I, Robot Page #9

TOLLER:

Case is closed, Spooner.

SPOONER:

Apparently...

He pushes past him. Falling into step beside Sonny.

SONNY:

I didn.t expect to see you again,

Detective...

SPOONER:

I need you to help me clear

something up.

48.

SONNY:

I.ll do my best.

SPOONER:

A scientist builds a robot that

acts like a man. More like a man

than any robot ever before. It

shoots him and U.S. Robotics calls

it a failure.

SONNY:

What would you call it?

SPOONER:

A stunning success.

(beat)

You were there, Robot. What am I

missing?

SONNY:

I don.t know.

SPOONER:

Don.t start simulating ignorance.

SONNY:

I.m not simulating ignorance,

Detective. I.m experiencing it. I

was asleep.

SPOONER:

You mean you were shut down.

SONNY:

No, I was asleep.

SPOONER:

Robots don.t sleep. Human beings

sleep. Understand? Dogs sleep.

You.re a machine. An imitation.

An illusion of life. Can a robot

write a symphony? Can a robot take

a blank canvas and paint a

masterpiece?

A pause. Then the muted WHIR as Sonny turns to him.

SONNY:

Can you do either of those things?

Spooner. Momentarily stumped. As a VAN from U.S. ROBOTICS

pulls up. The back door dropping open. An ENGINEER motions

to the Robot.

49.

ENGINEER:

Step forward. Enter.

SONNY:

They.re going to destroy me, aren.t

they?

Spooner. Watching him step into the van.

SPOONER:

Yes.

Sonny sits down. With an almost human melancholy. The

Engineers, securing him in place.

SONNY:

The Doctor was right. He told me

everything was going to change....

The Engineers start to close the doors. But Spooner reaches

out to stop them. Sonny. Looks over at him.

SONNY:

It.s changing already...

(beat)

Can.t you feel it?

As CLANG! The van door CLOSES. Spooner, stepping back.

Something. Just not right. Lieutenant Bergin comes up

beside him.

LT. BERGIN

You should be happy. That.s one

less robot in the world.

SPOONER:

They.re going to destroy the most

advanced robot in the world, John.

That doesn.t strike you as odd?

LT. BERGIN

Killer robots are bad for business.

Even your friend Dr. Calvin said

so.

(slaps him on the back)

Come on. You solved the case.

Give yourself a break.

Spooner looks at him. There.s no way he.s giving himself a

break.

50.

56 INT./EXT. SPOONER.S CAR - DAY 56

Spooner driving. A small TELEVISION above the windshield.

LANCE ROBERTSON holding a PRESS CONFERENCE outside U.S.

Robotics...

ROBERTSON ON TV:

...and I just want to assure you that

this was an isolated incident. The

prototype is now in custody -- and

scheduled for destruction. Your

robots are perfectly safe. There

is no cause for alarm...

Spooner.s lip curls. Eyes flicking to a GPS display on the

dashboard. A TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP pinpointing HOGENMILLER.S

HOUSE. The CURSOR. Directing him to turn up...

A STEEP DRIVEWAY

Narrow. Out of the way. Spooner.s brow furrows. As he

hears a faraway RUMBLING SOUND...

57 EXT. HOGENMILLER.S HOUSE - DAY 57

Dr. Hogenmiller.s house. Small. Simple. Built on a huge

rock promontory overlooking the city. Three DEMOLITION

ROBOTS rolling towards it. Huge, mashing, sporting massive

HYDRAULIC POUNDERS.

Spooner.s CAR. SCREECHES to a stop. He jumps out. Races

over to the nearest machine. Looking around -- no people.

SPOONER:

(to Robot)

What are you doing?!

A SCREEN. Blinks to life on the hulking chassis. A

disembodied VOICE...

DEMOLITION ROBOT

Demolition ordered...

SPOONER:

Who authorised this?

DEMOLITION ROBOT

Demolition ordered...

Spooner reaches into his coat. Pulling out his POLICE BADGE.

Scans it over the screen.

51.

SPOONER:

Override. This is police business.

Vacate the premises immediately.

DEMOLITION ROBOT

(beat)

Affirmative.

The screen. Blinks off. Spooner. Eyeing it. Turns and

heads for the house.

58 INT. MAIN ROOM - HOGENMILLER.S HOUSE - DAY 58

Spooner pushes the door open. Stepping over the police tape.

Inside, the main room is spare, untidy. Cups of cold COFFEE,

littering surfaces. A COT, in the corner.

On the walls, crooked CERTIFICATES. Heinrich Hogenmiller.s

name written out in academic script. Advanced Degrees in the

study of Robotics, Physics, Chemistry, Neurology, Ethics. An

AWARD on the mantelpiece. A silver NS-2. Tarnished.

Spooner. Opening up a couple drawers of a side table.

Jumbles of papers. Clippings. Old text books. Then a

PHOTOGRAPH -- HOGENMILLER AND CALVIN. Standing arm-in-arm.

Spooner furrows his brow.

WHEN SOMETHING SUDDENLY RUBS against his leg. He startles.

Looks down:
a CAT. Lonely. Standing next to its automatic

feeder. Spooner pockets the picture. Starts heading down...

59 INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS 59

...The hallway. Starts noticing. All over the walls:

handwriting. EQUATIONS. Scrawled in white pencil. The

rantings. Of a genius. Glowing. In the sporadic shadows.

Spooner. Following the equations. Down into...

60 INT. BACK ROOM - CONTINUOUS 60

...The back room. Covered. In writing. Walls, floors,

ceiling. Drawings. Of ROBOTS, of MEN, side by side. In the

corner, a COMPUTER. A line of CABINETS - DATA STORAGE.

Spooner, curious. Heads over to one of the cabinets. Takes

a device out of his pocket and CLAMPS it over the KEYPAD.

The device blinks RED. Then GREEN. The drawer, slides out.

LINED. With flat metal objects. Shiny. Thin. With writing

on them. Spooner. Reaches for one when...

52.

BOOM! Something POUNDS the outside of the room. Spooner.

Grabs onto the cabinet...

BOOM! On the other side. Objects. Flying off table-tops.

A CRACK spidering along the wall. Holy sh*t...

SPOONER:

(screaming)

Halt!

BOOM! VIBRATIONS, tearing through the room. More CRACKS.

Spreading...

BOOM! The SOUND, horrifying. Spooner stumbles back. The

CABINET. Crashing down on his leg. He CRIES OUT...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The house. Getting pummeled. Chunks of

ceiling. Raining down. GLASS...exploding...

Relentless BOOMING! Spooner...dragging his legs from under

the cabinet. Scrambling for purchase as...

THE FLOOR...begins to tilt...the TILES...snapping

up...ricocheting...around the room...as another cabinet...

CRASHES to the ground...crumpling...

Spooner. Spinning around. Looking for some kind of exit...

BOOM! The corner of the room...coming in on itself...the

floor...listing even more...like a ship...

Spooner...turning to CLAW his way up to the cracked

doorway...WHEN...

SOMETHING catches his eye. In the bottom drawer. Of a

crumpled CABINET. One of those flat metal plates. He can

just read what it says: S.O.N.N.Y....

Spooner...flings his arm back...reaching for the plate...

snaps it up...JUST AS...

BOOM! A HYDRAULIC POUNDER SMASHES through the wall...inches

from his head...OUTSIDE LIGHT...pouring in...

Spooner scurries for the doorway...tumbling out...

61 INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS 61

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