THE ALPHA CENTAURI PROJECT SCRIPT (7 page)

The moment that we all have dreamt of, has arrived.
Ten years ago, at the beginning of the Alpha Centauri project, our
Government did not want to grant us autonomy.

But we held on, because a people doesn't need
obstacles, but stimulating laws. Most of all a people needs the
freedom to choose its own future, at least for a matter of
survival.

And we are destined to govern, since four light years
will separate us from our homeland, a distance sufficient to make
any influence impossible.

They have understood, and today we are celebrating
the birth of the Alpha Centauri Republic, the fifth state of the
Confederation after the Earth, the Moon, Mars and Net.

beat

We are going to face our future with serenity and
determination. The Martian experience has strengthened our will and
has allowed us to develop the techniques for widespread
colonization.

Above all it is the ultimate aim of our mission to
guide us. Alpha Centauri is an important step, but only the first
one.

The population replies with LENGTHY APPLAUSE.

ADMIRAL

Today I have the honor of presenting the parliament
and the government to you...

The Admiral staggers and props himself up against the
table, but a moment later, his strength gone, falls to the
floor.

Still conscious, with bright eyes, he stares at the
audience that is affected by the same disease at the same time.

EXT. ALPHACITY -- MOMENTS LATER

Terror spreads through the vast crowds. They are
about to start a desperate flight, when the same illness reaches
them.

After a few minutes, they all are lying on the
ground, with glassy looks.

Everyone can see a man dressed in dark clothes.

voice (o.S.)

I am taking possession of your lives.

The inhabitants fall fast asleep. When they open
their eyes again, they look around with a puzzled expression,
wondering why they are lying down.

They stand up without effort, not at all troubled;
all of them with the same expression.

INT. flagship bridge -- DAY

In the middle of the bridge, shine the holograms
transmitted from Alphacity.

Some androids in blue uniform are observing them IN
DEEP SILENCE.

soldier

A viral attack of unprecedented power.

C573Y

It seems to be finished. Let's start the population
checkup.

The screens fill up with statistics: VIRUS INACTIVE
AGAIN. PEOPLE'S MEMORIES AND PERSONALITIES WIPED OUT OR PROFOUNDLY
MODIFIED. ONLY A FEW HAVE ESCAPED THE INFECTION.

C573Y reaches the middle of the hall.

C573Y

Equip the troops with antiviral protection and send
them to Alphacity. Meanwhile, the medical corps get ready to
intervene.

The soldiers coming from another server, materialize
in the town. C573Y follows the events from the screens.

At first the inhabitants observe them from a
distance, speaking IN LOW VOICES.

Then they begin gathering in groups that move
forward, threatening the newcomers with their fists and striking up
more and more aggressive slogans.

C573Y

Get ready to fight.

The troops take up positions. In unison, the masses
launch an assault everywhere in Alphacity.

The first rows fall under the shots of the
paralyzers, but the following waves engage the soldiers in
ferocious hand-to-hand fighting. It's chaos.

C573Y

Too many; immediate withdrawal. Introduce the
soporific programs.

The troops vanish. Then the inhabitants start falling
to the ground, one after the other, like flies.

The streets and the squares fill up with an expanse
of bodies.

C573Y

Activate the combat androids to garrison the
Caravels.

Flash of the armory where hundreds of war robots are
stored.

SOLDIER

They are out of control!

C573Y

The sphere, quick!

A gigantic hologram of the ship appears in the middle
of the hall.

The outside shell dissolves, showing the structure
below, a multicolored cobweb of cables linking rooms full of
equipment.

A soldier points to a few red points.

SOLDIER

Those... Those are the computers connecting the
bridge to the rest of the ship. They have stopped working!

After a few seconds all the lights become green. The
soldiers are astonished.

SOLDIER

They have started again. Perhaps the problem is
solved.

The soldier sends instructions to the computers.

SOLDIER

They are still not answering!

A light turns red. It starts flashing. Half of the
screens fill with a deluge of data. The alarms sound DEAFENING.

SOLDIER

Another attack!

After a few seconds, the light goes out. SILENCE
falls on.

All the eyes turn towards the center of the room,
where a message is shining: VIRTUAL POPULATION'S BACKUPS ERASED.
The soldiers are petrified.

C573Y

Someone else has taken over the control of the
Caravels!

C573Y reaches the command armchair and sits down.

He stares with a thoughtful expression at the
star-studded sky from the panoramic window, then transmits a
report.

His words echo in the room:

TO THE SECURITY GENERAL HEADQUARTERS.

EPIDEMIC BROKEN OUT. MOST OF THE POPULATION INFECTED.
MEMORIES WIPED OUT, PERSONALITIES MODIFIED, HOSTILE ATTITUDE TO
SECURITY.

AFTER INTERVENTION WITH SOPORIFIC VIRUSES, OUR TROOPS
OCCUPIED ALPHACITY. CONTROL OF PART OF THE SHIPS LOST INCLUDING THE
ARMORY, WHICH IS UNDER ENEMY CONTROL. BACKUPS FOR VIRTUAL
POPULATION DESTROYED.

EXT. ALPHACITY SECURITY headquarters -- DAY

The ovoid threads its way through the skyscrapers
with reflections of the sky.

Below streets, squares and gardens follow one another
harmoniously.

After a few minutes the aircraft heads for a sheet of
water.

At the center, is the Security Headquarters, a
translucent cube connected to the town by thin bridges.

The ovoid lands on a large yard. C573Y gets out and
walks towards a COLONEL waiting for him.

C573Y

Have the sanitary corps reactivated the
hospitals?

COLONEL

Almost finished.

beat

I have organized a visit in the Central Hospital. A
vehicle is waiting for us in front of the entrance.

They walk by a group of soldiers checking their
equipment.

colonel

Our troops are not meeting with resistance. They have
already reached the strategic points.

C573Y

How is the assistance to the population going on?

COLONEL

The streets are covered with millions of bodies. We
will need a few days to reach every zone.

They pass a squadron intent on loading material on
ovoids.

A vehicle approaches, hovering half a meter above
ground and the two get into it.

COLONEL

To the hospital!

EXT. ALPHACITY -- MOMENTS LATER

They cross over a bridge and enter the main
street.

In front of them, thousands of bodies are lying on
carriageways and sidewalks, inside shops and vehicles.

The few who escaped the contagion are wandering
around like ghosts.

From time to time they come across soldiers and
robots busy clearing the streets.

The vehicle speeds towards the hospital, flying over
the heaps of bodies.

COLONEL

Many hospitals are already full. We have started
diverting the arrivals towards other welcome points. The problem is
that there are too many sick people.

The colonel points to a few soldiers arranging the
bodies in interminable lines on the sidewalks.

COLONEL

Often this is the only help we can provide.

Now the passengers stare IN SILENCES.

COLONEL

We have arrived.

The vehicle stops in front of the entrance, waits for
the passengers to get out and leaves towards a parking lot.

The entrance is blocked by a crowd of civilians.

COLONEL

They are the victims' relatives who are waiting for
the arrivals. We shall go in by a secondary entrance.

They walk along the building towards a small door, in
front of which a soldier is waiting. They enter.

INT. alphacity hospital -- CONTINUOUS

The soldier takes them to a crowded hall.

FIRST AID STATION

The HEALTH OFFICER is attending to patients together
with his team.

He leaves a little girl to an assistant and runs to
meet them.

health officer

I am sorry I cannot receive you better, but here the
situation is critical. We are overwhelmed by new arrivals.

The hall is crowded with bodies lying on stretchers
and the few staff are working hard in the narrow space.

HEALTH OFFICER

Very soon we will not be able to accept patients
anymore. How is the preparation of the clearing hospitals
progressing?

COLONEL

According to plan. But shortly they will be full. We
shall be forced to leave the patients in the streets.

CORRIDOR

They set out through a corridor packed with
stretchers. On them bodies, with waxen complexions, lie
motionless.

HEALTH OFFICER

Many arrive here without an identification code. In
these cases we compare their genetic code with the data in the
registry office, and then we publish their names and try to contact
their relatives. Unfortunately our efforts are almost always in
vain, whole families are usually infected.

ROOM

They step into a room where a mother is sobbing over
her son's body.

HEALTH OFFICER

Here relatives meet patients.

A few steps further, a man is asking to take away his
sick wife.

C573Y

What do you do then?

HEALTH OFFICER

We are happy to discharge the patient. We accept only
those who are without any other assistance.

beat

Our medicine is powerless. In my whole career I have
seldom met such serious injury.

C573Y

What type of service do you provide?

HEALTH OFFICER

Only decent accommodation. This situation humiliates
us, our mission is something else. How is the Computer Science
Institute going with the treatment?

C573Y

They are performing the first tests.

HEALTH OFFICER

They have been lucky to escape the contagion. How was
that possible?

C573Y

During the infection they were in the bunker for a
meeting.

The guests take their leave.

EXT. ALPHACITY -- MOMENTS LATER

Now the situation in the main streets has
improved.

The victims are laid out in orderly lines on the
sidewalks and the carriageways are crowded with troops and
vehicles.

The rescue teams are advancing into the side streets
still covered with bodies.

COLONEL

Within a few days we will reach everywhere and with a
bit of luck we will have a cure.

C573Y

Even worse moments are approaching.

COLONEL

Why?

C573Y

The virus can reappear at any time. We must destroy
it, but how? As to the treatment, we don't even know whether the
damage is reversible. What is to be said about the fact that the
population has attacked our troops, or that the ships don't respond
to the controls anymore? The real reason is that someone is trying
to take possession of the fleet.

INT. flagship armory -- MORNING

Nihil wakes up in a war android, unfastens the belts
holding it against the wall and checks his new body.

It is black as the one he left on the Earth, but much
bigger and covered with a shield.

Around him, about one hundred androids are waking
up.

He puts a rucksack on his back and a few plastic
bombs, then he gathers his followers.

NIHIL

I connected to the computer of the ship. Security has
occupied the bridge, but they are only a few. Now we will attack
them.

The metal wall isolating the armory from the rest of
the ship slides open.

Nihil points his arm towards the exit and crosses the
threshold. THE SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS echoes down the corridor.

INT. FLAGSHIP BRIDGE -- MOMENTS LATER

C573Y is on the bridge, barricaded with five
blue-shielded androids. He looks at the image of the ship.

The covering dissolves. A hundred lights are rushing
from the armory along a corridor.

They stop in front of a reinforced door. The officer
magnifies the picture.

A black android gives orders with such an imperious
tone that all obey in silence.

He puts some plastic on the lock, and rejoins the
group crouched at safe distance.

INT. flagship corridor -- CONTINUOUS

A DETONATION. A raider rushes to the hatch. While he
is opening it, the others take aim.

A volley of fire hits the Security front line.

The soldiers react with a barrage of fire, but soon
their resistance weakens. The invaders burst into.

For a few minutes there are flashes and CRACKLING OF
WEAPONS. Then dead silence.

The followers make their way among pierced bodies and
detached limbs, with dazed looks.

From the end of the corridor, comes A MOAN.

Nihil runs towards the barricades, disappears behind
a heap of rubble; three shots in a row.

He reappears with a triumphant smile, waving his
group to set off.

INTERCUT BETWEEN FLAGSHIP BRIDGE AND CORRIDOR

C573Y reaches the command armchair and sits down.

A hologram appears in the middle of the room:
AUTOMATED DEFENSE PROCUDERE ACTIVATED. A list materializes. The
program looks through the items, selects some of them.

The floor trembles, it opens. A stainless case
surfaces, its cover glides sideways.

Inside are thousands of marbles. They start BUZZING,
take off, gathering into a black swarm. The main door opens; the
spheres leave at full speed.