GRAVITY KILLS by Thomas A.

Schwenn

I dont know whether this world has a meaning that transcends it. But I know that I cannot know that meaning and that it is impossible for me just now to know it. -Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus.

Email: thomas.a.schwenn@gmail.com Phone: 608-335-4136

WGA-e: I253824

GRAVITY KILLS FADE IN: EXT. COASTLINE - DAY The blistering SUN in the distance - OCEAN TIDES CRASH upon a pristine BEACH. Suddenly - the sun FADES and the ROAR of the tides cease. Panicked, gasping BREATHING CUT TO: AN EYELID SNAPS OPEN. Were staring at the IRIS... INT. UNDERGROUND - PROCESSING ROOM POV - OUT OF FOCUS: several LARGE HAZY OBJECTS twist & turn like chemicals combining. FEMALE VOICE (O.S.) (urgently) Sir, hes...hes waking up. Sir?! A SCUFFLE in the DISTANCE. MALE VOICE (O.S) (distant) Impossible. What do you mean hes (beat, closing in) - shut it down! Shut it down! I cant! FEMALE VOICE (O.S.)

MALE VOICE (O.S.) Get out! Let them handle it! Their FOOTSTEPS scurry away like rats. Slowly everything comes into FOCUS: a grim, windowless ROOM at the end of a CORRIDOR. KLIEG LIGHTS give the sense of an uncommissioned project at hand as 2 AGENTS have INMATE X cornered like an animal. We peer down - OUR ARMS are STRAPPED to the sides of a POD, ELECTRICAL NODES fastened to our fingertips.

2.

INT. UNDERGROUND - HALLWAY - SAME AGENT RYDER, shark-like, marching with a tactical patience as he regards his iMap (a mini Ipad-sized console), with a 3D IMAGING of the building - an enormous, LABYRINTHINE STRUCTURE - floating before him. Flanked by AGENT JACKSON and a TEAM OF 5 AGENTS. [note: all Agents wear identical black & white UNIFORMS; all Inmates are in light-blue JUMPSUITS, slip-on shoes.] INT. UNDERGROUND - PROCESSING ROOM - SAME We break free from the restraints. We are DALTON MARLOWE, 30s. Chiseled features, haunted, wary eyes, disciplined nature, SCAR above his right eye. The Agents and Inmate X fight on as Marlowe analyzes the room. Frozen IMAGES flash as he evaluates every detail in rapid succession: a set of COMPUTER MONITORS, an abundance of MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, each Agent's faculties - their PUPILS fully dilated. MEANWHILE Inmate Xs doubled-over. The Agents pull out small 3 BENCHMADE MINI-REFLEX switchblades. Serious hardware. Agent 1 reaches back - ARM caught by Marlowe, who twists it - comes down across the elbow, SNAPPING it. FLASH CUT TO: POV (ethereal, dreamlike): in a BAR - a REDHEADED WOMAN playing pool...making out with her in a CAR...it starts to get rough. BACK TO SCENE Marlowe blanches over the sudden visual. Recovers. KICKS out Agent 2s knee, doubling him over. KNEE to the jaw - sending him down.

3. Marlowe holds a beat, as if surprised by these abilities, regards his bloodied hands MATCH CUT TO: POV: in a FOREST - hands covered in CRIMSON. BACK TO SCENE Marlowe quickly snaps out of it. Just as Agent 1, using his good arm, STABS Inmate X in the heart. Marlowe rushes in. Kicks Agent 1 away. Applying pressure to Inmate Xs wound INMATE X (gasping for breath) W-w-w-w-where...are we? (he expires) Marlowe goes static - and its clear: he has no idea. A pregnant pause before SLAM! goes the door as Agent Ryder and the rest of the group form a semi-circle. Agent Ryder analyzes the damage - 1 dead Agent, 1 immobile, the deceased Inmate, but Marlowe alive & well. AGENT RYDER Its going to be what its going to be, Marlowe. Marlowe sizes up the Agents - slowly inching backwards, reverses...and BOLTS down the corridor. Catching a glimpse into: INT. UNDERGROUND - THE WHITE ROOM - CONTINUOUS A brilliant ALL-WHITE ROOM. An ELDERLY INMATE slouched to a wall, dead. Dried BLOOD TEARING down from his eyes. INT. UNDERGROUND - PROCESSING ROOM - SAME Agent Ryder calmly walks to and squats before Agent 1. AGENT RYDER What did you tell him?

4. AGENT 1 (seizing) Nothing! I-I-I told him nothing! Help me. Help me! Ryder bristles. Unleashes a RECONFIGURED GLOCK 26 .9MM. A low HUM sounds, like a computer as it uploads. Then calmly SHOOTS Agent 1 point-blank. He nods for the team to take off after INT. UNDERGROUND - CORRIDOR - SAME Marlowe desperately maneuvers the bowels of The Mac: a massive sewer-like system - a dank, cacophonous world of anonymous CORRIDORS inter-connected via Escher-like CATWALKS with an enormous SHAFT down the center. A muted reality - thick with dead, thermostaticallyprogrammed air. INTERCUT -The Team calmly advances thru the same HALLS. No rush. -Marlowe: mind racing. Adrenaline pumping. Any which way he turns looks just like the last. He finally whips around a corner to a long, narrow SERVICE TUNNEL with a DOUBLE-DOOR at the end. - rushes to the exit. Each stride in rhythm to with FLASH CUTS TO: POV: playing soldiers across from a 5 year-old BOY. -the same Boy, 7, over on GRANDMAS lap, being prepped for a photo. -in the midst of a vicious fist-fight with the Boy, 12. -standing on a stage at a high-school graduation. -Pick up a framed PHOTO: the Boy, now 30, looks exactly like Marlowe. But there are 2 of them. IDENTICAL TWINS. INT. UNDERGROUND - TUNNEL - SECONDS LATER Marlowe recoils over this 2nd set of images - closes on the Exit. An adjacent DOOR bursts open. GATES (O.S.) Whatever they tell you are lies. Marlowe freezes - peers over - drawn to the soft static light from a single dangling BULB.

5.

INT. UNDERGROUND - STORAGE ROOM - MOMENTS LATER A room of wiring and infrastructure. GATES (O.S.) Do not believe them. Take these GATES, 30s, female, white uniform - holding 2 YELLOW PILLS with a gaze fixed on Marlowe. Studying him closely. MARLOWE What is going on? I keep seeing GATES Your memorys been compromised. They will find you. But you cannot give in to them. Marlowe drills her with a look MARLOWE Who...who are you? GATES Im someone who wants to help, Marlowe. Listen to me. He clutches his head, in agonizing pain again, as FLASH CUT TO: POV: walking out of the FOREST, wiping blood off our pants. BACK TO SCENE - SECONDS LATER Gates is checking Marlowes pupils. GATES Youre overloading. Take them. Marlowe snatches the pills. Tosses them down his throat. GATES (CONTD) What do you remember before you woke up? Marlowe has to focus - he has no clue. MARLOWE What is happening to me? Before she can reply -

6. GATES

Theyre here.

The door CREAKS open. Marlowe settles into a fighters stance. Looks around - Gates has vanished. The Agents surround their prey. One of them reaches for his gun. Ryder shakes him off. AGENT RYDER (to Marlowe) You can only make this worse. All is still. Until, desperate, Marlowe charges in. The whole exchange a ballet CRACKS Agent 1 across the chin, knocking him out. SHOVES him at the others to create distance. Catches 2s swing at the wrist, twists and BREAKS it. KICKS out 3s knees, hobbling him. JABS 4 in the THROAT. Just as 3 falls forward, Marlowe ducks, SWIVELS like a bullfighter. Deftly slips off 4s belt, SNAPS it at 5s legs where it wraps around, tripping 5 up. Jumps on top, grabs the foot, and SNAPS it at the knee-cap. Picks up 5 and uses him as a shield as he RUSHES out of the room - passed Agents Ryder & Jackson. INT. UNDERGROUND - HALLWAY - SECONDS LATER Racing to the end of the Hallway, to an ELEVATOR INT. UNDERGROUND - ELEVATOR - SECONDS LATER Tube-like. Elegant. Brilliant LIGHTS ZOOM past on each side indicating hes ASCENDING with incredible speed. And like that, DING! - doors open to INT. THE MAC - BROADWAY - NIGHT Row upon row and multiple LEVELS of GLASS CELLS. Like a massive crystal-clear beehive. I.M. Pei meets 2001. A hyper-reality in stark contrast to the muted world weve seen thus far. HISTORYS LARGEST PANOPTICON. High above is a massive CENTRAL COMMAND CENTER. Hanging down like an inverted flowers bulb.

7. OUTSIDE: PERCHED HIGH ABOVE - ARID WASTELAND DOWN TO A PRECIPITOUS DECLINE TO AN OCEAN COASTLINE. AN ISLAND IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Marlowe turns back from whence he came. Only to be met byDIRECTOR OKEEFE/MALE VOICE Thatll be enough, Marlowe. DIRECTOR OKEEFE, 50s, staring coldly. A small, dapper man. George Will meets J. Edgar Hoover. LOUIS, Korean, OKeefes right-hand man, quickly grabs Marlowe, SNAPS onto his head a METAL HALO, with a clear tube along the outside. LIQUID siphons to a NEEDLE injecting behind Marlowes ear. Marlowe breaks free. Stumbles down Broadway desperate for strength - undergoes the following FLASH CUT TO: POV: one of the twins, 8, running through a THICKET OF SMALL TREES, turning back to wave us forward with him. To a CLEARING...a PICNIC TABLE, a TENT, a LOUNGECHAIR...look up to an angelic, untouched LAKE at DUSK. The boy smiling and giggling...continue with him, hold his small hand...onto the PIER...to the end BACK TO SCENE - but Marlowe...falls...limp... DISSOLVE TO: TITLE: GRAVITY KILLS BLACK SCREEN accompanied by STEADY BREATHING. CUT TO: INT. ROOM Solitary confinement: a COT in a small sparse ROOM - no windows or carpet. A COVERED LIGHT built into the ceiling - which is ON, a toilet and 4 CONCRETE WALLS.

8. MARLOWE (V.O.) Thats how it started, after the chase, to my best recollection. Alone, in that room. Marlowe stands. MARLOWE (CONTD) Hello? Hello?! (beat) CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?! But theres nothing but the MUTED ECHO of his own voice. Then lets out a PRIMAL SCREAM at the top of his lungs. DISSOLVE TO: Seething. Pacing. MARLOWE (V.O.) (CONTD) Had I known...had I known, what Id have to endure, maybe I shouldve just stayed asleep. DISSOLVE TO: His face stubbled - shakes & fits in his sleep. MARLOWE (V.O.) (CONTD) I still had them, the visions. The women, the woods, the boys, the lake. I could not be free of them. Who were they? DISSOLVE TO: Pacing again. Animal-like. MARLOWE (V.O.) (CONTD) How long had it been? How long would it be? What had they done to me? And why? The light turns OFF. The room goes PITCH BLACK. But he paces still. Marked by his labored BREATHING. DISSOLVE TO: Bearded, staring out, void of any emotion. MARLOWE (V.O.) (CONTD) I kept replaying it all. It was some-sort of prison. But why?

9. MARLOWE (V.O.) (CONTD) I wanted that air, that sun, that water. DISSOLVE TO: Marlowes in a fetal position - rocking back & forth. MARLOWE (V.O.) (CONTD) Im going to kill them. Kill them all. Then Im going to kill their families. Then Im going to kill their friends. Then I will kill their familys friends. And so on. I wont stop. Those were the thoughts I had when I was alone. In that room. FLASH CUT TO: POV: driving a TRUCK. Spot a FEMALE HITCHHIKER. Hitchhiker climbs in...the truck parked to the side of the road... carrying a large plastic bag over our shoulder - into the FOREST. BACK TO SCENE Marlowes startled awake. Hes squatting in the corner. Spots a COCKROACH scuttling along the base of the wall. Rushes after it. Catches it. Examines it. Then traces along the walls to find out where it came from. Investigates closely for any holes or cracks. MARLOWE (V.O.) Where did it come from? Was it real, or had I imagined it? But relieved. He has a purpose. He stretches out. Begins to do push-ups. Theyre difficult, but he gains momentum. The light turns OFF Again - complete DARKNESS. Yet Marlowe continues. DISSOLVE TO: MONTAGE Marlowe picks up the pace. Regains his strength and wits. Training himself.

10. MARLOWE (V.O.) Its amazing how the mind can lose all semblance of time when not inundated with appointments, phones, television shows, alarms, glowing digital reminders staring at us, recalling how despite all of historys technological advancements, we cannot control the one element of our lives that means the most - the passage of time. DISSOLVE TO: Marlowe stretches out. Hes lean and ripped. Focused. MARLOWE (V.O.) (CONTD) How come my appetite or thirst never wavered? END MONTAGE. Hes seated against the wall, staring out - meditating. MARLOWE (V.O.) (CONTD) We take for granted, time. We say I dont have the time, theres not enough time, time flies. How stupid. There is the time, we simply choose to use it in other ways. Then we complain. DISSOLVE TO: MARLOWE (V.O.) (CONTD) Having a goal brought forth a strange calm. Which told me something - I, whoever I really was, had been a very troubled man. Marlowe ends his meditation session. MARLOWE (V.O.) (CONTD) And despite all that - it was just the beginning. With all those questions then present in my mind, was added another: Why let me (his eyes close) INT. THE MAC - CELL B281 - DAY Two eyes snap open. Curious. Searching.