Conflicts of the last progenitors

That is the way of war-- and do not delude yourselves: if we stay there we are waging war.

(she shakes her head

vehemently)

Let war, ruthlessness and

xenophobia not be the legacies

humanity carries into the stars.

These beings are likely the last of their kind, transplanted to this

sanctuary so that their species

might survive. The water functions to perpetuate their lives because this place best suits them. If our first choice as the post-Earth

refugees is to commit genocide in

order to insurrect an underground

cave on a largely uninhabitable

planet, I say, let’s not consider it a choice at all. Please.

Jesca sits. Florida, his eyes bleary and his face sagging, stands.

FLORIDA

I was the Senior who ordered the

violent repulsion of the attacking

sculptors. I’ve not slept much

since- and when I do...I only see

them- the sculptors, not the people they killed- bleeding on the

ground, making those eerie sounds.

(MORE)

125.

FLORIDA (CONT'D)

(he rubs his tired eyes)

The capacity to perform the wrong action for the right reason is one of humanity’s great burdens, and

that wrong action is exactly what I suggest we vote for today. This

cavern may be our only chance: we

need to build. Our duty to the

dead on Earth is not to wrangle

with our personal guilt or quibble

morality, it is to survive and

perpetuate the human race.

Titlecard: Nineteen Days Later

EXT. OPTION-1 OCEAN - EARLY NIGHT

Elysabeth rests on her back, half above and half below the surface of the ocean. Upon her stomach, HANDYMAN-2, HANDYMAN-4 and HANDYMAN-6 operate upon damaged vents and powerscopes; one plucks a gray eyeball from her hull.

INT. THE HUMAN PLATEAU - SAME

One hundred-and-forty-two PEOPLE dressed in padded orange bodysuits work amidst the developing buildings of the nascent human settlement. Workers in automuscles set insulated walls along vertical supports; the seams are joined by scurrying gridbots. Hemispherical tents, cubical labs and rectangular sleeping-vaults provide shelter for those who will remain the night. The luminous water has been rerouted to circumnavigate the encampment.

The loudest sound within the cavern is the sustained chorus of WAILING sculptors.

An automuscle flops down; Sven climbs out of it, wrapped in a padded orange bodysuit adorned with two blue stars. Huffing steam, the young Swede walks toward a cubical lab and ducks inside.

Thirty BULLETS patrol the perimeters of the human settlement, amongst them Lo-Cheun. From the sunken city of the sculptors come unceasing SKIRLS of agony.

LO-CHEUN

(irked)

Pook gai.

Lo-Cheun stares out into the darkness.

126.

MALE BULLET (O.S.)

Neighbors! Northern edge.

Lo-Cheun looks north: fifty-one SCULPTORS ascend onto the plateau. The Senior TAPS his earlplug.

LO-CHEUN

J-guns! At my command, warning

shots!

INT. PHYSICAL INVIGORATION CHAMBER - SAME

Upon the ship, forty-three PEOPLE utilize treadmills, isometric pull straps, swimming areas and aerobic bikes.

Amongst them is Mlissa.

The athletic woman backstrokes down the length of a wading pool, her long limbs fluidly pushing her across the surface of the coruscating water.

Her eyes survey the ceiling of the enclosure; through the nine ellipsoidal skylights, she sees Option-1’s five moons and the myriad stars of the cosmos.

Without warning, the view is covered over with an opaque shadow.

People SCREAM.

INT. GRAYNOSE’S COMPARTMENT - SAME

Graynose and Julius sit opposite each other at a small table, upon which sits a platter of roasted vegetables.

JULIUS

(Texas Accent)

I feel guilty eating these.

GRAYNOSE

Don’t. The ship’s docked now-- the farms have been activated. These-

(he points to the food)

-these are the first test run.

JULIUS

Well, they do look-

ELYSABETH’S VOICE

All multi-stars to the council

room. Priority Red-X.

127.

Graynose pales. He stands from the table, trembling.

INT. THE HUMAN PLATEAU - SAME

Thirty Bullets have congregated in front of the fifty-one

‘neighbors’; the retractable silver fur covering the sculptors’ torsos and long arms gleams like brindled silver in the cold night climate. The humanoids are still and silent; for the first time in many days, the cavern is quiet.

LO-CHEUN

How did they get this close?

The Frenchman with the stitched-together tongue turns to Lo-Cheun.

FRENCHMAN

Came up through a hidden tunnel.

LO-CHEUN

We’ll need to seal that.

Lo-Cheun points to the biggest sculptor, a twelve-foot tall giant with mottled white-and-gray skin and a swollen-shut left eye socket.

LO-CHEUN (CONT'D)

That’s the leader.

ONE-”EYE” reaches its seven-fingered left hand into a slit in its belly.

LO-CHEUN (CONT'D)

Hold.(he TAPS his earplug)

Get Jesca.

The humanoid withdraws a curved piece of stone from its belly and, with its right hand, extends it forward. The sculpture is crescent-shaped: smooth on the top and with thousands of intricate cylinders jutting from its bottom.

Rectangle, the tall African two-star, glances from the proffered object to Lo-Cheun.