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Game Script by Syonyx
Updated: 01/17/05 | Search Guide | Bookmark Guide
D2 Game Script by Syonyx Version History: ---------------- Completed December 9, 2003. Last updated January 10, 2005. Capitalized speakers' names for easier reading. INTRODUCTION D2 is one freaky game, full of rich, well-written dialogue. The story is primarily advanced through cinemas and conversations, not all of which happen in chronological order. As a result, it's easy to lose track of different events and remember what various characters have said. This doesn't detract from the general enjoyment of the game. In fact, part of the fun is the constant mystery surrounding most of the game's events. In an effort to help those who want to explore these mysteries further, or just go back to see certain conversations without re-playing the whole game (don't we all wish we kept more save files at one point or another?), I have recorded the game's dialogue and events here. I hope you find it useful, or at least mildly entertaining. I do have to say, though, you shouldn't read this if you haven't yet played D2 but are planning to, because it would spoil the many surprises that await. If you've already played it, or have no plans to play it but want to know what the game is about anyway, then read on! Also, please check out my D2 FAQ/Walkthrough and Plot Guide, both available at gamefaqs.com. ________________________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS *** Use Ctrl-F and enter the section number to jump to that section *** 0.0 Opening Movie Disc 1 1.0 Start 1.1 Learning to hunt 1.2 The stone hut 1.3 Music and poetry 1.4 Crash site 1.4.1 Interlude: David 1.4.2 Interlude: Sorcerer 1.5 Searching for gas 1.5.1 Interlude: David 1.6 Meet Linda 1.7 Confronting a terrorist 1.8 In the mines 1.8.1 Interlude: Mother 1.9 Jannie's story Disc 2 2.0 Start 2.0.1 Interlude: Sorcerer 2.1 An experiment 2.2 Down in the den 2.3 Pharmaceutical building 2.4 Observatory 2.4.1 Interlude: David 2.5 Down the hatch 2.5.1 Interlude: Mother Disc 3 3.0 Start 3.1 Conversations 3.1.1 Interlude: Sorcerer 3.2 A fight over Linda 3.3 The priest's house 3.4 Martha's story 3.5 Back at the musician's house 3.6 Priests' house revisited 3.7 Larry's last request 3.7.1 Interlude: Mother 3.8 The stone bridge 3.9 Kimberly's story 3.9.1 Interlude: David 3.10 Parker's change 3.11 Jannie returns 3.11.1 Interlude: Sorcerer 3.12 Kim's lament 3.12.1 Interlude: Mother 3.12.2 Interlude: David Disc 4 4.0 Start 4.0.1 Interlude: Sorcerer 4.1 Lucy Parton Laboratories 4.2 The Xilo project 4.2.1 Interlude: Sorcerer 4.2.2 Interlude: Mother 4.3 Hunting lodge 4.3.1 Interlude: Mother 4.3.2 Interlude: David 4.4 Final encounter 4.5 A new beginning 5.0 Epilogue 6.0 Counting the Roses ================================================================================ 0.0 Opening Movie ================================================================================ Warp presents: A man walks alone in the snow during a snowstorm. Blood splatters in his tracks. He collapses, but is able to get back up and continues stumbling along, grunting and groaning. The blood in the snow changes from red to green as he crests a hill. Over the other side, we hear him moan and yell in agony... _ ______ -===''*`-;___ ,/ ---`_ | ``-_ ,^ \ | _ `\ _-^ _ _ \ | ^` \ `} { (_` } } | \ } | ' , / / ,' | \ | } ,^,, ``-) / / | \ | } (~+-) / ,; | \ } ) `-' / / _ | ,\/ , / ,',_`[]| | ; _-' /-/ -' | _|__ _ _, ,-' {_ | `* ^* ^" `<--------------| Indoors elsewhere, a fire crackles in a fireplace. A figure in a winter parka sits in a rocking chair in front of the fire. We see she is a young black woman. She holds her head in her hands. She looks over at a blond woman lying in bed, fully clothed, with a cover over her. She moans in her sleep. The night sky, full of stars. A bright flash appears, which turns into a meteor streaking toward the earth. On the planet, seen from space, a red and yellow glow coalesces into some kind of shield, the yellow coating the whole planet, while the red starts as a cross shape and curls into something resembling a four-petaled flower. The meteor burns up as it passes through it, but a small piece remains and falls through the sky, trailing a tail of fire. Typing on a monitor: "Date: Dec 25th, 2000 Time: 13:57 Location: Over the Canadddddd" It is the blond woman typing on her laptop aboard an airplane. She has drifted asleep. A beep sounds over the intercom, and she jerks awake, knocking a compact off her tray and spilling her drink. She wipes up the drink, and looks up to see a small blond girl looking at her from over the back of the next seat ahead. The girl giggles, the woman smiles, and the girl raises up her teddy bear to show her. A man across the aisle has picked up her compact and says, "Excuse me miss, you dropped this. Wow, it sure is a pretty compact." He turns it over and reads the inscription on the back: "To Laura from your mother Lucy". "You wouldn't want to lose it. It was from your mother, wasn't it, Laura?" Laura looks mildly embarrassed. "By the way, were you having a nightmare or something, Laura? You were mumbling, talking in your sleep. Are you alright? Well, I don't fly too well myself." We see that the black woman is on the plane as well. In yet another seat a hooded man is muttering. "Shadow, the final destroyer," he says over and over again. "For the sake of creation all must be, from chaos into order. Shadow the final destroyer..." as he waves his hands over a crystal ball that starts glowing red. "Oh, here", David says, trying to hand the compact back over, but he is blocks by a flight attendant going up the aisle with a cart, passing Laura and the man who is speaking to her. Suddenly, a shot rings out, and the server falls over with a bullet wound in his head. Two terrorists have risen at the front of the plane. One, grey haired with sunglasses in a pin-stripe suit, says, "Shut up. I said shut up. The great shadow is coming, the final destroyer. Pray and celebrate the coming of the final destroyer, our lord, the shadow." He turns and fires his gun toward a woman who is screaming. The hooded man is still muttering in his seat, "Shadow, the final destroyer," over and over again. The other terrorist, a long-haired man with a crazed look in his eyes, yells at other people to shut up. Laura looks around frantically as the terrorists come down the aisle waving their guns. A man tries to tackle the long-haired one from behind and is riddled with bullets. The man who picked up the compact secretly readies a handgun. The grey-haired man speaks again, as he fires above the heads of the passengers: "Pray, the final destroyer is coming. The Shadow is the reason!" The hooded man continues muttering in his seat. The little girl cries, held by her mother, and one of the terrorists yells at her to shut up, pointing his gun at her. The man across from Laura shoots him while he is thus distracted. The other terrorist drops his gun, making choking sounds and staring at his hands, though no one has done anything to him. Then, Laura's compact starts to glow. The man picks it up, saying, "what's this?" and opens it to see an image of a meteorite hitting the plane. He grabs Laura, saying, "Hurry, come with me," and pulls her to the back of the plane as the meteorite we just saw earlier does, in fact, hit the plane in the air. The plane now lies in pieces in the snow. ================================================================================ 1.0 Disc 1 ================================================================================ Fade in on Laura, who is just waking up in bed in a cabin. She sits up and sees the black woman stoking the fire. This woman turns and speaks to Laura. "Good morning. You finally came to. Ten days have passed since that terrible accident, but I only found you the day before yesterday. You were lying in the snow, and I brought you here." She gets up and starts pouring coffee. "You've been asleep for two days, you know. I just can't figure it out. How did you manage to stay alive for eight days? It looks like you were eating regularly too. It's so strange. I found you pretty far away from the crash site. Do you remember anything?" Laura shakes her head. "I see. I'm Kimberly, Kimberly Fox. I'll talk to you more later, you must be tired. Seems like you were having a lot of nightmares too." She brings the coffee mug to Laura, but before she can take it, both are startled by a thump at the door. They turn as the grey-haired terrorist from the plane stumbles through the door making choking sounds. KIM: "What the... Not again. This nightmare isn't over. I'll take care of this." The terrorist's sunglasses fall off and bounce on the floor. The man's mouth opens up and we see something green lurking inside. Green tentacles burst out of his torso and lift his body off the floor. Kimberly drops the coffee mug, grabs a shotgun off the table and pumps it. A giant flower has sprouted from the middle of the man's body, and a long tentacle reaches out from it, wrapping around Kimberly before she can use the shotgun. The tip opens like a mouth in her face, and it sticks a green tongue down her throat as she is held helplessly above the floor. Laura, horrified, sees a rifle by the bed, picks it up and turns it toward the monster. Before she can fire, shots are heard from elsewhere, and the monster drops Kimberly and falls over. It isn't done yet, though. Using the tentacles as legs, the monster crawls like a spider around the room and across the ceiling, as a man with a shotgun shoots at it from the doorway. The monster makes it out the door and escapes into the snow. "Damn it." The man shuts the door and asks, "You alright? I'm Parker, Parker Jackson. You two must be survivors of that plane crash." Reaching for Kimberly he adds, "Are you hurt?" Kim replies, "Don't touch me. Get out of here." She pushes his hand away and turns her shotgun towards him. PARKER: "Just a minute, what do you think you're doing?" KIM: "Get the hell out of here." PARKER quickly says, "Wait, I haven't blossomed yet." KIM whispers, "Blossomed?" PARKER: "C'mon, didn't it look like flowers were blooming from that monster? You saw it. And there's more, there are others just like it out there, it's not the only one." KIM: "What exactly was that thing?" PARKER: "Who the hell knows? Some of them look like they might have been passengers from the crash, but the monsters got to 'em and as you can see they turn into..." KIM, dejectedly: "Monsters." PARKER: "Yeah, they blossom. They turn into monsters too." KIM shakes her head: "Get out." PARKER: "Look, like I said..." KIM: "I'll shoot. I swear I'll shoot," she says raising the shotgun. PARKER: "Look, unless we work together, we won't get out of this alive." KIM: "I *will* shoot." PARKER: "Alright, I'll go." KIM: "Now." PARKER: "Alright, I get it, but listen up, and listen good. You may be armed, but there's only one way to tell whether someone's human or not, and that's by the colour of their blood. Those things bleed green. But to see any blood, then you've got no choice but to shoot. And you've got to do it fast, because they'll be on you in a flash. We don't know much of anything yet. Should we shoot everything that looks like this creature? And what if it looks human and bleeds green? There may be monsters that bleed red for all we know. What are we supposed to do then? We don't know whether everything that looks like a monster always has green blood. Maybe some are still human inside. Maybe they can revert back to humans again. We don't have any answers. All I can say is: Survive. Get out of this godforsaken place alive. Be careful, both of you. Watch your back." He walks out of the cabin, closing the door behind him. KIM: (to Laura) I'm sorry. I wish... If I could...(sigh). Damn it." "I'm sorry about that. We're both in the same boat, I guess. I just don't know what to do, or how to do it. Maybe that man feels the same way. Everyone who survived feels that way, they had no idea what to do. Maybe you're better off than others, not remembering anything. Hey, do you remember anything? Anything about Jannie?" Laura is confused. KIM: "Jannie, the little girl I found you with. You were both lying there in the snow, and you were trying to protect her. I brought you both back here. She wandered off when I wasn't looking. She may know something about you, and she may still be around here, just hiding. Maybe you could take a look outside. You won't be able to walk too far in the snow. And the area, it's surrounded by forest, and the sheer drop, but... I'll wait here. Be careful, okay?" Laura heads for the door to look around outside. Kim stops her, saying: "Wait, you can't go out like that. There's monsters all over the place. The rifle's not enough. Take the semi-automatic over there." Laura opens the cupboard on the wall, and draws in her breath as she spots the sub-machine gun inside. She picks it up with a sense of awe, then heads outside. ________________________________________________________________________________ 1.1 Learning to Hunt Laura goes outside and looks around at the mountainous landscape. Kim comes out behind her and asks, "Have you ever fired a gun before? Give it a try." Laura brings up her rifle and takes aim on a nearby rabbit, but cannot bring herself to pull the trigger. KIM: "You think it's cruel? I did too at first. But you know, I spoke with this Norwegian hunter in a tavern. He said even rabbits and mice have killer instinct, and there's no such thing in this world as absolute prey, or an absolute predator. He also said that it's an energy, a kind of focused awareness that binds life together. So I guess we better stay on our guard at all times to survive. 'To feed the flame of instinct with the fuel of life', was the way he put it. The reason why consuming meat gives the body strength is because the urge to kill and the energy of life embodies the flesh. Or something like that (laughs). I guess what I'm trying to tell you is eat a lot, and get better soon. C'mon. Aim straight and take a shot." Laura sights the rabbit again, and gently squeezes the trigger. The rabbit lies on its side in a spreading pool of blood. KIM: "Alright, you got it. Shoot that way, there's two more over there." Laura lines up the rifle again, and two shots later, there are two less bunnies in the world. KIM: "Wow, you're way better than me. I think you've got what it takes to be a great hunter. You can put the game you caught in this portable cooker. It automatically cleans and cooks the meat, so you can eat whenever you're hungry. It's pretty good. Much better than stale bread. I'm going to go get a little rest now." She goes back inside as Laura takes the portable cooker. ________________________________________________________________________________ 1.2 The Stone Hut After scouting the area briefly, finding no sign of any little girl, Laura returns to the cabin to find Kim lying in bed. Laura wakes her. KIM: (Groggily) "Oh hi. I guess you didn't find Jannie. Where could she be? There's nothing else around here except the stone hut, and I already looked there. There's the crash site, but I don't think you should go there. There's only... You'll only see things of the brutal aftermath. Someone must have given those poor people a proper burial by now." The two women are silent for a moment. "If you are going to the stone hut, use this key to open the cabin inside. I locked it because I didn't want the monsters to get any of the weapons in there. Be careful. I'm tired, I'm going to rest a little bit longer." Laura takes the key from Kimberly, and heads north in the snow until she crests a small hill. She sees a stone hut by a radio tower. Finding the door unlocked, she enters. The hut is empty but looks lived in. She spies a phone on a table in the back. Picking it up, she hears nothing but static. Laura then notices a photo in a frame on the table. She picks it up, and sees a little girl with an old man, with 'Jannie' written across the bottom. Suddenly, a voice speaks from the picture: "Happy birthday! Happy birthday to you..." Laura drops the picture and the frame shatters. The child's voice continues singing. It must a recorded message playing back. "Happy birthday dear Grandpa, happy birthday to you. I hope you have a good birthday, Grandpa. I can't wait to see you again this Christmas. I love you! (giggles)." Laura tries to pick up the picture but cuts her finger on the broken glass. She looks at her finger, relieved to see red blood dripping down it. Sucking her finger, she takes the picture out of the broken frame. In the wall cabinet that she opens with the key, Laura finds a stage magician's stick, which she looks at curiously but decides to take, and a radio cassette recorder. She fusses with the knobs and buttons, hits eject and sees that there's no tape inside. She can't get it to work at all, so she takes it with her and returns to the cabin to show Kimberly. ________________________________________________________________________________ 1.3 Music and Poetry KIM: "Hi. I feel a little bit better." Laura is holding the radio. "It looks like you've been to the stone hut. What's that? You brought the radio back. It won't work, you know. I tried to get news through the radio, but we're too high up for that. A newsflash from the world of the living won't do us much good anyway. But you know what? I got an idea. I think there's something here that we could both use. Do you wanna hear it? It's called "Counting the Roses". [Note: the lyrics are available at the end of this document]. I actually wrote the lyrics, believe it or not. I'm a poet. Someone who happened to read a poem of mine wrote and recorded this tune. I even got a letter once from someone who heard the song. Poetry to me, it's like creating my own microcosm. A sanctuary of comfort. It was probably, no, it must have been the end of another sad day when I wrote this poem. I saw this place, it was pure white as far as the eye could see, and I... I was counting roses. Yellow and red and lavender, hundreds of roses, so beautiful. You could lose yourself in them. And this shiny white world. I wanted so much to go there. Warm. Typical, eh? So young. Well, there's one thing I could say for sure about my life. If I had a second chance, I wouldn't want to born as myself again. No way, anything but that. I wouldn't want to go through that again. Not my father's accidental death, not my mother's suicide, none of it. At first, I tried escaping, through drugs. Then, I learned to create my own little world with poetry. It was a place where there was no memory of my parents' death, and I would just be happy. I recently went through some of my poems, and I realized something. Every one of my hundreds, no, thousands of poems, they were so sad." The sound from the radio warbles and stops. "Oh, no, the player ate my tape. Great. We can't listen to the radio, and now we have to tape player. Here, you can have it. (Laughs) Consider it a gift. A broken tape player and a pulverized cassette of mine. How depressing. And I thought a little music would be good for our morale." Kim walks to look out the window. "You know, there's something else I don't understand. It's been ten days since the accident. So why hasn't any help arrived? Can you remember anything, anything at all from the last eight days? You must have been with someone else. I couldn't make it out, but you were calling someone's name. I wonder what could have happened to Jannie. If we could only find her, she might know about this other person. I'm sure of it." ________________________________________________________________________________ 1.4 Crash Site Laura steps outside once more when, out of nowhere, the radio cassette recorder starts to pick up a signal. "This is Craw airlines flight 86... 3. This is an emergency. We have crashed on a mountain north of Yellowknife, Canada. Can anyone hear me? Please, if you can hear me, this is flight attendant Cash..." The message repeats. Laura realizes that it's time to check out the plane wreckage. She marches through the snow, using her map as a guide. With sub-machine gun equipped, Laura enters the plane cabin to find devastation. Blood-soaked corpse is by the door, and there is blood all over the floor. The seats are all broken, and paper flaps in the wind everywhere. As she approaches the front, a thin woman in a tattered flight attendant suit gets up moaning. She is smothered in green blood. She has a vacant look in her eyes as she speaks, her voice gradually becoming deeper and raspier, until it is incomprehensible: "Is everything alright ma'am? Our current location is above Canada... Turbulence is the original ETA at St Charles...autopilot engaged..." Her left eye pops out and an insect climbs out of the socket. She jumps back to stick on a giant web, and pointy green sticks poke out of her belly. A long tentacle bursts out of her and grabs Laura by the waist, smacking her repeatedly against the cabin walls. Laura fires her gun at the monster while being whipped around, but it's having no effect. Suddenly, Laura notices the butterfly that crawled out the woman's head. It is fluttering around the monster. She turns her gun on it instead. After hitting it a couple of times, the monster pulls Laura in close and asks her, "Meat or fish?" Laura opens fire on the monster's face. The monster goes limp, releasing Laura. Thinking it is defeated, however, Laura is surprised when red spider legs burst out of the back of the flight attendant's head, and her face splits open to reveal a toothy maw. Her head separates from her body, with part of her spine as a tail, and the new creature lunges at Laura's head. At the last possible moment, the monster is speared by a wooden shaft and pinned to the wall. Kim has appeared and saved Laura from certain death. KIM: "That was close... I was worried. You were gone for so long and so, well, that's what happened. She blossomed." Kim sees the crushed butterfly on the ground. "Hey look, there's a butterfly. I wonder if that's a symbol of that stewardess's wish to fly. Hey, I do have some good news. Guess how I got here? I found a snowmobile. I bet we can make it out of here as long as we have that. I don't think the monsters can attack us while we're riding a snowmobile. But we don't have much gas left, just enough to get back to the cabin. Yeah, we'll have to find some gasoline somewhere before we can go anywhere else. Let's just go back for now. It's not much, but our luck is finally beginning to turn for the better. Right, Laura?" Laura looks curiously at Kim. She hadn't remembered even her name. KIM: "Surprised? You never told me your name, but that must be your name." Kim holds up Laura' compact. "This is yours, isn't it? I found it by the bed. It's engraved, 'To Laura from your mother Lucy'. Does that bring anything back? Lucy? That's your mother's name. Does it ring any bells? Can you remember, can you remember her? What's she like? What does she look like? I bet she was very kind to you. When I found you lying in the snow, you were holding it, as if it were so precious. During those 2 days you were unconscious, you held this close, and kept calling out someone's name. A man's name." Laura lifts a hand to her forehead, and everything goes blurry. "Laura. Laura, are you alright? Laura..." ----- 1.4.1 Interlude: David ----- Scene: A white sky, snow is falling. A man is speaking, but we can't see him. "Laura. Laura... Are you alright? I'm glad you came to. Here you are, you don't want to lose it. It's a precious gift from your mother. Are you hurt? You don't seem to have any serious injuries. You should be on your feet in no time. You remember the plane crash? Our plane went down after being hit by a meteorite. The strange thing is, your compact started to glow just moments before impact, and I had a vision of a burning rock colliding with the jet. Without thinking, I grabbed your arm, and the next thing I knew, we were on this mountain. I managed to carry you down to this small cabin. You remember me, don't you? I'm David. David Brenner." ---------------------------------- Laura wakes up, still in the crashed airplane. She sees Kim, who is holding her up. KIM: "Laura... Laura... Laura, can you hear me, Laura? Oh, you scared me. I was afraid you would sleep for another 2 days straight. I was just getting used to having a friend. Don't leave me alone, okay? C'mon, let's go back to the cabin. Who knows? Maybe we'll find Jannie fast asleep in bed." It is dusk outside. A snowmobile with a headlight on cruises along, with Kim driving and Laura behind her. KIM: "Hey Laura, can you hear me? If we ever get out of here, I'm going to write a poem for you. Yeah, I think the theme will be... light. It's what you brought into my life. I'm so glad I met you, Laura. Well, are you ready for some speed? Hold on tight!" They race along the snow back to the cabin. ----- 1.4.2 Interlude: Sorcerer ----- Scene: A robed, hooded man walks through the snow, leaning on a knarled wooden staff with a green gem embedded in the top. ------------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ 1.5 Searching for Gas Laura wakes from a nap in the mountain cabin, looks around to find it empty. She gets up and finds a note on the table. It reads, "To Laura, the best possible friend came in the worst possible circumstance. I'm feeling much better, thanks to you. I've gone to look for gas, hoping that you will recall your past. Very, very soon, Kimberly." Laura goes outside and notices a key ring with two keys on it has been left in the snowmobile's ignition. She tries to start it, but the engine sputters and won't turn over. She sets out to look for Kimberly, heading east. She finds some power lines and follows them to an industrial complex. Finding her way barred by a pair of heavy, high gates, Laura turns her attention to a truck in the clearing by the gates. Laura opens the truck door and climbs into the cab. She tries the other key from the snowmobile and it turns. The truck's headlights come on and it starts to advance. As it picks up speed, Laura realizes that she's not in control. She pumps the brake fruitlessly as the truck crashes through the mining facility's gates and skids to a halt. Laura is shaken but unharmed. She is able to enter the front part of the mining facility, but is stymied by a door lock requiring a passcode. Emerging from the mining facility after not knowing the code, Laura is shocked as the truck is being driven straight toward her, with no sign of slowing down. An old man with a cowboy hat is behind the wheel. Laura fires her sub-machine gun at him and he rolls towards her, and dives out of the way at the last minute. The truck crashes and the old man is thrown free. Laura gets back up and walks over to the body lying in the snow. She sees green blood splattered in the snow around him. She also spies an e-card in a plastic laminate, tied around his neck with a lanyard. As she reaches to pick it up, however, the man suddenly bursts back to life. He approaches Laura unsteadily. "Hi Jannie, it's Grandpa. Do you recognize me? We can see each other soon. I look forward to Xmas. I bet you'll get to see the grand Aurora in the sky. I'll get a cherry pie for your birthday, since you like cherry pie so much, to eat under the aurora sky. I'll be waiting, sweet child. Sweet, sweet child." His voice deepens as this last line is spoken. His body ripples and a single long, green tentacle bursts from his body. It waves around his body, stopping only to spray Laura with some kind of mist. When it hits her, it hurts. She starts firing at his tentacle with her sub-machine gun. As the battle rages on, the monster rambles on like a madman. He also somehow manages to create doves, seemingly out of this air. These fly around and grow to gigantic proportions, and sometimes turn on him, picking him up by his tentacle and dropping him on the ground. He says: "Sweetheart, why don't you bring that teddy bear that I got you for your last birthday? Grandpa's going to show you a magic trick. There's not much to do around here, so you have to keep yourself amused. This one's a pigeon trick, so you're going to see white doves fly out of thin air. Just wait 'til you see it. Oh yes, you're such a nice girl, Jannie. Jannie, Jannie, Jannie..." Finally, Laura is able to take him down. Hi body inflates like a balloon, then bursts, releasing several white doves into the air. Laura picks up the E-card, removing it from its plastic sleeve. She then sees that there is also a photo in the sleeve. Examining it, she sees a little girl and the old man. She realizes these are the same people as in the photo in the stone hut. She also realizes that the old man was the girl Jannie's grandfather. As the horror of the situation sinks in, Laura screams and blacks out. ----- 1.5.1 Interlude: David ----- Scene: The same white sky, snow falling. David is speaking. DAVID: "Laura, it looks like it's morning. As far as I can tell it's still snowing. (Moans) No, I'm alright. Ooh, aah. It just hurts a little. I took a beating. I probably won't be able to walk anytime soon. How are you doing? Good, good. Your color's coming back. I'm sure you're going to be just fine. The snow's so beautiful. You know, I actually grew up in these parts. When I lived here, snow was nothing but a dreary pain. But now, now it seems... Oh, this flower? This is a Canadian flower. I'm gonna keep it as a good luck charm. My mother used to press flowers, I remember. I wish I could bring you luck, protect you. Right, how can I? Why..." ---------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ 1.6 Meet Linda Laura wakes in the mountain cabin, roused by Kim's voice. KIM: "Laura? Laura! Oh Laura, I am so sorry. I never should have left you alone. Are you alright? I remembered there was a trailer in front of what looked like a mining facility. That's where I went. Unfortunately, the gas tank was empty. There was nothing left. Laura, there was nothing else you could have done. Please, please don't blame yourself. It may have seemed that that thing was Jannie's grandfather, but he had already blossomed. Laura, there's no use thinking about it right now. We should concentrate on finding Jannie and getting out of here. Look, it'll be completely dark soon. I'm going out again to look for gasoline. You should rest a little." Kim takes a bottle of pills from her pocket. Laura looks at them inquisitively. "Hmm? Oh this. It's medicine, just medicine. Would you like some? It's called 'Linda'; it's very popular these days. It helps me relax and somehow seems to make everything crystal clear. I guess it sort of frees you. Maybe it'll even bring your memory back." Kim takes some pills. "I can't live without this stuff. I'm a real mess, alright. Oh, I was so awful to that guy Parker. He'd just saved our lives. If we'd stayed with him, maybe Jannie would be... Wait a second. That's his name! David. That's right, that's the name of the guy you called out in your sleep over and over again. I remember you saying, 'David, David. Thank you so much David'. Does that sound familiar? Do you remember a guy named David? Maybe he's the one who helped you. 'Thank you so much David'. That's gotta be it. He must be lost along with the other passengers from the crash. He must be lost along with those 8 days of memory you've lost. You were with him after the accident. You got lost, so maybe he's still out there somewhere, waiting for you to come back. Is he your boyfriend? Your husband? David. David, thank you so much David. That's exactly what you said. If only Jannie were here, then we would know something. Hey, don't worry, we'll figure things out. The first thing we need to do is find gas for the snowmobile. If you feel up to it you can help me look. There must be some gas around here somewhere. Here, take this, it'll be dark soon. Use this to light your way." Kim hands Laura a flashlight. "I'll go on ahead." She walks away, but turns back at the door. "It'd be great to meet David again, wouldn't it?" ________________________________________________________________________________ 1.7 Confronting a Terrorist Laura takes the e-card to the stone hut, where she saw the safe earlier. It does open when she inserts the key. Inside, she sees a walkie-talkie. Picking it up, she clicks the talk button once. Almost immediately, a voice comes through. It sounds like a little girl. "Grandpa, Grandpa, is that you? I knew you'd come, Grandpa. It's Jannie! Can you hear me? I'm in the building with the big fence around it. I thought you were coming in that trailer, so I've been waiting. I'm cold, Grandpa, I'm so cold. Help me Grandpa..." The signal dies out. Laura clicks the button repeatedly, but the display flashes the message: 'LOW Batt'. Laura sees a note taped to the inside of the safe door. It reads: "Gate Key Code #### Gold Mining Industry Code" Laura makes to leave but she hears voices outside the door, one male and one female. MAN: "Okay! I said okay, already." WOMAN: "Get in there". Laura quickly dives under the bed as the door opens. WOMAN: "Time to talk, you bastard. What's in here, what are you hiding in here?" MAN: "N-n-nothing, I swear! For Christ' sake, put the shotgun down. I swear, I don't know anything! Larry and I are not terrorists. He kept going on about how he was going to resurrect the shadow. How the hell was I supposed to know what he was talking about? " WOMAN: "Shadow?" MAN: "Larry's on some bad stuff. He's been hanging out with this weird sorcerer, goin' on and on about how they're going to build a perfect world. This creeps got us on the same stuff, this Linda crap. And it's like, you're god. You see weird stuff, like a huge seed stuck inside ice that shines. You know what I'm saying. When I saw it, I just knew it was the Shadow. No one told me, I just felt it. So I really don't know anything. All my buddies got killed in that crash, and Larry's turned into one of those damned monsters. I don't know if that means he's dead or alive. Man, he even tried to eat me, you know? That... what am I supposed to do now? C'mon, you gotta help me, I don't know anything, nothing at all. All this happened because of Larry and Linda." WOMAN: "You really don't know anything?" MAN: "Yes, I swear. Hey, you and me, we can get out of here together, huh? You're one tough broad. I like that. I've always had a thing for strong women, too. (Hopping around a bit) See, why don't we pop some Linda, and do a little of this, huh? C'mon, satisfaction guaranteed, heh heh. Ain't no way no monster's gonna eat me, but a good looking woman like you? That's different." <Buzzing sounds> "What, what the hell? What are you doing? No, c'mon, don't, please, oh my god, no, nooooo!" His feet are lifted off the ground, then he is dropped to the floor, dead, with red blood on face. We recognize him as the long-haired terrorist from the plane. The other person, whose lower legs and feet were all we could see, appeared to be wearing the same clothes that Kim wears. Could it be her? ________________________________________________________________________________ 1.8 In the Mines After recovering from the shock, Laura leaves the stone hut with the mine code, gaining access to the mining facility. Laura descends the mine elevator and steps out into an industrial compartment, with pipes and slowly-turning fans everywhere. She explores the mine, full of bats and spiders, until she finds a lift. It starts automatically as she steps onto it. At the bottom, she finds an area that was holed out for a lounge, with miner's coats and toolboxes lying about. More importantly, she finds a stack of cans of gasoline. Picking some up, she hears a voice from the darkness. "Someone help! Is someone there? Help, Grandpa, it that you? Help!" Laura runs to the voice, sees a little girl in a green dress. Recognizing her from the picture, she realizes that she has finally found Jannie, who is stuck in a small hole. JANNIE: "Oh Laura, get me out of here. Please Laura! I was looking for grandpa, and I fell down here, and it's scary! Help me Laura!" Laura uses the magic stick to pull the girl up, as it is too far to just use her arm. "You saved me Laura. Thank you, thank you. I knew I'd see you again. Where's Kimmy? She okay too, isn't she? I wanted to find grandpa, but I got lost. I'm sorry." The earth shakes, and the mine starts to collapse all around them. JANNIE: "What's going on? Laura, what's happening?" Both Laura and Jannie scream as the whole place caves in on top of them. ----- 1.8.1 Interlude: Mother ----- Scene: White, snow everywhere. There is nothing else visible anywhere. A voice calls. GREAT MOTHER: "Laura, Laura, Laura. Awake, Laura Parton, in the name of the great mother. I have found your soul at long last, and through it I can speak to you." Laura is lying face down in the snow. "You must fight, Laura, you must fight for all mankind, for all life that I have created. I am the Great Mother, creator of all things." Laura gets up and starts walking. Stumbling, she rises to see a yellow door appear out of nowhere. Laura opens it to reveal a bright light, which engulfs her. She has visions of the planet earth from space, dinosaurs roaming through forests, pterodactyls flying in the air. But a pair of meteorites strike the earth as the dinosaurs watch. The vision flashes... ----------------------------------- Laura wakes up in the mountain cabin, sits up in bed. KIM: Laura, you're awake! Good, you're okay. Jannie's okay too." Laura sees her lying in bed beside her. "What happened exactly? I was just sitting here worried because you were gone so long, than all of a sudden the two of you just fell out of the sky. A bright golden light lit up the entire room, and, and boom! See? Look up there." Laura looks up, sees the roof is now missing from the cabin. KIM: "What are you anyway? A witch, maybe? A good one I hope. Maybe you have teleporting abilities or something." Laura shakes her head. "Well, that's one more thing we can't figure out. At least we have Jannie back, and the gas you found, so we can take the snowmobile and get out of here. I ran across a small valley while you were out, and I think we can make it if we push the snowmobile to the limit." Laura looks worried. "Scared? Don't worry, I'll drive. C'mon, are you ready? Seems like there's more monsters around now, and it's getting colder. Especially in here (points at missing roof)." Both women laugh. JANNIE wakes: "Laura! Kimmy!" KIM: "Where were you young lady? Laura and I were worried sick about you." JANNIE: "I'm sorry Kim. I knew Grandpa's house was nearby, so I tried to go find him, but I couldn't. Where's my grandpa? I want to go see him. I want to see my grandpa. Do you know where he is? I promised I'd come see him if he promised he'd show me the northern lights, and magi tricks. It's my birthday soon. I want to celebrate with Grandpa." Laura puts her face over her hand in distress. KIM: "Oh Laura, don't cry. There's nothing you could have done. You know how things are. You're not to blame. But what we are responsible for is making sure this little girl is safe. Right?" ________________________________________________________________________________ 1.9 Jannie's Story Jannie is playing with her teddy bear on the bed, beside Laura. KIM: "Jannie, do you remember the first time I saw you?" JANNIE: "Uh-huh, I remember." KIM: "Jannie, you were with Laura right?" JANNIE: "Uh-huh." KIM: "Was there anyone else with you too?" JANNIE: "Anyone else?" KIM: "A man." JANNIE: "No, no one else. There wasn't anyone else ever. After the airplane crash, I was all alone for a long, long time, and then Laura found me." KIM: "Was Laura with a man? Someone named David." JANNIE: "Uh-uh, Laura was all by herself, just like me. We were walking, then Laura suddenly went to sleep. So I went to sleep too. Next thing I know, I'm here with you." KIM: "So when you woke up, you were here." JANNIE: "Uh-huh, and so were you, Kimmy." KIM: "So, (long pause) where are your mom and dad?" JANNIE: "My dad went away a long time ago. So I went on the airplane with my mom, but she... She fell asleep." KIM: "Fell asleep?" JANNIE: "The airplane crashed in the snow, and I got really cold. My Mom held my hands like she always does. My mom's hand is so warm. But her hands kept getting colder and colder. I told her that her hands were cold, but she said it was because of the snow, and that everything would be okay. Then she kept getting colder and colder, so I tried to warm up her hands like she always did. But it didn't work. She said it would be okay, and we just held hands. And mom went to sleep." KIM: "Oh Jannie." JANNIE: "I'm sorry Kimmy. That's why I didn't want to go to bed. I was scared of going to sleep. So I tried to find grandpa instead. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." KIM: "It's okay Jannie, you don't have to be scared anymore." JANNIE: "Will I fall asleep and go away too?" KIM: "Not you Jannie. You're going to be perfectly alright, because you've got Laura and me. It isn't going to be easy, but remember this JANNIE: You can never give up hope." JANNIE: "Hope?" KIM: "Yes, hope. It's the most important thing anyone can have in life. To believe, to keep believing and never give up. Not ever. Have a bright light burning in your heart. (Laura looks up at her) As long as you breathe, that light will grow stronger and brighter, to light your way." JANNIE: "Oh, I understand. Grandpa always says, 'Jannie, even if bad things happen, have faith in tomorrow'." KIM: "That's right Jannie. You're so strong." JANNIE: "Uh-huh. I know about that now. Grandpa taught me about a lot of things." KIM: "Jannie, you're a very smart girl. You understand, don't you, that you can't see your mother." JANNIE: "Ever again?" KIM: "I'm afraid not. Your mother had to go to sleep to be safe so she could protect you forever. She was a wonderful person, honey." JANNIE: "I know." KIM: "You have to survive no matter what, Jannie, for your mother's sake." JANNIE: "Okay Kimmy. Laura, Kimmy, can I ask you something?" KIM: "What's that." JANNIE: "Can I call you and Laura mommy?" KIM: (laughs) "Sure you can." She touches her hand to Jannie's cheek. JANNIE: "You're so warm." KIM: "C'mon. Laura, Jannie, lets get going on the snowmobile. We have a valley to cross. Laura needs to find this David guy, and I need to apologize to Parker, if we ever run into him. Let's go." The whole lot of them ride off on the snowmobile. Kim says, "Alright, here we go. Everybody hold on tight." She picks up speed and jumps over a small valley. They land safely on the other side. ================================================================================ 2.0 Disc 2 ================================================================================ ----- 2.0.1 Interlude: Sorcerer ----- The hooded man trundles along with great effort through the snow, leaning heavily on his staff. We see he is wearing many large-gemmed rings, and a necklace of strange design. ------------------------------------- The ladies are riding the snowmobile. Kim stops, seeing something. "Hey look, there's something over there. Let's go check it out." They pull up to a large cabin. KIM: "I have a bad feeling about this. Hello!" JANNIE: "Helloooo..." KIM: "Doesn't look like anyone's home. Let's go in." She opens the door cautiously, and they all step inside. KIM: "It's really dark in here. Can you find a light switch somewhere? Oh, here it is." She flicks the switch. KIM: " Hmm, I guess there's no one here. I wonder if it's okay to just take anything? Laura, could you search this room and see if there's anything useful. I though I saw a light ahead, a yellow one. I'm gonna check it out. And Jannie, you come with me." JANNIE: "Alright." KIM: "Okay? We'll be back as soon as we finish checking it out. You're not scared to be alone, are you? We'll be right back." ________________________________________________________________________________ 2.1 An Experiment Laura is alone in the house. She sets out to explore it. From the main room, one door opens to a short wooden hallway with another door at the end. The sign on that one reads, 'Restroom'. Hoping to relieve herself, Laura opens that door and walks through, but there is only a sheer drop outdoors behind it! Laura, almost falling over the edge, grabs the edge of the floor and pulls herself back up. Suddenly, she hears a scream from the main room. She runs down the hall to see two figures. One is an unknown man in a lab coat, with a bandage wrapped around his head. He is pointing a gun at Kimberly, who is wearing only a towel wrapped around her body. The man, from his manner of speech and strange movements, is obviously deranged. KIM: "Please, don't." MAN: "'Oh, please, don't'. What do you mean by that? You say amusing things. Help, huh? I bet all the people you victimized up until now pleaded for their lives in the same way, huh? 'Stop, please, help'. Pitiful." He kicks over a chair. Kim falls over and yells, "Help!" MAN: "Shhh. You're hurting my ears. Shut up, will you? My head hurts, it's pounding. Don't shout. Do I have to beg, huh?" He holds out green and red pills, and swallows a handful all at once. "It's Linda. You wanna take some? This stuffs different from the usual stuff they sell. It's more potent and it *really* works. You don't need any, 'cause you're gonna die soon anyway. Or are even monsters scared of death? I guess it doesn't really matter, huh? It doesn't matter what happens to you because you're not human anyway, are you? You're not human." KIM: "You're wrong." She is sitting on the floor, pleading. MAN: (Laughs) "You did such crazy things. What's not true? I saw you with my own two eyes. What wasn't true about how you mutated into that, that thing? How you attacked my father? How you ate him, ate him!" KIM: "You're wrong." MAN: "Liar! You're disgusting. (holds gun to her head) Go on, why don't you show yourself. Go ahead and blossom into your sick, disgusting, real self. right now, c'mon. (Laura inadvertently hits the light switch on the wall). What? Who's there?" He sees Laura and turns his gun on her. "Who do we have here? Do come and join us. Isn't that nice, we have company." Laura walks over with her hands up and sits beside Kim. "Do you blossom into a pretty flower too? C'mon, show me, I wanna see (cackles). Let's conduct an experiment, shall we? Yes, an experiment. You know, a test, on both of you." Laura and Kimberly are tied to their chairs and cannot struggle free. MAN: "Bang! Bang! (as he waves the gun at the women.) Well let's see, who should I shoot first? It's really simple. See, I take this pistol, and bang! I shoot your foot. Bang! And if I see green blood, you lose. Bang! If I shoot you in the head, you won't be able to move. And if there's red blood, I guess I'll just have to untie the rope. Red blood proves you're human, you see. But if you bleed green, you know what happens. Bang!" Laura screams. Turning to Kim, the man continues. "I'm talking about you, yes you. Do you hear me?" He grabs Kim's face, forcing her mouth open, looking inside. "How could you do that to my father?" KIM: "It's not true." MAN: "I saw you, I saw you. You took my father and..." He starts vomiting, then takes more Linda. His speech and movements are now more slurred. "That's why I'm going to experiment. Experiments are fun. I want to see you turn into a monster (laughs). Ah, that's exactly what we're going to do. Look, look, I'm going to shoot you now, bang!" He fires the gun. Kim screams. The bullet breaks a window in the back. The man laughs. "Just kidding. Surprise!" He shoots Kim in the leg. Green blood spurts out of it. Laura sees this in horror. Kim screams in agony. "Ah ha! I knew I was right! Now I'll show you. This is for what you did to my father! Huh?" A gurgling sound comes from Kim's stomach. The man leans in, saying, "What the..." and a red round mouth on a stalk bursts out of her stomach and instantly closes on his head, biting it clean off. His body stumbles around for a few moments before falling over dead in a corner. Kim pulls herself out of her chair and faces Laura, who looks down at her stomach, which is now covered by a towel again. She no longer speaks. Her body rocks, the towel ripples and falls off. Kim is naked, with green stuff around her waist. The red mouth, ringed with teeth reaches for Laura and... A shot is heard, and the monster stumbles back. Kim (another Kim), dressed as she left Laura, has a shotgun. The monster falls to the floor. KIM: "Oh god, this is so twisted. I mean, suicide and homicide are supposed to be totally different things. Why is this happening to me?" She looks at the dead creature that was her. "I'm sorry, did she hurt you?" Jannie appears in the doorway. "No, don't come near. You shouldn't see this." JANNIE: "Alright." Dejected, she turns around and backs out again. KIM: "I don't know anymore. I don't know what's what anymore (cries). I'm sorry. It's just that, I've never killed myself before. Look, are you alright? I guess I'm over it now (coughs)." Laura looks up at her while she continues coughing. "I'm sorry (still coughing). There was a storage facility just ahead, and I saw it there too." She unties Laura. "My own body. Talk about freaky. I mean, who ever had to walk over their own dead body? (chuckles) I didn't think I'd end up killing myself, but I guess it's better than being killed by the other me. Ahhh!" Kim is lifted into the air as the monster-Kim has grabbed her by the back of her jacket. She throws Kim to the floor. The monster picks up Kim's shotgun and jumps to the ceiling, held up by green tentacles coming from her shoulder blades. Laura grabs her gun and takes aim... KIM: "Thanks Laura, you saved my life. I guess she's a clone, huh? Certainly looks just like me." She picks her shotgun back up. "Gives me the creeps. I guess they have the ability to replicate the exact physical appearance of their victims. Oh, did you think I'm... Don't worry, I'm human. You can't clone a person's mind. I suppose they grow at an accelerated rate from a DNA sample. A brainless Xerox copy. I guess if they're capable of a real conversation, they're probably not a clone. They do learn pretty fast. Did you notice how that one could talk a bit? It was mostly mimicking, but in the end, maybe you can only go by the colour of blood. It just seems so sinister. Hey Laura, you do believe me, don't you?" Laura nods. "Can't say that I blame you. It's hard for me to even know what I am any more. All these crazy things going on around here. You end up suspecting yourself of the worst things. Gotta snap out of it, though. C'mon Jannie, lets go check out the next room." JANNIE: "Okay". ________________________________________________________________________________ 2.2 Down in the Den Kim and Laura sit on sofas in the den. Jannie is asleep on a chair. KIM: "It feels like we're at the far edge of the earth. But I think we'll sleep well knowing there's 3 of us. It's tough trying to go to sleep by yourself. With no good memories to fall back on, it's like, like the night clings to you. The tides of night surging in, thick as tar, cutting you off from everything, leaving you all alone in the universe. I guess that's why I always take refuge in these drugs." She pulls her bottle of Linda out of her pocket and swallows one. "To tell you the truth, the medicine is the reason I was on that plane. The room was so thick with sticky, suffocating darkness that night. I though I'd drown. I took my medicine, and that's when I saw it. It wasn't a trip. It was kind of a vision, a vision of a landscape. And after that, I could see it almost every day, whenever I took a dose. I knew I was being called there. And then I saw the place where this drug originated from, in a newspaper. The article was about Linda, how it was extracted from a type of lichen only found in the Tundra in northern Canada. It mentioned that Linda triggered aggression and psychosis in some people, and that several violent murders in the past few years were committed by perpetrators who were taking Linda. And even that many acts of cannibalism have been committed. The article went on about the connection between human aggression and instinct, but I couldn't take my eyes off the photograph. I was mesmerized by it. It was exactly what I had seen in my vision. The same landscape. And that's why I got on that plane. Of course, you know the rest. (Sigh). Laura, do you remember anything yet? Your mother, and that compact, and that David guy. He could be out there, still waiting for you. That David guy, do you remember anything yet? Laura, do you remember anything? Laura, anything? (Sigh) That's too bad." Laura looks tired. "You wanna go get some sleep? It'll be dawn in a few hours, and the days are very short around here anyway. I hope tomorrow's a good day. Today wore me out." Laura stretches out on a bed in the same room. When she wakes, she starts to walk out of the room, but Kim brings her back. KIM: "Oh, sorry, I guess I dozed off. Hey, you should take this." She hands Laura a key. "You're going to need it is you go up to the other buildings. Just jiggle the lock a bit, and the door will open. There's some sort of storage facility, but it was too cold to stay for long. Not that there's much there except for a lot of junk and a hatch in the floor. The hatch seems to lead down to a cellar, but it was frozen shut. The building's just up a hill. There's a large yellow lamp. But be careful, because it's very dark along the way. Take the snowmobile if you want. Well, good night." ________________________________________________________________________________ 2.3 Pharmaceutical building Laura rides the snowmobile up the path to the building. There is indeed a bright, yellow beacon in front of it. Dismounting in front of the doors, she reads the sign, "Brenner Pharmaceuticals Inc." beside them. She enters the lobby and uses the key that Kim gave her to gain access to the main part of the building. Walking past rows of large canisters, Laura suddenly spies a body lying on the ground. It's another Kimberly clone, lying dead in a pool of green blood. This must have been the one that the real Kim saw when she was here earlier. Laura continues into the building and find that the hatch in the floor is, indeed, frozen shut. At the end of the room, behind another door, Laura finds a strange machine. It consists of only a digital display, and a button marked "Set". She presses the button, and a 6-digit number appears in the display. Laura leaves the building, finding nothing else of interest. Checking her map, she sees an observatory marked further away, and decides to take the snowmobile to check it out. ________________________________________________________________________________ 2.4 Observatory Laura arrives at a door in a metal wall, built into the side of the mountain. Inside, she finds a gate with an electronic keypad. She enters the code from the machine at the pharmaceuticals storage facility, and gets access to a pair of inactive escalators. Laura steps on the left one, and it starts up, slowly carrying her to the top of a very long sloping tunnel. At the top, a set of double doors noisily swings open, then shuts again after Laura enters. She sees a large telescope in the middle of a domed room. Laura hears voices off to the side, a man's and a woman's, though the woman's voice sounds strangely artificial. MAN'S VOICE: "Ah, Linda. Listen, do you hear that?" WoMAN'S VOICE: "Yes dear." MAN'S VOICE: "So this is the sound of death. What I hear now is that faint whisper, the sound of all life coming to an end. Earth is dying. This sound is so bittersweet." WoMAN'S VOICE: "I'm sorry. I don't think I really understand." MAN'S VOICE: "No dearest, you understand much more than I do, about everything." WoMAN'S VOICE: "If you say so." Laura sees them. There is only one person, the man, sitting on the ground in front of a bay of computers. The woman's voice is coming from the computers. He looks old and tired, and his left eye is damaged. He also has 3 green tentacles in place of his lower left arm, propping up his body. He is dressed in the remains of a suit. MAN: "Linda, I'm so happy that the two of us can be together at this moment." Laura's steps ring on a metal plate. MAN: "Who's there? Is someone there? Is that you, David? No, it couldn't be. So we have a visitor on our last night. I don't know what you want, but don't come any closer, please. I don't want anyone to see me in this debilitating condition. You know what I mean, don't you? A monster has gotten me. Oh, I'm still alive, but I'm beginning to change. I'm transforming into a monster myself. Linda. This may be a suitable end for someone like myself." COMPUTER: "No matter what happens, you are still you." MAN: "Linda, I remember everything so clearly about the night we first met." COMPUTER: "So do I, dear." MAN: "The stars were so beautiful." COMPUTER: "As they are tonight." MAN: "Oh. If I close my eyes, I can see the stars the way they were that night. How did I stray so far from that, to become the madman that I am?" COMPUTER: "You are no such thing, my dear." MAN: "Yes, I was mad, to have turned you into this." COMPUTER: "No." Man (to Laura): "I'm very sorry, but please, keep your distance. This is how I want to meet my fate, with my beloved wife, under the stars." The man continues to speak. "You probably heard that many people in the outside world call me a mad scientist. It's true, but only insofar as this planet itself is mad. I was consumed, obsessed with the desire to see the moment of death for this cruel, savage world. I was nothing more than another doomsday monger, and didn't even know it. In the 10 years since both our sons grew up and left home, I've known nothing else. My obsession cost me every cent of the profits earned from refining an indigenous lichen. Then finally, my hard work and devotion produced tangible results. It was 2 years ago, while studying eclipses and old sundials, that I realized the truth about Stonehenge. By mapping the light and shadow patterns of Stonehenge, and computing them against the positions of the stars, I came to the conclusion that Stonehenge had been used to predict solar eclipses. As I made further progress, I finally discovered that Stonehenge was actually created to predict a specific day, the final day of all days. The end of everything. This discovery shook me to the very core. For 30 years, I had waited for the apocalypse, and with that knowledge within my grasp, my mind recoiled in horror. Earth was about to die, along with everything in it. Was this what my heart truly desired? I christened the day, the great eclipse, and tried to pinpoint the exact time of its occurrence. By then I had changed my mind. I wanted to save this world, and needed to know when the end would come, and how it would occur. Unfortunately, it took more than a year and a half for the computer to calculate the answer. It was only 3 days ago that I learned that the great eclipse would fall on Dec. 25 in the year 2000, on Christmas day. But who would listen to the ravings of a madman? I sent for my older son, a special agent with the FBI, but apparently he could not make it in time. Who would have guessed such a thing? A shower of meteorites, touching off a pandemic of mutations. People turning into plant-like monstrosities. We are being consumed. The entire planet is being cannibalized. The great unknown has always been with us throughout our time on this planet, let alone in the far reaches of space, this day was deduced and recorded in stone around the dawn of history. We of the modern age choose to remain ignorant. For all our great learning, all we can hope to understand is how much we do not know. By limiting our concerns to those of humanity alone, we have lost sight of the stars. We have no memory of our beginning and will perish unaware in the end. All we could do was briefly glimpse into the chasm of time... I have a favour to ask of you stranger. Would you please commit us, and everything here, to flames and ashes? Destroy all traces of my work. There is nothing more I can do, absolutely nothing. What good will a warning be to a new civilization that is sure to evolve in tens of millions of years. What little humanity I have left was taken by those creatures. At least allow me the dignity to choose my own end. Please, break the glass by your side and get the flamethrower. You must put an end to all you see here." Laura tries the cabinet doors but they won't budge. She then hammers the glass a couple of times with her arm, succeeding in shattering it. She pulls out the flamethrower and reluctantly turns it toward the old man, who says, "Uh, I'm ready." She pulls the trigger and waves the flamethrower back and forth, as the flames ignite the man and the entire bay of computers. MAN: "Thank you, it was my mother who gave me life, and it is you who gave me the fate that I must face. Thank you, stranger. If ever you come across either of our boys, David or John, please tell them for me that we died in peace with ourselves. John works in a nearby pharmaceutical storage facility. He may be able to help. And David should be on his way here as well. Ah, Linda, I can hear the end coming. Can you hear it? I'm sorry for everything I put you through, my darling. Linda, You stayed with this foolish man 'til the very end, and all I can say is say I'm sorry." COMPUTER: "It's okay dear. I was always happy being by your side. We met at night when the stars were most beautiful, and since that time, we've shared the same starry skies. Ohhh..." Laura walks out. ----- 2.4.1 Interlude: David ----- Scene: White, with snow falling. You can just make out a shadow, however. DAVID: "Laura, I'm alright, I'm not sleeping. Just thinking about my father. He works in an observatory near here. I was going to see him. He wrote me a letter, out of the blue last week, and for the life of me, I cannot figure out why. But I thought, this time, this time I can finally do something for my family, you know? My father and I didn't get along. I've only see him a few times since I left home, and I ... couldn't protect my mother. Maybe this is justice for being so damned selfish, and leaving my kid brother to face it all alone. Why am I...? I don't know why I thought of it at a time like this. I guess I may never see them again, not like this. Not in the condition I'm in. ---------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ 2.5 Down the Hatch Outside of the observatory entrance, Laura mounts her snowmobile. Armed with the flamethrower, she realizes that she can now thaw the frozen hatch in the pharmaceuticals building. Driving there with all speed, she makes her way to the hatch and gives it a blast. Barely waiting for the iron wheel to cool down, she spins it and, straining, lifts the hatch to reveal a set of stairs. Descending, she finds a long room, with one wall full of shelves carrying rows of glass canisters, each with an identical green, flowerless plant growing inside. Picking one up, she doesn't recognize the plant. At the back of the room, Laura finds an erasable white board with some scientific diagrams, papers taped up, and photos of two men, one in a lab coat, and one that she recognizes as David, in a suit. Suddenly, she hears steps at the top of the stairs. Running to the stairs, she is terrified as the figure closes the hatch and locks her in. Cold mist starts pouring out of vents along the floor, and a thermometer on the wall shows the temperature rapidly dropping from -10 degrees Celsius, to -20, and continuing to drop. Laura falls to the floor as the cold becomes too much to bear, reaching out to the picture of David as she loses consciousness. ----- 2.5.1 Interlude: Mother ----- Scene: White, snow, and a great eye. GREAT MOTHER: "Laura, Laura Parker. I am the Great Mother." We see Laura lying in the snow. "You must awaken and take up arms again, my child. Prepare yourself with renewed strength and courage for the coming battle between all mankind and the Shadow." Laura stands, and her hands start glowing with a white light. "I command you in the name of the great mother, the giver of all life, guardian of the earth." Laura puts her hands together, and pulls them apart to see a vision of a planet in space. The vision expands. Laura sees hordes of ancient warriors in battle. She sees scenes from ancient roman cities and wars. The vision flashes. ----------------------------------- ================================================================================ 3.0 Disc 3 ================================================================================ Parker is driving a red pickup through the snow in a valley. He sings to himself. Suddenly, he hears a thump, and slams on the brakes, hitting his face on the steering wheel. He looks up to see a yellow glowing light. He gets out of the truck, holding his head. The light is confined to the hood of his truck. Suddenly, the light coalesces into the form of Laura. PARKER: "Hey, are you alright? Wait a minute! You were in that cabin, but you just fell out of the sky? What the hell is going on?" Laura moans, slowly recovering. The two of them push the truck through the snow. PARKER: "So that's what you've been up to. Well anyway, I'm glad you're alright. I was kind of relieved. What ever happened to your friend, that strong-willed woman? She hasn't, you know, lost it or anything, has she?" Parker hears a motor behind him, and turns as Kim drives up on a snowmobile with Janie in her lap. KIM: "Laura, I'm so relieved I found you. I knew it was you. I saw a yellow glow out there, and Jannie thought it might be you. So we followed it out here, and well, here you are." PARKER: "Hey, wait a second. I was just helping her, for crying out loud." KIM: "Really." PARKER: "Yeah, really." JANNIE: "I had this dream, Laura, you were talking to this lady. Um, she seemed like a very nice lady." KIM: "It's all very strange. So Jannie woke me up and we went outside. We saw this yellow light, but we also found this large house over there. There's smoke coming from the chimney, so maybe there's someone inside. We'll go ahead. C'mon Jannie." PARKER: "Now just wait a minute." KIM: "You lay a finger on her, and you'll have to deal with me." She drives away. PARKER: "Look, I'm not a..." but Kim is gone. ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.1 Conversations Indoors, all three adults are eating at a table. PARKER: "Mmm. Laura, is that right? What was that light just now? Don't tell me you made some kind of alien contact. Or was it something more along the lines of the divine? To tell you the truth though, I was looking out the window during that hijacking fiasco, and..." KIM: "How could you admire the view at a time like that?" PARKER: "Well, the sky looked so beautiful." KIM: "Oh, please. You really thought that looking at the view from the window was more important than a hijacking?" PARKER: "Kind of. But the point is, I saw something a few minutes before the explosion." KIM: "Saw what?" PARKER: "A yellow light. The same light that Laura came down in. Only much, much bigger. A huge curtain of light appeared from the other side of the ocean, then it grew until it engulfed everything. It was almost as if the light was shielding the planet." KIM: "Oh spare me. You think you saw God or some planet-sized guardian angel? PARKER: "Actually, I work for a legitimate organization that studies things not too far away from that." KIM: "CETI, right?" PARKER: "How did you know?" KIM: "Centre for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. It's pretty famous as far as bands of deluded UFO-crazed loonies go. You're showing off one of their caps right now, genius." PARKER: "I'm not showing off anything. Beside, I'm an engineer. Speaking of which, I'm pretty handy." KIM: "Like I didn't see you pushing that bucket of bolts down a hill?" PARKER: "That's a different story." They all eat. PARKER: "My team is currently examining the cause of why the dinosaurs became extinct 65 million years ago." KIM: "What? Maybe you think a flying saucer caused this, too." PARKER: "No, we're talking meteors here." KIM: "Meteors?" PARKER: "Two major fragments from a meteor impacted on this planet. One hit the Yucatan peninsula, the other struck northern Canada. You know what? I also think that a meteor caused our plane crash." KIM: "So you're saying that an asteroid took care of the dinosaurs, and now they're after us?" PARKER: "It makes sense, yes. I can't help thinking that these events are the will of the cosmos. A warning, even a punishment directed at the dominant species on this planet. We're doing our best to follow the fate of the dinosaurs, and the powers that be are trying to..." KIM: "Kind of new age-y, aren't we? Here, try the chemical equivalent." She holds out Linda pills to him. PARKER: "Drugs? I don't recommend it." Kim takes one anyway. KIM: "I wouldn't take anything you did recommend. Anyway, I'm more concerned about how we're going to get of here than in your thesis." PARKER: "Like I said, those meteors from 65 million years ago have everything to do with what we're seeing now." KIM: "Laura, you're done eating. Sorry, we've been talking nonsense." PARKER: "Talking...! Uhhh." KIM: "Oh by the way, there's some weird guy upstairs, but he won't open the door. Every time I knock he just shouts out that he's practicing and he keeps playing the piano. Oh, whoops, I guess I should stop gabbing like *someone* and finish my food. Jannie's asleep in the next room." PARKER: (eating) "Mmmm." PARKER: Look, isn't there anything else you can tell me? You may be the key to uncovering the relationship between what's happening now and what happened to the dinosaurs." He is suddenly hit in the head by a roll. "Hey, what did you do that for?" KIM: She can't remember anything. Why can't you just leave her alone? PARKER: "Sorry, I didn't know." KIM: "If you like aliens so much, II can introduce you to some Ii know. My mother was abducted by aliens." PARKER: "Really? When did it happen? Was it an isolated event, or was it recurrent?" KIM: "I was just kidding. Not too bright, are you?" PARKER: "I'll show you bright (shaking fist)." KIM: (To Laura) "C'mon, let's leave Captain Cosmos and go and get some rest." Laura laughs. Laura goes upstairs, and tries the door handle for herself. A man's voice, responds, speaking deliriously, "Huh, hah! Who's there? Mother, is it you? I guess not. Go away! I don't know who you are, or what you want, but I have to play this song rriiiiighht! Practice, practice, practice, practice, do you understand? Now leave me aloooooone!" Laura knocks one more time. "Stop it, stop it, just stop it! Why won't you leave me alone? Don't you understand? Every. Note. Has got. To be. Perfect! You could never understand, just go away! Go away, get lost!" Laura gives up. She heads to the bedroom and lies down beside Jannie, who mutters in her sleep, "Thank you Mommy." ----- 3.1.1 Interlude: Sorcerer ----- Scene: Mountainside. The old robed man continues moving along, using this staff as a walking stick. He collapses in the snow, but is able to rise again. He looks up and sees a glowing red rock in the top of the mountain. "God of destruction, allow me to reach you and be in your presence. Grant your great powers unto me." ------------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.2 A Fight over Linda Laura wakes suddenly. Jannie is still asleep beside her. She hears something shatter outside the bedroom. Going out to investigate, she sees Parker standing in front of a crouching Kimberly. Her bottle of Linda lies broken beside her. KIM: "What the hell are you doing?" PARKER: "You shouldn't take that stuff." KIM: "Who are you to tell me what I can and can't do?" PARKER: "I know I don't have any right, but I just want you to take control of your life." KIM: "Spare me the speeches. PARKER: "You got to understand. It's wrong to give yourself over to these chemicals. You won't be yourself anymore." KIM: "As if anyone cares." PARKER: "Well if it makes you feel any better, I do." KIM: (gasp) PARKER: "You can't just drift in a narcotic dream and call it life. You're bartering yourself away for a make-believe world, paying with pain, yours and others'. So what's the difference between that and how those pathetic monsters exist?" KIM: "Fine. There's not much chance that I'll make it out of here anyway. And even if I did, I'd just be alone again, in the dark. I'd rather turn into a monster and not have to think or remember, or feel anything anymore." PARKER: "Don't say things like that!" He slaps her face. Immediately regretting it, he says, "I'm so sorry." KIM: "Don't bother. For all your fancy talk, you're just like any other man. All you need is an excuse to start hitting." PARKER: "That's not true. I just want to help... I only want to make you feel safe. You're... I..." He turns and walks away. KIM stands up. To Laura, who is picking up mug and pitcher off the floor, she says, "Good morning. I'm sorry you have to see me at my worst again. I know he's right, but I just can't seem to act normal around men. I feel like such a... (sigh) Such a wreck." Laura walks toward the door. "Are you going out too? Well, be careful. I'll stay here, okay?" ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.3 The Priest's House Laura heads out into the snow once more. Checking her map, she sees two places worth investigating: the priest's house, and Martha's house. The priest's house is closer, so she heads there first. On the way, Laura climbs a lookout point, and sees a forbidding mountain in the distance with a bright red glow emanating from its peak. According to the map, this is Death Mountain. Laura looks down a sees a bridge leading toward the mountain, but on her side the gates are closed. She can't tell from here if she will be able to open them. Laura goes back down and enters the priest's house, which is actually a mostly- crumbled stone building. One part remains intact, though, and it is here that Laura enters. Inside, a wizened old man sits at a curved desk, with a large book open in front of him. He has a metal clamp in place of his right hand. To his left sits a red parrot on a perch. Behind and beside him are an incredible number of white candles, but only the three beside him are lit. He speaks. PRIEST: "Oh, who's there? I see. You're the final visitor prophesized in this book. (cough) Stay and listen to what I have to say about Kneiff's prophecy." He motions with his claw hand for Laura to sit, which she does. "Have you ever heard of William Kneiff? Last year he prophesized in his book, that a holy figure who oversees the balance of all things would soon come and serve the people responsible for all wrongdoings. Do you know what I am speaking of? I am talking about that meteorite that hit the northern mountain, that gave off a golden hue..." The parrot squawks and recites a passage. PARROT: "To protect this coming star from the crimson shadow and awaken from the folds of time, an ancient lord of destruction. Only then will hope lie with a child of destiny, born on both shores of history." PRIEST: "Terrible, terrible things. A golden flush tinted the sky, and on that northern mountain, fearfully known as Death Mountain, fell the meteor. Thus, the prophecy is fulfilled, and you are possibly... No, I will not ask. It is not sanctioned to involve an outsider in this zealotry. Hence, go safely my daughter." He blows out one of the three remaining candles and continues, seemingly to himself. PRIEST: "So a woman did indeed appear in the light of 3 remaining candles. 'Tis very fortuitous (chuckles). Perhaps too much so. If all is according to the book, you would be the child of destiny, born on both shores of history. However..." PARROT: "Destiny's child is she who stands before us. Born on both shores of history and fated to be here at this moment." PRIEST: "Is all according to the prophecies of Kneiff? Only 2 candles remain. Now, you must go, my child." ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.4 Martha's Story Laura goes next to the other house on the map, but finds it locked. She returns to the musician's house to check in with the others. Upon her return, Jannie comes out, and seems to be the only one there. JANNIE: "Laura, I'm so glad to see you, so glad. I just woke up and you were gone, and Kim is gone too. I don't know where she is." Jannie waits on a bench while Laura double-checks around the house. She returns upstairs and tries the door again. This time, it opens. There is no one in the room, which houses a grand piano and torn music pages strewn about. Laura sits at the piano. Remembering the song the musician was playing earlier, Laura tries a few notes. Suddenly, a click sounds and a section of the wall in the back of the room opens to reveal a hidden passage. Laura enters the hall, and finds the walls covered in glass cases, containing hundreds of varieties of butterflies, pinned on display. Examining the cases, Laura finds that one of them swings open to reveal a secret compartment. Inside, she finds a semi- automatic assault rifle, and a silver key shaped like a musical note. Taking both, she heads back downstairs. Taking a closer look at the key, she sees the engraving: "Martha and Tom Warren". She decides this key might open the shack marked "Martha's house" on her map. Entering the shack, Laura sees a woman in a purple homemaker's dress and a white bonnet in the kitchen. This must be Martha. MARTHA: "Tom, is that you? Oh, it's not. Please, come in." As the woman approaches, Laura sees that she has a white mask over her eyes. Some scarring of her face is visible around the mask. MARTHA: (giving Laura a cup of soup) Here, have some soup. So you've been to the house. You must have seen my son upstairs. He, uh, didn't do anything bad to you, did he?" Laura shakes her head. "Good. You see, I forced my own ambitions on him. He was just a little boy, and wanted to play with his friends. I made him practice the piano every day, every day. Locked him in the cellar and forced him to play from morning 'til night. And finally, I brought him here to the middle of nowhere so he would have nothing but his piano. As if that weren't enough, I gave him a drug called Linda. I wanted to give his fingers, his hearing an extra touch of power, but it was the devil's medicine that I gave him. It put him on edge and brought out the worst in him. I saw it myself one day. I saw him in the pond, playing. He was cutting rabbits and birds to pieces, and laughing. He saw me, then approached me. 'Mom', he said, and he was holding a burning log in his hand. 'Mom, I can play the piano really well,' he said. 'I can play really well. Mom, are you happy now?' Then I couldn't believe it. He shoved that burning log right into my face, and burned me, and this is what happened." She removes her mask, and Laura gasps and averts her gaze. "Oh, the agony. Only then did I realize for the first time what he had been through. What I had done to him. His pain, oh god, what am I going to do now? I don't know what to do." ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.5 Back at the Musician's House Laura leaves Martha for now. Not knowing where Kim is, she returns to the priest's house, hoping to get more information from him. PRIEST: "Welcome back. I thought you might return. If you truly are the child of destiny, there is something I must tell you." PARROT: "No man is truly evil or truly good. There is the power of evil and the power of good. It all depends on how that power is applied." PRIEST: "I know not whether you are the destined one, but I have told you what I needed to. Perhaps the human race has gone too far. It seems that my task in life is done. I shall wait here for the last candle to burn out." The parrot squawks. "It is certainly as foretold." The priest says no more, so Laura returns to the musician's house to see if Kim or Parker have returned. She sees Kim sitting on the stairs. KIM: "Oh, Laura. Jannie's disappeared again. I wasn't looking. Where could she have gone? I'll go look for her." She gets up and turns around. A butterfly is sitting on the back of her jacket. It flies off and flutters around the room. "That man upstairs is gone too, I don't know what's going on here. (sees the butterfly) What's...? What a pretty butterfly. What's it doing in a place like this? I have to go." Kim leaves the house. Suspecting something, Laura returns upstairs. She finds the song that she heard earlier playing on a phonograph. The record is skipping. She stops it and looks around. Heading into the secret room again, one of the panels swings open behind her, and a dead man covered in red blood, eyes staring blankly, falls out of the space behind it. Laura gasps and cries. Parker runs in, asking, "What's wrong? Oh my god. What the hell happened here? You better not hang around. C'mon, let's go back downstairs." PARKER: "You alright? I wonder where Jannie went. I ran into Kimberly on the way back and she told me she took the snowmobile. You know, I think I have a better idea of what she's like after talking to her. Oh yeah, I found a stone bridge just north of here. The thing is, the gate is locked, and will stay that way unless we can blow it with dynamite or something. It's really too bad. There's a large building at the mountain on the other side of the bridge. There's a weird red glow coming from the side. I think there's something like an antenna up there, you can bet on it. It could be the source of the signal that my team was tracking." Laura, suspicious of Kim after these events, decides to check on the other people she's met in the area. ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.6 Priest's House Revisited Back at the priest's house, the parrot flies out as soon as Laura opens the door. She is shocked to see the priest slumped over his desk, dead, in a pool of red blood. Laura sees that only one candle remains lit. Examining him for clues as to what happened, Laura finds he is grasping a silver key. Key in hand, Laura heads for the back of the small room. She finds a religious altar with a statue of the Virgin Mary. On either side, there are locked compartments. She finds that the silver key opens them. In one is a handgun, which Laura takes for protection. In the other, she is shocked to discover an explosive device. Remembering what Parker said about the gate to the bridge, she takes it back to him. As she leaves the priest's house, the last candle blows out. Back at the house, she shows Parker what she found. PARKER: "Oh! That looks like an explosive. Wait, we may be able to blow that bridge gate with this. Let me hold onto it for a while." Laura nods and heads back out. ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.7 Larry's Last Request She checks Martha's house to find it empty. As she looks around, Laura hears a thump behind her. Laura backs out, and sees Larry, the grey-haired terrorist who blossomed and attacked her and Kim in the mountain hut when Laura first regained consciousness. He looks human, but has green bloodstains around his eyes and mouth. She readies her gun, but he raises his hands in defense. LARRY: "Wait, I'm okay now. You must believe me. That sorcerer deceived me. He was just using me. Please believe me. I know I turned into a monster, but I'm okay now. I've got my mind back. See, my body's back to normal too. Even if my blood's green, I'm still a human being. Is that what you want to kill? C'mon, trust me. We're both human, aren't we? It's okay, you can trust me." He holds his hand out to Laura. "Trust me. Trust me." His cheek starts bulging. "Aaarggh! No, not again!" Green tentacles burst from his body again and carry him around like a spider, as his chest bursts into a giant flower like before. This time, two long red tentacles, each with a pincer at the end, protrude from the flower's centre. He starts crawling around the area. Laura swings her sub-machine gun around spraying bullets, eventually bringing him down. Larry is still able to speak, however. LARRY: "I'm sorry. Thanks for making me human again. We were wrong. The sorcerer was just using us. Didn't know it. We took Linda. The Linda, he gave us some. We took it on the plane. It felt like bees were flying around in our skulls. I don't remember anything else, just the buzzing, the buzzing in my head. You've got to stop him. He says he's fusing with the Shadow, becoming one with him. To get the power to destroy the world. He said that the Shadow has been asleep in Death Mountain up north for 65 million years. Now the meteor woke it up. You've got to stop him! Now that I've turned into this, this thing, now I realize that I've wasted... my life. My wasted life. Dying feels kind of good. Please, could you close... my... eyes..." He lies still and speaks no more. Laura kneels to his last request, looking closely at what he had become. As she reaches for his face, his body jerks, and one of the red tentacles lunges and grabs Laura by her face. LARRY: "I'm not doing this. Please, please don't hate me." The tentacle holds Laura off the ground by her face, until she loses consciousness. ----- 3.7.1 Interlude: Mother ----- GREAT MOTHER: "Laura. Laura Parton. I am the Great Mother. Awake, my child. The world has begun to turn inward upon itself." Laura walks through the snow, stumbles and falls. "The sky will be above no longer, the earth below no longer, and mankind will be no more. Hurry, child, and arm yourself." Laura's compact flips through the air and lands in front of her. "Or else the world will be no more. Fear not, and go forth, in the name of the Great Mother, the creator of all." Laura picks up the compact and opens it. A vision swirls into being inside of it. Laura sees old motorcars, then the Wright' brothers flying their plane. The vision flashes. ----------------------------------- Parker is lying in bed. A yellow glow appears above him. Pieces of the roof start to fall on him. He leaps up, saying, "What the...?" as Laura materializes and falls onto the bed. "You again? Scared the hell out of me. You almost gave me a heart attack. Let me guess, the yellow light again." He walks out of the room. Laura follows. ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.8 The Stone Bridge Laura talks to Parker, who sits in a chair. PARKER: "We just had some company. I mean, I guess we're that company. You know that guy upstairs? His mother came over. She went upstairs to the second floor and still hasn't come down. Even though her little son seems to have wandered off. I don't know what she could possibly be doing up there by herself." Laura goes upstairs to see her, but the door is blocked. Listening, she hears nothing from the other side. Heading outside, Laura notices the other snowmobile is available. Using her map, she rides it to the bridge she saw earlier from the lookout by the priest's house. She arrives to find the other snowmobile and Kim examining the gates. Kim spots her and runs up to speak to her. KIM: "Laura! Has Jannie come back yet?" Laura shakes her head. "She's not out here either. If we could just open this damn gate, we could cross to the other side, but I guess there's nothing we can do now, except go back into the house." In the house, Parker is working with the explosive device. KIM: "We still can't find Jannie. I'm really worried about her now. Did you find anything, Parker? Hey, is that a time bomb? That should take care of the gate. Set it to go off in, say, well, it's from here to the stone bridge... 15 minutes should be long enough." PARKER: "Hey, just hold on a minute. We haven't even tested this thing yet." KIM: "Test? Don't be such a wuss. C'mon, hurry up. I have a gate to blow up." PARKER: "Alright, alright. One, five, zero, zero. Okay, set to go off in 15 minutes. You start cutting it too close, just toss it." KIM: "Please. Just because it took you 15 minutes to crawl over there on a snowmobile, doesn't mean the rest of us are that slow. Five minutes, that's all I need. You want to bet me? " PARKER: "I don't play those kind of games." KIM: "Have it your way. Well, I'm impressed. I wasn't sure you could do anything." PARKER: "Give me a break." KIM: "Well, I'm off then. Be good. See you soon." Parker talks to Laura after Kim leaves. PARKER: "Hey, what do you think of her? I... To tell you the truth, I had my doubts about her at one point. I thought maybe she'd already gone floral, turned into a monster already. I guess I was wrong. She's got a monster inside alright, but it's a far more terrible kind. It's called loneliness. Everyone has a measure of it inside, but somehow she just can't learn how to keep it under control. This loneliness is eating her up. Damn. Isn't there anything I can do for her? Maybe if I were a priest, I could offer her faith. If I were a warrior, I could protect her. I'm just, just me, and I can't offer her anything. It's been days since that crash, and I... Hey, what time is it? Holy shit! I didn't set it for 15 minutes, I set it for 1500 hours! Don't you see, I didn't set the thing to go off in 15 minutes! It's set for 3PM. There's only 5 minutes left! Kimberly!" Laura runs out to catch her, riding the snowmobile back to the bridge. She arrives there to find Kim holding the bomb by the gate. KIM: "What's wrong, Laura?" Laura grabs the bomb from her and throws it over the edge of the cliff. KIM: "What do you think you're doing? We have to blow this gate!" The bomb explodes loudly, still tumbling in the air down the cliff. KIM: "What on earth is going on?" Kimberly and Laura have returned to the house. KIM: "What's with you? You said you wanted to help me. I was this close to getting killed, and if I had, it would have been all your fault." PARKER: "I'm so sorry. Look..." KIM: "Engineer, yeah right. Murderer is more like it. So you think you can just do what you please with my life, is that it?" PARKER: "You have no idea how glad I am to see you." KIM: "Get out. It makes no difference to me whether you're here or not. Just get out of my sight. (Waits) Just get out of here!" She stomps to the bedroom and slams the door. Parker is troubled. PARKER: (To Laura) "Sorry about that. Can you do me a favour?" He holds out a silver chain with a locket. "This is kind of my lucky charm. I think it's better for Kimberly to have it instead of me. If you don't mind, could you please give it to her?" Laura takes it and goes into the bedroom. ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.9 Kimberly's Story In the bedroom, Laura finds Kim lying on the bed. KIM: "I'm sorry. I know it isn't his fault. But it just went off anyway. Can I tell you something? I lost my father when I was very young. He died and left nothing but a huge debt. Every day, the loan sharks would show up at my house, and every day, they would take it out on my mother. I'll never forget finding her that January morning. My mother killed herself. She put a bullet in her head. They showed up that day too, and then, when they realized they could never lay their dirty hands on her ever again, they came after me. I grabbed the revolver from my mother's hand, and I fired at them. Lights came through the window and I ran away. And every night since, that morning has repeated in my dreams. The thing is, I started taking Linda to deal with my dreams, but I just can't deal with men anymore. I can't even face them in the same room, and that's why when Parker said he just wanted to protect me... No man has ever said that to me before, I didn't know how to react. I'm gonna apologize to him in the morning. I know I can trust him. And this time, I'll stop pushing him away. I promise." Laura nods and goes to sleep. Laura wakes up. Kim is sitting by the bed. KIM: "Sorry, did I wake you? Well, I'm writing a poem. I thought I'd show it to Parker. Do you think he'll read it?" Laura smiles. ----- 3.9.1 Interlude: David ----- DAVID: "Oohh, aaarggh, oh. Oh, Laura, I'm so sorry I woke you. I've started to feel these stabbing pains throughout my body. Wow. Every time I move my head, ooohh. Every time I raise my arm, ow, I get this constricting feeling. (Panting). It's okay, it's okay, I'm fine. Thanks. Don't worry about me. Oh Laura, I'm supposed to take care of you, but I... but I..." ----------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.10 Parker's Change Kim reads her poem in the chair in the house's main room. Laura comes in from the bedroom. KIM: Good morning, Laura. Parker comes in the door. Kim goes over to him. KIM: "Parker, I'm sorry about last night." PARKER: "Stay away from me." He pulls out a penknife, and Kim pulls back, scared. "Look at this." He cuts his palm with a grunt. Green blood pours out. Kim gasps in horror. PARKER: "I've somehow been infected. I'm still alright. I haven't blossomed yet, I'm still thinking straight, and I can make my own decisions for now. But it's only a matter of time and I can't risk harming you two. I've gotta go." KIM: "You can't!" PARKER: "You'll be alright. You're not like the dinosaurs. You have this (points to his head), and this too (points to his heart). Just know it's never too late. Being human means having free will, and the challenge is making the right choice. Nuclear power can be used to destroy cities or explore outer space. Drugs can be used to cure mental illness, or escape from the world. The choices are yours. It's also true of what you do with your heart. Maybe humanity, every one of us as individuals is being told it's time to grow up. I'll see you around. Don't die, either of you." KIM: "No, wait! Maybe we could still find a cure. There's no need for you to just leave like this." She is crying hard. PARKER: "Do you think you'll miss me when I'm no longer myself?" KIM: "Yes I will." PARKER: "Will you remember me?" KIM: "Of course." PARKER: "Then, just smile for me." KIM: "What?" PARKER: "Smile for me Kimberly." With effort, Kimberly smiles. PARKER: "That's it. C'mon, I know you can do it." KIM: "Oh, Parker..." PARKER: "Thank you Kimberly. You'll never be alone." He walks out into the storm. Kim cries and drops the sheet of paper with the poem she was going to give to him. Laura and Kimberly are sitting at the table. KIM: "I went to sleep last night after I wrote that poem for him. I never slept so soundly, without taking Linda. And I had this dream. I dreamt that I was crossing that bridge with Parker, and on the other side was a fresh new world, a totally new life." Suddenly springing up, realizing something, Kim asks, "Laura, where's that other bomb? Did he..." Panicking, she runs to door and goes outside, as a loud blast is heard from the direction of the bridge. They see smoke rising in the distance. KIM: "Parker... Parker! Oh no." She runs out. Laura brings her snowmobile to a stop at the bridge and dismounts. The gate is lying in shattered pieces. Kim is there. KIM: "Parker. Parker! (sobbing) Please answer me! I know you're here. It's not fair, you can't just leave me like this (sobbing more). Parker." She breaks down, falling to her knees. She spots a tattered CETI cap among the debris. "No, please Parker, no. It's not fair." Kim gets up and turns to Laura, who holds out the silver charm to her. KIM: "It's Parker's." She holds it to her forehead. "Please, I need to be alone for a while." ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.11 Jannie Returns Laura rides the snowmobile back to the house, and finds Jannie inside. JANNIE: "Oh Laura, Laura. I was hiding because I was so scared. Kimmy was acting weird to me. And that man upstairs, too, he..." A door slams, Jannie screams, and we hear piano music coming from upstairs. Someone groans: "You! It was you two who did that to my boy, to my Tom!" Martha appears at the top of the stairs, holding a violin. "You little monsters. Was it fun, torturing him? I saw how you tortured him. You fed on him, didn't you? Did he taste good? How did my little boy taste?" Janie screams as Martha blossoms. A pair of white wings grow out of her back and large green tentacles from her sides. MARTHA: "Come. I'll eat this little one like you did my son. I'll eat her down to the bone and enjoy every last bite." She stands before the girls, playing her violin while her monster parts carry her about the room. He moves about slashing Laura with her tentacles. Laura equips her weapon and shoots out Martha's tentacles, then turning her fire to the violin, shattering it. This brings the blossomed Martha to the ground, dying. MARTHA: "I wanted so much to play a duet with you Tom. Please forgive me." Her mask falls off. JANNIE: "Laura, Laura, I'm so scared. That's what Kimmy did. She wasn't a monster, but she... I went upstairs because the door was open, and I saw Kimmy, and she was doing mean things to that man. And then Kimmy saw me, and she started chasing me too." She cries on Laura's shoulder. "That's why I went and hid." KIM: "So that's what's been happening". Kim is standing in the doorway. Jannie screams and runs away. KIM: "I don't remember anything. If Jannie says so, I must have... Laura, I'm going to find Parker, and be with him. I'm not alone anymore. I'm afraid of loneliness. No, not anymore. I wish I had but until just a few days ago, I had nothing to even regret losing. If I could go back in time and see myself the way I was, I would give her a hard slap across the face. Then I'd take her to meet you and Parker, and I would tell her, 'These are your friends. Starting today.' Laura, I changed my mind. If I could just have another chance at life, I'd like to be reborn as myself, and I'd like to have you as my friend again. Promise? Would you be?" Laura nods and hugs her. "Thank you. Thank you. I'm going now." She walks past Laura to the door. "Don't turn around, please. There's no need to see me off. Remember, this isn't goodbye. We're friends, friends for life." ----- 3.11.1 Interlude: Sorcerer ----- Scene: A large red orb in the mountainside. It is nighttime. The old man in the robe reaches the orb at last. SORCERER: "Zang, zing zaccah Niba. Zang zing zacah niba. Zang zing zacah niba. Oh great shadow, allow me to reach you and be in your presence. Grant your great powers onto me" --------------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ 3.12 Kim's Lament Jannie comes out of the house after Laura. The two of them climb onto the snowmobile and ride out to the stone bridge. JANNIE: "Laura, is Parker really dead? I heard everyone talking." Suddenly, she screams very sharply. "Look, look, it's Parker!" Parker's burnt and broken body climbs out of the wreckage of the gate, gurgling, PARKER: "Laura, Laura, urk..." One of his hands falls off and Jannie screams again. Parker stumbles. Before he reaches Laura, Kim runs up and grabs him, as if hugging him, shouting, "Parker!". She grunts as a green tentacle bursts from his stomach straight through her. KIM: "I love you. I love you. Parker!" Kim points her shotgun into his chest and fires point blank. The shot passes cleanly through him. He slumps onto her, crying, "Kimberrrlyyy..." Both fall over dead, embracing each other. Laura and Jannie fall to the snow, bawling their eyes out. Jannie sees the piece of paper that Kim had written her poem for Parker on. She picks it up and starts to read it, then we hear Kim's voice reciting the poem, as her song, 'Counting the Roses' plays in the background. "First there was light, and what lay between he stars was called 'courting darkness'. Adrift even from the sorrow, the survivors turned letters from the sun into ashes. Courting darkness, from the inkwell of their veins, the survivors took the bleeding words upon the nation. The words spoke not of the heart. The words instead armored the soul. And the survivors made a fortress of their folly. On the first day, they made fire to burn the sky. On the second day, they made fire to burn the sea. On the third day, they made fire to burn the earth. On the fourth day, they made fire, to bur the stars. On the fifth day, there was nothing. On the sixth day, there was emptiness. And on the seventh day, you appeared. You unchained the cage of things forbidden, and the darkness began to change. Strength began to course. And the strength begat power. You swept a boat out into the swelling river, and guided me across on a link of thoughts. Heedless of the water's fearful source. Severed from the markers of time. The smothering solitude thawed in your light and became a rising tree on a forgiving hill. The tree begat a forest, and the forest called forth winged creatures, and traced the contour of the heart as they flew reconstructing brightness long since forgotten. They overflow, fall from the sky, murmuring their light, crystalize. In the verdence of the trees, gathered wood falls from the skies, "Fly," you cried, "fly", you cried, "fly," you cried. And as the gods arrived, as life finally came to an end as it started, they saw boundless joy, and they knew it was your doing. What you guarded in their stead is the brightness that shines within. What you guarded in their stead, I shall call love. And understand at last, that first there was light. ----- 3.12.1 Interlude: Mother ----- Scene: snow, Laura lying in it GREAT MOTHER: "Laura, do you know who you are? You must learn the truth. The evil one is giving himself to a fearful power even now, and together they shall become the Shadow. Laura, you are the chosen one. You must awake." Laura pulls open her shirt, and a bright light emanates from her body... Vision: Earth from space. Planes crash. Soldiers fire guns in 20th century wars. Explosions everywhere, on the ground, in the sky. Military bunkers are targeted. Laser tracers light up the night. The vision flashes... ------------------------------------ JANNIE: "Laura, Laura, Laura!" They both stand in the snow. Jannie cries on Laura's shoulder. "Let's go, Laura." Laura nods. The snowmobile winds through debris and over the bridge. Pan up to the glowing red orb in the top of the mountain. ----- 3.12.2 Interlude: David ----- Scene: white, snow falling. DAVID: "Laura, listen to me. I can't hold on much longer. I'm not gonna make it, not with this injury. Don't look at me like that, It's okay Laura. I'm not afraid of dying now. Laura, I want you to do something for me. Leave me here and go. You've got to stay alive. There's nothing more I can do. I'm all... Please Laura, don't look so sad. You have no idea how happy I've been, spending my last days with you. You kept me going. And that's why more than anything else in the world, I want you to survive. The moment I saw you on that plane, I knew I had to keep you safe. I don't know why, but I just knew I had to. That's why, that's why you've got to survive. All I can offer now is to leave you with a smile. I wish I had something you could take with you, but I... but I..." ----------------------------------- ================================================================================ 4.0 Disc 4 ================================================================================ ----- 4.0.1 Interlude: Sorcerer ----- The red glow is brighter on the mountain. The robed man stands in a swirl of red light, arms raised up. SORCERER: "I shall be known as Death, the final destroyer, the great Shadow. 'Tis for the coming fall I wait." He repeats this in a deepening voice. ------------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ 4.1 Lucy Parton Laboratories The snowmobile races toward a building. Laura and Jannie dismount and look up at a vast wall built into the mountain. They read a sign: "Lucy Parton Laboratory" Laura looks as the inscription on her compact. We hear David saying, "You don't want to lose that. It's a precious gift from your mother, Laura". JANNIE: "Par-ton-lab-ra-tory. Parton! That's the same last name as yours, Laura." Laura reaches out for the sign when a robotic male voice calls out while a red light over the door blinks in time: "This is the Lucy Parton Laboratory. The entire facility has been shut down. Only authorized personnel are permitted access." This message repeats. "Please state your name. Please state your name." LAURA: "This is Laura. Laura Parton." The doors swing open with a groan, and Laura walks in, holding Jannie's hand. The two of them walk in a hanger. Laura looks at the signs and pictures on display on the walls. JANNIE: "Laura, have you been here before? It's freezing in here. I'm real cold." Laura sees a device on a counter, in front of a pair of doors at the end of the hall. She waves her hand in front of it. The robotic male voice says, "DNA scan completed. Laura Parton, please enter. Laura Parton's last visit was 27 years ago. Your associate is not cleared for access. Please wait here." JANNIE: "It's okay, I'll wait for you here." She sits by a window. "I know you'll come back, I'll wait for you." She waves bye as Laura passes through the doors. Laura walks down stairs to a bank of monitors displaying the LPL logo. A map shows the different parts of the building. A female, robotic voice is heard while an image of a woman in a uniform appears on the monitors. VOICE: "Welcome. On behalf of the Lucy Parton laboratory, I would like to welcome you to the visitor's centre. Please press any button for the information you desire." Laura sees four buttons on a panel in front of her. They read: Laboratory LPL Corporation Dr. Lucy Parton, PhD Clone Technology She presses each in turn to hear the descriptions. Laboratory: "This facility houses the Lucy Parton Laboratory of the LPL Corporation, and includes the research and development division. The facility, which was moved here to Ultramarine City in 1971, consists of 4 separate wings. The visitor's centre, which also serves as the showroom; the main laboratory, where the actual research is conducted; the Parton Tower office complex; and the library, where all data is archived." LPL corporation: "The Lucy Parton Laboratory of the LPL Corporation was established by the Parton family in 1963. The primary objective of establishing this facility was to continue the research work in molecular bio and genetic engineering, particularly the field of cloning technology, initiated by then-chief executive of the LPL corporation, and director of research, Dr. Lucy Parton. The cloning project was discontinued in 1974, several months after Dr. Parton was seriously injured in a laboratory accident. However, the facility continued to perform research on agriculture applications of genetic engineering unde3r a government grant until 1981. The genetic engineering technology researched and developed here by the LPL corporation is still helping to feed the world by increasing the nutritional content of certain types of livestock and grain. Since 1981, only the visitor's centre wing has functioned as a showroom for molecular biotechnology and genetic engineering. All proceeds from the centre are channeled to various university research funds." Dr. Lucy Parton, PhD: "Dr Lucy Parton, Chief executive of LPL corporation and director of the Lucy Parton Laboratory, was born in 1932 in Chicago, Illinois. After a brilliant and much-accelerated academic career, she and her father, the well-known entrepreneur and LPL chairman Roy Parton, founded the Lucy Parton laboratory in 1957, an institute dedicated to the pursuit of molecular biotechnology, especially the then-fledgling field of genetic engineering. Lucy Parton is especially well known for her work on mammoth cell cloning, a project hat began in 1963 with the discovery of a perfectly preserved woolly mammoth in the sub- arctic permafrost. Dr. Parton also left lasting marks in other fields, such as medicine and agriculture, before her life and work were cut short in 1973 by a research-related accident." Clone Technology: "All data concerning this technology has been erased." ________________________________________________________________________________ 4.2 The Xilo Project The male robotic voice speaks after Laura has tried all of the buttons. VOICE: "Laura Parton, a level D+ key has been issued in your name. You may access the main laboratory." Laura checks the map and walks to a green door to the side, which automatically opens to reveal an elevator. Laura boards it and looks at the elevator panel, which has buttons from 7 down to B5. She presses B5, beside which is written: "Xilo=MotherComputer=,Lucy (Level D+)" A red camera eye is visible in a corner of the elevator. The elevator stops and Laura walks out into a blue light. She steps before a large machine, filling the dome-shaped room. As she walks forward, her compact glows blue. A woman's voice can be heard from a round speaker in the roof. LUCY: "You've come very far Laura. I am Lucy, your mother. I have been waiting for you. Laura, I'm right here." The room lights up. Laura draws in a breath as she sees machinery all about the room. "I know that you've come very far, my beloved Laura. It all began 38 years ago, with a genetic memory asleep in a wall of arctic ice. In 1963, I began working on a special project, using cloning technology to bring mammoths back from extinction. My team discovered a perfectly preserved mammoth specimen, in the arctic permafrost of northern Canada in 1971. We were able to extract genetic material from the cell nucleus. Unfortunately, there was too much chromosome damage. But we found something else. In the stomach of that frozen mammoth, we found the undigested remains of a totally unknown organism. Mammoths were believed to be herbivores, but this one, anyway, apparently had eaten another creature. And what a creature. It looked human, but had a pair of wings sprouting from its back. We removed him (yes, the creature was male) from the stomach for further study. Then I decided we would extract a sperm specimen and attempt fertilization, using my ovum, and in my womb. I decided to give birth to a hybrid child, fathered by this winged human. The fertilization was successful, but the embryo developed without a trace of wings. That made no difference to me. The child was the fulfillment of my dreams. A miraculous collaboration between me, and that being we found inside the mammoth. The baby was born in the early hours of December 31st, under the most spectacular display of Aurora Borealis that winter. It was born across that span of time. I took the first letter of my given name and added the Latin word for air: aura, and named the child Laura. It's true. That was how you entered this world, Laura." Laura gasps and drops the compact. "When I was in labour with you, I had a vision, something akin to the will of the cosmos spoke to me, and described something important: that a powerful spirit had appeared in the space-time continuum, and was on its way to earth from the far reaches of space, and that it would arrive on earth when my child had become a grown woman. At that moment, for the first time, I felt the enormity, even the sin of what I had done. And at the same time, I saw in you the hands of fate. Then, seven days later, my own life ended. But others in this institute and the government wanted to repeat the experiment. They wanted to bring those winged human beings of prehistoric times back to life. They transferred my mind and will to this, to Xilo. But without a compatible ova or willing surrogate within which to bring the embryo to term, their efforts ended in failure. Look." Glass cylinders around the room light up to reveal a number of misshapen figures preserved inside them. LUCY: "Laura, you must kill me, end your mother's torment so that no one will ever repeat this mistake. Do it now, while I still have my will. Laura, please. Please kill me." Laura shoots the glass cylinders around the room to destroy all evidence of the cloning project. She then turns her gun on the primary machine, shaped like a woman's belly as seen from beneath with legs supported on either side. She shoots a number of devices until the machine's core opens up. Firing into here repeatedly, Laura reaps the final destruction of the thing her mother has become. It bursts into flames as Lucy's voice dies out, saying, "Thank you Laura. I'm so sorry." The room shakes violently. Laura falls to her knees, then rises and runs out as debris falls everywhere. She rests against a set of doors ----- 4.2.1 Interlude: Sorcerer ----- "I shall be known as death, the final destroyer, the great Shadow. 'Tis for the coming fall I wait." He is enclosed in a pod beneath a strange, organic shape with triangular symbols rotating around it. ------------------------------------- ----- 4.2.2 Interlude: Mother ----- Scene, Laura walking through snowstorm "Laura, Laura Parton. The evil one has joined himself to a fearful power, and has been remade." Laura stumbles and falls onto the snow. "The evil one knows you, my child, and shall seek you out. Go forward Laura. You must not stop, no matter what. Vision: Earth in space, the sun rising. Mushroom clouds seem from ground and space. The vision flashes... ----------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ 4.3 Hunting Lodge Laura wakes up in a small wooden cabin, supported above the snow. She looks around and sees Jannie sleeping in a chair. Jannie wakes up and looks around. JANNIE: "Laura, what am I doing here? I want to go home. I want to go home now. I feel so wrong here. Hey Laura, I discovered something. What matters most is time. I had a dream. There were big dinosaurs walking around. And then lots of people making buildings in the desert. There were people crossing the ocean in a big ship. Then people were shooting at each other with guns. I say big trees being chopped down, and jet fighters in the sky. And then a really big, big explosion. There was a space rocket going straight up, and astronauts hopping up and down on the moon. And animals getting shocked in a lab. A big wave of water came and washed away a town, and a whole mountain caught on fire. There was something that looked like a forest, but it was all missiles instead of trees. It was kind of like when you fast forward a long movie, but I knew it wouldn't go the other way, and I thought, that's what's really important. Time is the only thing that can't go back. It's kind of like a lesson, like Grandpa teaches me." The cabin shakes suddenly. Laura runs out, and is almost blinded by the red light emanating from the top of the mountain. She shields her eyes, and hears Jennie yell. She goes back inside. JANNIE: "Laura, I don't feel so good." She is slowly slumping over. "Laura, I think I'm getting sick. Laura, I can't talk." Laura screams as Jannie's body glows red. "Laura, I'm scared, please, Laura!" Jannie starts to melt, sinking into her dress. Her voice continues, "Laura, I'm scared. I can't see anything. I can't hear anymore. Laura, I'm scared. Please, Laura..." Jannie is gone, leaving behind nothing but her hairclip. Laura screams and faints. We hear the Great Mother's voice. GREAT MOTHER: "Laura, get up. Laura. You must climb a mountain that awaits you to the north, and make the fearsome power your own. You must become one with that power. Only then can you save your world and I." Laura, holding Jannie's hairclip, rises with a determined look on her face. Laura leaves the lodge and fights her way up the mountain to a cave, where she knows something evil awaits her. ----- 4.3.1 Interlude: Mother ----- GREAT MOTHER: "Laura, Laura Parton. I am the Great Mother. Awake now Laura, my darling child. Awake and release within you Laura, know the planet you inhabit. Know the time you have spent here. Awaken the memories within you. Laura, you must know and feel everything." Laura sees a single red flower, with green petals peeking through the snow. "This is mother earth, this is your home. Awake unto it." Laura closes her hound around the flower, which glows. The light explodes into a field of flowers. Vision: Earth from space. Starving children in Africa. Trees being cut down. A nuclear power plant. Paramedics lining up bodies. The vision flashes... ----------------------------------- ----- 4.3.2 Interlude: David ----- Scene: White sky, snow falling. DAVID: "Laura, how many days has it been since the crash? Time just seems to fade into the distance for me now. It's strange, but I don't feel sad. The snow will soon cover my body. Time will cease to exist, and I'll disappear under the thickening layer of snow. And in that whiteness, all this will transform itself into water and earth. Over a longer period of time than I ever could have imagined. And maybe one day I'll come back again as a very small flower. I'll blossom and grow. There's an interesting thought for you Laura, don't you think? Me, as a plant? I've never so much as even had a plant in my apartment. But now I'm on my way to being reincarnated as one. Just think, someday, someone may walk past me. They may be laughing or crying when they do, or they may be full of hope, or in deep despair. But it won't matter to me, because a flower doesn't care what it has or what it doesn't have. It just is, protruding from the snow, waving in the breeze. But it's different with you Laura. You must survive. Don't worry about me. I'll be staying here, thinking of you. Dreaming of you. Laura, it's okay. You can do it. If anyone can, it's you, I know that." ---------------------------------- ________________________________________________________________________________ 4.4 Final Encounter Laura walks past walls of swirling light and patterns, to see the disturbing, many-eyed bulbous creature that the sorcerer has become, with rotating patterns of light behind it. It speaks. SHADOW: "Fool, think you can stand in my way? All that exist shall follow the path of destruction, and your human race and even this planet is no exception. The will of the cosmos will not be denied. What is there left to save? Mankind? Grown old, without growing wise, and this planet, not content with its first folly, it creates a second, even more foolish dominant species. All this shall be destroyed, and all must begin with you. Go now, get out! How dare you challenge my power?" Laura stands up to him with shotgun in hand. "Ha ha ha ha! Then a fool you shall die." Laura starts firing her shotgun as fast as she can. "I can feel your helplessness, your terror. Your feeble attacks are nothing. So futile in the face of my awesome power. Now you shall experience my true power. First your eyes, you will see this world no more. Never more." Laura's vision fades. She continues firing blindly. SHADOW: "Ha ha ha ha. Next I will take your ears, and these words will be the last you ever hear. Laura hears a piercing sound, then hears nothing. Laura falls to the ground. She is able to hear her enemy's voice, speaking directly to her mind. SHADOW: "How do you feel now? Grovel in fear. First you're blind, then you are deaf. And now, you will move no longer. Do you understand what that means? Death, it means death. The certain death that is yours, and you will be lost in the vast abyss for all eternity." Darkness. Laura can see nothing, hear nothing, and cannot move in the least. Her life is almost completely drained away. Then, she hears David's voice in her memory. DAVID: "Laura? Laura, I guess it's time to say goodbye. Oh Laura, don't be sad. You'll be alright, it's okay. You'll be able to make it through. And look, I have something special to give you. Here it is. I hope you'll think of me every time you look at it. I put it away in your keepsake. Laura, don't forget me, David. I guess it's that time. Farewell. Goodbye Laura." She has finally remembered all of her time with David after the plane crash. He gave her a flower, plucked from the snow, which she kept inside her compact. Finding the strength somehow, she opens her compact, revealing the flower to the creature in front of her. What is this? What's happening? My body, my mind. Oh, pain. Stop it! (Grunting) How could I... It's not possible! Uuuurgghhhaaaaaaahhhh! DAVID: "Laura, now!" Laura's vision and hearing return. She is able to start firing on the monster again. She keeps firing at its eyes as it writhes in pain. Soon, it's eyes turn to jelly, it's body expands, and lightning flashes as the being explodes. LAURA: "David? David!" Scene: Whiteness. GREAT MOTHER: "Laura? Laura. Laura, can you hear me? The evil here has been destroyed. You can move again now, Laura. The time has come for you to bond with that fearsome power. Though you cannot see, nor can you hear, you must slowly go forward, my child, one step at a time. And with this new power, this unknown force, you will bring salvation. You, Laura, will save your world. Feel the earth underfoot, my child. Awaken the sleeping memory of your wings, and believe in the power that lies in the palm of your hands. That power will grant you miraculous things. Now go, my child." "Laura, child of destiny, born across the shores of time. Listen well, my child. You do not know that this apparently endless universe does have an end, that time, so infinite to misleading senses, will one day stop. You know so little, for you are but a child, but a newborn. You must journey forth again, and this voyage will be far longer and much more terrifying. Now is the time to find him. Do you remember? Do you remember the name of the one who saved you? It was he who safeguarded your soul. Go and find him, and thus forge that power at last into one. Laura my child, call his name. Speak his name, so that all lives and all that shall be born shall be saved. Call him, and recreate yourself as you were meant to be. Now. Now, Laura." LAURA: "David." Time rewinds. ________________________________________________________________________________ 4.5 A New Beginning A clock shows the time to be 8 minutes to 12. A sign reads, "1999 year end sale". It is a bookstore. The camera pans left across shelves, until we see a glowing yellow light and hear a thump. Laura is lying on the floor in an aisle. She gets up, looking around. Two kids run by. She picks up a book from the shelf: Kimberly Fox Uni-verse Laura opens it and sees a photo of Kim. Surprise, she drops her compact and it rolls down the aisle. A man, David, picks it up. DAVID: "You, um, dropped this." Laura looks at him, mouth agape. "Uh, here, you wouldn't want to lose it, Laura. Oh, I'm sorry, I couldn't help seeing your name on this. And besides, I feel like we've met before." He takes her hand and puts the compact into it. "Well. Hey, that book you have. You read Kimberly Fox? I've read some of her work. I've never met anyone else who's even heard of her. She isn't widely recognized, at least not yet." He takes the book and flips to a certain page. "My favorite piece in this book is this. This poem, 'Light'. It's about a sort of hypothetical woman, the poet's imaginary best friend. This woman is... Oh, I get it now, that's why I felt like we met before. You remind me of her! For me. If that sounds strange, but well, it is strange. I highly recommend it, it's a wonderful poem. Everything Kimberly Fox writes is full of hope, and love of life. Oh, Laura, look!" Laura follows his gaze outside. It is snowing. David goes to the store doors, stepping outside. Laura follows. The snow falls against the background of a city landscape. "It's so beautiful." Laura holds her hand out to catch some snowflakes. DAVID: "Well anyway, I guess I'll be going." He starts to walk down the sidewalk. LAURA: "David!" He stops, turns and comes back, confused. "David!" Laura wraps her arms around him tight. He is surprised. "David." A big clock shows Dec 31 23:59:50, counting down to the new year. "Happy New Year 2000" appears on a giant screen in the background. David returns Laura's embrace. Fireworks in the distance, crowds are cheering. Fade out. ================================================================================ 5.0 Epilogue ================================================================================ Earth from space, sun rising past over the horizon. We see rivers winding. Dinosaurs walk the earth. Meteors strike the earth. Birds over a river. A green valley with a lake. Cavemen, two are fighting. There is an earthquake, and the cavemen run in fear. Roman centurions at war, Egyptian warriors running, ancient civilizations and war. Cars racing by, forcing a cart and buggy off the road. Wright brother's plane. Planes dropping bombs, missiles shooting planes in a field. Hitler, Nazis marching. Martin Luther King speaks. A man walks on the moon. The Vietnam war. Mushroom clouds. The Berlin wall coming down. Laser tracers in the air, bunkers being destroyed by missiles. Trees are cut down with chainsaws, logging trucks are loaded. Nuclear plant silos. A petri dish with liquid being dripped into it. Trash, bodies in the street. Hungry children in Africa. Children hold signs reading, "Racism is a sin". An astronaut works outside of a space station. Children's faces from around the world. Earth. Earth "The earth came into existence about 4.6 billion years ago and is the third planet in our solar system. It has an equatorial diameter of 7.973 miles and is located about 93.2 million miles from the sun. The earth travels around the sun every 365 days and it takes 24 hours to completely revolve 360 degrees on its axis. Earth harbors an abundance of water in its oceans." Estimated world population in 1999: About 6 billion. World population growth in 1998: About 78 million. Estimated world population in 2100: About 10.4 billion Number of people infected with the HIV virus worldwide 1980: about 100000 1998: about 3 million Number of people newly infected with the HIV virus: Estimate for 1998: 5.8 million. AIDS related deaths worldwide in 1998: About 2.5 million. Number of starving people worldwide in 1998: About 830 million. Number of illiterate people worldwide in 1998: About 1 billion. Number of people living without electricity in 1998: About 2 billion. Number of children worldwide who died from malnutrition and related diseases in 1998: About 19,000 children every day. Average life expectancy: 1900: About 35 years; 1997: About 67 years Rainforest destruction from 1980 to 1995; About 772,204 square miles. Average annual temperature of the earth's surface: 1950: 56.9 degrees Fahrenheit 1997: 57.9 degrees Fahrenheit Concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide: 1960: 316.8 ppm 1997: 363.8 ppm Percentage of plant species on the verge of extinction in 1997: About 14% Percentage of freshwater and salt water fish species on the verge of extinction in 1997: About 33% Percentage of bird species on the verge of extinction in 1997: About 11% Percentage of mammal species on the verge of extinction in 1997: About 11% Total number of species to go extinct annually (in 1998): about 1000 species. ================================================================================ 6.0 Counting the Roses ================================================================================ <Lyrics by Arto Linsday, from the D2 instruction manual> I don't see what I see Falling away, falling behind I'm in a game of hide and seek Sun shines outside my mind I wonder if I'm alone Wonder who might be outside I don't want to raise my eyes All small folded up tight So I count the roses Yellow red and white Don't dare use my fingers Many many roses Wrap me up at night Roses wait and roses grow They get their rhythm right I wanna know what roses know How they grow smooth and ripe So I count the roses Yellow red and white Don't dare use my fingers Many many roses Wrap me up at night ================================================================================ LEGAL STUFF: The author of this document is Marc Lalonde, a.k.a. Syonyx, of Toronto, Ontario. For copyright purposes, most of the content is attributable to the creators and publisher of the English-language version of D2, since they wrote the dialogue and events. I, however, did go to the enormous amount of trouble of typing this all up and laying it out, so give me some credit too. You may not remove or change indications of authorship, nor may you publish this document or post it on a website without my written permission. Direct any correspondence to: syonyx_faqs at yahoo dot com. Thanks for reading! (c) Syonyx 2003.
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