"Infected" By Ben Vanderneck & Ken Vaden INT. upscale living room We see a man dancing to a bossa nova tune, then cut to see a woman, his wife, dancing with him. They fall down on a couch next to a table set with candles, laughing. VOICEOVER This crap is gonna make me puke! INT. The Institute A scientist, TAKI, sits in what looks like a cross between a laboratory and a hospital room. He disapprovingly watches a monitor; on the monitor, we see the man and his wife still carrying on, smiling and chatting. We now see the same man from the monitor lying in a bed next to TAKI, pale and sickly with wires protruding from his scalp. An assortment of machines surrounds the bedside. Cuts back to TAKI. Another scientist, GRADY, walks over from one of the machines and sits down beside him. TAKI C'mon, Fulmer, gimme something worth looking at here... GRADY This is fascinating... TAKI Yeah, the first couple times people always tend to say that. Just wait until you turn into a cynical old bastard like me. GRADY How long have you been working on him? TAKI Two years. (Smiles) Only took me a few weeks before I was ready to tear my eyes out watching this. (gestures toward monitor. FULMER smiles a big truman show smile and walks out the door of his beautiful house.) GRADY And they're always this... domestic? TAKI (Grins) You think this is boring? At least he doesn't dream about working here. God, I'm sorry if I'm sucking all the fun out of this for you. Seriously, you know what my first assignment was? For nine goddamned months I watched this old lady picking strawberries. Dr. Fulmer here's one of the most complex cases we've got. GRADY He's practically recreated his entire world. TAKI No one else even comes close. Fully organic, sophisticated interactions with reality-based as well as fictional characters... The scenery changes. He's continued practicing medicine and researching in his own dream world. On top of all that, his brain activity's off the charts. Hardly what you'd call a berry picker. GRADY I've read his file, y'know, all the highlights - MIT, Johns Hopkins, bam, mental breakdown, he starts talking to himself in the sandbox, and then... TAKI The coma deluxe. GRADY Right. So what I'm missing is how an overeducated, well-connected mind like that just falls into our laps. TAKI (Laughs) You're oversimplifying a bit. The case history is just as complex as - wait a minute. (He turns to the monitor. As FULMER walks down the street, a slow-mo quality takes over. He stops for a second and watches a group of Hare Krishna-like figures in white robes and white face paint simulating suffocation. Fulmer looks "at the camera" (directly out at TAKI & GRADY from the monitor), briefly, then continues walking disinterestedly. GRADY looks confusedly at TAKI. TAKI'S eyes light up.) GRADY Did he just...? TAKI (laughs) Uh, Grady? We're looking at the inside of this guy's head. Kind of a one-way mirror deal. Don't go flaky on me already. However (begins entering data into a computer), it looks like this particular head just got a whole lot more interesting... INT. Institute - hallway GRADY walks with HOLLOWAY, a fellow rookie scientist GRADY It was wild. Made Taki happy... For years, Fulmer's been nothing but sunshine and lollipops and then all of a sudden - HOLLOWAY Killer mimes. How pretentious. GRADY Come on, man, he wouldn't just come up with something like that. HOLLOWAY Isn't that what dreams are for? GRADY I know a lot of people that have reaaaalllly boring dreams. Besides, this guy's been comatose for twenty-five months. The entire time he's been creating a continuous dream, with a level of detail down to the silverware in his drawers. Then all of a sudden something like this happens? It just (FEMALE SCIENTIST bumps into him) Hey - FEMALE SCIENTIST Oh, sorry - GRADY No, it's okay, my mind's all over the place right now. (offers hand) Matt Grady. FEMALE SCIENTIST (shakes his hand) Alison Turner, I think I've seen you around. You're working on Fulmer, right? GRADY Just started. ALISON God, I'm dying to get a crack at that. We need to talk about it sometime, but I'm kinda in a rush here - GRADY Oh, yeah, of course, see you around. (She walks away) HOLLOWAY (shouting, pointing at self) Wes Holloway. INT.GRADY'S office. GRADY sits pushing papers around, playing w/ his pen, and generally avoiding work. Finally he looks at his watch and wanders out of the room. INT. FULMER'S room GRADY sneaks in, looking kind of embarrassed. He glances at the monitor. FULMER talks to his wife. We hear snippets of a conversation...) FULMER ...don't know. I mean, everything's going great, right? God, you're here, the house is the nicest it's ever been, and I know we're gonna be great parents. The best part is I can start spending a lot more time at home and - (he pauses. for a second it appears as though he's staring directly at GRADY through the monitor. GRADY tenses up.) VOICE Grady. GRADY jumps, whirls around, and TAKI has appeared behind him. GRADY Oh, uh... hey. TAKI Trying to get a head start on next week's reports? GRADY Uh... TAKI Y'know, it's usually a good idea to clear a solo observation with me first. GRADY Yeah... yes, of course... TAKI But I don't wanna squash that incredible thirst for knowledge of yours. Why don't you type up a practice report for me by tomorrow morning, just to keep it legit? (smirks, turns & leaves. GRADY stands there for a while.) INT. room JOANNA FULMER'S (FULMER'S wife's) head is visible, nothing else. JOANNA Jack? Jack, what's going on? Jack, why won't you talk to me? FULMER (sitting on couch, looking confused. His wife stands with her back turned to us in a bathrobe.) I just don't know what's wrong. JOANNA Jack, I'll do whatever I can, you know I will. FULMER Of... of course, Joanna. You're what I count on, you know that. JOANNA (laugh-crying) I just hate seeing you like this. FULMER Hey, it's gonna be okay, the party's going to be great tonight, honey. You've been working so hard... just trust me. (Cut back to reveal shot of the real-world FULMER comatose as ever in his bed, his real-life wife at his side watching him "talk" to her through the monitor. TAKI, GRADY, and HOLLOWAY stand watching.) JOANNA Oh God... TAKI C'mon, Mrs. Fulmer, I think that's enough for one day. You heard your husband, he doesn't want you to worry - JOANNA What the hell are you talking about? He's not talking to me, he's in there; he's trapped in there!!! He thinks that's me - TAKI (leading her to the door) Mrs. Fulmer, I know this isn't easy but -- JOANNA (screaming) He's trapped in there!!! TAKI Okay, easy.... (She fights his attempts to physically restrain her. At that moment ALISON enters the door and shoots them a confused look. She sees GRADY and smiles.) ALISON Christopher Taki? Hi, it's my first day; I'm - TAKI Show's over. (He escorts out the increasingly frantic JOANNA. (A pause as the three stare at each other and exchange "what the hell was that all about?" glances. Suddenly, bossa nova music begins playing in the room) ALISON Uh, guys...? (FULMER'S monitor now shows the party he described - cocktail kind of deal with plenty of sophisticates. FULMER sits in a chair drinking wine. Something clearly bothers him, but the booze seems to be helping. His wife dances over and kisses him. He smiles and watches her head toward the kitchen. She washes out a wine glass and suddenly the sound of a garbage disposal is heard. The music begins to warp; the entire mindscape begins to take on a slo-mo quality. She screams as her hand enters the garbage disposal in a spout of blood.) HOLLOWAY What the hell's going on, Grady? GRADY I don't know -- ALISON We need to get Taki in here - GRADY No!!! HOLLOWAY What?? Why not? GRADY Taki - I - look, he's gotta take care of this guy's wife, no way in hell should she be seeing this - HOLLOWAY But don't you think he can stop it?? GRADY No - look, something weird happened with Fulmer last night - HOLLOWAY What are you talking about?? When did you see him last night?? ALISON Grady - (TAKI reenters) TAKI Honest to god, these people can - (sees monitor). Oh. Oh, you guys need to get out of here, seriously. GRADY Taki, I - TAKI Grady. Now. HOLLOWAY C'mon. (He and ALISON walk out, GRADY reluctantly follows) (TAKI watches FULMER screaming and cradling his wife on the monitor. FULMER looks directly at TAKI from the monitor and screams "you bastard.") TAKI (looks at the readouts) Oh no no no. This is unacceptable. No way in hell are you waking up on me now, Dr. Fulmer. (sticks him with a needle; we see the readings go back down) You're actually getting kinda cool. INT. hallway outside FULMER'S room. GRADY presses his ear to the door, HOLLOWAY and ALISON stand aside. HOLLOWAY Matt, c'mon. You're acting like a goddamned little kid. GRADY Aren't we supposed to learn how to handle emergencies like this? I wanna know what he's got to hide. HOLLOWAY Why don't you wait around and ask him? Jesus. Alison, I'm getting outta here. ALISON Okay, see ya. (HOLLOWAY looks at her for a second, shrugs, and walks off. She turns to GRADY.) Tell me what's going on. INT. another section of the hallway. ALISON Did you know his wife's been here only eleven times in the past two years? Nine of them have been in the past month and a half. GRADY You saw what happened when Taki took her away. ALISON But there's no way he could've known that. GRADY Alison, he looked straight into my eyes last night. What - ALISON Hold on a sec. (Stops, a faint sound of running, bubbling liquid can be heard. She turns to the door closest to them.) That's a patient's room; something's wrong - (swings open the door) GRADY Alison, wait - (stops short. a patient inside lies on his bed absolutely drenched in blood; blood coats the floor and heavily stains the walls. They both bolt out the door as blood begins to seep into the hallway.) INT. FULMER'S ROOM. TAKI observes alone. He sings to himself and smirks as he watches FULMER on the monitor. The doctor sits with his head on his kitchen table. He lifts up his head, looking like he hasn't slept in a while, and stares at TAKI from the monitor. FULMER You miserable bastard. TAKI (blinks repeatedly, laughs nervously) Who ya talkin' to, doc? FULMER My wife lost her entire arm... and they said that the blood supply at the Red Cross is so low... they don't know how much they're gonna be able to give her. TAKI Doc... this is your head, remember? You're in control here, Doc. Don't do this. FULMER I'm in control? I'm in control? (Laughs) You think I decided to put my wife in a hospital bed, Taki? (TAKI tries not to let his face show how freaked he is) At the party, I felt you inside my head. I heard your voice, clear as a bell -- it was like you were right there watching me. For a second, I lost control, and look what happened to everything I've created. A second, and now my wife is bleeding to death. I want you to turn it off. TAKI What...? FULMER Make it stop. Turn it off. Get out of my head. TAKI Doc... (slowly inching toward needle) FULMER Taki, that isn't going to work. Turn it off!! (his phone rings) TAKI (hoisting needle) You gotta settle down, Doc... (the phone keeps ringing) FULMER Turn it off!!! (still ringing) TAKI Doctor Fulmer... (still ringing) FULMER (about to pick up phone) Taki, turn it off!!!! (He picks up the phone - the horrified expression on his face says it all. It's enough to make TAKI pause as he grabs the real FULMER'S arm. On the monitor FULMER screams, a warped, low frequency roar. TAKI'S hand goes limp; he drops the needle. He hits the floor hard with blood pouring out of his eye sockets, mouth, nose, and ears.) INT. GRADY'S OFFICE. GRADY sleeps on a cot. Loud knock at the door. Opens to reveal HOLLOWAY. GRADY Wes, what - what time is it, what's going on? HOLLOWAY Taki's dead. GRADY What???? HOLLOWAY Congratulations. (sneers, storms away) GRADY (pursuing, shoving him) Just what the hell is that supposed to mean???? HOLLOWAY (up in his face) I don't know. You've just been talkin' a ton of crap on him lately and - GRADY You better think before you say one more goddamned word -- ALISON Hey!!! (runs up, pushes between them, looks at both of them) What the hell's wrong with you??? HOLLOWAY Grady's best friend just died. GRADY Alright, asshole - (charges. ALISON shoves him) ALISON Oh, Christ!!! (turns to HOLLOWAY) Shut the hell up. HOLLOWAY No, I think you need to - ALISON I think the goddamned Foundation just called me and put me in charge of the Fulmer project and when I tell you to shut the hell up, you need to shut the hell up. Whatever hunch Taki was playing just got him killed. Grady and I have been talking and - HOLLOWAY Oh, I see how it is - ALISON Listen!!!! Fulmer is dangerous and I think we've got all the proof we need in Taki and that guy in B Wing. HOLLOWAY What the hell are you talking about? GRADY When Taki took away Fulmer's wife the other day, something inside him just snapped, and he realized he was being watched. The lapse in concentration ended up seriously screwing with his dream world, and now he's striking back. He's developed a mental connection to the real world that's destroying his mindscape, so he's taking it out on reality. (HOLLOWAY stares at him in blank confusion) ALISON He's blowing up people's brains. (HOLLOWAY stares at them both, and without a word starts down the hallway toward FULMER'S room.) ALISON Goddamnit, Wes! GRADY Guys! Wait! Both of you, come here!!! INT. random patient's room. FULMER appears on his monitor. ALISON Omigod... GRADY How did he - FULMER (stares directly at them from monitor) Turn it off. Get out of my head. (Pause as they all stare in confused horror, then the patient's head explodes like a melon) GRADY Jesus!!!! HOLLOWAY You heard him. I'm disconnecting the son of a bitch. (Storms out again; GRADY & ALISON follow.) INT. FULMER'S ROOM (the real-world room is beginning to take on slight mindscape qualities - slo-mo, warped music, etc.). HOLLOWAY enters, cautiously but determinedly approaching FULMER'S bed. He stands at the vast array of monitors and machines, looking for the proverbial Giant Off Switch. FULMER Wes. HOLLOWAY continues looking. FULMER Wes. Wesley? Wes. (HOLLOWAY blinks repeatedly) HOLLOWAY Who's there? FULMER Behind you. (HOLLOWAY turns and meets FULMER'S gaze from the monitor. FULMER smiles dementedly.) HOLLOWAY No way. No way, this is bulls-- (he's cut off as he vomits up a big stream of blood. Horrified, he falls to his knees. ALISON and GRADY burst in, ALISON screams.) ALISON Wes!!! (GRADY looks at the monitor; FULMER is still staring at HOLLOWAY.) FULMER These people are next, Wes. Turn it off or I start calling their names. (HOLLOWAY writhes on the floor) ALISON I've got an idea. (She walks forward carefully & grabs the monitor) FULMER (from the monitor, staring at her) Alison. (She looks down at the monitor in her hands and meets his gaze for a split second) GRADY Alison, don't listen to him, it's the only way he can kill you -- (ALISON smashes the monitor on the floor) ALISON I know. (Pause. HOLLOWAY stops throwing up.) We gotta help him, Gr-- (Suddenly, ALISON begins to blink repeatedly) Oh my God, Grady -- GRADY What's going on?? ALISON Grady, he's inside my head!! I can hear him!!! (a trickle of blood forms at the corner of her mouth) GRADY Alison, you've gotta fight it!!! (Panics as he looks at his colleagues. Suddenly he sees an assortment of chemicals. He loads up a vial of something clearly different from what TAKI used earlier and plunges it into FULMER's chest. FULMER begins going into spasms; the readings on the monitors fluctuate wildly, and then finally everything settles. GRADY drops to the floor and begins tending to his colleagues, who both clutch their heads.) INT. room. all we see is GRADY'S head. GRADY Holloway's gonna make it. He apologized to me... I apologized to him for cutting it so close. It's gonna be a hell of a lot harder apologizing to Taki's family and to the families of those patients. (we now see he's addressing FULMER, still fully hooked up in his bed and apparently comatose) I knew that if I disconnected you like you wanted, there was a chance it might kill you. Part of me had no problem with that. But when it came down to it, I wasn't willing to take the chance of letting you die without suffering for what you did. (walks over to the chemical assortment) From day one, I did a lot of work monitoring the changes in patients' mindscapes after we added different types of drugs that alter the brain chemistry. You were always way ahead of the curve, so there was no need to waste them on you. After you flipped, I was going to recommend this to Taki (lifts up the vial he used before. An IV of the same stuff is now attached to FULMER). Our most powerful experimental seratonin disrupter. The opposite of ecstasy but a thousand times stronger - I guess you could call it agony. But it's not gonna kill you. I'm making sure of that. The doses are extremely small, and constant - 24-7-52-365-366 leap year. Every minute of the rest of your life, your brain is gonna be so fried by hyperdepressants that you're not gonna be able to hurt anything in the outside world. You're gonna wish you could kill yourself. (Walks back over to the bed). But I won't let you. I hope you can hear me. INT. dungeon-looking room. FULMER balled up, sweaty, shaking, disheveled, and pale. We can still hear GRADY'S voice with a bit of distortion and echo) GRADY I want you to know what you've got to look forward to. END