ACT ONE
EXT. FOREST ROAD (NIGHT)
A camouflaged vehicle sits idly on the shoulder of a dense dirt road; a plastic hose is inserted into the gas tank.
The man holding the hose places the free end in his mouth, drawing the air out of the tube to siphon the gas from the tank. A gas can stands upright in the dirt by the man's feet; after a moment, the man brings the free end of the hose to the gas can; a few spews of gasoline spill into the dirt as it finds the opening and fills the can.
The man stoops beside the Republican Guard Humvee, obvious from the Crossed Swords emblem painted on the doors. In the palest of moonlight, three dark figures surrounding the vehicle; MIKE PINOCCHIO next to the gas tank in his leather jacket, FLORENCE by the back with her Colt Commando rifle, and TOM HOBBES in the flatbed in cargo pants and a t-shirt.
OUTSIDE CHARLOTTE
NORTH CAROLINA
HARSH REALM
Hobbes roots through the crates stacked in the flatbed,
prying the lids off with the blade of a broad hunting knife. Florence is waiting off the tailgate of the truck, rifle tight in her grip as she keeps an anxious watch.
Hobbes rips the lid off of a crate, finding half a dozen military-issue rifles packed in straw. With a broad smile, he overturns the crate, sending its contents crashing.
PINOCCHIO (oc)
(whispered shout)
Hey!! Wanna keep it down!?
HOBBES
(whispering)
Sorry...
Hobbes quickly sets to the weapons, grabbing three of them and dusting away the straw before placing them back inside the crate. He removes the clips from the remaining rifles, dropping them into the crate before passing it to Florence.
Hobbes continues through the next few crates, passing the magazines off to Florence, who consolidates them into the crate on the ground by her feet. In another crate he finds handguns – standard issue Beretta 92FS pistols – which he handles in the same manner; three guns, the rest in clips.
Pinocchio continues siphoning gas from the vehicle into the gas can, which is quickly filling. After a moment, the liquid spills over the cap and Pinocchio quickly moves the hose from the first can to a second one nearby, losing only a few ounces of the fuel to the dirt.
Back in the flatbed, Hobbes has finished with the crates of weapons and moves on to a stack of boxes marked with large blue X's. Wedging the blade of the knife under the lid of the crate, he forces it off to find rows of canned food; corn, peas, baked beans and other assorted delicacies.
The grin on his face doubles as he tears the packing straw out of the box to make room for the food contained in the two crates under this one. He quickly sets to condensing the three crates down to a single box before hauling the crate to the back of the truck to pass to Florence.
Handing the crate over to her, she eyes the contents, her stare snapping back to his face with disbelief.
HOBBES
(grinning)
Starvation'll just have to wait.
Giving her the crate, Hobbes heads back into the truck to find a final stack of crates, these marked with large red X's. He tears the lid off the first one to find lines of bottled water, earning another mile-wide grin from him.
At the back of the truck, Pinocchio approaches Florence as Hobbes emerges from the flatbed with another crate in tow.
PINOCCHIO
Anything useful?
HOBBES
Just enough food, water and weapons
for about a month.
Pinocchio passes the gas cans to Florence, picking up one of the handguns from the crate on the ground.
PINOCCHIO
Good.
(drops the clip)
Just one more loose end to trim.
Pinocchio slides the clip back into the grip and snaps it into place. He pulls the slide back sharply, chambering a round before taking long strides across the roadway to the edge of the dirt where we find, for the first time, a Republican Guardsman, unconscious, slumped with his back propped up against a tree to which he is then tied.
Pinocchio takes one last step to come before the Guardsman, looking down at the uniformed man with unmasked contempt, and perhaps a glimmer of jealousy. After a tense moment, Pinocchio lifts the gun to level it at the man's forehead, gently rocking the hammer back into position. Before he can pull the trigger, though, he hears Hobbes' voice.
HOBBES
Mike...
Pinocchio turns his head to face his comrade.
HOBBES
Don't...
PINOCCHIO
What??
HOBBES
You don't have to kill him. He's not
a threat.
PINOCCHIO
They're all a threat. One less Guard
is one less person trying to kill us.
Pinocchio turns back to the Guardsman, gazing down the barrel of the gun at his helpless victim.
TIGHT on Pinocchio's hand, his finger tight on the trigger.
He begins to squeeze.
PINOCCHIO'S POV: the face of the unconscious soldier. He's just a kid, no older than 22. Like a Guardsman Pinocchio once knew who had joined Santiago's ranks to escape his own scarred past. Just a kid, looking to become a hero.
Pinocchio hesitates.
TIGHT on his hand, the pressure on the trigger not letting up, not increasing. After a moment, a wool-gloved hand slowly pushes Pinocchio's arm down, pointing the gun away.
Pinocchio turns silently to find not Hobbes, but Florence nudging the gun out of alignment. She gently shakes her head, not so much telling him not to do it, as much to tell him that she knows he doesn't want to, and doesn't have to.
HOBBES
Santiago will deal with him when he
finds him. Why waste the ammunition?
Pinocchio turns to Hobbes, then looks back at the Guard.
EXT. FOREST
Through the darkness, a stream of moonlight casts barely enough light to make out the three forms trudging heavily through the rough terrain, each lugging their own crate.
HOBBES
Did we really have to hide it this
far off the road?
PINOCCHIO
You'd rather he found it and called
for back-up? One guard I can take.
Maybe four or five if the adrenaline
gets going. But not even the three
of us could handle an entire unit.
Florence casts Pinocchio a glance with a ferocious grin that implies she might not have such a bad time trying.
PINOCCHIO
...shoulda rezzed him...damn liability...
HOBBES
He didn't see our faces; doesn't know
who we are. He can't identify us.
PINOCCHIO
Stupid, Hobbes. It was a risk, and
a big one. Too big too take when
we're stealing Republican property.
HOBBES
He wasn't the one we were sent after.
(beat)
It was the right thing to do.
Florence flinches, glances to Pinocchio.
PINOCCHIO
What is your obsession with that
arcane notion? There IS no such
thing as RIGHT or WRONG here; how
many times do you need to see a
full-grown man digitized before
you understand that?
HOBBES
How can you fight a battle if you
don't believe there's a RIGHT or a
WRONG. How do you know which side
You're fighting for?
PINOCCHIO
I don't CARE which side I'm fight-
ing for, long as I can take care
of myself.
HOBBES
Then why don't you go back to work
for Santiago?
Pinocchio stops dead in his tracks, half a word from cold-cocking Hobbes. He takes a moment of concentration to get his anger under control before lifting his eyes to give Hobbes a cold, hard stare to accompany his answer.
PINOCCHIO
Because he wanted me to do things I
didn't want to do.
HOBBES
Because they weren't right?
PINOCCHIO
(through gritted teeth)
Because I didn't want to do them.
Pinocchio turns to follow Florence, trying to kill the conversation. Hobbes follows after him, continuing.
HOBBES
Okay, let's pretend you're right; no
RIGHT, no WRONG. Just an arbitrary
free-for-all, take what you can get,
everyone for themselves. Total anarchy.
Pinocchio stops again, annoyed, turning to face Hobbes.
PINOCCHIO
Tell me something, Plato. Where do
you get your notions of good and evil;
what's RIGHT and what's WRONG?
HOBBES
You're serious?
PINOCCHIO
Enlighten me.
Pinocchio starts hiking again, and Hobbes follows. Hobbes opens his mouth to speak, closes it again, thinks a long moment. At first, he doesn't seem to know how to answer.
HOBBES
Fundamentally...I guess I'd have to
say family and religion. I was raised
in a Presbyterian household, taught
to love my fellow man, do unto others
as I would have them do unto me. That
what's right by God is right by Man,
and we have no place to question that.
PINOCCHIO
Well that don't work here. In Harsh
Realm, the men with the most guns are
the ones who make the rules. There
is no God here, no Heaven, not even
a Valor Star or a "job-well-done."
Might makes right here, and might is
something you don't have here.
HOBBES
You do?
Pinocchio pauses, a look of pained loss flashing across his face before his hard exterior takes over once more.
PINOCCHIO
Not anymore.
Pinocchio heads back to Florence, who is no longer walking. Now she stands, her rifle ready, feeling the air around her as if she senses something in it. A moment later, Pinocchio arrives next to her, looking at her, and then to the air.
PINOCCHIO
What is it?
Florence looks at him, then slowly extends her hand. About a meter in front of her body, the air shimmers as her hand
DISAPPEARS into it. Hobbes approaches the pair from the back, looking at Florence's now missing hand.
HOBBES
Glitch?
Florence retracts her hand with a troubled look.
PINOCCHIO
Whatever's on the other side ain't
good.
HOBBES
That wasn't here last time we came
through.
(looks to Pinocchio)
Where'd it come from?
Pinocchio, looking at Florence, reaches for the glitch, pushing his own hand through.
PINOCCHIO
More important; where's it go?
TIME CUT:
EXT. FOREST (MIDNIGHT)
The group has set up a make-shift camp around a small fire. The crate marked with the large blue X is sitting open, the lid on the ground next to it, with several cans missing.
Two empty cans of corn lie in the grass near the fire.
Hobbes sits on the ground near the empty cans, his legs pulled in tight to his body. His chin perches on his knees, an insightful look etched through his features. Undoubtedly writing another mental letter to his betrothed.
Across the fire, Florence has her weapon disassembled and is examining one of the many parts.
Pinocchio is seated on a toppled tree, a steaming can of baked beans on the log next to him as he concentrates on a small device in his hands. After a moment, Hobbes drops next to him, his eyes also fixed on the small object.
HOBBES
What is it?
PINOCCHIO
Like a digiwand, but more advanced.
Hobbes looks from the device to Pinocchio's face, confused.
PINOCCHIO
While I was in the Guard, Santiago's
R&D Department created what they so
creatively deemed a "digiwand." It
was designed to repair game-inflicted
code corruption.
HOBBES
It heals wounds?
PINOCCHIO
Among a few other quaint tricks.
Pinocchio pauses, turns the device over in the firelight.
PINOCCHIO
Who knows what THIS thing is capable
of doing.
Hobbes, gazing blankly into the campfire, is stricken with a thoughtful look. After a moment, though, his demeanor breaks and a laugh leaks through. Pinocchio looks away from the device with his patented "knock-it-off" tone.
PINOCCHIO
What?
HOBBES
Anytime we've made a fire, it felt
like something wasn't quite right.
I never understood exactly what it
was until just now.
(looks to Pinocchio)
There's no smoke.
With a look that implies Hobbes' just might be losing his mind, Pinocchio turns back to the fire. He notices, as the flame flick skyward, that there is in fact no smoke. With a slight shrug, he turns back to his baked beans.
PINOCCHIO
When you breath an entire realm of
reality into existence, I guess you
cut corners. No salt in the ocean,
no smoke from the fire.
(matter-of-factly)
I'll bet you didn't notice you don't
have a pulse.
Hobbes snaps a look back to Pinocchio, half expecting it to be a joke. Pinocchio only looks at him, gesturing for him to check. Hobbes presses his fingertips to his wrist.
After a few moments, an unsettled look takes his face as his fingers move up to his jugular, just below where his jaw meets his neck. His face is taken with a troubled look as he finds no pulse. He looks up to Pinocchio, who has just filled his mouth with food, for an explanation. The Corporal looks back for a second, shrugging his shoulders as he chews and speaks around the food.
PINOCCHIO
I didn't write the program. I just
find the bugs.
Hobbes turns back to the fire, uneasy.
TIME CUT:
EXT. FOREST (NEARING DAWN)
The group lies sleeping, each clinging to their crates.
After a few moments, Dexter, who is curled up in the nook of Florence's bent knees, stirs. He stretches, yawning before his attention is captured by something unseen.
The Glitch as it twitches, a digital hum stinging the air.
Dexter stares unflinchingly at the Glitch. Waiting.
Hobbes, a few feet away, stirs quietly, almost waking up.
Dexter perches on Florence's crate, ears perked and eyes glued to the Glitch. He quietly begins baring his teeth, a low rumbling working its way out of his throat.
Hobbes slowly wakes to the sound of his dog growling. He looks off to see what has caused the animal's guardian instincts to kick in, finds the Glitch shimmering in the pale moonlight. He looks back to Dexter just in time to see the dog lunge toward the Glitch, growling deeply.
HOBBES
DEXTER!
Hobbes flashes to his feet to catch Dexter before he passes through the Glitch to God-knows-where. His bellowings were more than sufficient to wake his companions, who scatter to find the source of Hobbes' distress. By the time they find it, Dexter JUMPS, popping through the Glitch.
In pursuit, Hobbes can't quite stop himself in time.
PINOCCHIO
Hobbes!
Only half the word reaches the sprinting soldier though, as he too DISAPPEARS through the Glitch as well. Pinocchio and Florence are up quickly, approaching the Glitch cautiously.
PINOCCHIO
Damnit, Hobbes. I swear, when I find
you, that dog is dinner.
Pinocchio looks to Florence with a defeated sigh, turning back to the glitch and extending his hand toward it.
TIGHT on Pinocchio's hand; it disappears into the Glitch.
INT. BRICK HALLWAY
Hobbes is crouched on the floor, holding Dexter with his right hand while scratching his ears with his left. He is also looking at his surroundings with utter bewilderment.
In a moment, a hand pops through the air. The hand is followed by an arm which is followed by the rest of its owner, Pinocchio. He is followed by Florence, who shoots Hobbes a maternal glare before examining her new environs.
Pinocchio's confusion is different from the others'. His jaw hangs in horror as he treads slowly down the hallway.
HOBBES
Where are we?
PINOCCHIO'S POV: the hallway is marked with sporadic doors.
FADE TO BLACK
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