SPHERE BY PAUL ATTANASIO Based on the novel by Michael Crichton BARRY LEVINSON VERSION SHOOTING SCRIPT FADE IN: EXT. OCEAN FLOOR - DAY BEGIN TITLES. MOVING AMONG the hallucinatory variety of creatures -- barbaric, distorted, sublime -- that haunt the ocean floor. All but unknown to man except in the deep preconscious brain that houses the family album of the race... Where we remember that they are us... Then... DISSOLVE TO: BALLET OF ODD SHAPES and exotic colors -- like a living abstract painting -- tropical fish moving in the f.g... Aquarium fish -- fish we know -- fish of the lesser depths, as we RISE UP TOWARD the surface... Then nearer the surface still, fish dart and flee before a distant RUMBLE... that GROWS LOUDER AND LOUDER... HELICOPTER ERUPTS INTO WATERY VIEW as it blasts across the ocean... CUT TO: EXT. PACIFIC OCEAN - DAY A tropical morning sun paints its luster on the sea-chop. A helicopter hurtles across the Pacific Ocean. CUT TO: INT. HELICOPTER - SAME TIME NORMAN GOODMAN, 50s, a day's growth of beard and eyes sandy with sleep, wakes up. Adjusts his steel-framed glasses. Unballs the tweed jacket he's been using as a pillow. He's nearly sitting in the lap of the PILOT, 30s, a tightly wound military type, as they zoom across the waves. PILOT Good sleep? NORMAN Not bad. So, where are we? PILOT Where'd they bring you in from? NORMAN San Diego. Left yesterday. PILOT So you came Honolulu-Guam-Pago-here? NORMAN Yeah. PILOT Long trip. What kind of work do you do, sir? NORMAN I'm a psychologist. PILOT A shrink, huh? Why not. They've called in just about everything else. NORMAN How do you mean? PILOT We've been ferrying people out of Guam for the last two days. Physicists, biologists, mathematicians, you name it. Everybody being flown to the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean. NORMAN What's going on? PILOT They're not telling us anything, sir. What about you? What'd they tell you? NORMAN They told me that there was an airplane crash. PILOT Uh-huh. You get called on crashes? NORMAN I have been, yes. PILOT And why is that, sir? NORMAN I'm on a list of psychologists the F.A.A. brings in when a plane goes down. (beat) So, where exactly are we now? PILOT Well, I'm not supposed to tell you...let's just say we're two hundred miles from nowhere, sir. NORMAN You're not supposed to tell me? PILOT No, sir. Norman looks out of the helicopter, at the ocean. NORMAN Don't you get bored looking at that? PILOT To tell you the truth, no, sir. I'm real happy to see it flat like this. NORMAN Why? PILOT Good weather. It won't hold though. There's a cyclone forming up in the Admiralties, should swing down this way in a few days. NORMAN What happens then? PILOT Everybody just clears the hell out. Weather can be really tough in this part of the world. I was stationed in Florida and I've seen a lot of hurricanes, but you've never seen anything like a Pacific cyclone, sir. NORMAN You never met my first wife. PILOT Don't be so sure. That's where we're headed, over there. Here take a look. He hands Norman binoculars. NORMAN'S POV THROUGH BINOCULARS A salvage ship surrounding four other, smaller craft in concentric circles. A mile long circle of bouys. CLOSE ON NORMAN as he absorbs this new information. What's going on? NORMAN All this for an airplane crash. PILOT I never mentioned a plane crash. (beat) CUT TO: EXT. SALVAGE SHIP - DAY The helicopter lands on the salvage ship helipad. Norman hesitates at the door. A seaman coaxes him and he jumps down. Blasted by the downdraft of the rotors, Norman humps his duffel bag across the deck, hustles after his escort. CUT TO: INT. SALVAGE SHIP - LATER Norman follows a SEAMAN, 20s, as he carries Norman's duffel bag along the narrow corridors belowdecks... SEAMAN You have any other gear, sir? Watch your step. NORMAN I'd like to call my family. SEAMAN We'll get you settled in quarters, sir. You're to remain there until we send for you. NORMAN I want to get started right now. SEAMAN We'll send for you. NORMAN It's critical that I see them, because -- SEAMAN See who? NORMAN The survivors. If I don't get to them within the first twenty four hours... SEAMAN What survivors? NORMAN The survivors of the plane crash. SEAMAN Plane crash? NORMAN Listen carefully. I deal in post- traumatic stress and survivor guilt -- maybe I should talk to someone who knows what's going on. SEAMAN You can talk to the ship's psychiatrist. NORMAN I'm a psychologist, that's why I was sent down here. Norman follows the Seaman through a hydraulic door...They come upon TED FIELDING prowling the corridor. TED (to Seaman) Look, I told you people over an hour ago I need a phone. A phone. The Seaman brusquely continues past with Norman's duffel bag. SEAMAN You'll have to discuss that with Mr.Barnes. TED That's fine...Barnes. Give me a phone, I'll call him. He recognizes Norman. TED (cont'd) Norman...what are you doing here? The Seaman grabs Ted's arm. TED Would you take your hands off me, please. Do you have any idea who I am? NORMAN He will if you just tell him the name of the book you wrote. TED It's called 'Astrophysics You Can Use'. It was a Book of the Month Club Main Selection. The Seaman turns, ramrod-straight, and fixes Ted with a steely Aryan gaze. SEAMAN Never heard of it. Now back in your quarters. NORMAN (to Ted) You really thought that he read your book...after all these years? You haven't changed. TED Well, it's written for the layman. NORMAN He's not impressed. TED They don't read. (to Seaman) Is there a phone in here? The Seaman grabs his arm again. TED (cont'd) Would you stop doing that! I can go to the room myself. NORMAN I've been trying to call my wife for the last 15 hours. SEAMAN (sharply to Ted) Sir? Ted backs off toward his room, opens the door. The Seaman continues on his way with Norman, unlocks a door -- Norman's quarters. Norman glances up the hall... NORMAN'S POV - BETH HALPERIN Thirties, a mordant beauty, stands at the threshold of her room. Watching him. A lot going on behind those eyes. She and Norman exchange a look. Then without a word, she returns to her room. CLOSEUP - NORMAN As the Seaman ushers him inside. NORMAN Beth? Then the Seaman closes the door on him. CUT TO: INT. NORMAN'S QUARTERS - LATER Norman lies on his cot, stares at the ceiling, his tweed jacket folded up like a pillow beneath his head. There's a knock at the door and it is opened by HARALD COTESWORTH BARNES, 40s, an imposing man in dark glasses and dark dress. BARNES Goodman! You been here long? He shakes Norman's hand. NORMAN I've been here three hours. Barnes sweeps him along into the hallway. CUT TO: INT. HALLWAY - SAME TIME Barnes leads Norman along the hallway and down some stairs. BARNES Welcome aboard. I don't mind telling you, this thing scares the hell out of me. NORMAN It's probably already too late. You might as well put me on a helicopter and send me back. Whatever damage was done to the survivors, is already done. You know what I mean? BARNES Hold on, we'll get to that. NORMAN I don't even know who you are. BARNES (admiring) Well, I sure know who you are. NORMAN Who are you...Navy...military? What are you? BARNES You ever hear of the O.S.S.A.? NORMAN Yes. BARNES (proudly) Well, they don't know who I am. That should reassure you. Barnes takes Norman aside. BARNES Look, you haven't talked to anybody about this, have you? NORMAN Well, I talked to the helicopter pilot. BARNES What'd you tell him? NORMAN What did I tell him. I told him I was here to see the plane crash. That's my job. Barnes chews this over thoughtfully... BARNES The plane crash. Good. NORMAN There was no plane crash? BARNES (confidentially) Spacecraft. NORMAN Spacecraft? I guess that explains a lot. NASA? BARNES That doesn't surprise you? NORMAN Well at least it explains the secrecy. BARNES The secrecy's critical, Norman. You made that explicit in your report. NORMAN What report? BARNES The ULF. NORMAN (remembering) I wrote that for the Bush Administration. BARNES And that's our Bible here. Every jot and tittle. NORMAN But that was a report about a possible encounter with an alien being. Norman laughs nervously, looks at Barnes. Barnes isn't laughing. Suddenly Norman isn't laughing either. BARNES You want to come with me? NORMAN Oh, boy. CUT TO: INT. BRIEFING ROOM - LATER A video image of SEAMEN aboard a telephone-cable ship showing the sheared fiber optic cable to the camera as Barnes, laser pointer in hand, delivers a briefing. BARNES About three weeks ago, a ship laying fiber optic cable between Honolulu and Sydney hit an obstruction a thousand feet underwater. Cut the cable clean as a shears. The Navy got interested -- sent out a search ship. ANGLE ON BETH As she watches... SUPERED below: DR. BETH HALPERIN: PHYSICIAN/BIOLOGIST ANGLE ON HIGH-RESOLUTION TV IMAGE A sonar image of an enormous triangular fin jutting abruptly from a ridge of coral... BARNES ... Turns out what did it was this -- We took this with the side-looking sonar -- an aerodynamic fin longer than a football field. Bigger than any known wingspan. ANGLE ON TED As he watches.... SUPERED below: TED FIELDING: ASTROPHYSICIST TED You have any idea what it's made of? BARNES We sent the SCARAB robots to snip a piece out of it... ANGLE ON MICROSCOPE IMAGE of the composition of the fin... BARNES It's a titanium alloy in an epoxy/resin honeycomb. It's more sophisticated than anything we can duplicate. TED The Russians don't have anything like this? ANGLE ON SONAR IMAGE This one composed of fine dots. BARNES You tell me. That's the fuselage. Ultra- high-res S.L.S. bottom scan, came in a week ago. There it is...buried under about eight yards of coral. BETH There's something wrong with that measurement. Pacific coral grows at a rate of an inch a year. You can set your watch by it. BARNES That's right. BETH So, you're saying the spacecraft crashed in the year... HARRY (O.C.) 1709. They all turn in the direction of the voice... REVERSE ANGLE ON HARRY ADAMS As he watches, bemused, from a chair in the corner, his fingers forming a steeple. A black man with a dour manner and lightning eyes, Oxford shirt and chinos. SUPERED BELOW: "HARRY ADAMS: MATHEMATICIAN." BETH You're saying this spacecraft crashed three hundred years ago? HARRY Two hundred and eighty-eight. BETH But that's impossible. BARNES It's not impossible if this spacecraft came to earth from an alien civilization. A long beat of wonderment... TED You think this is an alien spacecraft? HARRY You see, it's not impossible. It's ridiculous. BARNES We believe this spacecraft contains an unknown life form. That's why you're here. You're the human contact team recommended in the Goodman Report. (gestures to each) We have a biochemist to assess the physiology of the Unknown Life Form, we have a mathematician, because that'll probably be our common language... and we have an astrophysicist to locate its place in the cosmos. HARRY Led by a psychologist. BARNES That's right. HARRY That's what the little green men say nowadays? 'Take me to your therapist'? Norman bites his tongue. He's used to it. Barnes refers to his copy of The Goodman Report... BARNES (reading) 'Contact teams meeting an unknown life form, or U.L.F., must be prepared for severe psychological impact. Stress reaction when confronted by unknown life has not been sufficiently studied and cannot be entirely predicted in advance. But the most likely consequence of contact is absolute terror.' (beat) That's from Norman's report. TED I'm sorry...are these parameters correct? BARNES Yup. TED So, you're saying you have a fuselage from a spacecraft over a half-mile long that crashed in the ocean three hundred years ago, and it's completely intact? BARNES That's right, and the kicker is, our sonar's picking up a low hum. Something's still running inside. A beat as they all look at each other... HARRY Hold on a second. There's no way that coral could've grown faster than an inch a year? BETH No. TED Well, that's why we're going down there to see, isn't it? HARRY Who said we're going down there? TED Are you kidding? This is the greatest scientific discovery since Copernicus! Bigger than Copernicus! The idea that we're not alone? It'll change everything. We have physical evidence that there's extra terrestrial life. You don't want to see that? HARRY This is not an equation that needs to be solved. No. NORMAN Harry's got a point. I'm not too sure about this idea of going down a thousand feet either. BARNES How deep have you been, Norman? NORMAN I can snorkle ten to fifteen feet. BARNES Good. You do that, and I'll take care of the rest. HARRY I have got to say, I resent this briefing very much. TED Oh, Jesus! BARNES Why is that, Harry? HARRY Did you decide you have to break the news to us gently? BARNES What news? HARRY About the door. BARNES Harry, we have divers cutting through excavation trenches as we speak, searching for that door. HARRY You know exactly where the door is, am I right. Am I right? BARNES You're right. HARRY One other thing. If Norman's report calls for a biologist, a mathematician, an astrophysicist, and a psychologist... then why are you here? Barnes grins enigmatically. BARNES I'm not here. (he turns) Physical protocols begin in half an hour. He leaves. HARRY He's not here. What the hell does that mean? NORMAN Harry, I'm impressed. You knew he wasn't telling the truth about the door. How did you know that? HARRY Oh, there's lots of things he's not telling us about. He's not telling us any of the important things. TED Like what? HARRY You wouldn't believe it if I told you...but you'd probably publish it. CUT TO: INT. SHIP - SICK BAY - LATER NORMAN AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND. MEDIC (O/C) Do you wear glasses all the time? NORMAN I just started wearing these...er... CUT TO: TED AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND. TED ...Why? Are the glasses a problem? Because I don't actually need them. Clinically speaking they're just for reading. They're more of a crutch really. (takes off glasses) I see fine without them. MEDIC O/C Could you read the fifth line please. TED Sure. (beat) From here? CUT TO: NORMAN AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND. NORMAN They said there was no problem, but they didn't anticipate that I would be going a thousand feet under the water. I find it interesting that a part of me wants to find a way to get out of this, and another part of me is not trying to get out of it. MEDIC O/C Does this concern you? NORMAN Going down a thousand feet under the water where no fish live but that's where you want to send me? Mildly. CUT TO: BETH AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND. MEDIC O/C Do you take any prescription medication? BETH No. MEDIC O/C None whatsoever? BETH You know once in a while...sometimes I might take like a piece of Xanax or something ...if I'm nervous. Something like that. Not...much. CUT TO: HARRY AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND. MEDIC O/C Would you consider yourself in good physical condition? HARRY Yeah. MEDIC O/C According to your doctor, in 1990... HARRY Wait a minute -- you talked to my doctor? CUT TO: NORMAN AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND. NORMAN What do you mean, I'm off the graph? I mean, is that a problem? CUT TO: HARRY AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND. HARRY Knee surgery. Complete reconstruction of ACL right knee. Still have a steel pin here... (points to areas in leg) ...steel pin up here...little medial collateral damage. CUT TO: TED AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND. TED I just take over the counter antihistamines. I have some allergies. Not to water, which is good. CUT TO: HARRY AGAINST A WHITE BACKGROUND. MEDIC O/C Do you feel comfortable about this dive? HARRY No. Hell, no! I don't feel comfortable about this dive. Why would I? It's not something I do on a normal basis. CUT TO: INT. CLASSROOM - LATER Norman struggles to stay awake as a DIVE INSTRUCTOR drones. DIVE INSTRUCTOR Let me remind you of a few points. This will be a saturation dive. You're going to be taken to a Habitat at a thousand feet. We have an atmosphere of 21% OT and 79% Nitrogen, which means that the PO2 would be .21 and .79. In this case we will be compressing on HE. ANGLE ON HARRY, TED, BETH AND NORMAN as the Dive Instructor continues. DIVE INSTRUCTOR (CONT'D) Compression to a thousand feet will then occur, using pure helium. As you compress, you will experience a warming of the environment and you can also expect to experience High Pressure Nervous Syndrome. HPNS is manifested by trembling, feelings of confusion, disorientation and possible nausea. NORMAN I got that now. The Dive Instructor drones on. DIVE INSTRUCTOR These symptoms should subside after a short time on the bottom. You will also notice marked voice change as the PPHE increases. CUT TO: EXT. SUBMARINE - CLOSE ON NORMAN - DAY Peering up through the dome of the submarine as it drops away from the mother ship and descends... CUT TO: INT. SUBMARINE - LATER Norman takes a seat inside the cramped sub. NORMAN Sit anywhere? The rest of the team sits, knee-to-knee. Ted sweats profusely. NORMAN (cont'd) Everybody happy? Barnes sits alongside a PILOT in the sub's cockpit, separated by a wall of Plexiglas. BARNES (over intercom) The descent will take about thirteen minutes descending at a rate of eighty- feet per minute. It'll get a little chilly. Try and relax. The sub rocks a little. NORMAN Next time, just tell us when you're going to push the button. Barnes flips a switch and a MOZART HORN CONCERTO BLARES cheerily on the PUBLIC ADDRESS... Harry ties his shoes. HARRY Mozart. Horn Concerto in E Flat. K-447. BETH I'm surprised to see you here, Harry. HARRY Everybody went down but Harry -- written down in some secret government file somewhere. Harry turns to Ted, shivering in a cold sweat of nerves... HARRY How you holding up there, Captain Nautical? TED I'm loose. HARRY You're loose? TED I'm loose. I'm loose. Then the sub lurches suddenly... TED I'm a little uptight...What was that? The sub rocks again. NORMAN Are we okay? Why don't I have a seatbelt? Barnes' VOICE INTERRUPTS the MOZART. BARNES Oh, shit! BETH Shit? TED What was that? BARNES (over intercom) We had a little flame out. But don't worry, we'll ride this current until we get power back. TED Did he just say we lost power? The group contemplates this as the Mozart cheerily resumes. NORMAN Flame out? What's a flame out? BARNES Don't worry about it. We're in the river now. NORMAN What river? BARNES It's a temperature salinity differential that flows like a river inside the ocean. NORMAN We're in the middle of the ocean under the ocean and there's a river? BARNES That's right. NORMAN You couldn't tell us that when you de- briefed us? BARNES Need to know. BETH It's a good thing, Norman. NORMAN It just, you know...lessens the stress response -- the more you know in front. Ted is looking very tense. NORMAN (cont'd) You okay, Ted? TED No, I'm not okay. NORMAN Look at me. Beth tries to soothe Ted. He gets more tense. NORMAN (CONT'D) Maybe you shouldn't touch him, Beth. (to Ted) Just look at me. I want you to breathe. Just look at me. You want to take a breath. On the count of three...one... Ted breathes. Harry begins to hum. TED You're not breathing either, Norman. NORMAN I know I'm not breathing. We're going to breathe together, okay? We're both nervous, yes? Breathe in through your nose...one, two, three and out. It's just a stress response. Out. BETH You're not giving birth here, Ted. NORMAN In and out...two...three...four... Ted and Norman exchange a smile. Harry's humming gets louder. TED Would you cut that out please, Harry? NORMAN (to Ted) You're having a stress reaction. That's Harry's stress reaction, okay? A bunch of adolescents here. Beth is holding onto Ted's hand. BETH Okay, man? She lets go of his hand. TED Thank you, that's better. I'm better. He laughs with relief. The sub continues to descend. NORMAN Those noises we're hearing, that's normal? BARNES Those noises are the pressure of the water attacking the integrity of the sub. BETH You know a little something about that, don't you? Norman? How the pressure can attack your integrity? NORMAN Come on...be nice this trip. BETH Were you nice last time? TED You two want to sit together? Norman wipes sweat off his brow. CUT TO: EXT. OCEAN - LATER The sub descends into the gloom... Not much light down here... In the distance, the shadowy monolith of the tail fin looms, like some ancient misplaced totem. CUT TO: INT. SUB - LATER Ted peers out of the porthole. Then his jaw drops. TED My God! C'mere -- look at this! Ted gestures to Norman, and Norman joins him. Peers out... THEIR POV Emerging INTO VIEW from behind a ridge... THE HABITAT A visually breathtaking network of cylinders and domes, in yellow steel and glass, lit up from inside and out -- like a vast underwater sculpture -- as fish dart around it... BACK ON NORMAN AND TED as Barnes comes over the intercom... BARNES (over intercom) That's the habitat. TED It ain't the Motel 6. CUT TO: EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME The sub nestles beneath the imposing structure... a HYDRAULIC HISS as the sub's hatch connects with the airlock... CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME JANE EDMUNDS, the unit archivist, monitors the video feed. A video image appears of the team entering through the hatch to the moon pool. EDMUNDS They're here. CUT TO: INT. HABITAT MOON POOL - SAME TIME The team crawls through the narrow hatch... CUT TO: INT. MOON POOL ROOM - LATER The team are squeezed face-to-face in a cold steel-walled chamber...Barnes stands outside and talks to them over an intercom. Then a scary HISSING sound as GAS under pressure enters the chamber. BARNES (V.O.) (over intercom) Alright. We're gonna pressurize you now. I know it's hot in there, but you're going to feel coolness. That's the helium. NORMAN Helium? TED Was I the only one paying attention? Ted is so captivated by his pompous explanation that he doesn't realize his voice is getting higher and squeakier...In fact, all of their voices have been distorted by the helium. TED Oxygen is a corrosive gas in the same family as chlorine and fluorine. Hydrochloric acid. Hydrofluoric acid. Everyone's smirking at Ted's seriousness and his squeaky voice. TED (cont'd) Essentially that's why we're breathing helium down here because oxygen at any level higher than 2.3 becomes toxic. NORMAN Can you run that by me again, Ted. I don't speak fluent balloon. Everyone laughs -- a squeaky, high-pitched helium laugh... TED (off their laughter) Yes...that's my voice. The helium resonates differently with my vocal cords. BETH Wait a second... HARRY Follow the yellow brick-road... BARNES (intercom) Alright, kiddies, cut it out. The voice regulators are behind you. Put 'em on. NORMAN (helium voice - to Beth) How do you like it? BETH (helium voice) It's nothing compared to the drugs I've done. Everyone laughs - helium laughs. CUT TO: EXT. HABITAT - POV FROM FIN OF SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME And the dim sounds of the LAUGHTER inside... As if someone is watching...listening... and the habitat is a craft full of aliens. CUT TO: INT. HABITAT - VIDEO ROOM - LATER TEENY FLETCHER, a gruff O.S.S.A. lifer in her late 30s, works the controls (joystick, slide switches) for a remote robot... Jane Edmunds monitors the video feed. ANGLE ON TEAM Clustered around, watching... They all now wear talkers around their necks that normalize their speech. BARNES (V/O) Change the angle - different plane. ANGLE ON MONITORS A large hole has been excavated through the coral, revealing what appears to be a door in the spaceship beneath... As Teeny manipulates the joystick, a suction arm emerges from the robot, latches onto the door... FLETCHER Alright. BARNES Get the plane...get the suction plane flat. FLETCHER This has been a little difficult, sir. No, no...you're doing good. Keep the rubber plane flat. Fletcher continues to manipulate the robot. FLETCHER There we go. BARNES Rotate the clamp. FLETCHER Come on! BARNES No, other way. FLETCHER Okay. Ted is playing with his "talker" - the black box around his neck that regulates his voice. TED I can't believe these things...mmmmmm (starts to sing in helium voice) "Ole man river......that ole man river...." BARNES Turn it to forty five degrees. TED Mmmmmm.... (replaces "talker") I'm back. BETH Is that the door? BARNES Looks like it. We did sonar imaging of the interior compartments. That's our best bet. (to Fletcher) Damn it! It won't budge will it? HARRY Has it occurred to anyone that maybe we shouldn't open that door? NORMAN Why do you say that? HARRY We always assume these creatures will be green, or insect-like, but basicaily human. But what if they inhale air and exhale cyanide gas? It's perfectly plausible. BETH Or live forever -- like a virus. Or a yeast. NORMAN Why would you assume that an unknown life form would want to kill us? HARRY A creature that can't be killed wouldn't think killing was right or wrong. They'd simply have no concept of it. Ted noses up to the monitor, getting in everyone's way. TED How tall is that robot? FLETCHER Five feet. HARRY Instant extinction. It's what all the serious scientific literature is about -- what little there is on the subject. (to Norman) That is in your report, isn't it, Norman? NORMAN It's in there. BARNES (to Fletcher) Put some suction in it. Is that piston broken? TED That's roughly the same size as an airplane door, isn't it? BARNES Excuse me, Ted. TED I just think that's worth taking note of. Don't you? BARNES Ted! (to Fletcher) Knock the suction up to point-four. TED Look at how clumsy this thing is. Three million dollars worth of technology and it can't open a door. BARNES Alright, Ted! FLETCHER (through her teeth) There's nothing clumsy about the robot. TED I'm sorry. All I'm saying is I think any one of us could do better with a crowbar. BETH Any one of us, Ted? Which any one of us would that be? TED Okay, okay...I admit it. Nothing wrong with a little glory in the name of science? Jesus! CLOSE ON BARNES as he looks at the robot flailing impotently at the door... Then looks at the team. FLETCHER We're not going to be able to control it from here, and all the divers have pulled out. CUT TO: INT. SUIT ROOM - LATER Lockers with nameplates for the team... Inside each, a diving suit and helmet... Heavier than scuba gear -- more like spacesuits. The team sets about changing into them. NORMAN I'm not too thrilled at the prospect of this, you know. BETH You know what, Norman...don't think of it as swimming, think of it as walking. NORMAN The walking part I can do, it's the underwater part. You drown underwater. (adjusting equipment) If I break anything, does that mean I don't have to go? TED What if I have to go to the bathroom? HARRY Just go down your leg, Ted. TED Really? You can urinate in these? HARRY You can. Question is, would you want to? NORMAN (looking at helmet) Where's the switch? BETH Okay, let's go. CUT TO: INT. MOON POOL ROOM - LATER Barnes opens a hatch to the ocean, kept at bay by the positive pressure in the airlock room. Suited up, the team jumps through the hatch and down to the ocean floor. CUT TO: EXT. OCEAN FLOOR - CONTINUOUS Norman emerges from a cloud of bubbles onto the ocean floor, kicking up sand and clouding up the already murky view... NORMAN'S POV The LABORED sound of Norman's BREATHING as we look out from inside his helmet. BARNES (over intercom) Alright, Fletcher. We're at one thousand and twenty two feet, ambient temperature thirty four degrees, heading out north, north west three thirty. It's a firm bottom, intermittent coral. Norman turns and sees a blinding light... shields his eyes -- it's the light on Harry's helmet. HARRY (over intercom) Norman, your light's off again. Try the switch at your waist. INSERT - NORMAN'S GLOVE As he fumbles with the switch on his waist... His helmet light flashes on... WIDER The team makes its way across the ocean floor, their helmet lights sweeping the foggy bottom like headlights... BETH (over intercom) This is great you guys. Wow! (beat) Hey, Norman. You know, a space launch costs a hundred million dollars. You could come down here once a day every day for fifty years for that. The ocean is the oldest living environment...so much older than the land, yet we don't know anything about it. BACK ON NORMAN'S POV - LONG, HIGH WIDE SHOT He can barely make out the others... This is a long way from sherry at the faculty club. Then he HEARS... BETH (over intercom) Oh, my God! TED (over intercom) Look at the size of that thing. BARNES (over intercom) You see that tunnel...we go there. That's the "heart of darkness". They continue across the ocean bottom. BARNES (cont'd) (over intercom) We're in the coral pipe now, approaching the airlock. NORMAN (over intercom) I'm feeling pressure in my ears, is that normal? BETH (over intercom) Just use your equalizer. Norman adjusts his equipment. NORMAN A little better. BETH You know, the most toxic creatures on earth live down here. The venom of a land animal is nothing by comparison. Even the weakest sea snake is inveritably lethal. NORMAN (over intercom) Is that supposed to make me feel good, Beth? HARRY (looking at coral) Amazing. This stuff only grows an inch a year? BARNES Airlock's in sight now. TED (re: spacecraft) This thing is enormous. Norman looks up... LONG, HIGH, WIDE SHOT - THE TEAM As their little helmet lights sweep up towards... SPACECRAFT Buried under a mountain of coral, it's about as big as an airport terminal. With the titanium fin looming beyond... ANGLE ON BARNES Near the entrance -- carved through the coral and lit by tiny hanging bulbs. Barnes waves them on and they follow him down. BARNES This is our airlock. It'll take us from a wet to a dry environment. We're assuming the inside of the ship is sealed. ANGLE ON NORMAN as he descends awkwardly, grabbing clumsily at the bulky iron pitons drilled into the coral walls... till he reaches... PORTABLE AIRLOCK A large Plexiglas tube reinforced with steel struts, butted against the door of the spacecraft. Norman and the rest of the team enter. Barnes seals it shut...there's a rush of incoming gas which pushes the water out... CLOSE ON NORMAN as the water recedes down past his face-plate... Then he and the rest of the team turn toward... DOOR CUT TO: EXT. SPACECRAFT/INT. PORTABLE AIRLOCK - LATER Barnes labors over the robot, the innards exposed, with an Allen wrench, Ted hovering over him. CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME Fletcher watching the team on the bank of videos. FLETCHER Alright. What's happening here guys? CUT TO: EXT. SPACECRAFT/INT. PORTABLE AIRLOCK - SAME TIME Barnes struggles with the robot. BARNES Put a light in the digit, Norman. Norman shines his flashlight inside the robot hand. BARNES Yeah...maybe it's the hydraulics. The pressure messes everything up at this depth. In frustration, Ted grabs a hammer from Barnes' tool kit. TED Time for a demonstration in basic physics, gentlemen. He goes to the door and bangs on it... BETH What is this, a pinata party? BARNES No. Dr. Fielding is demonstrating advanced applied physics for us. ANGLE ON HARRY as he notices something... moves toward the door... runs his finger along the edge... Norman moves alongside him... NORMAN What is it, Harry? HARRY Take a look. Norman looks closely at the door. HARRY (cont'd) It's chipped. Then the others gather around them. BARNES It's chipped. So what? HARRY I thought you said there was no damage in the crash. That this titanium alloy was super-strong, there was no way you could hurt it. BARNES I did. HARRY But it gets chipped just from some scientist whacking on it with a hammer? ANGLE ON BETH As she feels the door with her palms... BETH Is there heat coming off this thing, or is it just happy to see me? BARNES Get away from there, Beth. BETH Just one minute. BARNES I said back off! Now! Barnes yanks Beth roughly and shoves her aside. Angry, she glares at him. The door starts to RUMBLE...Barnes unstraps a weapon... Then the door opens... revealing blackness inside. HARRY Is anyone else here wondering who opened the door? CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME Fletcher at bank of videos. FLETCHER Yeah. I'd like to know who hit the button too. CUT TO: EXT. SPACECRAFT/INT. PORTABLE AIRLOCK - SAME TIME Norman and Harry exchange a look. Then, ever so cautiously, Norman moves in, followed by Ted, Harry, Beth and Barnes who closes the door behind them. TED How did that happen? BARNES I'm not sure about the atmosphere. Helmets stay on. TED We come in peace. (to Harry) I always wanted to say that. CUT TO: INT. SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME Norman enters, his helmet light leading the way...He realizes he is walking along a five-foot wide catwalk... NORMAN'S POV as his helmet light sweeps forty feet down into the maw of the craft, a dense web of struts and buttresses...Beth heads along a separate path of the catwaik...Looks down. Stops. BETH'S POV as her helmet light sweeps the path...footprints. BACK TO SCENE BETH Somebody's been here. HARRY What? BETH Yeah. There's footsteps, and they ain't ours. Harry joins her. Looks down. Then Norman joins them. HARRY What do you say, Norman? Time to turn around? NORMAN I'm a little curious. BARNES Let's break up into two squads. We'll never cover the ground otherwise. HARRY Split up? TED He's got a point. We've got maybe a half- hour of gas left. BARNES Ted and Harry you come with me. Beth and Norman stick together. Come on. HARRY I think the people who built this place would call that divide and conquer. NORMAN Whoever built this thing wanted us dead, we'd be dead already. (beat) As a matter of deductive logic, Harry. CUT TO: INT. SPACECRAFT - LATER Barnes, Harry and Ted move ahead, their helmet lights sweeping the surfaces and structures of the craft -- both odd and oddly familiar. Barnes inspects one of the girders with his gloved fingers, then whacks it with the crowbar. BARNES Look at this, Harry...cross-stress bracing for the outer hull. Tremendous support along all axes. This is interesting. This material -- strong and soft at the same time. Better than rubber, better than steel. (off insulation) Heck of a lot of radiation shielding. Wonder what that's for? HARRY You seem to know a lot about this. BARNES Huh? (beat) Yeah, I, uh, studied aeronautical engineering at M.I.T. Isn't that where you got your Ph.D.? TED Where I got mine. All three of them. A regular hotbed of academic envy though. HARRY Ain't that the truth. I hated M.I.T. TED Envy? HARRY Puberty. TED Puberty? How old? HARRY First Ph.D, eighteen. TED Damn! One year, Harry. You beat me by one year, Harry. HARRY (singing) "What a difference a year makes...." TED Where'd Dr. Halperin get her Ph.D.? BARNES On her knees, is what I'd guess. HARRY You might be underestimating her. BARNES Oh, yeah? (beat) Let's push on. ANGLE ON TED as he looks around for a place to sit. TED Man. They didn't tell you how heavy these things were out of water. He finds a box. Brushes the silt off the top. Double- takes... TED What the hell -- (to others) Come here -- look at this! Barnes and Harry join him. Peer down with their head- lamps... INSERT - BOX Where Ted brushed the silt off, it reads, "TRASH/BASURA". BARNES (reading) 'Trash/Basura'? HARRY Trash? CUT TO: INT. SPACECRAFT - HALLWAY AND ELEVATOR - SAME TIME Norman and Beth move through the craft. Beth finds a door with a control button. BETH What do you think? Norman shrugs. Beth moves to press the button. Norman stops her. NORMAN Listen, Beth, I've got a dilemma. I have to tell you something about the report. BETH Okay. NORMAN You know, I needed the money. Ellen wanted to buy a house and I was broke -- the divorce had cleaned me out... These guys show up with a federal grant to study the psychological effects of an alien invasion -- BETH What are you saying, Norman? NORMAN I mean...I needed money to buy a house. BETH Uh, huh... NORMAN So I made it up. BETH You made what up? NORMAN I made up the report. BETH You made up the report? NORMAN Not all of it. I mean, I did research on half of it. Beat. BETH Well, who did the other half? NORMAN I borrowed from, you know, good writers. Isaac Asimov...Rod Serling. BETH Rod Serling? This isn't the Twilight Zone, Norman, and I can't change the channel, so what do you want me to do now? NORMAN I'm just telling you, Beth. I mean, who the hell would think that anyone would ever read those government reports? What's the odds of it? You know what I mean? I show up and I've got half the Pacific Fleet here. I didn't know what to do. I just wanted to tell you, that's all. Beat. BETH Would this fall under the same category as "Gee, Beth, I thought you knew I was married?" NORMAN Boy, you don't forget, do you? I don't think we have enough oxygen to talk this through now. BETH I don't think there's nough oxygen to talk this through...ever. Beth angrily presses the button and she heads inside, then stops. Norman tentatively follows her. Suddenly they're elevated with a fast jolt. Beth screams. NORMAN Who pushed the button? Did you push something? BETH No. INT. SPACECRAFT - FLIGHT DECK Norman and Beth arrive at the flight deck. It is extremely dark. They discover a large, contoured console -- but with no instrumentation of any kind. Norman feels his way around what seems to be a leather chair... NORMAN This must be the cockpit. Hold on...here's a chair. He sits down. NORMAN (cont'd) You know, this is fairly comfortable. BETH Norman, do you hear a kind of gurgling sound? NORMAN Gurgling... Aaaaargh! Suddenly the chair grabs him... Squeezing his shoulders, grabbing his hips, wrapping around his head... as if it was swallowing him... Beth screams. BETH Norman! NORMAN (cont'd) Oh, yeah. You know, they're seatbelts. CLOSE ON NORMAN As he disappears into the chair... Being swallowed up by it. Beth screaming, "Norman! Norman!" And then it stops. NORMAN I'm okay. Then a loud WHIR as the CHAIR snaps forward, zooms up tight to the console. NORMAN (cont'd) Er...Beth, I could use a little help. Beth. CLOSE ON NORMAN He maintains his composure by dint of will. Then his face is bathed in a soft Christmastime glow of colored lights. BETH Norman! Norman! He gestures down with his eyes. She follows his gaze... ANGLE ON CONSOLE As it begins to take on depth... The instrumentation is somehow within the surface of the console, like a hologram... "POS THRUSTERS"... "F3 PISTON BOOSTER".."GLIDER".."SIEVES"... NORMAN Beth, you still with me? BETH (reading) Yeah. The symbols...the symbols are in English. NORMAN English? BETH Yes, English. Our mother tongue. NORMAN There must be an explanation. BETH Well, there's something weird going on here, Norman. There's something Barnes isn't telling us. NORMAN Well, Beth, while you're ruminating, do you think you can find the chair release button. BETH Oh! (reading) Ignition... NORMAN No, not that one. Beth explores the console. Finds the appropriate control. Touches it. BETH Here. This is it, I think. The chair unwraps around Norman. NORMAN There you go. Norman relaxes. Beth turns and sees that the chair beside Norman has opened as well. And there's a skeleton in uniform inside it. BETH Aaaargh! NORMAN Oh, God! Beth examines the skeleton with her scientific sangfroid. BETH Jesus! It's human. NORMAN You mean humanoid? BETH No, Norman. I mean human. (off skeleton) Blunt force trauma. You can see by the direction that the fracture runs, that he was hit in the back of the head. NORMAN What's in his hand? BETH I don't know. Norman takes a small package from the skeleton's hand. BETH What is it? NORMAN Smokehouse almonds? They look at each other a beat. BETH My God -- it's an American spaceship. They exchange a look as they absorb this stunning revelation. NORMAN It can't be an American spaceship. It's three hundred years old. There weren't even Americans, let alone spaceships. BETH Well, it can't be, but it is. NORMAN Okay. Let's see if there's some kind of flight recorder or data computer that we can ring up a flight history. Just punch punch... punch... punch something! BETH Alright. Let me try this thing again. Beth touches the console... ANGLE ON THEIR FACEPLATES As data starts to spool out on the console... RV-LHOOQ... DCOMl... ASSIMILATING DATABASE... BETH Alright. Look at this. Okay, good. Here we go. ANGLE ON CONSOLE As Norman punches another button... FLIGHT DATA ENTRIES FDS 01/01/43-12/31/45 FDS 01/01/46-12/31/48 FDS 01/01/49-12/31/51 FDS 02/01/56-UNKNOWN ENTRY EVENT NORMAN Look at the dates. That can't be -- BETH It could be. It could be 2043 or 1643. I don't know which one is weirder. NORMAN 'Unknown Entry Event'? Press that. BETH Are you sure? NORMAN Yes. Beth presses the console at "Unknown Entry Event"... ANGLE ON SCREEN As it expands... A sort of hologram created all around them...As they streak through a galaxy, stars and planets all around them... They feel like they're falling into outer space... Then in the middle of the screen, a black spot... That gets bigger... Then suddenly has a white cluster in the middle of it... As if they're flying toward a giant black donut... And then...nothing... They sit a beat in the eerie blankness and silence... BARNES (V.O.) (over intercom) This is Barnes. Norman? Norman and Beth exchange a look. NORMAN Yes, I can hear you. I can't explain it, but I think we're inside an American spacecraft. BARNES (V.O.) It gets better. NORMAN This is enough. CUT TO: INT. SPACECRAFT - CARGO BAY - LATER The Sphere, a giant metal ball with an iridescent surface, ten meters across, is held suspended by a giant claw-like apparatus in one of the forward bays. Something mesmerizing about it... The team approaches tentatively... TED What the hell is it? BARNES Whatever it is, it seems to be what this bird was designed to do. Go out into space and gather things like this up and bring it back. TED Yeah...but back from where? HARRY Don't get too excited, Ted. We'll turn it over and it'll say, 'Made in Korea.' TED Somehow I doubt that, Harry. BARNES What do you think, Norman? NORMAN I'm still working on what the hell is it. BARNES No hinges... No doors of any kind... TED I bet if you put a laser micrometer on this you'd find it's a perfect sphere. I mean a perfect sphere -- down to a thousandth of an inch. That's a message in itself. HARRY Really. BARNES What do you mean? TED I mean when Pope Benedict asked Giotto for a drawing to prove his worth as an artist, what he did was draw a perfect circle freehand. Perfection is a powerful message. BETH I know what the Zen masters would say. HARRY What's that? BETH The ball wants to be caught. BARNES Nobody built a thing like this looking into his third eye. They went to a lot of trouble. And they didn't do it for nothing. Something put it out there to get picked up and brought back. Are you forgetting the Trojan Horse? It could be a trap. TED That sounds a little paranoid, don't you think, Barnes? BARNES Paranoia is a disease. Fear is useful. Defense is basic -- down to the simplest one-cell organism. Us. Them. (checks watch) We'll leave a video camera here, keep an eye on it. NORMAN Can I ask you something about this reflective surface -- Barnes edges up to the sphere. BARNES It looks like it's made of mercury. Except mercury is a liquid at this temperature. NORMAN No. That's not what I'm talking about. What worries me is that it's reflecting everything but us. Barnes steps back to get a better look. The team edges up beside Norman... NORMAN (cont'd) I hate to be the one non-scientist who picks this up, guys. You know what I mean? What do you think it is? THEIR POV It's true. A perfect mirror image of everything in the cargo bay but them. BARNES I don't know. Whatever it is, it's alien. SPHERE POV Through a convex lens, of the team looking in. BACK ON NORMAN As he watches Barnes gingerly reach out and touch the surface of The Sphere. CUT TO: INT. BARNES' ROOM CLOSE ON TELETYPE MACHINE A message types out: "ADMIRAL MANNION HAS LEARNED CIVILIANS AT SATURATED DEPTHS. DEMANDS THEY BE SENT TOPSIDE IMMEDIATELY." Barnes reads message, crumples it into a ball and throws it away, then types a response. "COULD NOT DE-CODE LAST MESSAGE. TRANSMISSION SCRAMBLED. PLEASE RE-SEND." "CYCLONE DUE 0800 HOURS. GALE FORCE CONDITIONS AND SOUTHEAST SWELLS TOPSIDE. CONTACT TEAM MUST EVACUATE TWO HOURS OR REMAIN HABITAT FOR DURATION OF STORM. OSSA." CUT TO: INT. BARNES' ROOM - LATER Barnes talks on the radio transmission speaker to the surface. BARNES Sounds like it's gonna get pretty hairy up there. What's the word from meteorology? CUT TO: INT. CAFETERIA - MOVING INSIDE to the galley, where the team, now in their blue jumpsuits, confers over hot coffee. Fletcher bakes something in the oven... TED An American spacecraft -- materials and technology more advanced than anything we know of -- crashes into the ocean -- HARRY If it crashed how come it's not damaged? TED The materials are obviously superstrong. HARRY If that's the case, how come the door chipped just from you banging on it? Fletcher brings them a tray of fresh-baked muffind. They all dig in. TED Okay. Better. It didn't crash. It arrived. Three hundred years ago. BETH From where? TED Not from where, from when. BETH So, you're saying, this thing took a wrong turn? TED Yes, that's right. What if the craft inadvertently flew into a black hole. It arrived in our past from its present. What about those dates you saw on the flight recorder. NORMAN '43, '47 -- TED That's right. That has to be two thousand forty three...two thousand forty seven. That image that you told me you saw on the monitor...from what you describe that sounds exactly like a black hole...a tear in the space... HARRY We know what a black hole is, Ted. NORMAN I don't know what a black hole is. HARRY A black hole is a collapsed dead star that has so much gravity it acts like a huge vacuum cleaner, sucking everything into it. A light interstellar dust... time... TED Time. HARRY It's possible, but not plausible. TED It's more than probable, it's rudimentary astrophysics. We just haven't been able to fly into one and prove it. HARRY Well, Ted, sounds like you've got this all figured out. Barnes enters. BARNES Well, I just got off the horn topside. Expecting a bad blow-up there. They're pulling us out. TED Pulling us out? Wait a minute...what do you mean, pulling us out? What does that mean, pulling us out? HARRY What part of 'pull out' don't you understand, Ted? Extraction...we're leaving. TED No...no...that's ridiculous. I mean, we haven't even begun to scratch the surface down here. BARNES If you've ever seen these Pacific cyclones -- what we call a tornado is nothing more than a little fart, so I suggest you go back to the dormitory and take a nap. You need to lower your metabolism before the decompression. TED You're just gonna leave a time-traveling spacecraft at the bottom of the coean? BARNES I'm just going to follow my orders, Ted. BETH We're the Welcome Wagon for the aliens, right? There's no aliens. It's all Made in America. TED (to Beth) What's your point? BETH My point is I'm a biochemist. There's no life down here, and you guys are bugging the shit out of me. TED What is wrong with all of you? That doesn't mean there's nothing left to learn -- nothing to explore -- Jesus! BARNES (cutting him off) She's right, Ted. You guys are the human contact team for an Unknown Life Form. There is no Unknown Life Form. (beat) So, we're pulling out at oh-nine hundred. TED Norman, will you please say something to him. NORMAN What? TED I don't know. Do you not have an opinion about this? NORMAN Yes. I'm delighted we're going back up top. You know what I mean? I mean, I don't know about you, this might look like a road-side diner, but in the meantime, my ears won't pop...if I pull this thing away from my neck I sound like someone's squeezing my testicles. Let's go home. Ted takes Barnes aside. TED Look, why don't you tell me. What is it you don't want us to find out, huh? BARNES I don't want you to find out what I really think of you. ANGLE ON HARRY AND NORMAN NORMAN Harry. Doesn't it seem odd to you that Barnes was so excited about coming down here, but he wasn't the least bit upset about going up? HARRY We're on the same page. Norman puts his finger in his ear to release pressure. HARRY (cont'd) Equalize, Norman. NORMAN What do you mean? HARRY You know how to equalize, don't you? Just pinch your nostrils together and blow. NORMAN Don't get racy. CUT TO: INT. BARNES' ROOM - LATER CLOSE on LAPTOP SCREEN as words appear... "DESPITE RISKS CONTACT TEAM ELECTS BY UNANIMOUS VOTE TO REMAIN HABITAT FOR DURATION OF STORM. BARNES." REVERSE ANGLE Barnes hits TRANSMIT BUTTON. BACK ON LAPTOP As the message appears: "TRANSMISSION COMPLETE" BACK ON BARNES As he looks around furtively. Turns off his laptop and closes it. CUT TO: INT. DORMITORY - LATER Beth and Ted sleep. Harry reads a paperback novel to mask his anxiety. Norman brushes his teeth. HARRY ...Barnes is wrong, you know. NORMAN What do you mean? Wrong about the storm? HARRY No...about The Sphere. NORMAN What about The Sphere? HARRY It's alive. Norman stops a beat. Thinks. Then turns to Harry. NORMAN Why do you say that, Harry? HARRY There's something inside it. NORMAN How could there be anything inside it? There's no doors, no seams... HARRY The Sphere chooses what it will and won't reflect. Doesn't that seem like the actions of a conscious being to you? NORMAN Okay...pop psychology - you want to know what this is really about I think, for what it's worth? Your anger towards our friend, Ted in there, is because he figured this out before you did. Beat. HARRY You really think so? NORMAN I don't know. This is my first underwater session. They laugh. HARRY You're right. Ted did figure it out first, didn't he? Good shrinkage. Harry takes a slow, rueful, ruminative beat. Then: HARRY We're all going to die down here, you know. This stops Norman. NORMAN What? What? HARRY You see, it's curious, Ted did figure it out. Time travel. And when we get back, we're gonna tell everyone...how it's possible. How it's done. What the dangers are. But then why, fifty years in the future, when this spacecraft encounters a black hole, does the computer call it an 'Unknown Entry Event'? Why don't they know? If they don't know, it means we never told anyone, and if we never told anyone, it means we never made it back. Hence, we die down here. (beat) Just as a matter of deductive logic, Norman. CLOSE ON NORMAN As he absorbs this... HARRY Damn! I wish I could get inside that Sphere. CUT TO: INT. BARNES' QUARTERS - CLOSE ON PRINTER - SAME TIME As it TYPES... "... 30 knots... ETD -- 00:19 MIN..." CUT TO: INT. HALLWAY ALARMS sound and lights flash as Norman hustles past Fletcher. NORMAN What's wrong? FLETCHER Talk to Mr. Barnes... NORMAN Where is he? FLETCHER Video feed room. NORMAN Where's that? I don't know where the hell anything is. CUT TO: INT. SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME Harry walks towards the Sphere. CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROOM - LATER Norman joins Barnes in the video room. NORMAN What's going on? BARNES I don't know, Norman. You tell me. Barnes punches up an image on the monitors. They look up... REVERSE ANGLE - MONITOR Harry, in his diving suit, inside the spacecraft as he approaches The Sphere... BACK ON NORMAN AND BARNES As they look up. Then look at each other. NORMAN What the hell is he doing? BARNES I don't know what he's doing. Do you know what he's doing? Come on, Norman, there's no time. I need to know what you know. NORMAN Nothing. He said he wanted to go inside, I just didn't think -- BARNES We are inside, Norman. You mean outside? NORMAN He said inside. BARNES Inside what? Inside the spacecraft. NORMAN I think inside The Sphere. BARNES The Sphere... INT. SPACECRAFT - SAME TIME Harry approaches The Sphere... Unlike before, his image is now reflected in the luminous surface... Harry smiles ... Then his image revolves, faster and faster... His grin growing wider and wider... And then the reflection isn't there... REVERSE ANGLE And neither is Harry. CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME As Barnes and Norman watch this scene on the monitors... BARNES Holy shit! NORMAN Oh, my God! Did he go inside? BARNES I don't know. I don't think he went inside. NORMAN Well, what the hell's going on? He didn't just disappear. BARNES I don't know. I don't think he disappeared. I think it's a glitch in the video. Fletcher hustles back inside. BARNES Fletcher, can we get playback on that? FLETCHER Playback coming to you now. BARNES (turns to Norman) You knew he was going to do this and you did nothing. NORMAN I didn't think -- BARNES You didn't think, Norman? NORMAN Fella...okay...Mr. Barnes...I was sleeping, you know. I'm a little disoriented. BARNES You're disoriented? NORMAN I didn't think it was possible. BARNES Disoriented? Where are Beth and Ted? NORMAN I don't know. BARNES You don't know? NORMAN No, I don't know. I woke up...I heard bells ringing. CUT TO: INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - SAME TIME Edmunds, puzzled, fiddles with a control knob... REVERSE ANGLE The gauge marked "SUB DESCENT"... It's not moving. EDMUNDS (to microphone) I'm not getting an image on the sub, sir. CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME Barnes pulls on his headset. BARNES That's impossible. I just got a cable in my quarters. (checks watch) They're gonna be here in twenty five minutes or less. EDMUNDS (V.O.) (over intercom) The only logical explanation is that the sub is still at the surface. BARNES Isn't it also logically possible your sonar's messed up? Barnes punches up some controls. ON MONITOR As Harry's image revolves around The Sphere and then Harry disappears. NORMAN Okay, let's just calm down, alright? He didn't just disappear. We're not going to leave him. BARNES You got that right, Norman. We're not going to leave without him. I'm not going to lose a civilian on my watch... so you have just screwed up our trip to the surface. We're not going up to the surface until we find Harry. (to intercom) Harry. We're not going up. Harry, can you hear me? Harry? ANGLE ON MONITOR Harry's grinning, whirling image on The Sphere as it plays back on the monitors... BACK ON BARNES As he barks into the intercom... Then starts talking to Norman, but Norman's not there. BARNES This is not a triage situation here.. (turns towards where he expects to see Norman) Norman? Norman's disappeared. BARNES (cont'd) (to Fletcher) Go and find me Ted and Beth. CUT TO: INT. HABITAT - SAME TIME Norman runs through the corridor toward the dressing room... BARNES (over intercom) Norman... Norman... CUT TO: INT. SUIT ROOM - SAME TIME Norman climbs into his diving suit... BARNES (over intercom) Stop now, Norman. (beat) Norman, that's an order. INT. HABITAT - CORRIDOR TO MOON POOL - ANGLE ON EDMUNDS As she runs down the corridor... Enters the dressing room. EDMUNDS' POV - MOON POOL No Norman. Beyond -- to the airlock -- no Norman. CUT TO: INT. BARNES' QUARTERS - SAME TIME The PRINTER TYPES, "ETD -- 00:05 min"... CUT TO: EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME Norman plunges down from the airlock to the ocean floor in a cloud of bubbles... NORMAN'S POV The door to the spacecraft illuminated by the airlock tube in the distance... The sound of his BREATHING as he trudges across the ocean floor... Norman goes through airlock. Norman runs on spacecraft catwalk. Norman runs through spacecraft hallway. CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME Barnes watches on the monitors as he punches up different views of the habitat... EDMUNDS (V.O.) (over intercom) Sir, I'm still getting no reading on the sub. BARNES (to microphone) Forget about the goddamn sonar. When Beth and Ted get here, keep your eye on them. Make sure they don't go anywhere, alright? (mutters) I don't need a submarine, I need a schoolbus. CUT TO: INT. SPACECRAFT - CARGO BAY - LATER With some trepidation Norman turns the corner... NORMAN'S POV The Sphere... Its luminous, opalescent surface... BACK ON NORMAN As, cautiously, he approaches The Sphere... Norman approaches The Sphere... Gets closer, till it looms above him... REVERSE ANGLE The curious surface of The Sphere, reflecting the room but not Norman... BACK ON NORMAN As he glances over, doubletakes... Harry has appeared, unconscious, right beside him...Norman kneels... NORMAN Harry. Can you hear me? He checks the vital signs on Harry's breastplate... NORMAN (cont'd) Harry? CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME Barnes at the monitors watching Norman. BARNES Norman, is he alive? CUT TO: INT. SPACECRAFT - CARGO BAY - SAME TIME Norman checking Harry for signs of life. NORMAN Barnes. We have a problem. Harry's out coldhere. His pulse is normal...all his vitals are normal. I don't get it. (shaking Harry) Harry! The Norman lifts Harry in his arms, looks up. Something he sees stops him... REVERSE ANGLE - THE SPHERE Now Norman is reflected in the liquid surface... CLOSE ON NORMAN As he stops, frozen -- CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROM - SAME TIME Barnes watches on the monitors as Norman approaches The Sphere...Suddenly the monitors go black. Then the lights flicker off... FLETCHER Hello...hello... BARNES Norman. Can you hear me? We lost video here. Can you hear me, Norman. Norman? (beat) That tears it. FLETCHER What, sir? BARNES We're on internal power. FLETCHER I don't follow you. BARNES (right back) They cut us loose, Teeny. The sub has gone to the surface. FLETCHER I'm not following you. BARNES Get out your Five-Day Deodorant Pads. We're down here for the duration. CUT TO: EXT. OCEAN FLOOR - LATER The power cable detaches from the habitat. CUT TO: INT. DORMITORY - LATER Harry lies unconscious on his cot. Beth finishes taking his vital signs as Fletcher assists her. BETH Everything's normal. Ted enters. Looks down at Harry as he sleeps. TED What's going on? Is it true? Harry went inside? What did he say? (off Beth's look) I get it -- he didn't say. He can't talk. He's aphasic. Beth rolls up the stethoscope, hands it to Fletcher. BETH He's asleep, Ted. TED I can't believe he went into The Sphere. He didn't say anything. How? There's no door. No entry hatch... How'd he get in? BETH (cutting him off) He sweet talked his way in. Beth exits, Fletcher following. Ted thinks a beat. TED (to Harry, still sleeping) Okay, I get it. In an alternative universe you're actually charming. CUT TO: INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - CONTINUOUS ACTION Barnes talks on a phone, refers to his watch. Edmunds fiddles with the sonar equipment beside him. EDMUNDS ... I don't know why we didn't see the sub on the sonar. BARNES Forget the sub, Edmunds. I think as long as we're stuck here, I want to do another 'reccie' of the spacecraft, only this time I don't think we need to involve the civilians. EDMUNDS Right, sir. Beth enters. BETH So now what? BARNES Everything's going to be fine, Beth. BETH How much oxygen do we have left? BARNES The storm'll only last 72 hours. At the outside, four days. There's plenty of oxygen, barring any unforeseen -- BETH Unforeseen? You mean like Harry going in The Sphere? BARNES What exactly is your point? BETH My point is, Harry should never have been anywhere near that sphere. If you were doing your job instead of fuddling around here like some middle-aged man who's lost his keys, we'd all be breathing fresh air right now instead of worrying about how much oxygen... BARNES For someone who's worried about oxygen, you sure are using it up. BETH I know you're not with O.S.S.A. You're doing a good job of pretending, turning dials and flipping switches, but you don't know one end of a rudder from the other. We're all counting on you like you know something about how to get us back safely. Or even care. BARNES I know enough not to get killed down here. BETH Good for you. Barnes gives her a hard look. BARNES Beth, let me ask you a question. What exactly are your qualifications for being here? BETH Guess. BARNES Well, I mean Norman chose Harry - a genius kid from the slums of Philadelphia ...in six years he had a Ph.D; Norman chose Ted - a whiz kid astrophysicist...and Norman chose you. Why are you here? Are you the most qualified in your field? Norman must have thought so. Then again, the report's a few years old, maybe things have changed. Beth glares at Barnes. He stares her down. She storms out. INT. CONTROL SHAFT - LATER The guts of the habitat. Fletcher adjusts a valve as Barnes comes over the intercom. BARNES (V.O.) ... Can I have your attention? We have lost contact with the surface. The habitat is now operating solely under internal power... CUT TO: INT. HABITAT - CORRIDOR - SAME TIME Beth strides angrily down the corridor... BARNES (V.O.) ... We have plenty of food, oxygen, and, fresh water to sustain us until the storm is over and we re-establish contact with the surface. CUT TO: INT. DORMITORY - CLOSE ON HARRY - SAME TIME As he sleeps in his bunk. Visible beneath his eyelids, rapid eye movement as he dreams... BARNES (V.O.) (on the intercom) ...But until that time, this mission is subject to emergency authority under my command. This is Barnes. Over and out. PUSHING THROUGH PORTHOLE Jellyfish swarm outside the habitat... CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROOM - LATER Barnes with Ted and Fletcher as he punches a few commands at the computer. Takes a videotape out of the console. Stacks it up with the other videotapes. FLETCHER I'm going to take this out to the mini- sub, sir. BARNES You're up on the duty roster? FLETCHER Yes, sir. BARNES Alright. Fletcher. TED Where's she going? BARNES Procedures. Everything in the habitat is videoed, so every twelve hours we take the video storage out to the mini-sub and press the reset button. The idea is, if something happens to us and we don't reset it, the sub goes to the surface automatically, so if we're all dead, they at least have a partial record of what went wrong. (off Ted's look) Cheerful thought, huh? (getting up) Mind the store a minute. Barnes exits. Ted swivels into position to watch... ANGLE ON MONITORS An exterior view of the habitat as Fletcher splashes down out of the airlock... CUT TO: INT. BATHROOM - SAME TIME Beth stands in front of a sink. She opens a bottle of pills. Takes a pill out, breaks it in half and washes it down with water. Then she swallows the other half pill and washes that down. INT. DORMITORY - CLOSE ON HARRY - SAME TIME Harry suddenly opens his eyes wide. EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME Fletcher sweeps through a pretty cloud of pink jellyfish... Like tiny dancers with blooming pink petticoats... The mini- sub visible in the distance. FLETCHER (to intercom) This is beautiful. It's snowing down here. There's got to be a million jellyfish down here. CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME Ted looks at the view on the monitors... FLETCHER (V.O.) (over intercom) I'm having a hard time seeing. TED (to intercom) Hello...hello...hello...hello... FLETCHER (V.O.) (over intercom) They're sticking to my face-plate. TED (to intercom) Fletcher, this is Dr. Fielding. Swim through them. They're harmless. Barnes enters, turns to the monitors and his jaw drops... ANGLE ON MONITORS Fletcher all but lost in a dense snowfall of jellyfish... CUT TO: EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME Fletcher struggles through the sea of jellyfish... FLETCHER (over intercom) Hey, guys...I think they feel the heat from my legs -- Then Fletcher howls. BARNES (V.O.) (to intercom) Fletcher, get out of there. FLETCHER (over intercom) They're stinging me through the -- (beat) Aaaaaargh! BARNES (V.O.) (to intercom) Fletcher, I want you back at the habitat on the double. Fletcher thrashes... FLETCHER (over intercom) I can't move my legs. It's burning! BARNES (to intercom) Come back to the habitat. FLETCHER (over intercom) They're inside my suit! They're inside my -- BARNES (to intercom) Keep moving...keep moving. Just keep moving... Fletcher thrashes as the water rises inside her faceplate... And then a jellyfish swims up... stings her in the eyeball... Then they're swarming into her nose, her mouth... BARNES (V.O.) (over intercom) Fletcher, come on. FLETCHER Aaaaaaaaaaargh! TED Jesus Christ! Can't you do something? BARNES No. CUT TO: INT. VIDEO ROOM - SAME TIME Barnes and Ted watch, horrified, powerless, as Fletcher disappears in the cloud of jellyfish. And then her SCREAMS STOP. And there's just the jellyfish. TED Jesus Christ! She's dead, there's no bubbles. CUT TO: INT. COMMUNICATION ROOM - SAME TIME Edmunds supervises the computers. Suddenly a series of numbers spools across the screen -- 00032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016 06180 8213229033005 1822 04261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21 182204261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21 1822 03301313043200032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016... EDMUNDS What the hell's that? Irritated she presses buttons. More numbers appear. BARNES (V.O.) (over intercom) Edmunds? EDMUNDS Yes, sir? BARNES (V.O.) (over intercom) Come on down here. Something happened to Fletcher. Edmunds hustles out. CLOSE ON MONITOR As Edmunds exits in the f.g. And the numbers return... ... 00032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016 06180 29033005 1822 04261013 0830162137 1604 083016 2104261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21033013130432... CUT TO: INT. HABITAT - SICK BAY - LATER Fletcher lies dead on a gurney, her naked body studded with jellyfish. Beth wears scrubs, a surgical tray beside her. Norman, also in scrubs, watches as Beth reaches for a long stainless-steel tweezers... BETH At this level of toxicity, the blood vessels dilate. Blood pressure falls through the floor. They go right into shock. I saw a little boy down at Orchard Beach attacked by a school of jellyfish. NORMAN You've seen jellyfish aggressive like this? BETH I haven't seen piranha aggressive like this. (starts working on Fletcher) Okay...rock and roll. CLOSE ON FLETCHER As Beth probes with the tweezers up Fletcher's nose and into her sinus cavity... Norman grimaces, looks away as Beth pulls out a jellyfish. BACK TO SCENE BETH What's the matter, Norman? You never saw a dead body before? NORMAN As a matter of fact, I've seen one dead body in two different counties. BETH Ouch. The plane crashes. I forgot. NORMAN I've just never seen a jellyfish coming out of a human being's nasal cavity before. BETH Well, you live and learn. NORMAN When I was five years old, I was out in a boat with my father, he told me not to jump in so of course I had to. Right into a school of these guys. Not this big though. I think everyone had a shot at me. I don't know what this lady felt, but man, it went beyond pain...it was...it was... BETH Would it make you feel any better if I tell you this isn't exactly a jellyfish? NORMAN What do you mean? Beth pokes at the jellyfish on the tray. BETH Jellyfish like this are unheard of. NORMAN Well, congratulations. You've just discovered a brand new species. BETH You know, Norman, if you had spent a much time as I have sitting at a lab bench, you would know when something had been touched by the hand of God. NORMAN I'm just complimenting you. Why are you angry? I'm not being critical. BETH I'm just saying...God didn't make this. Okay. It's fictional, it's a forgery, it's a copy...it's...moving! INSERT - JELLYFISH The jellyfish moves toward Beth as she adroitly impales it with a scalpel. NORMAN Beth, are you sure it's moving? BETH No, Norman, I lied. NORMAN Maybe I don't understand. I was just trying to make the point that you of all people, I would think, would want to keep this creature alive to study, not hack it up...if it was alive. BETH Look, don't try to get inside my brain, okay? NORMAN I care about you. BETH Great! I like to work alone. Thanks. CUT TO: INT. HABITAT CORRIDOR/SHOWERS - LATER Ted heads down the corridor. Hears a SOUND coming fron Harry's room. Sidles up to the door. Hears from inside, HARRY SINGING exuberantly from 'South Pacific'. HARRY (O.S.) (sings) Where the sky meets the sea./ "Here I am, your special island!/ Come to me, come to me!"/ Bali Ha'i, Bali Ha'i, Bali Ha' i! CLOSE ON TED As he thinks to himself. TED (to himself) Harry? CUT TO: INT. BARNES' QUARTERS - LATER Barnes reads through the cables with his feet up on his bunk. A KNOCK at his door. BANRES Come on in. Norman enters. NORMAN You called for me? BARNES Have a seat, Norman. Coffee? NORMAN No thanks. Barnes refills his mug from a Thermos. BARNES How long have you known Dr. Halperin? NORMAN I used to teach at UC San Diego, years ago. She came to do her master's there. BARNES What'd you teach - psychology? NORMAN They require a pretty full teaching load-- that's one of the reasons I left. BARNES They squeeze you, don't they? Then you have to see patients on top of it. NORMAN They're gonna get their money's worth, one way or another. BARNES You and Dr. Halperin seen pretty close. NORMAN We've fallen out of touch over the years. Why? BARNES Well, don't take this personally, Norman, but I assume she wasn't a romantic interest of yours. NORMAN I'm sorry...don't take what personally? BARNES She's a tall, vibrant, younger woman... NORMAN And I was married. BARNES Then you saw her as a patient. NORMAN I'm not at liberty to discuss that. You understand. BARNES What I understand is that an exotic-gas environment a thousand feet underwater with no link to the surface is just about the most dangerous place on the planet. If there's a problem, I need to know. NORMAN Beth is fine. BARNES Beth is fine? Beth is fine? NORMAN She's very fine. Barnes suddenly throws a fax transmission at Norman. BARNES Beth's fine? Okay...what about this? You want to read it? What does it say, Norman? NORMAN (reading fax) These are my actual notes. How in the world did you... BARNES What does it say, Norman? NORMAN She was having some problems with a boyfriend. BARNES Does it say 'suicide attempt'? NORMAN How did you get a hold of my papers? BARNES Does it say 'electric shock therapy'? Isn't that what it says, Norman? NORMAN What's your point? BARNES My point is you didn't feel it was important enough to mention this to somebody? You're willing to jeopardize the lives of all of these people by having someone here who could in fact be mentally unstable?! NORMAN Are you aware of the term 'over- reacting.' BARNES Don't play with me, you little shit! We're 160 fathoms down and now we've got a nut bag down here who can flip-out and crack up. why didn't you tell me that? NORMAN I can't believe you had someone go into my office...take my personal records. BARNES You chose the team, Norman. Why didn't you tell me this? NORMAN When I wrote this report, I didn't know the team was going to be a thousand feet underwater. BARNES It doesn't matter if it's a thousand feet or ten feet, why didn't you tell me about her past mental history? NORMAN I didn't think it was pertinent. BARNES It was not for you to make that decision. NORMAN It was a passive attempt. BARNES A passive attempt? NORMAN Yes. People who really want to kill themselves get a gun and shoot themselves, or go off a bridge, they don't call their boyfriend and say: "I just took 20 Nebutol...help me." BARNES She took twenty yellows and you're telling me she's perfect? There's a KNOCK at the door. BARNES Yeah? Ted enters, thoughtfully rubbing his chin. NORMAN What's going on? TED It's Harry. NORMAN He's awake? TED He's really awake. CUT TO: INT. CAFETERIA - LATER Harry eats a big farmer's breakfast with great gusto as the team, skeptical and scared, surround him at the table. Norman prepares food for the others at the stove. HARRY ... Man oh man, you got a problem with me, Barnes. (gestures to Norman) Because as long as my good buddy Norman keeps cooking like this I ain't leaving. Wheeee! Ummmmm-ummm. I mean, this toast is good, and the bacon is better. But the eggs are fantastic! What've you got in here? Wait, don't tell me. (closes eyes, inhales deeply) Parsley... Chives... Tarragon... Chervil! Is it chervil? NORMAN Yes, it is. I'm glad you like it. HARRY Eggs! I'm telling you, eggs? I love eggs! BETH They sure have improved your mood. HARRY (to Beth) How 'bout it? You keep laying them and I'll keep eating them. He elbows her and nearly knocks her off her chair. ANGLE ON NORMAN Watching Harry, as if he's under a microscope...So is Barnes. They exchange a look. Then Barnes gingerly launches in. BARNES Harry, with you and The Sphere -- do you remember what happened? HARRY Of course I remember what happened. I went inside. TED How did you get inside? There are no doors. HARRY This place is full of doors and we can't get out. We're still here. Barnes forces a chuckle. BARNES So we are, so we are... TED You still didn't answer my question, Harry. Harry resumes eating his eggs. From behind Harry's back, Norman assesses Harry with a shrewd, appraising gaze. As if he has eyes in back of his head, Harry catches him doing it. HARRY Why are you looking at me like that, Norman? Then Harry turns. Norman's eyes crinkle in a kindly smile. NORMAN Er...I'm jealous, Harry. I love eggs, but my cholesterol...You're making me hungry. Harry laughs heartily. Norman brings a big platter of calamari to the table... Harry spears a few with his fork. BARNES (circling back) Are you saying we shouldn't still be here, Harry? HARRY (looking around) Hey, where's Teeny? I thought she did all the cooking. Not that I'm complaining, Norman, this is great. And grits, you got everything down here. Where did you learn to cook grits, Norman? NORMAN I wasn't sure you'd like them. HARRY You had a nanny. (laughs) So, where is Teeny? BARNES Teeny had an unfortunate accident. She was killed. HARRY Killed? How? BEAT. BARNES By jellyfish. HARRY Jellyfish? That's strange. BARNES (beat) Yes, it is strange, isn't it. Norman brings Harry another plate of food. NORMAN Here you go, Harry. Harry digs in. HARRY Whoa, onion rings. NORMAN It's not onion rings. HARRY Good though. NORMAN Guess what it is? HARRY What? NORMAN Calamari. Suddenly, Harry spits out his calamari... Starts to gag... HARRY Uccch! Aaaaargh! Squid! Ted runs around the table and gives Harry the Heimlich maneuver... Harry struggles to say something... Ted vigorously pumps at Harry, lifting him high in the air... TED Okay, Harry, bring it up! Bring it up, big fella! NORMAN Ted. Ted! I think he's trying to say something! Ted stops the Heimlich maneuver. Harry shrugs him off. HARRY I'm not choking, you asshole! I just hate squid! Ted backs off. TED I m sorry. I was trying to help you. Barnes warily takes the platter of calamari away. Harry sits down again. Norman sits opposite him. HARRY I hate squid! NORMAN As long as it wasn't my cooking, okay? (beat) Can I ask you something, Harry? Before you went inside The Sphere, you were convinced that we were all going to die down here. HARRY I remember that. NORMAN Do you still believe that? HARRY (nods) Are you afraid to die, Norman? NORMAN You know, I just thought, if we're gonna die, thought I'd have a couple of eggs. Go out in style. CUT TO: INT. COMMUNICATION ROOM - SAME TIME Edmunds is sitting at the bank of computers which are all blank. She looks relieved. Suddenly numbers start scrolling up on the monitor directly in front of her. She hits the keyboard to clear the screen, but the numbers keep coming...on another computer screen, then another and another, until all the screens are scrolling numbers. She frantically hits keys, but the numbers remain. CUT TO: EXT. HABITAT - SAME TIME Camera moves around the Habitat. CUT TO: INT. HALLWAY - SAME TIME Ted and Norman walk away from the Cafeteria. TED Bullshit! Bullshit! He's hiding something. NORMAN What are you talking about? TED He was in there. He went inside the Sphere. Whatever it was he saw, he doesn't want to tell us. NORMAN He doesn't remember anything. TED Oh, come on, Norman. You bought that? No! no! That whole food thing, it was all a diversion. He wants to keep it all to himself. Think about it. The guy's willing to put all of our lives on the line because he doesn't want to share information... NORMAN Ted, I think.... TED I can see it right now...he's making notes for his new book. Wants to win the Nobel Prize. NORMAN And you don't? TED No! ...yeah. Norman, you've known me since I was 17 years old. I would love to be the guy who gets the recognition. NORMAN Have you any idea how respected in your field you are? TED I'm not. What have I done? No. I've written one "Fun with Dick and Jane" book on physics. I mean, for christ sake, Neils Bohr, he published 'The Quantum Theory of Atomic Structure' I think when he was 28. Einstein - "Relativity", 26...Newton - "Gravity", 23. Norman, in physics, if you haven't done it by the time you're 35, the chances are you never will. NORMAN And this has nothing to do with being competitive with Harry? Ted gives Norman a look. TED Harry? NORMAN Harry. TED Harry...19. Wunderkind! NORMAN I rest my case. TED Norman, I'm thirty years old. NORMAN I wish I was. Ted laughs. Then Edmunds comes toward them. EDMUNDS Mr. Barnes would like to see you, Ted. TED Why? EDMUNDS There's something wrong with the computer system. CUT TO: INT. COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - CLOSE ON BANK OF COMPUTER SCREENS - LATER The numbers Edmunds saw earlier - on all of the monitors: 00032125252632 032629 301321 04261037 18 3016 06180 8213229033005 1822 04261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21 182204261013 0830162137 1604 083016 21 1822 033013130432 REVERSE ANGLE - TED as he tinkers at the keyboard, Barnes beside him. BARNES Try purging it. TED Every time I purge it, it comes back. BARNES You think it's a discharge from the buffer memory? TED I ruled that out. Edmunds enters. EDMUNDS You figure