10

Jack and John come down the street. Both wearing sunglasses.

Two desperate figures. Bruised. Cut. Watching for police, for surveillance probes. They step over two sleeping drunks and enter the lobby of a transient hotel.

A post-Victorian dump. Dilapidated. A few drunks and homeless cluster around an old flickering black-and-white TV set. The desk clerk is nodding off. He comes to as John approaches. Jack stays off to the side, trying to keep his face hidden.

John raps his knuckles on the counter "I want a room."

Jack and John make their way along the run-down hallway.

An old ratty room. Stained walls. A bed. A window looking out on the street below.

John closes the door. Locks it. The two men look at each other. They've just beaten each other to shit . Both are fugitives.

Jack snorts as he looks at the double bed "Ain't love grand?"

.

.

Jack is by the sink. He has his shirt off. He splashes water on the glass cuts on his back and shoulders. He looks around. John. stands by the window. Stares out at the skyline. Puts on the sunglasses. Winces from the pain. Looks at the world outside.

"Don't wear the glasses too long. Starts to feel like a knife turning in your skull." Jack warns.

John takes them off. He looks dazed now. Stunned. "How long have they been here?"

"Who knows?"

"What are they?" John asks next "Where do they come from?"

"They ain't from Cleveland, I can tell you that." Jack says hollowly.

John looks at sunglasses "We can't be the only ones who can see. We gotta find the people who made these"

"Yeah. And then what?"

.

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A night or so later. John sits by the window. Staring out. Jack's sitting in an old chair. Still exhausted. Burned out . He's bandaged. But his eyes glow.

"Did I tell you I am a Christian" Jack asks.

John looks over at him and replies "And I don't really have a wife and kids. So?"

Jack kept talking, ignoring him "My old Daddy took me to the river. He kicked my ass and told me 'bout the power and the glory. And then I got saved. (beat) He tried to cut me once. Big 'ol buck knife. Held the blade right across my throat. I said, "Daddy, please ... " He moved the blade back and forth. Right across here. (touches his throat) He changed when I was little, I never knew why before - but I've been tearin' at the world ever since."

"Those things out there must love it." John points a finger out the window at the darkness beyond the glass "Watchin' us dangle at the end of our ropes. Seein' us destroyed by our own cold, fuckin' hearts."

"But I got some news for 'em. Gonna be some hell to pay" Jack replies "Because I'm not Daddy's boy no more."

.

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John enters the lobby, carrying a sack of groceries, wearing his sunglasses . He moves across the lobby to the stairs sees Eugene, the transient from earlier, wearing an identical pair of sunglasses, sitting in a chair.

As John moves up to the door he speaks "John?"

John turns.

Eugene stands there a moment, and then comes down the hall toward him.

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Jack and John sit listening to Eugene

"There's a meeting tonight." He scribbles down the address on a piece of paper "Be at this address. 11:00 . Watch out nobody follows you."

He hands the paper to John "The movement's growing. There are more of us every day."

"What are we gonna do?" John asks, Jack still mutely watching on.

"The world needs a wake-up call" Eugene replies "and we're going to phone it in."

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Jack and John walk down a dark street, up to an old, crumbling brick warehouse. John knocks on the door. It opens. A Hell's Angel steps out. Looks over John But he's not wearing sunglasses. "Hey, brothers ..."

Jack and John look at him suspiciously.

"I can still see you." He points to his eyes "Somethin' new goin' down."

Jack and John enter the warehouse. There are guards at the windows with guns. Uzis . Shotguns. Some scan with binoculars. But nobody wears sunglasses. About 30 or so people, clustered in groups, are spread around. Some stand in front of a TV set showing a videotape. Others just talk intensely.

They are working women, War Veterans, Asians, blacks handicaps (including a man in a wheelchair), gang kids, ex convicts, bikers, , an assortment of young childrenN. Jack and John stop at a table.

The Brown-Haired Lady who served food at camp hands them each a small packet. "Glad you made it. Take off your sunglasses. We're all human in here."

They take off their sunglasses. Wince from the resulting pain. A scruffy blonde man walks by handing out photocopied sheets "Memorize these safe houses."

Jack opens the small packet. Inside are contact lenses.

"Brand new. Got shipment today. Still hurt – but there's less interference."

Jack and John put the contact lenses in their eyes.

Now Jack and John begin walking through the warehouse, taking it all in . .. TV set. The Bearded-Man from the church sits against that blank background

"There is a signal broadcast every second of every day through our television sets even when the set is turned off "

"They killed him that first night." Jack says quietly to John.

"Who is he?"

"I don't know" Jack shakes his head.

Jack and John, moving on now, as Eugene comes up to them "Have any trouble getting here?"

John answers "No, we made it fine. Io had no idea you were this close to where they are searching for this place."

"The city's crawling with cops looking for us. Most of the cops are Human. They've been told we're Commies trying to bring down the government. But some of them are being recruited. The creatures are trading wealth and power." Eugene huffs. "They've tried everything short of a Trojan Horse. We are too smart for them, our real threat are fellow humans who are betraying our locations to them".

"You mean people are joining up with them?" John asks with shock.

"I'm sorry to say. When people learn the truth, most of us just sell out right away. Then all of a sudden we're promoted. Our bank accounts get bigger. We buy new houses, cars. Perfect, isn't it? We'll do - anything to be rich."

"Carbon dioxide, fluorocarbons and methane have increased since 1958. Earth is being acclimatized. They're turning our atmosphere into their atmosphere."

As the Bearded man speaks on the TV John asks Eugene "What do these things want? Why are they here?"

"It's in their best interests. They're free enterprisers. Earth is just another developing planet … their 3rd World" Eugene surmises. In the background the Bearded Man continues to speak.

"We humans use the forests and the land - they use us. We're like a natural resource to them. Deplete one planet, move on to another. They want benign indifference. They want us drugged. We could be pets, we could be food - but all we really are is livestock ..."

Jack, John and Eugene come up to a table filled with weapons. All kinds. Rifles, pistols, machineguns, grenades as. Now Eugene moves off, as Jack and John begin loading up with weapons, as the Black Man examines an expensive gold Rolex wrist watch.

"Ever see their disappearing act?"

"Yeah, once." Jack nods.

John indicates the watch "What's that?"

They all wear these expensive watches. Turns out they're really two-way radios. You can listen in to their broadcasts" He offers it to Jack who takes the watch and examines it "But there's something else. Some kind of secret code, or a hidden control. They push a button - all of a sudden, bang, they're gone. I've been trying to figure it out ..."

Now Jack's looking around. A large group has gathered around Eugene. "Their detection is getting more effective. We have to be more careful. Stay aware of keeping up appearances. Go to work. Punch your time clock . Do what's expected of you. We've gotten reckless and the movement's suffering for it ..."

He seems to be looking at someone at the rear of the crowd who moves, revealing the family Man from the camp "Time to stop talking about it, trying to figure out how it happened. Now we start spilling some blood!"

A wave of energy goes through the crowd. They're up for it. Eugene calls out "Wait a minute, wait a minute. It's not working. They've infiltrated the police, the government … everything. We don't stand a chance with a few guns and grenades ..."

"So what are we supposed to do?" the Family Man asks.

"Bide our time. Try to locate their signal - and shut it off. Wake people up."

The crowd settles down ... and there, across the room, stepping forward...

... is Ianto.