Strange Days Page #11

CUT TO:

INT. VJ BOOTH/RETINAL FETISH

A tiny room overlooking the dance floor. Crammed with

electronic gear, at the center of which is Tex Arcana,

whipping from one deck to another, hands flying. He's in

a wheelchair, which pivots nimbly, managing to high-five

Lenny as he walks in.

LENNY:

So, those rascals still haven't

grown back yet, huh?

TEX:

(peering under the

blanket on his lap)

Nope. Guess not. Any day now,

though.

LENNY:

(handing Tex a Squid)

Present. Something I had made. Let

me know what you think.

TEX:

Hey, alright. Got something here

for you, too.

(passes him an

envelope)

It just showed up tonight, don't

know who left it.

LENNY:

Fan mail from some flounder?

Lenny looks at the envelope, which has "Nero" hand-printed

in block letters. Tex takes a pull from a flask as he

takes a squid-deck out of a drawer and sticks the tape in.

He puts on the headset and pushes PLAY.

IN POV we are on a beach. Early morning. We are running

flat out, with the wind. Looking down... we are barefoot

on the wet sand. Foaming water races up the sand and

breaks around our strong male legs. Looking up again, to

see our running companion... a beautiful lithe woman in

shorts and T-shirt. She laughs and we speed up. An

exquisite moment of pure life force.

TIGHT ON TEX'S FACE... as a tear leaks from the corner of

his eye. He is smiling like he is listening to beautiful

music. We see the quiet magnificence of Lenny's gift.

Tex opens his eyes. Looks for Lenny to say thanks: but

Lenny's gone. Not a guy to hang around for thanks-yous.

CUT TO:

INT. RETINAL FETISH

As Lenny comes down the stairs from the VJ booth, tearing

open the envelope. An unmarked Squid tape falls into his

hand.

The HOUSE LIGHTS dim and the STAGE LIGHTS come up. And

Faith is standing there. Like she beamed in. She is

wearing a revealing leather outfit, showing a lot of her

milk-white skin. Her black hair frames her eyes, giving

her an intense feral look. Faith starts to sing.

Beautiful, unearthly, clear notes.

SUDDENLY the band kicks down with a wall of thundering

sound. Faith explodes into motion. Her body convulses

like a 440 volt mainline is hooked up to her. Her voice

becomes a scream, an inchoate wail, a police siren. The

pain and rage of an entire, hell-bent tormented planet on

its eve of judgment.

Lost in the song, Faith has found herself. She wheels

across the stage, slashing her head up and down so that

her hair bursts in the strobe-flashes like flak.

A techno-erotic pagan. A force of nature.

Lenny is mesmerized. He has seen this before, many times.

But it always has the same effect on him. He is

transported into another world by her, a world in which

there is only the two of them.

TIGHT ON MACE, eyes on the stage... a big piece of the

puzzle suddenly fits. She's never seen Faith perform

before. Holy sh*t.

Faith doesn't play to the audience, or engage them in any

way. She is merely taking what's in her head and letting

it out. She doesn't care if they are there or not. Now

shrieking into the silence after a climatic downbeat, and

holding the note... holding it longer than you believe she

possibly could. Then nothing.

When it is over she just drops the microphone and walk

away. F*** you.

CUT TO:

INT. RETINAL FETISH/BACKSTAGE & DRESSING ROOM

At BACKSTAGE, Lenny wends his way through the warren of

corridors... past dim rooms full of wire junkies and

playback freaks, all trapped into Squid nirvana: post-

modern opium dens. Sinister and scary. He glimpses

Faith, going into her dressing room. He hurries...

... but she doesn't even look around when his reflection

appears in the cracked mirror above the crummy vanity

table. She is drenched with sweat. Spent. Chugging a

beer. This is the first time they have been alone

together in real-time for months. Pain and the memory of

joy.

LENNY:

Hi, baby. I've missed you.

FAITH:

I know. Lenny, if Tran finds you

talking to me he'll hurt you.

LENNY:

I'm already hurting.

She doesn't turn. Just watches him in the mirror. Most

of the scene plays this way. It is a cold parody of their

love-making playbacks.

FAITH:

You have to go. I mean it.

LENNY:

Yeah, OK, whatever you say. Just

answer one question. Is anything

wrong? Iris said you might be in

trouble.

FAITH:

(startled, turning

to him)

You talked to Iris? When?

LENNY:

Tonight.

FAITH:

Well I haven't seen her in months.

Who knows what's going on in her

head. You're really running out of

excuses to come around, aren't you?

LENNY:

I know you Faith. You're afraid of

something. What's going on?

FAITH:

Let it alone, Lenny. It'll take

care of itself.

LENNY:

It's Tran, isn't it? This guy is

poison, Faith. Listen to me. He's

got you walled in on all sides. And

he uses the wire too much, he gets

off on tape, not on you.

FAITH:

That's a good one, coming from you.

LENNY:

Why don't you just split? You don't

love him, anybody can see that. And

to him you're just some kinda

possession, like a Ferrari,

something to show the other guys.

FAITH:

He has his uses too.

LENNY:

What? He gonna record you on his

label?

FAITH:

Maybe.

LENNY:

Come on, Faith! He's just toying

with you. And when he gets bored,

you'll be yesterday's papers.

Lenny is right behind her now. He puts his hands on her

shoulders, tenderly.

LENNY:

Look, baby, I've watched you create

yourself out of nothing. You're

like a goddamn cruise missile,

targeted on making it. And you

will.

FAITH:

Damn right.

LENNY:

It's you up on that stage, not him.

You don't need him.

She shrugs away from his touch. Cold again.

FAITH:

You have to get out of here. If

Tran catches you he'll... he's

acting crazy. He's doing way too

much playback and he's getting

completely paranoid. He's such a

control freak, he's even paying Max

to follow me around.

LENNY:

Max Pelcher? You're kidding?

FAITH:

Yeah, for about a month now. Lenny,

just stay away from Tran, okay? And

stay away from me. Stop trying to

rescue me. Those days are over.

I'm a big girl now. Stop trying to

save me, okay, because I don't need

saving... Just... give up on me.

LENNY:

Can't do it.

FAITH:

You know one of the ways movies

still have Squid beat? Because they

always say "The End." You always

know when it's over. It's over!

Now please leave. I have to go on

again in a couple of minutes.

She looks at him and, after a moment, he nods and leaves.

As the door closes behind him, Faith tosses her towel on

the table. She looks frightened and alone.

FAITH:

Hell.

CUT TO:

INT. RETINAL FETISH/CORRIDOR AND MAIN FLOOR

Turning a corner from the dressing room into the CORRIDOR,

Lenny runs into Max.

LENNY:

Shoulda told me about your new gig,

buddy.

MAX:

I was gonna tell ya. Hey, it's just

a job. I feel like sh*t about it.

LENNY:

You should feel like sh*t.

MAX:

I figured, what the hell, I could

take the prick's money and make sure

Faith was OK at the same time. Do

us both good. Right?

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