NB: The following battle scenes involve a substantial amount of specific direction. This is an unpopular practise for scriptwriting, as it intrudes upon the director's craft and it presumes too much on the quality of the budget, location, cast and crew, further factors which also determine what actions and effects are practical. In this instance, however, it is important to prescribe the action because as an opening episode this script also serves to establish and demonstrate the key capabilities of the cyborgs, those that are central to their concept and character. Here we will observe their ability to use their childlike bodies to hide in plain sight; their unnatural strength, toughness, and resistance to pain; their prodigal weapons proficiency and enhanced senses; and their protective relationship with their commanding handlers.
As the targets of the Padanians hove into view, being led around by an effusive tour guide, INTERCUT their approach with pictures of MARIA. She kneels on the ground and loads the PIAT with a smoke bomb; the faithful replication of the weapon's complicated and unusual spigot-mortar loading mechanism constitutes a piece of fanservice for the firearms enthusiasts in the viewership. MARIA's position obscures the doorway behind her. As she is about to raise the PIAT to her shoulder to fire, HENRIETTA interjects
HENRIETTA (O.S.)
(timid)
Um... er... excuse me?
MARIA hisses in alarm and hastily shoves the PIAT back into its box. She whirls around to find the source of the intrusion, shifting her position so as to expose the doorway and reveal a sheepish HENRIETTA shifting her feet nervously.
HENRIETTA (CONT'D)
Erm... I'm really sorry... but I got sort of lost and I'm trying to find my dad...
MARIA isn't sure whether she's about to laugh with relief or scream with fury – either way, she looks set to have a coronary.
MARIA
(strangled)
Oh! Don't worry, dear, if you just turn around and walk straight you'll reach the end of town, follow the perimeter and you'll get to the car park. There's adults all around.
HENRIETTA
(hesitant, anxious)
But... but... that's such a long way and what if I meet a stranger or turn the wrong way or trip and hurt myself when there's no-one around... can you take me?
MARIA
(recovering; losing patience; shifts position of the handgun slipped into her belt)
I'm sorry, but I'm very busy with important grown-up work right now, but it's easy and you dad'll be so proud that you handled yourself.
HENRIETTA
(tearful)
But... but... I'll... I'll get lost if I'm on my own...!
MARIA
(whispering harshly)
Then get lost! Can't you take a hint? Go on some youthful exploring adventure you stupid little girl—
As MARIA comes over to roughly shoo and shove HENRIETTA back out of the door, HENRIETTA responds. With a whirl of inhuman speed she snaps her hands around MARIA's arm and breaks it with a single savage wrench. As she does so, she yanks MARIA down and drives a fist into her throat, choking off the Padanian's scream. As MARIA collapses to her knees and gags, incapacitated by the fierce blow, HENRIETTA grabs her head and pulps it against a wall.
QUICK CUT to GREGORIO and MARTEN inside another enclosed building. Forming a transitional bridge with the manner of MARIA's death, show an EXTREME CLOSE UP of GREGORIO pulling on a gas mask over his face. GREGORIO moves over towards a wall, flinching towards a window looking out onto the street and only restraining himself from looking out with a considerable exertion of will.
GREGORIO
God damn it, what's taking her so long? The slobs should be coughing and puking by now...
MARTEN only answers him with a gurgle.
GREGORIO
What did you say? These stupid masks—
GREGORIO turns around. CUT TO MARTEN's feet. PAN UP the length of his twitching body, to show TRIELA gripping MARTEN from behind and sawing through his neck with her bayonet. TRIELA lets MARTEN go, and as he slithers down with the rest of the fluids leaking out of him, she bursts past him and charges GREGORIO, filling the camera.
GREGORIO
SHIT!
GREGORIO falls back before TRIELA's onslaught, clumsily blocking two swipes of her bayonet with the body of his submachine gun. Gaining a couple of feet of distance, he tries to level his weapon and shoot TRIELA – with a hiss of alarm, TRIELA lunges forward and slams a hand over the muzzle – GREGORIO fires a burst of shots, but TRIELA effectively muffles the weapon, although the shots also visibly damage her hand, spitting splurts of gore from the back. TRIELA drops her bayonet and rams the thumb of her other hand into the gun's ejector port to stop it firing, literally blocking it up - she shows no reaction to mangling an appendage in the firing mechanism. She wrests the gun from GREGORIO and follows up by swinging a pelvis-cracking kick into GREGORIO's side – as GREGORIO convulses, TRIELA draws back and then whips up a neck-snapping scissor-kick that catches GREGORIO under the chin and finally fells him. TRIELA pauses to consider the scene for a moment, and then distastefully picks a mangled finger from her ruined hand.
TRIELA
(irritated)
Darn it, I only had this hand installed last week!
CUT TO the upper floor of another building, with an intact floor and gaps in the wall overlooking the tour group. GREGIO and MASSINO are sitting beside each other, backs against the wall and leaning their weapons against themselves. They toss their heads about like stamping horses, becoming increasingly impatient. GREGIO makes to get up.
GREGIO
(Frustrated)
Jesus Christ, are we going yet?
MASSINO
(fretful; grabbing at GREGIO's sleeve)
Wait, Gregio! You'll spoil—
GREGIO
(irritable, shaking MASSINO off)
Give it a rest, will you, I need to check!
GREGIO leans around to look down onto the street. As he does so, CRASH ZOOM past his shoulder, rapidly flicking past through gaps in Pompeii walls and rooftops until it quickly brakes when confronted by an EXTREME CLOSE UP of RICO looking down the sight of her Dragunov.
QUICK CUT – ANGLE UP – CIVILIAN IN STREET.
SFX: BULLET STING.
The bullet flies overhead, the only indication of its passing being a slight shudder of dust on one of the walls. The civilian is disturbed by the sound and pokes his head up, looking about him in perplexity but seeing nothing.
CUT TO: TOP-DOWN VIEW OF STREET.
In the top-left of the screen, the civilian down on the street shrugs and walks on. In the bottom-right, GREGIO lies slumped on the floor, his head burst while his face lies slack on a mound of mulch and gore like a rubber mask. CUT TO RICO slowly exhaling and drawing back from her Dragunov. After a reflective, still moment, she abruptly switches from combat- to girl-mode and turns to jabber at JEAN beside her.
RICO
(excitedly)
Jean, Jean, look, Jean! A headshot, threaded through all that!
Jean glances aside from his binoculars with a disapproving expression.
JEAN
(stern)
Do you want praise, Rico? That is no more than what's expected.
CUT TO the rooftop that RICO was just firing at. MASSINO, lying low, stares in horror at the body of GREGIO lying sprawled on the floor. Keeping low to the floor (but clumsily sticking his backside up into the air at several points) he crawls round to the back of the building and as soon as he is protected by the rear wall splays out into an ungainly, panicked run to the rest of the Padanians, who are squatting impatiently, waiting for the tardy go-signal.
ANTONIO
(harsh whisper)
Massino, what the Hell are you doing?
MASSINO
(breathless and panicky)
S... se... setup! It's a setup! A shooter's just taken out Gregio!
BENITO
(incredulous)
What?
ANTONIO
(watching the surroundings)
If that's true, we've got no choice but to grab the hostages now! They'll be our shield when the government tries to make a move on us.
CARLITO
(dismayed; grabbing at ANTONIO)
Stop, Antonio! You'll get us all killed!
ANTONIO
(punching CARLITO away)
Get the Hell off me! If we dither, we die!
CARLITO
They'll have everything bracketed already! If we step out onto that street we'll get ripped to pieces!
ANTONIO grits his teeth and glances at the other Padanians, and their alarmed, unsure expressions, their morale swiftly punctured by MASSINO's panic and CARLIOTO's dismay.
ANTONIO
(wrenching around in frustration)
God... DAMNIT! Back to the truck!
CUT TO RICO and JEAN's firing position. JEAN tracks his binoculars across the rooftops.
JEAN
(clipped, clinical)
The others have realised that something's wrong, they're bottling.
CUT TO two of the Agency fratelli – BERNADO and BEATRICE, and MARCO and ANGELICA, waiting inside a building that used to be a Roman eatery. MARCO and ANGELICA are poised at a guillotine's readiness, while BEATRICE stands with all of the expression of a mannequin and BERNADO, despite the situation, leans languidly against an old oven.
JEAN (O.S. RADIO, CONT'D)
Interdiction fratelli, ready! Bernado-Beatrice, Marco-Angelica, take them out!
BERNARDO
(confident)
Don't worry, boss, they won't see what's coming!
The two fratelli set off into the street. MARCO and ANGELICA peel off down a side-street, but the camera continues to TRACK BERNADO and BEATRICE. They come to a stop in an empty junction.
BERNADO
(exasperated)
Damn it! We must have missed them.
Beatrice squats down and begins tracing her fingertips over the cobblestones. PAN to follow her hand. BERNADO watches her silently and expectantly, aware that she's employing her talent of hypersensitive smell.
BERNADO
Well Beatrice, any joy?
BEATRICE
(level)
That way.
Not turning her head away from the ground, BEATRICE points across herself towards a wall. With a sudden movement she springs up to her feet and bounces up on to the top of the wall with a single jump, balancing herself on the top of the wall before sprinting along its length.
ANGLE ON – BERNADO
BERNADO
(wryly – yeah, I know, sorry!)
Heh. Don't tread on the culture, my l'il busy Bee.
BERNADO runs off after his ward.
TRACK BEATRICE as she nimbly crosses the walls, running along their tops and leaping precisely between them with inhuman dexterity and swiftness., taking a more direct route across a couple of blocks.
UP-ANGLE – NERO AND CARLITO
As the two Padanians run, BEATRICE leaps into view, hung poised above their heads, a vengeful dark shade cut out of the sun. She lobs into CARLITO and both go down into a tangled scramble of limbs. NERO continues running, leaving CARLITO behind as he flails his arms like futile lengths of numb rubber against the cyborg that is pinning him.
CARLITO (O.S.)
(frantic)
Nero, help! Get her off me! Get her off me! GET HER OFF MEEEEEAAAAAAAARRRRGGGHHH-!
A terrified NERO leaves the desperate screams of his friend behind as he continues to flee, skin sweat-slick, balance stumbling and unco-ordinated, and eyes unfocused in sheer blinding, insensible panic – NERO thus fails to react to BERNADO stepping out of an alleyway until he's already mashed his nose against the butt of HANDLER's pistol. NERO's head is knocked back with a whiplash-inducing impact, and he crashes to the ground and rolls around groggily, half-stunned as blood fountains from the scrunched-up paper ball of cartilage that his nose has been reduced to.
BERNADO guffaws at the sight and kneels down above NERO, rolling him onto his front without resistance and cuffing him behind his back, nattering away aimiably all the while.
BERNADO
Ooh, that is a nasty one, isn't it? I'm sorry about the nose, son, but look on the bright side- Italy has the finest state provision of healthcare in the world, you'll be sure to get it fixed up better than new in prison, you'll be the Adonis of Cell Block E for, oh, the next thirty years!
BERNADO looks up as BEATRICE approaches. Blood runs all the way down BEATRICE's front – recalling TRIELA in the first episode of Gunslinger Girl: Il Teatrino – and juxtaposed against the glozing, glistering and grisly gore that marinades her is her flat, lidded, almost bored expression.
BEATRICE
Target neutralised, sir.
CUT TO – WORKERS' CAR PARK.
The small truck that the Padanians used is sitting in the car park, with its engine idling. NEMIA and GLORIA are sitting in the driver's compartment, tense but not worried, expecting their comrades to shortly be arriving with a herd of prisoners.
CUT TO – DRIVER'S COMPARTMENT
GLORIA
D'y'think we should have split everyone up into smaller vehicles, scatter more?
NEMIA
Would've just made us easier to spot and track.
GLORIA
Or, or, or, or maybe barricade ourselves in a warehouse here – we wouldn't get ambushed on the way!
NEMIA
(patiently)
It's a kidnapping, Gloria, not some last stand—
(distracted)
Hmm?
A knocking bang on the hood (out of shot) distracts NEMIA. Both she and GLORIA turn their heads to look out of the windshield to see the source of the disturbance.
NEMIA's POV
CHIARA and SYLVIA are standing in front of the truck, with beaming, guileless smiles. SYLVIA waves.
GLORIA
Who-?
NEMIA
NO-ONE GOOD!
NEMIA slams down on the accelerator and the engine revs madly – but goes nowhere. CHIARA and SYLVIA have got their hands under the bumper and have used their cyborg strength to literally lift the front off the ground! The two Padanians stare incredulously for a moment, before their will peters away with the engine noise. CHIARA and SYLVIA lower the truck down gently, and then with a tap on the windows we see their handlers covering the PADANIANS from the side.
CUT TO – POMPEII STREETS – DAY.
TRACKING ALICIA AND BENITO – RUNNING
ALICIA does not have any lines in this scene to conserve money – instead of having to hire another actress for a minor role, her grunts, cries and other exclamations, which are suitably anonymous, can be done by another member of the case.
BENITO
(panting)
We'll make for the touristy bit! We can lose ourselves there – the government wouldn't risk a fight, that's why we're here in the first—
BENITO yelps and both Padanians hastily brake as a number of silenced shots hit the ground in front of them. ANGELICA moves out from cover around an alleyway, her expression level and her smoking submachine gun readied. MARCO emerges behind her with his sidearm covering the Padanians.
MARCO
(snappish barking)
Guns! On the ground! Hands behind heads! NOW!
The two Padanians glance uncertainly each other. Benito exhales, deflating.
BENITO
Well, 'twas fun.
BENITO and ALICIA comply with MARCO's instructions, dropping their weapons and going prone. MARCO and ANGELICA advance on them to complete the arrest – the handler towards ALICIA, the cyborg towards BENITO.
ANGLE ON – ALICIA'S FACE.
As MARCO closes, sudden determination hardens on ALICIA's features. Her eyes twitch, her jaw hardens, and with gymnastic skill suddenly snaps her legs around, catching MARCO surprise. The handler is tripped and lands heavily, winded. ALICIA immediately springs to her feet and rams a foot at MARCO's throat, trying to crush it. MARCO strains with his arms, unsuccessfully trying to push her off.
ANGELICA turns her head and breathes in sharply, distracted from her own mark by the attack on her handler. Seeing an opening for escape, BENITO, rolls aside and onto his feet, jinks down a side alley and disappears.
MARCO'S POV
ALICIA continues to press down on MARCO's throat – until ANGELICA leaps in from out-of-frame, driving an iron-ramrod kick into ALICIA's leg and blowing out her knee with a sickening crack of tearing ligaments and gristle. With a strangled scream of agony, ALICIA falls down to the side, her smashed leg collapsing beneath her. ANGELICA follows-through and falls down on top of her, wailing on her with a savage pummelling of fists. Arcs of blood whipping off of the cyborgs' knuckles indicate just what horrific damage these hardened bones are inflicting...
ANGELICA
(raging)
Don't – you – dare – hurt – Marco!
ANGELICA winds back to gather herself for a truly skull-pulping blow, but as she pulls her arm back MARCO clamps a hand around it and roughly yanks her backward from the defeated ALICIA, whose face is now a puffy, misshapen mess of bruising. MARCO is unimpressed by his cyborg's vigour.
MARCO
Damnit, Angelica, stop screwing around! Get after the other one!
ANGELICA's eyes are open in shock, her anger instantly wilting. Why is Marco shouting? Isn't she doing well?
ANGELICA
But, but Marco, she—
MARCO
GO!
ANGELICA doesn't so much run after BENITO as flee MARCO's displeasure.
CUT TO BENITO as he now sprints alone down an empty Pompeii street.
BENITO
Sorry Alicia, but I think that it's time for some independent study...
The camera follows him as he runs onto another street, takes a second to get his bearings – and turns around to see ANGELICA skidding out of another alleyway to confront him!
EXTREME CLOSE UP – SLOW MOTION – ANGELICA PUTTING SHOULDER DOWN TO CHARGE
EXTREME CLOSE UP – BENITO'S EYES
ANGELICA charges BENITO. The Padanian clumsily dodges the rush, stumbling backward and tripping over his own feet as he does so, crashing backwards through a tarpaulin set up between a gap in a wall and falling six feet down into an excavation trench behind it. As BENITO disentangles himself and sucks in breath from a hard, winding impact, ANGELICA jumps down after him, landing a lot more nimbly and athletically with flexed knees. Frantically scrambling back to his feet, BENITO seizes on the closest weapon to hand – a mattock laid against a wheelbarrow.
BENITO
Come on then, you preppy little snot-!
BENITO sweeps the mattock in wide, heavy, swooping arcs at ANGELICA. ANGELICA shuffles backwards, smartly leaning around and dodging the swipes as BENITO advances and attacks.
EXTREME CLOSE UP – BENITO'S FACE
BENITO is clenched with fury and concentration, and is perspiring visibly. His eyes blaze in anger.
BENITO
Biiiiiiiitcchhh!
EXTREME CLOSE UP – MATTOCK BLADE
BENITO throws his all behind a powerful strike. The camera follows the head of the mattock as it plummets down on ANGELICA – instead of dodging, this time she blocks the blow by raising her forearm and catching the blade against it. She does not grunt or scream from the impact.
BENITO'S POV
BENITO sees that the mattock's blade has bit into ANGELICA's arm – but her quivering, shaking limb is astonishingly holding it there for all the pressure he's placing behind the strike, and there is little blood beyond a small stain around where her sleeve was torn by the impact.
BENITO
What the hell-?
His vision pans to ANGELICA's face, biting her lip – her expression is more emotionally hurt than actually pained. After a second to take her in, she raises her weapon from where it is held low in her other hand and points it at the camera.
REVERSE ANGLE
ANGELICA opens fire on full-auto and BENITO convulses and falls back out of shot in a spray of gore as dozens of rounds rip through him. CUT TO a frontal view of ANGELICA – the camera is momentarily obscured as BENITO's body falls down in extreme close up. There follows a quieter 'cooldown' moment. Her shoulders sag and she pants heavily, but she calms down, straightens up and wipes her brow – but with her injured arm. She squawks and looks horrified as she realises that she has just smeared blood over her face, and begin frantic scrubbing with her other sleeve.
CUT TO the last remaining trio of Padanians. They run past a long, open shed in which several body casts of Pompeii citizens buried in the original eruption have been laid out. The shadows of the runners play over the rough plaster effigies – and as they turn a corner, the sun makes the shadows rotate around and reach out – to HENRIETTA, standing in the middle of the street, square on, with her legs firmly planted apart and her silenced P90 held at port, ready for action. She is silent, imperturbable, and ominous.
The three Padanians hurriedly scrabble and brake at the sight of her, adopting tensed, wary stances, waiting for her next move. HENRIETTA takes a step forward – and they shuffle back. She takes another, deliberate, measured, pace – and they give ground again. It's like a wave running through a wire.
Eventually MASSINO is the first to snap. With a rising roar (which also helpfully telegraphs his attack), he fires as he raises his weapon, stitching a long line of impacts through the dirt. Note that MASSINO must carry a L34A1 suppressed Sterling submachine gun, so that the reports of his gunfire do not cause the disturbance that the Agency was seeking to avoid. In any case, HENRIETTA neatly pirouettes out of the line of fire (OLGA did always want to make her a ballerina), and as she gracefully spins around she snaps out her P90 with a thrust of her arm and punches a tight fist of rounds through MASSINO's chest. ANTONIO and BARRANT have already disappeared – they make to flee as MASSINO makes to fire.
QUICK CUT
ANTONIO and BARRANT are running along a rank of concrete and corrugated sheet-metal prefabricated artefact warehouses and equipment sheds. ANTONIO motions to BARRANT and both jump inside one, leaving the view.
ANTONIO
In here, we'll double-back after she's overshot!
INT. WAREHOUSE – DAY.
The warehouse is wide and low, with light provided by clear plastic panels in its corrugated roof. There are several aisles of shelves all filled with amphorae and other cheap pottery recovered from the excavation. The mise en scene is dense with props. In the centre of the warehouse are two long rows of tables, filled with trays of potsherds and vases which are still being identified. BARRANT and ATONIO are on either side of these tables, puffing and panting from intense exertion.
CUT TO EXT. WAREHOUSE.
SFX – ANTIONIO AND BARRANT'S BREATHING AND HEARTBEATS. LOUD.
HENRIETTA is walking calmly down the length of the warehouses. ANGLE ON her ear to show her using her acute cybernetic senses to discern the Padanians' location. As she passes the doorframe of the Padanians' warehouse, she suddenly whips around and barges through it.
ANGLE ON – WAREHOUSE DOORFRAME FROM INTERIOR.
Bullets chew the doorframe as ANTONIO and BARRANT fling back retaliatory fire, but HENRIETTA is small and their aim is high, rounds flying over her head with a good foot of clearance. As HENRIETTA moves into the warehouse she fires her P90 in a sweeping arc, scything through a shelf of amphorae and blasting them to smithereens in great clouds of sherds and dust – and also cutting through and killing BARRANT, who is flung back against the shelves to send more boxes and jars smashing to the floor in a cacophonous destructive din.
ANTONIO'S POV
ANTONIO struggles to follow HENRIETTA as she runs down the long row of low tables on the far side of the warehouse to him – given her small size, she's difficult to see amidst all the equipment stacked up on them. He begins firing anyway.
QUICK CUT – ANGLE ON HENRIETTA
Focus on HENRIETTA behind the table as boxes and pottery explode off the table and patter over her from ANTONIO's fire, and she discards her empty P90 as she runs.
She wheels around the end of the row of tables and charges directly at ANTONIO. ANTONIO fires one last shot which snatches at HENRIETTA's hair, and then in final desperation grabs at an amphora and flings it at the cyborg. HENRIETTA punches the amphora and shatters it mid-flight, stepping forward through the spinning sherds and following-up by driving a second punch with a kidney-rupturing impact into ANTONIO's side. ANTONIO gargles in choked agony and falls to his knees – to meet a roundhouse-kick from HENRIETTA which snaps his head around, breaking his neck and flinging his body against a table, overturning it. His body settles amidst a heap of archaeological detritus.
HENRIETTA begins dusting her cardigan, apparently unperturbed by the intense, bloody, and destructive battle that she's been through. If anything troubles her, it's the mess – chewing her lip, she squats down and begins trying to scoop potsherds back into a tray.
CUT TO doorway – JOSE enters, his pistol drawn, although he immediately puts it up when he sees what's inside.
JOSE
Henrietta! Are you alright?
Suddenly blushing, HENRIETTA hurriedly stands upright and pats herself down again.
HENRIETTA
(mumbling)
I'm sorry, Jose, I've made a bit of a mess...
QUICK CUTS – BODIES OF BARRANT AND ANTONIO.
JOSE winces, but laughs it off and puts on a brave face for the benefit of his cyborg.
JOSE
Ah well, never mind, Henrietta – archaeology is the study of yesterday's rubbish and cast-offs, and now this is good typological fieldwork for all the students. You've done very well.
HENRIETTA
Thank you, Jose!
ANGLE ON a potsherd surrounded by a pool of blood.
DISSOLVE TO – MONTAGE
Section One crew with quiet, professional efficiency zip up the bodies of Padanians into bodybags.
Section One crew scrub bloodstains.
ANGELICA is picking up spent casings from when she killed BENITO, cradling them in one hand and gingerly plucking them from the ground with her thumb and forefinger with the other. One slips out of her grasp – as she reaches out for it, the others tinkle to the ground. ANGELICA emits a cute squeak of dismay and begins floundering after them, an example of 'dojikko' endearingly childish clumsiness juxtaposed with her gathering tools of war instead of school stationery from a pencil case.
The surviving Padanians and cuffed and shoved into the plain white people-carriers that the Agency uses as runabouts. Cyborgs sit beside them.
INTERCUT with shots of tourists visiting the public areas of Pompeii, blissfully unaware of the high drama that has been enacted on merely the other side of the walls.
END MONTAGE
JEAN watches one of the prisoner-carrying vehicles depart while he speaks into a mobile telephone.
JEAN
(businesslike)
The mission is a complete success, sir. Our cover was not compromised, two cyborgs received minor damage – nine Padanians killed and four captured.
LORENZO (O.S., TELEPHONE)
Unlucky thirteen, eh? Very well, leave the...
CUT TO – EXT. SOCIAL WELFARE AGENCY, DAY.
CLOSE UP – LORENZO AND MOBILE PHONE.
Lorenzo is walking along a path in the Agency grounds, with FERRO beside him.
LORENZO (CONT'D)
...bodies to be processed by Section One and get all of the fratelli back to the Naples safehouse for debriefing and rearming. We'll have to move quickly to sweep up the remains of the terrorist cell.
JEAN (O.S. TELEPHONE)
Already on the move, sir.
LORENZO sighs as he ends the call.
FERRO
Bad news?
LORENZO
(wearied)
Just another turn of the wheel, Miss. Milani.
LORENZO and FERRO continue walking on. ZOOM OUT to show ESTABLISHING SHOTS of the Agency grounds.
CUT TO - INT. PROFESSOR'S OFFICE – DAY.
EXTREME CLOSE UP – CEILING SMOKE DETECTOR
PROFESSOR clumsily fumbles at the casing of the smoke detector, eventually forcing out the battery and deactivating it. With frantic, breathless, panicky QUICK CUTS, show a short MONTAGE SEQUENCE of PROFESSOR ripping up and burning various incriminating papers, and stuffing others into a briefcase. The final shot in the sequence looks from the door of his office, showing the PROFESSOR with his head bent over the desk and the burning wastepaper bin smouldering on one side. As the camera slowly ZOOMS OUT, ALESSANDRO's hand, carrying an unlit cigarette, enters the frame.
ALESSANDRO (O.S.)
Got a light?
PROFESSOR stops abruptly and jerks up, a rabbit in the headlights. The door is open (we can assume that ALESSANDRO used a lock-pick – or maybe the PROFESSOR in his panic forgot to close it properly. How the door is open isn't an important detail) and ALESSANDRO is slouched against the doorframe, wearing a faint, gently condescending smile and with one hand in his pocket. His whole pose is one of studied insouciance. PROFESSOR, for once, is completely flummoxed. ALESSANDRO shrugs from the lack of a response, and begins lighting the cigarette himself as he walks into the room. PROFESSOR shrinks away. ALESSANDRO's line references James Bond's challenge and counter-sign in Dr. No, for those with keener ears.
ALESSANDRO
In fact, never mind, I prefer a lighter over a match anyway.
PROFESSOR's jaw works for a moment, struggling to form words before something eventually bubbles up from his roiling stomach.
PROFESSOR
Who... who are you?
ALESSANDRO is studying the various posters and charts pinned up to the walls, taking down a book and flicking through it idly, but he stops to glance back at PROFESSOR.
ALESSANDRO
Well, you're the smart college boy, you tell me.
PROFESSOR bites his lip and looks down, trying not to tremble before this insolently relaxed and insultingly congenial harbinger of his terrible and final doom. Truly, the Devil is a gentleman. Eventually, falling back on a lifetime of regularity to support himself, he mumbles.
PROFESSOR
(quietly)
Sutor, ne ultra crepidam.
ALESSANDRO
(guffawing)
"Cobbler, go no further than the sandal"? I might translate it as "Academic, don't pretend to be a terrorist ringleader."
PROFESSOR
I... wouldn't know what you're talking about.
ALESSANDRO
(motioning to the smouldering bin)
Does tenure not cover the heating bill?
PROFESSOR
(lame)
Just... being tidy. Getting rid of some of the clutter?
By this point ALESSANDRO has moved around the other side of the desk to PROFESSOR, and looks out of the window. PROFESSOR's floundering is beneath his concern.
ALESSANDRO
Of course. Quod non est in actis, non est in mundo.
PROFESSOR
(Hopeful note entering voice)
You seem to be a learned sort. Did you study...
ALESSANDRO
(interrupting, holding up an iPhone, or other device for whoever will pay for the product placement)
No. Wikiquote.
A stunned beat passes. PROFESSOR guffaws, the laugh bursting out from him under pressure. Both he and ALESSANDRO snicker, chuckle, and then burst into open, absurd laughter. PROFESSOR leans forward over the desk, as though he's doubling up with mirth. His laughter takes on a manic edge, his smiles suddenly stretch into a snarl and a rising roar of rage bursts out from underneath his rage. With a violent, snapping movement he pulls a pistol from a concealed position underneath the desk and swings it round to ALESSANDRO.
PROFESSOR
Ha ha ha ha haaaaaAAAARRRGGGHH!
Before PROFESSOR can fire another shot smashes through the window of his office with a crash of glass and a loud report, ripping into his hand and swatting away the pistol and a chunk of his palm. The shooter cannot be seen. ALESSANDRO starts a little – he's not an impassive character – but he was expecting this, and doesn't make any wild exaggerated take in reaction to the sudden event. PROFESSOR falls across his desk, cradling his bloody hand and seething with blinding, tearful pain. ALESSANDRO watches him for an analytical second and then moves back to the office door.
ALESSANDRO
Okay, it's done.
A doctor and two uniformed National Police enter the room.
DISSOLVE TO - EXT. UNIVERSITY – DAY.
The two policemen from the previous scene escort PROFESSOR down the steps of a main entrance towards a waiting catch-wagon. PROFESSOR'S injured hand has been bandaged, and he looks ashen, shrunken and miserable. Other police keep back a large crowd of students and other onlookers. The atmosphere is subdued – everyone's eyes are wide-opened in incredulous astonishment, pressing forward to get a better look but not rowdy or violent.
PROFESSOR'S POV – PANNING AROUND CROWD.
ANGLE ON – OPEN CATCH-WAGON DOOR.
It's a dark maw waiting to consume him.
REVERSE ANGLE
Whatever colour remained in the PROFESSOR leaches from it as he steps towards the camera. CUT to an up-angle from the ground to a roof overlooking the scene. RICO is visible, looking down, resting her arms on the edge of the roof. CRASH ZOOM to RICO and PAN slowly up the length of her visible torso, her gentle, contented smile and her short hair lightly tousled by the wind.
QUICK CUT – FLASHBACK – SHOT OF RICO ON VESUVIUS THEN RETURN TO PRESENT DAY.
ANGLE ON - PROFESSOR
Looking down on PROFESSOR from above. His face does a take in sudden recognition of RICO, before he is shoved into the catch-wagon and disappears from view.
CUT TO – ROOFTOP
The view has ZOOMED OUT to an over-the-shoulder view of RICO as she looks down on the catch-wagon starting up and making its way through the crowd of onlookers.
JEAN (O.S.)
(angry, interjecting)
Rico!
RICO turns her head back to look behind her, as JEAN reaches an arm from out-of-frame and roughly yanks her backwards, pulling the cyborg to her feet and shoving her towards the Dragunov which lies on a shooting mat nearby. It is a brusque movement which indirectly illustrates JEAN's terse manner and the utilitarian way with which he handles his cyborg.
JEAN
(snapping)
Stop gawping and start packing your weapon away, this wasn't a social call.
RICO gets down on her knees. She turns to JEAN and flashes a bright, sunny smile, completely untroubled and unperturbed by his rough handling.
RICO
Won't be a second, Jean!
RICO begins disassembling the Dragunov with swift, efficient, precise and controlled movements. You could well imagine her being a robot on an assembly line. Linger on RICO's activity for a few moments – the high-fidelity components of the weapon provide some loving gun fetishism for the firearms-enthusiast section of the fanbase.
DISSOLVE TO – UNIVERSITY EXTERNAL STAIRWAY. DAY.
The bottom of the stone stairway leads around the back of the building and down to a road. PAN DOWN the length of the stairs, following RICO and JEAN making their way down. RICO, her weapon concealed in a bag on her back, hops down with an eager spring in her step, humming tunelessly to herself. JEAN plods behind her at a steadier pace. At the bottom, a plain white and unmarked people-carrier with tinted windows waits. JOSE opens the cabin door as the fratello approaches – while RICO skips into the passenger compartment, JEAN actually enters the front passenger door instead.
CUT TO – VEHICLE INTERIOR.
RICO slides into the back seat, where HENRIETTA is already sitting. HENRIETTA smiles and greets RICO warmly as she buckles up – she's taken her lessons!
HENRIETTA
Hi, Rico! How did it go?
RICO punches the air in front of her playfully to enunciate her words.
RICO
Really well, Henrietta! One shot – bang on!
JOSE is sitting in the middle row of the people-carrier. He leans an arm over the backrest and turns to the two cyborgs in the back row, and maintains the genial atmosphere with a friendly smile of his own.
JOSE
Well, congratulations, Rico. That sounds like it's worth an extra scoop at dessert!
RICO cheers happily, bouncing in her seat. Seeing attention slip away from her, HENRIETTA does a take and then leans forward, tremulous anxiety in her voice.
HENRIETTA
Er, er, er, what about me, Jose? Can I have some too?
JOSE
(laughing gently)
Well, it wouldn't be much of a reward if we gave it to everyone, would it now?
HENRIETTA looks dismayed. RICO leans over and shakes her in a joshing, matey way.
RICO
Never mind, 'Etta! You can have some of mine.
HENRIETTA
(distressed; tearful)
But... but... I wouldn't want to spoil your special treat...
JOSE
(sigh of defeat)
Oh, go on then, Henrietta, you've twisted my arm.
HENRIETTA
(immediately brightening)
Thank you, Jose!
CUT TO – FRONT SEATS.
ALESSANDRO is in the driver's seat while JEAN remains in the front passenger seat. ALESSANDRO leans across to JEAN.
ALESSANDRO
(whispering conspiratorially)
"Twisted my arm"? Wrapped around her little finger, more like.
JEAN does not turn back to look into the passenger compartment, but adjusts the rear-view mirror and calls aloud.
JEAN
(stern)
Lieutenant Croce! Don't encourage them!
(To ALESSANDRO)
Drive already.
CUT TO – ROAD.
The camera is situated behind the car and looks on as it starts up and sets off down the road. HENRIETTA and RICO natter, their voices fading with distance.
HENRIETTA
Isn't this place amazing, Rico? All the buildings, they're so pretty!
RICO
Yeah, all that swirly scroll stuff they have on the corners are good ligature points...
PAN UP – SKY
DISSOLVE TO - ENDING CREDITS
"NEXT EPISODE" MONTAGE
FIN.
THE END
