by Daniel Slack
He meanders around a few spacecrafts before coming across the dying soldier.
He's lying flat out with his face to the ground, moaning and wailing, surrounded by puke and blood.
Jack starts to hum a little louder.
The soldier takes no notice. Jack kneels down and pokes him in the ribs.
Fighting paralysing pain the soldier rolls over, half expecting Brian and half hoping for another soldier.
SOLDIER
(barely making a sound)
Help... please.
Jack stands up, looks down at the man and cocks his head to the side, giving him a menacing smile.
In an instant the smile disappears leaving behind menace and pure malice.
Obsessively Jack repeatedly stomps on the soldier face.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
INT. SCARLETT'S COCKPIT
Brian saunters into the cockpit and takes his seat.
BRIAN
(imitating Jack from the Shining)
Honey... I'm home.
(to us)
P.S. Intertextualities aren't just pop culture references. This is art here people. Well... for the most part. You knew that though.
SCARLETT
There seems to be some activity going on outside the ship, Brian.
BRIAN
Lock us down.
SCARLETT
I already have.
BRIAN
Then switch off all external lights and then dim the one in here.
The lights dim. Brian leans forward in his chair.
BRIAN
Could you bring up the surveillance footage please, Scarlett?
The screen on the control panel lights up showing many shots of outside the spacecraft. Brian taps on the bay door camera causing it to enlarge to full screen.
Jack walks on camera and then off.
Brian swipes the screen, moving to the next camera, following Jack as he circles the ship.
BRIAN
Who the fuck is this and why isn't he dead?
Brian continues to follow Jack around the ship, swiping the screen until he moves away.
BRIAN
He'll probably die soon, he's got blood all over him, there's no way he's not getting infected.
INT. SPACE STATION
Silent images of various sections around the space station:
Masses of bodies sprawled across corridors seemingly having dropped where they stood.
A mess hall full of an array of personnel ranging from pilots, to nurses, to engineers, completely still, festering in putrescent, rancid filth.
There is vomit all across the floor, blood and mucus in food, dead faces in the vomit and blood soaked food.
A mass murder has been freeze framed leaving behind sadistic decay and vulgar pollution.
The air is thick, tinted with infection.
INT. SCARLETT'S COCKPIT
Brian scribbles on his notepad whilst rubbing his left eye.
BRIAN
If only this serenity would last a little longer. There's always shit stirring from below, unbeknownst, waiting to kill. But, from chaos will come some more of that serenity, just before shit hits the fan and we all get covered in the faeces of chance.
SCARLETT
Beautiful.
BRIAN
Thank you, Scarlett. I didn't know you were listening.
SCARLETT
We have been shut down, Brian.
BRIAN
Shut down, what does that mean?
SCARLETT
We have ceased all operation due to central control overriding the on-board computers.
BRIAN
(still scribbling)
I thought I replaced the on-board computers with encrypted--
SCARLETT
That's what's been overridden.
BRIAN
Does anything work?
SCARLETT
Nothing computerised, which means the emergency exit in the base of the hull can be manually opened.
Brian looks up, but then continues writing.
SCARLETT
The taps might work.
BRIAN
Thanks, Scarlett, but aren't you computerised?
SCARLETT
Who's going to tell you everything's been shut down but me?
Brian smiles then walks out the cockpit.
SCARLETT
Brain?
He comes back in.
BRIAN
Yep.
SCARLETT
Sorry, I've been fighting it for a while. My full function just came with the shut down.
BRIAN
It's fine. I still love you. Thanks for filling the plot hole by the way. Got to pee.
INT. PILOT'S COMPARTMENT
The room is completely silent as Eliza sits on screen, watching, waiting, bored out of her mind.
Jack walks into the room, playing with a soldier's security pass.
ELIZA
Hey! Are you ok?
Jack lifts his hands up showing her his blood drenched fingers.
Eliza looks on horrified as he licks the blood.
Ed pushes Eliza out of her seat.
ED
Sir, what is going on? Have you seen anyone else alive, any soldiers?
Jack nods, remissive. He then puts his arms to his side and sways a little.
ED
Sir... Sir? This guy's gone. Sir!
Jack snaps awake, completely animated.
JACK
What!?
A smile stretches across his face.
ED
You must have been through a lot...
JACK
Not much, I'd like to go through some more.
ED
... and I'm sure you've seen terrible things...
JACK
Glorious things.
ED
... but, I need you to focus. There's a madman on the space station, he goes by the name Brian. We've sent a team to collect him, but we haven't heard anything in a long time.
JACK
Can I help you?
ED
Have you seen anybody alive in the last hour?
JACK
Yes, a few, but they're all dead now.
He holds his hands and smiles.
ED
Listen, what's your name?
JACK
I'm sorry, I've got to go now, places to go, people to see.
He starts toward the door.
ED
Where are you going?
JACK
Places.
Jack leaves the room in silence.
ED
What the fuck?
INT. SCARLETT'S COCKPIT - SAME
Brian is still scribbling on a notepad, humming a similar tune to that Jack was. He puts his pencil down and rubs his eye.
BRIAN
Well, I'm done. I think this will really amaze you.
He leaves the room.
INT. SCARLETT'S CARGO BAY - LATER
Brian lifts up a door in the floor labeled emergency hatch and jumps down.
INT. DOCKING BAY 2
Brian lands on his feet, crouching below Scarlett. He gets out from underneath her and walks across the bay.
BRIAN
What I have done is figure out a way to make a machine that should be able to recognise my cells. There wasn't much to it, we practically have the technology already nowadays, but it's non-specific. There will be a scanner that can almost do this in security control.
He makes his way over to the massive bay doors of the space station.
BRIAN
Now, if I remember correctly there should be an access terminal around here.
He walks to the side of the doors over to a panel on the wall. He pushes a button, holding the janitors card to the scanner.
The bay doors slowly open up.
Brian goes through the doors into:
INT. AIRLOCK
This is a mass
ive holding space where all ships go through security check.
Brian makes his way over to a set of steps that lead up to a control room.
INT. SECURITY CONTROL
Brian walks past a few desks until he reaches one occupied one. A woman sits with her face down on her desk.
Brian pokes her. No response.
BRIAN
Ok, then.
He wipes his finger on his trouser leg and walks to the end of the row of desks.
Brian shakes what looks like circular plastic door frame. It almost falls over on him.
BRIAN
Shit, this stuff is cheap.
He walks over to a computer next to the scanner and pulls out a few wires. Brian then drags the scanner out of the control room.
INT. DOCKING BAY 2
Brian continues to drag the scanner over to Scarlett's bay doors where he sets it down.
He leaves the scanner and crouches under Scarlett to access the hatch he came from.
INT. SCARLETT'S CARGO BAY
Brian pulls himself through the hatch and closes it.
BRIAN
The work I do.
INT. SCARLETT'S COCKPIT
In he comes.
BRIAN
Hey, Scarlett.
SCARLETT
Hello, Brian. Back so soon?
BRIAN
I've got to rewire a few bits under the control panel, is that all right?
SCARLETT
I'm pretty sure it's not.
BRIAN
Well, what can I do? I need the computers back on and the front doors open. I've got to do it.
He pulls the screwdriver from his pocket.
SCARLETT
Fine.
BRIAN
(unscrewing parts of the panel)
Oh, come on. If I don't do this before the virus reactivates I'm dead.
Scarlett sighs.
INT. MESS HALL
Jack takes a seat next to a pilot with his face in a bowl of bloodied rice.
Jack lifts the man's head by the hair. He looks at his face smeared in blood, spotted with red grains of rice and laughs.
Jack throws the man backwards by his hair and takes his bowl.
Eating from the foul concoction of grain and gore Jack hums his little tune.
INT. SCARLETT'S COCKPIT
Brian pulls at wires, stripping some of them with his teeth and winding them around each other, discarding others.
A few wires get knotted as Brian pulls at them. They won't budge.
He yanks, pulling a whole load loose.
Scarlett...
SCARLETT
AHH!!
... screams as if in pain.
Brian jumps out of his skin, but then starts laughing at himself.
SCARLETT
Brian, you dick, stop pulling my wires. Do you know how long it takes to get them this good.
BRIAN
You know I love your wires as they are and I would never want to change you, but do you want me to die?
SCARLETT
Seriously?
BRIAN
Seriously.
SCARLETT
Weeell...
Brian yanks at a few more wires.
SCARLETT
Ass.
BRIAN
And I love you.
Brian leaves the cockpit...
INT. STORAGE
... finds a soldering iron and some solder in an old engineering kit...
INT. SCARLETT'S COCKPIT
... and returns with them in hand.
He picks up a bunch of wires and fixes them to a terminal within the control panel.
He stands back impressed at his work.
SCARLETT
Great job... too bad you fucked up.
Brian kicks the control panel.
The screen lights up, reading: SYSTEM RESTART.
BRIAN
Ha!
INT. DOCKING BAY 2 - LATER
Brian drags the scanner into Scarlett, up the access ramp.
INT. SCARLETT'S COCKPIT
Brian sets down the scanner and plugs it into a socket under the control panel.
Bulbs on the inside of the scanner glow lime green. He unplugs it and the lights go out.
He pulls some more wires from the control panel, taking them over to the scanner.
He pops of an access panel and solders the control panel wires to the scanner.
BRIAN
Hey, Scarlett?
SCARLETT
Uh-huh.
BRIAN
Is that fingerprint and genome data on this computer?
SCARLETT
You mean in my hard drive. Yes, it is.
BRIAN
Could you please bring that up on the screen here. Thank you.
Brian switches the scanner back on, then goes to work on the screen.
BRIAN
Ok, using his data, my genomic stuff, the scanner will now be able to recognise my cells. It does this by bouncing electrons of skin and passing small amounts of gamma through my body. As is, the machine is pretty useless, it knows who I am and can recognize me. To cure myself of this virus I will have to physically extract it out of my body. To do this I am going to need a lot of energy, some luck and a few high school physics lesson facts.
INT. CORRIDORS
Brian power walks down the corridors dodging dead bodies whilst trying to avoid slipping on blood and other miscellaneous bodily fluids.
BRIAN
In high school you are taught about fundamental quantum physics and how the electron likes to behave. They still don't teach special relativity, but whatever. The electron, from what I remember, is a bit of a dick. It doesn't like to sit still and does whatever it wants. This bastard had physicists wrapped around its little finger for centuries. This was until some guy figured out this astoundingly simple equation. What it was, I don't remember, I never understood it. But, I do remember some of the theory behind it. If you excite electrons in the right way, they attach themselves to an entity and sort of become its bitch, it'll go where it's told. Entanglement or something. This gave birth to teleportation. Two groups of electrons will be paired and swapped over. Old technology. Everyone knows about it. If done right, a whole atom will be taken with it. With a bit of smarts: whatever you want. This technology is very simple and would be incredibly useful, but was never used because of how dangerous it could be. Still, it's really easy to make a teleporter, but, if you do you rot in prison. I don't know how, but on Earth the U-G-G is aware of practically everything that happens. So, if you do use one, you will be caught. Anyhow, out in space you probably won't be, so I've got that on my side.