"BUGONIA" (2025)

An apple blossom flower, dappled with sunlight.

A honeybee lands on the flower and we watch the process of pollination.

The bee takes flight and travels across the field...

Until it reaches a painted wooden BEEHIVE... where TEDDY GATZ (early 30s, in full apiarist’s garb) attends to the colony.

Another YOUNG MAN in apiarist garb watches. This is Teddy’s cousin DON.

Teddy smiles and nods patiently. He’s had to re-explain this a few times now.

A SERIES OF IMAGES: Inside the hive. The worker bees flee, and the queen is left alone with her young.

Teddy and Don walk towards the house as they are removing their apiarists helmets.

Teddy and Don place their apiarists’ helmets and jumpers on the porch of Teddy’s pretty run-down ranch-style house.

Don isn’t following this at all. But Teddy smiles knowingly.

But Don’s still not getting it.

Teddy pulls clean towels from the dryer. We hear his VOICE.

Teddy and Don spread bath towels on the floor of Teddy’s sparsely furnished living room.

Michelle gets up. Her bedroom is modern, monied, beautiful, if a little cold. A bit like her.

Michelle finishes brushing her teeth and looks at herself in the mirror for a few seconds.

Michelle catching up with emails on her phone, while wearing an anti-aging red-light therapy mask on her face.

Michelle, in workout clothes, does ‘mindful stretching’ on a large yoga mat while meditating.

Teddy and Don sit on bath towels on the floor, stretching.

Don looks scared.

Michelle does Krav Maga with a TRAINER.

Michelle is strong, confident, intense. She seems to be working off something. Almost like she’s fighting herself.

Teddy and Don do sit-ups and pushups.

As Don tries to keep up, Teddy encourages him.

Michelle runs on a treadmill while wearing a mask connected to a clear plastic hose that measures her VO2 max levels.

Michelle dives into the pool, starts swimming.

Teddy and Don run in the woods. Don lags behind, breathless. Teddy points up. Don looks up, expecting to see something.

Don looks troubled by this thought.

Michelle opens a drawer full of labelled metal canisters. She pulls out today’s canister. Inside is a ludicrous amount of pills: ashwaganda, vitamins, heme iron, rapamycin, God knows what else. She blends a powdered smoothie made of collagen, aminos, and creatine and washes down handfuls of the pills.

Teddy’s shitty kitchen. Teddy and Don eat a mush of honey, squeezable yogurt, and Cap’n Crunch stirred together.

But Teddy places a reassuring hand on his cousin’s shoulder.

Michelle gets into an electric luxury Car waiting in her driveway.

Teddy and Don stand near their bicycles. Don eyes the people walking around pushing carts carrying bags of groceries.

Michelle drives to work.

Michelle is driving through an affluent suburban neighborhood.

Michelle’s car travels through a depressing suburban sprawl.

Michelle’s car in the background the city skyline.

Michelle drives up to the front entrance and hands her keys to Tony, a Corporate Valet.

Michelle enters the lobby, takes the elevator and walks across the mezzanine.

Teddy and Don browse the allergy aisle. Teddy scoops dozens of ANTIHISTAMINE SPRAYS into his basket.

Teddy and Don walk between the Pharmacy and a Toy Store with their goods.

A MAKEUP ARTIST smears a cream foundation on Michelle’s face. A VIDEO CREW sets up lights and cameras and sound for taping.

The costume section of a garish, fluorescent-lit toy store. Teddy grabs two plastic HALLOWEEN MASKS.

Teddy and Don walk between the Toy Store and a Hardware Store with their goods.

The boys load lengths of thick CABLE WIRE into a basket along with metal CLASPS, SCREWS, and HINGES.

Teddy and Don walk back to their bikes and put all the stuff they bought in their backpacks. They ride off.

Teddy and Don eat frozen taquitos at a table.

Don nods. But he looks worried. This all sounds very intense.

Teddy steadies Don’s shaking hands. They gaze at each other.

Teddy cradles Don in his arms lovingly. He kisses his head.

Teddy and Don sit on top of an old, dilapidated picnic table. They’ve lit a few cheap tiki torches around the table.

Teddy holds up a syringe. Don’s eyes widen.

Teddy nods. Don’s pain saddens him.

Don nods. “Free” sounds good. Sounds hopeful.

Don nods. Teddy pulls down Don’s pants and readies the shot.

Teddy might jab Don with the shot before he’s finished his thought. Don winces.

Don nods.

Teddy looks at Don. He starts to tear up. Then he laughs.

Is it? But Teddy is convinced. And there is something almost magical and serene about his conviction.

Teddy gazes at the STARS with a look of crazed and glorious hope. He’s no madman. He’s a believer. He wants to be a hero.

TITLE:

BUGONIA

MICHELLE FULLER speaks INTO CAMERA in a glossy PRODUCT SHOT. She is smiling, animated, magnetic. The embodiment of the modern American CEO: A progressive face with a ruthless soul.

We see a small FILM crew is set up around Michelle, as well as CHRIS, a diversity training consultant. They look scared.

Chris laughs nervously as she takes him down about 20 pegs.

Michelle’s office is tasteful, spare and expensive. An ancient Ethiopian shotel sword hangs on the wall, as well as a framed sign that reads: “Let’s kick impossible's ass."

We also see framed photos of Michelle with centrist U.S. political/media figures like Nancy Pelosi and David Geffen.

Various magazines on a coffee table like Fortune and Time with Michelle’s picture on the cover.

Michelle is getting ready to leave for the day while her assistant COREY runs through her schedule.

Corey takes an anxious breath. She’s been waiting for this.

Corey nods and smiles. She knows no one will leave at 5:30.

Michelle exits. Corey breathes a sigh of relief.

Michelle exits the elevator and a CORPORATE VALET is there with the keys to Michelle’s Car.

It very much does not feel like his call. Tony nods.

Michelle’s Car pulls out of the front gate.

Michelle is driving.

LATER. Michelle drives through upscale suburbs. Gated houses.

She pops a pill bottle and downs a few TABLETS. We sense perhaps a slight grip of dependency.

“Babylon Sisters” by Steely Dan plays on the stereo.

A large, perfect-but-tacky mansion lies beyond a gated drive. Michelle’s car pulls up. She hits the remote. The gate opens.

As the Car pulls into the drive, TWO CROUCHED FIGURES in concealed clothing emerge from thick greenery near the gate and follow, still crouching, right behind the car.

The gate closes behind them.

We see Michelle HEAD ON as she pulls into the drive. In the window behind her, we can see the two crouched figures OUT OF FOCUS behind the car, peeling off to the side.

Michelle gets out of her car and beeps the lock.

As she rounds the car, Teddy and Don emerge from the other side. They are dressed in thick, sale-rack ski jackets and pants. Halloween masks conceal their faces.

Teddy and Don jump Michelle, clumsily. She drops her keys.

Michelle throws Teddy off of her with surprising strength and gives Don a Krav Maga elbow strike in the throat that sends him to his knees, choking and gasping for breath.

Michelle makes a run for the door but realizes she is without her keys. She runs around the side of the house, through trees and shrubbery as Teddy gains on her.

But no one on her isolated property can hear her.

She moves toward a window but before she can break through, Teddy catches up and tackles her into a bed of flowers.

Teddy sprays Michelle in the face with an antihistamine can. She panics and covers her eyes. Then she hits Teddy and throws him off of her.

Michelle begins to run to the backyard. But her legs give out from under her. Confused, she falls to the ground, numb. She looks at her thigh and sees a SYRINGE sticking out.

She reels and loses consciousness.

Teddy stands over her body. Don catches up.

Teddy catches his breath, staring at Michelle. He smiles.

Teddy and Don load an unconscious Michelle into the backseat of the car. Teddy gets in the driver’s seat. Don makes a move for the passenger seat, but Teddy waves him off.

Don does as he’s told.

Don finds two Benadryl spray bottles in their BACKPACK. He sprays them wildly in the air.

Teddy starts the car. ‘Babylon Sisters’ picks up where it left off: “... as he watches his bridges burn / From the point of no return...”

Teddy and Don remove their masks. They put on EMF-protection beanies with copper squares electrical-taped to them.

Teddy turns off the Dan, takes a breath, and hits the gas.

Michelle’s Car pulls out of the open gate.

Michelle’s Car drives cautiously through quiet, luent suburbs. The tinted windows ensure no one can really see in.

Teddy nervously eyes the rear-view mirror. Anyone following?

In the backseat, Don fiddles with the batteries in a pair of electric clippers.

Don turns on the clippers. He touches them lightly across Michelle’s head, afraid to hurt her.

Don runs the clippers more forcefully across Michelle’s scalp and her hair comes off in thick streams.

On the highway, heading into the rural hinterlands.

Teddy leans forward and looks up at the sky. He sees GREY, ANGRY CLOUDS.

Don finishes with Michelle’s head. She’s now completely bald.

Suddenly a cell phone RINGS. Teddy and Don exchange looks.

Don searches and finds a PHONE in Michelle’s jacket. He holds it up. The screen shows a call coming in from “COREY.”

Don hands Teddy the cell phone. Teddy smashes the phone violently against the console. The phone proves resilient. Teddy nearly veers into oncoming traffic.

Teddy jerks the wheel straight and the car corrects it’s course.

Don hands Teddy the heavy clippers. Teddy hammers the phone as hard as he can with the clippers. Eventually it shatters, and we see the inner guts exposed.

He tosses the clippers and the phone aside. He’s sweating and out of breath, his fury subsiding.

Don looks scared of his cousin’s rage.

A cop car nearby flashes its lights in response to Teddy’s erratic driving.

Teddy looks at the cop car in the mirror.

The cop car speeds up behind them, looking to pull them over.

Teddy feigns as if he is pulling over to the shoulder after the next exit. Instead, he quickly guns it, zooming onto the exit right before the divider. The cops car swerves after but slams right into the divider and comes to a stop.

Teddy is exhilarated as he floors it through side streets.

The car wizzes though the street.

Teddy drives fast. Don a little worried.

Michelle’s Car runs a red light at an empty intersection and turns off onto the road leading up to Teddy’s secluded house.

In a thicket near Teddy’s property, Teddy and Don conceal Michelle’s Car with thick brambles and branches.

Michelle lies unconscious in a heap against a tree stump nearby, her wrists and ankles bound with plastic ties.

Teddy and Don make a LEAF PILE and set it ablaze. Teddy tosses Michelle’s hair and cell phone on the fire.

They sit for a moment by the fire as the sun sets.

Don smiles.

Teddy puts his arm around Don. They stare into the fire.

Darkness has fallen.

A standard suburban basement. We may see family photos, a foosball table, etc. But also, on one side of the room, a large OBJECT with a sheet draped over it. What’s under there?

Michelle lies unconscious on a pallet on the ground. Metal bracelets have been affixed to her wrists and ankles, which are connected by metal wires to thick bolts on the wall, giving her about a five-foot-radius “freedom” of movement.

Teddy and Don survey the captive.

Don looks at her.

All of these “signs” are so subtle as to be imperceptible.

42A OMITTED

42B OMITTED

Teddy and Don smear a thick white anti-itch cream all over Michelle’s face and body.

Teddy and Don step back and admire their handiwork.

Michelle sits unconscious, with thick white cream all over her. She looks like an insane Marcel Marceau.

Teddy checks the time on his phone.

Teddy and Don strip down to their boxers and white tees.

They put on ill fitted suits. Bargain brand. This is their idea of “dressed up.” Like high school kids at a debate tournament.

We see Don in his clothes. They are noticeably tight.

Don looks at himself. He flaps his arms a little like a giant bird and shakes his head.

Don nods.

Don nods.

TIGHT CU on MICHELLE as she comes to. Her eyelids flutter.

Teddy faces Michelle with a clipboard. Don stands hesitantly somewhere behind Teddy.

ON MICHELLE. A flash of woozy confusion across her face.

Teddy steps forward with a subtle, professional nod.

No response from Michelle. She just looks around in a daze.

Teddy’s unsure how to proceed in this half-awake phase.

A scared Don shrugs.

Again Don shrugs.

Teddy launches into the prepared statement on his clipboard.

Michelle is getting her bearings a bit. She looks around.

A puzzled Michelle rubs her shaved head with shaky hands.

MICHELLE closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. She can’t believe this is happening. But she’s getting her bearings back now. And her confident authority too.

TEDDY MICHELLE

Full disclosure: I’ve also (calmly) applied a thin layer of Listen to me. Excuse me. antihistamine cream to your skin--

TEDDY MICHELLE

--which we’ll have to reapply (more insistent) every day for full I said listen to me, please. effectiveness.

For the first time, we see Teddy’s resolve falter a little.

Don steps back a bit.

Teddy nods, a bit awed by MICHELLE’s sudden sense of command.

Michelle nods. She doesn’t panic. Or hesitate. Or scream. She has encountered plenty of radicals like Teddy in her long and brilliant career. And she knows just how to deal with them.

CLOSE ON TEDDY who is clearly intimidated by her poise.

But then... Teddy take a BEAT. And then a DEEP BREATH. And then he exhales, letting it all out.

ON MICHELLE, who furrows her brow.

Teddy smiles in disbelief. He takes another deep breath and laughs. A laugh of relief.

ON MICHELLE. She’s scared. But she keeps her wits about her. She reads the room and clocks that DON is not laughing.

Michelle is baffled. But she keeps her cool in a negotiation.

For a brief moment, we see a flash of rage in Teddy’s eyes.

ON DON, who has the opposite reaction... a look of doubt.

Teddy takes a deep breath and calms himself. He smiles.

Teddy takes a small TAPE RECORDER from his pocket and holds it out for Michelle to take.

Michelle reluctantly takes the tape recorder from Teddy.

Teddy leans down next to Michelle. She may flinch slightly.

There is loss and pain in his eyes. He means every word.

Michelle stares back at him. She says nothing. Just nods.

Teddy nods back. He’s enjoying the feeling of control.

Teddy heads for the stairs.

Teddy turns off the overhead lights and heads upstairs.

Don follows after him. But before leaving, Don turns and looks back at Michelle. Only a lamp lights the room. They share a brief glance.

But Don leaves. Michelle is alone. And she notices, to one side of the room, the OBJECT with the sheet draped over it.

Teddy and Don emerge from the basement. Teddy closes the basement door and locks it behind him.

He turns to Don. For a moment they just look at each other.

Then Teddy smiles a relieved smile.

Don smiles too. Teddy laughs. Holy shit, they’re really doing it, aren’t they? They’re really pulling it off.

Teddy pulls Don into a big bear hug.

As they continue laughing and hugging each other tight they jump and down on the kitchen floor, the conquering heroes. They collapse to the floor, still hugging. Teddy is elated.

The house windows lit up. Everything is quiet.

The cousins celebrate with taquitos and key lime soda. Teddy is blissed out, buzzing from his victory.

Don turns and sees a small VIDEO MONITOR on the counter that displays a live cam of Michelle in the basement. She’s crying. Teddy notices his cousin watching the monitor.

It doesn’t feel that way. But Don nods.

Teddy reaches out and gently touches Don’s shoulder.

Don glances at the helpless Michelle. Then back to Teddy.

But Teddy shakes his head.

Don smiles weakly.

Teddy pulls Don in for a hug. Don holds his cousin tight.

Don is alone on the mattress in the dark.

He looks at beautiful images of swirling celestial bodies on his glowing smartphone. A cosmos so distant and wondrous. So far away from this small and squalid life.

His head is on a pillow, right next to an air vent. From the vent, he can hear, very faintly, the distant sound of Michelle WEEPING softly in the basement.

Don begins to cry as well. He covers his ears, trying to shut the noise out.

Teddy sits at the kitchen table in the dark, his face lit by the glow of the monitor image of Michelle.

He turns and looks at a spot somewhere on the dark kitchen floor. And suddenly we are...

... still in Teddy’s kitchen, but it’s a mess. Junk all over the counter, dishes piled high. A little portable boombox plays the song “Good Morning Starshine” from the musical Hair.

Teddy’s mom, SANDY, sits on the linoleum floor with a younger TEDDY sitting next to her. She looks strung out, weary and manic. And her body is covered in needles, like a sea urchin.

Her voice is soothing and maternal, but it’s also clearly the voice of a controlling and unhealthy figure, a mad presence. As she speaks, Teddy gently removes the needles from her one by one.

Her body starts to drift and levitate off the ground a bit, like a half-inflated balloon, but he gently stops her.

Teddy takes it all in.

The cheery sound of “Good Morning Starshine” drones on.

Tears nearly begin to form in Teddy’s eyes. But he scrunches his face and shuts it out.

The Earth.

LOWER THIRD TITLE:

3 DAYS BEFORE THE LUNAR ECLIPSE

Teddy and Don reapply anti-itch cream all over Michelle’s face and body.

Teddy gets on his bike. He puts earbuds in his ears and heads out.

We see the bleak post-industrial heartland that molded Teddy.

Teddy peddles furiously while listening to a fringe podcast.

Teddy steers his bike along the highway shoulder.

Behind Teddy, a police cruiser’s lights FLASH. A rush of panic from Teddy. Has he been caught?

He looks inside the cruiser. Then he stops his bike and waits. A terrible tension gripping him.

The cruiser pulls over to the shoulder. The OFFICER (40s) gets out and approaches Teddy.

Casey nods. But the circumstances of Teddy’s life sadden him. And also, clearly some heavy guilt lurking in there.

Teddy of course doesn’t want that. But he forces a nod.

Teddy gives another little nod, and peddles off. Casey watches him go with a look of regret.

Teddy pulls into the parking lot of his job at a fulfillment center warehouse of... Auxolith Biomedical.

Teddy enters a huge processing warehouse. It’s pretty grim.

The WORKERS (various ages, genders, and races) look tired and physically taxed. But as Teddy walks the floor in slow motion he puts smiles on faces. He bumps some fists along the way. He seems to care deeply about his coworkers. And their plight.

Teddy approaches an exhausted older woman named TINA (late 60s) who zaps labels with a scan gun as packages race down a track. She’s clearly way too old to be working here.

Teddy gives Tina a big hug. She clearly has affection for him. They scan packages side by side.

We see she has a BANDAGED HAND underneath her plastic glove.

Teddy looks enraged.

Tina looks around and lowers her voice. She needs this job.

They both continue scanning. But Teddy can’t let it go.

Tina smiles and pats Teddy. He can be dramatic but he’s got a good heart. He’s the only one around here looking out.

Workers grab coffee and eat lunch.

Teddy opens a jar of his HOMEMADE HONEY and thoughtfully sets it on the counter for his coworkers to share.

Teddy notices a TV playing on mute in the corner.

Sure enough, the NEWS PROGRAM is talking about Michelle. With a picture of her. As well as a photo of her car.

Teddy is transfixed. Then he’s SLAPPED on the back. He’s startled for a moment, then sees it’s his coworker CARLOS.

Teddy takes one last look at the TV, smiles, and exits.

We linger behind him and see on the wall a framed photo of Auxolith Biomedical CEO Michelle Fuller... Teddy’s boss.

REPORTER * On Monday afternoon, following what * coworkers describe as a 'routine * workday,' Auxolith Biomedical CEO * Michelle Fuller got into her car, * passed the security gate at * Auxolith HQ in Fayette County, * Georgia, and drove towards home. * That was nearly 48 hours ago. * Nobody has heard from her since. *

Authorities now believe there is a * strong chance that one of the * country's most prominent female * executives has been the victim of * an abduction. A furious statewide * manhunt is now underway, with State * Police urging Fayette County locals * to come forward with any * information at all that could shed * light on Ms. Fuller's whereabouts. * Sources close to Fuller say there * was nothing unusual about her * behavior in the days preceding her * disappearance, and describe her * emotional demeanor as "upbeat" and * "engaged." Given Fuller's wealth * and high profile, State Police are * not ruling out the possibility that * Fuller is being held for ransom, * though as of yet there is no * evidence to suggest this might be * the case. The only clue * authorities have to work from now * is this photo of the back of * Fuller's car that was taken by a * speed-trap camera two miles from * her house shortly after she went * missing. Given the angle and * distance, analysts say it is not * possible to determine the identity * of the driver or any other * passengers who might be inside.... *

Teddy bikes home. Earbuds in for a SELF-HELP PODCAST.

CU of HONEYBEES swarming in and out of a hive.

Teddy tends lovingly to his colony. His precious friends.

GV’s of Teddy’s House.

Don sits near the live-feed monitor of the basement. He gazes at a FOLD-OUT MAP of outer space pulled out of one of Teddy’s magazines.

Teddy enters. Don stands, ready to report.

Don shakes his head.

Don shakes his head hesitantly.

Teddy and Don enter, once again in their dressed-up clothes. Teddy motions for Don to stand behind him.

ON MICHELLE, who clocks Teddy’s name.

Teddy approaches Michelle and takes the tape recorder from her. Then he presses play and we hear:

MICHELLE’S VOICE (on tape recorder) ”Um... I am an alien from outer space. I live here on Planet Earth but I am not a human being. My mothership is coming to Earth and I would like to bring my new friend onto my spaceship with me. Thanks.”

The recording ends. That’s it. Teddy looks at Michelle.

Teddy throws the tape recorder and smashes it on the ground.

Don winces.

Teddy’s trying to be diplomatic. But his patience wears thin.

Michelle stays calm, takes a deep breath. She’s bringing 25 years of smooth corporate training to bear here.

Michelle nods. She’s been so evenhanded. So patient. But...

Teddy suddenly picks up a chair and throws it across the room. It smashes hard against the wall, denting it.

Don flinches and backs up.

Michelle is scared now. She knows she went too far.

Teddy moves menacingly toward Michelle. She braces.

Teddy can’t believe her sloppiness.

Michelle stares at these two guys.

Don nods. Michelle clocks Don’s name.

Teddy suddenly slaps Michelle in the face, hard.

Michelle recoils. So does Don.

Teddy just stands there, breathing heavily. Then he tries to compose himself. He hates it when he loses control.

Teddy turns and walks to the door. He faces Michelle again.

Don and Michelle both contemplate this ominous suggestion.

Teddy heads upstairs and Don follows.

Teddy storms down the front porch onto the drive. Furious. *

He steps up onto the hood of his mom’s dilapidated family * station wagon, then up onto the roof. In a fit of displaced * rage he violently stomps and jumps on the roof of the car. *

After much noise and fury, he finally collapses to his knees * in an exhausted heap. He might even slink down onto the * hood. *

Don approaches Teddy cautiously, and touches his cousin. * Teddy accepts his love and comfort and they stay there in * silence as Teddy calms down. *

A sort of cheap, stuttery CG rendering of THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY: A vast, spiralling celestial mass.

We swirl through the low-budget CG cosmos until we see an equally amateurish CG SPACESHIP.

We are inside Teddy’s vision of what the interior of the Andromedan mothership might look like. It has the look of PRIMITIVE CGI with flat rendering and chunky pixels.

We enter the royal chambers where the “negotiations” will take place. We pull in closer on the royal throne. Perhaps the image frame-rate might even start to stutter and BUFFER.

Teddy and Don sit on the picnic table near the house, looking at the CG render on Teddy’s laptop. Then Teddy closes the laptop.

Don gazes at the stars.

Teddy looks at Don, a little confused.

Don thinks about this.

Teddy looks at Don. What did he think was happening?

As this sinks in, Don nods.

Don nods again.

Teddy listens. Those are not ideal side effects. But he nods.

They silently gaze at the stars for a beat.

Don is worried. But Teddy stares at the sky, stoic and firm.

The Earth.

LOWER THIRD TITLE:

2 DAYS BEFORE THE LUNAR ECLIPSE

Michelle is alone in the basement.

She pulls at her chains with all her might. They’ve been installed expertly, and yet Michelle’s in such extraordinary shape that she’s on the verge of snapping a brace loose.

The veins in her temples bulge. She groans. Almost there...

The LOCK on the door turns. Michelle stops pulling and drops to a sitting position just as Teddy and Don emerge in their dressy clothes. Don carries a SHOTGUN.

Michelle stands to greet her captors. After yesterday, she seems eager to be in their good graces:

Teddy just stares at her.

Still no reaction from Teddy.

Nope. Teddy gives her nothing.

Michelle is not very convincing. And she knows it.

Teddy just stares. Then he walks to Michelle and offers his hand. She hesitates, then takes it. They HOLD HANDS.

Teddy pulls a KEY from his pocket, and unlocks her BRACELETS. Michelle hides her excitement. Is this really happening?

Don keeps a shotgun pointed at Michelle.

Teddy moves over to the OBJECT with the sheet covering it. He lifts off the sheet to reveal a CHAIR bolted to the ground.

Michelle considers bolting. But Don is there with the shotgun.

Michelle sits. Teddy straps her to the chair with METAL WIRE.

Teddy straps her WRISTS to the arm rests.

Teddy also straps Michelle’s head on the leather headpiece, places electrods on Michelle’s TEMPLES. She struggles.

Teddy places ELECTRODES on her legs. But his heart is heavy. He looks genuinely remorseful for what he’s about to do.

Teddy plays “Good Morning Starshine” loudly on his mom’s little portable boombox.

Teddy finds some ELECTRICAL CABLES. He attaches them to the chair, runs them to the other end of the room, and plugs them into a homemade CIRCUIT BOX linked to some batteries.

He fiddles with the instruments.

Teddy turns on the circuit box. Lights and meters blink.

Teddy hesitates for a moment, then turns a KNOB on the box.

We STAY CLOSE on Teddy’s face as we hear Michelle’s terrible SCREAM. Teddy flinches at the sound. He’s not enjoying this.

He turns the knob again. Another scream, even louder.

He turns the knob again. Another scream.

As we STAY CLOSE on Teddy, his expression changes. His eyes become wide with disbelief. He looks... amazed.

Don dares to lay a hand on Teddy. But Teddy throws him off. Teddy gives the knob one more big jolt. Another scream.

This time Don pushes Teddy away for real. Teddy nearly falls over. Don yanks the CABLES out of the circuit box.

But Teddy barely notices. He’s stunned.

Michelle’s WHIMPERS can barely be heard over the eerily droning sounds of “Good Morning Starshine.”

ON MICHELLE in the chair. Rivulets of sweat have run the white cream everywhere. She looks like a melting clown.

Her hands are still clenched in FISTS, shaking wildly.

Teddy approaches her. But his whole body language towards her is different now. Somehow deferential. Nervous, even.

Michelle looks up at him woozily.

A trace of confusion passes across Michelle’s mess of a face.

Teddy uses a pair of pliers to cut the METAL WIRES attaching Michelle’s wrists and ankles to the chair. As he does so:

ON DON, processing this new “information.” Is it real?

Teddy helps Michelle back to her chains and pallet. He gently affixes the bracelets to her wrists and ankles.

Teddy bows slightly and exits with a traumatized Don.

We are alone with Michelle.

Her clenched FIST is still shaking. Her strength is gone. She is spent, exhausted. But there is a look in her eye, as though something has changed. She stares straight ahead, transfixed.

And then we see what she is staring at: THE LITTLE BOOMBOX.

A perfectly styled Michelle, with a full head of lustrous hair, stands with AIDES and a LAWYER to either side. She appears a bit younger.

We hear “Good Morning Starshine” playing gently somewhere.

We see who she’s talking to: A YOUNG MAN with dyed purple hair. It’s Teddy. He’s looking down, with a hoodie pulled over his head. He can’t even make eye contact with Michelle.

At his side we see a comatose SANDY in a wheelchair. Tubes run from her arm to a drip stand next to her.

He is holding the little portable boombox. He turns it off.

As Michelle speaks, Sandy begins to gently FLOAT and drift up into the air like a balloon. Teddy sees what’s happening and tries to hold on to her and pull her back down to earth with the drip tubes.

As Teddy struggles to stop his mother from floating off into space, he looks at Michelle with pained eyes. Michelle quickly recalibrates:

That word: ‘Dialogue.’ It’s like a knife in Teddy’s side. He continues to reel in his floating mother with the drip tubes.

The lawyer makes a subtle gesture to Michelle. She nods.

Michelle slightly cringes at her tasteless phraseology.

Teddy stares at Michelle intensely while holding on to his levitating mother.

Michelle stares at the boombox. Somewhere in her imagination, she hears the faint strains of “Good Morning Starshine.”

Then she hears Teddy’s VOICE from yesterday:

She remembers. She nods. Her mind hums. And when Michelle Fuller’s mind hums, great and terrible feats become possible.

The Earth.

LOWER THIRD TITLE:

1 DAY BEFORE THE LUNAR ECLIPSE

Teddy prowls the aisles of a shitty supermarket, scanning prices. He finds the most expensive packet of spaghetti. He does the same with a pre-made TOMATO SAUCE. He even finds a coconut BOX CAKE in the freezer aisle.

In the wine aisle he looks totally lost. He finds a cheap Yellowtail RED WINE and grabs it.

There’s a wig section. Teddy’s staring at the various wigs.

Teddy cycling back with all the stuff in his backpack.

Teddy and Don set a table for a “fancy” meal. They’ve broken out the “best” plates and cutlery, tablecloth, even a candle.

Teddy steps back and examines their handiwork. He reaches in and makes a few little adjustments. It must be perfect.

Don nods.

Teddy unlocks Michelle, then motions for her to follow him.

Michelle looks suspicious, but she does as she’s told. Don keeps watch with the shotgun as they head upstairs.

Don keeps watch outside the door with the shotgun.

Teddy nails a dining chair to the floor.

Michelle enjoys a ‘luxurious’ shower.

As she towels off, she sees her CLOTHES have been cleaned and folded for her. And a shirt to replace hers that got ripped. She holds up the shirt. “S.G.” in marker on the tag: The same shirt we saw Teddy’s mom wearing on the kitchen floor.

The candlelit table. Although it’s afternoon, the windows have all been blacked out for a proper dinner atmosphere.

Michelle’s right ankle is handcuffed to the chair, which is nailed to the floor. Don stands nearby with the shotgun.

With Michelle sitting there in Teddy’s Mom’s clothes, it’s like a bizarre family dinner tableaux.

Teddy stays in his new affect. He’s now in the presence of royalty, and it pays to be in her good graces.

He dishes up the main course of spaghetti with red sauce.

Michelle looks around at the shitty food, shitty wine, etc.

Michelle is not sure how to react. She simply nods. Best to reap the benefits of this new status Teddy has granted her.

They begin to eat in awkward silence. The awful pause in chat seems to linger for an eternity. It becomes so weird that Michelle has to fill the dead air.

Another awkward beat of chewing.

More chewing. Formal and stilted. Michelle grasps for chat.

Teddy remembers Don somewhere behind him and catches himself.

Michelle nods. So much for not getting into the personal.

Michelle takes a chance. She turns to Don and smiles.

Don is unsure if he should reply.

They eat silently again. Michelle sees some BEEKEEPER GEAR.

Teddy looks up. A brief moment of unexpected connection.

They lock eyes for a moment. Michelle smiles with respect. Teddy almost reciprocates, then turns back to his plate.

Michelle smiles. Teddy smiles. A gentle jousting.

ON DON, watching their conversation grow more tense.

Back in smooth water again. But Teddy can’t help himself:

Michelle smiles politely. He’s one of those loonies too.

Michelle nods. She sees where he’s heading with this.

She could let it go. But her CEO spin instincts kick in.

But she’s already in mid-defense.

Michelle smiles patronizingly.

Teddy nods, trying to fortify the levees against his anger.

They stare each other down. Like gunfighters at sundown.

A nervous Don quietly grips his shotgun.

Stunned silence from Teddy and Don.

Michelle nods.

Teddy says nothing. He’s silent. Silent for so long, in fact, that Michelle almost starts to doubt her conclusion.

Teddy takes a deep breath. Fury rising.

Michelle is faltering. She’s losing her tough veneer.

Don drops his guard somewhat.

Teddy LUNGES across the table at Michelle. As he tackles Michelle, her chair tips backwards and the nails bust loose. Teddy and Michelle fall to the ground.

The handcuffs on Michelle’s leg slip free of the chair leg.

Teddy gets on top of Michelle and begins to strangle her.

Michelle panics for a moment. Don has no idea what to do.

Michelle reaches for a fork that fell on the floor and stabs Teddy’s shoulder with it. Teddy screams and releases his grip on Michelle’s throat. Michelle violently kicks Teddy off of her. He falls back.

Michelle scrambles to her feet and assumes a defensive Krav Maga stance.

Don raises the shotgun with shaky hands.

Teddy, even more enraged now, runs right at Michelle.

She evades his tackle and stabs the fork into his back. He screams again, turns, grabs her by his Mom’s SWEATER COLLAR, and yanks her violently to the kitchen floor. Michelle drops the fork and falls to her knees.

Teddy crawls behind Michelle and corrals her into a headlock. He squeezes with all his might. Michelle’s LEGS flail wildly as she begins to suffocate.

Michelle jabs Teddy’s Adam’s apple with her fingertips. He chokes and falls backward.

Michelle retrieves the fork and straddles Teddy. He grabs her hand to stop her from stabbing him. Michelle pushes down with the fork teeth as Teddy resists. It inches closer to his eye. She is stronger. And winning.

Don shakily aims the shotgun at Michelle’s head.

But Michelle ignores Don. She stares right into Teddy’s face. The fork is barely an inch from Teddy’s EYEBALL.

Then, suddenly, an ELECTRONIC DOORBELL rings. Everyone stops.

Don panics and hits Michelle on the head with the shotgun butt. She staggers to the floor, unconscious.

Teddy scrambles to his feet. He grabs Don.

Don shoulders the shotgun and drags Michelle away.

The DOORBELL rings again. Followed by some gentle KNOCKS.

Teddy grabs a coat off a chair and throws it on, covering his wounds. He starts to head to the front door, but then he stops. And waits. Maybe whoever it is will just leave?

Then he hears the hollow sound of KNOCKING on glass. He turns and looks into the LIVING ROOM. Casey has walked over behind some bushes and is standing at the window. He smiles, waves, and makes a gesture to Teddy: ‘Can you get the door?’

Teddy smiles, waves back, and gestures: ‘Be right there.’

Casey walks back to the front door.

Teddy frantically takes down the blackout curtains and tries in vain to clean up the mess from dinner.

Casey waits for Teddy. He looks around at the sorry state of the house’s exterior with concern.

The door opens. Casey smiles sheepishly.

The slightest twinge of concern from Teddy.

Teddy does a quick calculation in his head. He might have a bigger problem on his hands if he refuses.

Teddy opens the door and lets Casey inside the house.

Don aims the shotgun at Michelle from a distance as she wakes.

Michele looks around and sees it’s just her and Don.

Don doesn’t answer. He won’t even look at her.

Don turns his head away so he won’t meet her eyes.

He lightly shakes his head, ‘No.’

She knows it’s just the two of them right now. Which is good.

Don is still looking away from her.

Casey looks around.

Casey gestures to the UFO paraphernalia littering the walls.

Teddy walks to the kitchen. Casey fidgets uncomfortably.

Teddy enters the kitchen and sees the MONITOR on the counter is still on, showing Michelle and Don talking downstairs. He very quickly SWITCHES OFF the MONITOR on his way to the sink.

Casey points to the nails in the floor where the chair was.

Casey nods sadly. Say no more. Teddy hands him a water glass.

Casey takes a sip of water. And then he spots something.

Casey eyes the FROZEN BOX CAKE thawing on the counter.

Casey looks like he’d forgotten all about that.

Teddy plays it cool. He shrugs.

Casey finds a photo of Michelle’s Car on his phone.

He swipes over to a photo of Michelle.

Casey sighs. He puts his phone away.

Michelle continues to work on Don.

Don says nothing. He just looks away from her.

Don is barely hanging on now.

He finally cracks a bit.

Michelle smiles sympathetically at Don. Now they’re talking.

Don thinks about this. Then he shakes his head.

Don slaps Michelle’s head very lightly with his hand.

But Michelle isn’t fazed in the slightest by the tiny slap.

CLOSE ON DON, looking away from her.

Teddy and Casey share some coconut cake and Yellowtail wine by the window. It’s started to rain outside.

Teddy shakes his head.

Casey nods, troubled. He gulps his wine. Teddy peeks under his jacket. A bloody mess down there. He covers up again.

They look out the window at the gloomy heartland hillsides dripping with rain. A misty landscape, bruised and broken.

Teddy nods. But he just wants him out of the house now.

Casey looks at Teddy. Then he smiles sadly. He pats Teddy, who silently winces from being patted on his wound.

Don continues to look away from Michelle.

Finally, Don looks at Michelle.

Michelle is confused.

Michelle just stares at this poor sad soul for a beat. Then she smiles warmly and nods.

Don looks into her eyes for a long moment. He smiles.

Don suddenly looks exhausted.

Teddy and Casey walk towards the beehives in apiarist suits.

He hands Casey a self-published book by some guy named Ron Gideon called “VISIONS OF ANDROMEDA: EXOPLANETARY TRUTH AND THE NASA LIE MACHINE.”

Casey nods and smiles politely. Poor fucking kid.

They both put on the helmets. Teddy takes the lid off of one of the beehives.

Michelle pleads insistently with a near catatonic Don.

Don can barely keep his eyes open now. He nods.

Michelle nods.

Don smiles, puts the barrel of the shotgun under his chin. There is a blast. Blood and brain matter spray onto Michelle.

Teddy and Casey both hear the unmistakable sound of a SHOTGUN BLAST coming from the house.

Casey whips his head around.

Michelle is in shock. Some blood is splattered on her face.

Don’s dead body lies on the floor, oozing blood.

Casey turns to face Teddy again, Teddy swiftly take off Casey’s helmet and smashes a HEAVY HIVE TRAY filled with bees and nectar on his face. He falls to the ground.

Teddy kicks over one of the bee hives. Hundreds of angry bees fly everywhere, swarming Casey.

The bees collect like a second skin to Casey’s face and crawl down his throat, choking him.

Teddy grabs a shovel leaning against a big tool box. He walks purposefully over to Casey and beats him to death with the shovel as a cloud of bees swirls around them.

Teddy then drops the shovel and crawls to the toppled bee hive. He tries his best to set it right again, crying.

Michelle hears Teddy racing down the stairs and unlocking the basement door.

Teddy enters with the shovel and sees Michelle alive.

Then he sees Don’s corpse, the shotgun by his side.

Teddy runs to Don’s body, trying pathetically to revive him.

Teddy cradles Don in his arms, weeping.

Teddy, with tears in his eyes, slowly looks up at Michelle with a terrifying malicious expression.

For an awful moment, Teddy considers the grim possibility that what she’s saying might be completely true. But he shakes it off, grabs the bat, and walks to Michelle.

Teddy lifts shovel above his head, but Michelle screams out:

Teddy hesitates. Then he lifts shovel again.

Teddy hesitates again.

Michelle’s brain races.

Teddy takes this in, breathing heavily, the shovel still poised above his head.

Michelle thinks fast.

Teddy fidgets. It sounds... risky. He grips the shovel.

Teddy considers all of this. And then he nods and suddenly swings shovel down on Michelle’s knee, almost breaking it.

Teddy drops shovel, picks up the shotgun, and runs out.

Teddy finds Michelle’s Car hidden under the brambles.

He digs through the cluttered trunk, and finds the antifreeze jug behind a bag of golf clubs.

He stuffs the jug in his backpack and gets on his bike.

Michelle is still chained to the wall with a messed up leg. She is all alone now.

Don’s body still lies on the floor, just out of her reach. Michelle gets down on the ground and tries to reach as far as the wall restraints will allow her. But Don’s FOOT is still an inch or two from her grasp.

Teddy peddles his bike furiously down the street.

Straining with all of her might, Michelle barely grasps the end of a SHOELACE on Don’s shoe between two fingertips. She carefully pulls Don’s shoelace down. It unties. Now she has enough length of lace to fully grasp in her hand.

She tugs on the lace. Don’s bent leg straightens, arcing his foot into Michelle’s grasp. Michelle grabs Don’s foot and pulls his body towards her.

Once she’s pulled Don close enough, Michelle rifles through his pocket and finds the KEYS to her restraint bracelets.

She unlocks her wrists and ankles.

Teddy pulls his bike into the parking lot of a building with a sign marked “Evergreen Extended Care Community” and rushes inside.

Teddy approaches Sandy’s room and slips inside.

Michelle, hobbled on one foot, heaves herself against the locked reinforced door that leads upstairs. It’s clear she has been heaving for quite some time, painfully.

But it’s no use. She truly is trapped down here.

She collapses to the ground, out of breath, wincing.

Michelle’s finds a couple of elements lying around and manages to make a DYI splint to support her leg.

As she catches her breath, she turns her head and sees the room from an angle she’s never seen before.

She sees a bookcase against the wall, filled with tomes on political science, ecology, and the paranormal. Behind the bookcase you can just make out the edge of what appears to be a HINGE.

There’s a DOOR behind there...

Teddy has shut the door to his Mom’s room.

He rushes over to her side. He gazes into her comatose, expressionless face. He touches her cheek with his hand.

Michelle has shoved the bookcase out of the way.

She pulls on a makeshift handle and a door opens into...

Michelle enters a long, narrow room packed with all manner of ‘medical research’: books, files, instruments, and, samples.

Most ominously, Michelle sees on one tall stack of shelves a series of SPECIMENS IN JARS: human hands, eyes, and various organs preserved in histidine tryptophan ketoglutarate.

What has he been doing down here?

He frantically fiddles with her IV drip bag.

He unscrews the antifreeze jug cap.

At the end of the room is Teddy’s workstation. There are some traces of what appear to be dried blood in various spots.

On a SHELF above the workstation are a series of black binders numbered 1 through 10.

Michelle pulls the binder marked ‘1’ off the shelf. She opens it and sees a photo of a man chained to the wall with a shaved head and cream smeared all over his face.

Beyond the photo are pages and pages of NOTES as well as PHOTOS of autopsies and anatomical DRAWINGS.

The antifreeze feeds into the tube leading to Sandy’s arm.

Teddy anxiously waits and watches his mother for any sign of revival, any movement at all.

Sandy is frantically wrapping young Teddy in silver space blankets. Her fingers are needles. Needles may also dangle from her brittle, unkempt hair.

After a long beat, he sees something: a TWITCH in her finger.

Did he imagine it?

Teddy watches his mother’s finger. Another twitch. Two fingers, three fingers.

Then an entire hand. Teddy’s face lights up.

Teddy is now fully encased in silver space blankets. Sandy jams the nozzle head of a hand pump into the bundled silver package of Teddy. She starts furiously pumping the foot pump.

The silver blankets inflate around Teddy’s body in one piece like a giant mylar balloon.

Teddy is full of hope. Desperate hope.

But then the twitches turn into convulsions. Uncontrollable tremors pulsating across Sandy’s entire body.

Teddy’s face turns ashen. He tries in vain to control his mother’s convulsions.

Sandy begins to pump the foot pump IN REVERSE and all the air begins to suck out of the silver balloon until the material encases poor Teddy’s body in air-tight silver shrink-wrap.

The silver material is shrink-wrapped tight over Teddy’s face, suffocating his mouth. But he moves his jaw and forms the words as best he can:

(suddenly relieved) Oh god. Thank you... thank you...

We hear the sustained BEEP of Sandy’s heart monitor flat- lining. Teddy grabs her face and hands and watches the life leave her body forever. He cries and kisses her hands.

Some NOISES from the hallway. Panicking, Teddy grabs his bag, opens the window to her room, and climbs out.

Teddy runs from the facility, tears in his eyes.

About a hundred feet out, he turns and looks back at her room. NURSES have rushed to her side, trying pathetically to figure out what could be wrong with her, what could be killing her.

Teddy watches with a look of bottomless sadness. As we PULL CLOSE, his sadness slowly morphs into blind rage.

Michelle looks around the room. All of Teddy’s research. All of his hope and delusion and pain and anger. His endless, violent, pitiful search for an answer to the unanswerable.

Michelle takes it all in. And she nods. It seems there’s only one way out of here. She knows what must be done.

Teddy bikes home with furious tears in his eyes.

Teddy leaps off his bike and runs into the house.

Teddy runs into the kitchen and grabs the shotgun he’s left leaning on the table.

He runs downstairs, making wild, savage noises.

Teddy enters and sees Michelle standing in the middle of the room. But it is not the same restrained, subdued Michelle he has seen before. No, this Michelle is standing tall and proud, with no chains to contain her. And she is staring at Teddy with a look of supreme, otherworldly authority.

He raises his shotgun unsteadily.

Michelle puffs her chest and roars.

Teddy turns and sees his hidden research room has been discovered. He lifts his shotgun again.

He breathes heavily, realizing the full horror of his actions has been discovered.

Michelle takes a step forward, with complete confidence that she will not be shot.

Teddy is suddenly awed into silence.

Michelle summons all of her powers of rhetoric and persuasion for this moment. The pitch of her life. The Greatest Story Ever Sold. And all the basement’s her stage.

She walks slowly toward Teddy. He inches back slowly.

She gestures to DON’S BODY on the ground.

She steps again toward Teddy and eyes him accusatorially.

Tears well in Michelle’s eyes.

She points her finger sharply at Teddy.

She holds her hand to heart with sincerity and conviction.

Michelle stands resolute after her bravura performance.

A confused Teddy points the shotgun at Michelle. He is in disbelief. It can’t be true.

Teddy trembles with excitement... and then rage.

Teddy lifts the shotgun again.

Teddy is drained. But he sees a ray of hope in her offer.

Teddy can no longer resist. He sees she is offering the only chance of completing his mission.

He lowers the shotgun.

The Earth.

LOWER THIRD TITLE:

THE NIGHT OF THE LUNAR ECLIPSE

A SECURITY GUARD works the gate booth.

Michelle’s Car pulls up. The window rolls down a crack and the guard is stunned to see the driver is... Michelle Fuller.

She’s wearing her dirtied suit, and what appears to be a not very convincing wig affixed to her head.

The security guard, in a daze, buzzes her through.

Michelle drives through the gate.

Once she passes, the guard reaches for his phone.

Michelle exhales.

We see that Teddy is hiding under a blanket in the back seat with the shotgun trained on Michelle.

Teddy sits up and peeks into the trunk. We see Don’s dead body is sitting back there, his torso wrapped in a blanket.

Teddy smiles sadly but reassuringly at his cousin’s corpse.

Michelle’s Car pulls up.

Tony the valet approaches the car, confused.

Teddy gets out first. He’s wearing a long overcoat and carrying a pair of crutches. He opens the door for Michelle and hands her the crutches.

Michelle crutches toward the valet and hands him the keys.

The valet just stares at her, stunned.

Teddy and Michelle enter the building.

On the ride up, Teddy grips the SHOTGUN hidden in his overcoat.

DING! The elevator door opens. Teddy and Michelle get out.

Michelle crutches past stunned COLLEAGUES. One WOMAN screams and covers her mouth. Others just stare in disbelief.

Michelle smiles nervously and nods at them.

She looks at her watch and smiles.

Teddy trails behind Michelle, still concealing the shotgun. When Michelle reaches her office door, she turns to Corey.

Michelle smiles and enters her office with Teddy.

Michelle crutches in and Teddy shuts the door behind them. He locks the door and pushes a couch in front of it, then pulls the blinds closed.

Michelle thinks and then crutches toward her desk.

She sits at her desk, opens a drawer, and pulls out a calculator.

Teddy looks at the calculator, then back at Michelle.

Michelle begins to carefully type digits into the calculator. Teddy just stares at her, a bit incredulous.

She pauses and ‘concentrates.’ She types a few fragments: ‘9957075379965’ As she slowly types symbols, Teddy fidgets.

Michelle glances at the SHOTEL SWORD on the wall.

Finally she’s stalled herself enough time to think as she can. She stands.

Teddy nods. That’s good news. But he’s very nervous.

Teddy opens his coat. An EXPLOSIVE is strapped to his chest.

Michelle is very nervous. But she nods understandingly.

Teddy, in his nervous state, is almost moved by her tribute.

Michelle edges toward the door.

Teddy carefully walks toward the closet, cautiously. Before stepping in, he takes one last look back at Michelle.

Teddy steps into the closet and closes the door.

As soon as the closet door closes, Michelle begins to quietly inch towards her office door. Dials in the last digit on the calculator.

Michelle steps backwards towards the door.

Her staff have evacuated and various POLICE and SWAT OFFICERS have gathered, preparing for the possibility of breaching the door.

A small but very loud and powerful EXPLOSION. The closet is armored but the door bursts open and we get a glimpse of Teddy being cut in half from the explosion. The metal handle of the door flies away during the explosion and hits Michelle on the head. She drops unconscious to the ground. The cheap wig falls off, revealing her bald head. The CALCULATOR falls and slides across the floor.

The officers take who had taken cover from the blast swarm toward Michelle on the ground.

Her eyes flutter...

A half-eclipsed MOON hangs in the sky.

A crime scene CLEAN-UP CREW works as the SWAT TEAM packs up. Evacuated Auxolith EMPLOYEES mill behind yellow police tape.

Michelle is on a stretcher. Her broken foot is in a brace. She’s woozy, barely there, but unharmed by the explosion.

Some Auxolith employees call out to Michelle, wishing her well. A dazed Michelle raises a thumbs-up and calls out to them:

Her pet slogan is met with a few halfhearted cheers.

Michelle’s stretcher is loaded into the back of an ambulance. An EMT and a DETECTIVE accompany her inside.

The ambulance drives. Michelle fidgets a little and the EMT puts a hand on her.

Michelle’s still in shock, but starting to get her wits back. The detective smiles at her reassuringly.

Michelle nods. She stares off with a haunted look.

Michelle nods again. But there is something troubling her.

The ambulance pulls to a stop at a red light.

Michelle turns to the detective.

The detective turns to Michelle. He tries to phrase this gently, not knowing exactly where her head is at.

Michelle nods and looks away. She looks genuinely mournful.

Michelle looks at the detective. The detective smiles.

A sharp, rattled EXHALE of air from the detective’s mouth. The muscles in his face relax and drop as he falls to floor.

Michelle stares in shock.

The EMT turns and looks at her, puzzled.

Suddenly, another sickening EXHALE from the EMT. Like a pig lung being squeezed out on a butcher’s block. He falls dead.

A loud sound of metal and glass. The ambulance has crashed. Michelle is violently shaken still tied on the stretcher.

From the driver’s seat, we hear the unmistakable sustained HONK of a body landing on a horn.

Michelle frantically pulls herself from the stretcher and bursts out of the ambulance.

Michelle tears her CAST off and clambers from the ambulance.

The light has turned green. Cars HONK at the ambulance to go.

Michelle tears through traffic across the highway. She is looking around, searching. She looks up and sees what appears to be LIGHTNING flashing dimly in a cloud.

She continues running until she reaches...

She makes her way back onto Auxolith property with her security badge. We see there are still police and fire vehicles around but she avoids them and finds her way to:

Through a back entrance, Michelle makes her way up a quiet staircase. She uses her card to head up to:

A number of POLICE and FIRE OFFICERS are dotted around the crime scene area.

Michelle quickly and quietly makes her way to her office.

A YOUNG DETECTIVE is surprised to see her approaching.

YOUNG DETECTIVE MICHELLE

Whoa, sorry- you’re not, uh-- I just forgot something,

sorry, sorry--

She hustles over behind her office couch, bends down, and grabs the CALCULATOR she dropped. The digits she punched in are still on the SCREEN.

She starts to head toward the closet with the calculator.

YOUNG DETECTIVE MICHELLE

Hey, hey, no, can’t go in Sorry, just one sec, one sec-- there--

The detective tries to stop her from heading in but Michelle throws his arm off of her. She quickly darts into her office, where FIRE OFFICERS are cleaning up, startled to see her.

A few other try to corral her but she makes a beeline for the bloodied closet, enters, press a button on the calculator, twists and folds inward into the closet wall and...

... writhes on the floor of a gelatinous room. Two MEN enter with a translucent sheet and cover her shaking body.

Michelle coughs and wretches violently as if readjusting to a new atmosphere.

Some time has passed. Perhaps a day.

Michelle has gathered with the ANDROMEDAN ROYAL COURT and various AIDES in a throne room. We might glimpse the vastness of space somewhere behind them.

A ROYAL AIDE speaks to Michelle in a strange SUBTITLED dialect, like no human voice you’ve ever heard.

They are in agreement.

Her aides look at her with downcast faces.

Michelle nods and looks away.

Michelle gazes out the window at the cosmos. Somewhere out there is Earth. And its seven and a half billion humans.

She takes a breath..

Her aides acknowledge the truth wordlessly.

A difficult decision.

One by one, the AIDES leave. Michelle, the Fuller Humanoid, the great and wise Andromedan Emperor, is alone. She must pay for the mistakes of ancestors.

A CUBE appears before her. The Emperor stares at the cube.

The Emperor slowly lifts her hand and opens the box to reveal a SQUARE. The Emperor reaches out her finger, hesitantly, and touches the square.

A SERIES OF SHOTS ON EARTH:

A street full of PEOPLE lie dead on the ground.

A British school classroom full of CHILDREN, all dead.

A Korean school classroom full of CHILDREN, all dead.

A long moving walkway at an airport piling up at the end with DEAD BODIES.

CONSTRUCTION WORKERS dead at the Acropolis in Athens.

A small Russian wedding in a cathedral, EVERYBODY dead.

A techno party with a loud bass note repeating itself and slow strobe lights flickering. EVERYBODY is dead. A smoke machine blows some smoke into nothingness

Smithfield meat market. Dead humans amidst hanging meat.

An entire FAMILY lays dead with melting ice cream in the kids’ hands during a day out at a Museum.

BUSINESS MEN in ties and suits lay dead in the middle of opening a new building site.

An INDIGENOUS MAN dead on the Amazon.

CHILDREN collecting rubbish from a landfill in India lay dead on a rubbish pile.

A RICH MAN dead in the bath of the Royal Suite in the Hotel Grande Bretagne, Athens.

A circle of ALCOHOLICS dead in their chairs at an AA meeting.

Chinese FACTORY WORKERS in matching uniforms amongst huge piles of stuffed toys lay dead mid-work.

A YOUNG WOMAN lays dead with a bouquet of flowers in her hand next to a gravestone.

TWO TEENAGERS who had been having sex, now dead in each other’s arms.

Multiple car crashes on a now completely still freeway.

A life saving surgery, with the PATIENT’S chest open - all DOCTORS are dead.

A BRIDE and her FRIENDS who were preparing to walk down the aisle, now dead.

The FULFILLMENT CENTER where Teddy worked has stopped.

His coworker TINA lies on the floor, at peace.

Inside Teddy’s house, all is still. A framed PHOTO on the wall shows a young Teddy being bathed by his mother.

All man-made interference with nature has stopped.

All human life is gone.

There is only quiet.

Utter peace.

But the countryside is alive.

Alive with the SOUNDS of insects, birds, and mammals. The natural world teeming with post-historic life.

Earth has been saved.

A beautiful FLOWER gently sways in the clean breeze.

A HONEYBEE lands on the flower.