ACT TWO
RESUME:
INT. RED-BRICK HALLWAY
Back to the group as they stand in the red-brick hall.
PINOCCHIO
This can't be happening, this cannot
be FRIGGIN happening!!
HOBBES
What?? Where are we??
PINOCCHIO
I cannot be back in this HELLHOLE!!
HOBBES
Mike; calm down!
Pinocchio shoots Hobbes a look. Hobbes has never had the nerve to yell at him before, and it comes as quite a shock.
HOBBES
We're not getting anywhere if you
lose your head.
PINOCCHIO
(laughing)
We're not getting anywhere no matter
what I lose.
HOBBES
Why not? What is this place?
Pinocchio doesn't answer immediately, looking around the hallway as if he expects it to suddenly change. Finally, he turns to Hobbes, despair written on his face.
PINOCCHIO
Welcome to Hell.
Hobbes looks at Pinocchio, knowing he doesn't make a habit of overreacting, but thinking he has to be this time.
HOBBES
We're still alive; we can't be THAT
bad off...
PINOCCHIO
No?
(faces Hobbes)
You got any idea where you are?
(Hobbes shakes his head)
This is no universal Hell. No lick-
ing flames, no little bastards with
fiery pitchforks nipping at your ass.
This is a personalized Hell; every
victim gets his own dose of torture.
I'd take the eternal barbeque over
this in a heartbeat.
(turns away, looking around)
This is True Hell.
HOBBES
You haven't told me what THIS is.
PINOCCHIO
(eyes Hobbes)
It's Santiago's last training sim;
the Labyrinth. All new recruits have
to go through it.
(more to himself)
The Unbeatable Maze.
HOBBES
Unbeatable?
PINOCCHIO
No way out.
(beat, slight laugh)
It became the Republican Guard motto.
What we used to tell the new recruits
on their way to boot camp. Strike a
little fear in the hearts of the faint.
After long enough, I started to wonder
If we were talking about the maze, or
the Realm.
HOBBES
So what's the objective?
PINOCCHIO
There is no objective.
HOBBES
You said it was a training sim...
PINOCCHIO
Psychological training. A test of
mental strength. The Labyrinth was
designed to gauge a soldier's emotional
response to a no-win situation.
HOBBES
No-win?
PINOCCHIO
You know, you got a real bad habit
of repeating everything I say.
HOBBES
Seems like the only way to get any
answers out of you.
(beat)
If it's unbeatable, how do you get
out?
PINOCCHIO
You lose.
HOBBES
How's that?
PINOCCHIO
The only way out is to lose.
HOBBES
And how do you lose?
PINOCCHIO
Not how. What.
HOBBES
Okay, then WHAT do you lose?
Pinocchio turns back to Hobbes with a grave look of impending defeat.
PINOCCHIO
Your mind.
TIME CUT:
INT. RED-BRICK HALLWAY
The trio traverses a corridor; Pinocchio leads the parade, with Hobbes following, and Florence bringing up the rear.
PINOCCHIO
For most players, it's a matter of
hours. Some can go on for about a
day; the strongest can go longer,
but not by much. It always feels
like an eternity; minutes stretch
like elastic, and eventually, you
give up trying to count the seconds.
HOBBES
So how do you get out?
PINOCCHIO
You break down. Your mind starts
to give. You don't know what's what
anymore. Nothing makes sense, every-
thing's a blur. Your brainwaves
change from Alpha to Delta patterns
and that's when they pull you out.
AFTER you've lost the ability to tell
the difference between what's real
and what's not.
(beat, smirk)
The worst is; it's not even what's
real and what's not. It's what's
NOT real, and what's LESS real.
HOBBES
Why would Santiago put his soldiers
through that? Why would he create
that kind of a program?
PINOCCHIO
He didn't.
Pinocchio looks back to see the confusion in Hobbes' face.
PINOCCHIO
The U.S. military created it, as part
of the original Harsh Realm project.
It was part of the program code, meant
to test the player's emotional acuity
better than any psych-eval ever could.
To see how a soldier would stand up to
a real-world scenario. A practical
application of theory.
HOBBES
The Pentagon created this?
PINOCCHIO
(looks at Hobbes)
You know, you're not quite as simple
as they say.
(looks away)
It was a throw-away. Too many people,
too many minds, and most importantly,
too many dollars were lost over this
to prove it's value, so it got scrapped.
HOBBES
And Santiago salvaged it...
PINOCCHIO
He had the program restored to one of
the empty gamespace pods when he set
up his army. Said that the strongest
mind was one that had already seen its
worst day. If you survived a mental
breakdown, came back from it whole
again, then you were as emotionally
and mentally fit as possible.
HOBBES
Every soldier has to go through this?
PINOCCHIO
Every ENLISTEE. Sixty percent never
made it past basic, and twenty percent
of those who did lost it here.
Pinocchio pauses a moment, then continues:
PINOCCHIO
Santiago's rationale, what he told us
to placate our consciences, was that
a man can lose everything he owns and
still know the fear of losing more.
Take his sanity, and he hits bottom.
Fear is no longer an option, because
there is nothing that he has that has
not already been lost.
HOBBES
What about his life? The fear of death
is still --
PINOCCHIO
Insanity is worse.
HOBBES
How can that possibly -- ?
PINOCCHIO
I wouldn't expect you to understand.
HOBBES
(slighted)
Why not?
Pinocchio clearly doesn't want to get into this.
PINOCCHIO
Hobbes...
HOBBES
You think because you've been stuck
here longer than me, you somehow
earned that chip on your shoulder.
(beat)
Whatever it is; LET IT GO. You're
useless to us if all you can do is
dwell in your own past.
PINOCCHIO
See if you can't climb down from that
pedestal you've spent so much time and
energy putting yourself up on, Hobbes.
You're just another GI here, another
fly in Santiago's ointment.
HOBBES
At least I'm willing to do something.
PINOCCHIO
Yeah; you think you're here to save
Harsh Realm. Congratulations; so do
half the sorry, hopeless bastards we
run into everyday. The only thing
that makes you any different than the
rest of us is your blind idealism.
HOBBES
And what's wrong with that?
PINOCCHIO
Nothing. If you're ready to die
because of it. Half your brain is
stuck in that dreamlife you call the
Real World, and you can't keep your
head straight here because of it.
Hobbes goes silent at the explanation. Pinocchio's right.
The trio continues on, turning a few more corners before Hobbes stops in the middle of the hallway.
HOBBES
If there's no way out of here, why
are we walking?
PINOCCHIO
Because it's something to do.
HOBBES
So is sitting, and it doesn't require
nearly as much energy.
Hobbes drops to the floor, content to sit and wait for an answer. After a moment, Pinocchio returns to him.
PINOCCHIO
Hobbes, get up.
HOBBES
Why?
PINOCCHIO
Because, sitting around isn't gonna
get us anywhere.
HOBBES
Neither is walking around. You said
it yourself. No way out.
PINOCCHIO
This from the insuppressible optimist.
(sarcastically)
I thought you were the sap who found
the good in everything.
HOBBES
I find what good can be found. But
if this game is what you say it is –
if this really is a no-win situation
– then there is no good to be found.
No hope. No escape.
PINOCCHIO
Knock it off, Hobbes. You're start-
ing to sound like me, and it doesn't
fit you.
(Hobbes snorts)
Besides, there may BE a way out.
Hobbes looks to Pinocchio; he gestures for Hobbes to stand.
HOBBES
How?
(Pinocchio doesn't answer)
A glitch? Programming error?
PINOCCHIO
Almost.
HOBBES
What is it then?
PINOCCHIO
Does your fiancé find this demanding
neediness endearing?
Hobbes glares at Pinocchio, but Florence smirks.
PINOCCHIO
It's a jump port.
HOBBES
You just said there WAS no jump port.
PINOCCHIO
Because there's not supposed to be.
(turns, grinning)
I added one.
HOBBES
(laughing)
You cheated?
PINOCCHIO
Damn right I did. I heard one of
the enlistees talking about a rumor
he heard. His brother was a Sergeant
in the Guard, and told him something
about an Unbeatable Maze.
(beat)
So I paid a friend from the Outside
to hack the program and add an exit.
The group turn another corner and see, up ahead, light pouring into the hallway through a doorway on the right.
HOBBES
What's out there?
Pinocchio doesn't answer as he heads for the door.
EXT. WHITE LIGHT
With Pinocchio in the lead, the trio exits the doorway into the vast whiteness we recognize from the teaser. They wander a few steps into the light, almost expectantly.
Hobbes looks around the blank brightness surrounding him, his initial thoughts betraying Pinocchio's information.
HOBBES
We're out?
PINOCCHIO
No.
HOBBES
Then what is THIS?
PINOCCHIO
We're in the core. A gigabyte of
Inactive game space at the center
of the maze. It connects the four
primary playing areas.
Slowly, almost unnoticeably at first, the whiteness begins to fade, a background digitally materializing within it.
HOBBES
What's happening?
PINOCCHIO
Rez up. The core only activates
when someone's inside it.
Soon, our heroes find themselves in a large circular cobblestone portico with wooden walls about ten feet tall and topped with a large white dome. The room contains four doors, each leading into a different section of the maze.
PINOCCHIO
(to himself)
The only part of the game that
doesn't change...
Hobbes wanders away from the group, heading for the door leading into the wood-paneled section. As he approaches the door, though, he catches a glimpse of a set of scratches carved into the wooden frame near the ground.
Hobbes leans down to examine the scratches, sees that they are not the random markings he initially thought. He scrutinizes the carving, which reads "NO WAY OUT - MPW."
HOBBES
Waters...
On Hobbes' words, Florence and Pinocchio join him, leaning in to see what he's found. Florence looks quickly at the words, then to Hobbes for an explanation.
Hobbes watches the engraving for a moment before speaking.
HOBBES
(without looking)
MPW. Melvin Patrick Waters. He was
here; he got out.
Hobbes finally looks to Florence, who only shrugs her to imply she has no clue what to make of their new discovery.
PINOCCHIO
He lost his mind, and the one he got
back wasn't the same.
TIGHT on the engraving: "NO WAY OUT – MPW" as Hobbes looks at it, waiting for it to yield some unseen answer.
FADE TO BLACK
COMMERCIAL III