Face\Off Page #7

ARCHER:

Eve ...

He starts to mouth the words. He wants, needs to share the

truth with her. But he can't. Instead --

ARCHER (cont'd)

... If I had to do something

to find some closure ... I

should do it, shouldn't I?

... No matter how crazy?

EVE:

What are you saying?

(realizes)

Oh, God -- you're going

on assignment again ...

ARCHER:

One last time. It's important ...

EVE:

You said you'd be here!

You promised me -- you

promised Jamie! What

could be more important

than that?

ARCHER:

I can't tell you ...

except only I can do it.

EVE:

You want me to tell you

it's okay to leave? Okay,

go on! GO!

Fury erupting, Eve pushes Archer out of the bed. He

stumbles out of the room.

INT. HALLWAY -- NIGHT

Archer trudges past Jamie's room.

INT. BEDROOM -- NIGHT

He enters a boy's room -- neat and tidy, like a museum

exhibit which, in a sense, it is.

ARCHER clicks the wall switch -- no bulb. He lies down on

the small bed and stares at the ceiling.

A STARFIELD:

twinkles back at him ... made of stick-on fluorescent stars

and comets and day-glo stardust that spells "Matthew."

ARCHER:

Am I crazy, Matty?

ARCHER'S weary eyes close as the stardust twinkles brightly.

DISSOLVE TO:
BRIGHT LIGHTS -- the San Francisco skyline --

dominated by the twin Transamerica Towers.

INT. TRANSAMERICA-TWO BUILDING -- NIGHT

A MAINTENANCE WORKER sweeps up -- until a RAT scurries by.

Annoyed, the man follows the vermin with the broom -- poking

around -- trying to flush it out.

Squeezing behind some DUCTS -- he spots something HIDDEN ...

something GLOWING RED -- tapped into this a/c vent.

He leans in closer and ... BREAKS AN ELECTRIC EYE -- the

bomb's self-defense motion-detector. Instantly a YELLOW

LIGHT BEAM flashes -- finds the MAN'S FACE. HISSSS!

A pinpoint of gas sprays him. He recoils and runs out.

EXT. BUILDING -- CONTINUOUS -- NIGHT

Gasping for breath, the Man forces open an access door.

That's better. Then ... he CONVULSES VIOLENTLY. Twitching,

shuttering, he FALLS ... dropping like a wounded bird.

EXT. ALLEY BELOW -- CONTINUOUS -- NIGHT

Splattered in the gutter, the man looks like just another

jumper in the heartless big city.

INT. NSA -- ARCHER'S OFFICE -- DAY

Archer memorizes the CD-ROM images before him:

Surveillance footage of CASTOR dancing in a crowded night-

club with a sexy but doped-up WOMAN. They're necking.

ARCHER:

Sasha Plummer, 28, single,

mother of one. Met Castor

Troy in Berkeley at a Pearl

Jam reunion. Felony convictions:

two counts, drug running.

She has a tattoo of a 1956

Buick on her right ankle.

ZOOM in on the tattoo as the door opens -- TITO enters.

TITO:

Castor himself didn't

know half this crap,

and it was his life.

(hands Archer a disk)

What do you want with

the prison lay-out?

That place is so tight,

you couldn't squeeze

a fart out of there.

Archer keeps working -- the image of Sasha MORPHS into

footage of a slick, Eurotrash-type -- DIETRICH HASSLER (45).

ARCHER:

Dietrich Hassler. 45.

Biochemist. Dismissed from

the FDA on charges of ...

Tito shuts down the machine.

TITO:

Jon, this is goddam insane.

You can't go through with it.

(no response)

What about Eve?

ARCHER:

She doesn't know -- and she

never will.

TITO:

You haven't got a chance in

hell of fooling Pollux.

Castor drinks, smokes and

walks around with a 24-hour

hard-on. He's nothing

like you.

ARCHER:

Don't worry. I've done

my homework. I'll get

Pollux to talk.

TITO:

Either way, come Saturday

morning -- I'm pulling you

the hell out of there.

EXT. HOAG INSTITUTE -- DAY (ESTABLISHING)

The sun rises over a gated compound in the Berkeley hills.

INT. FACILITY -- O.R. -- DAY

ON MONITORS:
CASTOR'S body is being prepped.

PULL BACK:
Hoag confers with the ARCHIVE TECHY who's taping

the procedure.

DR. HOAG

Let's walk through it, Commander.

(a beat)

Your blood types are different,

but surgically compatible. The

height difference is negligible

-- within 1/2 an inch. The feet

are close enough. Penis size,

flaccid, essentially the same.

(a beat)

Substantial.

TWO NURSES exchange a glance.

DR. HOAG (cont'd)

Eye color will be handled

with a retinal dye. Body

hair -- with micro-grafts.

Teeth, a little cosmetic

bonding. The tattoos will

be -- tattooed. Fingerprints

-- we'll use an organic skin

mold and a little Crazy Glue.

ARCHER:

Kid's stuff.

THE TRANSFORMATION

TATTOOS:
A tattoo artist recreates the COLOSSUS OF RHODES

on ARCHER'S thigh as his assistant outlines the remaining

six "Ancient Wonders of the World."

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