Sphere Page #14

She backs away from Norman, knocking off a speciman jar, it SHATTERS

on the floor. She starts breaking down.

Norman watching her, falling to the ground, picking up the glass,

hurriedly...

BETH:

I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't

mean...

NORMAN:

Beth.

She's crying, glass in her hands. She looks up at Norman, frightened,

nervous...

BETH:

You wouldn't go and tell the others,

would you?

Norman hesitates, goes to her, tries to hold her, but she pushes him

away.

BETH:

I hate this place, Norman. I want

out.

CUT TO:

INT. HABITAT - HALLWAY

LOOKING DOWN - at the room where Barnes was on the phone earlier. He

stands there now, hand on the knob.

CLOSES it shut.

CUT TO:

INT. ROOM

Barnes sits, Norman in front of him, worked up...

NORMAN:

I'm not paranoid. I know Beth. She

can be drastic.

BARNES:

How drastic?

NORMAN:

You don't want to know.

BARNES:

I think I do.

NORMAN:

A while back, Beth and I -- we

worked at the same university. She

was assisting a chemist there -- I

forget his name -- doing research,

experiments. She was also living

with him.

(off Barnes' look)

Yeah, I know. And when she finished

her work, he kicked her out, broke

off the relationship, and published

five papers -- all her work --

without any thank you or

acknowledgement.

BARNES:

She should've known better.

NORMAN:

She put a razor to her wrists a day

later.

BARNES:

(a beat)

When was this?

NORMAN:

'81, I think. She tried again five

years ago.

(beat)

I thought you should know.

BARNES:

So you knew this when you wrote your

report?

NORMAN:

At the time, I don't know, I thought

putting her on the list -- it might

help her career -- catch her a

break.

BARNES:

You knowingly recommended a woman

with suicidal tendencies for a

government operation --

NORMAN:

Wait a second --

BARNES:

-- and then brought her down here --

NORMAN:

-- I didn't know it would come to

this --

BARNES:

-- without a cautionary word to

anyone.

(beat)

You know, Ted said something to me

earlier. I think he's right. He

said, "When you got a guy who -- if

he wasn't here -- he'd be standing

in the unemployment line, you gotta

question if you got the right guy."

ON NORMAN - sweating.

CUT TO:

ON THE MONITOR - a series of numbers:

00032125262632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016 06180

82132 2903305 1822 04261013 0830162137 1604 083106

21 1822 0330313130432 00032125262632 032629 301321 0

4261037 18 3016 0618082132 2903305 1822 04261013 08

30162137 1604 08301621 1822 0330313130432 000321252

62632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016 0618082132 290

3305 1822 04261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21 1822 03

30313130432 00032125262632 032629 301321 04261037 1

8 3016 0618082132 2903305 1822 04261013 0830162137

HARRY:

It's the same as before, but the

spacing's different now. It's

definitely nonrandom. See...

Harry sitting at the monitor, shows Ted, Barnes, Norman, and Edmunds a

PRINTOUT of the screan -- indicating a pattern.

HARRY:

It's a single sequence repeated over

and over.

BARNES:

We're all very proud of you, Harry,

but what the hell is it?

TED:

Maybe it's a message?

EDMUNDS:

From what?

TED:

The sphere. Maybe the sphere --

EDMUNDS:

We're not hooked up to the sphere.

HARRY:

Well, if it's a discharge --

TED:

It's not a discharge. Right,

Edmunds? You said before, right? So

it's gotta be a message.

BARNES:

From the sphere?

TED:

What's inside the sphere.

HARRY:

If it is a message, it's probably a

substitution code. I'll work on it.

TED:

Yeah, I'll work on it, too.

BARNES:

(to Ted, flat)

You do that.

INT. BATHROOM/SHOWER AREA

Ted, nervous, anxious -- with five or six printouts in his hand -- has

Norman's ear in front of the sink...

TED:

He's manic, Norman. You know that?

This reliance on Harry is misplaced.

You hear me? Totally misplaced. He's

overlooking things. Obvious things.

NORMAN:

Like what?

Ted hands him a printout...

TED:

It's not some f***ing substitution

code, it's a direct visual

representation.

NORMAN:

You mean a picture?

TED:

Take a look. I rearranged the

numbers. Put 'em up to the light.

(Norman does)

Go ahead. Squint at it.

NORMAN:

I don't see anything.

TED:

Squint harder.

NORMAN:

Please, Ted.

TED:

(hands him another

printout)

Try this one.

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