Conflicts of the last progenitors

Lo-Cheun, Zria, Kenneth, Abacus (holding a cylinder with glowing water) and Jesca (writing in a spiral) are being watched by more than ninety SCULPTORS, some of which are covered with silver fur. The humans are all shivering.

ABACUS

That one too-

Abacus nods to a SHORT SCULPTOR (eight feet tall); Jesca looks at the indicated humanoid; silver fur sprouts from out of its bald gray skin, covering its torso and its long right arm in mere seconds.

ABACUS (CONT'D)

Retractable fur.

107.

Sven, holding his damaged right hand, emerges from the building; Kenneth sees him first.

KENNETH

(grinning)

Sven’s back.

The party faces the young Swede.

ABACUS

(quietly; to Kenneth)

You owe me three week’s mint rinse.

LO-CHEUN

(to Sven)

Report.

SVEN

I’m pretty sure that they think

whoever is the tallest is the

leader. That’s how they seem to

function, at least. And- unless I

wildly misinterpreted them-

Sven points his left index finger at the raised area beyond the eastern edge of the city.

SVEN (CONT'D)

-we can build our homes over there.

The faces of Zria, Jesca, Kenneth and Abacus enliven with joy.

Lo-Cheun turns away from the group and- for the first time since his wife’s passing- begins to WEEP.

Titlecard: Nine Days Later

INT. INTESTINE CHAMBER #3 - MORNING (OPTION-1-STANDARD) Thick, gray, pulsating tubes hang like drying laundry from the ceiling; in the corner of the room dangles a cluster of blackened, swollen intestines. Two FEMALE BIOS in sterile body wraps stand atop a ladder, examining the darkened tissue with white-gloved hands.

FEMALE BIO

The tumor’s growing. In another

week we’ll need to isolate this

chamber too.

108.

INT. MULTISTAR COUNCIL ROOM - MORNING

Graynose looks at the gathered Seniors; the room is filled with tension and distressed visages.

GRAYNOSE

I’ll make the announcement today.

HECTOR

So we’re trusting these...things?

These sculptors?

GRAYNOSE

It’s either this or move on.

Graynose eyes the council members.

INT. GLASS-DOMED AMPHITHEATER - AFTERNOON (OPTION-1-STANDARD) The enclosure is filled with excited viewers. The panorama screen displays the crevasse, the sculptors’ metropolis (blue sparks igniting at random), a group of sculptors walking across a bridge, the dual suns and the amphitheater itself.

(The subterranean shots are all labelled with the words

‘recorded earlier.’)

All of the images are abruptly squeezed to the edges of the screen, marginalized to accommodate a full-shot of Graynose.

GRAYNOSE

The proposed seven-day-search for

additional craters on Option-1 has

ended, with no new findings. We

currently believe that the

sculptors’ meteor-wrought

environment is unique.

Graynose lets his words hang heavily in the auditorium.

Mlissa, seated with Sven (his hurt fingers splinted), Abacus and Kenneth in the second row, shakes her head. The crowd is silent, expectant.

GRAYNOSE (CONT'D)

We now proceed with Phase-2. We

start building tomorrow.

The proclamation divides the audience: some CALL OUT angrily, a few CLAP and the remainder sit silently (including Sven, Mlissa, Abacus and Kenneth) awaiting more information.

109.

GRAYNOSE (CONT'D)

I must stress this caveat: though

the sculptors number far fewer than us- we estimate no more than four

hundred exist- it is imperative

that we remain allied with them.

Even if you feel directly

threatened by these beings, you are not permitted to defend yourself,

unless given permission by a

Senior.

Graynose lets his word hang; the panorama is dominated by the image of two sculptors carving into stone with their talons.

GRAYNOSE (CONT'D)

Our plan is to settle the three-

mile area allotted to us and then

expand further into the mantle of

the planet, geology permitting.

What portion of humanity remains on Option-1 and what portion returns

to Elysabeth’s vaults- and then

with her into space- will be

determined once we’ve settled.

Graynose lets his plan settle within the minds of the audience. Abacus leans over to Sven.

ABACUS

You can have my space in monster

city if you want it.

INT. INFIRMIRY / SOLITARY CELL - SAME

Thakani lies upon a white-foam bed, locked inside a narrow turquoise room. Her face is swollen and purple; her right eye is blood-red; blue temporary-teeth replace her missing top set; her broken nose is tightly-clamped by steel braces.

She watches the small screen hanging at an angle from the ceiling.

GRAYNOSE

Elysabeth’s health is declining: we need to move quickly toward all

long-term decisions so that she

might shut down and heal for future journeys. Automuscle drivers,

Bullets and craftsmen will be in

constant rotation. Let’s make a

new home for ourselves.

110.

Thakani smiles, tears filling her eyes.

THAKANI

Thank you, Jesus.

INT. RAMPED HALLWAY - MORNING

Three people work within the sloped passage-- the Arabic Man, Rectangle and a BANGLADESHI WOMAN. By the light of a glowing sphere affixed to a wall, the two men open a foam crate labelled, “u-transmitter”.

The duo carefully withdraws and then unwraps a very heavy u-shaped tube of steel from which jut three coiled antennas.