Arcade

But Nick's already past them.  He puts his foot down again, pushing for
more momentum...

THE GUARDS

are after him now, CHARGING down the hallway.

UP AHEAD,

A set of double doors labeled "EMERGENCY EXIT" blocks his way.

Nick spins out, sweeping the back of the board forward and SCREAMS to a
stop just before the doors.  He kicks the board up into his free hand
and...

WHAM!  He hits the doors running.  Now the FIRE ALARM is blaring in
addition to the other alarm.  A VOICE is squawking over the P.A. and it's
a hell of a racket.

    VOICE
   (on P.A.)
  SECURITY BREACH IN R&D.  SUBJECT HEADING
  TOWARDS EASTERN EXIT...

INT. STAIRWELL -- DAY

Nick is charging down the stairs four and a time...  One level, two...
Now he's reached ground floor...

INT. GROUND FLOOR HALLWAY - DAY

BOOM!  Nick tumbles out of the stairwell only to see a trio of GUARDS
heading straight for him.

Nick drops his board to the ground and heads right, pumping his foot...

One of the GUARDS leaps at him and...

...misses by a foot or so, CRASHING to the tile floor.

NICK

SCREECHES to another stop, TWISTS, and starts pumping down another
hallway...

INT. LOADING AREA -- DAY

Nick plows into the loading area like a bullet, whipping around stacks of
boxes and lumbering forklifts.  A few WORKERS attempt to stop him, but
he's moving too fast.

AHEAD,

is a loading dock, raised four feet from the ground to accommodate semis.
Nick's heading for it.  The loading door is open, and outside is freedom.

JUST THEN,

the steel loading door begins to GRIND and lower.  Some genius has hit the
controls.

NICK

pumps like mad, and he's really moving now.  Either he'll make it, or he's
going to hit that steel door at about forty miles and hour...

THE DOOR

is quickly closing off Nick's escape route.  He's only got about four feet
to negotiate...

Nick ducks low and clears it!

EXT. LOADING DOCK -- DAY

Nick ROCKETS off the loading dock, through the air and down, hitting the
concrete driveway.  The driveway peels off to the left and slopes
downward.

Nick hangs tight, hugs the curve, and picks up more speed.

BELOW,

the driveway splits off.  To the left, SLIP-STREAM's main building, and to
the right, the parking lot.

GUARDS

are piled into an electric cart, SPEEDING up from the left to cut Nick
off.  It's going to be close...

Nick forks off to the right dust before they reach him.

It's clear sailing now, and up ahead, Nick can see Alex pulling up to the
end of the driveway...

WHOOSH!  Nick scrapes the board forward, grinding the wheels sideways in
order to slow his speed...

He leaps. picking the board up with him. and dunks himself smack-dab in
the back seat of the Skylark.

ALEX

guns the engine and tears away in a cloud of exhaust.

EXT. COUNTRY ROAD -- DAY

Nick is in the back seat, LAUGHING.  The sun is beginning its descent and
the sky is taking on a reddish tint.

    NICK
  Jesus Christ!

    ALEX
  I can't believe you made it!

Nick climbs into the front seat next to Alex, and for a second, he's
pretty close to her.  He kisses her on the cheek...caught up in the
moment.  Then he sinks back, catching his breath.

    ALEX
  You got the schematics?

    NICK
  Everything.

Neither one speaks for a moment as the mood dampens once again.  Driving.
Wind whipping Alex's hair around.  She stares at the road ahead.

    ALEX
  So where do we play the game, Nick?

Nick doesn't answer at first.  For a second there, he'd managed to forget
everything.

    NICK
  I've been thinking about that.
   (beat)
  ARCADE's like a virus, so it seems like the
  place to hit him would be where the virus
  started.  You know, like his point of origin?

    ALEX
   (grim)
  Dante's Inferno.

    NICK
  Yeah.
   (deep breath)
  The Inferno.

OVERHEAD,

as we watch Alex's Skylark speed away from us.  Shadows are creeping
across the landscape now.  Streetlights are flickering, sputtering on.

And night is falling.

       DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. DANTE'S INFERNO -- NIGHT

Sweeping down from the sky, we follow The Skylark.  As Alex and Nick near
The Inferno, streetlights blink off in succession... progressive darkness
working its way towards their destination.

DANTE'S INFERNO

We move past the painted walls, the various demons illuminated by
moonlight.

Alex and Nick rush to the front door.  It's gated.  Inside, The Inferno is
totally dark.  Shadows.

    ALEX
  The windows are barred...
   (thinking)
  There's a skylight.  We can get in through
  the roof.

        CUT TO:

EXT.  DANTE'S INFERNO ROOF - NIGHT

Alex and Nick creep over the roof, and sure enough, there's a skylight in
the center, caked with grime.

Nick stands and plants his foot through the skylight.  It SHATTERS,
raining down glass into the darkness below.

Nick pulls off his belt and hooks it around one of the iron sash bars.
Gripping the belt, he lowers himself down. After a moment, he disappears
from view.

Alex leans over the skylight.  She can't see a thing.

    ALEX
  Nick...
   (beat)
  Nick!

For the longest moment there's no response.  Then...

    NICK (O.S.)
   (from below)
  Okay, your turn.

Alex climbs over and grasps the belt tightly, lowering herself down into
The Inferno.

INT.  DANTE'S INFERNO -- NIGHT

Alex dangles from the skylight, a good eight feet from the floor.

    ALEX
   (warily)
  Are you there?

HER P.O.V.

The Inferno is a world of threatening shapes and shadows. And Nick is
nowhere to be seen.

Alex steels herself and drops to the floor.

She stands, a bit shaky, and cautiously moves around a cluster of video
games.

NICK

is standing on the other side, staring at a game screen which pulses with
a DIM LIGHT.

Alex approaches, putting a hand on his shoulder.  He turns.

    NICK
  Alex...

    ALEX
  You didn't hear me?

Nick shakes his head.  Alex leans forward to see what he's looking at.

ON THE SCREEN

fractals are unfolding.  It's mesmerizing.

    ALEX
  Stop looking at it.

Nick shuts his eyes, pulling away from the screen.  He shakes his head,
trying to clear his thoughts.

    NICK
  Shit...it's like a trance or something...
   (breathes)
  Okay.  I'm fine.  Really.

It's at that moment that Nick and Alex hear the VOICES.

VIDEO SCREENS