PLASTIC MAN

He shoves at the door but it doesn't budge.

                         SIM

          Come on!  We know you're in there!

No answer.  He turns to Doby in disgust.

                         SIM

          Break it down.

INT.  SUSAN'S ROOM

We hear DOBY SLAM against the door, but it holds.  Across

the dark room we see Susan standing at the window.

                         SUSAN

          Come on, come on...

She is holding the glass beaker against the iron bars,

infecting them with the replicator fallout.

Body batters the door again.

She drops the beaker and grabs hold of the two bars.  They

bend like thick rods of rubber.

                         SUSAN

          Yes!

The next blow vibrates through the entire frame.

Ignoring it, she grabs hold of the stool that was also

taken from the lab.

Stretching out one of the legs, she ties it to one of the

non-polymerized bars.

The DOOR SPLINTERS at the hinge.

Hurrying, she squeezes herself and the stool out between

the rubber bars.

Standing on the ledge, she makes a crucial mistake:  she

looks down.

The roof of the main laboratory is forty feet away.

EXT.  MAIN GATE

Chatting with the other reporters, Spencer looks up and

sees Dr. Bright standing outside the window.

                         SPENCER

          Holy shit!  Jumper!

He grabs his cameraman.

                         SPENCER

          Get this!  Get this!

INT.  SUSAN'S ROOM

The DOOR SHRIEKS, cracking open.

Out on the edge, Susan closes her eyes.

                         SUSAN

          It'll work.  It's got to.  It's got

          to.

Holding tightly to one of the other legs of the stool, she

takes a deep breathe and --

Steps off the ledge.

She falls, the stool stretching surreally, but it is not

pliable enough to reach the roof below.

Halfway down it slows, about to bungee-bouce her back up.

Her body jerks as the leg wrenches from her grip --

Sending her cartwheeling into the open air.

She seems to hang for a moment, watching the stool

shrinking back to the window.

She screams.

EXT.  MAIN GATE

Every camera is locked on her.

EXT.  ROOF

There is nothing between her and the roof except the force

of gravity.  It sucks her down.

Plummeting, helplessly hurtling, she screams again as --

She slams onto the roof, but instead of being splattered

against it --

She bounces up.

The polymerized roof gives like a trampoline, tossing her

lightly until she lays on her back, staring up at the

window, adrenaline bubbling out of her in laughter and

tears.

EXT.  MAIN GATE

The cameraman looks at Spencer.

                         SPENCER

          There's a logical explanation.  Has

          to be.

INT.  SUSAN'S ROOM

Sim finds the stool still tied to the bars.

Outside he sees Susan climbing down through a roof access

door into the quarantined lab.

                         SIM

          Oh shit.  Where's Argon?

INT.  ARGON'S PRIVATE LAB

Argon sits in his wheelchair, eyes blazing as Nebbleman

draws the nanobiotic fluid into a hypodermic needle.

                         NEBBLEMAN

          Of course you understand, Dr. Argon,

          that once the nanobot is inside of

          you, there is no going back --

                         ARGON

          Shut up and do it!

Nebbleman forces down a swallow, and sticks the needle

into his neck.

INT.  MAIN LAB

Susan moves through the unreal reality of the polymerized

building.

Her feet sink with every step into the floor.

Door handles bend like kneaded dough.

The concrete formed steps in the stairwell pillow out

under her weight and she loses her balance --

Groping for the rail that also distends.

                         SUSAN

          This is insane.

INT.  ARGON'S PRIVATE LAB

Argon sheds his robe and, wearing black bikini briefs, he

starts to climb into the tank.

Makeo tries to help him.

                         ARGON

          No!  I'll do it myself!

His legs, withered and atrophied like sticks of beef

jerky, drag behind him.  With obvious effort, he pulls

himself into the chamber.

Wheezing, he can only nod to Dr. Makeo, who closes and

seals the chamber.

Dr. Makeo cranks the pressurized balloon valves, watching

the gauges as the chemicals begin to flow from the mixing

vats into the main chamber.

There is a MUFFLED SCREAM as the chamber begins to fill,

KNOCKING and shaking slightly.

Several nervous glances are exchanged as the gauges begin

to climb.

INT.  CONSERVATORY - CLOSE ON RED TEETH

of a strange serrated shaft.

O'Brien has formed his arm into a massive tire jack which

spans the walls of his transparent cage.

His other arm works the lever with slow determination,

ratcheting up the shaft.

Outside the tank, the polyethylene window begins to bulge

where his hand presses.

O'Brien glares beneath his heavy eyelids.

                         O'BRIEN

          Come on, O'Brien --

INT.  MAIN LAB

Susan sneaks out of the stairwell.  Down the hall, she

sees two members of the containment crew in their heavy

protective suits.  Each has a tank strapped to their back,

and is hosing the entire hall with liquid nitrogen.

They do not notice her, as she heads the other way, trying

not to let the floor squeak.

INT.  CONSERVATORY

Above O'Brien, the HUMIDIFIER HISSES, sodium pentothal

wafting down.

He grits his rubbery teeth and cranks the lever.

It CLICKS one more tooth.

The WALLS swell, warping, CREAKING as the lever arcs back.

                         O'BRIEN

          Just one more...

Sweat pours down his face, but just as the TOOTH CLICKS,

the arm shaft bends and --

O'Brien collapses into a watery pile.

INT.  MAIN LAB

The TANK RUMBLES as Poppy chews at a perfect nail.

                         POPPY

          I can't stand it!  How much longer?

Nebbleman watches his timer for a moment, then counts it

down.

                         NEBBLEMAN

          Five, four, three, two -- Drain it!

Makeo throws open the drain valves as Nebbleman monitors

his improved waste system.

                         NEBBLEMAN

          It's working, it's working.

Makeo unscrews the tank locks and steps back.

STEAM WHEEZES from the opening as a strange figure

emerges, covered in a Saran Wrap caul.

Hunched over, the figure coughs a gelatinous mass from its

lungs as it tears itself free of the layer of polymerized

sweat.

No longer a debilitated cripple, Argon rises to his feet

as everyone sees the massive physique restored to all its

former glory.

                         POPPY

          Oh my God.

His arms reach out to the heavens as he lets loose the

scream that has been trapped for so long inside.

EXT.  MAIN GATE

The SCREAM sends a chill through the reporters.

INT.  LAB HALL

                         SUSAN

          Oh no.

The CREW members hear the SCREAM and stop working.  One of

them notices her.

                         CREW #1

          Hey!  Hold it!  Stop!

They rush at her.  Searching for any kind of weapon, Susan

grabs a fire extinguisher from the wall.

Swinging it like a club, she lets the first one have it

but --

It, too, has been polymerized and the red tank bounces off

his skull.

                         SUSAN

          Nuts.

                         CREW #2

          Lady, you're in serious trouble!

He throws her back against the wall, which she springs off

of, kicking him in the balls --

Finally finding something solid.

Screaming, he falls to his knees, his hose spewing liquid

nitrogen.

The second man grabs her, causing her to drop the

extinguisher into the puddle of foaming nitrogen.

They wrestle until she tears herself free, snatching hold

of the extinguisher.  She whips around --

Clubbing him again, but this time the frozen TANK EXPLODES

over his head, frothing like a shattered beer bottle.

He falls to the soft mat-like floor.

INT.  ARGON'S PRIVATE LAB

Sim and Doby emerge from the elevator and head for the

lab.

He hears POPPY GIGGLING and Argon's new BOOMING VOICE.

                         ARGON (O.S.)

          It's fantastic to be plastic!

Sim pushes into the lab and sees Argon, still wearing

bikini briefs, bouncing Poppy into the air with his huge

rubberized arms.

                         SIM

          Holy...

Argon hears him.

                         ARGON

          Exactly right, Mr. Sim.  You have

          entered one of the holiest places on

          Earth.

He catches Poppy and she cuddles against his chest.

                         ARGON

          This lab shall forever be

          consecrated ground and you, Mr. Sim,

          stand here a witness to man's

          ultimate triumph:  the

          polymerization of human flesh!

Nebbleman is behind him, using a razor to cut his hair

like Susan did to Daniel.

                         NEBBLEMAN

          Sir, please try to hold still.

                         SIM

          So, I guess it worked.

                         ARGON

          'Worked'?  'Worked'?!