Chapter 1: Penelope (Original Screenplay)

I wrote this screenplay version for a 2015 screenwriting contest where I had eight days to write a 12-page script that was a mystery, a coma, and a newspaper delivery person. If parts seem missing, it's because the original included characters and scenes that made the story too long. I might rewrite the larger version if I find my notes and old drafts.

The screenplay formatting is not maintained when copying and pasting into ScibbleHub. Adjustments have been made to make it more readable.

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FADE IN:

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - TIME UNKNOWN

A professionally dressed young woman, Special Agent ALAINA VOGEL, sits across from a TATTOOED MAN in a gray prison jumpsuit in a windowless room.

ALAINA: Wake up.

INT. NO-TELL MOTEL ROOM - MORNING

The tattooed man wakes up in the bed. He registers where he is and sighs in relief.

He rolls over and Alaina is standing next to the bed with her eyes closed. She wakes up and looks around the room. She looks at the night stand and appears annoyed.

Alaina runs to the door as the man jumps out of bed.

EXT. NO-TELL MOTEL ROOM - MORNING

On the second-floor walkway, Alaina turns around and looks at the number on the door, then at all of the door numbers along the floor. The man comes out of the door armed with a handgun.

Alaina jumps over the railing and rolls out of the impact and runs toward the street. The man uses the stairs.

EXT. CITY INTERSECTION - MORNING

Alaina stops and looks around at a city intersection lined with fast food restaurants and corner stores. She looks at the street signs, which slowly come into focus: LAKE and CHAVEZ.

POP! POP! POP!

She looks down and sees she's bleeding from her abdomen. She looks over to the man holding his gun. She closes her eyes and smiles triumphantly as she falls to the ground.

INT. ALAINA'S BEDROOM - MORNING

Alaina wakes up in her bed. She YAWNS and rolls to her back.

We see that her furniture is on the ceiling.

She pounds her fist on the bed out of frustration and closes her eyes.

ALAINA: Wake up, Alaina.

INT. PENELOPE LAB - TIME UNKNOWN

Alaina wakes up in a vinyl laboratory chair. There is a cloth cap on her head with wires leading to a metal box. She looks up at the florescent green clock on the wall. She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms and waits.

INT. PENELOPE LAB - TIME UNKNOWN

Alaina wakes up to the same environment as the last and a TECHNICIAN hands her a water. She appears more tired than the last few scenes and looks up at the clock - it is now a standard-issue black clock.

ALAINA: He's in room 215 at the hotel near Lake and Chavez.

A middle-aged man in a suit, DIRECTOR AVERY, smiles as he watches from an upper observation room.

INT. PENELOPE LAB - OBSERVATION ROOM - TIME UNKNOWN

Director Avery and an ASSISTANT watch the activities of multiple labs below them.

DIRECTOR AVERY: I want to expand our research. Today's run shows this technology could help with law enforcement, maybe even
national security.

FADE TO:

EXT. MAPLE STREET - DAY

JOE ELSTER, a scrawny young kid, rides his bike down a treelined residential neighborhood with two FRIENDS.

JOE: He's gaining on us! Commence evasive maneuvers!

The children laugh as they spread out and ride away from an imaginary enemy. As he passes each house, he throws a newspaper the lawns in front of them.

A WOMAN waves as he tosses her a paper.

JOE: Hi Miss Conners!

She watches him as he rides out of sight.

EXT. JOE'S BACKYARD - LATER

Joe aims a large, pump-action water gun at one of his friends while hiding behind a bench in the backyard.

He quickly ducks down just as a water balloon hits the bench and explodes.

His MOM CALLS him inside.

INT. JOE'S HOUSE - KITCHEN

Agent Conners puts on her jacket. She looks at the drawings of astronauts attached to the fridge with airplane magnets.

CONNERS (to Joe): I plan on being out of town starting next week. Could you start dropping off the papers inside the backyard
gate so they don't start piling up outside the house?

JOE: Sure can, Miss Conners! Going on vacation?

CONNERS: Oh, I wish.

CONNERS (to Joe's mother): I'll call you when I get there.

INT. HOSPITAL - DAY

Joe's parents rush in and are led to a hospital room where a POLICE OFFICER is speaking with a DOCTOR. Joe lies motionless strapped in the hospital bed wearing an oxygen mask and hooked up to monitoring equipment. His FATHER consoles his crying mother.

DOCTOR: Mr. and Mrs. Elster? Your son was found on Maple Street. He appears to have been hit by a vehicle while
riding his bicycle.

MRS. ELSTER: He was on his newspaper route. Did anyone see who hit him?

OFFICER: No witnesses have come forward - if there were any. Most of the street seems to be on vacation.

The mother SOBS.

DOCTOR (hesitant): There might be one way to help find the driver and possibly wake up your son.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

Joe's parents sign a form on a clipboard.

ALAINA (O.S.): This just says you understand that this technology is experimental and that the results cannot be predicted accurately.

They hand the clipboard back to Alaina who has just finished adjusting the wire-filled cloth cap on her head. A matching cap rests on Joe's head. She types into a laptop, leans back in a chair and closes her eyes. Within seconds, her eyes begin to move rapidly under her eyelids.

EXT. WARZONE - DAY

Alaina trips and falls next to a trench wall. She and other SOLDIERS are wearing old military uniforms and gas masks. SHELLING and AUTOMATIC GUNFIRE hits nearby and smoke wafts through the air.

SOLDIER: Elster! Get down!

A soldier nearby ducks as an EXPLOSION sends debris over the wall. Alaina rushes over as the soldier sets up his gun again.

ALAINA: Joe? Joe Elster?

SOLDIER: Who are you?

Joe is now an adult. He is tall, physically fit, with noticeable muscles. He aims his weapon.

ALAINA: My name is Alaina. You are in a coma.

A light flickers out inside a covered part of the trench, grabbing Alaina's attention. Agent Conners lies dead in front of the area with blue lips and no mask.

ALAINA (to Joe): This is a dream.

Joe looks at her, confused. A grenade explodes near their heads.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

Alaina wakes up, slightly disoriented. A NURSE is picking up a tray she dropped. The small, weak Joe still lays unconscious in the bed.

ALAINA: The run failed. I will try again tomorrow.

MR. ELSTER: Tomorrow? Why can't you try again now?

ALAINA: We aren't allowed to do more than one run a day. It can be dangerous.

MR. ELSTER: Well, then, let me try.

Mr. Elster walks over as Alaina packs up the equipment.

ALAINA: I can't let you do that, sir. The technology can cause damaging psychological effects in untrained users like psychosis and depression.

MR. ELSTER: My son isn't a "trained user."

ALAINA: But I am and I can make it safe for him. Plus, you wouldn't even recognize him. Dreams are a mix of memory organization, outside sensory input, and wish fulfillment. It's easy to get lost.

Mr. Elster sits back down with his head in his hands.

ALAINA: I'll try again tomorrow.

INT. PENELOPE PROGRAM COMMON ROOM - LATER

Alaina is having lunch with a young colleague, SPECIAL AGENT ROGERS. They talk while eating and looking at their cell phones.

ROGERS: I heard the tracking exercise was a success, but are you OK? I haven't seen you around.

ALAINA: I had to recover. I hate FA loops.

ROGERS: I was told most of the Penelope agents wake up when they realize they are dreaming. At least the new ones do.

ALAINA: That's due to fear. Telling someone they are dreaming creates a fight or flight response that usually wakes them up. However, TELLING someone to wake up sends them further into the dream space as if their subconscious is complying with a demand. [BEAT] I
stupidly kept telling myself to wake up. Eventually, I just had to wait it out.

ROGERS: But in your report, you said you were shot. Wouldn't that pull you out before the loop began?

ALAINA: Usually, but I wasn't afraid.

ROGERS: But what's it feel like?

ALAINA: You've never had a false awakening?

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ROGERS: Nope. I'm just a code-monkey. I never get to experience a run.

ALAINA: Well, I imagine if there is a Hell, it is just an unending false awakening loop. [BEAT] She looks familiar.

Agent Rogers looks up. Alaina shows a news photo of Conners with a headline: LOCAL FEDERAL EMPLOYEE FOUND DEAD.

ROGERS: Woah, that's Conners from Mobile! She's dead? The last time I saw her, she seemed anxious, paranoid.

ALAINA: Maybe that's why I recognize her.

ROGERS: She was fired about a month ago. Something about a big scandal dealing with taking her work off the base without permission. I haven't been able to contact her since she got rid of her cell phone.

ALAINA: Why would anyone take work off base?

INT. UNITED FEDERATION SPACECRAFT CARRIER - HALLWAY - TIME UNKNOWN

Adult Joe uses the wall to propel himself down a corridor in zero gravity. He is dressed in a fitted gray uniform with fluorescent green stripes on his sleeve. He is wearing a space helmet. Alaina, dressed in a similar uniform, moves into frame and catches up to him.

ALAINA: We need to talk about what happened on your paper route.

Joe looks at her. He doesn't understand. A light in a section ahead flickers and goes out.

JOE: I'm not sure what you are talking about. I haven't had a paper route since I was a kid.

Joe opens a wall panel and makes the light turn back on. They continue moving down the corridor. He keeps looking at her as if she is bothering him.

The light goes out again.

EXT. UNITED FEDERATION SPACECRAFT - TIME UNKNOWN

Joe pilots a small spacecraft with Alaina as a passenger.

They fly around the carrier where smaller residential areas are attached. Random lights within the carrier turn off.

They reach a part where two other UNIFORMED PEOPLE are repairing the ship. Joe moves closer.

As they approach, they see the larger of the two, a male, grab the smaller female. She sees Joe's craft and touches her arm.

FEMALE (V.O.) (over radio): Let go of me! Please! You're hurting me.

She pushes him away, touching the same part of his arm.

MALE (V.O.) (over radio): You're a traitor, you deserve worse.

FEMALE (V.O.): I'm the traitor? You want to break the law, control people, risk American lives.

MALE (V.O.): You mean PROTECT American lives.

FEMALE (V.O.): We'll let them decide that.

The female starts pulling herself away along the carrier. The male grabs her ankle and violently pulls her down. He catches her and pulls off her helmet - it's Agent Conner! The male throws away the helmet and keeps Conner from going after it. After 15 seconds, she stops struggling and the male pushes her away.

He turns and it's Director Avery. He immediately moves to a door and inside the carrier.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

Director Avery appears in the doorway. Alaina and Joe lay unconscious hooked up to the Penelope device.

INTERCUT BETWEEN DREAM AND HOSPITAL ROOM

Dream: Joe speeds away as another craft exits the carrier and heads toward them.

Hospital: Avery closes the door and walks over to the equipment. He looks at the cords.

Dream: Joe tries to outmaneuver their pursuer. The lights in Joe's craft goes out.

EXT. FIGHTER JET - DAY

Joe and Alaina are dressed in modern U.S. military clothing and wearing oxygen masks. Still being pursued by a larger jet, they are surrounded by other jets, flown by Joe's friends. An ocean swirls beneath them.

FRIEND (V.O.) (over radio): He's gaining on us.

JOE: Commence evasive maneuvers!

The jets spread out and try to lose Avery. They fly into a dark cloud. When they get out of the other side, Joe's friends are gone and Avery is closing him.

INTERCUT BETWEEN DREAM AND HOSPITAL ROOM

Hospital: Avery watches as Joe's eyes move rapidly under his eyelids. He pulls Joe's oxygen mask off to the side.

Dream: Avery flies at Joe and Alaina. He turns away, but hits part of their jet.

The jet shakes violently and ALARMS sound. Joe's mask falls from his face.

Hospital: Avery quickly turns off the ALARM on the monitoring equipment.

Dream: They hit the water, but quickly get to the surface. Large waves hit them, each one higher than the last. They both struggle catching their breath.

Under the water, Alaina's eyes grow wide. Joe falls deeper.

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

Alaina wakes up COUGHING and looks at Avery near the door.

She sees Joe's mask on the side of his face and puts it back on his mouth and nose.

ALAINA: His mask must have fell off somehow. We were drowning.

AVERY: How was the run?

Alaina hesitates.

ALAINA: It failed. This kid watches too many war movies.

AVERY: That's too bad. [BEAT] This experiment obviously isn't working. I would like to direct the program's energies elsewhere. You are not to continue with this case.

ALAINA: But sir, I feel that I'm close to getting him to wake up. His family is counting on me.

AVERY: If you haven't made any progress, continuing would be a waste of resources.

ALAINA: Yes, sir.

Alaina starts packing up the equipment. Avery leaves. Joe lays still.

INT. PENELOPE LAB - HALLWAY - DAY

Alaina approaches Agent Rogers.

ALAINA (Discretely): Would you like to join me on a run?

INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - NIGHT

DETECTIVE SMITH looks at Alaina and Rogers across the dark room. He stands up and backs away from them to the wall and looks around at the empty office.

EXT. MAPLE STREET - DAY - CONTINUOUS

The three are now on Maple Street near Agent Conners' house.

ALAINA: Here is what I think happened.

They follow young Joe as he walks to the backyard fence.

CONNERS (O.S.): Let go of me! Please! You're hurting me.

They get to the fence as Conners pushes Avery away. They fight as they did in the space scene. Conners points, demanding that he leaves and walks back toward the house.

Avery becomes angry, attacking Conners. They struggle and he holds her in a headlock until she goes limp.

Avery sees Joe and chases him to the street. Joe gets away on his bike just in time. Out of nowhere, a car speeds toward and hits Joe. Avery, the driver, sees Joe is not moving and drives away.

INT. DETECTIVE SMITH'S BEDROOM - NIGHT

The Detective Smith wakes up. He grabs a yellow notepad and pencil from his nightstand's drawer and writes something down.

FADE TO:

INT. POLICE DEPARTMENT - DAY

Directory Avery is being led into the room with handcuffs.

DETECTIVE (O.S.): We found more than just paint and scratches under his car.

The detective and Smith are drinking coffee as they watch.

DETECTIVE: It seems that he is probably connected to the murder of that federal agent on the same street. She was about to
release information about a new type of spying program he was in charge of.

The first detective flips a yellow notepad on his desk to be face down.

DETECTIVE: What made you think to look there, anyway?

INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY

Alaina wakes up. There is movement beside her. She looks over and Joe recognizes her and smiles.

Joe's mother cries and hugs her son.

INT. DETENTION CENTER - TIME UNKNOWN

Avery is led out of a jail cell by OFFICERS. Avery is handcuffed and dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit.

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - TIME UNKNOWN

Avery signs forms on a clipboard.

OFFICER (V.O.) (reading a letter): Dear Mr. Avery, as per your plea agreement, we will allow you to avoid the death penalty by participating in ongoing research at our discretion.

He is led to a chair at a table and left alone.

A door OPENS and CLOSES off screen.

Alaina sits across from him.

ALAINA: Wake up.

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