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(Max climbs the outside of a building at night and sneaks across its roof. Someone follows her, unnoticed. She removes a window and climbs inside. She drops from the ceiling on a rope, moving down through a large rotunda. A few feet from the floor, she stops, remaining on the rope. She has arrived in front of a baseball resting in a case. Engraved on the base of the case are the following words:
September 17th, 2009 Max begins to unscrew the glass part of the case. Suddenly Alec drops next to her on another rope. Max is surprised and extremely annoyed.) ALEC: Hey, Max. MAX: Alec, what the hell are you doing here? ALEC: Stealing a baseball. How 'bout you? MAX: Trying to get back the money I lost because of you. ALEC: Yeah, me too. Figured I'd swipe this ball, repay my friend Max... MAX: Yeah, right. ALEC: I'm serious. MAX: You wanna pay me back? Get a job. Find out what it's like to live in the real world. ALEC: I'm sorry, is this what you call your real-world job? MAX: This is an extreme situation, which--in case you didn't hear me two seconds ago--is entirely your fault. ALEC: That's why I want to make things right. I mean, if you hadn't paid that doctor, I'd have been a dead man. MAX: Don't remind me. ALEC: I owe you, Max. Why don't you go on home? I'll finish this up. I'll fence this thing and get you the money tomorrow, huh? What do you say? (Max finishes unscrewing the glass, lifts it away from the baseball, and sets it down on the pedestal.) MAX: A, I don't believe you, and B, Sammy Sosa's 756th home-run ball is worth way more than what you owe me. (Alec grabs the baseball. Max grabs his wrist in an effort to take the ball. They begin tugging back and forth, swinging on their ropes.) MAX (angrily): Give it back! ALEC: All right, all right, all right, we'll split it fifty-fifty. MAX: Yeah, right! I got here first! ALEC: Okay, okay, sixty-forty. Sixty-forty, huh? MAX: Read my lips, pretty boy. Get a life, get a job, and stop sticking your nose into mine. Don't make me kick your ass! ALEC: You know, this whole tough-chick act thing is really unbecoming. "I'm gonna bounce you on your ass. I'm gonna smack your bitch head." It's so unfeminine. (They continue to struggle. Max kicks Alec's wrist to loosen his grip. He drops the ball, but Max misses it, and it lands on the floor and rolls out of reach. An alarm begins to sound.) ALEC: Great. Look what you did. MAX: God, I hate you! (They begin ascending back up to the ceiling.) ALEC: Hey, I know this is a bad time, but can I get a ride home? (Later, Max and Alec ride Max's Ninja up to a sector checkpoint.) ALEC: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop. Stop. MAX (stopping a short distance from the checkpoint): What now? ALEC: No sector pass. Been gettin' past the checkpoints the old-fashioned, sneaky-creep, Manticore way. (Gets off the bike.) Thanks for the ride. MAX: Thanks for blowing my plan to get my money back. ALEC: Hey, I was willing to deal. You should've let go when you had the chance. MAX: I should've let your head explode when I had the chance. (Alec walks away and Max moves up to the checkpoint. Alec watches from the shadows.) SECTOR COP: All right, sweetheart, let's see your sector pass. Come on, come on. I haven't got all day. MAX (showing him her pass): Jam Pony messenger. SECTOR COP: Okay. (Alec smiles and walks away. The sector cop steps inside his booth, sets down his gun, turns the TV on to a football game, and drinks from a bottle in a brown bag. He hears a noise and steps outside to investigate. He sees a man hunched over some trash cans. We only see him from the rear, but he resembles Joshua.) SECTOR COP: Hey. Let's see some I.D. (The man walks away without turning around.) I'm talking to you. Hey! (The man walks past a dumpster and an abandoned car, disappearing behind another dumpster.) SECTOR COP: Come out of there! You make me come back there to get you, you're comin' out on a stretcher, you hear me? (The cop hears growling and suddenly the man knocks him to the ground. We see their shadows on a nearby wall as the man beats the cop, rips something out of his mouth, and roars.) INTRODUCTION: They designed her to be the perfect soldier--a human weapon. Then she escaped. In a future not far from now, in a broken world, she is haunted by her past. She cannot run; she must fight to discover her destiny. (The next day, Max is pacing around Logan's living room while ranting about Alec. Logan is exaggeratedly agreeing with everything she says.) MAX: Practically had it in my hand. My fence even had a buyer lined up. Fifteen grand. LOGAN: And Alec had to come along and ruin everything. MAX: Couldn't believe it. LOGAN: It was your heist. You were there first. MAX: That's what I said! And I bet you he was gonna take whatever he got from it and blow it on hookers and beer. LOGAN: Guy has no decency. MAX: Tell me about it. LOGAN: And the nerve to rip off what you were rightfully stealing. MAX: Exactly. It's like he's a child who doesn't know right from wrong. (Logan tries to hide a smile, but a little chuckle escapes. Max notices.) MAX: Are you busting on me? LOGAN (innocently): Me? MAX: I only steal from bad people. And only for a good cause. LOGAN: Like when you need a part for your motorcycle, or a cocktail dress to wear at a wedding? MAX: Without my motorcycle, I can't...and the whole dress thing...I was gonna return it...and this isn't even about me. This is about you. LOGAN: How do you mean? MAX: I went after that baseball to pay you back the money you lost on that doctor. LOGAN: Really. MAX: Really. LOGAN: Huh. MAX: But seeing as how you feel, I guess I'll just forget about it. LOGAN: Yeah. I guess so. I mean, I could use the cash...to keep Eyes Only going. But...I'll figure it out. MAX: I suppose I could find something else to steal. LOGAN: There are a lot of bad guys out there. MAX (smiling): But I wouldn't want to drag you down to my level. (Logan laughs.) MAX: See ya. (She leaves. Logan smiles after her.) (At Joshua's place, Max walks in and finds Joshua asleep in front of the fireplace, facing away from her.) MAX (waking him up): Joshua? Hey, big fella. Hey. (With a growl, Joshua turns and grabs Max by the neck.) MAX: It's me, Max. JOSHUA: Max. (Lets go.) Sorry. MAX: Bad dream? JOSHUA: You didn't come yesterday. MAX: Um...I know. I--I'm sorry. I had this thing. It took a lot longer than I thought. JOSHUA: I was hungry. (Picks up a box of Strawberry Shortcake Rolls that Max brought.) Little Debbie. MAX: I bought you a book. It's about a killer clown that lives under the city...eats small children. JOSHUA: Why? MAX: I don't know. Why do clowns do anything? JOSHUA: Maybe it's angry. MAX: Maybe. (She hands him the book. He winces as he reaches for it.) MAX: What's wrong? You okay? JOSHUA (reluctantly): Hurt. MAX: Let me see. (She lifts up his shirt and sees a bloody bandage.) MAX: What happened? Did you go outside? JOSHUA: Had to. I--I was hungry. MAX: Who did this to you? JOSHUA: Dog bit me. I was trying to get his food. MAX: Look. I'm sorry I didn't come by yesterday and get you food, and I'll try to never let it happen again, but you can't go outside. It's too dangerous, and if people see who you-- JOSHUA: I know. People are afraid of what they don't understand. I know. MAX: Never forget it. JOSHUA: Okay. (Max's pager beeps.) MAX: I gotta go to work. I'll be back tonight. Promise. JOSHUA: Okay. (At Jam Pony, Max and Original Cindy talk by their lockers.) MAX: What's up with the checkpoints today? Lines are around the block. ORIGINAL CINDY: I don't know. I heard some cop got jumped or something. MAX: Huh. (Alec walks in the door.) MAX: I cannot believe this. ORIGINAL CINDY: Who's that? MAX: You don't want to know. (Max angrily approaches Alec.) MAX: Was "Stay the hell out of my life" not direct enough? ALEC: Max, you told me to find a job. I figured what better place than somewhere I already have a friend? MAX: If by "friend" you mean someone who'd just as soon drop an anvil on you, then welcome. ALEC: You don't mean that. MAX: Find me an anvil and watch me go. ALEC (with false sincerity): Max, that hurts, it really does. Your words inspired me. I want to change my ways. MAX (making a face): Whatever! This'll only take a second. Hey, Normal! Loser looking for a job. NORMAL (not even looking up): No jobs here. Got enough of you slugs to keep me in Maalox 'til the cows come home. MAX (to Alec): Oh, well. SKETCHY (to Alec): Hey, aren't you that boxer dude? (Normal looks up, recognizes Alec, and grins.) NORMAL: You're Monty Cora! MAX: Monty Cora? ALEC: It's a stage name. NORMAL: I once saw this beautiful man take down "Mangler" Miller in less than forty-five seconds flat. Wonderful! Bravo! ALEC: Thank you, um, Normal. NORMAL: Please, call me Reagan. So you're looking for a job, huh? ALEC: Yeah. Yeah, I'd love to be a part of Team Jam Pony. NORMAL: I could use a good, strong rooster in the henhouse. MAX: Normal, you don't want to do this. NORMAL: Shut up, missy-miss. ALEC: You know where I could score a bike around here? NORMAL: Here you go. (Grabs a bike hanging nearby and brings it to Alec.) Here you go, easy-peasey-Japanesey. ALEC: Thank you. Oh, uh, don't I need one of those, uh, sector-pass things? NORMAL: Yes. I'll put in a request; you'll have it by morning. (Pointing to Max) This one here'll show you the ropes. (Hands Max a couple of packages.) Now bip! These packages are missing their mommies horribly. MAX: This isn't happening. NORMAL: Ah, good catch, Maxie. (To Alec) You're a rock star. Rock star! MAX (to Alec): Shut up. (Later, Max and Alec park their bikes by a house and walk up the steps to the front door.) MAX: Monty Cora? ALEC: Yeah, it's a play on "Manticore." MAX: Yeah, yeah, I got that. Way to lay low. ALEC (laughing): Why don't you relax? MAX: Why don't you wise up? You can start by covering that barcode. Now, remember, be polite. (Alec knocks on the door. A woman answers. Alec hands her a package and shoves a clipboard at her.) ALEC: Need a signature. WOMAN: What's this? MAX: Jam Pony, ma'am. It's a package for you. WOMAN: I'll go and get my glasses. (Walks away.) MAX: You call that polite? (Notices Alec peeking into the woman's living room and yanks him away from the door.) What are you looking for? ALEC (looking into the woman's window): Nothing. MAX: You're casing the place. ALEC: No, I'm not. MAX: Yes, you are. I knew that's why you took this job--because you wanted the sector pass and you were looking for a place to rob. ALEC: Isn't that why you took this job? MAX: It was, but it's not anymore. ALEC: Hey, check it out. Grandma's got herself a plasma-screen TV. MAX (smacking him on the back of the head): You are not gonna come back here and steal her TV. ALEC: Why not? MAX: Because it's wrong! ALEC: Oh, as opposed to stealing a baseball? MAX: That's different. The guy who owns the gallery happens to be a major crook. ALEC (sarcastically): Oh, okay. So it's okay to steal from him because he's a bad guy. I'm just trying to get by. MAX: Get by on a salary. ALEC (laughing): Minimum wage? MAX: Plus tips. That's where the whole "polite" part comes in. ALEC: Right. (The woman comes back to the door.) WOMAN: Did I get it right? MAX (checking the clipboard): Yeah. Have a nice day. WOMAN: Oh, just a second. (Takes out a coin purse and hands one coin to each of them.) These are for you. ALEC: Ooh, a quarter. MAX (to the woman, while twisting Alec's head around): Thanks again. (Max and Alec go back down the steps to their bikes.) ALEC: She might as well kiss that TV goodbye. (Max smacks him on the head.) (That night at Crash, Max and Original Cindy are sitting at a table while Alec and Sketchy shoot pool in the next room.) ORIGINAL CINDY: He's from Manticore, huh? Say what you want--they sure know how to make 'em pretty. MAX: Try spending an afternoon with him. He'll drive you crazy with his laughing, and his talking, and his breathing... ORIGINAL CINDY: Shugga, you got issues. (The guys finish their game.) ALEC: Ladies, let me get the next one. Skippy here owes me about eighty bucks' worth of beer. MAX: It's all right. You don't have to. ALEC: No, no. I want to. (The guys grab the empty pitcher and walk away.) MAX: I'm telling you, he's no good. ORIGINAL CINDY: I know. Free beer. Just flat-out evil. (At the bar, Sketchy and Alec wait for beer.) ALEC: So I saw on the sign-up board that you're working Sector Four tomorrow. SKETCHY: Yup. ALEC: Do me a favor? Drop this off for me at, uh, this address. (Hands Sketchy a small box and a piece of paper.) Twenty bucks in it for you. SKETCHY: What's inside? ALEC: Don't ask and I'll make it thirty. SKETCHY: That works for me. (Sketchy and Alec join Original Cindy and Max at the table.) SKETCHY: You guys hear about the sector cop that got attacked by a mutant last night? ORIGINAL CINDY: Here we go again. SKETCHY: Some kind of dog-faced thing. ALEC: Dog-faced? SKETCHY: Yeah. Big, with lots of shaggy hair. ALEC: Really. SKETCHY: Cop caught it looking for food in the trash before he jumped him. Ate the tongue right out of his mouth. ORIGINAL CINDY: Ugh. SKETCHY: Apparently he got a piece of it before it ran off, so now you gotta figure it's hurt, and mad, and none of us are safe. MAX: I gotta go. (Max gets up and walks away. Alec follows.) SKETCHY (to Original Cindy): What's with her? (Across the room, Alec catches up to Max and stops her.) ALEC: Where you going? MAX: Gotta swing by Joshua's. ALEC: Wait, wait, wait, wait. You think he had something to do with this? MAX: Of course not. Joshua would never hurt anybody. ALEC: You don't know that. You don't know what he's capable of. MAX: Yes, I do. ALEC: Then why you going over there? MAX: Because I promised I would. (Max walks through Joshua's house, which is dark.) MAX: Joshua? (There is no answer.) (A sector cop walks down an alley. He hears a noise inside a nearby shed. He shines his flashlight through the slats of the shed's door. Inside the shed, a man resembling Joshua growls. The cop knocks on the door.) SECTOR COP: Anybody in there? (The man bursts through the door and knocks the cop to the ground. He strikes a blow at the cop's face, grabs the cop's tongue, and yanks it out.) (The next day, Max enters Logan's apartment.) LOGAN: Hey. Been paging you all morning. MAX: Couldn't find a pay phone. What's up? LOGAN: Sector cop was attacked last night. Makes three in the last week. MAX: Yeah, I heard something about that. LOGAN: One of them survived. Claims he was jumped by some kind of half-man, half-animal. (Max walks away. Logan follows.) LOGAN: Good news is no one believes him. Apparently he's known for drinking on the job. MAX: What do they think it was, then? LOGAN: Pack of wild dogs, maybe, or some coyotes that wandered into the city. MAX: Makes sense. LOGAN: Except for the "half-man, half-animal" part. (Max looks out the window.) I don't get it. I thought you'd be all over this. MAX (testily, facing him): I can't chase down every rumor that comes along. LOGAN: It's not a rumor, Max. Two cops are dead and the third's in the hospital with his tongue ripped out of his head. If a transgenic's responsible, you have to do something before anyone else gets hurt. MAX: Give me some solid evidence and I will do something. LOGAN: I'm working on it. What is with you, anyway? MAX: I gotta get to work. (She starts to leave. Logan stands in her way.) LOGAN: What are you not telling me? MAX (after a pause): I--I went by Joshua's last night and he wasn't there. LOGAN: But you don't think-- MAX: No. I'm just...worried about him, that's all. LOGAN: There's something else, isn't there? (Max sits down one of Logan's living room chairs. He sits down on the couch nearby.) LOGAN: People are dying. If a transgenic's involved-- MAX (interrupting testily): Yeah, I know. It's on me, 'cause I let them out in the world. LOGAN: I was gonna say you better do something before people find out what's going on. Otherwise, it means exposure for all of you. MAX: I gotta go. (Gets up to leave.) LOGAN: Hey. (She turns back and he tosses her a cell phone.) In case you can't find a pay phone again. (Sketchy rides his bike into a market-like area. A man with large spikes sticking out of his forearms, several piercings, and smaller spikes sticking out of his shaved head stops him menacingly.) MAN: Can I help you, little man? SKETCHY: No, I'm just making a delivery. (A second man with a British accent and small spikes sticking out of his forehead joins them.) SECOND MAN: I think you might be lost, mate. SKETCHY: No, dude, this is the address. Says so right here. (The first man snatches the piece of paper from Sketchy's hand. A third man with blue hair and one arm takes the paper and reads it.) THIRD MAN: Yeah, it says so right here. SECOND MAN: Well, then, I stand corrected. What's in it? SKETCHY: None of your business. SECOND MAN (laughing): Well, it is our business. That's the problem. THIRD MAN: See, uh, this is our little piece of paradise. SECOND MAN: We're what you call, uh, territorial. (The three of them laugh.) (At Jam Pony, Alec is sitting on Normal's desk, telling Normal about a fight.) ALEC: So he hits me in the face like three times. I'm just smiling. You know, waiting for my opening. And then wham! One punch, right in the jaw. He goes down. NORMAL: Ahhh. What about Sam the Superfly? How'd you handle that jab combination there? ALEC: Superfly--Superfly's not as fast as he seems-- (Sketchy enters, bloody.) ALEC: Holy...what happened to you? SKETCHY: Steelheads beat the snot out of me. ALEC: Steelheads? SKETCHY: Yeah, you know. They're into implants and biotech stuff. NORMAL: You oughta know better than to hang out with those lowlifes. They're amped off their gourds on hormones and who knows what else. Wait, you weren't on a run, were you? SKETCHY (glancing at Alec): Not exactly. NORMAL: Thank God. (Walks away.) SKETCHY: So, uh, what was in that package, anyway? Drugs? ALEC: Of course not. SKETCHY: Why don't you tell me, or I'm gonna bust you and Normal will can your ass. ALEC: Androstamine. It's a synthetic hormone. Bodybuilders use it. I got my hands on some. Been doing some nice business with it. SKETCHY: Not anymore. They told me to tell whoever I was working for to stay off their turf. ALEC: Really. Sorry, man, I didn't know. I wouldn't have sent you down there if I did. SKETCHY: Well, next time, why don't you just keep me out of it? ALEC: Hey, hey. (Hands Sketchy some cash.) Why don't you, uh...why don't you get a new shirt? On me. SKETCHY: Got some dirt on my pants. ALEC (handing him more money): Get yourself some new pants. SKETCHY: Thanks. And, uh, you're buying at Crash tonight, right? ALEC: Yeah, you got it. SKETCHY: Buddy. (At Joshua's house, Max reads a book while waiting for him to show up. He doesn't. After a while she closes the book and starts to leave. She notices some blood on the front steps. She glances into the street and sees blood on a grating. Max lifts the heavy grating with one hand and drops into a service tunnel.) (Logan enters a hospital room, wearing a lab coat and carrying a clipboard. A man lies in the bed with a large bandage over the lower part of his head. Logan sits next to the bed.) LOGAN: Officer Pearson? I'm Dr. Livingston. I need to ask you a few questions. (Pearson nods.) LOGAN: You claimed you were attacked by some kind of creature? (Pearson nods and mumbles something like "Uh-huh.") LOGAN: Well, if that's the case, then, uh...rabies could be a concern. (Pearson looks at him.) LOGAN: Did you get a good look at whatever it was that did this to you? (Pearson nods.) You think you could identify it in a picture? (Pearson nods again. Logan holds up the tabloid with Joshua's picture on the front. Pearson nods, points at the tabloid, and makes noises as if trying to speak. The beeps on his heart-rate monitor increase in frequency.) LOGAN: That's him? You're sure? (Pearson continues trying to speak.) LOGAN: I'm sorry. I don't-- (Pearson grabs a box of Kleenex from his nightstand and shows the back of it to Logan. At first Logan doesn't understand, but then he sees a barcode on it.) LOGAN: Barcode. He had a barcode on his neck. (Pearson nods.) LOGAN: Okay. (Max walks through the service tunnel. The phone Logan gave her rings, and she answers. Logan is standing near a fence outside the hospital.) LOGAN: Max, it's me. I just talked to the cop that survived the attack the other night. MAX: Yeah? LOGAN: Bad news. I showed him that picture of Joshua that turned up in that tabloid a few weeks ago. He I.D.'d him. MAX: That's impossible. LOGAN: Max, the guy recognized him. MAX: Well, he's wrong. LOGAN: Well, he got a look at his barcode. MAX: Barcode? Joshua doesn't have a barcode. LOGAN: I thought you all did. MAX: He's the first one Manticore ever made. He doesn't have one. (There is some static on the line.) LOGAN: What? I couldn't hear you. Max? Max? (Max sees the man resembling Joshua enter the service tunnel and she tucks the phone in her jacket. She approaches the man, who is standing near a window with his face silhouetted.) MAX: Joshua? (He turns toward her and growls.) MAX: That's not very nice. (He barks at her. Suddenly Joshua appears a little ways behind her and addresses the other man.) JOSHUA: Run, Isaac! Run! MAX: Joshua? (Somebody shoots at Joshua. He and Isaac run in different directions. Max steps through a doorway and some cops run by. One of them stops.) COP: What are you doing down here? (Max punches and kicks him to the ground. The cops surround Joshua, taze him, and take him away.) (Later, Joshua is in a cell with a heavy door, sitting on the floor. Two cops peer through the window in the door.) FIRST COP: We should cap this sack of crap right now. SECOND COP: Yeah. It'll probably walk on the doggie defense. FIRST COP: It's not a dog, you idiot. It's a werewolf. SECOND COP: I'm an idiot? So where's the full moon? FIRST COP: Full moon's just a legend. Read a book sometime. (A third cop joins them.) THIRD COP: You're both idiots. What we have here is one of those, uh, mutants been in the paper the last few weeks. Sarge says feds are on their way down. Gonna take him off our hands. SECOND COP: The feds? THIRD COP: Some agency I never head of. FIRST COP: I don't care who they are. Thing's been killing cops. We oughta teach it a lesson. (He unlocks the door and they walk into the cell. Joshua stands up. The cops start beating him.) FIRST COP: How do you like that? Huh? Huh? JOSHUA: Don't. (The cops stop beating him and stand astonished as Joshua cries.) JOSHUA: Don't like it. THIRD COP: Christ. Damn thing talks. (In Logan's apartment, Logan sits in his desk chair while Max faces him in his wheelchair.) LOGAN: Two of them? You're sure? MAX: Don't you see? That's how Joshua got hurt--trying to stop Isaac. LOGAN: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. Joshua got hurt? And who--who's Isaac? MAX: That's the other one's name. LOGAN: Okay. MAX: And when I went over to Joshua's house the other day, his side was all bandaged up. LOGAN: You didn't tell me that. MAX: I didn't know what it meant. Now I do. LOGAN: Care to let me in on it? MAX: Joshua got hurt trying to stop Isaac from killing that cop. LOGAN: Now that's a bit of a reach, don't you think? For all we know, they both attacked him. MAX: Joshua would never hurt anybody. LOGAN: Fine, then why didn't he tell you what happened? MAX: I don't know. LOGAN: Any way you slice it, he's protecting a killer. MAX: Any way you slice it, the cops got the wrong guy. LOGAN: Guess what? It doesn't matter. They've got a dog-man in custody and they don't care if he's been murdering cops or herding sheep. They just want to know what the hell he is. MAX: I gotta get him out of there. Where are they holding him? LOGAN: Twelfth precinct. (Max gets up to leave.) What about Isaac? MAX: I'll get to him later. LOGAN: After he kills somebody else? MAX: Here's an idea. Instead of busting my chops because I can't do two things at once, why don't you do something about it? (At the market-like area, the third Steelhead loads one of many metal boxes onto a truck while the first Steelhead stands nearby, shaking a box.) THIRD STEELHEAD: Hey, are you gonna help me? Or has the one-armed guy gotta load the whole truck by himself? FIRST STEELHEAD: I'm just trying to figure out what's in it, that's all. THIRD STEELHEAD: What do you hear? FIRST STEELHEAD: I don't know. Sloshing. (The second Steelhead approaches.) SECOND STEELHEAD: All right, lads. Step it up. Gotta get these lovelies on ice. THIRD STEELHEAD: Uh, Eddie, we're just wondering--what's in the boxes? EDDIE: Livers and kidneys. (The first Steelhead makes a face, smells his hand, and wipes it on the third Steelhead's leather jacket.) THIRD STEELHEAD: You mean--we've been hefting these things around just so you can make some nasty English pie? EDDIE: These are human livers and kidneys, mate. FIRST STEELHEAD: Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm not eatin' any pie made out of people, Eddie. EDDIE: We're gonna sell 'em, you dim. They're for transplants. We've got buyers overseas willing to pay top dollar for this lot. (Alec rides up on his bike.) ALEC: Excuse me, gentlemen. I'm looking for three butt-ugly Steelheads that beat up a friend of mine this morning. EDDIE: Well, you found 'em. ALEC (to the third Steelhead): What happened to you? Did you, uh, accidentally chew your arm off? THIRD STEELHEAD: Actually, I'm pre-op. I'm gettin' a top-of-the-line, Japanese-made cyber-arm put in next week. ALEC: Well, whatever moves your furniture. Here's the thing, fellas. My friend was carrying a package that didn't belong to him. It belonged to me. You guys took it. I need to get it back. EDDIE: There seems to be a breakdown in communication, doesn't it? Maybe your friend didn't relay our message. FIRST STEELHEAD: Nobody around here sells andy but us. ALEC: Yeah, see, here's the problem. I had a buyer who was willing to pay me five hundred dollars for that package. Now he's upset that he didn't get his andy, I'm upset that I didn't get my cash, and you guys are upset because--well, I'm not quite sure why you're upset, but you seem to be. So what do you say you give me five hundred dollars, and I get out of here before anybody gets more upset than they already are? (Eddie gets in his face.) EDDIE: What's a poofter like you need with five hundred bucks, anyway, eh? ALEC (in a British accent): Actually, I need it for a ride on your mum. (Eddie starts to punch Alec but is interrupted by the ring of a cell phone. All four of them stop and check to see if it's theirs.) ALEC: It's me. Excuse me, fellas. I'm sorry. (Into phone) Hello? EDDIE: You cheeky bastard! (Punches Alec.) (In his apartment, Logan is throwing some things into a bag, including a very large flashlight, while talking on his cell phone.) LOGAN: Alec. It's Logan. ALEC: Oh, hey. (Alec fights the Steelheads while talking on the phone. Logan hears grunts and punches in the background.) LOGAN: What was that? ALEC: Nothing, nothing. What's going on? LOGAN: You okay? (Alec knocks out the last Steelhead.) ALEC: No, I'm--I'm fine. (Takes some cash from the third Steelhead's jacket pocket.) So what's up? LOGAN: I need your help. (Later, Logan and Alec are walking through the service tunnel. Logan shines the flashlight around.) ALEC: It's just 'cause she's hot, you know. LOGAN: What is? ALEC: Everything. Everything she gets away with. You honestly think we'd be down here in this moldy dump looking for God-knows-what if she were ugly? LOGAN: We're down here to give Max a hand. ALEC (laughing): You're so whipped. (At the jail, the third cop escorts Max through the cell halls. She is wearing a hat and carrying a large camera.) MAX: We're doing a public service. Monsters on the loose, people have the right to know. THIRD COP: All right. Take as many pictures as you want. So, uh, this newspaper you work for-- MAX: New World Weekly. THIRD COP: Right. You need any quotes, you know--something from, uh, the law enforcement perspective--let me know. (They enter Joshua's cell block.) THIRD COP: To your left. (Max sees Joshua lying on a bunk in a regular jail cell, facing away from her, and begins taking pictures of him.) MAX: Can I get closer? PRISONER BEHIND HER: Sure thing, baby. Come as close as you want. THIRD COP: Careful. It's dangerous. (Leans close to her.) You're never gonna believe this... MAX: Try me. THIRD COP: It talks. MAX: Really? What'd he say? JOSHUA (seeing who it is and standing up): Max. THIRD COP: Hey... (Max knocks out the cop and takes his keys. She unlocks Joshua's cell door. The other prisoners start yelling for her to let them out too. She and Joshua hug and then run down the hall. Some other cops run after them.) FIRST COP: Hey! Open the gates! Open the gates! (Another cop opens a gate standing between the cops and Max and Joshua, who are quite a ways ahead of them. Max and Joshua try to open doors along the way; they are locked. Finally they find a door that opens and they duck inside to find several German shepherds in cages. Joshua smiles and barks with them, opening the cages. Max crosses the room to another door.) MAX: I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but I got a thing with dogs. Feline DNA. (Opens the door.) Come on. (Joshua follows her out the door, leaving the dogs in the room. The cops burst in the first door to find the dogs running toward them. They back out the door.) (In the service tunnel, Logan and Alec lift a grating that covers an opening into a room of some kind.) ALEC: After you. (They step through and look around.) ALEC: Whoa! What is that smell? (They see something hanging from a clothesline that is strung across the room.) ALEC: Are those--tongues? (Logan shines the light around and it illuminates Isaac's face. Isaac growls and knocks Logan to the ground. Alec tears Isaac away from Logan. They fight. Alec throws Isaac to the ground. Isaac runs out the opening, slams the grating down, locks it from the outside, and leaves.) ALEC: Guess we should've called first. (At Joshua's house) MAX: Why didn't you tell me about him the other day? JOSHUA: Wanted to. MAX: We could've done something to stop him. JOSHUA: Tried to stop him. MAX: I know. Why's he doing it, Joshua? Why's he killing people? JOSHUA: Angry. MAX: About what? (They sit down.) JOSHUA: Manticore guards. They hurt him bad. MAX: They hurt us all. JOSHUA: You don't know. You don't know. Little brother was gentle. Father made him that way. Then Father was gone...lost in all the people. (In a flashback, we see Isaac alone in some kind of cell, crying and howling.) ISAAC (in flashback): Father! JOSHUA: Isaac was sad. Couldn't stop crying. (In the flashback, Isaac howls and is beaten by Manticore guards.) JOSHUA: So the guards...they tried to make him stop. ISAAC (in flashback): Father... JOSHUA: Father never came back. He was gone. Isaac wouldn't stop. So they made him stop. (In the flashback, Isaac is handcuffed to a metal bar.) ISAAC (in flashback): Father! (In the flashback, a guard picks up a pair of cutters and opens Isaac's mouth. The camera moves off Isaac's face as he screams.) JOSHUA: Police...Isaac sees Manticore guards. That's why he hurts them. (Alec slams into the grating several times with his shoulder. The grating doesn't budge.) ALEC: Oh, this is great. Great. This is just great! (In frustration, he hits the grating with his hands. Behind him, Logan holds up a large piece of pipe.) LOGAN: Maybe you should try this. (Max stands up.) MAX: Stay here. Don't open the door; don't do anything. Just stay put. JOSHUA: Where you going? (Stands up.) MAX: To find Isaac. JOSHUA: I'll--I'll come. MAX: No! The cops are looking for you. You have to stay here. JOSHUA: Don't hurt little brother. MAX: Stay put, you hear me? JOSHUA: You hear me? MAX: He's killing people, Joshua! JOSHUA: I'll stop him. MAX: You tried. Look what he did to you! JOSHUA: He didn't mean to! They made him like this! MAX: Doesn't matter! He still has to be stopped! JOSHUA: You let him out! You let us all out! Now you hurt him? MAX: I won't unless I have to. Out of my way, big fella. (She tries to walk past him. He pushes her back.) JOSHUA: I don't think so, little fella. (She tries to push him out of the way. He shoves her and she falls over the desk. Joshua runs out. Max gets up and runs after him. She sees the entranceway to the service tunnel open and jumps down into it. She runs down the tunnel, looking for him.) MAX: Joshua! Joshua! (Alec bangs the pipe on the grating in an effort to open it. Joshua walks by, looking for Isaac.) JOSHUA: Isaac! ALEC: Joshua! Hey, open up. (Joshua stands there and looks at them in surprise.) LOGAN: Where's Max? (Joshua shrugs.) Isaac's out there. (Joshua turns and walks away.) ALEC: Jo--hey, come back here! (To Logan) What is it with these guys, huh? (He pounds on the grating in frustration. It comes loose.) ALEC: Yeah. (They push on the grating to open it. Meanwhile, Max walks up some stairs.) MAX: Joshua? Joshua? (Nobody answers. She looks around. Suddenly Isaac leaps onto her from behind. They fight. Eventually Isaac throws her to the ground, holds her by the throat, and prepares to attack. Suddenly Joshua runs up the stairs, holding a long, sharp piece of pipe.) JOSHUA: No, Isaac! (Isaac looks up and pauses, then starts to attack Max.) JOSHUA: No! (Joshua rushes forward and stabs Isaac in the chest with the sharp pipe. Isaac gasps and collapses. Joshua runs to his side. Isaac dies. Joshua moans and howls softly, kissing Isaac's forehead. Logan and Alec run in.) LOGAN: Max! Max! (They stand at the top of the next flight of stairs to see Joshua with his head on Isaac's chest, still moaning.) (Later, Max and Logan sit at a table at Crash.) MAX: Thanks for hanging with me. LOGAN: No problem. MAX: I shouldn't have let them out, Logan. I should've known something like this was gonna happen. LOGAN: You did the right thing. The only thing. MAX: Tell that to the families of those cops who died. LOGAN: Manticore made Isaac a killer, not you. MAX: What if there are others like him out there? LOGAN: For every one you let out that might be dangerous, you gave a hundred others the chance to have a real life. (Points to Alec, who is standing at the bar across the room.) Like him. MAX: Thought you were trying to make me feel better. LOGAN (chuckling): Almost forgot. (Shows her some cash.) He gave me this. Said it was to cover the money we lost on that doctor. MAX: Where'd he get it? LOGAN: Off some bad guys. All I needed to hear. MAX: I'm gonna drop by Joshua's. LOGAN: How's he doing? MAX: I don't know. He won't even talk to me...except to say "Go away." (Gets up to leave.) Thanks. LOGAN: Bye. (On her way out, Max passes Alec. He nods and raises his glass of beer as a wave. Max smiles and leaves. Then Alec turns to the woman standing next to him. She has lots of piercings, a shaved, pointy head, and metal curls coming out of the point.) ALEC: So what'd you say your name was again? WOMAN: My friends call me Lux. ALEC: Lux. LUX: Think you might know some of them. ALEC: Oh yeah? LUX: Mmm. Those three guys you went all primitive on. (She holds up her hand and pops out an inch-long metal claw from each fingernail.) ALEC: Nice. (She leans close and touches his neck, stroking his barcode.) ALEC: Are you vibrating? LUX (whispering into his ear): We know what you are. (She steps back. Alec looks at her, suddenly worried. She smiles at him, licks her fingers, and walks out. He gulps.) (At his house, Joshua has just finished burying Isaac. He takes a broken piece of concrete and places it in the dirt as a headstone. Max approaches.) JOSHUA: Go away. MAX: I can't. Joshua, you saved my life. I'm sorry about your brother, I really am, but...I'm glad to be alive. I want you to be too. JOSHUA: Brother gone. Not alive anymore. MAX: I know. But I'm here. And I'm not going anywhere. I'm just not. (She kneels beside him.) You don't have to be alone. Tell me about him. JOSHUA: Why? Isaac gone. MAX: I want to know him the way you did. (Joshua looks at her and smiles at the memory of Isaac.) JOSHUA: Isaac was Father's favorite. MAX: Must've made you jealous, huh? JOSHUA: At first. Later, no. MAX: You got over it. JOSHUA (nodding): Little brother...smaller, gentle. Father said, "Protect him." (His voice breaks.) I tried. MAX: You did. You were a good brother. (Max hugs him as he cries, his hand on Isaac's headstone.)
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