Planet Despotism, page 11
Remorseful thoughts fill the silence between them and then Aldron yells out in anger....
ALDRON (CONT'D)
It was at my fingertips, I should've snatched it when I had the chance.
Aldron paces the table in agitation and his self loathing screams out for help....
ALDRON (CONT'D)
What should I do, Vicar?
THEOTUS
What I told you to do from the very beginning, hire bounty hunters!
CUT TO:
EXT. SECUNDUS REGION. FOREST AREA/OPEN FIELD. --DAY.
The next morning Corvus picks up a fallen branch, adding it to a bundle of branches cradled in his arms, then follows Rajairus. They walk into the open field a couple of miles out from the rear of the pyramids. Corvus tosses the branches onto a small mound of bushes, twigs and branches. Rajairus ties a handkerchief under his eyes, stoops down next to Ramalah's body, and picks up a bucket containing a black oily substance. He pours it over the mound, lights a rag, tosses it onto the mound, and a fire blazes up. He and Corvus lift Ramalah's body off the ground and commit it to the flames. Rajairus looks at the body burning in the fire and he notices the stamped lettering on the back collar of Ramalah's torn tunic. Rajairus speaks to Corvus...
RAJAIRUS
Rip off the back of his collar.
Corvus reaches into the fire and reins free the ripped collar of Ramalah's tunic. Rajairus looks at the collar and reads the stamped lettering: "ZENAR HOMELESS SHELTER".
CUT TO:
INT. EMPEROR HADDACIOUS ESTATE. MEETING HALL. --DAY.
Corydon steps out of a computerized strategy room inside the Emperor's home. He walks past a few doors in a hall and into a room with an open floor with stairs. He jogs down the stairs into an underground basement and through a well-lit steel tunnel. Corydon picks out a pair of ear plugs from a metal box, plugs his ears with them, then clamps on a pair of earmuffs hanging from the wall and walks into the shooting range.
SHOOTING RANGE.
In full carbon fiber fatigues, the Emperor fires several rounds at a moving target with a high-caliber machine gun. Several different types of machine guns, automatic shotguns and bullets are spread over a long table as Corydon walks past the table to the Emperor. He hands the machine gun to a Corvus Antares servant robot, then takes off his earmuffs as Corydon speaks.
CORYDON
The treasury key has showed up.
Haddacious lays his weapon on the table and takes off his gloves. The target yields when the Emperor steps off the floor with Corydon. One of the Corvus Antares walks out to the target. The backstop wall of the Emperor's gun range is covered in the mangled arms, legs and headless torsos of gold-skinned males. The robot exchanges the bullet-riddled paper with a new target sheet as the Emperor and Corydon walk out of the gun range.
STRATEGY ROOM.
Haddacious talks to the hologram of Shagree as it projects from the center of the computerized room's floor.
EMPEROR HADDACIOUS
Would you like me to send Corydon to you? He will assist you back here safely.
CUT TO:
EXT/INT. GENNAEUS CITY. HOOKAH BAR. ROUND TABLE. ---MORNING.
Shagree talks into his computerized armband.
SHAGREE
No. I'll deliver it tonight, if not sooner.
Shagree hangs up the call on his armband and stares out of the giant window next to his table. He sits and looks around at the customers across the room while tapping his fingers up and down on the leather-topped table.
Gaius, Jarthem and Sanquz walk in through the back door of the bar and take a seat across the table from Shagree.
SHAGREE (CONT'D)
Weren't there more of you?
They settle into their seats.
JARTHEM
We left one on guard because I don't like him around me, and the other one committed suicide. Did you bring the rod?
Shagree pulls the instrument from his chlamys. Jarthem puts the velour case on top of the aged leather-topped table. Shagree opens it up for a quick glance. Seeing the giant digital silver key with geometrical patterns and designs, he closes it up and leaves the key on the table. He steps behind Sanquz and the small green bulb glass display in the back of his collar turns into a blinking red flash, accompanied by a vibrating alarm.
SANQUZ
HURRY UP!! TAKE IT OFF!!
Shagree quickly slides the rod into the horizontal slot, but it doesn't release. Green lights shift to red blinking lights as all their collars vibrate. Sanquz yells out louder....
SANQUZ (CONT'D)
TAKE IT OFF!
Shagree slides the rod in again and Sanquz' head jolts back and he grimaces while grabbing his neck. Shagree takes the rod out.
SANQUZ (CONT'D)
What did you do? Did you stab me?
SHAGREE
NO! It should release it now!
Sanquz bites down on his tongue as he holds the collar while gagging in pain. Gaius and Jarthem look in disbelief as Sanquz tries to pry it off by clawing his fingers in between his neck and the collar. Jarthem and Gaius toss themselves from their chairs. The stealth movement of three males carrying firearms commands Jarthem's attention as he glances through the window. He pulls out his gun as the males rove down the street toward the bar. Jarthem fires his automatic pistol, shattering the glass, and the two bounty hunters run into the doorways of shops, hiding within the corners.
A handful of customers clear the streets and the bounty hunter in the middle of the streets, trapped by Jarthem's gunfire, flips over the merchant's table for cover. The bounty hunters hidden in the doorways fire back at Jarthem and Gaius. Crouched at the side of the table, Shagree reaches out for the treasury key and Jarthem pins his hand on the key while pointing the gun at him. Shagree scats back from the table as Sanquz foams at the mouth, with blood and acid flushing down the collar.
The blood vessels in Sanquz eyes burst, he pales in color then crashes onto the table. The root of his neck tears from his skin and his head slides off the collar and onto the table. Fizzling, yellow acid has burned through his skin, neck and trachea and drips on the table, eating through the leather and wood underneath. Jarthem and Gaius fall back, shooting out of the window, and fade to the rear of the building as the bullets fly through the shattered window into the bar.
A buzzing sound and red lights blink in the small bulbs inside their collars. Jarthem grabs the key and the case from the table while the red lights blink repeatedly. Gaius and Jarthem burst through the back doors of the bar and, five seconds later, three males rocket through the front doors of the bar and blitz toward the table with their machine guns drawn. A rectangular box beeps louder and louder from the chain attached to the bounty hunter's belt and black pants. A black chlamys clothes his bronze, hardened skin as he looks down at the head and slumped body. He pokes the head up with the barrel of his machine gun, getting a better look at the face. Quintus turns from the body to the other bounty hunter. From his raspy voice, he gives a command to him.
QUINTUS
Noreis, check the back.
Noreis puts the shotgun into his thigh holster, then pulls out a pistol that he carries in his carbon fiber robotic right arm. He walks to the back of the room, bypassing three males as they sit quietly at a table. The bounty hunter in rustic leather pants and black boots walks past Quintus and the body to the window, noticing the fingerprints smeared on the window.
CENTURE
It looks like they were all here.
QUINTUS
We're not tracking atonements.
They know we're coming.
Quintus turns and looks at the three males across the room as Noreis steps out of the bathrooms, passing two elder males and Shagree as they sit at the table.
NOREIS
All clear.
QUINTUS
Let's go.
NOREIS
Why aren't we chasing them?
QUINTUS
The tracker will only pick up his signal until it resets again.
The bounty hunters leave as Shagree turns in the chair, staring at them.
CUT TO:
INT. GENNAEUS. ZENAR SHELTER FOR THE HOMELESS. --DAY.
RAJAIRUS
I'm on the first floor. Room 1C.
Rajairus looks around the lobby from the front desk as Corvus stands near the entrance holding a duffel bag in its hands. Rajairus takes the keys from the clerk and walks through a door as Corvus follows.
ROOM 1C.
Rajairus lays the duffel bag on the bed, then takes out two shotguns. Sliding one over his shoulder, he puts the other one over his chalmys, adjusts his ammo belt, then walks out of the room, joining Corvus in the hall.
SECOND FLOOR.
Corvus looks to his left and right while standing in the hall. The splintered, cracked door hangs from the broken hinges while swaying back and forth from the busted and off-kilter doorpost. Rajairus opens the busted door then steps out into the hall, carrying a shotgun in his hands and another one strapped around his back.
RAJAIRUS (CONT'D)
Did anyone come down those stairs?
Corvus beeps and chirps, shaking his head left to right. Rajairus kicks in the door of room 2D and the elderly male in the wheel chair turns from the window to him. The six rooms behind him have been kicked open as he stands at the door of room 2E. Kicking violently through the locked door, it flies open as Rajairus bursts into the room with shotgun in hand. Finding the cramped room empty, three red beads from Samair's necklace stand out in the corner of the gray carpeted floor. Rajairus kneels down to hold the beads in his hands, then kisses and swabs his cheek with them, holding on to a piece of Samair. His hurt turns to anger when he rises and swipes his hand in the air. Looking around the room, he walks to the nightstand and opens the drawer to a pack of matches belonging to a Hookah bar. He flashes out of the room as Corvus follows.
CUT TO:
EXT/INT. GENNAEUS CITY. HOOKAH BAR. --DAY.
Rajairus bursts into the empty Hookah Bar with Corvus at his back. He sprints past the bartender, stopping at the booth near the window. He sees the decapitated head and slumped torso of a male poured over the table. A Corvus Antares robot slides across his view and the flash from the camera in its eyes takes a still picture of the body. Another robot begins to outline the body in chalk. Rajairus recognizes the face and the markings on the dead male's hand and walks away from the table in puzzlement and worry. He walks near the entrance to speak with the bartender as Corvus follows behind.
RAJAIRUS
Corvus, upload a hologram of Samair.
The robot places his hand on the computerized desk and a hologram of Samair appears on the screen behind the bar.
RAJAIRUS (CONT'D)
Have you seen her?
Gritting his teeth, with a slight squint in his eyes, the bartender shakes his head left to right.
RAJAIRUS (CONT'D)
She's pregnant. Are you sure?
BARTENDER
No one pregnant comes in here because of what we sell.
BarTENDER (CONT'D)
Now can you take that down. It is illegal to advertise anything that does not bare the image or likeness of the Emperor.
RAJAIRUS
No, I can't. Someone in here may have seen her or know whom she's with.
BARTENDER
Ask your Corvus to take this down!
Rajairus walks out of the bar shaking his head, then walks up the crowded streets searching for Samair and the marauders as Corvus follows. He walks around the city until the blue skies burn in an orange hue, and the sun paints the rows of white clouds in a lavender tint as evening falls. He looks across the street while thinking to himself, then he crosses the street and walks back into the Hookah bar. A few seconds later he walks out. Corvus trails Rajairus as he spears through the crowded sidewalks looking for anyone that resembles Samair. They cover city block after city block as Corvus walks along his side, and the streets begin to clear as the three moons glow in the night sky. They walk through the darkest hours of the night and, as the city empties its streets and falls asleep, Rajairus shakes on the closed doors of the Hookah Bar. He walks away as Corvus follows; beaten by the streets of Gennaeus; her suffocating crowds of citizens, the boiling heat, and the coldness of night, Rajairus sinks his tired body on a curb and blankly stares down at the trampled rodell bills scattered over the cracks and lines of the cobblestone street.
CUT TO:
EXT. GENNAEUS CITY. TEMPLE OF ZENAR HOMELESS SHELTER. ---MORNING.
The sun rises and shines on the Zenar Shelter for the Homeless. Rajairus walks out of the shelter, rubbing his eyes and covering his mouth as he yawns. Corvus follows him from behind as they search through the city for Samair.
HOOKAH BAR.
Rajairus walks through the doors of the Hookah bar and abruptly walks back out, infuriated. Kicking the bottom of the door in anger, he paces around the entrance of the bar then decides to walk away.
An embittered Rajairus combs through the crowds, shoving his way through the overpopulated city as Corvus tags behind.
Rajairus sifts through the city streets for hours on end, then walks block after block looking for any clothing or any female that slightly resembles Samair. He walks through the clusters of poverty-stricken citizens and, hearing someone that sounds like her, turns and his frustration grows into disappointment. The stifling heat, shoulders, elbows, and wheelbarrows jab and spar with his body as the heat soaks his woolen chlamys.
Rajairus ebbs to the sidewalk, thinking if he could just jump on the veranda of a building, Samair would somehow see him. He looks up and down at the masses in search for any sign of someone waving at him. Spotting the Hookah Bar a few blocks up the street, he jumps off the veranda and paddles through the crowds up the other side of the street.
HOOKAH BAR.
Rajairus humbly walks through the doors of the Hookah Bar, but his very presences sets off the bartender. The bartender yells at him...
BARTENDER
SHE'S NOT IN HERE!
Rajairus looks behind the desk and the screen behind the bar. The hologram of Samair is missing and in his anger he yells at the bartender.
RAJAIRUS
Why did you take her hologram down?
BARTENDER
I didn't!
RAJAIRUS
Then who did?
Rajairus walks to the dining area of the bar as a few patrons cloud the room with smoke. The bartender rushes behind him, grabbing his arm. Rajairus pulls away.
BARTENDER
DO NOT DISTURB THEM!
Rajairus bursts into the small dining area of the bar and...
CHANCELLOR
Is this the law-breaker we've been waiting for?
The comments roll off the Chancellor's tongue as two Constable robots accompany him.
BARTENDER
This is him.
The sound of the camera's shutter speed adjusts within the eyes of the Constable robot as they take a dozen pictures of Rajairus. The gray-haired, frail chancellor in the black robe speaks to the robots.
CHANCELLOR
Upload his photo into the system, I want to know everything about him.
The Bartender excuses himself from the smokey room and the Chancellor speaks to Rajairus.
CHANCELLOR (CONT'D)
You've used the Emperor's Cyber Network. That's a crime punishable with the loss of both limbs.
RAJAIRUS
You don't understand. I'm looking for my wife.
The few patrons sprinkled across the tables look on as the Chancellor speaks out loud to them.
CHANCELLOR
Everyone tells me I don't understand, yet the law is very clear. You're under arrest and must come with us to the Court of Justice for sentencing.
Rajairus sways Corvus behind him and points at the door while walking backwards to the bar. The Chancellor casts a devilish smile on his face as he and the Constables walk towards him.
CHANCELLOR (CONT'D)
Resisting arrest is grounds for death by stoning. Are you resisting?
RAJAIRUS
WRONG QUESTION. THE QUESTION IS, CAN YOU STOP ME?
The Chancellor yells out while pointing his finger at Rajairus.
CHANCELLOR
SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM!
Rajairus flings up the shotgun hidden underneath his chlamys and fires as the Constable robots raise their gatling-gunned arms at him.
Rajairus pulls the trigger and blows through the chest and arm of the Constable. Rajairus sprints toward the bar, rushing to the front door. The Constable fires multiple rounds as Rajairus sprints along the bar. The Constable shatters the mirrored back wall and glass shelves in the bar area as Rajairus flees and bursts through the front doors. The Constable runs through the bar at full speed, chasing after Rajairus as he slashes through the busy streets. The Chancellor walks to the edge of the bar and types into the virtual keyboard within the computerized bar desk. A giant computer screen slides down behind the bar and the picture and identification of Rajairus is displayed on the large computer screen. The Chancellor walks to the middle of the bar and looks up at the screen to his full name: Rajairus Onan, his address; Secundus Region, and his date of birth; 12/18/20989.
CUT TO:
EXT. GENNAEUS CITY. STREETS OF GENNAEUS. --DAY.
The seven foot tall Constables take off behind him, jetting through the doors at full speed. It stares down the crowded streets from the sidewalk at Rajairus as he runs through, bumping a trail of stumbling citizens behind him. The Constable steps into the street, firing into the air. The crowd helter-skelter off the street and the robot fires down the street at Rajairus' head, blowing off several stones in the corner of the building as Rajairus boomerangs around the building and up an alley.
Rajairus yells out a Corvus as they run out of the alley in different directions.
RAJAIRUS
COMMAND. GO TO THE SHELTER! I'LL MEET YOU THERE!
