The Thirteenth Floor INT. HOTEL ROOM-MIGHT 1930 L.A. Fuller writes a letter FULLER They say, "Ignorance is bliss." For the first time in my life, I agree. I wish I had never uncovered the awful truth. I know now. once they find out, they will try to silence me. That is why I've written this all down for you in this letter. You*re the only one whom I can tell this to. The only one who could possibly understand. Good luck, my friend. INT. HOTEL-NIGHT CLARK I hope you enjoyed your stay with us. GENE Mr. Fuller, nice having you here tonight. Your usual table? FULLER No thanks. Gene. ASHTON Her name's Erika. She's from Toledo. FULLER Ashton, would you do me a favor? ASHTON You'd like to meet her? FULLER I want you to keep this letter. Somebody will ask for it. A man named Douglas Hall. Remember, it's crucial that he receives it. ASHTON It's a walk in the park. EXT. OUTSIDE THE HOTEL-NIGHT DRIVER Going home, Mr. Fuller? FULLER Yes, Charlie. INT HOME BEDROOM- NIGHT WOMAN We're out of cat food. FULLER Yes, I'll buy some in the morning. WOMAN You've been smoking again. INT. COMPUTER ROOM -NIGHT 2000 COMPUTER Download complete. Link to simulation terminated. INT. BAR- NIGHT BARTENDER One martini. FULLER You forgot the olive. BARTENDER We're out of olives. How about some pretzels? FULLER No thank you. PHONE Please leave a message at the tone. FULLER Douglas, it's me. Listen, I've stumbled onto something incredible. This changes everything. EXT. OUTSIDE THE BAR -NIGHT FULLER I don't know. I don't even know how to begin. What are you doing? INT. DOUGLAS'S HOUSE- MORNING PHONE You have new messages. You have 3 new messages. PHONE First new message Five twenty-five a.m. HILLARY Douglas, it's Hilary. Don't forget to call Marshall. Legal is screaming for the contract. I'll have a notary come to the office at lunch. PHONE Next new message Five forty-eight a.m. HILLARY It's me again. Please call me as soon as you get up. PHONE Next new message Six thirteen a.m. McBAIN Mr. Douglas Hall, this is Detective McBain, LAPD. I'd appreciate a callback, please. My phone number is 555-7876. INT.POLICE OFFICE - MORNING BERNTEIN I'm Detective Zev Bernstein. Sorry to drag you out of bed so early. This is Detective McBain. McBAIN Mr. Hall? Thanks for coming down. DOUGLAS Where is he? McBAIN Can I get you some coffee? DOUGLAS No. McBAIN We found him in an alley at Spring and Grand. Looks like he ran into some guy who wasn't just asking for a quarter. Carved him up like a ham. Took everything Wallet, credit cards. Got a real kick out of it. What's your connection to the old man? DOUGLAS I worked with him for 6 years. He was may boss. My friend. McBAIN Hey, cigarette? DOUGLAS I don't smoke. McBAIN We found these on him. Traced the prescription. According to his doctor. Fuller listed you to call in case of medical emergencies. He had no next of kin? DOUGLAS No he didn't. McBAIN Sure? DOUGLAS I think he would've told me. McBAIN Have any idea who killed him? DOUGLAS Everybody liked him. McBAIN Mind if I tag along? Or we can continue in my office, if that's more convenient. DOUGLAS That's fine. McBain, What do you do for a paycheck, anyway? DOUGLAS Computer software. Would you mind taking care of the car this morning? McBAIN Must make some decent bucks, huh? DOUGLAS I make a living. INT. FULLER'S OFFICE -MORNING DOUGLAS This was his apartment. McBAIN You could be home already. DOUGLAS What? McBAIN I see these signs every time I leave work - " You could be home already. Apartment living in downtown." Never expected it could look anything like this. DOUGLAS This company was Fuller's life. He worked and lived here. McBAIN So what exactly do your people do here? DOUGLAS I don't think you wouldn't be interested. McBAIN I'm paid to be interested. DOUGLAS Computer research. Fuller was onto a whole new frontier. Very sensitive material. Not at liberty to discuss it. McBAIN A lot of money involved. This apartment must be worth a few million dollars. DOUGLAS One of the perks of the job. McBAIN This job has a whole lot of perks. (A woman comes in) DOUGLAS Can I help you? JANE I just talked to him 2 days ago. I can't believe he' gone. My name is Jane Fuller. Hannon was my father. DOUGLAS I'm sorry. I'm Douglas Hall. JANE You are the one he always wanted me to meet. DOUGLAS Really? He never mentioned to me that he had a daughter. JANE he didn't? I just arrived from Paris this morning. I was supposed to meet him. But then I heard. McBAIN My condolences, Miss Fuller. I'm Detective McBain, LAPD. I have to ask you some questions. JANE of course. McBAIN Would you excuse us, Mr. Hall? DOUGLAS Sure. Have we ever met before? JANE No, that's not possible. DOUGLAS You look very familiar. Nice to meet you, Miss Fuller. INT. THE 13TH FLOOR DOUGLAS Hey, Whitney. How you doing? WHITNEY Sliced him up like an animal. And for what? He was the Einstein of our generation. It's a waste. DOUGLAS What the hell happened while I was away? WHITNEY He was jacking into the system a lot. DOUGLAS What? WHITNEY I thought you knew. You didn't know? DOUGLAS No, I thought we were months away from the first trial run. WHITNEY We are. But you know, he was taking a big chance. What was I supposed to do? You know how he is. DOUGLAS Any complications? WHITNEY None that I know of yet. DOUGLAS Did he ever tell you he had a daughter? WHITNEY Why? DOUGLAS Because I just met her. WHITNEY You're kidding me. INT. OFFICE ROBBY DOUGLAS John, I need the number of that cab company. GUARD No need, sir. She went to the Omni Hotel. INT. THE 13TH FLOOR WHITNEY Doug? McBAIN Detective McBain. Sorry to disappoint you. WHITNEY I'll find Doug. McBAIN Actually it's you I want to have a few word with. WHITNEY What for? McBAIN Want me to catch your boss's killer? WHITNEY Of course. McBAIN The whole thing's a giant computer game? WHITNEY No not at all, it doesn't need a user to interact with it to function. Its units are fully-formed, self-learning cyber beings. McBAIN Units? WHITNEY Electronic, simulated characters. They populate the system. They think they work, they eat, McBAIN They fuck? WHITNEY Let's just say that they're modeled after us. Right now we have a working prototype Los Angeles, circa 1937. McBAIN Why '37? WHITNEY Fuller wanted to start by recreating the era of his youth. You see, while my mind is jacked in, I'm walking around experiencing 1937. My body stays here and holds the consciousness of the program link unit. McBAIN You think one of them units crawled up an extension cord and killed its maker? INT. HOTEL ROBBY DOUGLAS Miss Fuller checked in yet? DOUGLAS Glad I caught you. JANE Mr. Hall. What are you doing here. DOUGLAS Well, it's about your father. Actually. You said you spoke with him a few days ago. Can you tell me anything about that conversation? Did he seem strange to you at all? JANE Well, he'd been under a lot of stress lately. He asked me to fly to the States, so I could help with the company. DOUGLAS Help him run it? JANE Shut it down. DOUGLAS I worked with him for 6 years. If he wanted to shut it down, he would've told me about it. JANE He didn't tell you about me. But I wish he had. MAN It's nice to see you again. JANE Sorry I'm late. Have you had a chance to look through the paperwork? MAN Yes, I have. And I think we have a very strong case. The company should be yours in no time. JANE What do you mean strong case? MAN What I'm saying is , your father changed his will in favor of the employees. In fact you aren't mentioned in the original will either. But as I said, I think we have a very strong case. JANE Who will heard the board now? MAN Douglas Hall. McBAIN Not bad. Owner of a &2 billion enterprise. Strange, Fuller would amend his will just a couple days before he died. DOUGLAS I was on a airplane when it happened. McBAIN According to the security guard, Fuller left the office at ten- thirty p.m., 30 minutes after your plane arrived. Autopsy shows that he died around midnight. You had time to catch up with him. DOUGLAS But I didn't. I went straight home. McBAIN Didn't talk to him? No, e-mails, no faxes, no even message? DOUGLAS None of the above. McBAIN You know, that's funny. We checked Fuller's phone records. He made a call with his calling card at 11:02p.m.b Your home number. I'd appreciate it if you didn't leave for a couple of days. And get that game fixed. It*s missing a spring. INT. HALL'S APARTMENT PHONE Restore. To restore messages, press "rewind" now. Yesterday at two forty-five p.m. MAN I managed to reschedule... PHONE Yesterday at 5:14p.m. MAN Hello, Mr. Hall PHONE Yesterday at 11:02p.m. FULLER Douglas, it's me. Listen, I've stumbled onto something incredible. This changed everything. I'm here in some bar on Main and 7th. In case something happens to me, I left you a massage in the system. I gave it to.. How did you find me? INT. THE 13TH FLOOR WHITNEY What's going on? DOUGLAS I'm trying to get into Fuller's files. WHITNEY For what? DOUGLAS He left a message for me the night he died. He knew someone wanted to kill him. WHITNEY Did you tell the police? DOUGLAS No. WHITNEY Why not? DOUGLAS He also said he left a message for me. WHITNEY Douglas, please. This is my stuff, okay? DOUGLAS So these are the units that Fuller interacted with when he was down there. Maybe he wanted me to go in. WHITNEY If you're thinking what I think you're thinking. Don't even think about it. DOUGLAS I need your help. WHITNEY No, no, no. I won't help you. You're taking a serious risk. DOUGLAS I have to get in. WHITNEY you could die. DOUGLAS The police think I killed him. They may be right. WHITNEY What are you talking about? DOUGLAS Everything points to me. To be perfectly honest, I don't know the truth is anymore. Either I did murder Fuller and I can' t remember, or I'm being framed. The one clue I have is in that machine. I need your help if I'm going to find it. WHITNEY I'll set it for an hour. DOUGLAS Set the timer for 120 minutes. WHITNEY Set for 60 is better. DOUGLAS 120 minutes, Whit. WHITNEY 60 is safer. I'm setting it at 60. DOUGLAS Whit, 1-2-0. COMPUTER 120 minutes. Engage timer. Preparing user for download into simulation. Ready for download. DOUGLAS Mr. Grierson, 117 West Whinston, Pasadena. COMPUTER Transference beginning. Download complete. INT. BANK 1937 L.A. DAY WOMAN You owe me $12.05. Listen young man! I do not have all day. CLARK Ferguson, anything wrong? John, are you okay? CLARK I'm terribly sorry, ma'am. Someone will be right with you. CLARK John? Cigarette? DOUGLAS No, thanks. Don't smoke. CLARK Since when? Listen John. Why don't you break for lunch? Get some fresh air. You look terrible. EXT. STREET DAY BOY Extra! Extra! Zeppelin blast kills 35! You want one, mister? It's 5 cents. DOUGLAS How much to Pasadena? DRIVER 90 cents. If I forget to turn the meter on. DOUGLAS I understand. DRIVER So this is it, 177 Whinston. DOUGLAS It's gonna be a few minutes. Do you mind waiting? DRIVER It'll be a pleasure, sir. INT. BOOK STORE DAY GRIERSON Tell me if you need any help. DOUGLAS Thank you. You own this place? GRIERSON I mean, it's not much but it's mine. You looking for anything in particular? DOUGLAS Interested in a scientist. Wrote a couple of books about semiconductors and the limitation of the 64-bit microchip. GRIERSON Microchip. Semiconductors. What year? DOUGLAS : Early seventies? His name was Hannon Fuller. GRIERSON Hannon Fuller. 1870. No I can't say I've ever heard of Hannon Fuller. 1870, Microchips. But I'm not much of a technical person, you know. You been here before? You look kind of familiar. DOUGLAS name's Douglas Hall. GRIERSON Douglas Hall. It doesn't ring a bell. Guess you just have one of those faces familiar faces. Oh, it's late. I'd like to close up now. DOUGLAS Of course. Pleasure. GRIERSON Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hall. EXT. 1257 Palo Alto Road DAY DRIVER 1257 Palo Alto Road, la Cienega Heights. I guess that's it. DOUGLAS Excuse me. I'm looking for Bridget Manilla. WOMAN What do you want her for? DOUGLAS I want to ask her some questions. WOMAN She's got a job now. I'm her mother. DOUGLAS Can you tell me where I can find her? WOMAN You a copper? DOUGLAS No. WOMAN Now, listen. She ain't doing nothing wrong no more. If you don't cause her no trouble, you'll find her at Wilshire Grand Hotel. INT. WILSHIRE GRAND HOTEL DOUGLAS I'm looking for Bridget Manilla. WOMAN She's over there, second from the end. DOUGLAS Bridget? I got your name from a good friend of mine. BRIDGET Come bask later. I'm really busy right now. DOUGLAS his name's fuller. BRIDGET The manager's very tough on us. You'll have to wait till I'm off duty. DOUGLAS I really don't think I can wait that long. BRIDGET Go talk to Ashton over at the bar. INT. BAR COUNTER DOUGLAS Excuse me. I'm looking for Ashton. BARTENDER Right there. Ashton, some guy wants you. ASHTON You're a lucky man. I just opened. Oh my. Something wrong? DOUGLAS Bridget just sent me over here. ASHTON What can I do you for? DOUGLAS You know a gentleman named Hannon Fuller? ASHTON Gin martini up, one olive and likes them frigid as an Eskimo. DOUGLAS talked to him recently? ASHTON Why? DOUGLAS I'm his friend. He didn't come home last night. And his wife is concerned. My name is Douglas hall. ASHTON Concerned wives? I can't help you with that. How about something fancy? DOUGLAS So did... Does Fuller come here frequently? ASHTON You could say that. DOUGLAS What does he do? ASHTON What everybody does Drinks, dances, has a good time. Especially has a good time. He really goes for the girls. DOUGLAS Girls? ASHTON Thought you said you knew him. DOUGLAS Yeah, I thought I did. ASHTON Are you in a hurry or something? DOUGLAS Didn't happen to talk to Fuller the night before last, did you? ASHTON Yes, I did. DOUGLAS Did he mention my name? Did he give you something for me? ASHTON What would that be? DOUGLAS A message or a note, maybe. ASHTON No, sorry. DOUGLAS Did you see him talking to anybody else? ASHTON I'm a very busy man. Listen, if you like, I can arrange something for you too. You see anything you want? DOUGLAS Can you tell me where the bathroom is , please? INT. THE 13TH FLOOR WHITNEY You all right? You sure? All right, take it easy. Hey, man. Take it easy. I told you, 120 minutes. It's too long. You're really pushing your luck. DOUGLAS What happened? WHITNEY The memory transference with your link it froze. Started overlapping! Thought I'd be shooting hoops with Ferguson for the rest of my life. INT. THE BAR 1973 FERGUSON You got a smoke? ASHTON Sure. FERGUSON Thank you. Mind if I ask you a question? Can you tell me where I am? INT. THE 13TH FLOOR WHITNEY It works? DOUGLAS Oh, it works. WHITNEY How about Anston? My bartender? DOUGLAS He's got much better haircut than you. Much better. WHITNEY I wish I could see it for myself. How's the lighting? Textures? DOUGLAS Colorization needs work, but the units don't notice. WHITNEY What are they like? DOUGLAS They're as real as you and me. WHITNEY You see the old man was right! All those years of work! Did you find out what he was doing there? DOUGLAS Yeah, He was having sex with girls. WHITNEY You're kidding me. GUARD Excuse me , Mr. Hall? A man in the lobby says he needs to talk to you. DOUGLAS Thanks. Have him call my office in the morning. GUARD He says it's urgent. He's a friend of Mr. Fuller's INT. LOBBY DOUGLAS You're a friend of Fuller's? TOM You're Hall, right? DOUGLAS How can I help you, Mr. Tom Jones. You know, like the singer. How about some privacy? DOUGLAS What do you want to talk about? TOM About the night the old man died. DOUGLAS I'll be right back, Joe. INT. THE GARAGE DOUGLAS So where'd you meet Fuller? TOM in my bar the other night. Waiting for you. DOUGLAS Is that what you wanted to talk to me about? TOM I want to talk about money now. Something in the seven figures. DOUGLAS What money? TOM Come on. You think you can get away with it? DOUGLAS Get away with what? TOM You took the old man, asshole! Listen to me. He was at the bar. You pick him up, leave together. Next day he's an obit. You do the math, asshole! INT.CAR NIGHT RAIN CLARK Omni Hotel. How can I help you? DOUGLAS Miss Jane Fuller, please. JANE hello? Who is this? INT. HOTEL NIGHT DOUGLAS The night your father was killed, he tried to reach me. He wanted to meet at some bar. JANE What for? DOUGLAS He left someone was after him. JANE Did you talk to him? DOUGLAS I know how strange this sounds. I can't remember. JANE What do you mean, you can't remember? Did you talk to the detective about this? DOUGLAS No, but the bartender will, if I don't pay up. I know how crazy this sounds. JANE You can't just plug your brain into this machine and not expect to be affected by it please walk away from this before you get hurt too. DOUGLAS Why do I get the feeling we've met before? JANE Maybe, we have, in another life. DOUGLAS What are you doing in Paris? What*s that other life like? JANE I don't want to talk about it. DOUGLAS Why not? JANE I guess I don't want you to lose interest in me. DOUGLAS You don't have to worry about that. JANE Let's dance. DOUGLAS Me? Mo, no. JANE Yes, come on. DOUGLAS I buy all my shoes in left pairs. JANE It's easy. I'll show you the steps. You're doing pretty good for a man with no right foot. DOUGLAS must've picked it up in another life. JANE You know that feeling you have that we met before? It's the same with me. DOUGLAS Why is that? JANE They say that deja vu is usually a sign of love at first sight. INT. BEDROOM McBAIN Don't make any sudden moves. What it's usually all about. Murder. INT. POLICE OFFICE McBAIN Is that your car? DOUGLAS Those are my plates. McBAIN No, shit? That's from a security camera in your garage in your office building the night Fuller was killed. DOUGLAS I'm not sure. I don't understand. McBAIN That makes one of us. Fuller wants to shut down the project, and you sliced him up. DOUGLAS I think it's time I call my attorney. McBAIN You say you left your office at 10. DOUGLAS I was working late with Whitney. I told you that. McBAIN Anybody with you? DOUGLAS No. McBAIN You're picking up bad habits left and right. DOUGLAS Must be the stress. McBAIN Then you'll need a carton. Mane's Tom Jones. Said he saw your picture in the news paper. Said you looked like the guy Fuller left the bar with that night. We took his statement. Said we'd be in touch. Someone reached out and touched him first. INT. JAIL COP Looks like you found an alibi. You're free to go for now. INT. CAR DOUGLAS What did you tell him? JANE The truth. We met for a drink, one thing led to another, we spent the night together. Your picture was on the news. He saw you and thought you were good for quick cash. DOUGLAS I saw the pictures. The guy was slaughtered. JANE He was an ex- con. Who knows what else he did. DOUGLAS Just because I don't remember it doesn't mean I didn't do it. JANE You're not a killer. DOUGLAS Your father stumbled onto something. He left me a message that has something to do with this. JANE So what are you going to do? DOUGLAS Jack back in and find out. EXT. OUTSIDE THE BOOK STORE IN 1937 GRIERSON I'll call the police. DOUGLAS I need to talk to you! GRIERSON I told you! I'll call the police. DOUGLAS Listen! I know why you pass out from time to time. I know why you wake up and have no idea where you are. What did you do 3 nights ago? Any idea? INT. THE BOOK STORE DOUGLAS When did it first happen? GRIERSON First time? About 4 weeks ago. DOUGLAS And the last episode was 3 nights ago? It lasts for about 2 hours? GRIERSON My wife thinks I have some kind of secret love life. DOUGLAS What about memory flashes, deja vu? GRIERSON I was in World War I. I'm still having these nightmares. DOUGLAS I'm talking about fantasies. GRIERSON I do have them. DOUGLAS In these fantasies, you're having sex with young girls. GRIERSON When I wake up, I even have a perfume smell all over me. DOUGLAS Real or imagined? GRIERSON According to my wife, it's pretty real. I found this. A couple of days ago. DOUGLAS Your size? GRIERSON I'm married over 35 years now. And not once have I cheated on my wife. Not once. DOUGLAS Let's have a drink. EXT. OUTSIDE HOTEL NIGHT DOUGLAS You've been here before? GRIERSON No, I can't afford places like this. DOUGLAS my treat. BELL BOY Good evening, Mr. Fuller. DOUGLAS That's you. INT. HOTEL CLARK Excuse me, sir. Members only. CLARK Mr. Fuller, your usual table? DOUGLAS Of course. GRIERSON He is with me. GIRL Hi, honey bear. I'll be with you in 5 minutes. DOUGLAS Let's talk, " honey bear" You remember her? GRIERSON Of course not. She's mistaken me for someone else. Or someone else. DOUGLAS I want you to look around and tell me what you remember. GRIERSON I don't know, Mr. Hall. I'd rather go home. I don't feel very well. DOUGLAS You have the feeling you've been here before? Please try to remember. Do you recognized anybody? GRIERSON I'm trying. DOUGLAS Her? What's her name? GRIERSON I think her name Erika, I believe. I believe her name is Erika. DOUGLAS Do you remember did you talk to her? GRIERSON I'm not sure. And that one looks familiar too. DOUGLAS Bridget. Her name's Bridget. GRIERSON Bridget. Oh Yes. I remember Bridget. DOUGLAS Did you give her something to give me? Did you give her a letter or a note? GRIERSON The man behind the bar. You're right. I wrote a letter. And gave it to him. INT. THE BASEMENT ASHTON You looking for anything special? What are you? DOUGLAS My name's Ferguson. I'm a bank teller. ASHTON I'm Clark Gable. I talked to the Ferguson guy. He doesn't know a thing. I need to talk to Fuller. DOUGLAS He's upstairs. ASHTON Cut the crap! You think I don't know what's going in? I need to see him I need to talk to him again. DOUGLAS You read the letter. I need to know what's in the letter. ASHTON Everything. When I read it, I thought it was a gag. The world's a sham. Fat chance. but I'm not stupid, Mr. Hall. I watched you and Ferguson do the old switcheroo. That stuff about going to " the ends of the earth" DOUGLAS What stuff? ASHTON I did exactly what the letter said. I chose a place I'd never go to. I tried to drive to Tucson. I figured, what the hell. Never been to the countryside. And I took that car out on the highway. I was going over 50 through that desert. After a while, it was the only car on the road. It was just me, the heat and the dust. I did exactly what the letter said. "Don't follow any road signs and don't stop for anything. Not even barricades." But just when I should've been getting closer to the city. Something wasn't right. There was no movement, no life. Everything was still and quiet. And then I got out of the car. And what I saw scared me to the depths of my miserable soul. It was true. It was all a sham. It ain't real. DOUGLAS Why would Fuller write about the limitations of the simulation? I know them. ASHTON I'm asking the questions now. I want to know why would you put us through this? Why are you fucking with our minds? DOUGLAS You weren't supposed to find out. ASHTON Well I did. Now I want you to show me what is real. Is this real? Is that real blood? How do you like having your life fucked with? DOUGLAS Damn, what's going on? Where's the letter? INT. THE 13Th FLOOR WHITNEY Snap out of it. You won't hit me again? DOUGLAS Did you yank me back? WHITNEY Yeah, barely, man. Just barely. You didn't start the timer. It couldn't engage. What are you doing this alone for anyway? DOUGLAS He tried to kill me. WHITNEY Who? DOUGLAS Ashton. WHITNEY Jesus! DOUGLAS he found out his world isn't real. This is a mistake. This whole project, this experiment. We are screwing with people's lives! WHITNEY Now you're talking crazy. I know you just had a bad fucking trip. DOUGLAS Bad fucking trip? These people are real. They are as real as you and me. WHITNEY Yeah, that's because we designed them that way. In the end, they're just a bunch of electronic circuits. DOUGLAS I tell you something else. I'm shutting this bad fucking trip right down. I'm telling everybody tomorrow. WHITNEY You can't do that. You're talking about 6 years of our lives. All of us. You can't just pull the plug and go home. INT.HOTEL ROBBY DOUGLAS I'm looking for Jane Fuller. Receptionist I'm sorry, she's no longer with us. McBAIN the lady vanished. Any idea where to? DOUGLAS Why would I? McBAIN Hannon Fuller doesn't have a daughter. I think I made the age-old mistake. "Never trust a beautiful woman." DOUGLAS Who is she, then? McBAIN We don't know. It took us a couple days to contact the French authorities. Guess what? They never heard of her either. EXT.OUTSIDE THE HOTEL DOUGLAS Do you remember me? Miss Fuller checked out. Did you drive her anywhere? I'm looking for her. DRIVER No can do. Company rules. EXT. DOUGLAS Hello! My name's Douglas hall. I'm looking for a young woman named Jane Fuller. WOMAN I think you picked the wrong house. DOUGLAS Maybe she's going under another name. She's about 5'8". Blonde hair. WOMAN What do you want from her? INT. SUPER MARKET DOUGLAS Excuse me, I'm looking for Natasha Molinaro. CLARK Over there on register 4. NATASHA $7.01 Just slide it through. Want cash back? DOUGLAS No. NATASHA Why don't you take a picture? It'll last longer. DOUGLAS Must be deja vu or something. NATASHA Paper or plastic? DOUGLAS plastic. NATASHA there you go. EXT.OUTSIDE THE SUPER MARKET NATASHA Mr. Hall. You forgot your credit card. DOUGLAS Thanks. NATASHA No problem. DOUGLAS Sorry about staring at you in there. You must get that a lot. NATASHA Yeah, but mostly from the wrong kinds of guys. You're not from here, are you? DOUGLAS What makes you ask? NATASHA Well, it's just I don't know I just had this funny feeling that we met before. DOUGLAS Maybe in another life. NATASHA yeah, I guess that would explain it. Anyway, I got to get back to my daily grind, so. Maybe I'll see you around sometime. INT. THE SUPERMARKET NATASHA 7.28 Out of 10. Here's your change. Thank you very much. McBAIN Thank you. COP Natasha Molinaro.. 27 single. Changes job like other change underwear. Came from Austin, Texas, made some money modeling. Left school without a degree. Her roommate has no idea what she was doing yesterday or the day before. Looks like Molinaro doesn't have an alibi. McBAIN What else did the roommate say? COP Says lately, Natasha hasn't been feeling well. She's been having some sort of amnesia attacks. Going out all night sleeping all day. Thought she was using drugs. McBAIN Did she have a history of drugs? COP Nope. She's clean. McBAIN Hey Bernie? Good work. JANE look, I can explain. I'm sorry. I need to see you Fuller' office. DOUGLAS I know the truth. JANE Where are you? DOUGLAS You could call it the end of the world. INT. THE OFFICE DOUGLAS How many simulated worlds like this are there? JANE Thousands. Yours is the only one that ever created a simulation within the simulation. Something we never expected. DOUGLAS So you had to kill Fuller. JANE No. I was sent in after his death. I was to pretend to be his daughter, inherit the company. And shut it down. But he tricked us. He changed his will. DOUGLAS If you didn't kill Fuller. Who did? DOUGLAS I stabbed him. JANE But it wasn't you. It was your user. He downloaded into you. Manipulated you. DOUGLAS Like a puppet. JANE A puppet doesn't have a soul. DOUGLAS I can't have a soul any more than Fuller. JANE But you do. Fuller did. That's I never expected that. We programmed this world so no one in it could learn the truth. And you and Fuller did. Don't you see what that means? DOUGLAS There's just one little flaw in your thesis. None of this is real. You pull the plug. I disappear. And nothing I ever say nothing I ever do will ever matter. Why don't you find my user? I'm sure he's a much better catch. JANE I told you about my other life. I was referring to my husband. He's your user. He killed Fuller. DOUGLAS I'm his program link. A reflection of his character profile. I fell in love with a decent man. But he ...something happened to him. He began to use the simulation as his own personal playground. Like Fuller with the girls. He made himself a god, and it corrupted him. he began to enjoy the killings. He became abusive. DOUGLAS What do you mean? I'm not even real. You can fall in love with a dream. JANE You're more real to me than anything I've ever known. EXT. STREET NIGHT Whitney is in1937. COP Nice driving. WHITNEY There was something in the road and I had to swerve and I lost control. COP You drunk? WHITNEY I don't drink. COP License and registration. WHITNEY Look, I didn't jack in I left it at home. COP Why don't you look in the glove box? Need a light? WHITNEY Hey I got it. Here you go. COP You ought to get this car looked at as soon as you can. It's leaking oil. That could be dangerous. Be a little more careful, huh? You want to turn off the car and step out, please? Turn off the car, sir. Right now, please. Open the trunk, please, sir. Hands in the air. Step away from the trunk. WHITNEY Check man, It's Douglas! COP Back up! I said back the hell up! WHITNEY Hey, this is a joke. (Whitney is hit by a car) GUARD Sorry to bother you, Mr. Hall, but Mr. Whitney's in the building and he is acting kind of strange. DOUGLAS Hold on, I'll be right down. INT. DOUGLAS'S BEDROOM JANE This is Jane Fuller. I need to speak with Detective McBain. McBAIN You've got a lot of explaining to do. Or should I say, "Miss Molinaro"? INT. The 13th FLOOR DOUGLAS How are you doing? ASHTON All these pictures, this is your world? I never imagined it could be so beautiful. DOUGLAS How did you do it? ASHTON ...thing I remember, I was dumping Ferguson in the trunk. DOUGLAS He jacked in. ASHTON Who's Jack? Hey, what did you do to the world? DOUGLAS Turn it off. ASHTON Put it back. Don't do that! Put it back! What did I do? Where are you? Look at this ! You're really a God. DOUGLAS No Ashton, I'm not really a God. I'm just like you. Just a bunch of electricity. ASHTON What are you talking about? DOUGLAS It's all smoke and mirrors. Just like your world. We're nothing but a simulation on some computer. It's like a machine. Like this arcade game. You've got your players and you put your nickel in. This one pitches. This one runs around the bases. Pre- programmed movements generated by electrical energy. We're improved on this model since then. The players can beat the shit out of and try to drown some other, which is always fun. ASHTON But the letter said DOUGLAS Everything was fake? The letter was meant for me. Fuller was talking about my world. ASHTON So what are you saying? You're saying there's another world on top of this one? DOUGLAS That's right. ASHTON I don't understand. DOUGLAS Fuller found out about it. They killed him. ASHTON Why didn't they kill you? DOUGLAS Maybe they will. Maybe that's why you're pointing a gun at me. I*m sorry, Ashton. We're stuck here. You and me. And the rest of us. ASHTON So this is where I was born. DOUGLAS And this is where you die. DOUGLAS How much longer do you have? JANE 10 minutes. DOUGLAS Hi honey. I'm home. Did you miss me? JANE When did you download into him? DAVID Obviously, not soon enough. JANE I was just doing my job. DAVID Sure you were. JANE He's shutting down the system, isn't he? DAVID Aside from his devilish good looks, what's so special about this guy? JANE He reminds me of you. The way you used to be. I'm still the same. DAVID I'm still the same. JANE No you're not. Why did you butcher those people? DAVID Because it was fun. JANE You've lost your mind. DAVID You're the one who's fucking sick! Falling in love with a fucking simulation. JANE I was just having some fun. Just like you did. DAVID I think you're lying. Just remember, he's a part of me. JANE That's not true. It's okay. Just pretend you're fucking him. JANE Why? DAVID I guess I'm just jealous. McBAIN You're okay? JANE What the hell took you so long? McBAIN How'd you know he7d try to kill you? JANE I knew when he was planning to download. He's dead? McBAIN A bullet will do that to you. So, is somebody going to unplug me now? Do me a favor, will you? When you get back to wherever you come from just leave us alone down here, okay? INT INT: 2024 DOUGLAS Where am I? JANE Come, I'll show you. MAN Jane, we're getting hungry! Tell Regina we're waiting for lunch. JANE Okay dad. My father Fuller was modeled after him. There's so many things I have to tell you about, Doug. THE END