Limitless Page #4

'He's Houdini.

He's a prophet of our times."'

OK, give me that.

Give me that!

- "He's God"?

- You coming over later?

I can't. I don't have a key.

Oh, that's right.

- Can I have it back?

- Uh... Nope.

- No?

- I mean, does it have to be that key?

Can it be a new key?

To our place?

- It would be cost effective.

- And you say I'm not practical.

(CHUCKLES)

Can I walk you to work?

Whatcha doing, hon?

Nothing.

You should sleep.

Isn't your Van Loon meeting tomorrow?

LINDY:
Eddie?

Are you OK?

What are you doing out here?

When's the last time you ate something?

There he is.

Nice article in the Post, buddy.

(SIGHS)

OK, he is on his way.

Now, be warned. He's mercurial.

One minute, your best friend,

the next, you're a leper.

And he needs direct answers. Anything

tentative and you've lost him forever.

I think we should rehearse

a few scenarios.

I'm eating, Kevin.

Hey, are you up for this?

You sure? 'Cause I got

a little bit on the line here.

Have a toast point.

WOMAN:
It's Carl Van Loon.

MAN:
That's Carl Van Loon.

MAN:
He's worth a fortune.

- Hey, John.

- Hey, Carl. Good to see you.

- How are ya?

- Eddie.

So, Eddie Morra.

- What's your secret?

- Medication.

I'm on special medication.

OK.

EDDIE:
Well, it's a formula

with a complex method.

But, of course, research was

a component. Massive research.

I knew every helix of every scrap of DNA

in every company I bought.

Papers stacked like the Himalayas

in my office, and you know what?

- The stocks went up.

- By a hair.

Sure, the stocks rose,

but who wants to do all that work

for a shitty little uptake?

It's not the visceral kind of spike

you want in short term holdings so...

...I dispensed

with all the hard statistics

and I went right to the rumor mill.

So you bought your stocks based on what?

The tom-toms beating in the street?

Sure. Share prices aren't really

based on how a company works.

It's about how mass psychology works.

So, if I found certain algorithms

in the perception of the stock...

Pattern recognition.

That's your snake oil.

Well, not everybody

understands the patterns.

And that gave me a little bit more of

an uptake, but it's just a parlor trick.

So then, I went on

to door number three.

Are you really implying that you have

some sort of ultimate formula?

Well, from 12,000 to

- I do have a formula, Mr. Pierce.

- Delusions of grandeur.

I don't have delusions of grandeur,

I have an actual recipe for grandeur.

(HORN HONKING)

I don't know who you are, Eddie, or what

you game is, but I'm sure of one thing.

You don't work in my world.

I'm up to my ass with investment guys

and you don't have their half-terrified,

half-cocky line of crap which is...

...not to say that

I like yours any better.

But you obviously pick your stocks

in a way which I haven't seen before.

Take a look at these companies

and tell me what you think.

- Right now? (CLEARS THROAT)

- Yeah. Take your time.

Sure.

These companies aren't the question,

are they?

Explain.

Unless you're playing

both sides of the fence.

Control the whole power enchilada,

but, no,

these companies wouldn't get you there

in emerging markets.

You would have to... Oh. Whoa.

This must be some big-ass merger

you're contemplating.

And there's really only one company

with enough bling

to justify a merger

with Van Loon and Associates.

Who have you been talking to?

Oh, I'm just connecting the dots.

Is Hank Atwood really gonna go for it?

Well, you're an amazing con artist,

or you're a very smart young man.

I mean, come on.

The two of you together?

The whole world would have

to come begging for energy

like Oliver Twist and his bowl of gruel.

Now you're going backwards.

What else you got?

- A prediction. It won't come off.

- Why's that?

- You'd have to back off Libya.

- Really?

Well, you don't want to hear this from

some schmuck who needs a ride home.

All right, you get your shot. Meet me

tomorrow at the Saint Regis at ten

and tell me how the gutsy little schmuck

who needs a ride home

would re-structure these deals.

And you'd better be prepared.

I'm at your disposal.

CARL:
You don't really live here,

do you?

Well... Spartans weren't

big on amenities.

Yeah, and they eventually

got their asses kicked.

EDDIE:
I didn't go in. I wanted

to walk, move, digest, ingest.

There are moments in life... moments

when you know you've crossed a bridge.

Your old life is over.

Van Loon was my bridge.

I finally had my shot.

Wall Street would provide my nest egg,

but then how far could I go?

CEO? A global force?

Maybe President.

Time somebody shook up the free world

and got things done.

(LOW RUMBLING)

EDDIE:
Suddenly...

(HORN HONKING)

EDDIE:
It was another skip.

How had I gone the last 20 blocks?

I got another ten blocks.

And then...

...I was way uptown.

(BIRDS CHIRPING)

- (INDISTINCT CHATTER)

- (SIREN WAILING)

- (LOW ROARING)

- (RADIO CHATTER)

(BACKGROUND STREET NOISE

GROWING LOUDER)

(HIP-HOP MUSIC PLAYING)

EDDIE:
What bar was this?

(HIP-HOP PLAYS)

...black canvas and then they would

just drop all the paint...

(LAUGHING)

Yeah. Did you ever meet...

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

...and then I actually went

there and had lunch, I went back.

My friends are rolling...

WOMAN:
I heard you like to party.

(LAUGHING)

(MUFFLED SOUNDS)

- Hey, watch it.

- Hey, hey! Take it easy!

EDDIE:
A fight? Don't know how to fight.

Or do I?

(THUDDING SOUNDS ON TV)

(SCREECHING)

(GRUNTING)

Ah!

You use the fishhook action

to get inside the mouth.

- Like this.

- (MAN GROANS)

(GRUNTING)

MAN:
Attack the sensitive areas.

The eyes, the throat, the groin.

(TRAIN HORN BLOWS)

(GRUNTS)

- (TRAIN HORN BLOWS)

MAN:
If you are hit, do not stop.

Your persistence will

discourage your attacker.

Off-balancing your opponent

and then using his momentum,

take him down.

(TRAIN HORN BLOWS)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER ON RADIO)

(YELLING)

(GARBLED, INDISTINCT SHOUTING)

(HORN HONKING)

EDDIE:
When it finally stopped,

I couldn't account

for the last 18 hours of my life.

(ANSWERING MACHINE BEEPS)

LINDY:
Hey, it's me.

I thought you were coming over.

Is everything OK?

Call me when you get this.

(PANTING)

EDDIE:
Even off NZT, I decided

to give Van Loon's files a shot.

They were hieroglyphs.

(CELL PHONE RINGS)

- Hello?

EDDIE:
Kevin, this is Eddie.

- Eddie?

EDDIE:
Listen,

- I can't make the meeting today.

- What are you talking about?

I can't come in today, I'm sick.

Yeah, well you can't

have the flu right now.

He'll never give you this chance again.

I know, listen, I just...

I have all this data to analyze...

KEVIN:
What have you been doing

for the last day?

(SIGHS)

- Kev, I...

- Don't you get it? This is your test.

Yeah, well, I can't

pass the test right now.

And how am I gonna look if you don't?

- I know, listen, I just...

- Sh. Listen to me.

Pull yourself together.

Get down to the meeting.

(SIGHS)

OK, OK.

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