PLASTIC MAN

                         JOPLIN

          Hold on, son.  Are you saying that

          they can bond to people?

                         NEBBLEMAN

          With enough exposure, it appears

          they can bond to anything.

                         JOPLIN

          Well, what will they do to people?

Nebbleman glances nervously at Argon.

                         NEBBLEMAN

          Well, at this time, I mean that is

          to say, it is difficult to

          project --

                         ARGON

          Look, John, nobody wants to find out

          what happens.  That's why you're

          here.  We need your help on this one

          and that's why that suitcase is

          here.

Poppy opens it for him.  The root of all evil.  Stacks and

stacks of it.

                         JOPLIN

          Let me assure you, Dr. Argon, the

          E.P.A. is, as always, on your side.

INT.  SUSAN'S LIVING ROOM

It is later.

O'Brien is stretched out on the sofa in a valium fugue;

his long supple limbs conform to the curves of the

cushions, dangling over all sides.

His head is on the floor, neck distending down from the

arm rest.

Mid-snore, he wakes up, yawning.

From his upside down view, he sees the refrigerator.

                         O'BRIEN

          ... food.

INT.  BASEMENT LAB

Susan is looking through a microscope trying to find the

nanobot.

                         SUSAN

          Come on, where are you?

INT.  KITCHEN

O'Brien opens the fridge.

Rubber-necking, he looks inside while his body lies on the

couch.

                         O'BRIEN

          Hey, Susie!  I'm hungry!

INT.  BASEMENT LAB

She is still glued to the microscope.

                         SUSAN

          Damn it!

She pounds her fist against the lab table.

                         O'BRIEN (O.S.)

          Uh oh.  I remember that temper.

                         SUSAN

          Daniel, I didn't hear you come

          down...

She turns and finds his head almost floating, perched on

his neck arching erectly up the stairs.

                         O'BRIEN

          What's wrong?

                         SUSAN

          The nanobot... it's not here...

                         O'BRIEN

          It's still inside me?

She nods watching his head bobbing cobra-like around her.

                         SUSAN

          You'll have to start drinking

          fluids, lots of fluids.

She reaches out and touches his neck.  He smiles.

                         SUSAN

          How far can you stretch?

                         O'BRIEN

          I don't know.

EXT.  SUSAN'S BACKYARD - DAY

Standing in the square of rich green grass, O'Brien looks

up.

He lifts his head and takes a deep breath, staring at his

fingers spread against the blue expanse above him.

                         SUSAN

          Go ahead.  Reach as high as you can.

From ABOVE his hand, we see O'Brien nod nervously and

begin to reach --

His face, Dr. Bright, the square lawn, the house, one by

one seem to FALL AWAY --

Spreading out under the hand until the ground seems like

the sky did moments ago.

INT.  SIM'S LINCOLN

Sim and Doby lean into the front windshield of the black

Lincoln, watching O'Brien's arm telescope into the sky.

                         SIM

          That's why I love the security biz.

          Just when you think you've seen

          everything...

He whips out his cellular.  Dials.

EXT.  SUSAN'S BACKYARD

Dr. Bright stares, open-mouthed, at the arm-ribbon as it

rises impossibly like a kite.

She turns and sees O'Brien's body thinning, almost

spooling out like a ball of yarn until his pants fall down

to his ankles.

He feels the draft and turns to see her looking at him.

                         O'BRIEN

          Oops.

He grabs his pants as his arm returns with a RUSHING sound

that ends with a loud rubbery CLAP.

                         O'BRIEN

          I'll end up back in jail for

          indecent exposure.

Dr. Bright nods vaguely, already lost in thought.

                         O'BRIEN

          What?

She reaches out and feels his hair.

INT.  BASEMENT LAB

A scalpel saws through several strands of O'Brien's hair.

                         SUSAN

          That should do it.

His hair is shorter and she drops the strands with the

rest of it, into a Ziploc bag.

                         SUSAN

          I'm going to go out for a while.  I

          want to take the blood samples to a

          lab that has the equipment I need.

                         O'BRIEN

          What did you want my hair for?

                         SUSAN

          Something else I want to try.

She puts the Ziploc bag in her briefcase and gets the

blood samples.

                         O'BRIEN

          I could go with you.

                         SUSAN

          I think it would be better for me to

          go alone.  I'm sure Sim is looking

          for you.  Just sit tight.  I'll bring

          you back a pizza.

                         O'BRIEN

          No cheese.

                         SUSAN

          I was hoping you were over that.

          Remember to keep drinking fluids.

INT.  LIMO

Poppy, Argon and John Joplin are inside, as it pulls up

outside Cook County courthouse.

                         POPPY

          How do I look?

She is dressed in a two-piece PVC business suit; smart yet

slutty.  Argon smiles.

                         ARGON

          Positively paradoxical.

INT.  SUSAN'S LIVING ROOM

O'Brien is stretched out on the couch watching "The Itchy

and Scratchy Show" on the television.

He is drinking a two liter bottle of Coke without

stopping.  His Adam's apple bobs like a cartoon as he

swallows.

We can hear the COKE FIZZING in his distending stomach.

It swells like a water balloon.

Finishing the bottle, he tosses it into a garbage bag

filled with empties.

He lets out a super hero style belch then settles back,

chuckling at the cartoon.

Itchy gets a frying pan to the face.

On the table, there is a vase filled with dried flowers.

He empties it and with the vase walks over to the hall

mirror.

Slowly he forces the vase over his head.

When he yanks it off, his head keeps the shape.  He starts

to laugh and his face pops back.

There is a series of GURGLING sounds from his STOMACH as

he realizes he has to go.

He bolts for the bathroom, his hand whipping out for the

beaker.

SAME - BIT LATER

He's finished and he sets the beaker back where it was.

He thinks and mumbles.

                         O'BRIEN

          Technically, I don't even have to

          'go' to the bathroom...

We MOVE CLOSER and CLOSER to the beaker, THROUGH the glass

INTO the golden fluid --

SHRINKING as we MOVE THROUGH the murk DOWN TO the

MOLECULAR LEVEL where we SQUEEZE BETWEEN chains of

elastomers --

And FIND the nanobot.

INT.  COOK COUNTY COURTHOUSE

The press room is small, considering the sizable horde

that is packed wall to wall, shoulder to shoulder, to see

CEO Poppy Argon and the EPA deliver their statements.

The WHITE NOISE of press CHATTER reaches a fevered pitch

as the county sheriff leads Poppy Argon and several EPA

officials in.

John Joplin steps to the podium and the crowd noise dies.

He leans into the bouquet of microphones, opening his

statement.

                         JOPLIN

          Good afternoon.  The intent of...

A MAN shouts from the crowd.

                         MAN

          Who are you?

                         JOPLIN

          Oh.  I'm John Joplin, special

          investigator for the E.P.A.  The

          intent of this press conference is

          twofold.  Number one, to affirm that

          there has been a slight chemical

          spill at Argon Labs.  Cleanup is

          already under way.

FLASHBULBS BURST.

                         JOPLIN

          And number two, that the E.P.A. in

          conjunction with members of Illinois

          County Sheriff Department and the

          F.B.I. have concluded that the spill

          was not accidental.

The press begins to titter and Joplin raises his voice.

                         JOPLIN

          Last night, Argon Labs was the

          target of what can only be described

          as a terrorist act.

Another barrage of flashes.

                         JOPLIN

          The single assailant sabotaged

          certain chemical storage units,

          creating the toxic spill.

                         MAN

          Are there any suspects?

                         JOPLIN

          The only thing I can say is that the

          perpetrator was photographed by

          Argon Security cameras.  The rest of

          the details of the case, until a

          later time, will be kept in the

          highest confidentiality.  Thank you.

The press erupts:  "Who was it?  Was it a group?  Have you

identified him?"

Joplin's eyebrows go up and he turns back to the podium.

                         JOPLIN

          Oh, yeah.  His name's Daniel

          O'Brien.

The entourage begins to file out under a barrage of

questions.  Spencer Lamm fights to get his crew in front

of Poppy.

                         SPENCER

          Mrs. Argon, do you have anything to

          say to this O'Brien character?

Poppy looks at the mic, several others surrounding it.

                         POPPY

          All I can say is that when these

          radicals act outside the law,

          recklessly endangering the

          environment and human lives, it

          clearly demonstrates that they are

          the menace and we are the victims.

INT.  SUSAN'S LIVING ROOM

The TELEVISION is ON, though "MUTED."

We hear O'BRIEN GRUNTING and the sound of sweaty RUBBER

RUBBING AGAINST RUBBER.

The door opens and Susan enters, a pizza box in one hand,

briefcase in the other.

                         SUSAN

          Daniel?

As she enters, she notices something is different about

the furniture.  There is a second, flesh-colored love

seat.

O'Brien's head suddenly pops up.

                         O'BRIEN

          Surprise!

His head rises from the top of the back.

                         SUSAN

          That's pretty good.

                         O'BRIEN

          Getting used to it.

He starts to get up, becoming human, the round padded seat

swelling into buttocks when he realizes he is naked.

                         O'BRIEN

          Whoa!

He pops back to a chair.

                         SUSAN

          Don't worry, I got just what you

          need.

A leg of the chair shoots out as he grabs his underwear

from the pile of clothes.

Susan sets the pizza down and opens her briefcase.

                         SUSAN

          I have a friend at a textile lab.

          She helped me.

The O'Brien chair pulls the underwear up over the front

two legs, covering the cushion as he stands changing back

to normal.

                         SUSAN

          Ta-da!