ACT THREE
FADE IN:
EXT. WONDERLXND. HAPPY HEARTS CASINO – DAY
Scarab, the giant beetle-ship approaches an imperious building set in a dreamscape of patchwork fields and surreal mountains.
A GIANT HOUSE OF CARDS, stacked high into the sky.
A neon sign flashes: ''Happy Hearts - living the dream."
INT. HAPPY HEARTS CASINO. Lobby - DAY
The White Rabbit sits in a swirling sixties lobby.
Glass lava lamp pillars boil. Long-legged Cigarette Girls, in skimpy card costumes, walk by.
A slick looking man in a zoot suit with 10 of clubs monogrammed on it, and a hairstyle resembling a 'club', crosses the floor to meet the White Rabbit.
10 OF CLUBS
You're late.
WHITE RABBIT
I know. I'm sorry.
The 10 OF CLUBS escorts the White Rabbit into:
INT. HAPPY HEARTS CASINO. GAMING ROOM – DAY
Gaming tables made of playing cards run by slick Croupiers in beehive hairdos churn out Black Jack and Poker.
The 10 OF CLUBS meanders through the gaming hall, eyes firmly forward, as the White Rabbit tries to keep up.
Sixties go-go dancers in Queen of Diamonds mini skirts twist and mash potato.
Chorus Girls dressed in sexy flamingo outfits with pink feathered wings, sing a crazy Wonderland version of the Eurythmics ''Sweet Dreams.''
FLAMINGO GIRL
Sweet dreams are made of this
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and the seven seas
Everybody's looking for something...
Brylcreemed heavies in zoot suits tailored to mirror the Knaves in the deck - red and purple with gold waistcoats - patrol the tables.
You can't get more colorful and sexy.
Ordinary looking people, from the Real World, stand at the tables gambling voraciously.
Some are dressed shabbily - similar to those seen in the BEETLE-SHIP'S honeycomb prison, but others are housewives , students, businessmen, and so on. People plucked from their everyday lives to game at the tables.
They all have the green mark somewhere on their skin - face, arms or legs.
And they're all barefoot, their feet on metal conductors in the ground which transmit the warm glow of their feelings down thin lines.
A weirdo glazed look clouds their eyes and an odd, gentle smile curls the corners of their lips as they place gambling chips which look more like OYSTER SHELLS.
FLAMINGO GIRL (CONT/D)
Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused...
A group standing at a black jack table gaze peacefully at their cards as the Croupier deals energetically.
He gives each a card and miraculously... they all win!
CROUPIER
Black Jack! Black Jack! Black Jack!
The Gamblers are thrilled, happy smiles light up their faces, the conductors below their feet light up, absorbing their delight, and carry it down the lines in the floor...
DICE MAN
Try your luck. Everyone's a winner here.
And all must have prizes!
Male 'Oysters' watch the sexy Flamingo girl's long legs, eyes round with desire.
FLAMINGO GIRL
I wanna use you and abuse you
I wanna know what's inside you
(Whispering) Hold your head up, movin on
The gamblers lecherous glow is sucked into their conductors... The camera follows the lines in the floor.
INT. HAPPY HEARTS CASINO. DISTILLERY. CONTINUOUS – DAY
Vats of bubbling liquid... Each vat is labeled differently.
''Exhilaration '' ''Ecstacy'', "Satisfaction '' ''Lust '' etc .
Copper pipes curl from each vat and deliver tiny drops into a row of small flasks...
... distilling the essence of a hundred different emotions into a container no larger than an espresso cup.
A distinguished looking older Man in a white lab coat checks the apparatus. This is THE CARPENTER, the man who built the distillery.
A thick-set man with a bushy mustache, walks behind him. He is WALRUS, the Carpenter's ever-present and silent minder.
CARPENTER
(matter of fact)
The time has come, Walrus old friend, to test our many stills. The oo's and ah's and healing drops, the passions and the thrills. And see how joy and rage and lust can all be turned to... pills...
He uncaps a flask labeled ''Passion'', takes the tiniest drop on the end of a pipette and drops it on his tongue.
CARFENTER (CONT'D)
O Oysters... you're fading...
An adjutant - the 9 of Clubs - enters. The Carpenter scowls.
CARPENTER (cont'd)
What is it?
9 OF CLUBS
The King requests your presence, Carpenter.
CARPENTER
Now? This moment?
The Adjutant nods officiously.
CUT TO:
INT. HAPPY HEARTS CASINO. THRONEROOM – DAY
In a swirling sixties room, the King of Hearts, an unassuming man in a very large chair, presides over his court like a CEO over his board of directors...
Carpenter and Walrus stand respectfully in attendance.
KING OF HEARTS
The Scarab has just brought us the latest shipment of Oysters.
CARPENTER
How many?
KING OF HEARTS
Fifty or sixty. Make the most of them. We won't be getting any more until we find the Ring and restart the Looking Glass. There was only just enough juice left in it for this last sortie.
He rises, paces to the large windows that girdle the throneroom and looks out at his kingdom.
KING OF HEARTS (CONT'D)
The Queen would like you to harvest more unusual emotions.
CARPENTER
Unusual? Have you tried the latest batch of 'Hope?'
KING OF HEARTS
Hope! That's yesterday's wonder. Nobody wants hope anymore. It's for losers. People want new and exotic wonders. Surprise, adoration, ecstasy, calm, elation...
Nods from the board of directors.
KING OF HEARTS (CONT'D)
Keeping the masses happy is a great responsibility Carpenter. One that weighs heavy on my shoulders. If our people don't get to feel what they want to feel when they want to feel it, the whole system breaks down. Instant gratification is a complex business. We have to keep moving forward, finding ever more exotic wonders.
The 10 of Clubs and the White Rabbit appear at the door...
Seeing them, the King cries out...
KING OF HEARTS (CONT'D)
Ah! There you are!
The White Rabbit approaches the king and hands him the ANCIENT RING BOX.
KING OF HEARTS (CONT'D)
Oh glory, oh bright day... finally and at last...
He tries to open the box...
KING OF HEARTS (CONT'D)
How do you open this thing?
WHITE RABBIT
I don't know, Majesty.
KING OF HEARTS
There's a hidden catch... but I can never remember...
He gives up.
KING OF HEARTS (CONT'D)
Summon the Queen!
INT. HAPPY HEARTS CASINO. GAMING ROOM – DAY
A thirty something HOUSEWIFE stands with a MAILMAN and several other ordinary OYSTERS at a ROULETTE TABLE.
Balls whizz around the roulette wheel - seven of them. They all land on different numbers... making all the OYSTERS winners.
CROUPIER
Twenty three, Eight, forty one, seventeen, nine, fifty four and... ten! Everyone a winner! The OYSTERS emit their dose of joy into their conductors.
HOUSEWIFE
(To the Mailman)
This is such a rush!
The Croupier looks up.
CROUPIER
(To the Pit-boss)
That one talked.
The Pit-boss hits a button under the table.
HOUSEWIFE
Oh my god! What's the time? I've got to pick up my kids.
MAILMAN
(waking up) You have kids?
HOUSEWIFE
I think so…
The Pit-boss picks up a red phone.
PIT-BOSS
We have a conscious one here!
HOUSEWIFE
Was it Betty? Or Bridget... Something beginning with a B... I better see if I can find the car...
She tries leave but her feet are stuck to her copper to conductors.
HOUSEWIFE (CONT'D)
I can't move my... what's going on here?
Two Lab TECHNICIANS appear at her side.
LAB TECHNICTAN
Ma'am.
HOUSEWIFE
Oh hello, my feet seem to be stuck.
One of the technicians pulls a REMOTE from his pocket, zaps her feet with it.
LAB TECHNICIAN
No Madam, your feet are fine. Please come with us. We can help you find what you're looking for.
She lets the men escort her through the gaming room.
HOUSEWIFE
My kids. I think I have kids... a family... I'm pretty sure that my husband is a Taurus... Do you know my name? I can't remember my name for some reason...
Lab TECHNICIAN
You don't need to bother with technical things like that Ma'am...
Carpenter and Walrus approach.
CARPENTER
What's wrong?
LAB TECHNICIAN
She's regaining her faculties.
CARPENTER
Take her to the waiting room.
HOUSEWIFE
Do you know my name? It's something beginning with a B I think.
INT. HAPPY HEARTS CASINO. WAITING ROOM – DAY
The HOUSEWIFE is led in and the door closes and locks behind her. THREE OTHER OYSTERS look up... an ELDER MAN, A FEMALE STUDENT and a COP.
ELDER MAN
Did you talk?
The Housewife nods.
ELDER MAN (cont'd)
You shouldn't have talked.
HOUSEWIFE
I was worried about my kids. I think I have two... or maybe three... they're still little...
She bursts into tears. The Elder Man gets up, puts an arm around her and sits her down.
ELDER MAN
We all have families somewhere.
HOUSEWIFE
I've got to find my car.
ELDER MAN
You can't leave. None of us can.
HOUSEWIFE
Why are we here, what are they going to do to us?
ELDER MAN
We don't know.
