After years of training, Gen is given her First Assignment; the orphans have legal issues |
Note : Due to size limitations, this script has been divided into two parts. Likewise, the formatting looks a little awkward on the website. EVOLVE Episode One "turned into a weapon" TEASER FADE IN: INT. DIRECTOR’S OFFICE - DAY DR. SIMON CROY is an angry little man wearing a white lab coat and some kind of weird, high tech goggles, the LEFT EYE covered with a metal plate. SIMON I'm sorry, sir. I can’t do this anymore. The girl is completely out of control. The DIRECTOR, a stern, OLDER gentleman with WISE, EXPERIENCED EYES. Judging by the look on his face, this isn’t the first time he’s heard this rant. A LAMP hanging above the desk gives off just enough light for the men to see each other; otherwise, the room is COMPLETELY DARK. SIMON (starting a list) She has no respect for authority, she disregards the regulations... Do I need to remind you what happened at the Trestles the other day? DIRECTOR Of course not. SIMON Sir, the girl is a huge liability. The Director listens, leaning back in his seat. DIRECTOR I understand all of that Simon. And I realize that the girl can be difficult - SIMON (amazed) Difficult? No, sir, this girl is far beyond difficult. (off his missing left eye) I would give my right eye for a difficult girl right now! DIRECTOR (sharply) All right, calm down. Simon stands up straight, his EYE locked on the Director’s. SIMON (much calmer) I can’t do this anymore. She’s driving me insane. If I have to spend another minute with that insolent, obnoxious little brat, I will put a bullet in my brain, I swear to God. DIRECTOR Simon, you know you can’t just quit an assignment. SIMON I’m not quitting the assignment. I’m quitting my job. He yanks off his IDENTIFICATION TAG and throws it angrily onto the Director’s desk. DIRECTOR Simon. SIMON No, screw this. I’m out. Simon turns and walks toward the door. The Director gets to his feet. DIRECTOR Simon, stop right there. You walk out that door, you can kiss your pension goodbye. SIMON (not looking back) Screw the pension. She isn’t worth it. Simon leaves the room. The Director stares at the door, upset but not surprised. He seems lost in thought, snapping out of it after a moment. DIRECTOR I’m sorry you had to hear that. He looks over at GENEVIEVE PITZCOTTI(11), a BLUE HAIRED little girl with sad GREEN eyes. Her chin is quivering, she is trying not to cry. DIRECTOR You really need to try harder. GENEVIEVE (defensive) I did try! That guy‘s a dork! The Director is about to reply, but stops himself, SIGHING LOUDLY. DIRECTOR You know what... I don’t have time for this right now. Just, get to class. We'll assign you another Scientist in the morning. GENEVIEVE But sir! It’s not my fault. She looks at him, her eyes beg for another chance. His glare is cold, set in its decision to end this conversation now. GENEVIEVE (huffy) Fine. He watches her storm across the room and out the door, SLAMMING it hard. DIRECTOR That girl. He looks down at the Identification Badge lying on his desk. DIRECTOR She’d better be worth it. FADE TO BLACK: END OF TEASER ACT ONE FADE IN : EXT. ACADEMY COURTYARD - DAY It’s daytime, although it’s hard to tell since the ENTIRE CITY is UNDERGROUND. Above, instead of sky, is a ROCK CEILING lined with several GIANT LAMPS. The Academy is a University, with several large buildings, some of them reaching as high as the rocky ceiling above. Long TUNNELS and BRIDGES connect the buildings, and in the center is a vast courtyard. TITLE READS: CHAPTER ONE "turned into a weapon" ALEC (15) is walking through the middle of the courtyard, trying to take it all in while having trouble grasping it's immensity. His EYES are focused on a particular building in the distance, the SCIENCE CENTER. Then Genevieve catches his eye. The DARK BLUE HAIR, the BRIGHT GREEN EYES, he can’t take his eyes off of her. Genevieve walks past him, frustrated, not even noticing the little dork who‘s eyeballing her. GENEVIEVE (grumbles) Stupid little one eyed freak, always getting me in trouble. For Alec, time seems to stop as they pass, their shoulders nearly brushing up against each other. He catches her scent in the air. He can’t look away. He collides with a very LARGE MAN in a lab coat. Alec slowly moves his eyes upward several feet into the ANGRY eyes of the HEAD SCIENTIST. Head Scientist crosses his arms, giving Alec the evil eye. HEAD SCIENTIST I suppose you're Alec. Alec nods, nervous. HEAD SCIENTIST Welcome to the Academy. The Head Scientist leans in closer. HEAD SCIENTIST I highly reccomend you aren't late tomorrow, when you meet the Director. He turns his back on the boy and walks away, leaving Alec terrified, embarassed. ALEC Crap. CUT TO: INT. DEBRIEFING ROOM - DAY GENEVIEVE and ALEC are now standing side by side, the DIRECTOR pacing in front of them. DIRECTOR The test will be difficult, Genevieve glances over at Alec, not too sure about this scrawny, nerdy little guy. DIRECTOR (continues) - but I don’t believe it’s anything the two of you can’t handle. Gen smirks, Alec catches it. ALEC Nervous? GENEVIEVE (scoffs, amused) No. ALEC I’ve heard you have done this before. GENEVIEVE Yeah, like a million times. HEAD SCIENTIST (infuriated) Cadets! The HEAD SCIENTIST SCREAMS at them from where he’s been standing by the door, veins bulging in his face. The Director is giving them an IRRITATED GLARE, waiting for them to wrap up their little conversation. Genevieve catches his eye, and shuts her trap. Alec senses the tension, and does the same. DIRECTOR You will enter Gateway Caverns. (continues pacing) Inside, you will find a group of enemy soldiers in the possession of a very important document. Bring me that document, by any means necessary. Genevieve rolls her eyes, apparently has done this before. GENEVIEVE Are they real soldiers this time, or is it just a bunch of dopey seniors again? DIRECTOR Genevieve, you know government regulations won’t allow you to face an actual enemy until you are sixteen. GENEVIEVE But that’s still five more years! DIRECTOR Just get me the document Genevieve. GENEVIEVE (sighs) Yeah, yeah. She grabs Alec by the lapel. GENEVIEVE Let’s go, lab coat. Alec looks back at the Director as she DRAGS him from the room by his lab coat. All he gets is an apologetic shrug from the old man. Genevieve pulls Alec through the doorway, leaving the men alone. The Director looks over at the Head Scientist, and the men exchange amused glances. CUT TO: INT. GATEWAY CAVERN - TIME INDETERMINATE ALEC’S EYES survey the massive cave in AMAZEMENT. There are large, intertwining rock structures and passageways everywhere. The place looks very complicated and dangerous. GENEVIEVE looks completely BORED, like she’s been here way too many times. Alec continues to slowly wander through the cavernous room they are in. GENEVIEVE (shouting loudly) All right, you jerks! Alec is STARTLED, and he jumps a little. GENEVIEVE (still shouting) Let’s get this over with! ALEC (nervously) Um, Genevieve? I think we are supposed to be, you know, stealthy. GENEVIEVE Screw stealthy. I’ve done stealthy, I’m tired of stealthy. (looks around impatiently) No, today I just feel like pounding some jerks. She walks deeper into the cave, her eyes peeled for the enemy. Alec follows nervously, wondering what could be lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce. She moves around quickly, looking for the enemies’ hiding spot. GENEVIEVE (yelling) Hello? She moves quickly to another spot. Alec watches her go, her quick movements making him even more nervous. She looks into a DARK tunnel. GENEVIEVE (into tunnel) Hello? She quickly moves into the darkness. As Alec watches her march out of his sight, he wonders if this little girl fears anything. ALEC Hey, Genevieve, you... you should really be careful in there. He has lost sight of her completely, and is quite reluctant to follow her into the cave. He doesn’t receive a response, and gets a little nervous. ALEC Genevieve? His feet take a couple of nervous steps. ALEC Genevieve? He walks into the darkness. He holds his hand out, running his fingers along the wall for guidance. His nervous eyes try to see where they’re going. CUT TO: INT. ELSEWHERE IN THE CAVE - SAME TIME A STONE skips across the rocky floor of the cave and bounces off the wall, coming to a stop amongst several other small, flat stones. Apparently, CHET (17) has been at this for quite a while. He SIGHS, bored, from where he sits atop of a large boulder. He throws another stone. Another boy, TREVOR (17), dangles from above, his head right next to Chet‘s, his legs wrapped around a rock. TREVOR So, like, when’s this kid gonna show up? CHET (aggravated) I don’t know. FREDRICK (O.S.) Maybe a cave boar got him. FREDERICK (also 17) is leaning against the wall, a cigarette dangling from his lips. TREVOR That would be sweet! Then we’d get a half day! CHET Shut up, I need these credits! FREDRICK Yeah, well this is taking forever. Frederick flicks his CIGARETTE BUTT across the room. It bounces a few times before coming to a stop a couple of inches away from GENEVIEVE‘S FEET. CHET (grins) Well, looky what we have here. Chet hops off of the boulder. Trevor is still dangling upside down. TREVOR You lost, little girl? Genevieve doesn’t offer them an answer. She simply stands in the mouth of the cave, her eyes fixed on the boys. Her face is an emotionless, expressionless void. Fredrick looks her over. FREDRICK Nah, she ain’t lost. She’s in uniform. She’s here for the test. TREVOR Where’s your Scientist, little girl? Trevor flips himself over on to his feet. She doesn’t reply. She just continues to stand there, her creepy little gaze sending chills down Chet’s spine. She smiles. CUT TO: INT. ELSEWHERE IN THE CAVE - SAME TIME ALEC continues to stumble his way through the darkness, unaware that his partner has already found the "enemies". ALEC (nervous) Where is she? He continues searching, almost in a panic. ALEC I have to find her. CUT TO: INT. ELSEWHERE IN THE CAVE - SAME TIME The BOYS have GENEVIEVE surrounded, and they are slowly closing in. She watches them advance. THEIR cocky mouths curl into over confident smiles. THEIR eager hands prepare for battle. They obviously don’t think much of this girl, don’t see her as much of a threat. Her TINY fist flies, right into Chet’s STERNUM. Chet stumbles back as his PARTNERS move in. Genevieve leaps VERTICALLY into the air. Trevor watches, IMPRESSED, as her LEFT foot glides into his face. Her RIGHT foot kicks Fredrick in the SIDE of the head. She lands, surveys the boys. With a twisted GRIN, she lunges. CUT TO: INT. ELSEWHERE IN THE CAVE - SAME TIME ALEC rushes through the cave. In the b.g., the FIGHTING can be HEARD. He is getting EVEN MORE NERVOUS, thinking it might be Genevieve that is in trouble. ALEC Damn it, where is she? In the b.g., there is a GIRLISH SCREAM. ALEC Crap, Genevieve! His pace picks up. The SOUNDS are getting LOUDER. He SLOWS DOWN as he approaches a corner, the FIGHTING is right around it. He pauses for a moment to take a couple reassuring breaths. After a quick moment to psyche himself up, he RUSHES around the corner, arm drawn back, ready to strike. He stops dead in his tracks by what he sees when he arrives; a DUMBFOUNDED look takes over his face, and his arm slowly drops to his side. GENVIEVE is standing alone. The beaten, barely conscious bodies of three much larger, much older BOYS are scattered about the room. There is an ENVELOPE in her tiny little fingers. Alec is shocked. CLOSE ON Genevieve’s bright, GREEN eyes. DISSOLVE TO: INT. SAME CAVE - TIME INDETERMINATE CLOSE ON the same pair of GREEN EYES, only now they appear a few years older. CAMERA slowly PANS BACK, revealing more of GENEVIEVE’S face, which is now SIXTEEN years old. She is TIRED, OUT OF BREATH. There is a pretty large CUT on her forehead, and it’s bleeding pretty steadily. She is pressed up against one of the several large stalagmites sprouting up all around. TITLE READS : FIVE YEARS LATER Her eyes move to the right, trying to peer around the column. CAMERA PANS to reveal TWO SOLDIERS in full tactical gear, very large assault rifles steadily trained ahead. Coming out of the SHADOWS behind them is the MERCENARY (30’s), an absolute behemoth of a man. His DARK, BLACK EYES survey the cave. He GROWLS. FADE OUT: END OF ACT ONE ACT TWO FADE IN: EXT. A DARK ALLEY - NIGHT An OLD, TATTERED BANDAGE dangles loosely from the RIGHT HAND of a mysterious MAN IN AN OVERCOAT (appears to be in his MID-30’S) as he walks through the alley. With the dusty old FEDORA and tattered black cashmere COAT, he looks like he just came from a mob boss’ yard sale. He is only walking, but with a menacing, determined look in his EYES; he is walking with a purpose. He walks out of the alley, into a VERY CROWDED area of town known as the STREET MARKET. PAN to a WIDE SHOT of the entire area. Street Market is a very RUN DOWN, thrown together collection of desperate MERCHANTS. There are broken down CARTS and rusty STANDS surrounded by hungry, disheveled CONSUMERS looking for a cheap meal. VARIOUS MERCHANTS AD LIB their sales pitches as TOMMY (17) makes his way through the crowd. Tommy is the epitome of punk rock, from his spiky ORANGE hair and INKED up skin, to his torn pants with SEVERAL CHAINS hanging from his waist. He keeps his head low as he walks, as if trying to keep a low profile, approaching a cart filled with fruits and vegetables. The MERCHANT is excited to have a customer. MERCHANT Hello, sir, good morning! Tommy glances at the Merchant with a wicked grin, and rushes the cart, pushing on a support pole, causing the whole thing to collapse. MERCHANT What? The Merchant is too shocked to react very quickly, a quick shove from Tommy knocking him to the ground. Tommy pulls a PILLOW CASE from under is jacket, and starts filling it with VEGETABLES from the ground. The Merchant gets to his feet. MERCHANT (yelling) Thief! People nearby notice the commotion. After shoving as many into the bag as he can, he quickly rushes through the crowd. Everybody looks, especially the OTHER MERCHANTS. There is apparently a zero tolerance policy on thieves, and all the Merchants abandon their stands and rush him, coming from all sides. TOMMY (to himself) Awesome. The Merchants SHOUT as they close in on Tommy. Tommy PUNCHES the first man to reach him, his fist connecting with the man’s jaw. The man goes down. Tommy keeps running through the crowd, but he is cut off by another Merchant. Tommy quickly tries to change direction, but soon realizes he’s surrounded. Tommy dodges a punch to the face and darts toward a small fruit cart, leaping on to it, smashing the fruit under his boots. He kicks at one of the incoming merchants, and the man goes down. Another merchant hits Tommy from behind, sending him to the ground. The men close in on him; Tommy reaches out and grabs the SIGN POST next to the cart. He swings it at one of the approaching Merchants, hitting him upside the head. Tommy looks around, assessing his situation. A MOB of Merchants closes in. Tommy grins. A massive swing, and he takes out several other merchants with the sign. Tommy leaps onto the roof of a neighboring stand. TOMMY Anybody else want some? The stand isn’t strong enough to support him, and the whole thing crashes to the ground. TOMMY Bollocks! He falls with it, losing his grip on the sign; it winds up landing right on Tommy's head. A MERCHANT attacks, kicking Tommy SEVERAL TIMES while he's down, sending the boy rolling off of the broken stand and to the ground. The Merchant reaches for him, but Tommy grabs a large FRUIT and hurls it right at the guy’s face. The fruit BURSTS on the man’s face, knocking him back. Tommy quickly gets to his feet and tries to run. He is cut off by a large, angry man. LARGE MAN Not so fast! Tommy kicks the Large Man, who who goes to the ground. Another MAN receives a punch to the chops, and a THIRD MAN gets a headbutt. Tommy grins as he runs away, leaving a group of wounded Merchants behind. DISSOLVE TO: INT. A CAVE - TIME INDETERMINATE Down a rocky hall, there are SEVERAL SOLDIERS lying on the ground, not moving. CONTINUING down the hall, we come to a large cavern. The Mercenary is surveying the cave, TWO SOLDIERS behind him, trying to see into the shadows. Something catches The Mercenary’s attention. He lifts his hand, and with TWO FINGERS motions his men to follow him. They point their assault rifles and slowly follow him, trying to conceal their footsteps. None of them notice the puddle of blood coming from behind the stalagmite to their right. BEHIND THE STALAGMITE There is a lot of blood coming from the HOLE in Genevieve’s THIGH. Her fists clench, and her bright GREEN EYES close to a sliver. SOLDIER #1 steps into view, and her FIST snaps out, punching him in the nose; it SHATTERS with a CRUNCH. Soldier #1 stumbles back, Genevieve plants the bottom of her boot into his chest. He flies into a wall several feet behind him, CHUNKS of rock raining down on him. Soldier #2 looks around; she’s gone, leaving the man confused. The Mercenary is concentrating on his surroundings. Genevieve steps out of the darkness right in front of Soldier #2, grabs his arm, and hurls him UP INTO a huge stalactite. She turns to The Mercenary; in the b.g., Soldier #2 lands, a cloud of dirt rising from the ground when he hits. MERCENARY Looks like you’ve been practicing. GENEVIEVE Now that you’re all out of goons, why don’t you come find out for yourself? MERCENARY (chuckles) Always a delight. She glances at a big, nasty SCAR on his neck. GENEVIEVE How about when I gave you that beauty mark? Was that a delight? He grins as he pulls a BIG KNIFE from a sheath on his thigh. MERCENARY Here. Let me show you. GENEVIEVE (mocking) That’s a pretty big knife. MERCENARY Wait‘ll you see the hole it makes. GENEVIEVE Still overcompensating. Tell me, you still got that big, shiny rocket ship? Not amused, he CHARGES her, slashing with the knife. She dodges the blade, LEAPING into the air. She lands behind him, kicks him in the lower back, forcing him to stumble a couple of steps. He turns to face her; he looks IMPRESSED. She casually brushes the DARK BLUE HAIR out of her bright GREEN eyes. She KICKS at his head, but The Mercenary dodges it. A SECOND KICK comes even QUICKER, this time hitting him in the back of his head. She KICKS him in the ribs ONCE, but on her second attempt he CATCHES her left ANKLE. GENEVIEVE Crap! She looks into his menacing eyes, his twisted grin, and knows she’s in trouble. He wraps his empty hand around her neck, squeezes, and stares right into her eyes. MERCENARY You came so close this time. She is gasping. It makes him CHUCKLE. Her hands reach out, pry at his fingers, and scratch at his face, but it isn’t working. She drops to one knee as he squeezes tighter. She starts grabbing at his head, pulling it, clawing at it. He is AMUSED at the desperate display. She gets a good grip and pulls as hard as she can, SMASHING HIS FACE into the top of her head. He doesn’t let go, so she SMASHES his face into her skull again, two more times, three, but he won't relent. The Mercenary tightens his grip on her neck, her eyes get wide as she GASPS. Things begin to go BLACK. He THROWS HER across the room, several feet, her body BOUNCING OFF of a boulder and COLLAPSING to the ground. Genevieve gasps for air, hair soaked in blood. GENVIEVE’S POV Out of FOCUS, she can see him walking toward her. He stops, standing over her. MERCENARY Get up. BACK TO SCENE Genevieve struggles to look up at him, her legs TREMBLE as she forces herself back to her feet. He circles her, impressed she was able to stand up. She can’t really move, but her eyes follow him. GENEVIEVE You gonna do something? He punches her in the head, knocking her to the ground. He kneels beside her, grabbing her hair and lifting her face out of the dirt. MERCENARY You're a stupid, little girl. Using her hair, he flings her back into the boulder. He approaches. MERCENARY And I grow tired of this game. He throws a giant FIST at her head. She DODGES and swings her left leg, kicking him in the back of the skull. He stumbles a bit, but there’s not much power behind the kick. He turns to see another kick coming at him, but she’s too weak, too exhausted, and he gets his big boot up first, smashing it right into her face. Her body SLAMS back into the boulder; it CRACKS. The Mercenary charges, wrapping his hand around a stalagmite on the way. He BREAKS it off as he runs, gaining a giant STONE CLUB. All Genevieve can do is watch through blood soaked eyes as he brings it down on her head. Just before impact, the girl DISAPPEARS. The club is smashed to bits against the boulder. CUT TO: INT. ALEC’S LAB - DAY The lab is a tiny, cluttered little room full of monitors and metal boxes, littered with little blinking lights and meters. Amongst the electronics, ALEC (20) is staring at one of the monitors, amazed with what he sees. Right now those baby blues are on a monitor flashing all sorts of statistics and graphs, each one measuring a different vital of his subject. He really can’t believe what he’s seeing. ALEC (quietly, to himself) She’s incredible. The door bursts open, and as Genevieve comes into the room, Alec can’t help but smile to himself. She storms across the room; the blood is gone, she looks perfectly fine. GENEVIEVE What the hell was that? ALEC (still looking at the monitors) Looks like he got you again. GENEVIEVE I’m not talking about him! You could have put me in a coma, pulling me out like that. ALEC (rolls his eyes) Oh, please, that’s just an urban legend. He finally turns around to face her. He pauses, staring at her, more than a little in love with her. She glares at him with angry eyes, snapping him out of his lovesick daze, and making him suddenly a little nervous. ALEC Anyway, it wasn’t - it wasn’t me who pulled you out. I mean, well technically it was, but I was just following orders. GENEVIEVE Orders? ALEC Yeah, you’re, uh, wanted upstairs. She looks at him, now she’s the one who’s NERVOUS. GENEVIEVE What‘s he want? ALEC I don’t know. Surprise party? GENEVIEVE Alec, come on! ALEC I really don’t know. But I kinda got the feeling he didn’t want to wait all day. She sighs, frustrated, nervous. GENEVIEVE Okay. All right. Wish me luck. She turns and walks to the door. ALEC Good luck! She leaves the room. ALEC (shouting after her) If it really is a party, bring me some cake! CUT TO: INT. AN ABANDONED HOUSE - DAY The living room is empty, filthy, and silent. After a moment, the LOCK CLICKS and the front door opens. Tommy enters, carrying the BAG of VEGETABLES. He kicks the door shut with a heel, dropping his keys on the floor at his feet. He makes his way across the living room, and down the hall, LOUD PUNK MUSIC coming from behind a closed bedroom door. Tommy opens the door to see his little PUNK ROCK sister KELSEY (14), lying on a nasty, old MATTRESS on the floor, a small, dusty RADIO next to her head. When she sees Tommy, she sits up quickly, excited. KELSEY Hey! What’d you get? He tosses the grocery bag at her, it HITS her chest hard enough to make her GRUNT. TOMMY Here. Eat up. He turns to leave the room, Kelsey grimaces at the bag in disgust. KELSEY Why do you always get vegetables? Tommy stops, tilting his head slightly back. TOMMY Just shut up and eat it. He continues walking. KELSEY Next time I’m coming with you. He turns to face her, upset. TOMMY No way! KELSEY Why don’t you ever take me shopping? TOMMY It’s not gonna happen, Tink. Drop it. She glares at him, his eyes are fixed on hers. KELSEY You’re an ass. TOMMY Whatever. Eat your food. He leaves the room, Kelsey throwing a PIECE OF FRUIT that splatters on the wall next to the door. TOMMY (from the hall) Eat! Kelsey GRIMACES as she reluctantly takes a bite. CUT TO: INT. DIRECTOR’S OFFICE - DAY The DIRECTOR waits behind his desk in the dark, empty room, the only light being the small lamp dangling above the desk. After a moment, the door opens and Genevieve enters. DIRECTOR (warmly) Genevieve, my dear. Come in. She smiles NERVOUSLY as she makes her way over to the desk. GENEVIEVE (defensive) Look, if this is about the locker room, I can explain. DIRECTOR Relax, this isn’t about the… wait, what happened in the locker room? GENEVIEVE (quickly) Nothing. (change the subject) What’s up, boss? Director looks at her sternly, but she seems totally innocent, way too cute to be up to mischief. He shakes his head and continues. DIRECTOR It appears I have a bit of good news for you this time. Genevieve seems impressed, in disbelief. GENEVIEVE Really? Wow, I didn’t even know you guys did that. The Director, used to her lip, ignores the sarcasm and continues. DIRECTOR A Fenris splinter group has slaughtered a small village outside Nel Lusso. Dozens of innocent people, children, even their dogs were killed. Genevieve is shocked. GENEVIEVE That’s good news? You need to switch to a less depressing network, sir. DIRECTOR (irritated) That wasn’t the good part, dear. GENEVIEVE (relieved) Oh, good. DIRECTOR Although it’s good to know you disagree with their practices. GENEVIEVE Of course, sir. DIRECTOR Especially since you’ve been assigned to eliminate them. Genevieve’s eyes light up like a ten year old that just got a pony. GENEVIEVE Really? A real mission? A really real mission? DIRECTOR (acting casual) Well, you know, your instructors believe you have all the necessary skills… GENEVIEVE Yeah, yeah I do! DIRECTOR (continues) … along with Alec’s heavy endorsement and remarkable test scores… GENEVIEVE I nailed that one about Creative Uses for Ricochet. DIRECTOR That‘s one way of putting it. GENEVIEVE What? I got a perfect score! You can't hold that one tiny mishap against me! DIRECTOR Tiny mishap? Cadet Jones is being fitted for a prosthetic as we speak. GENEVIEVE (tries to joke) Let's hope his new leg is faster than his old one, eh, sir! He glares, unamused. Genevieve is ashamed. GENEVIEVE Sorry, just sayin', you know... (long pause) (poorly feigned enthusiasm) Big day. DIRECTOR (extreme sarcasm) Yes, he's very excited. Her eyes look away, ashamed. He shakes his head and continues. DIRECTOR Anyway, the Board has decided you’d make an excellent addition to the team we are sending to infiltrate the militia’s compound. GENEVIEVE (excited) Finally! (confused) Wait, what? (disgusted) Team? DIRECTOR Yes, dear. Team. It’s when a group of peers sets out together to accomplish a common goal. GENEVIEVE Sounds lame. DIRECTOR Maybe. Regardless, (hands her an envelope) you will meet your team at this location at 0500 tomorrow. You will be briefed further then. She tries to look like a good soldier, back straight, eyes forward. GENEVIEVE Yes sir. Thank you sir. DIRECTOR (smiles) Congratulations Genevieve. She smiles, suddenly a teenage schoolgirl again. GENEVIEVE (excited) This is gonna be so awesome. DIRECTOR Move along, you’re going to be late for class. GENEVIEVE (giddy) ‘Kay! She turns away and leaves the room, very excited. The Director watches her go with a warm smile. FADE TO BLACK: END OF ACT TWO |