BACK TO EARTH

Written by

Clay Space

[email protected]
FADE-IN TO BLACK

The STARFATE LOGO spins as text works its way across the
screen:

STARCHIP INITIALIZING... 15%... 67%... 98%... BEEP. We’re in.

Like a well-placed internet ad hiding the content beneath,

the screen crackles and CARY CORNELL (40s) stands in front of
us. She’s friendly, wearing a welcoming smile as she
addresses us directly.

CARY
Welcome to the revolution.

A montage of the greatest achievements in the human

experience. The pyramids. The railroad. The internet.

The Earth spins on its axis as we view it from the moon. An

astronaut plants the American flag.

CARY (CONT'D)
You are now part of history.

A family smiles. We move above them to see thousands of

families, all looking at us with determined purpose. On the
back of their necks: a glowing-green StarChip.

CARY (CONT'D)
After completing this installation
you will join the most powerful
network on the planet.

The STARFATE BUILDING - a modern day wonder - stands before

us.

CARY (V.O.)
The StarFate network.

Now we stare into the eyes of MR. GHASSEMI himself! A Steve

Jobs type. Smart looking with an edge (50s).

GHASSEMI
This is your new StarChip. The
internet for your mind.

A StarChip glows green on the back of Ghassemi’s neck.

JONO WALTERS (V.O.)

We have assembled the best
technical team on the planet...
 2.

JONO WALTERS (50s), walks up to us. His smile is honest and

trusting. Charismatic without trying. A title appears below
him: JONO WALTERS, CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER.

StarFate engineers talk with one another around screens.

JONO WALTERS
...to make sure we keep you, your
friends, and your family, smiling.

Cary stands before us again.

CARY
A network with over 2 billion
members.

A world map blinks with the billions of connection points.

CARY (CONT'D)
With members on Earth and beyond.

The world map zooms out into space, and we see STARSHIPS
docked around the planet. We pan over to the moon, which has
a massive StarFate facility.

Ghassemi stands within this StarFate facility, arms

outstretched.

GHASSEMI
A 90% reduction in world poverty. A
massive leap in human lifespan.
Major increases in global happiness
and productivity. A new age of
progress and the greatest
technological achievement in human
history. Possible because of you.

CARY
Because of you.

JONO WALTERS
You.

We focus on the momentous achievement as the ad breaks away

to reveal what’s underneath...

EXT. STREET RIOT - DAY

This isn’t the glitzy ad, it’s the real world.

A group of rioters picket the StarFate building. They hold up

signs saying “DOWN WITH STARFATE” and “BACK TO EARTH.”
 3.

An ANGRY RIOTER digs the StarChip out of the back of his neck
with a knife. Blood pours from his wound.

EXT. LIBRARY - CONT’D

Near the riots, LAURA COLE (20s) spray paints an EARTHER LOGO
onto the library doors. Other Earthers have barricaded the
windows.

The police don’t know what to do.

The protest continues as the ad finishes on tv screens and

monitors surrounding the protestors.

THE STARFATE AD

Cary stands in front of us with Jono and Ghassemi.

CARY
We thank you for trusting us.

JONO WALTERS
For helping us build a better
future.

GHASSEMI
For reaching for the stars.

The StarFate tech team looks out at us. Crescendo.

STARFATE TECHIE
Your StarChip is now connected to
the world...

The screen goes black. Text appears.

CONNECTION COMPLETE. REACH FOR THE STARS.

BACK TO EARTH TITLE

FADE IN:

INT. UNKNOWN

Closed eyes. So close, we can’t see the surroundings.

CARY (V.O.)
StarFate is a fascinating
corporation.
 4.

INT. CLASSROOM - THE INTERNET

A classroom where the laws of physics are governed by

computer code. Cary stands in front of her students. She’s
dogmatic, concise, and a little bit playful.

CARY
Of course, no organization is
perfect. There was a saying in the
1900s that the sun never set on the
British Empire. It was the largest
in history, ruling over a quarter
of the world, and now it’s a tiny
island in the Atlantic.

Graphs and images pop up to help aide her talk.

Her students are bored. One of them “unplugs”. He shimmers,

then vaporizes. Text appears above his seat: OFFLINE.

CARY (CONT'D)
Ultimately, we must look at what
kind of legacy these systems are
trying to build. How can we govern
our fellow man to inspire a better,
safer, and happier world?

Another student unplugs. She grimaces.

CARY (CONT'D)
I’m biased, but it’s easy to say
that StarFate will leave a major
mark on the story of humanity.
Right now, the sun never sets
without StarFate having a say.

Cut back to--

INT. UNKNOWN/STARFATE FACILITY - TEST ROOM

The closed eyes. We move away to discover it’s Cary.

Green wires feed into the back of her neck. She sits in a
chair surrounded by others in the same predicament. Their
wires run up to meet a console in the center.

Below her torso we notice that her legs are missing.

Replacing them - a bionic metal pair.

We move upwards, above Cary, through the ceiling, and onto--

 5.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - HALLWAY TO THE CEO OFFICE

ED WALTERS (50s), Jono Walters older brother, walks down the

hall. Ed is a man that looks and acts like a moth. Ghostly,
fluttery. Someone you don’t trust when the lights are out.
MEGAN stands at the entrance to the CEO suite. She smiles as
he walks by and into--

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - CEO OFFICE

Penthouse luxury. The type of room that’s intimidating to

lesser men.

Ghassemi is not a lesser man. He stares out the window,

looking down at the riots below.

A video stream plays on the window, a youtuber giving a

sermon to their viewers.

YOUTUBER
Riots are happening across the
world today once we discovered that
StarFate’s lead engineer of
assholery, Jono Walters, killed his
wife.

Ghassemi’s eyes narrow and the screen disappears.

GHASSEMI
These riots are the worst yet. Did
the report come back?

Ed waves his hand and some documents load in front of them,

hologram style.

ED
It’s inconclusive.

GHASSEMI
Our chips may have a vulnerability
that could bring down our whole
company and the report is
inconclusive.

ED
I have our engineers pushing a
software update right now just to
be safe.

Beat.

GHASSEMI
What kind of man is your brother?
 6.

ED
You know what I think of him.

GHASSEMI
But you don’t think he did it?

ED
I think a man is capable of
anything.

GHASSEMI
Your nephew and niece? Safe?

ED
Surrounded by security.
(then)
We’ve been remotely analyzing
Caldwell’s chip.

GHASSEMI
And?

ED
The code base is altered.

Ed pulls up a full profile of Caldwell Walters. It shows a

living and breathing image of Caldwell, his vital signs,
location, emotional state, etc. Some information is covered
by large, red letters: BLOCKED.

GHASSEMI
Jono?

ED
Who else?

GHASSEMI
What’ve you found.

ED
Nothing so far.

GHASSEMI
Keep on him.

Ed makes for the door. Ghassemi stops him.

GHASSEMI (CONT'D)
(is it... fear?)
Ed. Should we take our own chips
off the network?

ED
I’m taking mine off.
 7.

Ed leaves. Caldwell’s profile hovers in front of Ghassemi.

We focus in on Caldwell’s profile. The colors merge into--

INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY

No Ritz, but it ain’t a Motel 8 either. ANNA WALTERS (8-10)

plays with lines of code on a computer on one of the two
beds. A POLICE OFFICER stands in the corner.

CALDWELL WALTERS’ eyes are glazed over (early 20s). He looks

down at his hands - the images he’s looking at are all being
created by his StarChip.

Caldwell’s awkwardly lanky and thin. If you’re looking for a

rough and tough cowboy for your leading man, look elsewhere,
cause this kid’s got nothing but brains. And a deep passion
for family.

INT. CALDWELL’S POV

His hands flip through images of his mother, MISCHA WALTERS

(50s). She’s laughing and smiling. They’re a happy family.
Jono Walters appears in a few of them.

The photos look to be taken from an old polaroid, but they

MOVE.

INT. HOTEL ROOM - DAY

The photos fade away and Caldwell wipes the wetness from his
eyes. The bright green of his StarChip dims.

Out the window: a mob is forming in the streets.

CALDWELL
Looks like they found us.

POLICE OFFICER
Let me call HQ.

The officer presses the back of his neck, his StarChip.

INT. POLICE STATION - DAY

Calm disarray and structured chaos.

An OLDER OFFICER is admiring a new implant he got.

 8.

OLDER OFFICER
Man, these new chips are sweet.
(to Stanton)
Aren’t you going to put in your
upgrade?

STANTON stares at hers, hesitant.

Senior police officer, VINCE (50s), sits at his desk, muscles

bulging from his shirt. The only thing bigger than his
muscles is his principled sense of justice. A futuristic
walkie-talkie at his side buzzes.

POLICE OFFICER
(through the walkie)
What should we do with the Walters?

VINCE
Move them.

We see the back of Vince’s neck - there’s a searing scar

where his chip used to be.

INT. HOTEL ROOM

The officer gets his response and nods.

POLICE OFFICER
Come with me.

Caldwell takes Anna’s hand and follows the cop.

EXT. STREET RIOT

A mob of protestors stand outside the high rise. They hoist

signs lambasting StarFate.

A black car rolls out of the hotel, lights on. Two more
follow.

INT. BLACK CAR - CONT’D

Self driving. Nice interior.

Caldwell sits in the back with Anna. The officer sits across
from him.

A hologram plays from the ceiling. It’s the same youtuber

from earlier.
 9.

YOUTUBER
My question now is whether Jono
Walters’ StarChip had something to
do with the murder? Are his KIDS a
part of it? Looking at the
evidence, I say YES! GUYS,
apparently a new update is getting
pushed out today to PATCH some kind
of bug. So the real question is ARE
WE SAFE?

Angry protestors surround the car, yelling and screaming.

This is docile compared to what’s coming.

POLICE OFFICER
The internet turns people into
monsters.

They drive by a happy billboard ad about StarFate that’s been

marked over by Earther logos.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - TECH ROOM

Hi-tech room filled with computers, thick, multicolored

chords, and huge memory drives with blinking lights. StarFate
engineers stand around their screens.

STARFATE TECH 1
Update to version 3.01.2 is now
live.

STARFATE TECH 2
Sweet. Jerry’s got lunch.

JERRY - epitome of antisocial - shakes his head.

JERRY
I brought my own lunch. No thanks.

STARFATE TECH 2
Hold down the fort.

The StarFate techs file out of the room.

Jerry pulls out a sandwich and takes a bite. Some mayonnaise

spills down his shirt. He curses and tries wiping it off.

A console light turns red. Then another. By the time Jerry

looks up lights are flashing. An image representing every
node in the StarChip network turns RED.

The sandwich drops from Jerry’s hand. We see the back of his
neck. His StarChip flips red.
 10.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - TEST ROOM

Cary Cornell sits in her chair, plugged-in. Next to her is

RANDALL, plugged-in the same way.

Randall’s peaceful face suddenly contorts. His body seizes.

Foam drools out of his mouth.

INT. LIBRARY - DAY

A public library turned war bunker. Bookcases are piled up to

barricade the doors. An Earther logo hangs from the ceiling.

A sign reads: Our Last Vestige of Sanity

A video screen plays our favorite youtuber:

YOUTUBER
Get out on the streets, people.
Have your voices heard! Let them
bitches know that we will not be
test subjects.

Laura (humorous, lovable, and maybe a socialist) squeezes

through the outside door as LILLIAN SANDERS rushes up to her.

LILLIAN
Laura, we’re ready.

Laura follows Lillian into a back room and down some stairs.
They come into--

INT. BASEMENT - LIBRARY

Guns and grenades and various weapons of war line the walls
and sit in buckets.

LAURA
He followed through.

LILLIAN
Of course he did. I only hope we
won’t need them.

There’s a loud explosion outside.

Laura rushes back up the stairs and into--

 11.

INT. LIBRARY - CONT’D

The people are huddled on the ground, terrified. Screams

erupt from the street.

Laura pushes her way to a window and looks outside.

The building across the street is on fire. Protestors are

screaming, some lay dead. Many of them are running, from what
is unclear.

A black car speeds down the street. Police lights flash.

INT. BLACK CAR - CONT’D

The car driving Caldwell and Anna speeds down the street. The
building ahead has caught fire.

CALDWELL
What was that?

The police officer has his eyes out the window, hand on his
gun.

POLICE OFFICER
I’m not... I don’t...

His StarChip starts blinking red. He seizes, grasping at his

neck.

Caldwell reaches out to him when Caldwell’s chip suddenly

blinks red as well.

ANNA
Cod?

His StarChip flashes green and red. Christmas.

EXT. BLACK CAR

The car drives up onto the curb, then flips. CRASH!

EXT. LIBRARY - CONTINUOUS

Laura watches the crash from the library window. Her

attention is pulled further down the street.

EXT. CITY STREET

A crowd of panicked protestors run, screaming.

 12.

They’re being chased by civilians with spit drooling down

their chins, eyes bloodshot, faces purple, clothes covered in
blood. These are no longer people - they’re ragers.

A RAGER grabs hold of a POOR GUY and takes him down to the
ground. More ragers pile on.

We FADE OUT on the poor guy’s anguished screams.

END OF ACT 1.
 13.

ACT TWO

EXT. CITY STREET

Burning buildings. The black car that was driving Caldwell

and Anna is upside down, windows trashed. The police officer
in the car lays on his side. Is he dead?

INT. POLICE STATION - DAY

Vince holds the walkie to his mouth.

VINCE
Officer Baker. Officer Baker? Shit.

The Older Officer starts spasming. His new chip is flashing

red. Suddenly, he’s full rager. He slams an officer into a
filing cabinet. Chaos!

Vince straps the walkie to his waist. Police officers fight

all around him. Comrades have turned into ragers.

Gun fire. One by one the rager officers are shot. Last to go
down is the Older Officer. Vince personally pulls the
trigger.

Room clear. A few officers are left behind, everyone’s

visibly shaken. Worst off is Stanton.

VINCE (CONT'D)
Stanton.

Stanton’s covered in blood. She trembles.

STANTON
I don’t believe this...

She’s staring at the older man’s body.

VINCE
Your father was the best man on the
force. I’m sorry.

ANOTHER OFFICER
(looking out window)
Holy shit we’re fucked.

VINCE
Our job is more important now than
ever. We lost contact with the
Walters on 3rd and Helsinki. You
all know how important they are.
(MORE)
 14.

VINCE (CONT'D)
Find them.
(to Stanton)
If he were in your shoes right now
he’d be stepping up, not backing
down.

Vince reassuringly puts his hand on her shoulder - Stanton

straightens and nods.

He hands her a walkie talkie. Turns to face GARRET (20s),

fresh.

VINCE (CONT'D)
Garret. You’re with me.

GARRET
Uh... we’re going somewhere?

Vince heads for the door. Without looking back--

VINCE
Yep. Prison. Bring the keys to the
chopper.

Garret fumbles for the keys and hurries after Vince.

EXT. CITY STREET

The ruined black car. For the amount of destruction, things

are calm in the moment.

Anna pops out of the car. She’s bruised and scraped but
otherwise alright.

INT. LIBRARY

Lillian comes to Laura’s side. She has guns in her hand.

Laura grabs one of them.

LAURA
I’ll be back.

She pushes through the library doors and out onto the street.

EXT. CITY STREET

Anna in the street. Dazed. As Laura approaches Anna scrambles

back.
 15.

LAURA
It’s okay. I’m here to help. Is
anyone else in the car?

ANNA
My brother.

Caldwell is regaining consciousness. Laura throws herself

into the car and grabs him. They stumble out.

The chip on the police officer’s neck flashes red. His hand
twitches.

Caldwell leans against the car, rubbing his head. His chip is
colorless. Powered off. Why wasn’t he affected?!

CALDWELL
My chip...

LAURA
Something’s happening to the chips.
Yours alright?

CALDWELL
It won’t turn on.

LAURA
That’s better off than the rest of
them.

CALDWELL
The rest of who?

Anna screams.

The police officer, full rager, jumps out of the car and
grabs Caldwell. Laura steps in.

The rager turns on her and takes her to the ground. Her gun
flies out of her pocket.

Caldwell picks it up.

Laura flings the rager off her. With Laura out of the way,
Caldwell raises the gun.

Finger on the trigger. Hands shaking. He grimaces, life or

death and he can’t do it.

Boom. Another rager tackles the officer to the ground. In a

fell swoop, he rips the officer’s throat out. HOLY
MOTHERFUCKING SHIT.
 16.

Covered in blood, the winning rager stands up, eyes on

Caldwell and Laura.

SPLOOSH! A bullet puts the rager down. Across the street,

Lillian, gun up. Earthers by her side, armed.

LILLIAN
Hurry!

More ragers barrel towards them down the street.

Gun fire. A few drop, not enough. The library is too far.

LAURA
Hope you ran track.

Laura runs away from the library. Caldwell and Anna follow.

We FOCUS on a sign on the ground, torn to pieces, but one

word is still clear. STARFATE. The word blends into--

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - HALLWAY TO THE CEO OFFICE

The StarFate logo is emblazoned on the carpeted hallway.

Ed sprints down the hallway, his clothes are disheveled. The

door to Ghassemi’s office is cracked.

ED
TONY?

No answer. Ed opens the door.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - CEO OFFICE - CONT’D

Disarray. The room swallows Megan whole.

She shatters the large window. She’s going to jump!

ED
Don’t.

Blood dribbles down the back of her neck where she’s torn the
StarChip out.

MEGAN
Is this our fault, Ed? Did we do
this?

From the penthouse suite you get a front seat to the burning
city. It’s one hell of a show.
 17.

ED
We didn’t see this coming.

MEGAN
Yes we did.

ED
Where’s Ghassemi?

MEGAN
Does it matter.

ED
We’re going to fix this. StarFate
has the best engineers in the
world. We’ll--

MEGAN
I just watched the best engineers
in the world tear each other apart
like animals.

ED
I need to find Ghassemi.

MEGAN
You need to find your soul. You’re
no better than the monsters.

She jumps.

Ed stares in shock, then a sudden realization.

ED
What if...

He exits the room.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - TEST ROOM

Cary, plugged-in to a console. Around her, others. The wires

attached to their necks have turned from green to red. The
center console is flashing with warning lights.

CONSOLE VOICE
NETWORK SYNCING ISSUES, PLEASE
DISCONNECT IMMEDIATELY.

Everyone plugged-in is seizing. Faces blue. Suffocating.

Cary’s body twitches. Slowly, then rapid.

 18.

Randall takes in a final, stuttered breath before going limp.

Face pale.

Another few follow. Cary’s in trouble.

THE DOOR BURSTS OPEN. It’s Ed Walters.

He runs around the console. Looking for someone in

particular, and then, he finds him. Randall. Ed shakes his
body.

ED
Randall. Come on man. Wake up!

He’s long gone.

Cary gurgles, getting Ed’s attention. A moment of indecision,

is it worth it? Finally he unplugs her.

She slides down in her seat. Ed shakes her.

ED (CONT'D)
Cary. Can you hear me? Cary.

Stuttered breath. Life! Cary’s eyes shoot open.

CARY
What’s happening?

ED
Something broke.

Cary sees what’s around her. She wraps her arms around Ed’s
neck. Intimate.

CARY
Oh my God.

ED
I came right away.

CARY
Has there been an attack?

ED
I’m so glad you’re okay. I couldn’t
stop thinking about you.

CARY
Help me up.

ED
Your legs...
 19.

Cary’s bionic legs are unresponsive.

CARY
They’ll be fine once my chip is
back on the network.

ED
There is no network.

CARY
What?

Beat.

ED
You good at fixing code?

EXT. CITY - ALLEY - DAY

Laura leads Caldwell and Anna down an alley. Ragers follow

closely behind them.

LAURA
Run FASTER!

She tries a metal door in the alley and it swings open. They
run inside and slam the door shut - just as ragers pile onto
the door.

INT. STAIR WELL - CONT’D

Mostly darkness. They can hear the screaming and destruction

from outside.

Panting, Laura and Caldwell look up the stairs.

CALDWELL
Great. Stairs.

LAURA
I guess you weren’t big on
athletics.

EXT. BUILDING ROOF - CONT’D

An overview of the city. It’s total madness.

Laura, Caldwell, and Anna burst from a door and onto the
roof.
 20.

LAURA
I think the library is in that
direction. We shouldn’t be too far
away yet.

CALDWELL
You want to go back?

LAURA
Those are my friends.

CALDWELL
StarFate has to have answers for
this. If we go there we can--

LAURA
Holy shit, you’re Caldwell Walters.

CALDWELL
Yeah. Look, if we can get--

LAURA
I risked my life to save you.

CALDWELL
Uhh... thanks for saving--

LAURA
I’m stuck on a roof surrounded by
crazy chippies because of YOU.

CALDWELL
I don’t know what you’ve heard
about me, or my family, but it
isn’t true.

LAURA
Yeah. Do I get my gun back?

Her outstretched hand reveals an Earther tattoo.

CALDWELL
No.

Laura’s eyes fall on Anna. She breathes.

LAURA
I was in this for her.

CALDWELL
Makes two of us.
 21.

LAURA
I’m not going to StarFate with you.
I don’t care what you say, I know
StarFate’s behind this.

She walks to the edge of the building and looks out.

LAURA (CONT'D)
We’ll be dead on our own. Look, I
saved your life, so help me get
back to the library and then we can
call it even and go separate ways.
Fair?

CALDWELL
Fine.

Caldwell puts the gun to his side, guard down. Laura makes
her move. She disarms him, pushes him into the ground, and
points the gun at his chest.

Caldwell scoots away. Anna steps in between them.

LAURA
Just want to be clear about who’s
boss.

Caldwell’s chip flashes red. He yells out in pain, grasping

his neck.

He doubles over, vomits.

The chip stops flashing. Anna is at his side.

ANNA
Cod. Are you okay?

LAURA
What was that?

ANNA
I want to go home.

The door to the roof rattles. Laura raises her gun.

CALDWELL
(to Anna)
Get behind me.

It swings open and BUTLER and ZACH come out onto the roof,
(30s). They’re dressed like bodyguards at a high end mixer.
Each has a black collar around his neck, thick with metal and
wires.
 22.

LAURA
Who are you?

Butler and Zach both have guns and they’re both trained on
Laura.

BUTLER
We heard noise.

LAURA
Might’ve been the city. I don’t
know if you looked, but it’s
burning to the fucking ground.

Butler and Zach give each other a look.

BUTLER
If you’re looking for safety, come
with us.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - HALLWAY TO TECH ROOM

Sirens blare and lights flash. Ed rushes down a path towards

a large, black door. Ed pushes Cary along in a wheelchair.

CARY
You know I haven’t done any serious
coding in years.

ED
Today’s a good day to start.

CARY
It’ll take me hours to get familiar
with the current repo.

ED
We were pushing an update today.
All I need you to do is locate it
and see what went wrong.

CARY
I don’t want to get your hopes up.
If there were other engineers it’d
be easier.

ED
I’ve heard the rest of our
engineers are--

They make it to the door. He hurls the door open.

 23.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - TECH ROOM

Computers, thick chords, huge memory drives, and now LOTS of

flashing lights.

Jerry stands in front of them. Full rager.

Jerry grabs Cary’s legs and drags her into the tech room.

Ed follows after them. He grabs the first thing his eyes fall
on: a COMPUTER KEYBOARD.

ED
Jerry!

Jerry lets go of his grip on Cary and looks up at Ed. Is

there humanity in there?

ED (CONT'D)
You know me.

Jerry screams and hurls himself at Ed.

Ed slams the keyboard over Jerry’s head and Jerry drops to

the ground.

Jerry tries to get back up and Ed slams the keyboard into his
head again. Then, another swing. Jerry stops moving but Ed
keeps going. Panicked. Upset. Delirious.

Cary watches.

CARY
Ed? Ed. ED!

Ed finally stops and looks at her.

ED
He tried to kill you. I’m sorry.

CARY
Help me back into my chair.

Ed helps her with bloody hands. Her face is drained.

Horrified.

END OF ACT TWO

 24.

ACT THREE

INT. HELICOPTER - EVENING

Self-flying. Calm interior. Vince and Garret are in the

helicopter, flying over the city. Garret looks out at the
carnage. Nervous.

VINCE
This is why you joined the force.
To fix shit like this.

GARRET
I, uh, well, this wasn’t what I had
in mind.

VINCE
May not be what we had in mind, but
now it sure as hell is our job.

GARRET
Is this, like, a pep talk?

VINCE
I was a soldier before joining the
force. Saw lots of men like you.
All the training in the world
couldn’t prepare them for when shit
hit the fan. You could see it in
their eyes, feel it radiating from
their pores. Too scared to take
action and pull the trigger. They
were always the first ones who
died.

GARRET
No, I’m ready for this.

VINCE
If you’re not scared you’re in even
more trouble.

GARRET
So, what, you’re scared?

VINCE
Of course. This isn’t the first
time I’ve seen this.

GARRET
Like, uh, the chippies going crazy?
 25.

VINCE
We called them ragers.

EXT. PRISON ENTRANCE - EVENING

The HELICOPTER lands in the parking lot. Vince and Garret

jump out and make their way to the entrance.

GARRET
So you think Jono knows how to fix
this chip thing?

VINCE
More than anyone else.

GARRET
You think he was working with the
Earthers? All their protests today--

VINCE
The Earthers didn’t do it.

GARRET
How do you know?

VINCE
Stop talking.

The prison entrance is smashed. Shattered glass everywhere.

Vince whips out his gun. Garret follows suit.

INT. PRISON ENTRANCE

Metal detectors and bullet proof windows. The place has been
trashed. A few dead officers lay on the ground.

Vince and Garret move deeper into the prison.

INT. PRISON BLOCK - CONT’D

Cells line the sides. Their doors are open. Blood splatters
on the floor. Dead guards. Dead prisoners.

GARRET
The prisoners escaped.

VINCE
They take your chip out in prison.
Who’d have thought a life sentence
could save your life.
 26.

PRISONER (O.S.)
Hello? Who’s there?

A prisoner sits in his cell. The door is closed.

PRISONER (CONT'D)
Unlock the door. Help me out here.

VINCE
Jono Walters in this block?

PRISONER
Whossat?

Vince starts walking away.

PRISONER (CONT'D)
Yes he is. He is. He is, man.

VINCE
Where is he?

PRISONER
I’ll lead you to him.

VINCE
Where is he?

PRISONER
They took him out to the yard
before it happened. I don’t know
after that, man.

Vince nods and walks away. Garret follows behind.

PRISONER (CONT'D)
SIR! COME BACK!

GARRET
You’re not just going to leave him
in there, right. He’ll die.

VINCE
That’s what he was sentenced to do.

GARRET
But, given the, uh, circumstances.

VINCE
You want to trust a prisoner?
There’s a reason he’s in here, and
I don’t want to find out what that
reason is. All lives aren’t created
equal, kid. Let him go.
 27.

PRISONER
HELP ME! PLEASE SIR!

Garret looks back but keeps on walking.

EXT. PRISON YARD - CONT’D

Vince and Garret come out on the prison yard. Bodies

everywhere.

A lone prison guard, rager, beats on a body with his baton.

The rager turns to face Vince. Snarls. Charges. Vince kills

him with two well placed bullets. Vince steps over the bodies
and comes up to the body the rager was beating. He turns the
body over with his shoe.

It’s a nobody. He searches the yard. None of the bodies

belong to Jono.

He and Garret come up on a large hole in the fence.

VINCE
Shit. He got out.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - TECH ROOM

Lights flash. Cary is plodding away at a screen. Ed drags

Jerry’s body into a corner.

CARY
This isn’t working. I can’t even
gain access to the main system.

ED
My security clearance should give
you admin permissions.

CARY
It’s not. I’m locked out of making
any changes.

ED
Can you brute force it?

CARY
Yeah, if you’ve got one of your
security ops on hand.

Ed stares at all the screens flashing warnings about the

network.
 28.

ED
At least we still have power.

The lights go out. Ed and Cary exchange glances in the dark.

CARY
And now we’re for sure locked out.

ED
Billions of people...

The lights flicker back on, all the computers begin to

reboot.

ED (CONT'D)
That’s the generators.

CARY
How long will they be able to keep
things going?

ED
Probably a while. This site runs on
nuclear power.

CARY
We need another idea.

Ed’s eyes fall on an image of StarFate’s fleet of StarShips.

ED
We could run.

INT. BUILDING HALLWAY

Nondescript floor. Carpet that stains when you look at it.

Laura, Caldwell, Anna, Butler, and Zach run down the hall.
Ragers chase after them.

Butler stops and fires off a few rounds, dropping some

ragers. More ragers pile in over the bodies.

The group rounds a corner. Ragers approach them from the

front. Butler continues firing off rounds from behind.

Zach presses the elevator DOWN BUTTON. He shoots off some

rounds. They’re surrounded.

LAURA
An elevator?
 29.

The elevator doors open. Zach jumps inside. Laura, Caldwell,

and Anna have no choice but to follow.

Zach rapidly presses the close door button as ragers head for
the open doors.

CALDWELL
What about the other--

Butler’s screams reverberate down the halls. He didn’t make

it.

The elevator doors shut.

An explosion rattles above them. The elevator lights flicker.

LAURA
We’ll be stuck if the power goes
out.

ZACH
The power’s already out.

Laura gives Caldwell a look.

CALDWELL
The device around your neck. That’s
not StarFate tech, what is it?

The bell chimes and the doors open.

ZACH
We can talk about it later.

INT. BUILDING - TUNNEL

The elevator opens onto a poorly lit tunnel. Zach exits,

Caldwell, Laura, and Anna follow.

They walk through the tunnel and up to metal doors. Zach

types in a security code.

The doors open.

INT. BUILDING - BUNKER

A large room covered with screens monitoring the outside.

Sitting in a chair at the head of the room, throne-like, is
BRADY STEEL (50s). He’s quirky. Flamboyant.

As they approach--
 30.

BRADY
Close call back there.

LAURA
What is this place?

BRADY
My hedge against the end of the
world. Caldwell, right?

CALDWELL
Uh...

BRADY
What? You think it’s coincidence I
saved you?

LAURA
It’s really thanks to him.

Laura motions at Zach.

CALDWELL
Look, I’m a Walters. If we can get
back to StarFate we may be able to
fix this.

BRADY
I knew your dad. Good man.
Bribeable. The last time I chatted
with him was right before, you
know.
(he mimes “destruction”)
He called asking for money. Said
he’d found a bug in the StarChip
code, that he needed to hire some
white hats to help him patch it.
Fascinating, eh? A man who
practically coded StarFate from the
ground up couldn’t turn to his own
company when he needed help.

CALDWELL
I don’t know about this.

BRADY
Why would he tell you. I sent him
the money, but then, well... good
thing I also pivoted my company.
Hedged my bets. A good investor
saves the world while he prepares
for the end of it. Got me working
on this.
 31.

He motions at the bunker.

CALDWELL
I’m sure that StarFate is figuring
this out right now.

BRADY
StarFate’s a lost cause.

CALDWELL
It’s not.

ZACH
We have bedrooms through those
doors. I can show you to them.

He points to a set of doors that lead further into the

bunker.

LAURA
We’re not staying.

ZACH
Sir, monitor three.

Brady looks up at his monitors. Monitor three displays

Stanton and her team approaching the building.

BRADY
Cops, huh?

Brady motions. GUARDS grab Laura, Caldwell, and Anna and snap
black collars around their necks.

BRADY (CONT'D)
When societies collapse - like ours
just did - people look to rebuild
their world into a new shape.
Something not as flawed as the
shape that got them here. It’s an
opportunity, get me?

Brady walks towards the bedroom doors.

BRADY (CONT'D)
There’s going to be lots of ideas
on what shape society will take.
Lots. But the idea that wins out is
going to be the idea backed by the
most human capital. Friends, you
are my human capital.

He opens the doors to the bedrooms. Rows and rows of cots,

all occupied.
 32.

Brady holds up a remote and presses a button. The collars on

Laura and Caldwell’s neck buzz with life.

END OF ACT THREE

 33.

ACT FOUR

INT. STARFATE FACILITY

Narrow halls. Flickering lights. Blood.

Ed carries Cary down the hall. As he carries her through an

intersection, he grabs the attention of two STARFATE RAGERS.

Oh shit! They’re on his tail. Ed rushes them into a

conference room.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - CONFERENCE ROOM (C0NT’D)

Oval table and chairs. A SUIT AND TIED MAN is seated, head
resting on the table. Dead. A metal bar sticks out of his
back.

As Ed and Cary settle, the door rattles. Ed pulls the bar out
of the man’s back. SPLURGH.

CARY
Ed, they’re still people.

ED
No, they’re not.

CARY
We need to try. There’s a person in
there somewhere.
(yelling through the door)
What do you want from us?

The door stops rattling. Beat. Are they listening?

A primal yell. The door slams open, the two ragers burst in.

Ed bludgeons one over the head and stabs the other in the
chest.

He takes the bar back in his hands. He likes this.

He slams the door shut and turns to face Cary.

ED
We’ll never make it out.

CARY
We shouldn’t be trying to run. Our
work is here.
 34.

ED
It’s a lost cause.

CARY
StarFate’s responsible for this,
and you want to walk away?

ED
I’m not StarFate.

CARY
We all are.

Ed seems to shrink. He doesn’t want to say what’s on his

mind. But he knows he has to.

ED
Cary, we ran a program, years ago
when the chips were still in beta
where we studied events like this.

CARY
This has happened before?

ED
Yes, but--

CARY
And you found a way to cover it up?
Instead of trying to fix it, you
did what? Kill everyone involved.

Ed doesn’t respond.

CARY (CONT'D)
Wow.

ED
It’s possible to contain when a few
people are turned. But now... This
isn’t just a few people. This is
the entire world.

CARY
It’s inconvenient that you can’t
just kill the whole world.

ED
You’re missing my point. Let me go
out there. I’ll get things ready
and come back for you when it’s
safe.
 35.

CARY
You plan on leaving me here to die.

ED
Of course not. I love you.

CARY
Funny. You never said that when we
were screwing.

Ed leans in to kiss her and she keeps him away.

CARY (CONT'D)
You’re a monster.

He walks out, shutting the door behind him.

INT. BUILDING - BUNKER - BEDROOM

Double bunk cots on the left and the right. People watch from
their bunks, collars around their necks.

Caldwell, Laura, and Anna are led in by Zach. He comes up on

three empty cots. In the fourth bed, up top, is ERRATIC MAN.

ZACH
These are yours. There are showers
down the way, and food.
(he motions at a monitor
displaying a red screen)
It’s on a timer connected to your
collars. When the light turns green
it’s your turn.

The Erratic Man beats on the wall.

ERRATIC MAN
LUCIFER’S HELL WILL DESTROY YOU.

ZACH
Don’t worry about him. The collar
will keep him from doing anything
irrational.

Zach leaves.

LAURA
We need to get out of here.

Caldwell is examining the monitor displaying the red light.

Anna is, too.
 36.

LAURA (CONT'D)
Hello? Are you listening? Let’s
stop staring at a screen and--

ANNA
Shh!

Laura glares.

ERRATIC MAN
HE SHALL RAIN FURY UPON US ALL!

LAURA
One more word, buddy.

INT. PRISON BLOCK

Vince and Garret walk down the hallway. It’s as “pristine” as

when they’d left it. Vince is on his talkie.

VINCE
Stanton. Come in. Stanton.

Nothing. Vince turns for the exit. The jailed prisoner

shrieks for help. Garret stops, looking further down the
block.

GARRET
What about the prisoner?

VINCE
We’re leaving.

GARRET
I can’t go with him on my mind.

VINCE
Before this is all over you’ll have
a lot more on your mind, kid. We
need to get back, come on.

GARRET
I’m not going until we free him.

Vince starts walking away.

GARRET (CONT'D)
You’re serious? I respected you.
You were a man of morals and
standards.
 37.

VINCE
We lock people up. We don’t let
them go.

GARRET
I think our job description’s
changed.

Vince is unreadable.

VINCE
Fine, kid. Free him.

Garret’s taken aback. Did he just win? His mood changes.

GARRET
He won’t ride with us. I’ll let him
out and we’ll be on our way.

Garret makes his way down the hall and to the prisoner. He
start smashing the cell handle.

PRISONER
Thank you, thank you, thank you.

The door swings open. Garret starts making his way back to
Vince when GLOOSH! Garret gasps, then drops. The prisoner
holds a bloodied shiv. Toothless grin.

Vince is emotionless. He raises his gun and kills the

prisoner, then he turns to head for the helicopter.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - STARSHIP HANGAR

Wide walls, lots of space. One STARSHIP remains. Massive,

cylindrical, nose pointed towards the sky. This is the last
vestige of hope, the only way out. Ed approaches the StarShip
and taps on a nearby panel to activate it.

RUSSEL (O.S.)
It doesn’t work.

Ed jumps, turning to face RUSSEL (50s), a... janitor?

ED
I’ll get it to work. It knows who I
am.

RUSSEL
So do I.
 38.

ED
Ah, that’s great. You, uh, worked
here?

RUSSEL
Still do.

Russel’s posse, five StarFate Engineers, reveal themselves.

Arms crossed, threatening.

ED
Whoa there. You know I can offer
all of you a ride on this?

RUSSEL
I was just about to make you an
offer, too.

The StarFate Engineers grab Ed.

RUSSEL (CONT'D)
You might want to take it.

INT. BUILDING - BUNKER - BEDROOM

Caldwell and Anna are hunkered down over the monitor. They’ve
hacked it and are typing on it furiously!

Laura walks through the bunker, observing the residents.

Their emotions run the gambit.

A WOMAN approaches her, blocking her path.

WOMAN
Keep your friends away from that
thing.

Laura motions to the collar around her neck.

LAURA
What does this do?

The woman shakes her head. You don’t want to know.

Creeped out, Laura turns and hurries back to Caldwell and

Anna.

CALDWELL
That should be enough.

ANNA
You’ve got to add the coefficient
later.
 39.

ERRATIC MAN
HE HATH SEEN THE FLAMES!

CALDWELL
This’ll work.

ANNA
No, you’re doing it wrong.

Anna reaches over and taps the screen a few times.

LAURA
What are you doing?

CALDWELL
Getting these collars off.

ERRATIC MAN
BEWARE THE WORDS OF SATAN!

LAURA
Would you shut the hell up?

She motions to punch him and he FREAKS OUT! Screaming, he

jumps off the bed. Runs around.

The other bunker dwellers panic, hiding in their beds.

ANNA
It worked!

Caldwell presses some buttons, ready to hack his collar.

The erratic man stops, center stage. He’s screaming. His

collar starts buzzing.

LAURA
Caldwell...

BOOM. The man’s collar explodes, killing him.

INT. POLICE STATION

Dead police officers lay on the ground.

Vince stares at their bodies. A sign nearby reads: SERVE AND

PROTECT. Vince kneels over Stanton’s father’s body. He puts
his hand on the mans chest. Deep breath to hold back tears.

He starts ripping the man’s police jacket off.

 40.

EXT. HELICOPTER PAD

The helicopter lies in wait.

Vince drops the police jacket into a MASSIVE pile of blue

uniforms. He tosses them onto the copter.

He takes out his walkie talkie.

VINCE
Stanton.

INT. BUILDING - TUNNEL

Stanton stands outside the doors to the bunker with her crew
of armed officers. They’re ready to bust the doors down.

STANTON
We found him.

EXT. HELICOPTER PAD

Vince gets her response.

VINCE
Buzz me when you’re safe.

Vince drops the walkie into the copter and hops inside. The
copter takes off.

INT. BUILDING - BUNKER - BEDROOM

Laura and Anna watch Caldwell’s collar with anticipation. His

face is pale.

It starts to buzz. They back away from him.

CLICK. His collar pops off. Relief. Then--

PAT PAT PAT. Gunfire in the main room. Yelling. Caldwell gets
to his feet. Out of the frying pan and into the fire.

END OF ACT FOUR

 41.

ACT 5

INT. BUILDING - TUNNEL

Stanton and crew stand to the side of the doors as bullet

holes are riddled into it from the inside.

The shooting eventually stops. Stanton fires back as her team

kicks the door down.

INT. BUILDING - BUNKER

Monitor screens shatter. Smoke and debris.

Brady hides behind his “throne” as his guards take the lead,
firing at the doors.

Stanton and her team in blue return fire. Smoke grenades are
set off.

One of Stanton’s men drops. One of Brady’s guards goes the

same way. The fight’s fair.

INT. BUILDING - BUNKER - BEDROOM

Caldwell, Laura, and Anna hide under the bunk bed. Most of
the room is doing the same.

CALDWELL
Now what?

A round of bullets goes through the door.

LAURA
I never should have tried to save
your life.

CALDWELL
Being introspective. That’s cute.

LAURA
Did you call me cute?

The crossfire stops. Silence. The bedroom door bursts open

and Stanton walks in. Exhausted. Bleeding.

Laura gasps. She recognizes Stanton.

STANTON
I’m looking for--
 42.

BAM. A bullet takes her from behind.

Brady enters the room, wide-eyed.

BRADY
Holy motherfucking damn.

Stanton’s gun lays by her side, just within reach of Laura.

CALDWELL
Laura...

Laura looks back over at him. Caldwell’s chip is blinking red

again. He looks sick.

Laura lunges out from under the bed and grabs at Stanton’s
gun.

She points it at Brady. Brady barely reacts. His hand is in

the air, holding the remote. Smiling.

BRADY
Pull the trigger and you go kaboom.

Laura hesitates. Looks around the room at all the people in

collars. Helpless.

Caldwell groans. Major pain!

Laura throws her gun to the floor. Brady smiles, tosses his
gun to the ground, too.

BRADY (CONT'D)
I hate violence.

He puts his clicker away.

Caldwell’s veins pop from his skin. His face is purple.

BRADY (CONT'D)
Well, now that all my men have
gotten royally screwballed, I’m
going to have to make you guys--

Primal scream.

Caldwell charges out from the bunk bed and tackles Brady to
the ground. HE’S BECOME A RAGER.

Brady presses his clicker, but Caldwell doesn’t have a

collar. Caldwell tears into Brady, blood flies. Red.

Brady lets out a tormented scream.

 43.

Caldwell hunches over his body, chest heaving, inhuman.

He turns to Laura, snarls. Laura picks Stanton’s gun back up.

ANNA
Don’t shoot!

Caldwell slowly gets to his feet, eyes only on Laura. Laura

cocks the gun.

LAURA
One more step.

ANNA
Caldwell, don’t!

Caldwell’s gaze shifts to Anna. They connect, a flash of

recognition. His chip flashes red and green.

Caldwell’s breathing deepens, his face relaxes. He drops to a

knee, calming. His anger gives way to tears. He’s returned to
normal!

Anna runs to his side.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - LAB X CORRIDOR

Russel and his posse march Ed down a corridor.

INT. STARFATE FACILITY - LAB X

Stack of papers, plans, whirring computers. George

Washington’s Valley Forge, but with tech. And not as cold.

An ENGINEER runs up and hands Ed an old, bulky StarChip

prototype.

ED
The network’s down, why do you want
me to put this on?

Everyone else is clicking theirs into place around their

necks.

RUSSEL
We’ve hooked these up to a test
net.

Another engineer pushes Cary into view on a wheelchair.

ED
Cary!
 44.

She refuses to look at him. Ed works to say something but

nothing comes out. Finally:

ED (CONT'D)
You’re ok.

CARY
They found me right where you left
me.

The engineer pops the prototype around Cary’s neck. It powers

on. Her legs react. Toes wriggle. She stands.

Ed puts on the StarChip device. It lights up.

Ghassemi walks out from behind a large computer.

GHASSEMI
We’ve made a terrible mistake, Ed.
Billions of people trusted us. We
betrayed that. We let our ego blind
us.

ED
I looked for you when things got
out of hand.

GHASSEMI
It’s up to us to fix this.

ED
I don’t even know where to start.

GHASSEMI
Your nephew might have some
answers.

Russel tosses Ed a small device. It lights up, revealing

Caldwell Walter’s profile. The one he and Ghassemi looked at
earlier.

ED
His StarChip wasn’t affected by the
bug.

GHASSEMI
I don’t think it was coincidence.

ED
What will you be doing?

GHASSEMI
I’ll be solving a few other issues.
 45.

Ghassemi’s body warps, then disintegrates. He had been a

projection!

Ed turns to Russel for an answer.

RUSSEL
He took one of the ships right
before the outbreak.

Cary is looking at a large clock on the wall. It’s numbers,

counting down: 719:45:03.

CARY
What’s this for?

ED
The reactor...

RUSSEL
Without maintenance, it’s only so
long before the nuclear reactor
gives up. And when that happens...

CARY
It’s going to take the whole
facility with it.

Russel nods.

RUSSEL
And all hope of finding a cure will
be lost.

Caldwell’s profile floats in front of them, timer in the

background.

INT. BUILDING - BUNKER

Chatter as people remove their collars and head for the exit.
Caldwell is covered in Brady’s blood. Anna and Laura help
wipe it off with some towels.

LAURA
What the hell was that?

CALDWELL
I had zero control. I just felt...
angry.

LAURA
But you came back.
 46.

CALDWELL
Lucky me.

Anna is concealing tears.

CALDWELL (CONT'D)
(to Laura)
Can you give us a sec?

Laura nods. She moves away.

ANNA
I want to go home.

CALDWELL
I don’t think that’s possible
anymore.

ANNA
I miss mom and dad.

CALDWELL
Me too.

INT. BUILDING - BUNKER - BEDROOM (CONT’D)

As Caldwell and Anna talk, Laura steps over Brady’s body and
comes to Stanton’s.

Stanton’s walkie talkie is by her side. Laura picks it up.

Tunes it.

LAURA
(into the walkie)
Can you hear me?

INT. UNDISCLOSED AREA

Vince grabs the walkie talkie. We can’t quite tell where he

is.

VINCE
Stanton.

LAURA
No. It’s Laura. Stanton... didn’t
make it.

Vince takes this in.

VINCE
Are you okay?
 47.

LAURA
For now. But Jesus...

VINCE
Is Caldwell with you?

LAURA
Yes. I’m trying to get him back to
the library, but--

We come out on Vince’s location. It’s the LIBRARY. Vince is

nearby as Lillian hands out police uniforms to her fellow
Earthers.

VINCE
Stay with him. We’ll come to you.
Laura, stay safe.

INT. BUILDING - BUNKER

Caldwell and Anna toss blood covered towels into a corner.

Caldwell’s cleaned up a bit.

Laura approaches.

CALDWELL
Some of these people here have
offered to get us to StarFate’s
headquarters.

LAURA
I’ll come with you.

Anna squeals with excitement and wraps Laura in a hug.

CALDWELL
Seriously? I thought you hated me.

LAURA
Call it a change of heart. Plus,
who’s going to protect Anna?

CALDWELL
Glad to have someone we can trust.

OFF Laura, hiding her shame behind a smile.

END OF EPISODE 101.