G O D A R K

by

Josh Marentette

&

Spencer Marentette

UTA | Jordan Lonner & Michael Sauvage

Kaplan/Perrone | Alex Lerner & Ben Neumann
BLACK SKIES
The dead of night. Clouds veil the moon. Concealing all
light.
SUPER: 35,000 FEET. HONDURAN AIRSPACE.
A C-17 military plane emerges from the darkness. Soaring fast
across the skyline. Its rear cargo door opens...

ON THE RAMP
Three SHADOWS tread out toward the edge. Wearing unmarked
black fatigues. Sniper rifles strapped to their vests. Tinted
oxygen masks.
They study the darkness rippling below. There is no bombast
between them. No false bravado. Just the low sound of
measured breathing. Steadying their nerves...
These men are dynamic and thoughtful. With faces and names
most will never know. They are DELTA FORCE OPERATORS. And
officially... They don't exist.
Beside them, a light switches from YELLOW to GREEN.
The Deltas meet eyes. Share two quiet words in unison:
DELTAS
Nemo resideo.
They leap off the edge. Spilling into the darkness like
wraiths...

EXT. MOUNTAINSIDE ROAD - NIGHT

A utility VAN putters up a dirt road. A peeling energy logo
on its door reads: Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica.
The van snakes around a bend...
Revealing a hidden LUXURY COMPOUND ahead. Nestled up into the
mountainside. High concrete walls. Iron gate.

INSIDE THE COMPOUND

Manicured grass surrounds a serene MANSION. Marble statues
border a crystalline pool. Private helicopter.
Three SUITED GUARDS patrol the inner grounds. SR-2 submachine
guns gleam in their hands.
 2.

OUTSIDE THE COMPOUND

The utility van crawls up along the concrete walls. Stops
beside an ELECTRICAL TRANSFORMER BOX.
The van idles. Humming quiet tension.

INSIDE THE COMPOUND

A GUARD studies a security feed on his phone. Sees the van
parked outside the perimeter.
ANOTHER GUARD
(Spanish)
Problem?
GUARD
(dismissing)
Power company.

IN THE VAN
Callused hands smooth out an energy uniform.
EDGAR MEDRANO (45) checks his reflection. Subtle pockmarked
scars surround sage eyes -- eyes carrying oceans of weight. In
another life he may have been a poet. But that wasn't to be...

MOUNTAINSIDE ROAD

Medrano steps out with a TOOLKIT. His flowing black hair and
dense beard shimmer in the dark.
He notices motion sensors atop the compound's walls. Security
cameras scan like vultures. An impenetrable fortress.
Medrano sets his toolkit onto the roadside energy box.
Withdraws air-measuring devices: A wind vane. Anemometer.
Barometer.
He assembles them. Whispers into a concealed microphone.
MEDRANO
South-southwest.

NIGHT SKY
The three Deltas FLOAT DOWN through the darkness. Black
parachutes deployed above.
MEDRANO (V.O.)
Four point two miles per hour.
 3.

The Deltas draw their SNIPER RIFLES. Listen to Medrano

through earpieces. Adjust their windage knobs accordingly...
MEDRANO (V.O.)
Air density low. Ninety-eight point
three kilopascal. Compound Coriolis
effect.

INSIDE THE COMPOUND

The armed Guards roam the manicured grass. Make quiet small
talk in Spanish.
THOOP -- THOOP -- THOOP!
The Guards drop like they've been unplugged. Clouds of
atomized blood linger where they stood.
Silence...
The Deltas softly touch down inside the high walls.
Parachutes bloom to rest around them.
LUCAS HARTFIELD (40) removes his tinted mask. Revealing a
deep, dimpled chin and noble eyes. He is as true and
unwavering as the North Star. A light guiding his team in a
world of darkness.
HARTFIELD
(whispers into microphone)
Camelot, we have touchdown.

OUTSIDE THE COMPOUND

Medrano repacks his toolkit. Slides off his energy uniform...
Revealing black spec-ops fatigues. He climbs back in the van.

INSIDE THE COMPOUND

TRISTAN KEYS (27) darts across the yard. He has a crisp
haircut and manicured goatee. A rising spec-ops star,
precision is his trademark. Perfection his religion.
Keys drops down beside a DEAD GUARD. Removes a piece of
fingerprint tape...

IRON ENTRY GATE

Keys raises the FRESHLY LIFTED FINGERPRINT. Carefully rolls
it across the gate scanner. No detail too small.
BEEP: the gate opens...
 4.

The utility van drives through, lights off. Keys opens the
passenger door and jumps in.

IN THE VAN
Keys looks over at Medrano. Fights a grin.
MEDRANO
Well?
KEYS
Two inches off the frontal lobe.
MEDRANO
Not bad.
KEYS
You were right -- bit more spin
drift on that bullet than I
anticipated. How'd you know?
MEDRANO
Young man, wisdom comes at a hell
of an hour. When youth is gone, the
storm's over, and the girls have
gone home.
Medrano punches the gas.

BACKYARD
The van speeds across the grass. Weaves around the pool and
statues.

AT THE BASE OF THE MANSION

IAN JASPER (38) lurks in the shadows. The final member of the
formidable Delta team. Mercurial as a stick of TNT oozing
nitroglycerin. Self-buzzed hair. Unkempt beard.
His eyes gleam with a strange curiosity... Hinting at his
ever-churning imagination.
The utility van skids to a stop before Jasper. He throws open
the rear doors to reveal: canisters of ACETYLENE and OXYGEN.
A coiled hose leads to a torch.
Jasper twists gauges. Gas HISSES.
Hartfield appears beside him. Unfurling the hose, they sneak
toward a BARRED WINDOW. Steel beams glitter in the night.
 5.

HARTFIELD
(quietly)
Someone's made quite the climb from
the Rio favelas...
JASPER
A lurid imagination will take you
places.
HARTFIELD
Six years later, bet he thinks he's
slipped through the cracks... That
we'd forgotten.
Jasper raises the torch.
JASPER
It's always the knife you don't see
coming.
Sparks CRACKLE in the reflection of his welding goggles. The
metal bars begin melting like butter...

INSIDE THE MANSION

Boots cautiously touch down onto marble flooring. The team
pours one-by-one into a lavish living room:
Looming ceilings. Italian leather furniture. Ominous gothic
art hangs on the walls -- is that a stolen Rembrandt?
The team gathers into formation behind Hartfield. They place
hands onto the backs of the operator before them. An unspoken
bond of brotherhood.
Hartfield leads the team past a TV. A black-and-white film
plays in silence. Splashing light onto a glass coffee table.
Where an SR-2 sits next to a STILL-STEAMING plate of beans...
The team meet eyes. Grips tighten around their carbines.
They creep deeper into the abode. A grandfather clock TICKS
somewhere in the darkness...
Tick... Tick...
Hartfield motions to the BLACK MOUTH of a HALLWAY. Medrano,
Keys and Jasper rally beside it. They all swivel down it...

HALLWAY
Claustrophobic. Like a hidden passageway.
Eyes curiously rise in unison...
 6.

Sliced LEMONS hang from the ceiling. Dangling eerily above

the penetrating Deltas. Homemade air fresheners. Hundreds of
them -- maybe more.
The team refocuses. Notices PADLOCKED DOORS ahead. Lining
each side of the hall. Tiny windows cut into their frames.
They slide past the first. Catching glimpses of SQUALID COTS.
Packed together like sardines.
Stomach churning, Hartfield approaches the next door. Steals
a glance through its window:
CAGES shimmer in the shadows. Filled with pools of HUMAN
FECES. Chains attach to the wrists of two EMACIATED BODIES.
Maybe a FATHER and DAUGHTER -- too tough to tell. Dehydrated
skin sticks to their bones. Collateral damage of human
trafficking.
Suddenly -- noise echoes from down the hall.
The Deltas spin. Advance behind their night-vision scopes.
Toward a spiral staircase...

SPIRAL STAIRCASE
A barrel-chested GUARD descends, oblivious. Scrolling through
his phone --
THOOP!
A dime-sized hole opens his forehead. His muscular frame
folds forward.
Hartfield and Jasper RUSH out of the shadows. Slide across
the marble floor and catch the GUARD inches before he impacts
the ground -- silence unbroken.
Medrano and Keys push past them. Discreetly ascend the spiral
staircase.

SECOND FLOOR LANDING

Medrano and Keys scan the area. Train their laser sights on a
set of massive double doors: the MASTER BEDROOM...
Hartfield and Jasper slip by them. Quiet as death.
Sweat shimmers on foreheads. The team fans out around the
double doors. Shares a nod.
Hartfield's glove reaches for the golden doorknob. Fingertips
extend --
 7.

TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA! Bullets SHRED through the door.

Shrapnel sprays everywhere. Hartfield retracts. The Deltas
hit the deck.
Jasper thinks fast. Pulls a FLASH GRENADE. Hurls it through
the minced door -- BAM! Searing white light knifes through
the bedroom.
HARTFIELD
MOVING!
The Deltas BURST into the --

MASTER BEDROOM
A DARK FIGURE fires wildly atop his four-poster bed. Spraying
bullets from his Bizon 9mm submachine gun.
DARK FIGURE
VETE A LA MIERDA! VETE A LA MI --
THOOP-THOOP. THOOP-THOOP.
The figure freezes unnaturally. Then falls to the carpet.
Chaos becomes silence...
The Deltas emerge from the shadows. Converge over the body.
HARTFIELD
Clear.
The Deltas raise their night-vision goggles. LIGHTS come up
around the room, illuminating --
A gaunt kingpin -- GARZA (48) -- twisted on the floor. His dead
eyes look fiendish. Like he long fed off human suffering, not
food. Blood leaks down his hollowed-out cheeks.
For a moment the team just stands there. Burning adrenaline.
HARTFIELD
Alright, fellas. Five mikes for
SSE. Bag everything you can and
we're in the wind.
The team disperses around the room. Removes Sensitive Site
Exploitation kits.
Keys crouches over Garza's corpse. Trains a camera over his
face. Snaps precise photos.
KEYS
(into microphone)
Camelot, stand by for a visual
confirm.
 8.

Keys uploads the pictures. Hartfield watches him with a hint

of pride.
HARTFIELD
Better watch yourself, Keys. Keep
rolling like this and JSOC will
yank you from the field and stick
you with a promotion.
KEYS
(grins)
Sorry, Lucas -- more mistakes. Got
it.
Across the room, Medrano searches a mahogany desk. Uncovers
something hidden: a worn LEATHER BOOKLET. Opens the first
page... And stops.
Medrano's eyes slide down a list of trafficked victims.
Handwritten NAMES and corresponding PRICES. Something about
seeing these dollar values... Hits him where he lives.
Hartfield appears beside Medrano. Notices the ledger.
MEDRANO
Sara Rodriguez Robledo... Twenty-
three thousand dollars. Hugo Abreu.
Eighteen thousand, five hundred...
And they say you can't put a price
on life.
Hartfield places a hand on Medrano's shoulder.
HARTFIELD
His empire's over, Medrano... We
got him.

BEHIND A FALSE BEDROOM WALL

Hartfield's voice filters through...
The REAL GARZA (48) grins to himself. Looming in the confines
of a hidden recess. He looks nearly identical to his dead
body double. Down to the Bizon submachine gun in his grip...

MASTER BEDROOM
Hartfield collects evidence bags.
HARTFIELD
Last call. Train leaves in two.
KEYS
Copy that.
 9.

MEDRANO
Copy.
Jasper quietly scans the room alone. Probing through the lens
of his curious, strange eyes. Hartfield falls in beside him.
HARTFIELD
And JSOC's models said your air
insertion idea was "likely to fail..."
JASPER
That's why imagination still wins
wars.
HARTFIELD
They were thrilled when I said I
trusted you more than some computer.
JASPER
Oh I believe it.
HARTFIELD
By the way, your sister texted this
morning.
JASPER
Still putting up with you, huh?
HARTFIELD
(grins)
She mentioned Theo scored the game-
winner last night, used that crazy
deke you showed him. Wanted his
Uncle Jasper to know...
Jasper returns only half a smile. Hartfield notices. Traces
his gaze...
HARTFIELD
What is it?
Jasper eyes Garza twisted on the carpet. Slowly steps toward
the corpse.
HARTFIELD
Jasper?
Jasper straightens Garza's thin legs. Medrano and Keys glance
over. Intrigued.
MEDRANO
Something wrong?
JASPER
Keys, how tall was he...
 10.

KEYS
What?
JASPER
How tall was he exactly?

BEHIND FALSE WALL

The Real Garza listens intently. Raises his submachine gun...
KEYS (O.S.)
A hundred and eighty-five
centimeters. Six foot one.

MASTER BEDROOM

The color drains from Jasper's face. A sickening realization.

JASPER
(soft)
He's too short...
The Deltas lock eyes. Jasper reaches for his gun. Spins
around as --
A SECTION OF DRYWALL DROPS LIKE A GATE. Revealing the Real
Garza in silk boxers, eyes crazed. Before he can unload --
THOOP-THOOP!
Jasper PASTES Garza back into the recess. His Bizon sprays
errant ammo into the ceiling -- TA-TA-TA! And then he slides
downward. Dead.
But something drops from his limp hand. It rolls toward the
exposed Deltas...
A GRENADE.
Everyone's eyes go wide. Feet stuck in concrete.
Then Hartfield surges forward -- dives over it -- B O O M !
Hartfield STOMACHS THE EXPLOSIVE BLOW.

OUTSIDE THE MANSION

VROOOOM -- Keys drives the van straight through landscaping.
Whips around a corner -- and SCREECHES to a stop outside the
front doors.
Jasper and Medrano rush out of the mansion. Carrying
Hartfield in their arms.
 11.

Blood POURS through the crevices of his tactical armor. He

sucks in wheezing breaths, eyes wide in shock. Skin and
tissue hang loose from his stomach.
KEYS
Come on! Come on!
Keys throws open the van's side door.

MOUNTAINSIDE ROAD
The van RACES down the steep cliffs.

INSIDE THE VAN

Jasper and Medrano desperately hold Hartfield together. He
saws off breaths, pale as a ghost.
JASPER
Hold still! You gotta hold still,
okay?!
HARTFIELD
(gasping)
Jasper...
Medrano reaches for a pair of MEDICAL SCISSORS. Starts
cutting at Hartfield's fatigues to assess the wound. But it's
impossible to tell where the fabric ends... And flesh begins.
MEDRANO
Keys, where are we with that
medevac?!
KEYS
Three mikes!
Hartfield coughs up blood. It splatters over his face. Jasper
wipes it off.
HARTFIELD
Jasper... Tell Emma and Theo --
JASPER
Fuck that! Remember Raqqa? This
isn't even half as bad! You pulled
through then, you'll pull through
now!
Medrano is almost elbow-deep in Hartfield's abdomen. Trying
to stop the pulsing liquid. He looks to Jasper... They know.
HARTFIELD
How's it looking?
 12.

JASPER
Good... real good.
Hartfield sees the truth in their faces...
HARTFIELD
We're all fireflies... aren't we?
KEYS (O.S.)
Two minutes to medevac!
JASPER
Fireflies?
HARTFIELD
We only shine for a day... But
think it's forever.
Jasper and Medrano catch on the unexpected words. Together,
they lock hands with Hartfield.
JASPER
Listen, you just hold on... Hold on
to us...
But the light in Hartfield's eyes is already gone.
Jasper and Medrano fall quiet. Keys glances back and realizes
too...
The van speeds ahead in silence...

EXT. SKY - MORNING

A C-17 cargo plane glitters in the sun. Soaring across clear,
blue morning skies.
Peaceful ocean waters stretch for miles below.

INSIDE THE C-17

Engines faintly hum in the cargo bay.
Jasper, Medrano and Keys sit around a BODYBAG. Lost...
Keys wipes his eyes. Shakes his head. Unwilling to believe
their North Star has somehow gone dark.
Medrano whispers indiscernibly to himself. The words provide
no solace.
Jasper sits paralyzed, eyes swirling with emotion. He is the
only one still wearing his tactical vest. Hartfield's blood
now rusted across it...
 13.

JASPER
(distant)
If I would've realized five seconds
sooner...
MEDRANO
Don't drink that poison.
JASPER
You know it's true...
MEDRANO
If you didn't act when you did,
there's a chance none of us leaves
that bedroom...
Jasper fights the crushing weight in his chest.
JASPER
Wasn't his time, Medrano... Can't
be the end...
MEDRANO
Looking at death as the end of life
is like seeing the horizon as the
end of the ocean.
KEYS
After twenty years of black ops,
you still believe that?
MEDRANO
I know it.
JASPER
Wish I could believe that too...
But I worry there's only one thing
after death.
MEDRANO
What's that?
JASPER
Darkness.
Tears finally fall. Medrano puts a hand on both Jasper and
Keys. Enduring it all together...
Suddenly, the plane BANKS. Tipping to a 30 degree angle.
Everything rattles and slides.
The Deltas grab onto their seats. Snapping back.
The men exchange glances... Don their HEADSETS.
 14.

KEYS
(into mic)
Hey man, can we get a sit-rep back
here?
The PILOT's voice crackles through...
PILOT (V.O.)
JSOC just threw us a curveball --
we're being re-routed.
MEDRANO
Re-routed?
PILOT (V.O.)
Sorry, gentlemen. Out of my hands.
KEYS
Where they sending us?
PILOT (V.O.)
All I got was a set of coordinates.
Not civilian or military. Fifteen
years at the helm and I've never
seen 'em...
The Deltas meet eyes.

EXT. DESERT - MORNING

Desolate, baked-out plains. Crevices divide the soil into an
endless jigsaw. Nothing on the horizon but HEATWAVES...
The C-17 descends like a mirage. Wheels kiss down onto a
makeshift DIRT RUNWAY.

INSIDE THE C-17

Rumbling engines cycle down.
The cargo ramp groans open. Daylight pours in. Jasper, Keys
and Medrano shield their faces. Climb down into the sun...

DESERT
The Deltas scan the barren wasteland. Nothing but a few
haggard CACTI. Far as the eye can see...
A pack of VULTURES circles high above. Waiting for their next
meals.
Wheels turn in Jasper's mind as he drinks in the landscape.
Keys falls in beside Medrano, uneasy.
 15.

KEYS
... Ever hear of anything like this
before?
MEDRANO
No.
Jasper glances sideways at Medrano.
JASPER
You said there were some politically
sensitive buyers on that ledger.
MEDRANO
Few third-world dignitaries. A
prominent oil baron. A particularly
influential oligarch...
JASPER
If JSOC wanted containment, this is
one way to do it.
A chilling thought...
Keys raises a set of binoculars. Surveys the ocean of dirt.
KEYS
Signs of life. Ten o-clock.
A cyclone of DUST kicks up on the horizon. Something heads
straight toward them. Fast.
A BLACK SUV comes into focus through the shimmer. Caked in a
thick layer of sand.
The Deltas subtly fan out. Eyes glued to the approaching
vehicle. Hands lingering by their sidearms...
The black SUV slows down. Rolls to a stop before them.
Wind whispers. No one moves.
A tinted window rolls down... Revealing the strange MALE
DRIVER (50). Face coated with too much sunblock. Eyes
concealed behind glasses. Sweat stained Nirvana t-shirt.
DRIVER
Just gonna stand there?
Jasper holds the man's eyes for a moment...
Then the Deltas all step toward the SUV. Peering around as
they climb inside.
Doors slam shut. The SUV makes a sharp U-turn. ROARS OFF.
 16.

INSIDE THE SUV

Jasper, Medrano and Keys sit on edge. Scrutinizing their
sunburnt chauffeur. He chews gum.
JASPER
Takes some pull to divert a flight
that doesn't exist...
The Driver doesn't react.
KEYS
What is this? CTC? Special
Activities?
The Driver just keeps chewing. Silence burns.
Medrano's sage eyes notice something through the windshield.
Something stranded in the middle of nowhere...

A TINY SHED
Rusted into the environment. Standing on its last legs.
Its dented GARAGE DOOR grinds open. Metal scrapes like nails
on a chalkboard. Grinding out tension...

INSIDE THE SUV

The Deltas crane their necks. Positioning for a view.
The SUV crawls forward. BARELY fitting into the cramped shed.
Jasper, Medrano and Keys look around. Notice a lawn chair
open in front of a TV. Half-eaten cheese sandwich. Water jug.
The garage door CLANGS shut behind them. Enclosing the SUV in
total DARKNESS.
The Driver doesn't move. Uncomfortable silence.
The Deltas meet eyes... What the hell?
Sweat rises on their foreheads. Jasper slowly wraps his hand
around his gun. Medrano and Keys follow suit. But then --
Pressure HISSES. The entire garage RATTLES. The Deltas snap
around as the SUV begins to SINK. Lowering deeper and deeper
underground...
DRIVER
At ease, guys. Sorry for the cloak
and dagger. Communication's
forbidden topside...
 17.

Jasper, Medrano and Keys look out the windows. The darkness
transforms into a...

STRANGE BUNKER
Water drips from low concrete ceilings. Faded WARNING SIGNS
peel from walls. Like a 1960s era nuclear facility. Oddly
empty.
Dim hallways branch off from the main chamber. Stretching
like fingers into the unknown.

INSIDE THE SUV

The Driver unbuckles his seatbelt. Turns to the Deltas.
DRIVER
We're all fans of your work.
Somalia, Bahrain -- I heard you
drove an SDV through a pipeline?
Shit's wild, man.
The Driver chuckles to himself. Steps out of the SUV.

BUNKER
Jasper, Medrano and Keys do too. Look around their strange
new environment. Fear transforming into curiosity...
DRIVER
Come on. The Director's keen to
meet you.

DARK HALLWAY
Motion-activated lights flicker on overhead. Old steel power
cables criss-cross along the floor. Around puddles of
standing water. Into corroded hatches.
The Deltas follow the Driver.
JASPER
Interesting decor.
KEYS
Love the bleak accents...
JASPER
What would you call it. "KGB-chic?"
Medrano glances back over his shoulder. Glimpses a woman in a
WHITE LAB COAT crossing the hallway behind. And out of sight...
 18.

MEDRANO
This facility... What is it?
DRIVER
The bleeding edge.
The Driver pushes through an IRON DOOR --

EMPTY OFFICE
Nothing on the walls. Only one high table in the room.
DIRECTOR BLOOM (57) stands waiting. His tall and slim figure
grants him a quiet authority. Tailored suit. No tie. There is
an inner resilience to him... Like the only building left
standing after a hurricane.
Bloom looks up as the Deltas file in. He nods a warm welcome.
DRIVER
I'll be right outside, sir.
The Driver closes the door: CLANG. Bloom studies the Deltas.
Silence hangs.
JASPER
So... This is the end of the yellow
brick road.
BLOOM
No. The beginning.
Bloom opens a manilla folder.
BLOOM
Fifteen years ago I was stationed
in Bangladesh. I'm walking home one
night and a bag is pulled over my
head. When I opened my eyes I was
standing where you're standing now.
Bloom slides forward three NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS.
BLOOM
If I read you into this program,
your perception of the world will
be forever changed... I have to
warn you, some are ready to face
the truth. Others can't grapple
with their new reality.
Jasper, Medrano and Keys share a look.
KEYS
... New reality?
 19.

BLOOM
Now you're welcome to turn around
the way you came. Get back on your
plane. None of this ever happened.
Bloom removes a PEN from his suit.
BLOOM
Or? Together we walk through this
door...
He motions to a LOCKED DOOR behind him.
BLOOM
And change the rules of the world.
Bloom offers out his pen. The Deltas stare it down...

SNAKING CORRIDOR
A door UNLOCKS.
Bloom leads the Deltas through. Into a dark, zig-zagging
passage. They slip beneath the teeth of a THICK BLAST
BARRIER. It booms closed behind them.
Red lights dimly glow. The Deltas notice C-4 wired along the
walls. Whatever this place is... It's armed to blow.
JASPER
So, Mr. Wizard... What are we
hiding behind the curtain?
BLOOM
Answers.
KEYS
Answers to what?
Bloom leads the Deltas into an elevator cage.
BLOOM
To the mystery at the core of all
our lives. To the most simple,
primal question. Since humans first
evolved, we have fantasized about
it. Feared it. Even fought wars
over it...
MEDRANO
Which is?
BLOOM
Where do we go when we die?
 20.

The Deltas go still.

BLOOM
The Lilac program was formed to
access that very place. To build a
machine that could allow physical
travel between our dimension -- and
the next.
KEYS
Wait... Say that again?
Bloom presses a button and the elevator cage descends.
BLOOM
You heard me.
JASPER
You're fucking with us...
BLOOM
I warned you not everyone's ready.
Jasper, Keys and Medrano meet eyes...
BLOOM
(grins)
Believe me, when I was first
briefed, I had a similar reaction.
But the truth is, since the '60s
our scientists have experimented
with different technologies. Built
machines based on the latest ideas
surrounding string theory,
Einstein-Rosen bridges, quantum
entanglement...
Jasper looks to Keys and Medrano, growing serious.
BLOOM
For decades they studied anomalies
in brain activity moments after
death. Unravelled the riddles of
high-order consciousness. But still,
the door to the next dimension
remained locked. Many thought the
answer would never come...
The Deltas brace as the elevator shifts direction. Pulled
backward through a horizontal shaft.
BLOOM
And then, like most great
discoveries, we stumbled upon the
key by pure accident.
(MORE)
 21.
BLOOM (CONT'D)
One night my predecessor sliced his
finger on a steak knife, and the
answer bled out before his eyes...
There are 1.5 gigabytes of
information in a single strand of
our DNA. 92 strands in a single
cell. And 37.2 trillion cells in
our body. He realized our genetic
code is not just a complex sequence
of nucleotides...
The elevator stops.
BLOOM
It is the passcode into the next
dimension.
Doors open into a hangar. For a moment, no one moves.
Bloom nods for the Deltas to enter...

HANGAR
They step out and look up. Unthinkably high concrete ceiling.
Arcing out like a massive amphitheater. The men seem tiny in
the vast space.
Their eyes tilt down. And then they see it. Looming in the
center of the empty hangar. The machine...
Known simply as THE BOX. It takes the form of an imposing
ten-foot cube. Pure, matte black exterior. There are no laser
lights. No fancy buttons. No screens. Just an unsettling low
HUM emanating steadily from its bowels...
The Deltas slowly approach. Bloom quietly follows behind. A
hint of unease in his eyes.
BLOOM
When we connect a dead body to the
box, it uses nanotechnology to
mimic the deceased's genetic code.
The box essentially becomes an
extension of that person. That way,
operators hidden inside can be
smuggled across the threshold into
the next dimension.
Keys inches closer to the imposing box. Studying the
precision of its perfect black edges. Trying to comprehend
the strange piece of architecture.
KEYS
You're talking about a trojan
horse...
 22.

BLOOM
Exactly.
Jasper circles the machine, imagination running wild. He
notices its sides are coated in a thin organic MUCUS. The
substance almost appears to be moving... Like bacteria under
a microscope.
JASPER
(stops and swallows)
So you're telling me... You're
saying your people have actually
been there...
BLOOM
Yes.
JASPER
To the afterlife...
BLOOM
Boots on the ground. 
JASPER
C'mon. You're fucking with us.
BLOOM
You already said that.
KEYS
You make it sound like it's a
tangible place?
BLOOM
I assure you, the next dimension is
just as real as the one you're
standing in right now.
Medrano stands farthest back. Wisely contemplating the
strange machine.
MEDRANO
If what you're saying about this
device is true... What's waiting...
On the other side?
All eyes gravitate back to Bloom.
BLOOM
A sea stretching farther than you
can possibly imagine... When we
die, we each awaken on the shore of
our own private island.
The Deltas take in the words. Share a look filled with
terror. And wonderment.
 23.

MEDRANO
Our own private island...
BLOOM
More beautiful than you could
believe.
KEYS
So... Rock and sand? Gravity?
Breathable air?
BLOOM
All those things and more. At first
glance, it might seem like
somewhere you'd escape for a
tropical vacation --
WOMAN (O.S.)
Don't be fooled.
Footsteps quietly echo from the shadows. The Deltas watch
SASHA LIMAN (40) approach. High cheekbones frame her black
turtleneck and dark jeans. She is elegant but unpretentious.
SASHA
It's not all sunshine and rainbows.
BLOOM
Gentlemen... Sasha Liman. Lilac's
resident expert on the new frontier.
Sasha nods her greeting. She has the raw aura of a career
intelligence officer. Someone who has spent their entire life
wearing a mask... And finally taken it off.
BLOOM
Sasha's spent more time in the next
dimension than anyone else. She's
the last surviving member of the
reconnaissance team who gathered
the intelligence we're able to
share with you now.
MEDRANO
What happened to everyone else?
BLOOM
They were... killed in action.
JASPER
By whom?
Bloom and Sasha share a heavy glance.
SASHA
We call them EXOs.
 24.

JASPER
EXOs?
SASHA
Extra-dimensional Operatives. They
guard the next dimension from
intrusion...
The Deltas meet eyes. Blood runs cold.
SASHA
Follow me. I have something to show
you.

LABORATORY
Bright and sterile. Instruments that demand a PhD to
comprehend. A team of SCIENTISTS quietly work. Hypothesize.
A glass case sits under a spotlight...
Housing a single BULLET-LIKE PROJECTILE inside. Its cratered
surface gives it the appearance of a SHARD OF MOON ROCK.
Ammunition of nonhuman design.

BEHIND A WINDOW
The Deltas scrutinize the bizarre bullet.
SASHA
Pulled that outta my leg last time
I returned. Our researchers say
there's elements in that bullet not
on the periodic table...
Sasha and Bloom linger behind the unnerved Deltas.
They all watch a SCIENTIST carefully reach into the case with
crucible tongs. He lifts the bizarre bullet and transports it
toward a nearby BIOLOGIST, who holds a beaker filled with
dark red liquid.
SASHA
We've also discovered it has a
strange relationship with our blood.
The Scientist places the bullet into the beaker. Laying it to
rest in the blood. Nothing happens...
KEYS
What are we looking --
SASHA
Just watch.
 25.

Very slowly, the Biologist lowers the beaker, "unsheathing"

the liquid from the container --
-- AND THE BLOOD FLOATS IN PLACE. Somehow hanging there in
mid-air. The bizarre bullet glistening inside the column of
crimson.
The Deltas blink in disbelief.
SASHA
Take it from me... Not ideal when
your wounds go "zero-g."
The Deltas inch up to the window... Awed by the suspended
column of blood.
The Biologist carefully slides the beaker back up, "re-
encapsulating" the floating liquid...
He removes the bullet from the beaker and pours the blood out
into a sink -- its physical properties now returned to normal.
A moment of disturbed silence.
JASPER
Well... Newton fucked up. Didn't he?
SASHA
You have no idea.
The Deltas swallow. Peel their gaze back to Sasha and Bloom.
MEDRANO
The beings shooting these bullets...
The "EXOs" as you called them... What
kind of intel do you have on them?
SASHA
Limited. We know they're roughly
seven feet tall. Decked head to toe
in strange stealth armor. And their
weapons? Let's just say they're a
step beyond humanity's.
MEDRANO
Do you have any visuals?
SASHA
Image capture, night-vision,
thermal -- all useless on the other
side. Something to do with the way
the light scatters.
Sasha nods to GIANT DISTORTED PHOTOS hanging in the lab. No
discernible images. Strange grain.
 26.

JASPER
Lovely...
KEYS
Can you tell us anything about
their numbers? Standard operating
procedures? Tactical protocols?
SASHA
Well, we've discerned a few things.
We know that on each island in the
next dimension, there's a small
team of EXOs. And they act almost
like a Secret Service security
detail for the dead -- normally,
they patrol the island while the
dead person roams free. But as soon
as they detect outside presence,
the EXOs crash on the deceased,
move them to a secure location
while they hunt down intruders...
Think of how the Secret Service
crashes on the President, brings
him to the bunker, while they kill
the attacking terrorists.
The Deltas digest this unsettling intel.
MEDRANO
And their motives? Do we know why
the EXOs are so intent on guarding
the dead?
SASHA
I'm afraid that's a secret we still
haven't uncovered...
Silence hangs.
JASPER
So... I'm guessing you didn't bring
us here just for the tour.
Bloom smirks. He rounds on the Deltas. They've come to it...
BLOOM
Gentlemen, the Lilac program has
long held an impossible dream...
What if our country's most valuable
assets no longer had to perish in
the field? What if they could be
rescued -- after they died?
Realization washes over Jasper, Keys and Medrano.
 27.

BLOOM
I'm asking you to attempt a
completely new type of rescue
mission. The very first of its
kind. Instead of sneaking into Iran
or North Korea, I'm asking you to
infiltrate the next dimension.
Locate Lucas Hartfield on his
island. And bring him back home.
The Deltas stand frozen. Absorbing the magnitude of the
moment. No one says a word, until:
SASHA
You wouldn't be going in alone --
I'd come with you.
JASPER
How long... How long do we have to
decide?
BLOOM
Time is one thing you don't have.
The link between the corpse and the
box shutters 14 hours after time of
death.
MEDRANO
... What happens then?
SASHA
If you're still in the next
dimension, you won't be able to
come back.
Keys swallows.
KEYS
Right. Perfect.
JASPER
Why fourteen hours... Not thirteen?
Fifteen?
BLOOM
Our bio-techs believe it has
something to do with the degradation
of a few key strands of DNA. We're
pushing the box's technology as far
as it can go, upgrading it every day.
But right now, 14 hours, 6 minutes,
and 22 seconds after time of death is
our window of opportunity.
Bloom checks his watch.
 28.

BLOOM
Hartfield passed just after 1am,
which leaves you about seven hours
to save him... Whatever you decide?
Decide fast.

CONFERENCE ROOM
A clock ticks. Ticks. Ticks.
Keys paces anxiously. Medrano sits contemplating at a long
table. Jasper's electric eyes watch the clock. Emotions
brewing like a hurricane.

BEHIND DOUBLE-SIDED GLASS

Sasha eyes the Deltas, on edge.
SASHA
You sure this is the right team? Of
all the tier-1 units we've been
tracking?
Bloom makes coffee behind her. Drops in mints and stirs...
BLOOM
The Pentagon's been doing
somersaults to keep them off our
radar -- which means they think
this is the best team they have. My
sources say Tristan Keys is the
future of special operations. Kid's
got a fetish for the smallest
details. Helped him make the SEAL
Teams before becoming a Delta --
one of the very few to ever achieve
that feat. Then there's Edgar
Medrano -- as old and wise as any
active operator. True warrior-poet.
Teaches night classes in literature
at the local Y when he's not on
mission. I've heard JSOC calls him
"Shakespeare with a sniper rifle."
Bloom turns and studies Jasper through the tinted glass.
BLOOM
Which leaves Ian Jasper...
Unconventional would be putting it
mildly. Man dropped out of high
school and spent four years totally
off-grid. Legend is, he scrounged
and stole his way around the globe
before his path led him back home.
(MORE)
 29.
BLOOM (CONT'D)
Brass says he's unpredictable,
dangerous, averse to authority. But
his imagination for covert warfare
is unparalleled... He's the crème
de la crème.
SASHA
So you're certain about them...
BLOOM
This place has taught me the only
certainty is that there are no
certainties. But when I mentioned
Hartfield's name, there was a look
in their faces...
Bloom steps up beside Sasha and offers her a coffee.
SASHA
And what did it tell you?

CONFERENCE ROOM
Keys shakes his head, mid thought --
KEYS
No plan. Limited intel. Some kind
of advanced cosmic enemy just
waiting on the other side --
JASPER
We've pulled off the impossible
before.
KEYS
Impossible? Were you listening in
there? Did you see that bullet? I
think this goes a few steps past
impossible...
JASPER
Keys, I know it's hard for you, but
you need to start summoning a
little imagination --
KEYS
And you need to start summoning a
little sanity.
JASPER
What about Emma -- Theo? You gonna
tell them we had a chance to save
Hartfield and didn't take it?
 30.

KEYS
Jasper, you know I love them man.
And Hartfield meant just as much to
me as he did to y --
JASPER
Then what are we even talking about?!
KEYS
We're talking about meddling with
things way beyond us! Has it
crossed your mind that maybe it was
just his time?
At an impasse, they turn to Medrano. Seeking wisdom...
MEDRANO
Setting the unknowns aside -- and
there are a lot of them. There's
something else we need to
consider... Lucas just laid down
his life so we could live. The
question is, if we take this op and
die... Will he have sacrificed for
nothing?
The thought hangs heavy.
JASPER
You're right... It's crazy. There's
a thousand good reasons not to take
this op. Each one more valid than
the next.
Jasper removes a battle-worn pocketbook from his vest... Its
cover reads: Maps of the World.
JASPER
But on this team, we've always had an
unbreakable rule. Doesn't matter if
we're in Honduras or Somalia or some
place where there are no maps...
Jasper lays the book down. Searches the faces of Keys and
Medrano. Something stirs in their eyes, as if remembering...
MEDRANO
Nemo resideo.
KEYS
Nemo resideo...
The Deltas share a subtle nod. They know what they must do...
JASPER
Leave no one behind.
 31.

WEAPONS VAULT
Concrete doors rumble open.
Sasha leads the Deltas inside an armory. Ultraviolet floor
lights stretch out like a runway. Illuminating walls filled
with cutting-edge equipment:
MCX Rattlers. Graphene body armor. Dräger LAR V closed-
circuit rebreathers.
SASHA
Stealth is the name of the game so
pack light. Ideally, we locate
Hartfield and extract him before
the EXOs even know we're there. In
and out like shadows.
The Deltas take in the treasure trove of war tools. Spot
weaponry even they haven't seen.
KEYS
And if we're not so lucky? What's
the recommended hardware?
SASHA
I'd start with the graphene body
armor. Thanks to our pals at DARPA,
it's light as a feather and twice as
strong as kevlar... Also wouldn't
leave home without one of these --
Sasha motions to a glistening weapon on the wall.
SASHA
NXD amphibious assault rifles.
Prototype. More powerful than your
typical ADS underwater guns, more
accurate on land than an M82...
Medrano marvels at the gun.
SASHA
The rest I leave to your professional
discretion. But whatever you do, just
don't forget this --
Sasha tosses Jasper something small. A RUDIMENTARY COMPASS.
JASPER
Take it there's more to this than
meets the eye?
SASHA
(smirks)
Wheels up in five.
 32.

HANGAR
Gurney wheels spin. SCIENTISTS hurriedly cart a BODYBAG
across the vast hangar toward a carbon fiber BATHTUB.
ENGINEERS unfurl cables from the looming BLACK BOX. A nervous
buzz fills the air...

LOCKER ROOM
CH-CH! Keys meticulously examines his new NXD rifle. Packs it
into his organized rucksack. It's filled to the brim with
back-up supplies. Contingency tools. No detail too small.
Medrano sits at an adjacent locker, reading from a well-
thumbed Bukowski novel. An old companion through countless
missions. His callused fingers trace a highlighted passage.
KEYS
Any pearls of wisdom for me today?
Cause I could certainly use one.
MEDRANO
"Find what you love and let it kill
you."
KEYS
Think my team's got that one
covered...
MEDRANO
Till death do us part, young man.
And maybe not even then.
Medrano stows the novel beside a folded, HANDWRITTEN NOTE.
KEYS
What's that?
MEDRANO
Just a fool trying to tell his ex-
wife how she saved him...
Keys goes quiet for a moment. Then tries to lighten the mood:
KEYS
Well if you're thinking of
refreshing your will, I'll take the
horse ranch... Always loved Texas.
MEDRANO
Keys, you'll be lucky to get the
book collection.
Medrano pats Keys on the shoulder.
 33.

Across the room, Jasper stares uneasily at a HARDLINE PHONE.

He picks it up and dials. It rings...
EMMA (V.O.)
Hi, you've reached Emma, Lucas, and
Theo Hartfield! Please leave a
message!
The recording beeps. Jasper searches for the right words.
JASPER
Hey, sis... This is the Zodiac
speaking.
(half-grins)
Was just thinkin' about you and
Theo. Heard the little rascal
scored a beauty last night. Tell
him to go easy on those net-minders
or his dad and I'll have to --
Jasper catches himself. Swallows the lump in his throat...
JASPER
Anyway. Just called to say
something came up and... It's gonna
be a little longer out here than
expected. But, uh... We'll all be
home soon.
Jasper hesitates. Then gently hangs up the receiver. The
weight of his last words echoing in his mind...
KNOCK-KNOCK. Sasha appears in the doorway. Wearing sleek
graphene-plated fatigues. Fire in her eyes.
SASHA
Greenlight.

HANGAR
Boots tread forward. Sasha and the Deltas advance. NXD
weapons in hand. Rucks on backs. Hearts in throats.
They pass by teams of scrambling SCIENTISTS. Performing last
minute diagnostics on their laptops.
The imposing BLACK BOX looms ahead. Humming ominously. Thick
cables run out of its base...
Into the carbon fiber BATHTUB nearby. Where HARTFIELD'S PALE
CORPSE rests on shards of DRY ICE. His body embalmed in
reflective thermal blankets.
Cables all funnel into a single ENDOSCOPIC WIRE that slithers
into his left ear canal... Like some nightmarish experiment.
 34.

The Deltas slow down. Taken by the staggering sight.

They gaze at their fallen leader's face. Sasha watches as
they crouch down. Gently place their hands on the edge of the
tub... A silent promise to bring him back.
BLOOM (O.S.)
Gentlemen... Clock's ticking.
Bloom hovers at the base of the box. Shirt sleeves rolled up.
BLOOM
Ready?
SASHA
No, but here we are anyway.
Bloom smirks. Puts a steady hand on her shoulder.
He nods toward a group of engineers -- they roll a massive
airplane STAIRCASE next to the box. It locks in place: CLANG.
Bloom leads the team up the stairs. Onto the top of the matte
black cube. A thick CIRCULAR HATCH DOOR is forged into its
center. Swung open wide. Dangerously inviting.
The team glances around. The scientists have all gone still...
You could hear a pin fall.
Sasha creeps toward the open hatch. Stares down into the
machine's dark innards... Then descends via a ladder built
into the box.
Medrano and Keys share a glance. Tentatively follow.
Jasper steals one last look at Hartfield's body in the tub.
Turns to Bloom. Holds his gaze.
JASPER
Whatever happens. Thank you.
Bloom searches Jasper's electric eyes. Slightly caught off
guard. Jasper climbs down into --

THE BOX
Dark and eerie. Strangely claustrophobic.
Again no signs of recognizable tech. The organic mucus coats
the walls. Moving like bacteria under a microscope. But
faster in here -- festering...
Jasper hits bottom. Peers around. It feels like they're
sharing a coffin.
 35.

Sasha straps herself into a harness. Locking her limbs

against a slimy wall. Teeth grit as she tightens the straps.
SASHA
Buckle up. And say a prayer for our
stomachs.
The Deltas swallow hard. Tighten their bodies against the
walls. Securing their thighs. Trunks. Heads.
KEYS
I gather this is gonna be a little
more intense than your usual
haunted hay ride.
JASPER
Sasha, you're frightening Keys.
SASHA
Don't worry. You can all hold my
hand if it gets too scary.
The Deltas nervously grin.
MEDRANO
How many times have you ventured in?
SASHA
Hopefully not one too many.
MEDRANO
Amen.
Bloom appears over the hole above.
BLOOM
Watches synced?
The team checks their watches: 6 hrs, 41 mins. Tense nods.
BLOOM
Marcus Aurelius said death smiles
at us all, all we can do is smile
back... What do you say we prove
him wrong?
Bloom searches their faces. All their lives leading to this...
The team watches him swing the hatch door closed: BOOM.
Silence takes hold. The temperature rapidly drops. Revealing
four cloudy white breaths.
A dim LIGHTBULB glows. Splashing across cold, sweaty faces.
The team meets eyes. One last confirmation. Jasper nods to
Sasha...
 36.

JASPER
Let's go dark.
Sasha reaches for a set of strange mounted LEVERS. Pulls them
down -- over -- across -- a shifting puzzle --
ENGINES THUNDER TO LIFE. LIKE A ROCKETSHIP BLASTING OFF
BEDROCK.
The team jolts. Decibels nearly splitting their eardrums. The
sound WARPS and WRENCHES. As if ripping the fabric of space
and time. The noise grows louder. Rising like a TIDAL WAVE OF
SOUND.
The team claws at their ears. Eyes creased...
GRAVITY VIOLENTLY SHIFTS:
Thrashing their strapped bodies in DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS.
Yanking them UPWARD -- suddenly BACK -- FORWARD --
The lightbulb strobes. Illuminating the team WHIPLASHING like
rag dolls. Jasper strains against the incredible g-force.
Keys and Medrano turn sickly, veins bulging. Sasha white-
knuckles her harness...
Ba-boom-ba-boom-ba-boom! Hearts pound. Ready to explode --
EVERYTHING FALLS STILL. ENGINES HUSH.
GRAVITY RE-STABILIZES. BODIES GO LIMP IN RESTRAINTS.
The Deltas gasp. Keel over and dry heave... Minds spinning.
Sasha peels herself from the slimy wall.
SASHA
Not like riding a bike... You guys
good?
JASPER
(swallows hard)
Peaches.
All eyes rise in unison... TO THE CIRCULAR HATCH DOOR.
Sasha wipes sweat from her face. Slings on her rucksack.
Climbs the ladder and spins a crank. PISHHHH. The airlock
releases...
Sasha pushes up the lid. The heavy door groans open...
Revealing a pitch-black sky above. Warm air whispers eerily
into the box. An ocean breeze kisses their clammy faces.
Sasha raises herself through the hole. Peers around...
 37.

SASHA
Come on.
She crawls onto the top of the box, disappearing from view.
The Deltas meet eyes. Jasper unstraps himself from the wall.
Reaches toward the ladder. Ascends toward the opening...

ATOP THE BOX

He emerges to discover...
The box is three-quarters submerged in smooth BLACK WATERS.
The liquid glistens like untarnished glass. Gently rippling
against the box.
Jasper swallows. Scans 180 degrees. Tracing along the
horizon. Hard to see anything...
Until his eyes find something: A STRANGE ISLAND SILHOUETTE
looms before him. Peaks cresting the night sky. Like jagged
teeth.
He stands a few hundred feet offshore. An explorer on the
brink of an unknown world.
Medrano and Keys climb up beside him. Look out at the island in
silent awe. Darkness cloaks the mainland. Shrouding its
secrets...
Jasper reaches down and scoops up a handful of glassy water.
Lets the liquid run through his fingers...
SASHA
Incredible... Isn't it?
The Deltas can't bring themselves to answer. Sasha produces
her NXD amphibious rifle. Secures her ruck. Steels herself.
SASHA
Alright, in and out like shadows...
She slips into the water. Swimming toward the ominous island.
The Deltas produce their weapons. Cautiously follow her in...

THE WATER
The team gently blades forward. Heads barely above the
surface. Careful not to disturb the liquid.
SASHA
Keep your eyes peeled -- the EXOs
love to set alarms along the
perimeter. And they're different
every time.
 38.

The Deltas swim forward, on edge.

They pass BIZARRE TREES growing UPSIDE DOWN in the ocean.
Exposed trunks jut into the night like knives. Roots invading
the sky...
Jasper curiously eyes the sight. Medrano does too, unsettled.
JASPER
You were right... There's a bit
more than just darkness.
MEDRANO
My friend, I think we've all been
looking at things through a tiny
keyhole... Haven't we?
JASPER
Nothing like a brave new world to
get the imagination firing.
MEDRANO
That's what has me worried...
Boots find the ocean floor. The team wades through the neck-
deep water. Rifles sweep side to side over the black surface.
KEYS
Got something.
Keys freezes ahead. Eyes level with a near-invisible TRIP
WIRE. It floats eerily atop the water. Sasha creeps up beside
Keys. Sees the wire stretching parallel to the island...
SASHA
Drägers out.

UNDERWATER
The team quietly submerges. Faces covered in prototype DRÄGER
rebreathers: angular masks with O2 cartridges along the jaw.
Sasha clicks on a UV flashlight. Its neon beam fingers the
darkness ahead. Scanning the abyss...
A BARBARIC WEB OF TRIP WIRES GLIMMERS.
Suddenly visible in the ultraviolet light, the spiked wires
are corroded by rust and lichen. They sway dangerously in the
gentle current. Rigged at different depths and angles.
The team meets eyes. Any volunteers?
Jasper inches forward. Coolly studies the ebb and flow of the
barbaric alarm system. He spots a split-second window --
 39.

Jasper PROPELS forward -- EELING his muscular body into the

maze of spiked wires. He contorts and TWISTS through the
corroded web. Then slips between the final layer of rippling
barbs -- his boots barely missing the wires.
Sasha can't help but grin. Impressed by his nerve.
Jasper looks back from the other side. Motions for them to
follow.

BEACH
Shadows rise from the water one-by-one. The team sneaks up
onto the shore. Removes their Drägers. Shares brief glances
of relief.
KEYS
(whispering)
At least we made the beach...
The Deltas scan up and down the dark shoreline. Untouched
white sand stretches for miles in the dim starlight.
MEDRANO
The scale of this place...
JASPER
Lot of hostile ground to canvass in
six hours.
SASHA
Not necessarily.
Sasha produces her COMPASS.
SASHA
First few times we came in, we
couldn't understand why our
compasses kept shifting... Turns
out True North in here isn't a
direction. It's a person.
The Deltas look down at the compass, fascinated. Its arrow
stabilizes, pointing inland...
SASHA
Hartfield's that way.
All eyes tilt up into a towering bamboo forest. It almost
seems to stare back at them.

EXT. BAMBOO FOREST - NIGHT

Otherworldly silence. Claustrophobic green shoots loom.
 40.

Jasper, Keys, Medrano and Sasha creep through the bamboo.

Eyes behind their scopes. Controlled breathing.
Foliage softly crackles under their boots. Keys glances at a
GAUGE looped on his vest.
KEYS
101.2 kilopascal. 27.3 degrees
Celsius. A hair over 82 percent
humidity...
MEDRANO
Young man, only you could set foot
in the next dimension and marvel at
the relative humidity.
KEYS
I mean... These atmospherics read
like somewhere in Indonesia or the
Galapagos.
Medrano gently touches a passing spire of bamboo.
KEYS
Feels eerily close to our world...
Doesn't it?
SASHA
Let's see what you guys say in an
hour.
Keys and Medrano share a look.
MEDRANO
Care to elaborate?
Suddenly, Jasper raises a fist -- everyone STOPS mid-stride.
The team stands like statues. Eyes dart around... What is it?
Jasper trains his scope toward their one o'clock. The others
trace his sightline...
Toward a MASSIVE SHADOW in the bamboo ahead. Something
STRANGE lurking among the spires.
Tension hangs. No one moves. No one breathes.
As Jasper studies the shadow, his eyes flicker with an odd
curiosity.
Amazingly, he inches forward.
KEYS
(whispering)
Jasper? What are you doing?!
 41.

JASPER
(whispering)
On me...
Keys, Medrano and Sasha steal a glance. Grips tighten around
their guns.
They reluctantly sneak forward behind Jasper. Treading
through the claustrophobic trees. Ahead, the shadow grows
bigger. And bigger.
MEDRANO
Is that...
The silhouette comes into focus...
Revealing a STEALTH ATTACK NUCLEAR SUBMARINE. Laying on its
side like a sleeping monster. Somehow marooned amid the
spires of bamboo.

KEYS
(softly)
Holy shit.
Jasper flicks on his scope torch. The others do too.
Lights beam across the submarine. Illuminating its smooth
black nose. The torches slowly trace forward. Down the war
machine's stealth hull. Revealing its 250-foot body. And
black conning tower.
The tower juts horizontally from the sub. A giant, ominous
monolith in the night.
KEYS
How the hell...
SASHA
It's a memory station.
KEYS
A what?
SASHA
We're gonna find key locations from
Hartfield's life all over this
island. Monuments from his memory.
Often in the strangest places...
Jasper creeps up to the stealth belly. Imagination swirling.
SASHA
Lilac's spent countless hours
theorizing how and why they exist.
Trying to decipher some kind of
pattern between them...
 42.

Sasha steals a glance at the Deltas.

SASHA
You guys take this on an op?
MEDRANO
Looks like an older class...
Seawolf. Tullibee maybe. Before our
time...
Keys looks up at the war machine. Eyes glazed with fear and
amazement. The scale is incredible.
Jasper traces his flashlight over an insignia. A US Navy
serial number glistens: 585. Eyes narrow in recognition.
SASHA
Jasper? What is it?
JASPER
Lucas, he grew up in a rough part
of Detroit... Told me his old man
swept broken windshields off the
line at Ford for years, just to
give them one vacation... San
Diego. Turned out, his father had a
Navy friend down there who gave
them a special tour of the sub he
was deployed on. USS Skipjack. SSN
585.
Jasper slowly runs a hand across the hull's insignia.
JASPER
Lucas said it was like the day he
was born.
SASHA
Funny how tiny acts can echo across
dimensions...
The thought hangs.
Medrano explores further down the submarine. Keys quietly
follows behind. Flashlights roving...
KEYS
Memory stations... Didn't have that
one on the bingo card...
They approach the conning tower. Lights find its IRON DOOR.
Medrano curiously reaches out a glove. It groans open...
Revealing the SHADOWY BOWELS of the nuclear beast. Their
torch beams dance in the dark. Tracing old instrumentation at
rest. The attack periscope looms, glimmering dangerously.
 43.

KEYS
I don't suppose your old book
collection could help make sense of
this...
MEDRANO
Well... Plato wondered if we were
all prisoners, trapped in a cave.
Whose perceptions were skewed by
the confines of our reality... And
if we could only escape our cavern
walls, we would discover the truth.
That the universe was beyond our
reckoning...   
Medrano studies the submarine with his sage eyes.
MEDRANO
I think it's safe to say... We're
out of the cave now.
Keys steels himself. Draws back from the hatch door. Scans
the surrounding bamboo.
He checks his COMPASS. The arrow points away from the sub.
KEYS
Hey Jasper, man. What do you say we
keep moving --
THWACK! A bullet SLAMS into Keys' chest plate. He drops like
an anchor.
Stunned silence.
Medrano wheels around. Blindly sprays ammo into the forest.
Shredding apart the stalks of bamboo: TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!
Jasper darts for Keys. Sasha does too. They hook on his arms.
Medrano keeps firing cover: TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!
Jasper and Sasha desperately drag Keys back. They all retreat
around the giant nose of the submarine -- and out of sight.
Just as fast as the chaos came, it stops. Leaving only the
hum of silence...

ACROSS THE BAMBOO FOREST

Smoke rises from minced bamboo stems. Everything else remains
painfully still. Until the vegetation shivers. Something
stirs from the foliage.
A dark SILHOUETTE rises up like it owns the night...
 44.

Angular plates conceal its neck. Pneumatic gears line a

ballistics vest. Coiled tubes snake over its broad shoulders...
Into a welded black helmet. Its dark visor is marred by the
scars of innumerable wars. As if forged at the dawn of time.
The EXO SCOUT stalks through the spires of bamboo. Stealth
black cloak trailing behind. In complete control.
It approaches the submarine. Raises its weapon...
Revealing a bizarre THREE-PRONGED rail gun. Almost looks like
it was cast from obsidian stone. Terrifyingly advanced. Yet
primitive.
CLACK-CRACK. The EXO Scout racks the breathtaking weapon.
Sweeps around the nose of the submarine. Ready to end life --
But no one is there. Only silence.
The EXO Scout's barbaric welded helmet rotates. Scarred black
visor scanning the night. It moves with horrifying, deliberate
authority... The assuredness of never knowing defeat.

ACROSS THE BAMBOO FOREST

The team DESPERATELY SPRINTS through the bamboo shoots --
Jasper and Medrano pull Keys forward. He saws off breaths.
JASPER
Anyone get eyes on the shooter?!
MEDRANO
Negative!
Sasha breaks through the tree-line, arriving at a --

NECK-HIGH FIELD OF WHEAT

The team slips away into the tall agriculture.
THEN DROPS DOWN. HIDDEN.
Jasper and Medrano lay Keys back. The bizarre EXO BULLET is
plugged in his chest plate at an oblique angle. Its cratered
surface gleams like a shard of MOON ROCK.
JASPER
Punch through?!
Keys gasps, feeling his chest for blood.
KEYS
No, no, don't think so.
 45.

Very carefully, Sasha extracts the bizarre bullet from the

graphene armor. She looks to Keys. Sweat glistens as they
catch their breath.
SASHA
This even nicked your skin...
The Deltas fall back. Breathe deep sighs of relief. They
watch Sasha seal the bullet away into an evidence jar.
JASPER
Lady Luck must have a crush on you,
Keys.
MEDRANO
Indeed.
Keys shakily cleans WHITE PASTE off his graphene vest. Sasha
notices out of the corner of her eye...
SASHA
What's that?
Keys fishes a crumpled tube from a SMUSHED POCKET.
KEYS
Arm and Hammer ProNamel.
SASHA
... You brought toothpaste?
KEYS
The war on tartar never ends.
Medrano pats Keys on the shoulder. Everyone shares a grin.
But then -- a spine-chilling SONIC PULSE echoes around the
island. Its acoustic pattern is arrhythmic. Unpredictable.
MEDRANO
I'd wager that doesn't bode well
for us.
The Deltas look to Sasha. Fear rises in her eyes.
SASHA
Island alarm... The EXOs are going
into lockdown.

EXT. MOUNTAIN RANGE - NIGHT

Across the island, jagged peaks stretch into the sky. As they
rise higher, the chilling alarm fades and fades...
Until it's lost on the breeze.
 46.

ROCKY CLIFFSIDE
A lone FIGURE climbs the mountainside...
Starlight splashes across his sweaty face. Revealing a deep,
dimpled chin. And noble eyes...
HARTFIELD.
Very much alive. Still wearing his gear from Honduras. But
there is no blood on his vest. No sign of the grenade trauma
on his stomach.
Hartfield hikes past giant boulders, curiously EXPLORING this
new world. Trying to make sense of this strange place. He
climbs toward a rocky clifftop. Searching for a better
vantage point.
But suddenly, Hartfield stops. He stares ahead, stunned...
A two-story SUBURBAN HOME shimmers in shadow. Oddly situated
atop a nearby peak. Hockey net in the driveway. Frayed from
seasons of use. The driveway hangs HALF-OVER the cliff.
Crumbling into the valley far below...

INSIDE THE HOME

Darkness cloaks the kitchen. A REPORT CARD hangs proudly on
the fridge. The name barely visible: THEO H.
Hartfield inches into view... Staring at his son's report
card. Chest rising and falling. Emotions swirling.

HALLWAY
Hartfield cautiously roams his old home. Peers into a passing
bedroom...
Messy dinosaur bedsheets and hockey sticks form a makeshift
FORT. Three SPECIAL FORCES ACTION FIGURES hang off a bedside
table. Rescuing another from the ground...
Hartfield swallows hard. Continues down the hall toward stairs.

UPSTAIRS LOFT
A private art studio. Camel hair brushes. Paint canisters.
Hartfield enters, eyes glassed with amazement. And disbelief.
Starlight spills through a sprawling window. Illuminating
impressionist paintings along the walls. All signed "Emma" in
the corner.
 47.

Hartfield lets out a short breath. Fraying at his edges. He

moves toward an EASEL. It houses a half-finished CHARCOAL
SKETCH: Emma, Lucas and Theo laugh together. Licking ice
cream cones.
Hartfield stares at the half-finished family portrait. A
portrait he will never see finished...
His eyes start to fill. He shakily reaches for it --
SMASH -- SMASH -- SMASH!
The adjacent windows EXPLODE into a million pieces.
A stream of HORRIFYING EXO SILHOUETTES swing through the
openings. Converge on him from all directions --
WHAM! The EXOs tackle Hartfield, pinning him down and
covering his mouth. They form a PROTECTIVE SHELL around him.
Spin their formidable obsidian guns outward. Securing the
room like black lightning.

DOWNSTAIRS
Charged silence. Everything is motionless. Until footsteps
approach:
Boom... Boom...
Photos hanging on the walls quiver. Smiling faces tremble
behind their glass frames.
Boom... Boom... Boom...
The air itself almost seems to oscillate, as if some master
of the universe were approaching...
Floorboards bow under immense weight. Two ARMORED BLACK BOOTS
slowly ascend the stairs. Glistening with lesions and scars.
Radiating chilling authority.
They reach a landing. A door swivels open, revealing...

UPSTAIRS LOFT
Hartfield bound at the wrists, thrashing, soaked in sweat.
HARTFIELD
G-Get off me! What the fuck's going
on?! Who are --
The protective shell of EXOs parts like the sea, suddenly
bowing their heads in reverence to the mysterious figure that
has arrived in the doorway...
 48.

Hartfield goes still too, sensing the presence. His eyes

rise. And his blood runs cold...
The seven-foot EXO CAPTAIN looms over Hartfield like some
cosmic obelisk of power. Angular neck plates glimmer
dangerously, decorated with strange symbols.
The EXO Captain's welded helmet is unlike the others, lined
with BRONZE DETAIL. Its shaded visor stares down at
Hartfield, studying him with superiority. Maybe even a hint
of curiosity.

EXT. NECK-HIGH WHEAT FIELD - NIGHT

A compass arrow subtly turns...
Jasper, Keys, Medrano and Sasha huddle over it. Eyeing the
shifting needle.
MEDRANO
They're moving him?
SASHA
Like I said, they'll take Hartfield
some place on the island where they
have the tactical advantage. Hold
him there while the rest of their
unit hunts us down...
KEYS
Awesome.
JASPER
So much for in and out like shadows.
Uncomfortable silence. The team spies through the wheat.
SASHA
I won't sugarcoat it... Now that
we're burned, our chances just went
from one in a thousand to pretty
much zero.
The Deltas share a loaded look...
JASPER
Call me romantic, but I always love
those odds.
KEYS
Medrano?
MEDRANO
What matters most is how you walk
through the fire...
 49.

KEYS
(steeling himself)
What do you say, Sasha? We crazy?
SASHA
Certified.
She snap-cocks her rifle.
SASHA
But lead on...
Jasper grins. Checks his compass. Re-routes through the wheat
accordingly. The others follow one by one...

EXT. ISLAND - DAWN

The black night breaks. A red sun peers over the island.
Staining the horizon the color of blood.

NECK-HIGH WHEAT FIELD

Tendrils shimmer in the morning light. Swaying in a gentle
breeze... The team sneaks through them, on alert.
SASHA
You must really love this guy.
JASPER
What gave it away? Following him
into another dimension?
SASHA
Letting your sister marry him.
JASPER
If you knew my sister, you'd know no
one has ever LET her do anything.
KEYS
Imagine a female Jasper. Only
smarter. Funnier. Better looking.
SASHA
Huh, I like her already.
JASPER
I have a sick feeling you two'd get
along perf...
Jasper notices something ahead. A giant statue lays TOPPLED
in the field: the suited figure of HAFEZ AL-ASSAD. His
authoritarian face is painted in gold. POCKED by the throws
of a hundred sledgehammers. His nose CHISELED OFF.
 50.

The hewn statue glows in the dawn light. For some reason, the
war relic almost looks... Beautiful.
Guns lower as the team approaches.
SASHA
Raqqa? That wasn't in your files.
JASPER
It wouldn't be...
A moment of silence. Medrano and Keys quietly continue past.
Some long-forgotten nightmare resurfacing behind their eyes...
Jasper lingers with Sasha.
SASHA
Some of us have to live in the
shadows... to keep everyone else in
the light.
Jasper meets her gaze. A subtle nod of understanding... They
continue together through the tall wheat. Jasper glances down
at his watch: 4 hours, 27 minutes remain...
JASPER
Takes some guts to come back here
after what you've been through.
Especially to save someone you
don't know...
SASHA
I spent my career playing whack-a-
mole with dictators and warlords.
Three years in Belarus. Longer in
Uganda. You guys know how it goes:
pull out a weed, two more spring up
in its place... So when Bloom
approached me, I jumped at the
chance to join a program that wasn't
just concerned with treading water.
With Lilac, we're talking about
tipping the scales of covert war --
forever. Rescuing special operators
killed in action? Spies who were
assassinated before they could share
key intel? Shit, we could even kill
foreign agents, then bring them back
-- providing a rock-solid cover for
defection. The possible applications
are endless... My colleagues who
died in this dimension believed the
same thing I do -- that the Lilac
program is more important than any
single life. Even if that life is
our own.
 51.

The thought hangs.

MEDRANO
There's this question we used to get
asked in O.T.C. Psych eval. Presented
to every Delta who came through.
SASHA
Okay... Hit me.
MEDRANO
You're at a train station. And
there's a runaway train barreling
down the tracks. Toward five people
tied to the rails... Beside you is a
lever. If you pull this lever, the
train will switch to a different set
of tracks. Where your teammate is
tied to the rails... So you have two
options. Do you do nothing -- allow
the train to kill the five people on
the main track? Or do you pull the
lever -- save the five strangers,
but kill your friend?
Sasha considers for a moment. All eyes on her.
SASHA
You pull the lever. Sacrifice one
to save five...
Jasper and Medrano meet eyes.
SASHA
What did you say?
JASPER
Fuck the lever. Find a way to stop
the train.
Sasha looks to Jasper. The corner of her mouth fights a grin.
SASHA
Sure that isn't a little naïve?
JASPER
I'd call it asymmetric thinking.
SASHA
JSOC warned you were a stick of TNT.
JASPER
Oh, the brass loves me.
KEYS (O.S.)
Guys...
 52.

They notice Keys has fallen back. Peering through BINOCULARS.

KEYS
Two klicks out. Take a look...
Jasper, Medrano and Sasha curiously produce their BINOS.

BINO POV
Crosshairs scan the rolling field. Sharpen on a distant hill:
The HONDURAN LUXURY COMPOUND shimmers in the morning sun.
High concrete walls and crystalline pool. Private helicopter.
Iron gate. Everything just as it was.

NECK-HIGH WHEAT FIELD

Jasper lowers his binos. Taken somewhat off guard too. A
twinge of guilt surfaces in his eyes. He stands frozen for a
moment as the others look out...
But then his expression changes. He re-raises his binos.

BINO POV
Crosshairs tilt away from the Honduran compound, into the sea
of neck-high wheat. Tendrils WHIP side to side unnaturally.
Something speeds straight toward them -- fast.
JASPER (O.S.)
Fuck...

NECK-HIGH WHEAT FIELD

The others spot it too. Meet eyes and -- DUCK DOWN.
A strange SOUND snarls toward them. Some kind of engine.
Growing louder.
Jasper SPINS and darts off. The others follow on his heels.
Guns choked in their grips. Keeping low.
That strange engine SNARL grows LOUDER. But the team doesn't
dare look back. They sprint through the thickets, blinded by
the agriculture --
Jasper STOPS. The others pile into him.
A dark RIVER flows through the wheat field before them.
Peacefully snaking across the plains. Forty feet wide.
Jasper turns to his teammates, imagination churning.
 53.

JASPER
Wild idea...

IN THE FIELD BEHIND

Golden wheat stalks tremble. And then, they're bowled over --
Crushed by two colossal SPHERES of solid black chrome. Caged
in a skeletal steel frame. An EXO SNIPER stands on a platform
between the wheels. Driving the irregular ATV. Visor peering
around.
It pulls back on a lever. Whirring engines cycle down. The
omni-directional wheels roll to a stop...
The EXO Sniper gracefully leaps off the ATV. Black cloak
billowing in the wind. It produces a three-pronged rail gun
from its back. Stalks forward through the field. Until --
It spots something.
The EXO Sniper methodically crouches. Studying impressions in
the trampled wheat...
Another SKELETAL ATV breaks through the field behind.
Colossal black chrome wheels swivel to a halt. A second EXO
SNIPER dismounts. Appears over its crouched partner.
Spots the subtle footprints too...
CLACK-CRACK. The EXOs rack their weapons. Their dark visors
track the impressions forward. Toward the dirt embankment of:

THE RIVER
Water quietly ripples.
The EXO Snipers gaze over the snaking river. Scouring the
landscape with lethal focus. Gloves wrapped around their
obsidian rifles...

UNDERWATER
Jasper, Keys, Medrano and Sasha hang in limbo. Clenched
still. They stare up at the silhouettes of the EXO Snipers.
Looming on the embankment above only feet away...

EMBANKMENT
The EXO Snipers peer around. Painful moments of tension...
Until one turns back into the wheat. The other follows. Gone.
 54.

UNDERWATER
The team meets eyes...

RIVER
Pale faces resurface. Quietly gulp for air... Jasper nods to
the others. Starts paddling across the river. Keys, Medrano
and Sasha carve after him.
But as Jasper reaches mid-river, he's redirected. Drawn
sideways by an invisible UNDERCURRENT...
JASPER
Shit.
Sasha, Keys and Medrano notice Jasper struggling.
SASHA
Oh fuck...
The strange UNDERCURRENT hits them too. Siphoning them
downstream like dominoes.
Eyes widen. The current gains power. Accelerating unnaturally
fast. Rushing the team into a maze of otherworldly rapids.
MEDRANO
Big breaths, big --
Jasper gets SUCKED under. Waves crash over where he was. Foam
spits. Gurgles.
And then -- Jasper resurfaces nearby. Vomits up a throat full
of water. Steals a RASPING BREATH.
KEYS
Jasper?!
Suddenly, the others are SUCKED UNDER TOO. Swallowed by the
sinister surf.
Heads reappear sporadically. Dunking. Resurfacing. Dunking.
Keys thinks fast. Reaches over his shoulder as he tumbles.
Yanks an inflatable RAFT from his ruck: PSSHHHH! The raft
SPRINGS TO LIFE.
Keys desperately claws aboard. Scans for his teammates.
Medrano struggles to keep his mouth above water. Keys reaches
out for him. Hands slip. Lock.
KEYS
Got you!
 55.

Keys reels Medrano aboard. Then looks around for Sasha and
Jasper. Spots their flailing limbs. Latches on and heaves
them up to safety.
Everyone slumps back. Gasping for air...
MEDRANO
In case of drowning... Always keep
an ex-SEAL handy.
SASHA
Wise words.
Jasper peels his face up toward Keys:
JASPER
And here they gave you shit for
overpacking.
KEYS
Hey, if you're not prepared, you're
prepared to fail...
The team grins. A moment of relief.
THOOP! A bullet PIERCES the raft's thick rubber frame. Heads
spin back --
The two EXO SNIPERS loom on the river's edge. Staring
directly at them. Obsidian guns raised.
Oh fuck.
Air HISSES from the bullet hole. Jasper tries to seal it.
THOOP! Another bullet rips past Jasper -- SHREDDING his ruck.
JASPER
SHIT!
Medrano snatches up his rifle. Spins and furiously unloads on
the EXOs: TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA--

EMBANKMENT
The EXOs stand fearless behind their three-pronged guns.
Outer prongs deploy automatic COUNTERMEASURES -- INTERCEPTING
Medrano's onslaught of bullets... Creating a dazzling wall of
sparks.

RAFT
Medrano pales. Stunned by the incredible defensive display.
 56.

Sasha produces two phosphorescent SMOKE GRENADES. Rips the

pins -- purple SMOKE BILLOWS, swirling around the raft.
Concealing the team as they're swept away.

EMBANKMENT
The EXO Snipers lower their terrifying obsidian weapons.
Losing sight of the raft in the thick purple smoke.

RAFT
The team meets eyes. Breathless beyond words...
A deep, unsettling rumble echoes ahead. The deflating raft
whips around a bend in the river.
Everyone's eyes rise... Faces drop.
A towering REVERSE WATERFALL materializes before them. Two
hundred feet of liquid rushing IMPOSSIBLY SKYWARD. RISING
along a staggering marble cliff face. And up over its
precipice.
One of the mind-bending WONDERS of this NEW WORLD.
JASPER
Brace, BRACE, BRACE!!!
The raft speeds straight toward it. Gloves latch onto rope
handles. Bracing for a death ride.
WHOOSH!
The team hits the INVERTED GRAVITY -- RIPPING them UP into
the slipstream of water, tearing them from the raft --
Eyes shoot wide. Arms and legs scissor wildly. Like
astronauts HURTLING THROUGH SPACE.
HIGHER! HIGHER! HIGHER!
The slipstream bends. Rocketing the team over the marble
peak. Flinging them like rag dolls --
WHAM -- WHAM -- they hydroplane onto the UPPER LEVEL. Across
a muddy collection pool. Barrel-rolling to a STOP.
Silence...

COLLECTION POOL
Jasper winces in pain. Keys and Medrano choke up water,
nearly coughing out lungs.
 57.

Torn bits of raft lay scattered. Along with the soaked

remains of their rucks.
A glove claws into a mudbank. Sasha muscles herself up.
Collapses.
SASHA
Fuck...
She rolls over. Sees they've arrived at the edge of a FOGGY
SWAMP. Riddled with twisting trees and brackish quagmires.
KEYS
I take it back... Not exactly the
Galapagos...
Keys wipes muck off his face. Looks to his teammates. Shook.
MEDRANO
Their weapons... They can block...
SASHA
Yeah.
Foreboding silence.
KEYS
I know I'm a stickler for details,
but for future reference... Might
wanna mix that into the briefing...
SASHA
Shrinks recommended we leave it out.
JASPER
Probably best...
Jasper crawls toward his torn ruck. Reaches for it, but it
SLIPS his grip.
JASPER
Son of a --
Jasper looks down: two of his fingers JUT FREAKISHLY SIDEWAYS.
He stares at his mangled hand, incredulous. The adrenaline
masking the pain.
SASHA
Whoa, hey... You okay?
Jasper collects his dislocated fingers with a strange kind of
wonderment. Then slowly twists...
A sickening CRACK. He felt that. Jasper doubles over, almost
vomits.
 58.

SASHA
Jasper?
KEYS
Give him a minute. Should've seen
his ankle in Morocco...
Jasper raises his realigned hand. Still works, but turning
purple. He shakily digs a roll of TAPE from his vest.
JASPER
Guess I didn't quite stick the
landing, huh...
Sasha half-grins, crawling over beside Jasper.
SASHA
Here, let me help you.
Jasper relents. Sasha gently begins taping his fingers
together.
JASPER
Smooth move with the smoke back
there...
SASHA
Spies can win wars without firing a
gun.
Eyes meet. Jasper looks at her with a hint of admiration.
JASPER
So... Anything else the shrinks
wanted to keep from us?
SASHA
Well, not the shrinks per se... But
there is one thing I left off my
last after-action report. Something
I didn't even read Bloom in on...
JASPER
I'm all ears.
Sasha hesitates. Senses Medrano and Keys listening too.
SASHA
You guys sure you want to hear this?
The Deltas just hold her gaze. Sasha measures her words...
SASHA
My team and I had just been spotted.
We were racing back to the box. The
EXOs breathing down our necks...
 59.

FLASHBACK - BEACH - NIGHT

Thunder booms. Rain slashes sideways.
Inhale! Exhale! Inhale! Frantic breaths in the dark. Sasha
bursts out onto a strange PINK SAND BEACH -- clearly not
Hartfield's island.
Four members of her LILAC RECON TEAM sprint alongside her.
Rucks packed with biological samples and research equipment.
SASHA (V.O.)
I thought we could make it. But
they move so fast... I can still
taste the blood mixing with the
rain.
SKULLS SHATTER around Sasha. Bullets AERATE the bodies of her
colleagues. One goes down. Then another. Dropping like flies
in the dark.
Muzzle flashes dot the beach behind --
Revealing a row of EXO SILHOUETTES freight-training forward.
Lightning illuminates their three-pronged obsidian guns and
barbaric, welded helmets.
They cut down the Recon Team with nightmarish brutality.
Reaching the ocean, Sasha DIVES forward -- as a bullet DARTS
into her thigh. She screams. Plunges under. Resurfacing, she
frantically carves toward the BOX.
SASHA (V.O.)
Suddenly, they stopped firing.
The curtain of EXO gunfire strangely ceases.
SASHA (V.O.)
And that's when I heard it. A cold
voice behind me on the beach. It
spoke. Three words...
Through the swirling storm, a SINGLE EXO SILHOUETTE steps
forward.

EXT. COLLECTION POOL - PRESENT

Sasha sits frozen. The Deltas hang on her words.
JASPER
It spoke? What did it say?
SASHA
"Never come back."
 60.

For a moment no one moves.

JASPER
Well that's...
KEYS
Our cue to keep moving?
MEDRANO
Young man, that might be the wisest
thing you've ever said.
Keys and Medrano stagger up. Start collecting soggy gear.
Piece by piece.
KEYS
Alright... I'm down half my ammo.
Some C4. All my grenades... What's
your status, Medrano?
But Medrano isn't listening. He's noticed something along the
embankment...
He crouches over SETS OF BOOT PRINTS. Large EXO impressions
in the mud. Flanking a single set of HUMAN TRACKS.
MEDRANO
Hartfield... He was here.
Everyone looks up. Medrano's sage eyes trace the prints into...

FOGGY SWAMPLAND
Mist hangs heavy. Gnarled mangrove trees loom like gargoyles.
The sun retreats behind their dense crowns. Even it dares not
venture here...
Quiet splashes break the silence. The team sneaks through the
shin-deep muck. Guns raised. Re-energized.
MEDRANO
(whispering)
Twelve o'clock...
Scopes rise to discover:
A FIFTY-STORY SKYSCRAPER juts up from the swamp, dissecting
the vapor. It leans at an architecturally-impossible 45
DEGREE ANGLE. Like a giant CHROME RAZOR.
KEYS
... Whoa.
The team stands stricken.
 61.

Jasper motions to the others. They spread into a semi-circle

and check their compasses. The needles all point to the sleek
superstructure. Hope surges --
JASPER
Found you.

TREETOPS
Branches creak. The team scales the thick tree limbs.
Scouting the windows of the skyscraper.
Jasper lowers his binos. A private moment of recognition.
MEDRANO
You know this place?
JASPER
Remember when Hartfield and I took
that fishing trip last year?
KEYS
Anchorage, right?
JASPER
JSOC actually sent us to Shenzhen.
Snatch and grab. Rogue arms dealer
was holed up in his penthouse. 49th
floor.
Keys traces back to the modernist Shenzhen skyscraper.
JASPER
After we secured him, we did a
quick sweep of his apartment. Found
the baseboards were hiding a line
of gold bullion that could cross
the South China Sea... Lucas and I
made a judgment call. "Misplaced" a
few bricks. Dubbed it a parachute
for all our families... Medrano,
your ex-wife and kids? Keys, your
girlfriend? If anything ever
happened to us, they'd be taken
care of...
Keys and Medrano look over at Jasper, shocked.
JASPER
Lucas and I never spoke about it.
But I could see it sometimes...
Gnawing behind his eyes. Wondering
if what we did was right.
 62.

Jasper stares up at the leaning tower. As if weighing their

choice.
SASHA
When you work in the gray edges of
the world... And you're worried
you're losing your soul? That's a
good sign... Means you've still got
one to lose.

INSIDE THE LEANING SKYSCRAPER

Haunting silence.
Light filters through vast windows. Revealing rows of chic
cubicles. Frosted glass dividers.
An APPLE sits on a desk -- but somehow it hasn't rolled off. As
if gravity works different in here. Its force counteracting the
skyscraper's 45 degree tilt.
Hartfield sits TIED to the desk, chest and wrists bound with
rope. Eyes lost in an endless stare. As if ruminating on all
his Earthly regrets.
Three EXO GUARDS patrol the aisles of the vogue office. Guns
ready. They cross by Hartfield. See he's still secure, head
bowed. Surrounded by scattered stacks of mail.
The EXOs continue onward. As they disappear from view --
Something shifts in Hartfield's eyes. His sunken head rises.
Dropping the act.
He jostles his hands and a sharp LETTER OPENER slides down
his sleeve. He continues sawing at his HALF-FRAYED bindings.
HARTFIELD
C'mon... C'mon...
Teeth grit as Hartfield saws harder, contorting his hands...
Snap. Wrists come free. Hartfield lights up.
He HACKS at the ropes around his chest. Cuts himself loose.
Hartfield darts into action. Sneaks down the aisle. Turns a
corner. Staying low...
Hartfield spots a patrolling EXO ahead. Sharply re-directs.
He rushes toward FLOOR-TO-CEILING WINDOWS. Sees the gnarled
mangrove trees all around. Foggy swamp hundreds of feet
below. Too far to jump.
 63.

SWAMP TREETOPS
Binoculars drop.
KEYS
Oh fuck... There he is!
The team traces his gaze... To Hartfield's TILTED FIGURE in a
33rd floor window.

INSIDE THE SKYSCRAPER

Hartfield starts turning away from the window. But stops...
A green LASER POINT appears on his chest.
Hartfield's eyes narrow. The dot disappears... What the hell?
The green LASER POINT blinks again.
Hartfield raises his hand to the laser. Studies the dot. It
blinks. Blinks. Something shifts in Hartfield's eyes. A
moment of understanding:
Morse code.
Hartfield traces the GREEN LASER out through the window...
Into the fog...
Where he spots FOUR CAMOUFLAGED FIGURES in the trees.
Hartfield stands stunned. The laser keeps blinking in morse.
His lips softly translate the message. Two little words...
HARTFIELD
Nemo... resideo.
Hartfield puts the pieces together. Recognizing his team --
WHAM! An OBSIDIAN RIFLE crashes over his back. He drops.
HARTFIELD
AHH!
The three EXO GUARDS appear over Hartfield. Latch onto him.
HARTFIELD
No! Wait! WAIT!
They haul him across the office...
Toward an ovular BLACK JAIL-POD. Six feet tall. Bizarre nodes
and ridges cover its exterior. A hatch DOOR swung open on its
side. It looks like a strange MOBILE PRISON CELL.
Hartfield turns ashen.
 64.

SWAMP TREETOPS
The team tracks Hartfield through the windows. Watching the
EXOs drag him toward the JAIL-POD.
SASHA
The hell is that?
CH-CH! Keys racks his rifle. Crosshairs home in on an EXO.
MEDRANO
Hold your fire --
KEYS
What?!
MEDRANO
What's history teach us? Tower
sieges only work if you have the
element of surprise.
KEYS
I've got the shot --
MEDRANO
If we reveal ourselves now, the
EXOs will entrench -- and we'll
never get to Hartfield!
Keys hesitates, torn.
JASPER
Medrano's right.
Keys takes one last look. Then peels his eye from his scope.
KEYS
Shit.
The team watches Hartfield get THRUST into the jail-pod. The
EXOs close the hatch door, spin a wheel. Locking him inside.
SASHA
You can bet they've secured every
entrance, elevator shaft, emergency
stairwell... How do you figure we
get up there unseen?
JASPER
I might remember a way.

BASE OF SKYSCRAPER
Four FIGURES sneak through fog.
 65.

Jasper runs along the glass foundation. Peering through

tilted windows. Searching for something...
Keys and Medrano scan around, providing cover.
Sasha gazes up. The skyscraper LEANS RIGHT OVERTOP OF THEM.
Like a FALLING CITADEL frozen in time. She swallows at the
stomach-churning sight, feeling like an ant about to be
crushed.
JASPER
Over here.
Jasper crouches beside a half-submerged window. Sparks a
handheld PLASMA CUTTER --

DARK MECHANICAL ROOM

The team drops through a NEW HOLE in the window --
Boots land on TILTED concrete. The team shares a look -- now
standing at 45 degrees. The building's plane of gravity.
MEDRANO
Keys... You pack any Gravol?
KEYS
(nauseous)
Knew I forgot something...
Jasper cracks a BLUE CHEMLIGHT. Claws past Mandarin warning
signs. Around pipes, pumps and valves.
JASPER
Back in Shenzhen, Lucas and I spent
a week trying to scheme a way to
get up the penthouse undetected.
But this guy had thought of
everything. Anti-aircraft guns on
the rooftop, undercover mercenaries
on every other floor, state of the
art surveillance... He had all the
angles covered.
Jasper spots a STEEL GARBAGE CHUTE DOOR IN THE WALL...
JASPER
(grins)
Except one.

GARBAGE CHUTE
Sweat drips. Bodies squeeze.
 66.

The team spiders up the grimy, cramped shaft. As if climbing

up the throat of some Lovecraftian beast.
Jasper halts. His chemlight illuminates a CHUTE DOOR before
him. He glances down and whispers:
JASPER
33rd, right?
Three tense nods back. Keys produces a DENTAL MIRROR. Hands
it up to Medrano. Who relays it to Jasper.
Jasper gently pushes open the CHUTE DOOR and slides the
mirror through the crack. Turns it side to side. Coast clear.
He pretzels his muscular body through the opening...

CHIC SKYRISE OFFICE

Eerie stillness.
Jasper slips behind a CUBICLE. Medrano and Keys follow like
shadows.
But Sasha freezes -- half-out of the garbage chute.
Footsteps echo from down the hall. They grow louder...
Sasha retreats back into the chute.
Jasper, Keys and Medrano crouch under a desk. Lower their
eyes to the floor. Pale at what they see:
Two ARMORED BOOTS creep past. Glistening with lesions and
scars. Radiating authority. A stealth cloak trails behind,
moving with horrifying grace.
Boom... Boom...
No one dares breathe. The EXO Captain's boots slowly fade...
Silence returns.
Sasha peeks out from the GARBAGE CHUTE. Jasper, Keys and
Medrano inch out from under the desk and meet her gaze.
Sweat drips from their faces.

DEEPER IN THE OFFICE

The team weaves forward through aisles of CUBICLES. Each
passing desk a new island of cover...
Jasper slides up against an OFFICE DIVIDER. Sasha, Keys, and
Medrano gather behind him.
 67.

Jasper extends the dental mirror, giving him a tiny glimpse

across the room -- where the strange BLACK JAIL-POD shimmers
in the far corner of the office. Momentarily unguarded.
Jasper draws back the mirror. The others see his excitement.
He raises his hand: Three. Two.
Jasper surges up -- leading the team from their hiding place.
They quietly rush forward. Heads spinning.
Jasper reaches the BLACK JAIL-POD. The team fans out around him
in a protective semicircle. Eyeing the surrounding cubicles.
Jasper grips the pod's HATCH WHEEL. Goes to spin it --
But it doesn't budge.
Medrano slings his rifle over his shoulder. Wraps his gloves
around the wheel too. They reef as hard as they can...
JASPER
Fuck.
The team shares a sickening look.
MEDRANO
Don't suppose that's fitting down
the chute...
Sasha catches movement in her periphery:
SASHA
DOWN!
The team drops as -- TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!
EXO bullets SHRED through the office. Two EXOs emerge from
the shadows across the floor.  
The team clenches behind a cubicle. They watch surrounding
computers EXPLODE. Papers SWIRL UP like tornados.
Panic knifes into their chests. The world shrinks around them
as they realize they've been baited into the corner of the
office...
And now they're trapped.
SASHA
Could use some of that Jasper magic!
Jasper racks his brain. Eyes a nearby TILTED WINDOW. Raises
his gun: TA-TA-TA-TA!
The glass SHATTERS. Wind rushes in.
 68.

JASPER
Abracadabra.
The others look at him like he's crazy.
JASPER
Trust me!
EXO bullets RIVER over their heads. Sasha eyes the window...
Fuck it. She runs low -- and DIVES OUT.
Keys and Medrano brace themselves. Nod to Jasper.
He springs up and unloads at the APPROACHING EXOS: TA-TA-TA!
But the bullets are BLOCKED in waves of sparks. The EXOs
advance behind their three-pronged rifles: outer prongs
deploy countermeasures. Center prongs fire offensively.
They close the gap with unwavering purpose.
Keys and Medrano lift up the BLACK JAIL-POD. Rush toward the
open window -- and LEAP OUT.
Jasper drops a grenade at his feet. Spins and JUMPS TOO --

SIDE OF SKYSCRAPER
-- he SLIDES DOWN the leaning skyscraper. Using its sleek
glass frame LIKE A FIFTY-STORY RAMP.
Wind whips as Jasper accelerates downward -- he spots Sasha
sliding far below. Rocketing from view into the FOG LAYER.
Keys and Medrano disappear next. Jail-pod in hand.
Jasper glances up: the window they leapt from EXPLODES.
The shrapnel vanishes as Jasper reaches the fog. He slides
blindly through the thick vapor --
PLOOSH! Splashes to a gut-wrenching stop. Plugged chest-deep
in MUD at the base of the skyscraper.
JASPER
Arghh...
Sasha quickly crawls toward Jasper. Helps dig him out.
Keys and Medrano reel up the jail-pod. Tap its locked door.
KEYS
Hang tight, Lucas! We got you!
Together, they hurry off into the hazy swamp...
 69.

SKYSCRAPER HIGH ABOVE

A giant chunk of glass is missing.
The two EXOs loom at the blown-out precipice. Stealth cloaks
dancing in the wind. They peer down the angled building. But
it's impossible to see anything in the swamp below.
Dark visors slowly turn toward each other. Meeting eyes...

FOGGY SWAMP
The team ducks behind mangroves. Sawing off breaths. Elated.
SASHA
How'd you know we'd survive the
landing?
JASPER
Didn't. That's why I had you jump
first.
Sasha and Jasper share a grin. Keys and Medrano set the jail-
pod on its side. Huddle over its locked wheel.
KEYS
What are we thinking, plasma cutter?
MEDRANO
Might burn through and clip him.
KEYS
Lucas, you hear us in there? You
good?!
A pain-laced MOAN faintly echoes from within.
JASPER
Just hang on, we'll fish you out!
Jasper pulls a STEALTH NEMO POWER DRILL from his ruck.
BZZZZ! He drills into the hatch wheel. Driving into its
center-point. The drill whines and squeals. Gnaws deeper.
JASPER
C'mon motherfucker...
The drill punctures the wheel: PSHHHH! Pressure releases.
The team meets eyes, lighting up. Medrano spins the hatch
wheel. Faster. Faster. The jail-pod clangs UNLOCKED.
Medrano swings open its door... His smile drops.
 70.

BECAUSE HARTFIELD IS NOT INSIDE. A SEVEN-FOOT EXO STARES BACK

INSTEAD.
BANG!
The EXO fires straight into Medrano's stomach. He crumples
backward.
The EXO LEAPS OUT -- spins its obsidian rifle toward a
stunned Keys --
But Sasha BLINDSIDES it -- knocking the gun from its grasp.
The EXO wheels on Sasha, hacking her aside. She goes FLYING.
Jasper and Keys UNLOAD a barrage of bullets. A lethal curtain
that would cut through an armored tank.
But the EXO moves like liquid lightning. Darting and whirling
with hypnotizing speed. Evading the streams of gunfire with
inhuman grace.
Reaching Keys, it unleashes a LEFT CROSS --
WHAM! Keys EJECTS back. Splashing into the bog.
Jasper charges at the EXO, unloading -- TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!
Bullets ricochet off its angular, pneumatic vest. The EXO
bolts into a HORRIFYING DEATH SPRINT toward Jasper and lowers
its helmet like a ram --
CRUNCH!
-- it SPEARS JASPER back into the swamp -- KNOCKING him
unconscious.
Sasha staggers up behind the EXO. Aims her gun at the back of
its welded helmet --
But the EXO whirls its stealth CLOAK -- its SERRATED EDGE
severs Sasha's graphene armor -- cutting her to the ground.
The EXO pounces. Seizing Sasha by the throat. Pressing her
into the mud. Her eyes go wide...
Keys rushes toward them. Raises a tactical knife and rips it
down toward the EXO --
An armored hand simply catches the blade. The EXO breaks the
knife. Snatches Keys by his windpipe and slams him down
beside Sasha --
PLOOSH! The EXO hovers overtop of them. Inches from their
faces. CHOKING them into the muddy water. Eerily calm.
 71.

Jasper blinks awake nearby, oblivious...

Sasha and Keys WRITHE under the EXO's grip. DESPERATELY
HAMMER up at its dark visor --
The EXO just takes the punishment. It SQUEEZES their necks
harder, suffocating them into oblivion. Keys and Sasha turn
purple. Swamp water SLOPS over their sinking faces. They gulp
involuntarily, asphyxiating.
Their eyes slowly lose focus...
SHUNK!
SOMETHING SKEWERS INTO THE EXO'S NECK FROM BEHIND.
Jasper drives the ROARING DRILL into its jugular -- metal
bores into flesh. Viscous black tar-blood GUSHES OUT.
The EXO somehow reaches up toward Jasper. Jasper's eyes go
wide, incredulous...
But then the EXO topples sideways. Collapsing into the bog
between Sasha and Keys. Thick tar-blood pooling around...
DEAD.
Sasha and Keys WHEEZE. Clutch their bruised windpipes.
JASPER
You two good?
SASHA
Peaches...
Their faces regain their color with each new breath...
KEYS
Where's Medrano?
Jasper spins and scans around. What he discovers stops him in
his tracks...
MEDRANO LAYS IN SHOCK -- A STREAM OF BLOOD FLOATS VERTICALLY
OUT OF HIS STOMACH WOUND.
The blood column glides skyward in ZERO-G. Like a slow-motion
blowout at an oil well. It climbs higher and higher with each
beat of his heart.
Medrano's slick hands struggle to cover the bullet hole.
MEDRANO
(faint)
Jasper...
 72.

Jasper rushes to Medrano. Tries to somehow stop the vertical

stream of blood.
JASPER
Fuck, fuck, fuck...
SASHA
The bullet! Gotta remove the bullet!
Keys grabs his MED-KIT and scrambles over. Medrano's eyes are
wide in panic. Face turning more ghostly each passing second.
SASHA
Just close your eyes! Try not to
look!
The team tries to assess the bullet hole. But can't see amid
the rising column of blood. Medrano's legs inch off the
ground. His back arches. As if his entire body was starting
to LEVITATE.
KEYS
Whoa, whoa --
SASHA
It's affecting his whole
circulatory system!
Jasper and Keys frantically pin Medrano's limbs. Sasha lowers
forceps into his stomach, struggling to work around the
pluming blood. Medrano TWISTS.
JASPER
Don't move! Don't move!
Sasha fishes around under Medrano's skin...
She delicately extracts the shard-like EXO BULLET -- the
vertical column of blood INSTANTLY SLOSHES DOWN. Medrano
sinks in the mud. Strings cut.
JASPER
Keys -- XStat.
Keys tosses Jasper an XSTAT COMBAT SYRINGE. Jasper plunges it
into Medrano's bullet hole, releasing dozens of tiny circular
SPONGES. They rapidly EXPAND to plug the wound and stem the
bleeding...
JASPER
Medrano... you with us?
Medrano swallows hard. Sweating profusely. He nods.
MEDRANO
The sun still rises...
 73.

Jasper, Keys, and Sasha slump down in relief. All eyes

gravitate to the empty jail-pod beside them...

OUTSKIRTS OF SWAMP
An identical black jail-pod jostles. Carried by SIX EXOs.
The EXO CAPTAIN coolly trails his squad. Strange symbols
shimmer on angular neck plates. His bronze-lined helmet
raised in superiority.
The leaning skyscraper fades behind him, minuscule compared
to his soaring figure...

SWAMP
Clug, clug, clug. Medrano CHUGS from a canteen. Water spills
down his thick beard.
JASPER
Keep drinking. Really sprang a leak
there.
Jasper hands Medrano his canteen too. He chugs again. Keys
meticulously wraps a compression bandage around his torso.
MEDRANO
Got ahead of myself... Foolish...
KEYS
Just stay still.
MEDRANO
Should've thought for second before
I opened that hatch...
JASPER
Hey. We were right there with you.
Medrano meets his eyes.
Jasper helps Keys wrap another layer of compression bandaging
around Medrano.
SASHA
The EXOs must've made the switch
when we were in the chute...
Sasha studies her COMPASS. It points away from the team.
SASHA
We're just rats in their maze.
Her gaze drifts across the swamp...
 74.

And catches on something sticking out of the quagmire. Sasha

curiously rises. Steps toward the object.
THE DEAD EXO'S OBSIDIAN RIFLE GLISTENS IN MUD.
Sasha lifts the magnetic rail gun in awe. Eyes trace its
carved, black stone frame. The three-pronged barrel gleams.
Terrifying and beautiful.
A weapon beyond humanity.
Jasper tapes the last compression bandage. Keys injects
morphine into Medrano.
KEYS
Patched you up for now, but you'll
need to be careful. Doctor's
orders, old man.
Medrano inspects his bandages.
JASPER
Thought you were headed to an island
of your own there for a second.
MEDRANO
Old stallions don't die easy...
They share a subtle grin.
Jasper looks up at Sasha. Notices her scrutinizing the
obsidian EXO weapon. Something shifts in her eyes... A
decision crystalizing.
SASHA
We have to go back to the box.
The Deltas go still.
KEYS
... What?
SASHA
You've seen how outmatched we are
in here. But if we bring this gun
home... study its technology,
replicate it? This could be the
breakthrough Lilac needs. Just
think if every operator on future
missions was armed with this kind
of weapon. We might actually have a
chance against the EXOs. Rescue
hundreds, maybe thousands...
 75.

JASPER
And what about Hartfield? What about
using it to save him right now?
SASHA
The EXOs are just waiting for us to
follow them into their next trap --
JASPER
We underestimated them. That won't
happen again --
SASHA
If we press forward and die, this
technology will be lost -- and no
one will be saved!
Sasha takes a breath.
SASHA
I'm sorry about Hartfield. I really
am... but I meant what I said
before. Lilac's mission is more
important than any one life. It has
to be.
Tense silence. Jasper holds her gaze. Not willing to let go.
JASPER
We can do this, Sasha. I know we can.
Sasha just shakes her head.
SASHA
You don't even know what you don't
know.
JASPER
What's that supposed to mean?
SASHA
It means you can't pull this off!
JASPER
How can you say that when no one's
ever even tried --
SASHA
Because they have!
Silence...
JASPER
What?
 76.

KEYS
You said... You said this was the
first rescue operation. That no one
had attempted anything like this
before.
SASHA
Yeah... That's what we said.
The Deltas meet eyes. Jasper rises up toward Sasha.
JASPER
How many?
No response.
JASPER
How many rescue teams have you sent
in?
Sasha doesn't blink.
JASPER
Sasha?! How --
SASHA
Nineteen.
Jasper stops in his tracks. As if absorbing a blow.
JASPER
Nineteen...
SASHA
Cherry-picked from all across the
military. DEVGRU, Rangers, MARSOC
Raiders. Doesn't matter who we send
in. Who they try to save... No one
ever comes back.
Deathly silence. The Deltas look up at Sasha, gutted.
KEYS
Why not just tell us the truth?
MEDRANO
Because if she did... she knew we
never would have come.
Sasha diverts her gaze.
JASPER
Nineteen rescue ops. But you chose to
join this one. Why come back in now?
 77.

SASHA
Cause my leg just cleared medical a
week ago. And I wasn't about to let
the sacrifice of my colleagues be
for nothing... Which is why we have
to let Hartfield go -- and take
this technology back now.
Clutching the formidable EXO gun, Sasha meets eyes with
Jasper. Her cards now all on the table.
KEYS
Jasper... We have another problem.
Keys stares down at his WRISTWATCH.
KEYS
Less than two hours till the box
disconnects. We were cutting it
close before, but now? There's no
way we can track down the EXOs,
rescue Hartfield, and make it back
to the box in time... We have to
turn around.
The words land hard. Jasper turns to Medrano. Grasping at
straws...
MEDRANO
My friend, we did everything we
could... Lucas would be proud.
Jasper sinks. Knows they're right...
The Deltas sit in the mud. A moment of painful silence.
SASHA
(softly)
It's decided then... We pull the
plug. Leave anything we don't need
behind. We're out of here ASAP.
Keys wipes his eyes. He begins sorting through his gear. Re-
packing his ruck for the return journey...
JASPER
Wait... Just wait.
Everyone looks back at Jasper.
JASPER
There might be another option.
KEYS
Another option? We're outta time,
man --
 78.

JASPER
So we create some more...
Something flickers in Jasper's imaginative eyes.
MEDRANO
What are you suggesting?
JASPER
The Honduran compound. Garza's
private helicopter. What if one of
us circles back to get it, while
the rest of us press on? An air
extraction could buy the time we
need...
Wheels turn in Medrano's mind...
MEDRANO
I could do it.
He looks down at his bandaged stomach.
MEDRANO
If we go forward, I'd only slow us
down.
JASPER
(nods)
The rest of us can hunt down
Hartfield. Find a way to steal him
back from the EXOs --
KEYS
Medrano grabs the helo, follows the
compass straight to Lucas --
JASPER
And we all fly back to the box in
time.
The Deltas meet eyes. A flicker of hope.
SASHA
And just what gives you the idea
you'll be able to overcome the
EXOs. Succeed where everyone else
has failed?
JASPER
Because we'll have something no one
else had...
Jasper eyes the EXO weapon in Sasha's hands. She glances down
at the obsidian rifle too. Weighing the moral risk...
Hartfield's life against potentially many.
 79.

SASHA
I'm sorry, guys... You have your
code. I have mine. I'll wait for
you at the box as long as I can.
She slings on her ruck. Grips the obsidian EXO gun close.
Turns and walks away...
Jasper rises after her, calling out:
JASPER
You say Lilac's mission is more
important than any one life... I
disagree. Lilac's mission is one
life.
Sasha stops.
JASPER
Otherwise, what are we even
fighting for?
She looks back...

INT. BLACK JAIL-POD - DAY

Strange black lights glow. Illuminating the cramped space.
Hartfield jostles inside the moving jail-pod, soaked in
sweat. He presses his hands in all directions. Searching for
a structural weakness...
Suddenly, the pod comes to a stop. Hits ground.
CLANG! The hatch door swings open. Armored EXO gloves dart
inside and reef Hartfield out --

INT. DARK CAVE TUNNEL

Hartfield spills onto rock.
The EXO Captain looms over him. He lifts a glove to his
barbaric helmet -- the lining opens like a jigsaw, splitting
his shaded visor in two.
Hartfield watches the EXO Captain slowly remove his headgear:
strange FOSSILIZED SKIN envelops a cratered, noble face.
Smooth yet aged. As if sculpted by the hands of time.
Penetrating, platinum-colored eyes gleam from deep recesses.
His angular jaw does not lead to a mouth -- instead, the EXO
Captain speaks through irregular perforations in his ossified
dermis. And when he does, his words are hushed and deep. As
if the depths of space were given a voice.
 80.

THE EXO CAPTAIN

Come... I have something to show you.
Hartfield just stares up in awe.

EXT. SWAMP - DAY

Boots splash forward -- Jasper and Keys double-time it
through the fog. Following their compasses. Game faces on.
Sasha hurries alongside them. Gripping the OBSIDIAN EXO GUN.
SASHA
Jasper, if we all die, I'm gonna
kill you.
KEYS
Welcome to the club.
Jasper fights a grin. Removes a pouch from his vest.
JASPER
Here, take one of these for a spin.
SASHA
Guessing those aren't vitamins.
KEYS
Team secret. Sour keeps your edges
sharp.
Jasper offers a handful of HOMEMADE CANDIES.
JASPER
Make 'em myself. Once kept us awake
for four days straight while we were
camped in a Lithuanian landfill.
Shit's better than amphetamine.
Keys takes a candy. Sasha tentatively pops one in too. Her
mouth twists at the taste.
KEYS
Well?
SASHA
(coughs)
Tastes like battery acid.
JASPER
That's why they work.
The three gain speed. Rucks stuffed with the DEAD EXO'S BODY
ARMOR. They race through the hot swamp, until the gnarled
mangrove trees break --
 81.

A cold wind hits their sweaty faces.

Jasper, Keys and Sasha stagger -- gazing out at SNOW DUNES.
Undulating across the landscape as far as the eye can see.
Like the Arctic tundra.
Snowflakes fall around the team. A moment of tranquility.
SASHA
Thin line, isn't it? Between one
world and the next...
Jasper curiously eyes the boundary between the swamp and
snow. A bizarre incongruity of green and ice. Life and death.
JASPER
I'm starting to get that sense.

EXT. REVERSE WATERFALL - DAY

Medrano limps back through the mist, cradling his stomach. He
re-approaches the REVERSE WATERFALL...
Reaching the precipice, he cranes his neck over the edge:
water rockets up toward him. Thundering with hypnotic power.
MEDRANO
Once more into the breach, dear
friends...

CLIFF FACE
Bones rattling, Medrano RAPPELS ON A ROPE BESIDE the falls.
Boots kiss the slick marble. Carefully touching down, down...

EXT. SNOW DUNES - DAY

Wind kicks up cyclones of snow.
Jasper, Keys and Sasha trek through the whiteout. As they
climb a frozen hill, their eyes gravitate to an adjacent
dune. Something comes into focus...
An OLD PHONE BOOTH.
Standing silently in the storm. Covered in urban graffiti.
Its receiver dangles eerily in the wind... A mysterious
tableaux in the whirling snow.
KEYS
Know what that's from?
Jasper shakes his head.
 82.

They all eye it for a moment. Reflecting on its possible

significance...
They push onward. The phone booth fades from view. Until it
disappears back into the swirling snow, remaining a mystery.
KEYS
Crazy loop... Our lives are filled
with thoughts of death. And our
deaths are filled with thoughts of
life...
Jasper and Sasha quietly continue. Absorbing his words.
JASPER
Ever think about what memory
stations will be on your island?
SASHA
... Now and then.
JASPER
Yeah?
SASHA
When you spend years under different
aliases, the memories can pile up
quick. Each skin you shed leaves a
full life in its wake. Friends you
made. People you could've saved. A
charming schoolteacher you might've...
Jasper glances sideways at Sasha. Sees a flash of emotion in
her eyes. She hides it with a grin.
SASHA
But I've learned the best way to
survive is to focus on what's
ahead... What about you?
JASPER
Well, believe it or not, first time
I tried to pass the Delta course I
didn't make the cut...

SASHA
No shit.
JASPER
I was shattered. I'd searched the
world for my calling, and just when
I'd finally found it, it was gone.
So I shut myself in my apartment.
Stopped eating. Bought a ticket
home to Anchorage...
(MORE)
 83.
JASPER (CONT'D)
Then one day, one of the new Delta
grads knocks on my door. Tells me
to pack my shit, I'm coming to
train with him... I drag myself
into his beat-up Chevy and Lucas
Hartfield says to me, "the best
operators can last 40 days without
food, 96 hours without water and
about 8 minutes without air... But
it's hard to survive a second
without hope."
Sasha takes Jasper in.
JASPER
He was my compass long before I
came to this place. And if there's
one thing that'll be on my island,
it's that rusted old truck...
KEYS
Hold up!
Keys stares at his compass. The arrow has strangely FLIPPED
AROUND. Pointing back the way they came... What the hell?
Sasha and Jasper notice. Remove their compasses too: same
reading. The team turns and retraces their steps...
BUT THEIR COMPASS ARROWS FLIP AGAIN.
They drop their rucks. Quickly circle the area. Arrows all
spin in an arc. As if they were atop the North Pole...
KEYS
Fuck's this?
SASHA
He should be right here...
They scour around. Nothing but dunes and lashing wind.
JASPER
He is here... They have him
underground.

INT. CAVE TUNNEL

Jagged ICE glimmers. Coating the walls of a twisting tunnel.
Ultraviolet ore glows within, emitting a sapphire hue...
The EXO Captain ushers Hartfield deeper into the labyrinth.
Platinum eyes gleam from the recesses of his fossilized skin.
His titanic figure looms with terrifying power. Somehow
making Hartfield appear small.
 84.

THE EXO CAPTAIN

I must admit, I envy you... Dying
is an art, like everything else.
And yours was a masterpiece.
Hartfield swallows. Eyeing the icy tunnel walls. He glances
over his shoulder. The vanguard of EXOs trails behind.
HARTFIELD
W-What is this place -- this island?
The Captain doesn't respond. Hartfield grows more anxious.
HARTFIELD
Are you -- are you listening to me?
THE EXO CAPTAIN
This dimension is many things... But
in the end, you might call it a test.
HARTFIELD
A test?
The Captain's otherworldly eyes almost seem to grin.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
Let me ask you this... The monuments
from your life scattered across the
island. Have you noticed any pattern
in what they symbolize?
Hartfield thinks.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
Whether it's a humble father
working for years to give his son a
single vacation. Or two brothers in
arms never giving up on a seemingly
impossible mission... Or a solider
and his wife sticking together
through the storms of life despite
the thousands of miles between
them. Each monument is meant to
remind you of the most important
quality any lifeform can possess...
HARTFIELD
And that is?
THE EXO CAPTAIN
Perseverance.
The EXO Captain allows Hartfield to digest the revelation.
 85.

THE EXO CAPTAIN

This dimension was designed to test
that trait. To challenge your
perseverance. You see, there is
only one way off your island -- a
secret door hidden somewhere amid
the vast landscape. And under
normal circumstances, your
challenge would be to find it.
HARTFIELD
This secret door... Where does it
lead?
The Captain turns into a secluded chamber.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
Come. See for yourself...

WELL ROOM
Ice glows dimmer. Funneling into pure darkness.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
(calling back)
Unless the answer isn't of any
interest.
Hartfield tentatively follows.
A circular WELL appears in the black rock ahead. As if a
natural endpoint to the cave maze. Maybe the entire island...
Iridescent flowers bloom around it. Life in the darkness.
The EXO Captain looms at the brittle edge. Staring down the
shaft. Fascinated.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
I give you the doorway. To a
further dimension.
A chill runs through Hartfield. He cranes his neck over...
Strange BLACK SAND churns far below. Billions of grains knead
together. As if forming the opening to an unusual WORMHOLE. A
low-octave whisper emanates up the well.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
Only the most perseverant ever find
it. And when they take the leap,
their journey continues on. To a
new world. To the next chapter in
the story of their lives.
 86.

HARTFIELD
Next chapter?
THE EXO CAPTAIN
That's correct...
Hartfield's mind races.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
The chapters of life are supposed to
flow in one direction -- forward. But
every few million years, somewhere in
the universe an intelligent species
rises up. Develops the technological
and tactical ability to bring someone
back.
Emotion floods into Hartfield's eyes.
HARTFIELD
My team... So they really are here
then.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
Indeed they are. And it's my duty
to stop them.
The Captain circles the well with lethal grace.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
Since the first stars flickered in
the dark, my kind has existed as
the built-in defense system of the
universe. Our mission? To uphold
its natural order: life must always
move forward... Never back.
HARTFIELD
And why is that so important?
THE EXO CAPTAIN
Because if you went back, if you
cheated death, the value of life
would depreciate. The beauty of
this journey is you don't get
second chances. You only get to
experience each world once...
That's what makes it extraordinary.
The EXO Captain stops. His platinum eyes radiate conviction.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
The value of life is what we defend.
 87.

EXT. BEHIND A SNOW DUNE - DAY

A RIFLESCOPE peeks over a ridge. Keys lies prone in the snow.

SCOPE POV
Crosshairs focus on the JAGGED MOUTH OF AN ICE CAVE.
The crosshairs pan sideways... Blurring across monstrous
dunes... Landing on a SECOND ICY CAVE MOUTH. Facing the
opposite direction.
KEYS (V.O.)
Two access points. No way to
decipher the layout inside. Or how
many EXOs are holding him...

SNOW DUNE
Keys lowers his scope. Jasper and Sasha lie prone beside him.
JASPER
So good news all around then?
KEYS
Just a Sunday stroll into a
deathtrap, man.
SASHA
Jasper if you've got one last
rabbit in your hat, now would be
the time to pull it out...
JASPER
This time, actually, I'm fresh out.
Sasha glances sideways. Not what she expected.
KEYS
You don't have a rabbit... But I
might have a carrot.
SASHA
A carrot?
JASPER
Well, at least we won't starve to --
Realization stops him. He sees Keys staring at their RUCKS.
KEYS
Jasper, I know it's hard for you,
but you need to start summoning a
little imagination...
 88.

JASPER
Oh this is gonna be good.

INT. WELL ROOM

Hartfield peers down at the churning black crystals.
HARTFIELD
If this island is a test, a challenge
for me to find this door... Why have
you shown it to me? 
THE EXO CAPTAIN
You and I both know what it means to
lead soldiers into battle. That a
true leader doesn't fight because he
hates what's in front of him. He
fights because he loves what's behind
him. So I'd like to propose a deal...
The EXO Captain looms over Hartfield's shoulder. Each hushed
word a seduction.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
Take the leap. Help me fulfill my
duty... If you do, I will allow your
teammates to peacefully return home.
But if you refuse, and hold out for
rescue? I'm afraid I'll be forced to
eliminate every one of them... Either
way, on your island I can't decide
your fate. The choice must be yours.
Sweat rises on Hartfield's face. He looks back down into the
mesmerizing abyss. Torn.
HARTFIELD
You said you defend the value of
life... That if I go back to Earth,
life will be diminished... But
sometimes, don't we have to lose
something to realize its true
worth? What if going back didn't
diminish life... but amplified our
appreciation of it?
Hartfield's eyes flicker up.
HARTFIELD
What if we had to die before we
could really live?
The EXO Captain holds his gaze. Almost impressed by his
words... A subtle moment of respect, as if between two
warring Generals.
 89.

THE EXO CAPTAIN

If all lifeforms were altruistic,
maybe that would be the order of
things... But a black ops soldier
knows better. Doesn't he?

EXT. CAVE MOUTH - DAY

Jasper rushes toward an ICY CAVE MOUTH. Removes bricks of C-4
from his ruck. Keys meticulously wires them around the entry.
KEYS
We pull this off, I'd put us up
there with Houdini...
JASPER
Even he wasn't crazy enough to try
this.
Sasha eyes her daunting EXO weapon. Gauges its strange stone
mechanisms.
SASHA
All set?
Keys glances back across the dunes. Checks his watch: 27 MINS.
KEYS
Medrano's cutting it close.
JASPER
He'll be here... He will be here.
They share a tense look.
Sasha racks the terrifying obsidian weapon: CRACK-CLACK.
Together, they enter the black mouth of the cave. Descending
into the unknown...

EXT. NECK-HIGH WHEAT FIELD - DAY

Medrano STUMBLES through the golden wheat. Pale as a sheet.
The HONDURAN LUXURY COMPOUND shimmers up ahead like a mirage.
Medrano limps to a stop, relieved by the sight. He made it.
Dripping sweat, he glances down at his injured stomach. Blood
oozes through the compression bandages.
He grits his teeth. Goes to continue forward -- when something
catches his periphery. Tendrils quiver across the field.
What was that?
 90.

Medrano stands frozen, staring at the wheat. The golden sea

innocently sways in the wind. But his sage eyes harden. He
knows...
Medrano spins and sneaks off. Struggling to keep under the
cover of the wheat. Suddenly, he breaks through the thickets.
Bursting through the OPEN IRON GATE of the --

HONDURAN COMPOUND
Manicured green grass sprawls before him. Blemished only by
the swerving tire tracks of the utility van.
Medrano spots the PRIVATE HELICOPTER across the yard. Then
glances back into the wheat field -- no time for takeoff.
He grips his gun tighter. Looks for a hiding place.

BEHIND
The wheat bends before the IRON GATE...
An EXO slips through. Black pneumatic vest and shoulder
tubing gleam in the sun. It scans across the manicured lawn.
No sign of Medrano...
But then it glances down. Notices drops of FRESH BLOOD. They
lead up the grand driveway... And disappear into the mansion.

INSIDE THE MANSION

Sliced LEMONS dangle eerily.
A welded helmet pushes through them. The EXO glides down the
claustrophobic corridor. Three-pronged obsidian rifle choked
in its grip.
It passes padlocked doors. Eyes squalid cots and human cages.
The EXO tracks a trail of blood along the floor. Toward the
spiral staircase ahead...

SPIRAL STAIRCASE
The EXO discretely ascends. Spots the master bedroom's
soaring DOUBLE DOORS. Shredded from the Delta raid.
Faint bloody FINGERPRINTS shimmer on its knob.
 91.

MASTER BEDROOM
Doors inch open...
The EXO slips through behind its gun. Coolly scans the floor.
The trail of Medrano's blood runs across the carpet. Hooks
out of sight around the FOUR-POSTER BED. A desperate attempt
at hideout.
The EXO advances forward. Its heavy boots tread across the
rug. An executioner come to call...
THE EXO WHEELS AROUND THE BED, RIFLE RAISED --
But the blood trail ends. The EXO stares down. Perplexed.
Behind him, a section of false wall silently slides open...
Revealing MEDRANO in Garza's hidden recess. He rolls
something out across the carpet...
A GRENADE.
Grinning, Medrano slides the reinforced wall closed.
The EXO senses something. Turns around to find the explosive.
Realizes it's been fooled --

INT. CAVE TUNNEL

Wind softly screams through the tunnel.
Sasha, Jasper and Keys creep forward behind the three-pronged
obsidian rifle.
Icy stalactites and stalagmites protrude like GIANT BAYONETS.
Some even branch out horizontally from the walls. Ore glows
sapphire within them.
SASHA
... Do you feel that?
Behind her, Jasper and Keys share a glance, intrigued.
KEYS
Feel what?
Sasha picks up a pebble of GLOWING ICE. Studies it for a
moment. Then bowls it forward. The pebble tumbles ahead...
Until it's gradually drawn sideways, rolling RIGHT UP THE
WALL -- ACROSS the ceiling -- DOWN the opposite wall -- BACK
onto the ground --
 92.

The loop repeats as the pebble rattles deeper. As if the

tunnel were a continuous CORKSCREW OF GRAVITY.
KEYS
Holy fuck.
Sasha swallows hard...
She cautiously leads the team UP THE WALL. Eyes widen as they
begin arcing through the tunnel. Traversing the gravity
corkscrew.
Jasper and Keys rainbow their guns. Now aware their enemies
could pop out from ANY DIRECTION...
Sweat drips from their faces. Hearts pound.
Jasper peers over Sasha's shoulder. Notices a strange
horizontal stalactite ahead in the dark. Ever so slightly, it
moves. Because it's not a stalactite...
JASPER
CONTACT!
An EXO "stands" on the wall at a 90-DEGREE ANGLE, gun raised:
TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!
But Sasha swings her EXO weapon toward it just in time. The
bullets are INTERCEPTED in front of her, lighting up her face
in a wall of sparks.
The EXO hesitates -- stunned. It spots the obsidian gun in
Sasha's grip. She grins.
Jasper and Keys LEAP OUT from behind her. The team all
unloads on the EXO from DIFFERENT directions.
TA-TA-TA! TA-TA-TA! TA-TA-TA!
The EXO steps back, overwhelmed. It swings its three-pronged
weapon side-to-side. Struggling to block all directions at
once. Bullets RAKE across its helmet. SHATTERING its visor.
The EXO "drops" sideways against the icy wall -- dead.

WELL ROOM
An EXO SCOUT marches into the chamber, cutting through a
circle of FIVE EXO GUARDS. Speaks in an unknowable tongue:
EXO SCOUT
(subtitled)
They're here.
 93.

The EXO Captain and Hartfield look up from the well...

TUNNEL
Jasper snatches up the dead EXO's gun and continues forward
with Sasha and Keys. They step back onto "even ground."
Leaving the gravity corkscrew behind.
But a multitude of icy tunnels branch out before them.
SASHA
Which one?
Keys snaps open his compass.

WELL ROOM
The EXO Captain turns to Hartfield.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
I've guarded countless islands
through the eons. Protected lifeforms
much more powerful and advanced than
humans. But I'm not sure I've ever
witnessed the reckless loyalty of
your teammates... Be a shame for
their lives to go to waste.
CLACK-CRACK! Hartfield blanches as the EXOs rack their guns.
Assemble around the Captain like a rising hurricane.
The Scout offers his leader an ANCIENT OBSIDIAN RIFLE. Hewn in
some forgotten epoch. It appears hand-carved. Raw. Cruder than
the other EXO weapons, but dwarfs them in size and majesty: its
barrel branches into FIVE glimmering PRONGS. Black stone
FLECKED with bronze.
The Captain accepts his daunting gun. Glances at Hartfield.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
(nods to well)
Leap quickly if you want your
friends to live.
Before Hartfield can respond, the Captain is gone. His squad
runs out into the tunnel behind him -- charging into battle.

TUNNEL
Jasper, Sasha and Keys race forward. Descending deeper into
the tunnel. Unaware of what lies ahead.
Ba-boom! Ba-boom! Hearts rattle in their chests.
 94.

TUNNEL
The EXO Captain storms forward, leading his terrifying squad.
His cloak slashes in his slipstream. The very fabric of space
seems to bend around him.
He raises his gun. Just as we think he's about to crash into
our team --
Daylight breaks. A cave mouth appears ahead. The Captain
bursts out into the snow --

SNOW DUNES
Sleet swirls around his titanic figure.
We notice no signs of C-4 planted along this cave mouth.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
(subtitled)
Where?
The EXO Scout draws up beside him. Unhinges a GEARED
MONOCULAR from its vest. Motions out toward a blue chemlight
glowing in the distance...
The Captain takes the monocular. Glasses the scope.

MONOCULAR POV
The distant chemlight glows beside an EXO HELD HOSTAGE. Its
broad torso tied up in the snow. A sniper rifle peeks out from
behind a nearby dune -- aimed straight at its welded helmet.

CAVE MOUTH
The Captain lowers the monocular, taken aback.
EXO SCOUT
(subtitled)
Looks like they want a prisoner
exchange...
The EXOs turn to their Captain. Unsure of their next move.

BEHIND THE DISTANT DUNE

The sniper rifle secretly sits unmanned.
It's rigged to point at the "Hostage" -- which is actually
the DEAD EXO'S BODY ARMOR from Jasper, Sasha, and Keys'
rucksacks. Carefully staged...
 95.

INT. CAVE TUNNEL

All is quiet. Two remaining EXO Guards patrol outside the well
room.
CRACK! Bullets rupture visors. Their massive frames slam down.
Jasper and Sasha dart out from the darkness. Advancing behind
their obsidian weapons. Keys swoops toward a dead EXO and
steals its three-pronged gun.
Jasper and Sasha converge over the second fallen EXO Guard.
Still alive, it hacks off gurgling breaths. Claws for its gun.
Jasper plants his boot into the EXO's chest...

WELL ROOM
Hartfield lingers at the well. BULLET FIRE echoes from the
tunnels behind: TA-TA-TA!
He glances over his shoulder. Swallows hard. Are his friends
dying needlessly?
Hartfield turns back to the well, torn. He rises up onto the
ledge. Peers down at the churning crystals. Sweat drips down
his face --

BEHIND HIM
-- Just as Jasper, Sasha and Keys dash into the room behind.
JASPER
Lucas!
Hartfield spins around at the voice -- but the brittle ledge
CRUMBLES under his boots. He plummets down into the shaft.
Oh fuck.
Jasper, Sasha and Keys dart to the well. Look down:
Hartfield stares up at them in HORROR. Thrashing in the
churning sand twenty feet below. His torso SINKS into the
black vortex. As if being devoured --
HARTFIELD
Jasper!
The black sand snakes up his chest. Up his neck.
WHOOSH -- Jasper throws down a ROPE -- Hartfield desperately
reaches for it. Struggling to keep his mouth above the sand.
His fingertips kiss the rope. Latch on.
 96.

JASPER
PULL!
Hartfield fights with everything he has. Sucked down by the
black sand vortex. Pulled up by the team --
Caught in a TUG-OF-WAR for his life.

EXT. SNOW DUNES - DAY

The EXO Captain scrutinizes the hostage scene. Platinum eyes
narrow.
EXO SCOUT
(subtitled)
Captain? What is it?
The Captain raises his weapon. Unlocks a hidden compartment
along the barrel. A JAGGED SCOPE rises from obsidian rock,
glimmering like an uncut gem.

SCOPE POV
Peculiar crosshairs aim through the swirling snow. Homing on
the distant EXO Hostage.
CRACK! A bullet streaks through the storm --
And rips into the arm of the "Hostage." No flinch.

SNOW DUNES
The EXO Captain's face twists in realization. He spins back
into the cave with his horrifying squad -- on a mission.

WELL ROOM
Jasper, Keys and Sasha FIGHT TO REEL IN THE ROPE.
JASPER
C'mon... C'mon...
Suddenly, Hartfield's HAND appears over the edge of the well.
JASPER
I got you!
Keys and Sasha grab Hartfield too. Together, they haul him up
onto solid ground. Their bodies collapse...
Jasper and Hartfield meet eyes. A moment of disbelief.
 97.

HARTFIELD
You -- you guys came...
JASPER
Someone taught us a code worth
keeping.
Hartfield looks to Keys. Emotions rising behind his eyes.
KEYS
Yes he did.
The distant THUNDER OF BOOTS cuts through the moment.
SASHA
Gotta move.

TUNNEL
The team rushes out into the main tunnel. Glances left:
Rumbling boots crescendo in the dark -- louder each second.
JASPER
On me!
Jasper darts right. Leading them back the way they came.
The team forms an escort around Hartfield. Weaves through a
maze of giant ice stalagmites. Sapphire ore illuminates
sweaty faces.
Rumbling boots strengthen behind. Like a rising stampede.
The team rounds a bend. Arrives at the final straight away.
Sprints forward --
Until they're suddenly drawn sideways. Re-entering the
CORKSCREW OF GRAVITY.
Sasha races right up the wall.
Hartfield staggers at the sight, EYES WIDE -- but Jasper and
Keys instantly pull him forward. Together they rush up the
wall. Across the ceiling.
TA-TA-TA-TA! Bullets JACKHAMMER the ice around them.
The team looks back -- the EXO Captain charges like a freight
train. His horrifying EXO squad in his wake. Weapons blaze:
TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA-TA!
Jasper, Sasha and Keys raise their stolen obsidian guns.
Nullify the incoming bullets. Return fire --
 98.

But the EXOs deploy countermeasures too. The Captain closes

the gap with unthinkable speed. Chasing the team through the
mind-bending CORKSCREW:
UP the wall. ACROSS the ceiling. DOWN the opposite wall. Back
ACROSS the ground.
Bullets RICOCHET around the tunnel. Ice shatters into a
million pieces. Spraying in their respective gravitational
directions --
An epic cyclone of war.
Upside down, Jasper spots the cave mouth ahead. Daylight
swords through. Growing brighter. Brighter.
He looks to Hartfield --
JASPER
GO! GO!
Jasper turns and unloads a river of COVER FIRE. Hartfield
surges for the daylight. Sasha and Keys do too. They race by
the BRICKS OF C4. Duck around the lip of the cave mouth --

CAVE MOUTH
-- And collapse in the snow. Keys removes a DETONATOR from
his vest. Peers back into the tunnel --

TUNNEL
The EXO Captain charges at Jasper. Unloading merciless fire.
Jasper returns countermeasures. But the Captain's five-
pronged gun is OVERPOWERING. Pushing Jasper's "shield" back
toward his face...
Through the chaos, Jasper meets eyes with the EXO Captain.
Platinum eyes knife into his soul...
KEYS
JASPER, NOW!
Jasper snaps around. Runs and dives out into the snow --

CAVE MOUTH
-- As Keys presses the detonator: BOOOOOOOOM!
The C-4 erupts in a BLINDING FLASH. A curtain of force spikes
outward --
 99.

The tunnel splinters -- stalactites crash down -- shattering

like giant blades! They CRUSH the EXO Captain and his squad.
Burying them in a cascade of rock and ice.
Snow MUSHROOMS like dust after a bomb. Leaving something like
peace...

SIDE OF DUNE
Two eyes flicker open...
Jasper is encased in PURE WHITE. Submerged in a heavy blanket
of snow. Twisted from the impact. He spits up powder. Clears
out his windpipe. Then claws up toward the daylight --
Jasper spots a TINY SILHOUETTE in the grey sky above. It
circles down like a bird. Growing bigger...
Jasper blinks. Wipes his eyes. A small PRIVATE HELICOPTER
comes into focus. Rotor blades roaring through the blizzard.
Descending toward him...
HARTFIELD (O.S.)
Here -- he's over here!
Hartfield, Keys and Sasha race down to Jasper. Reel him up.
SASHA
Come on!
Wind LASHES their hair. They dart for the helicopter. As it
touches down nearby, its door opens to reveal MEDRANO. EXO blood
is crusted across his vest. His eyes zero in on Hartfield --
MEDRANO
My friend -- don't you ever fucking
die on us again!
Hartfield grins.
The Deltas all lock in a brotherly embrace. Reunited at last.

FROM HIGH ABOVE

The helicopter LIFTS OFF into the white maelstrom...

INSIDE THE HELO

The team pulls on headsets. Hartfield looks across at Jasper.
A thousand questions swirling in his mind.
HARTFIELD
... How?
 100.

JASPER
Special Access Program in the
desert. Experimental tech. After
you died, they gave us a chance to
be the guinea pigs.
Hartfield shakes his head in disbelief.
JASPER
This is --
SASHA
Sasha Liman. CIA.
Sasha studies Hartfield with the discerning eyes of a spy.
SASHA
Been quite a ride getting to know
about you.
She curiously extends a glove. Hartfield hesitates, then
shakes it.
HARTFIELD
Sounds like I'm in your debt...
Hope these characters didn't give
you too hard a time.
SASHA
(smirks)
They sure are relentless. I'll tell
you that.
Hartfield glances around at his team.
HARTFIELD
Don't I know it...
Sasha checks her watch. 13 minutes until the box disconnects.
Jasper meets her eyes as the helicopter ascends. They share a
private look... They might just do this.
Keys climbs into the cockpit. Settles beside Medrano.
MEDRANO
So... You going to tell me how you
managed to extract him?
KEYS
Used the armor to stage a hostage
scene.
MEDRANO
Turned their own tactics against
them... Poetic.
 101.

KEYS
"Study the past, battles won and
lost, and you can predict the
future."
MEDRANO
You have been listening all these
years...
Keys leans back, kicking his feet up.
KEYS
Old man, wisdom comes at a hell of
an hour. When youth is gone, the
storm's over, and the girls have
gone home.
MEDRANO
Is that so? Then tell me if you've
seen anything like this --
Medrano draws back on the stick. The helo rises through the
snowstorm. Bursting up into blue skies --
Keys leans forward. Jasper, Hartfield and Sasha do too. Their
faces subtly drop.
COUNTLESS STRANGE ISLANDS dot the horizon. Stretching out
across the infinite ocean. Their unique outlines barely
visible. Their secrets endless.
Each representing a single life.
The team stares out in awe. For a moment they can't help but
feel... Incredibly small.
MEDRANO
There is more in heaven and Earth,
Horatio, than dreamt of in our
philosophy.
The chopper soars. A moment of profound silence.

EXT. COLLAPSED CAVE MOUTH - DAY

Ice trembles...
Rubble cascades off a dark silhouette. The EXO Captain claws
out of the ruins. Black blood leaks down his mouthless jaw...
The Captain rises up. Platinum eyes flooding with rage.
He turns to the snowy horizon. Unhinges his geared monocular.
Searches the sky...
 102.

Until he LOCATES SOMETHING in the far distance.

The Captain sets his jaw. Leans down and pries something from
the rubble: his FIVE-PRONGED OBSIDIAN RIFLE emerges. Its
jagged scope dangles by a thread.
The Captain just snaps it off. Steps up onto a CHUNK OF ROCK.
Surveys the howling wind. And coolly homes in on the horizon...

PRIVATE HELICOPTER
The chopper soars across clear blue skies.
It peacefully advances over the foggy swamp. Past the spire
of the leaning skyscraper. Toward the golden wheat beyond --
THWACK!

INSIDE THE HELO

Alarms wail. Red lights flash as Medrano wrestles the stick.
MEDRANO
Shit-shit-shit...
Jasper and Hartfield open the side door -- INKY SMOKE billows
from the chopper. Fluid gushes from a gaping bullet hole.
JASPER
Nicked an artery back here!
Medrano scans the seizing dashboard. Fuel gauges plummet.
Keys looks out at the beach on the horizon...
KEYS
We're not gonna make it.
The engines start to putter. Choking out dying breaths.
MEDRANO
I'm setting her down! Hold on!
Sasha presses herself against the window. Sees the golden
wheat field ahead. They sink toward it. Medrano pulls back on
the cyclic stick, desperately trying to level out --
MEDRANO
Cold nose!
The chopper dips further. Everyone braces as the golden field
RUSHES UP toward them. Eyes crease --
 103.

WHEAT FIELD
-- the nose of the helo SKIDS across the field. WHAM! WHAM!
The tail of the chopper CATCHES the wheat. Rotor blades SNAP
off -- sending the cabin into a fishtail --
It tumbles onto its side. And groans to an ungraceful STOP.

SNOW DUNES
Black chrome SPHERES spin in a BLUR.
The EXO Captain stands atop his irregular ATV. Forcing down
the steering LEVER. He hurtles across the white dunes like a
BLACK METEOR. A cosmic inevitability.

HELICOPTER
A knife SAWS through twisted seat belts.
HARTFIELD
Medrano, give me your hand!
Hartfield helps Medrano and Keys worm out of the cockpit.
JASPER
This way --
Jasper kicks out a fractured window. They climb free.
Sasha crawls around the upturned cabin. Collects their five
obsidian EXO rifles.

WHEAT FIELD
The team huddles up, gasping. Sasha tosses everyone a gun.
KEYS
Eight minutes.
HARTFIELD
Till what?
SASHA
If we're not at our exit point in
eight minutes, we're never leaving
this dimension.
Hartfield glances at Jasper, startled.
JASPER
Like I said. Guinea pigs.
 104.

The team looks to the bamboo forest, 100 yards ahead --

BAMBOO FOREST
Boots hammer the ground. The team sprints through the stalks.
Hartfield and Jasper help Medrano forward. He cradles his
injured torso.
HARTFIELD
We get back, barbecue at Medrano's
ranch. Jump on the stallions. Do a
little racing.
KEYS
Now you're talking. Be nice to pad
the piggy bank.
MEDRANO
Ah, I don't let cheaters on my
property any more. Strict policy.
Breathless grins.
JASPER
Cheaters? Says the guy who rides
the horse who placed in the...
Jasper glances back over his shoulder. Hearing something echo
across the landscape --

WHEAT FIELD
Engines cycle into a SNARL.
Omni-directional wheels lacerate the wheat. Revealing the EXO
Captain standing tall on his ATV.
He spots the bamboo forest ahead. Twists a DIAL on his
steering lever -- two exhaust pipes FOLD UP over his broad
shoulders like mechanical arms. Angled forward at 45 degrees.
WHOOM-WHOOM-WHOOM! The exhaust pipes KICK as they FIRE MORTARS.

BAMBOO FOREST
Jasper goes pale at the sound.
JASPER
Drägers out -- everything else
behind!
The team bolts for their lives.
 105.

Stripping off all gear except for their DRÄGER rebreathers

and EXO guns. They break through the bamboo onto --

THE BEACH
Flawless white sand. Dazzling turquoise water.
The team scans the endless ocean before them. Tracing past
the INVERTED TREES growing in the water. Their exposed roots
strangely reaching into the sky.
SASHA
There!
Sasha points to the BLACK BOX hidden beyond. Three-quarters
submerged in the crashing surf.
Everyone darts for it. Hurrying down the beach when --
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The Captain's mortars RAIN DOWN around them. But these aren't
standard explosives -- they are gravity bombs.
Sand ERUPTS in cylindrical columns. Then strangely hangs in
MID-AIR. As if trapped in the vacuum of space.
BOOM!
The team staggers at the sight. Another column of sand ERUPTS
before them. They run around its ten-foot radius, eyes wide.
Approach the surf.
Keys spots another mortar ARCING toward them. Straight down
toward Hartfield.
Keys makes a split-second decision. BODYCHECKS Hartfield --
BOOM!
The mortar EXPLODES beside Keys. Shooting him eight feet into
the air -- his body SPIRALS from the residual force. Caught
in the zero-g column of sand. Spinning like an astronaut
without any means of counter-propulsion.
HARTFIELD
Keys!
Hartfield surges back. But Jasper intercepts. Looks to Sasha:
JASPER
Get him to the box!
HARTFIELD
What?!
 106.

JASPER
You're the priority -- go!
No time to argue. Sasha pulls Hartfield toward the ocean.

BAMBOO FOREST
Colossal ATV wheels align into SINGLE FILE... Allowing the
Captain to WEAVE through the dense stalks like a black chrome
snake. He closes toward the beach.

BEACH
Keys spins uncontrollably.
KEYS
Get me the fuck outta here!
Medrano hurries up to the boundary of the blast column.
Unsure what to do.
Jasper quickly checks his watch: 3 MINUTES, 47 SECONDS.
Medrano extends his obsidian gun into the column like an olive
branch. Keys reaches for it as he spins -- misses. Too far.
Jasper eyes the gulf between Keys and Medrano's gun... He
rolls up his sleeves.
JASPER
Medrano, give me the barrel.
MEDRANO
You about to do something foolish
here?
Medrano retracts his gun from the column. Jasper latches onto
the tip of the weapon. Locks in his grip --
JASPER
Don't let go.
Suddenly, Jasper takes two hard steps -- and hurls himself up
into the zero-g column!
Jasper hangs in limbo: half inside the column, half out. He
reaches his free hand toward Keys.
Keys spots it as he continues to SPIN. He extends an arm...
HANDS LOCK TOGETHER. They JOLT at the synergy.
JASPER
Medrano!
 107.

Medrano grits his teeth. Reels in the human chain. Jasper and
Keys float back toward him. They slip out of the column --
and CRASH to the ground.
MEDRANO
Still with us?!
Keys nods tensely -- deeply rattled.
Jasper helps scrape up his dizzy figure. They all turn for
the ocean and don their Drägers. Dive into the surf as --
VROOM!
The cycling ATV bursts onto the beach behind. Colossal black
chrome wheels SLASH the sand. The Captain leaps off with
lethal grace -- never breaking stride.
At his arrival, the columns of sand simultaneously DROP.
The Captain's black armor glistens under the sun. He raises
his formidable obsidian gun and heads for the turquoise surf.
A harbinger of doom.

UNDERWATER
Jasper, Medrano and Keys desperately breast-stroke out. Eel
through the barbaric TRIP-WIRES --
Toward the dazzling crowns of the INVERTED TREES. Thick pink
and white foliage shimmers on giant branches. Reaching down
into the descending ocean floor. Forming a LABYRINTH of
bizarre cherry blossoms.
The team enters the trees. Glimpses the BLACK BOX beyond --

AT THE BOX
Hartfield and Sasha reach the ominous cube. The box FLOATS
atop thirty feet of water. Almost like a black ICEBERG. The
device emits an eerie, penetrating HUM.
Hartfield stares at the box in awe.
Sasha taps his shoulder and motions to the surface. Together
they kick their feet. Pull themselves up --

ONTO THE BOX

Water RUSHES off their bodies. They peel off their prototype
Drägers. Look back over the crashing ocean.
Sasha notices the Captain's ATV parked on the beach.
 108.

SASHA
Oh fuck...

UNDERWATER
Jasper, Medrano and Keys furiously carve forward. Navigating
through the pillars of cherry blossoms. When suddenly --
Bullets TORPEDO past them. Cutting turquoise into RIBBONS.
The Deltas spin back. Obsidian guns raised -- but there is no
sign of the EXO Captain.
The cherry blossoms innocently ebb and flow...
Jasper motions to Medrano and Keys. They quickly disperse,
taking cover in the dense inverted trees.
The Deltas peer through the branches. Trying to see through
the pink-white foliage. Hearts beat in their throats. Breaths
rasp in their masks.
Jasper steals a glance at his watch: 1 MINUTE, 43 SECONDS.
The Deltas strategically kick back toward the box. Keeping
their eyes peeled. Sweeping their guns...
Bullets suddenly RIP toward Keys. He spins his obsidian gun:
countermeasures intercept the stream just in time --
POOF -- POOF -- POOF -- a wall of sparks erupts before him.
Tiny explosions in the turquoise. Silenced by the ocean.
Jasper traces the stream of incoming fire. Searching for the
Captain amid the trees. He spots a FLASH OF BLACK -- gone in
an instant.
Medrano scans around too. Glimpses another BLACK FLASH amid
the pink branches. Fires a stream of bullets -- hits nothing.
The Captain is unthinkably fast.
Jasper swallows hard. His eyes frantically dart around. He
can't see the Captain... But he can almost feel him. Like a
great white shark in the water. A silent, unmistakable
presence.
THOOP!
A bullet CUTS THROUGH MEDRANO from an angle. Blood blooms out
of his thigh. He spins in the direction of the bullets --
THOOP! THOOP!
 109.

Too late. Medrano gets pierced. His body JOLTS with each
impact. Then goes perfectly still.
Keys SCREAMS at the sight... Watching Medrano die from behind
a nearby branch. He desperately swims over to his limp body.
Hooks onto it.
Keys hauls him backward toward the BLACK BOX. Keeping his
obsidian gun raised. Head on a swivel.
Keys reaches the box. Sees Hartfield and Sasha's reflections
above. Desperately lifts Medrano's limp figure as they corral
it. The act leaves Keys momentarily exposed --
THOOP!
A bullet slices through Keys' NECK. He goes still too.
Life bleeds out around the box. Staining the water red...

ATOP THE BOX

Hartfield reels Keys up. Blood pours cruelly out of his limp
neck.
HARTFIELD
NO-NO-NO!
Sasha staggers. Everything unravelling so fast. She turns to
the bloody ocean. Scours the surrounding water.
SASHA
JASPER?! JASPER?!

UNDERWATER
Jasper saws off breaths: Inhale! Exhale! Inhale!
He floats HIDDEN amid the inverted trees. Peering between
giant pink blossoms. Desperately looking around... But can't
see the Captain.
Jasper checks his watch: 58 SECONDS.
Knows he has no other choice. He bee-lines for the black box.
Puncturing through walls of bizarre foliage. Swimming as fast
as he can. The tide turns crimson red as he approaches. He
bursts through the last veil of blossoms --
And stops dead.
The EXO Captain stares straight into his eyes. They are face
to face, feet away. Both caught off guard.
 110.

A split-second draw. They swing up their guns -- obsidian

barrels fork together -- fire --
SHOCKWAVE!
The point-blank blast casts them both back. Their stone guns
SHATTER from the blow. Breaking away in underwater silence.
Jasper looks across at his opponent.
After a moment, the Captain SINKS toward the ocean floor.
Tar-blood billows from his torso... Spilling like OIL from a
behemoth tanker. Fading into the beautiful cherry blossoms.
Jasper's eyes narrow. He checks himself. Blood leaks around a
FRAGMENT OF OBSIDIAN SHRAPNEL lodged in his chest...

ATOP THE BOX

Hartfield and Sasha spot the two silhouettes: The Captain
disappears down into the foliage. Jasper bobs to the surface.
Hartfield DIVES IN without hesitation. Sasha follows suit.
HARTFIELD
JASPER!
He furiously paddles to Jasper. Grabs his body. Turns him
face-up... Blood trickles out of Jasper's mouth.
HARTFIELD
No...
Hartfield shakes his head. Jasper finds his brother's hand...
HARTFIELD
No, you can't...
JASPER
Sure I can... Fireflies, remember?
HARTFIELD
Don't.
JASPER
We shine for a day... think it's
forever.
A bittersweet look. Sasha arrives over Jasper too. He gazes
up at her.
JASPER
(fading)
Now you know there's a way...
 111.

The words blade into Sasha.

HARTFIELD
Jasper! Jasper --
But darkness consumes the light in Jasper's electric eyes.
Hartfield holds onto his limp body. Sasha stares down at
Jasper's figure.
A moment of stunned silence.
BEEP! BEEP! Sasha looks down at her watch. It beeps out the
final countdown.
SASHA
Twenty seconds...
(hooks around Jasper)
Come on, we gotta go!
Hartfield snaps back into the moment. They haul Jasper back
toward the box. Swimming furiously.

OCEAN FLOOR
Pieces of a bronze-flecked EXO gun rest amid the trees. But
the Captain is nowhere in sight...

ATOP THE BOX

Hartfield and Sasha climb up. Reel up Jasper too.
SASHA
Ten seconds!
Hartfield rushes to the circular HATCH OPENING. Jumps down --

THE BOX
He looks back up. Sasha slides Jasper over the hole -- his
limp frame awkwardly tumbles down -- Hartfield catches it.
Piles it onto Medrano and Keys.
Beep: five seconds. Beep: four.
Sasha climbs down. Heaves the hatch shut: CLANG! She lunges
for the puzzle of LEVERS. Yanks them down, over, across --
ENGINES THUNDER TO LIFE -- JUST AS TIME EXPIRES!
Sasha gasps for air. Slumps against the wall, relieved...
But Hartfield slowly raises his hands. Notices tarry-black
blood cobwebbing between his fingers. What the fuck?
 112.

The engines BLAST LIKE A ROCKETSHIP OFF BEDROCK...

Hartfield looks back to the ladder. Tar-blood DRIPS between
the rungs. Sasha sees it too. Goes pale...
A TOWERING BLACK SILHOUETTE RISES FROM UNDER THE CORPSES:
The EXO CAPTAIN emerges from his hideout. Injured, but far
from dead. Platinum eyes shine with rage. He leaps forward --
PINS Hartfield against the wall. Hands squeeze his neck.
Sasha THROWS HERSELF at the Captain. Fights to pry him off.
The sound of the engines WARPS and WRENCHES.
THE EXO CAPTAIN
We're not on your island anymore --
The Captain crushes like a vise. Hartfield chokes for oxygen.
His fists hammer the Captain's ossified jaw. But the Captain
just endures the blows.
GRAVITY SUDDENLY SHIFTS --
Hartfield, the Captain, and Sasha RIP BACKWARD. SLAM against
the opposite wall.
Then are torn STRAIGHT UP -- and CRASH into the ceiling!
The box's lightbulb flickers like a STROBE -- illuminating
the outlines of Hartfield, the Captain, and Sasha exchanging
wicked blows. Tumbling around with each shift in g-force.
The corpses of Jasper, Medrano and Keys FLY WILDLY among them.
The engines grow LOUDER. Sasha spots an EXO gun amid the
chaos. It sits "glued" to the ceiling beside them. Hartfield
and the Captain see it too.
They all DIVE FOR IT --

INT. LILAC BUNKER

SILENCE fills the underground hangar.
Director Bloom cautiously creeps toward THE BOX. Scientists
slowly follow. Eyes wide.
The black cube shakes and RATTLES. A hurricane of VIOLENCE
echoes from its innards. TA-TA-TA! Bullets crack within.
The cacophony of noise abruptly CEASES. Disturbing stillness.
 113.

Sweat rivers down Bloom's face. He stands frozen in place.

The scientists do too. Imaginations running wild.
Bloom's eyes flicker to his LEAD SCIENTIST...
BLOOM
(quietly)
Evacuate your team. Seal the blast
doors. Now.
The Scientists inch away in horror. Then start to run.
Bloom slides a Glock from his waistline. Nods to a group of
ARMED CIA CONTRACTORS nearby. They raise their automatic
weapons. Hurry forward with lethal efficiency. Encircling the
looming black box. When suddenly --
SCREEEECH! The box's hatch GRINDS OPEN. An EXO GUN emerges.
Everyone staggers back. Looks up in dread...

ATOP THE BOX

... But HARTFIELD and SASHA muscle themselves up. Drenched in
red and black blood.
Alive.
They notice Bloom below. The CIA Contractors all around them.
The Scientists gathered in the distance...
Hartfield watches their faces drop at the sight of him.
You could hear a pin fall.
Hartfield draws himself up to his full height. Turns toward
the massive airplane staircase. Latches onto the rails. He
slowly limps down the stairs...
Bloom meets him at the bottom. Awestruck. Hartfield takes in
the Lilac director. Chest still heaving from battle.
Years of weight seem to melt from Bloom's stoic face. He
looks into Hartfield's noble eyes. His life's work validated.
The world forever changed.
He struggles to find words. Just slowly extends his hand.
BLOOM
Welcome home.
Hartfield's eyes fill. The words hit him unexpectedly hard.
HARTFIELD
... Thank you, sir.
 114.

Hartfield notices something in his periphery. Slowly

gravitates toward it...
A CARBON FIBER BATHTUB. Connected to the box. Something
stretched out inside. Engulfed in dry ice and thermal blankets.
Wires protrude from it like some nightmarish experiment.
Hartfield stares down at his OLD BODY. Searching his own pale
face. Noble eyes. A mind-bending moment of self-reflection.
Transcending time and space and dimensions...
Behind Hartfield, Sasha dismounts the staircase. Bloom
embraces her exhausted figure. Helps her upright...
BLOOM
How?
SASHA
You were right... About the look in
their faces. They had something no
other team had.
Bloom searches her sober eyes.
BLOOM
... Had?
Sasha holds his gaze. Bloom puts an arm on her. Understanding.
They look to Hartfield. Still staring at his old body.
Scientists cautiously approach him. Medical devices in hand.
Other scientists climb onto the box. Spot the awe-inspiring
EXO gun. Trace its carved stone frame. Three-pronged barrel.
The Scientists meet eyes. Then slowly peer down the hatch...
The EXO CAPTAIN's majestic figure is splayed out below. His
strange armor twisted in a heap. Black blood leaks past his
chrome-colored eyes. Like otherworldly tears. He lays dead
atop Jasper, Medrano and Keys. A fallen titan...
The Scientists stare down. Faces full of wonder.

INT. BUNKER, MEDICAL LAB - LATER

LED screens display a collage of diagnostic imaging: X-rays.
Ultrasounds. CT scans. MRI results. EKG graphs.
A white-haired female DOCTOR stands before them. Studying a
thick dossier of results labelled: L. Hartfield.
DOCTOR
I want to run a few more tests, but
other than elevated blood pressure...
 115.

Bloom hovers beside her. Chewing on his reading glasses...

DOCTOR
If I didn't know... I wouldn't know.
Bloom turns and looks through a nearby observation window.

BEHIND THE GLASS

Hartfield sits on the edge of a hospital bed. Surrounded by
IVs and cold concrete walls. Deep purple bruises cover his
bare chest.
He contemplates a HARDLINE PHONE. Picks up the receiver like
a motion-triggered bomb. Slowly dials a number. It rings...
EMMA (V.O.)
Hello?
Hartfield nearly breaks at the sound of her voice.
HARTFIELD
... Hey, Em.
EMMA (V.O.)
(playful)
Well look who it is. And here I was
just googling good divorce lawyers.
HARTFIELD
Sorry, it's been... Quite a day.
EMMA (V.O.)
Uh huh. I --
(muffled laughing)
Just wait, Theo. Your father's --
THEO (V.O.)
DAD! You gotta see this new stick
mom got me. I'm going top shelf
from everywhere!
A smile breaks across Hartfield's face.
HARTFIELD
Mom took all the credit, huh... You
weren't supposed to open that till
your birthday.
THEO (V.O.)
Mom's snickering... When are you
gonna be home?!
HARTFIELD
Soon as I can.
 116.

EMMA (V.O.)
Lucas, is everything okay with you
guys? Jasper left a message this
morning -- last time I heard his
voice like that, he was stuck in a
bear trap when we were kids.
Hartfield swallows hard.
EMMA
... Lucas?
Hartfield's eyes swim. He fights tears. They fall anyway.

EXT. SHED - SUNSET

Sasha sits back against the shoddy shack. Gazing out across
the endless desert to the dying sun. It burns brilliantly
along the horizon...
She raises a sweating bottle of champagne. Takes a long swig.
Hartfield emerges from the shed behind. Slowly eases himself
down into the dirt beside her...
He looks out at the world. Glowing purple and blue and
orange. Somehow, it's all more beautiful than he remembered.
HARTFIELD
... Quite a dimension we got here,
isn't it?
SASHA
Still can't beat it.
Sasha passes Hartfield the bottle. He takes a slow drink.
HARTFIELD
Have to say. Everything seems twice
as sweet the second time around...
Sasha half-smiles. An unspoken bond hangs in the air between
them. Two soldiers returned from a distant battlefield.
SASHA
First man delivered from death. An
achievement that will last till the
sun grows cold and the world fades
into oblivion... Everyone's down
there toasting one another.
Celebrating.
HARTFIELD
... But you're not with them.
 117.

SASHA
Doesn't feel right... Does it.
Hartfield looks out at the staggering vista. Lost in thought.
HARTFIELD
When I was first put in charge of this
team, I knew we'd need a North Star. A
fundamental code to help guide us
through all the darkness... So I chose
two little words. An ethos as old as
warfare itself. But now... Now I've
seen the cost of that code...
Hartfield crumbles inside.
HARTFIELD
How can one life -- my life -- ever
measure up to their sacrifice?
Sasha absorbs his words. Sees the torment in his noble eyes.
SASHA
I've struggled with that question
my whole career... How to balance
the weight of one life versus many.
At Lilac, we've always held that
the program is greater than any one
of us -- that it's worth risking
one life to potentially save
multitudes. It's what kept me going
after my colleagues fell... And I
still know that's right. In my
mind, I know that's right. But in
my heart... Being part of this
mission, seeing how much you meant
to your team? It made me realize
I'd lost sight of something...
Sasha's eyes begin to swell.
SASHA
That the inverse is also true. That
it's worth risking many lives to
save just one... Because you could
search a universe of dimensions and
never find someone who could
replace them. So when you get a
chance to save a single life, you
do what it takes. Whatever it
takes... to see it through.
Sasha looks out at the world before them. Tears falling down
her face...
She glances down at her watch. Weighing a difficult choice.
 118.

SASHA
... What if I told you there was
still a chance to save them?
Hartfield's eyes rise.
SASHA
That they weren't truly gone.
Their eyes connect.
SASHA
Not yet.

INT. LILAC HANGAR

Hartfield and Sasha stride forward together. Past scientists
zipping Jasper, Keys and Medrano into bodybags.
They approach Bloom, crouched at the looming box. He reels in
loose cables.
HARTFIELD
Wait.
Hartfield motions to his fallen teammates.
HARTFIELD
Hook them up, one at a time.
SASHA
And bring us the EXO guns.
BLOOM
... What?
HARTFIELD
I don't know how you do things
around here. But on my team, we
have an unbreakable rule.
Bloom gazes up at Hartfield and Sasha in disbelief. A fire
burns in their eyes.
SASHA
Nemo resideo...
HARTFIELD
Leave no one behind.
THE SCREEN GOES DARK.