIC. A sweaty, carnal mosh pit. The Observer guiding him, the Bionic Man in a panic-induced haze. BREATHING HEAVILY. She pulls him to a stop. Whirls around... She is a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN. Mid-thirties. Flashing a perfectly groomed smile, yanking the Bionic Man to full attention. WOMAN Relax, baby. I'm Dana. She dances effortlessly against him. Thighs lightly rubbing his... He melts under her power. She whispers in his ear.. DANA This is Old Town. If you don't know how to party, you don't belong. The Bionic Man calms down, trying to catch the rhythm. But failing miserably. So bad, Dana thinks its cute. Even still, the Bionic Man is having fun. Forgetting that people are chasing him. But she quickly gets serious. DANA (CONT'D) How'd you do that? Pulling the Bionic Man from his intense dance focus. BIONIC MAN What? This? He re-does a cheesy dance move. She LAUGHS, shaking her head. DANA You just short-circuited power for the entire market. His face drains of any happiness. His motion freezes. BIONIC MAN I don't know what you're talking about. DANA Save it. She inspects him closer, circling him. Eyes and fingers exploring his extensive body mods. DANA (CONT'D) I've never seen mods like these... these aren't market. These don't exist. You're some kind of test subject, aren't you? That upsets the Bionic Man, like a grade-schooler getting bullied. BIONIC MAN I don't feel like a test subject. She barely hears him. DANA Have to be Government. BEHIND HIM: Dana sees them first. THREE ROTHSCHILD TROOPS, searching through the crowd... The Troops pass by, but one catches sight of the Bionic Man. They surround him. Shove Dana aside. One puts his hand on the Bionic man... Who reacts on instinct. Squeezing the Commando's wrist bones to pieces. KURKHE! The Bionic Man lunges to the next, red-shifting from Commando to Commando... They're all on the ground before they knew he took a step. He raises his eyebrows to Dana, palms up. She GIGGLES in spite of herself. But MORE TROOPS are coming. The Bionic Man must run. ABOVE THE POOL Ferraira and Gabriel watch the commotion. Ferraira nods to his dog. Gabriel springs to action... |