Act IV

As if a pendulum suspended from a chain, the camera swings in on face after face in an erratic pattern around the circle formed by the psychics.

As the camera moves in on the face of Number Seven, there appear behind him in sudden illumination various images:

A burning scarecrow.

A collapsing building, the smoke and dust of which actually engulf the room.

A flock of birds on a patch of sky torn from this world.

In a succession of quick cuts we see other fragments: Hands joined together, faces, the psychics eyes closed or rolled back in their heads.

The camera spins and faces become a blur. The sound of a hollow, wailing wind fills the room.

The camera stops and moves in one the face of October. Her eyes are wide open and stare straight into the lens.

Silence.

Then, she shouts.

October
Stop!

The spell is broken, the communion shattered, the circuitry abruptly cut.

October (to #7)
They want your secret...so they can tell it to you..so you can give it up!

Dr. Troy's face reddens with rage. He lunges for her.

Number Seven grabs him from behind and yanks him off her.

Several others grab Number Seven and the group crashes to the floor as October breaks free, runs out the door, and into the night.

Number Seven fights to free himself form the clammy grip of these psych-zombies. Their hands tear at him like brambles as he struggles toward the door.

114. Ext. Street-Night

The camera leads October as she runs down the street.

The POV is low and in front of her. One by one, the street lights, like cold, white planets, appear over her head.There are only her footsteps on the concrete and her heavy breathing.

115. Another angle

She runs down into the subway.

116. Int. Subway-Night

The omnipresent official secular Christmas music blares over the tinny P.A.

October comes running into the empty boarding platform. behind her, the booted footsteps of two Screws clatter down the stairs, gas mask-monster faces, their Knock-U-Out cannister at the ready.Far down the tracks, a train can be heard approaching.

October jumps down on the tracks and races to the platform on the other side.

The Screws are right behind her.

117. Another angle

Number Seven runs down into the subway and out on the platform.

118. Another angle

October stops short. On the stairs ahead of her, with a cruel casualness, Pentangle appears.

199. Another angle

Number Seven grabs a newspaper rack, hoists it above his head and hurls it at one of the Screws down on the track.

The projectile knocks the Screw down face first. The train has now come into view. The second Screw tries to help his fallen comrade.

October looks back. Her eyes meet the eyes of her lover. They lock together. There can be no doubt that, at this instant, it is really her–not the spirit that eclipsed her.

Time stands still while the tunnel fills with the roar of engines.

The train blasts past, crushing the two Screws beneath its wheels and cutting the lovers off from each other with its hurtling steel.

120. Number Seven's POV

Number Seven waits and watches. The train never even slows.

When it passes, October and Pentangle have vanished. the platform is empty. The inane Christmas music flows back as the clatter of wheels recedes into the dark distance of the subway tunnel.

121. Wolf's Tooth-Night

Number Seven and Zensetter walk through the wreckage of the lab. Zensetter uses a cane to study himself. Number Seven is extremely agitated.

#7
They must have her. I...what can we do? I don't know where else to turn.

Zensetter
She had been eclipsed by Number Three. She was struggling against it. I tried to help her. I know this, she loved you...loves you despite everything. It was not her but the evil one within her that tried to help them find your secret.

Number Seven picks up a strip of wooden wreckage.

#7
What is this damn secret? What secret could be worth so much?

He snaps the wood in two.

Zensetter
The secret is that part of you which remains when everything else is destroyed. It is your link to the creator. It's not the secret, itself, but your willingness to give it to them. That's what they care about.

#7
Well, I'll never give it to them. Never!

Zensetter
If you knew it now and they would trade you her life for it, would you give it to them?

This stops Number Seven cold. A beat.

#7
(mumbles)I'm glad I don't know.

Zensetter hobbles over and sits down at a table.

Zensetter
Perhaps the process of discovering our secret...reveals the secrets worth to us...and gives us the strength to hold on to it...to resist.

#7
They said if I gave them my secret I'd go free. Is it that everyone here resists? Have they all kept their secrets?

Zensetter shakes his head no.

Zensetter
If you give them your secret they reward you by erasing your memory of the outside–or for those born here–their imagination of the place, their faith in it is destroyed.

#7
The bastards. They have no right.

Zensetter leans forward looking at Number Seven intently.

Zensetter
I asked you if you believed in anything and you said "yes".

Number Seven looks up.

#7
Freedom.

Zensetter
What can make us free except to not surrender?

He lays something on the table and slides it across to Number Seven.

#7
What's that?

Zensetter
A symbol. There are millions of souls here. Some are without hope. Some deny that they are in prison. Others simply don't know. A few believe as I do; We will be free. We call ourselves The New Nation. We want you to join with us.

Number Seven picks the object up.

122. Close up on object

It is a ring showing the image of a pine tree with a star in the background.

123. Another angle

#7
A tree? A star?

Zensetter
The outside...where wolves run free among the evergreens.

#7
Listen is there a way out of her or is this just a game you people play?

Zensetter
Even if there were no way out, wouldn't it be a worthwhile game? We know the Constellator asked you to join the authority. We want you to work for them. It's what we always needed-a man on the inside.

#7
You don't understand. I'm not going to be here that long. I'm going home. Anybody I can take with me I gladly will. But I'm goin' or I'll die trying.

He hands back the ring but Zensetter refuses it.

Zensetter
Yes, of course. But in the meantime, keep it. It could be more difficult than you think and you might change your mind about helping us.

#7
You're a stubborn man.

Zensetter
Like you. Be with us, but work for them. If one day you decide to really fight, put that ring on. Consecrate your cause. When you do, a leader will appear.

Number Seven puts the ring in his pocket and starts to go.

#7
Yeah. I'll remember that. Listen, thanks for....

Suddenly, a high-pitched metal scream like chain saws rips the air. Plaster dust rains from above.

They watch, frozen, as the big teeth cutter-blades gnaw through the ceiling.

As they run for the stairs, Pentangle and two Screws drop into view from above.

Instinctively, Number Seven spins around and charges. He does a flying double jump kick that sends Pentangle crashing, then strikes at both the other Screws at once-one with a karate blow, the other with a karate side kick.

Zensetter makes it up the ladder and out of the room.

Pentangle fires a blast from his Knock-U-Out canister at the same instant slapping his gas mask over his face.

Number Seven and the two unprotected screws are knocked out as the high pressure blast clouds the room with noxious fog.

124. Number Seven's POV

The last thing he sees through the blue-white haze is the black-masked face of triumphant Pentangle.

125. Int. Hallway

The camera tracks toward two stainless steel doors which fly open before us. We enter the morgue.126. Int. Morgue

The camera continues its forward path stopping within inches of a shrouded body on a stainless steel table.

127. Another angle

Two Screws have hold of Number Seven. Pentangle jerks the sheet off the body and forces Number Seven's face down close to the face of the dead October.

128. Number Seven's POV

The camera moves in on the face of October, still beautiful though pallorous and cold.

129. In subliminal cuts:

Sean's face

Crash-test dummy

Wolf's eye

Accelerate to the face of October.

130. Another angle.

By the hair, Pentangle yanks Number Seven upright.

#7
You killed her!

Pentangle
She killed herself.

#7
You lie!

Pentangle
To free herself from Number Three. He would have left anyway when he was through with her. He always does.

Overcome with despair, Number Seven casts his eyes upward into the merciless glare of a surgical lamp.

We step-zoom into the brightness. In a slow dissolve a pine tree on a hilltop-a star behind-shows through.

October (V.O.)
Something calls to you...From the edge of within.

Then, all goes black.

131. Int. Constellator's Adjudication Chamber

Two black-clad Screws flank the door to the adjudication chamber. From just inches above the floor, the camera creeps toward the door which from this perspective looks immense.

The door flies open. Number Seven walks in. He is pale and drawn as though, perhaps, he has spent time in solitary. He walks to the center of the room. Nearby, the Constellator stands, his back to Seven, his hands resting on the desk as he stars down at his reflection in the black marble.

Constellator (without turning)
Yes, Number Seven, you asked to see the Constellator.

#7
(flatly) I'll work for you. Just leave me alone.

The Constellator turns. It's the axe-faced Pentangle. Seven's eyes flicker with surprise.

Pentangle
Looks like we both got new jobs.

He smiles with a cool, malevolent satisfaction.

#7
And we have each other to thank.

132. Ext. Park- Day

The camera moves rapidly above a sea of falling leaves like the low-to-earth POV of a wolf.

133. Another angle

October walks admist a rain of falling leaves. She looks at something in her hand. It's the nail Number Seven gave her. Tears fill her eyes.

134. Another angle:

A Data-pol cruiser glides past.

135. Ext. Street-Day

Seven is let out of a data-Pol Cruiser. He carries a large black duffle bag over his shoulder that matches the uniforms of the Screws.

One of the Screws in the cruiser hands him something...a key.

The cruiser pulls away.

136. Int. Stairwell

Seven reaches the top of the landing.

137. Close up on the door lock.

As the key is inserted, the door pushes open.

138. Int. Room

He walks in. in this large space th wood floors shine. It is completely empty except for a grand piano which sits in the middle of the room.

It is exactly like the room in which he found his father.

A chill runs through him.

Leaving the door half open, he walks to the piano and sits. He plays a few brittle notes. They echo through the emptiness of the room.<.p>

He stops. He takes something from his pocket. A close up reveals it to be the ring Zensetter gave him. He contemplates it for a few seconds. Then, with a deliberateness that underscores his purpose, he places it on his finger—and, slowly, makes a fish.

The door creaks. Seven turns as it swings slowly open.

Standing in the door, bathed by the light from beyond, is the silhouette of someone.

As the camera moves toward the dark form, it moves slightly into the light revealing half a face. It is the face of Number Six.

139. Another angle

On the face of Number Seven we: Fade out.

The End.


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