Arcade Page #4

GREG'S FACE

As a smile slowly creeps across it.

CUT TO:

INT. DANTE'S INFERNO - LATER

At the front of The Inferno, Difford and two SLIP-STREAM HELPERS are

unpacking cardboard boxes. The KIDS have clustered around them,

momentarily forgetting the ARCADE machine.

Difford pulls cut a handful of game cartridges as well as goggles which

dangle over his arm.

DIFFORD:

Here's what we're going to do. What I'm

holding are the home versions of ARCADE,

the prototypes...

This is met with an enthusiastic response from the kids.

DIFFORD:

(continuing)

In a month or so we're planning on releasing

ARCADE in both versions, but we're still

fine tuning, and that's where you guys luck

out. So what we'll do is have you register

with us, and then we're going to loan these

out to you for a week or so. The only thing

you have to do in return is answer some

marketing questions. Sound fair?

The kids can't line up fast enough.

OUR GROUP:

is right up front, with Nick and Alex being the first two in line.

Difford winks at Nick.

DIFFORD:

So what do you think?

NICK:

Sign me up.

Alex is glancing around now. She sees Benz, Stilts, and Laurie, but not

Greg.

ALEX:

Where's Greg?

Laurie jerks her thumb back at the ARCADE machine.

LAURIE:

He's still working on the game.

And Alex finds Greg for a moment, spotting him over the heads of the other

kids.

ON GREG:

His face is a mirror of Nick's...sweat pouring down, grinning from ear to

ear. It's addictive as hell. SIGHTS and SOUNDS rush past us on the three

screens, racing at incredible speeds.

And now, from within the game, we hear a strange sound...a SCREAM of

sorts, halfway between a shriek and a sonic boom.

ARCADE:

TIME'S UP, FRIEND.

The SHRIEK/SONIC BOOM reaches a nightmarish pitch and suddenly the screens

EXPLODE WITH LIGHT.

AT THE FRONT OF THE INFERNO...

everyone turns in response. It's as if someone set off a flashbulb.

ALEX:

pushes her way back through the kids, making her way to the ARCADE

machine.

ARCADE:

Greg is nowhere to be found. In fact, the CyberGloves and goggles are

dangling from the control board, abandoned.

Alex turns to a nearby KID.

ALEX:

Where's Greg?

The kid shrugs.

KID:

Don't know. I think I saw him walk out,

but I'm not sure...

Alex isn't listening anymore. She's staring at the floor of the ARCADE

machine.

GREG'S POLAROID

is on the floor...the photo of Greg and Alex which he manipulated.

Alex picks it up, glancing around. She scans the faces of the crowd and

she doesn't see Greg anywhere. She turns away.

ON SCREEN:

A video figure is lying on the computer-generated ground. It sits up,

brushing dust from itself, and looks around. It faces us. Only the image

isn't of Nick anymore. It's VIDEO GREG now.

UP FRONT,

Alex has re-joined her friends. The four of them are now clutching ARCADE

home versions in their arms, CyberGloves and all. They look like kids on

Christmas Day.

ALEX:

Has anyone seen Greg?

STILTS:

He's probably outside. You know how he is.

Gets bored...

NICK:

Yeah, outside.

Nick heads for the door with the rest of the group in tow.

CUT TO:

EXT. DANTE'S INFERNO -- DAY

Outside, Greg is still nowhere to be found. Benz, Stilts, and Laurie have

piled into their car, waiting for Nick to take the wheel.

NICK AND ALEX:

are up by Greg's Skylark.

ALEX:

So where is he?

NICK:

Guess he took off... You have his keys,

right?

Alex holds them up and gives them a shake.

NICK:

Hmmm. He said you were going to have

dinner?

ALEX:

Yeah...

NICK:

So take his car home. Wait. I'm sure he's

up to something...

ALEX:

(cutting him off)

But he was playing the game. I mean, you

saw him...

BEHIND THEM,

Laurie reaches over the seat and honks Nick's horn. Laurie and the others

burst into LAUGHTER. Stilts sets his skateboard on the street and rolls

it towards Nick.

BACK TO NICK AND ALEX

Nick stops the board with his foot and steps onto it, balancing. He waves

to the others and turns back to Alex.

NICK:

It's nothing, okay? Just take his car home.

He'll show up.

Nick tousles Alex's hair. He shakes his ARCADE cartridge at her.

NICK:

Don't worry about it.

And with that, Nick's off, rolling back to his car and leaping over the

door, skateboard and all. Laurie and the others are still screaming with

laughter.

Nick hits the ignition and guns the car, pulling out with a dramatic

SCREECH and sailing off down the street.

ON ALEX:

clutching Greg's car keys. She glances on the front seat, where her own

ARCADE cartridge rests.

THE CARTRIDGE:

has the same glowing eyes that were laser-etched on the machine inside The

Inferno.

ALEX:

F***-you.

CUT TO:

EXT. MANNING HOUSE -- NIGHT

The Manning place is your basic suburban ranch house, totally

unexceptional. The lawn looks a little ragged and a pile of newspapers,

frayed and yellowing, have accumulated by the front door. Inside, the

house is dark. Lonely.

ALEX:

pulls up in Greg's Skylark, scooping the ARCADE kit into her arms.

CUT TO:

INT. MANNING HOUSE -- NIGHT

As Alex enters the dark house, we can hear WHISPERS coming from further

within. It's a little creepy, but Alex seems unconcerned.

She negotiates her way through the darkened house, on into the den.

DEN -- FOLLOWING THROUGH

Dim, flickering LIGHT illuminates the den, casting long shadows across a

SLEEPING FIGURE on the couch.

This is Alex's father, JIM...hopelessly middle-aged and getting older by

the moment. It's the t.v. that's doing the whispering. CNN or something.

From what little we can see of the rest of the house, it looks like a

mess.

Alex bends down and jostles her father's shoulder.

ALEX:

Dad...Dad...

Jim stirs, though barely. He turns a sleepy face towards her, looking

gray and lifeless.

JIM:

Yeah?

ALEX:

Did Greg call, Dad?

Jim shakes his head and sinks back into the couch.

From Alex's attitude, it's obvious that this scene has played itself out

many times before.

ALEX:

You should go to bed, Dad.

Jim waves a tired hand, dismissing her.

JIM:

...am in bed...

ALEX:

(standing back up)

Yeah.

She turns and grabs a comforter that's bunched up at the end of the couch,

spreading it over her father.

ON THE T.V.

We're getting a de-saturated view of carnage...some sort of war going on

in some far-off land.

Alex grabs the remote and flicks the t.v. off, plunging the room into

darkness.

CUT TO:

INT. ALEX'S ROOM -- NIGHT

STATIC.

Late-night t.v. static, filling up the entire screen.

WE PULL BACK,

revealing a television...and further back until we see Alex crouched

behind it in silhouette. She's fiddling with wires back there and...

BLINK! Suddenly the SLIP-STREAM logo appears on the t.v. screen with nifty

computer graphics. She's just hooked up the home version of ARCADE. Alex

moves back to the front of the set.

ALEX'S ROOM

is her haven, a virtual library, filled with books which she loses herself

in. They're stacked everywhere.

And puzzles too. Half-assembled jig-saws. Intricate things. An Escher

print. The descendants of Rubik's Cube. Boxes within boxes. This is

Alex's life, what she retreats to.

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