“EPIPHANY” - Movie Scripts and Screenplays
EPIPHANY
BRENT SALTZMAN th5 DRAFT
4-6-05
first draft 2/2/02
second draft 6/14/02
blue third draft 5/16/03
revised third draft 6/21/03
fourth draft 7/29/04
revised fourth draft 9/25/04
fifth draft 4/6/05
1
For
Morgan
1992-2000
2
BLACKNESS.
That is all we see. Then, suddenly, we hear a MAN LAUGHING, and PEOPLE CHATTING, and glasses pouring, people eating. It is the sound of a FANCY RESTAURANT.
FADE IN.
INT. FANCY RESTAURANT—NIGHT
The lighting is dim. WAITERS scurry about with towels draped over their arms serving PEOPLE dressed in elegantly prepared suits; BUSINESSMEN and such. We focus on a lone table with THREE MEN sitting around it. They are dressed nicely, and all about the same age of late 40 to early 50.
There is the extrovert DR. DAVID ROUGERE, a slim man, good-looking man with an outgoing personality and a heavy FRENCH ACCENT. There is a FAT MAN, this is DR. NICHOLAS PETERS, a stubby, quiet man with exposed scalp. Finally, there is DR. GABRIEL WILLIAMSON (PROTAGONIST), who carries a low mood and slight New Zealander accent.
ROUGERE is just finishing a joke.
ROUGERE
So one fish looks over at the
other and says, dam!
PETERS laughs. GABRIEL cracks a smile.
FOCUS ON:
3
We see a VIBRANT WEDDING RING wrapped around GABRIEL?S
finger as he clasps a wine glass.
FADE TO: BLACK
FADE IN.
INT. FANCY RESTAURANT—NIGHT
ROUGERE is speaking.
ROUGERE
I tried reading it. I never
quite believed in such things
as a child, I tell you.
PETERS
Come on, how else do you
explain all the whimsical
happenings in the world today?
ROUGERE
All I?m saying is that if
there is a God, then I
haven?t met him and I
therefore refuse to worship
him. Why is it that we
continue to put so much
emphasis on something that we
don?t even know exist?
PETERS
You?re using your mind too
much.
ROUGERE
(laughs)
Using my own research against
me. I tell you that as soon
as I can find away to
separate the consciousness
from the mind I will slash
all your dreams and hopes, my
friend.
The two LAUGH. GABRIEL remains suspiciously silent. ROUGERE
and PETERS turn to him.
ROUGERE
Gabriel, you?ve said maybe a
word all night. Any two cents
to add?
GABRIEL
(hesitant)
4
I just think that, people
should just go with what
their heart tells them.
ROUGERE
The heart? We were thinking
about components a little
further up, my friend.
FADE TO: BLACK
FADE IN.
INT. FANCY RESTAURANT—NIGHT
ROUGERE finishes a long sip of wine. He then TAPS the ring
on GABRIEL?S finger and raises his glass.
ROUGERE
Finally I?d like to make a
toast to, my good friend
Doctor Gabriel Williamson,
and his happy marriage to now
Angela Williamson. May there
love last a lifetime and more.
GABRIEL
Thank you, David.
The MEN TOAST.
SLOW FADE TO: BLACK
White, elegant letters: “EPIPHANY”
FADE IN TO:
EXT. CITY STREET, HIGH RISE BUILDING—RAINING—DAY
We see a busy street, the rain pouring down upon people
walking about sporting umbrellas and ponchos.
ZOOM IN:
A puddle, a few inches deep, is quickly filling up. A CAR
splashes through the once peaceful puddle.
SUPER: “5 YEARS LATER”
We hear a VOICE (DR. MANNING)
VOICE (V.O.)
Do you realize that?s the
third time you?ve mentioned
her name?
INT. THERAPIST?S OFFICE, HIGH RISE BUILDING—DAY
5
We can still hear the rain outside.
The mood is quiet and dim. The office consists of a couch,
across from which is a large chair. GABRIEL, barely aged,
sits on the couch, his eyes dreamy, like they are staring
into an endless distance. He looks broken.
Across from him, DR. MANNING, a fat, bushy man with glasses
and a clipboard, the therapist, sits cross-legged.
GABRIEL
Every time I close my eyes,
she?s there.
MANNING
Have you done those exercises
I assigned to you?
GABRIEL
Yes.
MANNING takes off his glasses as in frustration. There are
long beats before each speaker. The rhythm is slow.
MANNING
Well, then, Mr. Williamson,
I?m sorry to say that after
four years you haven?t made
any progress.
GABRIEL
I never thought I?d lose her.
MANNING
I know this may sound harsh,
Gabriel, but thousands of
people speak those words
everyday. You?re not the only
person on this planet that it
happens to.
A beat.
GABRIEL
It didn?t have to happen. To
end.
MANNING
Everything happens for a
reason, Gabriel, that?s the
oldest lesson that any man
will tell. Every tiny event,
every breath you take, can
change the shape of the
entire world. A boy gets in a
car accident, why? Because
6
now he will make his future
child be more cautious and
therefore possibly save a
life. But it goes both ways,
you understand. We call
Hitler a monster, but what
about the taxpayers, who
funded his entire
organization, doesn?t that
make them monsters as well?
A beat.
A CRACKLE OF THUNDER can be heard outside. MANNING leans
forward.
MANNING
You want to know how to make
your emotions go into
submission? You have to let
the past, be just that,
Gabriel. That is the only way
one can move into the future.
Do you understand?
GABRIEL doesn?t speak. He continues his hypnotic stare and SIGHS.
INT. GROCERY STORE—RAINING—DAY
GABRIEL stands next to the CONVEYER BELT as the YOUNG
FEMALE CASHIER scans his items. She finishes.
CASHIER
19.21, please.
GABRIEL pulls his wallet from his pants pocket and flips it
open. As he searches through his credit cards, he finds
something that makes him stop and stare.
P.O.V. GABRIEL: There is a WALLET-SIZED WEDDING PICTURE of
him and his DECEASED WIFE. We have yet to see him this
happy.
The CASHIER reminds him that he?s in line.
CASHIER
Sir? 19.21.
GABRIEL snaps out his trance.
GABRIEL
Oh, sorry.
INT. GABRIEL?S APARTMENT—RAINING—DAY
7
The apartment is a dim white, well furnished, with windows revealing the rain now coming down in white sheets.
We hear a DOOR OPENING, and GABRIEL walks in, soaking wet and clutching a grocery bag of food.
He sets his keys on the table and walks over to the couch where he starts looking through his bag.
FOCUS ON:
On the COUCH-SIDE TABLE, the “NEW MESSAGE” LIGHT is FLASHING on his telephone.
CUT TO:
EXT. OFFICE BUILDING—GLOOMY DAY
Establishing.
The building lies nestled in between rows of similar structures. A NASA (NAT?L AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMIN) LOGO hangs above the main doors. We hear a voice. A deep, raspy voice (HARRIS).
VOICE (V.O.)
I want to thank you again for
coming on such short notice,
Dr. Williamson.
INT. CORRIDOR, OFFICE BUILDING—DAY
GABRIEL and HARRIS (50?s) walk side-by-side down a gloomy corridor. There are marked doors on each side. It is similar to an asylum. They are both following a GUARD.
HARRIS
(CON?T)
We weren?t sure whether or
not to commit him until you
talked to him. He?s only been
here an hour.
GABRIEL
Where?d you find him?
HARRIS
His maid found him lying in
bed. She called the police
when she realized he wasn?t
breathing.
They reach a door marked B3A. The GUARD unlocks it and they go in.
INT. ROOM, OFFICE BUILDING—DAY
8
The room is set up much like a room in an asylum, with a single bed and no windows. There is a GLASS VASE with flowers on a NIGHTSTAND.
NICHOLAS PETERS sits on the edge of the bed, staring out into the distance, seemingly oblivious to the very existence of the world around him.
The GUARD closes the door and stands up straight. HARRIS leans over to GABRIEL, who stares at his friend.
HARRIS
He was legally dead for about
an hour. We managed to
resuscitate him, and despite
how it looks, his brain is
functioning just as well as
before.
GABRIEL steps forward cautiously. He forces a smile and sticks out his hand to shake.
GABRIEL
Nicholas? Nicholas, how are
you?
PETERS remains silent. He doesn?t move. GABRIEL withdraws his hand and stands before PETERS. He leans down.
GABRIEL
Are you alright?
Suddenly, PETERS talks, but his eyes never stop staring into nothingness. His breaths are short and his voice is low, very low, and very gloomy.
PETERS
I may have been wrong,
Gabriel.
GABRIEL whispers to keep him calm.
GABRIEL
(whisper)
Wrong about what, Nicholas?
PETERS
About everything. My whole
life I have been devoted to a
concept that doesn?t even
exist.
In an attempt to lighten the mood, GABRIEL chuckles.
GABRIEL
You?re not making any sense.
9
PETERS snaps. His eyes swiftly dash to meet GABRIEL?S. His voice heightens.
PETERS
It will when you see.
GABRIEL
See? See what?
PETERS
When you understand.
GABRIEL
Understand? Nicholas I think
you need to-
PETERS jumps from the bed and knocks over the nightstand. The GLASS VASE smashes into thousands of pieces. NICHOLAS rolls to the floor and grips a LARGE, SHARP PIECE OF GLASS. He stops moving and hides the glass under his chest.
GABRIEL, the GUARD, and HARRIS move in. They look around cautiously. GABRIEL moves close.
GABRIEL
Nicholas?
SUDDENLY, PETERS jumps from his spot on the floor and lunges at GABRIEL.
The GUARD rushes to the scene and grabs PETERS.
FOCUS ON:
The SHARP GLASS KNIFE slightly RIPS GABRIEL?S jacket.
Eventually, the GUARD subdues PETERS, throwing him onto the bed. HARRIS and GABRIEL rush out of the room and into the hall.
INT. CORRIDOR, OFFICE BUILDING—DAY
The GUARD comes rushing out of the room and slams the door. GABRIEL and HARRIS pant and look at each other.
After they catch their breath.
HARRIS
I have to be honest with you,
Dr. Williamson. This wasn?t
the only reason we called you.
INT. OFFICE, OFFICE BUILDING—DAY
10
The office is small and dark. There are degrees hanging on
the wall, and pictures of SPACE CREWS. HARRIS sits behind a
LARGE DESK, GABRIEL sits in a chair in front.
HARRIS SIGHS. GABRIEL maintains his quiet, mysterious pose.
HARRIS
Do you have any idea, what
happened in there, Dr.
Williamson?
A beat.
GABRIEL shakes his head „no.?
GABRIEL
No.
HARRIS
Well, rest assured, we?ll
know soon enough. Anyway…
He pulls a FILE FOLDER from a desk and begins flipping
through it.
HARRIS
(preoccupied)
Gabriel Williamson, physicist;
Nicholas Peters, astronomer;
and finally David Rougere,
neurology expert. The three
of you were working on a
project several years ago, am
I correct?
GABRIEL
Yes.
HARRIS
What happened with that?
GABRIEL
(SIGHS)
We had minor changes in
direction.
A beat.
HARRIS puts down the file folder and SIGHS.
HARRIS
The Global Endeavor Space
Station, you aided in its
design.
GABRIEL
11
Yes. Me and Rougere both worked on it.
HARRIS
Rougere has a laboratory on it, I understand.
GABRIEL nods.
HARRIS
Twelve hours ago, we lost contact with the Global Endeavor.
GABRIEL?S eyes widen with surprise. He sits up and
concentrates.
HARRIS continues.
HARRIS
Rougere was on board. So were about eight other astronauts.
GABRIEL
Lost…contact?
HARRIS
Everything. We can?t even pick it up on radar. We know it?s there, because we can see it with the telescopes.
GABRIEL
How?
HARRIS
We don?t know. But what we do know is that we?ve got nine people who may be dead, and if they aren?t they will be soon, unless we do something for them.
GABRIEL
Have you sent a rescue team?
HARRIS SIGHS and sits back.
HARRIS
Dr. Rougere was working on something in his lab. For months he?s been refusing to reveal what it is. We think that it may have influenced the sudden loss of contact. Considering that you are undoubtedly Rougere?s closest
12
friend, and knew more about
his research than anyone else,
we feel it would be vital
that you accompany the
recovery operation.
GABRIEL sits and thinks for a moment. He gulps and looks around at the PICTURES ON THE WALLS. He stares at one picture in particular:
FOCUS ON:
In one of the many pictures on the wall, there is one of several astronauts that includes (a younger) GABRIEL, and ROUGERE.
His trance is broken by HARRIS?S words.
HARRIS
We?re asking for your help,
Dr. Williamson. Lives are at
stake.
GABRIEL stares off into the distance.
INT. BAR—NIGHT
All is silent.
We see people talking, waiters serving drinks, a football game on a big screen, but we do not hear them.
GABRIEL sits along at the bar, his eyes fixated into space. His hand is cupped around a DRINK.
FOCUS ON:
His WEDDING RING is still tightly wrapped around his finger.
As we watch GABRIEL think, we hear HARRIS?S VOICE.
HARRIS (V.O.)
You?ve been to the Global
Endeavor three times, so none
of this should be new.
We are whisked into a SILENT MONTAGE:
INT. ROOM, OFFICE BUILDING—DAY—MONTAGE
We see GABRIEL being fitted by several TECHNICIANS for a space suit. They are checking his pulse and various other check-ups.
Once again, we hear HARRIS.
13
HARRIS (V.O.)
Your mission is simple. You
are to find out what happened
up there, why did we lose
contact, and bring back the
crew.
We pan over to see a YOUNG MAN (TOMMY) getting prepped with a space suit as well. He appears to be in his late twenties, a look of extrovert arrogance on his face.
HARRIS (V.O.)
You will be accompanied by
two of the finest we could
locate with the given
timeframe. Thomas Quay; he
may be young but he knows
more about how to operate a
shuttle than any man alive.
Pan over again to see a WOMAN (JULIA). She is an attractive woman maybe a few years younger than GABRIEL.
HARRIS (V.O.)
Julia Harp is one o the most
respected medical doctors in
the world. This isn?t her
first rescue operation.
Suddenly, the montage continues…
INT. LARGE HANGAR—DAY—MONTAGE
The HANGAR is enormous. Like a vertical tower of aluminum. In the center, a SPACE SHUTTLE is pointed skyward. There is a series of ladders and stairways leading to the hatch. TECHNICIANS scurry about like roaches, draped in white lab coats and carrying clipboards. They are messing with dials on nearby computers and welding up patches of the SHUTTLE.
Suddenly, the ROOF of the hangar begins to retract, letting the sky seep in.
HARRIS (V.O.)
We can only hope that, if it
is an emergency, the shuttle
will be able to carry them
all back to Earth safely.
INT. COCKPIT, SPACE SHUTTLE—DAY—MONTAGE
GABRIEL, JULIA, and TOMMY all sit side by side. GABRIEL and JULIA strap in while TOMMY messes with various switches.
HARRIS (V.O.)
14
We don?t know what?s up there
or what you?ll find once
you?re on board. We can only
hope that everyone?s safe.
It?s in God?s hands.
EXT. HANGAR—DAY—MONTAGE
Silence.
We see the SPACE SHUTTLE blast off from inside the hangar and shoot up into the cosmos.
HARRIS (V.O.)
Godspeed.
FADE TO: BLACK
SMASH CUT TO:
EXT. SPACE
It is beautiful.
A black canvas dotted by trillions of tiny white lights.
The SPACE SHUTTLE elegantly glides by.
We hear TOMMY?S VOICE.
TOMMY (V.O.)
Few minutes now.
PAN UP. We see the GLOBAL ENDEAVOR SPACE STATION slowly swirling in the distance. It hangs in space delicately. It is shaped like a TOWER, with a ROTATING RING around its center.
It truly is a grand sight.
INT. COCKPIT, SPACE SHUTTLE—SPACE
TOMMY concentrates hard on the controls as he looks out the LARGE WINDSHIELD.
P.O.V. TOMMY: The SPACE SHUTTLE is slowly progressing towards an EXTENSION IN THE SPACE STATION, like the TUNNEL at an airport.
GABRIEL is staring at the magnificence of the ENDEAVOR. He lets out a SMILE.
GABRIEL
(whisper, to self)
I missed you.
A beat.
15
We hear JULIA speak for the first time.
JULIA
(referring to Endeavor)
It doesn?t look broken.
TOMMY fumbles through various switches.
TOMMY
(preoccupied)
Well, it looks that way. But
according to radar that thing
isn?t even there.
He TAPS on one of the MONITORS. JULIA looks down at it.
P.O.V. JULIA: On the RADAR SCREEN is a blip indicating the SPACE SHUTTLE…and nothing else.
EXT. SPACE
The SPACE SHUTTLE gently glides alongside the EXTENSION. Then, we hear an audible CLICK.
CUT TO:
INT. DOCKING CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
There is a SEALED GLASS DOOR separating the DOCKING CORRIDOR from the rest of the Global Endeavor. A CIRCULAR DOOR along the wall of the DOCKING CORRIDOR opens.
JULIA, GABRIEL, and TOMMY, all in space suits, slowly climb through the circular door and into the DOCKING CORRIDOR. They are moving slowly, due to the lack of gravity and the weight of the suits.
The CIRCULAR DOOR hisses and closes.
After a beat, TOMMY walks over to a PANEL on the wall and randomly starts punching buttons.
JULIA and GABRIEL look around.
JULIA
Spooky.
We can hear their voices through radios in their HELMETS.
GABRIEL
It?s not meant to be.
TOMMY from the PANEL.
TOMMY
Got it.
16
On cue, an audible HISSING sound fills the room, like air escaping. After a few seconds, the hissing ceases.
The crew strips themselves of their space suits, revealing GRAY NASA JUMPSUITS underneath.
They look towards a PANEL ON THE WALL next to the GLASS DOOR. It has a HAND IMPRINT. JULIA and TOMMY look towards GARBIEL.
GABRIEL sighs and moves forward. He places his hand into the print.
A beat.
The GLASS DOOR separates in the middle, opening.
INT. RANDOM CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
It is dark.
The lights are dim, and an aura of deep blue surrounds every lit area.
The CREW walks slowly down the corridor, their eyes busily searching every nook and shadow.
ALL
Hello? Anybody?
They reach a BRANCHING in the corridor. There is a SIGN at the intersection that reads “RIGHT: BRIDGE, LABOARATORIES, LEFT: QUARTERS, CAFETERIA.”
TOMMY
I?ll check the bridge.
TOMMY power-walks down the CORRIDOR TO THE BRIDGE. JULIA and GABRIEL glance at each other, then start to the left.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
Dark and deserted.
There is a row of chairs along a COMPUTER CONSOLE that stretches the length of a LARGE GLASS WINDOW. The view out the WINDOW is unimaginable: the perfect view of Earth, a vibrant sphere of blue, looming majestically in nothingness.
TOMMY walks in. He walks around, looking for a bit.
TOMMY
(low shout)
Hello?
He looks around and sees nothing, hears nothing.
17
He takes a GLANCE at the COMPUTER CONSOLE and sits down in the middle chair. Hastily, he takes to the hundreds of switches and keys.
Suddenly, a section of the LARGE GLASS WINDOW right before him turns into a TRANSLUCENT MONITOR. Words and images starts appearing on the glass, and a hint of Earth can be seen through them.
After a beats of messing with the controls, he presses a button.
FOCUS ON:
The button he presses is labeled “COMM.”
TOMMY
Houston, this is Thomas Quay
from the Global Endeavor.
He lets go of the button.
We hear nothing. He tries again.
TOMMY
Houston, this is Thomas Quay
from the Global Endeavor, do
you copy?
Once again, silence.
He HITS the console in frustration.
TOMMY
Dammit!
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
The CORRIDOR is riddle with a number of doors on either side. Each one is marked with a different letter/number combination.
JULIA and GABRIEL walk this hallway.
They pass an OPENED DOOR and look inside. It is neat and tidy, despite a few loose papers on the desk. They stand in the doorframe. GABRIEL stares.
GABRIEL
This is David?s room.
JULIA
Rougere?
GABRIEL
Yes.
18
GABRIEL turns to continue down the hallway. As he does,
JULIA gets a glimpse of his hand.
FOCUS ON:
GABRIEL?S WEDDING RING is still clasped around his finger.
JULIA paces to keep up with him.
JULIA
Your file said you weren?t
married.
GABRIEL
I?m not.
JULIA
You?re wearing a wedding ring.
GABRIEL stops. His face becomes flushed with emotion. He
doesn?t look at JULIA. A tear becomes visible, but quickly
fades away.
JULIA realizes she?s hit a spot.
JULIA
I?m sorry.
A beat.
GABRIEL
Don?t be.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
TOMMY messes with controls.
He looks up at the SCREEN, and to his surprise, there is a
large word, electronically typed:
“HELLO.”
TOMMY casts a look of confusion.
TOMMY
(to self)
Hello?
He starts typing, but another word appears:
“YOU MAY SPEAK.”
TOMMY looks even more confused.
TOMMY
What is this?
19
He appears to be having a conversation with the words on
screen. Another word pops up:
“DO YOU SEE?”
He sits back.
TOMMY
See? See what?
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
JULIA and GABRIEL move quietly from door to door, peaking
inside. They have seen nothing unusual, despite the absence
of other people.
JUIA
(preoccupied)
Nine people gone. This could
be one of those mysteries
only God could solve.
GABRIEL
If he was there.
JULIA
You don?t believe in God?
They reach the end of the CORRIDOR. It is marked by a door
that reads “MAINTENANCE.” GABRIEL turns around. He locks
eyes with JULIA.
GABRIEL
Throughout one?s entire life,
they follow a concept that,
despite what they say, is
skeptical of.
He starts back down the CORRIDOR.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
TOMMY is still in the chair. A word appears on the screen:
“WHAT IS YOUR VISION OF UTOPIA?”
TOMMY
Utopia?
“A PERFECT WORLD.”
TOMMY shakes his head, not sure.
TOMMY
I don?t know…
(a beat, then sigh)
20
Yankees are banned from the
series, pizza isn?t fattening,
and Jennie Finch is my
personal trainer.
There is a pause.
TOMMY
Why do you care?
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL is walking back down the hall. JULIA follows
closely behind.
JULIA
How can you say that? A
second ago, about religion.
He continues his pace.
GABRIEL
(preoccupied)
What?s religion proven? It
asks for you to believe
fantastic fairytales in
return for wars and
segregation. In the 1940?s
six million people, women,
children, were
killed…no…slaughtered,
because of religion.
He stops and turns to JULIA.
GABRIEL
Trust me…
(a beat)
We?re better off on our own.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
TOMMY sits, looking almost impatient.
TOMMY
Hello? Come on, buddy,
where?d you go?
Everything suddenly gets dark. The translucent screen on
the window dissipates, and all that is left is an
electronic green light ushering from one of the smaller
monitors on the console.
TOMMY looks down upon it.
P.O.V. TOMMY: It is a straight line drawing itself across
the screen. Suddenly, it begins to SLOPE UP dramatically.
21
His eyes widen.
EXT. SPACE
Far off in the distance, we see what looks like a METEOR ripping through space towards the GLOBAL ENDEAVOR. But it is not a meteor: it is simply a ball of sparkling light, moving like one.
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
As JULIA and GABRIEL walk, they stop and look up as the LIGHTS suddenly begin PULSATING.
JULIA
What is that?
GABRIEL breathes deep, his eyes widen. He knows.
GABRIEL
Oh no.
EXT. SPACE
Swiftly, the SPHERE OF LIGHT slams into the GLOBAL ENDEAVOR with massive force. It knocks out of place and it slowly begins drifting.
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
The CORRIDOR rocks violently. JULIA screams and falls. GABRIEL leans down to help her, but the station suddenly JOLTS and he slams back against the wall.
His eyes close.
FADE TO: BLACK.
CUT TO:
EXT. SPACE
The GLOBAL ENDEAVOR, slightly burned, moves slowly through space. It isn?t supposed to be gliding.
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
The only sound is a faint humming coming from the engines and fans. GABRIEL lies unconscious against the wall.
His eyes open. Panicky, he gets up and looks around. There is nothing. JULIA is gone.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
22
GABRIEL storms into the bridge. It is quiet. He walks over to the main console and starts typing.
Nothing happens.
He takes off down a corridor.
INT. LAB CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
The LAB CORRIDOR is just like the QUARTER?S CORRIDOR, with doors on either side.
GABRIEL walks up to one of the doors and pulls it open.
PULL BACK: GABRIEL snaps up as we see through the doorframe…
In the room is a LAB TABLE in the middle with several cabinets and counters surrounding it. And working at the table, looking through notes, is ROUGERE.
He doesn?t notice GABRIEL at first.
GABRIEL takes a step inside, just a step.
INT. ROUGERE?S LAB, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL stares, almost like he doesn?t believe that he is alive. ROUGERE hums as he flips through a notebook.
GABRIEL
David?
ROUGERE looks up and smiles. He holds out his arms.
ROUGERE
Gabriel, my friend! I haven?t
seen you in ages.
There is a long pause. GABRIEL just stares heavily.
ROUGERE smiles.
ROUGERE
What is wrong? You seem lost.
GABRIEL
(low)
What happened here?
ROUGERE looks confused.
ROUGERE
What? What is it?
GABRIEL
23
Haven?t you noticed that
you?re the only one here?
ROUGERE
(confused)
Am I? Well I?m afraid I can?t
answer you on that one.
GABRIEL moves closer.
GABRIEL
Aren?t you even curious why
I?m here?
There is a very long beat. ROUGERE sighs. He sits back and
CHUCKLES.
ROUGERE
I was waiting for you to ask
that question.
GABRIEL
Did you know I was coming?
ROUGERE laughs again.
ROUGERE
It seems I know a lot of
things these days.
He gets up and walks over to the SINK. He turns on the
faucet and begins washing his hands.
GABRIEL simply follows him with his eyes.
ROUGERE
Let me guess; you are
wondering why I seem so calm
that everyone is gone, even
your two crewmates, and me
and you are having this
conversation.
A beat.
GABRIEL
Yes.
ROUGERE
Well, the answer you?re
looking for-
24
He walks back over and lifts himself up onto the LAB TABLE.
He sits on the edge.
ROUGERE (CON?T)
-lies within the innermost
layers of everything you?ve
ever known.
A long beat.
GABRIEL
What does that mean?
ROUGERE sighs. His voice becomes lower, more mysterious.
ROUGERE
It means, that as soon as you
can see, you can see the
truth.
GABRIEL
What is the truth?
ROUGERE finally stops smiling. He leans forward and
whispers.
ROUGERE
(whisper)
Eventually, we all learn to
avoid acceptance, of the
reality we are presented with.
ROUGERE smiles.
GABRIEL suddenly breathes deep, and then…
ABRUPTLY, we are WHISKED away from seeing ROUGERE smiling,
to GABRIEL, his eyes closed.
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
It was a dream.
GABRIEL still lies against the wall, his eyes closed.
JULIA is down on her haunches; GABRIEL?S chin rests in her
palm. She speaks gently.
JULIA
Are you alright?
He looks around, confused.
GABRIEL
What happened?
25
Before she can speak, the lights flash back on to full capacity. GABRIEL shields his eyes. They both stand up and look around.
JULIA
Something hit us.
GABRIEL
What?
JULIA
I don?t know.
A beat.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
It is deserted. TOMMY is gone.
JULIA and GABRIEL rush into the room. They look around. JULIA checks around the outside of the room, GABRIEL goes to the MAIN CONSOLE.
After rigorous typing, we see in his face he isn?t satisfied. He HITS the console and grits his teeth.
GABRIEL
(to self)
Damned machine.
JULIA approaches him.
JULIA
I can?t find Tommy.
GABRIEL shifts his eyes.
INT. DOCKING CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL and JULIA come running around the corner. They stop on a dime when they see TOMMY, staring through the GLASS DOOR at the OPEN CIRCULAR DOOR on the other side.
There appears to be nothing but space beyond it.
TOMMY?S face is one of lost.
A long beat.
GABRIEL
Thomas?
There is another long beat. TOMMY speaks without ever turning around or taking his eyes off the OPEN CIRCULAR DOOR.
TOMMY
26
Whatever hit us-
(a beat)
-knocked the shuttle off its
lock.
JULIA?S eyes widen with silent panic. GABRIEL doesn?t
appear to react, as usual.
TOMMY (CON?T)
It pushed us out of orbit.
A beat.
TOMMY (CON?T)
We?re slowly moving away from
Earth.
GABRIEL
How slowly?
TOMMY
Few hundred miles per hour? A
thousand?
FOCUS ON:
JULIA, her eyes growing with despair, clutches GABRIEL?S
hand. He notices and looks down. He says nothing.
TOMMY (CON?T)
Does it matter? It?ll take
days for them to send
another rescue team-
( beat)
-we?ll be gone by then.
GABRIEL
You don?t know that.
TOMMY
Tell that to the nine people
we came here to save.
The words hang in the air like breathe on a moist day.
TOMMY lets out a deep sigh.
TOMMY
I think it was a meteor.
GABRIEL
The Endeavor?s fragile; a
meteor would have ripped the
hull and caused an implosion.
TOMMY
Then what was it then?
27
Long beat.
GABRIEL
I don?t know.
(after a beat)
I do know that the only thing
science can?t explain is
coincidence. A solar flare,
possibly.
He fumbles through his words.
GABRIEL (CON?T)
Energy from the sun released
in mass rather than in
segments, slingshots around
Earth and hits us.
There is a very long beat.
TOMMY chuckles a bit.
TOMMY
Sounds to me like there are
two things science can?t
explain.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
TOMMY, JULIA, and GABRIEL enter.
TOMMY rushes over to the computer. He messes with dials.
GABRIEL and JULIA look down at the ELECTRIC SCREEN.
He TAPS it. There appears to be an enormous SPIKE in the
middle of a straight line.
TOMMY
That?s where it hit us.
JULIA
What?s that spike mean?
TOMMY
That…is where the Endeavor
sucked up energy at about
eight times capacity. Which
is funny…
His voice trickles. JULIA and GABRIEL cast confused looks.
TOMMY types vigorously.
TOMMY
Wait a minute, this doesn?t
make sense.
JULIA
28
What doesn?t?
A beat.
TOMMY
We used up more energy in
that collision than we even
have. It doesn?t make sense.
GABRIEL, after a brief silence.
GABRIEL
Solar flares contain billions
of amperes of energy, which
the ship could?ve converted
into electrical energy.
TOMMY
How?
GABRIEL remains silent. He crosses his arms and SIGHS.
GABRIEL
I don?t know.
INT. KITCHEN, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR-SPACE
It is set up more like a tiny cafeteria rather than a kitchen. There are THREE SMALL TABLES, and some VENDING MACHINES, along with PACKETS of sugar in the middle of each table.
Enter GABRIEL, JULIA, and TOMMY.
They flick on the lights and search the place. They start searching through cabinets and drawers.
TOMMY
(preoccupied)
Long as we?re here, might as
well stay healthy until they
send a rescue team.
GABRIEL, while looking through a cabinet, gives a disbelieving GRUNT. TOMMY offers a look.
JULIA opens what seems like a FREEZER. It is empty. She gives a curious stare.
TOMMY is going through some cabinets, violently pulling out pots and pans and throwing them on the floor. His expression is one of frustration.
TOMMY
Nothing.
29
GABRIEL walks over to one of the vending machines. You do not have to pay. He simply presses a button and a CHOCOLATE BAR falls out.
JULIA and TOMMY approach.
JULIA
(sighs)
Well, I don?t know how
healthy we?ll be on M&Ms and
Snickers, but food will keep
our brains nourished, keep us
sane.
LATER.
They are all sitting around one of the tables. There are potato chip bags, soda cans, and sugar packets lying around.
It is quiet.
TOMMY is sitting back in his chair picking his teeth. He stares at GABRIEL, whose eyes peer out a nearby window into the stars.
TOMMY
Someone tried talking to me.
All eyes turn to him.
TOMMY
On the computer, before we
were hit. It asks me all
these questions,
philosophical mumbo-jumbo, it
didn?t make a lot of sense.
The atmosphere cringes. There is a silence.
TOMMY
It told me it was God.
The words hang in the air for what seems like the longest time. JULIA casts a looks to GABRIEL.
FOCUS ON:
She gently places her hand over his.
GABRIEL pulls it away and sighs.
GABRIEL
It was Nemo. When we designed
the Endeavor, we included an
on board personality
simulator, to keep astronauts
30
busy when they weren?t
working.
JULIA
Well, yeah, long-term induced
isolation will cause anyone
to lose a marble or two, not
something you want happening
in the most fragile
environment imaginable.
A pause. The conversation RESETS.
TOMMY
So…Dr. Gabriel Williamson.
GABRIEL turns to him.
TOMMY
What do you do these days?
He cups his hands and leans forward. JULIA listens intently.
GABRIEL
I?m currently continuing
research on what?s known
around the scientific
community as the Brane Theory.
TOMMY
Brains?
GABRIEL
Yes, but, not in the
traditional sense. Brane as
in short for membrane.
JULIA
So what is the brane theory?
GABRIEL
It?s complicated.
TOMMY
Try us.
GABRIEL sits back and sighs as he tries to think of a way
to explain. He finally picks up a handful of sugar packets
and begins ALIGNING them next to each other, making a
SQUARE MOSAIC of pink sugar packets.
He talks as he works.
31
GABRIEL
(preoccupied)
Let?s say, each of these
sweet and lows, is a universe.
TOMMY interrupts.
TOMMY
Each one is a universe?
GABRIEL chuckles.
GABRIEL
Well, in order to propose the
brane theory than it?s
necessary to accept the
possibility that there may
exist more than one reality;
existing on a super or
subatomic scale.
TOMMY lets out another laugh. JULIA, at least, seems
intrigued.
GABRIEL (CON?T)
Anyway, there is an infinite
number of these sub universes,
one is created when an event
with more than one possible
outcome takes place within
one universe, therefore the
result of alternate outcomes
physically manifest itself
with in a separate universes.
TOMMY
Can you slow down? Just a
little bit.
He squeezes his thumb and forefinger together.
GABRIEL sighs and points back to the sugar packets.
GABRIEL (CON?T)
Anyway, the theory is, each
universe, ours, the infinite
number of others, is
encapsulated by an enormous
membrane of energy.
JULIA
Like medicine in a pill?
GABRIEL
32
Exactly, a semi-permeable
brane that acts as a
partition between universes.
And-
(a beat)
-there is only one proven
form of matter that can pass
through these membranes-
(lowers voice)
-that can actually travel
between universes.
There is a long silence. TOMMY has stopped laughing, he now
(almost comically) is leaning forward on the table,
obviously stimulated.
TOMMY
What is it?
GABRIEL
The graviton. In 2005, Fermi
lab institute created a
collision between two
hydrogen atoms so precise and
exact, that it created a
graviton. And-
(he smiles)
-we actually witnessed, a
graviton travel to another
universe.
(a long beat)
There is, one other material
that, according to Dr.
Rougere, may be able to
travel through the branes,
but it?s not-
He stops abruptly. It is like he suddenly remembers
something. His eyes widen.
GABRIEL
Rougere!
INT. ROUGERE?S LAB, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
The door opens and GABRIEL barges in.
He looks around frantically.
It is empty.
TOMMY and JULIA walk in behind him. They both look around
as well. JULIA approaches GABRIEL, whose eyes remain
fixated on scanning the room.
JULIA
(softly)
33
Gabriel, I already checked.
There?s nothing.
GABRIEL walks over to where ROUGERE was sitting in his dream.
GABRIEL
No, no! It…he, was right here.
I saw him, he talked to me, I,
I…communicated with him.
JULIA
Gabriel, it was a dream.
GABRIEL wipes the sweat form his forehead and leans against the LAB TABLE. He whispers to himself.
GABRIEL
It didn?t feel like a dream.
Long beat.
TOMMY dashes over to a few drawers and starts going through them, sorting through papers and such.
TOMMY
(preoccupied)
Maybe we can find some notes
or something, you know, find
out what happened.
JULIA
That?s a good idea.
TOMMY continues searching. JULIA passes by the motionless GABRIEL and touches his cheek.
JULIA
(very softly)
Gabriel…
Her voice tapers off into nothingness as she walks away and begins rummaging the lab.
TOMMY, in a corner of the room isolated from the other room, looks through various papers in a drawer. Through the messy clump of cluttery papers, he finds a FOLDED NOTE.
Suspiciously, he looks around to make sure nobody is looking. He unfolds the note.
FOCUS ON:
On the note, the words “I HAVE SEEN” is written in marker.
GABRIEL opens a cabinet in the corner and finds a SMALL, POCKET-SIZED TAPE RECORDER/PLAYER inside. He takes it out
34
and examines it. He then stuffs it into the interior pocket of his JUMPSUIT.
OVER BY JULIA, she is going through a TALL METAL CLOSET. Inside is a lab coat and several laboratory-affiliated accessories, like goggles and gloves. She then notices something: there is a very large space between the back of the CLOSET and the WALL.
She winces to peer behind the metal closet and GASPS.
MOMENTS LATER.
JULIA is standing a few feet from the METAL CLOSET. GABRIEL and TOMMY are working on pushing it. After a few beats, they manage to maneuver the heavy furniture over far enough to reveal what was behind it.
It is a DOOR. A large, metal, unmarked door. There appears to be no code panel, finger-print scanner, or retina detector to get in, just an OLD-FASHIONED KEY CARD SLOT next to it.
TOMMY
It?s a door.
JULIA
To what?
GABRIEL walks to the door and places his hand upon it.
GABRIEL
It?s warm.
JULIA
Where?s it go?
GABRIEL
I was wondering why Rougere?s
lab looked so small. This
leads to the big part.
TOMMY
What?s inside?
GABRIEL
I don?t know. Suffice to say,
I have no idea why he would
block access.
There is a long silence. GABRIEL looks at his other two crew members.
GABRIEL
How long have we been up?
JULIA glances at her watch.
35
JULIA
(preoccupied)
If you got up at eight,
yesterday, you?ve been up
twenty-six hours.
Long beat.
GABRIEL
We should sleep.
TOMMY
Sleep? We?ve got nine people
missing who for all we know
could be walking around with
knives, and are moving away
from home, without a shuttle,
and you expect us to sleep.
GABRIEL
Sleeping keeps you sane.
JULIA
He?s right, our brains need
rest in order to function
properly, and right now isn?t
exactly the right time to be
running on fumes.
GABRIEL moves toward the exit.
GABRIEL
We?ll sleep for six hours.
We?ll continue working on
getting home then.
TOMMY and JULIA look at each other.
TOMMY
You know-
( beat)
-I don?t think I?m tired.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—LATER—SPACE
It is later. Much later. This is evident by the look of
exhaustion labeled upon GABRIEL?S face a he sits at the
main console, his eyes hinging between bare lucidity and
sleep.
He is alone.
JULIA enters and approaches slowly.
JULIA
Gabriel…
36
Her voice is soft, but just loud enough to startle him.
GABRIEL
I thought you were sleeping.
JULIA
I thought you were.
She sits in a chair next to him.
JULIA
Tommy?s not sleeping, either.
GABRIEL begins typing, if only to keep his eyes off JULIA.
GABRIEL
(preoccupied)
How can anyone sleep? How can
anyone think or do anything
else in this situation.
JULIA
You can think about lots of
things.
(a beat)
That?s why God gave us
memories.
GABRIEL
How can you say that?
JULIA
It?s just the way things are.
GABRIEL
No, that is not the way
things are. The way things
are, is that no matter how
much you hope, how much you
pray, how much you visit the
god damn churches-
A beat.
He stares at JULIA while tears develop.
GABRIEL
It always ends the same way…
His voice tapers off into space as he turns away. He cries.
JULIA
You?re not the only person
who?s had troubles. You know?
You?re not the only person in
37
this universe who lost
somebody. There are people
out there, believe it or not,
who are worse off, who?ve
lost more.
GABRIEL stops crying. He looks at her. She at him.
She reaches down her shirt and pulls out a CROSS NECKLACE. She squeezes it, then shows it at him.
JULIA
And they still keep faith.
(a beat)
It?s what keeps people going.
She stands up and leans by his ear.
JULIA
(whisper)
That?s why you?re still here.
She walks away.
GABRIEL HITS the console as he lets out even more tears that he was hiding before. He finally rests his head upon the console.
After a few beats, the TRANSLUCENT SCREEN on the WINDOW lights up. It goes through a succession of electronic pulses before we see:
“GABRIEL…”
GABRIEL notices the electric white letters slowly. He SIGHS.
GABRIEL
Nemo, off!
At GABRIEL?S command, the light quickly dims.
GABRIEL leans back and rests his eyes, when suddenly, the SCREEN LIGHTS UP AGAIN.
White letters:
“GABRIEL…”
GABRIEL sighs again.
GABRIEL
I said, Nemo off!
Nemo:
38
“WHY?”
GABRIEL casts a confused look.
GABRIEL
Why am I being questioned by
a computer? Nemo, off!
Nemo:
“A COMPUTER?”
GABRIEL chuckles. He gets up and turns.
GABRIEL
(preoccupied)
I don?t have time for this.
Nemo:
“WHY IS IT THAT YOU BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOUR MIND TELLS YOU?”
GABRIEL turns back around and looks at the monitor.
GABRIEL
What?s that mean?
On cue, the LIGHT DIMS, Nemo turns off.
After a few beats, GABRIEL slaps his head, a look of a man who think he has just hallucinated.
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. GABRIEL?S ROOM, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
The first thing we see is the SHEETS being violently ripped off the bed. GABRIEL then takes them and throws them in a nearby TRASH CAN. He continues to produce a NEW SHEET from underneath the bed and gently fits it over the mattress. All of this happens in a maximum of thirty seconds.
He then pulls off his jumpsuit, revealing a set of black khakis and white t-shirt underneath.
OVER AT THE SINK, he washes his face in the running water. He stares at himself at the MIRROR overlooking him as he wipes his face dry with a nearby cloth.
Then, he suddenly WINCES IN PAIN and grabs the area over his heart. He pulls his shirt off and stands erect in the mirror.
There, we can clearly see a LARGE CUT near his heart. It is about two inches long and still slightly moist. GABRIEL pats it and WINCES.
39
SMASH CUT TO:
Moments later, GABRIEL is dabbing PEROXIDE onto a COTTON BALL.
He then, slowly, progresses it towards the wound. As it hits his flesh he lets out a loud YELP of pain and immediately begins gasping.
We see in his face that the pain is unbearable.
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL, shirtless and clutching his wound, walks down the hall. He stops at ONE ROOM and slowly cracks the door open. He stares inside.
P.O.V. GABRIEL: It is dark. JULIA sleeps soundly under the covers, only her head exposed. She looks about as peaceful as you can get.
GABRIEL slowly enters.
INT. JULIA?S ROOM, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL approaches slowly.
He stares at her lying peacefully, like an angel. He reaches down and pets her hair. His wound suddenly begins feeling better, as is seen in his facial expression, turning from grim to calm.
He WHISPERS.
GABRIEL
(whisper)
You were right.
(a very, very long beat)
It is while I?m still here.
He smiles.
EXT. SPACE
Peaceful shot.
Earth seems so close, yet so far. The GLOBAL ENDEAVOR?S CIRCULAR RING still spins around the TOWER, but it appears to be MOVING through the vacuum of space as well.
IN THE CORNER OF OUR EYE, we see a TWINKLING, PULSATING BLUE LIGHT. Is it POLARIS (NORTH STAR), or is it something else?
FADE TO: BLACK
40
FROM BLACK, we hear something. It is a familiar sound, the sound of dining…it hits us: it is the sound of the restaurant, from the beginning.
FADE IN TO:
INT. FANCY RESTAURANT, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
We hear people everywhere, chatting, having a good time, but we do not see them. We just see ROUGERE and GABRIEL, sitting alone at the table. They are eating, laughing, and for the first time ever, we see GABRIEL appear to be truly happy; a smile is draped across his face as he scarfs down pasta.
ROUGERE
Well, suffice to say, I asked
the governor for a refund.
They both laugh.
GABRIEL lifts his wine glass for a sip.
FOCUS ON:
We see that there is NO WEDDING RING on GABRIEL?S finger.
ROUGERE takes a bite of bread and continues.
ROUGERE
There are still, a few
questions that are still left,
burning the end of my
synapses.
GABRIEL
What?s that?
The mood dims. ROUGERE sits back and crosses his arms.
ROUGERE
While conducting research, I
noticed that more people die
in their sleep than almost
any other cause of death. No
diagnosis, no cause, just,
slipped into lifelessness.
Why?
GABRIEL sits for a bit, pondering the question as well.
GABRIEL
Well, there goes your
„everything happens for a
reason? theory.
GABRIEL chuckles and goes back to eating. ROUGERE sits quietly. The mood intensifies.
41
ROUGERE
How?s your pasta?
GABRIEL slurps up a string of pasta and wipes his mouth. H
nods.
GABRIEL
It?s good.
ROUGERE
How can you tell?
He looks around curiously and chuckles a bit.
GABRIEL
What does that have to do
with anything?
ROUGERE
Everything.
ROUGERE takes a sip of wine and SIGHS deeply. GABRIEL puts
down his fork.
ROUGERE
Isn?t it curious, how a
simply conscious thought can
so easily fool the inner
workings of the mind?
GABRIEL becomes intrigued.
ROUGERE
How a subconscious thought
can turn into a physical
manifestation, or in this
case a sensation, one like
taste. It?s like, have you
ever woken up from a dream,
while feeling yourself
falling? When you finally
open your eyes, you get this
sudden rush of nerves and
adrenaline, that keeps you up
the rest of the night?
There is a very long beat. ROUGERE takes another sip of
wine, while GABRIEL simply stares.
ROUGERE
It?s just, how can a simple
subconscious image, no matter
how farfetched or impossible-
(a beat)
-can seem so real?
(another beat)
42
I believe that we may be
missing an enormous piece of
this mosaic Gabriel.
ROUGERE leans forward and whispers. GABRIEL listens intently.
ROUGERE
(loud whisper)
Don?t you find it the least
bit strange that you can go
from being stranded in space,
to sitting here shooting the
breeze with one of your old
pals, eating fettuccini in
Paris?
ROUGERE bursts into laughter. Not casual laughter, but the laugh of a madman.
GABRIEL?S eyes wonder, as he suddenly realizes he?s been dreaming.
ROUGERE continues laughing while he starts eating his own plate of pasta.
ROUGERE
By the way, I left piece of
your puzzle in the bottom
drawer. You?ll know where to
look.
CUT TO:
INT. GABRIEL?S ROOM, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL wakes up suddenly and ROLLS off the bed onto the floor. He lands with a thud, and suddenly WINCES in pain. He lifts up his arm to see:
FOCUS ON:
There is a large CUT, similar to the one on his chest, except draped across the bottom of his arm. It is moist and bleeding.
MOMENTS LATER. He is going through the DRAWERS of a nearby dresser.
He reaches the bottom drawer.
Inside is a ruffle of clothing. He digs through them until he finds a BIBLE. It is beautiful, with a gold border and black suede covering.
43
He clasped the bible and sits down on the bed. When he opens the bible, something FALLS OUT. A KEY CARD lands on the floor, looking much like a thick credit card.
GABRIEL picks it up and examines it.
He then flips through the BIBLE. We immediately notice that every page is BLANK. There are no hymns, no scriptures, nothing but pure white blank pages.
Confused, GABRIEL flips the book over and examines the back. There is a GOLD ENGRAVING that reads “DR. DAVID ROUGERE.”
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
It is quiet.
JULIA walks down the hallway, when we hear a VOICE. It is ROUGERE?S VOICE.
She stops on a dime and listens intently; we can clearly hear the voice of Doctor DAVID ROUGERE!
ROUGERE (V.O.)
We do not know exactly what
we?re looking for-
(a beat)
-of course, it?s hard to
explain without a base.
Without a solid foundation.
We have nothing to work on,
and as usual, our ideas are
dismissed as quickly as a bad
dream.
JULIA looks around curiously.
JULIA
Doctor Rougere?
She looks down the hall, towards GABRIEL?S ROOM.
INT. GABRIEL?S ROOM, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL sits on the edge of the bed, sweating profusely, his eyes wondering. On the NIGHTSTAND is the TAPE RECORDER he took from ROUGERE?S lab.
ROUGERE?S VOICE ushers from it.
ROUGERE (V.O.)
We ask not to force this
harsh reality upon the modern
people, of this world, but
request only tolerance, at
the possibility of its
existence. Doctor David
44
Rougere, the Global Endeavor,
April 6, 2011.
The TAPE abruptly cuts off as JULIA walks into the room.
She stares at GABRIEL and the TAPE RECORDER.
GABRIEL
(distant)
I found it in his lab, when
we were looking through it
earlier.
(a beat)
He hasn?t told me anything I
don?t already know.
JULIA finally breaks her own silence.
JULIA
Tommy?s missing.
GABRIEL
Missing?
JULIA
Yes.
(beat)
I checked his room, the
kitchen, bridge, he?s gone.
GABRIEL doesn?t seem too phased.
GABRIEL
It?s a small ship…where could
he go?
He lets out a SIGH and whispers to himself.
GABRIEL
(whisper, to self)
Where could nine people go?
JULIA looks down at the BLANK BIBLE.
JULIA
What?s that?
GABRIEL
I found it in Rougere?s
drawers. Why would he have a
book like this?
There is a long beat.
JULIA
Maybe he wanted to write his
own story.
45
GABRIEL looks up at her.
INT. ROUGERE?S LAB, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
The door bursts open, like before, and GABRIEL comes rushing in, sporting his black khakis and an undershirt. He is carrying something. JULIA comes in behind him, seemingly chasing him.
JULIA
What are we doing?
GABRIEL starts towards the LOCKED DOOR.
GABRIEL
I found it in the book.
He stops at the door and SWIPES the KEY CARD through the slot. A series of GREEN LIGHTS light up on the key card slot, followed by a succession of electronic beeps.
The door opens, sliding into the wall.
GABRIEL and JULIA both stand back and watch.
JULIA
Should we go in?
GABRIEL doesn?t answer; he simply steps into the darkness
past the door. JULIA, hesitantly, follows.
INT. MAP ROOM, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
This is the MAP ROOM, and we will see why in a moment.
Inside, it is dark, darker than any other room on the ship. It is also empty, no furniture, just four solid walls and a switch on the wall.
When GABRIEL and JULIA enter, the door closes behind them. They look for a moment at the closed door, then continue to explore.
There is nothing.
JULIA
What is this place?
GABRIEL
(preoccupied, looking)
Rougere?s lab. The part he
hid from the world.
JULIA
Was this what you two were
working on?
46
GABRIEL hesitates, he looks around and smiles.
GABRIEL
No, no, this is different,
this is, this is something,
something else.
JULIA
Well what is it?
GABRIEL walks over to the panel by the closed door and presses a few buttons.
JULIA
(over shoulder)
Gabriel. Gabriel, what is it?
The room suddenly darkens, even darker than before, into nothing but PITCH BLACK.
JULIA?S voice is full of fear.
JULIA
What just happened.
GABRIEL
Sshhh!
A few moments later, we see something. It is a LIGHT, a little blue light, smack dab in the center of the room, in the shape of a 3-Dimensional ORB. We can see JULIA and GABRIEL standing in the room, by the light.
JULIA leans over to get a better look at the rotating sphere.
FOCUS ON:
It is Earth. A small, blue, insignificant sphere of blue light.
JULIA
Gabriel, I think it?s Earth.
Another SPHERE OF LIGHT POPS up, a WHITE ONE, not even a tenth the size of Earth. It is the moon. Then Mars, then Mercury, Venus, and all the other planets of our solar system, all rotating in a perfect orbit around nothingness. Then, the sun. It grows from a tiny spec in the middle, into an enormous yellow light that seems to take up the entire room.
After a few beats, all the planets shrink, and eventually, it is a galaxy, followed by the creation of more tiny
47
galaxies, hundreds, thousands, then, each of them tiny specs, possibly millions.
All of these specs, each with their own tiny collection of solar systems, spin beautifully, no bigger than grains of sand, around the room.
GABRIEL
It?s a map.
JULIA
Of what?
GABRIEL
Of everything.
(a beat, he smiles)
It?s a map of the universe.
GABRIEL starts pointing out galaxies, like an astronomer at the planetarium.
GABRIEL
There?s andromeda, our
universe, the milky way.
Every time he speaks the name of a universe, it lights up in a brilliant red.
JULIA cups a universe, and discovers her hand goes right through it.
JULIA
Holograms?
GABRIEL
Yes.
JULIA
It must?ve taken a lifetime
to program this. Billions
upon billions of stars,
planets, galaxies. How could
he build a map of the
universe if we?ve never seen
the whole universe?
There is a beat. GABRIEL isn?t paying much attention to her, he is embraced by the magnificence of the UNIVERSAL MAP.
GABRIEL
Maybe-
(a beat)
-there?s one other thing
Rougere theorized could
travel through the barrier
between universes.
48
JULIA
Which was?
Before he can answer, the room suddenly goes dark again. All the tiny galaxies abruptly dissipate, leaving only darkness in the room.
Then, another light, this one different from the planets. They are letters. Holographically projected letters simply hanging in the air.
They read:
“HELLO”
JULIA grabs hold of GABRIEL, he clutches her as well. GABRIEL breaks the silence.
GABRIEL
Nemo?
The words shift:
“WHY DO YOU SAY THAT?”
GABRIEL
It?s what you are, aren?t you?
New words:
“IS THAT WHAT YOUR MIND IS TELLING YOU?”
There is a long beat. The hanging letters seem to last hours, if really only seconds.
GABRIEL
Yes.
JULIA buries herself into GABRIEL?S chest like a baby, only her eyes beak at the heavenly electric words:
“WHAT DOES YOUR CONSCIOUS TELL YOU?”
A beat.
GABRIEL
Are you God?
The words disappear.
New ones reappear:
“ALL IS CLEAR WHEN ONE CAN SEE.”
These words disintegrate.
GABRIEL
49
What does that mean?
Nothing.
The lights come back on and the DOOR opens.
GABRIEL looks around, frustrated. He yells, an almost subtle anger in his voice.
GABRIEL
What does that mean!
GABRIEL and JULIA embrace in silence for what seems like eternity.
INT. GABRIEL?S ROOM, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
Silence.
GABRIEL is flipping through the BLANK BIBLE, a PEN gripped in his fist. We see that many of the pages have been filled out with sloppy, cursive writing.
He finds a blank page and vigorously begins writing. He sweats profusely as he works, his breaths becoming short, his eyes fiery.
He then stops, and looks up.
P.O.V. GABRIEL: Out the window, we see the beautiful silhouette of a distant Earth.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
MOMENTS LATER, deserted.
GABRIEL enters and stands in front of the main console, staring hypnotically out the window.
P.O.V. GABRIEL, FROM BEHIND: Earth, mysteriously, is much closer. The North American continent clearly visible, a blue aura surrounding it.
A smile develops, GABRIEL stares. He reaches out and touches the glass.
The mood is dim, poetic.
GABRIEL cries.
Suddenly, WORDS appear on the WINDOW SCREEN”
“DO YOU MISS IT?”
GABRIEL
(whisper)
Yes.
50
There is nothing but silence. The words disintegrate into nothing. GABRIEL closes his eyes and starts, apparently, talking to Nemo, all the while his eyes never leaving the Earth.
GABRIEL
When I was young, my, uh, my
parents, they didn?t live
long after I was born. My
foster mother used to tell me
that the stars leave no one
alone, that, that no matter
what happens, they?ll always
be there, always shining,
always watching.
(a beat)
Are they still watching?
Silence. No answer.
GABRIEL opens his eyes, to see that EARTH is no longer closer. It is much further away. He retracts his hand from the glass and looks around.
Nothing.
CUT TO:
INT. BATHROOM, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL slams open a MEDICINE CABINET. Inside, his hands scan for medicine bottles. He picks up a bottle marked EXCEDRIN, then a bottle of liquid NYQUIL.
He turns on the faucet over the sink and splashes his face with water, then takes the bottle of NyQuil, opens it, and CHUGS the entire bottle down in one enormous guzzle.
Brutally, he hurtles the empty NyQuil bottle into the bathtub, then turns to the bottle of Excedrin pills. Frustrated in his semi-drunken state, he fights and GRUNTS to open the child-proof bottle.
He yells.
GABRIEL
God damn it! God damn it!
JULIA appears in the doorframe.
GABRIEL falls to the ground and leans his back against the cabinet and THROWS the Excedrin bottle against the wall, smashing it; pills rain down.
GABRIEL sets his head back.
51
He is a broken man, a man at the end of his rope.
JULIA quickly wets a WASHCLOTHE and leans down, patting GABRIEL?S head.
They sit through a few seconds of silence, before…
GABRIEL
We?re going to die here.
The words suspend in the air.
GABRIEL starts laughing.
JULIA
I know.
GABRIEL grabs her hand and kisses it.
INT. CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
We see the BATHROOM DOOR, slightly ajar, slowly close.
FADE TO: BLACK.
CUT TO:
EXT. SPACE
The GLOBAL ENDEAVOR spins majestically, hypnotically. It is not a machine, a ship, or a prop.
It is a character.
INT. GABRIEL?S ROOM, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
Silence.
JULIA is asleep on the bed.
GABRIEL stands by the sink, staring at himself in the mirror. He is silent. The tone is dark, tense. His eyes are fiery, his breaths deep, and his skin moist.
Behind him, out of the corner of our eye, Earth rotates, thousands of miles away.
FOCUS ON:
He rips the WEDDING RING off his finger and lets it fall down the sink drain.
GABRIEL asks himself I the mirror:
GABRIEL
Get out.
(a beat)
52
Please.
In an instant burst of rage, GABRIEL PUNCHES the mirror, shattering it into a thousand pieces in the sink.
JULIA wakes up and jumps from the bed.
GABRIEL pulls back his hand, it is bleeding, but only slightly.
JULIA
Gabriel!
GABRIEL
I?m fine.
JULIA grabs his hand and pats it with a nearby cloth.
JULIA
Let me help you.
He RIPS his hand away.
GABRIEL
I?m fine!
He turns and stares out the window. JULIA places her hand on his shoulder.
A NOISE, a loud, banging sound from down the corridor, coming from the bridge, bangs in our ears. Both of them turn to the door, outside, a strange, rustling sound is heard.
MOMENTS LATER.
GABRIEL slips on a shirt. JULIA sits on the bed.
JULIA
Why can?t I go?
GABRIEL
(preoccupied)
Because I said so.
JULIA
And why is that?
GABRIEL
I?m not arguing with you.
JULIA
Then let me go.
GABRIEL turns to her. He rests his hands on her shoulders.
53
GABRIEL
I?m not letting anyone go.
(a beat)
Not anymore.
They kiss.
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
LATER.
GABRIEL, alone, walks down the corridor. The strange rustling sound seems to be coming from the bridge.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIE enters.
Silence.
He looks around and sees nothing.
We hear TOMMY?S VOICE.
TOMMY (O.S.)
Did you enjoy it?
GABRIEL turns to see TOMMY sitting in the main chair, staring out the LARGE WINDOW. He is covered in shadow, we see only his back. GABRIEL stands behind him.
GABRIEL
Tommy?
TOMMY
I?ll ask you again, did you
enjoy it?
GABRIEL nears. His voice shaky.
GABRIEL
Where were you?
He may sound like TOMMY, and look like TOMMY, but something about his dark, mysterious, almost sinister tone, indicates it is not. That is something else, something malevolent.
His voice heightens.
TOMMY
Did you enjoy fucking her?
Silence. Awkwardness fills the atmosphere.
TOMMY starts LAUGHING; we still cannot see his face.
54
TOMMY
I?m kidding, man. Besides, your wife?s dead, right? No harm no foul, right? Hey, you know what? I?m proud of you; you finally let the past be the past, that?s a big step.
GABRIEL doesn?t answer.
A beat.
TOMMY
Ah, hell, you know just as well as I do right? Women, had a few, myself, lost a few.
TOMMY laughs again.
GABRIEL
Thomas?
TOMMY laughs again and hugs the sky.
TOMMY
It talks! I wasn?t sure you were even there for a second, thought I was talking to myself.
(a beat)
You know what it?s like to talk to yourself, right?
GABRIEL
Yes.
TOMMY
I guess you know what it?s like to throw your wedding ring away, too, huh? You could of fetched about fifty bucks for that thing on eBay, buy yourself a nice steak dinner.
(a beat)
Or some fettuccini.
A beat.
GABRIEL takes a step closer, only a step.
TOMMY
Oh-
(snaps fingers)
-by the way, I found some stiffs for you.
55
GABRIEL
(quiet)
Stiffs, Thomas?
TOMMY
Thomas? I think my mom called
me Thomas. I don?t like
Thomas, honestly. Sounds too,
fancy-ish.
(a beat)
Oh, right, stiffs! Um, bodies,
yeah, I found some bodies, in
the storage room, where they
hold all the oxygen tanks are.
A beat.
GABRIEL?S voice shakes, his breaths shorten.
GABRIEL
Who?s?
TOMMY
Geez, I don?t know. Black
guy, woman, a fat dude.
Eight of them, I think.
A beat.
GABRIEL
Rougere?
TOMMY
Nope. Not that I looked or
anything. I just didn?t see
anyone who looked French.
TOMMY sighs and leans back in the chair.
After a few moments of silence:
GABRIEL
Tommy? Tommy?
He reaches over and spins the chair around.
His eyes widen. We don?t see what?s in the chair.
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
The door to GABRIEL?S ROOM opens. JULIA walks out and
starts down the corridor.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
56
JULIA enters. She gasped as she sees GABRIEL, sitting on the MAIN CONSOLE, a few meters from the CORPSE OF TOMMY, SITTING IN THE CHAIR, HIS THROAT SLASHED, HIS EYES STARING OFF INTO THE DISTANCE.
FOCUS ON:
He is grasping a BLOODY STEAK KNIFE in his dead hand.
JULIA
What happened?
GABRIEL
You?re the doctor.
JULIA moves closer. She reaches her hand out to touch TOMMY?S CORPSE.
GABRIEL
I wouldn?t do that?
JULIA
I?m a doctor.
GABRIEL sighs.
JULIA touches TOMMY?S chest, around his heart, when suddenly, he TWITCHES.
JULIA screams and takes off down the corridor. We hear a DOOR SLAM in the background.
GABRIEL sighs.
INT. QUARTERS CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL leans against the door to his room. It appears to be locked. He KNOCKS.
GABRIEL
Julia! Julia!
JULIA?S voice is muffled, coming from the other side of the door.
JULIA (O.S.)
I?m not coming out!
GABRIEL elaborates.
GABRIEL
Julia! He may have been dead
but his nerves were still
firing. The sudden stoppage
of heart rate, can cause-
(a beat, his voice lowers)
57
-erratic undulating of the
muscles.
JULIA (O.S.)
I know that, Gabriel!
GABRIEL
So what?s the matter, then?!
A beat.
The door CLICKS open. JULIA peaks out through the crack, tears running down her face.
JULIA
When I saw him lying there,
lifeless, dead, I couldn?t
help but think, but think-
(a beat)
-that might be me.
They embrace. She cries on his shoulder.
GABRIEL
I?m not going to let that
happen.
A long beat.
GABRIEL
I promise.
CUT TO:
INT. CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
Empty. Deserted.
CUT TO:
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
Also empty. Quiet.
CUT TO:
INT. KITCHEN, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
Silence.
There are empty sugar packets on the tables. The glass of the VENDING MACHINE has been smashed, and cleaned out.
CUT TO:
EXT. SPACE
58
The Earth. It is splendidly rotating around the solar system. A diamond in space.
INT. LAB CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
We see light seeping out from the slightly ajar door to ROUGERE?S LAB.
INT. ROUGERE?S LAB, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
Silence.
GABRIEL sits at a LARGE COMPUTER; its screen is a GLASS PANEL. He has the BLANK BIBLE in his lap.
He is furiously punching in numbers and symbols, like a computer programmer hard at work.
FOCUS ON:
On the pages of the BLANK BIBLE are numerous mathematical equations and unreadable cursive letters. Like a math student?s notebook.
He whispers to himself.
GABRIEL
Come on, come on.
FOCUS ON:
He presses EXECUTE.
GABRIEL
(crosses fingers)
Please.
A message on the screen:
“UPLOAD COMPLETE”
INT. MAP ROOM, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
The door slides open.
GABRIEL enters.
He turns to the panel and presses a few buttons until the lights dim to pitch black.
Suddenly, instead of planets, NUMBERS, 3-dimensional numbers flood the room. They engulf GABRIEL, then, disappear.
59
Then, the UNIVERSE is created, every galaxy no bigger than a grain of rice, much like before. But this time, a BLUE BUBBLE surrounds the room, and slowly begins shrinking, until it is no bigger than a GOLF BALL.
It is a BUBBLE containing the entirety of the universe as we know it.
Then another UNIVERSE BUBBLE sprouts, then another, and another, and eventually, the whole room is filled with these BUBBLES.
GABRIEL smiles.
GABRIEL
I was right.
(a beat)
David was right.
In an instant, the multiple universes disappear, replaced by hanging 3-D words:
“GABRIEL”
GABRIEL doesn?t respond at first. He stares down this mysterious entity.
GABRIEL
I?m I going to die here?
The words evaporate.
There is a pause before new words:
“DO YOU WANT TO?”
GABRIEL
No. What kind of question is
that?
Words:
“AN INEVITABLE ONE”
GABRIEL
I wasn?t expecting it.
Words:
“NOR WERE YOU EXPECTING HER”
A beat.
GABRIEL
Her? Who?
He plays dumb without realizing it?
60
The words float in mid-air for a beat or two, then, the LIGHTS flip on and the DOOR OPENS.
JULIA enters, excitement in her voice.
JULIA
Gabriel!
He turns to her.
JULIA
I think I found something.
CUT TO:
INT. DOCKING CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
It is much like the DOCKING CORRIDOR from the beginning, with a GLASS WALL separating into a GLASS ROOM. Except different. It is a different one. There is no circular door, but a large, garage-door like wall.
Enter JULIA and GABRIEL.
JULIA
Look!
Behind the wall of glass, seemingly parked in the DOCKING BAY, is a small POD, no bigger than a small sports car, just sitting there.
GABRIEL
(excitedly)
Oh my God, I completely
forgot! These were placed to
guide astronauts back to
Earth in case of emergency.
JULIA
Let?s go!
JULIA rushes over to a panel by the wall, to open the GLASS WALL.
GABRIEL doesn?t move, though, he thinks for a second, pondering.
GABRIEL
(whisper, to self)
How could I forget about it?
The GLASS DOOR opens, JULIA rushes inside.
She dances around the POD excitedly, the mood dims when GABRIEL walks in. He is sulking, his voice dark.
61
JULIA
What?s the matter?
A beat, followed by a sigh from GABRIEL.
GABRIEL
There only designed, for one
person.
JULIA?S eyes dim.
JULIA
Oh, no! I mean, I?m sure we
could fit-
She looks down into the pod; it is very tiny inside. She
continues her denial.
JULIA (CON?T)
Yes! We could fit two people,
if we just gave it a shot-
GABRIEL interrupts.
GABRIEL
Julia-
(beat)
-we can?t.
A silence. They look at each other.
SMASH CUT TO:
INT. GABRIEL?S ROOM, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL
You know you have to.
He is a condemned man.
JULIA stands in the door while GABRIEL walks about
collecting various scattered papers on the floor.
JULIA
But I don?t want to!
GABRIEL
Oh, yes you do.
He continues collecting papers, shuffling them in his hands
to contain them.
JULIA
I won?t do it! I?m not
leaving without you!
62
GABRIEL presents the bundle of papers to her.
GABRIEL
These are some of my notes,
Rougere?s notes, take them
back, they explain everything.
JULIA
No.
GABRIEL
Take them.
JULIA
No!
GABRIEL SNAPS. He SLAPS JULIA across the face.
GABRIEL
(shout)
God-damn it, Julia!
JULIA
(crying)
No!
A pause.
GABRIEL sighs, JULIA whimpers. He changes his approach, his
tone silencing, becoming quieter, more caring. He touches
JULIA?S shoulders.
GABRIEL
Julia, please.
(beat)
They say everyone has a
purpose, this is yours.
(longer beat)
And mine.
They EMBRACE for the seemingly last time.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL stands alone, staring out the window.
P.O.V. GABRIEL: We see the LIFEPOD, containing JULIA, launch into space, towards Earth.
He lets out a few tears.
EXT. SPACE
Another heavenly shot.
The GLOBAL ENDEAVOR rotates slower than usual. The mood is
dim, lonely.
63
CUT TO:
INT. CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
Dark, empty.
We hold for a long time, symbolizing the emptiness, and loneliness of space.
CUT TO:
INT. ROUGERE?S LAB, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
GABRIEL sits alone at a computer.
He has placed the LARGE CABINET back over the MAP ROOM DOOR.
His facial expression is that of a man in his final moments.
The COMPUTER suddenly lights up. GABRIEL winces to see this strange development. Eerily, a GRAPH has appeared, and then we hear the PEACEFUL SOUND OF A TROPICAL RAINFOREST. Birds chirping, frogs singing, rain splashing, and monkeys howling. The GRAPH appears to be an OSCILLOSCOPE that BOUNCES with the wave frequency of the sound.
GABRIEL examines closer as the JUNGLE SOUND gets louder, and louder.
We hear ROUGERE?S VOICE.
ROUGERE (V.O.)
It is in a situation such as
this, that one must not ask
himself, where is my mind
telling me I am-
(a beat)
-but where is my conscious,
telling me I am?
GABRIEL?S eyes widen, his face peaceful.
SMASH CUT TO:
EXT. JUNGLE CLEARING, RAINFOREST—RAINING—DAY
GABRIEL is standing in a clearing. We hear the sounds of the JUNGLE. He stumbles, facing his new surroundings with fear and curiosity.
We see ROUGERE appear from the foliage. He walks up to GABRIEL, a smile on his face.
GABRIEL
David?
64
ROUGERE
Once again.
GABRIEL
Why do you keep doing this?
ROUGERE
Me? I?m just following you
around.
GABRIEL looks around at the beautiful scenery: tropical birds soar overhead, monkeys jump from treetop-to-treetop, and snakes and lizards scurry about on the ground.
GABRIEL
I?m dreaming again.
ROUGERE
Why do you think that?
GABRIEL
Because this is impossible.
A pause.
ROUGERE smiles.
ROUGERE
Do you know what else is
impossible, Gabriel?
They stare into each other?s eyes, when we suddenly hear the tender, soft tone, of a WOMAN?S VOICE, the voice of an angel, coming from far off in the distance.
WOMAN?S VOICE
(distant)
Gabriel! Gabriel!
GABRIEL jumps, he looks at ROUGERE and stumbles through his words with a GULP.
GABRIEL
It?s Angie…it?s my wife!
ROUGERE leans over.
ROUGERE
(loud whisper)
Go to the one you love,
Gabriel.
CUT TO: EXT. FOLIAGE, JUNGLE—RAINING—DAY
GABRIEL is ripping through the foliage, his heart pounding, his face alit.
65
EXT. TOP OF WATERFALL, JUNGLE—RAINING—DAY
He emerges at the top of a massive WATERFALL, five-stories high, the bottom emptying out into a fresh lagoon. He looks over the edge.
P.O.V. GABRIEL: Walking along the lagoon bank, is the silhouette of a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN. Her hair is a golden blonde, her skin velvety smooth. She is looking around, lost. It is ANGIE, GABRIEL?S deceased WIFE.
He doesn?t waste a moment. He JUMPS from the top of the waterfall and into the water below.
CUT TO:
EXT. LAGOON BANK, JUNGLE—RAINING—DAY
GABRIEL crawls, soaking wet and exhausted, out onto the bank. He coughs up blood and vomit. It is worth it when he looks up and sees the face of his beloved.
He stands up to face her.
They stare into each other?s eyes for the longest time.
GABRIEL
I missed you.
ANGIE
I know.
GABRIEL
I, I?ve-
ANGIE
Sshh…
They embrace.
We hear her VOICE.
ANGIE
(softly)
Gabriel, Gabriel.
GABRIEL
I love you.
ANGIE
I know.
CUT TO:
INT. ROUGERE?S LAB, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
66
GABRIEL is atop the LAB TABLE, asleep.
JULIA hovers over him.
His eyes open.
JULIA
I couldn?t leave you. Alone.
GABRIEL
I know what I have to do.
He gets up off the table and storms out. JULIA follows.
JULIA
Gabriel?
INT. DOCKING CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
It is the first docking corridor, with the circular door.
GABRIEL storms in, JULIA following him.
JULIA
Gabriel, what are you doing?
GABRIEL
Finishing this.
He walks through the open door and SLAMS it shut behind him,
sealing himself within the glass room.
With a passion in his face, he walks to the CIRCULAR DOOR
and places his hand over a LARGE RED BUTTON which reads:
“EJECT”
JULIA presses against the glass, powerless.
JULIA
Gabriel, no!
He snaps back.
GABRIEL
Why not? What was our purpose
for being here? I?ve found
nothing but misfortune and
false hope. If I didn?t come
here to die, then what did I
come here for?
There is a pause, a long one.
JULIA
For me.
67
Another pause.
JULIA
You were just about ready to
give up, but then you met me.
(a beat)
And I met you.
He ponders for a second, his eyes searching.
JULIA
I love you, Gabriel.
Another silence.
GABRIEL takes his hand away from the button and slowly exits the glass room.
They hold close.
A beat.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, GABRIEL notices something.
He leaves the comfort of JULIA?S arms and walks over to a wall, where several METERS lay imposed into it.
FOCUS ON:
One meter reads:
“OXYGEN-0%”
There is a pause, GABRIEL stares at the dial.
GABRIEL
We?ve been going without
oxygen since the moments we
arrived.
Silence.
Suddenly, we hear the blaring sound of STATIC, then, VOICES, human VOICES, scratchy and staticy.
INT. BRIDGE, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
Enter JULIA and GABRIEL.
TOMMY?S body has been covered with a now-bloody sheet.
They stop before the large WINDOW SCREEN, where there is a NEWS BROADCAST, fuzzy, yet viewable, taking place.
JULIA
What is this?
68
FOCUS ON:
The NEWS BROADCAST shows several workers rushing and
scrambling around an apparent CRASH SITE, where scrap metal
and burnt parts lay scattered.
They both recognize it: it is the GLOBAL ENDEAVOR.
We hear the voice of a REPORTER.
REPORTER (V.O.)
The crash occurred when an
instability on board caused a
rip in the ship?s heat
resistance, causing an almost
instantaneous navigation
failure. The ship crashed
here at about 9:30 AM
yesterday morning.
(a beat)
We are now receiving word
that there are exactly nine
confirmed deaths, including
the famous scientists Dr.
David Rougere, and several
others. Details as they
arrive.
The voice tapers off, as does the screen.
GABRIEL
It was an hour before we even
arrived.
JULIA
Gabriel, if we?re not there,
then where are we.
A pause.
GABRIEL
There are only two things
that can travel through the
membrane between universes,
gravitons-
(a beat)
-and consciousness.
JULIA
What does that mean?
GABRIEL looks at her.
EXT. SPACE
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The GLOBAL ENDEAVOR is in shadow. It looks dark, almost spooky.
INT. DOCKING CORRIDOR, GLOBAL ENDEAVOR—SPACE
It is silent.
GABRIEL and JULIA stand together, by the CIRCULAR DOOR.
GABRIEL
(softly)
This is it.
JULIA
Yes.
GABRIEL places his hand over the large “EJECT” BUTTON.
He breathes deep.
GABRIEL
Julia…
JULIA
Yes, Gabriel?
GABRIEL
I see.
Quickly, he PRESSES the button.
SMASH CUT TO:
EXT. SPACE
The GLOBAL ENDEAVOR stops spinning.
FADE TO: BLACK
BLACKNESS.
We see a dot, we hear a BEEP. We then realize we are looking at a HEART METER. The heart is functioning well.
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM—DAY
GABRIEL lies in the bed, hooked up to a respirator. We see an ENOMROUS FLESHWOUND on his chest, by his heart. His eyes open. We hear HARRIS.
HARRIS (O.S.)
You gave us quite a scare,
there for a minute.
GABRIEL looks around. Was it really all a dream?
GABRIEL
70
What happened?
HARRIS stands next to him.
HARRIS
Peters got you. Got you
pretty good, too.
He points to the wound near GABRIEL?S heart.
GABRIEL
How long?
HARRIS
Few hours.
He lean over.
HARRIS
Believe it or not, you were
legally dead for about an
hour. You were given a zero
percent chance.
(beat)
Made liars out of them.
GABRIEL just stares.
EXT. GROCERY STORE—DAY
It is not raining, the sun is poking out from beneath the clouds.
INT. GROCERY STORE LINE—DAY
GABRIEL stands in line, like yesterday. The clerk scans his items.
CLERK
Okay, that?ll be 21.33,
please.
GABRIEL
Excuse me.
He opens his wallet and flips through it. He doesn?t find what he is truly looking for; the look on his face darkens when he cannot find the picture of his wife.
INT. HALLWAY, APARTMENT BUILDING—DAY
He walks down the hall, his arms full of groceries.
He digs for his keys when he reaches his door. Slowly, he puts the key to the doorknob, but then…he notices that the door is already SLIGHTLY AJAR.
71
Curious, he opens it and steps in.
INT. GABRIEL?S APARTMENT—DAY
Something isn?t quite right. It is brighter, more colorful. He looks around curiously. Placing the grocery bag on the couch, he notices something on the stand by the couch.
It is a picture of a little boy, no more than 4 years old.
GABRIEL picks it up and touches the face.
We then hear JULIA?S VOICE, she is crying.
JULIA (O.S.)
They told me you were dead.
GABRIEL turns around. To his astonishment, JULIA is standing there, tears running down her cheek, tissue in hand.
He is stunned.
She approaches him and HUGS him.
JULIA
(loud whisper)
I don?t ever want to lose you
again.
GABRIEL
(softly)
You won?t. I promise.
FOCUS ON:
There is a WEDDING RING on GABRIEL?S finger.
EXT. CITY SKYLINE—NIGHTFALL
We see the lights beginning to turn on in the city. We hear ROUGERE?S VOICE.
ROUGERE (V.O.)
With all our modern knowledge
of sub-atomic particles and
virtual spaces, it is only
necessary to accept the pure
fact, that there is more than
one reality. That reality, is
nothing more than a word to
describe the various outcomes
of a given event or choice.
EXT. OVER FLORIDA--?
72
We seem to be ZOOMING OUT with each shot, getting higher
and higher.
ROUGERE (V.O.)
It was once said, that dreams,
are nothing more than a
doorway into another
dimension, another universe.
We are now only discovering
that there may be truth to
this.
EXT. OVER NORTH AMERICA-?
It rests calmly beneath the clouds.
ROUGERE (V.O.)
What if the consciousness was
not just a metaphor used to
describe our points of view
and the little voice inside
our head, that creates
physical manifestations and
truly makes us believe that
our physical surroundings,
are indeed real. What if, it
was a tangible substance,
composed of particles beyond
our comprehension.
EXT. OVER THE EARTH
Glowing beautifully, rotating on its axis.
ROUGERE (V.O.)
From this, we can theorize
that when a person dies, they
become one with their
conscious, which can travel
through the membranes hat
separate universes, allowing
us to find a reality that we
prefer, that we ultimately
desire. Besides, you can kill
the body, and the mind, but
how can you kill thought?
EXT. SPACE
Nothing. Just blackness dotted with trillions of white
glowing orbs.
ROUGERE (V.O.)
Alas, we are only scratching
the surface of these
73
possibilities. One day, when
we understand the chemical
make-up of this mysterious
arrangement of particles that
creates the consciousness-
(a very long beat)
-then someday, we maybe be
able to unlock the chemical
make-up, of what we know-
(another beat)
-as the soul.
There is a faint, blue twinkle in the starlight.
FADE TO: BLACK.
THE END.
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