The Same Thing We Do Every Night, Pinky. . .

CUT TO:

INT, Lab TV Room

A TV screen. The screen displays nothing but static snow, its speakers blaring static noise like what LUNA heard. The only other sound we hear, at least at first, is rythmic stepping. After a moment, we hear a faint voice-- MIMET'S.

MIMET

. . . we're passing. . . -stortion now. There has. . . drop in temperature. Magnetic readings. . .

The static snow fades; we now see actual snow, a vast white icescape. The sun illuminates about a quarter of the sky, the rest is black. The soundtrack becomes clearer.

MIMET

Judging from the magnetic distortion, the climate conditions, and the position of the sun, I'd guess that the space-time distortion has transported us to the north pole, over thirty-five hundred miles from Tokyo. As we surmised, these conduits must be what allow Queen Beryl's forces to travel between D-point and Tokyo. Eudial and I--

The camera pans to reveal YUKO, the woman REI met earlier. Pulling a large cart of advanced looking equipment, she's wearing nothing but a lab coat and pants, unaffected by the frigid weather. We can infer from MIMET'S line that YUKO'S real name is, in fact, EUDIAL.

MIMET

-- are, of course, unaffected by the cold.

The camera then pans the other way, revealing an almost inhumanly elegant blonde woman, dressed in a white and gold dress uniform, facing away from the camera. She, too, is unaffected by the cold.

MIMET

(contemptuously)

As for our "partner"--

The tall woman turns around. Her eyes are covered by a slim, red mask. There is a large, red bow-- or something that looks like a bow-- on her chest, and a golden tiara on her forehead. The woman, as we can now see, is SAILOR V.

NOTE: The quality of the images in this scene does not allow us to discern the faces of MIMET or SAILOR V-- we only get a clear look a EUDIAL because she walk close to the camera.

MIMET

-- she too remains unaffected.

SAILOR V points behind the camera. We pan nearly 180 degrees, to reveal a large, imposing and malevolent palace off in the distance.

MIMET

That must be it! That's D-point, the so-called "Dark King--"

The tape fast forwards.

CUT TO:

A brief montage. In the background, we hear the sound of a respirator, heart monitor. . . and a female voice, singing a Chinese lullaby. The voice belongs to a woman names KAO LING.

KAO LING

Ni wa wa, ni wa wa, yi ge ni wa wa . . .

In the montage, we see:

- Eyedrops being applied to a pried-open eye in extreme close-up.

- Drool being dabbed off the side of a partly open mouth, again in extreme close-up.

- The calf of a woman's bent right leg being raised and lowered by the hands of another woman.

- An empty container of IV fluid being replaced.

CUT TO:

Two TV screens, one beside the other. We hear, once again, the sound of rythmic stepping. One TV screen displays images caught by MIMET'S camera, the other from EUDIAL'S camera. Both screens show a tall, white haired, imposing man, standing in the center of a large ice cavern. We recognize the man as KUNZITE. KUNZITE barks an intimidating threat in an obscure ancient language, before SAILOR V runs up and attacks. The two struggle against one-another, engaging in a titanic battle that sends the two combatants hurling through the hair and smashing into the sides of the cavern. MIMET'S camera tries, in vain, to keep up with the action, with MIMET ooh-ing and ah-ing at all the exictement. From EUDIAL'S camera, we see EUDIAL reaching into the cart to produce two or three large pieces of equipment. She combines them to form a large gun, which she points at a distracted KUNZITE. MIMET whistles, grabbing KUNZITE'S attention.

MIMET

(in English)

Hello!

EUDIAL'S gun fires, releasing a blast of energy that sends KUNZITE hurtling across the cave-- a beam which also just barely misses SAILOR V. The scene continues with SAILOR V arguing with MIMET and EUDIAL. We pull back from the two screens to reveal a whole wall covered with television screens. Some show nothing but static; some show more footage from the expedition, like SAILOR V easily defeating a horde of monsters; some show news reports; some show maps of Tokyo with particular locations marked off; and some display blueprints of strange devices, images of bizarre alien life forms, and other technical data.

We cut to a close up of a pair of feet, stepping rhythmically up and down a plastic step. The feet belong to a man whom we shall refer to as the PROFESSOR. After a moment, the stepping stops.

PROFESSOR(O.S.)

Still no sign of the Daimon?

KAO LING(O.S.)

(Japanese, with Chinese Accent)

No, professor.

We cut to an extreme close up of the professor's face on the left side of the frame. His face is obscured in shadow; only the glare of his spectacles and the whites of his teeth are visible. In the background, on the right side of the frame, we see KAO LING; we recognize her as the Chinese woman who visited Hikawa Shrine to meet TAKESHI.

KAO LING

Eudial's not had any luck, thusfar, apart from one vague lead.

KAO LING walks up to the PROFESSOR and hands him a photograph. We cut to reveal that KAO LING has handed him the photo of JESSY that REI gave to YUKO/EUDIAL. We cut back to an extreme close-up profile shot of the PROFESSOR.

PROFESSOR

. . . And Mimet?

KAO LING

She hasn't retuned yet. . . She's threatened to run away before, but. . .

PROFESSOR

(vague sadness)

Oh, Mimet. . .

CUT TO:

One of the TV screens, displaying the "documentary" that Mimet filmed of her "interview" with Marie Baishaku, right at about the time MIMET breaks in to MARIE'S house.

KAO LING(O.S.)

She never seemed to be as fully dedicated to the mission as the others were. She had too many. . . outside interests.

PROFESSOR(O.S.)

Yes. . . I think that's what I liked about her the most. She could see a life beyond all this.

(pause)

I assume Baishaku is under control.

KAO LING(O.S.)

I've taken care of it personally.

PROFFESSOR(O.S.)

Very good.

CUT TO:

MIMET'S camera, during the Dark Kingdom excursion. Looming in the background is a towering, monstrous version of QUEEN BERYL. EUDIAL kneels in front of an electrical box covered with buttons, dials, and switches, connected to a sattelite dish. EUDIAL performs a series of quick, desperate calibrations on the box. SAILOR V stands behind her, holding KUNZITE'S sword. In the distance, the gigantic QUEEN BERYL concentrates a ball of energy between her hands.

MIMET

Eudial. . .

EUDIAL

I working on it!

BERYL prepares to fire the energy blast at the group.

KAO LING(O.S.)

I seem to remember this expedition being a monumental failure.

MIMET

Eudial!

EUDIAL

Got it!

PROFFESSOR(O.S.)

Hardly, Kao Ling.

The sattelite dish generates an energy shield at the very moment BERYL fires, easily blocking her blast.

EUDIAL

Our turn!

PROFESSOR(O.S.)

The interests of the Dark Kingdom ran counter to our own.

EUDIAL reaches to the ground and picks up a large, over the shoulder weapon. The camera pans down, and then back up, as MIMET picks up and mounts her own weapon.

EUDIAL

I haven't tested this device yet.

MIMET

(sarcastic, mock concern)

You HAVEN'T?

MIMET immediately fires, launching a rocket toward BERYL. EUDIAL fires at BERYL shortly afterward. The rockets hit BERYL, their explosions looking like a combination of fire and electrical arc. BERYL reels from the attack.

Fast Forward. Withing a few seconds, we see more rocket volleys devestate BERYL, until she collpses, reducing to human size.

KAO LING(O.S.)

But this was about far more than destroying a common enemy. You and I both know that.

PROFESSOR(O.S.)

That's true, Kao Ling.

The video slows to normal. QUEEN BERYL, barely able to stand, stumbles toward SAILOR V. When she gets close enough, SAILOR V impales BERYL with KUNZITE'S sword, lifting her up in the air. The video pauses.

CUT TO:

PROFESSOR and KAO LING.

PROFESSOR

We made a great number of discoveries at D-point. It set our work ahead by years.

(beat)

Take a look.

KAO LING walks up beside the PROFESSOR.

KAO LING

I don't quite understand. . .

The PROFESSOR raises a remote control and presses one of its buttons a few times.

Cut to the screen. The view zooms in toward BERYL. In her hand, we see the faint shape of an object being held in BERYL'S hand.

PROFESSOR(O.S.)

Do you see it more clearly?

KAO LING(O.S.)

Somewhat. It's hardly an improvement.

PROFESSOR(O.S.)

VHS. . . It was the nineties, after all.

(beat)

That, Kao Ling, was Beryl's link to, well. . .

CUT TO:

PROFESSOR and KAO LING.

KAO LING

To what?

PROFESSOR

At this point. . . we could call it our "guest".

KAO LING

"Guest"?

The PROFESSOR raises a finger, and then moves it slightly to the right, indicating to KAO LING to direct her gaze to another screen.

CUT TO:

Eudial's screen. SAILOR V stands in defensive posture. A strange device sits on the ground in front of her.

MIMET(O.S.)

You should be glad, peroxide. You saved the world from Queen Beryl and the Dark Kingdom.

We hear SAILOR V speak for the first time. There's something familiar about her voice, but we can't quite put our finger on it. . .

SAILOR V

You have no idea what you're doing!

MIMET enters the frame, pointing a rocket launcher at SAILOR V, sauntering threateningly toward her.

MIMET

No. . .

As she comes up to the device, she picks it up and starts walking backward.

MIMET

YOU have no idea what we're doing. That, you might remember, is why you're in your current predicament to begin with.

MIMET walks off frame.

MIMET

Look at it this way. . . how many people get to fufill their--

MIMET doesn't get to finish. A golden chain flies out of SAILOR V'S hand and strikes MIMET off screen. Reflexively, EUDIAL fires a rocket, which misses SAILOR V and detonates on the carvern wall behind her. The force of the explosion is enough to briefly knock the camera. When it comes back on, we see that it is laying on the ground, while chaos erupts in the background. The video then pauses, and starts rewinding.

PROFESSOR(O.S.)

I never did figure out why the cage didn't work.

KAO LING(O.S.)

You never could let it go.

PROFESSOR(O.S.)

My best theory was that the explosion caused a leak, allowing that. . . entity they worshipped to escape into the ether. Yet it didn't sustain any noticable damage.

The tape pauses. SAILOR V stands in front of a large, throbbing reb bulb of energy, holding the "cage" up against the bulb.

KAO LING(O.S.)

Wait. . . "That entity".

CUT TO:

KAO LING.

KAO LING

Is that. . . "our guest"?

PROFESSOR

(English)

Bingo.

The PROFESSOR raises the remote again and starts the video again.

CUT TO:

The video.

EUDIAL(O.S.)

What are you waiting for? Seal it inside! Quickly!

SAILOR V presses the device against the bulb and "fires" it. After a brief, intense flash, the bulb's red glow quickly fades. The video pauses.

PROFESSOR(O.S.)

It occurred to me that maybe my approach was flawed. . .

We zooms in on the "cage" held in SAILOR V'S hands. The video proceeds very slowly, frame by frame. We see SAILOR V activate the device. . . A few frames of bright light. . . and then something odd. For one frame, we see the casing of the device appear to reach out and wrap itself around SAILOR V'S hands. We hold on this frame.

PROFESSOR(O.S.)

I've never been able to tell whether Sailor V was very stupid for not being able to find us, or very smart for not allowing us to find her.

The screen goes dark.

CUT TO:

PROFESSOR and KAO LING.

KAO LING

As I've suggested before. . . maybe there's no-one to be found. Our little scenes have attracted police, the press. . . yet no Sailor V. We may very well have killed her twenty years ago without knowing it.

PROFESSOR

Kao Ling. . . There's something else I have to show you.

CUT TO:

INT, Lab, Locker Room

EUDIAL walks up to her locker and opens it, only to find all of her belongings covered in snails. EUDIAL picks up a note left in the locker, which reads "UGLY SNAIL LADY EUDIAL".

EUDIAL

Oh, grow up!

EUDIAL retrieves her backpack, batting the snail off of it.

PROFESSOR

(over radio)

Eudial?

EUDIAL winces after hearing the PROFESSOR'S voice.

PROFESSOR(O.R.)

Eudial? Come in, Eudial.

EUDIAL taps a finger against her ear.

EUDIAL

Yes, Professor?

PROFESSOR(O.R.)

Would you please join me and Kao Ling in the Beryllium chamber?

EUDIAL sighs anxiously.

PROFESSOR(O.R.)

Eudial?

EUDIAL

Yes, Professor! I'll be there shortly. Eudial out.

EUDIAL taps her ear and walk out of the locker room.

CUT TO:

INT, Lab, Lounge

EUDIAL walks through a sort of lounge. Like much of the lab complex, the place is poorly lit and draped with wisps of fog, and it's walls seem to be made entirely of piping. In the background, a couple of women are playing, of all things, Twister. One of those women, arching her back and sticking her leg straight up, is named TELLU. The other, lying beneath TELLU, is VILUY.

TELLU

Did you find Mimet yet?

EUDIAL stops in frustration.

EUDIAL

I'm not looking for MIMET. I'm looking for the Daimon she lost.

We cut to a close up of TELLU. . . who, like EUDIAL, looks AWFULLY familiar:



TELLU

Oh. Too bad. 'Cause I think. . . I'm about to. . . beat her old. . .

TELLU tries to force herself into an incedibly uncomfortable position. As she does, VILUY sits up and peeks over TELLU'S belly. . . and at this point, looking at her, we might begin to notice a pattern:



VILUY

Your search is going well, I hope? Don't worry! I'm sure you'll find your missing Daimon any day now!

EUDIAL glares at VILUY'S sarcasm, and walks off.

VILUY

I mean, just because YOUR tracking device, which YOU designed and YOU built, failed to do its job--

TELLU starts to lose her balance. . .

VILUY

--doesn't mean it's YOUR fault the Daimon's on the loose!

TELLU loses her balance and falls right on to VILUY.

CUT TO:

INT, Lab, Tunnel and Bridge

We begin to realize jut how massive this complex really is. Seen in a far shot, a tunnel opens up onto a cruved bridge crossing a cavern whose depths are shrouded in darkness. In the background, we see more massive piping-- this vast cavern is completely artificial. From the tunnel emerges a small electric cart, speeding dangerously across the bridge. Its driving so erratic that it nearly collides into the side of the bridge as its round the bridge's curve.

CUT TO:

INT, Lab, Beryllium Chamber Doors

The cart pulls up to a massive pair of metal doors. Another cart has pulled up next to the doors. On either side of the doors are control panels with keycard slots. The PROFESSOR and KAO LING stand next to one of the control panels. Now that he is in full view, we see that the PROFESSOR, like the others, is wearing a white lab coat. As before, his face is shrouded in shadow, with only his mouth and the glare of his spectables visible. As soon as the cart stops, EUDIAL steps out it.

EUDIAL

Professor!

EUDIAL runs up to the PROFESSOR and bows deeply.

EUDIAL

I didn't realize you would be here so soon!

PROFESSOR

Nonsense. We've only been here for a minute. We were expecting to be waiting for five.

(gestures to KAO LING)

I was hoping to show off our little project to Kao Ling.

EUDIAL

Ah. . . of course.

EUDIAL gives a hesitant bow to KAO LING.

PROFESSOR

Kao Ling also tells me you've made progress in finding Mimet's missing Daimon.

EUDIAL smiles; this slight acknowledgement means a great deal to her.

EUDIAL

Yes, Professor! We're much closer to resolving the situation.

PROFESSOR

Excellent, Eudial.

(points to opposite console)

Shall we, then?

EUDIAL walks to the console at the other end, brushing past KAO LING. EUDIAL and the PROFESSOR approach their respective consoles and each pull out a keycard.

PROFESSOR

On my mark. . . Mark!

EUDIAL and the PROFESSOR insert their keys simulatneously. A microphone emerges from the PROFESSOR'S console. He whisepers an inaudible word into the microphone, causing the two massive doors to slide open. The three enter.

CUT TO:

INT, Lab, The Beryllium Chamber.

The room is completely dark, save for a computer console a few feet in front of the entrace. The PROFESSOR'S face, as always, is shrouded by shadow.

PROFESSOR

Eudial?

EUDIAL takes a seat at the console. She taps a single button on the keyboard, causing a series of lights to come on near the center of the room. The lights reveal a complex mess of wires, some as thick as large pipes, coming in from all ends of the room and joining together at a glass cylinder containing a dark, octagonal crystal, about the size of a hand.

PROFESSOR

Recognize anything, Kao Ling?

KAO LING

I. . . think so. I'm not sure.

PROFESSOR

The object in Queen Beryl's hand.

We briefly cut to a flashback of the paused video image of QUEEN BERYL'S death, zoomed in on her hand.

KAO LING

That's it?

(beat)

Normally, I'd say that this is morbid, but having known you. . .

PROFESSOR

This crystal, which is physically nothing more than pure beryllium, served as Queen Beryl's link to our guest.

(beat)

Eudial, bring the screen down.

EUDIAL types in a command, causing a huge TV screen to descend from the top of the room and hover over the three. A computer command prompt is all that is visible on the screen at the moment.

PROFESSOR

Now. . . say hello.

EUDIAL types in the word "Hello," which we see on the large screen. A moment after she enters the signal, a string of indecipherable text appears.

PROFESSOR

There it is. Our guest.

EUDIAL then types in the words "How are you doing?", prompting a longer string of gibberish text.

KAO LING

A string of letters?

PROFESSOR

Yes, now. Before, we were lucky to get one or two letters.

KAO LING

"Before?" . . . What changed?

PROFESSOR

Energy. The Dark Kingdom sought a particular energy, one found only in living things. Humans, in particular, have very large amounts. Any energy that wasn't used to create and fuel their army was directed through this crystal, to their supreme entity.

KAO LING

And that's what WE'VE been doing? Feeding our "guest" energy through that crystal?

PROFESSOR

Indeed.

KAO LING

It doesn't seem like we have much to show for it.

EUDIAL

(indignant)

Excuse me--?

PROFESSOR

Eudial!

(sighs)

KAO LING, the extraction process was traumatic. The entity was reduced to it's barest essense, incapable of thought or consciousness. But now. . .

(beat)

Maybe we need a more. . . DRAMATIC example of our progress.

The PROFESSOR reaches into his pockets, looking for something.

PROFESSOR

Aha!

The PROFESSOR pulls out a audio cassette, and hands it to EUDIAL. In close up, we watch EUDIAL insert the tape, labelled "Waltz," into a cassette player next to the computer console.

PROFESSOR

Watch this!

EUDIAL presses a button and the cassette starts to play. The "waltz" is actually a blaring, Wagnereque classical piece. KAO LING has to cover her ears.

KAO LING

What is this?

PROFESSOR

A little ditty of mine.

KAO LING

You WROTE this?!

PROFESSOR

William Hamilton had his poetry. I had my Wagner phase. I did manage to get this piece performed in front of the German Ambassador, so that must count for something!

(points to screen)

But look!

The text "responds" the music-- long lines consisting of similar looking characters appear on the screen, coinciding in time with the notes.

PROFESSOR

Eudial! That's enough!

The music stops, much to Kao Ling's relief.

PROFESSOR

Pre-sentience, Kao Ling! It's out there! It's . . . alive!

(pause, as if to admire his own campiness)

So to speak.

KAO LING

Alright, so it's alive. Do we know where it is? Can we use the crystal to track it?

PROFESSOR

We tried that. It hasn't matured enough to communicate its location, and since the signal is of essentially unknown nature, we can't use it to pinpoint anything.

(pause)

In a way, though, we already know EXACTLY where it is.

KAO LING

. . . Sailor V.

PROFESSOR

That's the theory.

KAO LING

Okay. But then, why the search? If we can direct energy to it, then--?

PROFESSOR

Through the crystal we CAN direct energy, but seeing in how we lack the specific expertise of Queen Beryl, we can only do so very slowly and very inefficiently. And given the likely effects of such an entitiy on a human body, it's safe to assume that our situation is quite time sensitive.

(beat)

So, to put it plainly, we need to find Sailor V.

(points to the screen)

And THAT is how we know she is still alive. Do you understand now?

KAO LING

Yes. I do.

PROFESSOR

Good.

(beat)

Eudial?

EUDIAL

Yes?

PROFESSOR

I trust you're ready for tomorrow?

EUDIAL

Yes I am, Professor!

PROFESSOR

Excellent. I'm sure you and Kao Ling will have a blast.

(beat)

You can go now.

EUDIAL shuts down the computer. The lights around the crystal go out. EUDIAL proceeds out of the chamber.

EUDIAL

Good night, Professor!

PROFESSOR

Good night!

EUDIAL leaves.

PROFESSOR

I'm excited about tommorrow as well.

(beat)

I've grown tired of all this damned hiding.

The PROFESSOR starts walking out. KAO LING waits for a moment.

KAO LING

Professor?

The PROFESSOR stops, without turning around.

KAO LING

Why did Eudial know about all this, and not me?

Pause.

PROFESSOR

A simple oversight on my part. I apologize.

The PROFESSOR continues on. KAO LING follows after him. We hold on the computer, surrounded by darkness. We hear the doors wind shut. Once the noise dies down a few seconds later, the lights arounf the computer go off, leaving the room in total silence and total darkness.