Trancendence
Just tell me where he is and I’ll-
JOSEPH
will isn’t anywhere. He’s everywhere. He’s a ghost in our technology. We can’t arrest him. We can’t trace him or regulate him …
Joseph watches through the glass partition as Evelyn stands and moves out the door.
ANDERSON
But we need to control him.
JOSEPH
No. We can’t. All we can do is wait. And watch.
unnoticed on the table between them, a light indicates the speaker phone has been on the whole time. The phone disconnects.
EXT. WOODED HIGHWAY – DAWN
A tranquil morning on the outskirts of an idyllic town. The stillness is broken by the RUSTY SEDAN pulling up next to a pickup, parked along the side of the road.
Bob climbs out. Opening the trunk, he grabs a length of tUbing. He opens the fuel latch on the truck and begins siphoning gas from it.
I/E. RUSTY SEDAN – DAWN
Bree, in the front seat, keeps a gun on Max. She watches him stare longingly at the small town.
BREE
You know you can’t go back. If you step in front of a traffic camera, an ATM, use a credit card ••• the machine will see you. They’ll kill you. Or put you in prison for life.
Bree looks at the town. Max sees it saddens her.
BREE (CONT’D)
The same with me. And Bob. Every one of us. We can never go back .••
Her emotion disappears as Bob climbs back into the car.
MAX
Where are you taking me?
BREE Off the grid.
Bob starts the car and drives.
EXT. RURAL HIGHWAY – DAY
The rusty sedan speeds toward .•. mountains, towering on the horizon.
EXT. DESERT WASTELAND – DAY
An aerial view of the wide expanse of the Mojave Desert. A lone highway cuts through the sand and stone. Evelyn drives a rented car across the wasteland.
EXT. BRIGHTWOOD – DAY
Nearly abandoned some fifty years ago, the place has buckled to the elements. Evelyn drives through. Takes in the DESERT DREAM HOTEL, which would be condemned if anyone bothered. The HOUSES lining the BROKEN ROADS are little more than frames.
In the more habitable homes, Evelyn spots the CITIZENS of the town. Impoverished. Suspicious. One of them, ROGER, watches from his modified electric wheelchair. He’s forty. ALS has left him almost totally paralyzed.
Driving through, Evelyn lifts a SAT PHONE.
EVELYN
It’s a little out of the way.
WILL ON THE PHONE
Trust me.
Evelyn bounces over potholes to the edge of town. She pulls to a stop and steps out.
There’s junk everywhere. Warped vinyl records, floppy disks, discarded 8-track tapes. She looks into the empty desert.
INT. PORTAKABIN/DESERT CONSTRUCTION SITE – DAY
MARTIN studies BLUEPRINTS at his desk. He’s fifty. Pokerfaced. Evelyn tries to be agreeable with-
EVELYN
You from around here, Martin?
Martin just flips through the highly-detailed designs.
MARTIN
I can’t do it. Not on your time line. It’d take my outfit 20 years to build this.
EVELYN
You’ll have all the help you need.
MARTIN What’s it for?
EVELYN
It’s a data center. For computers.
Martin’s face is granite. Seeing she’s failed to impress him, she slides him a document.
EVELYN (CONT’D) Here’s the proposed budget.
He stares at the document for a moment. Puts on his reading glasses, and takes a closer look. It might be enough.
EXT. MOUNTAIN HIGHWAY – DAY
Bob turns the car onto a path leading into the wilderness.
EXT. RIFT CAMP – DAY
Max climbs out of the rusty sedan with Bree and Bob. Bree gestures for Max to follow.
Old cabins dot the long-abandoned summer camp. Hard men and women live there. They’re armed and make sure Max knows it. Max spots CHILDREN hiding. There’s evidence of agriculture. Hunting. Livestock. These RIFT MILITANTS are survivors.
Everyone stares at Max, their eyes full of accusations. Max walks through them, following Bree.
INT. CABIN – DAY
Bree ushers Max into the hovel. She’s about to say something, then thinks better. She closes the door on her way out.
Max takes in the space. No electricity or plumbing. Max eases onto the surplus cot. He sits there, staring at the particulate matter floating in the amber sunlight.
EXT. RIFT CAMP – NIGHT
RIFT Militants eat around cook-fires. Max stands apart, struggling to light a fire. His suit gives little protection from the chill. His dress shoes are caked with mud.
From one of the fires, Bree and Bob watch Max struggle.
BOB
It’s been three days. Think he’s getting hungry yet?
Bob goes back to eating. Bree stands, moves to Max’s fire, and sets down a bowl of stew for him. He doesn’t take it.
BREE
You can’t go back to civilization. You can’t survive the wild. Not on your own. Not yet. You can’t even light a fire.
He refuses to look at her. She steps closer.
BREE (CONT’D)
We need you to help us fight this madness. And make no mistake, the machine is insane. When Mike Lacy uploaded the rhesus monkey, do you know what it did when it woke up? It screamed. The machine that thought it was a monkey never took a breath, never ate or slept. It just screamed. For six months straight.
(MORE)
BREE (CONT’D)
When they finally unplugged it, they called it a phenomenal success.
He looks up at her, full of hate.
MAX
You’re a murderer. A terrorist.
BREE
I’m a soldier. And now you are, too. You don’t need to forgive me. We don’t need to be friends. But we have a common enemy. And we need each other to fight it.
She moves back to Bob. Max stares at the stew. He takes it.
EXT. VARIOUS RIFT CAMP LOCATIONS – DAY
Bree guides Max through the camp. Max sees MILITANTS working farmland. Bob runs RECRUITS through an obstacle course. HUNTERS return with game. CHILDREN greet them like heroes. Under a canopy, MEN-AT-ARMS maintain a stockpile of weapons.
MAX It’s not much.
BREE
Wars have been won with less.
Max turns to stare out at the mountains beyond the camp.
EXT. DESERT DREAM HOTEL – DAY
A SEMI TRUCK rolls past the newly-renovated hotel. Evelyn struggles to carry loads of computer hardware into a room. Two similarly overburdened scientists, CARLA and GLEN, follow. It’s a job interview. They yell as semis ROAR by.
