BIPPS
Thank you. Mr. Granger, can you tell us what occurred on December 25th of this year? Specifically, the events that lead to the murder of your teammates.

MISSION VOICE
Objection. Murder is an awfully strong word. We don’t even have any bodies. Which is always the best defense, in my opinion.

SKIP
It’s alright. I want to answer. On Christmas Day, my father, Orville Granger, re-entered my life and revealed to me the existence of a machine which could not only predict, but strongly influence future events. The machine’s latest predictions forced me to make an impossible choice: save the world...or save my friends.

SFX: Transition

INT. O.G.’S REALM

SFX: We’re back at the end of 512. Alarms blaring.

O.G.
SKIP, THERE’S NO TIME, YOU HAVE TO PUSH THE BUTTON!

ZELDA
SKIP, DON’T PUSH THAT BUTTON!

SKIP
SHUT UP!

ZELDA
Skip?

O.G.
Son?

SKIP
Forgive me.

SFX: CLICK. Then, the rush of a...

PNEUMATIC TUBE

We’re following the capsule through the tube until...

SCHOOMP! Someone pulls the capsule out of the tube.

INT. VIETNAM FISH MARKET - CONTINUOUS

SELLER 1
Hey! The regional office advises that catfish should go on sale.

SELLER 2
You sure? All right, thirty dong a pound -

Back into the tube

...we’re going somewhere else...SCHOOMP!

INT. VIETNAM - ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

OFFICER
Administrator! Daily quotas from the seafood sector have dipped today -

Back into the tube

SCHOOMP!

TECH BRO
Vietnam just said with the unstable economy, they’re gonna charge us more for these microchips -

Back into the tube and...SCHOOMP!

TECH VP
- imports looking shaky, sir, we might want to be bearish on -

Back into the tube and...SCHOOMP!

AIDE
- tech companies can’t back your bill anymore, Senator -

BIPPS
What?!? They said we had a deal! Well, you tell those assholes -

BACK INTO THE TUBE AND...SCHOOMP!

CHIEF OF STAFF
Sir? Senator Bipps compromised on limiting your military authority.

NSA ADVISOR
Fantastic! Tell our ships near Nova Scotia and Guam to shoot first and ask questions later -

BACK INTO THE TUBE AND...SCHOOMP!

FIRST MATE BARRY
- orders to go to high alert, captain.

CAPTAIN TWEDE
Make it so!

FIRST MATE BARRY
Captain! Radar picking up a large object ascending to the surface! Could be a volcanic eruption -

CAPTAIN TWEDE
Our orders are clear! Fire on that volcano!

FIRST MATE BARRY
Aye aye, sir!

INT. O.G.’S COMMAND CENTER

ZELDA
I don’t understand. Did something happen?

SKIP
I think I...can we patch into military radio?

O.G.
Of course.

SFX: A burst of static.

CAPTAIN TWEDE (ON RADIO)
This is Captain Twede, USS Austin. Missiles armed and firing...now.

ZELDA
Skip, my God, what have you done?

O.G.
He’s saved the world. Just like I knew he would.

CAPTAIN TWEDE (ON RADIO)
Payload approaching target.

SKIP
Alright, Orville, show me which of these switches saves my friends.

O.G.
Son, that’s not how this works.

CAPTAIN TWEDE (ON RADIO)
Twenty...nineteen...

SKIP
SHOW ME HOW TO SAVE THEM.

O.G.
Skip, you’ve seen how the machine works. It’s all about influence. I can’t just flip a switch and call off an in-progress strike. You sent a message that lowered the price of catfish, which led to the missile strike. If your friends are down there, I don’t know what we could possibly influence that could save them now. I’m sorry.

CAPTAIN TWEDE (ON RADIO)
Ten...nine...

ZELDA
Turn it off, I can’t bear it.

SKIP
Leave it on! I need to hear that it worked.

CAPTAIN TWEDE (ON RADIO)
Three...two...one...impact.

SFX: Over the radio a great KABOOM and a MASSIVE WAVE of water.

CAPTAIN TWEDE (ON RADIO)
Direct hit. Target destroyed. Whatever it was, it’s at the bottom of the ocean. Returning to base.

SFX: The radio clicks off.

SKIP
Forgive me.

ZELDA
Bowden. Gloria. McGrath.

O.G.
You made the hard choice, son, but the right one. The world is safe. You did what I knew you would do. It’s just what I would have done - look at the machine’s data and make the rational conclusion. Think of all the good you’re going to do now. All the lives you can save. And all in the name of your friends - to honor their memory.

SKIP
Don’t you dare. Don’t you dirty their names in your mouth.

O.G.
Skip.

SKIP
Stuff it, Orville.

SFX: Skip starts flipping as many switches as he can find. The machine starts to whirr alarmingly.

ZELDA
Skip, what are you doing? I don’t think you should just flip switches like that.

O.G.
I know you shouldn’t just flip switches like that!

SKIP
I SAID SHOVE IT. Come on, Zelda, help yourself - throw a couple of switches!

O.G.
Skip, those pneumatic tubes are over a century old, you’ll blow them apart!

SKIP
THAT’S THE POINT!

SFX: More switches. Banging. Error noises. OG tries to pull Skip away.

O.G.
Skip, you don’t know what you’re doing!

ZELDA (Pulling OG away from Skip)
I think he knows exactly what he’s doing.

O.G.
Let me go, Anders! Son, you’re going to overload the machine! It can’t take that kind of stress.

SFX: The machine is really rattling apart now.

SKIP
This machine has no place in this world. People have free will. Our destiny should be our own, for good or ill.

O.G.
That machine just saved the world!

SKIP
And killed my friends. Maybe if it didn’t exist, the threat never would have been there. Maybe destroying it is a mistake, but at least it’s MY mistake. One final mistake.

O.G.
NO!

SFX: Kaboom! Metal and glass as the tubes blows to pieces. In the aftermath, Zelda, O.G., and Skip recover, coughing from the debris.

ZELDA
Skip? Skip, are you alright?

SKIP
I’m okay, chief. Are you?

ZELDA
I’m fine. Your team...

SKIP
I’m going out there. They may have survived. If anyone could...

O.G.
Son, you have to face the facts. The chances of them surviving a missile attack -

SKIP
That’s your whole life, isn’t it? Playing the odds and pretending like it’s the brave thing to do. Well, the EMF goes out there against astronomical odds every single day - and we come out on top. It’s messy and it’s hard, but we do it. And if anyone could defy the odds, it’s my best friends and I owe it to them to go find them.

ZELDA
I’ll call Pat. Maybe she can get us out there fast.

O.G.
Don’t bother.

ZELDA
You have NO say in what I do.

O.G.
I just mean I can get us there quicker. Planes, boats, submarines - whatever you want. My position over the years has granted me certain privileges. We can be on the ocean within the hour.

SKIP
Get me out there.

MUSIC: TRANSITION

EXT. THE OPEN SEA

SFX: Waves splashing. The call of a gull. A boat approaching.

ZELDA
Cut the engine, Orville, we’re nearing their last known coordinates.

O.G.
Roger that.

SFX: The engine cuts out.

SKIP
Oh my God. Look at all this wreckage.
(He shouts out)
McGrath? McGrath? Bowden? Gloria?

ZELDA
Gloria? Bowden? McGrath? Can you hear us?

SKIP (Desperate)
Athena? Terry?

SFX: Nothing but the lapping of the water against the hull.

SKIP
They’re gone. I had to see it with my own eyes.

ZELDA
Skip, we can keep looking. Do a proper grid search. What does your heart tell you?

SKIP
(A moment of hope)
It...
(The moment is gone)
It says go home.

O.G.
Skip, I can try the sonar.

SKIP
Do what you want. Does this dinghy have enough gas to get me to shore?

SFX: Skip starts prepping the dinghy that hangs from the side of the ship.

O.G.
You could maybe get to Fulton’s Island if the wind is in your favor, but why risk it? Let’s do the search and go home together.

SKIP
I am going home. I’m taking full responsibility for what happened here - but don’t think for a minute, even a second, that I don’t blame you. I wish you’d stayed dead.

SFX: Skip drops the line and the dinghy hits the water with a splash before speeding off into the distance.

INT. COURTROOM - SAME

SKIP
By the grace of God, and a strong headwind, I made it to Fulton’s Island. A day later, I managed to get a sea plane to take me home, where I found Doctors Pickle and Studebaker, who contacted you. Now we’re here.

BIPPS
And all of that happened exactly as you said it?

SKIP
It did.

BIPPS
Even the parts you couldn’t possibly have heard?

MISSION VOICE
Objection.

WHITMIRE
Sustained. Move along.

SKIP
I am responsible for the death of eight people, four of whom were fellow EMF operatives. I am ready to be sentenced.

MISSION VOICE
Could you maybe let ME do the talking? It’s sort of my thing.

SKIP
Look, I appreciate you trying to help, but I don’t know why you’re bothering. I’m guilty.

MISSION VOICE
First of all, whatever you did, you did in the line of duty. That’s not murder, that’s your job. If anyone other than Grand Toehead Whitmire were in charge, you wouldn’t even be on trial. Second...NO ONE should waste a single moment of their life, let alone throw it away out of guilt.

SKIP
But I am guilty!

SFX: Door bursts open. It’s McGrath, Bo, Gloria. Alive!

MACKENZIE
Of what?

SFX: General commotion.

NSA ADVISOR
Holy jumping George!

SKIP
McGrath...you’re alive!

MACKENZIE
Like I’d die before I got that five bucks you owe me. Come here, bud.

SFX: They hug.

GLORIA
Group hug!

BOWDEN
Count me in!

SFX: More hugs. Zelda and Athena enter.

ZELDA
I’m not a hugger, but I’ll make an exception.

ATHENA
I only hug if I’m also plunging a knife into you.

GLORIA
Yeah. We know.

SKIP
But how? How are you all here?

SFX: O.G. walks in.

O.G.
Because you were right. Your friends found a way. Against all odds.

SKIP
I don’t understand.

BOWDEN
It’s a story worthy of Spielberg! Or Nolan! In fact, I’m making it very clear that I own the movie rights to this.

MISSION VOICE
So, everyone is alive. Case dismissed?

BIPPS
Objection! This is outrageous!

WHITMIRE
Settle down, settle down. I want to hear exactly what’s going on here. Quickly. I am not missing my tee time.

BOWDEN
Picture it: the ocean depths, 24 hours ago--

MACKENZIE
Bowden, we want to get out of here before next Christmas. I got this.

SECRETARY OF INTERIOR
Ms. McGrath, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

MACKENZIE
You can’t prove it if I don’t. So here’s how it all went down...

SFX: Bubbles as we transition underwater.

FLASHBACK - INT. NEW ATLANTIS

SFX: KA-BOOOOOOOM! KA-BOOOOOOOM!

Everyone screams as they’re tossed about the room!

GLORIA
We’re hit!

MACKENZIE
AAAAA we’re flipping over!

BOWDEN
It’s a Poseidon Adventure situation!

ATHENA
SHUT UP WITH THE MOVIE REFERENCES MONTCRIEF!

But they are flipping over. RENDING METAL. Everyone cries out; total chaos.

CHET
The city’s breaking apart!

TERRY
We’re doomed!

KRISTATOS
Fletcher, you crawling insect! You’ve killed us all!

ADMIRAL
No! I refuse such an ending! DO YOU HEAR ME, UNIVERSE? HEED MEEEEEE

A THUDDING BOOM, and SUDDEN, ABJECT SILENCE.

The sounds of deep water.

And then...drip. Drip.

BOWDEN
Are we dead?

ATHENA
If we’re dead and you’re here, then I’m in hell.

GLORIA
Hush! I’m up to my knees in ice water. Does anyone have a light?

A sudden horrible GROAN of SHEARING METAL. Beat.

MACKENZIE
Yeah, I’d love to see whatever made that noise.

TERRY
It sounds like the remains of this city buckling under the extreme pressure of the ocean depths!

CHET
Not helping, Terry.

TERRY
At any moment we’ll be drowned, crushed, and frozen in total darkness! I don’t know how this situation could be any worse!

In the darkness, the skin-crawling LAUGH of the Admiral - but weakened, lethargic.

KRISTATOS
Oh good. Fletcher is still with us.

GLORIA
Does anyone have a light?

TOMÁS
<brays>

SFX: Snap!

ATHENA
Good work, Tomás.

TERRY
How is that animal capable of operating a cigarette lighter with its teeth?

ATHENA
Practice.

GLORIA
Tomás, shine that light over here by the Admiral - euggh!

ADMIRAL
Felicitations, Detective!

ATHENA
What’s wrong with his skin? It’s all...blue and veiny.

ADMIRAL
I am transforming into the sea god I was destined to become! Sing hymns of praise to me, my subjects -

The Admiral falls into the water as he tries to stand.

MACKENZIE
Okay, did he contract the bubonic plague? Is he contaminating what little air we have left? What?

Athena has started to LAUGH.

ATHENA
Hey Cloney! I think your manufactured DNA is starting to expire!

BOWDEN
What?

ATHENA
He’s rotting away. I don’t know if it was the exertion of breaking the organ or the pressure down here or what, but it looks like the cloning process that brought him back from the dead wasn’t perfect, after all.

GLORIA
He’s dying? Again?

ADMIRAL
Nonsense! My body is a specimen of perfection...and behold the great powers of my unfathomable mind!

MACKENZIE
Behold what WHOA!

GASPS from ALL - while the Admiral laughs and coughs.

TERRY
What...what am I seeing?

GLORIA
There was a bulkhead there before, right? And now...

CHET
There’s...nothing there.

ADMIRAL
Gaze upon the black waters of the ocean deep, my children! My will alone prevents the sea from entering this structure! Attend the mighty giant squid!

Something HUGE SWIMS BY. The others recoil.

GLORIA
Agent McGrath, I’m trying to keep a level head here, but can you give me a scientific explanation as to why it appears that an invisible force field is keeping the entire ocean from pouring into this room?

TERRY
Drowned, crushed, and frozen -

MACKENZIE
Tomás, bring that light over here.

TOMÁS
<bray>

MACKENZIE
...it’s shimmering.

BOWDEN
Is it the aliens from the Abyss?

ATHENA
One more reference and I will punch you in the neck, Montcrief.

MACKENZIE
It’s swirling...oh my god! It’s Terry’s nanobots!

TERRY
What?

MACKENZIE
Look, the little flecks of light on the water’s surface!

CHET
So, wait, Terry’s nanobots are holding back the ocean water?

TERRY
Fascinating...they must be trying to repair the damage to the city... by generating an electrostatic field they have effectively plugged the hole.

ADMIRAL
Ridiculous! My power alone keeps you safe! It has brought us to this sacred temple upon the ocean floor!

MACKENZIE
What...wait...is that your GODDAMN SUNKEN CRUISE SHIP OUT THERE?

GLORIA
No!

ADMIRAL
The glorious S.S. Russet! Within its hallowed halls, a celebration continues for all eternity...

CHET
You mean the three hundred bodies of dangerous criminals preserved in a watery grave?

BOWDEN
Gloria, what’s wrong?

GLORIA
The EMF has been trying to recover that ship and its...cargo...for six years. We’ve fallen into an undersea canyon with metallurgic properties that resists depth scans ...crags that can’t be navigated...

MACKENZIE
What are you saying?

GLORIA
...no one has ever been able to reach this wreck before.

MACKENZIE
So...no one’s going to be able to rescue us now.

TERRY
Drowned, crushed, frozen...and lost forever!

INT. COURTROOM - DAY

WHITMIRE
But uh... clearly you weren’t. So let’s make with the smash cut and get to the part where you don’t uh... die, or whatever.

BOWDEN
We’re getting there! Masterful storytelling requires reversals of fortune, denouements, and edge of your seat twists!

SKIP
Well consider me edged--

MACKENZIE
Skip, no...

SKIP
I mean it! The re-emergence of the S.S. Russet? The Admiral’s decaying clone body? Terry’s nanobots saving you from certain death?

SKIP
But Tomas. Kristatos. Terry... They’re not here with you. What happened?

CHET
Oh, just wait til you get a load of this. What happened was--

ATHENA
Not one word. Nobody tells this story but me.

GLORIA
Oh heck no! AbsoLUTEly not you, Athena!

The survivors all begin shouting over each other.

SKIP
GOSH DARN IT, ALL OF YOU ZIP IT!

They fall silent.

SKIP
I have had a very turbulent, mentally-taxing twenty four hours! I am thrilled to see you here but all this arguing and suspense is making my heart rate skyrocket and my doctor is going to be very cross with me if I go in again on the verge of hypertensive crisis. So I need the rest of the story to be delivered with clarity and even-headnesses... Bowden?

MACKENZIE
What?? Bowden?!

SKIP
Give it to me with a filmmakers’ objectivity.

BOWDEN
It would be my honor.

ATHENA
“It’s a tale told by an idiot.”

BOWDEN
Yes, indeed. Our tale does pick up with such a character...

SFX: QUICK TRANSITION

FLASHBACK - INT. NEW ATLANTIS

The Admiral is growing surlier, and coughing more.

ADMIRAL
(cough cough) I don’t hear anyone singing sea shanties as I clearly commanded!

KRISTATOS
If he does not stop commanding I will cut him into pieces and feed him to the giant squid.

MACKENZIE
We gotta get out of here before Kristatos goes full Shining.

BOWDEN
...oh, what, she’s allowed to make movie references?

ATHENA
She’s cuter than you are.

BOWDEN
How very dare you.

TERRY
Trapped...

MACKENZIE
What, can’t I be cuter than you are?

CHET
Don’t take her bait.

MACKENZIE
Oh thanks, Mister President -

GLORIA
Enough! We need to keep our heads on straight, and utilize anything at our disposal!

MACKENZIE
The only technology we have is currently plugging the hole in our hull, and we can’t tell the nanobot swarm to do anything because the computer systems are destroyed!

TERRY
Lost...

CHET
Kovak, didn’t your team come down with diving suits?

MACKENZIE
Yeah, and we left the oxygen tanks back at the ingress tube. Which now is probably in pieces all over the S.S. Russet.

TERRY
Terrible name for a ship.

KRISTATOS (seething)
That was my ship. I named it.

GLORIA
Kristatos, cool it.

ATHENA
Oh, just let em have it out.

GLORIA
You’re not helping!

TERRY
Always with you and the potatoes! I understand using shell corporations as a front, but why are you so obsessed with potatoes?

Kristatos draws a knife and THROWS Terry to the ground.

GLORIA
Kristatos!

KRISTATOS
Because when the potato crops died the kings of the old empires let my ancestors starve and despite the fact that we had NOTHING we OUTLASTED them, we SURVIVED, as we will CONTINUE TO SURVIVE, you PULING WASTE of a MAN.

He slams Terry to the floor. A frightened silence.

KRISTATOS
So stop with your bickering and THINK of a solution, you smart, smart people.

Beat.

ATHENA
Dad? Weren’t there...contraband compartments on the Russet?

KRISTATOS
Yes.

ATHENA
Big cargo compartments full of air? With controlled pumps to let them rise slowly to the surface?

GLORIA
Could we all fit in them?

ATHENA
Two pods.....five people per pod...sure.

CHET
Hot damn! We could jump into those and drift all the way up!

BOWDEN
Sure, and all that separates us from them is thirty feet of the crushing, black bottom of the sea.

MACKENZIE
Wait...the nanobots react as a group to external stimuli.

ATHENA
So?

MACKENZIE
So if we create a repulsive charge of static electricity, it could... coax them outwards? Make a kind of bubble? Maybe even a tunnel all the way to the ship?

CHET
Okay...but hit the nanobots too hard and they’ll snap apart and the ocean’ll pour in and kill us.

MACKENZIE
Terry? Do you know how much electrostatic pressure that bot network can take?

TERRY
Trapped, drowned, crushed, and frozen...

BOWDEN
Terry has gone bye-bye, Egon.

GLORIA
Ignore Terry! Let’s try it!

CHET
How are you gonna generate static electricity in this soaking wet dump?

MACKENZIE (stepping over him)
Excuse me, Admiral.

ADMIRAL
I will have my terrible revenge upon you and your roommate!

MACKENZIE
Just gonna borrow a copper pipe from your demolished organ... yup...and then we just have to rub it against some...wool.

Beat.

TOMÁS
<bray?>

MACKENZIE
Everyone get over here and vigorously rub Tomás!

ATHENA
Genius. Sit still, Tomás.

Everybody comes over and starts rubbing the alpaca.

MACKENZIE
It is very creepy how you grew this absolutely loyal animal from genetic scratch.

ATHENA
It’s just like coding a computer with DNA. Right Tomás?

ADMIRAL
Toying with the soul, Athena?

GLORIA
Ladies, is this science experiment almost ready?

ATHENA
Rub a little copper pipe against some genetically modified wool...
(Tomás fidgets)
...and...static electricity.

MACKENZIE
All right. I’m gonna hold it up to the nanobot wall...very carefully...and...

Zap! Everyone jumps nervously, but the wall holds together...and bulges outwards.

MACKENZIE
It’s working!

GLORIA
Slowly!

BOWDEN
Be very careful with that McGrath!

ATHENA
Yeah I don’t want an entire ocean hitting me in the face.

She bends the nanobot tube farther.

MACKENZIE
It’s gonna work. It’s gonna work! Someone’s gonna have to walk through this thing VERY SLOWLY while stretching the nanobot tunnel all the way to the S.S. Russet.

ATHENA
Well, Tomás has to go first.

TOMÁS
<angry bray!>

ATHENA
Sorry, Tomás, you’ve got the wool. And he’ll only remain calm near me, so I’ll go with him.

GLORIA
You?

MACKENZIE
What?

BOWDEN
You’re volunteering to go first into the death tube?

TERRY
Yes! Let her go!

ATHENA
You too, Dad.

KRISTATOS
Me?

ATHENA
You know how to operate those contraband pods. So it has to be us up front. And...McGrath?

MACKENZIE
Oh, me too, huh?

ATHENA
You’re an expert with your magic wand.

MACKENZIE
I’m not reading into that.

ATHENA
So let’s go -

GLORIA
No.

ATHENA
...why not?

GLORIA
You, your father, your genetically obedient animal servant, and your love interest, will be the first ones to reach the escape pods?

MACKENZIE
I’m not gonna run off on you, G.

GLORIA
I’m not worried about you, Mackenzie.

CHET
She’s right. I’ll be right behind the O’Briens.

GLORIA
Chet -

CHET
That’s an order, Agent Kovak. I’ll take care of McGrath, you stick with your husband and watch Terry and the Admiral. And our backs.

GLORIA
...understood, Mister President.

BOWDEN
Aaaand what can I do?

GLORIA
Oh! Um, well, sweetheart, it’s just...this isn’t a situation for your skill set. Sorry.

BOWDEN
(sigh) Well...it’s nothing I haven’t heard from Kevin Feige.

ADMIRAL
You won’t survive. Any of you.

INT. COURTROOM - DAY

BOWDEN (out of breath)
-- and we almost didn’t!
(beat)
Hang on... gimme a sec. Oof.

ZELDA
No one said you must physically mime out each part, Bowden.

BOWDEN
NO ONE SAID I COULDN’T!

GLORIA
Bowden’s right though! We almost didn’t make it. Can you possibly guess as to why that might have been, Skip?

WHITMIRE
(Clears his throat.)

GLORIA
Oh, sorry. Can you possibly guess why that might have been, Federal Court of the United States of America?

SKIP
...clean, un-adulterated teamwork?

GLORIA
Just wait til you get a load of this--

ATHENA
We all would have died if not for me, okay? It was my llama who got us to the Russet in the first place, I volunteered to risk my life to get to the escape pods, and the first thing any of you did down there was doubt me!

CHET
Gee, I wonder why?

WHITMIRE
Chop chop, let’s get on with it. If not, I’m holding you in contempt of uh, me, or whatever.

ZELDA
Bowden?

BOWDEN
Gloria? Tapping you in.

GLORIA
Alright everyone, feast your ears on these memory nuggets.

FLASHBACK - NEW ATLANTIS - SAME

The sounds here are strange: the deep sound of water, the shivering of the nanobots, the slight crackle of electricity.

GLORIA
Slowly. Go slowly.

MACKENZIE (up ahead)
Ow!

TERRY
GAH! WHAT!

MACKENZIE (ahead)
Don’t touch the walls, you’ll get a nasty shock!

TERRY
Drowned, crushed, frozen and electrocuted -

ALL
SHUT UP TERRY.

ADMIRAL (at the end of the tube)
Enjoying yourselves, my pretties? Come back to me, and I will make each of you a peer of the realm!

GLORIA
You okay, Bo?

BOWDEN
This is the worst Squid Game ever.

TERRY
Don’t talk about squids!

BOWDEN
Stepping through an easily-punctured invisible tube under crushing black ocean water, while trying not to touch the sides.

MACKENZIE (ahead)
Survive, and you can pitch that to Netflix!

BOWDEN
That does make me feel more hopeful! Thanks McGrath!

We glide along the tube to the front where McGrath, Chet, and the O’Briens advance slowly as the tube elongates.

MACKENZIE (under her breath, re: Bowden’s response)
No problem.

TOMÁS
<bray>

CHET
Easy does it...we’re almost there.

KRISTATOS
Sweetheart? You are sure when this cloud of tiny robots touches the ship’s hull it will hold together?

ATHENA
One hundred percent.

MACKENZIE
Such a suave liar.

CHET
Don’t we all know it.

MACKENZIE
Okay llama. Move your ass...just an inch...

TAP. BZZHT. The nanites BURBLE, and SPREAD ACROSS THE HULL.

MACKENZIE
Look at that.

ATHENA
I told you: trust me. C’mon Chetty, let’s pull this hatch open...

They grunt, and a hatch swings open.

CHET
OK, old man. What do we do?

KRISTATOS
Connect the terminal here, and then I will input the command code.

CHET
All right.
(he gets to work)
Hey old man - I gotta admit I like how you handed it to Terry back there. Reminded me of the old days.

KRISTATOS
It feels like a lifetime ago we chased each other around the globe.

CHET
Well, it was more fun than being President. And look at us now, on the same team.

KRISTATOS
I am old, Phillips, I harbor no illusions. You are a hero; I am a monster.

CHET
Well - OUCH.

Chet gets a JOLT of VOLTAGE.

MACKENZIE
What?

CHET
Got a nasty shock.

ATHENA
Do not collapse this very fragile tunnel.

CHET
Terminal’s a go. You’re welcome.

KRISTATOS
Very good. Out of my way, Mister President.
(gets to work)
Just a few taps, and...aha!

A HISS of gas, and the wall slides open.

MACKENZIE
Yes! We got it!

GLORIA (from behind)
We got it?

BOWDN (from behind)
Brilliant!

ATHENA
I knew I got my genius from somewhere.

KRISTATOS
Your mother.

ATHENA
Yeah, probably.

CHET
So lemme get this straight, old man- these two pods will rise slowly to the surface, and keep us breathing AND pressurized?

KRISTATOS
That’s right. And the best part is -

The WHINE of a POWERING UP TASER WEAPON.

KRISTATOS
- they come stocked with taser rifles.

GLORIA
Kristatos you snake!

KRISTATOS
Don’t look at me. Talk to the boss, here.

BOWDEN
Athena!

CHET
Should have known...

TERRY
No don’t shoot you’ll discharge the tube and kill us all!

KRISTATOS
I suppose I’ll have to aim very, very carefully.

ATHENA
Relax! This will all work out for most of you.

GLORIA
Why are you doing this? We have enough pods to survive -

MACKENZIE
Oh, goddammit.

GLORIA
What?

MACKENZIE
No we don’t.

GLORIA
Athena said -

MACKENZIE
Athena said they fit five apiece. They don’t, do they?

ATHENA
C’mere, good lookin’. Or my dad will shoot.

MACKENZIE
He won’t risk your life.

ATHENA
...then I will.

KRISTATOS
Athena wait -

She grabs the gun from him.

ATHENA
Get in there, slowly, or I’ll tase you and carry you out.

MACKENZIE
How many people can actually get to the surface?

ATHENA
Three per pod. That’s you, me, and my Dad in one...and then the rest of these idiots can fight over the second pod.

Everyone else (Gloria, Bowden, Chet, Terry and Tomás) protest loudly!

MACKENZIE
How very sweet of you.

ATHENA
It’s nothing personal. It’s just priorities - I’m saving my family and the hot people first.

CHET AND BOWDEN
Hey!

KRISTATOS
McGrath. Get in the pod, you stubborn girl.

MACKENZIE
I’m not going without Gloria, Bowden, Chet and...I guess Terry.

TERRY
Yes don’t you dare leave me!

ATHENA
You’re not leaving Terry. You’re just leaving before Gloria and Bowden get in the other pod, and they’re going to leave Terry.

GLORIA
May I say something?

ATHENA
NO. There’s two pods with six spots, and I say WAIT WHAT THE HELL?

One of the pods starts to launch. A familiar BRAY comes from inside.

KRISTATOS
TOMÁS!

ATHENA
TOMÁS GET BACK HERE I’LL MAKE YOU INTO SWEATERS!

TOMÁS
<contemptuous braaaaaaaay>

The pod shoots off into the water, and Tomás is gone.

An awkward silence.

ATHENA
Okay there’s one pod with three spots -

MACKENZIE
And we’re all fitting inside.

ALL THE OTHERS
YES.

ATHENA
No!

KRISTATOS
It’s physically incapable of taking more than three, you fools!

MACKENZIE
You’re a scientific genius, you’re telling me you can’t do it?

ATHENA
If I had more time and equipment, maybe! We don’t! So sometimes hard decisions have to be made -

CHET
Yeah, I’m sure this is a real hard decision for you.

ATHENA
McGrath will send help back for you when she gets back to your little stooge factory!

GLORIA
We told you this place can’t be found or reached! Someone floats to the surface and that’s it! No one ever comes back!

BOWDEN
Easy, love!

ATHENA
Look, with my way, you have a chance! But if you pop the tube -

GLORIA
SHUT UP ATHENA!

CHET
Kovak, cool your jets! Presidential order!

GLORIA
YOU ARE THE WORST, ATHENA. Don’t give me this trolley problem bullshit! You’re LOVING this. You love being evil. You WANT to be evil. WE SHOULD NEVER HAVE TRUSTED YOU. I NEVER BELIEVED YOU COULD BE REHABILITATED AND HERE’S THE PROOF!

Behind them, the Admiral coughs horribly.

ADMIRAL
Bicker bicker, children.

GLORIA
YOU SHUT THE HELL UP TOO!

ADMIRAL
We are the dead.

ATHENA
Enough! McGrath get in.

MACKENZIE
No.

ATHENA
GET IN.

BOWDEN
Hold on -

ATHENA
DO NOT MAKE A MOVIE REFERENCE.

BOWDEN
I’m not this is important -

GLORIA
I will snap your neck before I let you leave here, Athena -

MACKENZIE
Whoa, killer, slow your roll -

CHET
We can work this out -

KRISTATOS
Don’t shake the tube, people!

BOWDEN (shouting to be heard)

WHERE IS TERRY?

A pause.

ATHENA
Weren’t you watching him?

GLORIA
I...we were arguing -

MACKENZIE
It’s a tube, where could he have gone?

The SECOND POD POWERS UP.

TERRY (inside the pod)
Goodbye all!

EVERYONE ELSE

TERRY!
But Terry has sneaked past everyone to the second pod, and LAUNCHES OFF WITHOUT THEM.

A second awkward pause while the Admiral laughs weakly.

ATHENA
GODDAMN EVERYTHING. Fine! If I’m gonna die, the Admiral dies first!

GLORIA
Athena don’t push you’ll break the tube!

MACKENZIE
And he’s rotting away anyway!

ADMIRAL
Oh...oh glorious vision...

ALL
SHUT UP.

ADMIRAL
Behold!

ATHENA
I am not dying here with that fake clone Admiral “beholding” me!

ADMIRAL
Behold!

ATHENA
Behold my rosy ass!

ADMIRAL
Behold the great and glorious squid!

The SQUID SWIMS BY in a RUSH OF WATER...and SNAPS THE TUBE OFF THE S.S. RUSSET END!

SCREAMS and PANIC as they TUMBLE!

KRISTATOS
Look out!

GLORIA
GOING DOWN!

They land in a confused heap!

GLORIA
What..what happened?

CHET
The squid severed the tube at the ship end!

BOWDEN
Why aren’t we dead in the ocean water?

MACKENZIE
The nanobots sealed it off before the water got in! But that end is full of air and rising like a bubble!

ATHENA
Get your ass out of my face, Chet!

KRISTATOS
This is not how I expected to go -

MACKENZIE
We’re not gonna die! Let’s...wait this is a bubble, right? Let’s use it!

ATHENA
What?

MACKENZIE
We cut THIS end of the tunnel too, the nanobots seal it off, and we float up to the surface in a nanobot bubble!

CHET
And end up popping against the sides of the trench?

GLORIA
And if not, rush to the surface too fast with potentially lethal nitrogen poisoning?

BOWDEN
Do we have another option?

CHET
Fine! Someone cut this end -

ATHENA
AAAH!

ADMIRAL
Stay with me, Trixie...

The Admiral grabs Athena and begins to pull her down. His hands are SLIMY and SQUELCHY.

ATHENA
GET OFF ME!

MACKENZIE
Grab her! He’s pulling her out of the tube!

BOWDEN
He’s melting! What a world!

GLORIA
The nanobots are swarming over him! He’s going to rupture the tube!

CHET
I can’t loosen his grip, how is he still so strong?

ADMIRAL
Trixie...join me in the deep...forever...

ATHENA (kicking him)
GET. OFF. ME. YOU. CLONE!

ADMIRAL
Remember...

Suddenly, the flash of a KNIFE.

The ADMIRAL CRIES OUT IN PAIN!

ATHENA
Dad?

KRISTATOS
You will never touch her again, Fletcher.

The Admiral rises back up and grabs onto Kristatos!

CHET
Grab him!

ATHENA
Get off my dad, you clone!

MACKENZIE
Kristatos get back in the tube!

KRISTATOS
There is no time! Cut it loose!

ATHENA
No, Dad!

KRISTATOS
Athena...be good.

The KNIFE RINGS OUT AGAIN...

ATHENA
DAD DON’T!

...and Kristatos SLICES THE TUBE!

The nanobots SEAL THE TUBE, sealing KRISTATOS AND THE ADMIRAL IN THE SUNKEN CITY!

They all CRY OUT as the BUBBLE ASCENDS!

GLORIA
We’re going up! Is the tube sealed?

BOWDEN
Yes, but we lost Kristatos!

CHET
Athena stop struggling, you’ll pop us!

ATHENA
DAD!

MACKENZIE
Hey hey hey. I got you. I got you.

The bubble RISES, and RISES...

INT. THE OPEN SEA - DAY

SFX: A sonar pings as the water laps across the hull of O.G.’s ship.

O.G.
Fatherhood is a funny thing, Anders. A few hours ago, I was telling Skip there was no way to save his friends and the world. Now I’m 20% into a sonar grid search for them.

ZELDA
What changed your mind?

O.G.
Skip’s right. This is on me. I thought I was starting a new chapter with my son. Instead, I may have closed that book permanently. I have to try to fix that.

ZELDA
Do you think there’s any hope?

O.G.
For the first time in decades, I’m flying totally blind. But if there’s any chance my son’s friends are alive, I owe it to him to find them.

ZELDA
You know, if I used the second dinghy, we can finish this grid search in no time-

O.G.
What?? And break the search grid array mid column?? Are you insane?

ZELDA
You really are your son’s father.

SPLASH. The nano-bubble surfaces then dissolves.

O.G.
What is THAT? Some sort of metallic bubble just shot out of the sea and burst!

ZELDA
Oh my god, there were people in it -- that’s them! Hurry, pass me a rope so I can reel them in!
(calling)
Hey! Hey guys! Here, grab hold!!

O.G. (to himself)
...well, I’ll be. So hope really did beat out the numbers.

INT. COURTROOM - DAY

GLORIA
And so then Zelda reeled us in and got us to shore.

BOWDEN
We borrowed a Queen’s Gambit beach towel from a very nice couple on the boardwalk-

CHET
-stopped at 7-11 so McGrath could get a hot dog.

MACKENZIE
What? I was hungry!

GLORIA
And here we are.

ZELDA
Wow... that story is...

MISSION VOICE
I think the word you’re looking for is “bonkerball bananasville.”

ZELDA
Well, I was going say “incredible,” but sure: bonkerball bananasville.

SKIP
So Tomas and Terry are...?

BOWDEN
Gone with the wind.

SKIP
And Kristatos and The Admiral...?

BOWDEN
In the heart of the ocean.

GLORIA
Sweetheart, enough with the movie -titles.

BOWDEN
What? I’m not trying to, it just keeps happening!

WHITMIRE
And uh, these, uh... Nono-bites? Where are they? And what does a fella have to do to pocket a few?

MACKENZIE
They dissipated into the ocean the second we hit air. Could be anywhere out in the sea.

BOWDEN
Castaway.

Everyone groans.

BOWDEN
Alright, alright, I’ll stop.

WHITMIRE
Well, damnit. That was the only remotely intriguing part of all that. Senator, any other crimes in that waterlogged saga we can prosecute?

BIPPS
If the llama were here, he may have a case for harassment, what with all the petting, but... no.

WHITMIRE
Damnit. Case dismissed everyone. What a waste of a perfectly good afternoon.

SECRETARY OF INTERIOR
Court adjourned.

Gavel bang. Whitmire, Bipps, and the Secretary all leave.

BOWDEN
So... I guess that’s that! Who wants a milkshake?

GLORIA
No! That most certainly is NOT that!

CHET
Come on Kovak, I have kelp in places you really don’t want kelp.

GLORIA
Athena, I think at the very least we deserve an apology!

ATHENA
Jesus...

GLORIA
No! I mean it! We are constantly trying to work with you and you just-- make it impossible! The generous part of me could maybe explain what happened down there as you being in survival mode in a life or death situation, but... you double crossed us! Again! It’s like you look for ways to do it and even after us all surviving together by sheer dumb luck, no microscopic part of you feels like you should say you’re sorry?

ATHENA
Uh, yeah, not really.

GLORIA
You should be ashamed of yourself.

MACKENZIE
Whoa, hey now, it’s really not -

ATHENA
Oh please, Gloria. You didn’t trust me down there even before I did anything.

GLORIA
Because you have a track record with us!

ATHENA
You know who I am. Grow up.

GLORIA
Oh, so I’m immature because I have feelings?

MACKENZIE
Guys, come on, don’t -

GLORIA
Well I guess it’s a good thing you don’t have any, Athena, because newsflash: Mackenzie doesn’t want to be with you.

Silent beat.

ATHENA
Wow, Gloria. You know my dad just died, right? And you think I’m the asshole.

Athena storms out. An awkward silence.

CHET
Damn Gloria. I knew you were deadly but...

GLORIA (a bit self-conscious)
What? She looks out for herself. I look out for my people. But... I’m sorry if I spoke out of turn, Mackenzie.

MACKENZIE
Look, I... didn’t appreciate being a pawn in her game. You were harsh but... she’s not trustworthy. And that’s about all the processing my brain can handle right now.

MISSION VOICE
Good. Because I’d love to steer the topic back around to milkshakes.

BOWDEN
Gloria?

GLORIA
Yeah. I need fluffernutter.

SFX: The four of them exit.

CHET
Zelda, I know milkshakes aren’t part of the usual EMF Special Agent diet, but I’ll do a quick 7-day cleanse this weekend and be back in tip-top shape on Monday.

ZELDA
What are you talking about?

CHET
For when I’m back in the field.

ZELDA
You can’t go back in the field.

CHET
What do you mean? Why?

ZELDA
You’ve been the President. How do you think you’re going to be able to pass undercover? The political implications alone...

CHET
But... I’m an agent. That’s who I am. I never wanted to be president, I just got roped into that, it was just supposed to be temporary!

ZELDA
I’m sorry Chet. It’s not my decision. There’s mountains of regulations that lay out the protocols for who can and can’t go undercover.

CHET
No, I’M A HERO.

ZELDA
Can we please not make this a thing?

CHET
Fine. I’ll find a way back into the field, mark my words. Even if I have to work my way up from the bottom all over again. And I’m going to start right away!
(beat)
I’m going to start right after I get my Brownie Blast Shaketravaganza!

He runs out of the room.

ZELDA
(sigh) It’s going to be a thing, isn’t it?

She starts to leave-

ZELDA
Skip? You coming?

SKIP
In a minute, Section Chief. Order me a Very Vanilla. I have a feeling I’ll need it.

ZELDA
You got it, Skip.

She exits, leaving just Skip and O.G.

SKIP
Thank you. For trying to find them.

O.G.
I had to try. It was my fault, after all.

SKIP
It doesn’t change anything between us.

O.G.
I’d be lying if I said hadn’t hoped it would.

SKIP
Even if the last twenty four hours hadn’t happened, I don’t know if it would matter. You’ve been gone. So long. And ever since I was a kid, I had this image of you in my head, of who you were and what it would be like to see you again. And now that you’re here in front of me... I don’t know you. The things you do, the things you believe... you’re a stranger.

O.G.
I guess, I was hoping, with time... that could change. I understand if you’re not ready yet, but do you think there’s a chance?

SKIP
I don’t know. I don’t know how to do any of this. But I know I’m angry at you and I don’t want to pretend I’m not. I think I’ve earned that. So I don’t think you should wait. I know you had good reasons to leave but I think there’s always going to be a piece of me that wonders why I wasn’t...
(beat)
McGrath, Bowden, Gloria, and Zelda? They don’t make me wonder. They’re my family.

O.G.
I see that. And I’m glad you have them. I just... want you know how sorry I am. You don’t have to forgive me. But I need you to hear it.

SKIP
I know. I do.
(beat)
Where will you go?

O.G.
Time to get back to living life. I don’t know, maybe I’ll start with a milkshake. Don’t worry, different diner. But I’ve been behind the curtain so long, I need to find out who I am when I’m not. You’re not the only one who doesn’t recognize me.

SKIP
Well I hope you find peace, Orville. Really.

O.G.
Thank you.
(beat)
So here's where we leave it. And look, just in case you need to find me, let me give you my Hotmail.

SKIP
Hotmail???... No, look, I don't think I'm going to--

O.G.
No, I know. You don't have to. But better you have it, just in case you need it. Or you need anything.

SFX: The door opens and Whitmire comes in.

WHITMIRE
You god damn boobs made me miss my tee time! Did I hear someone say milkshakes?

MUSIC: END CREDITS

MISSION VOICE
(Reads Credits)

INT. GRANGER HOUSEHOLD, KANSAS - EVENING

SFX: NICE, LITIGATION FREE CHRISTMAS CAROL on the radio and the sounds of a FOOTBALL GAME on the TV.

PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER (ON TV)
Thirteen seconds on the clock, Kansas down six, on the Nebraska thirty four, shotgun snap--

SKIP (ON PHONE)
Anyway, mom, I just wanted to say I’m sorry I missed Christmas. Things were real bad at work. I’m going to come out after New Year’s if I can.

MRS GRANGER
I understand, Skip. I know how busy Sudoko salesmen are at the holidays.

PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER (ON TV)
Daniels looking a little unsure here...

MRS GRANGER
Don't you dare check down to the flat again, Daniels--

SKIP (ON PHONE)
I’ll let you get back to the game, mom. Go Jayhawks.

MRS GRANGER
Oh, goodbye, Skip. I love you, son.

SFX: They hang up.

PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER (ON TV)
He's looking deep, he's got a man down the sideline--

SFX - DING DONG

MRS GRANGER
Wait, what now? Who on God's green earth--

PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER (ON TV)
TOUCHDOWN JAYHAWKS!

MRS GRANGER
THERE IT IS, GIVE MOMMA A LATE PRESENT!

PLAY BY PLAY ANNOUNCER (ON TV)
Hold on, there's a flag on the field--

MRS GRANGER
NO NO NO NO NO NO--

SFX - DING DONG

MRS GRANGER
Oh for the love of Saint Gale Sayers, who's ringing my doorbell with a call under review during the Liberty Bowl--

SFX - DOOR OPENS. A VERY LONG PAUSE. The TV CLICKS off.

O.G.
Hello, Olivia.

MRS GRANGER
Orville? My God, what happened? You said you could never come back -

O.G.
It's going to work out, don't worry.

MRS GRANGER
I'm sorry, what's going to--

O.G.
Your Jayhawks. Might take an overtime or two, but they'll be fine. All the byproduct of a few levers I had to pull to convince the Prime Minister of Brunei to lower mineral tariffs three months ago. Long story.

MRS GRANGER
Aren't they all.
(a beat)
Why are you here?

O.G.
I'm not interrupting anything? I won't... startle anyone?

MRS GRANGER
It's just been me and Bowl Games since Tuesday.

O.G.
Since Tuesday? But... ahhh. You and the kids do Christmas Eve now?

MRS GRANGER
Have for a while. Gives them more time with their... their families.

SFX - OG ENTERS, THE DOOR CLOSES.

MRS GRANGER
Coffee?

O.G.
Please.

MRS GRANGER
Black?

O.G.
As midnight.

MRS GRANGER
Shall I make it Irish?

O.G.
Oh hell. Why not. I'm off-duty now.

SFX - WHISKEY OPENS, POURS INTO THE GLASS

MRS GRANGER
I'd tell you how the kids are doing, but... I suspect you know. Perhaps more than I do.

O.G.
In roughly two years, Trip will be the most highly regarded fight choreographer in the film industry.

MRS GRANGER
Oh, good for him!

O.G.
I didn't say which film industry.

A beat.

MRS GRANGER
Didn't go entirely as planned, then, did it?

O.G.
The best laid plans of mice and men.

MRS GRANGER
Was it worth it?

A beat.

O.G.
The night before I left, the night C.B. told me I was ready, do you remember what we did?

MRS GRANGER
Drank what we're drinking now?

O.G.
After that.

MRS GRANGER
Went upstairs and broke out the good--

O.G.
Before that.

MRS GRANGER
Ah. We made two lists.

SFX - UNFOLDING PAPER

MRS GRANGER
You kept it? All this time?

O.G.
Every pro we wrote down, every con. As the years went on, I wanted to see how close to the mark we'd come.

MRS GRANGER
And?

O.G.
Every single con, we nailed. Everything from 'separation anxiety' right down to the fact that I'd miss 'The Return of the King' in theaters. Oh, by the way... did Frodo and Sam do it, did they destroy the ring?

MRS GRANGER
There are books.

O.G.
They're very long.

MRS GRANGER
(sighs) And the pros?
(SHE TAKES THE PAPER)
That's a lot of crossed out pros.

O.G.
And every time I realized we'd missed the mark on how much good I could do...

MRS GRANGER
'Help elect a woman president', yes, we overshot there...

O.G.
... I'd intensify my focus on the big one. The only pro left on our list.

MRS GRANGER
'Protect the next generation'.

O.G.
I knew if I kept at it, if I internalized CB's mission, did nothing but eat drink and sleep that machine, and everything it could do, we could protect not just our kids, but everyone's. Build a wall, a barrier, to insulate them from the darkness, the randomness clawing at our world day and night. It became everything. And it was working, I could feel it. But the world... just wouldn't give in. It fought back, tooth and nail. So I did the same. And one wall became two. Became four, eight, sixteen, and so on, and when it was over, I stepped back to look at what I'd built, and saw... it wasn't a wall at all. I'd built a maze. With me in the middle, and infinite paths, but... no exit.

MRS GRANGER
And yet here you are. Out of the maze.

O.G.
The only way out was to tear it down. I couldn’t do it...but Skip could.

MRS GRANGER
Skip!? Skip sells Sudoko puzzles for a living!

O.G.
You raised an amazing kid, Olivia. There's a lot I have to tell you about that boy. I’m not asking you to just let me back in after all these years. I just need a place to ground myself for a while before I figure out what’s next.

MRS GRANGER
Orville, I don’t know...

SFX: A PAPER BAG OPENS

O.G.
I got you cookies and cream. Your favorite.

MRS GRANGER
December in Kansas and he shows up with milkshakes. Orville Granger. You haven't changed a bit. There’s fresh sheets on the guest bed. We’ll take it day by day.

O.G.
I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. I think I like that.

MUSIC: STINGER!

601: Motions Eleven

Episode Transcript

Season Six, Episode One: “Motions Eleven”Transcript

Never lose your place, on any device

Season Six, Episode One: “Motions Eleven”
Transcript