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TRANSCRIPT:
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(TEASER)
(Shot in grainy documentary fashion, we see a decimated wall, from behind which a soldier, Major Melvin Waters, leans out and fires. He ducks back, calling to the rest of his platoon.)

WATERS: Sniper's got us, one o'clock, top floor!

CAPTAIN: (into radio) Romeo-7-3, you're to hold your fire, over. Romeo-7-3, we're locked in our position and in the building have Fields, Gradsky and Eliza, over.

(Gunfire strikes the wall that protects them.)

VOICE OVER RADIO: Copy that 7-3, over.

(More gunfire, as a pair of soldiers tend to a fallen soldier.)

(Cut to a war-torn street, lined with hollowed-out buildings and a trail of dust.)

SARAJEVO 1994

(Within this scene is a platoon of American soldiers.)

WATERS: Remind me why we're here...

HOBBES: Peacekeeping mission.

WATERS: Helluva job we're doin'.

(Hobbes uses a hand-held mirror to see around the corner.)

WATERS: You got something, Hobbes?

HOBBES: Go back... no... see 'em Waters? Six kids.

WATERS: Six kids, I got 'em.

(From the mirror, they watch as the last girl falls down and stops.)

HOBBES: Stay there kid...

(Waters gets up and prepares to make a dash for the girl.)

WATERS: Hobbes, got me?

(Hobbes is up.)

HOBBES: Got you Waters.

(Hobbes fires around the wall at the sniper inside the building, giving Waters the necessary diversion to make a run for the girl. Waters flashes across the street and grabs the girl, ducking inside a building for cover. Hobbes, meanwhile, ducks back behind his cover and reloads.)

(Inside the building, Waters tries to calm the girl down. In a moment, though, the other five kids emerge from the shadows, the oldest one fashioning a K7-Soviet rifle. Waters prompts the girl back to the group.)

WATERS: Here, take her.

(The boy brandishing the rifle yells at Waters in Israeli.)

(Outside in the street, Hobbes watches the building that Waters ducked into. After a moment, the flashes of gunfire fill the doorway.)

HOBBES: Shots fired! Waters! We got a man in trouble!

VOICE OVER RADIO: Romeo-7-3, stay put Captain, you got air support coming in, we're gonna hit the building, over.

CAPTAIN: Roger.

HOBBES: Captain, you gotta call off that air strike.

CAPTAIN: We're gonna die in here, Corporal.

(Hobbes, not willing to let a friend die, grabs his rifle is sprints from his shelter.)

SOLDIER: Hobbes!

(Hobbes dashes across the street, miraculously dodging enemy fire, and makes his way into the building. Quick and calculated, he surveys the interior, searching.)

HOBBES: Waters! Where are you!

WATERS: (oc) Hobbes...

(Hobbes finds a segment of fallen-through floor, through which he can see Waters on the floor of the level below. Hobbes drops through the hole to find Waters severely injured.)

WATERS: Kids got me Hobbes... you believe that... last time I do them a favor...

(Hobbes removes Waters outer jacket to find a bloody bullet-wound in his gut.)

HOBBES: Take it easy Waters.

(Hobbes applies pressure to the wound to slow the bleeding, putting Waters in a bit of pain.)

HOBBES: They're gonna bomb the building. I've gotta get you out.

WATERS: Save yourself, buddy, go on.

(Hobbes looks back to his entrance, the whole in the ceiling, and realizes there is no easy escape. He looks around for protection, and finds none. So pulls Waters to a doorway and scours the room until he finds a mattress, which he pulls over top of himself and Waters. On the ground, he removes his helmet and puts it on Waters. Suddenly, the image drops into SLOW MOTION. Hobbes looks off and finds a drawing of the Crossed Swords on the wall.)

HOBBES: (vo) I never believed in Fate or destiny of that stuff about your path already being chosen. Who could believe it, when a choice made in the space of a heartbeat can change your life. But here I am, dearest darling, wondering what force put me here, brought me to this moment. A fate I never wished for, but have now certainly attained. How could I know this moment would change our lives forever?

(Overhead, Hobbes hears the sounds of the air-strike jets, after which the screen flashes white as they drop their bombs to level the building.)

(INTRO)

(COMMERCIAL I)

(SCENE I)
FORT DIX, NEW JERSEY
PRESENT DAY

(Hobbes, in Army fatigues, pilots a red GMC truck past a church as he returns to his home. He pulls up the driveway and exits the car with a pack of mail in hand. He enters the house and removes his hat.)

HOBBES: Sophie, hey hun...

SOPHIE: In the bedroom... *don't* come in.

HOBBES: Why?

SOPHIE: Cause I said so, Tom, now don't.

HOBBES: (leafing through mail) There's something in the mail from the county clerk's office, Sophie. Maybe they decided not to give us our marriage license.

SOPHIE: Then I won't need the dress.

(Hobbes turns to see his fiancé, Sophie, holding her dress in front of herself. Hobbes is stunned.)

SOPHIE: Well? What do you think?

(Hobbes, not answering, averts his eyes.)

SOPHIE: Tom?

(Hobbes refuse to make eye contact.)

HOBBES: What are you doing, Sophie?

SOPHIE: It's my wedding dress, stupid.

HOBBES: I know, I'm just... I'm not supposed to see it until the wedding day.

SOPHIE: Thomas F. Hobbes, I swear, sometimes...

HOBBES: It's tradition, Sophie, ya know.

SOPHIE: Well, tradition and all, maybe you shouldn't see this either.

(Sophie drops the dress to the floor to reveal her completely naked body. Hobbes is equally stunned.)

HOBBES: Well, *that's* one of those traditions I could overlook.

SOPHIE: You wanna overlook it right now?

HOBBES: Yeah, right now...

(They kiss. Fade to later that night, in the darkened bedroom of the soon-to-be-married couple. We pass a row of pictures, showing: Hobbes and Sophie in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris; Waters, Sophie and Hobbes at a restaurant; and Hobbes with his dog, Dexter.)

HOBBES: I'm thinking California.

SOPHIE: California? S'that what you want?

HOBBES: I wanna get as far away from here as possible. Start a life; get a little house, another dog.

SOPHIE: No kids? Hmm? Hmm?

HOBBES: Well, first things first.

SOPHIE: I love you Tom Hobbes, but first thing; we gotta go get some sleep. Sun's comin' up.

(From outside, they hear a knock on the front door.)

SOPHIE: Well who could that be at this hour?

(Hobbes answers the door to find two military soldiers.)

SOLDIER: Lieutenant Hobbes, d'we wake you sir?

HOBBES: No, I was...

SOLDIER: Your CO wants to see you, asked you pack an overnight bag, sir.

HOBBES: For what?

SOLDIER: Didn't say. (moves to attention) Asked us to wait.

SOPHIE: (coming out of bedroom) Tom? What do they want?

(Hobbes looks back to his wife, then back to the soldier.)

(Later that morning, Hobbes is driven to a military installation. He enters to find a group of five military personnel awaiting his arrival.)

HOBBES: Lieutenant Tom Hobbes, reporting as ordered colonel.

COLONEL: Lieutenant Hobbes. You look tense, son, at ease. You're CO tells me we're loosing you from the Army next month.

HOBBES: Yes, sir.

COLONEL: Too bad. I hear you were once a true believer. A man of caliber and resource, decorated for an act of extraordinary bravery overseas. That resourcefulness saved your friend's life.

(Hobbes remains silent.)

COLONEL: You want to know why you're here.

(Later that night at dinner, Hobbes sits among the five people who seek to recruit him.)

COLONEL: That's damn good food, Hobbes, eat. You know a classified project called Harsh Realm, Lieutenant?

HOBBES: Harsh Realm?

COLONEL: It's a simulated war game. A virtual reality game used to teach situational war strategy. Pentagon developed it. Kept it under wraps. Cold War came to an end. You know the rest.

HOBBES: Pardon me for asking, sir, but... what does that have to do with me?

GLASSES MAN: You're here to play the game.

COLONEL: We've got it on-line looking for a crackerjack soldier you can beat our high scorer; Sergeant Major Omar Santiago.

MUSTACHE MAN: You know Santiago, Lieutenant?

HOBBES: Most decorated combat veteran to serve in Southeast Asia. Retired.

COLONEL: But not before beating the reigning Lord of the Realm. A title which he's defended from all players since.

HOBBES: What's the objective?

INGA FOSSA: Take out Santiago.

HOBBES: (stunned) Ma'am?

MUSTACHE MAN: Remove his virtual character. Eliminate him from Harsh Realm.

(Hobbes looks back to the Colonel.)

COLONEL: It's just a game, Lieutenant. Make high score, leave the military a winner.

CLEAN-SHAVEN MAN: We pull a few strings for you and your new wife in California.

(In another room, Hobbes sits in a red padded chair with a pair of headphones in his hand. The Colonel enters.)

COLONEL: The video will explain how the game is played. Everything you'll need to know about Harsh Realm.

(The soldier who picked Hobbes up the night before enters to drop off his overnight bag and a hard-shelled case.)

HOBBES: How long is the game gonna take?

COLONEL: All in the video, Lieutenant. Shouldn't be any questions.

HOBBES: I do have one... question. How'd you know I was thinking about moving to California?

COLONEL: (moments hesitation) Who wouldn't move there, who's lived here?

(The Colonel exits. After a moment, Hobbes puts the headphones on and awaits the beginning of the video. He notices, carved into the left armrest, the word SIEGE. On the right armrest, he then finds the word PERILOUS. A moment later, the video starts. A dramatic score to what looks like the beginning of a standard Army recruitment video. The narrator begins.)

NARRATOR: Technology, and the threat of nuclear annihilation in the last half of the 20th Century have changed the world forever. They've changed war, and its consequences, as they have forever changed the battlefield, and the warriors who must still fight on it. It's been estimated that a nuclear device the size of a small suitcase, smuggled in and detonated in New York City, would kill several million people instantly, and many times that amount with radioactive fallout. This scenario compelled the DoD to create the project, codenamed Harsh Realm. Using the 1990 census, satellite cartography and other classified data, the creators of Harsh Realm have simulated a virtual reality, where landscapes and people are identical to our world, down to every man, woman, and child. By putting players in this simulated crisis scenario, we could protect national...

(Suddenly, the video cuts out. Hobbes, confused, removes the headphones and ventures out of the room. He finds the rest of the building empty. Back in the main room, he still finds no one.)

HOBBES: Hello?!

(He finds his way to the front door and opens it. In a flurry of gunfire, a bullet chips off the doorframe, sending him to the floor in surprise. He looks out the door to find a group of civilians heading for the building. A moment later, a stone-faced man withh a machine gun, Corporal Mike Pinocchio, pounds through the door to find an empty room. As he ventures further into the building, we find Hobbes in the rafters of the main room. After a few more moments, the group of civilians enter the building as Pinocchio returns with Hobbes' overnight back and hard-shelled case. The civilians charge him for the bags.)

PINOCCHIO: Back off! BACK OFF! (gives them overnight bag) Take it!

(The civilians take the bag and leave the building. Pinocchio opens the hard-shelled case to find a handgun, which he loads and cocks, heading back out of the building. Alone again, Hobbes drops back to the floor and begins examining the hard-shelled case when suddenly, a voice is heard behind him.)

PINOCCHIO: BOOM!

(Hobbes wheels around to see Pinocchio, gun pointed at Hobbes' head.)

PINOCCHIO: You're dead. Let's have the watch.

(Hobbes doesn't move.)

PINOCCHIO: Just as happy to take it off a dead man. Let's go.

(Hobbes takes his watch off and gives it to Pinocchio.)

PINOCCHIO: Pockets. Empty 'em.

(Hobbes removes his wallet from his pants pocket and hands it to Pinocchio. Pinocchio slaps the wallet to the floor.)

PINOCCHIO: Shirt pockets, Dick.

(Hobbes feels into his chest pocket and removes a small object.)

HOBBES: It's my wedding ring. It's for my girl.

PINOCCHIO: Well, I'm touched.

(Hobbes slowly extends the ring to Pinocchio. As Pinocchio takes it, Hobbes moves quickly to grab Pinocchio's gun, taking the sidearm from him as Pinocchio grabs for the machine gun hung from the left side of his belt. Hobbes points the handgun at Pinocchio while Pinocchio returns the sentiment with the larger and more powerful machine gun. Hobbes opens his hand.)

HOBBES: Just the ring... it's all I want.

PINOCCHIO: I could've killed you... should've...

(The standoff continues until, after a few moments, the intermittent thumping of an approaching helicopter is heard overhead.)

PINOCCHIO: And now we're both gonna die!

(Pinocchio makes a break for the door.)

[Neonote: The music from here on out is simply mind-blowing. The soundtrack is on my wishlist. Incredible work here, Mark.]

HOBBES: Hey! HEY!!

(Pinocchio sprints away from the building with Hobbes in hot pursuit. As they exit, a helicopter levels a few yards off the ground and fires a missile at the building. Hobbes is sent sprawling on the ground from the force of the exploding structure. A moment later, Hobbes spots an entourage of military vehicles heading for what remains of the building, firing hundreds of rounds at the fleeing civilians. A man a few yards ahead of Hobbes is hit, but before the wounded man even has the chance to hit the ground, Hobbes is to him, hoisting him up on his shoulders to carry him to safety. Another moment later, though, the man is shot in the back by one of the gunman in the military vehicles. The man fazes out and completely vanishes, leaving a disoriented Hobbes now running alone.)

(Hobbes makes the treeline and disappears into the woods, surveying the scene as his attackers convene on the site where the building used to be. He watches closely as the pilot of the helicopter gets out to brief the rest of the men on their next action. The man is Major Melvin Waters. Hobbes, confused, stands and calls to his friend.)

HOBBES: Waters! Hey, Waters! It's me, Hobbes! Tom Hobbes!

(In the next instant, a bullet pierces Hobbes left shoulder, knocking the bewildered soldier to the ground. As he lay on the ground, bleeding and in pain, he suddenly sees a woman hovering over him, with short-cropped hair and battle fatigues. She quickly looks around, then pulls him to safety.)

(COMMERCIAL II)

(SCENE II)
(Hobbes lying wounded on the ground as the woman removes his jacket to tend to his injury.)

HOBBES: Who are you? What's going on?

(The woman produces a bandage.)

HOBBES: Are you military?

(The woman begins to clean Hobbes' wound.)

HOBBES: Is this the game? Am I in Harsh Realm?

(The woman places her hand over the bullet puncture and holds it for a moment, after which she removes her hand. The wound closes up and completely heals. The woman then hurries away. Hobbes sits up, the woman no where in sight, and examines his shoulder, which has no sign of a bullet wound. Hobbes stands and leaves.)

(Hobbes runs home, passing through a war-torn version of reality full of hollowed-out cars and buildings, scarred landscapes and desiccated neighborhoods.)

HOBBES: (vo) My dearest Sophie. I know it can't be, but it all seems too real. Is this what the world will become? Is this nightmare I'm in only a mistake away?

(Hobbes finally reaches what's left of his house, now vacant and defaced.)

HOBBES: Sophie? Sophie? (looking around the house) What the hell is this place?

(A sound emanates from the bedroom.)

HOBBES: Sophie?

(Hobbes reaches the bedroom, and the sound finally becomes distinct; it's a dog whimpering. He leans down to look under the bed, and finds his dog.)

HOBBES: Dexter? How can this be? You're here.

(Hobbes brings Dexter out from under the bed.)

(Later, Hobbes walks the desolate streets of this sick version of his neighborhood.)

HOBBES: (vo) What are we, that we would need to create such a place as this? How do I get out, Sophie? How do I get back to you? All I can think is I must finish the game. I must find Santiago.

(After a night of walking and finding nothing, Hobbes chances upon a bar, the Quonset Hut. He ventures inside with Dexter to find a dark and seedy place full of equally dark and seedy patrons. He makes his way toward the bar, where he finds Pinocchio holding his wedding ring.)

PINOCCHIO: (to Keefe) Carat, at least. Sparkles like a virgin's teardrop.

KEEFE: Where'd you get it?

(Hobbes cocks his gun, pointing it into Pinocchio's left cheek.)

HOBBES: He stole it from me. And I'd like it back please.

PINOCCHIO: I swear I just heard someone cock a gun in your bar, Keefe.

(Keefe pulls out and cocks a sawed-off shotgun, to the tune of which every low-life scum-bag in the joint whips out whatever he happens to be packing that particular night.)

PINOCCHIO: But one rule in this cesspool and you done broke it, Dick.

HOBBES: I just want what's mine.

PINOCCHIO: Lose the gun, and it's a conversation. Don't, and (it's a bloodbath). I get to eat your dog.

(Hobbes glances around the bar, quickly assessing his dwindling options. Looking back to Pinocchio, he uncocks the gun, flips the safety on and reholsters the weapon. The patrons of the bar follow by putting away their armory as well.)

PINOCCHIO: Ruined my dinner plans.

HOBBES: I'm not leaving without that ring, I'm telling you now.

PINOCCHIO: That's fine, but you best be talking to the man who owns it.

(Hobbes looks at Keefe, who defiantly slips the ring into his chest pocket.)

PINOCCHIO: Welcome to Harsh Realm. (beat) Run along GI, maybe you'll get lucky and find Santiago.

HOBBES: How'd you know I was looking?

PINOCCHIO: (to patrons) GI asked how I knew he was looking for Santiago.

(Everyone in the bar laughs.)

PINOCCHIO: Everybody here's looking for Santiago one time or another.

HOBBES: You can't find him?

PINOCCHIO: Oh, I know where he is.

HOBBES: Take me to him.

(Pinocchio snorts with a "get real" aire. Hobbes realizes the futility of pushing, and picks up Dexter to leave. On the way out, he stops and turns back.)

HOBBES: I'll give you my dog.

(Pinocchio just stares into his shot glass. Hobbes leaves the bar and heads for God-knows-where, when Pinocchio calls to him from the door.)

PINOCCHIO: Hey! For the dog.

(Down a muddy street, we see the meanest hardcore GTO, complete with chicken-wire windows and roll-bars around every door, approaching before it pulls off the road at a huge fence topped with razor-wire. Hobbes and Pinocchio spill out.)

HOBBES: So this is Santiago's fence...

PINOCCHIO: His fence, his military, his gas, his food, his world. And it just keeps getting bigger.

HOBBES: How do I get over it?

(Pinocchio picks up a rock and finds a particular portion of the fence.)

PINOCCHIO: Right through here.

(He tosses the rock into the fence, where it disappears, seemingly bending space before vanishing into some unseen wormhole. A second later, it drops out the other side in the same manner.)

PINOCCHIO: Glitch in the software.

(Hobbes turns to the fence in front of him and is about to walk through when Pinocchio stops him.)

PINOCCHIO: Not there a-hole.

(He picks up another rock, throwing it at the portion of the fence in front of Hobbes. The rock bursts into flames and drops in a dozen pieces.)

PINOCCHIO: You gotta know where the glitches are, genius.

(Hobbes heads for the specific portion of fence that Pinocchio pointed out, but is stopped again.)

PINOCCHIO: Uh, we had a deal. The dog.

HOBBES: Welcome to Harsh Realm.

(Hobbes starts away, but Pinocchio grabs his gun as he steps through the fence with the same effect as the rock, seemingly pulling space with him until he snaps through the wormhole and emerges on the other side.)

PINOCCHIO: I will shoot you in the back.

(Pinocchio points the gun and pulls the trigger, hearing the hollow crack of an empty chamber.)

PINOCCHIO: You're gonna die anyway.

(Hobbes pulls out Pinocchio's car keys.)

HOBBES: Least I know where you'll be.

(Hobbes starts away.)

PINOCCHIO: Hey, I got travel plans! HEY!!

SANTIAGO CITY PERIMETER
HARSH REALM

(A bright city hides inside the fenced perimeter. After a moment, a guard, wearing a patch with the Crossed Swords, passes on his watch route. He turns to see Dexter, trotting along up to him and sitting on the grass.)

GUARD: Now what are you doing out here?

(Dexter barks at him.)

GUARD: Who do you belong to, boy?

(In the next instant, the guard is tripped and sent to the ground with an arm over his windpipe and a gun to his temple. The face of Tom Hobbes looms over him.)

HOBBES: Where's your CO?

(Inside the city, a Hummer pulls up to a hotel and Waters steps out of the passengers seat. He enters the building.)

DOORMAN: Evening Major Waters.

(Waters nods and continues up to his room.)

(Upstairs in room 2301, Waters enters his apartment, closing the door. A few steps later, the barrel of a gun is poking his in the neck.)

HOBBES: Sergeant Waters. Ten-hut.

WATERS: Hobbes, s'that you? Oh Lord, they sent you too.

HOBBES: Thought you'd be happy to see me, buddy.

WATERS: Stupid, Hobbes, you gotta get outta here.

HOBBES: Where's Santiago?

WATERS: Oh, mother of Mary, you don't get it. The game; get in, get out, get Santiago. It's all a freakin' lie, Hobbes! It's no game. No gettin' out, no goin' home. I got the same mission.

HOBBES: Then, what the hell are you doing here?

WATERS: What do you think I'm doin'? I'm trying to save my ass, so I don't have to live like some dog in the bush.

HOBBES: Army's got a name for that.

WATERS: There's no other way! Now go, Hobbes. You stay and you're a dead man.

HOBBES: Why am I a dead man?

WATERS: Because my orders are to kill (all new players). And I don't follow my orders, I'm a dead man. You get it Hobbes?

(Hobbes lowers his gun.)

HOBBES: Yeah, I think I do.

WATERS: You saved my life. Now I'm saving yours. Go. Leave before my wife gets home. I'll come find you Hobbes. I'll help you. I will, but not now. Not now.

(Suddenly, the apartment door opens and a woman enters. Emerging from the shadows, the woman turns out to be Sophie-HR.)

HOBBES: Sophie...

(COMMERCIAL III)

(SCENE III)
(Waters sees the mixture of anger and pain in Hobbes' face and tries to calm him.)

WATERS: Listen to me, Hobbes. It's not her. She's V.C.

HOBBES: You married her?

WATERS: She's not real. She's a virtual character. It doesn't matter.

HOBBES: The hell it doesn't.

(Hobbes pushes past Waters to get to Sophie-HR.)

SOPHIE-HR: Who are you?

HOBBES: I'm Tom Hobbes.

(Hobbes pulls his gun on Waters again.)

HOBBES: Your fiancé.

(Leaving the hotel, Hobbes, wearing Waters' military jacket, escorts Sophie-HR away.)

HOBBES: I don't like doing this Sophie, but I don't see another way.

SOPHIE-HR: Just don't hurt me. (beat) Where are you taking me?

HOBBES: I don't know. I'm not leaving you here with Waters.

SOPHIE-HR: What do you have against my husband?

(Hobbes stops and grabs Sophie-HR's arm.)

HOBBES: He's not your husband.

(Hobbes produces his wallet, in which is a picture of Sophie.)

HOBBES: Your middle name is Anne. You've got two sisters and a brother, Sam. In the real world, they were gonna be in our wedding.

SOPHIE-HR: (beat) I think you need help.

(Down the street, a group of Hummers with flashing sirens speed toward Hobbes and Sophie-HR. As they pass, the pair has ducked behind the side of a building to hide. Finally clear, the two of them leave, as a bus passes reading "One People, One Nation, One Santiago.")

(Nearing the city perimeter, Hobbes escorts Sophie-HR back to the fence.)

SOPHIE-HR: Will you just let me go?

HOBBES: It's not much further. You gotta trust me.

(As soon as Sophie-HR sees the fence, and that Hobbes is taking her to it, she protests.)

SOPHIE-HR: Hold it. No. Let me go.

(Inside his car, Pinocchio is still trying to hotwire the vehicle.)

SOPHIE-HR: You can't take me over there. You don't understand.

(Pinocchio jumps out of the car and starts toward the glitch in the fence.

SOPHIE-HR: You're gonna get us both killed.

HOBBES: I'm not. I'm trying to save you.

PINOCCHIO: Let her go.

SOPHIE-HR: You're insane!

PINOCCHIO: Let her go!

HOBBES: You stay out of this!

PINOCCHIO: She can't come past this fence.

HOBBES: She's coming with me.

PINOCCHIO: She can't come past this fence!

(His words are too late and too unimportant to Hobbes, who pushes Sophie-HR through the glitch and quickly follows, both of them passing out the other side. Pinocchio is carefully watching the fence.)

PINOCCHIO: Gimme the keys.

(Suddenly, a piercing alarm sounds as the lights mounted along the top of the fence glare on.)

PINNOCHIO: Gimme the keys, come on. Come on! COME ON!! KEYS!!

(The trio dashes for Pinocchio's car.)

(Somewhere in the woods, in a secluded underground bunker, Pinocchio, Hobbes and Sophie-HR, Pinocchio opens the top of Sophie-HR's blouse to reveal a barcode tattoo.)

PINOCCHIO: She set it off comin' through the fence. It's an implanted tracking device.

HOBBES: Just get it out of her.

PINOCCHIO: Who is she?

HOBBES: What difference does it make to you?

PINOCCHIO: No difference to me, hell.

HOBBES: She's a virtual character, isn't she? She means nothing to you, so just get it out of her.

(Pinocchio retrieves his bag from a workbench. Dexter barks at him.)

PINOCCHIO: I'm gonna eat that dog yet.

(He returns to the others with his equipment.)

PINOCCHIO: Have a seat. We gotta shake a leg, they're tracking us right now.

(Pinocchio removes a switchblade and a lighter from his bag and begins burning the blade to sterilize it. Hobbes, having nothing else to do, looks around the bunker. He finds a box containing a chain on which are hung two dogtags.)

HOBBES: Pinocchio... your name's Pinocchio?

(Pinocchio is up in a flash and presses the switchblade to Hobbes' jugular.)

PINOCCHIO: Forget that name. Wipe it from memory. There're people who think I'm dead; I'd like to keep it that way, you understand?

(Pinocchio backs off, confident he's made his point clear.)

PINOCCHIO: We're not like her, like the VC, we have consciousness of who we are; we know this isn't real.

HOBBES: Then why does it matter?

PINOCCHIO: It's *all* that matters; because Harsh Realm is all that matters.

HOBBES: Why, if it isn't real?

PINOCCHIO: You're stuck here GI, don't you get it? There's no going back, no going home. And if they kill you here, it's not just some character they zap. It's you. Your brain, your consciousness, your head; whatever. You're lying on some slab back in the real world.

HOBBES: There's gotta be a way out.

PINOCCHIO: Not for you, not for me. Only Santiago. Santiago controls the game. And he who controls the game controls everything.

HOBBES: Then why don't they just take Santiago out in the real world?

PINOCCHIO: They can't find him. They don't know where he is, where he comes in and out. He's hijacked the whole damn program.

(Pinocchio swabs the tattoo on Sophie-HR's chest that marks where the tracking chip is.)

(Outside the bunker, a dozen heavily armed soldiers quietly converge on the opening in the ground, ready to arrest the trio.)

(Back inside the bunker, Pinocchio readies the switchblade for the procedure.)

HOBBES: There's only one thing to do. There's only one choice. Kill Santiago.

PINOCCHIO: (laughs, to Sophie-HR) He's gonna get you *both* killed.

HOBBES: What about her? If she dies here?

PINOCCHIO: Never see her again in Harsh Realm.

(Pinocchio gives Hobbes a look of finality before heading over to Sophie-HR and making his first cut.)

(Outside the bunker, the soldiers await their final order, after which one of them drops into the bunker to find it empty. On the ground, he finds the tracking chip, removed and coated sporadically in blood.)

(On the road beyond the woods, Pinocchio's GTO spins out and takes off.)

(On a dock, a ship, packed with people, awaits permission to leave. At the gate, the GTO pulls up and pulls to a dusty halt. Pinocchio is out of the drivers side as Hobbes hurries to catch up with Sophie-HR in tote.)

HOBBES: Hey. Hey, where're you going?

PINOCCHIO: Far away. From you, and Santiago.

(Pinocchio hurries up the dock to find Keefe and the ship's captain.)

PINOCCHIO: I'm late, but I'm here. (Captain says something to Keefe in Spanish) We good?

KEEFE: They take one more.

HOBBES: Wait. One more where?

PINOCCHIO: South America. So long and adios GI. It was nice knowing ya.

HOBBES: She's getting on this boat.

PINOCCHIO: No more room.

HOBBES: She's going on this boat. (Pulls his gun, aims at Pinocchio's head) You let her take your place.

PINOCCHIO: (stops) Now you're starting to piss me off.

(Hobbes escorts Sophie-HR to the gangplank and ushers her onto the boat while Pinocchio stands by, gun pointed at his face.)

HOBBES: You paid with her ring, you let her on. It's the right thing to do.

PINOCCHIO: (patronized) The right thing to do?

(All at once, Pinocchio, Keefe, and finallly Hobbes see the entourage of military vehicles that converged on the exploded building earlier, now heading for the dock. Keefe takes off.)

KEEFE: Adios to you all, man.

HOBBES: (to Sophie-HR) Get on the boat. Go. (She doesn't move) Please, Sophie. Trust your heart. What it feels. Somewhere inside, you gotta know... who your heart was meant for. Go now. I promise, I'll find you.

(Sophie-HR finally gets on the boat.)

PINOCCHIO: Happy?

(Pinocchio heads for his car, leaving Hobbes on the dock, watching Sophie-HR leave, for Santiago's men to arrest.)

(COMMERCIAL IV)

(SCENE IV)
(Hobbes sits in a military jail cell for a few moments before his cell door is opened and Major Waters steps in.)

WATERS: On your feet, Hobbes, lets go. (Hobbes stands) General Santiago.

SANTIAGO: Mr. Hobbes, welcome to the Realm. I hear that you intend to kill me.

HOBBES: I had orders to win the game.

SANTIAGO: Well you've lost the game, sir. To make certain your loss is my victory, I should kill you, would that not be advisable? Kill your enemy dead, lest he rise up, strong with spite?

(Santiago looks around to his men, who make no movements to answer.)

SANTIAGO: Spite, Mr. Hobbes, is not what drives me, but my enemy, the men who sent you here to destroy all this.

HOBBES: All this?

SANTIAGO: I provide for my people. A beautiful way of life, free of strife. Could you find such a true thing in the real world?

HOBBES: What about outside the fence?

SANTIAGO: Those people are just on the wrong side. As you were, you must be able to see that now. You've been sent on a mission from which you can't return.

(Outside the cell, the exterior doors to the facility are heard opening and Hobbes looks to find the passengers of the ship filtering in, among whom is Sophie-HR. She meets Hobbes' gaze before looking to Waters, her husband in the Realm.)

GUARD: Keep moving!

(Hobbes looks back to Santiago, half for an explanation and half to say, "so there.")

SANTIAGO: A man can have it all here.

(Cut to outside a huge white building.)

GOVERNMENT HOUSE
SANTIAGO CITY
HARSH REALM

(Inside the building, Hobbes is gruffly ushered into a room in which he finds a large feast laid out before him. Hungry and tired, he grabs a chicken wing and bunch of grapes and digs in.)

(In another room, Sophie-HR receives a slap across the face for her troubles. Her husband Waters is the deliverer.)

WATERS: Who helped Hobbes? His name?

SOPHIE-HR: I don't know him, or his name.

(Waters, frustrated, administers another slap.)

SANTIAGO: That's enough. We don't want Mr. Hobbes to think that she's been mistreated. She knows the man's name, and she's going to get it by whatever means necessary.

(Santiago starts out, but Sophie-HR catches him.)

SOPHIE-HR: I never believed the stories, but I believe them now. About another world and the man who's coming to save us.

(Santiago, enraged, crosses the room in one step and unleashes a violent backhand.)

SANTIAGO: I am your savior!

(He quickly calms down, checking Sophie-HR's face to make sure he didn't wound her.)

SANTIAGO: I am that man. (to Waters) Get someone in here to see to her.

(Cut to the Quonset Hut, where Pinocchio takes a shot of whiskey as the same woman who healed Hobbes' wound earlier approaches the bar next to him. In the dust on the bar, she finger-writes the words "It's Him." Keefe nervously backs away from the conversation.)

PINOCCHIO: I knew it the moment I saw him.

(Pinocchio brushes away the dust to erase the words and takes another shot.)

PINOCCHIO: I should be in South America. (Dexter barks at him) What are you looking at?

(Dexter slinks away as Pinocchio gives a defeated look to Keefe, then turns and heads out of the bar determined.)

(Back inside the Government House, a group of guards heads down a corridor that passes a small foyer. After they're gone, a glitch suddenly opens up and Pinocchio and the woman step through. They quickly make their way down the hall.)

(Inside his room, Hobbes is resting on the couch. After a moment, he spots a tiny light from under the door. He gets up to examine it and finds that it is only the tip of an optical wire, through which he is being watched. In the next second, the door flings open to reveal Pinocchio and the woman.)

PINOCCHIO: Hey. Let's go, move it out.

HOBBES: What are you doing here?

PINOCCHIO: Saving my ass.

HOBBES: Why?

PINOCCHIO: Because he'll torture you, just to get my name. (Hobbes doesn't move) Look, I know what he's capable of. (opens shirt to reveal a scar from where a tracking chip was removed) I was sent here just like you. Now come on.

[Neonote: Doesn't the scar prove he's a VC?]

HOBBES: Not without Sophie. She's here. She knows your name too.

(Pinocchio gives a pushed-to-the-brink look and follows.)

(In her room, Sophie-HR is lying in bed when the door bursts open and Hobbes and Pinocchio barrel through.)

HOBBES: Sophie. I want you to come with me.

PINOCCHIO: Let's go, Hobbes.

SOPHIE-HR: It's you, isn't it...

PINOCCHIO: Let's go!

(Sophie-HR takes Hobbes' hand and the trio heads out of the room.)

[Neonote: unbelievably phenomenal camera-work here, Dan. You get my eternal praise for this final hallway sequence.]

(The trio dashes down the hall, turns a corner and continues away. After a few seconds of running, though, they are abruptly stopped by Waters, who has them at gunpoint.)

WATERS: Stop right there!! Weapon on the floor!!

(Pinocchio drops his machine gun.)

WATERS: Well, well. Mike Pinocchio. Alive and well.

(Suddenly, a barrage of gunfire erupts from the machine gun of the woman who entered with Pinocchio. Waters ducks behind a dresser for cover as the woman unloads, giving Pinocchio, Hobbes and Sophie-HR time to escape. Down a new hallway, she quickly follows after them.)

(Free of attack, Waters is up and chasing them, turning down the new hallway and dropping into SLOW MOTION as he lines up his gun to fire. He pulls the trigger, sending a bullet into Sophie-HR's back.)

(Pinocchio stops at the sound of the discharge, turning to see who got hit. Hobbes is slowed down as Sophie-HR drops to her knees, looking up to him with pleading eyes. In the next second, she fazes out and completely vanishes.)

(Waters looks on with shock in his eyes, unable to believe or come to grips with the act he's just committed. Hobbes, infuriated, starts back toward Waters, who makes no move to fire at Hobbes. Pinocchio, knowing the restraints on their time, runs to Hobbes and pulls him to run. Pinocchio fires at Waters and the half dozen men who rush around the corner behind Waters to hold them off. Hobbes finally gives in, taking off with Pinocchio and the woman.)

(BACK AT REGULAR SPEED, another four soldiers barrel around a corner, and the woman unloads on them, sending them to the floor. The trio escapes down another hallway and the soldiers are back on their feet, running after them. They turn down the next hallway and the small foyer, empty, as Pinocchio, Hobbes and the woman slipped away through the glitch.)

(Santiago trots down the hall.)

SANTIAGO: Waters.

WATERS: It's Mike Pinocchio. He was here.

SANTIAGO: For who? Hobbes?

WATERS: (nods affirmatively) My wife... I killed her...

(Santiago drops his eyes, then leans in and holds Waters' shoulder.)

SANTIAGO: You have made a terrible mistake. (starts away) Hobbes'll never stop now.

(Fade to later that night, back in the woods, as a platoon of soldiers scours the area in search of Pinocchio, Hobbes and the woman.)

HOBBES: (vo) Who's destiny is this? It can't be mine. What is this trial I'm being put through? Is this a test of my love for you? These people are afraid. They are the hunted, and I count myself as one of them now. Though they look at me strange, as if I know a secret or something. I know only this; I love you, dearest one, and will fight my war here. No my heart, and please don't worry. I will be home. I will be home.

(We zoom out with our focus still on Hobbes until we reach a height from which all seems black, only to zoom out further to find that we are looking into a human eye. A doctor passes a flashlight over it, then over the other, and we see that he is checking up on Hobbes, laying on a table in the real world, wires connecting him to the simulator, in a room with hundreds of other men and women, all hooked into Harsh Realm just as he is.)

THE END.