Screenplay

1 INT. THE CAGE - SPACE - DAY 1

Jo and Elliot are naked in the cage they were placed in by

the Goelings. The cage, small in space, is made of cold

steel with a rough carpet covering the floor. Jo kneels in

one corner, curled into herself to hide her nakedness. She

looks as if she is about to cry but refrains. Elliot stands

at the locked opening of the cage, his back to Jo.

JO

(softly)

Do you ever wonder what it was

like?

ELLIOT

(sighs)

Wonder what what was like?

JO

You know, how our ancestors lived.

Before the Time and the Goelings.

ELLIOT

(angrily)

Blasphemy.

JO

You’ve never thought of that? What

it would be like for you to have

a...What’s that word? A woman who

is owned by a...

ELLIOT

(interupts)

A wife. To have a wife.

JO

Yes, a wife. And I, I would have a

husband. You never imagined having

a woman to,(stumbles)to love?

ELLIOT

No, I’ve never thought of

that...Why would I want to, Jo?

Those people were weak, barely able

to sustain life. Why would I want

to know how they lived?

There is a pause of silence.

JO

It was just a thought.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 2.

Elliot presses his hands against the bars, turning his

knuckles white.

ELLIOT

(roughly)

You seem to think a lot. So try to

think about this: What will happen

to us if we do not fulfill the

Goelings’ wishes and consumate?

JO

We’ll be given to the Rawn.

Sacrificed. I know this.

ELLIOT

And do you want to be sacrificed,

Jo the Carrier?

JO

(sits up slightly, chin up)

Don’t mock me.

ELLIOT

We have to do it, Jo. I’m tired of

being in this cage and I’m tired of

you. You’re an impossible little

carrier that thinks too much. Did

you think you could escape this

part of life? Why would any of this

be different just because you want

it to be? Society doesn’t work like

that, Carrier. This is how it is,

how it has always been before the

Time. So get over what little fear

you have. I’ll be quick so we can

get out of this cage. Come here.

Jo is still. Elliot releases the cage bars and moves toward

her. Jo scrambles to the other corner before he reaches her.

ELLIOT

COME HERE!

Jo tries to escape his grasp, but he catches her by the leg.

Unbalanced, she hits the carpeted floor.

JO

Get off of me! Bastard! GET OFF!

Elliot reaches across her body and snags her hair. Jo aims a

kick in his direction and successfully hits him in the knee.

Elliot stumbles back.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 3.

ELLIOT

Damnit girl, ahhrg, we have to do

this! Stop...struggling!

Elliot strikes her on the thigh, piercing skin with his

nails. An alarm suddenly goes off inside the cage,

reflecting a blinking bright red on the stuggling humans.

ELLIOT

(breathing hard)

...the fuck?

Two Goelings, tall and precise, open the cage. One grabs

Elliot by the neck between his index finger and thumb before

injecting a clear liquid into his side with a tranquilizer

gun. Elliot goes limp before being placed in a corner of the

cage. The other Goeling gently picks up Jo and sticks a

healing patch on her thigh. The wound heals instantly before

the patch sizzles away to nothing. With a deep, sure voice

the first Goeling speaks.

GOELING #1

The Carrier #989, first name

Josephine, must not be harmed in

any way during conception.

GOELING #2

(speaking into transmiter)

Male #847, first name Elliot, first

occurance. If there is second

occurance, we will enforce law. We

will enforce Rawn.

The Goelings close the cage. Jo and Elliot are left in

complete, silent darkness.

2 INT. THE CAGE - SPACE - NIGHT 2

The cage is still completely in darkness. The soft voice of

Jo can be heard, as if she is whispering into the audiences’

ear.

JO

(quietly)

... Elliot?

It’s dark, Elliot. Are you afraid

of the dark? Are you ever afraid?

ELLIOT

(grumbles incoherently)

Guuuhh...

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 4.

JO

Can you feel anything? Have you

ever felt anything?

ELLIOT

(grumbles in his sleep)

We must do our duty...right? We

must do our duty. I don’t want...I

don’t want to be fed to Rawn.

JO

What is duty, Elliot? I don’t

understand. Is this you showing

fear?

ELLIOT

(still in sleep)

Carrier, we must do our duty...

JO

I’m afraid, Elliot. I’m afraid of

you. I’m afraid of everything. I

wonder what the Carrier was like

that conceived me. Do you think she

was kind? What is that phrase? That

phrase the Ancestors used?

ELLIOT

(now fully awake, slightly

fearful)

Uh, Jo? I can’t feel my legs. This

better wear off. Why is it dark?

JO

I want...my Mother.

ELLIOT

What?

JO

Mother - that’s what a carrier was

once called by her offspring.

Didn’t you know that?

ELLIOT

Of course I know that, stop fooling

around.

JO

I was thinking about that phrase. I

think I now know what it means.

It...it takes away fear. Mothers

take away fear.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 5.

ELLIOT

(angrily)

Why are you thinking about that?

You should be helping me get my

feeling back. I want to get out of

this cage.

JO

I want to see her...I want to see

her. I don’t want to be afraid

anymore.

ELLIOT

You’ve lost your mind, there is no

mother! Now help me!

There is silence. They are still in complete darkness.

ELLIOT

Jo, where did you go? Help me get

my feeling back! Jo, what are

you...?

JO

Forget this place. I want my

Mother.

The sounds of gasping and choking are sharp in the silence.

The screen is still in complete darkness. When the choking

dies away to nothingness, the alarm screeches. The

flickering red envelops Jo standing in the center of the

cage, fading in and out of darkness. Elliot is lying dead on

the floor beside her. There is the sound of the cage

opening. The giant hand of a Goeling reaches in and snathces

Jo. The screen goes black.

JO

(whispering)

I hope Rawn is quick.