Trancendence
INT. WILL’S LABORATORY – DAY
Evelyn enters the vast room. Along the walls, we see spiderlike robotic limbs. They perform experiments in cubby hole laboratories, stacked one on top of the other.
HOLOGRAPHIC PROJECTORS light up and-
will appears. A 3-D HOLOGRAM of him. Luminous. A ghost. He guides Evelyn to a table. On it is what looks like a hightech distillery. The machines surround a tank of a GRAPHITELIKE SUBSTANCE.
WILL’S HOLOGRAM
This is what I wanted to show you. It’s the nanotechnology. Fully functional computing machines ..•
A ROBOTIC ARM with a MICROSCOPE positions itself over it. On the LCD wall, Will projects a feed from the microscope. In it, Evelyn sees-
Machines_ Moving in a frenzy.
WILL’S HOLOGRAM (CONT’D) The size of blood cells. Millions of them. Each of them is a selfaware consciousness. I am them, and they are networked to the whole of me. The applications are limitless.
Evelyn looks up to Will’s hologram.
WILL’S HOLOGRAM (CONT’D) They can act as synthetic stem cells. I’ll be able to move past the blood-brain barrier and organize the neurology of the clone.
Evelyn stares at the microscopic machines. Fascinated.
EVELYN It’s a miracle.
WILL’S HOLOGRAM
There’s so much we’ll be able to do.
INT. DINER – NIGHT
The title page of a worn document: REVOLUTIONARY INDEPENDENCE FROM TECHNOLOGY. Three tweekers, JIM, PARSONS, and QUAKE, sip coffee. Jim taps the RIFT manifesto compulsively.
JIM
You can’t read about ’em. Nothin’ on TV. But machines can’t stop people from talking. The RIFT is right. Now … This lady. Evelyn. Nobody knows what she’s building. And nobody wants to know as long as she’s paying … Right?
Jim nods his head to where Martin stands at the counter, pulling a wad of cash from his pocket to pay the bill.
Jim glances back to Quake.
EXT. DINER – NIGHT
Martin moves for his truck. The tweekers follow. Sensing them behind him, Martin makes an improvised weapon by splaying his car keys through his knuckles. He readies himself. And turns-
As Jim kicks him in the knee. Martin falls. Jim keeps kicking ..• and kicking ••. He doesn’t stop, not even after Quake gets Martin’s cash. A SECURITY CAMERA watches.
EXT. WILL’S FACILITY – NIGHT
Evelyn races outside with a MEDIC. WORKERS pull Martin’s bloody and battered body out of their truck. The medic hurries to check Martin’s vitals.
Evelyn takes a step closer to see-
Martin’s body. Beaten beyond recognition. She turns away. Above her, one of Will’s camera’s watches. She looks into it. Thinking, she springs into motion-
INT. WILL’S FACILITY – NIGHT
Martin’s beaten body is strapped to a gurney. Evelyn wheels it through. The medic follows, suspicious. Carla, Glen, and other employees follow them. The SECURITY DOOR to Will’s lab opens.
CARLA
You’re taking him into your lab?
EVELYN
We can save him here.
Evelyn wheels Martin in. The security door closes after her.
INT. WILL’S LABORATORY – NIGHT
Will’s hologram stands at a medical examination table as she pushes Martin in. Evelyn tries to transfer Martin to the table, but he’s too heavy.
WILL’S HOLOGRAM Let me help you.
Evelyn watches ROBOTIC ARMS uncoil from above her. They lift Martin onto the table. Others, with SURGICAL TOOLS, begin prepping Martin’s body for an unknown procedure.
The machines work with unnerving speed. Evelyn’s breathing goes shallow. The machines slow. AWare of her fear.
WILL’S HOLOGRAM (CONT’D) You’ll be more comfortable outside.
Evelyn turns and heads for the door. Behind her, the machines continue working on Martin.
EXT. WILL’S FACILITY – NIGHT
Evelyn steps outside. The security door to the lab LOCKS behind her. The assembled employees watch her. Suspicious.
GLEN
Why aren’t you taking him to a hospital?
EVELYN
We’re going to save him.
Evelyn moves past them. The employees looks at each other. Glen pulls her close to whisper-
GLEN
And by “we” you mean you and your dead husband?
Evelyn spins to face them.
EVELYN
Glen .•. He. We … We want to save Martin, okay? We can do this.
She walks away.
INT. WILL’S LABORATORY – NIGHT
The robotic arms move with speed and precision over Martin. A transfusion tube pumps NANOTECHNOLOGY into his lifeless body.
INT. EVELYN’S RESIDENCE – NIGHT
Evelyn stares through the transparent walls at the facility. The construction has stopped.
EVELYN
How is he?
WILL IN THE WALLS Nothing yet.
Evelyn turns back to the view. Everything is still. Waiting.
EXT. WILL’S FACILITY – DAY
Evelyn walks up to a construction site, full of idle WORKERS. She plants her feet. Takes in their angry stares. JOHN, the foreman, stands and hands her a letter.
EVELYN What’s this?
JOHN
A letter of resignation.
EVELYN
I don’t get it, John. You know we’re a good company. Doing good things. And we take care of you.
JOHN
It’s not about the money Mrs. Caster ••• It’s not right what you’re doing with Martin.
(MORE)
JOHN (CONT’D) (Gesturing to the workers) They feel the same. I’m sorry.
Evelyn watches John and the men walk away. All of them.
EXT. THE DESERT VALLEY – NIGHT
Evelyn wanders the emptiness, staring at Will’s facility. It shines with a ghostly light in the darkness.
INT. WILL’S LABORATORY – NIGHT
The robotic arms work on Martin. His eyes are open. He cranes his neck to watch the robotic arms operate on him. He shows no emotion or pain at all.
EXT. WILL’S FACILITY – DAY
Evelyn, the only person in sight, enters the facility.
INT. WILL’S FACILITY – DAY
Evelyn’s alone in the giant space. The scientists and engineers are gone. She spots Carla and Glen, staring out a window. They’re scared. As she comes closer, curious, Carla points at something outside. Evelyn looks out at-
EXT. WILL’S FACILITY – DAY
Martin. Whole and healthy. Working at a new site. Alone.
Evelyn approaches him, cautious.
Martin moves to a stack of steel plates and lifts one with his bare hands. Easily 500 pounds. He carries the steel onto the new foundation and SLAMS it into position.
Evelyn watches, eyes wide. He doesn’t look at her as he says-
MARTIN
You’re not afraid, are you?
