Arcade

VIDEO NICK

hops onto the thrasher and begins to move.  And move it does.  With a
WHOOP! the ARCADE world is rushing past us. The game has begun.

ON NICK'S FACE

As a smile gradually creeps across it.  He's having the time of his life,
gloved hands manipulating the joy-sticks like mad.  From his reactions, we
can tell that this is one of the most incredible things he's ever
experienced.

THE OTHER KIDS

watch Nick, then the screen, then Nick again...

    BENZ
  Check it out!

    GREG
  Come on, Nick...

Now everyone is laughing, urging Nick on.  It's like they've all
discovered the most amazing toy...something that's going to turn their
world upset down.

DIFFORD

is pleased as punch, watching the kids' reactions more than the game.

ON SCREEN

Images are rushing past at blinding speed, LASERS, EXPLOSIONS, and god
knows what...

ON NICK

As sweat begins to trickle down his fast.  His hands move faster and
faster, in response to the game.

The screen.

Nick.

The screen and...

BAM!!!  Nick SLAMS down the escape button and rips off his goggles.  The
video image freezes.

NICK

He's practically hyperventilating, sweat pouring down his face.  He leans
over, resting a hand on the control board. And for a moment, everyone is
silent.  Then...

    GREG
  Nick...you okay?

Slowly, Nick lifts his head.  He's now sporting a devilish grin.

    NICK
  You gotta try this thing.

Nick pulls off his CyberGloves and holds them out for Greg. Greg turns to
Alex.

    ALEX
  Go for it.

    GREG
  Hold my keys, then.

He hands her his keychain and takes the CyberGloves from Nick.  Greg pulls
them on, then straps on the goggles.

    GREG
   (to Difford)
  So how do I get back in?

    DIFFORD
  Just hit "ESCAPE" again.

ON SCREEN

Greg hits the button and immediately the image unfreezes. Once again,
we're on the thrasher board, rushing across the plains.

GREG'S FACE

As a smile slowly creeps across it.

        CUT TO:

INT. DANTE'S INFERNO - LATER

At the front of The Inferno, Difford and two SLIP-STREAM HELPERS are
unpacking cardboard boxes.  The KIDS have clustered around them,
momentarily forgetting the ARCADE machine.

Difford pulls cut a handful of game cartridges as well as goggles which
dangle over his arm.

    DIFFORD
  Here's what we're going to do.  What I'm
  holding are the home versions of ARCADE,
  the prototypes...

This is met with an enthusiastic response from the kids.

    DIFFORD
   (continuing)
  In a month or so we're planning on releasing
  ARCADE in both versions, but we're still
  fine tuning, and that's where you guys luck
  out.  So what we'll do is have you register
  with us, and then we're going to loan these
  out to you for a week or so.  The only thing
  you have to do in return is answer some
  marketing questions. Sound fair?

The kids can't line up fast enough.

OUR GROUP

is right up front, with Nick and Alex being the first two in line.

Difford winks at Nick.

    DIFFORD
  So what do you think?

    NICK
  Sign me up.

Alex is glancing around now.  She sees Benz, Stilts, and Laurie, but not
Greg.

    ALEX
  Where's Greg?

Laurie jerks her thumb back at the ARCADE machine.

    LAURIE
  He's still working on the game.

And Alex finds Greg for a moment, spotting him over the heads of the other
kids.

ON GREG

His face is a mirror of Nick's...sweat pouring down, grinning from ear to
ear.  It's addictive as hell.  SIGHTS and SOUNDS rush past us on the three
screens, racing at incredible speeds.

And now, from within the game, we hear a strange sound...a SCREAM of
sorts, halfway between a shriek and a sonic boom.

    ARCADE
  TIME'S UP, FRIEND.

The SHRIEK/SONIC BOOM reaches a nightmarish pitch and suddenly the screens
EXPLODE WITH LIGHT.

AT THE FRONT OF THE INFERNO...

everyone turns in response.  It's as if someone set off a flashbulb.

ALEX

pushes her way back through the kids, making her way to the ARCADE
machine.

ARCADE

Greg is nowhere to be found.  In fact, the CyberGloves and goggles are
dangling from the control board, abandoned.

Alex turns to a nearby KID.

    ALEX
  Where's Greg?

The kid shrugs.

    KID
  Don't know.  I think I saw him walk out,
  but I'm not sure...

Alex isn't listening anymore.  She's staring at the floor of the ARCADE
machine.

GREG'S POLAROID

is on the floor...the photo of Greg and Alex which he manipulated.

Alex picks it up, glancing around.  She scans the faces of the crowd and
she doesn't see Greg anywhere.  She turns away.

ON SCREEN

A video figure is lying on the computer-generated ground. It sits up,
brushing dust from itself, and looks around. It faces us.  Only the image
isn't of Nick anymore.  It's VIDEO GREG now.

UP FRONT,

Alex has re-joined her friends.  The four of them are now clutching ARCADE
home versions in their arms, CyberGloves and all.  They look like kids on
Christmas Day.

    ALEX
  Has anyone seen Greg?

    STILTS
  He's probably outside.  You know how he is.
  Gets bored...

    NICK
  Yeah, outside.

Nick heads for the door with the rest of the group in tow.

        CUT TO:

EXT. DANTE'S INFERNO -- DAY

Outside, Greg is still nowhere to be found.  Benz, Stilts, and Laurie have
piled into their car, waiting for Nick to take the wheel.

NICK AND ALEX

are up by Greg's Skylark.

    ALEX
  So where is he?

    NICK
  Guess he took off...  You have his keys,
  right?

Alex holds them up and gives them a shake.

    NICK
  Hmmm.  He said you were going to have
  dinner?

    ALEX
  Yeah...

    NICK
  So take his car home.  Wait.  I'm sure he's
  up to something...

    ALEX
   (cutting him off)
  But he was playing the game.  I mean, you
  saw him...

BEHIND THEM,

Laurie reaches over the seat and honks Nick's horn.  Laurie and the others
burst into LAUGHTER.  Stilts sets his skateboard on the street and rolls
it towards Nick.

BACK TO NICK AND ALEX

Nick stops the board with his foot and steps onto it, balancing.  He waves
to the others and turns back to Alex.

    NICK
  It's nothing, okay?  Just take his car home.
  He'll show up.

Nick tousles Alex's hair.  He shakes his ARCADE cartridge at her.

    NICK
  Don't worry about it.

And with that, Nick's off, rolling back to his car and leaping over the
door, skateboard and all.  Laurie and the others are still screaming with
laughter.

Nick hits the ignition and guns the car, pulling out with a dramatic
SCREECH and sailing off down the street.

ON ALEX

clutching Greg's car keys.  She glances on the front seat, where her own
ARCADE cartridge rests.

THE CARTRIDGE

has the same glowing eyes that were laser-etched on the machine inside The
Inferno.

    ALEX
  Fuck-you.

        CUT TO:

EXT. MANNING HOUSE -- NIGHT

The Manning place is your basic suburban ranch house, totally
unexceptional.  The lawn looks a little ragged and a pile of newspapers,
frayed and yellowing, have accumulated by the front door.  Inside, the
house is dark. Lonely.

ALEX

pulls up in Greg's Skylark, scooping the ARCADE kit into her arms.

        CUT TO:

INT.  MANNING HOUSE -- NIGHT

As Alex enters the dark house, we can hear WHISPERS coming from further
within.  It's a little creepy, but Alex seems unconcerned.

She negotiates her way through the darkened house, on into the den.

DEN -- FOLLOWING THROUGH

Dim, flickering LIGHT illuminates the den, casting long shadows across a
SLEEPING FIGURE on the couch.

This is Alex's father, JIM...hopelessly middle-aged and getting older by
the moment.  It's the t.v. that's doing the whispering.  CNN or something.
From what little we can see of the rest of the house, it looks like a
mess.

Alex bends down and jostles her father's shoulder.

    ALEX
  Dad...Dad...

Jim stirs, though barely.  He turns a sleepy face towards her, looking
gray and lifeless.

    JIM
  Yeah?

    ALEX
  Did Greg call, Dad?

Jim shakes his head and sinks back into the couch.

From Alex's attitude, it's obvious that this scene has played itself out
many times before.

    ALEX
  You should go to bed, Dad.

Jim waves a tired hand, dismissing her.

    JIM
  ...am in bed...

    ALEX
   (standing back up)
  Yeah.

She turns and grabs a comforter that's bunched up at the end of the couch,
spreading it over her father.

ON THE T.V.

We're getting a de-saturated view of carnage...some sort of war going on
in some far-off land.

Alex grabs the remote and flicks the t.v. off, plunging the room into
darkness.

        CUT TO:

INT.  ALEX'S ROOM -- NIGHT

STATIC.

Late-night t.v. static, filling up the entire screen.

WE PULL BACK,

revealing a television...and further back until we see Alex crouched
behind it in silhouette.  She's fiddling with wires back there and...

BLINK! Suddenly the SLIP-STREAM logo appears on the t.v. screen with nifty
computer graphics.  She's just hooked up the home version of ARCADE.  Alex
moves back to the front of the set.