ACT ONE
FADE IN:
EST. THE INSTITUTE FOR OCEANOGRAPHIC STUDIES - DAY
A long, low building overlooking the Pacific.
CUT TO:
INT. LAB ROOM
Essentially a large, open space, broken up by various pieces
of equipment. Along one wall is a large window on an
aquarium. The other walls are haphazardly lined with
counters, desks, etc. At one of these Josh sits, tapping away
at a keyboard.
Tina Bennett, a tall, 30-ish brunette, walks into the room.
BENNETT
Good morning, Josh.
JOSH
(turning)
Oh— Good morning, Dr. Bennett.
Dr. Bennett strolls over to Josh and idly flips through a
stack of papers on the desk.
BENNETT
Well, you seem to be making short
work of this. The security guard
said you checked in at seven?
JOSH
Yeah, I kinda want to double-check
everything. I was never really
very good at this computer stuff.
The computer beeps accusingly.
JOSH (CONT'D)
See?
Dr. Bennett leans over his shoulder and looks at the screen.
BENNETT
(tapping keys)
You have to clear the response
field first.
JOSH
Right—I keep forgetting.
BENNETT
Hey, don't be so hard on yourself.
I made plenty of mistakes when I
interned here.
JOSH
You did? I mean, you interned
here?
BENNETT
(chuckles)
That was back during the FIRST
Bush administration. And the
reporting software wasn't nearly
so forgiving—I used to have to
clear the whole section and start
over.
Their conversation is interrupted by Lloyd Rutherford, the
head scientist at the Institute, an imposing, graying man in
his late 50's, who walks in impatiently.
RUTHERFORD
Mr. Ford! Are you finished with
the quarterly migration reviews?
JOSH
Oh—yes, sir! It's right here,
sir.
Josh picks up a stack of printouts and hands it to Rutherford,
who takes it with a grunt and walks off without another word.
Josh watches him as he leaves.
JOSH (CONT'D)
I don't think he likes me.
BENNETT
(shakes her head)
It's not you, personally. Dr.
Rutherford just doesn't approve of
the Institute using EX-TEAM
interns.
JOSH
Why not? Is he afraid I'm going
to break something?
BENNETT
We've...had some problems before.
But don't worry about it. You're
doing just fine.
JOSH
Well, I'm trying. Just—I'm glad I
don't have to know what any of
these numbers MEAN.
Dr. Bennett chuckles and claps him on the shoulder.
BENNETT
Don't worry about THAT, either. I
had to get a doctorate to learn
that.
CUT TO:
INT. LILY'S LIVING ROOM
which is, to put it mildly, a mess: stacks of flyers are
piled everywhere, along with picket signs and other protest
paraphernalia. Lily is sitting in one of the few clear
spaces, scribbling on a clipboard, when the doorbell rings.
She gets up and answers is, surprised when she opens the door
to find Mary Cherry standing on her stoop.
LILY
Mary Cherry! Uh—
MARY CHERRY
Lil Lily, I come to you painfully
impaled upon the horns of an
ethical dilemma.
LILY
Ah, uh, come in.
Lily shows Mary Cherry inside, then rushes ahead and clears
off a chair.
LILY (CONT'D)
Sorry about the mess. I'm trying
to keep busy while Josh is away.
So I'm helping organize a rally
against rising electricity prices
next week.
MARY CHERRY
(throws up her hands)
You see? That's exactly my
problem!
LILY
(puzzled)
Rising energy prices?
MARY CHERRY
(waving dismissively)
No, not that! Mama's got stock in
half the energy companies in
Texas—she's makin' millions off
this whole blackout thing.
She spreads her arms out to encompass the entire room.
MARY CHERRY (CONT'D)
I mean THIS!
Lily shakes her head, lost.
MARY CHERRY (CONT'D)
This protestin' thing!
LILY
You want to protest something?
MARY CHERRY
Exactly! Yes, I do!
LILY
(cautiously)
All right...what do you want to
protest?
MARY CHERRY
I don't know.
LILY
You don't know what you want to
protest?
MARY CHERRY
THAT'S my dilemma!
LILY
(slowly)
You want to protest something, but
you don't know what?
MARY CHERRY
See? I KNEW you would
understand!
Lily rubs her eyes.
LILY
Okay. Sit down...
She leads Mary Cherry to a chair and firmly sits her down,
then sits down herself.
LILY (CONT'D)
All right...why don't we start
again, from the beginning. When
exactly did you get this feeling
that you wanted to protest
something?
MARY CHERRY
Well, Lil Lily, I've been
thinking.
Lily rolls her eyes briefly at that, but does her best to look
attentive.
MARY CHERRY (CONT'D)
I thought, and I thought, and
then, BAM!—it hit me like a bolt
outta the blue! That whole thing
that happened last month, it was a
cosmic wake-up call from above.
And it was sayin', "Mary Cherry,
you best DO something with
yourself, girl!"
LILY
You ARE still in high school. I
don't think you have to worry
about it yet.
MARY CHERRY
No, I have to do something NOW!
(confidentially)
I'm ashamed to admit this, Lily,
but—since I've come to Kennedy
High, I have fallen under the
spell of the evil Nicole Julian.
Now I see that, unless I mend my
ways, I will be doomed to follow
in her wayward footsteps.
(wailing)
AND I DON'T WANNA GO TO THE BIG
HOUSE!
LILY
Well, first of all, I really don't
think that's a possibility,
but—all right. Let's say you want
to change your life. Why come to
me?
MARY CHERRY
Why, I asked myself, "Mary Cherry,
who do you know who can help you
lift the Julian curse from your
poor, misguided soul?" And then I
answered myself, "Why, Lil Lily,
of course! She's got that whole
do-gooder thing down pat—she'll be
able to tell me what to do!" And
then I told myself—
LILY
(interrupting)
Okay—hang on, Mary Cherry. If
you've decided to become a better
person, then, I applaud that—but I
can't give you a road map to what
you have to do.
MARY CHERRY
You can't?
LILY
No. Activism...is a deeply
personal experience. To work, to,
to sacrifice, to raise your voice
in protest—it has to be for a
cause you care passionately about.
You can't have someone else tell
you what that cause should be.
MARY CHERRY
You can't?
LILY
(smiling)
No, you can't. Now, why don't you
tell me something that you think
is really wrong and needs to be
changed.
MARY CHERRY
Well—
LILY
(hastily)
Something unrelated to fashion or
celebrity style.
Mary Cherry mulls that over for a few moments.
MARY CHERRY
(perplexed)
Well...I—I don't know.
Lily gets up, and Mary Cherry reflexively stands up with her.
LILY
Well, that's what you need to
think about, before you do
anything else.
MARY CHERRY
But—
Lily ushers her towards the door.
LILY
(philosophically)
You've made the decision to
change—that's a big step. You
don't need to do everything in one
day. Just keep your eyes open,
and you'll see the injustices of
the world around you.
As they reach the door, Lily opens it.
LILY (CONT'D)
Look, why don't you come to the
rally? We'll be at the Civic
Center at noon on Tuesday. You
can see what activism looks like
close up...and maybe we can figure
out what the best thing for you to
do is.
Mary Cherry takes Lily by the shoulders and hugs her.
MARY CHERRY
Oh, thank you, Lily! I knew you
were the right person to come to!
She flounces out the door. Lily closes the door, shakes her
head, and goes back to work.
FADE TO BLACK.
END OF ACT ONE