Gattaca Page #15

INVESTIGATOR:

--I've already run it. There's no record

of any living relative.

DETECTIVE HUGO:

What a pity.

INVESTIGATOR:

(irritated, glancing to the sample bag)

Detective Hugo, it's a simple case of lost and

found. All we have to do is locate the man who's

minus an eyelash and this murder will solve itself.

We focus on JEROME at his work station. Although he continues

to work, he clrarly feels the presence of the INVESTIGATORS on

the mezzanine floor behind him.

A MEDICAL DIRECTOR approaches the programmer in the neighboring

work station - NAPOLEON, the programmer Jerome encountered in

the nightclub the previous evening.

MEDICAL DIRECTOR

Napoleon, you're late for your substance test.

Napoleon looks up, ashen-faced. Jerome intervenes.

JEROME:

Director, Napoleon's helping me today.

The Director regards both men suspiciously.

MEDICAL DIRECTOR

Well, you take it for him, Jerome.

The Medical Director departs. Napoleon, stunned by the

reprieve, approaches Jerome's work station and pretends to

study the program on his computer screen.

NAPOLEON:

Why did you do that?

JEROME:

(exiting to the testing lab)

Don't worry about it.

INT. GATTACA - TESTING LAB. DAY.

From behind we observe JEROME standing in front of LAMAR,

issuing forth his steady stream of fraudulent urine.

EXT. GATTACA AEROSPACE CORPORATION - WORKOUT CENTER. DAY.

Twenty GATTACA EMPLOYEES, identically-outfitted men and women,

run in a perfectly straight line towards the tranquil lake of

the picturesque grounds, never getting any closer to their goal.

They run at a steady 10mph on twenty identical state-of-the-art

treadmill machines sunken into the floor and arranged in a

uniform row facing a floor to ceiling window. The strain is

beginning to show on many of the faces. The heartrate of each

employee is monitored via a wireless electrode attached to the

chest.

Outside in the sunshine the next batch of twenty EMPLOYEES

limbers up in readiness for their physical. JEROME's only

preparation consists of thoughtfully dragging on a

cigarette while staring out at the man-made lake. His

nonchalant attitude disheartens nearby colleagues, including

IRENE who is amongst a group of workers excused from the run

by benevolent, over-protective TRAINERS.

TRAINER:

You're excused, Irene. You may resume your duties.

On the way into the work-out facility Jerome stubs out his

cigarette in a stainless steel ashtray. Only we are aware of

the slim credit card-sized recording device that he furtively

slips out of his cigarette pack and secrets in his hand. As he

takes his place on one of the treadmills and adheres the

cordless electrode to his chest, Jerome surreptitiously attaches

his device to the underside of the running machine's control

panel.

INT. GATTACA - WORK-OUT OBSERVATION ROOM. DAY.

From a mezzanine floor above the work-out room, LAMAR, the

medical officer, monitors computer read-outs displaying the

pace and pulse of the runners on each treadmill machine.

INT. GATTACA - WORK-OUT CENTER. DAY.

One by one the GATTACA EMPLOYEES drop out until JEROME is the

sole remaining runner. Several of the other employees stand

around and watch Jerome run as they towel off.

He appears under little duress, staring directly ahead,

seemingly in a trance. As we focus on his chest, only we are

aware of the sound of his furiously pounding heart making a lie

of his calm exterior.

INT. GATTACA - WORK-OUT OBSERVATION ROOM. DAY.

Jerome's heart registers a far more measured beat on the

computer in the observation room. The DIRECTOR is at LAMAR's

shoulder, beaming proudly.

LAMAR:

(marveling at Jerome's heartrate)

Six miles later it's still beating like a

Goddamn metronome. I could play piano by that

heartbeat of his.

The INVESTIGATOR and DETECTIVE HUGO enter the observation room,

escorted by IRENE.

DETECTIVE HUGO:

Director Josef, this is our lead Investigator.

The two men exchange a polite handshake. However the

Investigator is immediately taken with the SOLE RUNNER with his

back to him, on the treadmill below.

INVESTIGATOR:

How often do you test, Director?

DIRECTOR JOSEF:

Often.

INVESTIGATOR:

(intrigued)

Surely you know what you have.

DIRECTOR JOSEF:

We have to be certain. Once they're up, we

can hardly turn the boat around.

On the treadmill below, Jerome glances to his watch as he runs,

the distress starting to show. Caught up in the conversation,

Lamar has forgotten to end the work-out. Remembering, he

finally presses the "WARM-DOWN" button, slowing the treadmill.

LAMAR:

(still marveling at Jerome)

I swear if I went to lunch and came back, he'd

still be there.

We focus on Jerome's recording device attached to the bottom of

the control panel. It clicks to a stop, indicating that the

bogus heartbeat recording has ended before the workout.

The heartbeat monitor in the observation room suddenly races

from 80 to 250 beats per minute. Lamar catches the discrepancy

out of the corner of his eye but before he can take a second

look, Jerome has whipped his electrode from his chest. The

physician shrugs it off as a glitch in the machine.

The Investigator has turned his back on Jerome to face the

Director.

INVESTIGATOR:

We believe we have a suspect.

DIRECTOR JOSEF:

What a relief.

INVESTIGATOR:

(referring to the profile of VINCENT

on Hugo's computer notepad)

This unaccountable specimen was found in

the south wing corridor.

In the room below, Jerome nonchalantly steps off the treadmill,

stealthily retrieves the recording device from beneath the

control panel and returns it to his cigarette pack.

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