Face\Off Page #9

ARCHER:

Do I get a meal on

this flight?

The AGENT smashes his elbow into ARCHER'S gut. The door shuts

-- the CHOPPER lifts off like a twister and screams away.

EXT. BALCONY ABOVE -- DAY

The gang breaks up, wanders back to work.

LOOMIS:

What a week for Commander

Archer to go on vacation.

Maybe we should let him know.

WANDA:

Forget it. He left strict

orders not to be tracked down.

BUZZ:

He'll sh*t when he finds

out Castor pulled through.

WANDA:

If he shits at all.

BUZZ:

Probably doesn't.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. STEEL HOLDING PEN -- EREWHON PRISON

Day or night? Who knows -- there's no natural light.

Groggy, ARCHER stirs -- and removes his hood.

He gets up -- and paces the tiny cubicle. There are no

doors, no windows -- the room appears seamless. Even more

odd, his movements don't make a sound. TOTAL SILENCE.

Archer BANGS on the wall, silently. Then he opens his mouth

and YELLS, also silently. Has he gone mad?

The faintest PNEUMATIC sound causes Archer to whirl. Now

behind him:
a pair of gleaming METAL BOOTS.

VOICE:

Put on the boots

He examines them -- they're lined with electro-skin sensors.

VOICE (cont'd)

Don't sniff 'em, you

perv. Just put 'em on.

Archer does as he's told. Instantly, the boots

automatically lace -- they shrink and lock onto his feet.

The WALLS PART -- revealing head guard WALTON.

Archer tries to move -- he can't, not even an inch.

ARCHER:

They're too tight.

WALTON:

So's a noose. Now keep

your mouth SHUT.

For emphasis, WALTON jolts ARCHER with his high-voltage

SHOCK-STICK. Archer buckles. Two more GUARDS enter. They

cut away Archer's clothes.

WALTON (cont'd)

You are now an inmate of the

world's toughest prison. In

here -- you are no one. You

own nothing. When I say

your ass belongs to me -- I

mean it. Bend over.

Archer hesitates -- but Walton hefts the shock-stick.

Archer relents -- his face reflects the degradation. Naked,

he exposes all to the cavity-searching Guard.

WALTON (cont'd)

The entire prison's one

big magnetic field. The

boots'll tell us where

you are -- every second

of the day. Now WALK.

Archer takes a clumsy step -- acclimating to the boots.

INT. SECURITY -- ANNEX

Archer enters, now dressed in plain prison blues. From this

annex, he can see into SECURITY CENTRAL. It looks like an

air traffic control tower -- with monitors designed to keep

problems and privacy at a minimum.

Walton grabs Archer's RIGHT THUMB and presses it into a

console security screen. It forms an ELECTRONIC PRINT --

positively identifying "Castor".

WALTON:

I've got fifty bucks says

you're dead by dinner.

Don't disappoint me.

INT. GENERAL POPULATION -- DAY

Totally enclosed -- except sunlight and cloudy blue skies

peek through a small SKYLIGHT -- five stories above.

100 Inmates crowd tables as Trustees dole out the food.

Silence falls as ARCHER enters. One huge inmate, DOBBS,

does a slow burn on seeing "Castor."

ARCHER stares the inmates down and takes a seat. he scans

the room -- looking for Pollux.

LITTLE MAN:

Hey, Castor -- remember me?

ARCHER looks across the table. The mustache is familiar.

ARCHER:

Waxy Wright. Didn't

Jon Archer bust you for

poisoning five members of

the Canadian parliament?

WAXY:

They never should've voted

against U.S. statehood --

the scumbags.

(a beat)

We heard you got wasted.

ARCHER sees the other inmates sizing him up.

ARCHER:

Do I look wasted -- a**hole?

WAXY:

(nervous)

You look great, Castor.

Really. Here -- I got a

shot of your favorite --

Mescal. Even has the worm.

WAXY hands over a baby-food jar filled with Mescal. ARCHER

eyes it with trepidation, but everyone's waiting. He downs

it -- choking, sucking back his urge to puke.

ARCHER:

-- Hit the spot.

Suddenly DOBBS leaps onto ARCHER and starts pummeling him.

They slide across the table -- spilling everyone's lunch.

INT. SECURITY CENTRAL -- DAY

The DEPUTY gets two RED BLIPS on his monitor.

DEPUTY:

I've got bio-rhythm jumps

-- two -- at the eatery.

SECURITY CHIEF:

Lock 'em down.

INT. GENERAL POPULATION -- DAY

INMATES encircle them as Dobbs throws Archer across the room

and stalks him. Dazed, Archer staggers to his feet -- and

sees the inmates looking at him -- unimpressed.

Especially his "brother" Pollux -- who stares dubiously.

DOBBS wades into Archer again -- this time Archer is ready.

He blocks Dobbs's fist and punches back -- then ...

ZAP! The magnetic boots lock both Dobbs and Archer in

place. They can't move their feet. Dobbs flails hopelessly

-- but Archer's just out of reach.

CRACK! WALTON punches ARCHER in the diaphragm.

ARCHER:

What? He started it!

WALTON smashes ARCHER harder -- he hits the floor.

ARCHER (cont'd)

When I get out of here --

WALTON:

You'll what?

ARCHER:

I'm going to have you fired.

His statement is so ludicrous, WALTON laughs. Everyone does.

From the inmates' reactions, ARCHER knows he's been accepted.

Rate this script:5.0 / 2 votes