07/07/01: Welcome to
the Fold (Part seven)
by The Gline
Last time, Haruna was threatening Elias
with a sword...
ELIAS
What are you going to do? Kill me?
Beat.
ELIAS
I guess that ought to come easier, now.
You offed the last guy without any problems, right?
Haruna flushes red.
HARUNA
I refuse to allow everything we have done
to be surrendered to Anti-Sedition.
ELIAS
What the fuck does Anti-Sedition have
to do with anything? Jesus, I can't even begin to keep up with you
people... Look, are you going to let me go, or what?
Beat.
ELIAS
(gentler)
Come on. You know I'm not going
to be able to give you what you need, or want.
They are not looking at him anymore.
They're staring at a video monitor which
shows commotion in the street outside the building.
ELIAS
What -- ?
HARUNA
Police.
EXT. THREE HUNDRED CONDUIT DRIVE
The police have arrived. They come
storming up the stairs with a giant hydraulic battering ram, which they
use to SMASH IN the double doors.
The footman at the desk reaches for a
sidearm and is knocked flat by a plastic bullet. The cops yank plastic
cuffs on him.
INT. MEZZANINE
Cops burst from the elevators, pointing
assault rifles.
POLICE
FREEZE! DOWN ON THE GROUND, NOW!
People scream. Some hit the floor.
Some try to run.
The few that run are stunned or clubbed
down.
One of the cops yanks a footman off of
his horse.
INT. THE PRINCE'S STUDY
The three of them are watching this horror
unfold on the monitors. Elias wipes his dry mouth.
THE PRINCE
Haruna, get Elias out of here.
HARUNA
They'll arrest you –
THE PRINCE
They've been gunning for me; it's only
been a matter of time. GO!
Haruna nods and seizes Elias's arm.
ELIAS
So now they get to add "resisting arrest"
to my rap sheet, is that it?
INT. SERVICE CORRIDOR
Haruna throws up the shutter to a dumbwaiter-style
elevator and crawls in. She drags Elias in with her and slams the
door.
BLACK.
There's the sound of a MOTOR starting
up.
HARUNA
If I were you, Elias – I'd think an experience
like this would be a boon to my creativity.
ELIAS
Taking a bullet is NOT my idea of a boon
to creativity.
HARUNA
I'm not about to let that happen.
INT. SERVICE SUB-BASEMENT
Grimy and dimly lit cement. A shutter
similar to the last one flies up. Elias and Haruna roll out and dust
off.
HARUNA
I didn't think they would be down here
yet.
She puts her hand on her sword hilt just
in case.
ELIAS
And there's a way out of here, I assume.
Haruna leads Elias to a VAN parked against
one wall.
They climb in. Haruna guns the engine
and throws the vehicle into reverse, pulling back until they're backed
up to another wall.
She opens the glove compartment and takes
out a BRACE, which she installs on the steering wheel to lock it in place.
>From under the seat she takes out an extendable METAL BAR. She puts
the van into neutral, presses the gas pedal down.
She throws the van into gear and leaps
back.
The van flies RIGHT AT THE WALL.
SMASH!
The nose of the van BURSTS THROUGH the
wall. It's not cinderblocking, but something a fair degree flimsier.
STEAM spews out from under the hood of the van. The windshield slides
out in a pancake of green auto glass.
They squeeze through the hole in the wall.
INT. ADJOINING SUBBASEMENT
Haruna leads Elias up a steep ramp, at
the head of which the outside world can be seen.
HARUNA
These buildings used to be all part of
the same complex. They only walled them off from each other when
we bought this one outright. I had the feeling a move like this would
come in handy someday.
ELIAS
Your chauffeur must hate you.
EXT. ALLEY ON STREET LEVEL
Haruna and Elias appear in the mouth of
the alley.
They head hesitantly for the other end
of the alley, where
THE POLICE
Are herding everyone from inside Three
Hundred Conduit Drive out into the street. Most of the Costume Society
people are handcuffed.
Long, slow moments as Elias stares at
this processional.
It's just now hitting him. These
people are going to jail.
The Prince is among them.
HARUNA
Elias.
She takes his arm and leads him back into
the shadows.
The police SLAM THE DOORS on their Black
Marias.
INT. "WHITE ROOM"
Empty. All equipment on, playing
to a blank gallery.
The police enter, fan out into the Black
Room as well.
Nobody.
COP #1
Deserted. They probably booked about
ten, fifteen minutes ago.
COP #2
Not so fast. Open it all up.
They start kicking open closets and containers.
EXT. ADJOINING HALLWAY OUTSIDE
The Man With Goggles steps slowly around
the corner.
Sees the police standing there.
Uncorks a GRENADE and pitches it towards
them.
Steps back around the corner.
The BLAST knocks him off his feet.
When he wipes his eyes clear -- he sees
MORE POLICE coming up the corridor from the other direction.
He pulls out his gun.
He never gets to aim it. GUNFIRE
is all we hear.
EXT. RUINED BUILDING
A decrepit part of town. A building
that looks held together with spit and birdshit. Maybe a disused
sweatshop?
Haruna and Elias pull up in a new-looking
car, climb out.
ELIAS
Add grand theft auto to my rap sheet.
Haruna looks around. Dead.
HARUNA
If they had gotten here ahead of us, this
place would have been lit up like the World's Fair.
INT. BUILDING VESTIBULE
Unlit, dank. Haruna smashes glass
with her elbow and unchains the door from the inside.
Broken tiles, rotting wallboard.
This place is horrible.
Elias pinches his nose as they make their
way up the stairs.
ELIAS
It's a five-story walkup toilet.
INT. SHOP FLOOR
Crumbling, rusted machines, stained tables,
cracked cement floors. Haruna digs out a flashlight and turns it
on, setting it on a table.
HARUNA
Back before the Costume Society was official,
we held some meetings in here.
Elias tries to wipe the grime off a window,
but it's hopeless.
ELIAS
I guess it was cleaner back then.
HARUNA
We made a lot of plans here, in these
rooms. We were going to do nothing less than change the world if
we could.
ELIAS
And now they're all in jail.
He sounds glummer with each passing moment.
ELIAS
I guess the other Costume Society cells
will make some kind of statement... condemn the whole thing.
HARUNA
I'm afraid we may be alone in this.
Elias digs out the Haruna books, the originals,
and slowly puts them on the dusty tabletop.
ELIAS
And now they're going to look to me to
dig them out of this mess.
Long pause.
HARUNA
Only because my mother is dead.
Elias looks at her.
ELIAS
What?
HARUNA
My mother.
(beat)
Ravanna Francoeur.
Elias just blinks.
ELIAS
What's your name?
HARUNA
Marie Francoeur. Ravanna Francoeur
wrote and drew all of HARUNA THE BRAVE when I was only about six or seven
years old. She told me later on that I was the direct inspiration
for the character. Even at that age I was rebelling against everything.
I wasn't kidding when I said I was Haruna before there was a Haruna.
Elias's tongue is numb with shock.
She continues.
HARUNA
She had a hard time finding a publisher
for it, so she spent her own money and put it out privately, in an edition
of about 100 copies. It didn't sell. The few people who read
it loved it, but that was it. She died, disappointed. And for
a long time I tried to forget about it. Until the day you brought
it back to life.
ELIAS
So -- you -- you found out about it, about
my book, and you offered yourself up as the part --
HARUNA
And they were hard pressed to find anyone
better. But I had been active in the Costume Society, working towards
something like this. The original ending of HARUNA would not have
worked, unfortunately -- but when I saw someone else was taking over the
story, I wondered what would change.
ELIAS
I guess you were disappointed when you
found out I wasn't changing anything.
HARUNA
Haruna must live. For the sake of
the changes we're trying to enact, she must live. You're the only
one who can do it.
Elias sits back.
ELIAS
Except that my problems are a little more
immediate.
EXT. RUINED BUILDING
A car pulls alongside the abandoned one
and slows.
Slazenger is driving. He peers over,
shining a flashlight into the driver's seat. His face lights up.
INT. SHOP FLOOR
Elias and Haruna sit there, dejected,
crushed by the weight of their responsibilities.
Knock-knock-knock. Someone's at
the door to the stairs.
Haruna detaches the pistol from her sword
and holds it out in front of her. She gestures for Elias to open
the door.
Elias reaches over, flings open the door...
Slazenger.
SLAZENGER
Don't be hasty.
Elias falls back several steps.
ELIAS
What the fuck are you doing here?
SLAZENGER
This is an old hangout of mine.
May I come in, please?
Haruna slowly lowers her pistol, but doesn't
put it away.
She tosses her head to signal that he
can enter.
Slazenger enters, puts his tote bag on
a filthy table.
SLAZENGER
I took a couple of educated guesses.
I didn't think you were going to go back to the apartment, or to her place
-- it's already under surveillance. This is about the only place
they don't really know about. And my own HQ -- well, forget it.
ELIAS
...Say that again.
SLAZENGER
Even I can't go there now. The cops
have it.
HARUNA
Where's the rest of your team?
SLAZENGER
Out in the field, cut off. Probably
only a matter of time before they get intercepted, too. Looks like
my Anti-Sedition gig is finally up --
ELIAS
Wait, what do you mean, an old hangout
of yours?
SLAZENGER
Elias, use your brain. If this was
a costume player hangout, then...?
Elias slowly closes his mouth. Then
opens it again.
ELIAS
You used to be one.
SLAZENGER
Ex-ACT-ly.
ELIAS
That explains how you snuck into the party.
SLAZENGER
That didn't require any knowledge on my
part. Just being a good sleaze.
HARUNA
No one disputes your qualifications there.
SLAZENGER
But I knew The Prince and all the others
from before. I know all of them. I knew all of them.
INT. BALLROOM -- NIGHT (MEMORY SHOT)
A costume-play party is breaking up, with
everyone dressed as per the characters in VALIS. Dozens of people
are slowly shrugging off gloves, hairpieces, shoes, etc. Laughter,
backslapping.
We see the people who play The Prince
and Haruna -- and we also see Foster, Ying Quan, Jaquays, the Goggle Man,
and even the Harried Man (from the beginning) all mixing happily with each
other. And the two
costume players murdered outside the restaurant,
too.
SLAZENGER (V.0.)
When you have those kinds of friends,
they're better than any family. They're a family by choice, not by
fate. We had other reasons for being close, other than costume play
-- but having costume play in common never hurt, either.
INT. BASEMENT -- DAY (MEMORY SHOT)
The Goggle Man, face protected, pours
out white-hot metal into a ceramic mold as Ying Quan and The Prince watch
raptly.
SLAZENGER (V.O.)
One of my friends had a day job in a toy
company. An expert in ceramics and metals. He helped us make
some of the most exacting weapon and costume replicas imaginable.
TIME CUT
As the blade of a DAGGER, cooling slowly,
is lifted from the mold with tongs.
SLAZENGER (V.O.)
He was also the first one to walk away
from us.
INT. DINGY BOOKSTORE -- DAY (MEMORY SHOT)
Goggle Man and Slazenger, huddled in the
back, speaking in low conspiratorial tones. Both look deadly serious.
SLAZENGER (V.O.)
He was tired of doing things by half-measures,
and so were some of the rest of us.
DISSOLVE
And now Foster and Ying Quan sit with
them as well, nodding seriously.
SLAZENGER (V.O.)
So, one by one, we started walking away
from everything legitimate – everything that had been given to us.
EXT. PARKING LOT -- NIGHT (MEMORY SHOT)
Raining. Goggles Man and Harried
Man take out GUNS and put BULLETS into a PARKED CAR. No shells are
ejected. When they are both empty, they toss the guns into an oil
drum full of WATER.
SLAZENGER (V.O.)
... and went on to learn about what we
could take for ourselves.
THE GUNS
Slowly dissolving in the water.
SLAZENGER (V.O.)
We didn't want to dream on their terms.
We wanted to dream on ours. And anything that got in our way had
to go.
INSIDE THE CAR
Two dead costume players, riddled with
bullet holes.
BACK TO SCENE
Elias, sitting nose-to-nose with Slazenger,
frowns.
ELIAS
I'm still kind of confused on a few basic
points... like – what the fuck where you trying to do?
SLAZENGER
Tear down the Machine. – Art's become
poisoned, Elias. Thousands of years of tradition, a million mind-numbing
clichés – and now thanks to Anti-Sedition, it's all part of the
new social order.
HARUNA
Slazenger wanted to go about doing it
a little differently than me.
SLAZENGER
Haruna wanted to change things from the
inside, so to speak. Use the Costume Society and its hangers-on as
a vehicle for social re-engineering.
HARUNA
Slazenger preferred... more direct action.
FLASH SHOT of Elias getting punched in
the White Room. RESUME:
Elias's frown has deepened.
SLAZENGER
At least until I got caught.
EXT. ALLEYWAY – NIGHT (FLASHBACK)
Slazenger stumbles over garbage cans in
an attempt to elude police. LIGHTS in his face. They collar
him and ram him to the ground.
SLAZENGER (V.O.)
Anti-Sedition don't have a Most Wanted
list. They don't talk about who they want – they just go and get
them.
INT. INTERROGATION ROOM – LATER (FLASHBACK)
A rather bruised Slazenger, being given
a dressing-down by Anti-Sedition agents.
SLAZENGER (V.O.)
With them, it was one of two things: Bend
or die. I could spend the rest of my life in a very small room –
or I could go back out on the street and be an extended pawn.
Slazenger sighs and closes his eyes, and
nods.
BACK TO SCENE
SLAZENGER
Criticize me if you like. I took
the second road.
ELIAS
It'd be easier for me to criticize you
if I knew what the second road was.
HARUNA
Anti-Sedition uses everything and everyone,
Elias. They used us as much as we would let them, to keep things
in balance.
SLAZENGER
The whole kidnapping from the party –
ELIAS
Set up by them.
SLAZENGER
You're learning. The idea was simple.
Make it look like you were endangered, drive up sales that way.
HARUNA
And if that didn't work, they could have
always let Slazenger kill you outright.
SLAZENGER
Posthumous reissues sell like mad.
And a dead author has no say over how his work gets bastardized.
Elias sits back, aghast.
ELIAS
This is so fucking crazy.
SLAZENGER
It's what they do.
HARUNA
It's all they do.
Elias gets to his feet and hustles to the
window, trying to do something with his now-manic energy.
SLAZENGER
And you're just the most recent of a long
slew of projects on their schedule. In fact, their director took
particular interest in you. She even went so far as to request directing
you personally.
Elias turns, very slowly. From aghast
to agog.
HARUNA
When was the last time you spoke to Sasha,
Elias?
She leaves him with that question as we
CUT TO:
EXT. ALLEYWAY – NIGHT
MOVING as we stumble towards the mouth
of the alley, where a truck is parked with the gate down. INSIDE:
Sasha, gesturing towards us. Ying Quan, Foster and Jaquays ENTER
FRAME, run inside the truck. The gate is yanked up – SLAM.
INSIDE
Sasha motions to the driver. The
truck gets under way.
SASHA
(to the other three)
Sorry we took so long. We had to
give to plenty of time to get out of Slazenger's HQ.
FOSTER
We're not about to hold it against you.
YING QUAN
The place is burned flat. I saw
the news.
SASHA
Trouble is, he seems to have skipped out
before we could move in.
JAQUAYS
We checked all the likely places.
Nothing.
SASHA
Then it's high time we checked some unlikely
ones.
INT. SHOP FLOOR HIDEOUT – SAME
Elias is looking more and more haggard
with every sentence.
ELIAS
So what do you want out of this?
SLAZENGER
You know what I would like? I'd
like one chance – one chance to get my hands around that bitch's neck and
squeeze out every drop I've never had a chance at.
Elias, taken aback, looks at Haruna.
HARUNA
I just want you to help finish what's
been started.
(beat)
What about you, Elias? What do you
want?
The question hangs in the air for long
seconds.
Elias looks like he can barely believe
it was even asked.
ELIAS
What do I want?... I want to go home!
I want to throw myself on my couch and sleep the sleep of the dead!
I – I want to drink my coffee and read my newspaper and not worry about
whether or not someone's going to be shooting at me! I want what
any asshole in this world wants!
SLAZENGER
You say that with all the conviction of
someone who knows he's never going to get it.
ELIAS
You just gotta rub it in, don't you.
He looks out the window. Rain.
ELIAS
I guess I was wrong, then.
(beat)
I mean, I used to sit at my desk and work
and say to myself, you know, this isn't so bad. As long as I can
keep faking it, one way or another, I got it made. But ... right
now I'd give a hell of a lot to do just one thing that was real.
He looks at them.
ELIAS
I need a phone.
INT. TRUCK
Sasha's cellphone rings. She answers
it:
SASHA
This is Sasha...
ELIAS (FILTERED)
We need to talk.
INT. SHOP FLOOR HIDEOUT – SAME
Elias, on a cellphone. Slazenger
and Haruna watching.
SASHA (FILTERED)
Elias?! Where are you? Are
you all right?
ELIAS
I'm fine. Listen... I'm not going
to bullshit you. I know the cops are probably listening in on this
right now, so I'm going to be brief. I'm going to meet with you somewhere
in one hour. I have something to give you. Where do you want
to meet me?
SASHA
I ... I guess I can meet you at my place,
but --
ELIAS
Fine. Don't dress up on my account.
He pushes the OFF button before she can
respond.
Walks back to the others.
HARUNA
I just don't know about this, Elias.
It's not like I'm unwilling to take the punishment for what I've done –
Slazenger snorts.
SLAZENGER
You were always such a good little martyr.
HARUNA
Oh, shut up ...
SLAZENGER (TO ELIAS)
You don't know her the way I do, mister.
She's been waiting her whole life to sacrifice herself for something Big
and Meaningful. Isn't that right, Haruna?
ELIAS
Knock it off. It's not like you
have a leg to stand on.
SLAZENGER
It doesn't mean I don't have a point.
Look at it: You turn yourself in, I go gunning for Sasha – at long last
– and what's she got? A bunch of friends in prison.
ELIAS
Who'll most likely go free thanks to me.
God, are you ever an asshole.
SLAZENGER
I may be an asshole, but I'm an asshole
who's right.
ELIAS
Nobody says you had to wallow in it.
SLAZENGER
You just don't get it, do you?!
They don't give a fuck about sacrifice or courage or any of that happy
horseshit. They'll scapegoat you as cheerfully as they scapegoat
her. Matter of fact, they'll probably just get two for the price
of one.
Haruna stands up and gathers her equipment.
HARUNA
As long as you get what you want, what
do you care? When this is over you'll either be even more of a fugitive
than you ever were, or you'll be dead.
SLAZENGER
You know what? I can't wait.
Grab your stuff.
Elias, heavy with disgust, hands Slazenger
back the phone.
ELIAS
Here.
Slazenger takes the phone and throws it
to the floor. SMASH.
SLAZENGER
Don't need it.
INT. SLAZENGER'S CAR – MOVING
Haruna flips open the chamber for her
sword-gun and begins loading it. Elias divides his attention between
her and Slazenger.
ELIAS
Tell me something – if you knew who Sasha
was for so long and where she worked and all that, how come you
didn't move on her earlier?
Slazenger looks at him.
SLAZENGER
Because I didn't fuckin' feel like it.
(beat)
Real reasons? For one, I didn't
have an opportunity like this.
HARUNA
This may be an opportunity to get up close
and personal with the police as well. Sad to say.
SLAZENGER
Do I look like someone who cares about
being arrested at this point?
HARUNA
You may not. We do.
Slazenger pulls the car over to the side
of the street.
SLAZENGER
Or did I read you two wrong? I mean,
he's turning himself in, and you seem to be laboring under the delusion
that the sooner you get busted for doing something important and meaningful,
the better. Right? So why are you worried about a couple of
cops?
Pause.
SLAZENGER
It's got you thinking, doesn't it?
Maybe, just maybe, before we go charging into this, you both had better
figure out exactly what you want to do with yourselves.
Haruna closes the breech on her weapon.
HARUNA
I know what I want. I think Elias
knows what he wants – and we both know what you want. Let's go have
it.
Slazenger puts the car back into gear.
SLAZENGER
At least I won't have to hang around and
see how disappointed you are.
EXT. DEAD-END ALLEY
Slazenger's car is parked at the far end,
up against a dumpster.
The three get out.
SLAZENGER
If we get interrupted, you can always
say I kidnapped you two and brought you here, and made Sasha tell you all
the gory details about Anti-Sedition at gunpoint. Sound like enough
of a decently bullshit story for you?
They nod. Slazenger looks up at the
forest of FIRE ESCAPES over his head, and points up.
SLAZENGER
I'm headed that way. Se you in a
bit.
Elias takes Haruna's arm and they head
to the mouth of the alley.
Slazenger unzips his ever-present bag
and digs out a GRAPPLING LINE. Swings it – locks it onto a girder
about 25 feet up. Starts climbing.
INT. APARTMENT BUILDING -- LOBBY
Very classy – lots of granite and marble
and glass.
Elias and Haruna head for the elevators.
Haruna puts her hand on her weapon's hilt.
In one of the phone books: YING QUAN.
She hangs up the phone.
EXT. FIRE ESCAPES
Slazenger bashes his head against a ONE-WAY
DOOR designed to keep people from doing exactly what he's doing: come up
the fire escape instead of down. He digs in his coat and comes out
with a pair of flexible, jointed clawlike WIRES. Shoves them through
the bars and starts fiddling with the lock.
SLAZENGER
Come on, you whore. Come on...
INT. APARTMENT BUILDING – 19TH FLOOR
Haruna and Elias emerge from the elevators,
with Haruna leading slightly and checking the hallway. Nothing.
They head AWAY from us... and in the immediate f.g. we see JACQUAYS behind
a pillar, stifling his breathing, trying not to be heard.
INT. SASHA'S APARTMENT
This is the first time we have seen it.
Barring the table with the expensive-looking laptop computer on it and
the mess of paper – the ad copy, the newspaper spreads, etc – there's nothing
here that would lead a person to think this was the head of Anti-Sedition.
Sasha emerges from the kitchen with a
stick of celery and is about to sit down and type when – KNOCK KNOCK.
She blanks the computer display with the push of a button and closes the
door to her office.
She checks out the LCD surveillance monitor
in the door. It's Elias and Haruna. She opens up; they push
their way in.
SASHA
Elias, what –
ELIAS
Look – ssh. I needed to talk to
you about some stuff. Okay? Just take a seat and listen to
what I have to tell you, all right?
Elias and Sasha sit. Haruna keeps
her eye on the windows and doors.
ELIAS
First off, I'm probably going to go to
prison for a while. So I figure I owe you an explanation and some
details about what to do with my books.
SASHA
What are you -- ?
ELIAS
I killed a guy. In self-defense.
SASHA
But if it's self-defense, you're not going
to go to prison.
ELIAS
It's more complicated than that!
Look – the important thing is, I'm not going to be able to finish my contractual
obligations... for a lot of reasons.
SASHA
And you can't tell me any of them?
Elias hesitates, looks at her – and then
–
FLASH SHOT of Sasha and Slazenger in the
apartment... Slazenger lifts his arm, pulls the trigger, blows Sasha's
brains out... RESUME.
He sags. She's going to be dead anyway.
What's the harm?
ELIAS
Yeah... I guess I could.
He undoes his coat, then looks over at
Haruna, who's staring.
ELIAS
It's OK.
Elias puts the original Haruna books in
Sasha's hands.
ELIAS
I've been out of steam for a long, long
time. I came across these thanks to a friend, and I ... borrowed
what I saw. They should look very familiar.
INT. 19TH FLOOR EMPTY APARTMENT
SMASH! Slazenger kicks in the glass
and stamps aside the child safety gate. Slides in – every move he
makes echoes a dozenfold in the empty, unpainted rooms. He drags
his bag in after him and heads for the door.
INT. 19TH FLOOR HALLWAY
Slazenger digs his fingers around the
edges of a wall panel and pries it open. Inside: the PHONE EXCHANGE for
the whole floor. He slides a pair of BOLT CUTTERS around one of the
main cables.
BLAM! Slazenger's shoulder is BLOWN
OPEN by a bullet.
FOSTER
At the other end of the hall, closing
in fast: BLAM! BLAM!
Slazenger hits the ground, shoves his
hand into his bag, and pulls something...
The front of the bag EXPLODES with the
force of a single-barreled shotgun blast. Pellets tear into Foster's
face, eyes, chest, knees... he screams once and falls flat on his face,
his gun SPILLING from his fingers.
Distant SHRIEKS. A door opens slightly
and a terrified FACE peeks out. Slazenger points the gun at the door.
SLAZENGER
Get back inside and lock your doors!
NOW!
The door slams shut. Nursing his
wounded shoulder. Slazenger manages to grasp both handles on the bolt cutter
and SNIP through the wire.
COMPUTER SCREEN – WIRING SCHEMATIC
Of the building's phone network – it flashes
RED briefly, then prints: OFF-LINE.
INT. APARTMENT
All three stare at the door, hearing the
commotion distantly.
Sasha gets up, works the surveillance
scope, and sees Ying Quan and Jacquays standing there, guns drawn.
And she turns the scope OFF.
They pound on the door, shouting: "Open
the damn door!"
Sasha backs up in extremely well-feigned
alarm.
ELIAS
Who is that?
SASHA
I don't know – but they have guns.
HARUNA
So much for your building security. –
Get hid, I'll take care of this.
Elias and Sasha hide in the bedroom (not
her office).
Haruna switches on the 'scope – and stares
at some very familiar faces.
FLASH SHOTS of Ying Quan and Jacquays and
the woman who would become Haruna, all laughing over a meal in costume...
RESUME.
Haruna's stare widens as she sees Jacquays
aim his gun and prepare to put a bullet through the lock mechanism.
She gets out of the way –
-- and just in time, too. KPOW!
The lock is shattered and the door bursts inwards...
... and then Ying Quan and Jacquays are
facing Haruna, who blocks the hallway to the bedroom. Long beat.
JACQUAYS
Marie.
HARUNA
I was Marie.
YING QUAN
I was a lot of people, too. That
time is past.
HARUNA
It's barely begun. – What are you doing
here?
JACQUAYS
Sasha. Bring her out.
HARUNA
Absolutely not!
Ying Quan pulls back the hammer on her
pistol.
YING QUAN
I insist, my dear.
There is a foostep behind them.
Slazenger's shotgun appears at the back
of Jacquay's neck.
SLAZENGER
No. I insist.
Jacquays and Ying Quan turn to see Slazenger
framed in the door.
SLAZENGER
Visting some old friends? Or maybe
some new ones?
INT. BEDROOM
Elias is holding his breath, listening
to what's going on.
Sasha's expression is slowly going from
confusion to coldness.
INT. APARTMENT
Slazenger reaches over and disarms Jacquays
and Ying Quan.
Tosses their guns onto the couch.
SLAZENGER
So how long have you two assholes been
running interference, huh? Six months? A year? Since
the beginning?
At Slazenger's direction, Jacquays and
Ying Quan put their hands on their heads and face the wall.
Slazenger reaches over and picks up Ying
Quan's gun. Fires a SHOT into the door, then puts the gun to Jacquay's
neck and mouths at Ying Quan:
SLAZENGER
Go get her.
Haruna, standing on the far side of the
room, watches all this with a bleak expression. Slazenger stares
her down.
SLAZENGER (TO HARUNA)
Do not be cute.
INT. BEDROOM
Sasha opens the door for Jacquays, who's
poker-faced.
JACQUAYS
Come on out.
She steps out into the apartment. Sees
Ying Quan at gunpoint... and behind her, Slazenger. Slazenger smiles.
It's not a nice smile.
SLAZENGER
How's business?
SASHA
You have no idea of the depths of shit
you have just gotten yourself into.
She reaches over and pushes a small touch
panel, labeled EMERGENCY, located next to a light switch. Nothing
happens.
SLAZENGER
You can do that all day. Nobody's
coming. Not for a while, anyhow. Now -- get on the couch.
All of you.
They all mill over to the couch and do
their best to sit on it. There's not enough room for all of them.
Elias and Ying Quan have to sit on the couch's arms. Slazenger rolls
his eyes in disgust.
SLAZENGER
Sasha. Get up.
Sasha stands. Slazenger produces
a pistol, thumbs off the safety, cocks it, and puts it to her face.
Sasha SWEATS.
SLAZENGER
I'll keep this brief. I know that
if I kill you, it won't change much of anything. That there are a
million people they can replace you with. The reason the system holds
together isn't because of people like you. It's because of people,
period.
Haruna's face darkens.
SASHA
Well, if you admit that it isn't going
to do anything, why bother?
ELIAS
Yeah, my sentiments exactly.
SLAZENGER
SHUT UP!
(beat)
I'm not doing this because it changes
anything, in the abstract. I'm doing this because it feels fucking
beautiful and it's exactly what you deserve --
From outside: POLICE SIRENS.
SLAZENGER
...Fucking killjoys!
The distraction is just long enough for
Haruna to launch herself right at Slazenger's legs. WHUMP!
They both go to the ground. The gun spills from Slazenger's fingers
and goes sliding across the floor.
SASHA
Get out of here! Now! Get
downstairs!
As Sasha and Slazenger struggle, Jaquays
and Ying Quan run.
Elias backs up and stands over them, uncertain.
Haruna puts her weapon to Slazenger's
head.
SLAZENGER
You are just no fun.
Sasha parts Slazenger's coat and starts
dumping everything out of it: a holdout .32 pistol, a set of knuckles,
a knife... all of which are made out of the same dissolving alloy.
SLAZENGER (TO HARUNA)
So now you're on her side, is that it?
HARUNA
No. I'm just tired of watching people
die for nothing.
SLAZENGER
Running kind of late for that, aren't
you?
Sasha nudges the armaments with her toe.
SASHA
Now just what did you plan to do with
all this here?
SLAZENGER
You should know. You funded it.
Haruna and I have already spent plenty of time filling Elias in on your
real job. I don't think he's quite as enthusiastic about working
for you anymore.
He smirks broadly. Sasha looks over
at Elias.
ELIAS
You run Anti-Sedition, don't you.
Sasha looks away from him and continues
searching Slazenger ineffectually.
ELIAS
You take the things people create and
you turn them into... bludgeoning weapons. You use them to keep people
bored and sedate and lonely, and you do it over and over again with everything
new.
Sasha slaps Slazenger's coat shut.
Still doesn't turn around.
ELIAS
But it's -- just your job, right?
Same as being a writer was mine.
She finally turns around.
SASHA
"Was"?
Elias digs out the original Haruna books,
at long last, and slaps them against her chest.
ELIAS
I had one good book in me, a long time
ago. I stretched it out to seven. You're years late to do anything
about it.
Sasha looks down at the book in her hands.
Thumbs through it, frowning.
ELIAS
Oh yeah -- the guy you sent after me?
That was my fault. I guess you're going to need to do something about
it.
PUSH IN on the books as in the b.g., we
see the POLICE arriving and taking everyone into custody...
You know, I went to see Atlantis the
other day. This is much better than Atlantis.
