CHAPTER 04 — Downtown
EXT. SOUTH UPTOWN — LATE AFTERNOON
ZIN CLIMBS OUT OF THE CLEANING TROLLEY BEHIND THE MINISTRY. SHE IS IN A SERVICE ALLEY SHE HAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE. THE WALLS ARE GREY. NO ADVERTISING. NO BLUE LIGHTS. JUST CONCRETE AND PIPES.
SHE WALKS SOUTH. THE BUILDINGS GET SHORTER. THE GLASS GETS DIRTIER. THE BLUE TRAFFIC LIGHTS ARE STILL HERE BUT SPACED FURTHER APART, LIKE THE ALGORITHM IS STRETCHING THIN.
A SCREEN ON A BUILDING SHOWS AN AD — BUT IT'S OLD, FADED, STUCK ON A LOOP:
AD SCREEN (V.O.)
Stay in your zone. Your zone is your home. Your home is your zone. Stay in your zone.
ZIN WALKS PAST IT. THE AD REPEATS BEHIND HER, QUIETER.
EXT. THE WALL — LATE AFTERNOON
THE WALL APPEARS. IT'S NOT DRAMATIC — JUST A LONG, LOW BARRIER COVERED IN SCREENS. EVERY SCREEN PLAYS WARNINGS:
WALL SCREEN (V.O.)
Do not proceed beyond this point. Authorized personnel only. For your safety. For your comfort. And you know why.
BETWEEN THE SCREENS: GRAFFITI. STENCILS. BANKSY-STYLE TAGS. A STENCIL OF TWO TWINS HOLDING HANDS WITH THEIR EYES CROSSED OUT. THE WORDS "WHO DECIDES?" SPRAYED IN RED.
ZIN TOUCHES THE GRAFFITI. SHE HAS NEVER SEEN HANDWRITING BEFORE. IN UPTOWN, EVERYTHING IS TYPED, PRINTED, PROJECTED. THIS WAS MADE BY A HAND. A HUMAN HAND.
SHE WALKS ALONG THE WALL UNTIL SHE FINDS A GAP — A SECTION WHERE THE SCREENS ARE DEAD AND THE CONCRETE IS CRUMBLED.
SHE STEPS THROUGH.
EXT. DOWNTOWN — FIRST STEPS — LATE AFTERNOON
THE SOUND HITS HER FIRST.
UPTOWN IS QUIET — CLIMATE-CONTROLLED, SOUND-DAMPENED, DESIGNED. DOWNTOWN IS A WALL OF NOISE. VOICES. MUSIC FROM OPEN WINDOWS. SOMEONE ARGUING. SOMEONE LAUGHING. A BABY CRYING. A DOG BARKING.
ZIN HAS NEVER HEARD A DOG BARK.
THE STREETS ARE NARROW, CROOKED, LAYERED. OLD BUILDINGS LEAN AGAINST EACH OTHER. CABLES HANG BETWEEN THEM LIKE VINES. LAUNDRY DRIES ON LINES STRUNG ACROSS ALLEYWAYS. THE AIR SMELLS LIKE FOOD — REAL FOOD, NOT PILLS. SOMETHING IS BEING FRIED SOMEWHERE. SMOKE RISES FROM A VENT.
ZIN HAS NEVER SMELLED COOKING.
ADVERTISING BANNERS HANG FROM BUILDINGS BUT THEY'RE DIFFERENT HERE — HAND-PAINTED, MISSPELLED, ALIVE:
"MAMA LU'S — REAL SOUP — NO PILLS — NO CARDS"
"TEETH FIXED CHEAP — ASK FOR GORO — LEVEL 2"
"VJ GABRIEL LIVE @ THE MIRROR — EVERY NIGHT — MUSIC THE ALGORITHM CAN'T MAKE"
THE TRAFFIC LIGHTS DOWN HERE ARE DIFFERENT. STILL BLUE, BUT FLICKERING. SOMETIMES PURPLE. SOMETIMES THEY JUST GO DARK. A LIGHT ON THE CORNER BLINKS CYAN-PURPLE-CYAN-PURPLE — THE ALGORITHM LOSING ITS GRIP. NOBODY DOWN HERE PAYS ATTENTION TO THEM.
AN OLD ALIEN SITS ON A CRATE, PLAYING A STRINGED INSTRUMENT ZIN HAS NEVER SEEN. THE SOUND IS ROUGH, OUT OF TUNE, BEAUTIFUL. NOTHING LIKE VJ AUTOMATIC'S "SPECIALLY RANDOM CREATED" MUSIC. THIS SOUND HAS MISTAKES IN IT. ZIN STOPS AND LISTENS.
THE ALIEN NODS AT HER. KEEPS PLAYING.
A TYPE W PUSHES A CART OF SCRAP METAL DOWN THE STREET, CALLING OUT PRICES. AN ALIEN COUPLE ARGUES ON A BALCONY. THEIR VOICES BOUNCE OFF THE WALLS. SOMEONE THROWS A SHOE.
CHILDREN — NOT TWINS, JUST CHILDREN — CHASE EACH OTHER THROUGH THE ALLEY. THEY ARE DIRTY, LOUD, UNSUPERVISED. ONE OF THEM BUMPS INTO ZIN.
KID
Watch it, shiny!
THE KID RUNS OFF. ZIN LOOKS DOWN AT HERSELF — HER CLEAN UPTOWN CLOTHES, HER PERFECT SKIN, HER ALGORITHM-ISSUE SHOES. SHE GLOWS DOWN HERE. SHE DOESN'T BELONG.
SHE PULLS HER COLLAR UP AND KEEPS WALKING.
EXT. DOWNTOWN — DEEPER — EVENING
THE LIGHT CHANGES. THE RED SUN IS LOWER NOW AND EVERYTHING IS BATHED IN AMBER AND RUST. NEON SIGNS FLICKER ON — NOT THE CLEAN BLUE OF UPTOWN BUT ORANGE, PINK, GREEN, RED. COLORS THE ALGORITHM DOESN'T USE.
A STREET VENDOR SELLS SOMETHING STEAMING FROM A POT. ZIN WATCHES. HE USES HIS HANDS. HE STIRS WITH A WOODEN SPOON. THE LIQUID IS BROWN AND THICK AND SMELLS LIKE NOTHING SHE HAS EVER SMELLED.
VENDOR
Want some? First bowl free for virgins.
Virgins?
VENDOR
First-timers. You've never been downtown before, have you? I can smell the photon shower on you from here.
ZIN BACKS AWAY.
THE STREETS NARROW. THE NOISE GETS LOUDER. MUSIC OVERLAPS FROM DIFFERENT BUILDINGS — THREE, FOUR SOURCES AT ONCE. NONE OF THEM IN SYNC. IT SHOULD BE CHAOS BUT SOMEHOW IT WORKS. IT SOUNDS LIKE LIFE.
A HOLOGRAPHIC AD — OLD, CRACKED, GLITCHING — PROJECTS A WOMAN'S FACE ONTO A WALL. THE WOMAN IS ADVERTISING SOMETHING BUT THE SOUND IS BROKEN. HER MOUTH MOVES SILENTLY. THE IMAGE LOOPS EVERY FEW SECONDS.
ZIN REALIZES: THE WOMAN IS NOT A TYPE T. SHE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE ANYONE ZIN HAS SEEN IN UPTOWN. HER FACE IS ASYMMETRICAL. HER NOSE IS CROOKED. SHE IS OLD.
ZIN HAS NEVER SEEN AN OLD PERSON.
EXT. THE BISTRO — EVENING
THE BISTRO APPEARS. A GUY LOOKING LIKE VJ SEEMS TO GO INTO THE BISTRO.
ZIN STOPS IN FRONT OF THE BISTRO.
THE BISTRO SEEMS TO BE FULL OF SYMBOLS. THE TWIN CITY SYMBOL, WHICH IS ON EVERY BUILDING IN TOWN, SEEMS TO LOOK DIFFERENT HERE — TWO WAVES INSTEAD OF THREE. THE REBEL FLAG. ZIN DOESN'T KNOW THIS YET.
ZIN DECIDES TO GO IN.
ZONE. BISTRO - EVENING — INSIDE
ZIN SITS AT THE BISTRO TABLE. THE WALLS ARE COVERED IN HAND-WRITTEN NOTES, OLD PHOTOGRAPHS, DRAWINGS. A CLOCK ON THE WALL TICKS — AN ANALOG CLOCK WITH HANDS. ZIN STARES AT IT. IN UPTOWN, TIME IS DIGITAL, PROJECTED, SYNCED.
BIJOU SERVES HER A TEA. A REAL TEA — BROWN LIQUID IN A CERAMIC CUP. NOT A PILL. NOT A CAPSULE. ZIN HOLDS THE CUP WITH BOTH HANDS. IT'S WARM.
PING COMES IN, SAYS HELLO TO BIJOU AND GOES TO THE WC. HE DOESN'T COME BACK.
MINUTES LATER DIDGE COMES IN, SAYS HELLO TO BIJOU AND GOES TO THE WC. HE DOESN'T COME BACK.
ZIN LOOKS AT THE WC DOOR. SHE IS TIRED FROM CRYING. SHE ASKS BIJOU TO PAY THE TEA. SHE IS EXPECTING THE MEN TO COME BACK.
BIJOU DOESN'T ACCEPT THE CREDIT CARD, ASKS FOR CASH. ZIN IS SURPRISED AS SHE NEVER USES CASH.
Can I pay please? Here is my C card.
We are not taking C cards, cash only. Darling.
Cash?
Yes, we don't accept C cards here, Cash only, Sorry.
I don't have Cash, how should I get cash?
It's OK, you can pay me another time.
Oh thank you. Can I use the Lou, I mean you know what I mean.
Ah, T types like you never go to the Lou, how do you know about the exit? Anyway how comes you are here down on your own? Where is your twin brother?
EXT. DOWNTOWN - EVENING — ZIN GOES DEEPER
ZIN comes out of the Bistro at the downtown end. The atmosphere is completely different. It has gone dark red. The buildings are grotty and smaller. Aliens and beggars hang around.
ZIN goes towards the south. She sees somebody like VJ again and follows him.
A BEGGAR asks her for money.
BEGGAR
Hey lovely little T, what are you doing alone round here? Welcome to the real world. Do you have a little something for me, just a dime will do?
Sorry sir, I don't have any cash on me.
BEGGAR
Yeah, yeah, of course. No cash on me, yeah yeah, no cash.
ZIN walks faster. She passes the Pithing Man and the Whistle Man and other beggars coming towards her.
She seems to see VJ and she follows into a new side street, where a poster hangs that advertises the club night with VJ at The Mirror.
She follows the sign and sees the club in the distance. Music can be heard.