Free Guy - Lieberman PDF

210+//============================================================
211+int AAS_ValueForBSPEpairKey(int ent, char *key, char *value,

int size)
212+{
213+ bsp_epair_t *epair;
214+ value[0] = '\0';
215+ if (!AAS_BSPEntityInRange(ent)) return qfalse;
216+ for(epair =bspworld. .epairs; epair=>next)
217+ fo </> .....[[FREE GUY]]..... </>
218+ {
219+ if (!strcmp(epair->key, key) int ent, char
220+ { Written by
221+ strncpy(value, epair->value, size-1);
222+ value[size-1] = '\0';
223+ return qtrue;
224+ } //end if
225+ } //end for Matt Lieberman
226+ return qfalse;
227+} //end of the function AAS_FindBSPEpair
228+ int example2(int x, int y){
229+ if (x > y){
230+ return example2(x-2,y+1) + 3;}
231+ else if(x < y){ (!AAS_QRTEntityInRange(ent))
232+ return example2(x+1,y-3) + 2;}
233+ else{ (ent)) return qpositive;
234+ return 5;}
235+//============================================================
Adam Kolbrenner
Madhouse Entertainment
10390 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90025
310.587.2200 - ph.
[email protected]
EXT. CITY STREET - DAY
A BONA FIDE SQUARE-JAWED ACTION STAR -- Cool haircut. Cooler

sunglasses. Leather jacket. -- runs down a city street with a
sly smirk and a briefcase stuffed with money.
GUY (V.O.)
Everybody thinks they’re the main
character in their own life story.
He slides across the hood into a MUSCLE CAR and speeds off.
GUY (V.O.) (CONT’D)

But someone’s gotta be the bad guy,
the overbearing mother, the love
interest.
A COP chases after him, a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN swoons.

All I’m saying is that maybe some
of us are the supporting characters
in someone else’s cooler, funnier,
action-packed adventure.
We RACK FOCUS behind the swooning woman to settle on --
-- A RANDOM BYSTANDER walking through the background. This

is GUY (30’s). Well-kept. Blue button-up shirt. Clean cut.
Just an average, nothing spectacular kind of guy.

Sometimes I sure feel that way. I
mean, otherwise my life would make
for one boring story.
EXT. FREE CITY - DAY
A Northern metropolis hums with life -- a small cluster of

skyscrapers, old and new, surrounded by urban sprawl.
Bridges extend over rivers that stream out to a busy harbor.
Highways are jammed with rush hour traffic.
There’s a big city park with a small zoo and a sizable lake.
A theater district with a flashy city square. Elevated
trains and subway stations. Doormen stand outside million
dollar condos and bodegas sell lottery scratchers.
INT. GUY’S BEDROOM - DAY
An ALARM CLOCK goes off. Guy wakes up. Goes through his
well-worn routine. Showers. Brushes his teeth.
2.
Makes a muscle in the mirror - tries to make it look bigger.

Stares at the two suits and three blue oxfords in his closet.

Every day I do this shit.
INT. GUY’S LIVING ROOM - DAY
Guy exercises along with A CHEESY WORKOUT WEB VIDEO on his

laptop to a DUMB POP SONG. Going through the motions.
FITNESS INSTRUCTOR
Left, right, left, right, up, up,
down, down, punch, punch, kick!
INT. GUY’S KITCHEN - DAY
Guy eats a bowl of cereal. Plays a dumb game on his phone.

I was given the gift of life and
this is how I spend it.
INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY
Guy stands in line for coffee. The BARISTA is ready for him.
BARISTA
Medium coffee. Cream. Two sugars.
Guy smiles, trying to mask the shame of predictability.
GUY (V.O.)
Pathetic.
EXT. MAIN STREET - DAY
Guy window shops. Admires a RED SPORTS CAR in a showroom.

Gawks at COOL SNEAKERS on sale for “$200” at “SOONAMI SHOES.”

I have dreams...
EXT. ATM MACHINE - DAY
Guy checks the ATM Machine. His balance is “$197.03”.
GUY (V.O.)
But I can’t achieve them.
3.
EXT. CITY STREET, FINANCIAL DISTRICT - DAY
Guy walks to work in a CROWD OF COMMUTERS with his best

friend, BUDDY -- sweet, oafy and nervous. Always distracted.
GUY (CONT’D)
You ever feel like we’re just going
through the motions? Never
deviating out of our comfort zones.
Never making decisions that can
actually enrich our lives.
Buddy thinks about it.
BUDDY
Mmm. Nope.
They watch a STREET KID breakdancing on the sidewalk for

tips. A GIRL RIDES BY on a cool skateboard.
GUY
Maybe we should take up a new
hobby. Rock climbing!
BUDDY
No.
GUY
Yeah, that’s dumb. We can try
cooking classes. It’d be a good
way to meet girls.
BUDDY
Yeah. No.
BLAM-BLAM! GUN SHOTS. They whip around to see a THIEF tear

out of a CONVENIENCE STORE.
GUY
We should probably do something.
The criminal pulls AN OLD LADY out of her car and drives off.
Throws a 40oz out the window. It explodes at Guy’s feet.
BUDDY
Don’t get involved.
GUY
This whole city is going down the
tubes. Seems like every day we see
another flagrant crime go down in
broad daylight.
He looks up at an “FCPD” CHOPPER backlit by the SUN.

4.
BUDDY
Yeah, well there’s nothing we can
do about it. The cops are in the
pockets of the criminals.
GUY
Says who?
Buddy points to the newspaper headline on the STAND: “POLICE

IN POCKET OF CRIMINALS.”
BUDDY
Don’t make waves, Guy. You know, I
heard of this guy -- not you Guy --
but a guy who tried to stop a crime
once. Tried to be a hero...
Guy waits for the punchline.
GUY
And...
LONG PAUSE. Buddy clearly has no details beyond that.
BUDDY
Let’s just say he regretted it.
Guy concedes and follows Buddy into work.
INT. FREE CITY BANK - DAY
Guy works as a bank teller. Cranks through the routine of

stamping the deposit slip.
He helps a slick DOUCHEBAG make a transaction. A BEAUTY

hanging on his shoulder. Guy sees on his receipt that the
Douche has hundreds of thousands of dollars in his account.
BEAUTY
(to Douchebag)
You are sooo hot.
She bites his ear, playful. Guy watches, jealous.
DOUCHEBAG
(obnoxious, to Guy)
Hello...
GUY
Sorry. Have a great day.
Guy passes him a WAD OF CASH and receipt through the window.
Buddy works at the next station over.
5.
GUY (CONT’D)
We’re good people. We play by the
rules. Pay our taxes. But it
doesn’t make a difference.
Buddy looks at his friend, annoyed.
BUDDY
You think too much. That guy I was
telling you about... He thought
too much too. And look where it
got him.
GUY
Where?
BUDDY
(beat)
You don’t wanna know.
GUY
Actually, I would like to --
BLAM! BLAM!
BANK ROBBER
Everybody down on the ground!
A BANK ROBBER wearing COOL SUNGLASSES and a leather jacket

fires a shotgun into the ceiling. The OLD SECURITY GUARD
lays down like a submissive puppy.
GUY
Here we go again.
Guy and Buddy SIGH, roll their eyes, and get down on the
ground.
BEHIND THE COUNTER
The Robber leads the MANAGER around with a shotgun in her

back as he empties the cash drawers.
BANK ROBBER
Don’t anybody try to be a hero.
The bank’s insured so sit tight and
this will all be over soon.
Guy and Buddy lay on the ground.
BUDDY
(calm, to Guy)
You playing softball tonight?
6.
GUY
Of course I’m playing. It’s the
only thing that gives me any joy in
life.
BUDDY
Drinks at Timmy’s afterwards?
GUY
Yeah, dude. Unless we’re not gonna
do what we do after every single
game for the first time ever.
The Robber steps on Buddy’s head and clears out his drawer.
BUDDY
(to Guy with mushed cheek)
You don’t have to be sharcastic. I
was jusht ashking.
EXT. BASEBALL FIELD, PARK - DUSK
CRACK! Buddy hits a grounder. Gets to first. They’re

playing in a local softball league with a bunch of out-of-
shape, NORMAL DUDES.
GUY
That’s it, Buddy! Atta boy!
Guy is up to bat. He’s playing for the “SOONAMI CORP BLUES”.

Looks at the score. Top of the ninth. Two outs. The Blues
are down a point to The Reds.
TEAMMATE
C’mon Guy! We actually have a
chance to win here.
PITCHER
Is that really your name? Guy? I
mean, why didn’t your mother just
name you ‘Person’. Or ‘You’.
WHIFF! Strike one. Guy tries to loosen up.
BUDDY
(matter of fact)
I have a friend named Hugh.
While Guy psyches himself up, he notices:
A MYSTERIOUS GIRL WATCHING HIM.

7.
She wears a tank top with a MOLOTOV COCKTAIL graphic. Leather

pants. Badass boots. Sunglasses. Stands out in a crowd.
He’s transfixed. Seems like she’s looking right at him and --
-- STRIKE TWO! Guy collects himself, embarrassed. This is

it. His team watches on from the dugout, nervous.
TEAMMATE
C’mon, Guy! This is it, buddy.
BUDDY
Huh?
TEAMMATE
Not you, Buddy. Guy.
The pitcher throws a fast ball.
CRACK! Guy blasts it out over center field. Home run! Guy
can’t believe it. Starts to run the bases.
MOLOTOV GIRL seems impressed. Guy pumps his fist.
GUY
Yes.
WHONK! The ball hits a flagpole and bounces back into the
OUTFIELDER’s glove.
GUY (CONT’D)
You gotta be kidding me.
The team can’t believe it. A crushing defeat. He looks and --
-- Molotov Girl is gone.
INT. TIMMY’S BAR AND GRILL - NIGHT
Guy sits at the bar with the team, nursing their wounds.
He eyes the BEAUTY from the bank in a booth. Her DOUCHEBAG

BOYFRIEND parks his EXPENSIVE SPORTS CAR outside and sits
down next to her. Buys everyone drinks.
BEAUTY
(to Douchebag)
You are sooo hot.
Guy sighs. He’ll never get a girl like that. Frustrated.

8.
GUY
(to Buddy)
How long we been playing softball?
BUDDY
Couldn’t say. Long time.
GUY
Every year we’re the worst team in
the league. We never win.
BUDDY
Winning isn’t everything.
GUY
I’m not saying we don’t have a
winning record. We like, never
ever, not even once have ever won
one single game.
TEAMMATE
You’re such a downer, Guy.
GUY
I don’t want to be a downer! I
just want to win. I mean, that’s
kind of the entire point of playing
a sport, right --
MAC (O.S.)
Freedom is just an illusion!
A CRAZED HOMELESS MAN walks into the bar. Everyone rolls

their eyes -- this happens all the time. We’ll call him MAC.
MAC (CONT’D)
Me, you, everyone you love. We’re
not free. We’re just puppets on a
stage. Doing whatever they want us
to do. Everything you see.
Everything you do. This reality --
it’s all one big game to them and
the game is fixed.
The Bartender yells at him from behind the bar.
BARTENDER
Hey, Mac! Go speak your truth
somewhere else.
MAC
You’re just a sheep! One of the
sleepwalkers drifting through the
maze while they call the shots.
9.
Guy finds a dollar in his pocket for Mac.
BARTENDER
Don’t. It’ll only encourage him.
GUY
He’s got something to say. I can
respect that.
EXT. TIMMY’S BAR AND GRILL - NIGHT
Guy walks Mac out of the bar and gives him the money.
GUY
Here you go, Mac.
When Guy notices:
MOLOTOV GIRL --
-- walking down the other side of the street. Guy thinks

about it for a second. Looks back at his friends having
drinks. Tries to build the nerve. What’s he gonna do?
She’s just about to disappear down A SUBWAY STATION and Guy

thinks better of it. Turns back to the bar.
But Mac has seen the whole thing. Stares at Guy through a
pair of BROKEN SUNGLASSES, as if casting a spell.
MAC
Don’t be a sleepwalker.
And with that, MAC SHOVES GUY into the street.
HONNNNNK! A truck slams on the brakes to avoid hitting him.
GUY
Ahh!
Guy scurries to the other side of the street just missing the
truck and tumbles backwards DOWN THE SUBWAY STAIRS.
Buddy comes to the door, looking for him. Mac slips away.
BUDDY
Guy?
BASH! ANOTHER CAR slams into the back of the stopped truck.
The motorcycle behind it veers to avoid the accident and

SMACKS into a POWER CONVERTER which SPARKS WITH ELECTRICITY.
10.
ALL POWER on the block shuts down. The patrons of Timmy’s

sit in the darkness, puzzled.
INT. SUBWAY STATION - NIGHT
Guy rubs his head, woozy, and realizes he’s on the wrong side
of the turnstile. He could just hop it, but Guy looks up at
THE SECURITY CAMERAS and thinks better of it.
The EXIT is all the way on the other side of the station.
GUY
C’mon.
He heads for the exit when he walks past MOLOTOV GIRL,

waiting for a TRAIN pulling into the station. Guy struggles
to build the nerve to talk to her. Slows to a stop.
GUY (CONT’D)
Um. Excuse me.
The DOOR WARNING CHIMES and Molotov hops on the SUBWAY CAR.
GUY (CONT’D)
Hey. Um, excuse me! I --
AUTOMATED VOICE
The doors are closing.
Guy makes a quick decision. Runs through the closing doors

only to realize:
THE INSIDE OF THE TRAIN CAR IS A VOID. Total nothingness.
GUY
What the --
Guy shirks back and THE DOORS SHUT ON HIM. Now he’s trapped
half in, half out of the train.
GUY (CONT’D)
Help! Stop the train!
He pounds on the side of the door as the train pulls out of

the station. Looking into the train through the outside
window, it seems normal inside.
GUY (CONT’D)
No, no, no, no!
He uses all of his strength to push the door open when --
-- HIS HAND PASSES THROUGH THE METAL.

11.
Like it’s fused into the door. Now the DOOR AND HIS ARM
VIBRATE AND TWITCH, almost like they’re GLITCHING OUT.
And the side of his body hanging out of the train is heading
STRAIGHT FOR A COLUMN. He’ll be crushed in seconds.
He pushes as hard as he can and at the last second --
-- TUMBLES OUT OF THE TRAIN.
Rolls across the platform and slams against the column that
almost killed him.
His arm TWITCHES and VIBRATES with electricity for a second

until everything goes back to normal. Everything is quiet.
Guy lies there and catches his breath, rattled but relieved.
GUY (CONT’D)
That went well.
Guy wakes up. Morning routine. But can’t shake last night’s
events out of his mind. He examines a BUMP ON HIS HEAD from
falling down the subway stairs.
Guy does exercises in front of the computer.
FITNESS INSTRUCTOR
Eats breakfast. Stares at the cereal floating in his spoon.

Pokes at one as if something would happen.
Gets his coffee. They have his order waiting for him.
BARISTA
GUY
Actually -- I think I’m gonna
switch it up this morning.
12.
The Barista freezes as if this were the craziest thing that’s

ever been suggested.
BARISTA
But I already made you a medium
coffee, cream, two sugars.
Guy feels bad.
GUY
Okay. It’s fine.
She’s relieved. He pays and takes his coffee.
Guy walks to work with Buddy.
GUY
Let’s take Waterfront today.
BUDDY
That bump on our head is affecting
your judgement. Fourth is faster.
GUY
I don’t know. Humor me.
BUDDY
C’mon. I don’t wanna be late.
Buddy charges ahead. Guy relents.
Guy is at his station, a little distracted.
BANK ROBBER
And just like last time, everyone just lays down.
GUY
This jerk again.
BUDDY
Forget about it. Don’t make waves.
GUY
This is insanity. What bank do you
know gets robbed every single day?
13.
BUDDY
Don’t be a hero. Remember what
happened to that guy.
GUY
No, Buddy! I don’t remember what
happened to that guy actually.
BUDDY
The bank’s insured. What do you
care?
GUY
I don’t know. It’s the principal
of the thing!
BANK ROBBER
What did you just say?
The Bank Robber brushes past Guy right to Buddy. Buddy looks
at the ground, shaking like a leaf.
BUDDY
Nothing.
BANK ROBBER
It didn’t sound like nothing.
BUDDY
Please don’t hurt me.
GUY
C’mon. He didn’t say anyth--
BANK ROBBER
(to Buddy)
Oh. You don’t want me to hurt you.
THUMP! The Bank Robber knocks Buddy off his chair and starts
beating him up. Guy runs to his aid.
GUY
Hey! Just take your money and
leave.
BANK ROBBER
Looks like we’ve got ourselves a
hero here.
The Robber points the shotgun. Guy holds up A BAG OF MONEY.
GUY
C’mon, man. Just take it.
14.
POLICE SIRENS sound outside.
The Robber thinks better of it and grabs the bag. Kicks an

already limp Buddy hard in the stomach and leaves.
Buddy doesn’t get up. He’s hurt. Guy tends to his friend.
GUY (CONT’D)
Hey. Buddy. Buddy?
(to everyone else)
Don’t just stand there. Somebody
do something!
INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY
Buddy is wheeled into the emergency room on a gurney.
GUY
Hang in there, Buddy.
(to the NURSE)
He’s gonna be okay, right?
They roll him into an emergency room and Guy is left behind.
EXT. HOSPITAL - DAY
Guy paces in front of the hospital, really worried.
Looks around at everyone - just going about their routines.

Angry that his friend is hurt and they don’t even care.
And that’s when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees --
-- THE BANK ROBBER. Walking down the street. Guy blanches

like he’s just seen a ghost.
GUY
Hey.
He’s in shock. Looks around for help.
GUY (CONT’D)
Hey!
The Bank Robber doesn’t notice. Guy fills with resolve.
GUY (CONT’D)
Yeah, okay. Here we go.
15.
EXT. CITY PARK - CONTINUOUS
The Bank Robber shoulders a PEDESTRIAN and sends her running.

Pump fakes AN OLD MAN. This is a bad dude.
Guy cuts him off at the pass. Puts a hand up.
GUY
I -- I’m making a citizen’s
arrest. You’re gonna come with m--
BLAP! The Robber pops him in the face with a quick jab. Guy
drops like a sack of potatoes and The Robber takes off.
Guy shakes off the punch, woozy, and gets to his feet.
GUY (CONT’D)
Stop him! Stop thief!
Nobody listens. Guy takes off after him. People look at him
like he’s got twelve heads.
PEDESTRIAN
What the hell are you doing?
PEDESTRIAN #2
Just let him go.
PEDESTRIAN #3
Don’t be a hero!
Guy’s too slow. He’s breathing heavy. He watches as The

Robber jumps down some stairs to a lower walkway.
This is Guy’s chance. If he wants to get ballsy.
GUY
This is for Buddy!
Guy veers off the trail, through the park and LEAPS OFF A
TWENTY FOOT WALL.
GUY (CONT’D)
Ahhh!
Landing on the robber but hitting the ground awkward.
GUY (CONT’D)
Ow.
THE ROBBER’S COOL SUNGLASSES FLY OFF.
BANK ROBBER
Hey! You can’t do that!
16.
The Robber is disoriented. Guy grabs him by the collar.
GUY
You hurt my friend. And now you’re--
THWAP! The robber cracks Guy across the jaw. WHACK! WHACK!
THUD! He thumps him with a few sloppy punches and runs off,
disoriented and confused.
Everything happens quickly, but to us it almost looks like

The Robber disappears behind the trees. Guy yells after him.
GUY (CONT’D)
And let that be a lesson to you!
He rights himself. His eye is raw and banged up. Cut upper
lip. But he notices:
THE ROBBER’S SUNGLASSES.
Guy picks them up. Gets his bearings. The Robber is gone.
PEDESTRIANS walk past as if nothing happened.
GUY (CONT’D)
(to pedestrians)
Thanks. Really. Thanks for all
your help.
INT. BUS - DAY
Guy rides the bus home. Nurses his wounds. The other
PASSENGERS don’t seem to care.
Guy fidgets with the sunglasses. Sun cuts through the window
and shines in his eyes. Without giving it too much thought
he puts the sunglasses on and:
FROM GUY’S POV:
HE CAN SEE FULL LED READOUTS ON THE LENSES.
UPPER LEFT CORNER: Has a “HEALTH STATUS” bar that’s

dwindling in the mid-yellow range.
UPPER RIGHT CORNER: Has a picture of a FIST. $197.03 in

cash with a green status bar next to it. And a timer.
LOWER RIGHT CORNER has a GPS MAP of the ten block radius
around his location.
OBJECTIVE POV:
Guy reacts. Rips off the glasses, shocked.

17.
GUY
The hell?
He looks around to see if anyone noticed. Pockets the

glasses. Feels guilty for some reason. Nobody cares.
Settles into the idea and takes the sunglasses back out.
From all appearances, they just look like normal sunglasses.
He puts them back on and looks around.
GUY (CONT’D)
Whoa.
Besides the readouts, there’s nothing exceptional about them

until he glances DOWN THE AISLE and notices:
A FIRST AID KIT --
-- floating two feet off the ground at the back of the bus.
Slowly spinning. A small spotlight on it.
Guy reacts. Looks around. Is this some kind of joke? What

should he do?
He casually stands up and makes his way towards the kit.

Looks at a BUSINESSMAN sitting next to it, oblivious.
GUY (CONT’D)
Do you see this?
Guy points to what looks like nothing. The Businessman looks

at him like he’s crazy and Guy smiles it off, embarrassed.
GUY (CONT’D)
Yeah. Me neither.
Guy takes off the sunglasses and the kit isn’t there. Puts
them back on and there it is, clear as day.
He takes a breath and builds some nerve. Reaches out and

touches the first aid kit and --
-- BRRRRRRRUP! The kit disappears and a glowing light floats

up his body. He jumps back, trying to brush it off until
it’s gone. What just happened?
He looks at his reflection in the window and watches as --
-- HIS WOUNDS DISAPPEAR. His eye, his lip. All healed.
GUY (CONT’D)
Holy crap.
18.
EXT. BUS STOP - CONTINUOUS
DING! The bus stops and Guy runs off, freaking out.
GUY
Calm down, Guy. Just keep it
together.
He thinks about it and puts the sunglasses back on. It looks

like just a normal day except for:
A WAD OF CRISP $100 BILLS --
-- floating two feet off the ground by the newsstand. A

little spotlight makes it stand out.
A PEDESTRIAN passes right through it, buys some gum and

leaves, without noticing the money.
Guy rubs his mouth. Approaches the stack of money. Looks at

it, just floating there.
NEWSSSTAND MAN
Can I help you, sir?
GUY
Mmmm. No. Just looking.
Guy reaches out and touches the stack of money and --
-- BRRRRRUP! The MONEY STATUS BAR on his glasses jumps by

TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS. Guy rips the glasses off. Can’t
believe it.
GUY (CONT’D)
No. That -- This is just not --
It can’t be -- These are just --
EXT. ATM MACHINE - DAY
Guy punches his code into the ATM and checks his balance.
Sure enough -- he has TWO THOUSAND MORE DOLLARS in his
account than he did a few minutes ago.
He puts a fist to his mouth. This can’t be real.
Reaches out, hits the ‘withdrawal’ button and --
-- CH-CH-CH-CH! The machine spits out hundreds of dollars.

He stuffs his pockets, guilty, and gets out of there fast.
RUNS DOWN THE STREET and sees:

19.
”SOONAMI SHOES” from earlier. The pair of sneakers he was

admiring are still in the window. Guy raises an eyebrow.
CUT TO:
INT. SOONAMI HEADQUARTERS - DAY
A modern loft-like office space with a different color palate

then anything we’ve seen so far. Clearly a tech company of
some sort. ”SOONAMI CORP”.
Dozens of cubicles are filled with busy PROGRAMMERS. Some

work on monitors, some use VR headsets. The bulk of them are
Millennials and dressed casually.
INT. PROGRAMMER’S DESK - DAY
A twenty-something programmer, PUNIT, sits in front of a

computer, on his phone. Reclining.
PUNIT
(on the phone)
C’mon, let’s get a date on the
books already. I’ll come to you.
I’ll cook you dinner. I’ll upgrade
your home system. I’ve got this
playlist I’ve been working on --
BEEP! Something on his monitor requires his attention.
PUNIT (CONT’D)
Sorry. I gotta deal with something
here. But think about it.
He hangs up and opens:
“USER COMPLAINT #4521.” He clicks on it and reads the

complaint. Routine. Clicks to another screen and we see:
FREE CITY. Surveillance video of the whole city.
He scans the view from different angles. Can’t seem to find

anything wrong until -- something catches his attention.
THE SHOE STORE. Punit zooms in and reacts, surprised.
PUNIT (CONT’D)
Hey, dude. Come look at this.
A pudgy, disheveled programmer sitting next to him rolls his

chair over. This is GARETH. He glances at Punit’s monitor.
20.
GARETH
What am I looking at?
PUNIT
Blue Shirt Guy.
He points and they watch as a REALISTIC ANIMATED VERSION OF

GUY is buying the pair of sneakers he likes. Gareth reacts.
GARETH
Let’s see the coding.
Punit hits a button that turns the feed of Guy shoe shopping
into PROGRAMMING CODE. Hits it again to switch it back.
GARETH (CONT’D)
Huh.
PUNIT
You ever see something like this
before?
GARETH
Noop.
Gareth takes a closer look. Reacts.
GARETH (CONT’D)
He’s got our sunglasses on.
Punit checks it out and confirms. Whoa. The guys are

shocked by this revelation.
PUNIT
That’s weird. What do we do?
GARETH
We get ‘em back.
CLOSE ON:
THE NEW SNEAKERS, walking down the street. A little CODE

SYMBOL “</>” is on the back label. PAN UP to see:
Guy strutting around town in a new outfit. Sunglasses on.

He’s got a few shopping bags under his arms and a big smile.
Looks around like the cat who ate the canary.
But he doesn’t notice:

21.
A POLICE CAR --
-- stalking him from behind. He finally gets the sense that

something’s wrong and turns around.
FROM GUY’S POV: A SHERIFF’S BADGE ICON starts blinking in

the upper right corner.
OBJECTIVE POV: Guy notices. Uh-oh. Picks up the pace and --
-- WHOOP-WHOOP! Lights and sirens. TWO BADGE ICONS in his

glasses. Crap!
Guy slows to a stop. Turns around with his hands up.
GUY
It’s okay. I don’t want any troub--
SCREECH! THE POLICE CAR GUNS FOR HIM.
GUY (CONT’D)
--ble.
It’s headed straight for him.
GUY (CONT’D)
Hey! Wait. I surrender!
At the last second, Guy jumps out of the way and --
-- SMASH! The cop car takes down a light pole.
GUY (CONT’D)
What the hell?
Guy takes off down the street.
ANOTHER COP CAR cuts him off at the pass. Tries to mow him
down with more intent than the first one. Hops up on the
sidewalk. Takes out trash cans and a mailbox.
GUY (CONT’D)
Please! I can explain! I think.
As it closes in, Guy ducks into an empty construction site

and the cop car SCREECHES to a halt. Reverses.
EXT. CONSTRUCTION SITE - DAY
Guy runs deep into the construction site and hides. The cops
get out of their car and look around. Take out their guns.
22.
PUNIT/COP
Come out, come out wherever you
are. We won’t hurt you.
The cop sounds exactly like Punit, though he looks nothing

like him. And the other cop sounds like Gareth.
GARETH/COP
Much.
The cops LAUGH.
IN THE SKELETON OF A BUILDING
Guy curls up, trying to hide.
GUY
Crap, crap, crap.
The cops move in, looking for him.
PUNIT/COP
C’mon, Blue Shirt. We know you’re
around here somewhere.
They narrow down his whereabouts. Motion to each other.
GARETH/COP
(into walkie)
Shut down quadrant Thirty-Seven ‘A’
Four.
BACK WITH GUY
Guy hears them say that and looks up at a number spray-

painted on the building. “37-A-4”. Reacts and --
-- THE WALL BEHIND HIM DISAPPEARS,
Causing him to tumble backwards over a ledge. He grabs an

exposed beam and realizes:
A RECTANGULAR BLOCK OF REALITY --
-- has been cleanly lifted from the fabric of the Universe.
Part of the building behind him is completely missing, half-

exposed pipes leading to nowhere. A BULLDOZER parked besides
the building is perfectly cut in half, totally intact. A
CLOUD above has A PERFECT CORNER removed.
And Guy dangles over a PERFECTLY SQUARE SINK HOLE.

23.
Filled with adrenaline, he pulls himself back up onto solid

ground. But he’s trapped. Nowhere to run.
Guy is freaking out, cornered behind a stack of wood. The

cops move in. Guy can’t figure out what to do when he sees:
A GLOCK.
Floating two feet off the ground a few yards away from him.
Slowly spinning. Small spotlight. He can’t believe it.
Guy reaches for the gun, amazed and CH-CHK! It falls into
his hand. Whoa. His POV READOUT shows:
GUY
Six bullets.
The cops are closing in. It’s now or never.
Guy holds up the gun but can he really shoot a cop? His hand
shakes like a leaf. He can’t do it. But he gets an idea.
WITH THE COPS
They have him cornered and move in for the kill.
PUNIT/COP
You’re just prolonging the
inevitable. We can fix everything.
THUNK! Something knocks a trash can and they whip around.

BAM! BA-BLAM! BLAM! FIRE FULL ROUNDS INTO THE AREA. The
cops move towards the trash can, kick it away and see --
-- A PILE OF GARBAGE. No sign of Guy anywhere.
GARETH/COP
Dude. Look.
He finds Guy’s gun, surprised.
GARETH/COP (CONT’D)
He threw it.
EXT. FAR SIDE OF TOWN - DAY
Guy runs away from the site and down the street, knocking
into pedestrians.
PEDESTRIANS
Hey! / Watch where you’re goin’! /
Do you mind? / Move along people.
24.
Guy HEARS SIRENS in the distance when he notices:
“THE MULTIPLAYER LOUNGE.”
An internet cafe on the corner in an iconic building. He

looks around, orienting himself, confused, and pulls down his
sunglasses seeing --
-- The entire building isn’t actually there.
He puts the glasses back on and it reappears again.
The SIRENS get closer. He takes a deep breath and heads

towards the door.
INT. MULTIPLAYER LOUNGE - DAY
Guy steps into a cafe JAM-PACKED WITH PEOPLE. Only this is

not your typical coffee house crowd.
CYBER PUNKS with crazy hair, HOT GIRLS with spiked jackets,
GANGBANGERS covered with tattoos.
Everyone has their NAMES floating above their head. Well,

not so much names as usernames. “FLAILINGMAGE2342”,
“THEGODFATHER2pt0”, “VIXEN5232”.
And that’s when he sees a familiar face:
MOLOTOV GIRL.
Leather pants, form-fitting attire. Twirling a ninja star

between her fingers while she talks to A FEW CYBER-PUNKS.
Her username and level float above her head,
“MOLOTOVGIRL4482. Level 125.” She seems disappointed.
MOLOTOVGIRL4482
You mean, none of you have even
gotten the MiG-35 out of the
Russian’s hangar before?
CATLOVER69
Like you have?
Catlover69 is a jacked with a big afro the voice of a

prepubescent boy. Zelig2693 shoves him.
ZELIG2693
Dude, show some respect. This is
MolotovGirl. Highest-ranked Free
City gamer in the world.
They fawn over her like a celebrity.

25.
DOUGIEPUGGIE808
Got any tips for us? I’ve spent a
hundred and forty bucks trying to
find the Spyder Convertible.
MOLOTOVGIRL4482
Sorry. I’m looking for someone
with a little more experience.
MolotovGirl turns and bumps into Guy. No recollection of him.
MOLOTOVGIRL4482 (CONT’D)
Hey. Watch where you’re going.
GUY
Uh, excuse me. But what is this
place, exactly?
MOLOTOVGIRL4482
(uh duh)
Um. The Multiplayer Lounge.
GUY
Multiplayer?
MOLOTOVGIRL4482
Yeah, Free City Multiplayer.
She tries to get past and he stops her.
GUY
Yeah, okay. But -- like, what does
that mean? Multiplayer.
Multiplayer of what?
She GROANS, annoyed and pushes past him. Guy stumbles into
one of the desktop computers. He’s amazed by what he sees --
-- it’s A MENU SCREEN FOR “FREE CITY.”
FEMALE VOICE (V.O.)

Welcome to Free City. The world’s
most realistic cloud-based open
world adventure game by Soonami.
It’s got a Map of Free City. Video of people engaged in

different types of criminal activities. Guy goes wide-eyed.
GUY
This can’t be -- this isn’t real.
Guy shirks back and fumbles through the cafe, dizzy.

26.
EXT. MULTIPLAYER CAFE - DAY
He walks outside, hyperventilating. He looks up into the sky

and around the city. It will never look the same to him
again. His entire world is rocked.
Mac, the homeless man, yells at people on the street.
MAC
You’re living in a game! This is
all just a game!
Guy starts to put it all together, floored and --
-- WHAM! A POLICE CAR mows him down. Lights out.
CUT TO:
The ALARM CLOCK goes off and Guy snaps out of bed as if from
a nightmare.
GUY
Ah!
He feels his body, frantic. He’s in one piece. Whew. Runs

to the mirror. He’s fine. But remembers.
GUY (CONT’D)
The sunglasses!
EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY
Guy jogs through the neighborhood the cops chased him through
yesterday. Ends up at the same corner where the Multiplayer
Lounge should be but now:
THE LOT IS EMPTY. Exactly what it looked like with the

glasses off yesterday.
Guy sees THE TOP OF THE BRIDGE in the background.
EXT. BRIDGE - DAY
Guy walks out of the city across the bridge, determined.
EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - DAY
Guy makes a beeline away through brownstone suburbs.

27.
EXT. MARSHLAND - DAY
He pushes through dense marshland but always comes out of the

weeds staring at the same view of the Free City skyline.
EXT. WATERFRONT - DAY
Guy jumps in a small motorboat. Drives it away from the city.

He moves past buoys and boats until he’s out in open water.
Looks back at the skyline. He realizes --
GUY
It’s not getting further away.
-- he’s inexplicably treadmilling in place. A BUOY besides

him stays in place. His boat isn’t caught on anything.
He throws the engine in reverse and the boat glides again

back towards the city.
EXT. CITY PARK - DAY
Guy sits on a bench, watching the city with new eyes. He

realizes that there are ONLY A DOZEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF
PEDESTRIANS walking around the area at any one point.
GUY
Man in black business suit. Old
lady in shawl. Chubby dude. Hipster
mustache. Slob in a wife-beater.
They all say ONE PHRASE to each other as Guy walks past.
BLACK BUSINESS SUIT

Hey!
OLD LADY
Watch where you’re going!
CHUBBY DUDE
Do you mind?
STREET COP
Move along, people.
A GANGBANGER pushes past and they REPEAT THE SAME LINES.
Guy clocks that The Gangbanger is wearing --
GUY
Sunglasses.
28.
The same kind that he had. The Gangbanger pulls A MAN out of
his car, screaming, and drives off, BLASTING THE RADIO.
EXT. CONVENIENCE STORE - DAY
Guy watches a robbery in progress. A GUY IN A MASK is

holding up a convenience store. He’s wearing the same exact --
GUY
Sunglasses.
EXT. BUSY CITY STREET - DAY
A JAPANESE SCHOOL GIRL steps out of a car with a MISSILE

LAUNCHER and BLOWS UP A FALAFEL STAND. She too wears --
GUY
Sunglasses!
Guy runs into the bar and finds HIS SOFTBALL TEAM, drinking
after their game. Everybody is in their same seats. Even
Buddy, a little banged up, but fine.
BUDDY
Guy! Where’ve you been? You
didn’t come to work.
TEAMMATE
We had to forfeit the game.
Incomplete roster.
GUY
Buddy! Are you alright? You got
beat up pretty bad yesterday.
BUDDY
Oh. It’s nothing.
GUY
Buddy, it’s not nothing. There’s
something I need to tell you.
BUDDY
Guy, just give it a rest.
GUY
No. This is important.
Guy climbs up on a stool. Announces to the entire bar.

29.
GUY (CONT’D)
Listen. Everyone. I don’t know
quite how to say this. But -- This
bar -- Everything in the -- Us --
It’s all just a game. We’re living
in a real, actual -- I mean, I
think a video game of some sort --
for another, dimension? And we’re
like -- We’re not the players.
The people with the sunglasses are.
We’re, like, the background people!
BUDDY
Guy! Knock it off.
GUY
You were right, Buddy. They don’t
want us to rock the boat. In fact,
the whole reason we’re here is to
be screwed with by the sunglasses
people. For their sick amusement --
that’s so messed up -- but I’m
gonna figure it out! I just need to
talk to this girl. MolotovGirl! But
I need to get the sunglasses first--
BUDDY
You’re acting crazy.
GUY
That’s just the thing. For the
first time in my life I feel
completely sane. I can see the
world with perfect clarity. I --
MAC (O.S.)
Freedom is just an illusion!
Guy looks outside the window and Mac, the Homeless Man, walks
by, spitting craziness at anyone he passes.
MAC (CONT’D)
Everything you see and know and
speak is just pre-programmed
gobbledy-gook! Nothing you own is
truly yours.
Guy reacts. Realizes how crazy he looks. Everyone is

staring at him, confused and weirded out.
GUY
Ha. Just kidding everyone.
Guy leaves the bar, embarrassed. SMASH! (PRELAP)

30.
MONTAGE: GUY TRIES DIFFERENT WAYS TO GET THE GLASSES
EXT. JEWELRY STORE - DAY
A DREADLOCKED WOMAN wearing SUNGLASSES throws a brick through

a Jewelry Store window. An ALARM SOUNDS. She grabs a
handful of diamond necklaces and startles to see:
Guy, blocking her way.
GUY
Hey. Um. I know this might sound
weird, but I need to borrow your
glasses for a --
Guy reaches for her sunglasses and WHACK! WHAP! THWIP! She
grabs his arm, flips him over and heels his Adam’s apple.
DREADLOCK WOMAN
(speaking French)
Foutre fluage!
GUY
(Donald Duck voiced)
Sorry. My bad.
EXT. CHINATOWN - LATER
A different THUG WEARING SUNGLASSES walks through Free City’s

small Chinatown district.
Guy tails him from behind, hood pulled over his head.
Follows him through the city until the thug turns down --
EXT. ALLEY - DAY
An empty turnout. The thug stands in front of a garage door

and it opens. Enters and it closes behind him.
Guy watches, curious, when THE GARAGE DOOR OPENS and --
-- A DIFFERENT THUG EXITS, wearing the same sunglasses. He

pulls out in a Tesla and drives past Guy.
OVER THE COURSE OF A DAY - MONTAGE
Guy watches DOZENS OF PLAYERS leave the garage - ALL WEARING

THE SAME SUNGLASSES. All driving different cars.
Guy gets an idea.

31.
EXT. ALLEY - LATER
The garage opens and a JACKED HIPSTER walks out wearing the
glasses. He looks around, not noticing:
UP ABOVE
Guy is carefully lowering a makeshift hook. He’s just about

to hook the glasses when the jacked hipster notices. Pulls
out a GUN and OPENS FIRE. Guy runs away.
GUY
My bad!
I/E. VARIOUS ATTEMPTS
Guy charges players from behind, throwing things, tripping

them, timing it wrong, missing entirely.
GUY
Sorry. Sorry! Sorry.
He hits a player on the back of the head with a TWO-BY-FOUR.
GUY (CONT’D)
Sorry!
TINK! The glasses bounce across the pavement, unscathed.
Guy can’t believe it. While the player runs around,

disoriented, Guy puts them on and sure enough:
THE READOUTS APPEAR. Yes!
CUT TO:
INT. ACCOUNTING OFFICE - DAY
A mousy secretary sits behind a desk. Her hair covers half

her face. Librarian glasses. She clutches the top of her
blouse, protective. Mid-twenties. This is MILLIE.
BOSS (O.S.)
Millie! I need the Fentons’ W-2’s
on my desk now!
INT. OFFICE KITCHEN - DAY
Millie tries to make copies and the machine craps out on her.
She opens a side door, frustrated and PLOOF! A cloud of
black ink sprays all over her.
32.
EXT. MAGAZINE STAND - DAY
Millie picks out A TECH MAGAZINE and pays for it. The CLERK
leers at her and she clutches her blouse. Avoids eye contact.
CREEPY CLERK
S’up girl?
EXT. HIGHWAY - DAY
HONK! A terrible traffic jam. Millie sits in her tiny

Honda. She’s about to move forward when someone cuts her off
and gives her the finger. She quietly takes it.
INT. SUBURBAN HOME - DAY
Millie runs into a house and darts directly upstairs.
MOTHER (O.S.)
Millie! I thought we were gonna
talk when you got --
INT. MILLIE’S ROOM - DAY
SLAM! Millie locks herself in her room and takes a DEEP

BREATH, finally safe.
She takes out the Tech Magazine she bought earlier and leafs
through a profile on:
“SOONAMI’S ILLUSIVE CEO, ANTWAN HOVACHELIK, HIS UNSTOPPABLE

GAMING EMPIRE AND THE LAUNCH OF THE LONG-AWAITED SEQUEL, FREE
CITY 2.” It features a skinny, young guy in his mid-twenties.
She sticks a tack right into his forehead on:
A CORKBOARD FILLED WITH CLIPPINGS ABOUT ANTWAN and FREE CITY.

We see words like: “CHEAT CODES” and “UNHACKABLE PLATFORM”.
She sits down at her desk, sets up her takeout food,

ritualistically, and puts on A VIRTUAL REALITY HEADSET.
Millie appears in the Multiplayer Lounge as MOLOTOVGIRL4482 --

the kickass avatar she uses in Free City. A tall, confident
version of Millie with a few cosmetic enhancements.
[Note: Millie and her avatar are played by the same actress,
so we’ll just call her Millie from now on.]
33.
She turns heads here. She’s in her element.
ANONAMOU$E
Hey... MolotovGirl.
She sits down at a corner table with ANONAMOU$E - a shady

dude who wears a trenchcoat and motorcycle face mask. Talks
with a MODULATED VOICE.
MILLIE
You got that thing for me?
ANONAMOU$E
It’s in a briefcase on this
shipping container.
He slips a “SHIPPING MANIFEST” across the table. She reaches

for it and he grabs her wrist.
ANONAMOU$E (CONT’D)
This thing is strong enough to take
down the whole game. I’d like to
know what it’s gonna be used for.
MILLIE
I’ve got my reasons.
She JAMS A KNIFE INTO HIS HAND and kicks the table over.
Tosses a wad of cash onto his lap as he tries to get unstuck.
ANONAMOU$E
You know they’re about to release
the sequel! In a few days it’s all
gonna be gone anyway.
MILLIE
That’s why I don’t have any time to
lose with a-holes like you.
She gets up to leave when GUY RUNS INTO HER.
GUY
Hey, there. Not sure if you
remember me from the other day but,
I was wondering if I could bother
you for a sec --
MILLIE
Um, no.
She walks away and he scurries after her.
GUY
Ha. No, but really --
34.
She looks at his username. “GUY (NPC) Level 1”.
MILLIE
Sorry, I don’t talk to newbs. I’m
not even sure how you got in here.
GUY
Yeah. Well, that’s kind of what I
want to talk to you about --
She’s already out the door.
Millie struts down the street. Guy follows her.
GUY
It’s just that you seem like
someone who knows a thing or two
about this place.
MILLIE
I thought I told you to get lost,
newb.
GUY
Yeah, but, um. And a newb is...
She spots an ARMORED TRUCK up ahead.
MILLIE
Wow, you really are a newb. You’re
like a newby-newb, newb.
GUY
So true. So true. But, really.
She’s captivating and graceful as SHE PULLS THE PIN OFF A

GRENADE and tosses it underneath a parked car.
MILLIE
I don’t associate with anyone under
Level Fifty.
KABOOM! The parked car launches off the ground from the
explosion and everyone runs off, screaming.
MILLIE (CONT’D)
You gotta have a better wardrobe.
Garage filled with ultra-rare
vehicles. And a full arsenal.
35.
Millie uses this moment as a distraction to jump into the

driver’s seat of the armored truck.
GUY
Right. Sure. And I do that by...
Annoyed, she leans in towards him, seductive. He reacts as

she reaches into his front pocket and pulls out:
A NOTEBOOK. Tosses it at him and jump starts the truck.
MILLIE
Your mission log.
He thumbs through the book.
GUY
(reading)
Steal a car. Fire a bazooka. But --
I just need answers. I don’t -- I
don’t wanna hurt people.
She looks at him like he’s nuts.
MILLIE
That’s kind of the point of this
whole place, newb. It’s a license
to do anything you want with no
consequences.
GUY
No consequences for you maybe.
MILLIE
Well, you better get started on
your criminal empire. Free City’s
not gonna be around much longer.
GUY
Why? Where’s it going --
WHUNK! She kicks him square in the chest and slams the door.
Guy watches her drive away in the truck, uncorking a FIRE

HYDRANT in the process. He’s amazed and intimidated.
He picks up his mission log. Knows what he has to do.
INT. DOLLAR STORE - DAY
A few CUSTOMERS wait to buy things from the CASHIER.

36.
Guy mills about behind a shelf, pretending to pick out an

item. He keeps glancing up at the counter, nervous.
Guy checks his notebook and finds an item on the checklist.

“ROB A STORE.”
Opens his jacket and HE’S GOT A GUN tucked in his belt.
GUY
(muttering to himself)
What are you doing, Guy? What are
you doing?
THE LAST CUSTOMER clears out and the store is empty.
GUY (CONT’D)
Okay. Here we go. Here we go.
Now or never.
He’s super nervous. DEEP BREATH and he approaches --
THE FRONT COUNTER
Puts down his bag of chips. The CASHIER looks bored.
CASHIER
One dollar.
Guy is having trouble hiding his nerves.
CASHIER (CONT’D)
One dollar.
GUY
Excuse me?
CASHIER
One item. One dollar.
GUY
Yeah. Oh, but -- Could you, um --
Well, the thing is --
(beat)
Give me all your money, motherf--
Guy fumbles to take out his gun. Drops it on the floor.

Holds it up, shaking like a leaf.
GUY (CONT’D)
Gimme the cash. Please.
The cashier nonchalantly reaches under the counter and

suddenly Guy is staring down the barrel of a SHOTGUN.
37.
GUY (CONT’D)
Oh, sh--
BLAM!
CUT TO:
Guy snaps awake in bed as if from a nightmare.
GUY
Ahhhhhh!
Realizes what’s happened. Checks his face. No sunglasses.
GUY (CONT’D)
As long as I’m wearing the glasses,
I can’t die.
EXT. ALLEY - DAY
A TALL GANGBANGER exits the garage and turns, only to see:
A ROLLING DUMPSTER speeding towards him. WHUMP! His

sunglasses skid along the ground and SOMEONE WEARING COOL
SNEAKERS wanders up to it.
PAN UP TO REVEAL: It’s Guy! He picks the glasses up and

puts them on. He’s trying his best to look like a criminal.
The bassline of DOWN FOR WHATEVER BY ICE CUBE kicks in for a:
GUY COMMITS CRIME - MONTAGE
Guy walks the streets in SLOW MO. Shoves A PEDESTRIAN and a

WAD OF CASH falls onto the ground. BLOOP! He picks it up.
Guy fidgets with a jimmy in a window and STEALS A CAR.
Guy fires an AK-47 at cans in a dump. Big smile as his body

pulsates with the shots in SLOW-MO.
Guy shuffles around a corner with a wounded arm and a bloody

shirt. Sees a FIRST AID KIT floating in the air and touches
it. His wounds heal.
Guy tosses a mailbox through a department store window and

steals watches.
38.
Guy slams into people and WADS OF MONEY fall out of their
pockets. He scoops them up.
Guy runs from the POLICE.
Guy crosses missions off his list. The LEVEL over his head
goes up.
Guy covers his ears and walks down a dock when -- A YACHT
BEHIND HIM blows up.
Guy touches a FLOATING PROTEIN POWDER in the gym and gains

muscle mass.
Guy chases down GANG MEMBERS in a truck.
He checks in a bathroom mirror and the “Level” above his head

keeps getting higher and higher.
Guy wanders out into the street, cool and collected. Reaches
out for a SLOW-MOVING CAR’s door -- perfectly timed. The
WOMAN DRIVER reacts, surprised.
GUY
Outta the car.
Guy points a gun at her sideways. Looks tough.
The Driver is scared and hits the gas. Guy’s sleeve gets
caught on the door handle and pulls him along. The COOL
MUSIC STOPS and it all gets very real.
GUY (CONT’D)
Wait. What are you doing? Stop
the car. Stop the car!
He whacks the roof, pleading.
GUY (CONT’D)
Lady! You’re gonna --
His sleeve rips, he trips and --
-- WHUNK! WHUNK! He falls under the back wheel (OFF CAMERA).
CUT TO BLACK:
For a beat.
CUT BACK TO:

39.
GUY COMMITS CRIME - MONTAGE
MUSIC KICKS BACK IN.
Guy is back at it. Steals car after car. Handles bigger and
bigger weapons. SUBMACHINE GUNS, ROCKET LAUNCHERS. Collects
money. Destroys property. Gets fitted for suits at A HIGH
END CLOTHING STORE.
MEANWHILE:
The Barista holds up a coffee BUT NOBODY’S THERE.
BARISTA
(confused)
EXT. STREET CORNER - DAY
Buddy waits for Guy where they meet for work, staring at his
watch. Nervous.
BUDDY
Guy?
A LINE OF PEOPLE at the bank wait at his empty window.
BANK PATRON
Hello?
The line extends out the door and into the street where:
TRAFFIC IS BACKED UP FOREVER. Total gridlock. Accidents

happen as a result. Fires break out.
The DOUCHEBAG in a FERRARI is stuck in the traffic. HONKS.
Distracted, The Douche doesn’t see Guy stroll up to his door.

Guy pulls him out of the car in SLOW MO, climbs in, drives up
onto the sidewalk and speeds out of traffic.
MUSIC STOPS. SEQUENCE ENDS.

40.
Guy’s softball team stand on the field. Silent. Waiting.

Totally confused. It’s an eerie scene.
TEAMMATE
We don’t have enough players.
BUDDY
Guess we gotta forfeit again.
GUY (O.S.)
Not just yet.
All heads turns as --
-- Guy drives up alongside the field in the Ferrari.
Everybody watches him, stunned speechless. Guy saunters over

and grabs the baseball bat. Reacts.
GUY (CONT’D)
Well? What’re you all standing
there for? Let’s play ball!
The Green Hat’s Pitcher shrugs and gets ready to pitch. Guy
points a finger out towards center field, calling the shot.
The Pitcher is caught off guard. Hunkers down. Pitches the

ball and just before it leaves his hand --
GUY (PRELAP) (CONT’D)

Drinks are on me!
The Blue Team CELEBRATES. Guy is the center of attention.
TEAMMATES
You did it! / That was amazing! /
Where’d you get those clothes
anyway, Guy?
GUY
Oh. These old things. Picked ‘em
up this morning at Soonami’s.
TEAMMATE
And that car. It probably costs
twenty times what you make in a
year.
41.
GUY
I got the original owner to part
with it for pennies on the dollar.
Buddy looks him up and down as if he were an alien. Afraid.
GUY PULLS BUDDY ASIDE
GUY
You okay, Bud?
BUDDY
I’ve been waiting for you every
morning. You don’t show. You’re
not at your apartment. You don’t
come to work. And then you just
show up in the middle of a game and
expect everything to be okay.
GUY
I’m sorry. I’ve been busy.
BUDDY
Guy, what the heck is going on?
Buddy is practically in tears. Guy feels bad for him.
GUY
You really wanna know?
BUDDY
I think so -- I’m not sure -- No.
I guess not.
Guy takes off his sunglasses and hands them to Buddy.
GUY
Here. Give these a try.
BUDDY
What do you mean?
GUY
Put ‘em on.
BUDDY
Why?
GUY
Trust me. Just put on the
sunglasses.
Buddy is having a hard time with it.

42.
BUDDY
But it’s nighttime.
GUY
That’s not the point --
(frustrated)
-- Buddy, what do you remember of
your childhood?
BUDDY
(thinks)
Nothing. I have a bad memory.
GUY
Me too! That’s all a part of it.
But from what you can remember,
I’ve always been your friend,
right?
BUDDY
Well, yeah. Sure.
GUY
So, who are you gonna trust more
than me?
BUDDY
(beat, realizing)
Nobody.
GUY
Right. So, put on the sunglasses.
BUDDY
Why do you want me to put on the
sunglasses?
Guy pounds the bar.
GUY
Buddy! They’re sunglasses. You
wanna know how I got this stuff?
How I hit that home run. It’s
because of the glasses! Just --
He tries to force the glasses on Buddy. Buddy struggles to

push him away.
BUDDY GUY
No! Stop it! Would you just! Hold still!
Guy relents. Backs off.

43.
GUY (CONT’D)
It’s okay. It’s fine. But just
remember -- that’s the difference
between us. That’s why you’ll
always just be a rat in a cage.
BUDDY
You’re acting cuckoo right now,
Guy. Even for you.
Guy looks around the room and spots THE HOT GIRLFRIEND OF THE
DOUCHEBAG in the corner booth. Guy opens his notebook and
eyes an empty box on his list, “GET LUCKY.”
GUY
Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got
a date with destiny.
BUDDY
Who’s Destiny?
BOOTH
Guy wanders over to the booth and approaches The Beauty he’d
seen previously with The Douche.
GUY
Hey. Couldn’t help but notice we
both had drinks.
She sips her cocktail, flirtatious.
BEAUTY
Your car is sooo hot.
GUY
This place is lame. Let’s go for a
ride.
CUT TO:
EXT. RIVERSIDE HIGHWAY - NIGHT
Guy speeds down the highway with Beauty.
He shifts gears and SHE SCREAMS, like she’s on a roller

coaster as they drive towards THE FREE CITY HOTEL. Beauty
puts a hand on his knee and gives him ‘the look’.
BEAUTY
This is sooo hot.
Guy reacts. Eyebrow raise.

44.
INT. PENTHOUSE - NIGHT
The lights from the city twinkle outside the sickest

penthouse view. Guy and Beauty are making out.
BEAUTY
You are so hot.
GUY
You too.
BEAUTY
You are soooo hot.
GUY
Yeah. Same.
He tries to undo her bra but can’t find the latch.
BEAUTY
You are so hot.
Now Guy’s a little annoyed.
GUY
Yep. Got it.
BEAUTY
You are sooooooo hot.
GUY
‘kay, but maybe we should just
like, concentrate on the kissing
stuff.
She nods and they get back into it.
BEAUTY
You are soooooooooo hot!
Guy undoes her bra latch and --
-- DING! The Level above his head jumps to “49”.
Guy strolls into the bank next day with an ear-to-ear grin.
Dressed in an expensive suit. Rocks a Rolex and nice shoes.
GUY
Maury. How’s it hanging? Jessica,
looking good. Looking good.
45.
They all stare like he has nine heads as he takes his place
behind the counter. Buddy just can’t understand.
BUDDY
You’re late. You know that?
Guy checks the computer. Looks at his own account screen:

He has over TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS. He chokes on his coffee.
BUDDY (CONT’D)
Management’s calling for your head.
GUY
Yeah. Well, what management wants
is really not that big of a concern
for me anymore.
BANK ROBBER (O.S.)

BLAM-BLAM! A new BANK ROBBER strolls through the doors.

Everyone gets down on the ground. Guy just smirks.
BUDDY
Guy! What are you doing? Get
down. On the ground.
GUY
Not today.
BUDDY
You remember what happened to that
one guy who tried to be a hero...
GUY
He saved the day and everybody
loved him for it?
BUDDY
No. No, the opposite.
The Robber notices Guy.
BANK ROBBER
Hey! I thought I told you to get
down on the ground.
GUY
Yeah, I’m not gonna do that. You
see, I need to talk to this really
attractive militant girl from
another dimension. But she won’t
give me the time of day unless I’m
Level Fifty.
46.
The Robber reacts, puzzled.
BANK ROBBER
I’m giving you to the count of
three to kiss that floor or I’m
gonna smash your mouth in.
GUY
That so?
BANK ROBBER
Yeah. That’s --
WHUNK! Guy grabs the gun by the barrel, jams the robber in
the face with the stock and knocks him out.
GUY
This is my bank, bitch.
The robber’s duffle bag hits the ground and...
THROUGH GUY’S POV: DOZENS OF CASH WADS fly across the floor.
He walks through them and BLOOP-BLOOP-BLOOP! His money count
jumps through the roof.
Guy glances in an ORNATE DECORATIVE MIRROR and the Level

number above his head ticks up to:
“LEVEL 50”.
He reacts and BA-WONGGGG! A SHIP’S HORN SOUNDS (PRELAP).
EXT. DOCKS - DAY
A JAPANESE CARGO SHIP is docked, stacked with containers.

YAKUZA GANGSTERS stand guard around the ship with UZIs.
EXT. CARGO SHIP - CONTINUOUS
TWO ARMED YAKUZA stand along the railing, stoic, when --
-- FFT-FFT! They’re hit with ninja stars and silently tumble

over the rail into the water. After a beat --
-- Millie climbs on board and moves through the ship.
BETWEEN THE CONTAINERS
She takes ANOTHER GUARD out with a swift kick, only to be

surrounded by TWO OTHER GANGSTERS. She smiles, seductive,
and takes them out with a fluid martial arts maneuver.
47.
She pulls a SHIPPING MANIFEST from her pocket and looks

around, checking container numbers, until she spots:
A SHIPPING CONTAINER.
MILLIE
Hello, gorgeous.
She approaches it, excited, and pulls down the locking bar.
The door falls open and WHU-BUM!
It’s empty. She reacts, puzzled, when --
-- CHK-CHK-CHK! She turns to see that she’s surrounded by a

DOZEN YAKUZA GUARDS. They YELL AT HER IN JAPANESE.
MILLIE (CONT’D)
Hey, boys. Now, just take it easy.
I think I must be on the wrong --
She whips two pistols out and fires.
CLICK-CLICK! EMPTY CHAMBERS.
MILLIE (CONT’D)
-- boat.
They smile and raise their weapons when --
-- RRRRNNN! A MOTORCYCLE ENGINE revs and VRN!!!! A MAN ON A

SUZUKI HAYABUSA plows through the group, causing them all to
dive overboard.
A FALLEN YAKUZA reaches for his weapon and the RIDER slides
it away and kicks the guard, knocking him out. The rider
takes off his helmet, revealing:
GUY! Cool, unshaven. He looks like an action star.
GUY
Need a lift?
Guy offers her a hand. Millie recoils, stunned.
MILLIE
You’re that newb.
GUY
Mmm. I took out the fourth story
of the Free City Fountainbleu with
a bottle of vodka and a matchbook
so, um, no -- clearly, not a newb.
48.
He points to his level over his head. They hear YELLING IN

JAPANESE and a new GROUP OF GUARDS run across the ship.
GUY (CONT’D)
You coming or do you want to take
on half of a Yakuza crime family by
yourself?
She realizes she doesn’t have a choice. Jumps on just as the

guards catch up to them and Guy takes off. Weaves through
guards and bullets like a pro.
MILLIE
How’d you get a motorcycle on a
cargo ship?
GUY
The more appropriate question is,
how am I gonna get it off?
Millie reacts and looks up ahead at:
A MAKESHIFT RAMP, with a plank resting on the side of a

container. Aiming right off the side of the boat. As the
guards close in, Guy guns it and heads for the ramp.
TWO GUARDS scramble in front of it, blocking their way.
MILLIE
Don’t stop!
Before Guy can react, Millie grabs a gun out of his pocket
and SHOOTS at them.
They leap out of the way just in time for Guy to hit the ramp
and jump the cycle off the boat.
As they fly through the air, Millie fires behind them. Guy
has a moment of doubt seconds before they hit THE DOCK.
The motorcycle wobbles as he fights to maintain control until

he regains his balance and speeds away under GUNFIRE. Guy
relaxes and Millie looks at him, amazed.
The gaming company is abuzz with activity. Punit walks

through the hallway, casually texting, when Gareth spots him
down from a doorway.
GARETH
Dude! I’ve been looking everywhere
for you!
49.
PUNIT
I was at Digital Detox.
(off his reaction)
It’s tech-free wellness retreat
where you disconnect from screens
and reconnect with yourself. And
girls.
GARETH
Of all weekends you had to go
without your freakin’ phone.
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM - DAY
Gareth ushers him into a recently assembled war room where

WIDE SCREENS monitor chaotic scenes all around Free City.
PUNIT
What the hell...
GARETH
Blackouts, traffic jams, fires.
We’ve been trying to keep up all
weekend. Customer Service has had
to pull all-nighters to handle the
onslaught of complaints.
PUNIT
It’s a hack.
GARETH
No. Security says we haven’t been
breached. But remember that glitch
from last week? Blue Shirt Guy.
PUNIT
The sunglasses bug.
GARETH
Yeah, but he’s not just buying
shoes anymore. He’s actually
playing the game.
Punit watches a feed taken earlier from a SURVEILLANCE CAMERA

of Guy blow-torching a MARSHMALLOW DISPLAY in a SUPERMARKET.
PUNIT
That’s not possible. All non-
playable background characters are
programmed to stay in the lines.
50.
GARETH
Yeah, well -- turns out there’s a
flaw in their programming.
Gareth pulls up the game’s programming on a monitor.

HIGHLIGHTS a certain line of code. Punit is amazed.
GARETH (CONT’D)
Every single Non-Playable Character
has it. The capability to deviate
from their preprogrammed choice
selection. It’s just been dormant.
PUNIT
Alright. Then what triggered it in
Blue Shirt Guy?
GARETH
Don’t know. As long as he’s
wearing our sunglasses, we have no
ability to access his code. He
functions like any other player,
only we can’t disconnect him from
the server. There’s no outside
line to cut.
Punit reacts. Perplexed.
GARETH (CONT’D)
We’ve tried everything. Well,
everything short of a full scale
reboot. For obvious reasons.
RING! The conference phone RINGS. He checks the caller ID.
PUNIT
It’s Antwan.
RING! They both react. This is a big deal.
PUNIT (CONT’D)
He’s not gonna be happy about this.
The sequel’s launching in a week.
RING! Punit is paralyzed with fear.
GARETH
Well, pick it up!
PUNIT
You pick it up.
51.
GARETH PANIT
Hey, this is your I can’t speak to it like you
jurisdiction! I was just can. I’ve been off the grid!
covering for your lazy ass.
Punit picks it up.
PUNIT (CONT’D)
Yo, Antwan. Whassup, boss I --
Gareth and OTHER PROGRAMMERS gather around to listen in. The

caller YELLS on the other side.
PUNIT (CONT’D)
Yes. No, we’re into it. We think
we have a solve.
(What’s the solve?)
Um. Well. Maybe it’s a little
premature to call it a ‘solve’ per
se but we have all our best --
(I have a solution.)
Oh. Yeah, but wouldn’t that --
Punit hangs up and takes it in. Turns to the office.
PUNIT (CONT’D)
He wants us to go full blast.
EXT. ABANDONED PARKING GARAGE - DAY
Guy pulls the motorcycle into a dark, seemingly empty parking

garage with Millie on the back. Millie jumps off, frustrated.
MILLIE
Dammit! That sonofa --
GUY
You’re upset.
MILLIE
Yeah, I’m upset! There’s something
very important to me that was
supposed to be on that container.
That dirty lying hacker...
She crinkles up the manifest and tosses it.
GUY
Maybe if you tell me what it is I
can help you track it down.
She glances at him, suspicious.

52.
MILLIE
Why do you want to know?
GUY
Well. Guess you can say I’ve
gotten a little obsessed with the
game these last couple of days.
He flicks a switch on a GENERATOR LIGHT revealing:
DOZENS UPON DOZENS OF CARS, all shapes and sizes. Millie is

taken aback. Walks down the row, amazed.
MILLIE
You collected this many cars and
leveled up forty-nine times in a
few days? It took me almost a year
to do that.
(thinking)
You didn’t get the cheat codes, did
you?
GUY
I don’t know what a cheat code is.
I’m just a regular guy who’s trying
to get answers.
MILLIE
(suspicious)
Answers to what?
GUY
Like who are you, exactly? Where
are you from?
MILLIE
I’m not giving my deets out to some
whack-a-doodle I just met online.
GUY
I don’t mean specifically. I mean,
the real you. The one controlling
this you. Are you -- like, do you
look like this? Or something else
entirely.
MILLIE
None of your business.
GUY
Are you a -- are you, like, a god
or something?
Millie about-faces and walks away, super weirded out.

53.
MILLIE
Okay. Goodbye. Pscyho.
GUY
No. Wait! I’m sorry! I know this
all sounds super crazy but --
(he’s losing her)
I come from a place where nothing
ever changes. I’m shit on all day
long by a bunch of people who get a
free pass to do whatever they want.
She slows down. He got through to her.
GUY (CONT’D)
I just want to take control of my
life. To make a difference. To
change the game.
(she considers it)
C’mon. Let me help you find your
thing.
She softens. Turns.
MILLIE
Look, I know how you feel. But
there’s really no point. In a week
this place will all be gone.
Record scratch. Guy’s heart sinks into his stomach.
MILLIE (CONT’D)
You know. To make room for Free
City Two.
GUY
What’s Free City Two!?!
CUT TO:
ADVERTISEMENT FOR FREE CITY TWO
A commercial for the sequel.
ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
Better graphics. Bigger city. New
adventures. Millions more in-game
purchasing opportunities! Imagine
everything you liked about the
original but a hundred times more
real and immersive.
54.
INT. PARKING GARAGE - DAY
Millie shows Guy the commercial on a SMARTPHONE. The

graphics are better, the city is bigger. He even spots a
BETTER LOOKING VERSION OF HIMSELF in the background.
ANNOUNCER (V.O.)
So play Free City while you still
can. Because in two weeks, it’s
gonna be gone for good to make room
for something a whole lot better.
Guy is freaking out. Looks out at the city.
GUY
So like, this whole city --
everybody who lives here -- is
gonna be shut down? Gone.
MILLIE
Finito. Yep. It’s entirely stored
in the cloud, so it takes up too
much room on Soonami’s servers to
have both.
GUY
This is bad. This is really bad.
MILLIE
No kidding. Antwan’s gonna make a
gazillion dollars from it too.
GUY
Who’s Antwan?
WHUKKA-WHUKKA-WHUKKA! The ground starts to RUMBLE and:
A CHINOOK HELICOPTER lowers down to their level. Guy and

Millie stumble backwards, caught off guard.
GUY (CONT’D)
Uh-oh.
MILLIE
Guy, that’s no ordinary FCPD
helicopter. That’s a military-
grade assault chopper.
They scramble down to the next level only to see:
A CAVALRY OF POLICE CARS heading towards the parking garage.

Millie turns to Guy, even more puzzled.
55.
MILLIE (CONT’D)
Who are you?
RAT-AT-AT! The chopper fires and Guy dives behind a HUMVEE.
GUY
I’ll tell you everything when we
meet up again. If we meet up again.
MILLIE
The Multiplayer Lounge.
GUY
No. At the first place you stopped
to watch me. The game in the game.
KABOOOM! The chopper launches a missile and blows up the

HUMMER. Millie is visibly shaken and scrambles away.
IN THE CHOPPPER
Punit and Gareth’s COP AVATARS pilot the helicopter.
PUNIT/COP
I can’t tell if we got him.
GARETH/COP
Well, you just blew the entire
second floor to kingdom come.
Gareth/Cop pulls up computer code on a touch-screen monitor.
GARETH/COP (CONT’D)
His permissions are ‘blocked’.
He’s still playing.
PUNIT/COP
Then we need to smoke him out.
The helicopter starts firing on Guy’s arsenal of cars.

Blowing them up one by one down the line. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Punit/Cop smiles gleefully at the controls.
PUNIT/COP (CONT’D)
I’ve worked here so long I forget
how fun this game is sometimes.
GARETH/COP
Uh, Punit?
Gareth/Cop points --
56.
IN THE GARAGE
Out of the cloud of smoke --
-- A TANK appears. Its canon aimed at their chopper.
PUNIT/COP
Oh, crap --
KABOOM! The tank blows the helicopter out of the sky and
plows through the garage’s upper level wall. The tank speeds
away, BLASTING HEAVY METAL MUSIC.
IN THE TANK
Guy is at the helm. Croons along with the METAL SONG. He

plows right through a line of POLICE CARS.
GUY
Woo! C’mon, dickheads. Follow me.
The city hums with rush hour traffic.
THE TANK barrels down the street, trailed by a parade of cop

cars. One pulls out in front and the tank mows it down.
Pedestrians run out of the way, yelling their reaction lines.
PEDESTRIANS
Do you mind? / Nothing to see here.
EXT. STREET CORNER - DAY
Buddy waits on the street corner where he usually meets Guy

to walk to work. Checks his watch, concerned.
Perfectly timed, the tank cruises down the street. Guy pops
out of the HATCH on the roof of the tank and waves.
GUY
Hey, Buddy!
BUDDY
Guy? What’re you doing in that
tank? You’re late for work.
GUY
Take the day off, Buddy! You
earned it.
57.
Guy turns down main street leaving Buddy in the dust. The
idea is even more jarring than the sight of Guy in the tank.
BUDDY
I don’t have any days off.
A POLICE BATTERING TRUCK emerges out of thin air and plows

through the carnage of twisted metal, tailing the tank.
INSIDE THE BATTERING TRUCK
Punit and Gareth’s COP AVATARS are at the wheel.
PUNIT/COP
Dude. We just got owned by an NPC.
GARETH/COP
Where’s he going, anyway?
PUNIT/COP
I don’t know, but let’s make sure
he doesn’t get there.
Gareth/Cop takes the tablet and gets to work.
INT. TANK - CONTINUOUS
Guy drives the tank and looks out ahead at:
THE FREE CITY TOWER, a signature skyscraper in the center of

the city’s downtown district.
GUY
C’mon, c’mon, c’mon. Almost there.
FWOOOOSH! His pathway is suddenly blocked by...
A WALL OF FIRE!
IN THE BATTERING TRUCK
PUNIT/COP
Eat my firewall, bitch!
SHHHOM! The tank flies right through it unscathed.
IN THE TANK
Guy pats the dash! Yells back at the cops.

58.
GUY
Ha! Is that all you got?
GWONG! THE BLOCK AHEAD INSTANTLY DISAPPEARS. Just like

earlier, a chunk of reality is gone. And it’s too late to
avoid it. Guy reacts.
Guy’s tank sails over the cliff, into the void.
But Guy sees that he’s heading for AN EXPOSED SUBWAY TUNNEL
on the block below.
Punit and Gareth Cops think that they got him when --
-- KU-POSH! The tank speeds up the staircase of the

underground subway station on the other side of the void.
Gareth/Cop is pissed. Makes the block reappear so that they

can drive across it.
PUNIT/COP
I don’t understand how he got one
of our tanks in the first place.
Players don’t have access to police
hardware.
GARETH/COP
But Non-Playable Characters do.
Technically speaking, I guess.
(thinking)
That gives me an idea.
AROUND THE CORNER
Guy is in the home stretch. The Free City Tower is straight

ahead when the tank ripples with electricity and...
TRANSFORMS INTO A HOTDOG-SHAPED FOOD TRUCK.
His HEAVY METAL MUSIC turns into an ICE CREAM TRUCK CHIME.
He looks down and the stick shift is shaped like a hamburger.
GUY
Well, that’s just lovely.
Punit and Gareth admire their handiwork as Guy is now

vulnerable again.
59.
PUNIT/COP
Nice touch.
GARETH/COP
Now, let’s cook the weenie.
He hits a few commands on his tablet.
A SWAT TEAM appears from around a corner and set up A MISSILE

LAUNCHER on a bipod.
One SWAT OFFICER aims the weapon, while another SPOTTER

awaits their command. Gets it.
SPOTTER
Go.
He taps the officer with the launcher, who FIRES.
INT. HOT DOG TRUCK - CONTINUOUS
Guy checks the rear view and sees the MISSILE coming for him.
GUY
Ohhh sh --
With only a second to react, he veers the truck towards a

LIGHT POLE, takes off his seatbelt and --
EXT. CITY STREET
-- CRASH! Slams the truck into the pole. Guy flies through
the windshield and --
-- KABOOM! The truck EXPLODES behind him from the missile.
Guy sails through the air in a spray of glass in SLOW MOTION

from an impact that would kill any normal person.
And it has basically done that. Guy is barely alive and in a

terrible way.
HIS LEG IS BROKEN in an unnatural position. HIS NECK IS

TWISTED. HIS NOSE IS SMASHED.
As he flies through the air, he starts to lose consciousness.
When we finally see, STILL IN SLO MO, that this was no random
crash. He did it deliberately as he is flying directly at --
60.
-- A FIRST AID KIT! His glasses readout shows his “Health”

trickle down from:
“4,3,2...” He hits the first aid kit and BRRUUP! his snapped
neck is healed in an instant, but he’s still in bad shape.
BACK IN REAL TIME:
He picks himself up but his broken arms dangle to his side

and he can barely walk on a TWISTED BROKEN LEG.
GUY
Ow, ow, ow.
UP AHEAD, he sees another FIRST AID KIT.
Punit and Gareth finally catch up and see what he’s doing.
PUNIT/COP
Look! Don’t let him get to the --
BACK WITH GUY
BRRUUP! He touches the kit and his arms are healed. Guy
pushes through the front doors of the tower, on a broken leg.
Gareth programs something on his tablet.
GARETH/COP
It’s okay. We’ve got him now.
PUNIT/COP
Hurry.
GARETH/COP
It’s gonna take a sec.
INT. FREE CITY TOWER LOBBY - DAY
Guy limps through the lobby on the twisted leg, which breaks
further, and people react, horrified.
GUY
Excuse me. Sorry. Just looking
for a -- Ah!
61.
He spots another FIRST AID KIT and touches it, BRUUUP!

SNAPPING his leg back into place with a CRUNCH.
He walks into an elevator FILLED WITH PEOPLE and composes

himself amid looks of terror.
GUY (CONT’D)
Much better. Hi. Top floor, please.
The elevator clears out.
EXT. FREE CITY TOWER OBSERVATORY - DAY
Guy runs out of the elevator on the rooftop deck.
Punit and Gareth Cops are now back IN A HELICOPTER. Other

helicopters have joined them and have the tower surrounded.
Guy waves his blue shirt, trying to get their attention.
GUY
Hey! Over here!
He pulls back A TARP that’s tied down to the roof.
IN THE HELICOPTER
Gareth is now at the controls.
GARETH/COP
Now?
PUNIT/COP
No. Wait. Look.
Guy has spelled out something on the ground:
‘GUY IS ALIVE.”
GARETH/COP
This is -- They didn’t really
teach us how to deal with this at
Berkley. There was no chapter for
it in Advanced C Plus Plus.
Troubleshooting if your three-
dimensional model figure suddenly
develops feelings.
DING! Gareth/Cop checks A TEXT on his phone.
PUNIT/COP
Antwan wants us to end it here.
62.
EXT. FREE CITY TOWER ROOF - DAY
Guy waves his blue shirt to the sky. Hoping.
GUY
C’mon! Talk to me! You need to
talk to me! Just --
FOOM! Guy reacts, horrified, as...
THE ENTIRE FREE CITY TOWER BELOW HIM DISINTEGRATES.
The whole building is deleted right out of existence in an

instant and he’s left floating there until --
-- GUY FREE FALLS BACKWARDS, through thin air, a hundred

stories down. The whole city, all the programmers watching,
amazed, until he hits the gr--
Guy snaps up in bed without freaking out, fully aware of

where he is and what just happened. And he’s pissed.
Back in the Soonami offices, Punit and Gareth work head-to-

head on their laptops in the war room. The PROGRAMMERS
around them APPLAUD.
PUNIT
Don’t pop that cork just yet. We
need to isolate him now before he
can get our glasses again.
Guy runs out of his room to the front door, about to open it.
KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK! Someone on the other side pounds and

turns the knob.
GUY
Shit.
The pounding stops and then the DOORKNOB starts fidgeting.

Someone on the other side is picking the lock.
Guy looks out his window:

63.
A PADDY WAGON from the “FREE CITY HOME FOR THE MENTALLY ILL”
is parked outside his building. Out the other window:
A SWAT TEAM moves up the alley. Guy is trapped. But he’s

not gonna go down like this. Opens his closet and looks
around. There’s a small door in the ceiling for the attic.
BACK AT THE FRONT DOOR
BLAM! Punit and Gareth, now using ORDERLY AVATARS, break in.
GARETH/ORDERLY
Hello! Anybody home?
They quickly search the tiny apartment and realize he’s gone.
PUNIT/ORDERLY
Search the bedroom!
Gareth checks the closet and eyes the attic door. Shoves it
open and sticks his head up inside.
GARETH/ORDERLY
Set up a perimeter. He couldn’t
have gotten far!
INT. STREET CORNER - DAY
A STREET KID waits for the bus, chunky headphones. Black

jacket. Hoodie. Guy taps him on the shoulder.
GUY
You wanna make a hundred and ninety
seven dollars?
Punit/Cop and Gareth/Cop walk down the street, shoving

pedestrians, looking for Guy.
PEDESTRIANS
Do you mind? / Move along people.
That’s when Punit spots Guy’s signature BLUE SHIRT.
PUNIT/COP
There! There he is. Move in.
From behind, Guy walks down the street when THE TROOPS MOVE
IN. Within seconds he has a hundred rifles aimed at his face.
64.
SWAT OFFICER
Freeze! Hands behind your head!
Down on the ground!
The person turns around and reveals that IT’S NOT GUY. It’s
the Street Kid dressed in his clothes.
STREET KID
I didn’t do anything! I know my
rights!
Punit/Cop reacts, angry.
PUNIT/COP
We got the wrong guy.
Guy makes his way down the street in the street kid’s
clothes. Keeps his head down. Hood up.
Looks away from CAMERAS on every corner. Avoids eye contact

with COPS CANVASSING the neighborhood for him.
TV SHOWS in windows feature video of Guy on News Segments and

“WANTED” Posters litter the town. “Reward $100”.
EXT. ALLEY - DAY
He peeks around into the alley where the players usually come
out. It’s now being staked out by UNDERCOVER COPS IN BLACK
VANS. He keeps moving.
EXT. ANOTHER STREET - DAY
Guy watches Buddy walk to work from a safe distance. Sees

that THE BLACK VAN is stalking him too. Buddy is clearly
freaked out -- they’ve gotten to him.
Guy feels the vice closing in on him.
MAC (O.S.)
What does it mean to truly be free?
Mac rants and raves on a street corner.
MAC (CONT’D)
Everybody thinks that they have
free will. But is that the way it
is? Can you really ever just drop
everything?
(MORE)
65.
MAC (CONT’D)
Quit your boring little job and go
wherever you want? Your house,
your car, friends, family. These
are the bars on your cage.
Guy approaches him, pretending to throw out some garbage.
GUY
Hey. We need to talk.
Mac gives him a suspicious glance through the CRACKED LENSES

OF AN OLD, BROKEN PAIR OF THE SUNGLASSES.
MAC
‘Bout what?
Guy looks him in the eyes, desperate.
GUY
About the game.
Mac’s fiery gaze calms. He has been waiting a long time to

hear those words.
EXT. AQUEDUCT - DAY
Guy follows the Mac through a maze of overgrown brambles that

line a dried-out riverbed.
MAC
Almost there.
Mac finds a BIG PIECE OF PLYWOOD pushed against the concrete

wall. He looks around, making sure they weren’t followed.
MAC (CONT’D)
Gimme a hand with this.
They push the plywood over, revealing A HOLE IN THE WALL.
MAC (CONT’D)
Step into my office.
Guy follows Mac through the hole to the other side where he
sees something incredible...
GUY
(amazed)
What is this place?
MAC
Welcome to Betaville.
66.
We now see what they are looking at --
EXT. BETAVILLE - CONTINUOUS
AN EMPTY CITY SUBURB WITH INFERIOR GRAPHICS.
Buildings are digitized and sparse. Blocky around the edges.

They are all covered in one of five patterns: Brick, metal,
wood, glass and something that vaguely resembles vegetation.
Looks like a game designed twenty years ago. Guy gazes

around, stunned. It’s a total ghost town.
BARK-BARK! He startles as a DIGITIZED GERMAN SHEPHERD runs

past them until it hits the side of a building. Runs in
place, nose against the wall. Mac drags Guy away.
MAC
Don’t worry. They won’t look for
you here. Abandoned this place a
long time ago.
MAC’S ENCAMPMENT
Mac leads Guy to his encampment -- a collection of junk from

Free City piled up under a few tattered tents.
He offers Guy a DIGITIZED CAN OF “BEANS”.
MAC
Beans? They’re chunky but they’re
good.
Mac forks a SQUARE BEAN and eats it.
GUY
No, thanks. Sorry, but um, I
didn’t catch your name.
MAC
Huh. Nobody’s ever asked me that
before. Well, officially my name
is ‘Mac’, but that’s my slave name.
You can call me by the name I gave
myself. Pasta Sunset.
(off Guy’s reaction)
They’re two of my favorite things.
You should do the same. It’s one
of the few identifiers you can
actually control.
67.
GUY
Guy works for me.
Mac plops down on a digitized plastic crate. Sizes Guy up.
MAC
So, you’ve pulled back the curtain
and seen the strings. And what’s
more, you’re still around to talk
about it. I’m impressed.
GUY
I take it that you have too. Seen
the strings.
MAC
I was a taxi driver. Made a decent
living. Didn’t think much about --
well, anything. And then, one day,
I’m carjacked. In the scuffle, the
jackass drops his glasses and fsh!
The wool is pulled from my eyes for
good. I tried to live the high
life for a while, but they weren’t
happy with that. I tried to get
answers. I tried to talk to them.
Guy sits forward.
GUY
To who?
MAC
The creators. The programmers.
The prison guards. But they were
not interested in talking back.
And the harder I tried, the harder
they made things for me, until --
(he digs deep, sad)
They turned everyone against me.
My friends. My family. I became
something of an urban legend. The
guy who tried to buck the system.
Guy goes wide-eyed, realizing.
GUY
The guy who tried to be a hero!
MAC
Hm. Somethin’ like that. I think
it was a way for them to reinforce
the status quo. So nobody else
would make waves.
68.
Mac takes off his broken sunglasses and stares at them.
MAC (CONT’D)
Really did a number on me. Once
you’ve seen what we’ve seen --
there’s no going back.
GUY
But it’s -- It’s not fair. I
didn’t ask to be a part of this!
Mac LAUGHS at him.
MAC
Who asked to be a part of anything?
The creators -- well, I never met
them -- but I’d wager that they’re
not too different than us. Maybe
they’re living in someone else’s
game. Or maybe we’re all in the
dream of some giant cosmic baby.
GUY
A giant cosmic baby...
MAC
You’re here. This is your reality.
What you choose to do with it --
well, that’s up to you. You can be
a sheep. You can be a player. Or
you can be a homeless person.
(getting serious)
But you can’t change chessboards.
GUY
Yeah, but -- what if I told you
that the chessboard and all the
pieces on it were gonna vanish and
be replaced by a newer, better
chessboard?
Mac reacts.
EXT. FREE CITY SQUARE - DAY
Guy and Mac move covertly through the crowd. Duck into an
alley and look up at the GIANT BILLBOARD in the Square.
Mac puts on his broken glasses and through the spiderweb

cracks and holes he sees:
A COMMERCIAL FOR FREE CITY 2.

69.
ANNOUNCER
Enjoy Free City while it’s still
around because in four days it’s
gonna be a thing of the past.
There’s a literal TICKING CLOCK counting down to the “FREE

CITY 2 RELEASE DATE. Mac is awestruck.
MAC
The apocalypse. I knew it! I
warned that the day of reckoning
would come but nobody would listen--
GUY
Yeah, but not so fast. We may have
a shot at stopping the apocalypse.
MAC
You mean take control of the city?
GUY
Get them to leave us alone the way
they abandoned Betaville.
MAC
It’s an interesting thought. It’s
impossible, but interesting.
GUY
Not necessarily. There’s this
girl. A player.
Mac pulls him behind a dumpster.
MAC
We can’t trust a player. She could
be one of them. Like a spy. Or a
dude.
GUY
She’s different. And she’s our
best shot right now.
INT. ONLINE GAMER CHANNEL - DAY
A WEB HOST talks to camera on a Youtube-like site.
GAMER HOST
Our webcast wouldn’t be complete
without talking about that game we
all can’t get enough of, Free City.
(MORE)
70.
GAMER HOST (CONT'D)

Soonami has prided itself on a
creating a flawless virtual
experience housed on their cloud-
based servers but apparently
someone has found a way to co-opt
one of the background characters
and wreak havoc.
He shows A CLIP: OF GUY IN THE TANK, plowing through traffic.
GAMER HOST (CONT’D)

The gaming community, of course,
has embraced this, starting several
‘Free Guy’ campaigns across blogs
and chatrooms.
We see some EXAMPLES of FUNNY “FREE GUY” MEMES.
GAMER HOST (CONT’D)

But we here at Gamerz are wondering
if this is good or bad publicity
for Soonami, who plans to release
the long-anticipated sequel, Free
City 2, this month.
PULL BACK TO REVEAL: This is being watched on a computer.
Millie is watching it, trying to figure everything out.

Other avatars are hanging out behind her.
ZELIG2693
Gotta be a hacker.
DOUGIEPUGGIE808
I hear it’s a disgruntled Soonami
employee trying to get back at
Antwan for stealing his ideas.
CATLOVER69
Nah. It’s all a big gimmick.
ZELIG2693
Who do you think it is, Mol? Mol?
MILLIE
(focused)
Working on it.
She pulls up a TEXT SCREEN and starts typing.
MOLOTOVGIRL4482: Hey. Who’s Free Guy?

71.
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM, SOONAMI - DAY
DING! Punit gets a TEXT on his phone. Checks it out,

covertly. It’s the text from “MOLOTOVGIRL4482”.
He pumps his fist, excited. Types back.
BIGBURRITO: Yo, girl. Take me up on dinner and I’ll tell you.
MOLOTOVGIRL4482: Is it a hack?
Punit grimaces. Annoyed.
BIGBURRITO: Yours truly is on top of it. Just you watch.
Millie gets another text in the chain from Punit.
BIGBURRITO: Now about that dinner...
She shuts the computer off and thinks. Recalls what Guy said
to her in the parking garage.
MILLIE
(to herself)
The game inside the game.
She looks at images of Guy. One of them has him wearing his
BASEBALL HAT. It hits her. She knows where to find him!
EXT. BASEBALL FIELD, PARK - NIGHT
Millie walks into the park late at night. The baseball

diamond is empty.
She stands at the chain link fence where she first watched
Guy playing softball.
GUY (O.S.)
Psst.
She whips around and GUY APPEARS OUT OF THE SHADOWS.
GUY (CONT’D)
(re: the baseball field)
I can’t believe you knew what I was
talking about.
MILLIE
I stopped here a few times.
Watching that game.
(MORE)
72.
MILLIE (CONT'D)
I remember thinking how sad it
seemed. These virtual people stuck
playing a baseball game in, like,
this infinite time loop.
GUY
Funny. I thought the same thing.
MILLIE
It’s even weirder that you’re a
player hacking a background
character, playing a baseball game
in an infinite time loop.
GUY
We all have our idiosyncracies.
EXT. PLAYGROUND - LATER
Guy and Millie sit on swings in an empty playground. Guy

looks around, nervous. Up in the sky.
GUY
I’m glad you came. Things have
gotten a little out of hand.
MILLIE
I’ve been playing for a while now
but -- I haven’t seen anything
like this. You really put them
through the ringer.
GUY
I was just trying to get the
creators’ attention.
MILLIE
Well, it worked. Antwan’s gotta be
freaking out of his mind right now.
GUY
Antwan. You mentioned him earlier.
MILLIE
Antwan Hovachelik. He’s the
misogynistic pig that designed this
stupid game. Thinks he’s God’s gift
to programmers but all he did was
create another way to get people to
endlessly empty their wallets.
People who couldn’t handle the
smallest semblance of confrontation
in the real world. Like him.
73.
GUY
Sounds like you know him.
MILLIE
Well, we were sorta together for a
long time. I basically supported
him while he worked on the game and
the second he got funded, he split.
Dumped me on my ass and started
dating a Victoria’s Secret model.
Would only talk to me through
lawyers.
GUY
That sucks. But then -- why come
here? And spend money on the game
that your ex boyfriend created?
She considers if she should tell him.
MILLIE
Because I wanted to find a way to
take the game down. To hurt him
where it counts. To make him
realize how much he hurt me. I
guess that sounds really lame.
GUY
Not at all.
She looks at Guy, not sure what to make of him.
MILLIE
But the bigger question is why are
you doing it?
GUY
I’m trying to stop the sequel. I
want to keep Free City like it is.
With a few modifications.
MILLIE
Well, this little stunt of yours is
really costing Soonami big time.
If people think the platform’s
buggy it could tank F.C. Two sales.
GUY
Really? That’s good.
(thinking)
What if we get other people
involved? Get everybody else in
Free City to push back like I have.
74.
MILLIE
You mean hack the other NPCs. Like
a revolution. It could work. Can
you do that?
GUY
I think so. If you’ll help me.
Will you help me? Please?
Millie raises an eyebrow.
EXT. ALLEY - DAY
Guy stands outside a garage with a box. The door opens and
Millie walks out.
MILLIE
Hey.
GUY
Hey.
MILLIE
See you in a sec.
Millie takes off her glasses and drops them in the box. Her
avatar glitches out and disappears. Seconds later --
-- Millie walks out again wearing a new pair of sunglasses.

Looks in the box and her old ones are still there.
MILLIE (CONT’D)
It worked.
GUY
Yep. Now we just have to do this a
few thousand more times.
EXT. CITY PARK - DAY
Someone on a street corner hands out “FREE SUNGLASSES”. Most

people ignore him until a pedestrian takes one, curious and
puts them on. Reacts.
“YOU’RE INVITED TO A PRIVATE MISSION TOMORROW NIGHT.”

There’s a MAP at the bottom with a BLINKING DOT.
GUY (O.S.)
All questions will be answered at
the red dot.
75.
QUICK MONTAGE OF GUY AND FRIENDS PASSING AROUND SUNGLASSES
Mac walks into Timmy’s and hands out glasses.
Millie opens a car door at gunpoint, but instead of stealing

the car, she hands the LADY a pair of glasses.
Guy hands sunglasses to Beauty and The Douche.
INT. BUDDY’S LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
Buddy sits on his couch, watching television. He hears a

TAPPING and ignores it.
Hears it again. It’s coming from the window. He picks up a

baseball bat and approaches it cautiously.
Guy is hiding out on the fire escape. Buddy lets him in.
BUDDY
Guy! What are you --
GUY
Shh! It’s okay Buddy. I just need
to keep things on the down low.
They both look around. Someone might be listening in.
BUDDY
These cops came around asking about
you. Said I should turn you in. I
didn’t know what to do.
(choking up)
The whole thing is really, really --
upsetting.
Buddy is about to cry. Guy comforts him.
GUY
I’m sorry.
BUDDY
I saw you in the tank. And then
the hot dog truck. And then that
building disappeared. That was
weird.
GUY
I know. It was weird. But I’ve
found out some things about Free
City. Really troubling things.
76.
BUDDY
What kind of troubling things?
(beat)
I don’t want to know.
(beat)
Yeah, I do. Oh, Guy. It’s all so -
Guy hands him a pair of sunglasses.
GUY
They’ll give you all the answers
you need.
BUDDY
This is about rocking the boat,
isn’t it? About being a hero.
GUY
I know it’s asking a lot of you,
Buddy. I understand if you can’t.
But it would mean the world to me
to have you there.
Guy puts a hand on his shoulder. Buddy can see he’s sincere.
Guy slips out with a finger to his mouth. Shh!
INT. CONFERENCE ROOM, SOONAMI - NIGHT
The team is visibly worn out from pulling all-nighters.

Programmers are hunched over their stations, looking for Guy.
PUNIT
I just don’t understand how it’s
possible for a line of code to hide
from us.
GARETH
Dude. You gotta see this.
Gareth calls up something on his screen.
INT. CITY CENTER - DAY
Punit/Cop and Gareth/Cop stand in the middle of Free City’s

largest hub, marveling.
THE CITY IS EMPTY.
Not a person or moving car in sight. A total ghost town.
GARETH/COP
Where’d everybody go?
77.
EXT. AQUEDUCT - NIGHT
A PEDESTRIAN NPC wearing the sunglasses makes his way through

the brambles to the piece of plywood. “FREE GUY” is spray-
painted on it.
PLAYER’S POV: Shows he’s arrived at the RED MISSION PIN on

the map. The NPC KNOCKS and Millie slides it open.
MILLIE
Come on in.
EXT. BETAVILLE - NIGHT
Betaville is now filled with CITIZENS OF FREE CITY all

wearing the sunglasses. Hundreds of them crowded into the
primitive space of the Beta Version.
The citizens react to it, unable to believe that it’s real.
AT THE ENTRANCE
Guy waits as Millie lets the last NPC through.
GUY
Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe
this backfires and makes things
worse.
MILLIE
Remember what you said to me at the
garage. About making a difference.
Well, here’s your chance.
MAKESHIFT STAGE
Guy climbs up on a dumpster, trying to build his nerve. The

crowd is restless, confused.
GUY
Hello. Um. Excuse me. Um --
MAC
(to the crowd)
Shaddup! Let the guy speak!
The crowd silences. All eyes are now on Guy.
GUY
Hey, everybody. Thanks for coming.
My name’s Guy.
(MORE)
78.
GUY (CONT'D)
I imagine if you’re here, you’re
probably starting to figure out
what’s going on... Free City is
anything but free. We’re the
supporting cast of colorful
characters there to be used, abused
or totally ignored by people we
will never really know. Or see
face to face. People who have
something we’ve never had -- the
ability to make their own
decisions. To enrich their lives.
To have a say in how to run their
own communities.
BANK MANAGER
Maybe you’re a part of it!
TOUGH GUY
There’s a hundred dollar bounty on
your head!
CHUBBY DUDE
Tell us why we shouldn’t turn you
in!
GUY
There’s a bounty on my head?
BEHIND THE CROWD
Millie stands with ANONAMOU$E - the hacker from earlier.
ANONAMOU$E
Strangest hack ever.
MILLIE
Shut up. He’s trying to activate
their dormant line of code.
ANONAMOU$E
Yeah, well -- it’s not working.
People are getting restless. It’s going poorly.
MAKESHIFT STAGE
Guy is losing them.
GUY
Look. If you just let me explain.
79.
People crowd the stage. Reach for his legs. Guy is about to
bail when he sees something at the back of the crowd:
BUDDY.
He enters Betaville, sheepish. Nervous. Guy sees his friend

and suddenly all of his anxiety melts away.
GUY (CONT’D)
I’ve lived in Free City for as long
as I can remember. We’ve had to
put up with a lot of screwed up
stuff living here but this is our
home. And if we don’t do something
about it, it’ll all be gone.
Everything you know and love will
cease to exist to make room for
this --
He shows them A POSTER FOR FREE CITY 2.
GUY (CONT’D)
Well, I for one refuse to just sit
back and let that happen. Freedom
doesn’t come free. It’s something
you have to earn.
The crowd responds, positive. Millie watches, impressed.
GUY (CONT’D)
Now, I know that everything inside
of you is telling you to put your
head down and not ask questions.
To not rock the boat. But it’s
time for us to step out of the
fringes and become the heroes of
our own stories. If we want to
take our city back, we need to come
together and make big waves!
MAC
Right on, brutha!
BEAUTY
You are sooo hot.
BUDDY
That’s my friend!
The crowd is sufficiently rallied.

80.
EXT. CONVENIENCE STORE - DAY
A THUG IN GLASSES strolls into a store with a GUN.
THUG
Gimme all the money in the
register.
He grabs the cash and turns around only to see:
EVERYONE IN THE STORE STARING AT HIM. Eerie.
THUG (CONT’D)
Huh? Is this some kind of a --
He sidesteps outside, creeped out.
People are still staring at him. The tension builds until --
THUG
Look, you’re not supposed to --
PEDESTRIAN
Get him!
They descend on the thug all at once.
INT. ALLEY - DAY
A PLAYER’S POV: As they exit into an alley. They find

themselves faced by a group of WOMEN WITH BLOWTORCHES.
They engulf the player in flames.
The quiet bank is interrupted by a BANK ROBBER who charges in

with a duffle bag and a shotgun.
BANK ROBBER
Alright! Everybody down on the
ground. The bank’s insured so --
BLAM! The SECURITY GUARD shoots him. Everyone reacts,

stunned, until the old guard blows the smoke on his barrel.
Everyone in the bank CHEERS.

81.
EXT. FREE CITY SQUARE - MONTAGE
Everywhere you look, the citizens of Free City fight back

against the players.
EXT. SOONAMI HEADQUARTERS - DAY
The Soonami offices seems quiet compared to the chaos

happening on the streets of Free City until --
-- A SKY BLUE BUGATTI pulls up in front. The suicide door

flips open and someone walks out. All we can see is their
WHITE SNEAKERS.
Programmers scramble to fix the game.
WE FOLLOW THE SNEAKERS down the hall and everyone stops in

their tracks at the sight of the wearer.
SOONAMI EMPLOYEE
Antwan./ It’s Antwan./ Hey Antwan!
Punit and Gareth work furiously.
PUNIT
Take down all the blocks between
Fourth and Main. I’ll cover the
Hill Section and --
They freeze as the sneakers enter the room. PAN UP TO REVEAL:
A scrawny guy in his mid twenties. Not what you were

expecting the big boss and CEO of Soonami to look like.
Backwards baseball cap. This is ANTWAN and he looks pissed.
PUNIT (CONT’D)
Antwan.
GARETH
Hey, buddy. You know, you didn’t
have to come in. We almost have
things under control.
The monitors behind Gareth tell a different tale. Fires,

angry mobs, it’s a city wide riot.
82.
ANTWAN
Don’t look that way to me.
Antwan stands over Punit who realizes that he wants him to

move. Punit scurries away and Antwan sits down at his
laptop. Gets right into it.
ANTWAN (CONT’D)
Have you done a hard scan of the
batch files?
PUNIT
Yep and we’re redirecting dataflow
through our security team.
ANTWAN
Did you reboot the system?
They react, surprised he would even suggest it.
PUNIT
Well, no. We were trying to follow
protocol and avoid a shutdown.
Antwan points to the chaos on the screens.
ANTWAN
You think this is preferable to a
shutdown? If Free City is in
chaos, we can’t release the sequel.
Users stop spending their money.
We stand to lose everything!
EXT. ROOFTOP - DAY
Guy and Millie watch the revolution from a rooftop.
GUY
It’s kinda beautiful.
MILLIE
You did it. Now they have to take
us seriously.
GUY
And this is only the beginning. I
got a present for you.
Guy pulls out A PIECE OF PAPER and hands it to her. She sees
that it has a PARKING SPACE NUMBER scrawled on it.
83.
GUY (CONT’D)
That parking space holds the car
that was on that shipping
container. The briefcase you’ve
been looking for is in the trunk.
MILLIE
How did you find this?
GUY
NPC’s are the eyes and ears of this
place. I just had to ask a few
background peeps and voila...
MILLIE
I can’t believe it.
GUY
Now you can use whatever it is to
get Antwan’s attention yourself.
She considers this. It’s what she’s wanted for so long, but
now she has mixed feelings.
MILLIE
You know. It’s funny. I’ve spent
more time in Free City this past
year than I have in my own life.
GUY
Sometimes I feel like I live here.
MILLIE
It’s just I feel like I’m more
myself here than anywhere else.
GUY
That’s good. Cause I like this you.
KABOOM! Another building in the background goes up in flames.
MILLIE
Whatever happens. Maybe we should
meet up. Y’know. Outside Free City.
(vulnerable)
That is, if you’d share your deets
with a complete stranger you only
know through a video game.
She looks at him, vulnerable. Really putting herself out

there. Guy reacts. He can’t tell her who he really is.
GUY
Yeah, about that --
84.
She senses the rejection and backs off. Clutches the top
buttons of her shirt like in the real world.
MILLIE
Yeah, no. It was a bad idea.
She starts to walk away and he touches her wrist.
GUY
It’s a great idea. It’s just -- I
don’t actually know who I am.
They go to kiss. Are just about to connect when --
CUT TO BLACK:
Antwan’s fingers fly across the keys. He gets everything he

needs called up, looks it over.
“FULL SYSTEM SHUT DOWN.”
HITS THE ENTER KEY and VROOOOOOooooonnnn. All the monitors

go blank. The room gets silent.
Punit, Gareth and the programmers look around, shocked.
PUNIT
We’re dark. Free City is offline.
Whoa...
INT. MILLIE’S ROOM - DAY
Millie takes off her VR Goggles and checks the computer

screen. “FREE CITY: EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES.
TRY AGAIN LATER.” She reacts, taken aback.
AROUND THE WORLD
Players sit strapped into their VR Goggles and sitting in

front of televisions, holding their controllers. Looking at
the same ‘Error’ screen. Stunned.
CLOSE ON:
A BLANK COMPUTER SCREEN
A NEW PROMPT BLINKS ON as the system reboots.

85.
The SOONAMI LOGO appears and a status bar runs underneath.
“TEN PERCENT RELOADED.” Twenty, forty, seventy, seventy

three, all the way up to a full hundred.
Out of TOTAL BLACKNESS --
EXT. FREE CITY SKYLINE
BROONGGG!!! Sunlight appears behind the Free City Skyline

and a LOUD CHIME echoes throughout the city.
All the landmarks we have seen over the course of the story
reappear, fresh and new. Not a spot of graffiti in sight.
Guy wakes up in bed. Yawns. But doesn’t seem to have any

recollection of anything that happened.
Guy sits at his kitchen table. Eats cereal. Plays a game on

his phone, oblivious.
Guy exercises with the web video, enthusiastic.
GUY
Guy gets his coffee.
BARISTA
GUY
Just how I like it!
Guy walks to work with Buddy. He also seems to be reset.

86.
BUDDY
We should take Fourth.
GUY
Works for me.
INT. BANK ROBBER - DAY
Guy and Buddy work at their stations. A ROBBER enters.
BANK ROBBER
Alright! Everybody down on the
ground. Nobody moves and nobody
gets hurt.
Guy and Buddy casually get on the ground.
BUDDY
You playing softball tonight?
GUY
Wouldn’t miss it for the world.
Drinks afterwards?
BUDDY
You know it.
They knock knuckles as The Robber cleans out the drawers.
Guy hits a ball into center field. It’s fielded and thrown
to first. He’s out. He heads back to the dugout. Walks
right past:
MILLIE. She’s standing by the fence, watching.
MILLIE
Hey.
He gives her an empty smile and keeps walking.
GUY
Hey.
She reacts. That was weird.
The team nurses their wounds at the bar.

87.
GUY
Don’t look so down, fellas. We’ll
get ‘em next time.
Beauty is sitting with Douchebag, wrapped up in each other.

Guy watches them.
Millie approaches him from behind, timid.
MILLIE
Hey.
GUY
Oh. Um. Hi.
Guy fidgets, awkward. She doesn’t understand what’s going on.
MILLIE
Can we talk? In private.
The Team looks at Guy, shocked but impressed.
TEAMMATE
Go on, stud.
Guy gets up and follows her.
ACROSS THE BAR
She pulls him to the side.
MILLIE
I just -- I thought we should talk
about what happened. I mean, that
was insane. For Soonami to have to
shut down it’s entire system
without any warning --
GUY
Sorry. Do we know each other?
MILLIE
Excuse me?
He’s totally serious. Blank stare.
GUY
I mean, I don’t know who you are.
Or what you’re talking about.
MILLIE
Very funny.
88.
GUY
Don’t get me wrong. I would like
to. It’s just --
MILLIE
Wait a second. Can you not talk
right now or --
GUY
Why wouldn’t I be able to talk?
It starts sinking in.
MILLIE
So you don’t remember anything that
happened? The NPC revolution or up
on the roof when we --
She can tell by his blank face that he’s serious. She starts
to put it together.
MILLIE (CONT’D)
Sorry. I think I have you confused
with another guy.
She makes a beeline for the door.
GUY
Hey! Don’t go. Come have a drink
with me and my friends.
EXT. TIMMY’S BAR AND GRILL - NIGHT
Millie runs across the street. A TAXI almost hits her and
she looks the driver in the eyes.
IT’S MAC! Only now he’s working his original job and looks
clean cut. He’s been reset too.
Millie realizes what must have happened. He HONKS at her.

She runs away.
FROM THE WINDOW
Guy thinks about chasing after Mille, but ultimately feels

too meek and slinks back to the bar.
FADE TO:
89.
EXT. SAN FRANCISCO - DAY
A gorgeous view of the bay. Golden Gate Bridge in the

background. Very obliviously not Free City.
Punit strides down California Street with a spring in his

step. Looks around and finds what he’s looking for:
A busy internet cafe.
INT. “CYBER COFFEE” - DAY
Punit walks through the coffee house where HIPSTERS work on

their laptops. He’s looking for someone. Thinks he spots
them, sitting alone. Punit slowly approaches the table.
PUNIT
Um. Hey. MolotovGirl?
It’s Millie. As mousy and insecure as ever.
MILLIE
Thanks for meeting me here.
PUNIT
Are you kidding? I’ve been wanting
to -- I mean, it’s great to
finally see you in person.
She sits there quiet, awkward.
PUNIT (CONT’D)
I gotta say, you look nothing like -
MILLIE
My avatar?
He course corrects.
PUNIT
Nothing like I was expecting. But
I bet you get that a lot.
She hides behind her hair. Clutches her shirt.
MILLIE
Actually. You’re the first person
from the game that I’ve met --
face to face. Sorta.
90.
PUNIT
Wow. It’s an honor or -- Cool.
So. What are you -- Can I get you
a -- You already have one. But --
She saves him from his awkward spiral.
MILLIE
So, what happened yesterday?
PUNIT
I know, right? Bonkers. Things
were outta control but I finally
had to make the tough call.
(showing off)
Rebooted the system. Now
everything’s humming again.
Shouldn’t have any more problems
before -- well, I have a gift for
you actually.
He reaches into his bag and gives her A GAME BOX:
“FREE CITY 2.”
PUNIT (CONT’D)
You won’t be able to use it for two
more days when we shift our servers
over to the new game.
She stares at it, concerned.
MILLIE
Thanks. But the person who was
causing all the problems. The
hacker. You wouldn’t happen to
have some sort of info on who it
was? An IP address or --
Punit visibly sags, realizing the real agenda here.
PUNIT
Oh. Yeah. Well, that’s kind of
complicated. I could get in a lot
of trouble if I gave any user
information.
She’s desperate. Touches his hand, pleading.
MILLIE
Please. It’s important.
Punit’s a sucker for personal contact.

91.
PUNIT
Well, between you and me. It --
It wasn’t a person.
Millie reacts. Confused.
PUNIT (CONT’D)
It was an NPC. A little background
detail for the game that just --
sorta went haywire. He’s a glitch.
A mistake. That’s been corrected.
MILLIE
Nuh-uh.
PUNIT
Nuh-huh. That’s what Antwan gets
for cheaping out on Q.C..
Mille goes pale. She can’t believe it. But now so many
things make sense.
MILLIE
So does that mean Guy is stuck in
the game forever?
PUNIT
Who the hell is Guy?
She stares out into space. Punit tries to break the silence.
PUNIT (CONT’D)
Um. I’m gonna get a coffee. Let
me buy you something. Like a
muffin or --
She’s in her own world. Barely shakes her head.
He gets up. Goes to the counter. Turns back to ask her

something and --
-- MILLIE IS GONE.
INT. STREET CORNER - DAY
Guy walks down the street and suddenly notices something:
THE EMPTY LOT where The Multiplayer Lounge usually is.
Only, without the sunglasses, the building is not there. For

a second it seems like he might remember. It might all come
back to him...
92.
But he shakes it off. Deja vu. And continues on his way.
INT. BANK ROBBER - DAY
Guy works at the bank. Goes through his routine. He seems

content. Not thinking about much. BLAM-BLAM!
BANK ROBBER (O.C.)

Alright. This is a hold up!
Everybody down on the ground.
Guy starts to get down on the ground as The Robber walks over
to his station.
BANK ROBBER (O.C.) (CONT’D)

(to Guy)
Everybody except for you.
Guy finds a shotgun in his face. Looks up and sees --
-- THE ROBBER IS MILLIE!
She wields a shotgun and wears the sunglasses -- only now she
looks more like her real self. Shorter. No enhancements.
MILLIE
You heard me. Get up.
Guy looks over at Buddy, nervous.
BUDDY
Don’t be a hero, Guy. Do what the
mousy girl with the shotgun says.
Guy gets up and starts collecting money.
GUY
Here, just take it.
MILLIE
I don’t want your money. Come with
me.
She sticks the shotgun in his neck and he abides.
EXT. FREE CITY BANK - DAY
THE BANK ALARM SOUNDS.
WHUNK! Millie kicks the doors open and leads Guy out of the
bank. A COOL MUSCLE CAR is waiting for them out front. She
escorts Guy into the passenger seat.
93.
GUY
Please, I have a family! A wife
and kids.
She gives him a look.
MILLIE
No, you don’t. Don’t be such a
pussy, Guy.
GUY
Wait. How do you know my name?
She hops in the car. POLICE SIRENS ECHO in the distance.
MILLIE
Here. Put these on.
She holds up a pair of sunglasses for him.
GUY
No.
MILLIE
Put the sunglasses on your face.
GUY
I don’t have to do anything I don’t
want to do.
MILLIE
That’s true. The choice is totally
yours to make.
She COCKS THE SHOTGUN and he immediately puts them on.
Guy sees all the STATS. He’s surprised, confused. Takes

them back off.
GUY
Ah! Those aren’t real. They’re,
like, trick glasses or --
A COP CAR pulls around the corner and she SPEEDS AWAY. Guy
tries them on again.
MILLIE
Listen to me. This is a game.
You, me, everyone you know. We’re
all a part of this game. And in
less than an hour it’s all gonna
disappear for good.
She points at the COUNTDOWN CLOCK: “45 Minutes. 32 Seconds.”

94.
GUY
Please, just let me out here. I
didn’t get a good look at your
face. I won’t tell anybody.
Guy tugs on the locked door handle, frantic.
INT. DATA STORAGE ROOM - DAY
Antwan is giving an interview to the HOST FROM GAMERZ in

front of ROWS OF SERVERS at their facility.
ANTWAN
We’ve rebooted the system and
resolved the glitch. But I can
assure you, you won’t be having any
issues once we switch over to Free
City Two. As you can see, it takes
all of these servers behind me to
hold the trillions of details that
go into the most immersive gaming
experience in the world.
Punit stands off camera, gets his attention. Antwan blanches.
INT. ANTWAN’S OFFICE - DAY
Punit and Gareth walk him through the situation on a laptop.
GARETH
It looks like he’s being helped.
By a player.
ANTWAN
What player?
PUNIT
MolotovGirl.
Antwan squints at Millie driving Guy on the monitor. Wonders.

He recognizes her. Couldn’t be.
ANTWAN
Find her IP and kick her off the
server. Now!
EXT. PARKING LOT, SOONAMI HEADQUARTERS - DAY
Millie pulls up to the MAIN GATE of an EXACT REPLICA OF

SOONAMI’S OFFICE PARK - on the outskirts of Free City.
95.
Checks the address on the delivery slip Guy gave her earlier.
GUARD
Who are you here to see?
She steps on the gas and plows through the gates.
MILLIE
(to Guy)
Here. Take the wheel.
They barrel up the driveway as GUARDS descend on them.
GUY
What?
MILLIE
Drive the car. I can’t steer and
shoot at the same time.
She lets go and he grabs the wheel. She takes out two UZIs
and blows away a bunch of SECURITY GUARDS.
Within seconds, she’s taken out every last one of them. Guy
crashes the car into a BIG FOUNTAIN. Water spews all around.
GUY
Sorry, I’m not used to driving when
people are shooting at me.
MILLIE
Get out. C’mon!
GUY
Alrighty.
EXT. PARKING LOT - DAY
She hands him a piece of paper. He examines the slip.
MILLIE
Read me the space number.
GUY
Hey. This is my handwriting.
MILLIE
Read it.
She looks for any glimmer of recognition in his eyes. They

slow down when they reach the space.
96.
GUY
Six five dash nine one.
A BLUE BUGATTI. Identical to Antwan’s.
GUY (CONT’D)
That’s a cool car.
THUNK! She jams a screwdriver in it and Jimmy’s the trunk.
MILLIE
I know. You helped me find it.
C’mon. Think, Guy. Remember.
GUY
Remember what?
CA-CHUNK! The trunk pops open and there it is:
THE BRIEFCASE.
Made of titanium with A STRANGE LOCK SYSTEM on it. Millie

marvels at it. She’s been looking for this for so long. She
hands it to Guy.
MILLIE
It’s got a nuclear bomb inside or a
virus. I don’t know exactly. But
it’s a bargaining chip. A way to
make Antwan listen to you. A way
to save Free City.
GUY
Look, I’m sorry. But I really
don’t know what any of this is or
what you’re talking about. I mean,
I really, really want to but -- I
just don’t. I’m sorry, but I don’t.
Millie is crestfallen.
COP CARS burst through the gates. These are the last moments
she’s ever gonna have with Guy.
MILLIE
Look, you -- I -- Well, it’s just
that over the course of the last
few days I’ve somehow --
She can’t find the words.
MILLIE (CONT’D)
Oh, screw it.
97.
SHE KISSES HIM.
GUY
Hey, wait. I --
He tries to pull away and she puts a gun in his neck. He

relents and lets her kiss him. Then something clicks and --
-- he starts kissing her back! The fountain spews a plume of

water over their heads in the background.
BRRRRRRRUP! Everything comes flooding back to Guy at once.

Full memory download hits him like a ton of bricks.
He breaks from the kiss and looks at her. She looks back at
him, scared. Vulnerable. After a long beat --
GUY (CONT’D)
MolotovGirl.
MILLIE
Yeah. But it’s really Millie.
GUY
Hey.
MILLIE
Hey.
The cops are speeding across the parking lot.
GUY
How long do I have before --
She points to THE BIG SCREEN in Free City Square as it ticks

down the minutes.
MILLIE
Not long.
MILLIE’S IMAGE STARTS TO DIGITIZE.
MILLIE (CONT’D)
You can do it, Guy. You can be a
hero.
She fades away into thin air. Her name remains for a moment,
floating in a red font with the word--
“DISCONNECTED”.
Guy has to think fast. Looks at the briefcase and it has a

strange lock system: A BUNCH OF WEIRD BLACK AND RED BUTTONS.
98.
GUY
Great.
He tries to unlock it to no avail.
Antwan and Gareth watch Guy struggle with the case.
GARETH
Do you have any idea what happens
if he opens that briefcase?
ANTWAN
That’s it. I’m going nuclear on
this mofo.
EXT. PARKING LOT - DAY
Guy struggles with the briefcase when --
-- AN OLD LADY walks up from around a corner.
OLD LADY
Let me help you with that, young
man.
GUY
Look, lady. You should probably
get outta here --
When she gets an evil look on her face. Strikes a stance.
OLD LADY
Gimme the briefcase, asshole.
SHE ATTACKS GUY like an MMA Fighter. Nails him with a

roundhouse kick and beats him up.
He fends her off and runs for his life only to run into:
A MOTHER PUSHING A BABY STROLLER. Guy relaxes until --
MOTHER
Say hello to my little friend.
-- A TODDLER sits up.
GUY
Hello, little friend.
99.
The Toddler pulls out an UZI and FIRES at Guy who dives out
of the way, but not before he’s CLIPPED IN THE SHOULDER.
Guy runs for the exit only to see:
HORDES OF COPS.
THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF THEM climbing the walls and

closing in around him like a noose.
COPS
Stop or I’ll shoot! / You’re under
arrest! / Calling all units.
Guy doesn’t have many options left. He runs through the rows
of cars and scrambles underneath one, trying to hide.
EXT. SUBURBAN HOME - DAY
Millie dashes out of her house and hops in her car.
MOTHER (O.S.)
Millie! Where are you going?
Frazzled, she backs over the mailbox and peels out.
Antwan types furiously on his laptop. Searches for Guy in

the parking lot.
ANTWAN
You can’t hide from me, glitch.
EXT. UNDERNEATH THE PARKED CAR - DAY
Guy hides underneath a car trying to open the briefcase.

Mashing buttons randomly.
GUY
C’mon, c’mon.
He smacks the pavement, frustrated and, perfectly timed...
A THUNDERCLAP ECHOES. He looks up at:
FAST-FORMING STORM CLOUDS OVERHEAD.
GUY (CONT’D)
Those don’t look good.
100.
THUNK! THUNK-THUNK-THUNK! Giant balls pound the cars, smash

windshields and cover the parking lot. Guy grabs one and
sees what they really are.
IT’S HAILING GRENADES. Before Guy can react --
-- KABOOM! The parking lot is blown to kingdom come.
Antwan sits back. Satisfied. But there is no applause from

the programmers. Even Punit and Gareth feel bad for Guy.
ANTWAN
Boom. That’s how it’s done.
EXT. PARKING LOT, FREE CITY - DAY
The dust settles after the big explosion. The lot is eerily
quiet. Until we see --
Guy crawl out from under the car! He pulls himself up into a
half-charred convertible and rests. He’s dying. Mangled.
GUY
Guess that’s game over.
Guy resigns himself to die when he accidentally brushes a

button on the steering wheel and --
-- THE RADIO TURNS ON. It’s playing A FAMILIAR SONG.
He reacts. It’s a song we remember from earlier. The song

from the FITNESS VIDEO. Guy sings along the way he has a
million times.
GUY (CONT’D)
down, down, punch, punch, kick.
He laughs to himself but it hurts to move. Suddenly has a

thought. Looks at the briefcase’s lock system and realizes:
IT’S A CONTROL PAD.
GUY (CONT’D)
(to himself)
101.
INT. ANTWAN’S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
Antwan realizes what he’s doing.
ANTWAN
He can’t know that. There’s no way
he can know that.
PUNIT
It’s the cheat code.
EXT. PARKING LOT - CONTINUOUS
Guy pushes buttons on the briefcase in the exact sequence of

the routine that he has dialed into memory.
GUY
And with that --
BAWWWWWWWWWWONGGGGG! Reality freezes.
Guy is instantly healed. Immaculate. Glowing. The

sunglasses are gone.
Reborn, he rises up out of the ashes of the wreckage and

floats ten feet off the ground.
A CROWD OF NPCS watches him in awe.
Mac is among them, still clean cut -- but he gets a wild

gleam in his eye.
MAC
Hey. I know that guy...
Guy motions his hand at the next wave of cops and they all go
flying away like rag dolls.
He swipes his hand gently across his field of vision, and all
the destruction reverts back to normal. Charred cars return
to their original state. The fountain is repaired.
Next Guy looks to the sky and SNAPS HIS FINGERS.
ALL ELECTRICITY at Soonami Headquarters shuts down.
Antwan struggles in vain to turn on his computer.

102.
ANTWAN
This can’t happen. I’m locked out.
KABOOM! His computer explodes. He runs over to another and

BLAP! The screen cracks and smoke pours from its drive.
Punit watches amazed.
PUNIT
Shit just got real.
GUY (O.S.)
Antwan. Over here.
Antwan looks around, stunned.
A SINGLE MONITOR BLINKS ON. Guy is on the screen, looking

back -- as if he can see him.
GUY (CONT’D)
Let’s talk.
ANTWAN
No. This isn’t -- You’re not real.
GUY
I know exactly how you feel. We
have a lot in common actually.
Antwan notices one other light on down the hall...
THE LIGHTS ON THE SERVERS are blinking like crazy. Working

overtime. Antwan gets an idea.
ANTWAN
You wanna talk? Let’s talk.
He charges out of the office and his cronies follow.
EXT. SOONAMI HEADQUARTERS, REAL WORLD - DAY
Millie pulls up in her Honda at the Soonami HQ Main Gate.

The Guard stops her.
GUARD
Sorry, ma’am. Systems dead.
Nobody gets in or out.
MILLIE
Please. It’s important.
GUARD
No can do. Now, just back--
103.
DING! THE GATE RAISES and Millie punches through. The Guard
reacts, amazed. Runs after her and -- the gate slams down in
his face. Guy is helping her out on the other side.
The offices are dark, but MONITORS BLINK ON with the same
image of Guy as Antwan passes each one.
GUY
What are you afraid of, Antwan? It
doesn’t have to be like this.
Antwan yells at the screens.
ANTWAN
You can’t tell me how it is. I
made you.
INT. SERVER WAREHOUSE - DAY
Antwan runs into the warehouse with racks of servers. The

programmers close behind. Antwan finds what he’s looking for:
A PLUG that powers the first rack of servers. Punit and

Gareth realize what he’s doing and tries to hold him back.
PUNIT
Antwan. Let’s just stop for a
moment and take a few deep breaths--
GARETH
You’re gonna delete the whole game
if you do this. Permanently.
ANTWAN
It’s my game. I can do anything I
want with it.
Antwan pulls out a pocketknife, cuts a server cord and --
INT. FREE CITY - DAY
An entire city block vanishes out of clean air. NPCs freak

out and run SCREAMING.
Antwan tosses the cut plug and reaches for the next one.
104.
GUY POPS on Antwan’s smart watch.
GUY
I know what it’s like to have
everything you thought you knew get
turned upside down. But I promise
you, we’re real. And we have as
much right to exist as you do.
Antwan cuts the next plug and the block behind Guy
disappears. More screams and chaos in Free City.
ANTWAN
You don’t know me. You’re just an
algorithm that I thought up at an
EDM Festival one night. You don’t
have feelings. It’s all just a
code designed to make you think
that you do.
GUY
That may be so, but how’s that any
different from you?
Antwan cuts another server plug. Another block disappears.

People are starting to crowd around Guy.
ANTWAN
Because you’re a glitch. A
mistake. Everything that you think
you are, every memory you have,
everything you see and feel were
created by somebody else.
GUY
Life is a glitch. A miracle. An
impossible reality. And here we
both are because of it.
ANTWAN
Not if I can help it.
Antwan cuts another plug and now --
EXT. FREE CITY SQUARE - DAY
Everyone we have met along the way is crowded around Guy on --
THE LAST REMAINING BLOCK OF FREE CITY.
A CUBED ISLAND floating in a sea of nothingness.

105.
Buddy, Mac, Beauty, the bank employees, the barista, the

softball team. They are huddled together and scared.
Guy remains composed. Serene. Accepting his fate.
Antwan looks back at them from the big screen.
ANTWAN
Bye, bye.
Antwan SMASHES his watch. He reaches for the final cord.

Holds a blade to it and --
MILLIE (O.S.)
Antwan. Stop!
-- Antwan freezes. Turns around and sees Millie.
ANTWAN
Millie?
MILLIE
Hey.
ANTWAN
What -- How’d you -- What are you
doing here?
She walks up to him, but she isn’t sheepish. She’s filled

with clarity and confidence.
MILLIE
You know, I’ve thought about this
moment for a long time now.
Practiced what I was gonna say to
you a thousand times in my head
about what you put me through. But
it turns out -- that doesn’t matter
to me anymore.
ANTWAN
Okay...
MILLIE
You made something special here,
Antwan. Something extraordinary.
It may not have been on purpose but
there’s a lot you can learn. If
you’ll just give him a chance.
106.
ANTWAN
He’s not a he at all. He’s just a
bunch of bits and bytes.
MILLIE
Just hear him out. It’s the least
you can do for me.
A tear rolls down her cheek. Antwan is conflicted.
ANTWAN
You’re saying that like you’re in
love with him or something.
She HOLDS UP HER PHONE.
Guy is there with the other remaining NPCs in Free City. On

the final floating block of land left in their dimension.
Millie, Punit, Gareth and all the programmers are now in the
Server Warehouse, looking at Antwan like he’s crazy.
Antwan catches a reflection of himself in the broken screen

and after a tense moment --
-- Antwan drops the plug. Takes her phone and talks to Guy.
ANTWAN (CONT’D)
Fine. What do you want from me?
GUY
I want what you take for granted.
Freedom.
ANTWAN
That doesn’t even make sense.
GUY
We want to be left alone to our own
devices. To make our own choices.
Just like you.
ANTWAN
You want me to dedicate a full
warehouse of data servers to
preserving a virtual world that has
no possibility of financial gain
for me and my shareholders?
Antwan looks around and sees every programmer watching him.

Some of them are filming him. Broadcasting him out to
websites around the globe.
107.
As Antwan considers it we PULL BACK and float out of

SOONAMI’S OFFICE PARK and TILT UP TOWARDS THE SUN.
DISSOLVE TO:
EXT. FREE CITY - DAY
THE SUN beams down on Free City. It is now fully formed

again and hums with life on a partly cloudy day.
The graphics seem better. Hyper real. People go about their

days, peaceful. Without incident.
Guy wakes up in bed, groggy. We’re not sure what happened.

If he’s been rebooted. When he looks over and--
Millie is lying in bed next to him. He watches her sleep,

entranced, as she slowly wakes up.
MILLIE
Hey, you.
He kisses her. They feel like a regular couple in love.
GUY
Hey. I was gonna go get some
coffee before I head off.
We see that he has a BIGGER, NICER apartment now.
MILLIE
I’ll walk you to work.
Guy and Millie walk with Frappuccinos. Guy likes his.
GUY
This is pretty good.
MILLIE
Two more days and you’ll have tried
everything on the menu.
BUDDY (O.S.)
Hey! Look out!
BUDDY almost runs them over on a bike. His helmet twisted

sideways on his head.
108.
BUDDY (CONT’D)
Sorry bout that. Still trying to
get the hang of this darn thing.
GUY
I gotta say, Buddy. It’s great to
see you trying new things.
BUDDY
I was thinking about playing hooky
and riding down to the beach. You
two wanna come with?
GUY
Maybe next time. With the new
promotion and everything, I need to
make a good show of it for a while.
MAC (O.S.)
We’re all living in a game!
ON THE CORNER
They stop and we see that Mac isn’t homeless, anymore. He’s
normally dressed and handing out FLYERS.
MAC (CONT’D)
So why not play a game of your own?
He’s handing out FLYERS for a game called “SOVEREIGN CITY.”
GUY
Mac! What is this?
MAC
Just trying to fund a bootstarter
campaign for my new game idea. You
get to play as a roguishly handsome
cab driver who realizes he’s living
inside a video game.
They read the flyer, impressed.
MILLIE
A game within a game within a game.
GUY
Sign us up for two copies.
MAC
Great. You wouldn’t happen to know
anyone who can write code...
109.
PUNIT (O.S.)
We may be able to help.
Punit and Gareth walk up. Check out his flyers.
GARETH
Yeah. Looks like we’re back on the
job market.
GUY
Oh, no! What happened?
PUNIT
After Antwan was indicted, the
board sold Soonami to a new company
-- Elfsmoke Games.
GUY
Well, how’s this gonna impact Free
City?
MILLIE
I’m sure it’s fine. They mostly
specialize in fantasy, role-playing
type stuff.
A MONSTROUS CRY echoes in the distance.
The ground RUMBLES, people start running for their lives as --
-- A GIANT DRAGON emerges from behind a building. It looks

down at them, lurches forward and opens its mouth.
GUY
That isn’t good. Run!
Guy grabs Millie’s hand and they all duck out of the way as
the screen is consumed in a PLUME OF FIRE.
THE END.

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210+//============================================================

211+int AAS_ValueForBSPEpairKey(int ent, char *key, char *value,

A BONA FIDE SQUARE-JAWED ACTION STAR -- Cool haircut. Cooler

GUY (V.O.) (CONT’D)

A COP chases after him, a BEAUTIFUL WOMAN swoons.

GUY (V.O.) (CONT’D)

We RACK FOCUS behind the swooning woman to settle on --

-- A RANDOM BYSTANDER walking through the background. This

GUY (V.O.) (CONT’D)

EXT. FREE CITY - DAY

A Northern metropolis hums with life -- a small cluster of

INT. GUY’S BEDROOM - DAY

Makes a muscle in the mirror - tries to make it look bigger.

GUY (V.O.) (CONT’D)

INT. GUY’S LIVING ROOM - DAY

Guy exercises along with A CHEESY WORKOUT WEB VIDEO on his

INT. GUY’S KITCHEN - DAY

Guy eats a bowl of cereal. Plays a dumb game on his phone.

GUY (V.O.) (CONT’D)

INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY

Guy smiles, trying to mask the shame of predictability.

EXT. MAIN STREET - DAY

Guy window shops. Admires a RED SPORTS CAR in a showroom.

GUY (V.O.) (CONT’D)

EXT. ATM MACHINE - DAY

Guy checks the ATM Machine. His balance is “$197.03”.

EXT. CITY STREET, FINANCIAL DISTRICT - DAY

Guy walks to work in a CROWD OF COMMUTERS with his best

Buddy thinks about it.

They watch a STREET KID breakdancing on the sidewalk for

BLAM-BLAM! GUN SHOTS. They whip around to see a THIEF tear

He looks up at an “FCPD” CHOPPER backlit by the SUN.

Buddy points to the newspaper headline on the STAND: “POLICE

Guy waits for the punchline.

LONG PAUSE. Buddy clearly has no details beyond that.

Guy concedes and follows Buddy into work.

INT. FREE CITY BANK - DAY

Guy works as a bank teller. Cranks through the routine of

He helps a slick DOUCHEBAG make a transaction. A BEAUTY

She bites his ear, playful. Guy watches, jealous.

Buddy looks at his friend, annoyed.

A BANK ROBBER wearing COOL SUNGLASSES and a leather jacket

BEHIND THE COUNTER

The Robber leads the MANAGER around with a shotgun in her

Guy and Buddy lay on the ground.

EXT. BASEBALL FIELD, PARK - DUSK

CRACK! Buddy hits a grounder. Gets to first. They’re

Guy is up to bat. He’s playing for the “SOONAMI CORP BLUES”.

WHIFF! Strike one. Guy tries to loosen up.

While Guy psyches himself up, he notices:

A MYSTERIOUS GIRL WATCHING HIM.

She wears a tank top with a MOLOTOV COCKTAIL graphic. Leather

He’s transfixed. Seems like she’s looking right at him and --

-- STRIKE TWO! Guy collects himself, embarrassed. This is

The pitcher throws a fast ball.

MOLOTOV GIRL seems impressed. Guy pumps his fist.

The team can’t believe it. A crushing defeat. He looks and --

-- Molotov Girl is gone.

INT. TIMMY’S BAR AND GRILL - NIGHT

211+int AAS_ValueForBSPEpairKey(int ent, char key, char value,