The Quiet Ones

1

(ROCK MUSIC BLARING)

(BELL TOLLING)

What is the supernatural?

Hmm? Anyone?

Like ghosts or spirits or devils?

Those are examples.

Actions or events which we

cannot explain through science.

Good.

Before the discovery of a

pathogenic theory of medicine,

people believed that sickness

was caused by evil spirits.

A show of hands, if you get sick,

who here would rather see

a priest before a doctor?

(STUDENTS LAUGH)

Who here believes in God?

Heaven? Hell?

The apocalypse?

Ghosts?

Really? No one here believes

in ghosts. Interesting.

David Q., one of my first patients,

was a perfectly normal

12-year-old boy.

One day, that all changed.

COUPLAND:

Who are you drawing, David?

You know.

Tell me again, to the camera.

Mr. Gregor,

the man that makes things happen.

(CRASHING)

(SCREAMING)

(HEAVY BREATHING)

What if you could prove that

the supernatural was merely

a manifestation of what already

exists in the mind, the subconscious?

- What you're doing is immoral.

- Traitor.

That was disgusting.

How dare you do that?

- It's not disgusting!

- You left!

No, don't take it personally.

Don't take it personally.

The onus is on the scientist

to prove himself.

So, where to start?

With the individual.

You cure one patient,

you cure all mankind.

KRISSI:
You have no idea.

HARRY:

You don't get to have an opinion.

- PHILLIP:
You don't know how crazy...

- It's so bizarre.

Harry, will you take

that for me? And this?

Phillip, you're

welcome back anytime.

Let's have a chat. I'll see

you guys back at the house.

COUPLAND:
There's not much of a budget,

everyone's working for science.

Your job would be to document

every step of the experiment.

I hope you don't scare easily.

Do you speak?

Of course.

Tell me about yourself, Brian.

There's not much to tell.

I like cameras, that's

my nature, I guess.

To be curious?

To film.

And what's your passion?

Passion?

Yes, what story are you looking

for with that camera of yours?

I don't know, everything.

Are you a believer?

My mother's religious.

My father's a banker, a clerk.

My father works in town,

my mother is at home.

Hmm.

I wonder,

are you avoiding my question out of a

reluctance to talk about yourself,

or because you're

genuinely confused?

Uh, I suppose I don't know

what I believe in yet.

Well, that's fair enough.

Well, Brian,

welcome to the experiment.

You are our official chronicler.

I work with the A.V., the

audiovisual department.

But you are a student here, no?

(CHUCKLES)

No, I'd never get in here.

So how did you get involved

with the Experiment?

I volunteered as a subject.

Professor Coupland, or

Joseph if you like,

he thought I was all wrong.

Not tortured enough, apparently.

He already had someone

truly psychotic.

I see someone.

Good, Jane. Who do you see?

Do you recognize this person?

JANE:
I don't know. I'm not sure.

A girl... I see a little girl.

No,

maybe a doll.

Something's wrong.

COUPLAND:

It's okay, you're perfectly safe.

Her name is Evey. I don't like her.

The doll's name is Evey?

I just need to sleep.

(SCREAMING)

Be quiet! Calm down! It's just

the pipes, it's just the pipes!

Crazy fun, no?

Go on up.

(ROCK MUSIC BLARING)

(DOOR OPENS)

It's for her own protection.

And ours.

BRIAN:
What's wrong with her?

Suicidal. She remembers

nothing from her past.

Foster child, abandoned.

Passed from house to house.

Families would keep

her for a bit, then,

you know, things would happen.

The furniture would move,

objects would catch on fire.

The authorities were

convinced she was possessed.

Luckily, Joseph discovered her.

He ruled out

schizophrenia, the usual.

Then he measured her brain waves.

Frequencies off the charts, look.

That's why he chose her.

He took her from the asylum.

Well, Brian, welcome

to the Experiment.

Don't look into her eyes, don't say

anything to her if you can help it.

I can't have the experiment

corrupted by outside influences.

I understand.

(DOOR OPENS)

What?

Did you think my head

was going to spin off?

(STAMMERING)

Sorry if I disturbed you.

It comes and goes.

Excuse me?

What's inside.

Stop staring at my wrists.

Sorry.

I promised Joseph that

I wouldn't try again,

that I'd give him time.

Is there time?

Um...

Yeah, of course.

Can he cure me?

I'm sure he can.

I just want to get better.

Tell Joseph that I'm ready.

Ask him to let me sleep.

I'm begging you.

And, Brian,

thank you.

(LAUGHING)

COUPLAND:
Seen a ghost?

(STAMMERING) She knew my name.

She probably heard us talking

about you at some point.

She's no fool.

Um, she said to tell you

that she needs sleep

and that she's ready.

Excellent, that is a good sign.

I really don't know if

I can do this, sir.

If you think you're scared,

imagine how she feels, hmm?

Besides, aren't you just

a little bit intrigued?

(ROCK MUSIC PLAYING)

ANGRY NEIGHBOR:

Hey, you! You over there!

Is he in? Is he in that house?

I am going to go mad if

this sound does not stop!

What's the point, exactly?

Remember, "Cure one

patient, we cure mankind"?

Jane Harper is that patient.

If we can push our subject

to manifest negative energy

in the form of

telekinetic activity,

we can harvest that energy and

remove it, like extracting a tumor.

We cure mental illness for good.

Are you a skeptic, Brian?

Pardon?

Don't you think we can cure Harper?

We can't have non-believers

in this house, Brian.

It's a destructive energy

in a constructive space.

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

(GROANS)

Not again.

Harry, will you turn the

music off upstairs?

COUPLAND:
Well, thank you

and good luck. I'm sorry.

It won't happen again.

BRIAN:
You just clap.

COUPLAND:
Hello, Jane. We've

brought something for you.

You can put all your bad thoughts

and negative energy

into the doll, Jane.

Get rid of them, get

rid of them for good.

Evey doesn't look like this.

She's all wrong.

Why don't you describe

her to me, hmm?

This doll's dead,

inside.

That's what my parents

used to say about my eyes.

They weren't my real parents.

With each new family,

they'd sit me down,

ever so nice,

but I knew soon enough

that they'd hate me too.

COUPLAND:
That must have

been very painful for you.

I scared them, all of them.

COUPLAND:
You're not possessed,

Jane. You're just unwell.

I just want to sleep,

forever.

(BELL TOLLING)

BRIAN:
Aren't you concerned that

Jane Harper will take her own life?

That's why we keep her under

surveillance and medicated.

So, why are you working on

this experiment, Harry?

Me?

Scientific pursuit.

The equipment we're using is

cutting edge, engineer's dream.

(JANE SCREAMING)

Help me!

It's 95 over 70.

BRIAN:

So, how did you get into this?

Initially my field was

abnormal psychology,

which, despite the

frightening title,

merely indicates the study of

behavior outside the norm.

You run into a lot of charlatans, con

artists, and mental deficients, Brian,

and I disproved them all.

Then, there was David Q.

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