13. Home - Leslie

FADE IN:

EXT. IDYLLIC MEADOW - DAY

ALEXA walks slowly though the wind-swept grass and revels in the warmth of the sun. She wears a long ball gown, her dreads, carefully pinned in an intricate design.

MARTIN, an older man with pure-white hair sits cross legged under a large tree.

A tiger rests comfortably at his feet, purring softly.

Alexa kneels by the tiger.

ALEXA
Hello Ivan Denisovich.

The tiger lazily opens an eye to acknowledge her, then resumes his soft purr.

Martin opens his eyes slowly, almost mimicking the cat.

MARTIN
Hello Alexa, I wasn’t expecting you today.

ALEXA
I needed to talk.

MARTIN
It’s time for you to let go.

ALEXA
I’m not ready, not even close to being ready.

MARTIN
Remember when we talked about parallel realities?

ALEXA
Martin, I don’t want advice today
...just comfort...I just want to talk.

MARTIN
This was our reality, not yours, you’ve watched for years,
it’s time to move on, it’s time to find your own universe.

ALEXA
You’re not going to let me talk are you?

MARTIN
This is your parents' world, not yours. You must no longer be a watcher,
your duty is over. Our world is over.

ALEXA
But what if I leave too soon? what if there’s still something for me here?...what if there’s nothing out there?...if it’s just me, alone?...look now you’ve got me doing this. I don’t know how many times I’ll be able to visit, the generator...

MARTIN
You can’t look back. It’s time.
Leave before you cannot.

A buzzer breaks through the peace, shattering all the meadow’s calm, shrieking and shrieking.

ALEXA
You never let me just sulk.

Martin smiles.

Alexa looks back at him, torn, then touches his face.

ALEXA
Bye Daddy.

MARTIN
Goodbye darling, don’t look back, you will do great things.

The world around them begins to flicker in and out of existence.

INT. THE IVAN DENISOVICH: OBSERVATION POD - NIGHT

Alexa hangs weightless in a large, bubble-like room, the floor beneath her glass. The vastness of space hangs beneath her.

She is dressed in dirty green cargo pants and a sweater.

Wires hang off of her head and connect to a console in the ceiling.

Directly below her is the shapeless lump of a burned out planet.

One of the oceans is covered in a dark, super-storm and fires rage across the continents.

CENTRAL COMPUTING
Simulation ended. Return to normal brain function.

Alexa opens her eyes and slowly spins, facing her dying world.

She touches the glass beneath her.

ALEXA
Central?

CENTRAL COMPUTING
Yes Captain?

ALEXA
Put us on a course to the core.

CENTRAL COMPUTING
Captain? I cannot detect any lifeforms...

ALEXA
The core.

CENTRAL COMPUTING
Course set. Captain, please secure yourself.

ALEXA
I’ll be fine.

She hangs, watching the dead world beneath her and slowly blows a kiss.

EXT. IVAN DENISOVICH - NIGHT
The ship hangs above the dead planet.

It is shaped like a sleek dirigible, the living quarters attached to it’s massive belly like a strange symbiote, and below the quarters, a small glass room, twinkling.

Alexa hangs in the room, tiny, watching.

The engines fire, choking after years of silence, then gaining their voices.

The massive rudder turns, and the Ivan Denisovich slowly leaves its post, leaving it’s burning home for the unknown.

FADE TO BLACK.