Total Recall Page #6

The man telephoning Quail is calling from a bar. Occasion- ally people

pass him on their way to the toilets. He is youngish and conservatively

dressed. He speaks rapidly and urgently.

TELEPHONE VOICE Take a wet towel and wrap it around your head. That

will deaden the signal. It'll take longer for them to pinpoint you.

30BINT QUAIL'S ROOM - NIGHT

QUAIL Why should I trust you?

TELEPHONE VOICE (filtered) There's a real old saying - "Beggars can't

be choosers". Go and soak your head!

Quail puts the phone down and rushes to the bathroom.

30B1 INT. PATROL CAR - NIGHT

The earphone wearer and driver are moving in on the signal generated by

Quail's bug. Suddenly, the small illuminated cross on the dashboard map

cuts out.

EARPHONE WEARER Sh*t!

DRIVER Cut the language, will ya?

EARPHONE WEARER It's gone! Some...malfunction...

Unscientifically, he prod the screen.

DRIVER (world-weary air) Toldya the Martian assembled [stuff don't

work.]

30B2 INT. QUAIL'S ROOM - NIGHT

Quail rushes back into the room with a wet towel, turban-like, wrapped

around his head. He rapidly picks up the phone.

QUAIL Keep talking.

TELEPHONE VOICE (filtered) Head over to Skid Row -- to the Lucky Stub

Pawnshop -- corner of Park Avenue and Fifty-eighth. Tell the man you're

Mr. Hotchkiss; you came for your Grecian candlesticks.

QUAIL (infuriated) What do I want with Grecian candlesticks!

30CINT. BAR BASEMENT - NIGHT

The man on the phone looks around anxiously.

TELEPHONE VOICE Just do it! This is no time for small talk.

QUAIL (V.O.) (filtered; not quite convinced) How did you know where to

find me?

TELEPHONE VOICE I've been tailing you since you get back from Mars.

30DINT. QUAIL'S ROOM - NIGHT

QUAIL You're E.I.O. You're on the other team.

TELEPHONE VOICE (filtered) I'm E.I.O. But I was your best friend. Scott

Stevens - we arranged this...

QUAIL (trying to recall) I can't remember - only bits...

TELEPHONE VOICE (filtered; overlapping) I was your fail-safe -- if and

when the shooting started. Good luck. Look me up if you remember me.

30EINT. BAR BASEMENT - NIGHT

Scott Stevens hangs up the phone. He looks around cautiously, then

walks a few steps to the mens room.

30FINT. MENS ROOM - NIGHT

Scott Stevens walks to the row of troughs and begins to urinate. The

room is empty. He hears a noise and looks around. Two EIO men are

standing there aiming lethal-looking high-velocity weapons at him. One

of them is the red-headed man we've already seen.

1ST MAN (RED-HEADED) Well, look at that. He's really got his hands

full.

2ND MAN Not so full, so I've heard.

Still urinating, the frustrated Scott Stevens can only look back over

his

shoulder. Laughing, both men open fire, riddling him with bullets. He

collapses in an undignified heap, his head in the water at the base of

the trough.

31INT. "END OF THE LINE" CORRIDOR - NIGHT

Quail, with towel around his head, glances up and down the corridor --

spots a sign that says "FIRE EXIT". He races towards it.

32EXT. "END OF THE LINE" FRONT ENTRANCE - NIGHT

The OV slams up in front of the hotel and a carload of MEN tear out of

it and barge into the hotel.

32AINT. "END OF THE LINE" HOTEL LOBBY - NIGHT

The startled clerk jumps to his feet as the group of armed men enter

rapidly.

EARPHONE WEARER Quick. The guy who checked in fifteen minutes ago.

CLERK (nervous) Room...thirty-six.

Most of the armed men instantly head off up the stairs, their weapons

at the ready. Clerk watches, astonished.

CLERK (continuing) He was only meeting a lady... Aren't you guys

overdoing it a bit?

32BEXT. STREET - NIGHT

Quail is walking along briskly, still with the towel around his head. A

few passers-by look at him curiously. He puts his hand together and

greets them Indian-style.

33EXT. PARK AVENUE - NIGHT - CLOSE ON STREET SIGN

which reads:
"PARK AVENUE / 58TH STREET".

PULL BACK to reveal "The Lucky Stub Pawnshop". WINOS lurk on the

corner. Park Avenue has deteriorated into a slum.

QUAIL ENTERS FRAME, and approaching the pawnshop, stepping over a BUM

in a doorway.

34INT. PAWNSHOP - NIGHT

Quail is just entering; an old-fashioned BELL overhead, tripped by the

door opening, announces his entrance.

At once, an immense FAT MAN emerges from the back room.

PAWNBROKER You wanta camera? I got some good, top-quality ones. You

want silk rugs? Handmade last century in Iran...all perfect. You want

videos? Old movies... classics...all those Vietnam war ones...real

quaint stuff... you want...

QUAIL (interrupting; awkwardly) I'm Hotchkiss...I came for

the...Grecian candlesticks...

The Fat Man studies him warily for a long moment; then he disappears

through the curtain.

In a brief moment, he emerges again, carrying a small, "makeup-sized"

case, as well as two large candelabra.

The Pawnbroker puts the case on the counter. Quail looks at the case

with

curiosity.

QUAIL(continuing) I wonder if you could tell me...

They both look around as someone enters.

PAWNBROKER I trust these will look well in you... mosque.

35INT. FLOP HOUSE - NIGHT - CLOSE ON HANDS

Opening up the small case.

PULL BACK to reveal they are Quail's hands. The hotel room he's now in

is

obviously a different one than the last one we saw him in. The room is

large but run-down, the walls are peeling, the architecture is much

older, etc.

Quail examines the contents of the case: there are CREDIT CARDS and

also MONEY, several stacks of bills, neatly tied -- some of it the

conventional green, but most of it red.

CLOSE ON RED MONEY

On the face of it is printed: "MARS FEDERAL COLONY".

QUAIL (mutters) Martian money....

Quail thumbs through the money, and whistles softly to himself as he

sees how much there is.

Also in the case are: TWO PASSPORTS; a small CASSETTE RECORDER; a

rolled-up LEATHER POUCH and a spray can of some sort; and a strange

thing that looks like a silver mask. He examines the face mask,

studies BLACK LETTERS WRITTEN ACROSS IT (which we are not close enough

to read) and then puts it aside. Another item now catches his eye: a

wristwatch. He sees a conspicuous red button on the side of the watch,

and PRESSES IT. INSTANTLY, TO HIS SHOCK, QUAIL SEES A MAN MANIFEST

HIMSELF HIMSELF OUT OF THIN AIR AND STAND THERE IN THE ROOM A FEW FEET

AWAY FROM QUAIL:
he's an EXACT HOLOGRAPHIC DUPLICATE of Quail -- down

to the clothes Quail is wearing now.

The image stands and watches Quail.

QUAIL (continuing) What the hell...?

Quail smiles, presses the red button again. There is a HUMMING SOUND --

and the man FADES INTO THIN AIR -- like a television set being turned

off.

Quail looks bemused.

Now he unrolls the leather pouch and looks inside. There he finds what

look like SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS; a sponge, a long piece of wire doubled

over, with some attachments and a tiny METAL HEAD on one end, and some

tubes of salve.

He turns on the cassette recorder.

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