Ex Machina Page #2

A white-water river runs through it.

7 7

INT. HELICOPTER - DAY

CALEB looks down at the breathtaking view as the helicopter

banks, turns, and descends.

8 8

EXT. MEADOW/LANDING SITE - DAY

Meadow flowers whip in the rotor wash as the helicopter

touches down in the vast meadow.

By the landing site is a collection of huge metal crates.

All have Chinese characters on the side.

The rotor blades slow, but don't stop.

JAY exits.

9 9

EXT. MEADOW/LANDING SITE - DAY

JAY holds open the door as CALEB exits the helicopter cabin.

CALEB looks around, his eyes adjusting to the bright sunshine

outside.

JAY goes to the side of the helicopter, pops open a hatch,

and removes CALEB'S luggage. A large suitcase with wheels.

CALEB looks around. Apart from the packing crates, there are

no man-made structures to be seen.

CALEB shouts over the engine noise.

CALEB:

You're leaving me here?

7.

JAY:

This is as close as I'm allowed to

the building.

CALEB:

... What building?

The pilot gestures vaguely towards the white water.

JAY:

Follow the river.

JAY hands CALEB his bag.

JAY (CONT'D)

Please get a safe distance from the

blades.

The pilot gets back inside the helicopter, and closes the

door.

CALEB hurriedly retreats with his bag.

Moments later, in a roar of wind and noise, the helicopter is

lifting off.

Equally suddenly, the noise is fading, and the helicopter is

soaring upwards, and banking back towards the glacier.

Then it is gone. Bird song and wind rush replace engine

noise.

CALEB suddenly looks very isolated.

10 10

EXT. RIVER - DAY

CALEB walks along the banks of the fast-flowing river,

awkwardly bumping his wheeled suitcase over the ground.

The banks of the river start to climb, to an intimidating

drop.

It feels that this can't be the right way.

CALEB reaches into his pocket and pulls out his mobile phone.

No signal at all.

He puts his phone back in his pocket.

11 11

EXT. RIVER/HOUSE VIEW - DAY

CALEB rounds a bend in the river.

Ahead, almost hidden in trees, there is a steel and glass

structure.

8.

12 12

EXT. CLEARING - DAY

CALEB walks towards the house through the trees.

In the ground, in a grassy clearing, he finds a circular

window, reflecting the sky.

He walks up to the window, and looks inside.

It reveals what is effectively a glass-covered well - about

four metres deep, with smooth concrete sides.

At the bottom of the well is a brightly-lit room, which

appears to be an office of some sort. There is a desk, with

monitors, and a chair.

But apparently no one inside.

Beyond the clearing, in the tree-line, CALEB sees - almost

camouflaged by forest - the dark shapes and straight lines of

a low, one storey building complex.

12A 12A

EXT. HOUSE - DAY

CALEB approaches the building.

As he nears the entrance -

- CALEB startles, as an AUTOMATED VOICE speaks to him, from

an unknown source.

AUTOMATED VOICE:

Caleb Smith.

CALEB tracks the source of the voice.

Near what seems to be the front door, a pillar protrudes from

the ground. Head-height. With a GLASS SCREEN on one side.

Below the screen is a DISPENSER.

CALEB:

... Yes.

AUTOMATED VOICE:

Please approach the console and

face the screen.

CALEB looks into the screen, and as soon as he has locked

eyes with his own reflection, the screen FLASHES. A single

bright strobe.

Almost immediately afterwards, something small clatters into

the DISPENSER.

AUTOMATED VOICE (CONT'D)

Take your keycard.

9.

CALEB picks the object up. It's a credit-card sized ID.

On it, there is an embedded chip, and a photograph of his

face. He looks comically surprised.

CALEB:

... Can we do another?

AUTOMATED VOICE:

Your keycard now may be used to

enter the residence.

CALEB walks up to the front door.

Beside the door, a KEYCARD PLATE is set into the wall, with a

RED LED LIGHT.

He holds his keycard ID.

The RED LED light changes to BLUE.

CALEB pushes the front door, and it swings open.

13 13

INT. HOUSE/MAIN ROOM - DAY

The front door opens to a glass-walled staircase, which leads

down to an open-plan room.

At the bottom of the staircase, CALEB waits to see if he is

welcomed, or noticed.

But he is not.

CALEB:

Hello?

Silence.

Then he is startled a second time, by sudden commencement of

a THUMPING SOUND.

Abrupt. Rapid. More or less rhythmic. From somewhere

nearby.

He exits in the direction of the noise.

13A 13A

INT. HOUSE/DINING AREA - DAY

CALEB enters a dining area.

Which now reveals...

... a huge glass door.

It presents an arresting view of a garden, river, and the

mountains behind.

10.

The door is open, and through it, we see the reason for the

thumping sound.

Just outside, on a patio, in the sunshine, a man is working a

PUNCH BAG.

14 14

EXT. GARDEN - DAY

CALEB exits the dining area to an area of neat garden,

looking over the river, and surrounded by the mountain

ranges.

The punch bag is suspended by a chain on an exterior flanking

wall of the house.

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