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              OPENING SEQUENCE

              FADE IN:
 

              EXT. ABANDONED HOUSE - DAY (THE PAST)

              The decaying structure sits on a weedy lot surrounded by
              pine trees. The ground is covered by a light dusting of
              snow.

              Dreamlike.

              Isolated.

              BOBBY, a boy about 8, rides up on his bike.

              He walks to a scruffy tree. Covered by initials and
              hearts.

              Carves a rough circle with his knife. Then the initials
              "A + B" inside it.

              Kickstands his bike. Slips into the house.
 

              INT. ABANDONED HOUSE

              A WHIMPER of wind.

              Dust swirls over the rotting floor.

              Bobby flops down on an old mattress. Others have been
              here. Raunchy photos tacked to the wall. Scrawled
              obscenities. Cigarette butts.

              Bobby picks one. Lights up. Takes a hit.

              Someone approaches. Bobby peers through a crack.

                                       BOBBY
                                (whisper)
                         Amanda!

              YOUNG AMANDA, age 9, squints through into the darkness.
              She wears a baseball cap turned backwards.

                                       YOUNG AMANDA
                         Bobby?

              She steps inside.

                                       BOBBY
                         Want a puff?

              She does. Blows the smoke out slowly. Coolly.

              A beat.

                                       YOUNG AMANDA
                         You first.

                                       BOBBY
                         Uh, uh.

                                       YOUNG AMANDA
                         Chicken?

                                       BOBBY
                         No!

              Young Amanda snuffs the cigarette.

                                       YOUNG AMANDA
                         Together then.

              Bobby starts to unlace his sneakers.

                                       YOUNG AMANDA
                         You don't have to take off your
                         shoes, stupid!
 

              Somewhere

              a phone RINGS

                                                              THROUGH:
 

              INT. AMANDA'S BEDROOM - DAY (THE PRESENT)

              The phone on the nightstand RINGS insistently.

              AMANDA VAUGHN, a peppery ball of energy in her 30's,
              starts from under the covers. Picks up.

                                       AMANDA
                         Bobby?

              INTERCUT:
 

              INT. UNIVERSITY - FACULTY OFFICE - DAY

              JULES HARVEY leans back in a chair. Feet up on the desk.
              He's 17, long hair. Androgynous, arrogant. Very, very
              bright.

                                       JULES
                                (on phone)
                         The kid -- ?

                                       AMANDA
                                (on phone)
                         In my dream.

                                       JULES
                         Same one?

                                       AMANDA
                         Almost every night now.

                                       JULES
                         Well, listen, were you planning on
                         stopping by or what?

                                       AMANDA
                         What?

                                       JULES
                         Intro to Genetics? The undergrads
                         are getting cranky.

              Amanda looks at the clock.

                                       AMANDA
                         Oh shit!
 

              INT. UNIVERSITY - LECTURE HALL

              Jules steps to the podium. Slips a lavalier mike around
              his neck. He enjoys playing mad scientist.

                                       JULES
                         I'm Jules Harvey, Doctor Vaughn's
                         teaching assistant.

              MOANS and GROANS from the darkened auditorium.
 

                                       JULES
                         Oh, she'll be here.
                                (beat)
                         In the meantime, you'll have to put
                         up with me. The underling who
                         grades your papers.

              Instant SILENCE. He hits a switch. Computer monitors
              flicker on all over the room.

              Next to them, sits an army of UNDERGRADS. Stacked like
              firewood on the terraced levels of the vast hall.

                                       JULES
                         We begin with my quick history of
                         genetics.

              Adjusts an electron microscope.

                                       JULES
                         Which will be on the final.

              An image projects on a huge HDTV screen behind him:

              a pulsating HUMAN EMBRYO cell.

                                       JULES
                         I also write her exams.

              The Undergrads furiously take notes.

                                       JULES
                         Nineteen seventy-eight. In vitro
                         fertilization. The first so called
                         'test tube' baby. Big hassle. Worry
                         about man playing God. Scientific
                         ethics. The usual hypocrisy.

              The cell DIVIDES.

                                       JULES
                         Fifteen years later. Stillman and
                         Hall separate a dividing human
                         embryo cell --

              Separates the two cells with an electronic needle.

                                       JULES
                         -- creating two cells with
                         identical genetic information. Same
                         thing sometimes happens naturally
                         inside a mother.
 

              A seating chart flashes on his monitor.

                                       JULES
                         The result -- Mister Morley?

              MORLEY stands. His face appears on the screen.

                                       MORLEY
                         Identical twins?

                                       JULES
                         And when we do it in the lab?

                                      MORLEY
                         Cloning?

                                       JULES
                         The most politically-charged
                         concept in genetic science.

              Strips away the coating on one of the cells. A vivid
              electrical charge FLASHES over it.

                                       JULES
                         The outer coating gets damaged
                         during the separation process. But
                         it's essential for growth. So we
                         replace it.

              Transfers the cell into a Petri dish. Coats it in a
              greenish, mucous gel from a beaker.

              Amanda steps out on the platform. She's out of breath. A
              bit untidy.

                                       JULES
                         They used seaweed back then. Today
                         we have an experimental growth
                         medium, which I developed --

                                       AMANDA
                         I?

                                       JULES
                        We.

              Covers his microphone. Flips a stray hair out of Amanda's
              eyes.

                                       JULES
                                (to Amanda)
                         You look like shit.
                                (to the class)
                         Doctor Amanda Vaughn.

              APPLAUSE. Amanda puts on the mike. Scoops up some of the
              gel on her pencil.

                                       AMANDA
                         We call this stuff "Green Goop". It
                         speeds up cell division.

              On the screen and monitors, the coated cell divides
              rapidly.

              Two cells. Four, eight, sixteen.

                                       AMANDA
                         But now we've got another problem.
                         The growth is uncontrolled.
                                (to Jules, off mike)
                         Is this two-twenty-eight?

              Jules shows her the beaker. It's marked "GG 230".

                                       AMANDA
                         Damn it! At least try to keep me
                         up-to-date!

              Fills a syringe from a vial filled with brown liquid.
              Infuses it into the Petri dish.

                                       AMANDA
                                (back to the class)
                         So we came up with a retardant
                         factor. Slows growth at the
                         molecular level.

              The cell mass stops growing. Glistens in the penetrating
              light of the electron microscope.

                                       AMANDA
                                (to Jules)
                         A solution which I developed.

                                       JULES
                                (grins)
                         Nineteen ninety-seven. It all comes
                         together. A Scottish scientist
                         clones a sheep named Dolly.
 

              DR. TIM GRAHAM, 40's, handsome and vain, steps through a
              door in the back of the classroom.

                                       AMANDA
                         Pure science slams head-on --

              SMACKS her hands together.

                                       AMANDA
                         -- into public opinion.

                                       JULES
                                (directly to Tim in the
                                 back)
                         Creating bureaucratic oversight and
                         political interference.

                                       AMANDA
                         Some kind of line had been crossed.
                         The Vatican and the politicians
                         demand a total ban on human genetic
                         experiments.

                                       TIM
                         A ban which is still in effect, if
                         I'm not mistaken. Class dismissed.
 

              INT. FACULTY OFFICE

              Amanda paces in front of Tim, seated at his desk.

                                       AMANDA
                         Totally unacceptable.

                                       TIM
                         I care about your safety, babe.

                                       AMANDA
                         Like hell you do.

                                       TIM
                         There are a lot of crackpots out
                         there.

                                       AMANDA
                         You're copping out.

                                       TIM
                         The hardliners are just looking for
                         an excuse to slash our funding.
 

                                       AMANDA
                         What about academic freedom?

              Tim tries to put his arm around her. She moves away.

                                       TIM
                         What about dinner?

              She storms out.

                                       TIM
                         We can discuss academic freedom!
 

              EXT. LECTURE HALL - DUSK

              The grounds are lush and green. Jules sprawls on the
              stairs next to the open classroom door.

              Amanda marches toward him.

                                       AMANDA
                         The prick put a hold on everything.

                                       JULES
                         This place is as tight-assed as the
                         rest of our fascist society.

              Silence. They suck in the cool air. In the distance, Los
              Angeles rambles to the sea.

                                       AMANDA
                         He also hit on me again.

                                       JULES
                         What are you going to do?

              Amanda gives Jules a kiss on the cheek.

                                       AMANDA
                         Guess I'll just have to kill him.

              Walks to a rack at the curb. Unlocks her bike.

                                       AMANDA
                         Lock up, kiddo?

              Rides away down the path.

              Jules gets out his keys. Strolls to the classroom door.
              Locks it.
 

              A CRASH

              from inside.
 

              He listens. Unlocks the door. Slips inside.
 

              INT. LECTURE HALL

              Jules advances in darkness. CLICKS on the lights.

              The Petri dish lies shattered on the floor.
 
 

              A SLIMY

              TRAIL

              OF MUCK

              stretches

              across the platform.
 

              Disappears into darkness.
 
 

              Jules traces the path to

              A CLOUDY WHITE FORM

              hunched in the corner.
 

              It's a few inches long. As wide as a child's thumb.

              Moist. Nauseating. Like some kind of partially-hatched
              insect. Jules moves in for a closer look.
 

              Visible beneath murky translucent skin

              THE SHADOW OF A SPINE.
 

                                       JULES
                         Fuck!
 
 

              Where the "Thing's" head should be, there is only a

              GAPING CAVITY.
 
 

              The hole

              SUCKS IN

              short, labored breaths of air.
 
 

END SAMPLE
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