RELIC

     Frock has no answer.  Greg gestures to his computer screen.

                              KAWAKITA
                    I guess you're not interested in
                    this plant anymore, but the chemical
                    analysis is done.  Frock reads the
                    computer over Greg's shoulder.

                              FROCK
                    "Genus: Unknown.  Family: Unknown.
                    Order: Unknown.  Phylum: Unknown.
                    Cripes, Margo, what did you give me?
                    Is this an animal or one funky
                    shrub?"
                        (to Kawakita)
                    I see you've been programming the
                    computer vocabulary again.

                              MARGO
                        (points to a hexagonal symbol)
                    Look at this.  An ambyloid reovirus
                    protein.  That explains why the
                    computer's confused.  The plant's
                    infected with a virus.

                              FROCK
                    That's not so unusual.  Many plants
                    carry viruses.  Like the burls on
                    Maple trees.

                              MARGO
                    But a virus normally codes for other
                    viruses.  This one's making human and
                    animal proteins.  Listen to this.
                        (reads)
                    "Glycotetraglycine collagenoid.
                    Weinstein's tropic hormone.  4-
                    monoxytocin supressin hormone."

                              KAWAKITA
                    These plant fibers are loaded with
                    hormones!

                              MARGO
                    What kind of hormones?

     Kawakita pulls a heavy book from the shelf.  The Encyclopedia of
     Biochemistry, thumbs to a page and reads.

                              KAWAKITA
                    4-monoxytocin is... "A hormone
                    secreted by the human hypothalamus
                    gland."

                              MARGO
                    Try Weinstein's tropic hormone.

     The tension is rising in the room.  Frock takes the book, looks this
     one up, reads silently and removes his glasses.

                              FROCK
                    A hormone secreted by the human
                    thalamus gland.

     Kawakita and Frock look puzzled.  Margo rises in agitation.

                              MARGO
                    This is it.  This is what he, or
                    it... is after!  The plant has high
                    concentrations of the same hormones
                    found in minute quantities in the
                    human brain!

                              KAWAKITA
                    So what?

                              MARGO
                    Pendergast told me the killer
                    extracts and eats the hypothalamus
                    and thalamus of the victim's brains!

                              KAWAKITA
                        (pales)
                    Eats them?

                              MARGO
                    Yes.  Whatever killed Beauregard may
                    have lived on this plant.  When the
                    crates were put in secure storage,
                    they were out of reach.  The killer
                    couldn't get them, so it got the
                    next best thing.

                              FROCK
                    Beauregard's head.

     There's a moment of stunned silence.  Then a LOUD BUZZER makes them all
     jump.

                              MARGO
                    It's all right.  That means the
                    G.S.E.  has finished analyzing the
                    claw DNA.  Greg, you go find
                    Pendergast and Lieutenant D'Agosta
                    now.

     INT. MUSEUM HALLWAYS - NIGHT

     Kawakita tears up the dark stairs.  He turns a corner and something
     JUMPS OUT at him.  He almost screams.  It's a DRUNK.

                              DRUNK
                    Hey, where 'za little boys room?

                              KAWAKITA
                    Down that hallway.  But don't stay
                    long.  You don't want to be here
                    alone.

     INT. MARGO'S LAB - NIGHT

     Margo and Frock enter and huddle over a sheaf of papers that the
     printer has spit out.

                              MARGO
                    All right, assuming the program is
                    accurate, this is a description of
                    the animal with that claw.
                        (she reads)
                    "Species unidentified.  Genus:
                    unidentified.  Phylum unknown.  Male,
                    weight in excess of 240 kg.  Brain
                    capacity, 900 centimeters." That
                    means it's highly intelligent.
                    "Quadrupedal."

                              FROCK
                    Quadrupedal!  The other name for
                    Mbwun.  "He Who Walks on All Fours."

     Margo and Frock exchange a look.  Holy shit.  Margo swallows and keeps
     reading.

                              MARGO
                    "Nocturnal.  External hair and bony
                    plates.  Locomotor speed 60-70
                    kilometers.  Reduced optic chiasm"...
                    poor eyesight.  "External mucoid
                    nasal glands,"... very keen scent...
                    "Morphological characteristics:
                    Highly robust.  Aggressiveness:
                    extreme."

                              FROCK
                    So the claw came from a huge
                    creature with a preternatural sense
                    of smell and poor eyesight that
                    hunts at night.

                              MARGO
                    With the intelligence of a human
                    being, the speed of a greyhound, and
                    the strength of a grizzly bear.

                              FROCK
                        (a long moment)
                    Margo, what you've just described is
                    a killing machine.

                              MARGO
                    And it's hungry.  It's been two days
                    since it's eaten.  There are five
                    hundred people arriving right now.
                    The animal hunts at night and it has
                    a keen sense of smell!  All those
                    people in one enclosed space...

                              FROCK
                    It's like ringing the dinner bell.

     INT. ENTRANCE TO SUPERSTITION EXHIBIT - ROTUNDA - NIGHT

     The crowd is now packed into the rotunda as the MAYOR cuts a red
     ribbon across the entrance to the exhibit and everyone applauds.
     Cuthbert is by the mayor's side.  He steps forward and raises his hand
     for quiet.  The crowd falls silent.

                              CUTHBERT
                    Thank you everyone and welcome.
                    We're glad all of you were willing
                    to brave the inclement weather to be
                    with us tonight.  Our special thanks
                    to his honor, the mayor and his
                    lovely wife.

     The Mayor takes a bow.  More applause.

                              CUTHBERT (CON'T)
                    Some people have questioned whether
                    a superstition exhibit belongs in a
                    Museum of Science.  Spells,
                    incantations, demons, magic... these
                    are forces that defy the natural
                    laws.  Superstition provides answers
                    to the great questions based on
                    fear.  Science provides answers to
                    the great questions based on truth.
                    Science and superstition, then, are
                    polar opposites.  Mortal enemies, if
                    you will.  And that is why we are
                    here tonight.  We have come to learn
                    more about the enemy, and thus to
                    bring about its defeat.  For every
                    good, there is an evil, for every
                    dark, a light.  And so tonight... my
                    friends, I give you ignorance,
                    terror, unreasoning fear, pure evil.
                        (smiles, gestures to the exhibit)
                    Have a great time.

     Everyone laughs, applauds again as Cuthbert and the Mayor lead the way
     inside.  Kawakita is making his way over to D'Agosta.  The crush at the
     entrance is incredible.

                              KAWAKITA
                    Lieutenant!  It's me.

                              D'AGOSTA
                    What is it?

                              KAWAKITA
                    Dr. Green has to see you!

                              D'AGOSTA
                    Got my hands full here.

                              KAWAKITA
                    It's important.  Please.  You have to
                    come!  Pendergast, too.  She's found
                    out something.

     D'Agosta pulls out his walkie talkie.

                              D'AGOSTA
                    McNitt?  D'Agosta here.

     INT. SECURITY COMMAND CENTER - MUSEUM - NIGHT

     Officer McNitt stands in the corner of the computer room, bathed in
     neon light.  Running the security system is GEORGE, your basic computer
     nerd.  Multiple screens all over show various rooms in the museum.  Most
     are empty with the exception of those showing the exhibition.  On
     these, the crowds can be seen entering the various rooms.  McNitt holds
     his walkie talkie.

                              MCNITT
                    Yeah Lieutenant?  I'm here.

                              D'AGOSTA (ON RADIO)
                    I'm heading to the Evolutionary Bio
                    labs.  Any sign of Pendergast?

                              MCNITT
                    Not yet.

     At this moment a NOISE comes from the adjoining room.  McNitt's head
     SWIVELS.  It's a LOUD THUMP.

                              MCNITT
                    Hold on Lieutenant.
                        (to George)
                    What was that?

                              GEORGE
                    Probably just something wrong with
                    the air conditioning.  There's a shit
                    load of electrical rooms back there.

     George is playing an elaborate computer game and not paying attention.
     McNitt returns to his walkie talkie as the THUMP comes again.  Now he
     looks distinctly nervous.

                              MCNITT
                    Lieutenant?  There's something wrong
                    in the computer room.

                              D'AGOSTA (ON RADIO)
                    Goddamn it.  I'll get Ippolito and
                    send him up.

     George rises.

                              GEORGE
                    You're over-reacting.  Sounds like
                    the air conditioning to me.

     McNitt watches uneasily as George opens the door, disappears into the
     next room.

     INT. ENTRANCE - SUPERSTITION EXIBIT - NIGHT

     D'Agosta turns to Kawakita who waits, shifting from foot to foot.

                              D'AGOSTA
                    Damn.  There's some kind of problem
                    in the computer room.  I have to go
                    get Ippolito.  You wait here.

     D'Agosta heads into the exhibit before Kawakita can protest.

     INT. SUPERSTITION EXHIBIT - NIGHT

     We see various cuts of people as they move into the different rooms.  A
     TEENAGE GIRL (LAUREN) and her FATHER (DAVID) examine a lidless,
     rotting European style coffin, complete with corpse.  A white haired
     gentleman (DR. POUND), leans on his cane as he looks at a display on
     primitive medicine practiced with implements that look like torture
     tools.

     Cuthbert and Ippolito are at the head of a press of people, giving the
     MAYOR and HIS WIFE a guided tour.

                              CUTHBERT
                    Here we have a very rare sacrificial
                    table from Mesoamerica.  The priests
                    would kill the victim on this slab,
                    cut out the heart and eat it while
                    it was still beating.

                              MAYOR
                    I could use one of these things in
                    City Hall.

     Cuthbert laughs right on cue.  They pass a Congo power figure with its
     bulging eye sockets and torso riddled with sharp nails.  Several people
     recoil from it, looking repulsed.  The MAYOR's WIFE sees it and looks
     distressed.

                              MAYOR'S WIFE
                    You're letting kids see this?  I
                    should think they'd have nightmares.

                              CUTHBERT
                    Kid will love it.  They're our target
                    audience.  Nothing here is as violent
                    as what they see on T.V.

     They pass a MUMMY dripping in BLOOD.  The Mayor gestures to it.

                              MAYOR
                    I don't know.  That could be a little
                    over the top.  It's not even
                    scientific.  Mummies don't bleed.

     Cuthbert's smile fades as he sees the mummy.

     CLOSE ON... the MAYOR'S WHITE CUFF as he extends his hand to point at
     the mummy.  The pristine white of his cuff is suddenly colored by a
     falling RED DROP OF BLOOD.

     Cuthbert sees it.  So does the Mayor and Ippolito.  They look up as
     another DROP OF BLOOD falls right on Cuthbert's face.  And yet another
     droplet falls on THE MAYOR'S WIFE'S white bosom, exposed by her low
     cut dress!

                              CUTHBERT
                    Oh... my... God...

     THEIR POV... above the mummy's head, the top of the case is cut away,
     exposing a ceiling crawling with steam pipes and ductwork.  A hand, a
     watch, and the cuff of a blue shirt protrude over the edge of the
     case.  A small icicle of blood hangs from the middle finger.  And
     another drop FALLS.

     CUTHBERT SCREAMS AT THE TOP OF HIS LUNGS!  Conscious of the panic
     factor, Ippolito yells.

                              IPPOLITO
                    Quiet everyone!

     But it's too late.  The room is packed with people.  And D'Agosta
     himself is just pushing through the door as another woman cries out...

                              WOMAN
                    There's a body up there!

     A ripple of fear goes over the faces in the room, titters as people
     wonder if it's a joke.  At that moment from the darkness above, the
     ceiling buckles and something FALLS!

     It's OFFICER DOYLE'S HEADLESS TORSO, dripping blood!

     UTTER PANDEMONIUM breaks loose!  The close space ECHOES with screams
     and shouts.  People claw at each other, stumbling desperately trying to
     get to the door.  A YOUNG WOMAN falls and D'Agosta runs to her to keep
     her from being trampled in the stampede.

     INT. COMPUTER ROOM - NIGHT

     McNitt is staring in horror at the remote camera images showing the
     chaos in the exhibition, the faces registering blind fear.  Alarms
     start going off all over the place.  McNitt calls out... panicked...

                              MCNITT
                    George!  Get out here, now!

     McNitt looks around, desperate.  But George still isn't here.  The door
     to the electrical room is still open.  The ceiling shudders from
     thundering feet.  McNitt can hear distant SCREAMS!  It's raising the
     hair on the back of his neck.  He calls out.

                              MCNITT
                    George!  Where are you?

     No answer.  He moves to the open door, a new fear in his eyes.  He looks
     inside.

     INT. ELECTRICAL ROOM - NIGHT

     BLACKNESS.  McNitt can't find a light switch.  He stays in the doorway,
     silhouetted by light from the computer room.  With shaking hands McNitt
     pumps a slug into the chamber of his shotgun.  There's a strange, low,
     gurgling sound.  It's McNitt's stomach.  He silences it, swallows.

                              MCNITT
                    Hey you?  George!  Damn it.  Where are
                    you?  No response.

     McNitt edges into the darkened rooms.  The first one's empty.  He tries
     the next.