Four Weeks Before The Blackout
[On the monitor screen are pictures from an MRI. A doctor is pointing to a one of the pictures.]
DOCTOR: See there? [points to another picture] There [enlarges a picture] and there.
BRYCE: It’s metastasized.
DOCTOR: To the liver.
BRYCE: And no sign of it in the lungs or bones?
DOCTOR: No. [long pause] Look, we hoped this treatment would have stopped the growth. It doesn’t seem to have had an effect.
BRYCE: What about hormone therapy?
DOCTOR: Bryce, you’re stage four. It’s not likely to do much except make you feel lousy.
[Bryce leans back against a credenza.]
BRYCE: I, I feel all right now.
DOCTOR: That’s not atypical for this type of cancer. I’m gonna be straight with you, Bryce. We’re running out of options.
[Bryce closes his eyes and listens as the doctor continues.]
DOCTOR: We could try another round of chemo. I have patients at this point who have gotten into clinical trials.
BRYCE: How long have I got?
[Switch to Bryce walking in the parking garage of the doctor’s office. He is looking downward and he is thinking. He is walking slowly along the middle of the lane. A car behind him is honking its horn at him to move out of the way.]
DRIVER: Come on!
[The car swerves to go around Bryce as its tires squeal. Bryce isn’t affected and continues to walk. Bryce gets into his car and closes the door. He is just staring into space. He starts the engine, puts on his seatbelt and pulls out of the space without looking. He is still in a daze. He backs into a red Thunderbird, looks and stays in his car. The driver of the Thunderbird gets out of his car. Bryce is emotionless.]
THUNDERBIRD DRIVER : Hey!
[The driver of the Thunderbird gets out of his car and walks to the driver’s side door to talk with Bryce.]
THUNDERBIRD DRIVER : What the hell are you doin’, man? Didn’t you see me there? Hello? [taps on window] Hello? Pal, I’m talkin’ to you.
[Bryce pays no attention to the man. He puts his car into gear and pulls forward, almost up to the garage wall. He shifts gears again and drives his SUV back into the Thunderbird again.]
THUNDERBIRD DRIVER : Whoa, whoa. What are you doing? Hey! Oh, come on! No, no, no, no, no! Aw, Christ! Come, come on! What are you nuts?
[Bryce pulls forward and backs into the Thunderbird again.]
THUNDERBIRD DRIVER : You made your point! This is a cherry ’63 T-Bird!
[The driver is now talking on his cell phone.]
THUNDERBIRD DRIVER : Oh! Yeah, yeah, I want to report a hit and run. He’s still hitting me!
[Bryce stops and gets out of his car.]
THUNDERBIRD DRIVER : You made your point! All right. Okay, okay. [backs away from Bryce] It’s all right.
[The driver watches as Bryce walks away with his jacket in hand. He is still in a daze.]
THUNDERBIRD DRIVER : You are so dead, man. You hear me? You’re dead!
FLASHFORWARD
Two Weeks Before The Blackout
Tokyo
[Switch to Tokyo. A young woman is smiling. She changes her smile and then changes her expression a third time.]
JAPANESE YOUNG WOMAN: Oh.
[She is in a lavatory looking in a mirror. She sighs and looks in her purse, removes a tube of lipstick and applies it to her lips. The door opens and a man enters.]
JAPANESE MAN: Arahida Keiko-San?
JAPANESE YOUNG WOMAN: [speaking Japanese] Yes.
JAPANESE MAN: Hurry up. They’re waiting for you.
KEIKO: [speaking Japanese] Sorry.
[Keiko quickly removes the lipstick, checks herself in the mirror then quickly leaves the lavatory. Switch to a conference room. Keiko is giving standing and speaking while five men sit around a table. The conversation is all in Japanese.]
KEIKO: I started by trying to build a robotic hand as a teenager in my parents’ house. I barely got the Servo part working, but it was a start. I was hooked. I got my undergraduate degree as a mechanical engineer at the University of Tokyo, then a Masters degree in bio-medical engineering and robotics.
CONFERENCE MAN 1: Who are your role models?
KEIKO: The usual suspects, Marie Curie, Jane Goodall, [pause and smile] Jimi Hendrix.
[The men at the table look down and shake their heads in disapproval . Keiko is very uncomfortable with the silence yet continues to smile.]
KEIKO: I play guitar. It’s one of my hobbies, along with Salsa dancing.
[The men continue to sit in silence. Keiko pauses then starts talking again.]
KEIKO: I was first in my class at University of Tokyo. Nakahara is the best robotics firm in Japan. I think I would be the perfect fit here.
[Switch to the hospital operating room. Monitors are beeping. Olivia is speaking to Bryce.]
OLIVIA: Dr. Varley, she’s oozing an awful lot. What was her platelet count, hemoglobin and coags pre-op?
BRYCE: Um, I’m sorry. Her platelets were, uh, um...
ASSISTING SURGEON: Platelets 80 thousand, hemoglobin ten point five. Looks like a cirrhotic to me.
OLIVIA: Is she a drinker, Dr. Varley?
BRYCE: Uh, sorry, um...
OLIVIA: Come on Bryce. Uh, Maneesh, I’m gonna need some FF.P. and two units of packed red blood cells as soon as you can get ‘em. She’s oozing everywhere we cut. Send a D.I.C. panel and, uh, hang a banana bag with two grams of MAG.
[Bryce looks at Olivia. Switch to scrub station of the operating room. Olivia is followed by Bryce. She begins to wash her hands.]
BRYCE: Dr. Benford, I’m sorry.
OLIVIA: [long pause] I think you need to think seriously about whether or not you’re committed to this profession.
[Olivia dries her hands then turns and leaves the scrub station. Bryce says nothing. Switch to Tokyo at nighttime. Keiko is walking along the street then enters a building. She walks to another door and just as she begins to open it there are people shouting in Japanese. She quickly closes the door. Cherry Blossom by the Buttersprites is playing in the background. She regains her composure, smiles then opens the door again and walks through. The group of people shouts in Japanese.]
GROUP OF PEOPLE: [in Japanese] Congratulations!
KEIKO: [in Japanese] Mom, I told you not to tell anyone.
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] Of course we’re going to celebrate this! You got a job! Not just any job but a prestigious one at a very prestigious company.
[B]OLDER JAPANESE WOMAN:[B] [in Japanese] And with this economy.
KEIKO’S SISTER: [in Japanese] Mom told everyone at the hair salon.
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] Come in. Have some beer and look who are here, Mr. Ito and Mr. Shimada!
[The two men look at Keiko and bow. Keiko reciprocates then takes her mother aside.]
KEIKO: [in Japanese] What are you doing?
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] What? They are very nice boys. And it doesn’t hurt for either of them to see how successful you are.
KEIKO: [in Japanese] I’ve been at Nakahara for two days!
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] Keiko, aren’t you happy? All your hard work paid off. You’ll never have to work in a restaurant! I am so happy for you.
[Keiko looks down then up at her mother. As the scene switches, Bryce is speaking.]
BRYCE: I don’t know where I belong. I’m not a very good doctor. I never have been, really.
[Bryce is speaking to a therapist.]
THERAPIST: It wasn’t what you wanted?
BRYCE: I don’t know what I want.
The Day Of The Blackout
THERAPIST: Mm.
BRYCE:I just, [pause] did it.
[Switch to the pier in the background. Bryce is sitting in his blue SUV. Seagulls are heard. As he speaks the background changes from the office to the pier and back.]
BRYCE: And now I’m here.
[Real time]
THERAPIST: Have you told your family, your colleagues about your illness?
BRYCE: My family’s been through enough, Dr. Flemming.
[Bryce is sitting in SUV on the pier in background.]
BRYCE: With my dad dying of lung cancer for three years, it was a nightmare.
DR. FLEMMING: How about your colleagues? Surely they would understand.
[As Bryce speaks in the doctor’s office, he opens a box of .38 caliber bullets and loads the revolver while in his SUV.]
BRYCE: I don’t want their pity.
[Real time]
DR. FLEMMING: Pity? Bryce, you need support right now. That’s what’s gonna get you through this.
BRYCE: Nothing’s gonna get me through this. My diagnosis is terminal.
[Bryce is holding a bullet in his hands in while in SUV in the background.]
DR. FLEMMING: You don’t know what the future holds. None of us do, really.
[Bryce loads the revolver.]
DR. FLEMMING: Your job is to take care of yourself, Bryce. To try and have the best life you can for as long as you can. Live each day doing what feels right.
[Bryce and Dr. Flemming look at each other. In the SUV Bryce puts the loaded revolver in his backpack, waits a moment then exits his vehicle. He walks along the pier and stops where there is a small area where the pier juts out over the ocean. There are a lot of people on the pier. He looks out at the ocean and sees a lot of people surfing in the ocean below. He takes his revolver from the backpack and points it under his chin. He closes his eyes, cocks the gun, and just before he pulls the trigger, his flash-forward begins. He switches from the future to the present in the flash-forward.]
An eye
The eye of a fish with a red head
Bryce's hands cupping a female's hand
Bryce sitting at a table in a restaurant
A water wheel
The pier
The underside of a female's wrist with a Japanese symbol
Close up of the eye of a fish with a red head
The pier
A Japanese girl's face
Bryce on the pier holding a gun
Bunch of balloons from the pier
A surfer seen from the pier
An Asian mask
Bryce smiling at an Asian girl
[Blackness, then Bryce is sitting at a bar in Japan in his flash-forward.. He looks at his watch. There are various indistinct conversations in the background. A blue scaled fish with red fins and head is shown. A waitress comes to Bryce. His flash-forward is still in progress.]
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Some tea, please.
JAPANESE WAITRESS: [in Japanese] Anything to eat?
[Bryce opens a menu and points to his choice. The waitress looks, takes the menu, smiles and walks away with the menu. A young woman stops at the table Where Bryce is sitting. She is wearing a t-shirt with a water wheel appliqué. She looks and smiles at Bryce. It is Keiko.]
BRYCE: You’re really here.
[Keiko looks, smiles and remains standing.]
BRYCE: [In Japanese] Please sit with me.
[Bryce stands and allows Keiko to sit first. Bryce is happy. Keiko is unsure then smiles at Bryce. They chuckle together. Bryce points to her wrist looking for permission to touch it.]
BRYCE: May I?
[Bryce turns it over to look at a tattoo on the underside of her wrist. They both smile nervously.]
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Believe.
[Bryce takes her and cups it between his two hands. Keiko smiles. Real time. As Bryce awakens, he is lying on the pier. He sees a bunch of balloons floating in the sky. Keiko awakens on her bathroom floor. The water is running and overflowing onto the floor. She laughs.]
The Present
[Switch to Bryce’s garage. There are various paintings of Keiko and Japanese symbols. A language recording is playing.]
FEMALE RECORDING VOICE: Pleased to meet you. Hajimemashite.
BRYCE: Hajimemashite.
FEMALE RECORDING VOICE: Please speak more slowly. Yukkuri hanashite kudasi.
BRYCE: Yukkuri hanashite kudasi.
FEMALE RECORDING VOICE: What’s your name? O name wa nan desu ka?
BRYCE: O name wa nan desu ka?O name wa nan desu ka?
[Bryce clears his throat.]
FEMALE RECORDING VOICE: I love you. Suki desu.
BRYCE: Suki desu. Suki...
FEMALE RECORDING VOICE: Please sit down. Okakekudasai.
[Bryce quickly gets up and runs to the bathroom where he vomits into the commode.]
FEMALE RECORDING VOICE: How are you feeling today? Gokigen ikada desu ka?
[Bryce is groaning. He flushes the commode and wipes his face with a towel.]
FEMALE RECORDING VOICE: I hope you are well. [speaks Japanese with no words shown.]
FEMALE RECORDING VOICE: Can you give me the directions? [speaks Japanese with no words shown.]
[Bryce lies back in a chair, eyes closed. He is not paying attention to the Japanese lesson. He picks up a sketchbook and looks at the picture of Keiko. It is the picture where Nicole had finished the symbol Believe.]
FEMALE RECORDING VOICE: I am lost. Michi ni mayotte imasu. Who are you? Anata wa dare desu ka? What do you want? Nani o omotome desu ka?
[Bryce turns to picture of Keiko’s face and begins shading her hair. Switch to Aaron’s house. He is cleaning up. Tracy is sleeping on the sofa bed. A cell phone rings. Aaron silences then answers it.]
AARON: Yeah?
[It is Mark calling from his house. He is putting on his socks.]
MARK: Hey, how’s Tracy?
AARON: She’s uh, she’s pretty shut down. Terrified Jericho’s gonna come and find her.
MARK: Well, I’ve been looking into that for you.
AARON: Yeah.
MARK: Yeah, unfortunately private military contractors like Jericho and Blackwater are harder to break into than Fort Knox.
AARON: That’s what I was afraid of.
MARK: Yeah but this outfit’s headquartered in Santa Monica. Right in our own backyard, working out of the Burrough’s Foundation for International Peace, some kind of think tank.
[Aaron walks over to check on Tracy and picks up an empty bottle of liquor.]
AARON: Think tank?
MARK: Yup, it’s gonna take a higher security clearance than I have at this point to get much beyond that.
[A cell phone rings at Mark’s residence.]
MARK: Hold on a sec. Livvy, your phone’s ringing.
OLIVIA: Babe, can you get it?
MARK: I gotta go. I’ll, uh, put out some more feelers, all right?
AARON: Yeah.
[Aaron closes his phone and looks at Tracy. Mark answers Olivia’s phone and a text message appears. It reads, "Mark was drinking in his Flash Forward." He stares at the message and doesn’t answer the call.]
OLIVIA: Who is it?
[Olivia walks out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and drying her hair with another towel.]
OLIVIA: Who was it?
MARK: What is this?
OLIVIA: [exhales deeply] It’s this weird text I got.
MARK: Who, who sent it?
OLIVIA: I have no idea.
MARK: You, figured you, you wouldn’t mention it?
OLIVIA: Well, you already told me about the drinking before I got a chance to bring it up. You know, since we talked about it, the phone thing didn’t seem like such a big deal. I gotta get dressed.
[Olivia walks back to the bathroom as Mark picks up is AA coin. Switch to outside the hospital then inside. Bryce is sitting holding his hand at his right temple. Olivia approaches. Bryce is startled and is paying attention.]
OLIVIA: Hey, Bryce. Nice job with that tension pneumo.
BRYCE: Thanks.
[Bryce clears his throat then sniffles.]
OLIVIA: You okay?
BRYCE: Yeah, yeah.
OLIVIA: You look sick.
BRYCE: I’m okay.
OLIVIA: Come here.
[Olivia puts her hand on Bryce’s forehead to check for a fever.]
BRYCE: I’m, I’m all right.
OLIVIA: You’re not febrile but you’re really pale. Go home. I’ll have Cynthia cover your shift.
BRYCE: I’m gonna be okay. I just need a minute.
[Bryce walks a few steps then stumbles and reaches for the wall.]
OLIVIA: Bryce, hey, hey, hey, come here. Whoa, come sit.
[Olivia helps Bryce to a gurney and makes him sit.]
BRYCE: I’m just tired. I’m...
OLIVIA: You look terrible.
OLIVIA: Graphia says you almost passed out during grand rounds last week.
[Olivia checks Bryce’s pulse.]
OLIVIA: You wanna tell me what’s going on?
BRYCE: It’s nothing.
[Olivia sits next to Bryce and puts on her stethoscope.]
BRYCE: Oh we don’t need to, to do that.
OLIVIA: Come on.
[As Olivia goes to check Bryce’s breathing, she pulls back his shirt and finds a picc line.]
OLIVIA: Why do you have a central line?
BRYCE: Uh, it’s for the chemo.
OLIVIA: Chemo?
BRYCE: I have renal cell carcinoma. [pause] Stage four.
[Olivia is agape as Bryce speaks. She pauses and begins to speak again.]
OLIVIA: How long have you known?
BRYCE: Um, about a year. [long pause] Had my kidney out just before I started here.
[Olivia shakes her head in amazement.]
OLIVIA: This is why you tried to kill yourself that... Oh Bryce.
[Bryce pauses then looks at Olivia.]
BRYCE: I was terrified. I didn’t think I could face the prospect of dying. I didn’t want to put my family through that.
OLIVIA: [shakes head] I can’t believe you have been going through this alone. I can’t believe I didn’t see it.
BRYCE: It hasn’t been that bad so far. It’s rough for a few days after chemo, but then I bounce back. Anyway, since the blackout, things are different now. I’m gonna be okay.
[Bryce smiles and looks at Olivia. She says nothing.]
BRYCE: I’ve got something to live for.
[The scene pulls back and switches to Aaron’s house. He is sitting with his hand to his right temple. Tracy is walking in the background. She places a casserole dish on the table.]
TRACY: It’s hot. I forgot the cheese.
[As she walks back to the kitchen Aaron speaks.]
AARON: I don’t need the cheese.
[He picks up his plate and ladles from the casserole and puts in it his bowl.]
AARON: This smells great. When I was in the military, this crazy staff sergeant in my detail made the best food I ever threw a lip over.
[Tracy returns to the table with a glass and bottle of red wine. Tracy drinks and Aaron looks at the bottle then stops eating.]
TRACY: What?
AARON: I can’t do this.
TRACY: Do what?
[Aaron moves the bottle of wine as far back on the table as he can.]
AARON: Have you drinking here.
[Aaron begins to eat again. Tracy grabs the bottle and refills her glass.]
TRACY: It just a glass of wine.
AARON: Doesn’t matter. A glass of wine or a fifth of vodka, it just doesn’t work for me.
TRACY: Come on dad, relax. I’m not asking you to, to drink.
AARON: That’s not the point. I can’t be in the same room as it. You understand that?
TRACY: After everything I’ve been through, you’re telling me I can’t have a glass of wine? I’m 24 years old and I’ve been through hell. I can’t have a drink?
AARON: Baby, I’m not talking about what you can or can’t do. I’m telling you what I can’t do. [continues to eat] This is good.
[Tracy glares at her father then picks up the bottle of wine and her glass.]
TRACY: Fine. I’ll go somewhere else.
[Tracy leaves the table and walks away. Aaron puts down his fork, and puts his right hand to his forehead. A door opens and closes in the background. Switch to the FBI office in Los Angeles. A monitor shows the ring and zooms in again and again.]
FEMALE NSA AGENT: The N.S.A.’s digital forensics team uncovered this symbol on Suspect Zero’s ring.
WEDECK: Alpha.
FEMALE NSA AGENT: And it could mean anything. The angle of attack in aerodynamics. The brightest start in a constellation. Alpha is the beginning of everything.
MARK: If we can enhance the ring so well, why can’t we see his face?
[On the monitor, the video with Suspect Zero leaving the stadium is playing.]
FEMALE NSA AGENT: We tried to rebuild that image from all the various camera angles that we got, but in one, his skin was all blown out. In another it was a raking profile and so on. [zoom on ring] The ring was much easier. It has hard edges and a reflective surface. We captured still images as the hand moved.
[Wedeck watches the monitor as the still of the ring is zoomed in and out.]
FEMALE NSA AGENT: We replaced pixels and then built a 3D model of it.
WEDECK: Frankly, we were hoping the N.S.A. would provide us an analysis of the ring that was a little more substantial.
FEMALE NSA AGENT: [chuckles] To tell you the truth, I’m, I’m a little uncomfortable talking in this particular group.
DEMETRI: Uncomfortable?
WEDECK: Look, Ms. Levy, we don’t have time to play games.
FEMALE NSA AGENT: Okay, I’ll be blunt, Mr. Wedeck. One of the members of your Mosaic task force has been red flagged by the N.S.A.
WEDECK: What? Who?
FEMALE NSA AGENT: A couple of months ago, our wiretapping program intercepted a phone call whose origins had been professionally concealed to a bureau cell phone.
WEDECK: Whose phone?
FEMALE NSA AGENT: [pauses] Agent Noh’s.
DEMETRI: Since when do you guys wiretap the FBI?
FEMALE NSA AGENT: Homeland Security is the number one priority.
DEMETRI: What do you mean, Homeland Security is the ...
MARK: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Maybe it’s the call. Your call from the woman.
AGENT VREEDE: About your murder.
MARK: Right.
[The NSA agent bows her head.]
DEMETRI: Are you saying that you have a recording of that call?
[The NSA agent does not respond.]
DEMETRI: How do I get it?
FEMALE NSA AGENT: I’m sorry. It’s classified SIGINT, Signals Intelligence.
DEMETRI: The woman who made that call told me I was gonna be murdered on March 15th. I’m running out of time, so if you have any information on who that was or why I’m going to be killed...
FEMALE NSA AGENT: [interrupts] I’m not authorized to give you...
[Demetri pounds his hand on the table.]
DEMETRI: [interrupts angrily] Come on! Call whoever you need to call to make it happen then! How about that, Ms. Levy?
[All the agents in the room stare at the NSA agent. She takes a long pause.]
FEMALE NSA AGENT: Let me make a call.
Tokyo
[Switch to an office building in Tokyo. There is a woman speaking over the PA system in Japanese in the background. Keiko is sitting in her cubicle with both hands under her chin, supporting her head. She is watching a robotic arm that is taking small balls from one bowl and placing them in another bowl. A snippet of her flash-forward is shown. She is running with a guitar case slung over her left shoulder. Real time. Keiko looks up and is thinking about what she just reminisced. She is more interested in her flash-forward than the robotic arm. She looks at her monitor and inserts ear buds. A window opens and Bob Dylan is shown singing, "Shelter From The Storm." She plays air guitar as she listens.]
'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
"Come in," she said, "I'll give ya, shelter from the storm."
[A co-worker comes to her cubicle. At first she doesn't realize he is speaking to her.]
CO-WORKER: [in Japanese] Miss Arahida!
[He leans over the cubicle wall to see what she has her attention.]
CO-WORKER: [in Japanese] Miss Arahida
[This time she is aware and takes out her ear buds.]
CO-WORKER: [in Japanese] The boss needs you immediately.
KEIKO: [in Japanese] Yes.
[Keiko quickly takes the video off her screen and hurries with the man down the corridor. The co-worker buttons his suit jacket and opens the doors to a conference room. There is a man inside speaking Japanese. The conference table is almost full. One open seat remains.]
CO-WORKER: [in Japanese] Excuse me. [bows]
KEIKO: [in Japanese] Excuse me. [bows]
KEIKO'S BOSS: [in Japanese] Miss Arahida. Thank you for joining us.
KEIKO: It's an honor, Mr. Nakahara.
KEIKO'S BOSS: [in Japanese] Please serve us our tea.
[Mr. Nakahara continues speaking. This was not what Keiko was expecting.]
CO-WORKER: [speaking Japanese] [whispers] You're the only woman in the department. They're not going to hire another just to serve tea. [winks]
[Mr. Nakahara continues speaking in the background. Keiko looks at her co-worker and begins serving tea. Switch to a diner where Bryce working with his language studies with Nicole. He is being poured a cup of coffee. "I Can't Explain The Things I Do" by El Gato is playing in the background.]
BRYCE: Benjo wa doko desu ka Los Angeles?
NICOLE: You just said, "Where is the toilet, Los Angeles?"
BRYCE: Let me see that book a sec.
[Nicole hands the book to Bryce.]
NICOLE: It's so cool you are learning a whole new language for someone you haven't even met.
BRYCE: But I am gonna meet her. I know it. [looks at book] Wow, I'm hearing myself, and I sound crazy.
NICOLE: But it's a good king of crazy. Love crazy.
BRYCE: You think?
[Switch to an AA meeting. The group is standing in a circle and applauding. Mark walks over to Aaron who is putting chairs back against the wall.]
MARK: Hey.
AARON: I didn't see you there.
MARK: Yeah, I came in late.
AARON: Yeah? What's up?
MARK: I'm really struggling, Aaron. Things were going great at home, or better at least. Then this thing happened. Someone sent Olivia a text telling her I was drinking in my flash-forward.
AARON: Who would do that?
MARK: I don't know. I only told two people. It's, uh, kind of freaking me out. You know?
AARON: That's weird.
MARK: Yeah.
[Aaron continues to fold chairs and put them against the wall.]
AARON: Are you trying to say something to me, Mark?
MARK: Like I said, uh, I only told two people.
AARON: Do you know how many hours I've spent listening to your crap, your doubt, your self-pity?
MARK: I thought you were my sponsor.
AARON: That's right. That doesn't mean I'm, I’m your punching bag.
MARK: I think I have the right to ask you if you're communicating with my wife behind my back.
AARON: [angry] You son of a bitch. After all the time we've known each other, you think I would do that?
MARK: I don't know what to think anymore.
AARON: You don't know.
[Aaron picks up a folding chair and pounds it into a group of folded chairs. He picks up another chair and swings it another pair of chairs. He walks back to Mark.]
AARON: Don't know. Here's some food for thought. Why don't you get a new sponsor? [sarcastic] Someone you can really trust.
[Aaron pats Mark's cheeks roughly and leaves the building. Switch to Tokyo at nighttime. There are cars beeping horns on the busy street. Keiko walks into a tattoo parlor. A man is working on another woman. "Shelter From The Storm," sung in Japanese by Soul Flower Union is playing in the background. Keiko approaches the tattoo artist.]
KEIKO: [in Japanese] I want a tattoo.
[He looks up and scoffs at her then returns to his current client.]
TATTOO ARTIST: [in Japanese] Yeah right. What a weirdo.
KEIKO: [in Japanese] I'm serious.
[He stops and turns to her.]
TATTOO ARTIST: [in Japanese] You look like and office girl. You get one of these, what are they gonna think of you at work?
KEIKO: [in Japanese] I don't care.
TATTOO ARTIST: [in Japanese] You don't care? The nail that stands out gets hammered down.
KEIKO: [in Japanese] I'm not doing it for them.
[Switch to the FBI building in Los Angeles. Mark knocks on Wedeck's office door.]
MARK: Got it.
WEDECK: What?
MARK: Demetri's phone call.
WEDECK: Okay.
MARK: I'm taking it down to audio forensics right now.
WEDECK: Okay.
MARK: Can I ask you something?
WEDECK: What?
MARK: Did you send Olivia a text?
WEDECK: Your wife?
MARK: Uh huh.
WEDECK: Why would I send your wife a text?
MARK: Well, someone did. Telling her I was drunk in my flash-forward. You're one of only two people I've told.
[Wedeck stops working and looks at Mark.]
WEDECK: So?
MARK: So as, uh, I recall you were pretty pissed that I was drinking and the implications that had for our investigation.
WEDECK: Oh, I see. You were thinking I was so angry and so petty that I'd run out and text your wife about it? Get out of my office, Benford. I don't want to see your face right now.
[Mark snickers, turns and leaves the office. Switch to the hospital room with a Japanese woman lying in bed.]
BRYCE: Konnichiwa. Ogenki desu ka?
JAPANESE PATIENT: Genko desu, anata wa? Your accent is really improving, Dr. Varley.
BRYCE: Domo arigato, kondo-san. Well, if nothing else, I'll come out of this having learned a second language.
JAPANESE PATIENT: So how's the search for your young woman?
BRYCE: Well, no response to my Mosaic posting yet, but I did finish my drawing. You wanna see it?
[The patient smiles then nods. Bryce hands her the sketch. It is the sketch of her wearing a pink top. The same sketch Nicole finished the Japanese symbol.]
JAPANESE PATIENT: She's quite beautiful.
BRYCE: I was thinking about posting it on the web.
JAPANESE PATIENT: Well, at least you know where she likes to eat.
BRYCE: What do you mean?
[The patient taps the logo on Keiko's top.]
JAPANESE PATIENT: Sushi Arahida. It's a restaurant in Tsukuba, not that far from Tokyo. I taught at the university there.
BRYCE: Is it possible there's more than one restaurant with this name in Tsukuba?
JAPANESE PATIENT: Well, I doubt it, not with this same logo. It's a little, tiny place. She's probably a local.
BRYCE: Ms. Kondo, in my flash-forward I was sitting in a Japanese restaurant. Maybe it's this Sushi Arahida.
JAPANESE PATIENT: Maybe.
BRYCE: Thank you! Arigato, Kondo-San. Arigato.
[The patient smiles at Bryce who is now walking down the hospital corridor with a smile on his face.]
OLIVIA: Oh, Bryce. Dr. Varley, do you have a minute?
BRYCE: Yeah.
OLIVIA: Hey, uh, so listen, maybe it's none of my business, but I made a few calls, did a little bit of research, and there really some good options out there.
BRYCE: Oh, Dr. Benford, I appreciate...
OLIVIA: [interrupts] There's a friend of mine from medical school who's running an experimental trial with Trifectumab out of M.D. Anderson in Houston, so I made a call and you're in.
BRYCE: Thank you.
OLIVIA: No. You kidding. It's the least I can do. Here.
[Olivia hands Bryce a pile of papers.]
BRYCE: I've, uh, I've read about Trifectumab. I'm not sure about the side effects, though.
OLIVIA: We're talking about your life. Now's not the time to be conservative.
BRYCE: Dr. Benford, thank you. Um, but, but you don't understand. Uh, because of my flash-forward, I know that I have something to live for. I can't take a drug that might kill me or make me sicker.
OLIVIA: Okay, Bryce, you're only gonna hear me say this once. Maybe the reason you're alive in your flash-forward is because you're gonna take this drug and get better. Bryce, don't give up on me. Please, come here.
[Olivia hugs Bryce.]
OLIVIA: Go to Houston. You need a couple of days, take a couple of days.
[Switch to a jet airliner landing on the tarmac at an airport. Bryce walks through the crowd in the terminal. A man is speaking over the PA system. There is a neon sign which reads, "Welcome to Tokyo." Switch to Bryce walking down a street where he stops in front of a restaurant front window which has water wheel symbol and Arahida on it. As he enters the restaurant he is immediately greeted.]
ARAHIDA HOST: [in Japanese] Come in. Counter or table?
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Please speak more slowly.
ARAHIDA HOST: [in Japanese] A table then.
[Bryce stops to take his sketch book out of his backpack.]
BRYCE: [in Japanese] I, [pause] I am looking for a girl.
ARAHIDA HOST: [in Japanese] For sex?
BRYCE: [in Japanese] No, no! Not for sex!
[Bryce shows the host his sketch of Keiko in a pink shirt with the same logo which is on the front window but no symbol for "Believe"]
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Do you know her?
[The host shakes his head no. The host calls to another worker to join him. The man walks to the host.]
ARAHIDA HOST: [in Japanese] Hey! I don't know what this person wants.
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Do you know this girl?
[The two men look at Bryce.]
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Nose [pause] heart [pause] go dum-dum, dum-dum.
[Bryce taps his chest over his heart.]
BRYCE: [in Japanese] I love you.
[Bryce is frustrated as he tries to communicate.]
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Uh, um, I love you.
[Bryce is looking for something in his backpack.]
BRYCE:[in Japanese] Girl, girl.
[The restaurant server shows the picture to one of the cooks behind the counter.]
RESTAURANT SERVER: [in Japanese] He's looking for a virgin.
RESTAURANT COOK: [in Japanese] Isn't that Keiko?
ARAHIDA HOST: [in Japanese] That's not Keiko.
RESTAURANT COOK: [in Japanese] That's Keiko. Her hair's a little different.
[Bryce takes his Japanese language book from his backpack and begins to read from it.]
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Keiko. Do you know her? Do you know where I can find her? Keiko?
RESTAURANT COOK: [in Japanese] Should we tell him?
ARAHIDA HOST: Sure, why not?
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Keiko?
RESTAURANT COOK: [in Japanese] Yes, I know Keiko.
[Bryce says thank you to the three men and shakes the host's hand..]
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[Switch to Keiko's home. She is washing dishes as her mother speaks to her.]
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] Quit? Why would you quit?
KEIKO: [in Japanese] Because I hate it. Because it's becoming a cemetery for my soul.
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] We worked our entire live in that restaurant for you. So you could be somebody. You can't quit!
[Keiko nods as her mother speaks.]
KEIKO: [in Japanese] Mom, I am not a child anymore. But maybe it's not the life you wanted for me.
[Keiko looks at her mother.]
KEIKO: [in Japanese] I have my own dreams, my own life. And I'm not going to live it for you.
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] Keiko, what are you saying?
KEIKO: [in Japanese] And that means I can pick my own husband.
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] You would be lucky to have Mr. Ito for your husband.
KEIKO: [in Japanese] Mr. Ito is a salary man with no imagination.
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] Who needs imagination?
KEIKO: [in Japanese] I need imagination! There's somebody else out there for me.
[Snippet of Keiko's flash-forward is shown where she is running along a street at night wearing the pink top with the restaurant's logo with her guitar case slung over her left shoulder. Real time.]
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] If you can't respect your family and our wishes, [pause] maybe you shouldn't live here.
[Switch to the FBI building in Los Angeles. A computer monitor is shown with various windows open. The mysterious woman's voice is being played. Mark, Demetri and Vreede are present.]
MYSTERIOUS WOMAN: There is no delicate way to say this but on March 15th, 2010 you are going to be murdered.
[Vreede stops the recording.]
DEMETRI: Wow, it's even worst hearing it a second time.
AGENT VREEDE: We've analyzed the ambient noise and we've come up with a potential lead.
DEMETRI: Lead? What kind of a lead?
MARK: Listen to this.
[Vreede starts the recording again. It plays in the background as the men speak.]
AGENT VREEDE: Now I stripped away everything but the background noise.
[Asian music for a celebration plays.]
AGENT VREEDE: We found...
DEMETRI: You found cheesy electronic music. Come on, Vreede.
AGENT VREEDE: Oh no, no, no, not just any cheesy electronic music, my friend. It's the, "Symphony of Lights," the world's largest outdoor light and music show. Plays every night in Hong Kong harbor.
[Demetri is at a loss for words.]
MARK: Wanna take a little trip?
[Switch to Mark and Demetri walking along a corridor with Wedeck.]
WEDECK: I'm sorry, but I just can't send you to China after that CIA idiot accused them of causing the blackout. Relations between the two countries are tense enough as it is. Look, I want to solve Demetri's potential murder just as much as anyone, but even if she made the call from Hong Kong, there's nothing to say that she's still there.
DEMETRI: She concealed the origins of her call, Stan. That alone makes her a suspect.
MARK: We have to find out who she is and what else she knows.
WEDECK: Look, I promise you, I'll have our legats guy in Asia try and track her down but I need you here. You're not going to Hong Kong. End of story.
[Demetri is upset. He says nothing and leaves Wedeck's office. Mark looks at Wedeck and leaves. He catches up with Demetri.]
MARK: Hey.
[Mark and Demetri start walking along a corridor.]
MARK: We're going.
DEMETRI: What?
MARK: Hong Kong.
DEMETRI: [smiling] Wedeck's gonna be pissed.
MARK: Mm hmm. He'll get over it.
[Switch to Tokyo. Bryce is walking along a street at night. He is looking for a particular address. He is still holding his sketch book. He finds the building and pushes open a creaky gate door. He approaches another door. A Japanese television show is heard playing in the background. Bryce knocks on the door.
KEIKO'S SISTER: [in Japanese] Hai.
[Footsteps approach the door. Keiko's sister answers the door.]
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Hello. I'm ...
KEIKO'S SISTER: [interrupts] Mom! There's a white guy at the door.
[Keiko's mother comes to the door.]
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Hello. I'm looking for Keiko. Does she live here?
KEIKO’S MOTHER: Who are you? What do you want?
BRYCE: [in Japanese] Can I talk to Keiko? [in English] Um, I'm sorry.
[Bryce shows the sketch of Keiko to her mother.]
BRYCE: Is this your daughter musume san?
[Flash back to Keiko and her mother's conversation.]
KEIKO: [in Japanese] There's somebody else out there for me.
[Real time. Keiko's mother looks at the sketch.]
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] I don't know that girl.
BRYCE: Is this your daughter? Uh, [looks at the girl] is this your sister? They told me at the restaurant that she lived here. Please, I came all the way from Los Angeles. Is this Keiko?
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] No! I don't know what you are talking about.
BRYCE: Do you know Keiko? Keiko, please.
KEIKO’S MOTHER: [in Japanese] Go away before I call the police.
[She slams the door shut. Bryce stands there a moment then slowly leaves the house and walks back down the street. Switch to Bryce using his cell phone in daytime. It is raining and he has an umbrella.]
BRYCE: I'm such an idiot. I travel more than five thousand miles because of a t-shirt? What was I thinking?
[He is speaking with Nicole. She is at the hospital.]
NICOLE: You were thinking you were going to find the woman you love.
BRYCE: I didn't.
NICOLE: Now you know her name. That's something.
BRYCE: I don't even know if it's her real name. I went to the university. I went back to the restaurant. No one can tell me anything. I don't know how long I can wait, Nicole.
NICOLE: Maybe you're just trying to rush things that can't be rushed. Sometimes you just gotta be patient. Isn't that how love works?
BRYCE: I don't know. Maybe I misinterpreted the whole thing. Maybe it's, it's just some kind of fantasy and a really good way to run away from my life.
NICOLE: Bryce, come home. Come home.
[Switch to Aaron's house. Aaron is watching Tracy sleep on the sofa. A bottle of wine and a glass are on the coffee table. There is a knock on the door. Aaron gets up to answer the door. He puts the empty bottle in a trash basket. Mark is at the door.]
MARK: Hey. Can I come in?
AARON: What do you want?
MARK: To talk.
[Aaron looks back into the house, steps outside and closes the door.]
MARK: I was out of line.
AARON: Yeah, you were.
MARK: I've been a little stressed.
AARON: For God sakes, Mark. You think you're the only one who's dealing with issues?
MARK: Of course I don't. I know you're dealing with the whole Tracy thing...
AARON: [angrily interrupts] You have no idea what I've been dealing with so why don't you shut the hell up, okay? [pause] Yeah, Tracy's back but she's not the person she used to be. That person is dead.
[Aaron turns and walks back to the front door.]
MARK: Aaron, Aaron
AARON: No, you [pause] you don't get it. She's broken, angry, scared. She drinks herself to sleep every night. She's a messed up alcoholic, Mark. And I'm to blame [pause] for all of it. She enlisted because she wanted to be just like me. And now, she drinks just like me. There's not a damn thing that I can do about it.
[Aaron holds back tears as Mark walks around the front door area.]
AARON: Look, we've crossed a line here, for better or worse. So, uh, I don't think I can be your sponsor anymore, Mark. I'm sorry. [voice cracking] But I could really use a friend.
MARK: You got it.
[Switch to a jet airliner making a landing at an airport.]
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Welcome to Los Angeles. Enjoy your stay.
[Bryce deplanes and walks through the jetway.]
FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Welcome to Los Angeles.
[As more people deplane, Keiko is one of them. She walks along holding her passport. Shelter From The Storm plays in the background. A snippet of Keiko's flash-forward is shown where she is running along a street in Japan with her guitar case slung over her shoulder. She is laughing as firework sparks hit the ground.]
'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
"Come in," she said, "I'll give ya, shelter from the storm."
[Keiko enters a restaurant. Taped on the inside of the front window is an article entitled, "Best of Los Angeles Restaurants." Bryce is sitting at a table. Keiko sees him and smiles. Real time. Keiko is gathering her bags at the airport and looks down at her tattoo. It is the Japanese symbol for Believe. She looks out a window to see the busy airport outside. "Shelter From The Storm" is still playing in the background.]
Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved
Nothing up to that point had even been resolved
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm
"Come in," she said, "I'll give ya, shelter from the storm."
[More of Keiko's flash-forward is shown. Bryce is sitting at a table in a restaurant in Lost Angeles. He looks up and sees Keiko. He stands up and takes her hand. He looks on the underside of her wrist, sees the tattoo of the symbol for Believe and gently cups her hand in both of his. They smile at each other. Real time. Keiko is looks around, picks up her baggage, smiles and walks away.]
[END]
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