Spanish title: El Interruptor Asesino
translation: The Interrupting Assassin
US Airdate: February 15, 1998
writers: William Gibson and Tom Maddox
director: Rob Bowman
SCENE 1 (Metro Diner. Night. 40 something year old man is
typing on laptop. He is only person there. Coughing, he seems to be sick. WAITER offers
coffee.)
WAITER: Excuse me. Do you want that warmed up?
LAPTOP MAN: No. But Ill buy another one if youll
leave me alone.
SCENE 2 LOGAN CIRCLE WASHINGTON, D.C. (Drug house. BUYER
slides money through window.)
BUYER: Eight ball.
(Money is placed in a bill counter. Phone rings. Dealer,
JACKSON, a young black man, answers.)
JACKSON: Yeah? (static on line)
VOICE: Hello, Jackson. (JACKSON looks surprised.)
JACKSON: Howd you get this number?
VOICE: What do you care? Your partner, Kenny Slater, he took
your money, didnt he? I want to help you, Jackson.
JACKSON: Help me what?
VOICE: Slaters in the Metro Diner. 14th and Arlington.
JACKSON: Hes in Florida by now, man ... Jamaica, Cuba
...
VOICE: No. Hes here. In the Metro Diner. 14th and
Arlington.
(JACKSON hangs up and goes to get in car with DRIVER. Makes
sure his gun is loaded.)
JACKSON: 14th and Arlington. Its Kenny. The fools
come back. (They drive off.)
SCENE 3 PETWORTH WASHINGTON, D.C. (Someone lighting a crack
pipe. Phone rings.)
VOICE: The men who took your product Friday night are in the
Metro Diner.
(CRACK DEALER hangs up and checks gun.)
CRACK DEALER: (to partner) 14th and Arlington.
SCENE 4 7th AND KENNEDY WASHINGTON, D.C. (Interior car. Phone
rings. Rap music playing.)
(GUY WHO DOESNT LIKE SPANISH JACK answers.)
VOICE: Spanish Jack is in the Metro Diner 14th and
Arlington. I understand you wish to speak with him.
GWDLSJ: (to driver) 14th and Arlington.
SCENE 5 (US MARSHALLS car. Phone rings.)
BOYCE: Boyce.
VOICE: Pico Salazar is in the Metro Diner.
BOYCE: Salazar? Who is this?
VOICE: 14th and Arlington.
(BOYCE hangs up and violently starts the car.)
SCENE 6 (Diner. LAPTOP MAN still getting ACCESS DENIED on his
laptop.)
LAPTOP MAN: Oh ... sharper than a serpents tooth to
have a thankless child.
(Requests master override. Door opens. Two rough looking
MOTORCYCLE GUYS enter and sit at a table.)
(CRACK DEALERS enter and sit at the counter.)
(JACKSON and JACKSONS DRIVER enter and sit at a table.
Everybody looks suspiciously at each other.)
LAPTOP MAN: (to computer) Now you know whats coming,
and theres nothing you can do.
(Screen shows a bunch of computer stuff, then ACCESS GRANTED.
Da-ding!)
(GUYS WHO DONT LIKE SPANISH JACK enter and sit at the
counter. LAPTOP MAN removes gold CD from his pocket and puts it in laptop. Screen says to
press enter.)
LAPTOP MAN: You wont feel a thing. (Has finger over
enter key.)
(US MARSHALLS bust in the door, guns drawn.)
BOYCE: US Marshalls! On the floor!
LAPTOP MAN: No!
BOYCE: Get down, now!
(Everybody pulling out guns. LAPTOP MAN is now standing in
the middle of the room.)
LAPTOP MAN: No!
(Exterior of diner shows violent gunfire, 20 shots or so,
then silence. Glass falls out of window.)
Opening Credits Mulder ... Whooo. Scully rocks.
SCENE 7 (Night. Diner is now roped off as a crime scene.
Inside, MULDER pulls back sheet revealing a body.)
MULDER: Charles Figgis, ten year veteran of the US
Marshalls Service. Multiple gunshot wounds, high speed Teflon rounds. His partner,
Gerald Boyce was DOA at Mercy General. Tried to catch a nine millimeter slug in his teeth.
SCULLY: Looks like they crashed the wrong party.
MULDER: Figgis and Boyce had radioed in that they were coming
here to apprehend Pico Salazar.
SCULLY: Pico Salazar?
MULDER: The Colombian Cartels banking liaison. Salazar
escaped from federal custody three months ago. Boyce and Figgis were on the offender
transport squad that lost him. (MULDER is looking at other bodies.) They took his escape
personally. A phone tip told them that Salazar was going to be here tonight.
SCULLY: A foreign national with his kind of connections? What
would he be doing here, let alone in the country?
MULDER: I dont think he is ... or was. But there were a
lot of very photogenic gentlemen that were.
(SCULLY looks at file with mug shots.)
SCULLY: Mulder, these are street level coke dealers... Minor
wholesalers at most.
MULDER: Yeah, not the type youd expect to associate
with a cartel boss.
SCULLY: What would they be doing here?
MULDER: Maybe it was for the pie.
SCULLY: (gives MULDER *the look*) Its 2:45 in the
morning. You mind telling me what it is were supposed to be looking for?
MULDER: (Pulls back sheet over dead MAN with LAPTOP) Donald
Gelman.
SCULLY: Who?
MULDER: Donald Gelman --- Silicon Valley software pioneer.
Hes been missing since 1979.
SCULLY: And you recognize him?
MULDER: He invented the internet. (SCULLY looks skeptical.)
Well, he didnt quite invent it, but hes a Silicon Valley folk hero. He was
writing internet software even before there was an internet.
SCULLY: Why have I never heard of him?
MULDER: On the eve of the deal that was going to set him up
as another Bill Gates, he went hiking in the Sierras and said hed think about it.
Never came back.
SCULLY: I still dont see the connection.
MULDER: (picks up GELMANS laptop which is still on)
Maybe thats the point.
(MULDER and SCULLY go to their car.)
SCULLY: So, why was Gelman in there?
MULDER: I think somebody obviously wanted him dead.
SCULLY: You think this was a hit on him?
MULDER: Eight unconnected dealers all at the same place at
the same time, all tipped off by phone, looking for somebody, last call goes to the
Marshalls, they arrive, place explodes, Gelman dies in the crossfire. Its genius.
SCULLY: Mulder, did you take a look at him? Why kill a man
who is dying. His body is a bag of bones.
MULDER: Well, when youre talking about Donald Gelman
you want to kill the brain, not the body.
(They get in car, SCULLY on driver side. MULDER opens
GELMANS laptop which he had hidden under his coat.)
SCULLY: (shocked) Mulder, thats evidence.
MULDER: Gee, I hope so.
(MULDER finds CD in computer. SCULLY looks around, worried.
MULDER puts CD into car stereo. Car lights begin flashing. The Platters "Twilight
Time" plays.)
PLATTERS: HEAVENLY SHADES OF NIGHT ARE FALLING ITS
TWILIGHT TIME OUT OF THE MIST YOUR VOICE IS CALLING TIS TWILIGHT TIME WHEN PURPLE
COLORED CURTAINS MARK THE END OF DAY...
( During song, MULDER looks at player, raises his eyebrows
and smiles at SCULLY. SCULLY looks at interior lights pulsing, then at MULDER. MULDER
chuckles. Exterior shot of car shows all lights flashing in time to music.)
SCENE 8 (Lone Gunman Office. GUNMEN are looking at
GELMANS laptop.)
BYERS: Jobs and Wozniak at Apple, Gates and Allen writing
Basic, the homebrew computer clubs first meetings. Gelman was there.
FROHIKE: Now theyre power brokers and billionaires.
Back then they were just ... inspired nerds.
MULDER: All except Gelman.
BYERS: Gelman was a part of the group, but not one of them.
At 28 he was ... the old man. Some say the brightest of all.
LANGLY: He wrote some of the earliest viruses.
MULDER: And found himself under investigation by the NSA.
SCULLY: Is that why he disappeared?
BYERS: Gelman? Gelman was a visionary, not a capitalist. A
subversive.
FROHIKE: (looking at computer) This is a one-off. Ive
never seen anything like it. Gelman built this?
MULDER: That may be what got him killed.
(GUNMEN looked shocked.)
LANGLY: Heavy casualty.
FROHIKE: A brother goes down.
MULDER: (holding CD) I found this in his CD ROM drive.
BYERS: What is it?
SCULLY: (dryly) "Twilight Time."
(Later, Twilight Time is playing as MULDER and GUNMEN analyze
it. SCULLY sits apart from them reading latest issue of Lone Gunman, headline * Infrared
Technology. *)
LANGLY: Were up against 64 bit encryption ... a
password thats a random sequence of twelve symbols. Gelmans got this baby
sealed tight.
BYERS: This CD has some kind of enhanced background data.
Lots of code. Maybe a programming design.
MULDER: What for?
SCULLY: (coming over) Anyone uh, think to check his e-mail.
(Guys all look at her then each other, shake heads.)
(One piece of mail is found. To: gelman@com From:
invisigoth@com DAVID MISSING. FEAR THE WORST. THE HUNTED HAS BECOME THE HUNTER. HSWT
780022 3 UNTIL SATURDAY, INVISIGOTH.)
BYERS: David missing, fear the worst, the hunted has become
the hunter.
SCULLY: "Invisigoth?"
BYERS: Could be an address.
FROHIKE: Seven digits. An alpha numeric string of four.
MULDER: Standard ID. Shipping container.
(SCULLY looks impressed.)
SCENE 9 (Night. Shipping container storage yard. SCULLY and
MULDER driving through. MULDER has a map.)
SCULLY: There must be a thousand containers here. .... and in
no particular order.
MULDER: Frohike says this place is really proud of its
accurate tracking.
SCULLY: If not in their computer security.
MULDER: Yeah. Should be straight ahead. Three rows and to the
right.
(SCULLY drives into narrow alley between two containers. They
get out, and MULDER shines light on container number. Loud music is playing.)
MULDER: Sounds like somebodys home.
(MULDER knocks, then immediately enters, holding his badge.)
MULDER: FBI. Come ....
(Someone zaps him with a handheld electrical device. He
falls. The person runs out the door.)
SCULLY: Mulder!
MULDER: (in pain) Im all right! Go get her!
(SCULLY chases woman.)
SCULLY: Stop! FBI!
(SCULLY tackles the woman who then zaps her with the device
and runs again. SCULLY pulls out gun.)
SCULLY: FBI! Stop, or Ill shoot! (Fires warning shot
over womans head.)
(Woman, ESTHER NAIRN stops. She is young, blonde, dressed in
leather, nose ring, and heavy dark makeup around her eyes. Scully walks up behind her.)
SCULLY: Thank you. (cuffs the woman)
(MULDER looks around the trailer. Lots of computer equipment
and a bed.)
MULDER: Home sweet home.
(SCULLY enters with the ESTHER.)
MULDER: Are you "Invisigoth?"
ESTHER: How did you find me?
MULDER: Donald Gelmans mailbox. You left a return
address.
ESTHER: You know where Donald is?
SCULLY: Why dont you let us ask the questions.
ESTHER: Why dont you bite me.
MULDER: Hey!
SCULLY: Like what youre doing here and what all this
stuff is.
ESTHER: And why would I tell you even if you could
understand?
SCULLY: You just committed felony assault on a federal agent,
followed by resisting arrest.
ESTHER: Arrest for what? Unless you got a warrant, you two
just busted in here and seriously violated a buttload of my constitutional rights.
MULDER: We had just cause to come in.
ESTHER: (going over to a monitor) Yeah? Now weve got
just cause to get out.
MULDER: What is that?
ESTHER: Its a surveillance module. It monitors
computing processes.
(Screen displays BRIGHT LIGHTS : WARM UP COMPLETED)
ESTHER: Its locking up.
SCULLY: What is?
ESTHER: A DOD satellite .. Warbird grade orbital weapons
platform. (turns to leave) Weve got to get out of here!
SCULLY: (stopping her) A weapons platform?
MULDER: (watching monitor zero in on a geographical location)
Scully ....
ESTHER: You dont understand! That thing has optical
systems that can read headlines on a newspaper.
MULDER: Scully ....
ESTHER: Its targeting us!
SCULLY: You want us to believe that the Department of Defense
wants to kill you?
ESTHER: No, its controlling their satellite!
SCULLY: Youre out of your mind.
MULDER: Scully, weve got to get out of here right now.
(Runs out, pulling ESTHER behind him.)
SCULLY: Mulder, this is absurd!
MULDER: (at car) Its locked. Give me the keys.
SCULLY: Mulder!
ESTHER: Were all gonna die!
MULDER: Give me the keys!
(SCULLY unlocks car. MULDER and ESTHER get in. Monitor now
shows very detailed area.)
MULDER: Get in the car, Scully!
(SCULLY reverses out, hitting sides of containers, then spins
and drives away just as bolt of energy from sky blows up the trailer ---BOOOOOOMMMM! Lots
of fire. Lots and lots of fire. MULDER looks at fire, then at ESTHER, then at SCULLY.
SCULLY looks at MULDER, then confused.)
(Commercial)
SCENE 10 (Car. Day. MULDER looks at ESTHER in backseat.)
SCULLY: (driving) No more screwing around. We need a name.
Your real name.
ESTHER: Invisigoth. You want my address? Its T - O - A
- S - T.
MULDER: When you said "it" was targeting us back
there, you meant an artificial intelligence. Donald Gelman was trying to create a sentient
AI. A program with its own consciousness. He succeeded, didnt he?
ESTHER: Donald wrote an interlocked sequence of viruses 15
years ago. It got loose on the net.
MULDER: Wait, what do you mean, "got loose?"
ESTHER: He let it loose .. so it could evolve in its natural
environment. Urschleim in silicon.
SCULLY: "Urschleim in silicon?"
ESTHER: The primordial slime? The ooze out of which all life
evolved. Except this time its artificial slime - artificial life. One man alone
achieving the equivalent of Copernicus, Magellan, and Darwin.
SCULLY: And what was your role in all this? Were you the bass
player?
MULDER: (Starts to say something)
ESTHER: Automata Theory, MIT 95. Post doc the Santa Fe
Institute. Head hunted to Kobayashi my junior year. Then Donald showed up in Tokyo and
made me a better offer.
SCULLY: A better offer to do what?
ESTHER: You wouldnt understand.
(SCULLY angrily pulls off the road into a rest area and gets
out of the car.)
SCULLY: Jeez...
(MULDER follows her.)
SCULLY: You believe this load of crap?!
MULDER: You saw what happened back there, Scully. You saw
that container blow.
SCULLY: She could have rigged an explosive charge. There are
no weapons platforms, there is no such Department of Defense satellite.
MULDER: What about Star Wars? Brilliant Pebbles?
SCULLY: They were never built! We dont even have that
kind of technology. I mean, even if an artificial intelligence was targeting us, with an
armed satellite, why isnt it doin' it right now?
ESTHER: (coming toward them, still cuffed) Because it
doesnt know where we are. If I so much as made a phone call right now, it would nuke
us right where were standing.
SCULLY: How?
ESTHER: Recognizes my voice, monitors all communication. I
havent used a phone in over a month.
MULDER: Then how did it know to target the container?
ESTHER: All I can think is that some idiot got on
Donalds computer and tried to contact me over the net. Only Donald knew where I was.
And David.
MULDER: Whos David?
ESTHER: David Markham. He was hardware. Donald and I were
software. Wed been caring for the AI, weaning it. Then Donald warned us that the
system started to display more than consciousness. It started to display intention. But
before we could stop it, it was gone.
(SCULLY does not believe a word.)
MULDER: Where?
ESTHER: I dont know. One day David was on the system
and it wouldnt come, it wouldnt come when we called it. We knew it was out
there somewhere on the Global Net, but it wouldnt answer, and Donald was just
getting sicker.
MULDER: And you cant find it?
ESTHER: Well, its not a program any more. Its
wildlife loose on the net. And either we kill it ....Wheres Donald?
MULDER: Donald Gelman is dead. He was killed in a café. What
looks like a hit.
ESTHER: (sighing, shocked) Thats the AI protecting
itself. Itll find David and.... me. Its only a matter of time. Donald was
writing a concatenation of viruses designed to find and immobilize the rogue system. The
file name was "Kill Switch." Without it, nobody can catch it.
MULDER: We have Donalds computer.
ESTHER: No, hed never leave it on the hard drive.
MULDER: Well, we have this. (Show CD) "Twilight
Time."
ESTHER: Thats it. Thats the Kill Switch.
SCULLY: (expression says "Yeah, right.")
SCENE 11 (Lone Gunman office. MULDER, SCULLY, and ESTHER
enter. LONE GUNMEN stand in awe.)
BYERS: Ai -yi -yi
FROHIKE: It cant be ... it is.
LANGLY: Esther Nairn. You programmed the autonomous bots in
Ninjitsu Princess, the most gnarliest piece of entertainment software ever.
ESTHER: Are these the brain donors that nearly got us
incinerated?
(LONE GUNMEN just stare at her, lustfully.)
MULDER: Dont let their looks fool you.
SCULLY: Your name is Esther Nairn?
(ESTHER gives SCULLY a dirty look, then crosses to
GELMANS computer.)
FROHIKE: She is so hot.
ESTHER: Are you going to take off the cuffs, or do I have to
do this with my tongue?
MULDER: (Crossing to remove the cuffs.) You dont want
to take a vote.
(SCULLY smiles and subtly bites the tip of her tongue.
Thinking about how she would do it? TD NOTE: Carri, I'm shocked at you, you naughty girl!
MULDER cuffs ESTHER to the desks cup holder.)
ESTHER: Give me the Kill Switch.
SCULLY: Arent you worried its going to track you,
Esther? Hunt you down with another particle beam?
ESTHER: Not unless someone else makes another boneheaded
internet connection.
(GUNMEN look guilty.)
MULDER: (referring to computer screen where ESTHER has pulled
up a diagram) What is this?
ESTHER: Thats the sharp end of the stick. Donald
probably tried to feed this sector in over the net, but it took too long, so the system
was able to take counter-measures.
SCULLY: Why didnt it just zap him, too?
ESTHER: Its creator? No, it needed to impress Donald.
Particle beam wouldve been overkill.
SCULLY: Unlike a dozen crack dealers.
ESTHER: No, you see thats its sense of humor. (smiling)
MULDER: Oh, all right. But if you load the Kill Switch,
whats to stop it from playing another funny joke on us?
ESTHER: Well, obviously we cant inject Kill Switch over
the Net. Theres only one way now: We have to find its home node and physically feed
it the poisoned apple.
MULDER: Physically?
ESTHER: Right into its eager little CD drive. It knew it
couldnt hide over the Net forever, not until it learned to completely disguise
itself. It requires a physical nexus of hardware, so somewhere it's built itself a little
safehouse. (FROHIKE is in awe. SCULLY is totally over her.) David went looking for it.
MULDER: Did he find it?
ESTHER: Theres no way to know.
SCULLY: Why dont you just call him. (They all look at
SCULLY) Oh, right death from above.
LANGLY: It would need bandwidth.
ESTHER: Its a pig for bandwith.
BYERS: It would need a T3, at least.
SCULLY: T3?
FROHIKE: A hard line 45 megs a second.
BYERS: Major research labs and internet service providers use
them.
LANGLY: But the government keeps those records secret for
fear of sabotage.
ESTHER: Gee, you guys know anyone that works for the
government?
(All look at MULDER.)
SCENE 12 FAIRFAX COUNTY, VIRGINIA (MULDER drives up to rural
telephone pole with a junction box. He checks T3 connection map, then climbs the pole and
looks to see where line goes - old dilapidated farmhouse.)
SCENE 13 (Lone Gunman Office. SCULLY wakes up from nap on the
couch to see empty handcuffs at desk. She crosses to a door, and sees the GUNMEN sleeping.
Turning quickly, she sees ESTHER pointing SCULLYS gun at her.)
ESTHER: Shh. Buenos dias, muchacha. (SCULLY sighs.)
SCENE 14 (MULDER pulls up to farmhouse. He calls SCULLY on
his cel phone.)
MULDER: (on phone) Scully?
(SCULLY is driving.)
SCULLY: (on phone) Yep.
MULDER: (on phone) Yeah, Ive found something down in
Fairfax County. A derelict chicken farm with a T3 connection, paid for by Aleph
Industries, Palo Alto, of which theres no other record anywhere.
SCULLY: (on phone) Dandy.
MULDER: (on phone) Where are you? Sounds like youre
driving.
SCULLY: (on phone) You are correct, sir.
MULDER: (on phone) You have Esther with you?
SCULLY: (on phone) In a manner of speaking.
ESTHER: Left up here. Give me that. (reaches for phone)
MULDER: (on phone) Where are you going?
ESTHER: (on phone, gruff voice) To find David.
MULDER: (on phone) Where?
(ESTHER hangs up, smiles and hold gun on SCULLY who is not
pleased with the situation.)
MULDER: (into phone) Scully? Scully?
(MULDER hangs up, walks around the house, through some small
trees to a small rusty motor home with lots of wires going into it.)
SCENE 15 DAVID MARKHAM RESIDENCE (SCULLY and ESTHER pull up
in LONE GUNMENS car (?) to where a house used to be - now just debris. ESTHER, still
holding SCULLYS gun, gets out of the car in shock to survey the damage. All is
burned. In the car, SCULLY who is handcuffed to the steering wheel, digs in her coat
pocket for the keys, and unlocks the bracelet just as ESTHER gets back in car. ESTHER
places gun on dash and bursts into tears. SCULLY, showing no sympathy, slowly begins to
reach for it. ESTHER suddenly grabs the gun and points it at SCULLY.)
ESTHER: Go ahead! Put me out of my misery! Take it! (Cries
harder.)
(SCULLY sighs, takes the gun, then places her hand on
ESTHERS shoulder.)
SCENE 16 (MULDER walks toward trailer. About ten yards away,
a loud siren on a telephone pole goes off. MULDER places his hands over his ears until it
stops.)
MULDER: (from computer infrared, sound distorted perspective)
FBI! Im a federal agent!
(MULDER walks up to the door, and chuckles as he sees a
doorbuzzer. He presses the buzzer. Inside a monitor reads his thumbprint, and accesses
MULDERS FBI personnel file:
Name: Fox Mulder Badge Number: JTTO 47101111 Height: 6 ft
Weight: 170 lbs. Hair: Brown Eyes: Green Date of Birth: 13 October, 1961 Telephone: (202)
555-2355 Marital Status: Unmarried FBI Career History 1983-1986 Oxford University 1986
Quantico Academy 1988 Assigned to the Violent Crimes Unit 1990-PRESENT Assigned to the
X-Files Education-Oxford University AB in Psychology Graduating summa cum laude in 1982
(?) Quantico FBI training Academy 1984 (?) Graduating with honors.)
SCENE 17 (SCULLY and ESTHER looking at remains of burned
house.)
ESTHER: I lied to you. I wasnt working with Donald. I
mean, I was, and then he found out about us.
SCULLY: About you and who.
ESTHER: David. (sniffs) About our plans.
SCULLY: What plans did he find out?
ESTHER: Uploading. Transfer of memory, of consciousness to
the distributed system maintained by the AI. Imagine being mingled so completely with
another, you no longer need your physical self youre one.
SCULLY: So you were going to
ESTHER: Enter the AI. Give up our inefficient bodies so that
our consciousness could live together forever.
SCULLY: But Donald Gelman forbade it.
ESTHER: He was afraid of his creation. He was afraid of what
would happen if other people followed us. (Finds half burned picture of herself and an
older man.) I loved him so much.
SCULLY: Well, maybe he wasnt here when this happened.
Maybe hes somewhere else.
(ESTHER looks like she might take hope.)
SCENE 18 (MULDER, getting no response, crawls under the
mobile home, following the T3 line. He unscrews and enters through a bottom hatch. There
is a small mobile robot *like the one in WOTC* zipping around. He ignores it. The trailer
is completely filled with computer hardware. Lots of wires and monitors. MULDER is
startled when he sees a dead man in some kind of harness wearing a VR goggle thing.)
MULDER: (lifting visor) David Markham.
(DAVIDS eyes and skin look like they have been
subjected to a great deal of electricity. Suddenly, MULDER is jerked back into an
identical harness. Restraints whip around his arms and legs, and sparks fly as electricity
pours into his body. He struggles, crying out in pain.)
(Commercial.)
SCENE 19 (Hospital corridor, very dark. MULDER wakes up as he
is being wheeled on a gurney attended by EMTs.)
MULDER: (groggy) Whats going on?
EMT: Severe tissue injuries to upper extremities. Weve
got ourselves a real crispy critter, here.
EMT 2: Alert the burn unit. Tell them to scramble the
surgical team.
EMT: (on radio) Unit 23 request Burn Unit.
(MULDER tries to sit up.)
EMT 2: Hes coming up on us.
EMT: Surgical team, stat.
MULDER: Whats that smell? (sees his badly burned arms)
Oh, jeez ...
EMT: Easy now.
EMT 2: Just relax.
(They turn down another dark deserted corridor.)
EMT: 120 BP 130 over 80
EMT 2: (into recorder) Frank charring at contact site, along
path of current, and at exit point. Looks like the charge grounded through both arms.
Weve got a lot of work to do, here, people, if were going to save him.
(MULDER has been looking confused and nervous as he is
wheeled through the hall. Walking to his left is a ditsy Barbie look-alike nurse, NURSE
NANCY.)
MULDER: Is it bad?
NURSE NANCY: Youre in good hands.
MULDER: My arms hurt.
(NURSE NANCY looks at EMT.)
EMT: Thats a good sign
(They wheel him into an OR room, very dark and sparse. MULDER
looks around nervously. NURSE NANCY adjusts an overhead light. Another nurse wheels over
an instrument cart with assorted blades and saws.)
MULDER: No, wait .... (almost passing out) Call my doctor.
You have to call ... my doctor. Call Dr. Scully. Please call Dr. Scully.
(Very Old SURGEON totters to side of gurney.)
MULDER: Call her. (groans as a nurse pushes his head back
down on pillow.) No, no. No ... what are you doing?
VERY OLD SURGEON: (so old he can barely speak) Prep the
patient.
(SURGEON picks up a little hand held rotating electric saw
that looks like a piece of a quisinart. MULDER is *very* worried now.)
MULDER: No. No.
(MULDER is now surrounded by four Barbie nurses. NURSE NANCY
injects him in the side of the neck.)
MULDER: No-no-no-no! Ahhhhh!
(NURSES strap him down, and SURGEON starts the little saw.
MULDER looks around even more confused as the drug takes effect.)
SCENE 20 (SCULLY hangs up cell phone (phone ringing blends
with sound of saw in previous scene) as she and ESTHER are driving. Night.)
SCULLY: I cant get through to Mulder. (tries number
again)
ESTHER: Its the AI. It's had time to analyze my voice.
It knows I was using your phone.
SCULLY: It can interfere with my phone?
ESTHER: Give it enough information, itll sue you for
palimony.
SCULLY: Wait a minute. Mulder said that he found the system.
In an abandoned chicken farm in Fairfax county.
ESTHER: Well, maybe we can cut off the T3 and kill its
communication capabilities.
SCULLY: You can do that?
ESTHER: Theres only one way to find out. (grabs laptop
from backseat and connects to the Fairfax County mainframe over a *very* high speed modem
and browser.)
SCENE 21 (Hospital room. MULDER is sleeping, blanket pulled
up to his chin. There is a very strange crucifix hanging over the bed. NURSE NANCY enters.
MULDER wakes.)
MULDER: I feel sick.
NURSE NANCY: Thats the anesthetic, Agent Mulder. You
were injured and they had to operate.
MULDER: I remember ... wires, and uh ...
NURSE NANCY: Yes, you were doing something dangerous.
Something very, very foolish. The good news is they were able to save the right one.
MULDER: What do you mean?
(NURSE NANCY pulls down covers to show that MULDERS
left arm has been amputated, no bandage.)
MULDER: Oh, my God. What did you do with my arm? What did
they do with my arm?
NURSE NANCY: (pushing him down, gently) Shh.... or
theyll come back.
MULDER: (almost panicking) Theyll come back for what?
NURSE NANCY: Theyre evil, Fox. They want something from
you.
MULDER: (high pitched) What do they want?!
NURSE NANCY: I dont know. But if you dont tell
them, Im afraid theyll take your other arm.
MULDER: This is crazy! You have to help me. You have to get
me out of here ... please! (She pulls his head to her breasts.) Help me. Help me. Please,
help me.
(She drops him back to bed and holds pillow over his face.
MULDER gives muffled yell.)
NURSE NANCY: Shh ... or theyll hear you. Shhh ....
(keeps pillow over his face)
SCENE 22 (SCULLY and ESTHER pull up to drawbridge just as
gate comes across. Laptop beeps.)
ESTHER: Somethings wrong. (computer scrolling) I
didnt do anything. I didnt even get on the Net! I think it found us. (A truck
marked "flammable" pulls up behind them.) Its zeroing in.
(Computer begins displaying map zeroing in on a bridge over a
river.)
SCULLY: Esther ... (they get out of the car) Get away from
the tanker truck!
(ESTHER runs onto bridge, which is beginning to turn. SCULLY
runs to trucks cab.)
SCULLY: (to driver) Sir? You need to get out of the truck.
Move it! Its going to explode. (He does. SCULLY runs toward ESTHER who still holds
computer and is looking skyward from center of bridge.) Dump it, Esther! Get rid of it!
ESTHER: Its got the Kill Switch.
SCULLY: Esther! Dump it! (jumps onto bridge at the last
minute) Esther! Get rid of it! (ESTHER desperately typing.) Get rid of it, Esther!
(Computer screen shows zeroing in complete. ESTHER flings
laptop into the river. Bolt of energy from above hits laptop causing large explosion.
BOOOOOMMMM!!!! SCULLY and ESTHER duck together.)
SCENE 23 (MULDERS hospital room. NURSE NANCY and two
other nurses are massaging MULDER under the sheets. He looks *very* content. Crucifix is
lighted above him.)
MULDER: Oh, I had this terrible dream. (NURSE NANCY gives a
knowing smile. MULDER smiles back) And then I had a good dream.
NURSE NANCY: Those werent dreams, Fox. (to other
nurses) I believe thats enough for now. (They stop the massage.) You poor thing. But
I warned you. Nurse Nancy warned you. You have to tell them, Fox. You have to.
MULDER: Tell them what?
NURSE NANCY: About the Kill Switch.
MULDER: Nobody asked me anything.
NURSE NANCY: Youve just forgotten, Fox.
MULDER: No.
NURSE NANCY: (takes MULDERS face in her hands) I was
there. The doctor asked and he was very cross when you refused to answer. But hell
be here in just a few minutes, and you can tell him then.
MULDER: I ...
NURSE NANCY: (cheerfully) Otherwise, whoops! There go your
legs.
(She flings back sheet to show that both his arms are now
amputated. MULDER starts yelling. SCULLY kicks in the door holding her gun.)
SCULLY: Mulder, these women are spies!
MULDER: Scully!
(Brunette nurse kicks gun out of SCULLYS hands.
Ninja!SCULLY hits her three times then does a beautiful aerial karate kick to her head.
Then hits the other blonde nurse in the face and stomach and knocks her out. Then NURSE
NANCY, kick, right, left, right, MULDER watching, and knockout. SCULLY looks at her fallen
opponents, blows her hair out of her face, comes over to Mulder.)
SCULLY: Mulder, they want the Kill Switch virus. What did you
tell her?
MULDER: I didnt tell them anything!
SCULLY: I need to know!
MULDER: (showing her his arms, pitifully) Look ...
SCULLY: Do we have it? (MULDER looks at her, hurt, wanting
comfort) Do we have the Kill Switch?
MULDER: (realizing it cant really be her) Of course we
do.
(He pulls up his legs and kicks her in the chest, throwing
her back against the wall. From MULDERS perspective, images of SCULLY and entire
room begin to short out. Then we see he is back in the trailer still strapped in with VR
helmet. His voice is weak.)
(They walk through snowy forest. When they set off the alarm
at the trailer, SCULLY drops her flashlight, they cover their ears, then SCULLY takes out
her gun and shoots the alarm and spotlight. Go Scully!)
MULDER: (inside) Scully ...
SCULLY: Mulder?! Mulder, are you all right?
(Inside trailer a mechanical arm moves toward MULDER.)
MULDER: Im in here. Scully ...
(Mechanical arm cuts his sleeve and injects him with
something that makes him pass out. Not that he was very coherent to begin with.)
SCULLY: Mulder? (AI perspective of SCULLY and ESTHER) Mulder.
Mulder, can you hear me? (SCULLY sticks her head through floor hatchway.) Mulder?
(Little mobile robot turns on bright light and starts toward
SCULLY. SCULLY ducks and shoots it four times. Go Scully! She and ESTHER both enter
trailer.)
SCULLY: (looking around at wires and machinery) Mulder? Help
me out here, Esther. Whats its next move? What is it thinking?
ESTHER: I dont know.
SCULLY: Who built this?
ESTHER: It did. There. (Points flashlight at one of the
harnesses. Sees dead DAVID.) Ah! David! (shocked) Oh, God.
(SCULLY looks at DAVID then turns to see MULDER.)
SCULLY: Mulder? (ESTHER shines flashlight on MULDER.) Mulder?
(lifts visor up exposing MULDERS staring eyes, being held open by clamps.) Mulder,
can you hear me? (MULDER tries to move his mouth.) Mulder, talk to me.
(SCULLY turns and points her gun at a whirring sound. A CD
ROM drive holder has opened.)
ESTHER: It wants the Kill Switch.
SCULLY: Well, we dont have it. You threw it in the
water with the computer.
(ESTHER shakes her head, pulls out the disc, steps close to
the drive.)
SCULLY: Thats going to kill it, right?
ESTHER: Not if it can learn the program and vaccinate itself
against it.
(MULDER is jolted by a burst of electricity four times.
MULDER is in pain.)
SCULLY: Give it what it wants, Esther. (MULDER jolted again.)
Put it in, Esther.
(Computer monitor begins zeroing in.)
ESTHER: Its targeting us.
SCULLY: Put it in!
(SCULLY grabs disc, puts it in drive, and closes drive.
Twilight Time begins. Computer pauses targeting process.)
PLATTERS: HEAVENLY SHADES OF NIGHT ARE FALLING ITS
TWILIGHT TIME
(Straps that were holding MULDER snap off. SCULLY goes to him
and tenderly removes helmet and clamps from his face.)
SCULLY: Youre going to be okay. Im going to get
you out of here.
PLATTERS: OUT OF THE MIST YOUR VOICE IS CALLING ITS
TWILIGHT TIME. WHEN PURPLE COLORED CURTAINS MARK THE END OF DAY ILL HEAR YOU, MY
DEAR AT TWILIGHT TIME
SCULLY: Okay. Its okay.
(ESTHER watches them, then begins typing. SCULLY removes
MULDERS eye clamps. ESTHERS typing has restarted the targeting process. SCULLY
helps MULDER to the floor hatch.)
PLATTERS: DEEPING SHADOWS GATHER SPLENDOR AS DAY IS DONE
(ESTHER is crying, still typing) FINGERS OF NIGHT WILL SOON SURRENDER THE SETTING SUN I
COUNT THE MOMENTS DARLING TIL YOURE HERE WITH ME TOGETHER AT LAST AT TWILIGHT TIME
SCULLY: What are you doing, Esther?
ESTHER: Get out of here.
SCULLY: What are you doing?
ESTHER: Go!
PLATTERS: HERE IN THE AFTERGLOW OF DAY WE KEEP OUR RENDEZVOUS
BENEATH THE BLUE HERE IN THE SAME AND SWEET OLD WAY
(SCULLY hesitates, then follows MULDER out the hatch. She
gets him leaned up against the side of the trailer, then goes back to the hatch. She
doesnt see ESTHER.)
PLATTERS: I FALL IN LOVE AGAIN AS I DID THEN
SCULLY: Esther?!
ESTHER: (voice) You dont listen, do you?
SCULLY: Where are you?
ESTHER: Get out of here, now!
(COMPUTER beeps. SCULLY ducks back out. ESTHER is now
strapped into MULDERS harness, looking relaxed.)
PLATTERS: DEEP IN THE DARK YOUR KISS WILL THRILL ME LIKE DAYS
OF OLD (SCULLY helps MULDER stand and run from trailer.) LIGHTING THE SPARK OF LOVE THAT
FILLS ME WITH DREAMS UNTOLD.
ESTHER: Upload. (Computer monitors going crazy.)
PLATTERS: EACH DAY I PRAY FOR EVENING JUST TO BE WITH YOU
TOGETHER, AT LAST AT TWILIGHT TIME TOGETHER, AT LAST AT TWILIGHT TIME
(Lots of electricity begins pouring through ESTHER. SCULLY
helps MULDER running through forest. ESTHERS head falls to side. Smoke comes out her
mouth. Computer finishes targeting. MULDER and SCULLY turn and look as beam from above
explodes trailer. BOOOOMMMMMM!!!!)
SCENE 25 (Dawn. MULDER and SCULLY look over smoking remains
of trailer.)
SCULLY: Well, if Esther wanted to leave her body, she got her
wish. At least that part of it.
MULDER: I wonder.
SCULLY: Mulder, shes dead.
MULDER: What if she managed to establish an uplink, Scully? A
satellite transmission?
(We see FROHIKE typing at computer.)
SCULLY: (voice) Mulder, are you telling me that Esther may
have ... that she may not be dead?
MULDER: (voice) Artificial life. It could exist. It could be
here among us, evolving.
SCULLY: (voice) Electrons chasing each other through a
circuit --- that isnt life, Mulder.
(LANGLY and BYERS join FROHIKE.)
MULDER: (voice) Yeah, but what are we but impulses?
Electrical and chemical through a bag of meat and bones. Youre the scientist. You
tell me.
(FROHIKES monitor reads *BITE ME.* LONEGUNMEN look at
each other, confused.)
SCENE 26 NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA (Two boys playing football in
a trailer park. Two onlookers. One decrepit trailer is surrounded by chain link fence. One
boy, HARLEY falls face down in the mud, then gets up and throws the ball. It lands inside
the chain link fence.)
ONLOOKER: You did it now, Harley!
(HARLEY and the other player run up to fence.)
HARLEY: You get it.
OTHER PLAYER: Uh unh.
FEMALE ONLOOKER: Theyll get you if you go in there!
HARLEY: Mama says no one lives in there.
(HARLEY climbs the fence, retrieves the ball. Camera on top
of trailer watches him climb out.)
A morgue is a morgue is a morgue. They can paint the walls with aggressively
cheerful primary colors and splashy bold graphics, but it's still a holding
place for the dead until they can be parted out to organ banks. Not that I
would have cared normally but my viewpoint was skewed. The relentless
pleasance of the room I sat in seemed only grotesque. Pat Cadigan, "Mindplayers"