THE PURPLE WOODS

By

J.A. Ramírez
Carlos Ramírez

Safe Creative storiesandbbq@gmail.com

carrammor@gmail.com
EXT. HOTEL – NIGHT

A luxury hotel at the top of the mountains.

Fog shrouds the landscape on a cold, damp night.

The hotel sheds the only light visible in the pine and oak
forests of the north.

Murmurs of a party coming from within bring the forest to

life.

SUPER: Spain, Cantabrian Mountains

INT. HOTEL (CONFERENCE ROOM) – NIGHT

The murmuring intensifies.

In the carpeted corridor of the hotel, in front of the double

doors of the conference room, a sign with the logo of a
cosmetics company: "CHEU-SING MASK. TODAY, PRESENTATION!"

Inside, a huge room with waiters parading trays of canapés

and drinks, while guests socialize with high bourgeois airs.

The CEO of the multinational, a ridiculously short guy,

speaks with difficulty into a microphone on a stage. Behind
him, a screen projects the company's logo.

CEO
Is this thing on? Yes. Yes. Hello?
Good evening, thank you all for being
here.

The room applauds timidly.

CEO
(clears throat)
For millennia, the mysterious and
inaccessible Chinese civilization has
kept its greatest secret under lock
and key: the source of its extreme
longevity. Today, no ancestral
technique is any longer an enigma to
the most advanced laboratories of
civilized man. With all of you... the
Cheu-Sing mask!

The room applauds more enthusiastically.

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CEO
You will now be given a sample,
courtesy of the house, to try on right
here.

The waiters pass trays with boxes decorated with ribbons and
the company logo among the guests.

The guests and the CEO enthusiastically put on the masks.

These are attached to the face, covering it completely,
except for a couple of narrow slits for the eyes.

The screen switches to projecting an image of yaks in

captivity.

CEO
Yak sperm acts in a matter of seconds
on aged skin. In the past, it was
necessary to wait for the male's
reproductive cycles, but today, thanks
to our hatcheries, we can ensure a
mass production that allows us to--

The door of the room bursts open, startling everyone.

A WOMAN (30s) shows up. She presents wounds and signs of

struggle all over her body covered with dried blood. Her hair
is disheveled, her gaze is wild, and her hands are trembling.

CEO
(chuckles)
These hippies don't miss a chance...

The attendees laugh at the CEO's comment.

The woman starts to walk.

CEO
And here we go. Security! Security,
please!

Gradually, the guests begin to relapse at the woman's

condition. They move aside as she passes by, annoyed by her
presence. No one approaches to help her.

The woman reaches up to the bar. She grabs a crystal glass.

She pours herself three ice cubes from an ice bucket. She
opens a bottle of whiskey and takes a generous gulp.

The guests, mute, watch as she drinks it calmly.

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The woman returns the glass to the bar, enjoying the drink.

She seems calmer.

She looks around her, at the guests, at the room in silence,

until she stops her gaze on a stain on the carpet. A red wine
stain.

The woman remembers something horrible. She looks at her

bloody hands and begins to scream. She screams and pulls her
hair completely out of her mind, while the guests, wearing
their masks, remain impassive.

The scream is abruptly cut off.

CUT TO: BLACK

SUPER: "NATURE MAKES NOTHING INCOMPLETE, NOR ANYTHING IN

VAIN." — ARISTOTLE

SUPER: THE PURPLE WOODS

BEGIN OPENING TITLES

Cave paintings showing a group of humans around a glowing

object.

Pages from medieval medical codices showing monks studying a

dark sphere.

Surgery books from the 19th century and press clippings from
the middle of the 20th century that tell the story of a
"purple gold" unknown and hidden by nature.

END TITLES

EXT. MOUNTAINS (SHOULDER OF COUNTRY ROAD) – NIGHT (RAINY)

SUPER: Spain, Cantabrian Mountains (two days later...)

On the shoulder of a country road and under the heavy rain, a

man (IVÁN FERRER, early 40s) awaits. He shields himself from
the torrent with a backpack while looking at his watch.

Beams of light from a white Jeep Renegade emerge from the

darkness.

The Jeep drives forward to a stop next to Iván.

Through the passenger door he glimpses a woman behind the

wheel (IRENE BRADI, late 30s, green eyes). She rolls down the

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window slightly.

IRENE
¿Professor Ferrer?

IVÁN
You must be Dr. Bradi.

IRENE
(noticing Iván's backpack)
Isn't that too little baggage for two
weeks?

Iván shrugs.

A few spotlights, faint from the rain but visible in the

distance, alert Irene.

IVÁN
If you don't mind...

Iván tries to open the door but it will not open. He taps his
knuckle on the glass.

IVÁN
Dr. Bradi? Can you open the door,
please? It's great out here but I'd
like to chat somewhere else.

The rain pours down with an icy wind that freezes Iván. He
tries to open the door again, without success.

IVÁN
Dr. Bradi!?

IRENE
I made it clear that I wouldn't do
this on a short leash, Professor
Ferrer.

Iván looks toward the spotlights in the distance.

IVÁN
Those... Those are mountaineers!
Bradi, there's no one here but us!
Please open the door!

Irene does not give in.

IVÁN
All right! If I go and show you they

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are who I say they are, and they

leave, will we ______
please move on?

Irene gives the command with her head.

Iván covers his neck and walks against the wind and rain
towards the distant pair of spotlights, cursing under his
breath.

Irene follows Iván's every step with the rearview mirror with
extreme distrust, but the night and the rain make it
difficult to see.

He stops a few steps away from the vehicle, a black Jeep that
engulfs the professor with the bright lights. Inside, two
black silhouettes can be distinguished and remain immutable
before him.

Iván then makes a gesture with his hand indicating that they
should leave. The Jeep does not obey, and he repeats
vehemently, but slyly, to avoid being detected by Irene.

After several attempts, the Jeep starts the engine and passes
to Iván's right in silence, its two shadowy silhouettes
stalking the professor.

Now out of range and with the road clear, Iván returns to the
vehicle at a brisk pace.

IVÁN
I've come to help you, Dr. Bradi!

Irene unlocks the door. Iván settles into the passenger seat,
soaking wet.

IVÁN
Thank you.

Irene sets off and the vehicle disappears into the forest,
leaving a tire track in the mud.

INT. JEEP - NIGHT (RAINY)

Irene drives fast across the dirt road in the pouring rain.
Iván is silent.

IRENE
Sorry for being late.

IVÁN
It's all right. It's only been...

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(checks his watch)

forty minutes.

IRENE
Where we go hours fly by.

IVÁN
And where is that place?

Irene looks at Iván with surprise.

IRENE
Did they explain nothing to you?

IVÁN
No one knows what you've been doing
here for a month, Dr. Bradi.

Irene keeps her eyes on the rickety road and puts the pedal
to the metal.

EXT. MOUNTAINS - NIGHT (RAINY)

The Jeep meanders through the grove, marking the route with
its headlights in the rain.

In the distance, among the trees, Iván spots a two-story

wooden house.

IRENE
Don't worry, we won't have onlookers
hanging around. There is no one there.

INT./EXT. JEEP/CAMPSITE - NIGHT (RAINY)

The Jeep emerges from the foliage to stop in an open clearing

among the oak trees of the forest.

Irene gets out of the car followed by Iván, who discovers a

large armored scientific trailer with large barred windows at
the north end of the clearing.

Irene opens the door and instructs Iván to follow her inside.
He stands restlessly in the clearing.

IRENE
Come on! Don't you want some answers?

Iván looks behind him, at the shadows of the branches and

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foliage dancing under the moon and the storm, and enters the
trailer.

INT./EXT. TRAILER/CAMPSITE - NIGHT (RAINY)

In front of Iván, a heavily equipped laboratory, with

computer and robotic instruments, such as a mechanical arm,
thermomixers, PCR cabinets, and filtration systems, as well
as a couple of beds, provisions, kitchen, and a tiny bathroom
for personal use.

IRENE
Leave the stuff over there. That bed
is yours. Half of what's in the
fridge, too. The power supply is not
unlimited and I need it to power the
equipment. Don't overdo it with the
showers.

IVÁN
This is all quite impressive.

IRENE
Private funds. Oh, I also need your
laptop.

IVÁN
That's where I take my notes.

Irene throws a notebook and pencil on the bed.

IRENE
You may only communicate with the
outside world under my supervision.

Iván agrees to Irene's request and offers her his devices.

Irene keeps them in a safe.

IVÁN
Dr. Bradi... They made me sign many
clauses, many contracts that nullify
other contracts if I break the
previous one. I... know how to respect
the work of a colleague.

IRENE
What did they say you came here for,
Professor?

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IVÁN
To give support. They seem to be
concerned about your, and I quote,
"extreme backwardness", and have
understood that you might needed
advice in fields outside of your core
area.

IRENE
And why do you
___ think you are here?

IVÁN
To provide a point of view.

Irene doesn't seem satisfied with the answer.

IRENE
Think about if, once here, you really
want to stay, because I'm not going to
risk everything for a pizza guy who's
been sent to the ass end of nowhere.
There's dinner in the fridge and a
blanket under the bed. Good night.

Irene goes out into the clearing to breathe in the coolness

left by the rain and enjoy a clear, full moon.

Iván, shocked by Irene's determination, looks around. Her

aggressively annotated blackboard, the passion of his stroke,
the mountain of books, papers and notes scattered on the
tables and the floor. The tireless work of his hostess.

EXT. CAMPSITE - NIGHT

Iván accompanies Irene for a breath of fresh air.

IVÁN
I came to find an answer to something
I wasn't able to explain, not even
dedicating my whole life to it, and
where it seems that someone has got
ten years ahead of me.

IRENE
It's a fucked up feeling, isn't it? We
are not artists, we don't become
famous after we die.

IVÁN
But we'd do it to understand it,
wouldn't we?

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IRENE
Understand what?

Iván looks into the forest in silence.

IVÁN
I want to know if we are dispensable.

Irene seems puzzled. But Iván has already focused his

attention on the moon.

Irene places new trust in her guest and invites him in.

IRENE
Come on, I'll make you some coffee.
You'll need it.

INT. TRAILER - NIGHT

Irene drags a monitor onto a table on wheels and turns it on

in front of Iván.

It shows a medium-sized bird perched on the rocker of its

cage. It tries to move, but stumbles as it is missing a wing.
It can only crawl.

An eyedropper pours a purple liquid into the animal's

drinking trough, which it approaches to feed.

The timeline runs for six hours at double speed during which,
suddenly, a new wing grows from the bird's body until it
stretches out healthy and functional, allowing it to fly
again.

Iván's surprise is uncontainable, as is his fear.

IVÁN
Dr. Bradi, what are you doing here?

Irene turns away from Iván and gives a look of unwavering

ambition and power.

IVÁN
Is this for real?

IRENE
Tell me, Ferrer, what does a reputable
zoologist like you know about cell
regeneration?

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IVÁN
No, it's not possible. There are
limits to ____
this, you know? There is a
reason no one has ever done this
before.

IRENE
That's right. The creation of cells,
tissue, organs, and even an entire
body autonomously.

Iván stares at the computer screen.

IVÁN
This is an ability of crustaceans and
reptiles, but impossible in birds
and...

IRENE
And limited and slow in man. Very
slow.

IVÁN
How long...?

IRENE
Six hours.

IVÁN
What kind of trick is this?

Irene picks up a box with transparent polycarbonate walls

illuminated by a strong heat lamp.

IRENE
Yours, Ferrer, will be the second eyes
in the world to see this. Do you
understand the commitment involved?

Iván looks around him. The barred windows of the trailer, the
closed digital lock flashing red, and the darkness of a
forest that doesn't let them see beyond the clearing in which
they are isolated.

He nods. Irene uncovers the box.

Inside, a red oval shell covered with green strands and the
size of a fist.

IRENE
This is Aion.

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IVÁN
My God...

Irene takes a pair of gloves and brings her fingers close to

the strands.

IRENE
Its morphology is fascinating, isn't
it?

Iván, mesmerized, reaches his hand towards the artifact of

nature.

IVÁN
Bright colors to attract other
species, filaments that react to the
contact of--

Irene stops Iván's hand. She slips hers in and the strands
lightly burn the plastic of the glove.

IRENE
Be careful, Professor. These filaments
release a stinging toxin if the
organism feels threatened. Attached to
a shell of this thickness, the final
question is....

IVÁN
What are they defending?

Irene picks up a tablet to control iDigital, the robotic arm

that extends next to the box.

The arm, assaulted by the filaments, inserts the tweezers

into the box and grabs the upper part of the shell to uncover
the other half, revealing a purple liquid substance with a
gelatinous and elastic texture.

Irene inserts her finger again.

The texture stretches and adheres to the glove.

IRENE
The shell protects it from predators
and environmental pollution.

Iván spots a 24-tooth-per-inch jigsaw next to the table.

IVÁN
Have you studied it? Could it be some

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kind of asteroid? A starfish?

IRENE
It has no symmetry of any kind,
neither exoskeleton nor central disc.

IVÁN
But... it's alive.

IRENE
Water, carbohydrates, vitamins A and
C, phytochemical compounds, sweet
smell and taste.

IVÁN
Those are the properties of a fruit.

Irene caresses the box with eerie mime.

IRENE
Isn't it the most beautiful thing
you've ever seen in your entire life?

Iván approaches the glass to get a closer look at the fruit.

IRENE
That sour face you were wearing has
changed, huh?

IVÁN
On what other subject have you tested
it? Rats?

IRENE
Yes. It rejuvenates decades at the
cellular level. These are not only
signs of a new superfood, but of the
possibility of transforming the health
of a 70-year-old man into that of a
30-year-old.

Iván focuses his attention on a refrigerator drawer where

syringes filled with the purple liquid lie ready for
application.

IRENE
Well...?

Iván takes his time and thinks deep in thought.

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IVÁN
As a scientist I would say that this
is a dangerous violation. Regeneration
is an ability that nature reserved for
a few species for a reason.

Irene remains silent, visibly dissatisfied with Iván's

answer.

IVÁN
But as a man... as a person, I'd be
amazed at the possibility of
regenerating the charred skin of a
fire victim, of seeing an amputated
limb grow back after a car accident,
or of restoring sight to a human
being. Not only that. We are talking
about the entelechy of stopping
starvation on Earth. Dr. Bradi, this
could guarantee thousands of years of
dominance of our species on the
planet.

Irene smiles with satisfaction.She takes out a bottle of

champagne and offers a glass to Iván.

IRENE
For the sake of this coexistence...

Irene fills the glasses.

Iván, out of the corner of his eye, distinguishes on the bed,

scattered from inside his bag, a rickety copy of his first
manuscript: "The Loss of Man. 50 Years in the Extinction of
Natural Species", by Iván Ferrer-Gallego.

IRENE
Nature has a plan for us, Professor.

Irene offers a toast to Iván, who tries to hide his concern

with a weak smile.

INT./EXT. TRAILER/CAMPSITE - NIGHT

Moonlight streams through an open skylight in the roof of the

trailer onto Iván's bunk.

He leafs through a book with a green cover worn by the

passage of time.

He rubs his eyes as he turns yellowed pages with

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illustrations of vertebrate animals, Latin terms, and black

and white photographs of bird and amphibian dissections.

He flips back to the flap of the book: a photo of the author.

A middle-aged, intellectual, post-war woman.

Iván closes the book, exhausted.

On the cover, in golden letters, it reads: "Treatise on the

Genetics of Regeneration and Its Applications in Medicine".
The author: Concepción Tabares.

He puts it on a pile of books on the floor.

Among them read titles like "Biological Observations on the

Ophiuroids", "A Brief Definition of Regenerative Medicine"
and "What Is Regenerative Medicine?".

Iván is drawn to the Aion, which rests in its transparent

case emitting a hypnotic glow in the dark.

He picks up Irene's sketch pad and pencil and begins to trace

the Aion, its oval shape and pronounced colors.

The fluorescent filaments seem to react to Iván's presence,

trying to touch him through the glass.

Iván finishes the sketch and contemplates it.

He then takes a small digital recorder and a compact

flashlight from his luggage.

Silently, he heads outside, stopping for a moment to check

that Irene is asleep. She does so with a pair of glasses on.
Around her bunk, on the floor, books and notes lie scattered.

Iván comes out of the trailer. He walks as he talks,

illuminating his steps with the flashlight.

EXT. CAMPSITE - NIGHT

IVÁN
(to the recorder)
November 8, 2022. I'm in some forested
area of the Cordillera, no
coordinates. I just met Dr. Irene
Bradi. Personally I find her cordial
although too impulsive. Her results,
though... I confess that they exceed
all my expectations. What I've seen
today could shake more than the

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foundations of the entire scientific

community. My first conclusion is that
two weeks is insufficient to endorse
this project. If you really want this
to get out of here, we are going to
need to make sure that there is
absolutely no danger--

Iván is interrupted by stepping on a metal surface that emits

a thunderous sound.

He looks down at the ground and stomps several times,

producing the same hollow sound.

Putting away his tape recorder, he crouches down to clear the

area of dirt and brush to reveal a heavy sheet of rusted
iron.

IVÁN
What the...?

Iván meditates before he grabs the plank and moves it with

effort.

In front of him, a man-made pit about sixteen feet high with

some old ladders is revealed.

The darkness makes it impossible to see the bottom.

IVÁN
What is this all about?

A sound of dry branches startles him. Iván shines his

flashlight around, looking for the source of the sound.

The light hits a serene looking deer watching him from a few
feet away. Iván stares at it and gulps.

At last, he begins to descend the rickety wooden stairs,

which creak rottenly.

The animal bellows, trying to alert Iván.

INT. PIT - NIGHT

Iván reaches the base of the pit. He shines a light inside

looking for some clue as to its usefulness.

Iván's foot collides with something. An old miner's helmet.

He points his flashlight at it and discovers tools from an

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excavation: several more helmets, an old rusty lamp, and even

cans of food.

Iván picks up one of them and reads the label: "Best before
1954".

IVÁN
What the hell...

Iván notices a light breeze coming from one of the walls of

the moat. Following it with his hand, he discovers a small
grotto about a meter in diameter, almost flush with the
ground.

He peers into the grotto, so deep that he cannot see the end
of it.

Inside, several Aion shells open and blackened. Dead.

Iván picks up one: hollow, with slight traces of the purple

liquid that contains the fruit. He inserts his fingers to
touch it.

Iván keeps the piece of Aion and picks up another. One by

one, he examines and keeps the shells scattered around the
grotto...

... until he mistakenly picks up something different. A human

skull.

IVÁN
FUCK!

Iván examines the skull with the flashlight.

Not far from it, more half-buried human remains. A jumble of

shattered bones and still tattered shreds of clothing.

IVÁN
No way! NO WAY!

Iván hurries up the ladder, but near the top one of the
rotten rungs gives way and he plunges into the void.

EXT./INT. CAMPSITE/TRAILER - DAY

Clear morning in the forest. Sunlight filters through the

high branches of the oak trees.

Irene looks at Iván's empty, unmade bunk, the blankets

scattered on the ground.

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IRENE
An early bird.

Irene pours herself a coffee, sets up a chair in front of a

laptop, and connects the webcam.

IRENE
Well, here we go. Research diary 271.
After two months of direct application
of stem cells extracted from Aion on
various species, I observe no immune
rejection or engraftment against the
host. Great news that only confirms my
faith in this amazing organism.

Irene takes a sip of coffee.

IRENE
I'll spend the next two weeks in the
company of Professor Iván Ferrer. He
will help me understand certain
aspects of Aion that are outside my
field--

The figure of a bipedal being fleetingly crosses behind

Irene, outside the trailer. She spots it on the computer
screen captured by the webcam.

Startled, she turns around and slams the cup down on the
laptop.

IRENE
Shit, dammit.

EXT./INT. CAMPSITE/TRAILER - DAY

Irene goes out into the clearing looking for the visitor and
discovers long footprints in the sand, with claw marks
several inches long.

Coffee drips over the laptop and from the table to the
trailer floor.

IRENE
Professor Ferrer?

No one answers.

Irene is struck by a revelation and runs into the pit, which

she discovers open.

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IRENE
No, no, no, no, no, no, please.

Irene distinguishes Iván lying at the bottom of the pit.

IRENE
Professor Ferrer! Professor Ferrer!

Irene looks behind her, worried about leaving the trailer

open.

She turns off the lights inside, closes the heavy door, and
locks the access with a numeric code.

After that, she begins to descend the ladders to the pit.

INT. PIT - DAY

Irene jumps towards Iván, who slowly regains consciousness,

blinded by the direct sunlight.

Irene's silhouette alarms him.

IRENE
Professor Ferrer, it's me, Irene. Look
at me... Look at me! I got to get you
out of here, you look hurt.

IVÁN
Bones... There are human remains here.

Irene ignores Iván, who points to the bones as he hurts the

bloody back of his neck.

IRENE
Professor Ferrer... Iván! Did you open
the hatch? Tell me, did you open it?!

Iván's vision blurs.

IRENE
IVÁN!

Irene looks up to the sky, horrified and engulfed by the

darkness of the pit, surrounded by buried human bones.

INT. TRAILER - DAY

Irene, sheathed in medical gloves, soaks a cotton ball and

carefully places it on Iván's head to stop the bleeding.

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Bloody cotton wool at Iván's feet, who sits patiently.

IRENE
This will hurt a little.

Irene inserts a needle into the wound to sew it up.

Iván twists his face in annoyance.

The thread slides through the skin, closing the wound gently.

IVÁN
Did you know?

IRENE
(pulling the thread)
Stay quiet.

IVÁN
Tell me, did you know?

IRENE
That's where I found the Aion.

IVÁN
Why didn't you tell me?

IRENE
It wasn't the right time. Hold here,
I'll get the scissors.

Iván pulls the string with a slight wince as Irene returns to

cut it.

IVÁN
They are corpses. People, for fuck's
sake. We can't ignore them, we have to
call the police.

Irene stops stitching the wound and takes off her gloves.

IRENE
And what exactly do you plan to
achieve with that?

IVÁN
I'm not trying to achieve anything.
It's just the right thing to do.

IRENE
I wonder if those who sent you share

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your honesty. Those who are going to

invest more than 1 billion in a
formula that they can sell to clinics
everywhere in five years.

Iván comes to his senses.

IRENE
They've been there for seventy years.
Let's let the press keep talking about
football, and let's get on with our
work.

Iván sighs resignedly.

IVÁN
Any idea how they died?

Irene looks with concern at the opening of the moat in the

clearing through the window.

IRENE
No.
(pause)
But I can imagine what they were
looking for.

Iván raises his head, realizing that Irene is referring to

the Aion resting in its glass case.

Irene rummages in a toolbox for a large crowbar.

IVÁN
What are you going to do?

IRENE
I need to close that moat.

Irene accidentally discovers, among Iván's stained and dirt-

covered clothes, the dead remains of Aion and the tape
recorder. She takes it, speechless, and plays back the last
few seconds.

IVÁN (V.O.)
"What I've seen today could shake more
than the foundations of the entire
scientific community. My first
conclusion is that two weeks is
insufficient to endorse this project.
If you really want this to get out of
here, we are going to need to make

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sure that there is absolutely no

danger--"

Irene smiles in disbelief.

IVÁN
Those are private notes.

Irene prepares to retort furiously but the bellowing of an

animal, followed by loud metallic clanging in the forest,
alarms both, who look out of the window to the outside.

The vegetation surrounding the clearing shakes. Branches

break and bones crunch. The shrieks become increasingly
violent and painful.

Irene grabs the crowbar and heads for the door. Iván stops
her.

IVÁN
Where are you going?

Irene rushes into the clearing and Iván chases after her. He
takes a sharp knife from the kitchen before leaving the
protection of the trailer behind.

EXT. CAMPSITE - DAY

Bloody drag marks lead to the pit.

The driver's door of the Jeep lies on the ground ripped off.
The vehicle, battered, with a large part of the chassis
deformed.

Iván runs to the mouth of the pit and sees, motionless at the
bottom, an adult deer in agony.

IVÁN
Shit.

IRENE
Fuck. A deer?

Iván is about to go down the ladder.

IVÁN
Take the hook from the Jeep. We'll
pull it out.

IRENE
It's fallen from 15 feet! It'll be

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dead before we move it!

IVÁN
It didn't fall, it was dragged. Get to
the car before whatever attacked it
comes back!

IRENE
Forget the deer, Iván!

IVÁN
We are among predators. If we leave it
lying there, we won't be able to get
out of the trailer. We have to drive
it away!

Irene obeys Iván, who descends into the depths of the pit,
where the deer's moans of pain echo.

EXT./INT. PIT/CAMPSITE/JEEP - DAY

BEGIN MONTAGE

Iván lands next to the deer, which is lying wounded in the

belly and neck.

IVÁN
Hey, it's you, buddy. We met last
night.

The animal gasps in pain.

IVÁN
Shhh, shhh. Calm down, calm down.

The deer becomes agitated in Iván's presence.

IVÁN
Don't worry, we're not leaving you
here.

Iván raises his head looking for Irene on the surface.

IVÁN
Come on, come on...

Irene stops the Jeep at the edge of the pit and rushes out to
throw the cable inside.

IRENE
This can't be happening. It can't be

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true.

The hook descends to Iván, who grabs it and pulls it closer

to the animal.

He puts his hand on its side, but it kicks, shaking the

ground and getting up awkwardly.

Irene goes to the Jeep in anguish, closes the door, and

isolates herself to temper her nerves in the silence of the
vehicle.

In the meantime, Iván finishes tying the rope around the

animal, which is slowly collapsing.

IVÁN
That's it, just a little bit more.
That's it, my friend.

Iván pulls the cable to warn Irene.

She starts the engine and slams into reverse, kicking up dust
and sand with the traction of the wheels. The tires squeal.

The deer begins to rise slowly between squeals. The animal

sways from side to side.

IVÁN
There, slowly, slowly. You're gonna
get out of--

From the grotto in the wall of the pit, two elongated, bony
arms of wet skin emerge and grab the deer.

A high-pitched squeal floods the hole and pierces Iván's

ears. He falls back against the pit wall, holding his hands
to his ears.

The Jeep slows down.

IRENE
What's going on?!

The deer fights for its life with its neck twisted. It
struggles to free itself from the claws pulling at it.

Iván, paralyzed, takes refuge in the far corner of the hole,

witnessing how, little by little, the deer is engulfed by the
grotto without being able to avoid it.

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IVÁN
Fuck, the Jeep... Irene.

The Jeep skids out of control and Irene stops the engine to
avoid burning it.

IRENE
IVÁN! IVÁN, GET OUT OF THERE!

Iván looks to the heights and pulls out the knife.

In a sacrificial gesture, he cuts the cable that holds the

animal.

It disappears, dragged away to be devoured in a resound of

bites, torn skin, broken bones, and bellowing.

Iván climbs the ladder in a hurry.

Irene peeks out and discovers something climbing after him.

IRENE
IVÁN, BEHIND YOU!

Iván looks behind him.

Hidden by the darkness of the pit, a reptilian face

determinedly climbs the ladders. Two eyes, ________________
green and purple,
pursue him in ominous silence.

IRENE
RUN! RUN, FOR GOD'S SAKE!

Iván slips on the last steps and grabs the edge of the pit.

Irene grabs his arm and pulls him out.

They both pull themselves together to tip the metal hatch

over the hole by dragging it with the crowbar.

The glowing eyes disappear into the darkness.

After the blow, absolute silence.

IVÁN
(catching his breath)
That thing... just ate a whole deer.

IRENE
Iván...

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IVÁN
And you had it locked up.

END MONTAGE

INT. TRAILER - DAY

Iván rushes into the trailer and grabs his backpack.

Irene enters after him and closes the door, activating the
safety latch. Iván gives her a questioning look.

IRENE
You're not leaving.

IVÁN
What? Have you lost your mind? My cell
phone, I have to call, they must come
and... Open the safe.

IRENE
I just can't.

Iván goes to Irene's laptop and tries to turn it on. The

computer does not respond. Coffee is still dripping from the
keyboard.

He gets up and tries to log on to a desktop PC but the

computer requires a password.

IVÁN
How do I access?

IRENE
I can't tell you.

IVÁN
YOU CAN'T KEEP ME HERE!

Irene blocks the door with her body and covers the digit
panel with her hand.

IVÁN
This is madness... When the people who
pay for this find out what you do
here, what you did to continue your
delusions.... You are a fraud.

IRENE
(throwing the recorder on the bed)
What about you? Endorsing? Is that

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what you think you're here for?

Iván approaches Irene.

IVÁN
There is something out there that has
killed several people. Do you know
what that means? We are prey in a
habitat we don't belong in.

IRENE
It's just an animal.

IVÁN
That ripped the door off a Jeep!
You've got to stop this, we've got to
go. There are dead people in there.

IRENE
I did ___
not kill them.

IVÁN
You will kill us.

Irene goes to a desk drawer and pulls out a box with Red
Cross printed on it. From the medicine cabinet, a flare gun.

Irene throws it to Iván and he catches it on the fly.

IRENE
You have three options: you shoot,
everyone for six miles around comes,
and we put them in danger. Or you take
the Jeep and run to them. The next
time you see Aion, it will be on a
50,000 euro drug while they save a
multi-billion treatment to monetize it
over the next thirty years.

Iván meditates.

IRENE
Or you stay and defend this castle and
the treasure in it with me.

IVÁN
You... You want to take Aion away from
them. Do you intend to run away with
it?

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IRENE
Listen, I lied to you, and you lied to
me, so we're even. I respect you, you
share that stupid romantic vision of
man and progress in the service of
nature. They don't, they want to take
Aion away from me and lock it in a
basement. You and I see the world as
it should be.

IVÁN
You don't know me! You deceived me and
put my life in danger.

IRENE
I can't change the past.

IVÁN
You can return me to the roadside.
Pretend that none of this happened.

IRENE
But you don't want to. You want to
understand the miracle that is taking
place here.

Iván tightens his grip on the pistol and looks into the pit
from inside the trailer.

IRENE
We have invaded its forest. Help me
and let's survive.

IVÁN
No, it's not its forest. That thing is
__
the forest.

Two dry blows resound on the hatch from inside the moat.

CUT TO: BLACK

EXT. CAMPSITE - DAY

The glass of one of the Jeep's headlights, cracked and

shattered, reflects in its bulb the faded silhouette of Iván
approaching the vehicle.

He examines the dent in the door and the engine chassis,

where dried blood and traces of the deer's fur are still
visible.

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Iván crouches down to study the tracks.

Among the deer tracks, he identifies the creature's

footprints leading into the woods. Long-footed, bony toes and
claws.

Iván walks into the grove, clearing undergrowth to the point

where the attack possibly originated.

The footprints disappear. Iván looks around but finds no more

marks or signs of stalking.

Then he looks up into the trees, where sunlight filters

through the branches, and looks down again at the ground, at
the deer's footprints.

IRENE (O.S.)
Iván!

Iván turns to the trailer, from where Irene calls him.

INT. TRAILER - DAY

Iván enters the trailer while Irene settles herself in front

of the laboratory table, where the remains of Aion, recovered
from the pit, lie.

IRENE
It's eating them.

IVÁN
What?

IRENE
The creature is eating the Aion. These
are the remains you found in the pit.
Look, the cracked and broken shell. A
perfect, sharp blow.

IVÁN
Aion is running out... That's why it
hunted the deer. The creature is
starving and has to change its diet.

IRENE
Is that possible?

IVÁN
It wouldn't be the first species to do
so. Bats or wild boars adapt to the
invasion of cities. The question is...

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will one deer be enough?

Irene looks at the specimen of Aion preserved in the glass

box.

IVÁN
That's what it's looking for.

EXT. CAMPSITE - DAY

Irene tries to start the Jeep, wrecked by the creature and

with the driver's door ripped off. After a few attempts, the
engine responds.

The wheels turn slowly. The vehicle moves forward until one
of the front wheels is placed on top of the hatch covering
the pit.

Irene jumps out.

IVÁN
Surely this is necessary?

IRENE
You've seen how dangerous it is. I
don't care if it starves to death down
there.

Iván seems to disagree, but says nothing. Irene notices.

IRENE
What?

IVÁN
We don't even know what species it is.
All animals react violently if
threatened.

IRENE
You want to study it.

IVÁN
Maybe, yes. Perhaps it will help us to
better understand Aion.

Irene chuckles.

IRENE
Alright.

She then walks to the Jeep, determined. She climbs into the

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driver's seat, starts the engine and backs up, freeing the
hatch from the weight of the wheel.

IVÁN
What are you doing?

Irene gets out of the vehicle, grabs the iron plank, and
moves it.

IVÁN
Irene, stop!

The opening of the pit is completely clear before Iván's

presence. He slowly approaches the edge to peek into the
deeps.

No sign of the creature.

Irene gestures to Iván to come down.

Iván looks at her. He hesitates. Then looks into the pit

again.

Irene, tired of waiting, sets off for the trailer.

IRENE
Do me a favor and put the hatch back
when you are done.

Iván watches Irene walk away. He looks back at the moat,

which returns a dark and threatening gaze. He gulps, uneasy.

IVÁN
Shit. Dr. Bradi! Dr. Bradi!

Irene stops.

IVÁN
What do you want from me exactly?

IRENE
I need to extract as much Aion as
possible from down there, and I can't
do it alone with that thing lurking
around. I'm not a zoologist, I don't
know a wolf from a fox.

IVÁN
I'm not a hunter. I study species, I
don't kill them.

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IRENE
Find out what this creature is, what
it wants. Draw, trace, make molds of
the footprints if you want, whatever
it takes to get it out of the pit.
Find out what we can fool it with. I'm
asking for your help, professor.

IVÁN
And does locking it up with the Jeep
do any good?

Irene does not respond.

IVÁN
I do not agree to harm it.

IRENE
I don't mind if you adopt it as a pet.
But know that if it attacks me, I
won't hesitate to stick a flare in its
mouth.

Irene walks away leaving Iván alone by the pit.

EXT. RIVER - DAY

The clear current of the water reveals a background of rocks

and moss.

Iván's face, submerged in the water, his eyes open and

staring into the void, remains motionless and unblinking.
Seconds pass and Iván does not react. Small bubbles come out
of his nose and mouth.

Iván pulls his head out of the water and shakes his hair. He
then puts his feet in and takes a seat on a rock, breathing
deeply, letting himself be imbued by the tranquility of the
forest.

Iván takes the portable recorder from his pocket.

REWIND.

PLAY.

IVÁN (V.O.)
"If you really want this to get out of
here, we are going to need to make
sure that there is absolutely no
danger--"

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STOP.

REC.

Look at the horizon. Silence.

IVÁN
End of report.

STOP.

Iván remains silent, his gaze fixed on the forest.

INT. TRAILER (BATHROOM) - DAY

Irene turns on the bathroom light.

She turns on the faucet. The pipe sounds clogged, the water
gushes.

Irene washes her face and looks in the mirror. She notices
that the water comes out with a brownish hue. Puzzled, she
smells it and turns off the tap.

EXT. RIVER - DAY

Iván pulls out his sketch pad and begins to draw the details
he remembers of the creature with quick, blurred strokes. The
claws emerging from the grotto. The face climbing the moat
behind him.

He pauses to color the eyes green and purple to retain them

in his memory.

He then improvises details of the creature he doesn't know:

claws on the feet, fur, fangs... He draws two-legged and
four-legged versions of the beast and accompanies the
sketches with questions about its morphology.

When he finishes, he contemplates the result, concerned.

EXT. FOREST - DAY

Iván walks back to the campsite. The wind stirs the leaves of
the oak trees, producing a whistling sound reminiscent of a
wail.

A drop of sap slips down a trunk.

Iván's hand picks up the drop and caresses with his fingers a
claw-like cut in the trunk.

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Iván walks, sinking his feet in puddles of leaf litter and

mud. He stops when he comes across some sharp footprints at
the base of an oak tree.

Iván crouches down to take a look at them. After checking for

moisture, he looks behind him and compares them to his own.

IVÁN
They're recent.

Two sets of footprints: some approaching and others moving

away from the tree.

Iván looks up into the branches and begins to climb. He

discovers climbing marks, elongated and sunken in the wood.

Iván crowns one of the intermediate branches. He accommodates

himself by pushing the undergrowth aside and looks at the
horizon.

IVÁN
It can't be...

From his position, Irene's trailer is clearly visible.

INT./EXT. TRAILER (BATHROOM)/CAMPSITE - DAY

Irene turns on the shower faucet, which again sounds clogged

and spews out the same dirty water.

Irene gets out of the trailer and goes to a large water tank
connected to the vehicle by a plastic pipe. She examines the
tank for any breaks or leaks. She opens the top lid.

The water looks dark.

Irene rolls up her sleeves and reaches in to test the water.

She stirs until she finds one of the skulls buried in the
creature pit.

IRENE
OH GOD!!!

Irene throws it away.

The skull falls at the feet of Iván, who returns from the
river. He walks to the water tank and completely overturns
it. Dirty water and human remains mixed with clothes are
scattered on the ground, staining it black.

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IVÁN
We'd better go inside.

EXT./INT. CAMPSITE/TRAILER - EVENING

Outside of the trailer. The room is illuminated. Through the

glass, the shapes of Iván and Irene have a conversation. Iván
explains what he has seen. Irene reacts with concern.
Inaudible voices.

Now inside, Irene takes a seat and takes a deep breath. Iván
waits for an answer.

IRENE
Are you sure you covered it up again?

IVÁN
I put the Jeep on top. There is no way
it could have moved the hatch.

IRENE
Then we have a problem.

IVÁN
What if it is the work of a person?
Have you crossed paths with someone in
the forest?

IRENE
You are the first person I have seen
in a year. There is no one here but
us.

Both look at each other in silence.

IRENE
I don't know how it escaped, but we're
safe in here.

IVÁN
It's not that simple. The behavior of
this creature is not normal. I've
never seen such complex reasoning in a
mammal. It didn't choose to besiege
us. It's contaminated the water to
force us to leave.

IRENE
If you're going to suggest we leave,
save it. We're not moving from here.

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IVÁN
We must double our defenses.

Irene is surprised by Iván's response.

IVÁN
It's foolish to think we are not at a
disadvantage. It knows the terrain, it
moves at will. It can show up wherever
and whenever it wants. We'll start by
arming ourselves with what we can. Is
there anything useful in here?

IRENE
The flare gun.

IVÁN
Cartridges?

IRENE
Three.

IVÁN
We need something else. We'll make
some stakes. It may be intelligent,
but it's still an animal. We have to
show superiority. Bully it.

For the first time, Irene doesn't seem to know quite what to
say.

IRENE
Yes, of course...

Iván takes a look around the trailer. At the barred windows.

He grabs a bar and pulls on it.

IRENE
What are you thinking?

IVÁN
From this moment on, our top priority
is to protect the Aion. No one goes in
or out of here on the slightest
suspicion that this thing is around.
It doesn't matter which one of us is
out. The trailer is sealed until all
is clear. Do you agree?

Irene nods. Iván takes a deep breath.

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IVÁN
You say that Aion is important.

IRENE
Yes.

IVÁN
So much as to die for it?

Irene hesitates for a second.

IRENE
Yes.

IVÁN
Good.

Iván holds out his hand to Irene. Irene shakes his hand in a
firm grip.

Iván turns on his way outside.

IVÁN
Come with me. There's something we
must do first.

EXT. CAMPSITE - NIGHT

A powerful flame illuminates the clearing in the forest. The

fire illuminates the faces of Irene and Iván.

Irene sharpens the tip of a long wooden stake with a

penknife.

With no moon, the forest remains in darkness.

IVÁN
I've been thinking... There's
something I have remembered.

Irene waits as she continues to shape the stake, to the

silence of Iván, who does not take his eyes off the fire.

IVÁN
When I was a kid, I reached into a
rose bush to catch a ball that a jerk
in my neighborhood would throw
whenever we played soccer. I came out
with five stings on my arm. I almost
choked to death ten minutes later. All
I kept saying was, "Fucking bees, I'll

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kill them. I'll kill them."

Irene listens to the story in wonder.

IVÁN
Do you know what was the ____
only thing my
father said as I was being deflated
like a balloon in the hospital bed?
"It wasn't the bees, Iván. It was
wasps." "So what does it matter?", I
replied. "It matters, because wasps
only exist because of man. They were
born to take revenge for how we
treated the bees."

Irene goes to answer but Iván turns in the direction of the

trailer, leaving her alone in front of the bonfire.

Clouds cover the night sky and soon it begins to rain over
the forest.

Irene puts down the stake. She takes a shovel and begins to
pour sand on the fire until it is extinguished.

To his right, a cross improvised with two wooden poles crowns

a small mound.

INT./EXT. TRAILER/CAMPSITE - NIGHT (RAINY)

Irene enters the trailer, where she finds Iván standing

still, staring at something on the floor: The bird cage that
appeared in the video, completely empty.

IRENE
Iván...?

Iván bends down to take a closer look. He feels the remains

of fresh blood and the plumage left behind by the bird. The
twisted bars of the cage show violent nicks from the beak.

Suddenly, a total power cut.

The trailer goes dark. Iván quickly sits up and looks at

Irene, who goes to the trailer's main switch. She flicks it
several times, to no avail.

IRENE
Must be a generator thing.

Aion begins to emit an intense, pulsating glow that tints the

trailer lime green.

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Iván approaches the transparent box and looks through the

barred window outside at the gathering storm.

Lightning strikes the forest.

IVÁN
Why did it start to glow now?

Irene grabs a blanket and throws it over the transparent box,

blocking practically all light.

IVÁN
I'll take a look.

IRENE
I'll go. I know the generator, it
already left me stranded several
times.

Irene throws on a yellow raincoat and grabs a flashlight. She

is about to open the door when Iván holds out the flare gun.

Irene says nothing. She begins to shake her head hesitantly.

IVÁN
You won't need it. But take it anyway.

Irene agrees to take it and ties it around her waist.

IRENE
Don't open until I return.

Irene opens the door, checks the surroundings with the

flashlight and jumps out, disappearing into the storm.

Iván watches her walk away on her way to the generator before
locking the door. He peeks through the glass to follow her,
albeit with difficulty.

BEGIN MONTAGE

Irene advances across the muddy ground, through the curtain

of rain, and shining the flashlight in various directions,
uneasy but steady.

She reaches the huge generator connected to the vehicle. It

is turned off. She feels a small glass door with a lock.
Behind it, a lever.

From the pocket of her raincoat she takes out a key ring. She
inserts a key into the lock and opens the door.

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Iván continues to watch through the fogged glass. He wipes

off the mist with his sleeve.

Irene grabs the lever and pumps it. Once. Twice. Three. Four.

IRENE
Come on...!

FIVE.

The spotlights on the trailer roof light up with an intense

white light. Inside the vehicle, the power returns
completely.

IVÁN
YES!

Irene breathes a sigh of relief.

Iván's expression turns to horror.

In the light of the spotlights, far behind Irene, a crooked

figure stands on two legs, casting shadows over the forest
and the rain.

Iván starts banging on the glass and alerting Irene.

Irene turns to the door, trying to make out amidst the sound
of the rain.

As she turns she notices the creature watching her in the

middle of the clearing.

It stands menacingly. A being of six feet tall and barely

forty kilos in weight, with pale skin, veiny in the
moonlight, with no hair on its body, hareliped lips, claws,
and two large eyelidless eyes of different colors: ______
purple and
green.

Irene is paralyzed. The hand holding the flashlight trembles.

The creature starts trotting straight towards Irene. It moves

on its hind legs, accompanying the run with a bloodcurdling
screech.

The flashlight falls to the ground.

IVÁN
Shit!

Iván opens the trailer door and begins to attract the

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creature's attention with shouts and blows.

It stops a few feet away from Irene.

IVÁN
That's it... Come, come, come... Come
on!

A new screech. The creature starts running towards Iván, this

time faster.

IVÁN
FUCK!

Iván barely has time to close the door.

With the momentum, the creature rams the trailer.

Iván falls backwards against the table, knocking over the

microscope and other contraptions.

The door is left swinging half open.

Iván pulls himself together and runs to bar the door with the
safety catch.

The creature bangs and claws furiously.

Meanwhile, Irene recovers from the shock. She goes to the

trailer on the opposite side to the creature and leans
against the wall, waiting for the banging and scratching to
stop.

Silence.

Irene crouches down to look underneath the trailer. No sign

of the creature. She decides to crawl in and crawl to the
other side. The creature has disappeared. She gets up and
runs to the door.

IRENE
Iván! Iván! Open the fuck up!

The door opens. Irene drops to the floor of the trailer,

where she catches her breath.

Apparent calm.

IVÁN
Are you okay?

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IRENE
Where is it? It was there a moment
ago!

IVÁN
I don't know, it just suddenly
disappeared!

IRENE
What about Aion? Was it hurt?

Without waiting for an answer, Irene uncovers the transparent

box to check that Aion is still safe in the box.

She breathes a sigh of relief.

Noises on the roof. Iván and Irene become alert. Something

heavy is moving above them.

They wait in silence, without moving a muscle.

IVÁN
It cannot enter. We are safe.

IRENE
Safe my ass. We're locked in.

The creature begins to squeeze through the narrow gap in the

open skylight in the ceiling. It manages to get its slender
body in and descends face down, slowly, like a spider.

Iván and Irene back up without looking back, she further

ahead of him.

The creature lands completely in the narrow trailer. It

barely fits in the room. It looks around, analyzing every
detail in search of Aion.

The fruit begins to glow.

The creature is alerted and emits a piercing cry.

IRENE
It's seen it!

IVÁN
IRENE, DON'T!

Irene grabs a nearby wooden stake and tries to chase the

creature away. In one of the movements, the sharp point
wounds it.

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It responds by grabbing the stake, knocking it out of Irene's

hands and throwing it away.

Unprotected, Irene steps between the beast and Aion. In the

blink of an eye, the creature has pierced her side with its
claws.

Irene looks down. Blood oozes profusely.

The creature pulls out the arm. Irene falls to the ground as
she bleeds to death.

Pale, Iván notices the flare gun at Irene's waist. He grabs

it, takes aim, and without a second thought, fires at the
beast.

The projectile hits it in the chest and catches fire. The

creature shrieks in pain and jerks uncontrollably.

IVÁN
¡IRENE! ¡IRENE!

Iván runs to attend to Irene, who is lying unconscious.

In one of its lurches, the creature hits the box containing

Aion and it falls to the ground, breaking the glass. The
creature then flees through the skylight.

Iván tries to wake Irene.

Aion's remains lie scattered on the floor of the trailer,

among the glass, while the purple liquid begins to seep from
under the door.

END MONTAGE

INT. TRAILER - NIGHT

Iván removes a pile of red soaked bandages covering the wound

on Irene's side.

IVÁN
Oh, God.

Iván looks away. He covers it again, pressing down so that

the blood does not come out.

Irene lies unconscious on the bed. Pale.

IVÁN
Irene... Irene, listen to me. I need

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my phone. I can't do this alone. The

safe, tell me how to open it.
Please... Please, Irene!

No response.

Iván curses his situation. Desperate, he looks around, trying

to find something useful amidst the mess.

His gaze falls on the refrigerator he saw the day before.

He places Irene's hand on the pile of bandages to hold it and

runs to open it. Inside, the syringes filled with the purple
liquid, safe.

Iván grabs one and returns to Irene.

He thinks for a moment. Hesitates.

Finally, he removes the bandages again, exposing the wound,

and sticks the needle into the skin, injecting the purple
liquid into Irene.

When he finishes, he throws the syringe away, covers the

wound, and drops down next to the cot, on the verge of
collapse.

He looks down at his trembling hands covered in blood.

FADE TO: BLACK

INT. SUPERMARKET - DAY

A cash register beep as barcodes pass through.

A fluorescent lamp flickers on and off, with one of the tubes

fused.

A checkout with a queue of people waits for a thick,

ungainly, gum-chewing CASHIER (late 20s) to pass the products
of an old woman who is rummaging through her purse.

A LANKY MAN (forty-something) looking like an office worker

holds a blue plastic basket with piles of milk cartons and a
flyer with 3X2 offers in the other hand. He looks around
disdainfully.

At his side, his companion, a young MULATTO (early 30s), with

a petrified look on his face, holds up an open book that he
is about to read.

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Just as he is about to begin, the lanky man speaks to him.

LANKY MAN
You know what I read yesterday while
taking a dump? A guy forgets his keys
inside his house and decides to go out
the window of the block to jump onto
his terrace. He plunged from a height
of five floors. For saving a hundred
bucks on a locksmith his family now
has to put the pieces together into a
box.

The people in line look at him sideways, frightened by the

coldness and mocking tone of his voice.

The man breaks the silence with a chuckle.

The mulatto remains unmoved by the anecdote.

LANKY MAN
Tragedy, misfortune. That's what their
neighbors call it. But they are wrong.
I call it natural selection.

The cashier looks at the man with disgust.

LANKY MAN
(to the cashier)
Do you disagree?

The woman chews gum. The man shakes his head.

LANKY MAN
Why don't your colleagues open another
checkout so we can speed up this
tiresome procedure, miss?

CASHIER
The fish stall cannot be left alone.

The man looks down the aisle of the fish counter.

Deserted.

LANKY MAN
If you turn your head you will notice
that there is no one in the fish
counter because we are all here.

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CASHIER
You have to wait like everyone else.

The woman chews her gum harder.

The mulatto raises the book but the man's voice interrupts
him again.

LANKY MAN
Natural selection, my friend. It's the
way nature found to keep in check a
species that ceased to be the prey to
occupy the top of the food chain. It
gave us the gift of free will. But
things change. We have become lazy,
sluggish, predictable... and slow
____
creatures. That only hopes to live
slower and slower, becoming a species
that preserves its integrity in the
shelter of a supermarket queue.
Hundreds, thousands, millions of
supermarket queues.

The fluorescent light goes out completely.

LANKY MAN
We are the only species that is aware
of its own death and, yet, feeds and
breeds until...

The man looks with rejection at the obese chest of the

cashier, which almost makes the button on the polo shirt pop
off.

The old woman finishes paying and leaves pushing a cart,

horrified by the man.

The man places the basket in front of the cashier and takes
out the milk cartons one by one while the mulatto stands next
to him without uttering a word.

The man points a bony finger at the leaflet.

LANKY MAN
I want the sale.

The cashier looks at the milk cans: two skimmed, one whole,
and one semi-skimmed.

CASHIER
The sale is limited to milks of the

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same type.

LANKY MAN
But miss, if you take a good look at
the logo and the packaging, you will
see that they are bottles of the same
brand and price. The type of milk I
dip my cookies in shouldn't matter to
your supermarket or to you.

CASHIER
However, I cannot redeem the offer.

LANKY MAN
I understand.

The man gives the mulatto, who was raising his book to read,
the cans of semi-skimmed and whole milk and asks him to go
change them.

The mulatto obeys.

The man and the woman stare at each other in disgust for an
endless minute, listening only to the crackling of the
fluorescent light and to an OPERATOR who emerges from the
corridor with some ladders and two new bars to change them.

LANKY MAN
Do you believe then that we have
defeated nature?

The mulatto returns with two new cans and puts them on the
cash register belt.

The cashier passes the first one but the man's voice
interrupts her with a shout.

OPERATOR (O.S.)
Vanessa! Come hold the ladder for me
will ya'!

CASHIER
I'll be right back.

The man, jaded, looks straight ahead as the creaking of

stairs and a scream can be heard in the distance. A fall
follows.

The stairs break and the man hits a heavy shelf which falls
on top of the cashier, crushing her.

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The people in the queue shriek hysterically.

The man charges himself for the milk and leaves the money,
takes some plastic bags and walks out the door, followed by
the mulatto, who is quietly reading his book.

A trail of milk mixes with the blood dripping from a sinkhole

in the floor.

FADE TO: BLACK

INT. TRAILER - DAY

Iván sleeps lying on the floor of the trailer, next to the

bunk bed.

A coffee pot bustles on the stove in the small kitchen.

Iván continues to sleep. The bustle intensifies.

Coffee begins to spill over the top of the pot.

Iván wakes with a start. He clears his eyes, disoriented, and

looks into the kitchen.

Irene holds the coffee pot and pours the coffee into two
cups. She turns to Iván, offering him a cup.

IRENE
Coffee?

INT. TRAILER/BATHROOM - DAY

Iván takes a sip from his coffee cup. Irene's cup sits
steaming on the table.

In the bathroom, Irene looks at herself in front of the

mirror. Slowly, she removes the blood-stained bandage from
her side to examine her wound. All that remains is a scar
where the creature's claw penetrated, practically healed.

Irene looks at herself in the mirror, uneasy.

She returns to Iván. She grabs her coffee cup and sits down
in front of him, trying hard to hide her concern.

IRENE
I owe you an apology.

IVÁN
What do you mean?

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IRENE
I thought you still didn't believe in
Aion. I was wrong.
(pause)
Thank you for trusting me.

Iván takes a breath.

IVÁN
I didn't have much choice either...

IRENE
Still. You saved my life.

IVÁN
But now I believe. I fucking do. And I
understand why you wanted to keep this
place a secret. Keep it away from
them.

IRENE
So...?

IVÁN
I won't say anything. You can count on
me.

Irene thanks Iván with a slight gesture.

Then she notices the remains of Aion and broken glass lying
on the floor. She stares at them.

IVÁN
I'm sorry. I tried to stop it, but it
all happened so fast.

IRENE
Where is it now?

IVÁN
Irene, that thing... We've got it all
wrong. It's smart. Very smart. And
what's worse, patient. We may be
further away from understanding it
than I thought.

Irene does not respond. She takes a sip of coffee while

meditating.

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EXT./INT. CAMPSITE/PIT/TRAILER - DAY

Inside the pit, raindrops against the ground. Mud falls from
the heights. A beam of light filters through a crack.

Irene uncovers the pit by pulling the heavy iron hatch.

She looks up, staring at Iván, who watches her from the
caravan.

IRENE (V.O.)
I'm going down. I'll take out the Aion
left in the pit.

IVÁN (V.O.)
It's injured. Either it's hiding or
it's waiting for you.

Irene shakes her head and clears her eyes. She looks back at
the trailer.

Iván watches her from the same window without gesturing.

Irene nods, determined. Sweat trickles down her forehead. She

adjusts the flare gun in her back pocket and grabs the
ladders, ready to descend.

IRENE
Course I'm going down.

INT. PIT - DAY

Irene jumps the last few steps and turns on her flashlight.

She peeks inside the grotto dug by the creature and ventures
into the darkness, armed with the flare gun.

To deal with the fear, she whistles the notes of the classic
piece "Peter and the Wolf" as she crawls.

Tree roots scratch Irene's clothes and skin as she crawls in

an ever-narrowing tunnel.

In front of her appear the dry remains of Aion.

IRENE
Such a filthy creature. You didn't
take out the trash.

Irene looks behind her back. The dampness of the earth

suffocates her.

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A sudden noise alerts her. Something is moving in the pit.

INT. TRAILER - DAY

Iván sits at Irene's desk without looking away from the

window. He turns on the chair to bump into Irene's computer.

He thinks.

He reaches for the keyboard and finds the password lock. He

looks all over the trailer in search of a clue that might
help him: blackboard, pencil, stacked books, scientific
equipment, notebooks... Nothing.

He shakes the keyboard in frustration.

Then he reaches under the device and lifts it up to find a

piece of paper with six numbers written on it. Iván types in
the code and presses OK. ERROR.

IVÁN
What? But--

Iván types it in to get the same message over and over again:
ERROR.

He slams the table and looks around to find the safe. He goes
to it and enters the same key on the electronic dial. The
door gives way with a click.

His cell phone and laptop appear in front of him. He takes

them without a second thought.

Under his belongings he discovers the keys to the Jeep. Iván

looks at them hesitantly, glances outside to make sure Irene
is not coming, and resolutely fixes his eyes on them again.

EXT. CAMPSITE - DAY

Iván walks to the pit and peers into the bottom. No sign of
Irene.

He looks out over the forest, expectant. Absolute silence.

He then looks at his cell phone screen: "NO SIGNAL". Behind

him, the Jeep awaits.

EXT./INT. FOREST/JEEP/ABANDONED BUILDING - DAY

The Jeep speeds through the forest.

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Iván drives without taking his eyes off his cell phone
signal.

IVÁN
Come on... Come on... Just one minute.

The Jeep makes its way through the vegetation to stop in

front of a rickety two-story wooden building. The same one
that Iván glimpsed from the car the night he arrived.

He gets out of the Jeep and observes the building, waiting

for any movement that might indicate if it is inhabited.

Determined, he heads for the door.

Iván looks through the windows, but the dust and darkness
prevent him from scanning the interior.

He walks among the moss, the rust of the structure and the
rotting wood. He turns into a backyard, where he finds a
series of crosses nailed to the ground like a graveyard.

The crosses are decayed, with inscriptions and names erased

by time. They read dates from 1954, 1955 or 1956 and on all
of them the same two letters: "TB."

Iván puts the sleeve of his shirt to his mouth.

IVÁN
Tuberculosis.

He walks toward the front door, ajar.

INT. ABANDONED BUILDING - DAY

Iván enters a large foyer with a counter full of papers,

folders, a rusty doorbell and gas lamps.

IVÁN
A hotel?

The wood creaks at his steps. Drops of water caused by the

humidity hit the floor, producing a tired and constant sound.

Iván walks down the hall, past a group of pictures with large
framed photographs: faces of older men and middle-aged women
in medical gowns. Among them, the author of the book on cell
regeneration that Irene had in the trailer.

IVÁN
Or a hospital.

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Iván opens the door to a room that unfolds before him a row
of beds with rusty bars and dirty, bloody, and broken
mattresses.

At the foot of each bed, a folder hanging with torn sheets of

paper.

IVÁN
But what is it doing in the middle of
the forest?

Iván closes the door and looks up to the roof, to the second
floor of the building. He tries to venture into a new,
smaller room, the size of a cleaning room.

INT. ABANDONED BUILDING (STORAGE ROOM) - DAY

Iván opens a room full of mining helmets, uniforms, and

digging picks hanging on the walls.

Hundreds of tin cans of the same type and date as the ones
abandoned in the forest pit are on the shelves.

INT. ABANDONED BUILDING (LIVING ROOM) - DAY

Iván pushes open two tall gates. Before him stretches the
remains of a multitudinous party. Streamers and posters
announcing a happy 1957. Table linen, glasses, and champagne
buckets.

In the center of the room stands a video projector pointing

to a yellowish screen at the back of the room.

Iván looks at the cable running across the floor to a socket

and tries his luck with the switch.

The machine hesitates between gasps but finally turns on.

Iván watches the mute images flash before his eyes in deathly
black and white and with signs of burned and mishandled film.

A group of half-naked men pose standing before the camera in

their underwear, sickly thin.

The beds seen in the previous room, perfectly arranged and

new.

A succulent still life filled with fruit, meat, and fish.

And finally, a general shot of the outside of the same

building he is in.

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Iván remains attentive to a new change of shot, but the

building remains impassive in the projector.

Exhausted, he sits down, looking for a clue to help him

understand the place.

Then the image changes to a round object in the foreground.

Iván looks up with a shudder.

In front of him, in a transparent glass box, a closed and

perfect specimen of AION waves its filaments.

IVÁN
What kind of delirium is this?

EXT. ABANDONED BUILDING - DAY

Iván walks toward the Jeep, cell phone in hand.

Finally with signal, he thinks as he takes a last look at the

building.

INT-EXT.DÍA/JEEP-BOSQUE/POLÍGONO INDUSTRIAL-COCHE

INT./EXT. CAR/INDUSTRIAL PARK/JEEP/FOREST - DAY

BEGIN MONTAGE

The lanky man puts a milk-soaked cookie in his mouth, chewing

it loudly.

Sitting in the driver's seat, his companion, the mulatto boy,

remains distracted with a tablet.

The car remains parked next to the storage rooms of an

industrial park.

A cell phone rings.

The man puts down the cup of milk and picks up an old Nokia
3310 with a green screen.

LANKY MAN
Mr. Ferrer! What a surprise. We were
wondering when you would deign to call
us.
(pause)
disposed... I understand. Well, Mr.
Ferrer, what do you have for us? Is
Dr. Bradi receptive to sharing her

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progress with you?

As he drives the Jeep through the forest, Iván ponders the

answer.

IVÁN
She's a private person. Other than
some tests and trials, nothing
relevant that makes me suspect she's
hiding information. She may simply be
at a standstill.

LANKY MAN
Nothing relevant. Do you know what my
uncle used to say, Mr. Ferrer?

IVÁN
(suspicious)
No.

HOMBRE LARGUIRUCHO
If you're going to cheat on your wife,
don't do it in a white shirt. Do you
understand what I'm saying?

Iván does not respond. He looks around.

LANKY MAN
Dr. Bradi has been evading those she
works for for over a month. No one
shares my opinion but I am beginning
to suspect that she has no intention
of sharing her discovery with us.

IVÁN
I understand.

LANKY MAN
You have noticed, right?

IVÁN
Of what?

LANKY MAN
Of the inevitable. Of how quickly men
like you and me are left behind.
Outdated, despised... and useless. But
even you may have an important chair
to fill if you do what you have to do.

Iván does not reply. A void of loneliness and overwhelming

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reality hits him.

LANKY MAN
Tell me, Mr. Ferrer, are we going to
find lipstick on your shirt?

IVÁN
No.

LANKY MAN
(suddenly changing his tone)
Great! Anything else you need?

IVÁN
Yes. It may be important.

LANKY MAN
Shoot.

IVÁN
I need you to send me all the
information regarding possible
tuberculosis sanatoriums in the 50's
and 60's in the Cordillera area, its
population, and what kind of
treatments they developed. It was a
very common disease among miners at
the time.

LANKY MAN
I'll see what I can find out... Please
give my regards to Dr. Bradi.

Iván hangs up the phone.

The lanky man hangs up too. He stares at the cell phone in

thought.

LANKY MAN
Remember what I told them about giving
such a person a trailer to get lost in
a forest of more than 40,000 hectares?

The mulatto boy shows him the tablet with a story showing the
deranged woman from the first scene as the sole survivor of a
group disappearance.

HEADLINE: "THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE MOUNTAINEERS,

DEADLOCKED."

"A woman, the sole survivor and under psychiatric home

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surveillance, claims to have been attacked by an animal near

the Sierra del Escudo."

LANKY MAN
Interesting.

The lanky man takes back his mug of milk and dunks another
cookie.

END MONTAGE

EXT./INT. FOREST/JEEP - DAY

Iván drives the Jeep back to the camp, visibly upset and
nervous.

In the distance, among the trees, he notices the presence of

a figure.

Iván brakes the car and gets out slowly.

Crouching low, he hides in the undergrowth until he reaches a

prudent distance from the shadow that turns out to be the
CREATURE, emerging from a pit at the foot of an oak tree.

IVÁN
A network of tunnels.

The creature drags the remains of a rabbit and bites into the
meat. It tries to swallow the morsel but spits it out, going
berserk. It looks up at the sky and the sun hits its face. It
screams again, covering its eyes.

Iván watches the scene in mute terror, hiding behind some

rocks.

IVÁN
You're hungry and weak. You tried to
hibernate and now you need to eat, but
there is no Aion left...?

The creature looks to both sides and from inside the pit it
takes a being the size of a baby, with black skin and short
limbs.

It starts running with the baby in its arms.

When it is gone, Iván rushes to the entrance of the tunnel

and discovers a pool of blood on the floor.

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IVÁN
It can't be. This is impossible.

Iván follows the creature's blood trail.

IVÁN
Where are you going so fast? What are
you hiding?

Iván stops at the edge of an earthen embankment half-hidden

on the ground by undergrowth. About to roll down it, he grabs
hold of the branches of a nearby tree and peers over the
slope.

His gaze turns to horror as he discovers at the bottom of the

embankment a pit filled with the corpses of unborn creatures.
Dozens of them, the size of a baby, fossilized, covered with
dirt and leaves, and piled to their fate under the watchful
canopy of the oak trees of the forest.

Above all the corpses, the creature, holding a live calf in

its arms. The baby cries.

The creature lays it on the ground, on the leaf litter, takes

a stone the size of a watermelon, and raises it to the sky.

IVÁN
My God...

The creature takes one last look at the being and turns its
gaze to hatred and disgust before crushing it once, twice,
three times with the rock.

IVÁN
NO!!!

Iván covers his mouth and hides before the creature sees him,
alerted by the scream. He huddles behind the embankment
trying to go unnoticed, but the creature walks around
sniffing the air in a hostile attitude.

Close, very close.

Iván feels the creature's breath over his head as he hides in

the hollow of a log. He grabs a sharp branch and prepares for
the inevitable, but silence takes over the scene.

Carefully, he steps outside.

The creature has disappeared and the quiet of the forest

stretches out before him.

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Iván approaches the great necropolis perpetrated by the

creature and contemplates with horror the extent of creature
corpses.

IVÁN
You're a mother...

INT. PIT - DUSK

Irene gasps inside the burrow in a growing panic.

The walls of the tunnel seem to crack, splashing earth, as if

the roots of the trees were trying to reach Irene to hold her
under the ground.

Irene looks ahead, as far as the eye can see.

Darkness.

IRENE
I have to go out. There's nothing left
here.

The earth shudders. Irene tries to pull back, but her pants
catch around her waist on several sharp branches that wound
her belly.

IRENE
Shit, shit.

Irene hyperventilates but tries to pull herself together.

An icy cold coming from the depths runs through the tunnel
with a high-pitched whistling sound.

IRENE
Come on, show yourself. I'll put
another flare in your mouth, you
fucking beast.

Silence.

Suddenly, a pile of earth falls on her, burying her. The

weight prevents her from moving.

She tries to feel the roots tangled around her waist, but the
dirt gets in her eyes and prevents her from breathing.

Irene suffocates.

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IRENE
No, no, please. NO! NO!

The whistling becomes sharper and louder.

IRENE
I want to get out, I want to get out
of here. God, please, I want to get
out!

Irene looks ahead and discovers the deer's head, perched on

the ground, with its dead eyes fixed on her.

The creature's hand creeps down the entrance of the burrow to

Irene's ankle and grabs her feet. A strong tug drags her
through the tunnel to the exit, freeing her from the
landslide.

IRENE
NO! NO! GET OFF ME!

Irene raises the flare gun but Iván grabs her wrist in time
to avoid a desperate shot.

IVÁN
Irene, it's me. It's me, don't worry.

Irene is at a loss for words.

IRENE
I was dying. Just like that deer. I
was dying.

IVÁN
There's no deer, Irene. Panic and lack
of oxygen paralysed you. But you are
safe now.

Irene lowers the gun and lets it drop amidst light sobs.

IVÁN
There is no Aion left here, Irene.
There's nothing here but death.

INT. TRAILER - NIGHT

A group of ants swarm over the remains of Aion, still lying

on the trailer floor. They suck up the liquid greedily.

Irene watches them without moving a muscle, sitting on the

ground with a blanket over her shoulders. Her gaze lost in

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the ants.

Iván snaps her out of her reverie. He hands her a cup of

steaming coffee.

IRENE
Thank you.

Iván sits across from her and takes a sip from his cup.

He looks at her in silence.

Irene chuckles.

IVÁN
What?

IRENE
I just remembered that my sister gave
birth three months ago. A boy. "You
have to meet him," she said. "You
deserve to meet him." I told her I
couldn't, that I was about to make a
very important discovery. God, it
sounds so ridiculous now...

Irene moves her boot until the sole is above the ants.

She moves it from left to right, above them, as they continue

to devour Aion's juice. Iván notices.

IRENE
A year in this forest. I can barely
remember the sound of morning traffic,
the smell of freshly washed clothes...
someone else's touch.

Irene closes her eyes, trying to feel what she is describing.

Iván stirs visibly uncomfortable.

She continues to play with her boot, threatening to step on

the ants, who continue to enjoy Aion's delicacy.

IRENE
Tell me something. What do you really
think about my work here?

IVÁN
I told you when I arrived. As a
scientist--

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IRENE
Cut the crap, Iván. At least have the
courage to be honest.

Iván looks at Irene's boot, which is getting closer and

closer to the mountain of ants.

Irene's sombre attitude makes him hesitate, but in the end,

he leaps in with his answer.

IVÁN
I've had the privilege of discovering
species that are a miracle of nature.
Also some terrifying ones, as if from
another place. But none remotely
resembling Aion.

Iván gauges Irene's reaction, who looks at him unfazed.

IVÁN
When I think of the impact Aion might
have on our species, a species
incapable of feeding without
extinguishing, of building without
razing, of existing without
destroying.... Maybe Aion is not meant
to be found. Not yet.

Irene chuckles.

IRENE
Did you regret the loss of Aion?

IVÁN
Irene, that's not--

IRENE
Did you even try to save the remains
as I lay unconscious?

IVÁN
You have no idea what you are talking
about.

IRENE
What do I have no idea about, Iván?

IVÁN
What I had to sacrifice to keep your
secret. What these people offered me
in exchange for being their eyes and

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ears in this damned forest.

IRENE
What, you were going to sell me out
for a research project? For a tenure-
track position?

Iván laughs to himself.

IVÁN
Do you know... the years I've spent
trying to achieve a tenth of what
you've achieved in less than one? Do
you know the ink I've spent theorising
about something you've made real? If
anything is happening, this is it.
This is where it's all at. And now I
know, and I can't go back.

Silence.

Irene pulls her boot away from the pile of ants.

IVÁN
There was an experiment, in multiple
locations around the globe. They
called it "the keystone species." It
involved removing the predator species
from a small ecosystem. Mine was a sea
trench and we removed the starfish. At
the same time we had another pit next
to it, untouched. After months, in the
first one, without the starfish, of
the fifteen species that inhabited it,
there were only a few mussels left,
which destroyed all the others. It had
degraded.

Irene listens to the story with interest, her gaze fixed on

Iván.

IVÁN
The same thing happened all over the
planet. In rivers and on land. Nature
was corrupted. The hunter species was
the lifeblood of all. The control. But
we watched the system repair itself,
looking for another species to take
its place, with or without our
intervention. I wrote about it in my
book and then my eyes were opened. "If

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man is the top predatory species...

does it mean that we are the
sustenance of nature, or that we can
be degraded, like the starfish?".

IRENE
That is... if you and I are
unnecessary.

Irene pulls her boot away from the pile of ants.

She stands up and walks past Iván, heading towards the back
of the trailer.

Iván remains in his place. Now he is the one watching the

ants feast.

Irene opens a cupboard in the pantry and puts a handful of

cans of food in her backpack. She walks past Iván again,
stopping just before she leaves.

IRENE
I understand what you are looking for.
But I don't think you'll ever find it.
We can't pull the man out of the pit
like the starfish.

Irene leaves the trailer.

Off-screen sounds of Irene loading her things into the Jeep

and starting the engine. We hear the vehicle turning and
gradually moving away from the campsite.

The ants suck up the liquid in a frenzy. Iván finally reacts

and begins to trample them violently.

He gets to his feet and runs out of the trailer.

A few seconds pass. Iván enters again.

He looks around him, at the mess in the trailer, and notices

a book, the only one left behind by Irene.

Iván picks it up: "The Loss of Man. 50 Years in the

Extinction of Natural Species."

The author: Iván Ferrer-Gallego.

INT. COTTAGE LIVING ROOM - DUSK

The woman from the hotel incident is sitting at a wooden

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table with a plate of sponge cakes and three cups of fresh

milk. A stone fireplace warms the room.

An arm in a jacket suit picks up one of the sweets and dips

it into the cup.

The lanky man adjusts his jacket and bites into the cake.

WOMAN
So you say you are investigators?

LANKY MAN
Yes, ma'am. My partner and I are
working for the family of one of your
missing colleagues. We do this with
special discretion as his relatives
are not entirely satisfied with the
way the police work is going.

The man hands her a folder with a picture of the woman on the
front page.

WOMAN
I didn't know them very well. We met
through one of those sites to gather
people with common hobbies. The day
was bad so just a few of us showed
up...

The man interrupts her as he finishes swallowing the cake.

LANKY MAN
That's irrelevant, ma'am. Don't worry
about it. What is important is that
small fragment of your statement in
which you claim that, on the day of
the attack, you found a pit full of
unknown beings. Literally, and I
quote, "as if from hell, from another
world."

The woman, astonished by the information, becomes defensive.

WOMAN
Who are you really? What do you want?

LANKY MAN
We are interested in your story. You
turned up drenched in the blood of
your colleagues because you came
across something you shouldn't have.

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 65.

The man dips a new slice of cake and eats it, licking his
lips.

LANKY MAN
We believe in what you say. You are a
survivor.

WOMAN
We hit an embankment. It was raining,
we couldn't see anything. And then...

She seems to collapse.

WOMAN
That horror. Buried, dead. At first we
thought they were, I don't know,
animals, wild boars or something...
but they were... God, I think they all
died at birth. Hatchlings, hundreds of
them, underground. Something put them
there. The thing that attacked us. The
thing that almost took my life.

LANKY MAN
It must have been horrible, no doubt.
We lost someone important in that
forest too. A very valuable person. A
friend who worked in the same area
where you and your colleagues were
attacked. I'd like to ask you if you
remember coming across this woman.

The lanky man shows her a photograph of Irene. The woman

takes the picture, puzzled and frightened. She thinks, tries
to remember.

She shakes her head.

WOMAN
We saw no one.

The lanky man looks at his henchman, visibly disappointed.

WOMAN
But I do remember... I do remember the
noise. At night, the sound in the
distance, in the trees, of an engine.
A whirring sound... like a generator.
It must have been huge.

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 66.

LANKY MAN
Big enough to supply a campsite?

WOMAN
Yes, yes, I'm sure it was.

LANKY MAN
Would you be so kind to guide us to
the source of this mysterious noise?

The man smiles, showing a mouth full of traces of cake.

EXT. FOREST (FIRE) - NIGHT

A fire in the middle of the woods.

The flames crackle and dance, reflecting in Irene's eyes, who

doesn't take her eyes off the fire.

She reaches out to grab something beside her. A can of pre-

cooked pinto beans.

Irene pulls the opener and uncovers it. Then she completely
overturns the contents. She shakes the can until the last
bean falls out.

The food falls onto the forest litter.

Irene tosses the can away and grabs another from her
backpack, where she picks up half a dozen more.

The last can adds to a pile of empty cans in a heap.

Irene repeats the process. The fire intensifies.

EXT. MOUNTAINS (SHOULDER OF COUNTRY ROAD) – NIGHT

Iván walks away from the forest. Backpack over his shoulder,
he makes his way back to the road where Irene picked him up.

In the distance, through the trees, he spots the abandoned

hospital.

Not far from there, in the middle of the grove, he seems to

see a dot of orange light and a curtain of smoke rising up to
the sky.

Iván stops to examine it.

A symphony of message sounds and call alerts brings him out

of his reverie.

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 67.

Iván pulls out his cell phone. The word "4G" is displayed
next to the three dashes of signal. The screen fills with
message balloons from people asking where he's been and
missed call alerts.

IVÁN
Back to civilization.

Iván accesses his email. The inbox shows 43 pending messages.

He skims through them without showing interest, then stops on
one. The sender is a Mr. C. The subject: "(no subject)." Iván
opens it.

The message reads a terse "I am asked to send you the

following information, I hope you find it useful."

Attached to the email, about twenty files, images and

documents of all kinds.

Iván opens one at random. An old newspaper clipping, from the

fifties, with the following headline: "Tuberculosis cases
decrease thanks to sanitary measures." The subtitle: "The
Government, committed to finding a cure for 'the white
plague', orders the construction of twenty new sanatoriums."

The picture accompanying the news item shows the abandoned

hospital in good condition, with a row of doctors posing for
a photo.

Iván glances through numerous black and white photos that

contradict the above news item. Pictures of children crammed
into hospital beds, doctors treating rows of patients, and
haggard-looking men from the countryside.

IVÁN
Dear God.

Iván opens a new newspaper clipping. The headline: "Spanish

scientists announce a cure for tuberculosis." The subtitle:
"The remedy, which they call 'the purple gold', was
discovered in a mining deposit in the Cantabrian Range."

Terror takes over his face.

IVÁN
This can't be...

Iván looks up.

IVÁN
Irene...

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 68.

Iván dials Irene's number. After waiting, he gets her

voicemail.

IVÁN
Fuck. Irene, Irene! Please listen to
this message. The creature didn't want
to take the Aion from us. It was
preventing us! That's why it ate it,
so we'd never find it. Do you
understand? The creature is not the
threat! It's Aion! AION IS A TRAP!

Communication is interrupted.

IVÁN
Shit!

Iván runs into the forest.

EXT. FOREST (FIRE) - NIGHT

The fire keeps burning with less intensity. No trace of

Irene. From the darkness emerges a figure that walks with
effort.

The creature, shivering with cold, approaches warily to take

shelter in the warmth of the fire, but not before checking
that no danger lurks. It notices the pile of beans. Smells
it. It is wary, but finally grabs some and tastes it.

It doesn't take long before it starts to devour the food.

Footsteps on the ground. Someone approaches from behind.

The creature turns around.

In front of it stands Irene, holding a stake in both hands.

IRENE
You're nothing but a beast.

Irene knocks the creature out.

CUT TO: BLACK

INT. ABANDONED BUILDING (BASEMENT) - NIGHT

A dusty basement that threatens to collapse, with rotting

wood and corners devoured by cobwebs.

Rusty and piled up medical stretchers, useless droppers, a

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 69.

box of toys soaked and eaten by dirt, among other ruined

pieces, give the room a disturbing air.

The creature lies sprawled in a corner. Gradually it regains

consciousness. It sits up. It tries to move, but shackles
chained to a radiator and its right wrist prevent it from
doing so.

The creature tries to throw Irene, who stands in the shadows,

a look of hatred, but instead seems exhausted.

Irene walks forward until she comes into view.

The creature bares its teeth. It pulls repeatedly, trying to

get loose, shrieking, reaching out with its free arm to reach
Irene.

Useless.

Irene remains unmoved. She walks to a pile of corroded metal

stools, grabs one and places it in front of the creature. She
sits down.

IRENE
I want to get back what's mine. I
don't know how, I don't know if you
understand anything I'm saying... but
I swear we'll be locked up here until
I find out what I want.

Irene leans forward.

IRENE
You're hiding Aion somewhere, aren't
you?

The creature does not respond. It bows its head, worried

about the flare wound. Irene notices it.

IRENE
It doesn't look very good. I wonder
how long it will take to get infected.

The creature looks at Irene as if it had understood her

words.

Irene stands up. She walks to the basement exit.

Before leaving, she turns around one last time.

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 70.

IRENE
Make yourself comfortable. This will
take a long time.

Irene exits the basement.

EXT. FOREST (FIRE) - NIGHT

Iván runs to Irene's settlement, where only the embers of the

fire and the remains of food on the ground are left.

He examines the surroundings with a flashlight.

He calls out to Irene several times, with no answer.

He goes to some tracks in the ground: the marks of the Jeep.

Iván shines a light on them and starts to run, following the
trail of the vehicle.

INT. ABANDONED BUILDING (BASEMENT) - NIGHT

A wet spot on the basement ceiling. A leak falls

intermittently on a puddle of water.

The creature sleeps a few feet away. The incessant sound of

the drip wakes it from its slumber. Thirsty, it is drawn to
the puddle of water. It tries to reach it with its hand. Too
far away.

The basement door opens. Irene enters.

She notices what the creature is trying to do and walks past.

Irene begins to rummage through the damp, dilapidated boxes

in the basement. She opens them one by one, looks inside, and
moves on to the next.

IRENE
My partner, believe it or not, thought
you were more valuable alive than
dead. Apparently he saw something in
you, a glimpse of intelligence, that
could make us understand Aion better.
The purple fruit, that's what we call
it.

The creature keeps trying to reach the water.

After a while of searching, Irene returns with a dusty toy in

her hands, an old interactive steering wheel with buttons,
horns, and colored wheels that emit sounds when pressed.

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 71.

IRENE
I have a different opinion, but if
what he said was true, if you're
smarter than you look... well, this is
your chance to shine.

Irene places the toy at a safe distance and sits on the metal
stool in front of the creature.

IRENE
The rules are simple: I ask, you
answer. Blue means "yes", red means
"no". Tell me what I want to know and
in ten minutes you'll be back in the
burrow you came from.

The creature looks at Irene in silence.

IRENE
Press if you have understood anything.

The creature hesitates.

In the end it presses the blue button, which rings the

buzzer.

IRENE
(chuckles)
You were right. You crazy bastard, you
were right.

Irene struggles to contain her excitement.

IRENE
All right, let's see... Are there more
like you? More... creatures?

The beast seems slow to understand the question, but ends up

pressing the red button.

IRENE
Alright... What about the bones? Did
you kill those people?

The creature presses the blue button.

IRENE
Also to the miners?

The creature, who seems less and less interested in the game,
presses the blue button again.

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 72.

Irene gulps.

IRENE
Very good. Now listen carefully and
think about your answer. One of the
buttons puts you back in the woods.
The other, tied to that radiator for
life. Your choice.

The creature fixes its gaze on Irene. Patiently, it waits for

the question.

IRENE
Is there any Aion left?

The creature takes its time.

It stretches out its arm and keeps it undecided between the

two buttons.

Finally, it rings the BLUE one.

IRENE
I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!

Unable to contain her joy, Irene celebrates victoriously.

IRENE
Okay, okay, let's see... How could you
point me... Is it close? Could you
lead me to the place?

The creature does not respond. It seems to have suddenly lost

interest.

IRENE
Is it far? Maybe you could... draw a
map or something?

Silence. Only the endless sound of the leak.

IRENE
Answer me, dammit!

Irene tries to restrain herself, but ends up throwing the

stool into the air and cursing.

The creature doesn't flinch. It watches the water.

Irene holds her hands to her face, completely lost, her back
to the creature.

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 73.

Something breaks the silence.

CREATURE
They're coming.
______________

A guttural voice, neither human nor animal, emerges with

difficulty from the depths of the beast.

Irene shudders. She doesn't want to turn around, but ends up

doing so, slowly.

IRENE
What did you say...?

The beast does not respond.

Irene approaches it cautiously.

IRENE
Did you just... talk?
____

EXT./INT. FOREST/ABANDONED BUILDING/BASEMENT - NIGHT

Iván runs to the hospital. He stops when he sees the Jeep.

He bursts into the building, calling Irene. He scans it room

by room, agitated.

IVÁN
IRENE!!!

INT. ABANDONED BUILDING (BASEMENT) - NIGHT

Iván's voice echoes in the distance. Irene looks up at the

ceiling, disturbed, as she slowly walks towards the creature.

The creature raises its arm and points its finger at Irene.

CREATURE
You carry it now.

Irene is overcome with terror.

IRENE
What...?

The creature draws a half-smile.

IRENE
Talk again!

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 74.

Irene grabs an iron bar leaning against the wall...

IRENE
I SAID TALK AGAIN!

... and delivers a hard blow to the chained arm of the

creature, which reacts with a thunderous cry of pain.

The arm hangs from the shoulder, completely broken.

IRENE
COME ON, YOU BEAST!

IVÁN
IRENE!!!

Iván bursts into the basement and surprises Irene,

unrecognizable in her hatred, and the creature chained to the
wall.

IVÁN
Irene, listen to me! You have to stop
this. We have to get out of the
forest!

IRENE
NO! She knows! She knows where to find
more! I'll make her tell me!

Irene is about to finish off the creature with a violent blow

to the head when Iván stops her arm by interposing.

Irene struggles but gradually gives up under the serene gaze

of Iván, who reassures her.

IRENE
Get out of the way. Get out of the
way. She'll tell me or... she'll die.

IVÁN
No, Irene. We were wrong. This is not
what we're looking for.

Irene hesitates, with her head bowed and her body aching. She
reaches up and takes Iván's hand.

IRENE
It was my whole life.

He comforts her with a hug.

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 75.

The creature rises from the ground between guttural sounds.

Iván starts to walk with Irene's back to the creature.

The creature emits a shriek of pain and grabs its chained

arm, pulling it hard until it is torn off.

Freed from the shackles, it screams as purple blood gushes

from the wound.

Iván steps back with Irene up the stairs to the door. He

faces the creature, who remains standing in front of him at
the foot of the stairs.

IVÁN
I knew I had seen those eyes
somewhere.

The creature seems to smile.

IVÁN
You're not going to let us leave, are
you?

The creature writhes, uttering guttural words.

Iván looks at the wrenched arm on the ground.

The creature shrieks and a new arm begins to be born from its
torn limb. An arm that flaps like the wing of a healthy and
strong bird.

IRENE
Iván!!!

Iván turns to Irene, who is waiting in the doorway.

IVÁN
Irene, you must get out of here, do
you understand me? You have to leave.

IRENE
What are you saying? I've got the
Jeep. We can run away!

IVÁN
If we run, it'll kill us. If we split
up, it'll kill us. It's the only way
out. You must close the door.

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 76.

IRENE
No, no, no, no--

IVÁN
You were right, Irene. Nature has a
plan for us.

Iván closes the door leaving Irene outside.

IRENE
(banging on the door)
Iván! No! IVÁN!

Iván locks the door from the inside and turns to the
creature.

CREATURE
She will die.

IVÁN
No. You're not going to kill her.

CREATURE
You have done it already.

Iván tries to conceal the fear produced by the beast's words.

IVÁN
So this is what Aion does, right? It
seduces you with its power, traps you,
and when it has you...

Iván takes a breath.

IVÁN
...it puts that in your body. What it
created to replace us. To repopulate
the world and make it reborn...
without us. The keystone species.
(pause)
The starfish.

CREATURE
You must die.

The creature runs towards Iván, claws in front and at great

speed.

IVÁN
I wonder if you'd still be able to
recognize yourself in the picture I

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 77.

saw at the hospital... ___________

Dr. Tabares.

Iván takes the iron bar leaning against the wall and walks
towards the onslaught of the creature.

IVÁN
Thanks for trying to save us.

The creature screams, raising its shriek to the forest sky

and directing its green and purple eyes full of hatred
towards Iván.

Iván's phone falls to the ground with the email open on the
screen and the portrait picture of Dr. Concepción Tabares,
the author of the book he found in the trailer.

She looks at the camera with a serious look on her face and
two different colored eyes: ________________
green and purple.

EXT. FOREST - DAWN

The keys to the Jeep lie in the damp leaf litter on the
forest floor.

An earthworm slithers down the key next to Irene's boot.

Irene sits with her head sunk to her knees as the sunlight
warms her through the treetops.

A creak of old wood announces the survivor of the fight to

death in the basement.

Irene raises her head.

Iván emerges, dented bar in hand, bloodied, bruised, and

tearful through the dark threshold of the cellar.

Irene walks towards him. She hugs him and steps back to make
sure he is okay.

IRENE
Is it over?

Iván looks into Irene's eyes, two big, beautiful green and
purple eyes.

IRENE
What's wrong, Iván?

Iván bites his lip, holding back the confession.

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 78.

Instead, he hugs her again, holding her hand, a hand with

darkened skin and a gradient of scales peeking through the
sleeve of her clothes.

IVÁN
Everything will be fine.

In a nearby tree, an oval fruit with a red shell and green

filaments grows from one of the branches in a beautiful TIME-
LAPSE.

EXT. FOREST - DAY

The oval fruit hangs ripe from the tree branch.

A gloved hand gently plucks it from the branch.

A scientist places it in a wooden box full of Aion specimens

and walks along a path carrying it on his shoulder.

He stops before the silhouettes of two people and offers one

of them.

The lanky man takes a bite of the fruit and gloats.

He smiles at his henchman.

THE END

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