Metropolis

FADE IN:

EXT. MANHATTAN - MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

Freezing wind shutters through the shadows. Relentless

darkness. No sign of life, save for --

The SOUND of determined footsteps.

INT. HIGH RISE APARTMENT BUILDING - LOBBY - CONTINUOUS

The doorman at his post flipping through a magazine, rap

music pounding from his radio.

Glass suddenly shatters as a gloved hand punches through

the window, reaching in, unlocking the front door.

Two men in dark suits blur inside. The doorman rushes to

stop them, only --

DEX, the taller of the two men, slams the barrel of his

gun into the doorman's throat.

DEX:

Life can be an illusion.

(low and deadly)

Sometimes we see what isn't there,

and sometimes we don't see what is

there.

The doorman, wide eyed with terror, nods his consent.

Dex removes the gun.

Doorman plants himself in the chair, eyes glued to his

magazine, making it clear he doesn't 'see' the men as they

stroll into --

INT. ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS

Old fashioned steel box struggling its way up the shaft.

Fluorescent yellow light stabbing through the grating.

INT. HALLWAY - MOMENT LATER

Dex slaps a small plastic strip on an apartment door as

both men turn away, shielding their eyes.

A blinding flash of light as the door is blown apart.

INT. APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS

The men rush inside and straight into --

INT. BEDROOM

Candles flicker on the dresser. A syringe on the bedside

table, next to a sleeping figure curled up under the

sheets.

Both men starting to pull guns, but --

DEX:

This one's personal.

Dex's partner shrugs, holsters his weapon and steps back

through the doorway, watching as --

Dex spins and fires.

Not the traditional booming gunfire, but rather the

strange sound of electronic hissing as laser-fire rips the

person to shreds.

Dex finally stops firing and moves to the bed to verify

the kill, only on close inspection he sees it's not a

person.

He's just blown the hell out of a MANNEQUIN.

Dex smiles, blows out the candle and heads out of the

room.

CUT TO:

INT. CHURCH - DUSK

A lone PRIEST lights the sacrament candles, the sound of

his breathing reverberating through the empty church.

He suddenly stops, snaps his head around --

A man in a wheelchair stares at him from the doorway.

The man is CHRISTOPH. Dark robes shroud his shriveled,

decaying body but his eyes still burn with life.

CHRISTOPH:

(raspy voice which

labors to be heard)

May I trouble you with a confession?

Even in the flickering half-light of the candles, the

Priest can see that Christoph is dying.

PRIEST:

Never a trouble.

The large statue of Jesus over the alter staring down as

the Priest leads Christoph into --

INT. CONFESSIONAL BOOTH

Christoph's voice is weak, knowing each word could be the

last.

CHRISTOPH:

Forgive me Father, for I have

coveted.

PRIEST:

What have you coveted?

CHRISTOPH:

(anguished whisper)

Life.

A small smile of compassion escapes across the Priest's

lips.

PRIEST:

God gave us all the need for life.

And when the end begins to near, we

all crave more time. No sin.

CHRISTOPH:

(hesitantly)

But there's what I would do for more

time.

PRIEST:

What would you do --

A sharp hissing sound --

The laser burns through the confessional wall and straight

through the priest's chest.

Face frozen in a listening pose as the body crumples to

death.

Christoph slowly lowers his weapon with a look of genuine

contrition.

EXT. MANHATTAN - HELL'S KITCHEN - CONTINUOUS

It's the near future and the neighborhood is covered with

graffiti scrawled in machine code and billboards

projecting holographs advertising malt liquor and

pleasure-dipped cigarettes.

A slick-black JET COPTER drops silently from the sky.

INT. WAREHOUSE - CONTINUOUS

Pieces of advanced computer technology lie scattered about

the large work table. A small kitchen and bedroom in the

back.

Speakers pour in one of Handel's aching melodies.

The music suddenly pierced by the shriek of a giant Bird

of Prey diving across the room.

EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS

A tight knot of bodyguards disgorge from the copter.

Tense eyes sweeping the street, they finally give the all-

clear signal.

HALDEN, a charismatic bull of a man, emerges from the

copter. He moves with the confidence of someone who knows

he can't be touched.

INT. WAREHOUSE - CONTINUOUS

The sound of Handel's concert mixes with the sound of

claws tearing apart flesh.

TANNER sits in the middle of the room. He is early

forties, athletic build, and a face that holds too many

memories.

His insomniac-stained eyes studying the Holographic Chess

Board as the knight mounted on the Bird of Prey slaughters

a pawn.

DISEMBODIED VOICE (O.S.)

Visitors.

Tanner snaps his attention to --

INT. WALL SIZE MONITOR

Halden and his men head toward the warehouse.

INT. WAREHOUSE

Tanner's eyes harden at the sight of Halden. A long beat,

then he finally shakes his head in resigned disgust.

TANNER:

Permit entry.

The sound of dead bolts automatically sliding open.

MOMENTS LATER:

The bodyguards stand motionless in the corner, doing their

best to look like furniture.

Halden moves through the holographic chess board, his eyes

on Tanner.

HALDEN:

A legend fell tonight.

His stare now ripping into Tanner.

HALDEN:

The unrunnable maze. Impossible to

get through.

(thick smile)

Well, some kid just danced it like

it was some six bit video game.

Tanner doesn't blink. His voice matter-of-fact.

TANNER:

He had keys.

HALDEN:

Of course the legend would like to

think that. But no one has keys.

(fierce)

Your maze was run.

EXT. WAREHOUSE - MOMENT LATER

Halden and his men escort Tanner to the waiting copter.

CUT TO:

INT. VACANT CITY STREET - THAT NIGHT

Christoph stands naked in the middle of the vacant street,

staring down at himself in reverent awe.

It is as if he's been reborn. His body no longer

decrepit, but rather pulsing with an almost inhuman

vitality.

He heads down the street, the walk becoming a run, then a

sprint, his head back, mouth open, tasting the wind.

CUT TO:

EXT. MANHATTAN SKY-LINE - CONTINUOUS

A jet-copter screams across the night sky, while inside --

INT. JET-COPTER - CONTINUOUS

Tanner studies the holographic image of the maze projected

in front of him:

A constantly shifting sea of lines swirling furiously in

random directions.

A small BLUE SQUARE rockets into the maze. Sound of

laughter as the square dodges, feints, spinning it's way

down into --

The center of the maze. A pattern so intricate it seems

to be a solid wall of light with no way through --

Only the square suddenly shoots up, twisting, somehow

finding the smallest of fissures and blurring through.

The square is gone. Only the laughter remains.

HALDEN:

He had fun ripping your maze, that's

good.

(tight smile)

Now that it's obsolete for security

purposes, maybe we can turn it into

an amusement ride.

Tanner silently snaps off the hologram as the jet-copter

banks sharply for a landing onto --

CUT TO:

EXT. VSI CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS - ROOF

A towering black monolith which seems to burst straight up

through the heavens.

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