Project Delta

PROJECT DELTA by John Lamont

www.myspace.com/jlamont2

PROJECT DELTA written by John Lamont INT. UCLA HOSPITAL, NURSE’S STATION-NIGHT The HEAD NURSE drops a file on her desk before plopping back into her chair. Sighing she opens a file continuing research on the internet. The attending DOCTOR approaches her from the other side of the desk. DOCTOR Mr. Smith is stable again, I’ll be in the on-call room if anything changes. NURSE Yes, doctor. The doctor steps away as the nurse continues on the computer. Suddenly, the screen locks up; the nurse shakes the mouse hard in frustration. The screen blacks out for a second before returning. Then program codes start streaming across the monitor. Frantically, the nurse tries to press the Escape key. It does nothing so she follows up with hitting Control, Alt, Delete. Nothing stops the streaming codes. Continuing her futile attempt she remains unaware that the monitors behind her also stream the exact same codes. Down the hall an alarm goes off. The nurse leans forward. Quickly she turns to the monitors behind her finding them infected with the same virus. Without giving it another thought, she rushes to Mr. Smith’s room as alarms in two other rooms go off. INT. MR. SMITH’S ROOM-CONTINUOUS Mr. Smith gasps for breath as his computer-controlled ventilator has malfunctioned. Immediately she starts administrating CPR.

2 NURSE Come on, not today. (toward the door) Help! I need some help in here! The doctor returns. DOCTOR What the hell happened? NURSE I don’t know. The computers, they... She cuts herself off half out of breath. DOCTOR We have an extra ventilator in storage, down the hall. Get it, quickly. Exiting without another word, the doctor continues the CPR. INT. MAIN HALLWAY-CONTINUOUS As the nurse walks into the hall she is nearly run over by another doctor. Nurses, doctors run everywhere; people are yelling, screaming. The world spins out of control. Her vision gets blurry, but through the chaos two men in dark suits walk toward the nurses station. F.B.I. Agent JOHN AVALON a seven inch laptop. AVALON This is the place. Noticing first all the computers on the back wall, he sits behind the personal computer sitting under the desk. Avalon pulls the network cable from the back of the pc. He plugs it into the laptop before launching several application windows on this computer. One streams the codes of the virus, another a Linux-style program used for hacking and writing programs. AVALON I’m in.

3 The doctor exits Mr. Smith’s room getting swept into the chaos that enveloped the hospital. He notices the two F.B.I. Agents sitting the nurse’s station. DOCTOR What are you doing? Agent MICHAEL WARNER flashes his ID. WARNER Michael Warner, F.B.I. This is John Avalon, we’re tracking the computer virus that crippled your systems. The doctor stands speechless. AVALON Well, I got some good news and some bad news. WARNER Give it to me. AVALON The good news is that the virus hasn’t gotten to the mainframe yet. So if I can shut it down, the virus will burn out and everything will go back on-line. WARNER And the bad news? AVALON The virus has taken over my laptop and I have less than two minutes. INT. BEVERLY CENTER-NIGHT LONG CRANE SHOT pulls us from the parking area through the first two levels of the mall. It rises up through the air to the food court. INT. BEVERLY CENTER FOOD COURT-CONTINUOUS VIRUCIDE [22, white male, medium build] and LOKI [14, Asian female, petite] sit by the Starbucks booth working on laptops.

4 VIRUCIDE Okay, I’m isolating the virus. ANGLE VIRUCIDE’S COMPUTER. The computer shows several programs running. One streams the virus codes that hit the hospital, and another is compiling those codes onto a disc. Another streams IP addresses and users logged into the hospital’s mainframe. RETURN. VIRUCIDE What the...? LOKI Excalibur? What’s he doing there? VIRUCIDE I don’t know, looks to be just sitting there. Get rid of him for me. ANGLE LOKI’S COMPUTER. Loki’s computer is running the same program as Virucide’s. Only now, she takes more interest in the user logs. She enters one of the IP addresses. INT. UCLA HOSPITAL, NURSE’S STATION-CONTINUOUS Avalon is trying to hack the mainframe’s security protocols when an alarm starts beeping. He opens another window showing another user has logged into the network. AVALON Son of a bitch. WARNER Where is he? AVALON One sec. Avalon opens another window which targets and traces the user’s IP address. AVALON Beverly Hills.

5 WARNER Call me when you get a location. Warner charges from the area. EXT. UCLA HOSPITAL-CONTINUOUS Warner races out the doors to a black Dodge Charger 3.5 SXT. The engine roars to life. He fires up the lights and sirens before throwing the automatic transmission into second gear. He floors the gas shooting the car forward into the street. When he gets back up to speed he pushes the transmission back into fifth gear. INT. UCLA HOSPITAL, NURSES’S STATION-CONTINUOUS Avalon picks up his cell phone. WARNER Yeah? AVALON I have a location. Third and Beverly. WARNER That’s probably the Beverly Center. Can you be more specific? AVALON One second. INT. BEVERLY CENTER FOOD COURT-CONTINUOUS Virucide makes eye contact with Loki. VIRUCIDE He’s targeting me, get him off. ANGLE LOKI’S LAPTOP. LOKI I’ve isolated his IP. She finishes typing pressing the Enter key. INT. UCLA HOSPITAL, NURSE’S STATION-CONTINUOUS Suddenly Avalon’s screen goes blank.

6 AVALON What the...? In a rage, Avalon pushes the laptop off the desk sending is crashing to the floor. INT. BEVERLY CENTER, VALET PARKING-CONTINUES Warner slams to a halt in the valet parking area. He jumps out showing his badge to the VALET attendant. WARNER F.B.I. VALET You got it, boss. INT. BEVERLY CENTER, GROUND LEVEL-CONTINUOUS Warner pulls out his cell phone. WARNER Avalon, I’m here. INT. UCLA HOSPITAL, NURSE’S STATION-CONTINUOUS Avalon stands breathing heavy holding the phone to his ear. AVALON I lost him. He cut me off. WARNER Tell me what I’m looking for. If he’s here, I’ll find him. Avalon looks up noticing the monitors on the back wall are blank, flashing a single curser in the top left. He turns to the nurse’s pc seeing the same thing. AVALON Son of a bitch, he did it. WARNER What? Avalon looks up seeing a MAINTENANCE man helping with moving some of the equipment. He grabs his arm showing his badge.

7 AVALON Do you know where the main servers are? MAINTENANCE In the basement. INT. BEVERLY CENTER, GROUND FLOOR-CONTINUOUS Warner stands in the middle of the mall holding his cell phone. WARNER John, talk to me. AVALON I have to reset the mainframe manually. WARNER And Virucide? AVALON Go any place that has internet access. WARNER Uh...RadioShack’s don’t anymore. Warner looks up seeing a T-Mobile kiosk. WARNER WiFi. He turns sharply looking up at the Starbucks in the food court. Loki is staring down at him. WARNER I got it! He runs for the stairs. INT. BEVERLY CENTER, FOOD COURT-CONTINUOUS Loki turns away from the glass partition after seeing Warner make a dive for the steps. LOKI I think they found us.

8 VIRUCIDE Act calm. Pack you stuff, and I’ll meet you later. LOKI What about you? VIRUCIDE I’ll be fine. I have to finish compiling the virus. LOKI Okay. She packs her laptop into her backpack walking away just as Warner makes it to the food court. INT. UCLA HOSPITAL, BASEMENT-CONTINUOUS The maintenance man opens the cage that houses the mainframe. A small terminal with a blinking curser in the upper left corner sits aside the mainframe. Avalon loads a USB Drive into the face of the terminal. A small text based program loads. Logging in he hacks the terminal directly. Within the seconds the mainframe fires up allowing the terminal to load it’s normal operating system. MAINTENANCE That’s it? AVALON That’s it. INT. BEVERLY CENTER, FOOD COURT-CONTINUOUS Warner dials his cell phone. AVALON Yes? WARNER It’s me. Tell me what I’m looking for. AVALON Look for anyone suspicious on a laptop.

9 WARNER Islamo-fascists and neo-nazis I can profile. Tell me how to profile a super hacker? AVALON Young, male. Probably late teens or early twenties. WARNER (sarcastic) That really describes you. AVALON Just keep everyone within 300 feet there, till I get there. WARNER Three hundred feet? AVALON That’s the standard range of WiFi. I’m on my way. Warner hangs up as he walks to the edge of the railing. Looking down he can see a large portion of the mall. Virucide finishes compiling the virus to his USB drive. He closes the lid pulling out the USB drive. He removes the back cover of the USB drive taking out a five gigabyte S.D. card. He places the card in his pocket before standing up to pack his laptop. WARNER Is that a laptop? Virucide looks up. VIRUCIDE Yeah, I finished my homework. WARNER You can’t leave yet? VIRUCIDE I have to go. I have class. Warner draws his taser.

10 WARNER You’re not going anywhere. Everyone in the food court looks up startled. Warner takes out his badge. A few security guards walk toward him. WARNER I’m with the F.B.I. I need everyone to remain seated. VIRUCIDE How long is that going to take, I don’t have all night. WARNER It’s going to take as long as I say it does. Now sit down and shut up. EXT. UCLA HOSPITAL-CONTINUOUS Avalon stands outside the hospital as several police cars arrive. He runs down showing his badge to the first COP he reaches. AVALON I have to get to the Beverly Center. It’s an emergency. COP Get in. The squad car races down the street. INT. BEVERLY CENTER FOOD COURT-CONTINUOUS As soon as Avalon arrives he goes to the Starbucks booth. The MANAGER hangs up the phone. AVALON I need to speak with the manager. MANAGER We’re not taking any orders until this nut-job gets out of here. AVALON He’ll be gone when I say he can leave.

11 Avalon dropped his badge on the desk. AVALON I need to see the computer that regulates your WiFi users. MANAGER That’s company property. I can’t show you that without a warrant. AVALON Did you know I can hold you without charge for forty-eight hours on suspicion of aiding a terrorist? The manager pulls a laptop loose placing it down on the counter. MANAGER (sarcastic) Anything else? WARNER I’ll take a mocha latte. Avalon plugs in his USB Drive which automatically loads his hacking program. Avalon logs in beginning a search for the most recently used IP logins. WARNER What are you doing? AVALON There are fourteen users logged into the system right now. All are registered. And...? He pauses checking the mot resent logouts. AVALON There we go. (to the manager) Just to let you know, you had two people logged in to your WiFi illegally. MANAGER Is that possible?

12 AVALON I have a match. He didn’t log out until after you where here. Avalon pulls out the USB drive before closing the laptop. He checks the phone log on his cell phone. WARNER Which means...? AVALON He’s still here. (to crowd) Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention. I need to check everyone’s laptops. This process will take only a few minutes and you can be on your way. WARNER (to Virucide) You, we’ll start with you. AVALON Him? WARNER He’s been begging me to leave. Avalon steps forward reaching out his hand. AVALON Let me see your bag. Virucide reluctantly hands it over. As soon as Avalon takes it in his hand, Virucide runs off. Avalon reaches for his taser and fires. He misses hitting a civilian. AVALON (to Warner) Get him! The two security guards rush to the aid of the civilian. Avalon opens Virucide’s laptop and loads his USB drive. He starts typing into his program. AVALON Got you, you son of a bitch. Just then the computer explodes. The keys from the keyboard

13 fly everywhere and the liquid crystal display spills out. He pulls out the USB drive grabbing his cell phone. AVALON That’s our mark. INT. BEVERLY CENTER, GROUND FLOOR-CONTINUOUS Virucide is running for the stairs with Warner only a few feet behind him. WARNER Taser! Warner raises his taser to get a better shot but he knows Virucide is out of range. Two security guards notice the chase and try to interview. They grab Virucide. Virucide jerks himself free of the one security guard before striking the other with an open hand on the temple. The first grabs him again, but Virucide grabs him arm twisting it around with a basic jujitsu move before throwing him against the plate glass window of a shop. The guard bounces off the glass falling to the ground. Warner fires the taser but Virucide dives down the stairs into the valet parking area. INT. VALET PARKING-CONTINUOUS Virucide slides over the hood of a car that just came in. He rushes to a black BMW M6 parked in the corner. The door was left unlocked and he uses his spare key to start the car. Throwing the car into first gear he peels out of the lot. Warner flies in as the M6 races out. He turns to the valet that parked his car; who points to the vehicle. VALET Keys are inside! Warner gets in the car and the engine roars to life. He moves out of the spot as Avalon enters the garage. He only stops for a second not even allowing Avalon to close the door. Dropping to second gear he races out of the garage.

14 EXT. LA CITY STREETS-CONTINUOUS Warner grabs his radio. WARNER This is FBI Agent Michael Warner trailing a black BMW M6, with dealership plates. Suspect is moving West on Wilshire Blvd. at high rate of speed. DISPATCH This is LAPD dispatch. Units are in route to your position. Warner looks up noticing two police cruisers with lights and sirens trailing behind them. Virucide handles his vehicle like a professional stunt driver. The manual transmission gives him superior control and agility. He maneuvers around other cars like orange cones. Warner keeps pace. His siren sends drivers turning off the road; but not fast enough. He swerves around a vehicle sending another crashing into a parked car. Virucide makes a sharp turn to the right; his tires grip the road. Warner turns hard burning rubber; the two squad cars barely keep pace their tails spinning wildly out of control. AVALON (into the radio) Suspect is heading north on Barrington Ave. Where the hell is my road block? DISPATCHER We have officers set up at Sunset Blvd., north of your position. AVALON Box him in, and don’t let him escape! Seconds after Virucide sees the road block he notices several police cars closing in on the left and right. Throwing the hand brake he makes a hard hundred and eighty degree turn. He releases the handbrake before flooring the engine. The V10 engine fires like shot from a cannon as the car flies past Warner.

15 AVALON Go, go, go! Warner pulled his hand break spinning the car wildly around. The two squad cars swerved past him. One hits a parked car flipping over. The other smashes into cement post. Warner drops the car back into second gear before flooring the engine. AVALON Come on, we’re going to loose him. WARNER I told you to get the Hemi. The car fires forward with squealing tires and burning rubber. AVALON (into the radio) Get me a damn helicopter or we’re going to lose him! Virucide’s in-dash computer with G.P.S. lights up. Using the touchscreen Virucide presses the marking of a low rise office building off San Vicente Blvd. EXT. LOW RISE-CONTINUOUS The steel roll up gate by the garage begins to open automatically. EXT. LA CITY STREETS-CONTINUOUS Virucide flies through the intersection at San Vicente Blvd. and whips a sharp turn into a narrow alley. Halfway down the alley he slams the brakes spinning wildly to ninety degrees. EXT. LOW RISE-CONTINUOUS The steel roll up gate starts to close. Killing his headlights Virucide drops into reverse flooring the engine. He speeds inside the garage seconds before the roll-up gate closes. EXT. LA CITY STREETS-CONTINUOUS Avalon points at the alley off Barrington Ave.

16 AVALON Right there! He turned there. Warner crosses through the intersection at San Vicente Blvd., two police cars close behind. WARNER I don’t see it. AVALON There! Avalon points to a dark alley. Warner makes a sharp turn, only too much so. The car sideswiped a telephone pole sending the passenger side mirror crashing into the trailing squad car’s windshield. Warner flies down the alley at breakneck speed. He slams the brakes when he sees the alley T-ed off onto Granville Ave. He spins the car around to a complete stop looking in both directions. The police cars exit the alley stopping nearby. Warner gets out of his car looking around. Just then the LAPD helicopter appears shining a large spotlight down on them. Avalon gets out running up to Warner. AVALON What are we doing? WARNER No skid marks. AVALON What? He walked around as Warner shines a flashlight on the ground. WARNER Only three sets of fresh skid-marks. Mine, and the two officers. AVALON He didn’t leave the alley. Warner draws his pistol before starting down the alley. Avalon draws his pistol and his taser following behind keeping his wrists crossed.

17 Halfway through the alley they see the skid marks leading down into the steal roll up gate. AVALON Clever bastard. INT. LOW RISE PARKING GARAGE-CONTINUOUS When the garage door opens flashlights pierce the darkness. Two-thirds of the building lights in the garage have been shut off. Warner, Avalon, and four COPS start down the entrance ramp. AVALON You two, get a car and park it across the exit. Nobody gets in or out without my authorization. COP 01 Yes, sir. One heads back for the car as the second waits. The four continue down to the garage. INT. PARKING GARAGE, LOWER LEVEL-CONTINUOUS At the bottom of the garage they find the black Beemer. Warner and Avalon secure it but find it empty. AVALON Where’d he go? COP 03 We have the building surrounded. He’s not going far. WARNER Listen. Warner listens intently to the sound of rushing water. AVALON Water? Warner turns around shining his light in the darkness looking for the source.

18 WARNER There’s an underground river that flows right through here. Warner’s flashlight finds the water pump. WARNER There it is. On the ground next to the pump is a small metal plate, approximately four feet square, sitting slightly off place. With the help of Avalon and the other officers, they move the plate. Underneath they can see a small amount of water coming in from one pipe, emptying into a small basin, and exiting another pipe. The base of the water pump sits inside the basin. WARNER Hold this. Warner hands his flashlight to Avalon and climbs down into the basin. The basin is approximately five feet deep, yet the water only covers his ankles. The exit pipe is extremely small, barely big enough to fit a child. Avalon hands Warner the flashlight. When he gets it he kneels down shining the light down the tunnels. WARNER It’s to long and dark, I can’t see anything. AVALON Come on, I doubt he went down there. COP Agent Avalon. Avalon looks up seeing the cop had shimmied the truck of the Beemer open. He walks over seeing Virucide’s clothes inside. AVALON Alright, he changed clothes. Fine, what he change into?

19 INT. STORM DRAIN-NIGHT Moon light shines in through the metal grate. Water drips from a pipe into the basin. From the small tunnel a hand appears. Wearing a wetsuit, Virucide crawls from the drainage pipe. The wet rubber slides easily across the wet metal. Once free, he shakes his head clear before climbing the ladder. He checks for police before climbing out. EXT. BARRINGTON PLAZA-CONTINUOUS Virucide secures the storm drain before sneaking across the lawn toward the luxury apartment high rise. Sneaking through the back door he escapes to the stairway. INT. VIRUCIDE’S APARTMENT-CONTINUOUS Virucide walks into his large one bedroom apartment securing the door behind him. Before stepping off the small hardwood entrance-way onto the carpet, he removes the wetsuit and boots. For now, he leaves them there to cross the main room. He turns the TV on which shows a local news cast. He throws on some comfortable clothes before hanging the wet suit in the bathroom. NEWSCASTER ...the North Korean government has continued their rocket testing despite concerns on the waning U.S., China trade agreement. The President is planning on addressing Congress on the National Security threat posed by the North Korean’s having this technology as it would greatly increase their country’s ICBM range. (beat) In computer news, less than an hour ago, a deadly computer virus crippled the UCLA hospital killing a hundred and twelve people, and leaving many more in critical condition. F.B.I. and local law enforcement believe a hacker calling himself Virucide may be directly involved...

20 Virucide shuts off the TV. VIRUCIDE Shit. INT. AVALON’S OFFICE-DAWN Avalon’s computer is monitoring a few hacker chatrooms, a muted newscast, a few websites, and his hacker program is running. INT. VIRUCIDE’S APARTMENT-CONTINUOUS Incense smoke rises from the small Buddhist shrine set up in the corner of the bedroom. Sitting with eyes closed Virucide meditates facing the shrine. INT. AVALON’S OFFICE-CONTINUOUS Using information found online, Avalon works on a PDAcellphone with bluetooth keyboard. Every few seconds he takes a bite out a breakfast burrito sitting beside him. INT. VIRUCIDE’S APARTMENT-CONTINUOUS Morning light still shines in through Virucide’s windows. Instinctively, Virucide bows toward the shrine. He sits up opening his eyes slowly. INT. AVALON’S OFFICE-LATER Warner taps on the door before entering the office. Avalon hardly notices him take a seat opposite the desk. WARNER I hid a GPS tracker in the driver’s seat. If he comes back for the car we’ll get him. Avalon continues without even acknowledging him. WARNER So is that going to help stop Virucide? Avalon ignores him. WARNER John, when are you going to get a life?

21 Still, no reaction. WARNER You know, your mom called the other day and said she’s dating the plumber. (pause) Yeah, he’s a Mormon and she’s going to be his fifth wife. AVALON I got it! Avalon looks up with a smile turning the PDA-cellphone toward Warner. WARNER Congratulations, you got DOS on your phone. AVALON It’s not DOS, it’s the Unix based program I wrote for hacking. I had to hack the base kernels in order to load it on the PDA’s RAM, and rewrite the phone application to make calls. WARNER That’s great, and this will help us how? AVALON Now, I can hack cell towers to gain free calling and wireless internet. WARNER Excalibur, can I talk to John for a minute? We have some work to discus. AVALON Huh? WARNER The GPS. Virucide’s car. AVALON Are you kidding, do you think he’s coming back for it?

22 WARNER That’s a hundred thousand dollar car, I’m sure he’ll be back for it. AVALON Do you realize what money is? WARNER It represents gold sitting in the treasury. AVALON No, it represents a digit sitting on a computer somewhere. A checking account is merely a paper copy of record sitting on a computer out of state. And you know what happens to computers, right? WARNER Wait, that’s impossible. You can’t do that. AVALON Really? INT. VIRUCIDE’S APARTMENT-CONTINUOUS Virucide sits down at a laptop and loads the webpage for Citibank. He loads a small text based hacking program and uses the webpage’s IP address to hack into the main computer database. AVALON (V.O.) All he has to do is hack into a bank, say Citibank, or one of the other big ones. Simply using their website as a back door, he could hack the main frame and create an account for himself with any amount of money he chooses: say a hundred thousand dollars. Virucide loads a website for the Credit Bureau. AVALON (V.O.) Next, he’ll need credit. So he’ll hack the credit bureau and create a stellar (MORE)

23 AVALON (con’t) credit report guaranteed to make himself a top buyer. Virucide loads the webpage for the California DMV. AVALON (V.O.) He may even hack the DMV computers to “activate” his driver’s licence so it comes up as a registered driver with a clean DMV report. INT. AVALON’S OFFICE-CONTINUOUS Warner’s jaw practically falls off as Avalon speaks. AVALON All this will take him approximately five to ten minutes to do. INT. SOUTH BAY BMW DEALERSHIP-CONTINUOUS Virucide meets with a pleasant SALESMAN. They shake hands as the salesman shows Virucide around at the latest models. AVALON (V.O.) Next, he’ll choose a dealership. We don’t know which one, yet. But eventually, they will run a credit check. They sit down at a desk and the salesman punches some figures into a computer. AVALON (V.O.) As always they’ll try to sell a payment plan. Virucide pulls out his cellphone. AVALON (V.O.) Most likely, he’ll reject. He’ll call his bank and have the telephone banker wire the money directly to dealership. It’s all electronic, untraceable, and completely clean. They stand up and shake hands.

24 START FX SEQUENCE: REWIND The entire sequence of events from Virucide’s first hack that morning to the final hand shake after the deal is done: RUN BACKWARDS as Avalon concludes: AVALON (V.O.) Once it’s over, he will hack back into the system deleting the DMV records, the credit report, the bank account. Even the records the dealership had on the vehicle. As if, the whole thing never happened; as if, that vehicle never existed. END FX SEQUENCE. INT. AVALON’S OFFICE-CONTINUOUS Avalon’s chair squeaks as he leans back placing his hands behind his head. WARNER So, what do we do now? AVALON I’m monitoring the credit bureau’s database right now. If a credit report “appears” out of nowhere, I’ll be able to find him. WARNER How do you know it’s not some kid getting his first credit card. AVALON Maybe. But if he has the bank account and DMV report to go with it, then it won’t matter. WARNER Alright, I’ll call Howard and get the authorization for the tap. AVALON Sure, you could do that. But it’ll take at least twenty-four hours to push the paperwork.

25 WARNER What do you suggest? Avalon punches a few keys on the computer and it transfers the hack to the PDA. Warner looks down at the screen. WARNER That’s not legal. AVALON Stopping the Delta Virus is more important than a few people’s rights. This is life or death we’re talking about here. WARNER So, you’re going to trample on the Constitution so you can protect it? Just then the computer beeps. Avalon checks it. AVALON Got him. File was just created. Joseph Hunter, age twenty-two. WARNER He’s a kid? Avalon puts on his suit jacket. AVALON They’re all kids. A bunch of spoiled brats who think they can run the world from a computer. (beat) Let’s go! He grabs the phone and his keys heading for the door. Warner follows him out. INT. HALLWAY-CONTINUOUS They rush for the elevator. AVALON I got an address. I doubt it’s accurate, but it’s worth checking out.

26 WARNER If he’s cocky enough to use his real name, it may just be accurate. AVALON But we don’t know if that is his real name. WARNER What’s that address? AVALON 6001 West Centinela Ave: apartment 213. WARNER That’s not too far, I’ll plot it on the GPS. EXT. FBI LA FIELD OFFICE-CONTINUOUS The black Charger races out of the building turning south. INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS While driving, Warner loads the address into the in-dash GPS. WARNER Got it, it’s near the Howard Hughes Center, I know that area. AVALON Good. These streets are so confusing. WARNER Like they’re not in D.C.? AVALON Hell no. All the streets circle the Capital Building. INT. SOUTH BAY BMW DEALERSHIP-DAY Dressed black khakis and a dress shirt, Virucide enters the dealership. An older man in a black suit approaches him.

27 SALESMAN Good morning, sir. What can I help you with? VIRUCIDE Yes, a friend of mine just purchased an M6 not long ago and I just fell in love with it. He recommenced that I come here to see you guys. SALESMAN Yes, what was his name? VIRUCIDE Zack Carson. SALESMAN Ah, Zack. Yes, I remember, nice guy. VIRUCIDE Yeah. So, I was thinking though, maybe I should get something a bit bigger, more passengers and cargo. SALESMAN We have the five series, or do you prefer the seven. Virucide stops looking at a black X3. VIRUCIDE Gorgeous. EXT. HILLSIDE MEMORIAL PARK-CONTINUOUS Warner pulls off Centinela to the gate of a cemetery. WARNER This should be it, I don’t understand. A GUARD waves them down. AVALON John Avalon, FBI. GUARD Yes, sir.

28 He opens the gate and Warner pulls in. He parks off to the side leaving the lights flashing. They both exit the vehicle. EXT. CEMETERY GROUNDS-CONTINUOUS They walk through the various plots until Avalon spots a GARDENER working. AVALON Sir, which of these is plot 213. GARDENER Who wants to know. AVALON FBI. He shows his badge. The gardener checks his paper work. GARDENER It’s over here. He leads the two over to a cemetery stone lying in the ground. It reads: JOSEPH HUNTER 1987 - 1997 RETURN. GARDENER There you go. AVALON Thanks. The gardener leaves. WARNER What the hell? Avalon sits down on the stone thinking. WARNER What’s this supposed to mean?

29 AVALON Chasing a hacker is like chasing a ghost. Avalon pulls out the PDA-cellphone. WARNER Should we have him dug up? He’s been dead over twelve years. AVALON Either he stole this kids identity, or killed himself legally. WARNER Son of a bitch. Warner turns away sighing. AVALON I got him. WARNER What? AVALON South Bay BMW just did a credit search for Joseph Hunter. INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS They jump inside and Warner floors the engine back onto Centinela. Avalon looks up the phone number on the cellphone and then dials it. INT. SOUTH BAY BMW DEALERSHIP-CONTINUOUS As the salesman and Virucide are sitting at the desk, the phone rings. SALESMAN One second, please. (into phone) South Bay, BMW. AVALON My name is Special Agent John Avalon, (MORE)

30 AVALON (con’t) with the FBI. I believe you have a customer named Joseph Hunter. SALESMAN Yes, we do. He tries to fake a smile. AVALON He is a suspect in an ongoing investigation. I need you to stall him as long as you can until the police get there. SALESMAN That won’t be a problem. Come in anytime, we’re open till eight. AVALON He’s there with you now? SALESMAN Yes, sir. That’s correct. AVALON You’re the best, we’re on our way. The salesman hangs up the phone. VIRUCIDE Busy day, huh. SALESMAN Well, when you’re the best. Virucide pulls out his cellphone and dials. VIRUCIDE As I said, I have the money on hand. I’ll put a call into my bank and have them wire the money over to you. SALESMAN That’s great.

31 TELEPHONE BANKER (V.O.) Thank you for calling Citibank, can I help you. INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS The lights and sires are wailing. Avalon’s cellphone shows a realtime satellite map of the dealership. He picks up his police radio. AVALON This is Agent Avalon, I need all LAPD in the vicinity of Hawthorne Blvd. and 190th to converge on the South Bay BMW dealership. Suspect is a young white male, name: Joseph Hunter. Use nonlethal force, I need him alive! DISPATCH Roger that, Agent Avalon. Avalon hangs up the radio. AVALON How long now? WARNER Few more minutes. Avalon pulls out his taser and checks the charge. INT. SOUTH BAY BMW DEALERSHIP-CONTINUOUS The salesman is talking on the phone with the telephone banker. He smiles to Virucide. SALESMAN Their computers are running a little slow, it’ll only be a second. (into phone) Yes, the routing number is 253892... His voice trails off in Virucide’s mind as he notices three police cars with full lights and sirens coming South on Hawthorne Blvd. toward the dealership. He turns and sees two more heading North toward them.

32 SALESMAN And the account number is... Virucide notices that the salesman is watching the police cars with his eyes. Reaching up Virucide grabs the cellphone and notices that the salesman has hung up on the telephone banker. The salesman stands speechless. Virucide punches him with the phone in his hand, grabs the keys off the desk, and charges for the X3. The engine roars to life as Virucide shoves it into first gear. He floors the engine crashing through the plate glass window. EXT. SOUTH BAY BMW DEALERSHIP-CONTINUOUS The X3 races for the street as the three South-bound police cars approach the area. INT. LEAD POLICE VEHICLE-CONTINUOUS The passenger COP points him out. COP Cut him off! The driving officer speeds directly for the X3. EXT. TORRANCE STREETS-CONTINUOUS The police car makes impact with the X3 hitting the front passenger-side fender. The police car’s grill protector sends the fender flying across the road. As Virucide maneuvers the car, the squad car’s grill protector scratches the black paint down the side. Clearing the incident, Virucide crosses the street darting into traffic heading South as the other police cars arrive. They spin their wheels turning around to make chase. Virucide turns West onto 190th Street, but two more police cars cut him off in an attempt to box him in. Virucide turns sharply going up on the sidewalk. Hitting a mailbox it flies up cracking the windshield.

33 INT. CHINESE RESTAURANT-CONTINUOUS Letters explode across the windshield blocking Virucide’s vision. After crashing through the plate glass window of a Chinese restaurant he sandwiches the steam table against the back wall. The Beemer’s airbag explodes. The mailbox flies forward crashing through the back wall of the restaurant. Virucide squeezes out of the car as the police block off the front entrance. Virucide runs to the kitchen. The two cops jump out pursuing him on foot. EXT. ALLEY-CONTINUOUS Virucide barges out of the back door. He takes out a pistol as Warner turns into the alley. AVALON There he is! Warner speeds up toward him as Virucide takes off. A police car turns down the other end of the alley moving toward him. Warner slams the breaks. Warner and Avalon jump out holding their tasers. Virucide whips firing two shots into Warner’s chest. Without hesitation, Avalon fires his taser into Virucide’s chest dropping him with 50,000 volts. AVALON I got you now, you son of a bitch. The other two police officers run up to him with drawn pistols pointed at Virucide. Avalon shows them his badge. Avalon releases the trigger of the taser for a few seconds. AVALON Had enough? Virucide lays still, breathing slowly. One of the OFFICERS roughly turns him over and cuffs him. Another comes by and they pick him up practically dragging him to the police car. AVALON Book him. I’ll be down later to question him.

34 OFFICER You got it, sir. They push him in the back of the police car. Avalon turns noticing that Warner laying across the ground. He walks slowly toward him taking note the lack of blood. Reaching down, Avalon checks his pulse. Then Warner groans. Avalon runs his hand down his chest feeling the body armor. Reaching inside the vehicle, Avalon grabs the radio. AVALON I need a medic in the back alley, now. EXT. CHINESE RESTAURANT-MINUTES LATER Warner is lying on the back of a stretcher as he slowly regains conscienceless. The PARAMEDIC watching over him smiles. PARAMEDIC Welcome back, Agent Warner. WARNER Are you my angel here to take me to heaven? The paramedic helps him sit up and Warner cries out in pain. PARAMEDIC You’re not dead. WARNER I wish I was, that kills. PARAMEDIC You had your vest on. WARNER Yeah, but it still hurts. PARAMEDIC They were rubber bullets. See? She opens her palm showing him. PARAMEDIC They bounce off kevlar like nothing. It

35 didn’t even tear your suit. WARNER It’s a miracle. Warner looks up seeing Avalon standing a few feet away. PARAMEDIC You’re probably a bit winded. WARNER Damn, you’re good. Warner tries to get off the stretcher when a sharp pain burns in his side. He pulls up his undershirt finding a lot of redness and swelling where one of the bullets hit him. PARAMEDIC That doesn’t look good. WARNER Oh god, I’m going to die. PARAMEDIC (smiling) Relax. WARNER I’m going to be recorded as the first person to die by rubber bullets. The paramedic grabs an ice pack, breaks the seal, and throws it on his side. Warner cries out at the sudden cold. PARAMEDIC Just hold this. The bullet broke a blood vessel, that’s all. Probably a capillary or something, so just chill. WARNER No pun intended, huh? AVALON Is he okay? PARAMEDIC He’s very healthy for a forty-five year old man.

36 WARNER Forty-two, thank you very much. Avalon smiles again. AVALON Come on, Capillary-boy. We’ve got work to do. Warner rolls his eyes. WARNER Working with you has been the most eventful six months of my life. INT. INTERROGATION ROOM-DAY Virucide sits wearing an orange jump suit and the heaviest chains the police had. His hands and ankles are shackled to his waist. Avalon stands across the table staring down at him. AVALON So, Joseph Hunter. If that is your real name? Virucide turns away. AVALON Yeah, I thought it might be. Because, besides the records you created this morning, nothing on you exists. Avalon sits down across from him. He opens a file. AVALON Oh, what do you know. This file has something on you. 2008, you hacked Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, Atlanta, and Boston computer election systems trying to rig the election. VIRUCIDE And my guy still lost.

37 AVALON 2005, you hacked all the ATM in New Orleans causing them to spit out over 500 thousand dollars at the same time. 2003, you created a worm that caused Microsoft operating systems to randomly shut down. 1999, you hacked the security systems of Enron and blackmailed them for over two million dollars. VIRUCIDE But it was the talent of another hacker called Excalibur that stole the information needed to instigate the federal investigation. Avalon’s expression drops. AVALON You consort with dangerous hackers such as this one Loki, who hacked the Pentagon and tried to download top secret weapons research data. Concern crosses Virucide’s face. AVALON So you do know him. Avalon closes the file. AVALON As you can see, you’re going to go away for a long time. VIRUCIDE By the time you fix your coffee and donuts tomorrow morning, I’ll be free. Avalon takes out another file and opens it. The pages sprawl across the table showing the codes from the hospital. AVALON You’re familiar with the Delta Virus, aren’t you? Virucide glares at him.

38 AVALON Thought so. When the Delta Virus hit that hospital, you were there. And I can prove that. What makes you think the jury won’t convict you a 112 counts of first-degree murder. VIRUCIDE I know all about your type. You think you’re so hot. You’ve got a masters or two, maybe even a PhD. But if took you forty years to get what I was born with. (beat) You are a pathetic tired lonely old man, who lives by himself and knows nothing other than his work and trying to relive his lost childhood by playing with kids on the internet. Avalon reaches forward grabbing Virucide’s throat. AVALON Listen to me, you little shit. I need the Delta Virus codes you managed to extract. And you’re going to give them to me, or I’m going to nail you the wall with everything I’ve got. Just then the door opens and Warner with two LASD Deputies enters. WARNER Agent Avalon, they’re here to take Mr. Hunter into the county lockup. AVALON I’m not done here yet. LAWYER (off screen) Oh, yes, you are. A well dressed attorney enters. LAWYER I’m with the public defenders office. And you will hear from my office, agent. The two deputies lead Virucide to the door. He turns

39 smiling. VIRUCIDE I love this country. Avalon sits back on the table looking down at the codes. WARNER That went well. Avalon shrugs. AVALON I’ve wasted the last six months going after a hacker who won’t even help us. WARNER It didn’t sound like you ask for his help. But, maybe that’s just me. AVALON He’s right, you know. I’ve got a PhD. in Computer Science, and he’s still a better hacker than me. WARNER I’m no shrink, but it sounds like you need to get over yourself. AVALON The hacker responsible for this is blackmailing nations. He’s threatening to shut down their defense systems. You know the President’s stance on negotiating with terrorists, but other nations might be more willing to pay him off. WARNER Yeah, so. Avalon gets off the table and starts collecting his papers. AVALON Have you been following the news? North Korea’s been pushing their aeronautics program hard. And if our defense systems get infected, and their’s don’t.

40 WARNER We wouldn’t be able to defend ourselves. AVALON Or our allies. He looks up at Warner closing his briefcase. AVALON It would be the end of world as we know it. Avalon walks out of the room. Warner sighs and follows him out. EXT. LASD: TORRANCE OFFICE-DUSK Warner exits catching up with Avalon. WARNER Well, the world’s not going to end tonight. Why don’t you come have dinner with me and my family? My wife would love to meet the guy that stole her husband. AVALON I’d like that. INT. COUNTY LOCKUP-DAY Avalon checks in with the county deputy at the desk before getting his escort to the main section of the prison. They meet up with another DEPUTY who is sitting outside the cell block. AVALON Agent Avalon, FBI. Here to see a prisoner, Joseph Hunter. DEPUTY Yes, sir. The deputy enters the name into the computer. DEPUTY Sorry, sir. No one showing up on the records. Are you sure he’s here?

41 AVALON I handed him over to your deputies yesterday. DEPUTY I checked the records, we don’t have any Joseph Hunter’s in the facility. Avalon turns around sharply checking the holding cells. Each are large holding about six inmates each. He takes only a brief look before returning to the deputy. AVALON I don’t see him here. Do you have a list of all the people that were released in the last twelve hours. DEPUTY Yes, sir. He goes back to the computer and inputs the commands. DEPUTY Twenty, including transfers. AVALON Take out the transfers. The deputy narrows the search. DEPUTY Twelve. Avalon leans over at the computer. AVALON “Joseph Bundy”? Who is that, Ted Bundy’s cousin? DEPUTY Let me see. He opens the file. DEPUTY He was released this morning. He was booked yesterday for a D&D. First time (MORE)

42 DEPUTY (con’t) offense, so we let him go with a citation. (beat) That’s odd. AVALON What is? DEPUTY There’s no picture. We always have a picture. Avalon places Virucide’s mugshot on the desk. AVALON Is that him? DEPUTY Yes, sir. But, I don’t understand. Avalon pulls out his cell phone as he heads for the door. AVALON Warner, call the LA Field Office. Tell them to schedule me a press conference. INT. FOX HILLS MALL-DAY Dressed in casual clothes, Virucide walks into the RAVE. Looking around he sees Loki with two other girls her age checking out clothes. Her eyes light up when she sees him, but returns her gaze to the clothes. Virucide walks behind the racks pretending to look at clothes. A SALESGIRL approaches him smiling. SALESGIRL Can I help you find something? VIRUCIDE No, just browsing. SALESGIRL Let me know if I can be of any help. VIRUCIDE Okay.

43 Virucide watches her ass as she walks away. Turning, he spots Loki. VIRUCIDE Hey, got a minute. She smiles wide. INT. MALL-CONTINUOUS Virucide and Loki exit the small walking a few feet away. VIRUCIDE Thank you, for fixing my situation. LOKI Of course. VIRUCIDE I’m afraid I may have to leave for a while. Loki’s expression drops. LOKI Why? VIRUCIDE Because, I’m being drawn into something, and I don’t want you getting caught up in it. Excalibur is FBI, and he’s pushing me hard. LOKI He knows you... VIRUCIDE I don’t know what he knows. (beat) Oh, tell me about the Pentagon. LOKI Uh...what about it...? VIRUCIDE Excalibur told me you hacked the Pentagon last year.

44 Loki looks shattered. VIRUCIDE I told you, no government. It’s too dangerous. LOKI I...I...just wanted...to prove I’m better. VIRUCIDE You are better. But the stakes are too high. If they find out; I don’t want to think about what they might do to you. A tear rolls down Loki’s eye. VIRUCIDE While I’m gone, be careful. And stay away from the government. Loki wipes her eyes and sniffles a little trying to keep from crying. LOKI I’ll be careful. I promise. Virucide smiles. VIRUCIDE Good. Go back before they miss you. Loki hugs Virucide before walking slowly into the clothing store. Virucide turns; a television in the RadioShack catches the corner of his eye. His photo is plastered on every screen. Stepping forward he can hear the news reporter speaking: NEWSCASTER Police have just released this photo of the suspect in the UCLA hospital hack. He is also wanted on charges of grand theft auto, destruction of property, and a hundred and twelve counts of first degree murder. He goes by the name of Virucide, but authorities tell us his real name to Joseph Hunter. The FBI and (MORE)

45 NEWSCASTER (con’t) county sheriff’s association are offering one hundred thousand dollar reward for any information leading to the apprehension of Joseph Hunter. Virucide turns to the left and the right. Most people had not even paid attention to the TV. One person on a cellphone turns seeing him, but continues with his conversation. Virucide heads out of the mall. INT. CHARGER-DAY Warner is driving back to the LA Field Office. DISPATCHER All units in the vicinity, suspect Joseph Hunter was seen at Fox Hills Mall. AVALON You know it? WARNER I know it. We’re not that far, two minutes tops! Warner sets the lights and sirens heading South. EXT. FOX HILLS BUS TERMINAL-CONTINUOUS Warner arrives turning into the mall parking lot as a bus drives past them. Looking up Avalon sees Virucide sitting by the window. AVALON There! On the bus. Warner whips the car around. Avalon grabs the blowhorn. AVALON This is the FBI, stop the bus. Confused the DRIVER stops. Warner parks beside it blocking traffic. Avalon takes out his taser, but Warner sticks to his pistol. Avalon taps on the glass of the bus door and shows his

46 badge. The driver opens the door. DRIVER What’s going on officer? AVALON Secure the bus. The driver locks the back door. Warner stands outside the main doors watching. Avalon walks down the center of the bus checking every face. Virucide sits in the back and puts his head down. Reaching into his jacket and fondles the butt of his pistol. He starts breathing heavy as Avalon moves toward him. Virucide stands up pointing his pistol at Avalon. AVALON Throw down or I’ll use mine. VIRUCIDE How could you? Virucide looks toward the window to see Warner’s pistol aimed right for his head. VIRUCIDE What the hell do you want from me? I didn’t do it. I had nothing to do with the Delta Virus. Avalon grits his teeth. AVALON I know you don’t have anything to do with the Delta Virus. VIRUCIDE Then why lie? AVALON You gave me no other choice. What the hell was I supposed to do? Send you an email? Virucide steps back but keeping his gun raised.

47 VIRUCIDE Why me? You couldn’t find a more dangerous hacker to go after? AVALON Because... (beat) I need your help. I can’t do this without you. Avalon lowers his taser. Virucide hesitates, but he lowers his weapon falling into one of the seats. Avalon steps forward taking the gun from him. AVALON No more cuffs, no more prisons. Help me, and I’ll let you disappear again. The two exit the bus allowing the others to get back on. INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS Warner gets behind the wheel. Avalon sits beside him and Virucide gets in the back seat. Avalon nods to Warner who pulls back onto the main street. AVALON I had heard most of the rumors about the Delta Virus for a long time. But about six months ago I finally got confirmation that it was being developed. I showed it to my superiors who passed it up to the Attorney General who in turn showed it to the President. The President commissioned me to stay on top of the situation, and to verify the rumors to be correct. As you know, the alpha of the Delta Virus hit Denver Airport two months ago with minimal damage. Each time, it’s getting stronger and harder to take out. That’s why I was hoping you may have extracted the codes from the last launch. Virucide takes off his left boot. He pulls up the insole

48 removing the 5gig SD card from the whole carved in the rubber heal. He hands it to Avalon. VIRUCIDE Here. INT. AVALON’S OFFICE-CONTINUOUS Avalon sits down at his desk placing the SD card into the multicard reader on his computer. He finds a text file containing the virus codes and sends it to the printer. AVALON Have you looked at this yet? VIRUCIDE Briefly, I haven’t had much time. Warner sits down on a small couch. He picks up Avalon’s rubix cube which normally sits on the side table. Virucide sits down on one of the chairs across the desk. Avalon grabs the papers off the printer handing him half the stack. AVALON Here, take this half. I numbered each line. VIRUCIDE Good. Virucide leans forward placing the papers on the desk. Avalon sits down behind the desk again going through the second stack. Virucide flips through a few pages. AVALON Oh no. I was wrong. Look at this. Avalon shows Virucide the sheet. VIRUCIDE It’s a self-replicating AI algorism. WARNER What’s that mean?

49 VIRUCIDE It means that if one computer is infected, any computer linked via network is infected. Like a worm, but much more powerful. WARNER Why would anyone want to...? VIRUCIDE Genius. It’s a learning virus. It can mutate off the firewall to break it down. AVALON There is a string of codes here that are completely useless. Like a program within a program: “membrane-dot-object”. VIRUCIDE Let me see. Avalon shows him the papers. VIRUCIDE Looks a shielding program. Any computer running this Membrane Program will not be affected by the Delta Virus. AVALON Why would he...? Oh no. VIRUCIDE What? AVALON That’s how he plans to do it. He can sell the Membrane Program so that some people won’t be affected. WARNER So, wait. Why not just disconnect from the internet on that day.

50 VIRUCIDE On a local scale maybe. But we’re talking world wide. Satellites, cell towers. Every network in the world will shut down. We’re talking the UCLA hospital hack on a worldwide scale here. WARNER The end of the world. Warner looks down at the rubix cube. He twists it, but the puzzle only gets more and more out of sync. AVALON If we can contain an active copy of the virus, we might be able to extract the Membrane Program off of it. VIRUCIDE But the virus moves too quickly. An “active copy” means it has to destroy whatever computer you’re using. By then the Membrane Program useless. There are redundancies here that insure that. AVALON It took out the hospital in a matter of minutes. WARNER Why don’t we just stop the bastards trying to launch it. Avalon and Virucde look at him. Warner looks up from the rubix cube. WARNER Maybe I’m just thinking like a cop here, but instead of merely reacting; let’s be proactive. Let’s go after them. Take them out before they finish it. Can you tell me, who may be involved? Virucide looks down at the papers. WARNER You know most of these people. Any idea who might be behind it.

51 AVALON Just because he’s a hacker, doesn’t mean he knows them all personally. VIRUCIDE Brahma. AVALON What? VIRUCIDE This encryption scheme is defiantly Brahma’s. AVALON Are you sure? VIRUCIDE Yes, these codes are written in Hindi. And at least three different dialects to. WARNER Who’s Brahma? VIRUCIDE First rate cryptologist. One of the best. Owned a British company which contracted to Sony back in the 80's. He developed the technology that became copy-protection for DVDs. At the same time he embezzled millions through it. When Interpol found out, he fled back to India. He never completed his work. AVALON Anti-piracy would be a totally different war if we had his completed work. WARNER So, how do we get him? AVALON I doubt we can get to India.

52 VIRUCIDE Perhaps we won’t have to. Brahma is a cryptologist, not much else. There are more than one hacker behind this. AVALON Who else, you think? VIRUCIDE Nether. A first rate sleaze ball. Used his skill as a hacker to build an empire of wealth through corporate blackmail. See these marquees, they’re a signature of his work. Virucide drops his papers on the desk pointing out some random characters in the string of code. VIRUCIDE I’ll bet you anything this compression scheme is Nether’s work. AVALON Please tell you know where to find him. Virucide looks up smiling. VIRUCIDE It’ll be easier than you think. Let me have a seat. Virucide takes Avalon's chair before typing into the computer. He brings up a website for a local strip club. AVALON Netherworld Gentlemen's Club. Well, I'll be damned. Virucide tries to hack via the website into the main servers. VIRUCIDE I’m going to hack into his computers. See if I can pull the Membrane Program. Damn, it's not working. AVALON What's not.

53 VIRUCIDE This guy has the most insane firewall I've ever seen. AVALON Can you crack it? VIRUCIDE Yes, but it would take too long. It would easier to hack in via the hardline. AVALON That would mean, we'd have to inside the building. Virucide's eyes cross Warner. He looks up from the rubix cube. WARNER Get me the blueprints and I'll find a way inside. EXT. SANTA MONICA AIRPORT-NIGHT The black Charger parks next to a secure hanger. Warner, Avalon, and Virucide exit. Warner is dressed in a black tactical outfit. Avalon takes the driver's seat but sits leaving the door open. Just then a black GMC Yukon pulls into the lot. When it parks, three men, ALVAREZ, CONNER, and KIRK exit. As the three approach Avalon stands. ALVAREZ Mike Warner, you haven't gone soft working with these geeks have you. VIRUCIDE Geeks? Warner smiles. WARNER This is Agent Avalon, and our technical specialist, “Virucide”. This is Agent Alvarez, Agent Conner, and Agent Kirk.

54 CONNER So, what's going on. Avalon unrolls a blueprint across the trunk of the Charger. Warner points out the operation parameters on the map. WARNER What we're doing is a pure recon act. If all goes well, they won't know where here. We need to get Virucide inside to the phone room here. We figure the thirty second floor is our best access point. EXT. NETHERWORLD TOWER, STREET-CONTINUOUS Avalon parks the black Charger a few blocks from the building keeping the main doors in eyesight. WARNER (V.O.) Avalon is going to run tech from the ground, but he can only go so far because of firewalls. EXT. NETHERWORLD TOWER, ROOF-CONTINUOUS The wisping of propeller blades is the only noise let off by the black helicopter as it passes over the roof. The door slides open and two lines drop. From that five men wearing black clothes repel down. WARNER (V.0.) Our job, is to repel from black helicopter onto the roof, go through the South stairwell, and access to the phone room. Warner and Alvarez take the lead as they secure the roof. There are several utility rooms, but only one stairway access. Kirk and Conner take up the rear with Virucide. Warner finds the stair door with no latch, lock, knob, or anything other thing which would make opening the door possible. WARNER Avalon, we have a problem.

55 INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS Avalon draws up some schematics of the roof level on his laptop. AVALON The door is magnetically sealed. The only way through is a keypad located inside the hallway. WARNER Can you hack it? AVALON Not from here. It's on it's own circuit. Looks like you'll have to find another way in. EXT. NETHERWORLD TOWER, ROOF-CONTINUOUS Warner turns to his men. WARNER Kirk, secure the door. Conner, grab the gear and get the chopper out of here. Alvarez, plot us the best entrance point into the thirty-second floor. Conner pulls out a separate radio calling to the helicopter. Someone inside drops a black bag out of the chopper and then it flies away from the building. Kirk secures some C4 to the stairway door. With a small drill he places one eye hook into the wall inline with the C4. He places a small charge on the C4 that has two metal prongs. He runs a wire from the eye hook to the farthest prong located on the charge. He runs a second wire from the opposite eye hook to it's farthest prong. Alvarez jumps up on the small ledge of the building. ALVAREZ Right here! Conner drops the duffel bang and opens it. All kinds of climbing equipment are inside. He ties a rope to a secure section of the building and drops the excess over the side where Alvarez pointed.

56 Warner is the first to strap on a harness. He picks up some glass cutting equipment and throws it over his shoulder. ALVAREZ Remember the building is pressurized. We don’t want you breaking your arm again. Warner rolls his eyes, straps the rope to his harness, and walks down the side of the building. Virucide watches in horror. ALVAREZ Don't worry, you're next. VIRUCIDE Me? Warner stops over the window by the thirty-second floor's bathroom. He places the large suction cup against the glass and brings the razor blade down. He taps it lightly with his hand and the impact shatters a small whole. A few pieces of glass fall inside the building. Warner turns the blade across the glass. At first it goes easy, but the more open it gets the pressure forces the piece of glass inside. Halfway through the pressure starts to bow the glass inward. Two-thirds the glass snaps throwing him inside. His shoulder slams against the glass but he turns his face away to avoid injury. He drops the plate glass inside. Grabbing the rope he hoists himself up so he can slip in feet first. INT. NETHERWORLD TOWER, 32ND BATHROOM-CONTINUOUS Warner draws his silencer equipped M5 and secures the bathroom. WARNER Send down Virucide. INT. NETHERWORLD TOWER, 32ND FLOOR-CONTINUOUS Warner steps slowly into the hallway. Every third light has been left on so there are several dark patches throughout the hallway. He walks to the South stairwell checking up and down, then back to the bathroom.

57 INT. NETHERWORLD TOWER, 32ND BATHROOM-CONTINUOUS By the time he returns, Virucide has reached the whole in the glass. Throwing his weapon over his shoulder, Warner grabs Virucide's legs to guide him inside. WARNER Virucide’s in. EXT. NETHERWORLD TOWER, ROOF-CONTINUOUS Alvarez secures the rope to his harness before starting his decent. WARNER Conner, I want you to remain topside and keep that area secure. This will be our extraction point. CONNER Yes, sir. After securing his line, Kirk repels down the side of the building. INT. NETHERWORLD TOWER, 32ND HALLWAY-CONTINUOUS Alvarez steps out of the bathroom first. Warner goes second pointing down the hall away from the South stairwell. Kirk follows Alvarez down the hall as they secure the floor. Virucide stays close to Warner who moves toward the telephone room. It's location is only ten feet from the South stairwell door. Within seconds Warner picks the lock. Virucide steps into the small telephone room before producing a laptop from his bag. He pulls out a network cable with a frayed end: each internal wire has been separated with small alligator clamps attached. The clamps are secured directly to the circuit board and ethernet male is connected into the laptop. Afterwards, he sits down at the computer loading his Linuxbased hacking program. VIRUCIDE I'm in.

58 INT. NETHERWORLD GENTLEMEN'S CLUB-CONTINUOUS With a full restaurant and bar, the club fills the entire thirty-fifth floor. Opposite the bar is the dance stage where three scantily-clad woman are dancing. The servers and bartenders are all women in g-strings. The clientele, are mostly middle aged men wearing expensive Italian suits. Each one has about three other men, younger, dressed in dark bulging suit jackets. INT. NETHERWORLD PENTHOUSE-CONTINUOUS The Penthouse is Nether's private flat, located one floor above the club yet only covering half. A large tinted window across the front wall allows viewing of the stage from the Penthouse. NETHER, however, is not interested in the stage. He sits on a couch making out with two young women, an Asian and a Hispanic. Just then his computer starts beeping. At first he ignores it, but after a few minutes, he gets up. Trying to stay in the mood the two girls start making out; but they lose interest when Nether ignores them. Nether takes a seat at the computer logging into his core systems. INT. 32ND FLOOR-CONTINUOUS Virucide's eyes widen. VIRUCIDE Nether’s on the system. INT. PENTHOUSE-CONTINUOUS Nether whips out his cell phone. NETHER Sargent Pepper. We have a breach, I'm isolating the location. A string of IP address cross Nether's monitor before stopping on a specific address. NETHER I got it, he's in the building. Thirtysecond floor.

59 INT. CLUB-CONTINUOUS SGT. PEPPER is a tall burly black man with gruff exterior and nasty personality. He signals to a few thugs. They grab assault rifles and follow him down the South Stairwell. INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS Five infrared blips appear moving down the stairwell. AVALON Heads up guys, you have incoming. INT. 32ND FLOOR-CONTINUOUS Warner raises his hand pointing back to the bathroom door. Alvarez and Kirk fall back inside closing the door. WARNER In. Virucide moves over against the wall and Warner steps inside closing the door. The South Stairway door opens when Sgt. Pepper leads his men into the hallway. INT. BATHROOM-CONTINUOUS Kirk places a snake cam under the door. A small screen shows the movement of the thugs down the hall. Alvarez kneels poised against the door with his gun ready. ANGLE SCREEN: The thug moves toward the telephone room. His hand reaches for the knob: locked. INT. 32ND HALLWAY-CONTINUOUS A key slides in. The tumblers click. INT. TELEPHONE CLOSET-CONTINUOUS Warner raises his M5 taking aim. The door opens. The thug steps back raising his weapon. A suppressed bullet.

60 INT. 32ND HALLWAY-CONTINUOUS Blood and body fall across the back wall. Alvarez cracks the door firing taking out two of the thugs. Sgt. Pepper and the others move toward the stairwell. INT. SOUTH STAIRWELL-CONTINUOUS Sgt. Pepper pulls out his cell phone. SGT. PEPPER It's the feds! NETHER Evac! Sgt. Pepper hangs up and dials another number. SGT. PEPPER Initiate evac. Get me five teams. Send one to the roof, two down the South stairwell and two down the North stairwell. Do it now! INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS Suddenly, all the heat blimps on Avalon's screen start moving. AVALON We've got movement. WARNER Lock down the elevators. Avalon types the command. The graph on his computer shows the elevators turn from green to red. AVALON Most of them are going down the North stairwell. We have about fifteen in the South stairwell. EXT. ROOF-CONTINUOUS WARNER Head's up Conner, they might be coming your way.

61 Conner turns pointing his gun at the stairway door. He backs away. INT. SOUTH STAIRWELL-CONTINUOUS The team leader stops at the roof access door. He presses a four digit code into a keypad and the lock releases. They all cock assault rifles. The team leader kicks the door open. EXT. ROOF-CONTINUOUS BOOM! The door and the entire access way explodes. Metal shards are thrown in every direction. Conner takes refuge behind another small utility room on the roof. INT. SOUTH STAIRWELL-CONTINUOUS The explosion destroys stairway access to floors thirty-four and thirty-five. The debris drops below crashing down onto floors thirty-two and thirty-three. The two teams coming down are killed by the debris, and Sgt. Pepper is mortally wounded. INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS Avalon watches in awe as the massive heat signature starts to die down. AVALON Holy shit. INT. 32ND FLOOR-CONTINUOUS A dust cloud emanates underneath the stairway door. Warner turns to Alvarez and nods. WARNER Avalon, damage report. AVALON South stairwell is completely cut off. No one is going up or down. WARNER We have them bottlenecked. Secure that hallway.

62 Alvarez and Kirk move down the hall. When the two teams spot them, they open fire. Alvarez and Kirk fall back around the corner. ALVAREZ We have incoming. Alvarez shoots an office door, and while Kirk gives cover fire he dives across into the office. This allows both of them to hold off the thugs. A few are killed in the initial attack, but the rest hide in various offices and oncoves. Warner turns to Virucide who is engrossed with the computer. WARNER How much longer? VIRUCIDE Nether is trying to backup his data to an offsite location. If he does that, he can format his systems and we'll have nothing. WARNER Can’t we just cut the hardline? VIRUCIDE Too risky. If he backs up to a disc, he may still escape with it. WARNER Alright, keep him busy. Avalon, where is Nether? INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS Avalon brings up a blueprint of the Penthouse. AVALON Looks to be in a large private office on the...thirty-sixth floor. WARNER I thought there were only thirty five.

63 AVALON There are, it's a penthouse of sorts. It has it's own private elevator that goes from thirty-five to thirty-six. There's no other way in or out. INT. PENTHOUSE-CONTINUOUS The Penthouse elevators open and two THUGS with assault rifles exit. THUGS 01 We have to get you out of here. NETHER I'm not leaving until the data is secure. And check that exit. INT. 32ND HALLWAY-CONTINUOUS Warner steps away from the telephone room thinking. WARNER Shut down the penthouse elevator. AVALON I can't it's on it's own circuit. Wait a minute... INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS Avalon checks another blueprint. AVALON There appears to be an emergency escape hatch through the elevator shaft to the roof. WARNER Why the hell didn’t somebody tell me about that? EXT. ROOF-CONTINUOUS Conner spins around pointing the gun. CONNER What?

64 AVALON Look for an elevator machine room. WARNER Conner, I want you to find and secure that hatch by any means necessary. Conner moves around the small room he hid behind and sees the label on the door: PENTHOUSE ELEVATOR MACHINE ROOM. With a jab from his knife he pops the lock. Kicking the door open he points the gun around the room. INT. PENTHOUSE ELEVATOR MACHINE ROOM-CONTINUOUS There is a computer on the back wall and a large generator on the floor where the elevator cables wrap up. Next to the generator is a ladder. Conner steps forward and throws the hatch back. He sees a thug standing in the elevator having already removed the ceiling panel staring back at him. The thug raises his gun firing. Conner jumps back as bullets fly through the hatch-way and bounce off the roof. CONNER They're onto us. WARNER Secure the hatch! Conner moves forward and shoots wildly into the hatch. But the thug continues to fire back. WARNER Secure the hatch! Conner steps back taking out a grenade. He pulls the pin releasing the trigger. He drops it down the hatch. INT. PENTHOUSE-CONTINUOUS The thug hears the grenade hit the roof of the elevator. But before he can react it explodes destroying the elevator and throwing him across the penthouse.

65 INT. PENTHOUSE ELEVATOR MACHINE ROOM-CONTINUOUS The explosion knocks the generator loose. It falls through with a chuck of the floor and crashes into the ladder. It breaks that into pieces before crashing onto the roof of the elevator. The debris then crashes through the floor of the elevator down to the elevator pit. Conner stands as the dust begins to settle. He walks to the hatch and looks down. CONNER Hatch is secure, sir. INT. 32ND FLOOR-CONTINUOUS Warner walks back over to Virucide. WARNER What’s taking so long! VIRUCIDE I've been able to slow down the off-site backup, but I haven't found the virus codes. WARNER Should I do it? VIRUCIDE If you do, we have to move quickly before he goes cellular. Warner uses his knife to pry the phone conduit off the wall. Virucide packs up the laptop and crawls out. INT. PENTHOUSE-CONTINUOUS The main lights have gone out due to the explosion. The computer still operators on it's battery backup. Nether repeats his upload process when NETWORK CONNECT FAILED appears. He slams the monitor, when he realizes the hardline was cut. Next he starts to archive the data into an ISO file.

66 INT. 32ND FLOOR-CONTINUOUS Warner steps out of the telephone closet as Virucide throws the laptop bag over his shoulder. VIRUCIDE Avalon, can you cut off his cellular connections? AVALON I’d have to take out every cell tower in a ten mile radius. WARNER Cell tower? AVALON Nether can still upload the data via the cellular network. We have to get to him fast. Alvarez turns to Kirk and nods. Kirk takes out two grenades and holds one in each hand. Alvarez fires so Kirk can stick his hands out and throw them both. The he dives across the hallway. The explosion rocks the building destroying all the offices in that corner of the building. Debris and grenade fragments shatter the windows into a spider web. Alvarez and Kirk head down the hall. Virucide follows Warner to the bathroom. Sgt. Pepper looks out into the hallway. SGT. PEPPER Virucide. He opens the door and struggles to stand despite his wounds. He raises his pistol. ALVAREZ Warner! Warner turns raising his assault rifle but it's to late. Sgt. Pepper gets a shot off hitting Virucide in the chest. Warner fires several shots into Sgt. Pepper. They rip through him exiting his back. He drops to his knees before

67 collapsing forward. Virucide falls back against Warner. His breathing erratic, but that's what happens when lead hits kevlar. WARNER Move people! Warner grabs Virucide by the vest and drags him into the bathroom after Alvarez and Kirk went inside. INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS An alarm crosses Avalon's screen. AVALON Guys, the pressure in the building is failing. Those windows aren't going to hold out. INT. BATHROOM-CONTINUOUS The sound of glass bowing crosses their ears. WARNER Into the stalls. Warner drags Virucide into a toilet stall as Alvarez and Kirk dive into others. EXT. NETHERWORLD TOWER-CONTINUOUS Conner runs to the edge of the building. CONNER Holy... His words are cut off as the glass on the upper floors explode. In perfect succession the glass windows explode forming a cloud of glass all the way down to the lower levels. Avalon leans forward watching the succession of explosions drop to the lower levels engulfing the entire building in a cloud of glass.

68 INT. BATHROOM-CONTINUOUS Warner leans against the stall divider as the cloud of glass converges inside the building. From underneath the stall's door he can see the cloud move across the floor. He holds his sleeve over his face to keep from breathing it in. In a few seconds the glass cloud settles. Warner opens the door and steps out. The glass crunches under each step of his boots. WARNER You guys alright? Alvarez and Kirk move from behind two other stalls. KIRK I think so. Alvarez walks to the edge of the building and looks down. ALVAREZ Howard is going to have a field day with your ass. WARNER At least I didn’t break my arm this time. Alvarez rolls his eyes. Virucide climbs off the floor and staggers out of the stall. VIRUCIDE So, what do you guys have planned for next Friday? INT. PENTHOUSE-CONTINUOUS Lights flicker on and off inside the penthouse. The exterior glass has been thrown asunder leaving a cold breeze moving through. A light from the elevator shaft penetrates the darkness. Warner steps out with his light equipped M5 and scours the area. Alvarez is one step behind him disengaging his harness from the cable they ran down the elevator shaft.

69 AVALON I’m reading a single heat signature. Use caution. WARNER Copy that. Warner spots the computer and moves toward it. He finds Nether lying face down into his keyboard, blood and glass has littered his body and the monitor. Reaching out Warner touches the LCD gel that is spilling out of the monitor. Alvarez's light cross the room and focus on the gel. ALVAREZ Disgusting. Warner pushes Nether back in the seat and he groans. WARNER Suspect is down, but still alive. Virucide steps off the cable and walks toward them. ALVAREZ Should we move him. VIRUCIDE Let me talk to him. Warner, get me the hard drive off that computer. Looking down Warner sees a CD sitting in the open CD-ROM tray. He reaches down and picks it up. He hands it off to Alvarez before knocking the computer tower over and ripping the hard drive out. Virucide walks up to Nether shining a light on his face. VIRUCIDE We meet again. Nether rolls his eyes; Virucide smirks. VIRUCIDE We need the Membrane Program. NETHER Go to hell.

70 VIRUCIDE Maybe later. Right now, I need the Membrane Program. Nether looks away. Virucide grabs his face turning him back to him. VIRUCIDE Who’s in charge of this. You’re don’t have the brains for it; and Brahma doesn’t have the skill. Who is he and what does he want? Nether laughs which causes him to cough up blood. NETHER Prion. VIRUCIDE Prion? NETHER You’re one of a kind. But your time is almost over. Nether coughs again before he starts choking. WARNER We have to get him out of here or we’re going to lose him. Virucide pushes off him and walks away. VIRUCIDE Leave him, he’s useless to us. Warner turns back to Nether, but he is already dead. He and Alvarez follow Virucide out. INT. AVALON'S OFFICE-NIGHT Warner, Avalon, and Virucide enter the office. Virucide collapses on the couch as Avalon dumps the contents of a backpack on this desk. He sorts out a few hard drives and several dozen CDs and memory sticks.

71 AVALON You can take the rest of the night off, I'm going to sift through these for a couple hours. WARNER Don't have to tell me twice. I'll be back in the morning. Warner exits. AVALON Want to tell me what you two talked about? VIRUCIDE Prion. The lead hacker is called Prion. AVALON Who’s that? VIRUCIDE Don’t know. Never heard of him before. Could be a new alias, or a brand new hacker desperately trying to break in. DISSOLVE TO: INT. BRAHMA’S OFFICE-DAY BRAHMA [40's, East Indian] sits behind his desk equipped with dual flat screen monitors. Several books sit open on his desk. A TV in front of him is muted with closed captions of international news. The Delta Worm script lies open on one monitor, as he “Instant Messages” on the other. ANGLE MONITOR: BRAHMA: Nether is out. Still waiting on Membrane. PRION: Membrane will be completed in 24. Proceed as planned. BRAHMA: I have completed a new algorism for encryption. I will implement when I received Membrane.

72 PRION: Contact me when you have it completed, and I will begin launch. PRION DISCONNECTED. RETURN. Brahma smiles while sitting back in his chair crossing his arms. INT. AVALON'S OFFICE-DAY Virucide wakes. Sitting up, he finds Avalon still at the computer. Stretching Virucide walks up behind him. AVALON This firewall is kicking my ass. VIRUCIDE What building does Warner have to blow up now? Virucide picks up the Hindi to English dictionary off the desk. AVALON None of it makes any sense. I've been trying to translate the words, but I keep getting stumped. VIRUCIDE What did you find on Nether's hard drive? AVALON I got another version of the Delta Worm, even more encrypted. No Membrane Program. I don’t think Nether came up with it. And if we don’t have that, we have to get through the encryption. Virucide leans in. VIRUCIDE Brahma uses multiple dialects. Did you ask someone from the language department to come down at try to translate it?

73 AVALON He was up here an hour ago. Apparently, India has over a dozen dialects. Only sixty percent of this script is actually in Hindi. The other forty are in at least five dialects, maybe more. And he only knows a few of them. VIRUCIDE They say mathematics is a universal language. And all computer codes are built on that. There's an algorithm which exists, that supposedly brakes down the code to their mathematical core. AVALON Great, where is it? VIRUCIDE There is only one in existence, owned by the person who wrote it. But I'm not sure how helpful she'll be. AVALON It's worth a shot. VIRUCIDE Do we have a target date for launch? AVALON No, and I don’t know if taking out Nether will slow him down. VIRUCIDE We won't know until we crack that code. We have to go to Vancouver. AVALON Vancouver, as in...Canada? VIRUCIDE No, the other Vancouver! Yes, that one. Can you do it? Avalon picks up the phone.

74 AVALON Yes, I need you to get the jet ready. We need to go to Vancouver. He pauses looking up at Virucide. The sound on the other end comes off muffled to him. AVALON Says we can't do it without the paperwork. VIRUCIDE How long will that take? AVALON Forty-eight hours minimum. VIRUCIDE Have him take us to the border, and we'll cross over on our own. AVALON Just take us to McChord Air Force Base. Yeah. Be there in twenty minutes. INT. VANCOUVER NIGHTCLUB-NIGHT Loud rock music pierces through the air like a thousand screaming devils. Black lights and neon strobes flash everywhere. The club is packed tight, the patrons dressed in black leather, chains, and bondage straps. Virucide stands in the middle dressed in enough black to blend in. Avalon is with him, but his only black is his standard issue suit. AVALON So, how do you know this guy? VIRUCIDE We’re old friends. AVALON How old? From the crowd of dancers a tall thin woman [CRYPT] appears. She looks to be in her mid-twenties, but it's hard to tell under the black eyeliner and lipstick. She has thirteen

75 earrings, seven in one ear and six in the other. She also has nose, eyebrow, and belly piercing. She is topless, but you wouldn't guess with the design of her tattoos. She has a ring of fire around her waist giving the allusion of fire coming out of her pants. Beautifully designed up her abdomen is all assortment of devils and reanimated corpses crying out in pain. The tattoo goes up to her neck. She is very tall, but that didn't stop her from wearing black stiletto boots. CRYPT Hello Joseph. AVALON Oh, that old. She rolled her eyes walking into the crowd. Virucide motions to Avalon before following her. INT. PRIVATE LOUNGE-CONTINUOUS They walk into a small dimly lit lounge. It has a red couch that glows under the lights. The walls are dark with posters of zombies, skulls, and other things both dead and undead. Crypt sits down on the couch crossing her legs before lighting up a joint. CRYPT So, the great Virucide has come to see me. VIRUCIDE This is Excalibur. He and I have been working with the FBI on the Delta Worm. CRYPT Since last night, ever two-bit hacker in the world knows what you’re up to. What do you want with me? VIRUCIDE I need your help to crack the encryption. CRYPT But of course you do. And what’s in it for me?

76 VIRUCIDE The joy of knowing you saved millions of lives and preserved the prosperity of the Western World. CRYPT Ha! Is that why you’re doing it? Cause it makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside? VIRUCIDE I do it because I believe I can stop it. CRYPT Oh, right: Fate. More shit that American brainwashed you with. Virucide sits down next to her, but she only blows smoke his way. VIRUCIDE The U.S. Government will pay you. Crypt laughs. She runs her acrylic nails through his hair before pushing him away. CRYPT Spare me. I taught you that trick with the banks. AVALON We really need you're help. CRYPT You poor Americans. What will you do without your computers? Crypt takes a long drag off the joint. Avalon shoots Virucide a look. CRYPT We are gods of the computer age. All our power is derived from them. VIRUCIDE And how will you enact your power, when no one has them anymore. We need the algorism for translation encryptions so (MORE)

77 VIRUCIDE (con’t) we can extract the Membrane Program from the virus. CRYPT The Membrane Program isn’t finished, so you won’t find it there. It’s the only reason the worm hasn’t been launched yet. AVALON The U.S. is negotiating an arms deal with the North Koreans. Our intelligence tells us they are trying to get the Membrane Program. And if they do, we won’t be able to defend ourselves or retaliate. CRYPT So tell me, was it not offered to your President? Or is he too cocky to make a deal. AVALON The United States does not negociate with terrorists! Crypt stands up indignant. She walks to the door and instead of opening it, presses a button on a call box. CRYPT Stupid Americans. You’re people are only in jeopardy because he won’t deal with them. (beat) And you’re just as bad for screwing around with them. VIRUCIDE This isn't about us. CRYPT Apparently it is, because here you are. Two large men [BOUNCERS] enter the room. BOUNCER Is there a problem, Crypt.

78 CRYPT He and his American whore were just leaving. INT. HOTEL ROOM-DAY As the sun rises, Virucide sits on the balcony meditating. He opens his eyes slowly taking a deep breath before standing up. As we walks back into the main room, Avalon walks out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. Then, a knock at the door. VIRUCIDE I ordered room service. AVALON Great, I'm starved. Avalon opens the door to see Crypt standing in the doorway. Today she wears a black tanktop, tight pants, and healed combat boots. CRYPT Out of my way, chubby. She shoves him aside walking into the room. CRYPT Am I interrupting something here? AVALON I think I'll get dressed. Avalon walks back into the bathroom. VIRUCIDE You're timing is perfect. She drops a USB drive on the table before sitting down. CRYPT Got any food around here? Just then another knock on the door. Virucide gets up and answers it. He takes the tray and tips the waiter before he leaves.

79 Crypt pulls the laptop over so she can see. CRYPT This source code is pretty basic for a firewall encryption. Is this Brahma’s firewall? Virucide sets the tray down on the table. Crypt reaches up taking one of the two plates and starts eating. VIRUCIDE Brahma's the one who designed the encryption for the Delta Worm. Avalon exits the bathroom tying his tie. CRYPT If you told me Brahma was involved I would have done this for free. He’s been chasing my tail for years. AVALON What do you want? CRYPT Something you can't get with a computer: gold. One million dollars worth, bars or coin, your pick. As Crypt eats she starts typing. CRYPT You have another computer? VIRUCIDE Yeah. CRYPT This firewall is built like any other. You don’t even have to crack it. Virucide opens the other laptop enters the IP address for Brahma’s firewall. INT. BRAHMA’S OFFICE-CONTINUOUS Brahma leans forward rubbing his eyes. He finishes up the encryption and compiles the *.OBJ file. Getting up he walks

80 to the door when the computer starts beeping. INT. HOTEL ROOM-CONTINUOUS Crypt takes another bite of the waffle. CRYPT Okay, do that mutating virus thing you did back for Enron’s firewall. VIRUCIDE This is totally different. CRYPT No it’s not. Just mod it. INT. BRAHMA’S OFFICE-CONTINUOUS Brahma sits down as his firewall software alarm keeps going off. He starts typing into it searching for the login IP’s. INT. HOTEL ROOM-CONTINUOUS Virucide types quickly compiling the virus as quickly as possible. CRYPT Good. Uploaded it. VIRUCIDE Done. It didn’t do anything. CRYPT Of course not, that virus is over ten years old. VIRUCIDE What? CRYPT But it will make him think you’re an amateur, so... She exports her virus and the entire firewall encryption breaks apart.

81 CRYPT I’m in. Look for your file while I lock in the Cleaner. AVALON You hacked his system. He’ll pull the plug? CRYPT Not with my Cleaner. INT. BRAHMA’S OFFICE-CONTINUOUS Brahma’s firewall program crashes and refuses to reload. He brings up the operating system’s source code and starts shutting down network permissions. He reaches for the network hardline, but hesitates noticing the string of codes. Cursing in Hindi under his breath, he goes back to network permissions. INT. HOTEL ROOM-CONTINUOS Virucide’s eyes skim millions of lines of code as they stream across his monitor. VIRUCIDE I found his encryption. He’s uploading it. CRYPT Shit, shit. He’s uploading it on our protocol stream, we can’t shut it down without locking ourselves out. INT. BRAHMA’S OFFICE-CONTINUOUS Brahma uploads his OBJ-file to an off site location. He smiles as it reaches completion. INT. HOTEL ROOM-CONTINUOUS Avalon watches them amazed at the fluidity in which they work together. VIRUCIDE Launch the Cleaner, we can’t let it out.

82 CRYPT But your Membrane? VIRUCIDE He doesn’t have it. Just do it. CRYPT Done. INT. BRAHMA’S OFFICE-CONTINUOUS Suddenly both of Brahma’s monitors freeze. A window pops up reading: NETWORK CONNECTION FAILED. Suddenly the screens go black. Then his computer POPS and smoke pours out of the vents on the side and back of the PC. Cursing in Hindi, he gets up and tries to get near the tower. INT. HOTEL-CONTINUOUS Crypt smiles mischievously as he loads another screen on the laptop. CRYPT And now for the finishing touches. EXT. SPACE-CONTINUOUS The lights on a satellite hovering over India get brighter and brighter. Then, a POOF. The lights explode and the satellite falls from orbit toward earth. INT. BRAHMA’S OFFICE-CONTINUOUS Brahma stands beside his smoldering PC. He takes out his cell phone only to find he doesn’t have any reception. Confused, he walks to his desk drawer and takes out a Satphone. It also has no reception. INT. HOTEL ROOM-CONTINUOUS Crypt and Virucide bust up laughing. Avalon stands in shock. AVALON How could you do that?

83 CRYPT Oh come, it’ll take a few hours for them to get another satellite up there. AVALON I’m glad you two are having so much fun. But we still have a deadly virus that’s still out there. VIRUCIDE We’ve bought ourselves a few hours, maybe even a day. Crypt gets up and walks back to the food tray. CRYPT Don’t worry Excalibur, as you American always say, “You’ll get your man.” Or woman. Specially when he lives next door. AVALON What’s that supposed to mean. Crypt sits down on the bed eating. CRYPT What, you don’t know? She exchanges glances with Avalon and Virucide. CRYPT Prion’s American. Brahma was trying to uploading the encryption algorithm to him. He’s in the north-eastern quadrant. She takes a satisfying bite. CRYPT The irony is all to great. The only country that can save us is the same one that’s going to kill us. Avalon takes out his cellphone. AVALON We have to get back to D.C. We’re running out of time.

84 Virucide’s expression drops. He pauses looking back at the laptop. VIRUCIDE Excalibur, we need to make a stop in LA first. We need to pick someone up. Avalon nods. He turns as he begins speaking into the phone. INT. FBI JET-DAY Crypt is sitting alone looking out the window. Avalon walks from the kitchen with a cup of coffee. He takes a seat across from Crypt. AVALON So, what’s the deal with Virucide. Do you just hate him, or do you hate him for working with us? At first, she ignores him. But after a second she turns to him. CRYPT We used to be together. But every time an American got involved, he just up and left. This hacker, who used to work for this crime family, fled to Canada. Started preaching all about this Karma crap, and how the bad shit we did would come back to us. And Virucide just took it all in. And when they decided to go to China to find “spiritual enlightenment” I had enough. I told him it was him or me. AVALON I can guess what he decided. CRYPT When he came back a few years later, that’s when he became “Virucide” the vigilante hacker. Trying to change the world one virus at a time. AVALON Some people would find that an honorable ambition.

85 CRYPT Ambition is for the weak. There only is what is, and then we die. AVALON So, why are you here. CRYPT I gotta paid don’t I? Can’t have you forgetting about me. AVALON Don’t worry, you’ll get what’s coming to you. Avalon gets up and walks back to the cockpit. Crypt sighs. Finding herself alone again, Crypt turns her attention back out the window. EXT. SANTA MONICA AIRPORT, SECURE HANGER-DAY When the loading doors open on the FBI Jet, Warner is standing outside by the Dodge Charger. Avalon leads Crypt and Virucide out of the jet and down the steps. WARNER It's the spawn of Satan. CRYPT Ha, ha. She walks by whipping her hair striking his face. WARNER Ouch. AVALON Warner, we're going to be leaving for DC within a couple hours. WARNER We? AVALON We found out Prion is in the NorthEastern U.S. I thought you would have liked to see this through.

86 WARNER My family is here, John. When this thing hits, there's nowhere else I'm going to be. AVALON I understand. Avalon and Warner get in the front seat, Virucide and Crypt are in the back. WARNER To the Field Office? AVALON After we drop these two off at the Westwood Hotel. Warner pulls out of the secure area and onto Airport Ave. INT. HOTEL ROOM-DAY Crypt is in the shower while Virucide sits on the balcony meditating. After a few moments, he stands and walks out of the hotel room. EXT. HOTEL-CONTINUOUS As a taxi pulls up in front, Virucide steps into it. It pulls away. Across the street, two Chinese gangsters are sitting in a small Acura coupe. They pull away from the curb following the taxi. INT. TAXI-CONTINUOUS Virucide sends a text message. INT. SANTA MONICA HIGH SCHOOL-CONTINUOUS The buzzing of Loki’s backpack distracts several of the students from the History lecture. Quickly she pulls out her vibrating cellphone. She slides it open revealing it's full QWERTY keyboard and Virucide's message. She closes the text message and pulls out the stylus. She launches a small text based application and

87 starts tying in codes. Within seconds the building sprinklers go off. All the kids start laughing. A riot practically breaks out. The teacher escorts everyone outside of the classroom. Loki reaches down putting her stuff back into her bag before blending in with the crowd. EXT. SANTA MONICA HIGH SCHOOL-CONTINUOUS Virucide is waiting outside with the taxi. Loki comes out soaking wet throwing her bag over her shoulder. VIRUCIDE You're all wet. LOKI Pool on the roof had a leak. Virucide opens the door for her, and they both get in the back of the taxi. INT. TAXI-CONTINUOUS VIRUCIDE Ocean Park. As the taxi pulls away from the curb, Loki takes out her laptop. VIRUCIDE How far did you get? LOKI I managed to extract the Membrane Program from Delta Worm. But the codes won’t compile. She pulls up the codes for the Delta Worm. Virucide hands her a USB drive. VIRUCIDE Try these out. Loki implements them into the Membrane Program codes. The taxi stops. Loki gets out and Virucide pays the driver

88 before getting out. EXT. OCEAN PARK-CONTINUOUS Loki and Virucide make their way to an empty park bench. LOKI Done. Something's not right. VIRUCIDE What is it? LOKI I don't know, one of the strings is off. It's not compiling correctly. VIRUCIDE What if you try it like... He makes a few strikes across her keyboard. LOKI Oh. It's compiling, but there are errors in the data string. If we can’t fix them, the whole program is useless. VIRUCIDE We must be missing something. Loki looks up noticing the two Chinese gangsters [TRIADS] coming toward them. LOKI Virucide. He turns seeing them and stands. TRIAD Virucide? Virucide smiles. VIRUCIDE Did you just call me a pesticide? They both reach inside their jackets for automatic pistols. Immediately, Virucide kicks the closest one back and grabs the other's arm.

89 VIRUCIDE Loki, run! Loki grabs her bag and runs as the first triad opens fire on her. She races across the street as the bullets spray across the traffic in the intersection. Virucide puts the triad into an arm lock pinning him on his knees. The first reloads grabbing Virucide around the neck pointing his gun at his forehead. TRIAD That's enough. The second stands up before punching him in the stomach. He punches him again in the head. The other drops him on his knees and strikes him in the back of the head with his pistol. BLACKOUT. INT. MUSTY ROOM-DAY The smell of greasy Chinese food leaks through the dusty air. Virucide regains consciences finding himself duct taped, arms and legs, to an armed chair. The first of the triads is standing across from him, another man [WORMWOOD] sits off in the corner. The triad slaps him and yells something in Chinese. Virucide shakes his head as he becomes more aware of the room. Movement can be heard above, like foot steps banging on a hardwood floor. Dust particles dance in the light streaming down from the cracks. The floor is dirt; there isn't much of a foundation on this building. Wormwood steps forward into the light. He's a Chinese man, dressed in an expensive grey suit and wearing glasses. WORMWOOD Virucide. VIRUCIDE Prion? WORMWOOD Guess again.

90 VIRUCIDE I don't hang out with Asian hackers. WORMWOOD Unless they're a fourteen year old girl. VIRUCIDE Eh. WORMWOOD I'm...a Network Technician for a Chinese Shipping Company that operates in Los Angeles. VIRUCIDE Oh yay, do I get to play Elliot Ness? Wormwood nods to the gangster who sends a hard punch across Virucide's face. WORMWOOD Perhaps you would know me as Wormwood. Virucide's eye meet Wormwood's. WORMWOOD Since I happen to be the only one left in this city with the resources to reel you in, Prion asked I spend some on you. VIRUCIDE How thoughtful. I must have struck a nerve. WORMWOOD Killing one of his best hackers and crippling another wasn't the best idea for maintaining a low profile. VIRUCIDE Low profiles are so over-rated. The triad throws another punch across Virucide. WORMWOOD But death is too good for you. I have something far better.

91 The triad steps away and picks up a pair of gardener's sheers. Virucide tenses up making tight fists. Wormwood smiles as the triad takes Virucide's right hand in his. WORMWOOD Come now, it will only hurt at first. The triad fights to open Virucide's hand. It takes a second, but the triad manages to bend his thumb back. That weakens his grip and forces his hand open. The triad forces his index finger out and places the sheers just under the knuckle. MAN (v.o.) Everybody freeze, this is a stick up! Wormwood and the triad look up at the shadows crossing the gaps in the wood floor. MAN (v.o.) Put the money in the bag, right now! WORMWOOD Go check it out. Putting down the sheers the triad draws his pistol and heads to the back of the room. There is a ladder that leads up to a hidden partition in the floor. INT. CHINESE RESTAURANT-CONTINUOUS Closing the panel in the floor, the triad stays low as he walks into the restaurant. A man in a black hooded sweater stands with a gun pointed at the OLD MAN behind the counter. The triad raises his gun at the robber, but feels cold steel against his temple. ALVAREZ Don't move, FBI. Warner smirks as he pulls the hood off his head. He turns his gun on the triad. Just then bullets fire up from under the floor toward Warner's direction. He jumps back onto the counter. The triad throws Alvarez sending the gun across the room. He

92 fires on Warner. Alvarez tackles the triad to the ground. The bullets coming from below stop for a second. Warner notices a fire extinguisher sitting behind the counter. WARNER Can you hand me that? OLD MAN I thought you wanted money. WARNER Naw, I’ve always wanted to say that. The old man hands Warner the fire extinguisher. Jumping up Warner slams the fire extinguisher through the shot up floor. It falls to the ground in the middle of the musty room below. Warner notices the gleam of the pistol as it raised again. Quickly, he fires a shot into the fire extinguisher releasing white smoke. Coughing Wormwood makes his exit. INT. MUSTY ROOM-CONTINUOUS Warner jumps down into the room. He sees a shadow make an exit into a dark tunnel before noticing Virucide. VIRUCIDE Go get him. WARNER Is he important? VIRUCIDE Very! Alvarez jumps down into the room seconds later. WARNER Give him your com! Warner runs down the tunnel. Alvarez takes his earpiece with attached boom mic off and puts it on Virucide. Then he takes out his knife and cuts him loose.

93 INT. CHINATOWN TUNNELS-CONTINUOUS Warner is running down the tunnels. The whole area looks like an underground city with sweatshops, DVD piracy stations, post production studio for illegal pornography. Warner hits a cross section between two areas. WARNER What am I looking for? VIRUCIDE A short Asian dude with glasses. Warner looks around. Everyone here is short and Asian, and several wear glasses. Startled they look up at him. WARNER Can you be any more specific? Just then he hears a crash, and turning sees Wormwood take off onto another tunnel section. WARNER Got a visual! Avalon, you have my location? INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS Kirk speeds through traffic. Conner sits beside him; Avalon with an open laptop sits in the back. AVALON You're locator is working perfectly. You're heading North toward Hill Street. INT. CHINATOWN TUNNELS-CONTINUOUS Wormwood disappears into a shadow as Warner is grabbed from behind by another TRIAD. The thug throws him against the wall forcing the gun from his hand. Alvarez and Virucide are only seconds behind. As they approach the thug, he uses Warner as a shield to Alvarez's gun. TRIAD Don’t or he’s dead!

94 INT. CHARGER-CONTINUOUS AVALON We’re right above you, now. He looks up pointing at an alley. AVALON Stop there! Kirk slams the break halting the vehicle. EXT. HILL STREET-CONTINUOUS The three exit as a black SUV turns the corner with squealing tires. Conner notices a submachine gun stick out of the side windows. CONNER Contact! Avalon and Kirk rush around the vehicle to take cover. The submachine guns fire ripping through the car spilling glass everywhere. Conner opens fire with his pistol trying to give cover, but a bullet strikes Kirk in the back of the neck. Kirk falls forward managing to cover Avalon. He grips him as they collapse behind the car. The SUV stops. As the other two passengers in the car get out, Conner is forced to duck behind the car. The tires are blown out by the four submachine guns as Conner and Avalon are pinned down behind car. CONNER Kirk! Kirk! Avalon pushes Kirk’s lifeless body off him as he sits up against the car. He grips his pistol in his hand. Conner forces his emotions down. CONNER Man down. Man down! INT. CHINATOWN TUNNELS-CONTINUOUS Rage fills Warner. Without thinking he pulls the gun away from his head and places the triad into an arm lock.

95 WARNER No more mister nice-guy. He shatters the man's elbow sending the gun to the ground. He throws him into the wall and knees him in the side of the head. The force throws his head into the cement wall. He knees him a second time in the temple sending another crushing blow into the wall. Dropping the triad he picks up his pistol. WARNER Alvarez. ALVAREZ I got this, you get that yellow bastard. VIRUCIDE I got your back, Warner. Warner and Virucide head into the shadows after Wormwood. Alvarez grabs the triad’s pistol as he runs up a metal staircase. EXT. HILL STREET-CONTINUOUS The four gang members reload their submachine guns. They move toward the car, ready to finish the FBI Agents. Just then, Alvarez, walks out of the alley in front of them with two pistols. He opens fire taking out two of them before they can react. The other two stop moving to fire on him. Quickly he dives sliding between Conner and Avalon. He drops the triad’s pistol to reload his own. He turns to the other agents and nods. At once Conner and Avalon move low around the front and back of the car. Alvarez turns raising his head through the shot up windows. One of the triads picks up the submachine gun of his fallen comrade. The other triad gets up on his knees fighting the pain of his bullet ridden body. Conner and Avalon fire first taking out the two on the outside. The middle triad fires both submachine guns, but Alvarez’s aim cannot be matched as he sends several precise shots into his chest.

96 The three agents take a breath. Alvarez turns to Kirk lying on the ground at his feet. ALVAREZ Area secure. INT. CHINATOWN TUNNELS-CONTINUOUS Warner quickly turns a corner making ground on Wormwood. Suddenly, a triad with a pipe comes from around a corner up ahead smacking Warner across the head. He strikes him again sending him down on his knees. Virucide steps up as the Triad swings at him. Seamlessly, Virucide dodges the blow and strikes open handed to throat. The triad chocks blood as Virucide bends over giving a scorpion kick. He stands up sending a decisive side kick knocking him down. A second triad turns the corner wielding a large knife. He swings but Virucide uses an Israeli Haganah block locking up his attacking arm. He strikes open palm crushing the opponents nose. Reaching around he takes the knife out of the triad’s hand and back fists the traid without letting the Haganah hold go. He then knees him in the chest cracking his sternum. He drops the traid letting him collapse on the ground barely breathing. Virucide pauses still holding the traid’s knife in his hand. He rotates it around so the blade is facing up. He steps forward slowly. Around the corner he sees Wormwood standing at the top of some metal stairs. The exit from the tunnel is blocked by a steel door that remains closed even as Wormwood slams his body into it. Wormwood steps down as Virucide walks slowly toward him. Wormwood draws his pistol, but Virucide grabs his wrist twisting separating all seventeen bones. The pistol drops to the ground. Virucide gives him a cold stare as he forces Wormwood’s back against the wall. And without further hesitation, he stabs Wormwood in the chest, a few inches off his heart, but piercing his lung. Virucide continues to stare at him as Warner slowly stands up.

97 VIRUCIDE I’m going to give you one chance to save your life. Give me the Membrane Program. Wormwood starts to laugh as he begins to gurgle blood. WORMWOOD You won’t kill me. guys.

You’re the good

Virucide turns to Warner as he walks up to them. WARNER Kill him. Even if he does give you the program. Warner stairs blankly. Wormwood turns his gaze back to Virucide. VIRUCIDE And he’s “good cop”. Virucide twists the knife sending excruciating pain throughout Wormwood’s body. He cries out in pain as he starts coughing blood. WORMWOOD Virginia! Virucide stops. VIRUCIDE What? WORMWOOD I did a trace on Prion, not long ago. Through his filters, I picked up a Virginia area code. Wormwood beings to laugh, the best he can through the blood. WORMWOOD I already gave him the Membrane Program. You’re too late. VIRUCIDE Heard enough?

98 WARNER Yes. Virucide pulls the knife out dropping Wormwood on the ground. VIRUCIDE Might want to get that looked at before you bleed to death. Virucide walks past Warner as he heads to toward the main tunnel. Warner turns to follow him taking out his pistol cocking the hammer. VIRUCIDE You would have stopped me, right? Warner turns on Wormwood just as he had raised his pistol in his off hand. Warner fires a single shot between his eyes. Without a word, he walks past Virucide toward another exit. EXT. HILL STREET-DAY Warner and Virucide arrive out of the alley as Kirk’s body is being placed in an ambulance. VIRUCIDE We’re running out of time. If we’re going to DC, we have to leave now. WARNER I’m going with you. VIRUCIDE What about your family? AVALON I have a house in D.C. They’re more than welcome to stay there. EXT. ANIMAL HOSPITAL-DAY A black SUV squeals to a hault in front of an animal hospital. Warner steps out and runs inside. He comes out a few minutes later with his WIFE. She gets in the car and they squeal away.

99 EXT. LA HIGH SCHOOL-CONTINUOUS Warner pulls up at the school. He and his wife get out and run inside. INT. LA HIGH SCHOOL-CONTINUOUS Warner runs through the metal detector setting if off. WARNER Find Laura, I’ll get April. Warner turns down a hallway and up a flight of steps. He rushes past doors until he finds APRIL sitting in class. He opens the door disturbing the TEACHER. WARNER Excuse me. (to April) April, come on. TEACHER I’m trying to conduct a class. WARNER Family emergency. I’ll have her back next week. April packs her bags heading out the door. INT. FBI SUV-CONTINUOUS Warner and April get in as his wife and LAURA [the youngest] are getting themselves set. APRIL What is going on? Warner checks the time. WARNER The world’s going to end in a couple hours and I wanted us to be together as a family. EXT. SANTA MONICA AIRPORT-DAY Avalon stands by the FBI Jet as Warner speeds onto the

100 secure runway. He slams the breaks and his family starts piling out. His wife and April grabs a few bags; Laura holds the family cat. LAURA This is supposed to save us from the end of the world! Warner throws a few bags inside. WARNER Everybody inside now. AVALON We’re missing someone. WARNER What? We just rescued his ass. Just as he says this, a motorcycle speeds into the area. Virucide drives wearing all black and sunglasses. He comes to a stop a few feet from Warner. VIRUCIDE I couldn’t leave without the last member of our team. Just then, Loki steps off the motorcycle. She is dressed in black jeans, a leather corset that laces up the back and combat boots. Her nail polish, lip stick, and eye liner are all black. Yet clutched in her hand is a pink Hello Kitty backpack. WARNER Who the hell is this? VIRUCIDE Meet Loki. Avalon’s jaw drops. AVALON Loki? Warner turns to him confused. WARNER Everyone in, now!

101 INT. FBI JET-CONTINUOUS Warner is the last one inside and secures the door. He leans toward the cockpit: WARNER Shove off, captain! Warner takes his seat next to his wife. Laura buckles herself in while clutching the feline in her hand. Warner closes April’s cellphone and puts it on her lap. Loki sits next to Virucide across from Crypt. They stair at each other. EXT. FBI JET-CONTINUOUS The jet takes off quickly turning East. INT. FBI JET-CONTINUOUS Loki smiles at Crypt. LOKI So, you’re Virucide’s ex, huh? CRYPT (to Virucide at Loki) This makes sense. I became a woman, and you just couldn’t grow up. Virucide stands up and walks to the window. Crypt laughs to herself and sits back in her chair. Warner fidgets with Avalon’s rubix cube unsuccessfully. Loki takes it completing the puzzle in a few seconds. She hands it back to him. WARNER Where are your parents? She turns away. LOKI They won’t miss me. EXT. FBI JET-CONTINUOUS Virucide stairs out the window watching the clouds. WE

102 FOLLOW him as the jet flies out of sight. EXT. LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE-DAY A squad of combat ready marines stand by as Avalon leads his troop off the jet. Warner hangs back organizing the supplies. AVALON Major Adams. MAJOR ADAMS steps forward shaking Avalon's hand. ADAMS Welcome to Langley, sir. AVALON These are the technical specialists the President requested. Adams eyes the hackers, all dressed in punk black and donning sunglasses. Avalon smirks as he put on a pair of sunglasses himself. Adams turns away and the four follow him in rhythmic unison. Warner kisses his wife and children as they get into a black SUV with an FBI agent. After they pull away from the runway, he runs to catch up with Avalon. EXT. PENTAGON-DAY The caravan of black SUVs pull up to the Pentagon. The hackers get out of the lead SUV with Avalon carrying a black duffel bag. Warner gets out of the second SUV with a small black box. He hands out coms to each of the four before hooking himself up. WARNER (to Adams) Have your guy conference me between you and Avalon. ADAMS You got it. Warner shakes Avalon’s hand and stays behind as the four head up the steps.

103 INT. PENTAGON HALLWAYS-CONTINUOUS Avalon takes the lead with the other three walking in stride. INT. COMPUTER SYSTEMS ROOM [PCSR]-CONTINUOUS The computer systems room is a large circular room with dozens of computer terminals all throughout it. A large forty foot monitor is hung on the wall showing a map of the entire country. Chief Computer Engineer HOWARD McNEILIS greets the hackers as they arrive. McNeilis’ team of ENGINEERS, who range from college age interns to veteran technicians, look up at the four. McNEILIS Thank god you’re here. AVALON What happened? Red lights start popping up on the west coast of the large map. McNEILIS The Delta Worm has been launched. It started out of the Seattle area about ten minutes ago. VIRUCIDE Get us a table. He points to where he is standing, in the middle of the room. Quickly a square table is brought in and set up. Avalon places the duffel bag on it. He produces four laptops from inside handing each one off to Loki, Crypt, and Virucide leaving the last for himself. McNEILIS We have the most advanced firewalls developed. All our defensive systems, from satellites to air craft carriers, run through our firewalls. If this room fails, they all fail.

104 VIRUCIDE Take this. Virucide hands him a small computer modem. McNEILIS It’s a 56k modem. VIRUCIDE It’s old school, but it’ll slow down the virus and give us a chance to work. And take this. He hands him a hundred foot phone cord. Loki pulls out the switch and networks the computers. Virucide connects the phone line into the switch. McNeilis hot-wires the modem into one of their terminals. McNEILIS You’re hot. As soon as the computers are connected the hackers log into each consol. VIRUCIDE Alright guys, do you’re thing. AVALON Warner, have you’re teams ready. I hope Wormwood was right about Prion’s location. CRYPT I’m launching the preliminary decryption system. LOKI Good, I can’t extract the Membrane Program in Hindi. One of the engineers runs up to McNeilis. ENGINEER Sir, we have reports that power plants are having total failures.

105 INT. NUCLEAR POWER FACILITY-CONTINUOUS All the computers in the plant start streaming codes for the Delta Virus. Lights start to die as even backup systems begin to fail. INT. HOSPITAL-CONTINUOUS The power dies out in the entire hospital. The backup generators fail. Doctors and nurses run amok. Patients flatline. Surgeons find themself in the dark unable to work. The static hum of a blueline patent fills the air. INT. 575 COCKPIT-CONTINUOUS Rain beats off the windshield of the plane decreasing visibility. TOWER This is Denver Control, you are cleared to runway one-niner. PILOT Roger that, Control. The pilot holds the throttle steady as he releases it. The engineer monitors the ground distance. Suddenly the lights on the runway die. The monitors in the plane start to flicker on and off. COPILOT What the hell? PILOT What’s our status? ENGINEER I don’t know, all the systems are failing. The runway breaks through the fog. COPILOT Pull up!

106 The pilot pulls back but the front wheel crashes into the runway. The hydraulic systems fail and front wheel retracts driving the plane’s nose into the runway. The cockpit windows shatter as the rest of the plane comes crashing over it. INT. DENVER TOWER-CONTINUOUS The jaws of the controllers drop as the flash of an explosion crosses the plate glass of the tower. INT. PCSR-CONTINUOUS One of the engineers run up to McNeilis. ENGINEER Sir, it’s looks like North Korea just launched a missile at us. McNEILIS My god, this is war! Get on the horn to the Joint Chiefs. We have to intercept that missile. EXT. McGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE-CONTINUOUS An AIR FORCE PILOT leads a team of F35s off the runway toward New York City. EXT. USS RONALD REGAN-CONTINUOUS Several miles off coast of the Korean Peninsula, the crew gathers on the deck. They stare at the jet stream left by the missile passing overhead. Two MARINE pilot fire off the deck of the carrier in F35s. They’re several miles behind the missiles, but closing in fast. INT. PCSR-CONTINUOUS The four hackers continue to type feverously into the constructs of the virus. VIRUCIDE How you doing on that decryption?

107 CRYPT Almost there, I have to rewrite a few of my viral programs. LOKI Prion’s on the switch. AVALON Keep him busy, I’ll start working on the trace. CRYPT Done. Crypt launches her program on the switch. It cracks the encryption algorithm causing all the screens to freeze up. Then they rewrite in English codes. LOKI I got him tied down on my Shadow Program. VIRUCIDE Hand him over to Crypt, I need you on the Membrane. Shit, he rewrote the base construct, I’m at ground zero. CRYPT Get a move on, we don’t have much time. VIRUCIDE I can’t, he’s on the switch and lagging me out. LOKI He should be in my Shadow. CRYPT I’ll take Prion, you get the Membrane finished. AVALON Son of a bitch. Warner, I have him! WARNER (v.o.) Where?

108 AVALON About sixty miles outside of D.C., I’ll get you the coordinates when I receive them. EXT. PENTAGON-CONTINUOUS Warner sits beside Major Adams in the SUV. WARNER Go, we have a location. Head south. As they pull away the indash G.P.S. system goes black reading: NO SIGNAL. ADAMS The GPS is out. WARNER Satellites must be down. ADAMS I have a Thomas Guide in the glove box. A young SOLDIER sitting behind them leans forward. SOLDIER What’s a Thomas Guide? WARNER Boy, you did not just ask that. Warner drops the Thomas Guide on the dashboard and flips through it. WARNER Avalon, what’s your status. INT. PCSR-CONTINUOUS Avalon’s computer localizes Prion’s IP address among thousands in the area. AVALON I got it!

109 INT. GMC YUKON-CONTINUOUS Warner writes down the address on his arm. WARNER Thanks. He flips through the book until he finds the right map; he circles the intersection. WARNER Got it, exit thirteen off Interstate 66. INT. PCSR-CONTINUOUS The large monitor starts to fail in patches. Some start getting major interference, other parts go out completely. ENGINEER What’s happening? McNEILIS We’re losing satellites. He looks down at his watch. McNEILIS That missile will be passing into our air space soon. ENGINEER Sir, the missile appears to heading for the Midwest. McNEILIS Didn’t they get the message? Where the hell are those jets? Suddenly all the monitors go black! ENGINEER I’ve lost everything. EXT. PACIFIC OCEAN-CONTINUOUS The Marine pilots get a the missile locked on just as the systems fail. The pilots struggle to maintain control but the entire guidance system fails. He ejects seconds before

110 the jet crashes into the water. Rocket failure on the second jet causes it to explode prematurely sending the jet into thousands of pieces across the water. EXT. NEW YORK CITY-CONTINUOUS Computer systems start to malfunction in the F35s. The wing commander fights to regain control. AIR FORCE PILOT Mayday, mayday, I'm losing my guidance systems. All she gets is static on the line. She pulls the leaver ejecting seconds before the jet crashes into a line of parked cars on the street. It explodes sending a massive fireball across a major intersection. Another jet whizzes by her spinning wildly out of control until it crashes into a nearby high rise. After the chute on her eject seat opens, she sees another jet crash into the base of the Statue of Liberty. It blows out the entire bottom floors. AIR FORCE PILOT We've failed. INT. PCSR-CONTINUOUS Loki’s face lights up. LOKI I got it. I found the missing codes. I’m extracting the Membrane Program. CRYPT Hurry up. AVALON Warner, we need Prion off the switch now! Avalon turns seeing the huge screen behind them go black. McNeilis looks down at his watch.

111 ENGINEER Sir, we’ve lost communication satellites. McNeilis drops to the floor no longer able to stand. One of the engineers rushed to his side. ENGINEER Sir. McNEILIS We’re to late. He looks down at his watch as the count-down hits zero. EXT. MARINA DEL RAY-CONTINUOUS A Coast Guard officer stands by his radar terminal as everything shuts down. He grabs a pair of binoculars and runs outside. He stands in awe watching as the missile flies right overhead. EXT. FORT ROYAL, VIRGINIA-DAY The four black GMC Yukons screech to a halt on Locus Grove. Warner leads the team of Marines across the lawn. They cock their M5 assault rifles. ADAMS Sergeant Miles, take your team to the rear. Sergeant MILES cuts off from the main assault. MILES Yes, sir. The two groups converge on the house. INT. RICHIE HOUSE-CONTINUOUS Adams kicks the door in and Warner stays close behind. ADAMS Miles, secure the lower floors. Adams picks up a family portrait of a family of three. He puts it down nodding to Warner. Warner takes point up the

112 stairs. The upstairs hallway branches off into several different rooms. They search each one. In the last one they find a BOY about ten years old playing video games on a laptop. The kid looks up frightened. WARNER Kid, are you’re parents home? He shakes his head. WARNER John, no one’s home but some kid. INT. PCSR-CONTINUOUS Avalon stands up thinking. He looks at Loki who continues working on the Membrane Program. AVALON What’s he doing? INT. RICHIE HOUSE-CONTINUOUS Warner turns back at the boy who has resumed his video game. WARNER He’s playing video games. AVALON On a computer? WARNER Oh shit. Warner barges back into kicks the chair sending tips spilling the child butt of his M5 into the

the room. The kid panics. Warner him rolling across the floor. It onto the floor. Warner smashes the laptop sending keys flying.

BOY No! The boy tries to attach Warner. Warner pushes him with the assault rifle sending him crashing into a wall. Furious, Warner throws the desk over sending the laptop on

113 the floor. He fires several suppressed shots into the laptop sending pieces of it flying everywhere. AVALON (V.O.) That’s it, that got him out. Take him into custody. The child [PRION] gets up rushing for the door. Warner grabs him by the collar and pushes him down pinning him to the floor with his knee. Prion starts to laugh. PRION You’re too late. I left your friends a little present. INT. PCSR-CONTINUOUS Crypt’s eye widen. CRYPT Oh no. She rips her laptop from the switch and throws it across the room. It explodes in midair. AVALON What the hell was that? CRYPT Prion dropped a virus on me. AVALON I see it, I’m isolating it now. Loki’s computer hits 100%. LOKI Membrane Program is finished. AVALON Launch it. LOKI I can’t; the switch is already infected. VIRUCIDE I’m sending you the antivirus. Get ready to burn it.

114 Virucide finishes compiling the antivirus and transfers it to Loki’s computer. AVALON Shit. Avalon rips his laptop from the switch trying to throw it when it explodes in his hand. It sends him flying across the room. CRYPT Excalibur! Crypt rushes to his side. VIRUCIDE Loki! LOKI I’m burning it now. Her CD tray ejects. LOKI Done! She grabs the CD from the tray as Virucide grabs her turning their backs to the laptops. The laptops explode sending debris everywhere. Loki looks up making eye contact with Virucide. She smiles. Virucide turns to McNeilis. VIRUCIDE McNeilis, turn off the network switch. McNeilis gets up from the floor. He nods at one of the interns who is standing near the panel. He throws the main power switch which shuts down the generator. After a few seconds, he throws it back into place. Several flashlights turn on; the light finds it’s way to Virucide and Loki. McNeilis steps into their light. VIRUCIDE Boot the seven.

115 McNeilis walks over to one of the terminals. With flashlight in hand he kneels down and plugs the one terminal into the wall outlet. Standing up he signals to the intern. The intern flips the switch rerouting power through the terminal. VIRUCIDE Loki, would you do the honor. Loki steps forward. She sits down at the terminal and loads the CD. She hits Control, Alt, Delete to reboot the terminal. It loads a Linux-based construct off the CD. ANGLE MONITOR: USER:> LOKI PASSWORD:> ******* LOKI :: LOGGED ON FAILED TO INITIATE STARTUP PROGRAM. C:> Here, Loki begins her work. C:>Q:\ Q:>MEMBRANE.EXE MEMBRANE LOADING. 100% Q:>ANTIVIRUS.EXE DELTA WORM ANTIVIRUS LOADING. 100% LOKI :: USER LOGOUT RETURN. Loki sits back in her chair. VIRUCIDE Reboot.

116 Loki hits in sequence: CTRL+ALT+DELETE The monitor blacks out. Seconds later it reboots. NEW SYSTEMS ACCEPTED. Then follows a list of commands then the main operating system. It is then mimicked on six other terminals that were just plugged in. LOKI We did it. Four of the veteran engineers and two interns run to the terminals and start logging in. Within seconds the lights turn back on. EXT. SPACE-CONTINUOUS A satellite lights up. Rockets fire as it repositions itself. INT. PCSR-CONTINUOUS The large monitor lights up as the satellites come back online. The infected terminals come back on-line as antivirus self-replicates across the network. McNEILIS What’s the status on that nuke? ENGINEER It’s coming fast. McNEILIS Projected target? ENGINEER Son of a..., the Capital. Sir, it’s headed directly for the Capital Building. McNEILIS How long?

117 ENGINEER Two, maybe three minutes. It’s about three hundred miles out and closing. McNEILIS Tell them they have to shoot it down now. It’ll arm a hundred miles out! EXT. SKY, WASHINGTON DC-CONTINUOUS A squad of three F35s move in to intercept the nuclear missile. WING COMMANDER This is squad leader, we’re moving in to intercept. As he approaches the missile head on, an alarm goes off on his console. WING COMMANDER The warhead is armed, I repeat: the warhead is armed. If we take it down now, we risk a nuclear detonation! INT. PSCR-CONTINUOUS McNeilis stands speechless. ENGINEER Sir, sir! Virucide looks down at the terminal in front of him. VIRUCIDE Loki, move. She gets out of the way as he takes the seat. Avalon walks up to him wrapping a gauze bandage around his hand. VIRUCIDE Excalibur, I need you to reposition that satellite over the Capital Building. Avalon takes a seat at the next console. AVALON What are you planning?

118 VIRUCIDE That missile came from Korea, which means it’s probably Chinese made. The Pentagon archives should have schematics for it. AVALON Even if you find the abort codes, the missile will have to stay inline with the satellite for at least five second. VIRUCIDE Don’t worry, it will. LOKI But if the missile still crashes, won’t the nuke go off? VIRUCIDE No, it doesn’t work that way. AVALON You’re cutting it pretty close to use this satellite. VIRUCIDE That’s why I’m going to need you to shut up so I can concentrate! EXT. SPACE-CONTINUOUS The rockets fire repositioning a satellite. INT. PSCR-CONTINUOUS A stream of IP address cross Avalon’s console as he locks into his target. A green cross-hair zooms in on a satellite’s view of the Capital Building. He glances over at Virucide’s monitor and he draws up schematics on the Chinese DF-31A. EXT. SKY, WASHINGTON DC-CONTINUOUS The wing commander allows the missiles to pass overhead. His eyes follow it until it is directly behind him.

119 WING COMMANDER Alright men, we’re circling around. Stay in formation. PILOT (v.o.) But sir? WING COMMANDER Stay in formation, Marines! We’re not abandoning this city. The wing commander turns arching around behind the nuke. His squad turns staying in formation as the five jets fly toward the nuke. As the nuke passes toward the Capital Building it arches downward directly over the rotunda. INT. PSCR-CONTINUOUS The nuke passes onto Avalon’s monitor. VIRUCIDE Got ya! Virucide scripts a virus. Loki stands behind him fidgeting. A stream of IP address. LOKI Come on, come on. A Chinese patch program. An IP address lights up. Virucide resets a binary code subroutine. EXT. WASHINGTON DC, CAPITAL BUILDING-CONTINUOUS ANGLE NUKE. A display on the side of the warhead reads: ARMED. The rocket heads closer and closer toward the steeple. Suddenly, the light go out. RETURN. The warhead crashes through the roof of the Capital Building. INT. CAPITAL BUILDING, ROTUNDA-CONTINUOUS With a crash rubble rains down from the roof of the rotunda.

120 Cement debris slams down on the stone floor as the remaining rocket fuel explodes on contact. The fiery explosion rocks the entire Rotunda but the fire sprinklers minimize damage. EXT. SKY, WASHINGTON DC-CONTINUOUS The squad of F35s fly over the Capital Building. WING COMMANDER The warhead did not go off. I repeat, the warhead did not go off. INT. PSCR-CONTINUOUS A cheer rises up inside the PSCR. Everybody starts hugging everybody. McNEILIS Get me an open line to the President. And prep the emergency broadcast channels. Avalon turns to Virucide finding he and the others had already left. He runs out of the PCSR. EXT. PENTAGON-CONTINUOUS Virucide, Crypt, and Loki are standing at the top of the Pentagon steps when Avalon makes it through the door. VIRUCIDE So, where’s your driver? EXT. AVALON’S HOUSE-DAY Warner, still dressed in his combat gear, pistol on his hip, and FBI bullet proof vest, steps up onto the curb. He passes by a few houses as people nervously pack their cars to flee the city. Approaching Avalon’s house he steps off the sidewalk crossing the lawn. His wife runs out of the house. She runs into his arms and they exchange a long kiss. His two daughters walk out of the house and they share in a group hug.

121 EXT. PENTAGON-CONTINUOUS Avalon kneels down to Loki’s height. AVALON This country owes you a special service. And I want to offer you a job at the FBI as an antihacker. LOKI What? So I end up like you? I’m only fourteen. I wanna have a career and boyfriends, and get married, and be a soccer mom and drive huge SUVs. Avalon stands up looking at Virucide. VIRUCIDE Don’t look at me. He laughs it off. AVALON Good luck, all of you. VIRUCIDE Same. Virucide and Avalon shake hands. VIRUCIDE Next time you need help stopping the end of the world, just send me an email. AVALON Where’s the fun in that? Virucide shakes his head and walks down the steps. Crypt and Loki follow him into a black SUV waiting at the bottom for them. Avalon looks up into the sky as a squad of F35s fly overhead. He walks back into the Pentagon. FADE OUT. THE END.