Blade II Page #25

STEVENS:

Ohgodohgodohgod...

(in agony)

Alright, alright. Yes, we did...

(gasping)

PLEASE! PLEASE!!!

Blade releases him. Stevens sinks to the floor, cradling his

brutalized face.

BLADE:

Keep talking, Stevens. Tell me why.

STEVENS:

(sputtering)

The Shadow Cabinet. For decades they've

been trying to find a way to rid

themselves of their hereditary

weaknesses. Viral epidemiology,

immunochemistry. Recombinant DNA was

the next logical step.

NYSSA:

(genuinely horrified)

No, that's not possible. They wouldn't

keep something like this from me...

STEVENS:

Your father didn't want you to know.

(haltingly)

Something went wrong. The Reaper strain

was too aggressive. Then Nomak escaped.

WHISTLER:

And we're supposed to clean up your

mess. F***ing perfect.

STEVENS:

(defensive)

Look, the fact that Nomak was

artificially created didn't make the

threat any less urgent. He was still

out there, spreading the Reaper virus.

But Blade's not concerned about that now. He's got something

more pressing on his mind.

BLADE:

The genetic material you spliced into

Nomak --

(beat; almost fearful)

Where did you get it?

DAMASKINOS (O.S.)

I should think that would be obvious at

this point.

ANGLE ON DAMASKINOS

Standing behind them.

DAMASKINOS (CONT'D)

We took the genetic material from you.

INT. CALIBAN INDUSTRIES - ELEVATED CORRIDOR - NIGHT

Damaskinos leads them down a corridor.

DAMASKINOS:

Jared Nomak is your genetic brother.

And I suppose if you follow that line of

reasoning to its logical conclusion,

then these are your offspring.

Damaskinos reaches to a nearby control panel, pressing a

button. A pair of massive doors slide apart, revealing:

THE EUGENICS CHAMBER

We are in a vast, multitiered, temperature-controlled chamber

-- equal parts 21st century medical facility and Hammer House

of Horror.

A network of catwalks look down upon the circular chamber,

the center of which is dominated by a massive, steel cask,

which is in turn ringed by a safety railing. The operation

looks not unlike a small-scale water purification plant, or

perhaps a futuristic distillery. Only in this instance, the

liquid churning within the cask is HUMAN BLOOD.

TINY EMBRYOS:

Each no bigger than a thumbnail, line the walls of the

chamber, preserved in credit card sized cryo-cases. There

are thousands of them, resting atop one another in racks with

stretch from the floor on upwards.

As Damaskinos removes an embryo from the rack, we see ANOTHER

EMBRYO behind it. That cryo-case now slides forward with a

WHIR, taking the place of the one which Damaskinos removed.

Like some kind of perverse vending machine. God knows how

deep they're stacked. If thousands are visible, there could

be tens of thousands in total.

Damaskinos holds the translucent cryo-case up to the light.

The Embryo within shudders, its tiny heart beating.

DAMASKINOS (CONT'D)

(proudly)

A new breed, begotten from your own

flesh. Immune to silver, even sunlight.

(stepping towards Blade)

The wolves have lain with the sheep long

enough. No more compromises. No more

deals. Only closure.

BOOM! We hear the tread of HEAVY FOOTSTEPS approaching. All

eyes turn towards a side corridor.

REINHARDT:

enters from the shadows, holding Scud's rail-gun. Much of

his face has been burnt away, leaving him with a ghastly

death's head mask of blackened muscle and exposed bone.

REINHARDT:

Put it back in park, Blade.

BLADE:

Thought you were dead.

REINHARDT:

Seems like there's a lot of that going

around these days.

As Reinhardt aims the rail gun at Blade, a DOZEN VAMPIRE

GUARDS appear on the catwalks above, also taking aim.

REINHARDT (CONT'D)

Six-thousand feet per second, isn't that

what Whistler said? Let's see you dodge

this one --

Blade does his level best, pulling his MACH, squeezing off a

SHOT even as Reinhardt FIRES. BA-BANG! Blade is hit in the

side, spun clear around. His shot goes wild, hitting one of

the Guards in the head, turning him to ash as Blade himself

falls to the floor.

NYSSA:

Blade!

Blade GASPS in shock. The rail-gun needles have ripped a

brutal hole through the side of his chest-plate. He clutches

at his flank, trying to staunch the blood that's seeping

between his fingers. As he sits forward, we see MORE

FLECHETTES have embedded in the wall behind him, having torn

completely through him.

Whistler steps forward. One of the vampire sentries LASHES

OUT, striking him in the face with the butt of his rifle.

Whistler sinks to his knees, stunned. The guard disarms him.

ON BLADE:

Gritting his teeth against the pain. He reaches inside his

combat harness, pulling out the remote detonator for the

explosive flechette in Reinhardt's skull.

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