The Tower: A Screenplay by Nickolay Pavlov

THE TOWER A Screenplay by Nickolay Pavlov

THE STORY IS ABOUT THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SPACE ELEVATOR â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A SIXTY MILE HIGH TOWER - AND THE DRAMATIC ATTEMPT TO BLOW IT UP genre: drama, thriller, romance

Copyright @ 2017 Nickolay Pavlov nnpavl@gmail.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, without written permission of the author.

Globe Press Published in the USA by Amazon Kindle

2017

The Tower INT. LABORATORY - EVENING We see a living cell under the microscope. We are witnessing its binary fission process. RACHEL takes her eyes off the eyepiece and looks into the space in front of her. She smiles. Rachel leans back to the eyepiece. Then, she looks around â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there is no one else in the laboratory. It is dark outside. She gets up, picks up a Petri Dish, and takes a few steps, she sings a popular tune. INT. LABORATORY BUILDING - HALLWAY CONTINUOUS Rachel walks along an empty hallway. EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS Rachel walks out of the building into the street and catches a taxi cab. INT. TAXI CAB - CONTINUOUS Rachel is in the back seat. Smile is on her lips. TAXI DRIVER, a young African-American, glances at Rachel through the rear-view mirror. 5

TAXI DRIVER (he has an accent) You are in good spirits today. RACHEL I am. TAXI DRIVER So, were you the one who won the 336 million jack pot? RACHEL No. TAXI DRIVER I bought 40 tickets - and all of that was for nothing. RACHEL The probability of winning is small. TAXI DRIVER But someone wins! RACHEL That is true. EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS Taxi moves down the street. INT. TAXI CAB - CONTINUOUS TAXI DRIVER 6

So, you had luck in something else? RACHEL Was I lucky? One can say so. TAXI DRIVER Congratulations! RACHEL Thank you. TAXI DRIVER I don’t believe that one should rely much on luck. If you really want something, you can achieve it. RACHEL I agree with you. TAXI DRIVER In three months, my fiancée will come from Uganda. We’ve been waiting for almost four years. But now, she’ll get visa. RACHEL I'm glad for you. TAXI DRIVER I set aside some money; we’ll be able to get married, now. RACHEL So, you expect a happy event? TAXI DRIVER 7

Yes, but three months is a long time to wait! EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS Taxi stops. INT. TAXI CAB – CONTINUOUS Rachel hands money to the Taxi Driver. TAXI DRIVER I won’t charge you. You said it was a special day for you. RACHEL No, no, please take it. You will have to spend a lot soon, for the wedding. EXT. STREET – CONTINUOUS Rachel comes up to the apartment building door. She dials a code and enters the building. INT. RACHEL’S APARTMENT – CONTINUOUS Rachel enters her apartment, washes her hands, opens the fridge, and pours herself a glass of juice. She, then, goes to the bedroom, pulls out a suitcase, and begins putting things into it. Her eyes stop upon the picture of a tower on the wall - its top is lost in clouds. EXT. THE TOWER – ITS TOP – DAY (SKY IS DARK AT THE 60 MILES DISTANCE FROM THE 8

EARTH) The Upper Platform installation scene. Installers dressed in spacesuits are working in an unhurried manner though in a concert. They talk over the radio communication. INT. JAMES CAGE’S OFFICE – CONTINUOUS Previous scene continuation. Camera "pulls out". We see JAMES CAGE in his office overseeing installation on computer screen. The office is spacious. The Tower model on a pedestal is in the corner. Pictures of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Yuri Gagarin, and Konstantin Tsiolkovsky are on the wall. SECRETARY (O.S.) (over the intercom) Mr. Cage, your daughter would like to see you. CAGE What? SECRETARY (O.S.) Your daughter, Rachel. CAGE Margie, I hope you're not kidding. SECRETARY (O.S.) Mr. Cage... Rachel enters the office. Cage gets up to greet her. 9

Rachel hugs him. CAGE What a surprise! RACHEL I hope - a pleasant one? CAGE Of course, it’s pleasant. Cage pulls away, looking at his daughter. CAGE (CONTINUED) You've changed. Each time that I see you, there is something new in you. RACHEL What is it this time? CAGE If you were a boy, I would say that you have grown into quite a man. RACHEL Dad, you look great! CAGE Oh, yes! I'm a real backslapper, that’s for sure! I’m glad you came for your brother’s birthday. RACHEL 25 years - it's no joke; I know it from my own experience. 10

CAGE 25. What was I doing at 25? It doesn’t matter. Tell me, how are you doing? RACHEL I’m doing well. CAGE What if you provide me some detail? RACHEL My hypothesis proved to be true. CAGE Wonderful! Will you tell me, what kind of hypothesis it is? RACHEL Sure. CAGE Only, please explain this to me in plain language. Have you seen your mother already? RACHEL Not yet. I came right to you. Rachel tunes to the Tower model. RACHEL (CONTINUED) Dad, I’d like you to show it to me. CAGE 11

The Tower? RACHEL Yes. CAGE Haven’t you seen it already? Now, when its completion is nearing, they continue talking about it. I’ve got an impression that there are no other topics left to discuss. RACHEL I’d like to go up. CAGE Well, this is not up to me to take you there. RACHEL Don’t you want to? CAGE I’d like to… RACHEL So, what’s the problem? CAGE As I said, it’s not something that I can do for you. Ernesto will show it to you. Cage pushes an intercom device button. CAGE (CONTINUED) Ernie. 12

ERNESTO (O.S.) Yes, Mr. Cage. CAGE Come to my office please. ERNESTO (O.S.) I will be there in a moment. CAGE Rachel, does your father look like Darth Vader? RACHEL Like who? CAGE Darth Vader from Star Wars. I've heard that they call me Darth Vader behind my back. It’s not the best nickname of those I know, but it’s rather eloquent. RACHEL You? Darth Vader? That is so unfair to call you that! CAGE It’s fair. There are no accidental nicknames. But, I’m vindictive. They want Darth Vader? I will get them Darth Vader. ERNESTO enters the office. CAGE (CONTINUED) 13

Rachel, this is Ernie, Ernesto – my aide. RACHEL Nice to meet you, Ernesto. ERNESTO The pleasure is mine. I’m glad to meet you, Rachel. CAGE Ernie, are you busy right now? ERNESTO Yes, Mr. Cage, we have the board meeting at 3. CAGE Board meeting? I’ll take care of it and you’ll show Rachel the site. ERNESTO I’ll be glad to, but… CAGE What? Instead of holding a boring meeting I offer you to spend time in a charming young woman company, and you refuse it? Am I right? ERNESTO I just… CAGE If someone offered me this and if I could take 40 years off... RACHEL 14

If Ernesto is busy... maybe some other time... ERNESTO No, no! CAGE See, he finally got it. It’s decided - you take a look at the site and I will go to the meeting. INT. THE TOWER – ZERO LEVEL HALL CONTINUOUS Ernesto and Rachel are heading to the elevators. RACHEL When I was driving from the airport, I looked at the window and suddenly, I saw it. The Tower was rising like a mirage. When you see it, you lose a sense of reality; you will feel like you are dreaming. ERNESTO Really? RACHEL Don’t you feel it? ERNESTO Sometimes. RACHEL Sometimes? ERNESTO By being busy around the clock, you don’t pay much 15

attention to it. But sometimes you stop and take a look at it and a chill runs down your back. INT. ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS ERNESTO How high would you like to go? RACHEL To the very top. ERNESTO I’m afraid that this won’t work today. RACHEL Why? ERNESTO This requires time and training. And, we’d have to put on spacesuits. RACHEL Really? ERNESTO Alas. To begin, I’d suggest stopping at the 7th level. RACHEL The seventh level? ERNESTO It’s the seventh kilometer. RACHEL 16

Only the seventh kilometer? ERNESTO You say only? Mount Everest’s height is about 9 kilometers, so, we’ll get close to the roof of the world. You may not even feel much air there. It’s cloudy today, so it makes no sense to go further - we will not be able to see much below us. INT. THE 7TH LEVEL HALL - CONTINUOUS Ernesto explains something to Rachel and points out the elements of the Tower’s construction. RACHEL Ernesto, can I ask you a question? ERNESTO Of course. RACHEL To be honest, I don’t consider myself to be a brave person. When I find myself in an unfamiliar situation, I always think about my exit strategy. If, God forbid, something happens here – a fire or something - will people be able to quickly leave the Tower? ERNESTO This question is often asked. In the event of any threat, the staff and visitors will be able to evacuate themselves with a help of the so-called “rescue gliders”. They are available at each level. So, please, don’t worry, there is an escape route. 17

But don’t be too quick to declare yourself - how can I put it - a timid person. We don’t know ourselves. Fear is familiar to all of us. For some people it paralyzes their will, and they passively await their fate. And others, those whom we call the daredevils, even being in a desperate situation, try to do something to get out of it. Ernesto and Rachel stop at the restaurant The Seventh Heaven entrance. RACHEL The Seventh Heaven? ERNESTO It was an owner who could not come up with another name. RACHEL It’s cute. Ernesto and Rachel enter the restaurant. INT. RESTAURANT - CONTINUOUS Ernesto and Rachel sit at the table by the window. RACHEL When I was a student, I went to Europe with my friends. We travelled on the alpine trails. At the end of each route - on top of a mountain, there always turned out to be a restaurant or a café, which was a reward for our efforts. We wondered how they delivered food all the way there. Using 18

the same trail? ERNESTO Perhaps by a helicopter. RACHEL We thought so, too. Rachel looks at the panorama below. RACHEL Tell me, Ernesto, how long have you been working here? ERNESTO For more than 8 years. I came here right after graduating from the university. They had just reached the 26th level, by then. It was assumed that construction would be continued for another 17 years. But, thanks to the new technologies, it has been speeded up, and now, the Tower’s construction is almost completed. RACHEL I didn’t know that they gave it 25 years for the project. ERNESTO Mr. Cage once said that if it was built in the old way, he wouldn’t live up to its completion. But he knew it from the very start that progress would interfere. And he was right. I’d say, as always. RACHEL 19

What kind of relationship is between my dad and his subordinates? He told me that they called him Darth Vader behind his back. ERNESTO Yes, I've heard it... But, I think that calling him Darth they had in mind, so to speak, this character’s positive side. RACHEL A positive side? Does Darth Vader have positive qualities? ERNESTO Yes. RACHEL Give me an example. ERNESTO Steadfastness in achieving his goals. RACHEL This quality is positive only if the purpose is good. ERNESTO But our goal is good! RACHEL You’ve convinced me! EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS Car stops at Cage's mansion. 20

INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS Ernesto and Rachel are in the car. RACHEL Thank you, Ernesto, for a fascinating tour. ERNESTO I'm sorry that clouds prevented us from seeing the panorama. Believe me, it’s an unforgettable sight. RACHEL Doesn’t the view from an airplane window appear the same way? ERNESTO Certainly not! What can one see through a tiny window? I’ll be happy to escort you there on a sunny, clear day. RACHEL To the Seventh Heaven? ERNESTO Higher. RACHEL Agreed. Goodbye, Ernesto. ERNESTO Goodbye, Rachel. EXT. STREET – CONTINUOUS 21

Ernesto watches Rachel going to the entrance door. INT. CAGE’S MANSION - LIVING ROOM – DAY Birthday party. James Cage, LILLIAN, DR. BUCKLEY, Rachel, and VINCENT are sitting at the table. BUCKLEY I regret that I haven’t kept a diary. When I pull the socks up, I can recollect what happened to me, to my friends, to my family at any given time. But, I don’t remember what was going on inside of me. What guided my actions? What voices sounded in my head? A diary would have given me an opportunity to recollect it for a later time. CAGE Yes, it's interesting. But at the same time, it’s a bit scary - what if you don’t like yourself in the past? Or – you’ll feel ashamed of your former thoughts? LILLIAN But we’ve missed this opportunity. Did it occur to you, Vinnie, to keep a diary? VINCENT It occurred to me. LILLIAN You keep a diary? VINCENT 22

In a way. But don’t look for a notebook under my pillow – there is nothing there. LILLIAN No one has such a right. It’s a private matter. VINCENT I use voice recording. Actually, one can’t call it a diary – it’s just to place down my thoughts. LILLIAN It doesn’t matter; let it be just thoughts... Make sure to save these records. When you get as old as we are, you'll be glad you did it. And you, Rae, do you keep any records? RACHEL I keep a diary, but I make notes about my strains. Watching myself didn’t come to my mind. And then, it’s all clear about myself to me - why should I keep any records? BUCKLEY The fact of the matter is that it’s "clear" now. When I was looking through my late mom’s papers, I found letters I used to send home from college. There were a few of them in an old shoe box. I’d say, they were written in an extremely laconic manner. But I didn’t recognize myself in them – it was as if they were written by somebody else. LILLIAN No wonder, 40 years have passed since the time when you had written them. 23

BUCKLY That’s true. VINCENT Forty years ago, I wasn’t around and therefore, there was nothing around. CAGE How come – ‘there was nothing around’? VINCENT That is, before me, the world didn’t exist. CAGE This is a very interesting point of view. But all of us - I, your mother, and doctor can testify that the world existed 40 years ago. It’s true that there was a flaw to it - there was no Vincent Cage around. But it was a flaw that was fixed exactly 25 years ago. VINCENT How can you prove it? LILLIAN Don’t you believe us? VINCENT I believe you. But the question is - do you exist, in reality? CAGE What do you mean? 24

VINCENT There is a trend in philosophy, it is called ‘solipsism’. Its proponents argue that the outside world is just in our imagination, that it doesn’t exist in reality. Have you seen The Matrix? It’s just about it. And since the world is in my imagination, it didn’t exist before my birth. And as you are a part of the outside world, you also didn’t exist before I was born. You exist now but just as a part of my inner world. We were told about this in our class on philosophy. CAGE I hope this is not all you have learned at the college? VINCENT No, it’s not all, but it’s the most important thing that I have learned. And by the way, it is impossible to refute this point of view, don’t even try. BUCKLEY It’s interesting... But still, I believe that one can find some counter-arguments here. Or rather some considerations - these will allow us to doubt this point of view correctness. VINCENT We couldn’t find any in the class. BUCKLEY Vincent, let all be as you say. But then, our consciousness - or perhaps, our subconscious 25

would arrange everything in our world the way we like it - we are beautiful, intelligent, successful, and loved - in a word, we are perfect. Why would our consciousness torment itself, by not making us the most beautiful, not the most intelligent and not the most successful? But it is precisely what we are. That suggests that our world is shaped by some forces and wills that differ from ours. They contradict us, it even happens that they negate our expectations - and, therefore, exist independently from us. VINCENT It’s cleverly invented. But one can also say that our consciousness is so sophisticated, so finely organized, that makes our life not very bright and happy on its whim – unknown to us. BUCKLEY But why? There must be a reason. VINCENT Certainly there is a reason for that; we just don’t know it. BUCKLEY I give up. Apparently, any philosophizing begins with considerations of this kind. After all, it was necessary for Descartes to prove even the very fact that he actually exists. Cogito, ergo sum – I think, therefore I exist. And wasn’t it he who said, - De omnibus dubitandum est - Everything must be doubted. 26

Dr. Buckley raises his glass. BUCKLEY (CONTINUED) To the youth, of which it’s important to discover everything anew. LILLIAN To you, Vinnie. To your 25th. Everybody raises glasses. VINCENT (getting up) Thank you. Thank you for the party, but it's time for me and Rachel to leave. LILLIAN And the cake? Lillian rings a bell. Maid brings in a cake with 25 candles and a cream tower in the center of it. Cage lights up candles. While Vincent extinguishes them, everybody sing ‘Happy Birthday to You’. VINCENT Done. Applause. Vincent takes a shovel and, on some reflection, cuts off the cream tower. Seeing this, Cage stops smiling. Others pay no attention to that prank of Vincent. The maid serves tea. INT. VINCENT’S APARTMENT – EVENING 27

Vincent, Rachel, BRITTANY, WALTER, and other young people are having a party. Plays music (rap). Lights are low. Marijuana smoke hangs in the air. A few couples dance. A kissing couple secluded itself in the kitchen. RACHEL Vinnie, I got to go. Please, get me a taxi. VINCENT (glass in his hand, with his other hand he embraces Brittany) Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry, sister, I'll drive you home. RACHEL I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to steal you from your guests. A taxi is fine. VINCENT (clapping his pockets) No problem. Where are my keys? Now, we'll find it. WALTER (sitting in a corner) Rachel, if I may, I can give you a lift? VINCENT Here you are. Walt will drive you home. He's a great guy! RACHEL Thank you, Walter. (hugging and kissing Vincent) Be a good boy. 28

(to Brittany) Goodbye, Brittany. It was nice to meet you. BRITTANY I’m also pleased to meet you, Rachel. VINCENT Walt, do you like my sister? I think she is won-derful! WALTER I completely agree with you. Be well and happy birthday! EXT. STREET – CONTINUOUS Walter and Rachel go out in the street. WALTER I can’t stand this smell. RACHEL Of marijuana? WALTER Yes. Walter and Rachel get into Walter’s Mustang convertible. The car drives off. INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS Walter and Rachel are in the car. 29

RACHEL How long have you known Vincent? WALTER We studied at William and Mary together. RACHEL Oh yeah, Vincent told me. He often mentions your name. WALTER But, then, our paths diverged - I went to UVA, Vincent – to Yale. Thanks to him, I got this job. RACHEL My brother hasn’t gotten his Master’s degree, but he keeps on telling us that, someday, he’ll go back to school. WALTER Too many temptations around... RACHEL But, you got your degree. WALTER Well, I'm older than Vincent. And I don’t have as such of a backup as he has; I have to pave my own way. RACHEL Walter, I think you can influence Vincent; you are the one person whom he’d listen to. 30

WALTER I'm sorry; you are talking as a typical elder sister. RACHEL Maybe... Do you have a sister? WALTER No, I don’t have any brothers or sisters. RACHEL Vincent is a smart boy. What he needs is a push in the right direction. He won’t listen to us. But you... Right turn here. EXT. STREET – CONTINUOUS The car stops by the Cage’s mansion. INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS Rachel is about to leave the car. RACHEL Thank you, Walter. WALTER Couple of blocks from here there is a nice place named "At the Tower". If you're not in a hurry… RACHEL At the Tower? WALTER All of the places in this town are referred to as 31

either "At the Tower" or "The Tower". RACHEL No, I’m not in a hurry. Let it be "At the Tower". INT. CAFE - CONTINUOUS Walter and Rachel sit at the table. There are no other customers in the cafe. WALTER I told you that I had no brothers... I have no one. RACHEL I'm sorry. WALTER I was raised by a relative, my uncle, who was a Catholic priest. Thanks to him I got an education. But he is no longer alive. RACHEL What about your parents? Of course, if you don’t want to talk about it, then… WALTER I wasn’t lucky with my parents. I grew up in LA. Have you heard of Skid Row? My father... I hardly remember him. He was a drug dealer. He had no interest in me. He is serving life for murder. As for my mother... she seemed to have been his client. She died of an overdose, when I was just 5. It is weird, but I don’t remember her face... only her narrow childlike arm putting a plate in front of me. 32

RACHEL I'm sorry, I made you to recollect… WALTER This is life. RACHEL It’s so unjust... when a young person departs. WALTER Sometimes, death is desirable, it’s like an escape. Rachel puts her hand over Walter’s. We see Walter and Rachel from the outside (through the window), sitting in an empty cafe - just an owner behind a counter busy checking bills. EXT. STREET - APARTMENT BUILDING – NIGHT Vincent’s guests get out into the street; they say goodbye to Vincent and get into their cars. Cars depart. Vincent and Brittany approach Vincent’s Chrysler Prowler. BRITTANY Do you want me to drive? VINCENT Why is that? BRITTANY Because you're – to put it mildly – drunk, my 33

friend. VINCENT But you won’t get me back. Right? Anyway, I'll have to drive. BRITTANY You’ll sober up by that time. And then, you are welcome I stay at my place. VINCENT Very well, I'll stay. BRITTANY Give me the keys. VINCENT Oh, no - I’ll drive. BRITTANY I can barely stand you when you are sober, but when you get drunk – I can’t stand you, at all. VINCENT Really? Then, let’s part. BRITTANY Gladly! But first, I’d like to get home. Vincent takes the driver’s seat, Brittany - the passenger seat. The car drives off. EXT. HIGHWAY – CONTINUOUS 34

Vincent's car moves at a high speed along a highway. INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS Vincent and Brittany are in the car. BRITTANY You are speeding. The speed limit is 65 miles per hour. VINCENT The road is free. What’s the problem? BRITTANY Watch the road, not me! VINCENT Look, you're always unhappy. What's the problem? BRITTANY What's the problem? Just do it the right way and there’ll be no problems. VINCENT That is, do it your way? BRITTANY Why have you increased the speed? VINCENT Look, if we bicker like this now, what will it be like in the future? 35

BRITTANY Deer! A deer is on the road! Vincent tries to avoid a dead deer lying on the road. The car moves out to the roadside. After passing through some bumps and bushes, the car stops. INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS Vincent hits his fists against the steering wheel. VINCENT Damn it! BRITTANY Something is wrong with my neck. Oh! I can’t turn my head. VINCENT Are you okay? BRITTANY I tell you, it’s my neck! Vincent hugs Brittany. VINCENT What's wrong with it? Turn your head. BRITTANY I can’t! It hurts! VINCENT Brit, I'm sorry! It all happened so fast. 36

BRITTANY You shouldn’t have driven like this! VINCENT Who knew that it was lying there? You stay here. I’ll take a look what’s out there. EXT. SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY - CONTINUOUS Vincent gets out of the car and inspects it. INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS Vincent gets back into the car. VINCENT It looks like it is OK. Vincent turns the ignition key. The engine starts. VINCENT (CONTINUED) Brit, how are you? BRITTANY It hurts. VINCENT Can you bear it ‘til we get home? BRITTANY Do you suggest staying here? EXT. HIGHWAY - CONTINUOUS 37

The car goes back on the road and picks up speed. INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS Vincent and Brittany drive in silence. BRITTANY What’s this squeaking? VINCENT I don’t know. The steering wheel pulls to the left. I think something happened to the front suspension. But the main thing is - we're moving. BRITTANY Watch out! Don’t speed up! VINCENT OK, OK! EXT. HIGHWAY - CONTINUOUS The car moves along the highway. EXT. RAILWAY STATION - DAY Cranes put containers on railway flatcars. EXT. PARK ALLEY – DAY (FLASHBACK) It is an Indian summer day. Yellow leaves are on trees and on the ground. Fashion, cars, and other signs tell us that it is the ‘50’s of the 20th century. 38

Children frolic in the alley - we hear their chatter some play catch-up, girls jump rope. One girl – dressed in a plaid skirt - stands apart; she doesn’t participate in games. Camera moves off the ground into the high, blue, autumn sky. Plays the aria ‘Erbarme Dich’ from the St. Matthew Passion by J.S. Bach. INT. CONCERT HALL - NIGHT Symphony orchestra and a woman vocalist are on the stage. They perform the aria ‘Erbarme Dich’. Cage listens to the music with his eyes closed. The seat next to him is vacant. The concert is over. Cage goes to the bar, where he finds Lillian. She is talking to a woman. A glass of wine is in front of her. CAGE There you are. LILLIAN Sorry, honey, I left... Didn’t you find the performance to be somewhat dispassionate? CAGE A passionless performance of the "Passions". LILLIAN You're kidding, as always. EXT. THEATRE BUILDING – ENTRANCE CONTINUOUS 39

Cage and Lillian come out of the theater. Their car pulls up. They get into it. INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS Cage and Lillian drive in silence for some time. LILLIAN It was only the second martini for the night. CAGE That’s all right. LILLIAN No, you judge me. I can see it from the expression on your face; I can hear it in your intonation. EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS The car is moving along a night street. INT. CAR – CONTINUOUS Lillian turns to Cage. LILLIAN You say nothing… Beat. LILLIAN (CONTINUED) We always had something to say each other in the past. This is “we”, same "we"... But, now, we have 40

nothing to say. Beat. LILLIAN (CONTINUED) Edith suggests talking to a family psychologist. She says it’s the age. Will you agree to go to a psychologist? Beat. LILLIAN (CONTINUED) James, do you hear me? CAGE What? LILLIAN Are you listening to what I’m saying? CAGE I'm sorry, I… I got sunk in a reverie. Sorry. INT. BRITTANY’S APARTMENT - DAY Brittany lies on a sofa. The entrance door opens, Vincent enters the room. He carries bags with groceries. VINCENT Hey, Brit! How are you? BRITTANY It still hurts. Looks like it got swollen. 41

VINCENT Let me see. Vincent examines Brittany’s neck, then, kisses it. VINCENT (CONTINUED) Is it that bad? BRITTANY Something snapped over there. Vincent, I need to see a doctor. VINCENT Brit, but, then the whole story will come out. BRITTANY What do you suggest? VINCENT I don’t want the police to know. BRITTANY But insurance won’t pay, if we don’t report the incident. VINCENT Brit, you see… my license is suspended. BRITTANY What? Your license is suspended? VINCENT Yeah, do you remember the accident that I got into 42

in February? BRITTANY When you spent a night in jail? VINCENT Yeah. BRITTANY Wonderful! And you keep on driving? VINCENT I thought that at night time… BRITTANY He thought! VINCENT I’ll get a term if they find it out. BRITTANY Vincent, how old are you? VINCENT I’m 25. BRITTANY And, here, I thought you are 15. Tell me, what am I to do? VINCENT Wait a minute - what about your health insurance? BRITTANY 43

They are no fools – the car insurance is supposed to pay for it. VINCENT Brit. BRITTANY What? VINCENT Brit, what if we tell them that it was you who drove the car? BRITTANY What? You have the nerve to say this? I wanted to drive the car that night! It was you who told me ‘no’! VINCENT I know… BRITTANY Don’t even think about it! And then, it's a lie! What if it all pops up? Do you want to drag me into the story? VINCENT Sorry, Brit. I suggested it as an option. BRITTANY This is not an option! VINCENT Listen, I'll find money for doc and the rest. Don’t 44

worry. Call the doctor. Just call a private clinic. Okay? Vincent hugs Brittany. VINCENT (CONTINUED) Brit, I'm sorry. I feel terrible! BRITTANY It is all because you didn’t listen to me. VINCENT I promise... BRITTANY He promises! VINCENT It's all because of my temper. BRITTANY You blame your temper? It’s we, who are responsible for our actions, not our temper! Vincent kneels and buries his head in Brittany’s lap. INT. DOCTOR'S OFFICE - DAY Brittany, Vincent and the DOCTOR are in the office. DOCTOR (pointing out to the screen) 45

It is seen better on this image here – a displacement of the vertebrae in the cervical section. There is a possibility of the spinal cord infringement. VINCENT Spinal cord? Is it that bad? And it all is because the car hit a bump? DOCTOR This is what we see here. But it’s not that bad, although, a surgery may be required. BRITTANY A surgery? DOCTOR Yes, a surgery. But in the meantime – you are to wear a neck corset. BRITTANY A corset? DOCTOR We’ll have to take another MRI in a week. And then, we’ll see. I hope all will be fine. BRITTANY And what if it is not? DOCTOR If not, then, as I said, we’ll have to correct it the surgical way. 46

INT. CAR - CONTINUOUS Vincent and Brittany are in the car. Brittany is behind the wheel. VINCENT Look, I’ll find the money. Everything will be OK. BRITTANY And what if the surgery is needed? VINCENT Let's hope for the best. BRITTANY Maybe, it’s better to admit... VINCENT Brit! They’ll lock me up! BRITTANY Vincent, we did something we shouldn’t have done. VINCENT Brit, trust me. Do you believe me? Vincent hugs Brittany. EXT. FLATLAND - RAILWAY ROAD - DAY A very long freight train is on the move. Containers are on flatbed rail cars. A tracking shot of container SR-312. 47

EXT. STREET – DAY Rachel walks down the street. She stops at a store window. Walter’s reflection appears in the window glass. RACHEL Walter! WALTER Good afternoon, Rachel. RACHEL You appeared out of thin air! Are you a spirit? WALTER No, I’m real; you can touch me if you want to see. Rachel touches Walter’s forearm. RACHEL Now I can see that you aren’t a ghost. WALTER And I can see that you are in good spirits. Your smile is in amazing harmony with the beauty of this day. RACHEL Are you a poet? Do you write poetry? WALTER I’m going to. 48

RACHEL One writes verses without any preparation spontaneously. WALTER Do you write poetry? RACHEL No. I’m writing an article, a scientific paper. I'm in graduate school. I’m a biologist. WALTER What’s your paper’s title? RACHEL SCFb-TRCP Controls Oncogenic Transformation and Neural Differentiation through REST Degradation. WALTER That tells me nothing. RACHEL I can explain it to you. WALTER You’ll oblige me. RACHEL Okay, but later on... WALTER Where will it be published? I’d like to read it. 49

RACHEL I hope that the ‘Cell’ will take it. WALTER The ‘Cell’? RACHEL It’s the magazine’s title. WALTER And you’ll become a celebrity? RACHEL I’m not sure. WALTER Do you want to become famous? RACHEL I wouldn’t mind. WALTER Thank you for the honest answer. After all, everyone knows within himself or herself that he or she deserves to be famous. RACHEL The only thing about it is – how can you convince everybody else that you deserve it? WALTER Right! This event – I mean your article - should be marked. How about at the good old "At the Tower"? There are other decent places here. 50

RACHEL Firstly, the article isn’t written yet, so there is nothing to celebrate. Secondly, I’d like to take a walk. I want to move today. WALTER Very good. Will you allow me to escort you? RACHEL I will. WALTER And will you allow me to suggest a route to you? RACHEL Willingly, you know the neighborhood better than I do. WALTER Then, let’s go! Walter takes Rachel by her arm and heads to his Mustang. WALTER (CONTINUED) It’s outside the town. Walter and Rachel get into the car. The car drives off. EXT. HIGHWAY - CONTINUOUS The Mustang is speeding along a deserted highway. 51

EXT. TOP OF A HILL - CONTINUOUS Walter stops at the top of a hill. One can see surroundings and the Tower from there. WALTER Right on time. RACHEL On time? For what? Walter gives Rachel sunglasses. WALTER Put on the goggles. Now, take a look at the Tower. The sun goes down, it touches the Tower. WALTER (CONTINUED) Look over there. Do you see the shadow? It moves towards us. As the sun disappears behind the Tower, a giant shadow moves towards the hill where Walter and Rachel stand. Finally, the sun is completely hidden behind the Tower. The shade covers Walter and Rachel. It gets dark. The moon and stars emerge in the sky. A gust of wind bends grass and bushes down. WALTER (CONTINUED) And there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon 52

became as blood. And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, as fig tree shaken by a great wind drops its unripe figs. Rachel involuntarily leans towards Walter. He hugs her. We see two small figures standing on the hill and the dark Tower silhouette casting a giant shadow. INT. CAGE’S MANSION - LIBRARY - EVENING There are an astrolabe and an antique telescope on a tripod in the corner. Cage reads a magazine sitting in a chair. Vincent enters the room. VINCENT Dad, I need to talk to you. CAGE Of course. VINCENT I’ve a problem... CAGE A problem? What kind of a problem? VINCENT I got into an accident... Actually, it wasn’t a crash – I flew off the road… CAGE I hope you're alright? 53

VINCENT I wasn’t injured, but Brittany... CAGE Brittany? Who is Brittany? VINCENT A friend of mine. She has headaches and her head hardly turns – she has a shifted vertebrae. CAGE Vertebrae? VINCENT Yes, she... umm… we went to the doctor. CAGE Well. VINCENT But it wasn’t my fault in what had happened. CAGE What do you mean? VINCENT There was a dead deer on the road. I was trying to go around it... We need money for treatment. CAGE Money for treatment? And, what about insurance? This is what insurance exists for. 54

VINCENT We didn’t call the police. CAGE Why? VINCENT Who needs all this rigmarole? Court proceedings… They’ll suspend my license. CAGE Not necessarily. Of course, if aggravating circumstances show up, say, that the driver was intoxicated… VINCENT That's the thing… CAGE Ah, I see… VINCENT I admit it was a gaffe of mine. CAGE Drunk driving and an accident as a result of it where your friend got injured - you call it a gaffe? VINCENT No need to pick on me. And, I'm telling you that there was a deer lying there. CAGE Drunken person has a delayed reaction. I suspect 55

you have exceeded speed limit. VINCENT Just a bit. CAGE Vincent, my advice is - tell the police what happened. It’s your duty, after all. VINCENT I know... I promise that I’ll never do it again. CAGE Do you want to say that you got behind the wheel being tipsy for the first time? VINCENT No. CAGE That's the thing. VINCENT I'm not giving up responsibility! I want to help Brittany! CAGE At my expense? VINCENT I’d have paid from my own money, but I don’t have this amount. CAGE 56

You have to notify the police. This will serve you a lesson. VINCENT And you, yourself, have never got behind the wheel being tipsy? CAGE Tipsy, you say? I have. In my youth. But I very much condemn myself for it. I was lucky - I didn’t get into a situation. But how many have been out of luck? You are young, healthy, and believe that you are invulnerable. This isn’t so. One second and you're crippled, or even worse - dead. Or maimed – or killed somebody else, and have to beg forgiveness from him and his family for the rest of your life. Think about it. VINCENT I know... What about my request? CAGE I’ve answered you. VINCENT I always knew that you don’t care about me. CAGE This isn’t true. VINCENT No, it’s true! Otherwise, why do you keep me as a rank-and-file employee? By the way, I’ve been working for you for over a year! 57

CAGE The rules are the same for everyone. The attestation commission didn’t recommend you for promotion. And then, level of your education... Do you think about getting a degree? VINCENT I do. CAGE Then, what's the problem? VINCENT I work, I’m independent… CAGE By making an effort, getting a degree, you’ll go up a career ladder - this will increase your independence. VINCENT Yeah, but... CAGE I’m saying things that are well known, but you need to understand that education has an absolute value. It was like this at all times. Even more so during our time. I’d like you to become my assistant. VINCENT Then, make me your assistant! 58

CAGE We go in circles. First you need to complete your education. VINCENT Or do you think that I’m not capable of being one? That I’m too young? You give raise to some people, despite of their young age! CAGE You mean Ernesto? Yes, he is a capable, enterprising employee. In addition, he has a doctoral degree. VINCENT But I'm your son! CAGE I know that. VINCENT And I got an impression that you’ve forgotten about me, about all of us! Your indifference is killing my mother! Look at her – she doesn’t sober up! Your family isn’t here; it’s at the damn construction site! All your thoughts are of the Tower. It’s getting your best feelings, your love, your devotion! Let it be damned! I wish it would fall apart! Vincent runs out of the library. Cage sits motionless for a while. Then closes the magazine and puts it on the table. The title of the magazine is ‘Nature’. LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS 59

Lillian is on a sofa watching TV. Vincent swiftly crosses the room. Lillian turns to him, but he disappears in the doorway without saying a word. EXT. STREET – CAGE’S MANSION – CONTINUOUS Vincent runs down the front steps. INT. CAGE’S MANSION - LIBRARY CONTINUOUS Lillian enters the library. LILLIAN Vincent left without saying goodbye. What happened? CAGE What happened? Nothing happened, if one doesn’t consider the fact that he got into a car accident while driving under the influence. LILLIAN He told me about it. CAGE Really? LILLIAN In any case, we have to help him. CAGE 60

Help him? I keep on telling him that drinking and driving leads to tragic consequences. LILLIAN I agree, he made a mistake... CAGE A drunken slacker gets behind the wheel, and as a result, his passenger ends up with a concussion. You call it a mistake? LILLIAN You are calling your son a slacker? CAGE Other words don’t come up to my mind. Here's the thing, I'm not going to participate in covering his sins up. He has to notify the police. LILLIAN You are cruel. You weren’t like this before. CAGE I wasn’t tough enough in the business of parenting and this is the result. LILLIAN You say you didn’t show toughness to him? I agree with you here. But you didn’t show softness, either. You just didn’t take part in the children’s upbringing at all. You used to stop at the nursery, occasionally... Even on weekends, you used to lock yourself in your office. When they were young, you used to read books to the kids, but as they grew up, 61

you withdrew completely. Vincent needed your attention - every boy needs his father’s attention. You're more and more withdrawing into your own life, in which you don’t let in anyone. You speak with Rachel only... She is just like you are. But I hope she won’t turn away from her loved ones as you did. CAGE When Vincent was in college, I used to write letters to him on a regular basis. LILLIAN And did you get replies from him? CAGE No, I didn’t get replies. LILLIAN You didn’t expect them. You chose not to know how he lives, who are his friends, what is he passionate about. You watched over your own world, you’ve created. You were afraid of intrusion into it. But a son is always a problem, always a concern. So, it was better to send him away and... and write him letters. CAGE You know very well that I've been working. LILLIAN I know. But does one thing exclude the other? What can I say? I know it all will remain as it is. But think of this – you are losing your son. 62

Lillian leaves. Cage sits lost in thought for a while, then, pours a glass of water, pulls out a pill, and swallows it. EXT. LAKE - RAIL ROAD ALONG THE BANK DAY Freight train moves along the lake’s bank, skirting it. We watch a container that is marked SR-312 for a while. INT. VINCENT’S CUBICLE - END OF THE WORKING DAY Vincent takes cell phone in his hands, ponders for a while, then, dials a number. VINCENT Walt, how are you? WALTER (O.S.) I’m fine. How are you doing? VINCENT I need to talk to you. Do you have time for me after hours? WALTER (O.S.) I always have the time for my friends. VINCENT How about a cup of coffee at "The Tower"? 63

WALTER (O.S.) You switched to coffee? Commendable. In this case, let’s go to my place, I'll treat you to the real Turkish coffee. VINCENT Very good. WALTER (O.S.) I'll see you at the parking lot in a quarter of an hour. INT. WALTER’S APARTMENT - DAY Vincent is at Walter’s place. While Walter makes coffee in the kitchen, Vincent examines the painting reproduction "The Temptation of St. Anthony" by Hieronymus Bosch hanging on the wall. Other paintings are there on the wall, as well as pictures of Walter in an aviator’s garb. Vincent has a baseball bat in his hands. Walter enters the room carrying a tray with a cezve, cups, and glasses of water on it. VINCENT Looks like Dali. WALTER Dali? Salvador Dali was a potboiler and an imitator. I guess he’d be good at window dressing. VINCENT I can’t agree with you. Some of his paintings are impressive. 64

WALTER I’d rather say that they are shocking. But there is nothing beyond shocking but emptiness. And here, there is faith, fear, and a warning. Look at the darkness, looming on from the left side. People at that time tended to perceive everything literally. For them, the end of the world wasn’t a metaphor, but they waited until it happened to them; they believed it would happen within a year or earlier. But they didn’t doubt the fact that the world would end soon. And now, look at the "Tower" by Brueghel. Here, to the right. What does it remind you? Vincent comes to the Pieter Brueghel’s the Elder "Tower of Babel" reproduction and stares at it for a while. VINCENT I see an unfinished tower. WALTER Step back. Take a look at it from a distance. Vincent steps back. VINCENT An ulcer, an abscess burst through. WALTER See! I am not the only one who saw this kind of association. 65

VINCENT Why do you have them here? WALTER As a reminder. VINCENT A reminder of what? WALTER I don’t know. Vincent sits for a moment with his head down. VINCENT Walt, I gotten into trouble. WALTER What's that? VINCENT After the party, I’ve been driving Brittany home, and we flew off... WALTER What do you mean by “flew off”? VINCENT We flew off the road. As a result, Brittany’s got a neck injury. We need money for treatment. WALTER Money for treatment? 66

VINCENT Don’t tell me about insurance - this path is closed. It’s a long story to tell, but we didn’t report the accident to the police. WALTER You didn’t? VINCENT It’s better for me to stay away from the cops. WALTER I see. Well, then talk to your dad. VINCENT Already did that. WALTER And? VINCENT It ended up with a shouting match. WALTER You're too hotheaded. VINCENT He’s started preaching morals. I couldn’t stand it. WALTER Listening to morals isn’t a big deal. The thing is, you weren’t looking for help, rather you were looking for confirmation of your thoughts that your father is, shall we say, not on your side. You were 67

asking for a failure, and you got it. VINCENT Why do you think so? WALTER You're still in a self-affirmation stage. It’s important for you to prove to your dad that you're an independent person. Although, you aren’t. This infuriates you. VINCENT And what about you? Are you already out of this stage? WALTER Me? I don’t know. Beat. VINCENT What am I to do? WALTER Sell your Prowler. Oh wait, you’ve crashed it. VINCENT The damage isn’t that bad – some bent suspension arms, otherwise... But I love it. I don’t want to part with it. WALTER I don’t know what advice I can give you, then. 68

VINCENT Damn it! Vincent gets up and smashes in his hearts an imaginary ball with the bat. Then he turns to the Bosch’s painting. VINCENT (CONTINUED) What if really the doomsday is coming? Can you imagine this? Money, real estate – what if it all depreciates at once? What if it turns into junk? After all, the last judgment isn’t about how much property you’ve accumulated, it’s about your soul. WALTER I wouldn’t mind. Sooner or later, everyone will have to give an account for the hanky-panky he did. VINCENT And, you too? WALTER Me too. Walter sits in his chair with a smile on his lips - his eyes closed. INT. VINCENT’S CUBICLE - DAY Vincent is at work. Phone rings. VINCENT Yes. 69

VOICE (O.S.) (speaking with an accent) Vincent Cage? VINCENT This is me. VOICE (O.S.) My name is Youssef. We, to my regret, don’t know each other yet. I’ve heard that you have some financial difficulties. VINCENT It's nobody's business. VOICE (O.S.) Knowing that you are a young man from a good family, I’d like to help you out. VINCENT Really? VOICE (O.S.) Oh, yes. If you need, say, a loan, I’m at your service. VINCENT Who are you? And how did you get my phone number? VOICE (O.S.) I'm your friend. You were looking for a loan on the web and you left your personal data there. VINCENT 70

Really? I don’t recall it… But why on earth would you want to help me? VOICE (O.S.) As I’ve said, you are a fine young man. VINCENT I don’t have any collateral. VOICE (O.S.) Having such a name as yours, Mr. Cage, you don’t need any collaterals, your name is your collateral. Stop by at the Hilton Hotel tomorrow after 8 PM. Ask for Youssef. VINCENT Never call here again. VOICE (O.S.) Think it over. I hope you'll come. Hilton, after eight. Good bye. Vincent ponders for this a moment, looking at the poster, which reads "What are man's truths ultimately? Merely, his irrefutable errors. Friedrich Nietzsche". Then, he returns to work. EXT. RAILROAD TRACKS - NIGHT Freight train speeds along the tracks. EXT. RAILWAY CROSSING – CONTINUOUS A tractor trailer is moving towards the crossing. 71

When it reaches the crossing, the trailer stops. The DRIVER turns the engine off, turns the emergency lights on and leaves the truck. Then takes out his cell phone and dials a number. DRIVER Hello! My trailer got stuck at the crossing! It’s urgent! Tell the railroad! My name is Joe. Joe Packard. What? The road? It’s the 633rd, Madison County. Don’t you have a map over there? INT. ENGINE DRIVER’S CABIN - CONTINUOUS ENGINEER is at controls. ASSISTANT ENGINEER is busy texting with his iPhone. We see red light ahead. The train slows down. ASSISTANT ENGINEER What’s that? ENGINEER I’ve no idea. The train stops. The engine driver picks up phone. ENGINEER (CONTINUED) Central, this is the 701th freight to the south. VOICE (O.S.) Here is Dave, how things are going over there? ENGINEER We’re red on the 44th run. 72

VOICE (O.S.) A trailer got stuck at the crossing. ENGINEER How long are we going to be here to hang around? VOICE (O.S.) The crew is already there. ENGINEER Thanks, Dave. EXT. RAILROAD TRACKS - CONTINUOUS Two flatbed trucks drive out of a large barn close to the railway tracks. One of them carries a container. The other truck is equipped with a crane. They drive up to the tracks. The crane lifts up container SR-312 from a railway platform and puts it onto its own flatbed. Then it picks up container from the other truck and sets it up on the railway platform. The container is also marked SR-312. The engineers do not see this happening, as the railway tracks bend there. The trucks drive back to the barn. EXT. RAILWAY CROSSING - CONTINUOUS A tractor is towing the stuck trailer. INT. ENGINE DRIVERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CABIN - CONTINUOUS We see that the red light changes to green. 73

ASSISTANT ENGINEER We are green. ENGINEER How much time have we lost? ASSISTANT ENGINEER About half an hour, I gather. Will we catch up? ENGINEER You bet! EXT. RAILROAD TRACKS - CONTINUOUS The train begins its journey. We see container SR312 moving away. EXT. HILTON HOTEL - NIGHT A taxi cab stops by the hotel entrance. Vincent gets out of the car and walks towards the entrance. INT. HOTEL LOBBY - CONTINUOUS Vincent heads to the reception desk. VINCENT Good afternoon. RECEPTIONIST How may I help you? VINCENT Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve an appointment with Mr. Youssef. 74

RECEPTIONIST Your name, please? VINCENT Cage. Vincent Cage. The receptionist looks at Vincent with interest. RECEPTIONIST One moment, please. The receptionist picks up phone. RECEPTIONIST (CONTINUED) Mr. Youssef, Mr. Cage would like to see you. (to Vincent) Mr. Youssef is waiting for you – he’s on the seventh floor, room number 716. INT. ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS Vincent enters elevator cabin. INT. HOTEL HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS Vincent walks down a hallway, looking for the room number 716. Then he knocks on the door. VOICE (O.S.) Come in. Vincent enters the room. 75

INT. CAGE’S OFFICE - DAY Cage is behind his desk. SECRETARY (O.S.) (speaking over the intercom) Mr. Cage, Ernesto is here to see you. CAGE Yes. Ernesto enters the office. ERNESTO How do you do, Mr. Cage? CAGE Ernie, it looks like we're ahead of schedule. That’s nice. But the question is whether the installation quality is at the same level? ERNESTO The checking procedure is the same. It hasn’t let us down so far. CAGE The upper platform installation is almost completed. We need to mark the event. Think about how to do it. ERNESTO It’s a pleasant chore. CAGE 76

You say - pleasant? I understand you are in charge of the event. ERNESTO My tongue is my enemy, then. CAGE Yes, Ernie, what about the story... with the entrance checkup failure? Have they found the cause of it? ERNESTO Not yet, electronic engineers are working on it as we speak. CAGE Do you have any thoughts on this? ERNESTO I’ve no idea what it was – a computer glitch or something like that. CAGE This hasn’t happened before. ERNESTO Why, we had a problem with the metal detector six months ago, that was out of order. CAGE It was a technical problem. I guess that something is wrong with the system. When they find the cause of it, let me know. 77

ERNESTO Certainly. EXT. THE TOWER - NIGHT Wide shot. The Tower is illuminated by spotlights. Close up. A lizard moves, winding, along the Tower’s surface. A crack appears in the Tower’s body. The crack widens. The lizard stops. Cracks are multiplying. The lizard dives into one of them. Flames come out of the crack. Wide shot. The Tower shudders. Its disintegration begins. INT. CAGE’S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Cage wakes up. He looks into space in front of him for a while. Then gets up and goes to the computer and turns it on. He sees the Tower – it is intact. Cage stares at it for a while, then goes to the bathroom, pours water into a glass and takes a pill. Back in the bedroom, he picks up phone. INT. ERNESTO’S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Ernesto is in bed. Phone rings. Ernesto picks up. CAGE (O.S.) Ernie? ERNESTO Yes... Mister Cage. CAGE (O.S.) Ernie, I'm sorry to wake you up, but it never leaves 78

my mind… I mean this system glitch… I am still thinking about it. We need to check up all of the materials received, when the system was down. ERNESTO I’ll take care of it, Mr. Cage. INT. CAGE’S BEDROOM – CONTINUOUS CAGE This should be done without delay. I’m asking you to do it now. I hope that the containers haven’t yet been sent up. ERNESTO (O.S.) Not yet, at least, not as far as I know. I'm going to leave right way. CAGE Thank you, Ernie. ERNESTO (O.S.) Of course. INT. ERNESTO’S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Ernesto looks at his watch, then, gets up and goes to the bathroom. INT. CAGE’S BEDROOM - CONTINUOUS Cage goes to the window. It is an early morning. The Tower’s silhouette is seen in the distance. 79

INT. CAGE’S MANSION – RACHEL’S ROOM EVENING Rachel is at her computer. Her cell phone rings. RACHEL Hello. WALTER (O.S.) Hi, Rachel, this is Walter. RACHEL Walter! How are you? INT. CAFE - CONTINUOUS Walter is at the table. WALTER I'm calling you from "At the Tower". Sometimes, I stop by here. It is noisy here today. RACHEL (O.S.) I can hear it. WALTER It’s not like it was the last time... Rachel, would you like to join me? RACHEL (O.S.) But it’s already 11. WALTER Really? 80

(looking at his watch) I'm sorry. I didn’t realize that I’ve been sitting here for so long. When are you going back to New York? INT. RACHEL’S ROOM – CONTINUOUS Rachel looks at the calendar hanging on the wall. RACHEL Let’s see - in a week. WALTER (O.S.) Do you want to go there? RACHEL Well, yes and no. Here is my family and in New York, there are my strains. WALTER (O.S.) And which ones do you prefer? RACHEL My loved ones, of course. INT. CAFE – CONTINUOUS Walter takes his glass. WALTER I thought that scientists would sacrifice all for the sake of science - their loved ones, as well as their personal lives. RACHEL (O.S.) 81

Yeah, but in the movies only. You'd be surprised... the so-called scientists are just like everybody else. WALTER Is that so? I'm disappointed. RACHEL (O.S.) Although, some of them are very passionate about what they are doing. WALTER Do you belong to that group? RACHEL (O.S.) I don’t know. Maybe. WALTER You don’t know? RACHEL (O.S.) Perhaps, I do belong to them. WALTER In what way does it manifest itself? I mean – their passion. RACHEL (O.S.) How can I put it... sometimes going to bed I think – or, rather, it was morning – that I need to run to my mice. And it happened to me once or twice that in my sleep, I was trying to solve a problem that I was thinking of at the day time. WALTER 82

Did you manage to solve it? RACHEL (O.S.) No. I didn’t. Not in my sleep. WALTER Did you ever regret that you’ve chosen science as your profession? RACHEL (O.S.) No! Oh, no! WALTER How's your paper doing? RACHEL (O.S.) I was working on it when you called. WALTER Getting close to the end? RACHEL (O.S.) I can say so. WALTER The Cell editorial board is not aware of the manna from heaven will be falling down upon them soon. A paper by Rachel Cage will breathe a new life into the losing popularity and subscriber’s edition. INT. RACHEL’S ROOM – CONTINUOUS Rachel laughs listening to what Walter is saying. 83

RACHEL Oh, no! This is absolutely not the case. The ‘Cell’ is the number one edition in our field. But I like it when you're joking. It's much better than when people are depressed. WALTER (O.S.) Then, I’ll be joking non-stop. RACHEL There is no need to joke continuous. Please say jokes only when you want to. WALTER (O.S.) I wish you much success with your paper. And promise me that when you put a full stop, we’ll go somewhere to celebrate the special event. RACHEL OK, agreed. INT. CAFE – CONTINUOUS It is quiet in the café now – a group of young people just left it. WALTER Or, if you want to, we can fly around the Tower? RACHEL (O.S.) What do you mean by ‘fly around’? WALTER On my "Cessna". My duties include inspection from 84

the air. RACHEL (O.S.) I’ve never flown in this kind of plane. I must confess, it even scares me, a bit. WALTER Never? Even, more so. RACHEL (O.S.) Honestly, I don’t know... WALTER Rachel, I promise you, you won’t regret it. I’ll lift you up gently into the air and I will return you to the ground with the same kind of care. RACHEL (O.S.) OK, only if gently. WALTER How about the day after tomorrow? INT. RACHEL’S ROOM – CONTINUOUS Rachel walks up and down the room. RACHEL I’m on vacation, I'm a free person. WALTER (O.S.) I'll pick you up at 9 o'clock. Alright? RACHEL 85

Alright. WALTER (O.S.) See you, then. RACHEL Goodbye, Walter. INT. CAGE’S OFFICE - DAY Cage paces the office. SECRETARY (O.S.) (over the intercom) Mr. Cage, Mr. Winter is here. CAGE Yes. Walter enters the room. WALTER Good afternoon, Mr. Cage. CAGE Hello, Walter. Have a seat. Walter sits down. Cage keeps on pacing the room. WALTER As you’ve requested, I’ve prepared the list of these employees who have access to the system, as well as brief information about each of them. 86

Walter hands over a folder to Cage. Cage opens it. CAGE Justin Flynn... arrested... domestic violence. It's so not like Justin. Yes, I remember the story with Gregory... but he was acquitted, wasn’t he? WALTER Right. However, the record remains. CAGE Ernesto Gomez... I didn’t know that his parents were living illegally in the United States. But he, as I understand, became a citizen? WALTER That is correct. But his parents had to go back to Mexico. CAGE Ernesto can be excluded from the list, I know him too well. WALTER Mr. Cage, I'm sorry, but the principle is – we work with the complete list of those who have access to the system, without any exceptions. Even your son and you, yourself, Mr. Cage, are on the list. CAGE I see... But, I don’t see what we could catch on here? WALTER Will you allow me to dig a little deeper, so to say? 87

CAGE What do you mean? WALTER May I extend the search range to relatives? CAGE Well, let’s do it... But it all should remain within the law frames. WALTER Of course. CAGE Let me know if something interesting shows up. Though, I must say, I don’t like all of this… Walter leaves. Cage throws the folder onto the table. INT. A SMALL AUDITORIUM - DAY Couple of dozen spectators are in the auditorium. Lights are low. At the screen, where slides are displayed, stands Ernesto with a pointer in his hand. ERNESTO As I said, the Tower’s height is 60 miles, or - about 100 kilometers. 96, to be precise. That is, it reaches the Karman Line - our planet’s atmosphere border. Its construction will be completed by end of this year. Test runs are scheduled for early next year. 88

Now, I'll take your questions. Please. YOUNG MAN IN THE FIRST ROW I’d like to know if zero gravity occurs at the 60 miles altitude. ERNESTO No, at this altitude, you’ll experience just slight weight loss – of a couple of pounds. STOUT MAN IN THE THIRD ROW And, here I was hoping that I’ll feel myself like a blade of grass there. Laughter. YOUNG MAN IN THE FIRST ROW Then, what's the catch? I mean - in terms of space exploration. ERNESTO A spacecraft, launched from the Earth, except for the gravity, has to overcome air resistance. Beyond the Karman Line, air is so rarefied that its resistance is not felt. And, by the way, the orbit is within the reach there - thus, the skylab is hanging at 350 kilometers altitude. Any more questions? YOUNG WOMAN FROM THE SECOND ROW May-be it’s a naïve question… ERNESTO Yes, please. 89

YOUNG WOMAN FROM THE SECOND ROW Will the structure withstand bad weather, as well as, hurricanes, tsunamis, and earthquakes? ERNESTO Active atmospheric phenomenon is observed in the so called “Troposphere” only - adjacent to the Earth’s surface layer 20 kilometers high. Above it, are the Strato and Meso Spheres - they're pretty quiet. The Troposphere is restless because the air gets energy from the earth and the ocean surface. As you can see, the Tower has a wide base – it is over 3 miles in diameter - that ensures its sustainability. (pointing to the Tower’s model) Its thinning begins at the 20 kilometers altitude. Don’t forget also that the Tower is built of graphene; it has a hardness that is similar to a diamond’s hardness. As for earthquakes, the region that was chosen for construction is famous for its seismic-stability; no activity has been observed there since, well, immemorial times. Does this answer your question? YOUNG WOMAN FROM THE SECOND ROW Yes, thank you. ERNESTO Any more questions? No questions. Thank you all. Sparse applause. People leave the room. Ernesto notices that one person stays – it is Rachel. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) 90

Rachel! I didn’t see you! RACHEL I came in when the lecture has already begun. Thank you, Ernesto. I learned a lot about the Tower. Ernesto comes down from the stage and walks over to Rachel. ERNESTO I’m glad. RACHEL I’ve got an impression that you know all about the Tower. ERNESTO It’s just an impression. I know a few things, but not all. A lot of experts in various fields work here – they know the rest. Ernesto and Rachel leave the room and go down a hallway. RACHEL Yes, our time, as they say, is the time of specialization. Nothing can be done about it. In biology, everyone examines his or hers own narrow field. ERNESTO But my conviction is that contribution of each and every one is important - whether you are an 91

engineer, a designer, an installer, or an administrator, such as, myself. (pointing out to the Egyptian pyramid picture on the wall) Alas, we’ll never know the pyramids builders’ names, all we know are the pharaohs’ names, who ordered them to be erected. Such a monstrous injustice! Forget pyramids! Eiffel designed the Eiffel Tower, but what are the other engineers’ names? What are workers’ names, who did the construction? Walter appears in the hallway. WALTER Bah! An unexpected encounter! RACHEL Hello, Walter! We just listened to a fascinating lecture on the Tower construction, and now, we are talking about whether its creators’ names will remain for the rest of history? WALTER I think they’ll be saved. Everything is documented anyhow, nowadays. RACHEL Will they remain in the archives? WALTER Why, in the archives? - On the web. Everybody will be able to see them. Ernesto, do you want to reserve a place in the history for yourself? 92

ERNESTO My name will be mentioned at the bottom of the list, in fine print. WALTER But whose name will the Tower take its name from? Cage’s? RACHEL I don’t think so. I’m sure Dad will be against it. I guess it’ll be christened just as the Tower. Everyone will know what Tower we are talking about. ERNESTO Right. There’s just one Tower like this. And the year of its completion will become as the year of the new era’s beginning, as the year of the Nativity. WALTER Really? Your feelings towards it are akin to a religious experience. ERNESTO Maybe. WALTER And now, imagine this - someone will try to destroy the Tower. Let's suppose that the attempt was a success. Do you think that the media will be talking about those who’ve built it? About the engineers and installers? No. The villain’s photos will be flashing non-stop on TV screens across the globe. Reporters will lose sleep over sniffing out his life 93

details. His relatives, neighbors, those who studied with him at high school, went to kindergarten with, sat next to him on a night pot, those who knew him, or claim that they knew him will all be interviewed... And, as for the memoirs, he’ll write in his prison cell, publishers will pay him millions. ERNESTO Perhaps... WALTER We live in an upside down world. I don’t turn on my TV any more. Why should I? It offers false celebrities, fake news, and fake values. Why do I need to know what Paris Hilton did or said? Or how much PPM is in Lindsay Lohan’s blood? I’ve no honor to belong to a very common breed of twolegged, who, staring blankly at the screen, still chewing, cackles over vile jokes of hamming idiots. ERNESTO I can agree with you in part. Ask anyone - who are the guys by names Geim and Novoselov? No one will give you an answer. But in my opinion, they are the real celebrities. RACHEL I must confess, those names tell me nothing. ERNESTO It’s not your fault. You weren’t told about them. These guys studied graphene’s properties – the material that the Tower is built of. Because of their work, it all began. By the way, they were awarded 94

the Nobel Prize. But Walter, still, please allow pretty girls to remain on the screen. WALTER Permission granted. ERNESTO But, what a strange idea? Why should anyone want to destroy the Tower? WALTER Why? Remember the Twin Towers? ERNESTO But the Tower is a planetary project; it’s been built by the people from different countries. And we all will benefit from it. WALTER Don’t you know about its opponents - the antiglobalists, anarchists... and those other public members who do not like the idea of the Tower? ERNESTO They won’t go that far. WALTER Right, those who scream and shout aren’t the dangerous ones; it’s those who keep quiet, are the dangerous ones. ERNESTO Walter, I'm sorry, but I think your profession has influenced your way of thinking - you see 95

conspiracies where there are none. It's hard to imagine a person who’d undertake such a... such a dirty deed. WALTER There’s no such a deed for which there would be no executor found. Take the death penalty. Quartering was widely practiced in the Christian Europe. First an arm is chopped off, then - a leg. Again - arm, again – leg, and only then - head. But first, the belly is cut open... RACHEL Walter, please, have mercy on us! WALTER And, there was no shortage of executors. RACHEL But, they had to settle down outside the town. They were even forbidden to appear in public. Citizens didn’t want to live with them side-by-side. WALTER However, our good citizens never missed the show. ERNESTO What are you talking about? That was the Middle Ages! WALTER Middle Ages, you say? Henry the VIII sentenced humanist Thomas More to gutting and quartering. This is the 16th century. However, at the last 96

moment the king mercifully replaced the quartering with a simple beheading. By the way, the very same humanist sent not one Protestant heretic to the stake - another lovely way of life depriving technique practiced till the beginning of the 19th century. And what about German gas chambers and crematoria? This is the 20th century. ERNESTO But, the death penalty was abolished in most civilized countries and even, in some of our states. WALTER Right. But when we hear about some of the deeds of some people, don’t we say to ourselves - for him, I’d make an exception. That a man, who leaves a bag with a bomb, filled with nails, in a crowd, can be sent to a stake, so that his spirit won’t leave his body until it’s burned. And if you look deep into your soul, wouldn’t you find that there would be a desire to become an instrument of retribution? ERNESTO Are you kidding? (to Rachel) He’s joking. Walter has a penchant for dark humor. Rachel keeps on looking at Walter. WALTER (looking at his iPhone screen) I’d love to philosophize with you more, but duties call. Rachel, may I remind you - tomorrow at 9 AM. 97

RACHEL I do remember and I am getting ready. (To Ernesto) Walter kindly invited me to fly around the tower. ERNESTO Oh! You’ve a tide schedule. Walter leaves. Ernesto and Rachel stop by the picture of the Tower with hang gliders soaring in the air. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) Do you like hang-gliding? We’ve great opportunities for it here! RACHEL Oh, no! You won’t lure me into this! EXT. SMALL AIRFIELD - DAY Walter helps Rachel – they are both dressed in flight suits – to climb into the plane’s cockpit. The plane has an inscription "The Tower". The plane taxis to the runway and takes off. Once at the altitude, it flies towards the Tower. The plane circles the Tower. INT. COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS It is a two-seat aircraft; both of the seats are equipped with control wheels. WALTER 98

Put your hands on the wheel. Rachel puts her hands on the control wheel. WALTER (CONTINUED) Now, pull it toward you gently. The plane rushes up. WALTER (CONTINUED) Now - to the right. The aircraft makes the right turn. WALTER (CONTINUED) Do you see how obedient it is? RACHEL Yes, it’s amazing. Walter removes his hands from the steering wheel. WALTER You are in the air and you're free. Everything is in your power. That's why I became a pilot. We were condemned to walk and crawl, but we took off. I greet you, freedom! EXT. AIRSPACE - CONTINUOUS The plane makes a wide circle. We see a wonderful view below. Sounds the ‘Erbarme Dich’ instrumental version. 99

INT. COCKPIT – CONTINUOUS The plane is landing. RACHEL Walter, I can’t land it! WALTER You can! RACHEL No! Please, you promised to get me safely back to the ground! WALTER I’ll keep my word. Walter demonstratively crosses his arms on his chest. Smile is on his lips. EXT. AIRFIELD - LANDING STRIP CONTINUOUS The plane is in a matter of meters above the ground. INT. THE COCKPIT – CONTINUOUS Rachel squeezes the steering wheel. RACHEL Walter, please! WALTER 100

First of all, open your eyes – this’ll help. Keep an eye on the altimeter. Now reset the speed. Pull the wheel slightly... Being under stress, Rachel nevertheless follows Walter’s directions. EXT. AIRFIELD - LANDING STRIP CONTINUOUS The plane touches the ground. It runs along the runway then stops. INT. COCKPIT – CONTINUOUS Exhausted Rachel leans back in her chair. WALTER You did it! Bravo! You can be proud of yourself! Walter leans over to Rachel and hugs her. EXT. AIRFIELD - LANDING STRIP – CONTINUOUS A minute or two passes, but no one comes out of the plane. INT. BANQUET HALL - NIGHT The hall is decorated with balloons, banners, and flags. The music is playing. It is about 300 guests in the hall. Ernesto appears on the stage. He strikes a knife against a bottle to attract attention. 101

The guests turn to him. ERNESTO Ladies and gentlemen! The most wonderful event took place yesterday – the upper platform installation is completed! Applause. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) We are 12 days ahead of schedule! Applause. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) The management says thank-you to all of you for your good work! Thank you, friends! Applause. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) And now, I’ll ask you to greet the man, without whom the greatest in the history of mankind project - I'm not afraid of the word - wouldn’t have taken place. Mr. Cage! Applause. Cage gets no the stage. CAGE Thank you, Ernesto. Thank you! Yes, it’s almost finished... Frankly, I find it hard to believe. Sometimes, I think that it all is a dream. That one morning I’ll wake up and there is no any Tower. But even if it’s a dream, it’s a wonderful dream. 102

There is a Tower model in my office. Every day, I look at it. Its shape is impeccable. Its harmony, the grace of it - breathtaking. It is perfect - from the engineering point of view - as well as from the aesthetical point of view. But this is the way it should be; only a perfect design will withstand the unbelievable inner strain. I thank everyone for his or hers contribution to our project. But, special thanks goes to the installers who assemble sections in the open space. Sebastian, Juan, Kevin, and Sergey please come here. Applause. The installers go to the stage. CAGE Come closer. The installers get close to Cage. Cage hugs them. CAGE (CONTINUED) Now, raise your hands. The installers raise their hands. CAGE (CONTINUED) Everybody, put your hands up! Everybody in the hall put their hands up. ERNESTO Is this a robbery? Laughter. 103

CAGE Ernesto, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ruined the effect. I just wanted to say that although we are armed with wonderful tools, yet they are controlled by our hands, and the tools themselves were made with hands. I praise them! No applause follows as everybodyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands are raised. ERNESTO Can we put hands down? CAGE You can, Ernesto, you can. ERNESTO Ladies and gentlemen! Please use your hands today exclusively for lifting your glasses up. Music! The orchestra plays tango. Cage and Lillian go to the dance floor. The guests watch them dancing. Other couples join them. Ernesto comes up to Rachel. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) Rachel, may I ask you to dance the tango with me? Rachel nods at Ernesto with a smile. They go to the dance floor. Now, many couples are dancing. RACHEL You dance masterfully. 104

ERNESTO You got ahead of me. I was just going to tell you the same. RACHEL Really? No, honestly, you dance like a pro. ERNESTO Don’t forget, I'm Hispanic, tango is in our blood; my great-grandmother came from Argentina. I used to take first prizes in dance contests at the high school. But I didn’t know that Mr. Cage dances tango. RACHEL Dad and mom dance very well. ERNESTO They are a wonderful couple. RACHEL They are. Ernesto and Rachel dance in the dance floor center. Their level is much higher than that of the other couples. This is noticed. Walter sees Rachel and Ernesto dancing. He heads for the exit. In the meantime the party goes on. An entertainer appears on the stage, entertaining guests with jokes. EXT. CAGE’S MANSION - PATIO - EARLY EVENING 105

Patio overlooks the garden. Rachel is at a patio table with her laptop. Cage appears in the doorway. He watches his daughter for a while. CAGE It’s getting cold. RACHEL Yeah, a little bit. CAGE Why don’t you put on something? RACHEL I wanted to finish the thought. CAGE Are you working on your paper? RACHEL Yes, I am. CAGE Go put on a jacket. RACHEL Alright. Rachel goes out. Cage watches fire curves drawn by fireflies in the dark. Rachel appears in the doorway. CAGE It’s an amazing sight. 106

RACHEL The fireflies? CAGE Yes. RACHEL The male species use their light to draw the females. CAGE Burning with desire? RACHEL Everything in the nature is permeated by love, desire, and passion. All living creatures strive for their continuation, to reproduce their offspring. Indeed, it is their main task. Say, flowers scent, their bright colors are to attract bees. Flitting from flower to flower, a bee carries pollen â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a male gametophyte - on its feet to be hooked up with a female gametophyte. Cage and Rachel watch the fireflies show for a while. CAGE I know nothing about your New York life, about your friends. You surely have some? RACHEL Yes, of course. But you, I think, wanted to ask, if Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got a boyfriend? 107

CAGE Right you are. RACHEL I’ve very good friends, but I don’t have a boyfriend. CAGE Why? Aren’t there any nice young men among your friends? RACHEL There are, but... CAGE You, I suspect, set the bar too high. RACHEL Is it bad? CAGE No, it’s not bad. But if the bar is set very high, there is the danger that you won’t... choose anyone. RACHEL It's not about the bar. Just one day I want to see it clearly - I want to see that this is him. The voice inside of me will tell me. CAGE And what if this your voice keeps silent? RACHEL My precious Dad, with a little bit old-fashioned views on life, I’m begging you, don’t worry about 108

me. CAGE It’s the parent’s destiny to worry. We worry if our daughter doesn’t get married... RACHEL And, if she gets married too quickly; what if the man whom she’s chosen doesn’t make her happy? CAGE In our time, we, as a rule were getting married early. Maybe a little too early, when you are still not able to make, as they say today, an informed decision. You're in love and at a certain age, it happens to everybody – you can’t think, reasoning. She is drawn to you as a mix of all virtues... And so on. And, in such a state you will make the most important decision of your life. RACHEL Then, love goes - which is inevitable. And two people with different habits, ideas, and tastes have to somehow deal with each other. And here they either find a coexistence formula, or - not. CAGE Right. But, still, it’s not that simple. Relationship mechanisms are complex and deeply hidden away. Not long ago, I had a conversation with a friend of mine. I know his wife - she's a very sweet woman. There were rumors that their marriage was breaking. But I didn’t believe the rumors. And here, after a few drinks, he opens his heart. He starts to 109

complain about his life, about his wife - that she doesn’t value him, that she isn’t grateful for what he’s done for her, that she doesn’t appreciate the life standard he’s given her. He was expecting that I’ll be sympathetic to him. But I knew that at one time, there was another woman in his life. He used to secretly meet with her, to take her to business trips. Listening to him, I thought – this isn’t about your wife, this is about you. We tend to look for cause of our misery in others, to blame anyone but us. But very often, the cause of our troubles lies within us. You met another woman and maybe you thought she was the one who you were looking for. But you got no guts to divorce your wife in order to be with the woman you love. And now, you will take revenge upon her. The incident has opened his eyes on his own cowardice, weakness. Is it possible to forgive this to another person? RACHEL I see you are a psychologist - a human soul connoisseur. CAGE I'm an entrepreneur and as an entrepreneur I have to deal with people. But in every situation, one can behave differently. My friend has chosen the least noble way - a wealthy man, he restricted his wife’s expenses, and I’d say in an unkind way mocked at her chores - her preoccupation with the charity activity. But I was going to give you an advice, to tell you what men expect from marriage. You are not aware of the other side feelings. But now, I see that I’ve nothing to say. All stories are unique 110

there are no two identical ones - as we are all unique. And there is no common recipe for happiness. Souls, the worlds these are within us, merging into one is impossible - everyone lives his or hers own life. But what is possible - trust. If we arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t deceived in our trust and if we are trusted in return, we are happy. You deserve to be happy... I say this not because you're my daughter, but because you're a kind person. But that, unfortunately, gives no guarantee of happiness. And yet, here's my advice. Choose a kind man as your life companion. RACHEL A kind man? You put kindness in front of intellect? CAGE Yes. Because kindness is wise. Lillian appears in the doorway. For a moment she watches her husband and daughter. LILLIAN The dinner is on the table. RACHEL I'm hungry. Rachel gets up, hugs, and kisses her mother. Everyone goes to the dining room. It is already dark outside now. Fireflies keep on drawing light lines in the darkness. INT. CAGEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S OFFICE - DAY 111

Cage is at work. SECRETARY (O.S.) Mr. Cage, you have a call from Walter Winter. CAGE Yes. WALTER (O.S.) Mr. Cage? CAGE Yes, Walter. INT. WALTER’S OFFICE – CONTINUOUS Walter is at his desk. WALTER Mr. Cage, going back to our conversation... There are some new details, they relate to Ernesto Gomez. CAGE (O.S.) Really? And what is it? WALTER This year in May, Ernesto flew for his vacations to Tijuana, Mexico, where he is from. CAGE (O.S.) I don’t see any crime here. As I understand, his parents live there. 112

WALTER Right. But, his brother Raul lives there, as well. We found out that Raul is involved in drug trafficking. There is evidence that Raul isn’t the last person in the drug mafia. He is wanted. INT. CAGE'S OFFICE – CONTINUOUS Cage paces the office. CAGE Really? Did Ernesto meet him? WALTER (O.S.) It’s unclear. But it’s only natural to assume that they met. CAGE What do you think about all this? WALTER (O.S.) It's hard to say... The drug mafia has international connections. They deal with different people... CAGE What do you mean? WALTER (O.S.) Say, with those who may be involved in terrorism. I wouldn’t rule it out. CAGE What do you suggest? 113

INT. WALTER’S OFFICE – CONTINUOUS Walter looks at the drawing ‘Head of a Young Woman with Tousled Hair’ by Leonardo da Vinci hanging on the wall. The woman’s face resembles Rachel’s face. WALTER To call FBI. CAGE (O.S.) But we’ve no evidence, this is just our speculations. WALTER You asked for my opinion. CAGE (O.S.) I’ll think it over. If you find anything else - let me know immediately. WALTER Sure. INT. VINCENT’S APARTMENT - DAY Vincent lies on a sofa with an e-book in his hands. Doorbell rings. Vincent goes to open the door. It is Rachel. VINCENT Sister! What a surprise! RACHEL 114

I like to walk; this is how I got here. VINCENT By foot? RACHEL Well, yes. VINCENT Come in. Sorry, the place is messy. RACHEL I can help you with cleaning. VINCENT Thank you, I’ll call the service. RACHEL How are you? You haven’t been showing up for a while. VINCENT I’m fine. RACHEL Glad to hear it. Rachel looks at the posters on the wall with the images of Mahatma Gandhi on them – ‘God has no religion’ and ‘Eye for an eye – will make the whole world blind’. RACHEL (CONTINUED) 115

And, how is Brittany? VINCENT Brittany? RACHEL Mom told me about... about the accident you got into. VINCENT She’s all right. It seems I managed to find money for treatment. RACHEL Good for you. But I assume it’s a considerable amount of money. If I may ask, where can one get such a sum? VINCENT Some nice people wanted to help me out. RACHEL Be careful. Do you remember the song "Smiling Faces"? VINCENT What was I supposed to do? Dad refused to help me. Sometimes, I think that nothing binds us. We are like strangers to each other. RACHEL You are wrong. Dad wishes you well. VINCENT 116

Then, we have different understanding of what is ‘well’. RACHEL Dad loves you. VINCENT I'm not sure. In my opinion, he loves his project only, the damn Tower. I hate it. It’s like a huge funnel that sucks out of us and out of the Earth all juices and sends them into space. Its construction is a huge mistake. It’s a violation of a balance in a sense. We are doing something what we shouldn’t do. You'll see it’ll cause us trouble. RACHEL You're just upset with what happened to you. Do you want me to talk to Dad? VINCENT No. RACHEL It’s up to you. Beat. RACHEL (CONTINUED) Listen, my friend, what if we go for a walk? VINCENT For a walk? RACHEL 117

You have a beautiful parkland here. Have you been there at all? VINCENT Nope. What for? RACHEL What for? For fun! VINCENT What kind of fun is it? RACHEL Come on! Get up, and let’s go! You surely need some fresh air. VINCENT Sometimes really odd ideas come into your head. Vincent reluctantly gets up. EXT. PARK ALLEY - CONTINUOUS Vincent and Rachel walk along an alley, then they sit down on a bench. RACHEL It reminds me the Central Park, but it is less crowded here. VINCENT I don’t know I’ve never been there. But I must admit that like it here. 118

Beat. RACHEL Tell me about your friend. What kind of person is Walter? VINCENT Why do you ask? In my opinion, he's a normal guy. RACHEL He calls me... sometimes. VINCENT Ah, here's the thing. Old Walt’s fallen for your charm! RACHEL I can’t understand what kind of a person he is. I think I know what you are... VINCENT Because, I’m primitive? RACHEL No, nowise. But I know what to expect from you. Dad is also clear to me. And, Dr. Buckley, as well. But Walter... he somehow escapes my understanding. VINCENT You make up things. Walt is Walt. He just doesn’t like to talk about himself or his family. His dad, as far as know, is in jail. His mother passed away. He was brought up, I guess, by his uncle, but he, too, is 119

gone, he committed suicide. RACHEL A priest committed suicide? VINCENT Yeah, right... Walt said he was kind of a minister. RACHEL Vinnie and you dare to say that you aren’t loved by our Dad? We were bathing in our parents’ love! And we thought that others – were, too. VINCENT Everyone has his own problems. RACHEL Right. But childhood is a very important stage in our life. The foundation of what we will become is laying down at an early age... the essence of us is forming at that time. What if, it wasn’t a childhood but a nonstop nightmare and gloom? VINCENT An embryo, a little child, is like a sprout that has a powerful life force within, so that it’ll be able to make its way through any soil. RACHEL It’s an unfortunate comparison. 99 percent is a program in a seed and only 1 percent – is an environmental influence. While in humans, it’s, if not an inverse ratio, but somewhere, close to 50 50. A flower will either grow up or wither away if 120

it’s growing in a bad environment, but it’ll never turn into a monster or a freak. A human being living in bad conditions - will perhaps survive, but the terror, horror, and darkness of his early days will stay with him forever. VINCENT Speaking of terror – I’m terribly hungry. Let's go somewhere. RACHEL You are my poor starving little brother! OK. Let’s go. I can’t recall the last time when we - just you and me – were talking like this. VINCENT There is an Italian pizzeria two blocks from here. RACHEL Excellent! Pizza is a student’s food. I wonder, how did students manage to survive before pizza was invented. VINCENT True! I, too, can’t imagine a pizza-less world! By the way, it’s a decent place. RACHEL Its name isn’t "The Tower"? VINCENT No – it is the "Promised Heaven". But we all call it "At God’s Father". Their chef looks exactly like Marlon Brando did when he played Don Vito 121

Corleone. INT. BRITTNEY’S APARTMENT - EVENING Brittany is in an armchair. Vincent emerges from the kitchen with a tray in his hands. VINCENT Ready! BRITTANY I’m not hungry. VINCENT You need to eat. BRITTANY They always say this to sick people. VINCENT As for me - I'm hungry. Vincent takes a hamburger from a plate. BRITTANY Did you find the money? VINCENT Almost. BRITTANY What do you mean by saying "almost"? Tell me - yes or no? 122

VINCENT I don’t have a check in my hands, yet, but... BRITTANY I’ve already got a bill for MRI, as well as some other bills. VINCENT Don’t worry; I'll take care of it. BRITTANY How can I not to worry? Bills are piling up, we don’t pay them. VINCENT I told you... BRITTANY He told! You talk about many things yet, you don’t seem to do many of them. VINCENT Don’t you believe me? BRITTANY Do you want to know the truth? I don’t believe you. VINCENT Well… BRITTANY If, by Monday, the money isn’t here… VINCENT 123

Then, what? BRITTANY Then, I’ll call my lawyer. VINCENT Do you know what that sounds like? BRITTANY I don’t care. VINCENT It sounds like blackmail. BRITTANY What? VINCENT I said, it sounds like blackmail. You're stuffing your price! You want to pull more money out of me! BRITTANY Me? To pull money out of you? How dare you! It’s your fault that I got into this situation! It’s because of you that I’m wearing that stupid corset! And you dare to say this to me! VINCENT I... I do everything I can! I have racked my brains... BRITTANY You do everything to get away with this! You don’t care about me, at all! 124

VINCENT You say this after all I've done for you? BRITTANY I know why you are so caring. You're afraid that I’ll tell it all to the police! VINCENT You are damn wrong! BRITTANY I’m not! VINCENT Do you really think that is so? BRITTANY Yes, I do! I'm convinced! VINCENT Do you know who you are after this? BRITTANY Now, you want to insult me? Nice! That's it - get out! VINCENT Very well! But… BRITTANY I said - get out! VINCENT Brit, I... 125

BRITTANY I don’t want to see your face anymore! Get the hell out of here! Brittany opens the front door. Vincent goes out. Brittany slams the door. INT. VINCENT’S CUBICLE - DAY Vincent is lost in thoughts. Phone rings. VINCENT Vincent Cage. ERNESTO (O.S.) Vincent, will you please come to my office? VINCENT Alright. Vincent reluctantly gets up and leaves his cubicle. INT. ERNESTO’S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Ernesto is at work. Knock at the door. ERNESTO Yes. Vincent enters the office. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) Come in. Have a seat. 126

Vincent sits down. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) You, I think know what I’m going to talk about? VINCENT About truancy? ERNESTO This isn’t the first time, Vincent. I ask you to give a written explanation. VINCENT Alright. ERNESTO Vincent, a leave of absence without notice, is unacceptable. You either change your attitude towards work, or... VINCENT Or - what? ERNESTO Or, I’ll have to issue you with a reprimand and raise the question of firing you. VINCENT I don’t care. ERNESTO Vincent, what is going on? Do you have problems? 127

VINCENT I do. ERNESTO Look, Vincent, it happens sometimes – I mean difficulties, problems... VINCENT Yeah, it happens… ERNESTO Believe me, it’s not only you who have problems. We all have. This is life. One problem is solved, here comes another... VINCENT Sometimes, they come in a pack. And, sometimes, here comes a big one, so big that you don’t know where to run. ERNESTO I agree, black bars happen. But to overcome it, you should hold on to your work, your family, your faith. VINCENT I've heard it before... ERNESTO Vincent… VINCENT What, Ernesto? No one cares about other people's problems – I know it only too well. What do you 128

want? To get the job done - that's it. Since you have to give an account to my dad. You can complain to him about me. ERNESTO I'm not going to complain. There is a manual for the management team. I’ll act according to it – I’ve already told you. VINCENT Look, I want to tell you, I’m not happy with this attitude of yours towards me. ERNESTO What attitude? What are you talking about? VINCENT Your dismissive attitude. And then, this patronizing tone of yours… ERNESTO Vincent... VINCENT I'm not Vincent to you! Please address me as - Mr. Cage! ERNESTO Even so? Then - Mr. Cage, Junior. VINCENT Let it be "junior". But please, Ernesto, one day, I'll occupy my dad's office, then we’ll talk. Do you understand? 129

Vincent looks straight into Ernesto’s face. ERNESTO OK. You may go back to work. INT. CAGE’S OFFICE - DAY Cage is at work. Phone rings. CAGE Yes. BUCKLEY (O.S.) Hope I’m not bothering you, James? CAGE Ah, Thomas! Good to hear from you. BUCKLEY (O.S.) I went for a walk in the park. It’s nice here. As a Crawford resident, I want to thank you for making this parkland in our area. CAGE You need to thank Lillian, not me. The park is her idea. She studied in England. Ever since then, parks are her passion. But only in those with an English style – those, in which, the landscape and elements of wildlife been preserved. BUCKLEY (O.S.) Oh! I’ll express to Lillian my admiration as soon as I can. How are you doing, James? 130

CAGE We are approaching the epilogue, Thomas. EXT. PARK ALLEY - CONTINUOUS Dr. Buckley sits on a bench with a cell phone in his hand. BUCKLEY Such things as epilogues are in movies and plays only - as an element of a story, a plot – but, believe me, life is plotless. CAGE (O.S.) How so? What about death? Isn’t it a denouement? BUCKLEY Imagine this - someone dies a sudden death. Things he was doing remain unfinished; his affairs are in disarray... What kind of denouement it is? OK, let’s drop the subject. I'm calling to inquire about your health. CAGE (O.S.) I’m fine. It would be stupid of me to die now when only a few months left to the test runs. Will you stop by tonight? Lillian asked about you. BUCKLEY Willingly. CAGE (O.S.) See you then. 131

BUCKLEY Don’t work too hard. Dr. Buckley puts the phone into his pocket. For some time he watches a baby-boy, who has just begun to walk - he is afraid to come off the bench, he doesn’t want to leave his young mother who is busy working with her tablet. Dr. Buckley’s eyes meet the toddler’s eyes. The boy smiles at the doctor. Then, Buckley looks up at the trees. We see the Tower’s silhouette through the foliage. INT. CAGE’S OFFICE – CONTINUOUS Cage picks up phone. CAGE Ernesto. ERNESTO (O.S.) Yes, Mr. Cage. CAGE Ernesto, the system is off again. ERNESTO (O.S.) Oh… CAGE I don’t like it. What do the system engineers say? ERNESTO (O.S.) I spoke to William recently, the cause was still not 132

found. CAGE What I’m paying him for? Tell William that I’d very much like to know what is going on! ERNESTO (O.S.) I’ll tell him. CAGE Ernesto, what do you think about all this? ERNESTO (O.S.) To be honest, Mr. Cage, I believe that there is no reason to worry – something, somewhere is glitching. CAGE Listen, I want to know where and what is glitching. Okay? Cage drops the receiver. INT. VINCENT’S CUBICLE - DAY Vincent is at work. Phone rings. VINCENT Vincent Cage. VOICE (O.S.) Hi, Vincent. This is Youssef. VINCENT 133

Hi, Youssef. I’ve been waiting for your call. VOICE (O.S.) How are you doing? VINCENT I have gone from bad to worse. VOICE (O.S.) I have good news for you, my friend. You can come and get the money. VINCENT Really? VOICE (O.S.) As it was agreed upon. We have the contract, aren’t we? VINCENT Can I get it today? VOICE (O.S.) I’m sorry, I’m busy tonight. VINCENT What about tomorrow? VOICE (O.S.) Let’s see… what we have tomorrow? Oh no, I will be on the road all day. How about Monday? Say, at noon, at Hilton? VINCENT 134

It’s OK with me. The only thing - can I come after hours? I have to work on Monday. VOICE (O.S.) I’m afraid, noon is the only time when we can meet. These are very busy days for us… But soon it all will be over. VINCENT What do you mean? What will be over? VOICE (O.S.) Something that has to end… All right, my friend, I’ll see you on Monday. VINCENT Thank you, Youssef. VOICE (O.S.) No problem. EXT. THE TOWER AND THE SURROUNDING SPACE - DAY A lot of hang-gliders are in the air. EXT. THE TOWER - HANG-GLIDERS PLATFORM - CONTINUOUS Quite a few young people - hang-gliders – are in the open area, fenced in by railing. Some of them are getting ready for a flight, some watch hang gliders fly. Walter enters the platform, he notices Ernesto sitting in a lounge chair. 135

WALTER Hi! I didn’t expect to meet you here today. ERNESTO Hello, Walter! Same here. WALTER The gravity of the Tower… It’s the attraction center. ERNESTO At this point, it’s the center of local importance, but with the time, it’ll become the center of the world. WALTER Well, it attracts tourists very well. I cannot recall a time when there was such an influx of them. ERNESTO Tourism – is a part of the project. Otherwise, how would it be made cost-effective? The boss was right, counting on the tourist program. WALTER That's what the boss is for. Beat. WALTER (CONTINUED) Ernesto, sorry that I'm talking about business today... I’ve a question for you or two. May I ask them now or shall we put it off until Monday? 136

ERNESTO Go ahead, if your questions aren’t difficult - my head is resting today. WALTER They are related to the security issue... to the recent system outage. ERNESTO I see. WALTER I’ll be honest with you. The boss asked me to make a list of those who have access to the system and, so to speak, to characterize them - interests, connections, relatives. Instead of looking for the information pertaining to Ernesto Gomez in different places, I’d like to get it directly from you. ERNESTO And then collate it with what you’ve gotten from other sources? WALTER Maybe. ERNESTO My interests? All of my interests are here. (Points out to the Tower) Connections... I don’t know what to say about it. My family? - My mother, brother, and sister live in Mexico. WALTER 137

I’d like to know more about your relatives, in particular about their occupation. ERNESTO My mother has retired; she isn’t a very healthy person. My sister works for Cemex. My brother is still considering what to do with his life. WALTER The elder brother? ERNESTO Yes. WALTER. And he is still doing soul searching? ERNESTO There are many unemployed people in Mexico. WALTER Is it all you can tell me? ERNESTO Yes, that’s all. WALTER Well, thank you. ERNESTO It was no problem at all. Ernesto gets up, puts a helmet, and gloves on. 138

WALTER Yes, one more question. As far as I know you aren’t married. Do you have a girlfriend? Or, perhaps, a bride-to-be? ERNESTO It's nobody's business. WALTER If you think so - you're wrong. ERNESTO Don’t poke your nose into my personal life. WALTER And what if I don’t listen to your advice? ERNESTO Go to hell! Ernesto goes to the hang glider take off area. He fixes the straps. An employee opens the gate. Ernesto grabs the hang glider’s bar, steps to the platform edge, and takes off in the air. Walter watches his flight. EXT. IN THE AIR - CONTINUOUS Ernesto’s glider soars, caught by the air flow. Suddenly, another glider passes just a few feet above. ERNESTO Hey! Watch out! 139

The glider makes a wide turn and re-approaches Ernesto. Ernesto barely manages to avoid collision. He threatens the attacker with his fist. But the unknown flyer continues his attacks. However, each time, Ernesto, skillfully maneuvering, manages to escape the collision. Finally, the unknown glider lands. Ernesto lands nearby. He quickly detaches straps and runs to the bully. The flyer takes off his goggles - it is Walter. Cursing, Ernesto knocks Walter down with a series of blows. After recovering himself, Walter suddenly rises and with a heavy blow casts Ernesto down to the ground. However, Ernesto jumps up and the fight continues. After a few minutes of fight, the exhausted enemies get into a clinch. Then, losing their balance, they fall to the ground. Completely exhausted, they rest lying on their backs looking into the sky. Walter begins to laugh. WALTER Your left hook isn’t bad. ERNESTO Without these skills you wouldn’t survive in the place where I grew up. But you, as far as I can see, also can’t be called a freshman in this business. WALTER Not a single day passed without fighting in Skid Row, which is where I used to live as a kid. ERNESTO Did you do ‘wall to wall’ fighting? 140

WALTER Of course, we did. ERNESTO It’s funny - Tijuana and LA live by the same rules. Hey, why on earth did you start all this? WALTER To test my fate. ERNESTO Next time, when an idea of breaking your neck comes to your mind, do it alone, without involving others. Ernesto and Walter continue talking, while they lie on the grass. INT. CAGE’S MANSION - LIBRARY - EVENING Cage and Dr. Buckley are in arm chairs. Next to the Cage’s chair lays his dog, Bootsy. CAGE (opening wine cabinet) Cognac? Whiskey? BUCKLEY Scotch. CAGE I know that at this time of a day you drink scotch. I know almost everything about you. 141

BUCKLEY As your doctor, I know more about you. CAGE You know about my body, but not about my soul. BUCKLEY That's right, for your soul, you need a spiritual doctor. CAGE I’m agnostic. BUCKLEY But you don’t say that you are an atheist and I think it’s not accidental. You leave a small door what if? CAGE And, what about you? What are your beliefs? BUCKLEY My beliefs? With curiosity and even envy, I look at those who believe – those who are people of faith. But, I, myself, am not able to cross this kind of a line – I am not able to become a believer. CAGE (petting the dog) You just haven’t yet met a good preacher. Some of them could convert a marble statue to Christianity. They used to baptize entire nations in His Name. 142

BUCKLEY I had a chance to talk to many believers and I learned their arguments well. All is built on the promise of the afterlife. Why did Christianity spread like wildfire throughout the Roman Empire? Its followers were assured - you are poor and miserable here, on the Earth, but, you’ll be rewarded in the heavens. Even today, when a preacher talks to a non-believer, he begins with a question - would you like to live forever? Would you like to meet your deceased loved ones? But as a doctor, I know that my death will end it all - the world within me. And my soul will not leave my lifeless body, for the simple reason that there is not any independent soul. What we call a soul is a function of our body; it is alive while the body is alive. With its death, the function dies as well. It’s like a device - as long as it works, as long as something is going on within it – we have some glimmer of life. But once its parts are worn out, once the light bulbs are turned off and it doesn’t produce any sounds - it is dead, as well as its ‘soul’. In short, I exist in an empty, cold world without hope. CAGE You're a courageous man; to live with this knowledge throughout the day. BUCKLEY No, I’m not a courageous man, I’ve no choice. Though, you know, I believe that my position, if you look at it from an ethical point of view, is perhaps, more moral than that of those who believe. 143

CAGE Explain it to me, please. BUCKLEY Willingly. If you know for sure that the afterlife won’t follow, that the earthly life is all you were allotted, if you know that you won’t have an opportunity to repent for what you have done, that you won’t be nor listened, nor understood, nor be forgiven... that you will be judged by your earthly deeds alone, - knowing all this, you’ll do your best to avoid blunders, inappropriate actions, and dirty tricks. CAGE It’s a very unusual point of view. I’d say even quite paradoxical. You've never talked about faith. I must admit, I'm surprised. BUCKLEY I listen to what you say without being surprised. Your agnosticism, as you call it... doesn’t it insensibly flow into faith? CAGE What makes you think so? BUCKLEY I ask myself - why is James Cage erecting the Tower? Isn’t he paving a way to God? CAGE Everyone knows why it is being built. 144

BUCKLEY The 60 mile high tower is built to go up into space just using an elevator. But the question is - why James Cage, having put aside all other things, plunges into this project? CAGE It's simple - 15 years ago, the world economy was in a recession and no one knew how to get out of it. There was too much money walked around, it had to be put to use. Then, I had an idea – however, it doesn’t belong to me - to start construction of graphene tower that would reach the Karman Line. I used my credibility and connections to make the project a reality. I’d say, not without pride, our dreams came true – the outcome was positive. We managed to engage China’s, as well as other countries, manpower that was idling at that time, to attract sheikh’s capitals, get Russian raw materials - and the world economy began to breathe easier. BUCKLEY I suspect that there is something else. Something that remains untold. CAGE My dear doubting Thomas… Rachel enters the library. RACHEL Good evening, Dr. Buckley. 145

BUCKLEY How are you doing, my incomparable Rachel? I look at you – you are a grownup, a graduate student, and a beautiful woman - but I recall that five-yeargirl, who used to tell me that she would become a doctor someday. RACHEL What I do is close to medicine. I hope that, thanks to our research, new drugs will be manufactured. BUCKLEY New drugs? Brilliant! Nowadays, there are just so many, that it’s simply impossible to keep track of them. Once we treated our patients with aspirin. There was also penicillin. And that was it. Yes, times are changing... We were talking here with your dad about such matters as faith, life, and its end. But what about its beginning - the very beginning, I mean the emergence of life on the Earth? It’s hard to believe that it all have begun in a puddle warmed up by the sun, as scientists assure us. RACHEL No, this point of view has been abandoned. Four billion years ago, the earth's surface did not look like a place where life could have arisen. It was bombarded by meteorites, comets, and asteroids. Volcanoes emitted a large amount of gas and ash into the atmosphere. Hurricanes and thunderstorms were raging. At that time, the moon was much closer to the Earth than it is now. So, 146

mile high tidal waves periodically flooded the land. Life seems to have originated in the deep sea, where the ocean floor hydrothermal vents open, as well as, outputs of active minerals. Being a source of various chemicals and energy - they became the "cradle" of life. CAGE The ocean looks like a more comfortable place. BUCKLEY But this doesn’t explain how the so complex structure, such as a protein molecule, could have come into being. RACHEL It’s believed that life has begun at the chemical processes level, with the specific entities emergence these could assemble - from suitable ingredients their own copies. Not being alive in the modern sense of the word "alive", they, however, had the ability to reproduce themselves - over and over again. BUCKLEY But how did these primitive entities transit to more complex living forms? RACHEL The whole point is in mutations, that is the errors of copying. CAGE It’s hard to reconcile with the fact that all species 147

and ourselves - that is Homo-Sapiens – are a result of an error. RACHEL Yes, a very long chain of errors during an unbelievably long span of time. BUCKLEY Still, it doesn’t sound very convincing. RACHEL Mutation is an error from the previous form’s "point of view". But from the, so to say, evolution’s "point of view" it’s a possibility of something new. But only a few mutations lead to the existing forms "improvement" and the emergence of new ones. It’s a blind search. BUCKLEY And do you, I mean the Biologist’s Guild, have proof of it? RACHEL Oh yes, life history is recorded in DNA. BUCKLEY Is the greatest of all mysteries ever solved? Just like this, without selling your soul to the Devil or without sealing the contract with blood? CAGE A creative process – and evolution is undoubtedly an oeuvre - at the base of which lay errors... 148

BUCKLEY Creativity in absence of a Creator. There is no room for Him in this scheme. Though, we can pose the question - Who has "arranged" it so that the carbon atoms combining with the other elements, such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus – can form protein molecules? It’s the question above all other questions. CAGE I'm afraid that even our educated youth won’t give an answer to this question. But Rachel, you probably came here to get a book? RACHEL Ah, yes. I was looking for the Bible. BUCKLEY Well, I am sure! After a lecture on life’s origin and evolution, you have an appeal to the Scripture! RACHEL I recently heard a quote from the Apocalypse. It doesn’t ever leave my head. I’d like to comprehend its meaning. BUCKLEY That’s quite commendable. A lot of meanings are hidden away in the Book. It’s important to find them out. CAGE There, the second shelf on the left side. If you find something extraordinary – share it with us. 149

Rachel takes the Bible. RACHEL I haven’t opened it for a long time. CAGE It’s not harmful at all, to feel its weight in your hands from time to time. EXT. PARK ALLEY - DAY Vincent sits on a bench, lost in thought, and he is not paying attention to passing by people. INT. RESTAURANT - DAY Cage and Ernesto having lunch. CAGE (to the waitress) I'm sorry; I don’t know your name. WAITRESS My name is Megan. CAGE Will you please bring us coffee, Megan? WAITRESS Right away, Mr. Cage. CAGE (to Ernesto) 150

Ernesto, I need to talk to you. ERNESTO Yes, Mr. Cage. CAGE You know that we are checking up all of the employees who have access to the system. Everybody, without exception, you are included. We still have questions regarding your family. You have the right not to answer them. But I â&#x20AC;&#x201C; personally, I would like to know the answers. ERNESTO Alright. CAGE Tell me about your brother. ERNESTO Raul... he went down a wrong path. CAGE Drugs? ERNESTO Yes. Drug trafficking. CAGE Do you communicate with him? ERNESTO Not really. 151

CAGE Not really? ERNESTO I saw him in May last time, when I flew to Tijuana. I'm trying to get him out... out of this life. But, he just laughs – ‘You want me to graft at Cemex getting a pittance as our sister does?’ I'm ready to pay for his education. But he isn’t interested in it. We have very different looks at things. But, in any case, he's my brother – for us, Mexicans, family means a lot. The waitress puts coffee cups in front of Cage and Ernesto. CAGE Thank you, Megan. WAITRESS You are welcome. CAGE (to Ernesto) I'm sorry, I made you talk about things that cause you pain. ERNESTO When I saw that my words were in vain, I got a sense of despair, the kind of despair, when you try to prevent something terrible, but you aren’t in position to do it. Most of his friends don’t live ‘til 30. CAGE 152

How old is your sister? ERNESTO Carmen is 19. I vowed that she’d go to college. But at this time, she has to take care of our mother. CAGE Good plans. If you need my help, let me know. The waitress puts bills in front of Cage and Ernesto. Cage takes both. CAGE (to the waitress) It’s on me. The waitress leaves. ERNESTO My Dad didn’t learn how to read and write. Until his health allowed, he’d been working construction – as a common worker. He dreamed that his kids would get educated, and used to put aside money for our schooling. I graduated from the college with honors. I had to decide what graduate school to choose - Harvard or the University of San Francisco. I didn’t want to leave California and go to the north-east, where as I knew it winters are cold - and a very different climate. But my Dad said to me – ‘Go to Boston. Just imagine this – the foreman asks me – where’s your boy studying? And I tell him - at Harvard. And let the whole crew hear it.’ So I ended up at Harvard. 153

CAGE But, what about the climate? ERNESTO In my opinion, the climate is awful there. I never got used to it. I counted the days… May be that is why I got my Ph.D. in three years. CAGE How do you like the local climate? ERNESTO It’s OK with me. CAGE Thank you, Ernesto. ERNESTO For what? CAGE I know what I’m thanking you for. Yes, what happened to your face? ERNESTO My face... I had a hard landing while hang gliding. CAGE Wait a minute, Walter told me the same thing – word for word. ERNESTO Yeah, we collided. 154

CAGE Collided? In the air? ERNESTO No, while landing. CAGE I see. EXT. RAILWAY STATION - DAY Cranes unload railway cars. They lift containers from railway platforms and put them on trailers. Trailers drive off one by one. Crane picks up container SR-312 and put it on a trailer. The trailer pulls. INT. TOWER – ZERO LEVEL HALL - DAY Ernesto and Rachel wearing in light spacesuits helmets strapped to their belts - head the passenger elevator. INT. ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS Ernesto and Rachel enter the elevator. ERNESTO Although I’ve been there many times, it didn’t become a routine for me. And, apparently, won’t become. RACHEL I’m very much excited. I couldn’t even fall asleep 155

last night. And then in my dream, I saw the Earth, as it is seen from outer space. And some wonderful music was playing, but I don’t remember it. In my dream, it seemed that I’d never forget the tune... And when I opened my eyes, it was still playing in my ears. But then, it disappeared. ERNESTO It’s familiar to me... (pointing out to the armchair) Have a seat. Buckle up. Albeit the fact that the passenger elevator acceleration is moderate, still one feels it. Ernesto and Rachel sit down and fasten seat belts. RACHEL It’s a comfortable ride. ERNESTO When I immerse myself in these chairs, I always feel sleepy. Ready? Elevator doors close. Light hum is heard. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) Close your eyes. Relax. Think of something pleasant. EXT. THE TOWER - CHECKPOINT CONTINUOUS Trailers enter the site. The trailer carrying container SR-312 safely passes the entry control 156

and heads to the unloading platform on the lower level. INT. CAGEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Phone rings. Cage picks up. CAGE Yes. WILLIAM (O.S.) Mr. Cage, this is William Serpinski of the System Security Department. CAGE Yes, William. WILLIAM (O.S.) There was a system work interruption a couple of minutes ago. CAGE I see. WILLIAM (O.S.) Now, we know what station it's been initiated from. CAGE What station is it? WILLIAM (O.S.) Mr. Cage, it is the station CA-0102. Your son, Vincent works on it. 157

CAGE Are you sure? WILLIAM (O.S.) Yes, Mr. Cage. Beat. CAGE Thank you, William. Cage sits motionless for a few seconds. Then picks up phone and dials a number. Long beeps are heard, then, an answering machine turns on. VINCENT (O.S.) You’ve dialed Vincent Cage’s work number… INT. VINCENT’S CUBICLE - CONTINUOUS There is nobody in the cubicle. A cup of coffee and a cell phone are on the table. The answering machine light is blinking. VINCENT (O.S.) Please leave your name, phone number and a short message after a tone. If the matter is urgent, please dial my cell phone number... INT. CAGE’S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Cage dials a phone number. Several long beeps are heard. 158

INT. VINCENT’S CUBICLE - CONTINUOUS Cell phone rings. INT. LOWER LEVEL OF THE TOWER CONTINUOUS Crane lifts up container SR-312 and lowers it to the ground. A forklift picks it up and moves it into the freight elevator. Trailers keep on coming – one after another. INT. CAGE’S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Cage pushes an intercom device button. RICHARD (O.S.) Captain Richard Gibbs, security service. CAGE Richard, is Walter off today? RICHARD (O.S.) No, Mr. Cage, Mr. Winter isn’t at his work place currently - he is inspecting the site from the air. CAGE Richard, I’ll ask you to find my son. If you find him, let me know. RICHARD (O.S.) Is Vincent at the site? 159

CAGE It’s not clear. He doesn’t pick up. RICHARD (O.S.) Roger that. CAGE Yes, Richard, take him into custody. RICHARD (O.S.) Do you mean to get Vincent arrested? CAGE Yes. RICHARD (O.S.) Roger that. Cage leans back in his chair. His face gets pale. He is breathing heavily. Cage pushes an intercom device button. CAGE Ernie. Beat. CAGE (CONTINUED) Damn it! Cage picks up a phone and dials a number. INT. PASSENGER ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS 160

Ernesto and Rachel are in the armchairs. Cell phone rings. ERNESTO Ernesto Gomez. CAGE (O.S.) Ernie, where are you? ERNESTO I'm in the elevator, Mr. Cage. Rachel and I are going up to the Midway Platform. CAGE (O.S.) Rachel? ERNESTO Yes, Mr. Cage. I told you, that we… INT. CAGE’S OFFICE – CONTINUOUS CAGE Right. Ernie, William just told me that another system outage occurred. They managed to find out what computer it originated from. ERNESTO (O.S.) Really? CAGE It was my son's computer. ERNESTO (O.S.) Vincent’s computer? Did I hear that correctly? 161

CAGE Yes. INT. PASSENGER ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS ERNESTO It must be a mistake. Did you speak to Vincent? CAGE (O.S.) No. He's gone. Guards are looking for him. Bad business, Ernie... I'm afraid it’s an act of sabotage. ERNESTO Act of sabotage? CAGE (O.S.) Somebody is trying to smuggle something onto the site. ERNESTO But we didn’t find anything after the first outage. CAGE (O.S.) Put yourself in place of malefactors. They shut the system off and see that we search containers up. Then they cut it off for the second time. We didn’t do checking, believing that it was caused be a glitch in electronics. Now, they think that the coast is clear and during the third outage smuggle in what they intended to get into the site, a bomb, for example. We need to immediately check the containers up. 162

ERNESTO Mr. Cage, how much time has passed since the outage? INT. CAGE’S OFFICE – CONTINUOUS CAGE I can’t say it for sure, but I think that half an hour, maybe more. ERNESTO (O.S.) I'm afraid that the containers are already in the freight elevator and going up. CAGE Already? ERNESTO (O.S.) Yes, we work in a nonstop mode now. CAGE Then, we need to return them. ERNESTO (O.S.) Mr. Cage, do we have time for this? If there’s really an explosive device, it can fire at any time. CAGE What do you suggest? INT. PASSENGER ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS ERNESTO I’ll intercept the containers. 163

CAGE (O.S.) Ernie... I have no right to ask you for sacrifices, but everything is at stake. Just... be careful... And please, send Rachel down. ERNESTO I will do that, Mr. Cage. Ernesto puts the phone into his pocket. RACHEL Has something happened? ERNESTO I'm afraid - yes. I'm sorry, Rachel, but we have to cancel the walk – due to some unforeseen circumstances. Ernesto pushes elevator controls buttons. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) I'll go out on the 7th level and you will have to go down. Believe me, I'm sorry. The elevator stops, the door opens. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) Rachel, when I get out, push the ‘express down’ button and immediately, take your seat. Don’t forget to buckle up. Once you are on the ground floor, immediately leave the Tower. Do you understand me? 164

RACHEL Ernesto, what does it all mean? ERNESTO Rachel, I'm sorry, but I don’t have any time for explanations. Just do what I ask you to do. INT. 7th LEVEL HALL – CONTINUOUS Ernesto comes out of the elevator and heads to the control panel. Rachel follows him. RACHEL I understand that something extraordinary happened. I won’t leave you, you may need my help. ERNESTO No, Rachel, no! Ernesto turns on the control panel. RACHEL Tell me, what is going on? ERNESTO We assume that there is a bomb in the freight elevator. Any minute the elevator will be here – I’m programming its stop. I have to find the device and defuse it. Do you understand this now? I’m asking you to go down. RACHEL (pointing out to one of the screens) 165

Who is that? The screen shows a man lying on the floor. ERNESTO (looking at the screen) A man in the freight elevator? RACHEL It’s Vinnie! It’s his shirt! ERNESTO Vincent? In the elevator? RACHEL This is him! Come on! INT. CAGE’S OFFICE - CONTINUOUS Phone rings. Cage picks up the receiver. RICHARD (O.S.) Richard Gibbs, Security Service. CAGE Have you found Vincent? RICHARD (O.S.) Mr. Cage, we were not able to find him. The search continues. We were trying to identify his location by his cell phone signal, but he left it in his cubicle. CAGE So, he doesn’t want us to know where he is. 166

RICHARD (O.S.) Probably. Now, we are checking surveillance cameras. However, this will take time. CAGE I suspect he’s left the site. Richard, announce that this is a state of emergency. RICHARD (O.S.) Mr. Cage, may I ask… CAGE There is every reason to believe that a diversion is in progress. The personnel should leave the site without delay. RICHARD (O.S.) Roger that, Mr. Cage. Cage weakens his tie. Perspiration appears on his forehead. INT. 7th LEVEL HALL – CONTINUOUS Ernesto and Rachel run down the hallway heading for the freight elevator. Their path blocks a door. Ernesto dials a code, but the sliding door does not open. Ernesto enters the code again. The door remains closed. ERNESTO What’s wrong with it? 167

Ernesto pulls out his cell phone and looks at the display. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) Damn it! The state of emergency is announced, doors are locked. Ernesto hits his fist against the door. RACHEL What are we to do now? ERNESTO I don’t know… RACHEL Vinnie… Is there any way that we can get there? ERNESTO The only way is to go outside. RACHEL Let’s go, then! Ernesto and Rachel rush to the door leading outside. ERNESTO (trying to open the door) Thanks God! It’s unlocked! RACHEL And now - what? How do we... 168

ERNESTO Installers have left brackets in the wall – it’s kind of stairs. We just need to walk about 60 feet. RACHEL Brackets? ERNESTO (looking closely at Rachel) Rachel, listen, I’ll go there alone, and you'll wait for me here. RACHEL No, I'm going with you! ERNESTO All right then. Put on the helmet, there is always a strong wind outside. Ernesto and Rachel put on helmets. Now, they talk over the radio. Ernesto opens the door. Wind breaks into the opening. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) Well, let's go. Ernesto grabs a bracket and gets outside. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) Rachel, grab the bracket. RACHEL Ernesto... please... give me a minute. 169

ERNESTO Of course. Rachel cautiously approaches the doorway, and then she looks down and squeezes her eyes shut. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) No, Rachel, you need to open your eyes. Don’t look down. You look at the bracket. Rachel's hand grabs the bracket. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) Go ahead. EXT. TOWER - WALL - CONTINUOUS Stepping cautiously from one bracket to another Ernesto and Rachel move along the wall. Halfway is passed. A strong gust of wind makes Rachel to stop. Her right foot slips from the bracket, but she manages not to fall down. RACHEL Ernesto, I can’t go on. ERNESTO You are doing great! RACHEL I... I can’t... any more. Ernesto goes back to Rachel. 170

ERNESTO Take a break. You squeeze the bracket too hard. Your hands got numb. Loosen the grip a little bit. RACHEL I can’t… Ernesto embraces Rachel with his left arm. ERNESTO (his voice is gentle) You can... you can. You told me once that you were doing climbing in the Alps. Do you remember? Just imagine that you are not at the 7 kilometers altitude, but, let’s say, at 7 feet or even 7 inches altitude. Would you manage it then? RACHEL (with a faint smile) I would. ERNESTO Then, you’ll do it now. EXT. TOWER - WALL - CONTINUOUS Wide shot. Two tiny figures in space suits are slowly moving along the Tower’s surface. A small airplane with the inscription "The Tower" on its wings is seen far below. A hot air balloon is hanging in the distance. INT. 7th LEVEL HALL – CONTINUOUS 171

Door opens. Ernesto appears in the doorway. He helps Rachel to get inside. Rachel falls to the floor. ERNESTO Rachel, we must go! Come on! Ernesto helps Rachel to get to her feet. Ernesto and Rachel run down the hallway to the freight elevator. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS Ernesto and Rachel see Vincent lying on the floor unconscious. His nose is bleeding. RACHEL Vinnie! ERNESTO There is an oxygen mask, over there, behind the glass. Come on! Rachel passes over Ernesto the mask. He applies it to Vincent’s face. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) Hold the mask. Press it down well. Vincent wakes up. He looks at Rachel and Ernesto without comprehension. RACHEL Vinnie! 172

VINCENT Rachel? RACHEL Tell me, what happened? ERNESTO Vincent, can you explain what were you doing in the elevator? VINCENT Walter... ERNESTO Walter? What - Walter? VINCENT Something isn’t right here... Walter... I saw him entering the freight elevator. What did he do there? ERNESTO Walter? In the elevator? Explain it to me clearly! VINCENT I was coming back from lunch... INT. TOWER - ZERO LEVEL, THEN LOWER LEVEL - DAY (FLASHBACK) Vincent walks down a hallway heading to his cubicle. He has an iPhone and a coffee cup in his hands. Vincent looks up from iPhone and sees that Walter going out of Vincent’s cubicle. Entering the cubicle, Vincent leaves the coffee and iPhone on the 173

table and goes out, heading to the hallway, where Walter has disappeared. Having found Walter, he follows him, without giving up his location. Walter walks down the stairs to the lower level. Vincent follows him walking empty lower level hallways. Finally, Walter reaches the unloading area. Without revealing himself, he watches the process of unloading. When workers leave the area, Walter goes to the elevator door and, having looked around, gets inside. Vincent is watching him out of hiding. A couple of minutes later Walter walks out and starts his return trip. After he leaves, Vincent enters the elevator. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS Suddenly, the elevator door closes. Some noise is heard. The elevator begins vibrating. Vincent gets pressed down to the floor. A pain grimace appears on his face. Vincent loses consciousness. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR â&#x20AC;&#x201C; RETURN TO THE PRESENT Ernesto, Rachel, and Vincent are in the elevator. ERNESTO The freight elevator acceleration is much higher than that of the passenger. You're lucky to be alive. VINCENT What's going on? Do you understand? ERNESTO 174

I’m afraid that a diversion is in progress. It looks like Walter is behind it. Using your computer he turned off the system to bring the container with an explosive device in. He entered the elevator to start the clock mechanism. It’s unknown about when will it fire, but I suspect that it will be happening pretty soon. The plan is: you and Rachel go down. And I’ll try to find and defuse the bomb. Is it clear? VINCENT No. I'm staying with you and Rachel goes down. RACHEL I'm staying with you, too. ERNESTO It’s an order! You two – go down! VINCENT I’m not going anywhere. RACHEL Me neither. ERNESTO God knows, it's your decision... I'm sending the elevator up with a modest acceleration. VINCENT What for? ERNESTO The higher the bomb went off, the less the damage 175

to the Tower will be. Ernesto goes to the controls and pushes buttons. The elevator doors close. It is set in motion. Ernesto pulls out his cell phone and dials a number. Long beeps are heard, no one picks up. Ernesto dials another number. RICHARD (O.S.) Captain Richard Gibbs… ERNESTO Richard, this is Ernesto. Mr. Cage doesn’t pick up. Please check, what is going on over there. Second – take Walter Winter into custody. RICHARD (O.S.) Walter? Into custody? Ernesto, such an order can only be given by the boss. ERNESTO Richard! It must be done! Under my responsibility! RICHARD (O.S.) Alright. Tell me what is going on? ERNESTO Later, Richard! Later! Ernesto puts the cell phone into his pocket. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) (seeing that Vincent's teeth are chattering from cold) 176

Put on a suit. There, in the cabinet. Vincent goes to the closet and puts a spacesuit on. Ernesto opens the nearest container and illuminates its content with a flashlight. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) How can it look like? VINCENT I’ve no idea. ERNESTO We have no choice. Let's begin. EXT. AIR SPACE NEAR THE TOWER CONTINUOUS "Cessna" - inscription "THE TOWER" on its fuselage – circles the Tower. INT. AIRPLANE’S COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS Walter is at controls. A laptop is mounted to the right side of the dashboard. EXT. ONE OF THE HILLS NEAR THE TOWER CONTINUOUS Two young men are setting up filming equipment. Film camera on a tripod aims at the Tower. The men see Walter’s plane circling the Tower. One of the young men’s cell phone rings. He puts it to his ear. 177

INT. COCKPIT – CONTINUOUS Walter dials a number. WALTER Steve, how things are going? EXT. HILL – CONTINUOUS One of the young men – his name is STEVE – speaks over his cell phone. STEVE In order, Walt. WALTER (O.S.) Are you ready? STEVE Yes we are. The light is good today. WALTER (O.S.) 36 minutes to the event. Turn on the camera in 30 minutes. STEVE Got it. EXT. AIR SPACE NEAR THE TOWER CONTINUOUS Hot air balloon is hanging at some distance from the Tower. A man with a camera is in its basket. 178

The camera aims at the Tower. Cell phone rings. The man – his name is ANDY - puts it to his ear. WALTER (O.S.) Andy, how are you? ANDY I’m fine, Walt. INT. COCKPIT – CONTINUOUS WALTER Start shooting in 30 minutes. ANDY (O.S.) Roger that. WALTER Good luck. INT. CAGE’S OFFICE – CONTINUOUS Cage's head rests on the table-cover. His body is motionless. SECRETARY (O.S.) (speaking over the intercom) Mr. Cage, here is Dr. Buckley. Beat. SECRETARY (CONTINUED) Mr. Cage. Mr. Cage! 179

The secretary looks into the office. SECRETARY (CONTINUED) Oh, Gosh! Dr. Buckley enters the office. Then, Richard Gibbs runs into it. RICHARD (to the secretary) Call the medics! Come on! The secretary runs out of the office. Dr. Buckley checks Cage’s pulse. Then he and Richard take Cage under his arms and lay down on the floor. Buckley weakens his tie, unbuttons his jacket, and starts the artificial respiration and chest compressions procedure. The secretary comes back. She is sobbing. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS Ernesto, Rachel, and Vincent are checking on one of the container’s content. VINCENT A futile exercise. Vincent puts his hand into his pocket. VINCENT (CONTINUED) Where is my cell phone? Ernesto, can I use yours? Ernesto hands over his cell phone to Vincent. 180

Vincent dials. VINCENT (CONTINUED) Hello! Walter! Beat. VINCENT (CONTINUED) Walter! I know you're there! INT. COCKPIT – CONTINUOUS Walter looks at his cell phone display. WALTER Why are you yelling? VINCENT (O.S.) Walter, I saw you entering the freight elevator. What were you doing there? WALTER You saw me? Did you? As I understand it you were visiting Mr. Youssef at this time. VINCENT (O.S.) Youssef? You know Youssef? WALTER I know him very well. VINCENT (O.S.) So, it was you who gave him my phone number! Ah, now I see! You have arranged today’s meeting so 181

that you could freely use my computer! WALTER May be. Out of pure curiosity, why didn’t you go to meet our mutual friend? VINCENT (O.S.) I’ve solved my problems without Youssef’s help. I went to the police. WALTER Congratulations! And where are you now? VINCENT (O.S.) I’m in the freight elevator. WALTER Really? You picked a wrong place at a wrong time. By sending you to Youssef, I was trying to save your life. But as I see it, you decided otherwise. Or someone else decided for us. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS Vincent turns on the speakerphone so that Ernesto and Rachel could hear the conversation. VINCENT We know that there is a bomb in one of the containers. Tell, which one is it in? WALTER (O.S.) You have the correct information, but I can’t help 182

you. It’s remains a little more than 26 minutes to the event. Sorry, Vincent. And goodbye. VINCENT We’ll find it! WALTER (O.S.) Don’t bother yourself, the device is well disguised, you’d have to disassemble units to find it - but you don’t have time for it. VINCENT Walter! Walter... this shouldn’t happen... You... your name will be cursed... You’ll find no place on the earth to hide. You’ll be burning in hell – eternally! WALTER (O.S.) You believe in all this? Then, pray. It's about the time. Ernesto takes the phone out of Vincent’s hands. ERNESTO Walter, this is Ernesto. We know all. You can’t escape responsibility. INT. COCKPIT – CONTINUOUS WALTER What difference does it make? ERNESTO (O.S.) Walter, Walter... think of what will happen! 183

WALTER It’s a pity that your brother isn’t there with you. ERNESTO (O.S.) What? My brother? WALTER It’s because of scoundrels like him that hundreds of thousands departed this world. ERNESTO (O.S.) Walter, think of those who are at the site now workers, tourists... WALTER Why should I care about them? Why should I care about their senseless, useless lives? INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS ERNESTO It’s not for us to decide whom to live and whom to die. WALTER (O.S.) Why not ‘for us’? ERNESTO It’s up to Him to decide, who has breathed life into us. WALTER (O.S.) Here's what you are talking about. Has He designed us like we are? - Greedy, lustful, hungry 184

for pleasure, for booze, for pot, or for anything stronger? I doubt that He is happy with His creation. He’d hardly blame me. ERNESTO This isn’t true! Every human being’s life is a divine miracle! WALTER (O.S.) You say, it’s a miracle? It’s only a possibility of a miracle at birth, a promise - always left unfulfilled. We inevitably slip into abomination and bestiality! ERNESTO Walter! Don’t do it! I’m begging you – don’t do it! So many people put so much into this endeavor – their talents, skills, their aspirations… WALTER The Tower’s construction is against His will. He stopped the Babylon Tower erection once. But you like ants working on a heap - keep scurrying on and on. It's not my decision. I'm only doing His will. Walter hangs up. Ernesto kneels. ERNESTO Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us. Do not forsake me, O Lord! O my God, be not far from me! Vincent stands motionless - his hands against the wall. Tears stream down Rachel’s face. Ernesto keeps on praying. 185

INT. ZERO LEVEL - HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS Medics wheel a stretcher with Cage on it down the hallway. INT. TOWER – ZERO LEVEL - CONTINUOUS Medics put the stretcher into an ambulance. Dr. Buckley gets into it. The ambulance drives off. EXT. TOWER - WIDE SHOT - CONTINUOUS Signal lights flashing on the Tower. Siren sounds. Flares go up. Helicopters hang in the air. Honking fire trucks rush to the Tower. People are leaving the site. Human streams flow to the parking lots. Cars drive off in a hurry. Police regulate traffic, preventing jams. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS Vincent turns to Ernesto and shakes his shoulders. VINCENT Ernesto, think! Think of what can be done! Ernesto looks at his wrist watch. ERNESTO We’ve time to get to the 8th level. VINCENT And, what’s then? 186

Ernesto pushes the elevator control buttons. ERNESTO We’ll get out there and send the elevator up at the maximum speed. We’ll leave the Tower in a rescue glider. It’s our last chance! Everyone looks at the altimeter display. Running digits show that the elevator is nearing the 8th level. EXT. AIR SPACE NEAR THE TOWER CONTINUOUS "Cessna" makes a wide circle around the Tower. INT. COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS Walter holds the steering wheel with his left hand; his right hand rests on the laptop’s keyboard. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS The elevator suddenly stops. «STOP!» sign begins to flash. ERNESTO Holy Virgin! VINCENT What happened? Ernesto rushes to the controls and begins to push 187

buttons frantically. ERNESTO The system... it has blocked freight elevators. VINCENT And nothing can be done? ERNESTO From here – nothing can be done. VINCENT Who can unblock them? ERNESTO The boss has the code. I don’t know who else. Wait, Walter knows the code. VINCENT Walter? It was him! He has blocked it! Hurry, call Dad! Come on! Ernesto pulls out his cell phone and dials a number. Long beeps are heard, but no one picks up. ERNESTO Mr. Cage doesn’t pick up. RACHEL Why? Something isn’t right over there. VINCENT Call his secretary, Margie! 188

Ernesto dials. INT. CAGE’S OFFICE - RECEPTION ROOM CONTINUOUS There is no one in the reception room. Phone rings, the answering machine turns on. SECRETARY (O.S.) You have reached Mr. Cage’s office. Unfortunately, we can’t take your call at the moment. Please leave your name, your phone number… INT. HALLWAY - CONTINUOUS Camera moves to the hallway. Not a soul there, doors are wide open. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS Ernesto turns the cell phone off. ERNESTO Margie isn’t there. VINCENT Why? ERNESTO The state of emergency is declared. Everybody has left the site. VINCENT Everybody? And no one is there? 189

ERNESTO No one. The system is in the automatic mode. Tell me, does your father have a cell phone? I have never saw Mr. Cage using it. VINCENT He doesn’t have a cell phone. It’s one of his quirks. What’s now? What do we do? ERNESTO I’m calling Will. Ernesto dials. EXT. HIGHWAY - CONTINUOUS Scores of vehicles are on the highway. They barely crawl. INT. WILLIAM SERPINSKI’S CAR – CONTINUOUS William is at the wheel. His cell phone rings. WILLIAM William Sierpinski. ERNESTO (O.S.) Will! This is Ernesto. We need your help! WILLIAM Ernie? You need my help? Tell me what’s going on? 190

ERNESTO (O.S.) Will, listen, we - I, Vincent and Rachel - are in the freight elevator between the 7th and the 8th levels. There is a bomb in one of the containers, in which one - we don’t know. Only a few minutes left before the explosion. We need to get to the 8th level. But the system has blocked the elevators. Will, is there a chance to unlock them? WILLIAM If I didn’t see what is going on around, I would have thought that you're kidding me. ERNESTO (O.S.) Will! We’re not joking! Can you do anything? WILLIAM If only to hack the system. ERNESTO (O.S.) Can you do it? WILLIAM I can. I know the trick. But I'm in a traffic jam. I don’t have a computer here. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS Ernesto’s phone is in the speakerphone mode, so that Vincent and Rachel can hear the conversation. ERNESTO Call somebody! Tell him what to do! 191

WILLIAM (O.S.) Whom can I call? Everybody is on the road; we are all running from the Tower! ERNESTO Think, Will! Think! There must be a solution! RACHEL What if to call Brittany? VINCENT Right! She’s at home, she’s on sick leave! Vincent grabs the phone. VINCENT (CONTINUED) Will, this is Vincent. Call Brittany! Her phone is 618-235-7814. Just give me a moment to let her know. Vincent dials. VINCENT (CONTINUED) Brit! BRITTANY (O.S.) Vinnie! I tried to call you. What is going on over there? VINCENT Brit! Please shut up and listen to me. Turn on your laptop. Will… Will Serpinski will call you in a moment and tell you what to do. It all depends on you. I’ll tell you all later. 192

INT. WILLIAM’S CAR - CONTINUOUS William dials a number on his cell phone. WILLIAM Brittany, this is William. Go to the Tower site. INT. BRITTANY’S APARTMENT - CONTINUOUS Brittany leans towards her laptop. Her neck is in a corset. BRITTANY Just a second… Done! WILLIAM (O.S.) Click on ‘Administration’. BRITTANY Got it. WILLIAM (O.S.) Now – ‘Service entrance’. BRITTANY Service entrance... service entrance. Here it is! WILLIAM (O.S.) Enter the password – ‘Babylon number sign 002’. All in one word. BRITTANY Number sign… 193

WILLIAM (O.S.) No – just put a sign! BRITTANY I see. There! WILLIAM (O.S.) What do you see? BRITTANY It asks for a code. WILLIAM (O.S.) I’m going to give you the code, just be attentive: 003ST. BRITTANY 003ST WILLIAM (O.S.) 430QD BRITTANY 430QD WILLIAM (O.S.) 971PM BRITTANY 971PM - done! WILLIAM (O.S.) Now, hit ‘Enter’. 194

INT. WILLIAM’S CAR – CONTINUOUS BRITTANY (O.S.) Done! WILLIAM Click on ‘Transport systems’. Do you see ‘Freight elevators’? BRITTANY (O.S.) Wait a second... Yes, I see it. WILLIAM (O.S.) Click – ‘Unlock’. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS The ‘STOP!’ sign stops flashing, the elevator sets in motion. VINCENT Yes! Yes! Vincent, Ernesto, and Rachel celebrate their victory. Vincent grabs the phone. VINCENT (CONTINUED) Brit! You're a good sport! BRITTANY (O.S.) Vinnie! Tell me, are you in danger? VINCENT 195

Brit! Later, I’ll tell you all later! You saved us! EXT. HIGHWAY – CONTINUOUS William gets out of his car and looks at the Tower. Drivers begin to honk. A policeman comes up to him. INT. COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS Walter looks at the laptop's screen. He watches the elevator movement diagram. Walter puts his hand on the keyboard. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS Vincent, Ernesto and Rachel watch the altimeter display. VINCENT Come on! Just a little bit more! When it is just 7 meters to the 8th level left, the elevator suddenly stops, lights go out. EXT. TOWER - CONTINUOUS Signals and all other lights go out on the Tower. Only fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances’ emergency lights keep on flashing. INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS Ernesto lights up a flashlight. 196

VINCENT No! No! ERNESTO Holy Virgin! It’s over… VINCENT No! I don’t want to! I don’t want to! ERNESTO He’s won. Ernesto stands leaning on a console. Sweat flows down his face. Rachel comes up to sobbing Vincent and hugs him. ERNESTO (CONTINUED) I promised Mr. Cage, to send you Rachel downstairs. I haven’t kept my word. I'm sorry... I want to tell you, I'm grateful to the Heavens that I met you. In my entire life, I have never met anybody better than you. I wouldn’t usually say this... But... but, I fear, there’ll be no another opportunity. Rachel puts her hand on Ernesto’s shoulder. Vincent, Rachel, and Ernesto stand in silence embracing each other. A minute passes. Vincent looks at the cell phone in his hand. Then he dials a number. VINCENT Walter, this is Vincent. Rachel is here with us. 197

WALTER (O.S.) What? VINCENT I thought you'd want to say goodbye to her… EXT. AIR SPACE NEAR THE TOWER CONTINUOUS The plane nearly crashes into the Tower. Walter manages to avoid collision by making a sharp turn at the last second. But, “Cessna” breaks down into a dive – tumbling randomly, it is approaching the ground. At the last moment, Walter manages to regain control of the aircraft. INT. COCKPIT – CONTINUOUS Walter squeezes the control wheel. WALTER (his voice is hoarse) What’s she doing there? INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS VINCENT She and Ernesto were going to the Midway Platform. Sister… Vincent passes the phone to Rachel. RACHEL 198

Walter! Walter! INT. COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS Gritting his teeth Walter keeps silence. RACHEL (O.S.) Walter, please help us! INT. FREIGHT ELEVATOR – CONTINUOUS RACHEL Walter, I don’t believe it... I don’t believe it. WALTER (O.S.) It’s in container SR-312 in the left side corner. A big gray box marked BQ. You’ll also need the code. RACHEL The code? What code? WALTER (O.S.) The code... it’s your name. Just hurry up, you have 52 seconds left. RACHEL (to Ernesto and Vincent) Container SR-312, there in the corner. Come on! Vincent throws the container doors open. RACHEL (CONTINUED) It’s in the gray box. Here! Vinnie, take the cover off! 199

Vincent takes the lid off the box. VINCENT Here it is! Flashing indicator light shows that the device is on. RACHEL We need to enter the code! Rachel – her fingers trembling - enters the code. Indicator light stops flashing. Exhausted Rachel collapses onto the floor. Suddenly, the lights come on and the elevator begins to move. EXT. AIR SPACE NEAR THE TOWER CONTINUOUS Walter’s aircraft performs the "inside loop". Suddenly, there appear two F-35 fighters. INT. FIGHTER’S COCKPIT - CONTINUOUS The fighter pilot catches “Cessna” in the rear sight. PILOT GR-12, I see the target. VOICE (O.S.) GR-12, follow the target. PILOT Got it. 200

EXT. AIR SPACE NEAR THE TOWER CONTINUOUS The second fighter pilot signals to Walter that he should land. Accompanied by the fighters Walter’s plane heads to the airfield. EXT. AIRFIELD - CONTINUOUS Walter’s plane lands. The jet fighters leave producing terrible roar. Walter’s plane stops. Security cars – signaling - approach the plane at a high speed. Walter gets out of the cockpit. Guards handcuff him and put into one of the cars. Cars depart. INT. TOWER – ZERO LEVEL – AN HOUR LATER Ernesto, Vincent, and Rachel walk out of the elevator. They head to the exit. At that time, the security cars arrive. Walter accompanied by guards is in one of them. They hand him over to the police. Rachel’s and Walter’s eyes meet. A silent scene follows. Police put Walter into the police car. The car drives off. Making her way through the crowd runs Brittany. VINCENT Brit! BRITTANY Vinnie! Vincent embraces Brittany. 201

BRITTANY (CONTINUED) Oh! It hurts! VINCENT I'm sorry, Brit! Brittany and Vincent shed tears of happiness. People welcome Rachel, Vincent, and Ernesto. They take pictures and film them on their cell phones. EXT. RIVER – DAY In a complete silence, the camera moves over the river surface, following its bends. River’s banks are overgrown with willows. INT. HOSPITAL ROOM - DAY Cage lies in bed unconscious. Lillian sits in an arm chair next to the bed. She drops a book onto her lap and looks - lost in thoughts - through the window. Trying not to make noise Rachel and Vincent enter the room. Rachel has a cup of tea in her hands. She puts it on the table in front of Lillian. Then, she kisses her. Rachel and Vincent look at their father. RACHEL You need to get some rest. I'll sit here. LILLIAN Don’t worry, Rae, I’m fine. Rachel and Vincent leave the room. Cage opens his 202

eyes and moves his hand. Lillian leans toward him. CAGE (His speech is slow, his voice is weak) Do you know where I've been? LILLIAN No. CAGE Do you remember us go kayaking? LILLIAN I do. It was long time ago. CAGE What was the river’s name? LILLIAN The river? CAGE Shannon… LILLIAN Shenandoah. CAGE Right, Shenandoah. Was it in Virginia? LILLIAN Yes, it was in Virginia. We’ve just graduated… CAGE 203

Do you remember how quiet it was there? LILLIAN (pressing her cheek against husband's hand) I do. EXT. THE CLINIC BUILDING - ENTRANCE DAY Lillian, Doctor Buckley, Rachel, Ernesto, and Vincent - he rolls the wheelchair with Cage in it – go out of the clinic doors. They are heading to the van parked at curb. Margie, William Serpinski, Richard Gibbs, installers, and others stand along the path. They applaud Cage. A hanging banner reads – ‘We love you, Darth!’ INT. CAGE’S MANSION - BEDROOM – DAY Cage is in bed. Vincent enters the room. VINCENT Dad, here’s the magazine. Vincent hands the ‘Nature’ magazine to Cage. CAGE Thank you, son. VINCENT Dad, I wanted to say... I wanted to ask for your forgiveness. It was I who recommended you Walter. CAGE 204

It’s not your fault. Rather, it’s mine – it was I who failed to recognize what kind of person he is. VINCENT I’ve done a lot of things and have said a lot of words that I regret. CAGE I'll tell you a secret, there are no people, who don’t stumble or don’t do stupid things... well, especially at a certain age. Some later regret of what he or she had done, learn lessons of it, but others – don’t. That's the difference. You won’t believe it, but I and your mom were young people once. You are driven by some forces, of which you know nothing about, which you can’t cope with. You aren’t able to stop and ask yourself - where on earth are you going? Only with the years comes the ability to tame these forces. And the forces themselves calm down somewhat. I think - just don’t laugh - what if Romeo and Juliet have met not as children but as adults? - Let's say, ten years later? I think they would have found the way out and there wouldn’t be any mournful music in the end but rather, a wedding march. VINCENT Perhaps... But then, it won’t impress us the way that the original does. CAGE I agree. Beat. 205

CAGE (CONTINUED) I'm proud of youâ&#x20AC;¦ of you and Rachel. You acted heroically. VINCENT Oh please, there was no heroism in what we did. We were just trying to do something to happen. GACE You did it right. Beat. CAGE (CONTINUED) Yes, would you like to participate in the trial runs? VINCENT Of course, I would! I was going to talk to you about it. CAGE Alright, then. Let the first space crew include an astronaut by the name of Cage. VINCENT The only thing is that my court hearing will be soon. CAGE I heard about it. You did the right thing... I'll help you with the lawyer. Yes, will you introduce me to Brittany? 206

VINCENT OK. She's a little bit, how to put it - funny, but she’s a good gal. She’s going to Boston with me. CAGE To Boston? VINCENT I go to the Boston University graduate school. CAGE Really? I’m happy to hear it. But, will you come back? VINCENT You can’t run away from Her. CAGE From Her? VINCENT From the Tower, you can’t escape the gravity. CAGE I hope you and Ernesto will work well together. You have tested each other. VINCENT I hope too. CAGE There’s enough work for both of you - it's just the beginning. 207

INT. RESTAURANT - NIGHT Rachel, Vincent, Ernesto, and Brittany are at one of the tables. Vincent and Ernesto are somewhat drunk. ERNESTO I propose a toast to Rachel. If... if she went downstairs when I was sending her there, a big bang would have happened! And we won’t be sitting here – it’s for sure. VINCENT Listen to what a woman says and do the opposite. BRITTANY What? VINCENT This is what the ancients used to say. ERNESTO And I say - listen to a woman and do what she advises. Ha, ha, ha! VINCENT (to the waitress) Cocktails for everybody. (to Rachel, Ernesto and Brittany) Walter will go to jail for maaaaany years. He belongs there. By the way he’ll meet his dad there. A family reunion, so to speak. ERNESTO 208

Yes, a whole bunch of charges - terrorism, conspiracy, and so on. They have uncovered the entire network. I must say, that the FBI was up to the task. They say that the Al-Qaeda people were behind it all. VINCENT Walter is an artist in his heart. He wanted to film it all. He had set up cameras all around. For him, it's just a happening. His apartment walls are hung with the old paintings. Especially, with Bosch. He was a German - or Dutch. He lived in the Middle Ages. He painted hell. His paintings are sick. RACHEL And did Walter write poetry? VINCENT Poetry? No, he didn’t write poetry. RACHEL He said once that he was going to write verse. VINCENT Really? Now, he’ll have time for poetry, as well as for prose. BRITTANY It's so weird. You talk to a person... He smiles at you, says something... But you never know what’s on his mind. Waitress brings cocktails. 209

VINCENT (to the waitress) You are such a sweet girl. Would you like to join our company? WAITRESS Thank you. We are not allowed. The boss is here. VINCENT What a pity! BRITTANY My friend, you seem to have forgotten that you came here with a companion. VINCENT (slapping his forehead) Right! How could I’ve forgotten this? WAITRESS Excuse me. Can I take a picture of you? VINCENT Sure! Rae, Brit, wouldn’t you mind? RACHEL I don’t mind. WAITRESS You are in the papers... and on TV. VINCENT That's right - we are celebrities. We are the world saviors! 210

WAITRESS Martha, will you please take a picture of us? Waitress by the name Martha takes a picture. MARTHA Me too! VINCENT Excellent! Now the waitress takes a picture of Martha and the company. WAITRESS Thank you! VINCENT Not at all. Beat. ERNESTO Rachel, we haven’t made it to the 45th level. RACHEL I know. Next time better luck, I’m leaving for New York tomorrow. ERNESTO I'll be waiting. VINCENT 211

I’d like to drink to Ernesto. He's a great guy! INT. CAR - DAY Vincent and Rachel head to the airport in a limousine, which belongs to Cage. A chauffeur is behind the wheel. RACHEL And why not continue your studies in New York? VINCENT Under the elder sister’s supervision? No, thanks. I’m going to the Boston University, they have my major. RACHEL It’s not far away from us; we’ll be seeing each other. And what’s your major? VINCENT It’s Space Engineering. RACHEL It sounds good. VINCENT I’d also like to study philosophy. RACHEL Who is stopping you from doing it? VINCENT Nobody. There was a guy at my college – he gave us 212

lectures on philosophy. He was a bit odd, but his lectures were fun. His name was Krzysztof. And his last name is simply unpronounceable. He seems to be a Pole. RACHEL Is it about solipsism? VINCENT No. Solipsism is a joke. He was talking about the Big History. RACHEL What? VINCENT The Big History. Well, yes. For example, everyone has his or hers own history. And your family has a history. And, your city and your country - as well. But you can go even further back - the history of culture, the history of mankind, the history of life on the Earth, the history of the Earth itself, and finally, the history of the Universe. And it all is a single process and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s described as the Big History. Krzysztof used to say that we are to live in it, that is, to live in the Big History, but not only in your own microscopic one. And, in the Big World, as well, not only in our tiny world, our hangout. RACHEL How is it? What does it mean to live in the Big History? VINCENT 213

That means it should be present in all of your deeds. RACHEL I still don’t understand it – how could it be ‘present’ in what I do? VINCENT It’s simple - every step you make, every deed of yours must be correlated with the Big History, must be looked upon in its context. Krzysztof told us a story. At Christmas time, he went to buy gifts for his wife and son. He was searching for parking for some time and finally, he saw someone driving off. He stopped waiting. But suddenly some smart aleck takes the place entering from a wrong side. Krzysztof said his first impulse was to hit the invader. But then, he remembered that it was Christmas time and that he himself and the one who took his place - are completely unique beings in the Universe – with the unique ability to think, who are able to embrace with their minds this Universe. And that, perhaps, living beings with this ability exist on the Earth only – and perhaps, they do not exist anywhere else. By the way, did you know that the human brain is the most complex system in the whole Universe? RACHEL I think so. 100 billion neurons and hundreds of trillions of synapse... And each neuron in itself is a complex device. VINCENT 214

And these unique beings will fight over a parking space? Moreover, sometimes it happens that guns are brought into play and this unique brain would fly out on the pavement. RACHEL It’s a very unusual point of view. Rachel looks at a small airplane in the sky performing acrobatic stunts: "inside loop", "barrel roll", and "dive". VINCENT Yeah, it’s both unusual and unexpected... But to get into the Big History, you need to get an idea of what the cosmology, the evolution theory, the anthropology, even the quantum mechanics is. RACHEL Probably, my biology and genetics are included? VINCENT Yes, they are. Of course, it’s not easy to become an expert in all of these fields, but at least, you can move in to this goal. And while moving towards it, you are becoming a Human Being with a capital ‘H’. Rachel keeps on looking at the small airplane in the sky. VINCENT (CONTINUED) Krzysztof’s parking case is a trifle. Now, imagine this, say, Bosnians and Serbs, who recently fought 215

each other, would look upon themselves not as Bosnians and Serbs, but as the inhabitants of the Earth. They would consider the conflict not from a village or their little world point of view, but from the world’s point of view, as the world citizens. And, all other people, too. Then, wars would become impossible – as we are one race, one nation – the Earthlings. Moreover - the citizens of the Universe. We share common concerns and have common goals - to survive as species, not to destroy our planet and move further into space. Krzysztof said that humanity is going in this direction – slowly, painfully, and making mistakes – but, it is going. EXT. AIRSPACE - AIRPLANE - CONTINUOUS Close up. We see pilot in a helmet and goggles, but we don’t see his face. The engine noise ceases. Slow-motion shooting. The "Erbarme Dich" theme begins to play. We see boundless blue sky. INT. AIRPORT - CONTINUOUS Vincent and Rachel are in the airport hall. VINCENT You know, I’ve a feeling that a very long time has passed – years, since you arrived. But you stayed just three weeks with us. RACHEL It’s weird, but I’ve the same feeling. People turn around, glancing at Vincent and 216

Rachel. Someone take pictures of them with their cell phones. RACHEL (CONTINUED) We’ve been recognized. Well, it's time. Be a good boy. Rachel hugs Vincent. VINCENT Too bad you're leaving. RACHEL Honestly, I don’t want to leave, but... I have to. Rachel goes to the checking area. EXT. AIRPORT "LA GUARDIA" - NIGHT Rachel comes out of the airport and gets into a taxi cab. INT. TAXI - CONTINUOUS Taxi driver keeps on looking at Rachel in the rearview mirror. TAXI DRIVER Is it you? RACHEL Sorry? TAXI DRIVER 217

Are you Rachel Cage? RACHEL Yes, that is my name. TAXI DRIVER And it was you who’s prevented the Tower’s demolition? RACHEL Ah, this... Strictly speaking, not just me alone. TAXI DRIVER That's great! And do you remember me? I gave you a lift a couple of weeks ago. RACHEL A couple of weeks ago? TAXI DRIVER We were talking about the jackpot. RACHEL Oh, that was you? TAXI DRIVER Do you recall it? RACHEL Yes, I do. TAXI DRIVER I’ll write to Diarra that I drove you. She’ll be surprised! 218

RACHEL Is Diarra your fiancée? TAXI DRIVER Yes, she is my bride. And, my name is Mike. RACHEL I’m pleased to meet you, Mike. TAXI DRIVER And that guy... what’s his name... Walter Winter – did you know him? RACHEL A little bit. TAXI DRIVER Why do people do such things? What is going on in their minds? Can you comprehend it? RACHEL No, I don’t understand it. TAXI DRIVER Why not just to enjoy life? That you are simply alive? I get up in the morning, have my coffee and think whom I’ll give a ride today? This time I met you. And this is wonderful! I talk to all of my passengers. By the way, this is good for my English. RACHEL And how do passengers react to it? 219

TAXI DRIVER In different ways. Some keep silent. Some respond. And some even tell their stories. RACHEL You have an interesting job. TAXI DRIVER Indeed! I wouldn’t exchange it for any other. Here, there was a case… I picked up quite a young lad near the 66th street. He sat quiet, not responding to my chat. And when we stopped... he takes out his wallet, opens it, and then hands it over to me – that is - he wanted me to take it all, I don’t need it any more. I realized that something wasn’t right here. ‘Wait a minute, - I said, - Do you have problems?’ He looked at me and said nothing. ‘Get in’ - I said to him and drove him to the «Yellow Cab», where our hang out is. There is nobody at this time of a day there – all cabbies are in the streets. We sat down and drank beer; though I oughtn’t when at work. And he told me all. He had a girlfriend since his high school. And there was a friend of his, whom he knew since his childhood. He was his best friend. My passenger and the girl were going to get married, the wedding day was already chosen. But then, he discovers that she has been cheating on him with his friend. ‘What I can’t understand, – he said looking right in front of him, - they’ve been doing it right behind my back, and then calmly looked into my eyes. How could it be?’ He dropped out of college, where all three were studding, and moved to another area. But it didn’t help. He was still trying to solve his problem. He couldn’t think 220

of anything else. When we left the "Cab", I drove him through the tunnel to the Weehawken Park. Do you know this place? RACHEL Yes, I do. We've been there with my friends several times. There is an amazing Manhattan skyline view. TAXI DRIVER I agree. I can watch it for hours... So we came there. Had a walk. Then, I pointed out to the skyscrapers in the haze and said, - ‘Many people live there. There is someone's life behind each window. Someone is happy at this moment. Someone is suffering. Someone is lonely and sad. But with the time, the one who suffered will become happy, and those who were happy will run into problems. That's the way the life is. And, who knows, maybe behind one of the windows there lives a girl whom you haven’t yet met? You know nothing about her. She also doesn’t know you. But your lives lines are moving towards each other. All you need is to wait’. I told him about Uganda, about my bride and about many other things. And then, I noticed that he wasn’t sitting with downcast eyes anymore, as he did it before, he was now looking at the city in the distance. We stayed there for a long time - walking, eating hot dogs, lying on the grass... We went back in the dark. I then lost the day's takings. I said to Sam, he is our dispatcher – my car got stalled, the engine wouldn’t start. 221

RACHEL And what happened to this young man? Do you know? TAXI DRIVER To Jack? He stayed at my place for several months, and now, he works for our company. If you ever meet a cabbie by name of Jack Bailey – that’s him. EXT. STREET - CONTINUOUS The taxi stops. Rachel and the driver get out of the car. TAXI DRIVER Let me help you with your luggage. RACHEL Thank you, I can handle it myself. Rachel shakes hands with the driver. RACHEL (CONTINUED) Goodbye, Mike. You are a very good man. I wish you all the best! TAXI DRIVER Thank you, Rachel. I, too, wish you all the best. Rachel goes to the apartment building entrance. TAXI DRIVER (CONTINUED) Wait! 222

The driver runs to Rachel. TAXI DRIVER (CONTINUED) May I ask you to do me a favor? But, please promise me that you will not turn it down! RACHEL What kind of favor is it? TAXI DRIVER Will you come to my wedding? RACHEL To your wedding? I really don’t know... TAXI DRIVER Please, I’m begging you! RACHEL OK, I'll come. Thank you for the invitation. TAXI DRIVER Thank you! I’ll call Diarra right away! RACHEL Please send her my regards. INT. LABORATORY - DAY Rachel works with a sterile cabinet – a transparent cube with two holes and two sleeves for arms in the front wall, carrying out some manipulations with the test-tubes. Her cell phone rings. She can’t pick 223

it up, as her hands are busy. Rachel smiles helplessly. INT. LABORATORY - CONTINUOUS When finished with her work, Rachel takes off her robe and carefully washes her hands. Then, pulls out her cell phone and looks at its display. A surprised expression and a smile are on her face. She goes out to the hallway. INT. LABORATORY BUILDING - HALLWAY CONTINUOUS Rachel dials a number standing by the window. Through the window she sees trees in snow. RACHEL Hello, Ernesto? ERNESTO (O.S.) Hi, Rachel. RACHEL What a surprise! ERNESTO (O.S.) I'm in New York and decided to call you. RACHEL It was a good idea. How are you doing? INT. HOTEL ROOM - CONTINUOUS 224

Ernesto stands by the window - New York City panorama is in front of him. ERNESTO I’m fine, thank you. Everything is going according to the plan. As you may know, the test runs were a success. RACHEL (O.S.) Of course, I know! All channels were showing it. Congratulations! ERNESTO Thank you. I'm here to attend the conference on the Tower completion – and to deliver our report - mine and Mr. Cage’s. RACHEL (O.S.) Really? Can I come and hear the report? ERNESTO I'm sorry, but, I already made it. I’m leaving tomorrow. I wanted to call you earlier, but… RACHEL (O.S.) It's a pity! Next time, please call in advance. ERNESTO Alright. Although, I'm not sure whether there will be "the next time". INT. LABORATORY BUILDING - HALLWAY – CONTINUOUS 225

RACHEL Do you say you are flying off tomorrow? ERNESTO (O.S.) Yes, it’s an early flight. RACHEL Ernesto, could you postpone your departure for, say, two days? ERNESTO (O.S.) To postpone? RACHEL Yes. I need your... help. ERNESTO (O.S.) You need my help? RACHEL You see, I was invited to a wedding of some very good people. But I don’t know anyone there… If you agree to join me... that is, to accompany me, in short, to be my date, you would help me a lot. Although... although, I think I'm talking nonsense – why would you change your schedule? Please forgive me, and please forget about what I said. ERNESTO (O.S.) No, no! I’ll be happy to do it for you. I will postpone my departure. RACHEL Really? Thank you, Ernesto. So nice of you! 226

INT. HOTEL ROOM – CONTINUOUS ERNESTO No need to thank me. It’s I who is thankful to you… RACHEL (O.S.) Thankful? For what? ERNESTO For what? How can I put it... because... because... I’ll have an opportunity to dance with you again, and you are a wonderful partner! RACHEL (O.S.) I see! I also have to admit that dancing with a partner like you is a great pleasure. ERNESTO Thank you. RACHEL (O.S.) You know, Ernesto, I have an idea. There is a good ballroom on the 55th Street. What if we, of course, if your evening isn’t busy - meet there tonight? What do you think? ERNESTO My evening isn’t busy. RACHEL (O.S.) Then, I will see you at the Dance Palace at 8. We can also celebrate the two events – a big one, a really big one – I mean the birth of the Tower, and a 227

small one – my paper was accepted by the “Cell”. ERNESTO Certainly, we’ll do it. Only… RACHEL (O.S.) What - only? ERNESTO Only how will I live up to tonight? RACHEL (O.S.) What do you say? I'm sorry, I missed it. ERNESTO I... I’m saying... that I didn’t bring my tuxedo with me. Will you forgive me for my business suit? INT. BALLROOM - NIGHT Ernesto in a tuxedo, and Rachel wearing a luxurious ball gown are dancing the tango. INT. CAGE’S MANSION - LIBRARY - DAY Cage is in a wheelchair. Buckley is busy mixing drinks. Bootsy lies on the floor by the wheelchair. CAGE No soda, please. BUCKLEY As your doctor, I’d recommend you to limit yourself on drinks. 228

CAGE Don’t forget, my ancestors came from Scotland, and the Scots treat all of the diseases exclusively with whiskey. Caught a cold? - A good portion of whiskey will put you back on feet. If a child has an upset stomach – he also gets a spoonful of whiskey. BUCKLEY Small amounts won’t do harm. CAGE I also think so. Dr. Buckley takes his seat. BUCKLEY Following your advice... do you remember? - I recently took the Scripture from a shelf and opened it at random. And, do you know, what it was? The Tower of Babel legend - Migdal Bavel. After the Flood, mankind was a single nation, speaking the same language. When people came to the land of Shinar, they decided to build a city and a tower to heaven, to "make a name for themselves". But God interrupts the tower construction; he creates new languages, so that people could no longer understand each other. And they dispersed all over the earth. CAGE A beautiful legend. BUCKLEY 229

Yes... And you know it has a direct relationship to you and your project. CAGE Really? BUCKLEY You have taken the challenge. You started the tower to the heavens’ construction. And not only the fact that you built it is of importance here, but also, that Chinese, English, German, Russian speech, as well as Urdu and Swahili sounded at the construction site. Oh, there's a pride, an enormous one! You have won the match. He dispersed, you put together! Did I guess it right? Cage lift up his glass. CAGE Cheers. BUCKLEY You didn’t answer me. Beat. CAGE As a child, I once visited the planetarium. On a warm autumn day, we drove in a school bus to Louisville, Kentucky, to where it was situated. We were arranged in couples. I was in a pair with a girl whom I secretly loved. I remember her pleated, plaid skirt... I don’t know where she is, or what she is doing now... It was a second rate planetarium. But it didn’t 230

matter. Apparently, my imagination as a child worked well - what I saw stunned me. I imagined that I saw the Earth from an enormous height, that I was floating in space and that there was no support beneath me. This vision has often come to me in my dreams. And I would wake up happy. When President Kennedy announced the Moon Landing Program, I decided to become an astronaut. Having heard that astronauts are educated people, I began to lean on math and science. When it turned out that the congenital heart disease wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t allow me not only to fly into space but even to play for my high school football team, I wanted to commit a suicide. But I finished the high school with honors, studied at our community college and then entered MIT. Instead of becoming an astronaut, I became a businessman, and as they say, a decent one. Although I must confess that my business activities never engaged me entirely. Deep in my heart I knew it was not my calling - space flights had never left my dreams. And when I came across an article stating that, in order to master near-Earth space, and to go further into the deep space, we could build a 60 miles high tower and that there exists a material that could withstand such a load - my life regained sense of purpose. Now the Tower stands and delivery costs per pound to orbit is tens of dollars, against tens of thousands a year ago, which, no doubt, holds great promises. I mean not only in the fields of industry and business... Many people would want to get there and each would for a different reason. Some want to feel closer to God in prayer; others want to see their regions, villages, and countries from the 231

heights of heaven. Now, every man, woman, or a child – no matter where he or she lives - in Alabama, Siberia or Sumatra - will be able to circumnavigate the Earth and take a look at the giant globe and find the place where he or she was born and grew up. And, marveling at the Earth’s splendor, they will realize that they own this planet. Yes, it is huge in comparison to them, but negligible in comparison to the cosmos, where it is dashing in the dark and cold... The planet, where four billion years ago by luck the unprecedented happened – life emerged. Let’s not to fool ourselves; we are alone in the Universe. But we were lucky enough - the evolution reached the reflective, cognizing consciousness – that is us - the Homo Sapiens. Beat. Cage pats the dog. CAGE (CONTINUED) My Bootsy is a charming creature; she is surprisingly clever and kind. And you should see her racing with the neighbor's setter - how well built and beautiful her body is; how precise her movements are! But Bootsy isn’t interested in the meaning and purpose of existence. Of all the creatures only humans pose questions, study, learn, and examine. Only we’ve created the arts and science. Our mind and our eyes are the mind and the eyes of nature. It has no other mind and other eyes. Nature examines itself through us. The great mission is incumbent upon us - the mission of knowledge. But we, ourselves, are still in infancy... No, perhaps we are already in adolescence, after 232

all, we’ve passed the first test. BUCKLEY The first test? What do you mean? CAGE We haven’t destroyed life on Earth in a nuclear inferno. Beat. CAGE (CONTINUED) Now, tell me as my doctor, will you allow me to go up there? BUCKLEY I'm sorry, James… CAGE I see… Well, after all I saw it all in my dreams. EXT. THE TOWER THEN NEAR-EARTH SPACE - DAY Plays the aria "Erbarme Dich". Camera moves up along the Tower. It crosses cloud’s line and keeps on moving. The sky darkens – stars appear on it. We reach the Upper Platform and witness a space rocket launch. Now, we see the Earth as it is seen from orbit. But we keep on moving further from it. The Earth keeps on reducing in size. THE END 233

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