04
INT FACILITY INFIRMARY
BLURRY POV SHOT LOOKING UP AT CEILING
DAVE gradually emerges from unconsciousness to find himself lying on a hospital bed... somewhere. As his vision gradually clears, DAVE sees a handful of medical staff in scrubs milling about the room. He looks over at the doorway and sees PARTLOW and JANACEK watching him along with two other people he doesn't recognize - an immaculately-dressed man who looks about PARTLOW's age with short, curly hair and a diminutive but striking Latina woman who looks about the same age as himself.
PARTLOW
He's coming around.
JANACEK and PARTLOW approach the bedside as the older man and younger woman leave the room.
DAVE
(still a little groggy)
Where am I?
JANACEK
(reassuringly)
In a medical facility. You're safe now.
DAVE sits upright, still getting his bearings.
DAVE
(sarcastically)
I'm sure. Thank goodness for your "vaccine".
PARTLOW
Our apologies; it was necessary to sedate you for your protection as per our procedures.
DAVE
(puzzled)
My protection? Protection from what? You already killed the.. the werew-
JANACEK
Lycanthrope.
DAVE
Whatever - you killed it. If I wasn't in danger of catching whatever it was he had, then why did you bring me here? I mean... wherever here is.
DAVE swings his legs over the side of the hospital bed as PARTLOW begins pacing around it.
PARTLOW
By being in the wrong place at the wrong time, you've placed us in a common, but nonetheless an undesirable position. We'd like to present you with some choices, Dave.
DAVE
How... how do you know my name?
JANACEK
We used a sample of your hair to trace your DNA against an index of known patrons of that bar and corroborated your genetic information against Interpol's database by pirating a communications feed using one of our many spy satellites.
DAVE blinks. JANACEK shrugs, then reaches into his pocket and hands DAVE his driver's license.
JANACEK
It had your name on it.
PARTLOW
For all of Mr. Wisnewski's ranting and raving, he was correct about one thing. You saw something you're not supposed to. That's why we couldn't just leave you there.
JANACEK
What you saw in that alley was just the tip of the iceberg, Dave. There's a lot of stuff in the world around you that escapes your notice - not to mention everyone else's. Truth is, Mr. Wisnewski is - was - just one of a mind-blowing number of things that simply shouldn't exist.
DAVE
So you guys... basically wipe out all those things?
PARTLOW smiles faintly.
PARTLOW
Not exactly. We make sure all those mysterious and unknown things out there stay mysterious and unknown. Our job isn't just to keep everyone safe from whatever's out there, it's to make sure they don't find out what's out there. Which, as you can hopefully see now, is why you're here and not still out there.
DAVE
(nervously)
Okay... what are you guys gonna do to me now that you've got me here? I know my rights, and I know you can't detain me against my will if I'm not being questioned or charged with a crime.
JANACEK and PARTLOW share a brief chuckle.
JANACEK
Dave, you said it yourself - we're not Feds. We are in no way involved with the United States government - or any government. The two of us, our organization, this facility - and right now, you - don't exist as far as the rest of the world knows.
CLOSE UP: DAVE'S REACTION
PARTLOW
Relax. If all we wanted was to "silence" you, we could've done so with very little effort, as I'm sure Mr. Wisnewski would gladly tell you if he could. You're not here because we want to eliminate you. Quite the opposite.
JANACEK leafs through a manila file folder he's been carrying.
JANACEK
David Giles, age 26, originally of Wheaton, Illinois. Currently employed in electronics retail, making... eleven dollars an hour? Ouch. Undergraduate degree in Criminal Justice from Northwestern, superb academic marks all around. Washed out of CPD academy for - let's see - "insubordination" and "willful deviation from Department policies". Denied readmission twice within the past year.
(JANACEK raises an eyebrow)
Your father was a lieutenant in the CPD... highly decorated.
DAVE tenses.
JANACEK
Killed in 2003 during some sort of sting operation, the records of which have been sealed... by order of an Assistant Director of the FBI. No arrests were made in conjunction with his death and no official explanation of the circumstances was ever released by the CPD or FBI.
JANACEK puts the folder down on a nearby tray.
PARTLOW
We've read through all this already, of course - we just didn't want you to think we hadn't done our homework. It's plain to see you really want to wear the badge, Dave. Maybe it's just what you've always wanted to do, maybe it's because it's what your father did.
(PARTLOW raises his hands in a conciliatory gesture)
And please don't think we're being insensitive in any way. We've both lost loved ones unexpectedly too.
JANACEK
And yet, you don't seem to want to do it by the book. Just from what we already know of you, I can probably guess which "Department policies" you had trouble with. Maybe what you really want is to protect people - especially the ones you care about - and make sure the bad guys get what's coming to them. Maybe all those rules and regulations just... get in the way of what really needs to be done.
DAVE fidgets but doesn't answer.
PARTLOW
Now, we weren't aware of any of this before we brought you here. Quite frankly, there was never a reason for you to be on our radar. And yet... here you are. All the same, I'm seeing what could be a mutually beneficial opportunity here.
JANACEK
You want to protect people. And you really want to find out the truth about your father. Now, we can't promise you we can uncover what the FBI seems to want to hide, but... if you were working for us, you'd have unique access to resources almost no other organization - private, government, whatever - could dream of having.
JANACEK gestures to PARTLOW and himself.
JANACEK
The two of us? We're fairly low on the totem pole as far as the company's concerned. But we routinely get handed reports on things the President isn't briefed into. Imagine how much easier investigating your father's death would be working with information gatherers like us.
DAVE finally works up the courage to speak.
DAVE
(somewhat timidly)
I'd be lying if I said I'm not interested in finding out what happened to my dad... but I'm not so interested in playing "secret agent" with you guys. No offense.
JANACEK smiles faintly. PARTLOW sits down on another hospital bed across from DAVE's.
PARTLOW
I can't say I'm surprised. But try and look at this from our point of view. We're not part of the government; at the end of the day we're more or less a business entity. Businesses have assets and they have liabilities. Once you've stumbled into our world, we have to try and figure out which of the two you are.
JANACEK
We're not telling you you have to suit up and do what we do. To be completely honest - and please don't take this personally - I really don't think you have what it takes to do what we do, and it's not a job I'd wish on anyone. We are telling you that we're offering you an opportunity to work with us - in one of a number of potential roles - and it's most definitely in your best interest to capitalize on such an opportunity.
DAVE
An offer I can't refuse, huh? Work for you... or else?
DAVE slides off the hospital bed and takes a few steps away from the two men toward the open doorway.
DAVE
Why can't I just wake up in my apartment like none of this ever happened? This can't be real. I don't want this.
DAVE backs into the open doorway.
DAVE
I don't want this!
DAVE rushes out the doorway. JANACEK takes a step in his direction, but PARTLOW stops him, motioning for him to wait. DAVE finds himself in what looks like an ordinary hospital corridor, lined with folded gurneys, IV trees, and trolleys laden with medical supplies. A nurse and a few orderlies look in his direction, prompting him to charge the other way and turn left around a corner. He promptly bumps into a wheeled cage of some sort that's being pushed by a pair of orderlies. The vented canvas cover over the cage slips off, revealing a bizarre birdlike creature with three beaked, reptilian-looking heads atop naked vulture necks. One of the heads droops lazily as the other two turn and croak angrily at DAVE.
ORDERLY
Careful, man! They're sick, and not in a good mood!
Horrified, DAVE about-faces and takes about five steps in the other direction before crashing into the white lab coat of a doctor. He looks up and sees a pale, vaguely yellow-green face with a narrow mouth, no ears save for two small holes on either side, no visible nose but four small slits of nostrils, and very large, round eyes with silver-grey irises and horizontal slit-pupils.
DR. ODIMIS
Please mind where you step; I have many patients to attend to.
DAVE's mouth drops open, but no sounds escape. He staggers back against the wall. DR. ODIMIS regards him for a brief moment with what might (on a human) be considered an expression of mild amusement. The nurse and orderlies round the corner, and the doctor gestures for them to attend to DAVE.
DR. ODIMIS
Do you require assistance finding your bed, Mister Giles?
DAVE faints.
CUT TO BLACK
