Minority Report Page #8

Witwer smiles, extends his hand. Wally backs away.

WALLY:

I can't touch you! And John, you

can't be in here! You'll confuse

them!

ANDERTON:

Wally. This is Danny Witwer. He's

from Justice and we're to give him

a full run of the farm.

WITWER:

Nice to meet you, Wally.

WALLY:

Shhh! They're sleeping.

WITWER:

(whispers)

Tell me how all this works.

AND NOW WE SEE:
THE TANK

As a RIPPLE APPEARS in the white liquid.

WITWER (O.S.)

The photon milk acts as both a

nutrient supply and a liquid

conductor. It makes the images

that each of them receive strong.

And now a MAN'S FACE slowly breaks the surface, then ANOTHER

MAN'S FACE, followed by A FEMALE FACE...

PULL BACK TO REVEAL: THE THREE PRECOGS

Three nude bodies -- TWO MALE, ONE FEMALE. As they writhe

about in the liquid, we can see that their bodies are thin,

nearly translucent.

The precogs appear to be in suspended animation or in comas.

They are absolutely still and limp, except for their faces

which are in constant motion, reacting to murders only they

can see.

WALLY:

We call the female Agatha. The

twins are Arthur and Dashiell.

REVEAL:
THE PRECOG TANK

Egg-like in shape, it's filled with the milky-looking liquid

the three Precogs are suspended in.

WALLY:

We scan by way of optical

tomography, white light pinpoints

pulse along the entire length of

the headgear and are re-read after

absorption through their brain

tissue.

Witwer looks at him, has no idea what he just said.

WALLY:

In other words, we see what they

see.

Wally lifts one of the Male Precogs into a harness and hoists

him up for exercise and cleaning. Wally starts to trim his

nails and the Precog begins convulsing...

WALLY:

They're not in any pain. We keep

their heads pretty well stocked

with dopamine and endorphins.

Plus, we maintain careful control

over their serotonin levels --

don't want 'em to drift off to

sleep, but they can't be kept too

awake either.

ANDERTON:

It helps if you don't think of them

as human.

WITWER:

(staring at them)

No... they're much more than that.

Witwer nods, looks up at THE SCREENS ABOVE THE TANK, a series

of screens tapped into each Precog. We can see all sorts of

images, but none of them clear right now. He's mesmerized by

all of them.

WITWER:

Science has stolen most of our

miracles. In a way...

(indicates the tank)

... they give us hope... hope of

the existence of the divine.

He sees Anderton and Wally looking at him.

WITWER:

I find it interesting that some

people have begun to deify the

precogs.

ANDERTON:

The precogs are pattern recognition

filters, nothing more.

WITWER:

But you call this room the

"temple".

ANDERTON:

Just a nickname.

WITWER:

(nods, then)

The oracle isn't where the power is

anyway. The power's always been

with the priests.

(looks at the Precogs)

Even if they had to invent the

oracle.

Anderton looks to where Fletcher, Jad and Knott stand near

the entrance, nodding their heads.

ANDERTON:

You guys are nodding your heads

like you actually know what the

hell he's talking about.

JAD:

Come on, Chief, you think about it,

the way we work -- changing destiny

and all -- we're more like clergy

than cops.

ANDERTON:

Uh-huh. Jad?

JAD:

Sir?

ANDERTON:

Go back to work. All of you.

The others give him a look and walk out. Anderton turns back

to Witwer who smiles at him.

WITWER:

Sorry. Old habit. I spent three

years at Fuller Seminary before I

became a cop. My father was a

minister. Lutheran.

ANDERTON:

What does he think of your chosen

line of work?

WITWER:

I don't know. He was shot and

killed when I was fourteen on the

steps of his church in Bethesda.

He looks at Anderton.

WITWER:

I know what it's like to lose

someone close, John. Of course,

nothing is like the loss of a

child.

Agatha rolls over now, seems to be looking at Anderton.

WITWER:

I don't have any children of my

own, so I can only imagine what

that must have been like, to lose

your son in a public place like

that.

Anderton says nothing. Hates the man all over again.

WITWER:

At least now you -- and I -- have

the chance to make sure that kind

of thing doesn't happen to anyone

ever again.

ANDERTON:

(beat)

Why don't you cut the cute act,

Danny, and tell me exactly what it

is you're looking for?

WITWER:

Flaws.

ANDERTON:

There hasn't been a murder in six

years. There's nothing wrong with

the system. It's perfect.

WITWER:

I agree. The system is perfect.

If there's a flaw, it's human. It

always is.

(then)

Thank you for the tour, Wally.

Anderton watches him walk out, shakes his head, then

notices...

The FEMALE PRECOG'S ARM is resting on the edge of the tank.

He looks down at her a moment. She's looking at him, but her

eyes seem somewhere else.

Anderton looks around for Wally, doesn't see him. He doesn't

want to touch her. He finally reaches down and gently takes

her arm, sets it back into the tank.

As it submerges, she takes hold of ANDERTON'S FINGER and

hangs on. He stares back at her. She holds on tight...

ANDERTON:

Uh, Wally --

He tries to pull his hand away, but she holds on, grabs onto

Anderton's shirt, and STARTS TRYING TO PULL HERSELF OUT OF

THE WATER...

ANDERTON:

Wally!

AGATHA:

(whisper)

Can you see?

And now she's clinging to Anderton, looking up. He looks up

at the SCREEN above her and sees...

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