Projections FADE IN: EXT. PENNSYLVANIA - FACTORY TOWN - DAY THE EIGHTIES Birds chirp. The morning sun rises on the backyards of a modest neighborhood. YOUNG PETE, an eight-year-old boy, tosses a baseball into the air. Face up and glove high, Pete awkwardly catches the ball. He does another toss and catch. A little better this time. BOY ONE and BOY TWO, both older than Pete, approach from the other yards. BOY ONE Hey, Pete! Boy One signals for the ball. Pete tosses it to him - wide. The older boys throw the ball back and forth - hard - to one another. YOUNG PETE Hey, throw it here. Boy Two throws the ball - hard - to Pete. Before he can lift his glove, Pete takes the force of the pitch between his eyes. His view goes black. His head fills with a low-pitched HUM of numbness. When Pete's vision starts to return, it's like he's looking through starry water. Both older boys look down at Pete on his back. Boy One holds out the baseball. BOY ONE We'll bring it back, okay Pete? Pete blinks. The boys take off. Pete gets to his feet and walks the other way across the yards in a daze. The HUM in his head morphs into rock music. Pete passes trees and stone walls. He stumbles. The music in his head turns back into a HUM. Pete walks past sheds and vegetable gardens. His HUM transforms into the voice of a male NEWSCASTER. NEWSCASTER (V.O.) ...though it still needs to be proven, this development could lead to a better understanding of the way human life progressed following the most recent ice age. In addition, these and other methods may shed light upon what may happen during... Pete stumbles again. The voice goes away. The HUM comes back. EXT. YOUNG PETE'S BACKYARD - DAY When he gets to his own backyard, Pete stops. He looks at the back of his house. The HUM intensifies. Pete again hits the ground backwards. The HUM fades to silence. Pete's eyes are open. He looks at peace. We see the wide sky as Pete would see if he could see. After a moment, our view rotates to the neighborhood backyards. EXT. FACTORY TOWN - DAY AERIAL DREAM Pete - and we - take flight. We float slowly around Pete's house, then more quickly over Pete's town, past the factory water tower, down the river towards the -- BIG CITY -- Idealized buildings pass to either side as we increase speed. Outside the big city, our flight path takes us to the level of a -- GRASSY FIELD -- As our speed gets faster, our apparent size gets smaller. The individual blades of grass can no longer be distinguished. It feels like a -- TUNNEL PASSAGE -- A series of visions from Pete's life impinge upon our journey through the winding tunnel. A new vision plays out at every bend. We see: -- the baseball Boy One holds out. -- the school bus at a snowy bus stop. -- the view from a tree branch of some kids looking up. -- the shiny point of a doctor's needle. -- Pete's dad whistling as he drives. -- a misty rainbow over Niagara Falls. -- his mom's smiling face. In a tunnel straightaway, the visions stop. The acceleration builds. Suddenly, we are propelled from the tunnel and become centered within a planet-sized -- EARTH GLOBE -- The continents and oceans display upon a translucent sphere that looks alive. Continent shapes are not reversed as would be logical. The Earth is inside-out. Weightless at the center, we turn to view the whole planet around the poles. Gradually, we slow and stop. The Earth Globe changes into the surface of Pete's retina. The retina rotates back to reveal the original wide view of the sky where Pete fell. EXT. YOUNG PETE'S BACKYARD - DAY Birds chirp. Two HOODED BEINGS scurry away from Pete and become incorporeal. Pete sits up alert, smiling. His face is somewhat scrunched. YOUNG PETE Whoa! DISSOLVE TO: INT. FACTORY - DAY THE PRESENT Pete's face is still a little scrunched. Now he's in his late twenties and has grown fairly tall. The top of his nose is crooked, but other than that, he's not bad looking. Machines pulse and steam lines hiss. Music blasts from canned music above and cheap radios below. Pete tends an eighteen-inch, steel, spinner mold. The mold spins rapidly at the level of his waist. Pete slams a red button. The mold comes to a stop. With gloves on, Pete opens the mold's top and removes a smoking plastic gear. He tosses the gear into a container, then readies the mold for another spin. Pete restarts the mold. He grabs the ends of two hanging hoses and aims them into the spinner's top hole. Smoking black liquid shoots from one hose. Smoking white liquid shoots from the other. Too much. Overflow spins from the mold. Hot plastic makes black and white stripes on Pete's shirt and on everything else nearby. Pete jumps back and burns his arm on a steam fitting. PETE Ouch! Shit. ROLAND WATTS, a factory mechanic and Pete's best friend, laughs loud and hard at Pete's goofs. Roland is compact, wiry, and not much older than Pete. ROLAND Hey Pete. You're supposed to count when you fill 'em. One-I-love-my- job, two-I-love-my-job, three... PETE I did count. Pete holds his hot shirt away from his skin. PETE My timing was off. The mold continues to spin. Pete looks at his arm. ROLAND Let's see. Pete shows Roland the new blister in his collection of burn scars. Roland moves Pete's arm out of a shadow. ROLAND Nice one. EXT. GREEN PARK - DAY Birds chirp. Pete sits by a tree. In the distance, he sees a child on a swing. In his sketchbook, he draws the child as a pendulum making an arc. Pete flips a page to make a new sketch of a shorter pendulum making a wider arc. He extends the arc into a circle. He shapes the circle into a sphere. Pete gazes at the sphere. A low-pitched HUM fills his head. EXT. FACTORY TOWN - DAY The hum is gone. Pete rides his bike quickly down the road, past the factory, into the outskirts of town. His ride ends up a long, stone driveway. EXT. PETE'S HOUSE - DAY Pete's house is small, old, and non-traditional. Pete drops his bike, takes off his backpack, and heads inside. INT. PETE'S WORKSHOP - DAY The room is dim, though a high window beams light onto Pete's drawing table. Pete removes the sphere sketch from his pad. He hangs it with a magnet on a long steel bar. The back wall holds diagrams, paintings on sheet metal, snapshots, clippings, and a group of panoramic photographs. Books are stacked and shelved all over. Pete jots down notes using very small printing. He stops and rubs his head in thought. His eyebrows rise. PETE Yeah. Pete scrambles up to -- THE ATTIC -- He rummages through boxes and old cabinets. He squeezes a beach ball. Too soft. He tosses it aside. He looks at a flattish oval lid, then he puts it back. After a little more rummaging, Pete finds a hemispherical, steel mixing bowl. He holds the bowl to his face and looks into it. PETE Yeah. THE KITCHEN -- The wooden pantry door is closed. It's dark inside. Pete lights up a match. With the steel bowl at his face, he moves the lit match in and out, in and out, in and -- It's dark again. PETE Ouch! Shit. Pete lights another match. He moves the flame around in the bowl. Its reflection changes shape and size. Again we see the closed pantry door. PETE (O.S.) Ouch! Shit. INT. PETE'S WORKSHOP - DAY Pete stands at his drawing table and writes in his journal. Finger burns have joined his arm burns. Pete’s girlfriend, ANGELA, quietly walks up to him. ANGELA Roland called. PETE (startled) You have to start making some noise when you come into a room. ANGELA You're so high strung. You were just telling me I make too much noise. PETE At my mom's house - you make too much noise. Pete grabs back to tickle Angela. She screeches. They laugh as he tickles her to the floor. ANGELA (laughing) Roland called. Pete continues to laugh-torture Angela with his fingers. The tickling gradually turns to caressing. ANGELA (laughs calming) Roland called. Pete ponders this. PETE What he want? ANGELA He's coming right over. Pete stops caressing. PETE Oh. Pete gives a final tickle. Angela shrieks. ANGELA You monkey. Angela heads to the bathroom and slams the door. Pete practices drawing spheres and hemispheres. Soon, he hears bell-ringing and horn-honking. He goes outside to see what's up. EXT. PETE'S HOUSE - DAY Roland rides alone up the driveway on the front seat of a tandem bike. PETE Check that out. Roland pulls up close to Pete and stops. PETE Where'd you get that? ROLAND I built it. PETE You built that? ROLAND Yeah. It's for my kids. Roland peels out fast and rides some distance. He spins around in a cloud of dirt. He peels out fast again and speeds in Pete's direction. At the last second, Roland brakes and slides the bike sideways. The wheels kick dirt onto Pete's legs as Roland jumps off and hits the ground. Pete stops a spinning tire with his toe. PETE You built that? Roland gets up and brushes off. ROLAND Yeah. I welded it from some old bikes I got from the junkyard. PETE Did the boys see it yet? ROLAND Yeah. The neighborhood kids are all fightin' to get on it. Pete stands the bike upright. PETE Looks sturdy. The obvious welds add to the bike's uniqueness. ROLAND Yo. How 'bout paintin' it? PETE Why, man? It looks cool black. ROLAND It'll look cooler if you paint it. Pete gets on the bike and peels out fast. PETE (O.S.) Okay. INT. PETE'S WORKSHOP - DAY Pete concentrates on the bike with his paintbrush. Roland and Angela sit at a table. Roland dips salsa and drinks from a soda bottle. ANGELA They're what? ROLAND That's what I heard. We'll be lucky if they're still there in a month. ANGELA Pete. Roland says they're shutting down the plant. PETE (painting) They're always shutting down the plant. There's another rumor every six months. ROLAND (munching) This time it's different. I saw Janet and one of the office ladies crying in the lunch room. A bunch of people got their notice. We're next, buddy. PETE I'm not worried about it. Pete finishes painting. PETE Yo, Roland, come 'ere. Roland and Pete look at the bike. Designs are on there, but they're hard to see and the colors are muted. PETE How's that? Nice? ROLAND Uh, yeah. Well, I thought you might use some more color. PETE Don't you like it? ROLAND No, man, it's good - just a little hard to see. PETE It sucks, don't it? ROLAND No it don’t suck. It’s good. Pete strikes a propane torch and aims it at the paint job. ROLAND Yo! What are you doing? The heat from the torch brightens the colors and brings out intricate, mystical patterns. ROLAND Whoa! Pete laughs and hands Roland the torch. PETE Here. Just warm it. Don't burn it. Roland warms the design into view. At the table, Pete dips a chip. He munches and watches Roland heat the bike. PETE Not too close. Do it slow. ANGELA What if they do shut down? PETE They won’t shut down. They’re making money. On the bike, the word "Patrick" appears. Roland is fascinated by the artwork and lettering emerging on the bike's frame. PETE Yo. Heat the front fender. A coiled cobra comes into view. ROLAND Man, this is... PETE The color’s on there good so the kids can ride the hell out of it. Roland heats, Pete munches, and Angela sits quietly taking it in. INT. PETE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY Pete lies alone on his smallish bed in his cramped bedroom. The alarm clock buzzes at 6:10. Pete smacks the buzzer off. He rolls over and pulls the sheet over his head. With reluctance, he drags himself slowly away from his comfort. BATHROOM -- Pete brushes his teeth. INT. FACTORY - DAY A series of shots: -- Steam pipes hiss and drip hot water. -- Sodium lamps glare down on work processes. -- Broken lamps strobe. -- Loud machines stamp out shapes in rhythmic beats. -- Employees attend their machines. -- The faces of workers. Young and bored. Old and worn. Through the window of the -- FOREMAN’S OFFICE -- The FOREMAN, 50, stern looking, puts down the phone. He makes a note then taps on a microphone. The loudspeaker booms the taps through the factory noise. FOREMAN This afternoon, there will be a meeting for all first-shift plant personnel in the lunch room. The meeting will begin promptly at three forty-five. Everyone is expected to attend. The microphone clicks off with a boom. PETE'S WORKSTATION -- Pete sweeps the floor around his area. Roland runs up pointing to the loudspeaker. ROLAND Did ya hear that? PETE You think this is it? ROLAND Yeah, I do. PETE I don't. INT. FACTORY - LUNCHROOM - DAY Pete and Roland sit at one of the middle lunch tables. Some workers find seats and the rest stand. MIRIAM, the company spokeswoman, prepares to address the assembled. She looks like a downsized Statue of Liberty wearing office attire. MIRIAM Good afternoon. How's everyone doing? A long beat. ROLAND You tell us. MIRIAM We just wanted you to be aware of what is going on with the company. You may have heard that a few of our office people have been laid off. This is just a temporary measure. When our cash-flow situation improves -- (smiles) -- hopefully shortly, they’ll all be coming back to us. An old ELECTRICIAN speaks up. ELECTRICIAN Is the plant shutting down or not? MIRIAM I know there have been rumors that the plant is going to close. I want you to put your minds at rest. Many of you have asked and I want to reassure you -- (touches nose) -- there will be no plant shutdown. Pete grins at Roland. ROLAND Yeah. And she says it like she believes it. INT. FACTORY - TIME-CLOCK - DAY An EXIT sign hangs above the door. The end-of-shift signal sounds. The time-clock bangs. A long line of workers punch out. In the line, Roland nudges Pete to look ahead at JUDY - a tall, pretty girl in loose jeans. ROLAND Pete. See that? PETE See what? ROLAND Judy, in the loose pants. PETE Yeah, so? ROLAND You know what that means? PETE What what means? Judy clocks out then walks towards the door. ROLAND She wears the loose pants when she's on the - you know. When it's her time of the month. PETE You made a study of this, didn't ya Roland? ROLAND (chuckles) Yeah. That's what they do. Two old guys with battered old faces are next to punch the clock. Pete and Roland advance up the line. PETE You been with her? ROLAND Judy? Nah. She didn't get to me yet. Roland punches his card. ROLAND You? Pete punches his card and shakes his head, no. ROLAND She's gotta be going in alphabetical order. They slot their cards. Roland jumps high to smack the EXIT sign as they head out the factory door. ROLAND Weekend! EXT. PETE'S BACKYARD - DAY At a barbecue pit, Pete cooks burgers and hot dogs. Horn-honking and bell-ringing. CHRISTOPHER and PATRICK, two kids, ride the tandem bike that Roland built. CHRISTOPHER Thanks for painting the bike, Pete. PATRICK Yeah. Thanks, Pete. PETE Glad to do it. You're folks comin' over? CHRISTOPHER Dad is. Mom's not. She's at work. The kids get off the bike and kickstand it. Christopher stands about a foot taller than the younger Patrick. PETE Ready for some juicy burgers? CHRISTOPHER Okay. Pete puts a burger on a bun. PETE Here you go, Christopher. How 'bout you Patrick? PATRICK I'll have a hot dog. Pete spears a hot dog with a big fork and clamps it into a roll. PETE One hot dog. Eat 'em up. Plenty more. There's some ketchup and junk over there. The kids take their food to the picnic table. Pete glances in at Angela through the kitchen window. INT. PETE'S HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY Angela is talking on the phone. She reaches into a cupboard for a box of instant pudding mix and checks the date. ANGELA Yeah, Pete dreams too. He dreams a lot, I think. I watched him. You know, that twitching thing they do? (beat) Uh huh. Like a dog. She empties the box into a bowl. ANGELA He doesn't talk, damn it. Sometimes he laughs. She pours milk into the bowl and whisks. ANGELA I stayed here last night. (laughs) Uh huh. (beat) No, I want to have my own place. Pete's too much of a slob. They say that's how creative people are. She reaches into a cupboard and removes another box. ANGELA Van Gogh must've been such a pig. Ruth, I swear. Right now I'm holding a box of pancake mix. It's got to be from the sixties. (laughs) He could get a hundred bucks for this on eBay. I'm not kidding. (beat) I don't know. It must've come with the house. The last owners had to get out in a hurry. Angela looks through the window. Pete is with the boys. An engine rumbles and the driveway crunches. A horn honks. ANGELA Here comes Roland. Roland pulls up in his borderline-street-legal, big-wheeled, pick-up truck. He climbs down from the cab. ANGELA Uh huh. (beat) Aw, me too. It is unfair that they make you work on Saturday. People don't care when they get sick, do they? Don't feel too bad. I'm down for tomorrow. EXT. PETE'S BACKYARD - DAY Roland checks out the food that's warming over the grill. ROLAND You guys save me some? CHRISTOPHER No. PATRICK No. PETE Help yourself. Burgers and dogs. Soda pop over there. Ketchup and junk over here. They eat and drink at the picnic table. Angela brings out pudding. Little Patrick carefully pours iced tea. Finished eating, Pete and Roland relax in lawn chairs. ROLAND You gotta check out this bike I got from the junkyard this morning. PETE You're building another bike? ROLAND No, man. This one's a dirt bike. PETE Does it work? ROLAND Shit no. I'm gonna make it work. It's an Ossa. This bike's a classic bike. Know how much I paid for it? Twenty-five bucks. PETE How old is it? ROLAND Old. They quit making them in the seventies. PETE Where's it at? ROLAND In my yard. Wanna see it? PETE Yeah. ROLAND I'll go get it. Roland gets up and goes to his truck. Patrick yells from the field. PATRICK Where ya goin', Dad? ROLAND I'll be right back, 'ight? PATRICK 'ight! CHRISTOPHER 'ight! Roland climbs into the truck and takes off. The kids toss a baseball back and forth. Christopher throws it easy to Patrick. Patrick returns it as hard as he can. Pete watches the ball go back and forth. His head begins to HUM. He looks around the yard. The HUM morphs into rhythmic music. His gaze returns to the kids. His HUM returns to his head. Pete's scrunches his face. He blinks and shakes his head. He shakes his head again. The HUM goes away. Pete takes a frustrated bite from a hard-boiled egg. That calms him. After sitting quietly a while, Pete scrunches his face. He blinks and scrunches again. He does it until the HUM comes back. Pete fixes his gaze upon a tree. The HUM becomes the voice of a female SPANISH NEWSCASTER. SPANISH NEWSCASTER (V.O.) The Chilean fishing industry has long been aware of this group's trade in illegally caught merluza negra. Many of their activities are now based in Argentina. Efforts to regulate... Pete looks away from the tree. The voice fades. No hum either. PATRICK Throw it harder. CHRISTOPHER I'm not gonna throw it harder. You got no glove on. PETE Yo! There's some gloves in the garage if you want. All three head towards the garage. CHRISTOPHER Will they fit? PETE My old ones will. Roland's truck backs up the driveway and parks on the lawn. PETE Go ahead and check 'em out. They're underneath the bench. Pete and Roland look into the truck's cargo box. The Ossa dirt bike is on its side, rusty and dented. It's missing parts. It has no seat and no wheels. The engine is in pieces. The frame is crushed. Roland climbs in and grabs what's left of the handlebars. ROLAND It's really in good shape. Later, Angela relaxes in a lounge chair dressed to take in the sun. She sips on her iced tea with contentment. Pete and Roland stand shirtless in the field, shooting the breeze. Christopher runs at the big guys with Patrick riding on his back. The kids yell like little monster fans. Pete jumps away as the kids chase Roland out of view. Angela laughs heartily and catches Pete's eye. He smiles at her. She smiles at him. They share a moment. Roland takes a running leap onto Pete's back and nearly knocks him down. Pete runs at the kids with Roland on his back. Roland claws his hands at them. The little guys yell. The big guys growl. Shirts back on, Pete and Roland sit on lawn chairs looking out at the sky. PETE Think it's gonna rain? ROLAND Could be. In the distance, Christopher and Patrick are silhouetted against the SUNSET. Patrick presses a shovel into the ground with his foot. PETE What do you s'pose they're diggin'? ROLAND Looks like they're diggin' a grave. Pete and Roland slowly approach the boys. CHRISTOPHER He's diggin' a hole to China. Pete crouches to get face-to-face with Patrick. PETE Is that where you're going, Patrick? PATRICK Yep. PETE Can I tell you something before you go? PATRICK Yes. PETE If you dig straight down, you won't get to China. Straight down is the Indian Ocean. So if you dig straight down, you better bring your swim trunks. The boys laugh. PETE If you really want to go to China, you'll have to dig -- Pete stands and points around the horizon. PETE The sun sets in the west, so that way is north. (points lower) Through that way is the North Pole. (points lower) There's Russia. (points lower) And there's China. Dig through that way and you'll get to China. ROLAND Bring your chopsticks. The boys laugh. PATRICK Dad. How long does it take to get to China? ROLAND How long you got? EXT. PETE'S BACKYARD - CAMPFIRE - NIGHT Pete and Roland gaze peacefully into the fire. ROLAND The best place is Africa. PETE Africa? ROLAND Yeah, Africa. You can get land dirt cheap over there. Something like twenty bucks an acre. PETE Are you sure? ROLAND Yeah. So it wouldn't take much to buy up a mess of land to start the farm. The labor's cheap. Like, two bucks an hour. PETE Shit. Give 'em four bucks an hour. You'll be a hero. Roland smiles and rubs his chin. ROLAND I'll look into it. PETE Then after a few weeks, your workers can buy up some acres, too. The fire crackles. PETE You sure ginseng grows in Africa? ROLAND If you plant it, it grows there. PETE Sounds good, man. They ponder a bit. The fire crackles. ROLAND Ginseng's expensive. You can get a lot for ginseng. PETE Roland, I can see you in Africa, layin' back in your hammock, getting fanned with - giant palm fronds. ROLAND Ostrich feathers. Pete gazes into the fire. In time, his head begins to HUM. Roland notices Pete's odd gaze. He watches Pete fall forward and catch himself. Pete blinks and shakes his head to come out of his zone-out zone. ROLAND What was it that time? PETE A roller coaster. INT. PETE'S HOUSE - NIGHT BATHROOM -- Pete and Angela wash each other in the shower. ANGELA Aw. Hurry. PETE You're on your own. Pete hands Angela the soap and grabs a smaller broken piece from the ledge. They wash themselves with speed and rinse off quickly in the chilling water. Angela shrieks. ANGELA Pete. When are you going to get that fixed? BEDROOM -- Pete and Angela sit on the bed. They warm themselves in blankets. PETE I've been wanting to tell you something, Angela. (beat) There's something that happens to me. ANGELA What? PETE Well. It's this - it always starts with a hum - in my head. ANGELA Like a ringing in your ears? PETE No, not that. I had that, too. This is a very base-y, low-pitched - hum. ANGELA A loud hum? PETE Sometimes I can hear stuff through it. It can get intense. ANGELA How often does it happen? PETE Couple times a day - maybe more. ANGELA Does it happen at work? PETE Not too much. It happens most when I'm relaxed. The main thing's not the hum. Sometimes, when the hum stops, it turns into - something else. ANGELA What? PETE Different stuff. Sometimes - voices. ANGELA Voices? (beat) What are the voices telling you? PETE Aw, no. It's not like that. It's like I'm tuning in on broadcasts or something. They're not talking to me. They're just - talking. Random junk. It's not always English. And it's not always voices. It can be pictures or music or concepts or... Angela looks at Pete with concern. PETE But that doesn't make you feel any better about it, does it? ANGELA How do you feel about it? PETE I'm okay with it. Really. (beat) It's messed up when it happens around other people. I mean, I can make it go away. I have to shake myself out of it. (beat) That must look strange. (beat) It was hard in school. ANGELA Did you see a doctor? PETE Yeah. They don't know much. I got pills from one once. ANGELA Did the pills work? PETE No. (beat) But they made me very - passionate. Pete pulls Angela down on the bed. ANGELA Come on, Pete. Stay with me a minute. What did the doctor tell you? PETE (beat) He scanned me and asked if I got hit in the head when I was a kid. ANGELA Did you? PETE I don't know. Maybe. (shrugs) ANGELA Did anyone ever punch you in the face? PETE No. (beat) Not in the face. Not that I remember. Angela, it's no big deal. Angela touches the crooked top of Pete's nose. ANGELA Can they fix it? PETE An operation might fix it, or it might make it worse, if it don't kill me -- (beat) -- which it might. Figure it's better to get used to - whatever it is. ANGELA (beat) Hallucinations? Pete sighs. A long beat. PETE Think I might be a nut case? Angela appreciates the worried kindness in Pete's face. ANGELA I never knew a more normal guy. Pete's eye forms a tear. They embrace. EXT. PETE'S HOUSE - DAY In the morning light, Angela backs down the driveway in her old Capri. INT. PETE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY Pete sleeps on. His body twitches like he's dreaming. EXT. ABOVE AN ASIAN CITY - DAY AERIAL DREAM Pete flies above an idealized East Asian city. [In his dreams, Pete's nose is not crooked.] From over the harbor, Pete sees a high-density housing district. Homes are stacked dozens high along the side of a mountain. The overall view is a sight of amazing beauty. Pete lands gently in a park. He moves himself down a curving path, powered only by volition. The HEAD of an old black man sits happily by a flower bed. Pete stops and smiles in wonder at the Head. The Head notices Pete. In the distance, Pete spots a pretty, bare-topped, POLYNESIAN GIRL. The Head speaks with an African accent. HEAD Some of them look a little shaky. The Head cocks his head. HEAD Fairly high consciousness level. Pete floats off in the girl's direction. HEAD Short attention span. Pete gets close to the girl. She talks, but he can't hear her. Pete tries to talk, but his word formation is slow and delayed. He finally brings forth a word. PETE Hi. The girl doesn't appear to notice that Pete is there. It's like she's talking to someone he cannot see. Then she becomes hard to see. The Head is again close to Pete. HEAD Don't feel bad. It's a vibration thing. Pete looks at the Head again. HEAD Just passing through? PETE Been - here - before. HEAD Have you? This is a very popular destination. PETE A head. HEAD Ahead? Oh. (laughs) You see me as a head! Pete smiles, liking the guy. HEAD That's the inside-outing. Here. I'll show you. Look down. PETE Grass. HEAD Yes, look closely at the grass. Pete gets close to the ground. The grass shimmers. Looking closer, Pete sees that the grass is semitransparent. It's made up of tiny colored lights. HEAD Poke your head in. Pete sticks his head into the grass. It pops through to other side. Pete's head is in the same planet-sized -- EARTH GLOBE -- that he entered as a child. Only now he sees it from the edge, not the center. He gazes in awe at the seas and continents. Pete's eyes follow around from region to region. Suddenly, he sees the body of the Head he had been talking to. The body is dressed in comfortable clothing and floats weightless. Its neck touches the globe's surface - a sea of tiny, grass-green lights. Meanwhile, back in -- THE PARK -- Pete's body floats weightless, feet up, neck in the grass. He grabs the ground tightly as he turns himself. The Head with whom Pete had been speaking, flips to join Pete's head back in the -- EARTH GLOBE -- The two heads float and reflect in the effervescent lights. HEAD Do you see? They both look at the view with reverence. HEAD Wonderful. PETE Wonder... Pete looks down at North America. HEAD Your home. A long beat. HEAD Let go. Pete lets go. His dream body is pulled into the sphere. Pete falls down towards America, towards Pennsylvania, closer and closer, towards his home town. Making a gentle arc, Pete turns to soar like Superman down over a river and into his idealized town. He passes over roads and buildings, through the legs of the factory's water tower, onward, until he reaches his idealized house. INT. PETE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY Pete wakes. He sits up quickly and remembers. PETE Inside-out. INT. PETE'S WORKSHOP - DAY Pete takes a well-made Earth globe from its special place on a table. The continental depictions are made from satellite imagery. Pete removes the globe from its stand. He examines the openings at the poles. He fingers the plastic skin on which the world image is printed. With a knife, Pete slices the skin - from the North Pole, down through the Pacific, to the South Pole. He peels the plastic skin away from its rigid plastic base. Pete finds that he can roll the map skin up like a cigar. He then unrolls the skin and inverts it by pressing the printing to the inside. The skin returns to a spherical shape with the Earth image inside. Pete looks through the hole at one of the poles. The sight is similar to, though not as beautiful as, the one he saw before he woke. At his drawing table, Pete makes angles inside circles. He fingers down a list of almanac longitudes and latitudes. He pokes at his paper-tape calculator. KITCHEN -- Pete stands at the phone. PETE Bring your blowtorch. EXT. PETE'S HOUSE - DAY A series of shots: -- Roland pulls up in the truck with his kids. -- Pete brings a bag of golf clubs from the garage. -- The kids cut and rip the grips from the clubs. -- Pete puts a club shaft near a rotary blade. -- The club makes a shower of sparks. -- Pete and Roland put on goggles. -- Roland fires up a welder's torch. -- Pete clamps the shaft of a 2-iron in a vice with the club head straight up. -- Pete holds a 3-iron next to that club head, carefully measuring its shaft's downward angle. -- Roland welds the club heads together. -- They weld other club heads to the club-head-core with all shafts pointing down and away from the center. -- They weld nameplates onto the club shafts. -- Roland heats the plates with his torch. -- With the warmth, words appear: London, Sydney, North Pole, Mecca, Nairobi, South Pole, Hong Kong, and so on. -- Pete and Roland mount this assembly onto a pole in the backyard. -- Using a compass, they point the North Pole's nameplate northward. -- Pete holds a laser pointer along the Sydney shaft. -- Where the beam hits the ground, Roland places a tennis ball marked SYDNEY. It joins other balls for other locations. Pete and Roland drink from soda cans. The kids move around the sculpture like they're planning a dig. Angela drives up and gets out of her car. ANGELA What on Earth is that? PETE It's a World Pointer. Angela walks around the geographical sculpture. ANGELA Huh. How 'bout that. Muslims over here should really pray through the Earth towards Mecca. ROLAND If they want it to get there fast. INT. PETE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - DAY Pete's alarm buzzes at 6:10. He smacks the buzzer off. He rolls over and puts the pillow over his head. With reluctance, he drags himself slowly away from where he'd rather be. BATHROOM -- Pete washes at the sink. INT. FACTORY - DAY A cracked steam line overhead sprays and hisses. Steam water soaks the insulation. A thin stream of very hot water drops down to the floor at Pete's work station. Pete takes a step in the wrong direction and gets splashed in the head with the scorching water. PETE Ouch! Shit. Pete slams the red button to stop the spinner. He storms to the -- FOREMAN'S OFFICE -- Pete goes in and closes the door behind him. Through the window, we can't hear as Pete points up and tells about the problem. He shows the foreman his head. The foreman signals for Pete to relax. Pete sits down. The foreman picks up the phone. MAINTENANCE ROOM -- The phone rings. Roland, covered in oil and grease, picks it up. ROLAND Maintenance - Watts. (beat) Yeah, I know where it is. To fix it right, I'll have to shut off the main. The line will be down for an hour or more. Probably more. FOREMAN'S OFFICE -- Through the window, the foreman shakes his head no. He slams down the phone looking angry. Pete stands and argues. The foreman keeps giving him the "phooey" sign. Before long, the foreman points the way out. Pete leaves the office disgusted. He slams the door behind him. He heads back towards his workstation. Roland, drives up next to Pete on a big forklift truck. ROLAND Don't worry. The asshole won't shut it off, but we can rig it. PETE Yeah. ROLAND Damn. You look pissed. You never look pissed. PETE I told him about all the safety hazards they have to fix. ROLAND What he say? PETE 'People in hell want ice water.' Roland and Pete walk up to BROWNY, an old machinist. ROLAND Hey Browny, how 'bout letting me borrow your hacksaw a few minutes? BROWNY What's wrong with your hacksaw? ROLAND Dudley's using it upstairs. BROWNY Fuckin' bullshit. ROLAND Yeah, Browny. I'm lyin' about that. Browny scowls as he gets the hacksaw from his toolbox. BROWNY All right. Don't fuck it up. Bring it right back - and clean it off when you're done with it. I don't put dirty hacksaws back in my toolbox. Ya hear? Roland takes the saw. ROLAND Sure. I'll sterilize the fuckin' thing and spray it with perfume. BROWNY (under breath) Prick. Pete drives the forklift. Roland rides on the front platform. PETE What's Dudley doing upstairs? Roland laughs and waves the hacksaw. ROLAND Dudley's not upstairs. I didn't feel like goin' back to get mine. PETE I knew you were making it up. ROLAND Fuck that. Browny's the biggest liar on the floor. He's only gettin' back like he gives. They get to the site of the leak. The steam-water now flows onto a hot mold where it re-boils. Pete pulls a lever and lifts Roland out of view. ROLAND (O.S.) Aaah. We can rig this. Later, Pete squeegees. Up above - tubes, half-tubes, fittings, and funnels hang from the ceiling to channel hot water away from the hissing steam leak and out through a window. INT. PETE'S HOUSE - DAY BEDROOM -- The alarm by Pete's bed buzzes at 6:10. He smacks the buzzer off. He rolls over and pulls the cover over his head. With reluctance, he drags himself slowly into waking reality. BATHROOM -- At the mirror, Pete shaves while swishing mouthwash. The phone rings. Pete spits. KITCHEN -- Pete picks up the phone. PETE Hello. (beat) Huh? (beat) So that's it? (beat) Uh huh. Pete hangs up the phone and stares at the coffee pot. BEDROOM -- Pete is back in bed asleep. Through the window, summer becomes winter. EXT. FACTORY - DAY Snow drifts against the factory entrance. The gates are chained and locked. Icicles hang from a sign that reads: "KEEP OUT." DISSOLVE TO: EXT. A CITY - DAY At the end of a city street, two brownstones stand side-by-side. INT. EMILY'S BROWNSTONE - DAY An original, classical piano piece begins. We never see the UNKNOWN COMPOSER's face. She sits near a table with her neighbor, EMILY. The two almost elderly ladies look apprehensively through Emily's front window. INT. THE COMPOSER'S BROWNSTONE - BASEMENT - DAY Expert movers prepare an upright piano for transport while technicians run wires to a new LAN jack. With great care, the movers attach straps and lift the instrument onto a dolly. They roll the piano beneath an open basement entry. A hoist chain descends from above. The workers lift the piano up and out. INT. EMILY'S BROWNSTONE - DAY The two ladies watch the movers roll the piano past the front window. The Composer moves just a bit in response. INT. THE COMPOSER'S BROWNSTONE - BASEMENT - NIGHT The Composer sits at a refitted piano as she fervently continues the original piece. The piano sends impulses through a wire to a control box. Lights on the box glow with each sound. The box is connected to the new LAN jack in the wall. INT. UTIP CAMPUS - MUSIC LAB - NIGHT A wire from a LAN jack leads to a control box with lights. This box is connected to an automatic piano that continues to play the original piece. A TECHNICIAN monitors a computer screen that graphs the composition into a musical score. INT. A STUDIO IN VIENNA - NIGHT In a silent room, a silent printer sends forth a page of musical notation. The sheet falls gently onto a pile. A white-haired conductor, ALDO CASSINI, reads the notation and nods with understanding. ALDO CASSINI Perfezioni. Assolutamente perfetto. INT. VIENNA CONCERT HALL - NIGHT The original piece continues as an orchestral arrangement. Aldo Cassini conducts the orchestra. An automatic piano plays itself. The audience is enraptured. MR. ALLEN BECK, 55, appreciates the concert from a private box. He wipes a tear. INT. PETE'S WORKSHOP - DAY The orchestra continues. Through a window, winter turns to spring. A world map designed by Buckminster Fuller now hangs on Pete's wall. It is surrounded by panoramic photos made using the map's sawtooth pattern. Fuller's portrait is tacked ahead of the drawing table. Fuller's books are scattered on it. Another of Fuller's maps is folded to form a twenty-sided, crystal shape. Pete pulls his sphere sketch down from the iron bar. He erases away some of the sphere to make it a cross-sectional drawing. Within the sphere, Pete draws a horizontal disk, half the sphere's width, slightly below its center point. The disk is supported by five diagonal legs that pass through the shell of the sphere. Pete carefully prints the title: "The Photon Ball." INT. VIENNA CONCERT HALL - NIGHT The orchestral piece finishes triumphantly. Allen Beck claps like Charles Foster Kane. Only this time, the whole room matches his enthusiasm with a standing ovation. Shouts and cheers crescendo when the spotlight falls upon the player-less piano. INT. PETE'S HOUSE - NIGHT Angela arrives. Pete greets her at the door. PETE It's finished. Come on. PETE'S WORKSHOP -- In the darkened room, Pete flips a switch to light up the model of the Photon Ball. The base of what used to be a world globe, now serves as the screen and structure for the spherical theater. Part of the shell is cut away to allow a view inside. Five diagonal legs pass through the shell to support a circular deck. The deck is made of see-through, screen material. It's about half the diameter of the sphere. Thumbtacks on pegs serve as stools for the audience. LED lamps simulate projectors inside the sphere. ANGELA I see what you're talking about. Spherical projection. INT. TELEVISION STUDIO - NIGHT Introductory music and graphics begin a classy interview show hosted by someone much like CHARLIE Rose. CHARLIE Good Evening. Our guest tonight made billions in the world of communications. Leaving that field, he became a major motion picture producer responsible for such works as 'The Big Saucer,' 'Tesla,' and 'The Two Morons.' Now he's following a new line of endeavor - that of philanthropist. Tonight we are pleased to welcome to the broadcast, Mr. Allen Beck. BECK Thank you. Always a pleasure. You forgot to mention that I also worked as a paper boy. CHARLIE I'll have a talk with our research department. And now you're a philanthropist? BECK Well, Charlie, to have money can be a real gas, as you well know. Charlie smiles and shakes his head no. CHARLIE But billions? BECK I know what you mean. After a point, how much do you need? That's not lost on me. I thought I might put it to use to get some projects started. To me, there's nothing more fun to do than that. INT. PETE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT Angela and Pete sit in bed watching the Beck interview. CHARLIE (on TV) You just returned from another debut for the so-called Unknown Composer. We know what he does, but we don't know who he is. I won't ask you who he is, or she is, if that's the case. I know you won't tell me. But what's the Composer like? BECK Honestly, Charlie, I haven't met him. Or her. CHARLIE Is that right? BECK The Composer's a very private person and when we work with someone, we try to respect their needs. In this case, we arranged things through the Composer's neighbor. CHARLIE For those who don't know, the Unknown Composer spent over thirty years creating original music without anyone knowing. BECK As of tonight, Charlie, fifty-seven original pieces have been completed. Most of these are thought by experts to stand side-by-side with the best musical compositions ever written. INT. TELEVISION STUDIO - NIGHT CHARLIE Except - these weren't written. BECK Well that's right. This artist never had training in music and doesn't know musical notation. We found an electronic solution for this. My satisfaction comes from knowing that the music now being created will live on through the ages, long after this Unknown Composer - and even, you and I - are done with this world. CHARLIE Your overall project is called U-TIP. Tell us about it. BECK U-TIP stands for the Underground Talent Identification Project. Charlie, this is a very competitive society, but not everyone is wired to be competitive. There are countless people who have extraordinary abilities, not just in music, but in many fields of endeavor. They're wonderfully gifted -- INT. PETE'S HOUSE - BEDROOM - NIGHT Pete is sound asleep - head back, mouth open. BECK (on TV) -- they just don't know how to share what they have with the world. Sometimes they go their whole lives without ever having been noticed. CHARLIE Why is that? BECK Because of where they don't live, or who they don't know, or what school they didn't go to. U-TIP identifies at least some of these individuals and we - fill in the blanks for them. Angela continues to watch the program with great interest. She moves to get something to write with. Pete slumps over, still asleep. ANGELA U-TIP. EXT. UTIP CAMPUS - NIGHT A sign on a gate reads: "UTIP Campus." INT. MARGARET'S OFFICE - NIGHT A sign on a glass door reads: "Underground Talent Identification Project." MARGARET TULLY, 52, looks over some of Pete's drawings. A folder on her desk bears the title: "The Photon Ball." Margaret takes a cover letter from the folder and reads silently. She presses an intercom button. Her young assistant, JOHN, responds. JOHN Yes. MARGARET John, would you get me Mr. Beck's voice-mail, then come in here a minute? JOHN Sure. (beat) Voice-mail on two. MARGARET Thank you. Margaret pushes two on her phone. MARGARET Mr. Beck. This is Margaret. Here's one you might consider for U-TIP. John enters. Margaret hands him a set of drawings and points to the fax machine. MARGARET I'm faxing what was sent. The letter reads as follows -- John begins faxing. INT. BECK'S HOME OFFICE - NIGHT Beck's answering machine blinks. MARGARET (on speaker) 'Dear Mr. Beck. Please review this project envisioned by my friend Pete. I believe he meets your criteria for acceptance. As Margaret speaks, a hand-drawn chart emerges from Beck's color-laser fax machine. The chart shows a horizontal hourglass. One chamber is labeled "Collection," the other "Projection." The drawing's title: "Digital Energy Reflectivity." MARGARET 'He suffers from mild brain damage caused by a childhood injury. He dropped out of a not-so-great college. He had a job in a factory like his father did. Now he has no job because the factory shut down. 'Pete is a genius, but he doesn't have a nickel's worth of common sense about himself. Another drawing emerges from the Beck's machine. It depicts a spherical recording device with many labeled components. Its title: "The Collector." MARGARET 'Pete is an artist and he designs unusual systems. Because of his background, he is clueless about presenting himself in a professional manner. 'I'm sending some information about one of his projects. It's mostly in pictures because that's how he thinks. 'I've heard about your work, so I thought you might like to help Pete make his visions real. 'Sincerely, Angela Finch for Pete Tokken' [rhymes with broken] Beck's fax machine brings forth another drawing. It holds Pete's design for the spherical theater. Its title: "The Photon Ball." INT. ANGELA'S APARTMENT BUILDING - MAILBOX - DAY Angela unlocks her mailbox. She sorts through her mail and stops when she sees a letter with the UTIP logo. EXT. FAST FOOD PLACE - DAY Pete secures his bike to a bike rack. Angela drives up and honks. Pete is obviously startled. Angela gets out and hugs Pete hard. ANGELA I have something for you. PETE I hope it's nitro-glycerin tablets. ANGELA Nope. PETE What choo got, woman? ANGELA Inside. Inside. INT. FAST FOOD PLACE - DAY At a table. Pete takes a bite from his burger. PETE Aw. I told him hold the pickles, didn't I? ANGELA Yeah you did. Just take them off. Pete takes the pickles off and eats them. ANGELA Pete, you know Allen Beck? PETE Uh huh. We go bowling every Tuesday. Pete takes another bite from his burger. PETE I can still taste pickle on this. ANGELA Pete, I wrote to Allen Beck about you. PETE Huh? ANGELA I wrote to Allen Beck because I thought he might be able to help with your Photon Ball project. I sent him a copy of your drawings. I got this back today. Angela hands Pete an envelope. PETE Uh-TIP? ANGELA You-TIP. That's his organization. They look for underground talent. Pete takes out a letter. PETE 'Mr. Beck would like to meet Mr. Tokken and find out more about what he has in mind. He will be in your area the night of June second.' (mumbles the rest) Holy cow. Allen Beck is coming here? ANGELA Yep. He wants to see your stuff. PETE Angela. Angela giggles. PETE You must've wrote some convincing letter. ANGELA I guess. Here's a copy. Pete reads silently. PETE Brain damage? ANGELA Well. Mild brain damage. PETE Mild brain damage? I'm not sure I want Allen Beck to think I'm brain damaged. ANGELA But, it's kind of - true. PETE Still, to see it written out like that. ANGELA Pete. She mouths the words, "He's coming." Pete smiles wide. PETE You're right. This here set of words was precisely exactly the right thing to say. (continues reading) Clueless? ANGELA I also called you a genius. Pete touches Angela's face with affection. PETE A clueless genius. (inner eyebrows raise) Two weeks. EXT. ABANDONED FACTORY - NIGHT The factory lies idle beyond a chain link fence. A wooden sign reads: "KEEP OUT." Roland uses the sign as a foothold to climb over the fence. Pete follows. Feral cats watch them slide down a pile of rubble onto the factory grounds. Flashlights guide their move past broken barrels of unknown chemicals. Roland carries a length of thick rope around his neck. ROLAND Don’t worry. Nobody comes back here anymore. (beat) Couple months ago, they chased out some winos from the front. (beat) Now they don’t even have a guard to watch the place. They arrive at a high spherical tank. PETE The winos never came back? ROLAND I haven't seen 'em. (beat) Fuck it. It's only winos. Roland picks up a rock and pounds it on the tank. The cats jump. The sound resounds. Pete taps the tank in rhythm with its echoes. The cats settle back to watch some more. Roland climbs up the tank ladder. ROLAND C’mon. Pete follows to the top. ROLAND Twist off the big wing nuts. They work on opening the tank's hatch. ROLAND Pull up. It's heavy. They open it together. The hinged lid smashes back. Pete whistles in. He hears the reverb. He sniffs. PETE It doesn't even smell that bad. Roland aims his flashlight in. ROLAND Uh uh. It hasn't been used since they made us clean it out. Here, hold this. Pete takes Roland's flashlight. Roland ties his rope to a girder above, then winds the rope around a post on the shell of the tank. Roland tugs the rope tight and drops the remaining rope through the hatch. ROLAND This rope better hold cause if it don't -- (tugs again) -- they’ll be findin' our bones in fifty years and wonderin' who we were. Roland climbs down the rope. PETE Here. Catch. Pete drops the flashlights down through the hatch. INT. SPHERICAL TANK - NIGHT Roland watches Pete climb down the rope with ease. They aim their flashlights around at fixtures and openings. Pete aims his light at a tube above. PETE What's that? ROLAND Pressure pop-off valve. The polished steel tank reflects light beams strangely but truly like the steel mixing bowl did before. PETE This might work. Pete climbs halfway back up the rope. He sweeps the light beam back and forth, low, like a pendulum. He drops down a little and sweeps the same arc from there. Then, he climbs back down to the bottom. Pete twists his flashlight to make its beam very wide. PETE Hold the light up here, like this. And aim it down, like that. Roland holds the light as directed. Pete climbs part way back up the rope and hangs on. When he looks down, he is nearly blinded. The light is concentrated with a parabolic effect. Pete’s face scrunches in the light. PETE Man. Hold the other one up, too. The light coming at Pete is even brighter. His face scrunches even more. PETE Hey, Roland. This’ll work good. Pete and Roland sit on the tank bottom. Pete makes shapes and patterns on the curved tank wall with a pen-laser. ROLAND We can get the stuff we need from in the plant. PETE I don't know, man. ROLAND Fuck that. How much back pay they owe you? PETE Plenty. ROLAND Yeah, that's about what they owe me. You know we ain't ever gonna get it. They abandoned the place. Even if they don't demolish the building, they'll still have to get rid of the junk that's left inside. They already sold everything that had any value. They'd have to pay to haul out what's left. PETE We're doing them a favor. ROLAND Dude, we're moving junk from one place to another and changing it a little. (beat) Fuck doing them a favor. PETE (beat) Did they ever find the owners? ROLAND They found one. There's a warrant out for the other two. EXT. PETE'S HOUSE - DAY Roland sounds the horn on his big pickup truck. Pete joins him outside. They look into the truck's cargo box at the Ossa dirt bike, now restored. The bike has been modified to hold a support-arm ahead of the handlebars. A hollow, steel ball is welded to the forward end of the support-arm. From the steel ball, twenty steel bars radiate evenly in all directions, like a dandelion in bloom. ROLAND That how you wanted it? PETE Yeah. Looks just right. They lower the bike from the truck. PETE Fuckin' heavy. ROLAND I mounted batteries on the back as counterweights. Roland gets on and starts the engine. They shout. ROLAND It rides funny now but the cameras will weigh down the front to balance it out. PETE Yo! Put it in the garage till we get back. INT. ROLAND'S TRUCK - DAY The radio blasts. Roland drives. Pete looks at insert ads from the Sunday paper. They roll up to Transistor Town, a large retail electronics store. INT. STORE - DAY Walls of TV's stand next to banks of components. Shoppers look confused. Salespeople look helpful. Pete and Roland go to the video cameras. Roland takes a tethered display camera and aims it at Pete. The camera sends its signal to a big-screen television that shows Pete's face. ROLAND Hey! You're on TV. Roland takes a look at the controls. He aims the camera at Pete's t-shirt. He zooms in to its pocket. He shoots up the shirt, to Pete's neck, past his mouth, to his nose. Then up his nose. ROLAND Damn, man. You want me to check you for polyps? A SALESMAN walks up. SALESMAN Pretty nice, isn't it? ROLAND The camera or the nose? The big-screen shows a green, high-tech, night-vision view inside Pete's nostril. When Pete sees it, he pushes the camera away. Roland puts it back where he found it. SALESMAN This is the Zornhoffer 720. It's an excellent camera. PETE Zornhoffer? SALESMAN Most people never heard of it. The salesman picks up the camera with reverence. SALESMAN You'll only see them in high-end video magazines. Zornhoffer is usually rated the best. The salesman pushes a lever and slowly zooms across the voluminous store. As he speaks, he zeros in on two appliance salesmen eyeing up a customer. SALESMAN This camera has three shooting modes, and a wide-aspect-ratio option. That's useful if you want to view your films on an HDTV, like this one. Programmed auto-exposure. Automatic focus. Wireless remote. PETE What have you got that's cheap? The salesman looks at Pete's t-shirt, then down at Roland's dirty sneakers. He returns the Zornhoffer carefully to its perch. Pete and Roland follow the salesman down the long display until they reach the low end. Here, the cameras are not tethered. The salesman removes a box from a cardboard dispenser. SALESMAN This model's on sale until the end of the week. This is the Forsheeta. PETE Forsheeta? SALESMAN Most people never heard of it. PETE (beat) Does the Forsheeta have that - three CCD thing? SALESMAN No, but it does come with a free wrist strap. A sign reads: "It's Forsheeta - Try for 30 Days - Risk Free." Pete loads Roland up with Forsheeta boxes. PETE This'll work. I'll take ten. EXT. PETE'S HOUSE - DAY The Ossa dirt bike stands by the garage. Video cameras are now mounted on the forward bars of the steel ball. The rear-pointed bars remain camera-less. Pete affixes a home-made, wide-angle lens to the last of the cameras. Ten wired remote controls are mounted, one atop the other, with a small gap in between each. Roland tests a contraption that lets him push similar buttons on the ten remotes at once. He pushes the record button on the topmost remote. Indicator lights glow on all of the sub-cameras of the Collector assembly. ROLAND And - ACTION! Pete grins and stands back. PETE Come 'ere, man. Pete puts his arm around Roland's shoulder. We only see them mugging for the sub-cameras. We don't yet see the view from the sub-cameras. PETE Roland Watts, ladies and gentlemen. A genius with a blowtorch. Pete and Roland lift the Ossa into the truck's cargo box and face it to the rear. Pete sits on the bike holding the control box. They back down the driveway. EXT. ROLAND'S TRUCK - DAY Roland drives down back-country roads. Pete shoots rear views with the Collector's sub-camera assembly. EXT. DIRT BIKE TRAILS - DAY Roland rides the modified Ossa down scenic dirt bike trails. We only see him riding. We don't yet see what he shoots. INT. PETE'S WORKSHOP - NIGHT Ten cheap, five-inch, black-and-white TV's are lined up, switched on, and aimed at the ceiling. Pete mounts a homemade lens setup in front of one of the sets yet to be so equipped. The set's rectangular image becomes triangular. EXT. ABANDONED FACTORY - SPHERICAL TANK - NIGHT From overhead, welding lights flash from the tank's hatch hole. Banging and whistling echo from within. INT. BECK'S MANSION - DAY KITCHEN -- Allen Beck's maid, REBECCA, makes breakfast in a well-equipped kitchen. LUXURY BATHROOM -- Beck showers in a large, high tech stall. Water hits him at many angles, much like a car wash would. KITCHEN -- Beck, dressed in boxer shorts and slippers, enters the kitchen. The maid, upon seeing him, pours a mug of coffee and hands it to him. REBECCA Good Morning, Mr. Beck. BECK (taking mug) Thank you, Precious. REBECCA Will you be having breakfast in the nook this morning? BECK On the... They hear a rumble that grows to a roar. It gets so loud that it rattles the chandeliers. BECK Maniac. The noise fades. BECK On the back patio will be fine, Rebecca. EXT. BECK'S PATIO - DAY Beck sips coffee and glances down at a newspaper. The maid delivers his meal presented expertly on a tray. REBECCA Ribs and eggs. And a bowl of oat meal. Another rumble. They turn to watch as a private jet touches down on Beck's backyard landing strip. Beck gnaws on a rib as the plane loudly taxis across the lawn up to his patio. The engines shut down. The pilot, MADAME CHEN, descends from the plane. MADAME CHEN Ready to ride, Beck? Beck takes a gulp of coffee. MADAME CHEN Put some pants on, Beck. Beck bites on another rib, side-eying Madame Chen. MADAME CHEN When you gonna sell this dump? EXT. ABOVE BECK'S MANSION - DAY AERIAL The jet performs a "U" around Beck's Mansion, then it soars into the sky. EXT. ABANDONED FACTORY - NIGHT A limousine stops under a streetlight. Pete and Roland run up to it. A darkened window rolls down revealing PEESLEY HENKLE, a middle-aged, middle executive. PETE Hi. I'm Pete. This is Roland. PEESLEY Good evening. Peesley Henkle. PETE Thanks for coming. Uh. Could you guys park in the back? Away from the streetlights? ROLAND The cops are down this road all the time. PEESLEY What is this? PETE Just better not to draw too much attention. Peesley turns to the back seat. PEESLEY There's something wrong with this. Let's get out of here. Pete and Roland look at each other with concern. Following a suspenseful pause, Allen Beck emerges from the vehicle. BECK Boys, what have you got to show me? PEESLEY Mr. Beck. Please. This is crazy. You mustn't put yourself at risk. Beck's face gets close to Peesley's. BECK Peesley, where do you get by running from risk? PEESLEY But, Mr. Beck. You don't know who these guys are. This is insanity. They can be out to -- (whispers) -- kidnap you. Or kill you. BECK Are you guys planning to kidnap me. Or kill me? PETE No. Pete looks at, then nudges Roland. ROLAND No. Beck slams the door. BECK You know I love a caper. Beck taps his pocket. BECK I'll call you. Now take off. PEESLEY But... BECK Go on. Peesley nods to the aging CHAUFFEUR and they drive off. PETE This way, Mr. Beck. BECK Now, you're Pete Tokken? ROLAND No, he's Pete Tokken. I'm Roland Watts. Beck focuses on Pete's nose. BECK Well, it's good to know ya both. They walk into the darkness beyond the streetlight. Roland unchains a fence gate. Pete and Beck pass through. Roland re-chains the gate. He kicks a set of bolt cutters farther under a bush. The three move through the dark factory grounds, past broken barrels and feral cats. BECK I take it you don't have official permission to be here? PETE Nobody to get permission from. The place is abandoned. ROLAND We used to work here. They arrive at the spherical tank. PETE We set it up in here. Pete invites Beck to join him on a forklift platform. With some difficulty, Roland starts the engine. Pete and Beck rise. Halfway up, the platform jerks, then continues to rise. BECK Easy there cowboy. Pete and Beck step off the platform and onto the fixed deck adjacent the open tank hatch. Roland shuts off the engine. He climbs up the hydraulics to join Pete and Beck. PETE Wanna flip that toggle? Roland hits a switch and light glows from the hatch. It is the color of black-and-white TV static. Beck looks into the tank. BECK Whew. Are we going in there? PETE Yeah. We rigged this seat. Pete reaches up and pushes a button on a wooden chair that's attached to a hoist through a series of cables and pulleys. The chair lowers far enough to be seated upon. PETE Roland will go first. ROLAND (fake protests) Why me? Roland sits on the chair. ROLAND Okay. Ya see. Just push this button to go down. (lowers) And this one to go up. (rises) Roland lowers himself down through the hatch. ROLAND (O.S.) (echoing) You're next, Mr. Beck. Pete and Beck wait for the chair to come back up. BECK You really don't plan to leave me in there, do you? PETE No, Mr. Beck. I just want to show you this. Beck sits in the chair and moves down into the tank. Projectors (the rigged TV sets) are suspended from cables above and below the platform. TV static reflects from half of the spherical tank's inner surface - now painted white. Roland watches Beck's descent from the new viewing deck. It's mounted a little below mid-sphere. From above, Pete watches Beck touch down onto the deck's see- through grid. Then, Pete climbs down the rope that was there from before. BECK Your projectors are in front of the audience? PETE That's so the light concentrates on the spherical surface. This way you don't need powerful projectors. And they don't eclipse much of the image because they're so far from the viewers and since there's so much image. In time, the image will come right from the screen. BECK And the projection comes up through the floor. Pete shakes yes. PETE The floor's made from catwalk grating. The multi-cam Collector that had been mounted on the dirt bike, is now mounted on the deck. PETE This is the prototype Energy Collector. Well it's a partial Collector. ROLAND It should have more cameras, but Pete maxed-out his credit cards. PETE Yeah. Each camera records part of the whole view. And these are directional microphones. Each mike connects to a speaker in the sphere. Pete taps on a microphone. They all look up towards an overhead speaker. Pete taps a lower mike. They all look down. BECK Very good. PETE These are the first places we captured with the Collector. You might want to sit down. Beck sits on a stool. Pete uses the button multiplier to push all the PLAY buttons at the same time. The tapes roll and the big spherical screen shows Pete's face thirty feet high. ROLAND (on speakers) And ACTION! PETE Come 'ere. On screen, Pete moves back and Roland enters the view. PETE Roland Watts, ladies and gentlemen. A genius with a blowtorch. They watch the combined, seamless views shot from the back of Roland's truck. When the truck moves forward, the imagery recedes. It seems like the deck is moving backwards fast. The scene shifts to the forward motion of Roland's dirt bike run. The deck feels like it's moving forward fast. BECK Damn. It's like we're flying. ROLAND Yeah. It's like a flying carpet. BECK A photonic flying carpet. It's so clear. And the real thing will have the display all around in a bigger sphere? PETE Yeah. In color. And the deck will move. Directional air projectors will blow wind and you'll feel the motion even more. Beck has a good time moving with the perceived motions. The show ends with a quick trip up a hill, a big view of the sky, then a sudden crash. The horizon goes vertical and half the view goes black. On screen, Roland hits the ground and rolls. Pete runs up to Roland who gets up, laughing. The tape runs out and the screen goes gray. PETE We messed up a few lenses. Beck stands, a little dizzy. ROLAND You still feel like you're moving, don't you, Mr. Beck? BECK I really do. Hey, you guys like riding in limos? ROLAND Sure. We're always riding in limos. EXT. ABANDONED FACTORY - NIGHT The limo pulls up - away from the streetlights. The chauffeur gets out and opens the back door. BECK Let's go get some coffee. Roland looks at his big, plastic, digital watch. ROLAND Sorry I can't, damn it. My wife's got to go to work. I have to get back to be with the kids. PETE His wife's a nurse. So's my girlfriend. ROLAND This is who you want to talk to anyway. I just helped. He thought it up. PETE Well, Buckminster Fuller helped, too. But Roland, man. I couldn't have put the show together without this guy, Roland. BECK I'll drop you off, Roland. ROLAND No thanks, Mr. Beck. My bike's back there. Nice to meet you. BECK Pleasure's mine. PETE Don't forget the, uh... Pete makes a bolt cutting motion. Roland nods. BECK Well Pete. How about that cup of coffee? Peesley gets out. PEESLEY Mr. Beck, I hate to spoil the fun but that's my job. It's late. You have a long flight tomorrow to an event that can't be postponed. BECK What's the event tomorrow? PEESLEY Beck Hospital dedication ceremonies. The Vice President. National press. BECK Oh. No world press? PEESLEY World press, too. Beck and Peesley get into the limo. BECK Boys, I've got to be off. I need my beauty sleep. He rolls down the window and looks at Pete. BECK I'll be in touch. Pete and Roland watch the limo roll away. INT. PETE'S KITCHEN - DAY Pete lifts June on his calendar to reveal July. INT. PETE'S KITCHEN - DAY Pete rips July off his calendar to reveal August. He crumbles up July. INT. MOVIE THEATER - DAY Pete and Angela sit in a nearly empty multiplex theater. ON THE SCREEN -- The BLACK MALE LEAD drives a cramped, but suped-up Yugo. The WHITE MALE LEAD rides as passenger. WHITE MALE LEAD Fuck! Those fuckin' motherfucker's are right behind us. BLACK MALE LEAD What fuckin' motherfuckers? Sinister men fire bullets from the Lincoln that's speeding behind them. WHITE MALE LEAD The fuckin' motherfuckers that want to kill us. Turn here! BLACK MALE LEAD Turn where? WHITE MALE LEAD Here, here! White Male Lead grabs the wheel. The Yugo turns into the Brooklyn Produce Warehouse. This is by far the world's longest building. Fruit is being moved from one pile to another with forklifts and handcarts. Outside - the Lincoln slams on its brakes, backs up, then follows inside. BLACK MALE LEAD Goddamn! I never saw this much fruit in my life. WHITE MALE LEAD I guess you've never been to... A bazooka round explodes a pile of lettuce up ahead. The bad guy fires a second bazooka round that splits an eighteen- inch gash down the middle of the Yugo's roof. BLACK MALE LEAD Fuck them motherfuckers! Black Male Lead now does some serious driving. He tips over a banana cart. The slippery mess forces the Lincoln into a 360. A machine gun shoots as the car spins. Workers duck. IN THE SEATS -- Angela talks into Pete's ear and vice-versa. ANGELA I'm not sure I did the right thing contacting Beck. PETE You did the right thing. How can you think that? ANGELA I don't know. It got your hopes up so high. You spent all that money on equipment. PETE What you did was one of the nicest things anybody ever did for me. Pete looks back at the screen. Then back at Angela. Angela still looks sad. PETE Angela, you sending that letter is in the Nice-Things-For-Me Hall of Fame. They look back at the screen. ON THE SCREEN -- The Yugo smashes through huge piles of tomatoes and grapes, samples of which come in through the car's peeled-open roof. Black Male Lead grabs a bunch of grapes and bites off a few. BLACK MALE LEAD I love grapes. Grapes are about my favorite food. Sweet grapes. White Male Lead tosses tomatoes, one-by-one, from the hole in the roof. IN THE SEATS -- ANGELA Are you going to be okay if Beck passes? PETE I'll be the same whether Beck passes or not. ANGELA What are you going to do? PETE About what? ANGELA You've got no more money and you have no money coming in. PETE I'll be okay. Watch the movie. ON THE SCREEN -- The chase continues into a more open area. Both cars pick up speed. A sign reads: "EGG DEPOSITORY." WHITE MALE LEAD Turn here! BLACK MALE LEAD Turn where? WHITE MALE LEAD Here, here! White Male Lead throws one last tomato from the roof and turns the wheel. The tomato lodges in the muzzle of a bad guy's bazooka which misfires and explodes. The Lincoln slides into a fifty-foot pile of eggs. The egg pile glows from the fiery car explosion within. The Yugo turns crazily and plows through a different pile of eggs. It exits the warehouse and continues normally down the avenue. Wipers smear egg around on the windshield. IN THE SEATS -- ANGELA You really should start thinking about... PETE What? ANGELA Pete, you have to get a job. ON THE SCREEN -- Both Male Leads wipe egg from their eyes. IN THE SEATS -- Pete sits back and looks forward. PETE All right, Angela. After the movie. INT. PIZZA SHOP - NIGHT Roland, wearing a white uniform, creates a pizza with everything. Pete, just visiting, leans against the counter. ROLAND Did you hear from Beck yet? PETE No. ROLAND Fuck, man. You think he was just jerkin' you around? PETE No. (beat) I don't know. ROLAND Did you call him? PETE Angela said she'd call. I told her not to. He said he'd call me. Maybe it just takes time. Roland spreads sauce on the dough. ROLAND Maybe he's a wacko. PETE Maybe he thinks I'm a wacko. ROLAND No, really, man. Maybe he's ga ga. That's how some of those rich guys get. He could'a forgot he was even here. PETE I don't know, man. ROLAND How 'bout that other guy that was with him. What was his name? PETE Shit. I forget. ROLAND He didn't even want to stop, remember? And then after the show, he dragged Beck away so you guys didn't even get a chance to talk. It's probably that fucker. PETE He didn't like us much. ROLAND You oughta call. PETE Beck said - what did he say? He said... ROLAND He said, 'I'll be in touch.' PETE Yeah. ROLAND Then he zoomed off down the road. Roland starts to put extras onto the pizza. ROLAND You don't think it's 'cause I turned down the limo ride, do ya? PETE Huh? Fuck no. You had to get back and your bike was there. ROLAND Still. Maybe he was insulted. Like if you turn down a gift from the Godfather. PETE Dude, it's not that. Shit. I didn't even get to ride in the stupid limo after he asked me to and I'm not all bent out of shape about it. ROLAND Yeah. That was fucked up. You ought to call up Beck. PETE Roland. You don't just call up Beck. It's like calling up Spielberg or the Pope or somebody. ROLAND They don't know you. Beck knows you. PETE (beat) Maybe it just takes time. INT. MALL - DAY Pete and Angela walk the mall. Angela looks at an egg beater in a high quality kitchen store. She buys it. Pete looks at a BMX bike in the sporting goods store. He doesn't buy it. Angela points to a sign in the window of an expensive furniture store: "Excellent Individuals Needed for Sales Positions." ANGELA There you go, Pete. PETE Says 'excellent' individuals. EXT. GREEN PARK - DAY Pete sits by a tree frantically drawing in his sketchbook. Finished, he looks for a time at his creation. He calms down as he gazes upon what he made. Pete walks down a path. He passes a trash can and tosses his sketchbook into it. He walks a few paces, then he stops. Pete returns to the trash can. He tosses his pencil in, too. Pete sits alone on a tree branch. PETE Nothing I do pans out. A long beat. PETE (thinks) Is this the kind of thing to come to you with? (beat) How heavy laden am I supposed to be? EXT. NEAR A GARAGE - DAY Pete now wears a wispy beard on his chin. He puts the finishing touches onto the surface he is painting. With the warmth of his propane torch, Pete reveals the lettering: "WIDE POOL." In a while, it completes to read: "COUNTY-WIDE SEWER AND CESSPOOL." The words are on the cab door of a tanker truck. At the office door, Pete takes a wad of cash from the guy in charge and shoves it into his pocket. INT. SUPERMARKET - DAY Pete puts bread, eggs, and other common items into his hand- carried basket. He pays cash in the speed line. He puts the food into his backpack. EXT. PETE'S HOUSE - DAY Pete rides his bike up to his mailbox, then stops. He opens the mailbox, takes out his mail, looks at each piece, closes the box, opens his trash can, then drops all his mail into it. INT. PETE'S HOUSE - DAY KITCHEN -- Pete puts his backpack on the counter and peck- kisses Angela. She sniffs his shirt and makes a face. ANGELA My. What's that lovely fragrance? PETE Tommy Cess-finger. ANGELA That's the smell. Pete. You're not cleaning cesspools, are you? PETE No. Mickey's brother-in-law knew a guy that needed some trucks lettered. Cesspool tankers. Fuckin' reeked. ANGELA How much did you get. Pete hands Angela the wad of cash. She counts. PETE I spent twenty on food. Angela hands back the money. ANGELA A hundred total. That's pretty good. Pete nods, unconvinced. PETE The guy offered me a job there. ANGELA What did you tell him? PETE I said I'd let him know. (shrugs) There's not much around. Angela nods. PETE I'm gonna take a shower. ANGELA Mind if I straighten up a little? PETE No. That's cool. Pete exits then re-enters. Goes to kiss Angela. PETE Thanks. She moves back. ANGELA Thank me later. Pete exits. Angela unloads groceries. A knock comes to the door. BEDROOM -- Angela enters as Pete gets ready for his shower. ANGELA This just came. I signed for it. She hands Pete an overnight envelope. PETE Jesus. ANGELA Yeah. It's from U-TIP. Pete rips open the envelope. PETE It's a ticket. To San Diego. Beck lives near there. ANGELA Pete. They hug. ANGELA Let me see. Angela reads the ticket. ANGELA Can this be right? This ticket's for eight-fifteen tonight. PETE Huh? ANGELA Yeah. Is there anything else in the envelope? Pete pulls out a letter. PETE 'Dear Pete, I hope you can come on out to my place. We have some things to talk about. And I owe you some coffee. Yours, truly. Allen Beck.' Pete and Angela rush to pack a suitcase. They toss in clothes and personal items. Pete runs to get some papers and drawings from his workshop. He shoves it all into his suitcase. ANGELA What about a suit? PETE I have one. It has a stain on it from my aunt's funeral lunch. ANGELA That was last year. PETE Yeah. ANGELA You better take it. Get it cleaned out there. Pete gets the suit, rolls it up, and shoves it into the suitcase. ANGELA They can press it, too. PETE Shower. ANGELA Hurry. Do you have a tie? PETE In the suit pocket. KITCHEN -- Pete enters, now dressed. He dries his hair with a towel. ANGELA You're taking this? She hands Pete his backpack. PETE Yeah. My ticket in here? ANGELA Here's your ticket. Maybe there's a number to call. I packed some water bottles for the plane. PETE Cool. ANGELA Pete. PETE What? ANGELA This ticket's First Class. Pete looks down. PETE I should wear my other sneakers. INT. AIRPLANE - NIGHT Pete checks out his aisle seat. He fiddles with the light controls and air vents. He tests how far his legs stretch. A man, who could be mistaken for ROD Steiger, is seated next to Pete by the window. PETE These seats are great. ROD Fly as much as me and they're all agonizing torture. Pete's side-eyes return slowly forward. A female flight attendant, TRACY, shows a beautiful woman, FAWN, to her aisle seat across from Pete. TRACY Will you be staying long? FAWN Five days. I have a couple runway shows. Everyone is seated. The plane begins to taxi. Fawn nervously searches her handbag for a bottle of pills and finds it. Because of her beautiful nails, she can't get it open. FAWN Shit! How are you supposed to open these goddamn bottles? PETE Want me to try? Pete easily opens the bottle and hands it to Fawn. She pops some pills. FAWN (pills on tongue) STEWARDESS! Pete points to an overhead button. PETE You can just push that. She pushes it. FAWN STEWARDESS! ROGER, a male flight attendant arrives. FAWN I need some water, please. ROGER I'll be with you right after take off. Roger heads back to his seat and belts up. FAWN Fucking worm. Pete hands her a water bottle from his backpack. FAWN Oh. Thank you. Fawn downs the pills as the plane begins to taxi. She wears a fearful face. Rod placidly reads a book. The airplane takes to the sky. The change in pressure causes Pete's face to scrunch in pain. Later, Pete wakes up. He looks across the aisle at Fawn, who is still asleep. To his other side, he sees that Rod is still reading. Pete notices the paperback's cover illustration. It is of an elegant woman turning from a well-groomed man. This is happening within a heart-shape made of roses. The book's title is "Betrayed." ROD Fuck you lookin' at? Pete looks forward. He settles back in his roomy seat. He spots a circular indentation on the next seat up. He blinks and scrunches until a HUM comes into his head. The HUM soon morphs into a voice, much like that of JULIA Child. JULIA (V.O.) ...today, an all-purpose, flaky pie crust. Let's start with two and a half cups of unbleached flour. And we'll add one tablespoon of sugar - and a quarter teaspoon of salt. For the crust today, we'll be using two sticks of butter - unsalted. If it was salted, it would be too much salt. You'll find that it's best if the butter is cold, right out of the... INT. SAN DIEGO AIRPORT - NIGHT JOE BARACAS, 50, travels up the concourse. Joe suffers from a number of physical maladies, including blindness. Joe maneuvers his motorized wheel chair with the help of his guide dog, CORKY. Corky wears a sign that reads: "Pete Tokken." Pete enters the concourse wearing his backpack. His face shows some worry. He looks around and spots his name. PETE Hi. I'm Pete Tokken. JOE (hand out) Hi, Pete. I'm Joe Baracas. I'll be your guide. They shake. Pete lets Corky sniff his hand. Joe signals to Corky with a pull on the leash. JOE Let's go, Corky. They head down the concourse. JOE The flight all right, Pete? PETE It was great, Joe. I never flew in First Class before. JOE From the height of your voice, you can use the leg room. They pass a Starbucks where TWO BUSINESSMEN sit drinking cappuccino. BUSINESSMAN ONE (whispers) Look. BUSINESSMAN TWO (whispers) There but for the grace of God go I. Somehow, Joe hears this remark. With a signal to Corky, Joe circles back to face Businessman Two. JOE Understand this. My afflictions have nothing to do with some sort of grace deficit. The ultimate plan will work out fine, even if the individual plan gets altered in this way or that. BUSINESSMAN TWO Hey sorry, buddy. I didn't mean to... BUSINESSMAN ONE (points to Pete) He was talking about that guy's nose. PETE Can it, wise-ass. Joe looks at Businessman Two with his glass eyes. JOE We all get the same of what God's giving out. Joe signals with the leash. JOE Let's go, Corky. They continue down the concourse. JOE It's more about accuracy than sensitivity. At this point, fuck being sensitive. One of Corky's jobs is to guide Joe in his motorized chair. Corky's other job is to bark for people to move aside. Pete looks back and sees Fawn coming. A handsome EXECUTIVE carries Fawn's handbag as they walk. PETE Here comes the model I met on the plane. Pete smiles at Fawn. Fawn walks by, ignoring Pete. PETE And there she goes. JOE Smells pretty. PETE That's the guy she's walkin' with. Corky leads Joe and Pete into the main terminal. Pete starts to follow the "BAGGAGE CLAIM" arrow. PETE Hey, Joe. I have to get my suitcase. JOE That's being taken care of, Pete. Let's go over here a while. A plain sign over a plain door reads: "VIP Club." INT. VIP CLUB - NIGHT Joe is parked at a table inside the exclusive club. Corky sits beside him. Pete sits opposite. JOE I'm guessing all this might be something of a mystery to you. PETE Yeah it is a little. A lot. JOE Don't worry. Things will clear up. You're about to be presented with a set of options. These options all relate in some way to this question: What would you do if you had Allen Beck's money? Pete sketches on a napkin. JOE Allen Beck's a noble guy. Nobility is a quality you don't see in many people, let alone a guy with a fortune like that. You heard of the Medici? PETE The rock band or the Italian family? JOE The family. The Medici acquired a fortune in the gold trade and they patterned themselves as patrons of the arts. More importantly for guys like you, they were patrons of artists. Joe gently pets Corky's head. JOE They put up the cash to support thinkers, like Galileo, and artists, like Botticelli and Michelangelo. The Medici paid for the marble and the paint. And they chose who they wanted to work the materials. Pete, can you picture that gig? Going from town to town, selecting the best artists and thinkers? Bringing them under your patronage? PETE I sure can't, Joe. JOE Allen Beck can. The waitress brings a glass of rum and a cup of coffee. JOE I'm the rum man. Thanks, dear. PETE Sorry I can't drink with you, Joe. Alcohol causes pressures in my head that I'd rather not be dealing with right now. JOE Nothing to be sorry for, Pete. I understand your situation. Please feel at ease. What was I talking about? The candles at the table shine in Pete's eyes. PETE Allen Beck is like the Medici. JOE That's right. Allen Beck's a noble guy, but he's also down-to-earth. I'll bet you didn't know that he 'Mr. Jones'ed' at the county hospital? PETE Mr. Jones'ed? JOE (laughs) To 'Mr. Jones' is hospital jargon. Mr. Jones is the code name for the guy assigned to remove the remains from a hospital room after a patient dies. Hospital administrators find that it's more reassuring to call for Mr. Jones than to call for the morgue orderly. PETE It's hard to picture Allen Beck as a morgue orderly. Pete finishes his napkin sketch of Corky. JOE He's done a lot of jobs. Now his main job is to spend the billions of clams he landed himself with. Allen's developed a very warm feeling for poor slobs who can't get a break. No offense. Look at me. Your job with us will be to use your noggin and spend Beck's money for something worth doing. INT. CHAUFFEURED CAR - NIGHT The car is waved through a gate. JOE This is the U-TIP Campus. Most of us call it the Dropout Colony. You'll get a better look in the morning. Here's your key and here's a cell phone. Use it as much as you want. And if you need anything at all, just hold done five. The car stops at -- PETE'S BUNGALOW -- an attractive residence, nicely lit and landscaped. PETE (quietly) Wow, Joe. You know I can't pay for any of this. JOE Pete. While you're here, this is your home. You are the guest of Allen Beck. INT. ANGELA'S HOSPITAL - NIGHT Angela checks records at the nurse's station. BEATRICE, an older nurse, picks up the phone. BEATRICE Forth floor. (beat) She's right here. Angela takes the phone. ANGELA Yes? (beat) Pete! Are you all right? INT. PETE'S BUNGALOW - NIGHT Pete walks around with his cell phone checking out the lodgings. PETE You should see this place. They call it the Dropout Colony. They put me up in a bungalow. Angela, it's bigger than my house. KITCHEN -- Pete opens the refrigerator. PETE They stocked the fridge. (beat) Yeah they are. Pete goes to a window that looks out over the ocean. PETE Listen to this. Pete holds the phone out the window, then pulls it back in. PETE That's the Pacific Ocean. (beat) I don't know much yet. There's an agenda on the desk. Tomorrow morning, there's a meeting about a dam in China. Then, I'm supposed to have lunch with Allen Beck. Hey, Angela, everything okay back there? (beat) Okay, I don't want to get you fired. I'll call tomorrow. INT. ANGELA'S HOSPITAL - NIGHT ANGELA (beat) Okay, Pete. Beatrice looks sternly at Angela. ANGELA Same here. INT. PETE'S BUNGALOW - NIGHT Pete puts down the phone and eats a mint from the pillow on his bed. INT. PETE'S BUNGALOW - DAY Pete is startled awake by the pulsations of a helicopter touching down across the street. He goes to the window and watches Allen Beck emerge from the chopper followed by its pilot, Madame Chen. Peesley Henkle runs up to greet them. INT. UTIP HEADQUARTERS - DAY Plants adorn the modern but comfortable lobby of UTIP's main building. A RECEPTIONIST looks at a folder and speaks into her headset. RECEPTIONIST That's right, Mr. Worthington. I have checked the file. U-TIP did receive your presentation. It says here that: She reads from the file. RECEPTIONIST 'No formal review was given to the project. The candidate's advanced degrees from Harvard and Yale disqualify him from being classed as underground talent.' She closes the folder. RECEPTIONIST No. I didn't know that. Maybe you're dad could speak privately with Mr. Beck about the project you want to do. (beat) I hear ya. My parents don't understand me, either. EXT. UTIP CAMPUS - DAY Corky guides Joe in his motor-chariot. Pete walks along. They travel down a trail with bungalows on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other. Joe introduces Pete to some people they meet along the way. They pass through a high-tech green house on the way to UTIP headquarters. INT. UTIP HEADQUARTERS - DAY Pete holds the glass door for Joe and Corky as they enter the building. RECEPTIONIST Good Morning, Mr. Baracas. They started already. JOE Uh oh. Let's go, Corky. They speed down the hall to the -- BOARD ROOM -- Allen Beck and the others watch as Joe barges through to his place. JOE I know I'm late. You can't get mad at a guy with a wheelchair and a guide dog. BECK It's about time you got your blind ass out of bed, Joe B. JOE (jovially) Yeah and you can kiss it. Pete enters the room wearing an uncertain grin. BECK Don't worry, Pete. We're a little ahead of schedule. (to all) This is Pete Tokken. He has some intriguing ideas about collecting and projecting energies. An assistant holds the chair next to Beck's. Pete sits. Beck points to the video-conference monitors labeled: "Sydney," "Hong Kong," and "São Paulo." BECK These are some friends in distant lands. Pete waves to the monitors. The video participants wave back. BECK There's something I want you to see, Pete. The room goes dark except for a number of lighted ornaments and effects. A big screen flips down from the ceiling. A short presentation begins. MADAME CHEN The Yangtze is the third longest river in the world. The screen shows badly filmed documentary footage of the Three Gorges Dam and the ruins of cities and towns demolished to make way for its reservoir. MADAME CHEN The Three Gorges Dam will be 575 feet high. Its reservoir will run upstream 350 miles. Hundreds of villages and some cities have already been submerged. When the waters finish rising, this region will be changed. Forever. Other dams in China and elsewhere will condemn other regions to a similar fate. The lights come on. Pete squints. The screen flips up. BECK Here's the thought I had. This dam's a done deal and the region will be submerged. What we can do is take your recording devices and make a complete record of what's left. For the ages. What do ya say? PETE Sure. BECK We'll set you up with whatever you need to build your Energy Collectors, then we'll get them over to China, A-SAP. MADAME CHEN Can you hook your thing to a chopper? PETE For sure. To a chopper, a boat, a car, a dirt bike - a wheelbarrow. Madame Chen nods. BECK Thanks everybody. We'll wrap it up for the morning. Come on, Pete. Beck gets up and sits down next to Joe. BECK How you feeling? JOE Who, me? Better than ever. BECK You're having your operation soon? Joe nods. BECK I wish you the best with it, Joe B. JOE Allen, I want to thank you for all you've done for me. BECK Aw, come on. JOE Really, from my heart. Joe turns to Pete. JOE Hey, Pete. PETE Right here, Joe. BECK Watch out for this guy. If you let him, he might turn you into something - like he did me. PETE (raises brows) Okay, Joe. I'll be careful. EXT. BECK'S OFFICE DECK - DAY Allen Beck sits with Pete on a deck overlooking the Pacific. Beck refills Pete's coffee cup. BECK Why did you drop out of college? PETE I don't think I was cut out for it. BECK You only stayed one semester. PETE I wanted to go. I worked two jobs to get money to go. BECK What made you think you weren't cut out for it? PETE The school did. The day I got there, they gave me a test. Then they sat me down and told me how they scientifically analyzed my situation. Based on my scores, my high school record, my life experience, and comparisons with thousands of similar cases, they said if I graduated, I'd get no better than a C-minus average. That's if I graduated, which I probably wouldn't. BECK They told you that? PETE Yeah. So it got me to thinking that maybe they're right. I didn't feel right being there. I liked to study, but not what they told me to. Beck laughs. BECK You had a mind of your own. PETE That's no foolin'. In college, I spent most of my time at the library since I'm not really able to drink alcohol. On my last day there, I looked at the library wall and saw an inscription on it. It said: 'A true university is a collection of books.' Beck nods. PETE So I got my own books and made my own university. Beck stands and looks out over the ocean. BECK Your accredited now, Pete. An ASSISTANT calls out from Beck's office door. ASSISTANT Excuse me, Mr. Beck. BECK (to Pete) A little piece of business. Beck goes into the office and picks up the phone. ASSISTANT Can I get you anything, Mr. Tokken? PETE Nuh uh. Thanks. Pete relaxes back in his chair. He gazes at the sea. The sounds of the waves bring a HUM to his head. In a short time, Beck comes back out. BECK Beautiful view, isn't it? Beck notices Pete's odd gaze. BECK Pete? (louder) Hey Pete? Beck puts his hand in front of Pete's face. Pete looks at him frightened. He shakes his head. He blinks. Then he shakes his head again. The HUM stops. PETE I'm - really sorry, Mr. Beck. The HUM briefly returns and Pete shakes it away. PETE It's this - sometimes - there's this... BECK Pete. I understand. You've had some, uh - damage. Pete nods. PETE I'm not used to all this. I not sure what to expect. What you expect. BECK It's okay, Pete. We'll fill in the blanks. They get up. BECK Take it easy, today. Did they give you a cell phone? PETE Right here. BECK Whatever you want, hold down five. If you want to go somewhere, hold down five. If you want some food from town, hold down five. If you want any information, what do you do? PETE Hold down five? BECK You got it. Come in here a minute. INT. BECK'S OFFICE - DAY From a package, Beck removes Leonardo da Vinci's "Head of the Virgin." BECK This is for you, Pete. Hang it in your hut. Beck hands the gift to Pete. They look at the portrait in the light from a window. BECK Is it a mother looking at her child? Hmm? Or an artist who's pleased with a new creation? (beat) Leonardo couldn't help but find new ways of doing things. He anticipated designs centuries before they were carried out. Even in making this picture, the methods he used are still only guessed at by scholars today. Do you know what it was like for that guy? Having such a mind? Being that talented and that far ahead of his time? (eye-to-eye with Pete) Do you know? EXT. PETE'S BUNGALOW - DAY Pete sits on a deck, sketching. The page shows Roland on the modified Ossa flying up over a hill. Pete puts down his pad and takes a deep breath of sea air. He picks up his cell phone and holds down five. PETE Hi. This is Pete. Do you think I can get a bicycle? (beat) Just something to bike around on. (beat) A BMX, maybe? EXT. UTIP CAMPUS - DAY Pete rides his tough-looking BMX on the road to a pleasant beach town. He does a few easy stunts, not to show off, but just because he can't help it. Pete pulls up to a -- MEXICAN BISTRO -- He sits at an outside table by the bike. He pushes buttons on his cell phone. PETE Yo, Roland. Did you hear? (beat) Yeah. I ain't believing this. I think Allen Beck's gonna hook us up. It's crazy. Hold on. INT. ROLAND'S TRUCK - DAY Roland drives down the road holding his cell. EXT. MEXICAN BISTRO - DAY A MEXICAN WAITRESS holds a pen and pad. MEXICAN WAITRESS We have chicken chili, chicken and bean, beef, beef and bean, bean and cheese, and we also have fish chili. PETE Fish chili? MEXICAN WAITRESS (writing) Fish chili. PETE No, I don't want fish chili. I just never heard of it. I'll have beef and bean. And a cup of coffee. Pete picks the phone back up and watches the waitress go back into the restaurant. PETE Yeah, Roland. If you like fish chili, you're gonna love it out here. (beat) C'mon, man... (beat) Okay. Let's see what happens. (beat) Yeah. You should see 'em. There was this model on the plane. (beat) Nah. I slept at the same time as her, does that count? The waitress comes out with coffee. PETE Dude, she wouldn't have looked at me if her ass wasn't sittin' across from my ass. (beat) Nuh uh. I didn't see that one yet. Pete starts on his first cup. INT. ROLAND'S TRUCK - DAY Roland parks at a convenience store. ROLAND ...and these sons-a-bitches ain't easy to kill. They make you kill 'em twice. They got a heart that can live without a head and a head that can live without a heart. If you don't get 'em twice, they can get revived. The ones that still got a head get paired up with the ones that still got a heart... INT. UTIP HEADQUARTERS - DAY ZELDA, an efficient woman, waits by the receptionist. RECEPTIONIST He's kinda cute. ZELDA I can't be concerned with that. I have a job to do. (beat) So you were saying? Cute? Pete's butt holds the glass door open as he awkwardly rolls his bike into the lobby with his backpack slung over his shoulder. ZELDA Hello, Mr. Tokken. I'm Zelda. I'm your P.A. PETE My P.A.? ZELDA Personal Assistant. I'll help arrange what you need as you set up your office and studio. PETE My studio? ZELDA Well. Your production company. They walk down a corridor. Pete rolls his bike. ZELDA It might be best to start with your office. INT. PETE'S OFFICE - DAY Pete and Zelda enter a spacious ground floor office. Its windows open out to an exotic garden. The space is partly furnished but has plenty of room for more. Pete puts his bike against a wall. ZELDA The U-TIP Campus is organic. It grows as needed. Mr. Beck put you here until you set up separate studio facilities. Till then, you can meet with your staff in here. PETE My staff? Zelda holds a chair behind a desk. Pete sits. PETE (beat) What's your name? Zelda sits down in a side chair for conversation. ZELDA I'm Zelda. I'm your P.A. INT. UTIP RECREATION BUILDING - DAY Pete's hair is still wet from a swim in the pool. Now he finesses a state-of-the-art pinball machine in the UTIP arcade. INT. PETE'S OFFICE - DAY Workers install shelves and cabinets. Electricians set up computer equipment in an alcove. At his desk, Pete reads UTIP material. ZELDA The engineers are here. PETE Bring 'em in. Zelda enters with the engineers, WALLY and JEFF. They each set a wooden case onto the floor. They sit near Pete for a chat. WALLY Mr. Beck sent us to show you what we do and to let you know what we can do for you. JEFF We looked at your drawings and it's easy to see what you have in mind. WALLY We've been working mostly with robotics, but we're pretty good at all aspects of engineering. PETE You worked with optics? JEFF Optics is one of our best things. We build our own robot vision systems. One of the cases starts banging. Then the other one starts banging, too. They both make weird squeals. PETE Sounds like your boxes are getting restless. WALLY They'll be okay. I think Mr. Beck sent us to you mostly because of our work with optics and instrument assembly. One of the boxes splits open and ROBOT ONE breaks free. The animal-like device lunges at the other box and rips at it with mechanical jaws. ROBOT TWO emerges from the second case and goes for the "throat" of Robot One. Robot One escapes. It drops a couple wheels and pushes away fast. Then it speeds back and crashes into Robot Two. Robot Two slams into a wall near a WORKMAN. WORKMAN Hey. Watch it with those fuckin' things. PETE Hey everybody - heads up! Pete sits on his desk to watch the show. Robot Two recovers and maneuvers across the room. The mechanical eyes on each machine stay zeroed in on the other one. Robot Two climbs the wall and crawls onto the ceiling directly above Robot One. Robot One points its eyes up at Robot Two and moves warily away. Up above, Robot Two mirrors the movements of Robot One. Robot One heads speedily for an open door. Robot Two takes a running leap off the ceiling, smashes into Robot One, and sets off a cold gas explosion. Both robots twitch in their mutual destruction. Wally and Jeff retrieve a black box from each of the robots. The robots stop twitching. JEFF And their brains live on. What they learned from this encounter will be used in future lives. WALLY If you want us to, we'll set up an engineering team to build whatever systems you want. PETE Cool. INT. PETE'S BUNGALOW - DAY Pete gazes at the da Vinci. His head begins to HUM. Later, Pete talks into his cell phone. PETE Zelda. Do you know Joe? (beat) Right, Joe B. Can you find out if I can go see him? INT. BECK HOSPITAL - JOE'S ROOM - DAY PETE I gotta tell you, Joe. This is hitting me a little fast. You guys get a letter and now I'm starting a studio. JOE Something tells me it didn't happen all that fast. Have you thought a lot about your projects? PETE Yes. JOE You probably have this Photon Ball thought out right down to the color of the rugs in the gift shop. PETE Azure blue? JOE You're generating ideas like a demon. Allen Beck digs your projects, but he really digs your potential. Joe coughs. PETE I hope I'm up to it. JOE Relax. Think of it as an experiment. What happens when an idea guy gets what he needs to get, to do what he needs to do? Joe coughs more. PETE Man. Like you need this with everything else you gotta put up with. JOE Pete. All my days, I've been bouncing between this life to the next one. After this one, the next one will be a cinch. You know about the next life? PETE I know more about the next life than I do about this one. Joe pours water into a cup for Pete and into a bowl for Corky. JOE Brothers in the next life. (beat) Go ahead. I'll have mine intravenously. Pete and Corky drink the water. Joe fake drinks from a fake cup, then belches. JOE So, what all you want to know, Pete? INT. ANGELA'S APARTMENT / PETE'S OFFICE - DAY Pete talks on his office phone. INTERCUT with Angela in her apartment. ANGELA Why don't you call Roland? Maybe there's a job for him out there. PETE I talk to Roland all the time. I don't think he wants to come here. ANGELA Why not? PETE I don't know. He just changes the subject when I ask him about it. I don't want to push it. ANGELA You think it's Ruth? PETE Ya think? You know her better than me. ANGELA No, she'd go out there if Roland wanted to. Roland's just being stubborn. PETE One time he told me he doesn't want to be famous. ANGELA But you do. PETE No I don't. ANGELA Everybody wants to be famous. PETE I don't. I really don't. You know, the 'brain damage' thing. Like I need a chance to zone-out for the masses. No thanks. ANGELA Oh. Right. PETE I think I understand how he feels. You know, if the positions were reversed? ANGELA Guys. PETE Guys shit. I can't even get you to come out here. ANGELA I'll be out soon. I can't until I finish my courses. PETE I know. I guess I'm just missin' you. Hey, can you do me a favor? INT. PETE'S WORKSHOP - DAY Angela and Roland strip Pete's wall of his drawings and photos. Angela packs books into a box. Roland takes a big book and looks at it's gilded title. ROLAND Do you know about this one? ANGELA 'Electrical Experimenter 1915 to 1916.' ROLAND Yeah, look at this. He used to go see his Aunt Rose all the time as a kid. When she had to sell all his dead uncle's books, she let Pete pick one out to keep. ANGELA And he picked this? ROLAND Yeah. Check it out. It's a bound set of magazines. Roland shows Angela some covers: Voice Operated Typewriter, An Electro-Gyro Cruiser, Ball Lightning, A Canal Scene on Mars. INT. PETE'S OFFICE - DAY The magazines now have a place on Pete's West Coast shelf. Pictures that once were in his workshop, now hang in his office. The office floor is carpeted except for a ten-foot long oak wood oval. A glass table is centered on the oak near a long sofa. Pete stands at his drawing table. He makes a color diagram of the Energy Collector. Components are labeled: Lenses, Sound Intakes, Lights, Attitude Sensors, Thermometer, and Speed Sensors. A small camera watches as he draws. His hand motions are projected onto a big screen in the office. WALLY Pete. Do you want us to set it up now? PETE Okay, Wally. Pete continues to draw. Jeff presses a button on the couch. A control panel rises from the floor. At Jeff's command, the glass table sinks into the wood floor. Then the wood floor rises to form a conference table. Zelda moves chairs to the table as people come in. A couple guys in suits take their seats. Two guys and a girl, all wearing t-shirts, sit down on the couch. Wally rolls the new Energy Collector in on a cart. WALLY You should have waited to lift the table. JEFF I can lower it again, jeez. People sit back to let Jeff lower the table. They set the Collector onto it. Then Jeff lifts the table up again. WALLY Too high. Jeff lowers the table halfway. Then up a little. JEFF How's that? He jogs the table, shaking the Collector. PETE Careful boys. Wally gives Jeff a warning look. Pete greets the guys in suits. He leans over to Zelda. PETE She's coming? ZELDA Her guy told me she'd be here. Pete nods and goes back to his drawing table. He makes primal designs on a piece of white card stock away from the camera. Zelda looks through a pile of finished cards that show faces, machine-faces, buildings, and rocket ships. PETE I used to doodle a lot in school. The teachers thought I was taking notes. It just kept me from zoning out. Still does. Jeff gives a sharp whistle. Pete and Zelda turn. Madame Chen stands near the Collector - hands on hips. MADAME CHEN What you got here, Tokken? PETE Madame Chen. This is our Energy Collector. Pete holds a chair for Madame Chen. MADAME CHEN I stand. PETE Wally, why don't you talk a little bit about the Collector? Pete returns to his drawing table. He puts a fresh paper under the camera. WALLY The Collector's job is to collect and store the energies that surround it. MADAME CHEN Huh? PETE Go more deeply into it, Wally. I'll illustrate. Pete lowers the lights. He makes a ball and draws as Wally talks. Madame Chen watches the big screen. WALLY Numerous energies continually flow through any given point indicated by this ball. Actually, a ball can't really depict a point because however small you make the ball, you can make another ball that's half as small. Pete clears his throat, tapping on the ball. WALLY Anyway, here's a point. At any given time, this point is impinged by wavelengths of light, pitches of sound, thermal energies, atmospheric pressure, gravitational pull, radio energies, and so on. The Collector captures and electronically digitizes this information. Pete sets an "Energy Collector" drawing before the camera. WALLY The Collector's sensors are arranged spherically around a central point. They intercept the energies that would have passed through to the central point had they not been intercepted. Pete layers acetates of the Collector's components. WALLY It has cameras to see and microphones to hear. It has attitude sensors, weather sensors, a GPS to record speed and location, and there's room for some other stuff we might think of later. Pete flips a switch and a spotlight falls upon the real Collector. MADAME CHEN This looks too fragile for flight. Jeff holds a ported cover over part of the Collector. JEFF We use three different protective skins for the Collector's various uses. One is a terrestrial skin, one is aerodynamic for flight, and we have a submersible skin that's currently rated for one hundred feet. That'll get better in time. PETE We're also planning a space-worthy Collector. MADAME CHEN You use film? PETE Nope. Everything's digital. Digits are cheap. MADAME CHEN Where you going to show what you shoot? PETE In the Photon Ball. Pete points to a scale model of the spherical projection facility. Madame Chen goes over to it. She looks sternly at it. MADAME CHEN You ready for China, Tokken? Pete looks at Wally and Jeff. They nod. PETE Anytime you are, Madame Chen. EXT. OCEAN ROAD - DAY Through the wind by the rocky seaside cliffs, Pete rides the BMX. While on a downhill, he performs a handstand on the handlebars. INT. PETE'S BUNGALOW - NIGHT Pete sleeps in his bed. He twitches like he's dreaming. INT. PETE'S HOUSE - DAY DREAM Pete gets out of dream bed. He looks at his digital clock. The digits read: "00:00." He goes to the dream kitchen and runs water in the sink. He puts his hands into the stream. Much of the water passes through. Pete looks at the round kitchen clock. It has no hands. Pete finally recognizes the inconsistencies and smiles. He heads out the door and takes off in flight. EXT. FACTORY TOWN / TROPICAL COVE - DAY DREAM Pete - and we - fly past the factory's water tower. The town below changes to a tropical area. We land by a cove. A SERENE WOMAN meditates in a beautiful, floral niche. She's surrounded by a sphere of mild light. The radiant woman looks up and smiles. She points across with both hands. We follow where she directs. We enter a dimly lit cave. Up ahead, lights shimmer out from a side chamber. Inside, rock crystals of many colors and sizes, rise from the floor and cave walls. Some are several stories high. Some are microscopic. The crystals glow with a light from within. From that chamber, we enter a brighter one. This room is more like a museum. It has a wide opening overlooking the sea. The floors are terraced and hold a number of displays. Off-white artifacts sit on off-white pedestals. We focus on one artifact. The object is a wagon wheel hub. Pete looks at the hub. His idealized body is dressed in a sweatshirt and sweatpants. From the front, we see that Pete's nose is not crooked. As he focuses on the off-white hub, it begins to take on color. Then motion. Then the hub appears to rotate with a spinning carriage wheel. EXT. FOURTEENTH CENTURY ENGLISH TOWN - NIGHT DREAM A horse-drawn carriage makes its way through the streets of an old English town. Pete climbs out of a bag stowed on top of the moving carriage. When the carriage slows for a curve, Pete leaps impossibly onto a common balcony that runs along the nearby buildings. He makes his way along the balcony. Above a tavern, Pete encounters a PROPRIETOR with a YOUNG WOMAN. PROPRIETOR Play my wife tonight and you will play the Queen tomorrow. YOUNG WOMAN My husband. The couple embraces. Pete climbs down the wall. INT. TAVERN - NIGHT DREAM Pete enters the tavern. He hears grumbling amongst the patrons. Pairs of angry eyes look in his direction. He takes on the clothing and countenance of a knight - PETE/KNIGHT. He sits down at a table. A BARMAID sets a cup of glowing liquid before him. Pete/Knight drinks it. The Proprietor descends a stairway and points to Pete/Knight. PROPRIETOR Blast! Why did you come to this place? Pete/Knight gets up. PETE/KNIGHT I come to serve the King. A PATRON speaks up. PATRON To serve a tyrant. Pete/Knight looks into the patron's angry eyes. The patron reaches for a knife. Pete/Knight immobilizes him, touching the patron's throat with the tip of his sword. PETE/KNIGHT Do you wish to amend your remark? The patron's face changes from anger to concern. PATRON Aye. To serve - a man? Pete/Knight releases the patron and sheaths his sword. PETE/KNIGHT A tyrant would permit me to send him a sack filled with your treacherous head. Pete/Knight returns to stand by his table. He drinks another cup of glowing liquid. A little OLD WOMAN barges in. She pushes her way to Pete/Knight's table. She beats her weak arms against his leather vest. OLD WOMAN How can you do it? My children were born there. We lived our whole lives there. How can you take it away? The woman's rage unsettles Pete. A higher consciousness awakens in him. He lowers himself to her eye level and appeals to the Old Woman. PETE It's the play. It isn't me. I'm playing a role. That's all. Look at me. This is me. (beat) This is me. A glowing tear rolls down Pete's face. The Old Woman's face changes to a peaceful, glowing one. OLD WOMAN I'm playing a role as well. (beat) It's the play. After a moment, her glow goes away. Her face changes to one of resignation and sorrow. She turns and walks pitifully back through the crowd. The Proprietor brings Pete a fresh cup. Some patrons lift their mugs to him. Two barmaids smile at him. One of them looks like the Serene Woman in the cove. At the next table, a BLACKSMITH shakes his head. He sneers, then draws smoke from his pipe. INT. UTIP CANTEEN - DAY The spread is most outstanding in variety and presentation. Pete takes a tray and gets behind FRANK, a skinny hippie. FRANK Hi, I'm Frank. You're the dude with the cameras, right? PETE Yeah. I'm Pete. FRANK This food is really good. I can write anywhere but I keep coming back to the Dropout Colony for this frickin' buffet. PETE Sure is good. FRANK And for the scenery. They glance in the direction of two pretty girls who sit by a large window that looks out on the waves of the Pacific crashing against the rocks. PETE Scenery's good, too. What kind of stuff you write? FRANK Did you see 'The Two Morons?' PETE You wrote that? I saw that. That's a great movie. Frank takes some bread. FRANK Did you try this? They make it here. Pete takes a piece. FRANK Hey man, I hear you're going to China. Is that right? PETE We leave tomorrow. FRANK How you getting there? PETE We're flying over in one of Allen Beck's jets. FRANK He goin'? PETE No. Just me and some engineers. Madame Chen's gonna pilot for us. FRANK Whoa. Madame Chen. She frightens me, man. PETE Why's that? FRANK Why? Just that dragon-lady vibe she puts out. You know, that and her, uh, unorthodox flying style? I flew with her one time. That was the only time. The last time. Too risky for me, man. The woman's got no fear and my nerves ain't so good. They approach the end of the buffet. FRANK You're not afraid of flying, are you Pete? PETE No. FRANK You will be. INT./EXT. HELICOPTER - DAY Pete's face is frozen in peaceful confidence. MADAME CHEN Saying your prayers, Tokken? PETE Truthfully? Yes. The helicopter tows an aerial Collector using a winch and cable. We don't yet see what the Collector sees. The chopper completes a passage through a narrow tributary gorge. Madame Chen looks over at Pete. MADAME CHEN When will be the hour of our death? (beat) Huh? Pete breathes deeply and points. PETE There's a... Mount Wu rises in the mist - too close ahead. Madame Chen laughs with a touch of madness. The chopper pulls up. MADAME CHEN Mountain. Pete holds on to his seat. MADAME CHEN This is Goddess Peak on Mount Wu. The chopper circles the top, then hovers. MADAME CHEN Yaoji is the youngest daughter of Heaven Queen. Yaoji stands here to guide ships that pass through Wu Gorge on the Great River. Down here. The chopper drops swiftly into Wu Gorge. It flies close above the rising Yangtze reservoir. Pete turns his head stiffly to the back of the chopper. PETE You guys getting this? I hope. Jeff smiles and shakes his head yes. He tends two monitors. One shows the Collector's ten forward views. The other shows its ten rear views. Wally's face is wedged in a vomit bag. EXT. THREE GORGES DAM - DAY Tourists look at the Three Gorges Dam from an observation area. Some take pictures of the dam construction. Some buy fans, dolls, and embroidered caps from street vendors. A UTIP van parks near an establishment called: "Sanxia Memory Tours." INT. SANXIA MEMORY - DAY Pete listens as Madame Chen speaks in Chinese with the owner, MANCHU. MADAME CHEN You are the proprietor? MANCHU Yes. I am Manchu. MADAME CHEN I seek to hire your best tour guide. Must know the whole region very well. Manchu points to the guides sitting in wait. MANCHU They are all best. Madame Chen places a quantity of cash on the table. MADAME CHEN The best. One of the guides, LIAN, stands and whispers to Manchu. He gives a guttural laugh. MANCHU All my guides know the region very well. I, however, know it best -- Manchu winks at Pete. MANCHU -- for I am so old. Manchu pushes the money back. MANCHU Lian tells me you are a great woman. If one day you should write of this day, I would not like to be called: 'Old man who took bribe.' She pushes the money forward. MADAME CHEN Not bribe, down payment. I am Madame Chen. I heard you are a good man, Manchu. That is why I came to you. We are here to make a permanent record. We will preserve for future generations the regions that will soon be under the waters of this lake and the other ones that will be made. MANCHU I will help you gladly, Madame Chen. EXT. DOOMED ANCIENT TOWN - DAY The UTIP chopper lands in a field. A series of shots around a Chinese town yet to be submerged. We see: -- the Little Temple that graces the side of a hill. -- a tributary creek that enters into a larger one. -- young men who carry bails of hay on yokes. -- chickens pecking at the ground. -- ladies who sit and spin rope. -- hanging laundry that blows in the breeze. -- children sitting calmly as a woman sweeps a walk. Pete and the engineers set up a remote controlled Collector. The Collector is mounted five feet high on a modified Segway Scooter. Pete turns a wheel on a control box. The Collector pivots perfectly. He gives the box to Manchu who repeats the action. Pete goes to the engineers who man the control center. Lian approaches Manchu with two children, CHIN and LU. Manchu speaks in Chinese with the children. Pete and the engineers look at two laptops displaying the multiple views coming from the Collector. Manchu shows Chin how to move the Collector forward using the joystick. MANCHU When you get to the end of the street, stop and count to ten. Then turn it like this. Manchu turns the wheel on the remote. The Collector pivots ninety degrees. He pushes a small joystick. The Collector moves forward. MANCHU Then head up the East Road until you get to the Little Temple. Manchu hands the remote control box to Chin. MANCHU Do you understand? CHIN Yes. EXT. UNDER A WOVEN CANOPY - NIGHT CHOW beats a drum while his brother CHENG plays a traditional stringed instrument. Cheng sings in Chinese. CHENG Steam clouds rise into the moonlit heaven Sighing breaths change to white on frosty night The playing continues. A three-year-old sits quietly eating rice from a bowl. A mother tends her cooking. Pete appears tall, even when sitting. Lian brings Pete a small bowl. LIAN It is tradition to offer guest Wang Shing. Pete takes the bowl. PETE Thank you. Xiexie. He drinks. CHENG Melting snows and spring rains merge with our tears And flood the Gorges of the Great River INT. CHINESE HOME - NIGHT Pete lies on a cushion, very ill. His skin is covered with sweat and his breathing is erratic. He occasionally winces in pain, face scrunching, head veins pulsing. EXT. AN UPRIVER GORGE - DAY Madame Chen pilots a river craft into a beautiful, yet-to-be flooded tributary gorge. The engineers attend the Collector equipment. YEN SUN, 62, directs the Collector's record of the journey. INT. CHINESE HOME - DAY Pete awakens. He looks up. His head HUMS loudly. He can see Lian speaking to him but does not hear her. He tries to talk but cannot get the words out. He soon passes out again. INT. CAVE CHAMBER - NIGHT DREAM Pete's heart beats. He stands at the foot of a narrow slab. A patient is being attended by two hooded beings. BEING ONE holds an energy disk over the patient's chest. BEING TWO holds an energy orb over the patient's face. Being Two lifts the orb. Pete sees his own face. This does not seem to surprise him. Being Two turns towards Pete. All Pete can see under the being's hood are two lights for eyes. Bright like stars, the eyes appear to reflect the collected wisdom and knowledge of the universe. The other-worldliness gets to Pete. His heart beats fast. Gripped by fear, Pete exits the cave and climbs quickly over boulders with unnatural ease. He relaxes some as he gets farther from the cave. His heartbeat slows. Pete stops near a path. He looks up at the stars in the sky. He sees a nebula with amazing clarity. After a time, hooded beings approach from up the path. The beings do not walk, they float. Pete presses himself between two rocks to avoid being seen. The beings pass Pete and continue down the path. Pete watches the beings with caution but no longer with fear. The beings stop. They turn and face one another. A small sphere of blue-white light, about the size of a baseball, forms between them. The sphere brightens. The beings turn and float away. Pete approaches the sphere of light. He looks as if he understands. Pete puts his head against the glowing sphere of energy. A VOICE What do you want? PETE To remember. A VOICE Is that all? PETE What word can I take back to describe this - other world? A long beat. A VOICE Freedom. INT. CHINESE HOME - NIGHT Pete's eyes open. PETE Freedom. Pete sits up as if all was normal. He looks at Madame Chen. PETE Did we miss the light? MADAME CHEN You slept for three days. Do not die, Tokken, or I be in very big trouble with Beck. PETE I won't die. I feel good. Pete makes a move on standing. PETE I can't stay here all day. He weakens and drops back down. PETE Maybe I can. MADAME CHEN You can and will. We keep the same shooting schedule. I hired a Chinese filmmaker to work with the engineers. Looks good with officials that way, too. Lian pats Pete's head with a towel. PETE Did you convince Yen Sun? Madame Chen smiles (for the first time) and shakes her head yes. MADAME CHEN We got it under control, Tokken. And second Collector is on its way from States. Lian hands Pete a cup. PETE This isn't... LIAN No, this is not Wang Shing. It is an herbal tea. Drink. You'll feel better. Pete drinks. DISSOLVE TO: INT. SAN DIEGO AIRPORT - NIGHT Pete drinks a cup of coffee with Angela at the Airport Starbucks. We don't hear what they speak but their bodies speak love. INT. PETE'S BUNGALOW - NIGHT Pete and Angela sit on the couch with the TV on. PETE Hey check this out. Pete grabs a remote control from the table and talks into it. PETE ESPN. A beep. The channel changes to ESPN. PETE Turn off the TV in seven seconds. A beep. They wait and the set switches off. ANGELA Oh. Now, that is cool. Pete and Angela try a few more commands. Angela names a song. It begins to play. PETE Tomorrow we'll go see a friend of mine. ANGELA Who? PETE His name is Joe. He's been cluing me in on what's happening in the Dropout Colony. He's a blind guy. ANGELA He's blind? PETE Yeah. You used to date a blind guy, didn't you? ANGELA Yeah. Then he found somebody else. PETE He must've been blind. Angela pulls Pete down onto the couch with zeal. INT. BECK HOSPITAL - DAY Pete and Angela stand at the desk of a HOSPITAL RECEPTIONIST. PETE Is Joe Baracas still in Room 312? HOSPITAL RECEPTIONIST I can check. Are you family? PETE I'm his friend. The receptionist scans a list. She picks up a phone and raises a finger. HOSPITAL RECEPTIONIST One moment. PETE (to Angela) Maybe he was discharged. DOCTOR TESKI greets Pete and Angela. DOCTOR TESKI I'm afraid Mr. Baracas has gotten worse overnight. We're doing all we can, but it doesn't look good. Pete looks sadly at the doctor. ANGELA Is he conscious? PETE Can we see him? INT. BECK HOSPITAL - JOE'S ROOM - DAY Joe looks very sick. His breathing is labored. Corky is by his side. ANGELA Aw. Pete. Pete takes Joe's hand. PETE Joe. It's Pete. Can you hear me? Joe squeezes Pete's hand. PETE Yeah. Squeeze one time for yes. Two times for no. Wearing almost a smile, Joe squeezes once. PETE Angela's here. ANGELA Hi, Joe. Joe squeezes once. PETE Joe says hi - right? Joe squeezes once. PETE Yeah, Joe says hi. (beat) Hey Joe, you have to come on out to the Photon Ball. You'll like the sound system. (beat) Come on, Joe, man. Hurry up and get better. Joe clamps down hard on Pete's hand. JOE Pete? Joe sits up and looks right at Pete with his closed eyes. PETE I'm right here, Joe. JOE I can see it. PETE See what, Joe? JOE The Cup. Joe points at Pete's head. His fingers stay pointed at Pete as Joe's head moves from side to side. JOE It stays with you. PETE The Cup? Joe releases his grip on Pete's hand. INT. HOSPITAL CORRIDOR - DAY Three dings sound over the loudspeaker. LOUDSPEAKER Mr. Jones. Room 312. EXT. BECK'S BOAT - DAY Allen Beck, Pete, Angela, Wally, Jeff, Margaret, and Corky ride in the craft that Madame Chen steers. A submersible Collector is suspended from a winch that hangs out over the stern. Madame Chen refers to an electronic global positioning chart. MADAME CHEN We are over Cape Mendocino Subduction Zone - coming up on target. Beck nods. Wally and Jeff prepare a cylindrical, submersible urn. The name "Joseph Baracas" is printed on the urn's side in Pete's lettering style. A bright light shines from the urn's front. A propeller juts from the urn's tail. BECK Are you ready, boys? Jeff nods. WALLY Ready. Jeff holds the urn as he would a baby. Madame Chen cuts the engine. Beck rises and takes a deep breath. BECK We are here to commit the remains of Joe Baracas to the deep. We do this in the place and manner that he chose. Beck takes the urn from Jeff. BECK One night in the distant past, on a not-so-far beach, Joe B. poured me a drink and told me what he would do if he had my money. I wrote a few checks and we started something called the Poor Slob Grants. That, of course, became U-TIP. Joe's vision brought this labor-of-love a long, long way. A great deal further than I expected after I woke up on the beach the next morning at high tide covered in sand fleas. Beck looks at the sky. BECK We all have to make the journey from this life to where you are now. Thanks for staying with us a while, old buddy. Till we meet again. Jeff turns an outer ring and starts the urn's slow propeller. Pete places a circular wreath onto the ocean surface. Beck drops the little torpedo through the ring of flowers. Wally lowers the submersible Collector. Jeff watches its multiple images on monitors. Angela hugs Corky. Margaret weeps. EXT. THEME PARK - PHOTON BALL - DAY A sign reads: "Buckminster Fuller Photon Ball." The structure is both beautiful and utilitarian. Its major feature is a 175-foot geodesic sphere. Conduits and vents are plainly visible. Video cameras arranged around the sphere allow it to act as a giant Collector. A reception building stands adjacent to the sphere. INT. RECEPTION BUILDING - DAY Upper windows permit a view of the Photon Ball. The reception area is filled with people waiting for the next show. Visitors mill about looking at displays and exhibits. Adults and children gather around a World Pointer with lighted rays. A seven-foot high spherical television shows a journey through a cave. Vendors sell books and mementos. A scrolling sign reads: "The Photon Ball - Never the Same Show Twice." Another sign reads: "Boarding in 02 Minutes." Wearing his big sweatshirt hood, Pete buys Angela a small crystal Earth globe. Her face reflects in his shades. PETE I'll give you the world, Baby. They get in line with the others. Doors open and the visitors enter the sphere through a glass tunnel. INT. PHOTON BALL - DAY From the tunnel, 150 visitors step onto the Photon Ball's central deck. The deck is round and 80 ft. wide. It is located a little below the sphere's mid-point. The deck is see-through, like catwalks are. It is supported by five diagonal legs that pass through the spherical structure. Hydraulics stand by to lift, tilt, and spin the deck. Twenty video projectors are suspended from cables above and below the deck fairly close to the spherical screen. The tunnel retracts. Visitors sit down on swiveling stools arranged on the deck in a diamond pattern. When everyone is settled, the spherical screen goes from a neutral shade to completely dark. The audience looks up as a trumpet sounds above. Daylight breaks through the darkness. A live view of the local area spirals down. Within seconds, the deck appears to be outside. It lifts off and circles the theme park - higher and higher. The audience is awed. Some look back. Some look down through the deck. Some look up at the helicopter that appears to be lifting them. They are now passengers. The Photon Ball takes them on a flight across the theme park, to the UTIP Campus, then out over the open ocean. The passengers react when they drop closer and closer to the sea's surface. Moving air comes at them from directional wind ports. The deck lifts, tilts, and spins with appropriate motions. When the deck appears to be very low, the sense of speed increases. The helicopter disappears. Allen Beck's boat is now out in front with its wake receding to the rear of the Photon Ball. Ocean water passes below the see-through deck. The forward motion stops. The wind stops. Beck drops Joe's urn into the water. The deck plunges right in after it, dropping slowly through the sea life. The descent stops. The light on the urn drops below the level of the deck. Fish swim around the passengers. The scene fades. An info-band around the sphere's equator spells out the location of each scene. The data is mirrored at the four cardinal points. Musical passages accompany each presentation. Pete and Angela exchange glances and laughter as they fly over the world's most striking locations. The info-band reads: "Niagara Falls." PETE Check this out. With a chopper above, they swoop from high up, down into the chasm at Niagara Falls. The deck drops to the water's surface near the base of the falls. The chopper disappears. Now, the deck is in front of a boat navigating the currents near the roaring falls. The scene fades. The info-band reads: "China: The Three Gorges." The deck approaches Goddess Peak. It circles, hovers, then drops down to the water's surface. The deck flies down the flooding reservoir to the Three Gorges Dam. Passengers experience the Three Gorges Region with imagery taken from cars, motorbikes, boats, helicopters, and other flying machines. The China segment ends with the schoolchildren, Chin and Lu, singing as they steer the Collector through the ancient Chinese town. They stop and count to ten in Chinese. They appear to walk behind the deck until they get to the Little Temple. The scene fades. The info-band reads: "The Earth." From a very high vantage point, the deck appears to plunge, closer and closer to the Earth's surface. It punctures through to an inside-out view of the Earth - like Pete saw in his dreams. The deck falls through this Earth Globe, closer and closer to the area of the theme park. The deck flies above the park and approaches the Photon Ball. The deck settles onto its actual location. Passengers again see the live view of the local area. This view time-lapses back through the day. Then back through the past week. The screen fades to its original neutral appearance. Passengers sit in silence a few seconds then they applaud with delight. Pete listens to positive comments from all around. KID Let's go again DAD Okay, no problem. When the last visitors have gone out through the tube, Angela and Pete are still making out. An ATTENDANT speaks up. ATTENDANT Please, you'll have to leave now. You can come again. Angela giggles. Pete leads Angela out by the hand with a grin. INT. CONVERTIBLE - DAY Angela drives and Pete rides. They are allowed passage through the gates of Beck's mansion. EXT. BECK'S MANSION - DAY Pete, Angela, Madame Chen, and Allen Beck relax in a hot tub. They all get splashed when Corky jumps in with them. Beck converses on his cell phone. ANGELA (to Madame Chen) Pete can't go into a hot tub alone. If he zones out, he'll go under. Allen Beck's face lights up. BECK Hoo hoo! I'll put him on. Beck hands the phone to Pete. PETE I won't get a shock, will I? BECK Course not. Pete takes the phone. Beck fake-zaps Pete under the arm. BECK Zzzzip. Pete jumps. The girls laugh. PETE Hello? (beat) An award? What award? (beat) You bet I'll be there. Pete and Beck trade smiles. ANGELA Pete, what? EXT. BECK'S MANSION - AIRFIELD - DAY The private jet takes off. INT. AUDITORIUM - NIGHT WANYIRI NYONG, a formally dressed African man speaks into a microphone at a podium. WANYIRI NYONG Each year we gather here to pay honor to those who honor us with theirf talent and their service. This year, we are most pleased to honor one who has given our community so very much. Close on Pete's face as he gently shakes a mild HUM from his head. WANYIRI NYONG (O.S.) His ingenuity, his resourcefulness, and his generosity will forever be remembered by those of us who have been touched by his work. By his life. Back to Wanyiri at the podium. WANYIRI NYONG We offer him this little statue and our heartfelt gratitude. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you, this year's recipient of Kenya's Model Employer Award. The Founder of the Nairobi Ginseng Growers Association. Mr. Roland Watts. Great applause and smiles all around. Beck and Madame Chen clap with great pride. Pete gets a hug from Angela. Roland's boys and his pregnant wife, RUTH, walk up with him as he receives the statue from Wanyiri. ROLAND (into microphone) This is great. Thanks everybody. Thanks a lot. You're all great. More smiles and applause. Pete spots an old black man on the awards platform He looks a lot like the Head that Pete had seen in the dream park. Pete and the HEAD-MAN smile at one another - knowingly. EXT. GINSENG FARM - DAY A sign in front reads: "Nairobi Ginseng - A Project of UTIP." Roland cooks burgers and hot dogs. Christopher and Patrick toss a baseball back and forth until Patrick gets chased by an ostrich. Angela shows her ring to Roland's wife. The farm staff enjoys the food and talk. Their kids splash happily in a pool. Roland hands a burger to a child. ROLAND Go give this to your daddy, 'ight? CHILD 'ight. Beck's jet buzzes the picnic and tilts its wings in salute. Pete walks and talks with the Head-Man in an animated way. The old gentleman smiles and laughs as Pete tells him his story. Closer we hear: PETE ...and when I poked my head in, I saw the whole world - inside-out. They stop. HEAD-MAN Oh. Oh. Wonderful. PETE Do you remember? The Head-Man smiles, but shakes no. He proceeds down the path. Pete turns to go back. In a short while, the Head-Man stops and turns partly. He cocks his head. A beat. Then he continues on his way. EXT. GINSENG FARM - CAMPFIRE - NIGHT Pete and Roland gaze peacefully into the fire. A HUM begins in Pete's head. It changes to a simple melody. The fire dissolves. Pete envisions a hemispherical, rose-red Cup. FADE OUT.