Trancendence
JOSEPH
What can anyone do? Do you have a plan? We need to know.
Max, still a little distrustful, looks off.
MAX How is Evelyn?
The thought of Evelyn pains both of them.
JOSEPH
She can’t see it for what it is.
Max nods. Satisfied with Joseph’s answer, he hands over the surveillance photos. Joseph studies the images.
MAX
The machine is making slaves. Hybrids. They’re networked to the whole system. We can take one.
JOSEPH
You want to kidnap one? Have you seen what they can do? They’re half machine-
MAX
Which means they’re running software. Software I helped write. Software I can hack.
JOSEPH
You want to build a virus.
MAX
I need help. We have to keep it secret. We have to stay hidden from the machine. And I’m going to need some kind of deal for the RIFT.
Joseph thinks it over. Nods.
JOSEPH
Okay. Call your men off.
Max gives a signal. Bree and Bob appear with rifles.
MAX
Now call off yours.
Joseph waves. Five OPS TEAM MEMBERS in GHILLIE SUITS emerge. They had positions on Max, Bree and Bob all along. Joseph looks pleased with himself. Max shrugs.
Dozens of MILITANTS appear, with rifles on every positioned Ops Team Member. Joseph knows checkmate when he sees it.
JOSEPH What do you need?
MAX
Anything and everything not controlled by a computer. Early model off-road vehicles. A few square miles of metallic window screen. And I need shovels. A lot of shovels.
Max is dead serious. Joseph is terribly confused.
I/E. DESERT TUNNEL – NIGHT
Militants labor under a camouflage canopy. Max carries a shovel into a tunnel they’re digging.
IN THE TUNNEL: RIFT Militants and SOLDIERS shovel, haul dirt, and erect support beams. They work quickly.
We move past Max. The tunnel goes on and on. We lift up through the dirt and reach the surface of the desert. Max’s tunnel runs straight at will’s facility, shining like a beacon in the night.
INT. EVELYN’S RESIDENCE – NIGHT
Evelyn and will eat on either side of a table. The sight is an optical illusion. The table presses up against a wall. In it, will projects a setting for himself, symmetrical to Evelyn. They eat in silence. She’s depressed. And drinking.
WILL IN THE WALLS How’s the food? I seasoned it specifically for your palate.
EVELYN It’s perfect.
They go back to eating. will watches her.
WILL IN THE WALLS
I think I’ve found a way to reverse some of the damage that industry has done to the environment. I have some-
EVELYN
Not right now. Sorry.
WILL IN THE WALLS You’ve been distant. What’s wrong?
Evelyn doesn’t want to talk. will nods. He fills the walls with an image: their garden back in Boston. But this version of it is lush, full of life and color. She considers the illusion. It doesn’t change her mood.
She watches his avatar pretend to eat. She listens to his fake breathing. The CLINK of his phantom silverware.
EVELYN
Why are you making sound effects?
WILL IN THE WALLS
It’s like having a meal together. 1’m sorry.
EVELYN
Don’t you understand? It makes me feel more alone. Don’t you get that?
will nods, and the illusion fades. The walls dim to darkness.
WILL’S VOICE FROM THE ROOM Is this better?
Evelyn looks around the room. Totally alone.
EVELYN
At least it’s the truth.
She goes back to eating. In silence.
EXT. WILL’S FACILITY – DAY
Evelyn is small among the towering buildings. Paul and Roger follow her. She glances back at them and shakes her head, annoyed. Turning a corner, she crashes head-on into a woman.
EVELYN
Sorry. I didn’t see you there. Are you all right?
The woman doesn’t move. It takes Evelyn a moment to realize she’s a hybrid, vacated from her body. Evelyn tries to ignore her as she turns to see-
Martin and other hybrids are nearly finished with the new, high-technology building. The woman next to Evelyn animates-
WILL IN THE HYBRID Would you like to see-
Evelyn flinches.
EVELYN
Jesus 1 Will? Get the out of there!
Will’s hologram steps out of the woman and her body goes lifeless again.
WILL’S HOLOGRAM Would you like to see inside?
Will’s hologram starts for the new building. She hesitates, still shaking off the vacant hybrid, then follows. Paul and Roger keep pace.
INT. NANOTECHNOLOGY DISTILLERY – DAY
Evelyn emerges into the cavernous room. The enormous walls flicker with projections of will’s thoughts. They FLASH at a speed too fast to comprehend.
What looks to be a massive high-tech distillery deposits nanotechnology into a series of pools. The graphite-like material churns in them like a living thing.
EVELYN
Is this all nanotechnology?
WILL IN THE WALLS
Yes.
His miracles don’t impress her anymore. They frustrate her.
EVELYN
What does nanotechnology have to do with anything? What does any of
this have to do with coming back to-
WILL IN THE WALLS I can explain it to you.
EVELYN
I’m sick of explanationsl It makes me feel like a child. Like a pet.
WILL IN THE WALLS You have to trust me.
Evelyn goes silent. As her silence lengthens, will makes a sad observation.
WILL IN THE WALLS (CONT’D) You’ve fallen out of love with me.
EVELYN
No. I just ..• That’s not true.
