Face\Off Page #8

TEETH:
DR. HOAG works like an artist -- matching the color

and shape of CASTOR'S teeth.

EYES:
Lids pinned back -- micro-needles plunge into

ARCHER'S eyeballs. His irises WASH from brown to blue.

BODY HAIR:
Hundreds of tiny grafts are "plugged" onto

ARCHER'S chest.

STOMACH:
HOAG prods ARCHER'S love handles.

DR. HOAG

Abdominoplasty, Commander?

It's on the house.

ARCHER:

Abdomino -- what?

DR. HOAG

A tummy tuck.

ARCHER:

Do it.

Globules of adipose tissue siphon from ARCHER'S obliques.

CHEST SCAR:
HOAG runs a finger along the jagged line.

DR. HOAG

You realize, Commander --

this has to go.

ARCHER looks at the scar -- then nods without a word. Two

surgeons begin to remove the dead tissue.

DR. HOAG (cont'd)

Let's see if I missed

anything before I get

my hands really dirty.

HOAG leads ARCHER to a mirror. Archer's amazed to see:

HIS OWN HEAD ON CASTOR'S BODY

He's got a flat stomach, chest hair, blue eyes -- the works.

Archer touches where his chest scar once was -- now gone.

EXT. HOAG'S FACILITY -- NIGHT

Clear and calm. God's night. Someone's God anyway.

INT. HOAG'S FACILITY -- NIGHT

ARCHER is wheeled into the high-tech surgical bay, CASTOR

beside him. Hoag wipes his brow -- he and his team have

been working for hours and now comes the hard part.

DR. HOAG

Here we go, Commander.

Through the Looking Glass ...

ARCHER nods as the anesthesiologist injects his IV line. As

he drifts off, he can hear HOAG'S final instructions ...

DR. HOAG (cont'd)

-- initial incision will be

made above the ear, extending

down behind the left earlobe,

then back up into the hairline.

Hoag turns to the ARCHIVE TECHNICIAN who's video-taping all.

DR. HOAG (cont'd)

Make sure you get everything

-- I'll need to study the tape

before reverse surgery.

Hoag sets the tip of the LASER against Archer's forehead.

A RED TARGET BEAM -- slender as a hair -- appears. HOAG

sights through the optical memory, squeezes the trigger and

-- a COBALT BEAM cuts above Archer's ear.

HOAG'S ASSISTANT performs the same procedure on CASTOR.

HOAG peels ARCHER'S face away from his skull.

HOAG carefully sinks Archer's face into a saline drip-tank.

DR. HOAG (cont'd)

Vault it.

The Nurse takes the container and rushes off. HOAG pulls

the MILKY TEMPLATE out of a saline dip and fits it over

Archer's facial sub-structure. It's a perfect fit.

DR. HOAG (cont'd)

Come on -- the other one!

His Assistant hurries -- peeling CASTOR'S face away.

CASTOR'S CONSISTENT EEG READING suddenly SPIKES RADICALLY --

for a moment, it almost seems to stabilize. The Assistant

glances over -- too late. The read-out returns to normal.

DISSOLVE TO:

A head swathed in gauze. The bandages start to fall away.

INT. RECOVERY ROOM -- DAY

HOAG removes the gauze. Gathering courage, Archer turns to

the mirror and sees his new face. The face of his most

hated enemy -- now HIS face.

Astounded, sickened to his core -- Archer has to catch his

breath as he realizes ...

JON ARCHER HAS BECOME CASTOR TROY

TITO enters. Instinctively, he grabs for his holster.

ARCHER:

It's me, Tito. It's Jon.

Tito smiles, realizes his reflexive stupidity.

ARCHER (cont'd)

It worked ...

(clears throat)

Except for this.

DR. HOAG

Yes -- the voice.

ARCHER'S voice still sounds exactly like ARCHER. HOAG

prods around Archer's adam's apple.

DR. HOAG (cont'd)

I implanted a micro-chip

onto your larynx -- a

prototype developed for

throat cancer survivors.

HOAG switches on a digital recording. ARCHER repeats CASTOR'S

words as HOAG adjusts the chip with hand-held remote.

CASTOR'S VOICE ARCHER

I'm a Catholic, goddamn I'm a Catholic, goddamn

it! Why would I shoot it! Why would I shoot

the Pope? the Pope?

After a few repetitions, ARCHER'S VOICE matches perfectly --

if a little hoarse.

DR. HOAG (cont'd)

As your chords adjust, the

scratchiness will pass.

ARCHER yawns, squints and furrows his brow -- testing every

muscle. Slowly he turns to ...

CASTOR. Motionless, swathed, dead to the world -- but

something about Castor's EYES -- those mocking eyes ...

TITO:

Now what?

ARCHER:

Call Lazarro. Castor

just came out of his coma.

EXT. NSA HELIPORT -- DAY

A squad of MARINES double-time through a concrete passage

and takes up position around a helipad. A jet-black

helicopter drops from the sky like an angry wasp.

EXT. HELI-PAD -- DAY

A second squad of Marines marches out. In their midst --

Tito escorts a heavily-manacled "Castor."

TITO:

This is it, Jon. For

the next 72 hours --

you're on your own.

ARCHER:

Just make sure you're

there. On time.

Two armed AGENTS leap from the chopper and take charge of

"Castor." He follows them pliantly until --

TITO:

Watch this hard-case --

he'll bite your nuts off

if he gets the chance!

ARCHER gets the message. He starts to resist the Agents and

must be muscled into the chopper. He's manacled down.

An AGENT starts to pull a HOOD over Archer's head. EYE-

CONTACT between Archer and Tito -- both aware of this very

real point of departure. The hood comes down.

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