Synapse
By
R. Earle Harris All rights reserved (c) 2015 (r dot earle dot harris at gmx dot com)
FADE IN:
EXT. MIRANDA'S FOOT - NIGHT
The lovely foot, golden chain around its ankle, of MIRANDA (twenty-year-old daughter
of Prospero) who wears a wet suit in a small dark space. POV moves up the leg, waist,
and torso as:
BARENAKED LADIES
(Singing)
If I were you
And I wish that I were you
All the things I do
To make myself turn blue
I suppose
I'd start by removing all my clothes
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POV reaches neck for the line:
BARENAKED LADIES (CONT'D)
(Singing)
Tie my pantyhose around my neck.
|
EXT. MIRANDA - CONTINUOUS
POV rises to Miranda's face in close-up. She has high-tech gear attached to her
head and wears slender dark goggles. Dwell on close-up for the lines:
BARENAKED LADIES
(Singing)
I'll be that girl ...
You would be in clover
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Then POV rises:
INT. DEPRIVATION TANK - NIGHT
Expand view to establish she is in sensory deprivation tank.
BARENAKED LADIES
(Singing)
If I were the sun
You would be in shadow
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POV continues to rise until--
EXT. DEPRIVATION TANK - CONTINUOUS
--we are above her tank. Her face is visible through the lid.
BARENAKED LADIES
(Singing)
If I had a gun
There'd be no tomorrow
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If you will not have me as myself,--
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POV still rises and PROSPERO (properly named Julian, forty-six-year-old half-owner
of Synapse and the technical wizard who engineered its virtual reality engine) becomes
visible in the tank next to Miranda's.
BARENAKED LADIES (CONT'D)
(Singing)
--Perhaps as someone else,
Perhaps as you I'll be worth noticing
Then even a eunuch won't resist
The magic of a kiss from such as me
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POV closes on Prospero's face so that it fills the screen at the second occurrence
of:
BARENAKED LADIES (CONT'D)
Then, one minute and thirty-three seconds into the film and song, with a jarring
crackle:
BLACK SCREEN:
Title Over:
SYNAPSE
The movie's title bursts onto the screen and as quickly disappears.
BLACK SCREEN:
The sudden banging of a stairwell fire-door.
INT. HALLWAY - NIGHT
Synapse's floor of commercial building. Most of the lights are out. GONZO (hacker
and trusted friend of Prospero -- overweight, bearded, in black T-shirt, jeans,
red suspenders) comes in through the banging door, annoying ANTHONY (Prospero's
brother, half-owner of Synapse -- a handsome bisexual, who represses both tendencies,
wearing an expensive suit) and startling STEPHEN (Anthony's gay personal assistant
-- young, casual-business attire), who are waiting by the elevators.
GONZO
ANTHONY
STEPHEN
We're waiting here in the hall?
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ANTHONY
Alex and his team will be here soon.
I want to meet them here and take
them straight in.
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GONZO
(Disapprovingly)
Alex. As in the owner of NerveWare?
|
ANTHONY
Yes. As in our prospective buyer.
As in he who will cash us out.
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GONZO
Prospero won't like this. He made
Synapse.
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ANTHONY
I'm sure my brother Julian will accept
the sale of his company. He won't
have any real choice, will he?
|
STEPHEN
Shouldn't we wait in the conference
room?
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ANTHONY
We won't be using the conference room.
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GONZO
STEPHEN
GONZO
STEPHEN
(To Anthony)
ANTHONY
Then take your cellphone over there
and cancel them.
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Stephen takes his phone over to one side and makes a call. Elevator chimes.
EXT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS
The elevator doors open. Inside are ALEX (owner of NerveWare -- fifties, confident,
well-dressed), SEBASTIAN (Alex's gay lawyer -- forty, assertive, power-dresser),
ADRIAN (Alex's son -- twenty, casually dressed),and YURI (Alex's technical consultant
-- thirty, geeky, not attractive to women but, if cleaned up, perhaps attractive
to men.)
EXT. HALLWAY - CONTINOUOUS
They emerge, Alex first, who shakes Anthony's hand.
ALEX
Anthony! Tonight's your night! In
the morning, I will own all of Synapse
and its headaches and you will own
all the money it's worth. Isn't it
a little dark in here?
|
ANTHONY
Thank you, Alex. Sorry about the lights;
they won't turn on. I appreciate you
coming along on this unusual meeting.
|
ALEX
I look forward to going into your
brother's masterpiece and meeting
him. I know that we will see the best
Synapse has to offer.
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Round of handshakes.
ALEX (CONT'D)
ANTHONY
ALEX
And my lawyer, Sebastian.
|
Sebastian recognizes Anthony's bi tendency and sends his own predatory signals which
are ignored by Anthony.
SEBASTIAN
ANTHONY
ALEX
And my technical consultant, Yuri.
|
ANTHONY
YURI
ANTHONY
This is my assistant, Stephen.
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Stephen and Sebastian trade gay signals -- Sebastian showing he is out of reach.
ALEX
Good to meet you, Stephen.
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STEPHEN
ANTHONY
And my brother's associate, our lead
engineer in his absence--
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GONZO
ALEX
GONZO
ALEX
You're not bringing a lawyer?
|
ANTHONY
I am a lawyer. Come, let us go.
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Anthony leads Alex down the hall and the rest follow.
ALEX
ANTHONY
I thought the quickest way to resolve
this would be to go straight in.
|
SEBASTIAN
So we are really going into the Synapse
engine? Wouldn't it be more convenient
to simply bring your brother out?
|
GONZO
Yes. Why don't we bring him out?
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Anthony ingnores Gonzo. All continue down the ill-lit hall.
ANTHONY
My brother Julian, or Prospero as
he calls himself, is not entirely
well and will not come out of his
machine.
|
ALEX
ANTHONY
I think so. Or ... I don't know. We
tried to resolve that question but
then he went inside and hasn't come
out again.
|
ALEX
ANTHONY
Yes. To transfer ownership.
|
ALEX
(to Sebastian)
And all this is legal in the machine.
|
SEBASTIAN
The courts have ruled that transactions
in virtual reality between real
people are binding so long as they
are conducted according to legal norms.
|
YURI
I understood that the Synapse engine's
world was almost real--
|
GONZO
ANTHONY
ALEX
ANTHONY
I understand it can be. But the dangerous
aspect of its reality is, of course,
under our control.
|
(to Gonzo)
GONZO
Correcto. Synapse can be completely
real--a bullet wound in the engine
producing death in the player. Or
it can be dialed down to nothing.
|
ALEX
GONZO
Injuries will hurt. But death in the
machine will just wake you up with
a total-body hangover back here in
the tanks.
|
ANTHONY
Can't we dial it all the way down
for this meeting?
|
ANTHONY
Prospero won't let us. But then, we
won't let him dial it up, either.
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Cut to:
BLACK SCREEN:
Jarring crash of darkness. Sound of hall doors banging open.
INT. TANKS - NIGHT
With a burst of light, POV enters room with isolation tanks and control area.
INT. TANKS - CONTINUOUS
All enter. Adrian sees Miranda in her tank.
ADRIAN
ANTHONY
My brother's daughter, Miranda.
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ADRIAN
ALEX
ANTHONY
We thought it best. They are very
close.
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ALEX
Your brother does not look crazy.
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ANTHONY
Yuri is over by the controls.
YURI
Anthony nods to Gonzo.
INT. CONTROL AREA - CONTINUOUS
Same room. Gonzo walks over and brings up a user-interface on a screen with controls
on it.
GONZO
Here are the reality settings. You
see it is set just above halfway.
Prospero keeps it there.
|
YURI
Screenplay truncated at 500 lines.
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