CANDY
Built a shell.
ACE
Uh-huh. And I built a beauty, didn’t I? So when I opened it up to you, that made you special.
CANDY
Because you love me for real?
ACE
(sadly)
I do love you for real, Candy. But what makes you special is that I made you the only person in Underground who can hurt me. Now you think you can shut up until we get home, or do I have to explain how you’re going to pull your weight right here?
CANDY
You don’t have to explain anything to me, Ace. Not now, not—
ACE
(smacks her bottom again, but, this time, hard enough for the crack! to resound through the tunnel)
You never know when to be quiet, do you?
FADE OUT
INT: Ace’s cave
Several hours have passed.
Candy is wearing one of Ace’s flannel shirts; it comes down to mid-calf. She is barefoot, and obviously nude beneath it. Ace is also barefoot, in a pair of cargo pants and an old T-shirt. He is seated at their “kitchen” table; Candy is pacing back and forth as they speak.
ACE
Okay, now? You get it? I didn’t want you to quit because I was jealous (catching a glimpse of Candy’s legs as she paces past). Okay, maybe I was, a little … but I knew that was stupid.
Candy stops, hands on her hips.
ACE
Will you stop? What I meant was, it’d be stupid because you … opened yourself, too. You’re not my … girlfriend or something; you’re my … (searches for the right word) … you’re my partner. Not like a business partner, part of me. Like I’m part of you.
CANDY
You don’t have to calm me down, like I’m going to explode or something.
ACE
(sarcastically)
No?
CANDY
No! Who’s always giving who a smack?
ACE
(angry at the false allegation)
Yeah, that’s me, the big mate-beater, huh? Did I ever throw a dish at you? Or bust up the furniture? Or punch you in the chest? Or even yell at you? Oh, that’s right … that’s what you do.
Candy looks down. Then she puts her face in her hands and starts to cry.
ACE
(grabs her wrist, pulls her onto his lap)
Smacking your fat ass shouldn’t even count—that’s like whipping a rock with a pillow.
CANDY
(trying to suppress a giggle)
You’re nothing but a bully.
ACE
That’s me, all right.
(Raises the flannel shirt and gives her a smack, very lightly.)
CANDY
(triumphantly)
At least you admit it. (Buries her face in Ace’s neck for a second, pulls back, gives him a quick kiss, stands up, and steps back.)
ACE
Being a bully? You’re the one who’s always—
CANDY
Oh, don’t be such an idiot. You said it yourself, didn’t you? Mate-beater.
FADE OUT
INT: Ace’s cave
Considerable time has passed. Candy is sitting at a desk that wasn’t there before, making notes from the terminal attached to one end. She consults various charts, marks them in different colors, using incomprehensible symbols. She is clearly concentrating.
A series of LEDs suddenly begin to flash in what seems like a random sequence. She watches for a full ten seconds, then taps in a series of numbers on a keypad.
The door opens, and Ace enters.
CANDY
Come here, honey. Remember that pattern I told you about? My hypothesis? I think it’s almost ready. Take a look.
ACE
(walking over, putting his hand on the back of her neck)
It does look good, girl. But it doesn’t matter, not anymore.
FADE OUT
COME IN ON INT: Ace’s cave
Ace and Candy are sitting together in one chair; his recliner having been replaced by one built for two.
ACE
It had to happen. You could see it coming a few cycles ago. The Info-Board said Traxyl-fighting had been upgraded to a Major Rule infraction. That means a year on the HydroFarm if you’re caught. Nobody understood it at first, but then the Book Boys set us straight:
CUT TO:
NOT JUST THE HANDLERS
THEY COUNT THE GAMBLERS, TOO
AND THEY’RE COUNTING YOU
ACE
The Rulers don’t know what a Gambler is, but they know what a Gambler does. All the new Rule meant was that going to a Traxyl fight to bet was a bet … a bet that you wouldn’t get caught. If the Rulers knew anything about Gamblers, they wouldn’t have bothered changing the Rules.
But then the whisper-stream started really throbbing, saying the people in the Uncharted Zone were going to stop the Traxyl-fighting by themselves. That sounded crazy, like a rumor inside another rumor. Nobody even knows if there are people in the Uncharted Zone.
But it’s been eighteen cycles, and not one single Trapper has come back. Even when the price for a Traxyl went up to fifty thousand credits, there were no takers. Like it wasn’t a gamble anymore; it was a mortal lock: if a Trapper goes in, he’s the one who gets trapped.
When they realized nobody was going to trap any more Traxyls, they tried to breed them. They never did that before, because it was so risky: if you put two of them together to have sex, they might kill each other, and you wouldn’t make a single credit off that. But they found out that Traxyls won’t mate after they’re captured. I don’t even know how you tell males from females, but the ones in cages never have babies. Or eggs.
I’ve been doing this so long, I guess I never figured on doing anything else. But the word just got passed. They’re going to put every Traxyl they have left into one last fight. It’s going to run for as long as it takes—maybe a whole cycle. When it’s over, there’ll only be one Traxyl left.
I know that’s true, too.
CUT TO BOOK BOYS SIGN:
DEATH WIND WALKING
Ace leans forward, thousand-yard stare:
ACE
The last fight is going to be way out in the tunnels. It’s right next to the Uncharted Zone, but there’s no other place to hold a fight this size. There’s over three hundred Traxyls left, and there has to be room for people to stay—a full cycle is a long time. Traders are already out there, setting it up. It’ll be a huge score for them; out on the border, you can charge whatever you want.
It’s hard to keep something this big quiet, and that makes me nervous, sure. But it’s our last chance, little girl. We’ve got almost three hundred thousand credits saved, but, after this, there’ll be no way for us to earn any more. What we have can’t last forever, not if we want to stay here.
CANDY
We don’t have to stay here. We just have to stay together.
ACE
Underground’s no place to be old, honey. It costs credits to be safe. Protection, the Medical Tunnels … you know. We don’t have enough to go the distance.
CANDY
(sensing what’s coming)
Ace …
ACE
I’m going to the fights, girl. I’ll take two-fifty with me. If I come back, I’ll have enough for us to go all the way. If I don’t, you can get seventy-five for this place, easy. Plus the fifty, you should be okay for a real long time, until you find another way to—
CANDY
(immovable)
No.
ACE
We don’t have any choice, baby.
Candy stands up.
ACE
I’m sorry, Candy. But you don’t have any choice, either. I’m going.
CANDY
I know you’re going, you stupid man. But you’re not going with two hundred and fifty thousand credits—
ACE
How much do you—?
CANDY
Have you been lying t
o me, Ace. All this time, lying?
ACE
Lying? I never once—
CANDY
Then you’re not taking two-fifty; you’re taking the whole stash. And you’re taking me, too.
Ace just stares at her.
CANDY
All in, mister. All in. That means you and me, right?
FADE TO BLACK
Open on a shot of moving through barely lit tunnels to …
INT: A small cave, obviously built for transient business, the equivalent of a cheap motel. Ace and Candy are sitting together on the floor mat.
ACE
I took a good look around. They keep the Traxyls in little clear Jexan cages before the fights, so the Gamblers can look them over. The cages have slots in the back, so all the Handlers have to do is reach in and shove them into the pit once they throw the switch.
CANDY
You have one picked?
ACE
It’s too early, honey. For a move like this, you can’t be wrong.
CANDY
Our move.
ACE
(patting her shoulder)
Our move. But we have to stay with the system, little girl. People, not Traxyls. So—
CANDY
So this is where I come in! It can’t be one bet; it’s got to be a lot of them, and you can’t place them all. Anyway, I already know what you’re going to do.
ACE
(smiling)
Yeah?
CANDY
(as if reciting a lesson)
People, not Traxyls. This is the last of the fights, so it’s the last chance for the Gamblers to make that one big score. That means they’re all going to be looking for the long shot, because they don’t have that many credits to start with. What good is a two-to-one win going to do them … keep them alive for another couple of cycles? And if they lose, they’re going to … chase, you call it, right?
ACE
(proud of her)
Oh yeah. If they lose a hundred credits on one fight; they’ll bet two hundred on the next one, the fools. None of the Takers know you. Just be patient, wait until the last minute … that’s when the odds are going to jump, because all the sucker money will be on the long shots … which will make them the favorites. Then we go long on the Traxyls that should have been the favorites. They’d expect a girl to do that, anyway.
FADE OUT
INT: A circular Traxyl pit.
Two Traxyls are stationed across from one another, in their cages. The audience is still betting, as Takers move from one person to another in response to waves of betting cards.
A high, humming noise fills the entire area.
An army of children are coming through a back tunnel, holding hands. The noise is coming from them. This is not a noise they are making; it is an emanation of some kind. Should be clear that no one child could make this sound—only the gestalt of their mutual presence can produce it.
Two of the older children separate from the rest. One boy; one girl. Each walks over to a Traxyl cage and calmly throws it open.
Instead of charging each other, the Traxyls rush into the audience, which scatters in panic.
All the children are now opening cages as the high, humming noise increases.
The freed Traxyls are ripping apart every human in sight … except the children.
The man we know as Father appears. He blows into some kind of flutelike instrument. No sound comes out, but both the children and the Traxyls stop moving.
The children immediately start walking back the way they came. The Traxyls follow. Not chasing the children, walking alongside of them, as if they belong.
ACE
I see it now, little girl. There’s our bet.
He stands up, holds out his hand.
ACE
All in? You and me?
CANDY
(taking his hand)
Let’s go home, honey. Where we belong.
Ace and Candy begin to follow the children. A couple of the Traxyls suddenly whirl around to face them.
The humming noise sounds.
As if summoned, the Traxyls turn around. They follow the children. Ace and Candy move quickly to catch up with them.
They pass the Traxyls and walk with the children, still holding hands. A different child reaches up and takes each of their other hands.
FADE OUT on blackness, illuminated only by a sign, glowing in luminescent blue:
WHAT LIES OUTSIDE
IS NO LIE
HONOR IS THE ONLY ARMOR
THE FINAL FIGHT
IS TO COME INTO THE LIGHT
FADE TO BLACK
COME IN ON
INT: Gathering hall
MAN AT PODIUM
(clearly preparing to depart, bows briefly)
I thank you for your patience. The Book of the Path is talk. For talk to become truth, one must walk. You will follow what you will. I must follow my father.
for Lorraine
Mortal Lock Page 30