ACT 2



               EXT. BRUMLEE, SECTION 5 - TODAY

               A figure shimmies across the rooftops of the city. Jorvik
               Tiago, but not as we know him. Gone is the military cut and
               fatigues. And in its place, a long-haired, wild-eyed man. Yet
               he has lost none of his physical power. 

                                   JORVIK
                         And if you shall sin, so shall you
                         repent, and wrath shall rain on
                         thee! 
                             (bursts into song)
                         Now so long, Marianne, it's time
                         that we began
                         To laugh and cry and cry and laugh
                         about it all again
                             (stops singing)
                         The day of wrath, that day will
                         dissolve the world in ashes.

               He looks around.

               JORVIK'S POV:

               We see Brumlee as it was, a mere ten years ago. The
               resplendent Capital of the Republic of Londonium. Glassy
               skyscrapers jostle for space with five hundred year-old
               buildings. The streets are clean, and people going about
               their business as they do everyday in other great cities--
               Paris, New York, and London --. 

               He sees a packed stadium, where MJS is about to deliver a
               speech...In Latin. She catches his eye and blows him a kiss.
               Jorvik jumps up, catches the kiss and eats it furiously.

               Laughter breaks him out of his hallucination. He is in the
               Brumlee of today. And in front of what looks to be a place of
               worship. A temple perhaps? He knocks on the great brass
               handle.

               A man opens the door.

                                   MAN
                         So you're the one.
                             (smiling)
                         Its not everyday one is so lucky as
                         to meet the messiah... That is, if
                         you are the messiah...I've waited a
                         long time for you.

               Jorvik follows him in. The hall is empty . Ascetic.

                                   MAN (CONT'D)
                         Something to drink? Water? Wine? I
                         suppose you could manage that quite
                         well yourself, if you wanted to.

               Jorvik trembles. The MAN watches. The trembling turns into a
               full on fit.

               The man still stands over Jorvik, watching.

                                   JORVIK
                             (struggling)
                         Help..

               The man raises his hand and  PLUNGES a syringe into Jorvik's
               neck, emptying it into him. The fitting gradually ceases.

                                   JORVIK (CONT'D)
                         Thank you.

               The Man nods. He surveys Jorvik as a cat would a near-dead
               mouse. The faintest smile playing on his face.

                                   JORVIK (CONT'D)
                         Jorvik Ti...

                                   PAPA PIETO
                         ..ago. I know. The Great Martyr of
                         the Blackout. The Messiah of the
                         Final Chapter. Our conduit to
                         Otherworld. 

                                   JORVIK
                         I need the guide.

                                   PAPA PIETO
                         Dont we all...

               Papa Pieto takes out a roll from under the altar table. Hands
               it to Jorvik.

                                   PAPA PIETO (CONT'D)
                         Maps.

               Jorvik nods.

                                   PAPA PIETO (CONT'D)
                         If you need more supplies, we have
                         them. We have everything you need.
                         Just don't fail us... Messiah.

               Jorvik spreads the parchment out. It is the blueprint of the
               Governor's Palace which houses all foreign dignitaries. But
               rather than the blueprint of the actual architecture, it is
               the blueprint of the underground bunkers that run through the
               length of Commonwealth Avenue, the Main thoroughfare in
               Brumlee and the one with all the important Government
               buildings in it. 

               In a corner of the map, a stick- figure moves across one of
               the corridors in the map, which becomes...



               INT. UNDERGROUND BUNKER, MINISTRY OF SCIENCE - CONTINUOUS

               Gia walking across the corridor towards her boss's Office. 

               She is on the phone and looks as always, completely fabulous.
               A genius wrapped in a bombshell, Gia has not only survived
               her last bruising encounter with MJS, but has thrived here, 
               as Deputy Head of development in the Ministry of Science and
               Industry. 

                                   GIA
                         Yes, Mama Rose... I got the waiver
                         last night. Till ten. I can stay
                         out till ten... Its just a few
                         hours after the curfew... OK, five
                         hours after... I have to work Mama
                         Rose... Look, I have to go now...
                         I'm just about to step into a
                         meeting... Mama Rose... I love you.

               She knocks on the door.

                                   KRISTOF
                         Come in!

               Gia walks in to find Kristof Campbell (65) on all fours under
               the table.

                                   GIA
                         Have you had the meeting?

                                   KRISTOF
                         I'm fine thank you Gia, how about
                         you?

                                   GIA
                         Kristof... you know this is
                         important.

                                   KRISTOF
                         Can you reach down here and get
                         that ball? The damn thing has
                         lodged itself between the desk and
                         the wall and my hands are too
                         big...

               Gia fishes for Kristof's golf ball at the back of the desk
               and hands it to him. 

               They both sit uncomfortably under the desk.

                                   GIA
                         Well..?

                                   KRISTOF
                         We talked about safety parameters.
                         What the expedition would entail..
                         How far we could go without any
                         further cost to human life. It is a
                         very dangerous thing we are
                         proposing...

                                   GIA
                         I know it is... I did the
                         calculations... I found the seam...

                                   KRISTOF
                         Of course you did. You're the
                         cleverest scientist, no, the
                         cleverest human I know-- and
                         someone who's indispensable to the
                         project....

                                   GIA
                         Then I'm going?

               Unfortunately,

                                   KRISTOF
                         No.

                                   GIA
                         That vengeful bitch! She would nix
                         it wouldn't she?

                                   KRISTOF
                         She didn't. I did Gia.

                                   GIA
                         What?

                                   KRISTOF
                         You're indispensable. I cannot risk
                         your life up north. Not you.

                                   GIA
                         You won't have to. I'll lead the
                         team up there, we'll find the seam.
                         Set mining domains and come back
                         before you know it. It's the
                         easiest way.

                                   KRISTOF
                         We can't risk it Gia. We can't risk
                         you going there.

                                   GIA
                         Why?

                                   KRISTOF
                         For a genius you're remarkably
                         dense sometimes.

                                   GIA
                         Stop being a shit Kristof.

                                   KRISTOF
                         Not to mention rather offensive.

                                   GIA
                         For the past ten years. I've worked
                         on nothing but this. This is
                         everything I've ever wanted. I've
                         risked curfew, I've lied to stay on
                         past time, I've given up my life.
                         For this. And now you tell me I
                         can't have it?

                                   KRISTOF
                         No Gia. Now I tell you, that its
                         time to let the science take over.

                                   GIA
                         Are you going?

                                   KRISTOF
                         Yes. I have to.

                                   GIA
                         Fuck you Kristof. 

               She scurries out on all fours at first, and then marches out
               as proudly as she can under the circumstances.



               EXT. BRUMLEE, SECTION 2 - EVENING

               Vira and Frito walk through the street. Frito carries her
               doll, as always. 

               Brumlee is battening down for the curfew. The street is
               quieter. In fact it is much too quiet. 

               They turn the corner...

               And see Jean Claude. He is carrying a tin bowl of rice and
               beans in the crook of his arm.

                                   JEAN CLAUDE
                         Hey Vira! Frito! What a
                         coincidence!  I was just on my way
                         to your place. 

                                   FRITO
                         Really?

                                   JEAN CLAUDE
                         Yeah. I shouldn't have chased you
                         off like that. Friends again? 
                             (holding out the bowl )
                         For you. On me.

               He is both sweating and grinning... sweating, and grinning.
               Vira looks into his eyes. There's something odd about the man
               today... FUCK!

                                   VIRA
                         Frito. RUN! GO!

               Jean Claude leaps on Frito but she shoves him off.

               She RUNS from the scene, in the opposite direction of Vira.

               Vira RUNS! Two THUGS APPEAR from behind a cart give CHASE.

               She DUCKS into an alleyway. The thugs RUN after her.

               She JUMPS into a shack and then OUT through the window. The
               THUGS FOLLOW still..

               She LEAPS...onto a tin roof.

               She looks behind her. The thugs are nowhere around. 

               She SWINGS down into a room...to find Thug One (Buck) waiting
               for her. OOPS!

               She SWINGS back up like a trapeze artist executing a turn.

               ONWARDS over the rooftops. The thugs after her.

               Vira LEAPS DOWN over stacks of boxes outside Rusty's Bar.

               A cycle leans agaisnt the wall. Vira picks it up and RIDES
               FULL TILT out of the gates of West Brumlee.

               A sign reads: Welcome to West Brumlee. Curfew hours 5 p.m. to
               5 am. And below it, a clock that shows the time: 4: 33 p.m..



               EXT. STREETS OF BRUMLEE, SECTION 2 - CONTINUOUS

               Frito RUNS as fast as her little powerful body will take her,
               her doll tucked into her belt.

               She barrels through the alleyway and runs SMACK INTO a
               hustling ice-cream cart, sending cart and vendor sprawling on
               the street.

                                   VENDOR
                         ..the fuck? You goddamn retard.

                                   FRITO
                             (forceful)
                         I have Downs. Im not a retard.

                                   ICE CREAM VENDOR
                         Well get those goddamn popsicles
                         back into my cart Downs. Before I
                         smack you on the head.

               Frito starts gathering the popsicles and putting them back in
               the toppled cart. She spots a strawberry explosion. It has
               burst out of its wrapper

                                   FRITO
                         Can I have this strawberry
                         explosion?

               She hands him five dollars.

                                   VENDOR
                         Sure Downs. Take that one.

               He takes the five dollars.

                                   FRITO
                         I need 50 cents back.

                                   ICE CREAM VENDOR
                         What the fuck did you say?

                                   FRITO
                         I need 50 cents back. Please.

                                   ICE CREAM VENDOR
                         Fucking retard. Now get outta my
                         way freak, before the curfew gets
                         us both.

                                   FRITO
                             (holding her ground)
                         I want my 50 cents.

                                   ICE CREAM VENDOR
                         Listen freak. I don't got no 50
                         cents left to give you back. Let it
                         go.

                                   FRITO
                         Vira said I need 50 cents back.

                                   ICE CREAM VENDOR
                         Well you tell your Vira... to go
                         fuck herself, OK?
                             (mutters under his breath)
                         Fucking retard.

                                   FRITO
                         I am NOT a RETARD!

               She BARRELS into the Vendor, THROWING him against the wall.

                                   VENDOR
                         You bitch!

               He SWINGS at Frito, LANDING A PUNCH square in her jaw.

               She BURSTS out crying.

               The vendor KICKS Frito across the street

               And onto...



               EXT. STREET, SECTION 2 - CONTINUOUS

               Two burly men walking home. 

                                   MAN 1
                         Hey!
                             (recognizing Frito)
                         You leave this kid alone!

               He GRABS the Vendor and PUNCHES him.

               A crowd gathers around. Oh, this is good entertainment!

               The burly man and the ice- cream vendor are in a FULL BLOWN
               FIGHT. CRASH! An onlooker throws a beer bottle in. It catches
               Burly Man  in the back. He ROARS and dives into the crowd,
               SMASHING and PUNCHING anything in his wake.

               More people JUMP in. Someone THROWS a box into a shop window
               setting off the alarm.

               People SWARM into the shop, Frito follows.

               A wail of sirens as...



               EXT. STREET, SECTION 2 - CONTINUOUS

               Three ROL guard cars come crashing in.



               EXT. AT JEAN CLAUDE'S CANTEEN, SECTION 2 - CONTINUOUS

               Jean Claude nervously covers his pots up. Cleaning will have
               to wait till tomorrow. He needs to be home by curfew and it's
               going to be going to be touch and go today. 

               A man walks up.

                                   JEAN CLAUDE
                         Sorry. Closed.

                                   BOYO
                         Are you, now?

               Jean Claude's lips have suddenly gone dry. He is
               uncomfortably aware of his racing heartbeat. 

               						JEAN CLAUDE

               			  Mr. Straights...

               						BOYO
                         Rice and bean please. Not too
                         spicy. Got a delicate stomach.

               He smiles. An endearing smile. 

                                   JEAN CLAUDE
                         She ran. I tried... I swear.. I
                         offered her rice and beans.. 

                                   BOYO
                         And she ran. I know. I saw it. We
                         all have our bad days..

               Jean Claude hands Boyo a steaming plate of rice and beans
               from the pots. Watching the clock. 

                                   BOYO (CONT'D)
                         Don't worry. You're with me.
                             (of the food)
                         This is good. Not kidney beans.

                                   JEAN CLAUDE
                         No..
                             (then)
                         Lima.

                                   BOYO
                         Butter beans. My mother used to
                         make Daal and rice. She got the
                         recipe off an Indian friend of
                         hers. A little cumin, garam masala,
                         and wham!..

               Jean Claude jumps.

                                   BOYO (CONT'D)
                         Scared you did I?
                             (back to the beans)
                         Best damn beans I had. But this ...
                         this is pretty fucking good.

               Jean Claude murmurs something.

                                   BOYO (CONT'D)
                         What?

                                   JEAN CLAUDE
                         Daal... is made of lentils, not
                         beans.

               They look at each other.

                                   JEAN CLAUDE (CONT'D)
                             (verbal diarrhea now)
                         All daals are lentils... they're
                         made of lentils... But I'm sure
                         there are some made of kidney
                         beans. Oh GOD PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!

                                   BOYO
                             (amused)
                         Seriously? I'm not going to kill
                         you. 
                             (another spoonful)
                         They are.

               Nods to two more thugs (Bronco and Horse) as they round in on
               Jean Claude.

               Boyo  finishes up his plate. He looks at the cart and picks
               up the festive ribbons Jean Claude ties to the roof of his
               shutters.



               EXT. BRUMLEE FENCE - CONTINUOUS

               Buck and another thug, Mick, are chasing Vira on motorbikes.
               She can't keep up. She jumps off and starts climbing the
               fence surrounding West Brumlee. Buck shoots at her.

                                   MICK
                         You fucking crazy? Boss says alive!

               Buck climbs up, behind Vira.

               He grabs her leg. She kicks him off. 

               The time shows 4:58 p.m..

               Mick rides around to the other side and waits for Vira to
               jump down. 

               Vira leaps, barely grasping a tin roof with her fingers. She
               hauls herself up. 

               She runs across the roof and jumps... onto the back of a
               passing laundry van that has screeched in before the curfew. 

               Sirens sound. The curfew is on. Mick and Buck duck into a
               doorway.

               Police vans move in.



               INT. CAPITAL HQ. MEETING ROOM - CONTINUOUS

               MJS is preparing a speech. She isn't happy with what is
               written down. And she has a splitting headache. 

                                   MJS
                             (murmuring to herself)
                         We have a great debt owed to those
                         that died this day , ten years ago,
                         many of them sacrificing their own
                         lives so that we who stand here,
                         shall live...
                             (no, that doesn't sound
                              right)
                         So that we can rebuild our
                         devastated...
                             (tries a different tack)
                         Like you, I lost my dearest  to the
                         Blackout...

               She looks up to see Jon there.

                                   MJS (CONT'D)
                         Who did you lose, Jon?

                                   JON
                         My father, Madame and my older
                         brother.

                                   MJS
                         Your mother? 

                                   JON
                         Breast cancer. A few years before
                         that.

                                   MJS
                         Do you remember much before the
                         Blackout?

                                   JON
                         Some things.

                                   MJS
                         You must have been a child then.

                                   JON
                         I was twenty.

                                   MJS
                         Huh. I wouldn't have put you in
                         your thirties. You look much
                         younger.

                                   JON
                         It mostly works in my favour
                         madame.

               He smiles at her. She smiles back.

               She goes back to her speech. Jon leaves a cup of tea and a
               sugar bowl on her table.

Only three more minutes. She could do it. Of course she could.

Malini passed the woman walking her dog. Older than Malini, she was perhaps in her late fifties, and the dog, a mutt of some sort. Both had a limp. I wonder what her story is, Malini thought, trying to distract herself from the fatigue threatening to overcome her. Everyone who comes to Vancouver Island has a story, often a good one.

She had been running for seventeen minutes straight, with only a bit, a tad more, a smidgen of time to go. Malini willed her legs on. The couch to 5K app on her phone had upped her run time today.  After a week of running for twenty minutes in four five-minute sections, it had decided to, brazenly, in Malini’s opinion, throw down a challenge. Twenty minutes at a stretch. She had three minutes more to go.

Come on, Mal. That’s only one hundred and eighty seconds. She was surprised she could do the math. Or think. Or do anything else besides stumble, drool and give up. She felt her legs shuffling under her. Her left knee wobbled, perfectly willing to disengage from the rest of her body and lie down right there on the trail, a conscientious objector to this madness.

Babe… She called herself Babe when things got rough. It brought a smile to her face, and it did this time too.

Come on Babe, she said to herself, this pain is nothing compared to childbirth. Don’t stop now. Granted, childbirth was nineteen years ago, but still indelible in her mind. Her midwife at Lamaze had said that she needed to train for it with the intensity of a marathon. Malini had scoffed – she had never run a marathon, but it was an exaggeration surely. But there it was. A breech position that wouldn’t turn, a missed window for an epidural, and, in the end, an emergency C-section. A difficult birth… for a difficult child.

Malini would not let herself say it. Nevertheless, in the nineteen years since Sophie’s birth, through the haze of naptimes that segued into class times that segued into graduation, Malini regularly fought off feelings of perhaps not having done enough for her daughter. For perhaps setting her off on the wrong foot. Perhaps of missing something.

“Nonsense,” her friend Dina said when Malini confessed these feelings of inadequacy one evening. They were into their third glass of Shiraz, and Malini was on the verge of phoning Sophie. “I’ve seen you with her. You’re a good mother Mal. A kind one. Sometimes too kind… There will be time to call her. But not now.” Dina paused. “Anyway, how about that idea of a book club? Do you think it’ll work?”

Yes. It would.

That was nearly two months ago. Tonight they were discussing Dina’s choice – a story about a man who becomes friends with his reflection in the mirror. “Is It Me?” was a recent release and gathering storm. It was Dina’s first time to pick, but Malini would have to miss book club. Tonight, she had a visitor.

She saw the end of the trail loop. It was farther away than she wished, but she saw it.

“COME ON BABE!”

The family walking ahead of her jumped. They were in their late twenties, maybe early thirties, walking briskly along the trail. They were lightly dressed for this early autumnal day. The woman wore a blue fleece and Malini glimpsed a tendril of a tattoo under the blond ponytail. The man next to her had a beard and wore a short-sleeved t-shirt. He was pushing a bright orange stroller. His beard, neatly trimmed, more red than brown, and his compact, workman-like build reminded her of a younger Niall. A small, grey Border terrier kept pace with them. Malini smiled at the thought of her husband. And then she smiled at the realization that she had smiled. It was a small victory. Perhaps those endorphins were kicking in after all…

“Sorry!” She panted, as she increased her pace. The terrier ran at her ankles and Malini skirted the dog with an ease that surprised her. Maybe she was fitter. Or perhaps it was long- dormant survival instincts coming into play. She had been adept, as a child, at dodging yowling strays near her apartment building in Bangalore.

“Bianca, down!” The man shouted. “She’s an idiot. But she’s actually very sweet once you get to…” Malini gave them the thumbs up as she passed. It was a good move, for she was too out-of-breath to make any cogent reply.

It was autumn, the year Malini had turned forty-nine – the same age as Malini’s mother had been when she died. Galvanized by that realization, Malini decided to start an exercise program. She found trainers in her area, and quickly discounted them once she realised that her twice-weekly visit to Roberta’s Gelato and Brownie Bar would be off limits if she signed up. There has to be a balance, she thought, although finding the right balance was challenging.

She was on the local parks and rec website when she thought of her friend Ines in Seattle. Ines, like her, was small and brown with a weakness for ice cream. She ran an online fitness camp for Latina women- Músculos Femeninos Entrenado Con Inés! It was in Spanish, of course, but Malini had a smattering, and so could manage. When she logged onto the website, she was heartened. The success stories looked like what she hoped to turn into. Muscular, but still womanly. She had signed up for a six-month course, and this was the end of week three. She had done her workout at the gym earlier and now, the trail running.

And so far, so commendable. She willed her way to the top of the scrabble path and as she reached the crest of the trail, she heard her timer chime. Sweet Jesus! That was hard. Malini stopped and took in the view. It was magnificent. The light off the bay on Eveningside Crescent was pink-crimson and the waves lapped onto shore, each a small cheer as it broke. She felt the breeze as she lifted her face to the sun in silent thanks. Below, the beach was gravelly, fallen trees forming natural bolsters against the water.

British Columbia. Probably the most beautiful place she had ever lived in, certainly more beautiful then Bangalore, which had morphed from the sleepy backwater town of her childhood to the screaming tech-centre of India; unequivocally more majestic than Bristol with its mealy-mouthed high street and traffic congestion. She noticed with some amusement that Toronto and Oxford being the honourable exceptions, she had an affinity for living in places that started with a B. Bangalore, Bristol, that stint in Buenos Aires for a year, and now B.C. Yes, British Columbia was technically a province but it still counted. Where would she go next? She wondered. Burkina Faso? Bolivia? Berlin? Berlin might be nice. She’d always wanted to visit the Brandenberg gate.

She had been unnerved at first by the lack of interesting architecture on the island. She missed Georgian and Victorian buildings. But slowly, the place had trained her eyes to look for the mountains, the beaches, the drama of the setting sun.

Her eyes swept across the vista in front of her. So much sky. She thought. One hardly noticed the sky in Bristol, except perhaps to comment on the impending rain. But here, in this corner of Eveningside Park, the sky dominated. Towering cumulonimbus clouds in shades of deep orange, pink and purple. Yes, there would be rain. She could smell the promise of it in the air. The beach looked inviting, and she checked her watch. She narrowed her eyes, wishing she had picked up her interim contact lenses from Costco’s that day. 6:18 P.M. She had just enough time to shower and head to the ferry terminal.