HOME IS WHERE HELL IS by D. Skiles TEASER OPEN INT. FACTORY The only light here shines from the pool of molten metal that bubbles below. We are looking along a steel grated walkway above this pool. Stairs leading down can be found a few yards from our location. Chains dangle from overhead. Here, a SMALL RED WORMHOLE opens. It swirls and fluctuates, expanding and contracting slightly. REMBRANDT BROWN tumbles out, the wormhole closing instantly after his exit. Rembrandt hits the edge of the grating rolling -- and tumbles off of the side! His fingers clutch desperately at the grated walkway. He barely finds purchase with one hand, quickly bringing up the other to hang on with. His body dangling, he looks down at the pit of death below, and slowly pulls himself up atop the walkway once more. Breathing heavily, Rembrandt stands and looks down at the glowing metal, beads of sweat dotting his face. His face conveys what he realizes -- he almost bought the farm right here. He turns and, wiping his brow as he goes, heads down the nearby stairs. EXT. STREET -- CLOUDED DAY Rembrandt peers out the door of the factory and looks around the corner. The situation on Earth Prime is just as he left it. The streets look deserted and ruined. The only signs of life here are the grafitti scribbled on the concrete walls and the distant hum of manta ships. Rembrandt walks out into the street. He looks around cautiously and heads down the sidewalk, hoping to find some sign of human survivors nearby. As he walks, he looks over the devastation, pain pouring from his face. He hasn't gone a block when we see that, over the roof of one of the buildings nearby... ANGLE ON - MANTA SHIP ...a manta ship slowly appears. Remmy hops into an broken store window and crouches down, peeking out slightly from his shadowy hiding spot. INT. STORE WINDOW - CLOUDED DAY He watches the ship with wide, nervous eyes. He's breathing heavily out of fear. His mind is racing. Then, his expression becomes calm. The heavy breathing stops. We see a look of realization wash over his face. EXT. STREET - CLOUDED DAY Rembrandt stands, walking out into the street in plain view of the manta ship! The ship turns at this, and begins to descend to Rembrandt's location. As the ship lowers itself to the ground, the darkness of its shadow envelops Rembrandt, who maintains a grim look of determination on his face. END TEASER OPENING SEQUENCE REMBRANDT What if you found a portal to a parallel universe? What if you could slide into a thousand different worlds? MAGGIE Where it's the same year... DIANA And you're the same person... MALLORY But everything else is different? REMBRANDT And what if you can't find your way home? [THEME MUSIC PLAYS] WHISPER: "Sliders" END OPENING SEQUENCE ACT I OPEN INT. KROMAGG PRISON Rembrandt, now wearing Kromagg prisoner scrubs, is being led down a dark corridor. Two Kromagg Guards in black 'magg coats walk with him on each side, carrying some sort of rifles. We pass by cells of other prisoners, who barely notice this new arrival. Rembrandt is resolved, but still nervous. This situation is all too familiar to him. The two guards throw Remmy roughly into a cell and slam the door shut behind him. He turns and watches as they walk away. Once the 'maggs are out of his field of view, he sighs deeply and leans his head against the bars of his cell, his eyes closed. REMBRANDT Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. VOICE Being born? Rembrandt opens his eyes and looks up in the direction of the voice. On the side opposite his cell there are two cells, offset from being evenly across from his. The cell that is RIGHT from his point of view holds someone, apparently male, who sits in darkness from the waist up. The voice is coming from him. The left cell holds the silhouette of another person, who we can't see. VOICE That was our mistake. (beat) Birth gave us a taste of the light. But we couldn't have it. Not really. (beat) It was never even real. (beat, he shifts slightly) The light was just to taunt us. To show us a world we can never have. Birth is not real. The light is not real. (beat) The true reality is the dark. And death. Rembrandt is unnerved by this speech momentarily, but nevertheless realizes that such ravings don't come out of people that are Kromagg hallucinations. REMBRANDT (uneasily) So, uh... how long you been here? VOICE Who can say... ? REMBRANDT (nods) Good point. Remmy slumps down to the floor and sits. REMBRANDT (not really a question) What happens now... VOICE (laughing) Oh, they'll talk to you for a while. Most likely. You'll feel pain. But that's not important. Not real. When it ends, when they show you the truth. Then there's real pain. Doesn't end... REMBRANDT The truth... ? Death? VOICE (shakes his head in the shadows) No. Not yet. REMBRANDT Then what? The man leans towards Rembrandt, coming into the light, looking directly at him... or at least, he WOULD be looking at him, but he's not because HE HASN'T GOT ANY EYES. VOICE (firmly) The dark. Remmy reacts, sickened by this Kromagg act but not entirely surprised to see such a thing within a Kromagg prison. Then, his eyes go wide as he... REMBRANDT (realizing) Then this isn't an informant wing... VOICE (now sitting back in the dark) They don't want information. At first, yes, but not long. They really want to make us see truth. (beat) And they want... a nice... warm... meal. He LAUGHS maniacally at his own sick joke. Rembrandt shakes his head and leans back against the cell wall and closes his eyes once more. His head hanging, we... FADE TO BLACK FADE BACK IN INT. CELL - REMMY'S P.O.V. Remmy's eyes flutter open, staring at the ceiling now, the dim light hanging from the hall ceiling burning into his eyes with a harsh glare. Our P.O.V. turns to see a Kromagg guard opening Rembrandt's cell door. BACK TO 3RD PERSON - INT. CELL We see that Rembrandt is now lying on his small cell cot. How he got there we don't know. Rembrandt sees that the guard opening his cell is one of the two that took him here yesterday. The other one stands behind him. Both are now carrying holstered pistols of some sort, rather than rifles. Rembrandt looks at them blankly. Roughly, they hoist him up and pull him into the hall. One holds him as the other goes to the cell that was left-across from Rembrandt's Rembrandt does not struggle with the guard holding him. The other guard pulls the shadowy prisoner from earlier out of the cell. Dressed in Kromagg prison scrubs, we see that it's ALT. DIANA - from Earth Prime. OFF Rembrandt's reaction to this as we... CUT TO - INT. KROMAGG LAB GUARD #1 is still holding Remmy, with the other now holding Alt. Diana. They pull Remmy and Diana into the room and then stand still Before a KROMAGG DOCTOR. We can see that this lab's not the typical Kromagg torture room - it's a science lab, for particularly nasty treatments. A computer and related science equipment - electron microscope, etc - sit against the wall. Cabinets against another. In the center of the room are two chairs, with one pole lamp sitting between them to shine light on the torture victims. A small table next to these chairs holds various edged, pointed, and generally sharp and nasty looking torture devices. The KROMAGG DOCTOR stands here, looking approvingly upon his new torture subjects. KROMAGG DOCTOR It is good to have you back with us, Rembrandt Brown. REMBRANDT Yeah, well, wish I could say the same. The KROMAGG DOCTOR pauses, smiling slightly, then continues. KROMAGG DOCTOR Since you arrived yesterday, Mr. Brown... REMBRANDT (interrupting) Yesterday?! He looks up at the guard holding him, the over to the one on Diana. REMBRANDT (disbelieving) You two should be dead. The two guards exchange a glance, then laugh haughtily. GUARD #1 You only wish, human. Rembrandt's face is hurt and shocked. Is the virus a failure? KROMAGG DOCTOR (continuing) Since you arrived yesterday, Mr. Brown, it has come to our... attention that you and Ms. Davis share a common crime. You both stand guilty of illegally possessing or utilizing trans-dimensional technologies. Rembrandt reacts to this, his eyes shooting over to Alt. Diana. She has sliding technology? KROMAGG DOCTOR (continuing) As such, we thought it might be... enlightening... for you to watch one another be tortured. Such stimulation might aid you in informing us how it is you came by such devices. (turning to address him) Especially you, Mr. Brown. The signature of your wormhole clearly denotes that it was generated from a Kromagg device. That is a high offense. Rembrandt just stares him down. If looks could kill... KROMAGG DOCTOR (turning to address her) Diana Davis. (beat) You will have the honor... and pleasure... of going first. Alt. Diana's eyes WIDEN in horror as the guard hands her over to the Doctor... FADE TO BLACK END ACT I OPEN ACT II All is as we left it. The doctor takes Alt. Diana from the guard. He attempts to hold her down as he straps her into the chair. She begins to struggle wildly, kicking and yelling. The doctor looks up to GUARD #2 and nods. Something passes between them, telepathy perhaps, and the guard moves over to help hold Diana down. Rembrandt's takes advantage of the distraction, and struggles in full for the first time. The shocked GUARD #1 loses his grip on Remmy, who spins and rips the gun from the guard's side holster. The guard reacts, moving his hand to stop the gun as Rembrandt is moving to point it at the guard's head. The guard's hand hits the gun as it's on the rise, and he holds it in place pointed at his stomach. Rembrandt settles for this and pulls the trigger, knocking the guard down with a bullet to the stomach. Rembrandt turns just in time to see GUARD #2 and the KROMAGG DOCTOR look up at him from their own work. He levels his gun at GUARD #2 and gets off a shot to his head before the guard can even get his pistol out of his holster. The KROMAGG DOCTOR snatches a knife off of the nearby torture device table, leaving Alt. Diana to her own devices and rushing at Rembrandt, raising the knife aloft. A bullet through his chest makes short work of him. A moment of calm comes over the room, but not for long. Rembrandt hears a shuffling sound along the floor behind him now. He turns just in time to see that GUARD #1 is awake and crawling along the ground, his knife unsheathed. He swipes at Rembrandt's legs, and Remmy jumps backwards, dodging the knife narrowly and falling onto his back. He then lifts his gun, spreading his feet apart to see the guard's head. The guard holds his knife up, seconds from stabbing Rembrandt in the foot. Remmy shoots him in the head, and all is still again. Rembrandt climbs to his feet. His expression is not one of pleasure, but of pain and frustration. His distaste for killing still holds strong. Alt. Diana jumps up from the chair and walks over to him. ALT. DIANA Well... you've just wasted your time. And mine... Rembrandt gives her a curious look. ALT. DIANA (frustrated) We can't exactly stroll out the front door. There's no escaping from this place! This whole compound is crawling with Kromaggs! REMBRANDT Actually, I wasn't trying to escape... At this, Alt. Diana looks baffled. Rembrandt picks up a Kromagg torture Device that resembles a scalpel off of the nearby table. Alt. Diana Follows him curiously as he heads over to the computer-lab station. REMBRANDT (noticing her following him, mildly annoyed) Couldn't you lock the doors or something? She rolls her eyes and walks over to the door they came in through. She flips a switch, and, crossing the room, does the same to the opposite door. ALT. DIANA There. Fat lot of good it'll do. We're both as good... as... She stops, distracted, watching Rembrandt as he uses the Kromagg knife To cut into his own arm. Blood drips onto a small study dish he's placed below. REMBRANDT Okay... now take this dish and run it through this machine. Tell me Anything you can about whatever kind of virus you find in there. Alt. Diana is looking at him like he just spoke Greek. ALT. DIANA And what the hell makes you think I can do THAT?! REMBRANDT Aren't you a doctor? ALT. DIANA No!!! Whoops. Rembrandt starts to wonder what the hell he's gotten himself into. REMBRANDT But that 'magg said you had sliding technology! ALT. DIANA (quietly) Sliding? REMBRANDT Uh, trans-dimensional... ALT. DIANA Oh, oh. Well, yes! I mean... no! Well, I did. But it wasn't mine! (she paces) The FBI gave it to me and told me to study it for usage against the Kromaggs. Claimed they'd found it in some kid's basement years ago. I worked with that thing for more than a year. I'd just recently gotten it working when they... (she indicates one of the dead Kromaggs on the ground) ...came and trashed the compound. They destroyed the sliding machine and brought me here. That was... days ago. A beat. She stops pacing. Rembrandt is taking all of this in. ALT. DIANA And all... REMBRANDT (interrupting) Now you just hold on. You're not a doctor of any kind, and the FBI just handed you a sliding device?! ALT. DIANA (frustrated again) I'm the best they could get around here! I'd almost finished my physics studies when I had Nadine, and then Doug tried to take her away, and I had to leave school because I had to try and fight... oh, don't you get it? When the Kromaggs attacked, the government needed everything even close to a scientist or a soldier that they could find! (she shrugs) I'd gotten pretty close to making my doctorate, so I guess I got nominated. And with Nadine... (she pauses, almost choking on the word) ...dead... thanks to those monsters... well... I had nowhere else to go. No one left to... worry about. Rembrandt is quiet for a moment. He nods in understanding. REMBRANDT Alright. I'm sorry. But can't you still analyze the blood sample? ALT. DIANA (slowly) Well... yes. Usually, I could, anyway. But on a Kromagg workstation... I don't know. It's not likely to be operable in any human language. Rembrandt smiles weakly and shrugs. REMBRANDT C'mon. Just do your best. (beat, seriously) But remember. They probably already know something's wrong. And I imagine they'll be here soon. Alt. Diana takes a deep breath. ALT. DIANA Why not? Not much left to lose. Walking over to the Kromagg workstation, she places the dish of blood under the electron microscope and turns it on. She sits down at the computer and sighs. Meanwhile, Rembrandt is pushing one of the cabinets in front of the wall over in front of one of the doorways. A little extra insurance. Looking at the various Kromagg symbols on her screen, Alt. Diana shakes her head. ALT. DIANA I don't even... She's interrupted by the computer beeping. The screen goes black for A second and then reappears... all of the symbols and words are now in English! In the center of the screen a message reads: HUMAN LANGUAGE RECOGNIZED. TRANSLATION COMPLETE. Alt. Diana grins despite herself. ALT. DIANA Well, that wasn't so bad. Rembrandt walks up and looks over her shoulder. She's using some odd kind of mouse now - it looks spherical, moves in all three dimensions, and has no cord attached. A single red light on the top of it appears to function as the "button." REMBRANDT Why would the 'maggs have computers that speak English? DIANA (speaking as she moves the "mouse" up and down in the air) Probably because of the converts. A lot of humans gave up on beating the Kromaggs long ago. So they just started working with them as spies. Confessed to their inferiority as a species and became total slaves to the Dynasty. (beat) In exchange, their families are broken up and spread across the Dynasty as slaves, too. All the slaves get to keep their eyes. And their lives... at least until the Kromaggs conquer enough of the multiverse to be satisfied. Rembrandt shakes his head, disgusted. REMBRANDT Damn those eye-eatin' freaks. On the screen, the computer recognizes Remmy's DNA as human. ALT. DIANA (slight chuckle) Well, that's a relief. REMBRANDT (smile) What? You had doubts? She shrugs a little. ALT. DIANA Not really. Most Kromagg mind games don't include scenes of Kromaggs getting killed. She manages a slight smile too. Remmy is pleased. He's starting to see a little of his own Diana in her. On the screen, Diana is now zoomed in on the blood more than before, looking at virus strands. She shakes her head in disbelief. ALT. DIANA What in God's creation... ? REMBRANDT (shakes his head) I'm afraid not. It's OUR creation. (beat) Some kinda bioweapon. She gives him an incredulous look. ALT. DIANA Since when does our government have the resources to produce a bioweapon? REMBRANDT (shakes his head again) It's not ours. ALT. DIANA (she resumes working) Whose then? REMBRANDT It's not important. She's about to object but she's distracted by her own findings. ALT. DIANA Whoa. REMBRANDT What do you have? ALT. DIANA It seems that if our genetic makeup was slightly different this thing could seriously jump all over us. Our respiratory system would be completely infected. We'd spread it just by breathing. Though strangely it doesn't seem to have any negative... REMBRANDT (interrupting) Are you saying we CAN'T do that? ALT. DIANA (shaking her head) Well, not with our current genetic structure, anyway. It's in your circulatory system now, bonded to your blood. But it can't bond with anything in our lungs. It's almost as if this was engineered for... I don't know, a different kind of human. You're lucky your body didn't reject it. Rembrandt nods to himself, which Alt. Diana fails to notice. He ponders this new information for a moment, nervously biting his lip. This is not good news. Suddenly, a LOUD BANGING comes from the barricaded door. Kromagg shouts barely penetrate the thick metal. Remmy and Alt. Diana turn at the sound. As soon as they do, sparks begin to shoot out from the lock. They're torching their way through. REMBRANDT Damn. (turning back to her) Listen, quick, what about the Kromaggs on this Earth? Does it affect them? ALT. DIANA (nervously) Uhhhh... hold on... yeah. Yeah, it hooks up to their whole system easily. THEY can spread it by breathing, we... (beat) Oh my god. REMBRANDT (glancing back at the sparks) What? ALT. DIANA This virus, where did you get it? REMBRANDT Why? ALT. DIANA It... this kills any Kromagg that gets it in their system. It's a total system shutdown. (beat, she shakes her head with a smile) If we could get this into just one Kromagg... REMBRANDT (small smile) That's what I was looking to hear. He races over to the pole lamp between the torture chairs. Lifting It over his head, he walks over to the computer workstation. REMBRANDT Stand back. Alt. Diana sees his intentions and immediately snatches the dish out from under the microscope, taking a few steps away from the machinery. Rembrandt swings down, crashing the lamp into the monitor first in a shower of sparks. Then he swings sideways at the computer towers surrounding it. He stops after they're done sparking, setting down the lamp, nodding in approval. REMBRANDT There. We don't want the 'maggs to know that we've got... As he turns around, he stops his words short. He sees that Alt. Diana has just finished injecting HERSELF with the Kromagg virus! She tosses the hypodermic to the ground, smashing it. Looking up at him, she rubs her arm ruefully. ALT. DIANA I couldn't let this go. This is what we need. What we've always needed. REMBRANDT (shocked) But how do you... He's interrupted by the door flying open, the cabinet shoved aside by the force behind it. Six Kromaggs enter, immediately jabbing Rembrandt and Alt. Diana with rods that jolt them full of electricity. Rembrandt tries to put up a fight, but he gets jolted savagely, far more than Alt. Diana takes. Both fall to the ground and collapse. FADE TO BLACK FADE IN Rembrandt is awakening in his cell again. Lying on his cot, he rubs his hands over his face ALT. DIANA (V.O.) You've been out a long time. Rembrandt sits up and looks over to her cell. Once again, she's barely visible in the darkness. ALT. DIANA Rembrandt, is it? He nods. REMBRANDT Rembrandt Brown. ALT. DIANA Sounds familiar. Are you famous? REMBRANDT (smiling weakly) Actually, I'm a singer. Spinning Topps? Alt. Diana nods in the darkness. ALT. DIANA Oh yeah... that's it. I remember back when the news was talking about how you vanished from the face of the Earth. You and three others. It was all over TV back then. Seems like ages ago. (beat) So, the virus is from another world. A beat. It's not really a question. She just knows. Rembrandt is starting to get uncomfortable with this conversation. REMBRANDT (slowly choosing his words) Why... why would you say something like that? ALT. DIANA It wasn't exactly hard to figure out. I mean, the Kromaggs mentioned you had trans-dimensional capability. Then, the strange design of the virus itself. Like it was designed to be carried spread by humans... but no kind of human we know. And where would you find a human race with a different genetic makeup? (beat) I just can't believe I didn't pick up on it sooner. I should've known. Right there in the lab. (beat) Are you from another world too? Or are you the one that disappeared? REMBRANDT (still uneasy) Uh... no, I'm not from any other world. Alt. Diana nods in the shadows. ALT. DIANA (realizing) I'm sorry. You know, I still haven't introduced myself. I'm Di... REMBRANDT (too quickly) I know. ALT. DIANA (startled) Huh? How could you... Rembrandt's stumbled and he knows it. He looks uneasy. ALT. DIANA Oh, right. You must've overheard the Kromaggs. REMBRANDT (changing the subject) Why did you... (carefully) ...do... THAT? After I broke the computer in the lab. Why? Damn, girl, I'm already carrying enough for every Kromagg on this world. ALT. DIANA You know, Rembrandt Brown, you're a hero to everyone on this Earth for bringing this virus. I really admire you. And I wanted to help. I guess maybe I wished I could make a difference for once. Make something of myself, maybe. I wish I could be a hero. (beat) Anyway, I just had to make sure we had as many people carrying it as possible. REMBRANDT But did you have any kind of plan for doing anything with it once it was in you? Did you have any idea how you'd get it inside of a 'magg? ALT. DIANA Well, I knew that they'd punish us sooner or later. I didn't know who would go first. I wanted to cover the bases. This just sounds like pointless rambling as far as Remmy is concerned. REMBRANDT (ignoring her) And another thing, why do you keep talking about this? I mean, out loud, in the maggot heartland? Do you want to get us killed? I'm beginning to think that you're not even really there at all. (beat) This could all be a trick to get me to talk about the virus. He grits his teeth following this accusation, ready to face any lie she might throw at him in her defense. ALT. DIANA Rembrandt... you don't understand. It's okay. They can't hurt us anymore. (beat) They're infected. REMBRANDT What? (disbelieving) How? By what? She leans forward into the light. Just like the mysterious man in the adjacent cell did earlier, we see the same revelation come through - Alt. Diana has lost her eyes. Freshly bloody sockets sit in their place. ALT. DIANA By me. Her voice trails off painfully. Rembrandt stares. Unlike his numb reaction to the man seen earlier, Rembrandt is now fully horrified by the sight of one of his best friends ripped of her eyes. OFF Rembrandt's shock and horror as we... FADE TO BLACK END ACT II BEGIN ACT III INT. PRISON HALLWAY Rembrandt is looking at Alt. Diana with grave severity in his eyes. REMBRANDT So that's why you did it. ALT. DIANA Yes. I knew that we'd be punished for our actions... REMBRANDT (looking down) You mean MY actions. ALT. DIANA (shakes her head) Don't. (beat, she continues) ...and that if just one Kromagg ate the eyes of a carrier... well, it was a sure route to infection. There was no way to know who they'd punish first. There was certainly no reason for us both to lose our eyes. A beat. Remmy looks up and down the hall. REMBRANDT (finally noticing) There's no guards. ALT. DIANA They're probably dead. REMBRANDT Hm. No one around here seems to be celebrating. She smiles. ALT. DIANA I doubt that anyone here would believe it, even if they overheard us. It's a little too... There's a loud banging from the end of the hall. Some of the prisoners, including Remmy and Alt. Diana, turn their heads towards the sound. Others continue to try to block it, and everything, out. The banging is clearly coming from the door at the end of the hall. Suddenly, it flies open with a crash, and in rushes a small squad of human troops. A man who is evidently the SQUAD LEADER is at the head of the group. SQUAD LEADER (indicating the cells) Get these doors open. Some cheering comes from around the cells. Rembrandt looks to Alt. Diana, a weak smile on his face. REMBRANDT I guess you did it, girl. ALT. DIANA (grins) No. You did. He shakes his head to himself, as some of the troops, who apparently already obtained the keys, come by and open his cell door. The same is done for Alt. Diana, and even the mysterious VOICE man next door to her. Rembrandt walks over to Alt. Diana, steadying her as she tries to feel her way out of the cell. He holds her arms with his hands and stops, looking sadly at her eye sockets. REMBRANDT (sadly) Is it... ALT. DIANA (suddenly) It's not bad. (beat) At first, while you were still out... I was terrified. Everything was dark. I felt trapped in nothing. Enclosed. I guess, I'm a little claustrophobic. (beat) But then, I realized that, even though I can't see anything around me... that just means that I don't have anything holding me in. I can't see the walls, or the doors or the lack of windows. I can feel anything I want to. My vision is just an empty space. I feel more free than ever. Rembrandt smiles softly at her and gives her a gentle hug. REMBRANDT You've got a lot of guts, you know that? ALT. DIANA (modest, smiling) It was nothing. Another beat. Rembrandt is in thought. REMBRANDT Diana... can you recreate Q-Ba... uh, that... machine that you working on? ALT. DIANA What, the... the dimensional device? REMBRANDT Yeah. ALT. DIANA No. I'm sorry. They destroyed all of my research. Every record was wiped. Another beat. Rembrandt thinks some more. REMBRANDT Well, what about the Kromaggs? Can we use some of their sliding stuff? Another beat. Now it's Alt. Diana's turn to think. ALT. DIANA Well... maybe. (beat) Why? Where are you trying to go? REMBRANDT I left some friends behind on the last world. I've gotta go back for them. I promised I'd come back. ALT. DIANA (smiling) That's so noble. (she sighs) Well, the Kromaggs do have tracking technology. Maybe we could source the photon trail of the wormhole you came in. How long since you got here? REMBRANDT (shrugs) I dunno. How long was I out? ALT. DIANA (shrugs back) They took me out for the... (beat, uncomfortably) uh, process, almost immediately after our incident. And then I fell unconscious again... (beat) But, if the troops are just getting here, it couldn't have been more than a day. REMBRANDT (nods) Alright, alright. Then I guess it was just a couple of days. ALT. DIANA Well, then there shouldn't be any problem tracking your trail down and sourcing it. (beat) But if we're going to use Kromagg technology, you'll have to be my eyes. Rembrandt smiles at her. REMBRANDT Will do, girl. So, where do we find the goods? ALT. DIANA Manta ships can open and close wormholes. That would be best I imagine. REMBRANDT Alright then. Let's do it. The two head down the hall in the direction of the door. REMBRANDT So, uh, do you know where the hangar would be? ALT. DIANA Not really. And even if I did... She points to her eye sockets. Rembrandt nods. REMBRANDT Right. Then we'd better find that military man... He looks around, noticing that the SQUAD LEADER is no longer in the hall. They continued walking to the door. EXT. KROMAGG BASE Outside, things look relatively peaceful. And yet, Kromagg bodies lie about the ground. Though they're dead, there's no sign of struggle. The SQUAD LEADER is here surveying the scene. Rembrandt walks up to him, leading Alt. Diana with him. REMBRANDT Hey, uh, could you tell us where the hangar is? SQUAD LEADER (ignoring him, gesturing to the bodies) It's a fabulous sight, isn't it? Rembrandt looks over the area. Dead Kromaggs everywhere. He knows justice has been served, but still, he looks sick. REMBRANDT Well, forgive me if I don't fell like celebrating. This gets the squad leader's attention. SQUAD LEADER What can I do for you? REMBRANDT The hangar. For the manta ships? SQUAD LEADER (suspiciously) What business do you have with those? A beat. REMBRANDT (carefully) We, uh, just lost some friends in that area. And, well, as you can see... (gesturing to Alt. Diana's eye sockets) ...it was easy for us to get turned around. The squad leader looks him up and down for a moment, surveying him. He apparently concludes that Rembrandt is no threat. SQUAD LEADER Alright then. (gestures off camera) That's the building. REMBRANDT (nods) Thanks. ALT. DIANA (jumping in) Um, where are the human possessions kept? That the Kromaggs confiscated? The squad leader is hesitant again. SQUAD LEADER We're going to return those individually. Is this an emergency? ALT. DIANA (nodding) Oh, life or death, definitely. The squad leader sighs, scratching his head. SQUAD LEADER We found them all in the cabinets in the same hangar bay. We opened them on our way through. But there's tons of junk in there. No way you'll find what you're looking for. ALT. DIANA Well, it's worth a shot. REMBRANDT Thanks again. And our two heroes head off in the direction the squad leader indicated. INT. HANGAR BAY (CGI) There's a manta ship here. Two tiny bodies (Remmy and Alt. Diana) are heading towards it, with Remmy still leading Alt. Diana carefully. ALT. DIANA (V.O.) You realize, of course, that even if I can get a wormhole open, there's no way I can bring you back. ANGLE CLOSER - ON REMBRANDT AND ALT. DIANA REMBRANDT It's alright. This is something I've gotta do. Rembrandt starts towards the manta ship, leading her along. ALT. DIANA Are we going to the cabinets first? He stops. REMBRANDT Why should we? ALT. DIANA You don't actually expect that they'll have translation programs for the sliding technology, do you? (beat) I've got something. I had it on me when they took me. It's a little makeshift, but I've been working on it for years now. It can't do much just yet, but it CAN translate the program for us. I call it my PDL. It's... REMBRANDT (interrupting) Okay. I think I know what we're looking for. Remmy heads over to a cabinet along the wall and opens it. Piles of bags of items are organized neatly here, labelled in Kromagg. Nothing that Remmy recognizes as the PDL. He moves to his left and works on another cabinet. Same story. He tries a third. On the top left shelf, he sees something familiar. REMBRANDT (taking it down) Hold up. Here... A beat. He looks it over. She's right -- it's more makeshift and dirty than the PDL that his Diana carries. But it looks similar enough. REMBRANDT (handing it to Alt. Diana) I think this is it. Alt. Diana holds the PDL in her hands, feeling it to make sure. ALT. DIANA (nodding) Yes... yes! Definitely. (beat) How did you know? REMBRANDT (shrugging, with a smile) Seemed like the only miniature computer around here. She smiles and Remmy again takes her arms, leading her back over to the manta ship. INT. MANTA SHIP A weird combination of biology and technology. It recalls the view inside of the ship back in INVASION. Remmy and Alt. Diana are just crawling in. Rembrandt slumps down in the main chair, looking at the computer before him blankly. It's all in Kromagg. Again. REMBRANDT Uh, English? Nothing happens. ALT. DIANA I told you! REMBRANDT Hey, it was worth a shot. What now? She thinks a moment. ALT. DIANA Do you see a panel underneath? Remmy looks down, seeing a metal panel in front of his legs. REMBRANDT Yeah... ALT. DIANA Well, open it. He pulls on it with a grunt, but nothing happens. He starts to kick at it desperately, causing Alt. Diana to jump a little at the sound. As he kicks, he bends the center of the panel inwards and the edges poke out. He stops, and starts to pry on the jutting edges. They peel back now, revealing the inside. REMBRANDT Okay. Now? ALT. DIANA Um, look for some kind of hard line. It'll be fibrous, probably dark. Rembrandt shuffles aside a bunch of wires. Green, yellow... he notices something dark and metallic. He pulls it out a little, giving it a once-over. It seems to fit the description. He peers back in, looking for any similar wires, shuffling some more. There's doesn't seem to be any others. REMBRANDT (echoing, his head poking inside of the panel) I think this is it. He pulls his head back out. ALT. DIANA (handing him the PDL) Alright. Take my PDL and insert the cord into the center port on the right. REMBRANDT So, what, unplug it from the ship? ALT. DIANA Yes. Rembrandt does so, and hooks into the side of the PDL. It beeps and lights up. On the screen appears this message: KROMAGG DEVICE DETECTED. BEGIN TRANSLATION OF PROGRAM? Remmy hits "Y" and the computer begins to flash a number of codes. REMBRANDT Alright. It says it's, uh, translating. ALT. DIANA (nervously) Okay... The screen flashes a new message: TRANSLATION COMPLETE. ENTER COMMAND. REMBRANDT Now it says to enter a command. ALT. DIANA Type in "Track Wormhole." REMBRANDT Easy enough. He does so. The screen again flashes a number of codes over the screen, but not for so long this time. The codes stop flashing by, and now two lists appear. On the left, a long list of numerical keys. Each key has a set of coordinates followed by a hyphen and another set. On the right, one singular separate numerical key. The left list says "Exited," the right list says "Entered." REMBRANDT There's some kind of numbers on the screen. ALT. DIANA In a list? REMBRANDT Two lists, actually. One's long, the other's only got one code. The right one says "Entered... " ALT. DIANA (smiles a little) That's it. It's the only wormhole to enter this world recently. The other coordinates are probably all wormholes the Kromaggs used to escape. (beat) Or tried to. (beat) Highlight the one on the right and hit enter. Rembrandt uses the number keys to highlight the "Entered" code. Once highlighted, he hits "enter" on it. A new screen appears with the code in the center of it. Below it, it says "Enter Command" once again. REMBRANDT Looks like it wants another command. ALT. DIANA Type "Source Photon Trail." Rembrandt does this, and then the screen holds only one set of coordinates. REMBRANDT There's only half the numbers now. ALT. DIANA (smiles) Those are your coordinates. REMBRANDT (smiles back) Wow. That wasn't hard at all. (beat) You did it. ALT. DIANA (grins) No, YOU did. REMBRANDT Oh, c'mon, stop trying to push the credit on me. I just did what you told me. She doesn't argue, but she grins again. Her face falls, and then she sighs. ALT. DIANA Well, I guess this is it, Rembrandt. It's time to open your wormhole. Rembrandt stands up and gives her a hug. REMBRANDT Thanks for all of your help. I really appreciate it. (beat) And so do my friends. ALT. DIANA (smiles at him) No, thanks for all of YOUR help. You saved our world. REMBRANDT So did you. Again, she doesn't argue. She just smiles. REMBRANDT You gonna be able to... ALT. DIANA (interrupting) I'll find my way out okay. (beat) Think you'll come back? REMBRANDT (grins) Oh, I guarantee it. Rembrandt hits "enter" on the PDL. The options "Store Coordinates" and "Attempt To Open Coordinates" appear. He highlights the latter and hits "enter." once more, setting down the PDL after he does. INT. HANGAR BAY (CGI) As a large red wormhole is opened in front of the manta ship. Alt. Diana and Rembrandt climb out. Remmy looks at the wormhole. Alt. Diana, too, is facing the sound that she hears. She reaches up and puts a hand on his shoulder. He turns back to look at her. ALT. DIANA Thanks again... REMBRANDT And the same to you. He starts off towards the wormhole, walking. Halfway there, he pauses. REMBRANDT By the way... Alt. Diana perks up. REMBRANDT The reason I knew your name... and your computer... is because one of my friends IS you. Well, a double of you. She grins broadly. ALT. DIANA Really? Is... is she anything like me? He smiles back at her warmly. REMBRANDT Yeah. She's a hero... just like you. And with that, he runs into the red wormhole, which zaps closed behind him. ANGLE ON - ALT. DIANA As we see she's still facing where the wormhole just closed. Her face is still smiling. He's touched her, and we can tell that, if she still had her eyes, tears would be flowing down from them. FADE TO BLACK CLOSING CREDITS END