Epiosode 17 "Fall-Out" - the Alternative. Seeking harmony with the penultimate episode and offering even fewer resolutions........

No opening sequence. Titles Hover Briefly
WALK-OUT
Camera opens on Nursery tableau.
Scattered toys and props.

Six, back to doorway is staring down at bulky Two.
Two is flat on back, eyes staring, mouth open

SIX: Die
SIX: Die
SIX: Two?
SIX: TWO?

Door swoops open

BUTLER: He’s dead
Six bends, pulls at shoulder of dead man.
Body flops back, head lolls lazily to one side.
Six firms mouth, no pity.

SIX: I won

Turns back to butler

SIX: You can speak
BUTLER: Of course. What man cannot?
SIX: Him (flicks head toward dead man)
BUTLER: He is speaking more loudly now than before. Can you not hear?
SIX: Maybe I’m not listening.
BUTLER: Whenever did you?
SIX: No-one would listen to me.
BUTLER: Did you have something to say?
SIX: Not to you; No.
BUTLER: To whom then?
SIX: Number One.
BUTLER: Do you think Number One will speak to you now?
SIX: He is the only one left.
BUTLER: If you are the only one; to whom can you speak?

Six pouts and paces across Nursery.
Backwards and forwards he rants

SIX: I’ve been plucked, sucked, cracked and snapped. I’m sick and tired of being pushed, prodded, poked and probed. I will NOT do it any more. Take me to your Number One!
BUTLER: Our Leader? (grins)
SIX: Not mine.
BUTLER: Nor mine.

The pacing Six, stops short and stares at Butler

SIX: I thought not. Who are you?
BUTLER: (grins widely) That would be telling.
SIX: Tell ME!
BUTLER: Tell him (waves arm at dead man)
SIX: He cannot hear. He cannot speak. He does not know. He does not care! I asked YOU, not him.
BUTLER: (shrugs indifferently) I am the Butler.
SIX: (snorts) And I am Number Six!
BUTLER: (shakes head) No. You are Number Two. You have the Degree Absolute. You have earned your Number.
newTWO: (shouting quietly) I will NOT be your Number Two. I was not Number Six. I am nobody. I did not ask to come here. I did not ask to stay here. I want to leave. I want to leave NOW!
BUTLER: Which one of us did choose to be here? Why should you be different.
newTWO: Because I did NOTHING wrong.
BUTLER: Which man can make that claim? You resigned.
newTWO: A man has a right to resign.
BUTLER: Perhaps, but he must give a reason.
newTWO: Why?
BUTLER: Because those are the rules.
newTWO: Not my rules.
BUTLER: YOU do not make the rules.

newTwo laughs and straightens

newTWO: I am Number Two! I DO make the rules.
BUTLER: (smiling tightly) Number Two ENFORCES the rules.
newTWO: (recognising trap) I cannot enforce the rules upon myself.
BUTLER: You are the only one that can.
newTWO: I do not know what the rules are!
BUTLER: The rules are the rules. We have explained them so many times.
newTWO: I do not accept your rules.
BUTLER: They are your rules! You are Number Two.

newTwo picks up rocking horse and crashes it furiously into scenery

TWO: I am not a Number! I am a free man!

Butler calmly steps aside as debris scatters past him
Beckons to open doorway, to panting Two

BUTLER: Patently, you are not. Why pretend?
TWO: (uncertainly approaches doorway) If I am not free. What am I?
BUTLER: (patiently) A Prisoner. What else?

They pass through the door
FADEOUT

ADVERT BREAK

The Village.
Devastation.
Smashed buildings. Canted doors. Open, loose windows.
Rusting, dented mokes.
Penny Farthing lies on its side. Wheel cruelly buckled.
The grass is long, uncut.
The pond is rank, with brown scum floating in clumps.
Two looks around in shock.



TWO: What happened?
BUTLER: You won.
TWO: Are they all dead?
BUTLER: Who? (turns head, glancing right and left)
TWO: The people. The Villagers. Whoever they were.
BUTLER: You won. They lost.
TWO: (uncertain) I did not mean THEM any harm.
BUTLER: Who then?
TWO: Who?
BUTLER: Who DID you mean harm to?
TWO: The…the….Number Two, the others.
BUTLER: Which of them was innocent?
TWO: I…I….could never be sure.
BUTLER: So, you are not sure which you meant harm to.
TWO: Nobody could wish to harm everybody.
BUTLER: You think not?

They walk.
The lawn is rutted, large pieces of masonry embedded.
The gloriette is decapitated

TWO: It is a shame it is all smashed.
BUTLER: You hated it.
TWO: I hated being here. It was a beautiful place…to look at.
BUTLER: Nobody knew it was here. Nobody will miss it now it is not here.
TWO: I hate destruction.

Butler laughs. It is a disturbing whinnying laugh

TWO: (annoyed) What’s so funny?
BUTLER: You are Number Two.
TWO: Small things amuse small minds.
BUTLER: No need to be personal.
TWO: You think because I would destroy this…this establishment, I would destroy everything?
BUTLER: You have. Look around you.
TWO: You cannot blame me. I had no control. I was the victim.
BUTLER: And now you are the victor. Climb aboard.


They are at the stone boat.
Two looks at the concrete shape suspiciously

TWO: What for?
BUTLER: The only way out of here is by sea.
TWO: (condescendingly) It’s made of concrete. It won’t float.
BUTLER: You are learning.
TWO: I have a Degree. Am I not to meet Number One after all?
BUTLER: Number One would hardly be here, would they.
TWO: So what is the point?
BUTLER: (smiling patiently) The point of what?
TWO: The point of this (waves arm at smashed village) ALL of THIS?
BUTLER: To break you of course. To make you tell what was needed to know.
TWO: I said I would never tell you.
BUTLER: Not me.
TWO: (waves frantically) Well, whoever! Number One. Whoever.
BUTLER: People always SAY they will not tell. But they always DO, you know.
TWO: Not me.
BUTLER: Not you. Are you coming aboard or not?

Two clambers aboard.
The Butler leads him down to the lower deck.
He locates a lever and tugs. A door in the floor hums upwards.

BUTLER: After you, sir. (gesturing to hole with ladder visible)
TWO: (flinches back) I’m not going down there.
BUTLER: It’s the only way out.
TWO: Why can’t we take the helicopter. I was out on it more than once.
BUTLER: (waves a hand loosely) It is lost in the woods. Smashed. Crashed.
TWO: Well, let’s just wait until someone comes here.
BUTLER: Nobody is coming Number Two. (laughs gently) Never again.
TWO: I do not like dark places. Where does it go?
BUTLER: Out of here. Where else is there?
TWO: Why are YOU still here?
BUTLER: (shrugs) Because I am the Butler. The butler is always here..or there.

Two slumps, seated onto a stone bench along the hull
Head in hands.
Head rocks, hands massage head and neck

BUTLER: Are we staying?
TWO: (peers at hole) Here? Or there?
BUTLER: Anywhere.
TWO: (shrugs helplessly) Do I have a choice?
BUTLER: You always have a choice. That is why you are here.
TWO: I choose to be THERE

Steps up decisively and climbs into hole
Disappears into Blackness

ADVERT BREAK

The small butler is scuffling to the bottom of the ladder.
Two is peering at the dim walls of the circular room.
He finds a switch and flicks it down.
A light comes on.
A door hums open in the wall and a long tunnel can be glimpsed.
As the tunnel is exposed by the opening door it is illuminated along it’s length by a staggered flickering line of fluorescent lights, coming alive, one by one.


TWO: This way?
BUTLER: Do you know a better?

Two glances up at the small circle above him.
Walks into tunnel. Butler follows at his heel

TWO: It was down a tunnel like this that my problems began.
BUTLER: Really?
TWO: Yes. It seems a long time ago.
BUTLER: Time is a strange thing.
TWO: It ticks by very reliably.
BUTLER: Ah yes, the time as measured. I was thinking more of the time of our lives.
TWO: A time to live and a time to die.
BUTLER: But so much in between.
TWO: Or not. How long is this tunnel?
BUTLER: No idea.
TWO: Where does it lead?
BUTLER: To the way out.
TWO: Which is where?
BUTLER: Freedom.
TWO: Is there such a thing?
BUTLER: You seem to think so.
TWO: You don’t know what I think.
BUTLER: Should I?
TWO: Not even if I were to tell you.
BUTLER: That’s as it should be. Perhaps.
TWO: What if it’s a dead end?
BUTLER: The tunnel?
TWO: Of course.
BUTLER: We will die.
TWO: We can go back.
BUTLER: (shaking head and grinning) No. The hatch is timed. It will be closed now. We couldn’t afford to have it left open. You understand.
TWO: (angry but resigned) You might have told me.
BUTLER: I would have. If you’d asked.
TWO: If I didn’t know, why should I ask?
BUTLER: If you don’t ask, how can you know?
TWO: I know.
BUTLER: Know what?
TWO: What I know.
BUTLER: I may not know what you know.
TWO: You will never know what I know.
BUTLER: Nor you what I know. That is the glory…and the misery.

There is an evident blackness ahead.
Two strides towards it, determined.

TWO: I hope there is a door that opens. Otherwise we will know each other rather better than we might care to.
BUTLER: (scurrying) There is no door.
TWO: Then we will soon know ALL the answers.
BUTLER: You think you will find answers?
TWO: A turn of phrase. We will be dead. That is for sure.
BUTLER: I think then that we will be dead.
TWO: You’re entitled to your opinion.
BUTLER: And you yours.
TWO: Apparently not.
BUTLER: Ah yes. I see what you mean. There is no door.

The blackness is the absence of light.
The tunnel continues but there are no more lights..
It is completely black.
Two stops, pacing back and forth, in and out of the gloom.

TWO: Do we go forward?
BUTLER: We can go back.
TWO: To where?
BUTLER: (shrugs) To the light.
TWO: Ahead is the way out.
BUTLER: We hope.
TWO: You said it was.
BUTLER: What do I know?
TWO: More than me.
BUTLER: Not any more. The choice is yours. Forward or Back? Light or Dark?
TWO: You know the answer.
BUTLER: But I need YOU to tell me.
TWO: Why?
BUTLER: Because you are Number Two. You are the leader.
TWO: Number One is the leader.
BUTLER: But he is not here.
TWO: Or there?
BUTLER: Anywhere? Nowhere?
TWO: Everywhere?
BUTLER: YOU know the answer.
TWO: But I need YOU to tell me.
BUTLER: Forwards of course.
TWO: Darkness you mean.
BUTLER: If the way you can see leads to certain death, you must choose the darkness of ignorance.
TWO: But we will die one day anyhow.
BUTLER: How do you know?
TWO: Because everything dies.
BUTLER: Everything but you perhaps.
TWO: I will die.
BUTLER: When?
TWO: One day.
BUTLER: One night?
TWO: Perhaps. What does it matter?
BUTLER: Why go on then?
TWO: Because I’m alive.
BUTLER: Where there’s life there’s hope. Is that it.
TWO: Where there is life….then it is to be lived.
BUTLER: Why bother?
TWO: Because I CHOOSE.

Two stalks into the impenetrable dark.
Butler scuttles after him


ADVERT BREAK

The screen is black.
A slower, steady footfall is echoed by a stuttering scuttle.

BUTLER: Number Two. This is ridiculous.
TWO: Stop calling me that.
BUTLER: What SHOULD I call you?
TWO: Who do you think I am?
BUTLER: A very important person.
TWO: I’m not who you think I am.
BUTLER: They thought you VERY important.
TWO: Who WERE they?
BUTLER: My employers.
TWO: You should be more careful who you work for.
BUTLER: I work for you now.
TWO: Exactly.

The footsteps stop.
The walkers are looking back.
There is a tiny circle of light a long way off

TWO: Do you want to go back?
BUTLER: I don’t like the dark.
TWO: You can find your own way back.
BUTLER: That’s what I’m afraid of.
TWO: I can promise you nothing but uncertainty.
BUTLER: At least it’s a promise. And you keep your promises.
TWO: You noticed.
BUTLER: I was always watching.

The footsteps start up again

TWO: I will find Number One you know.
BUTLER: Not in this tunnel.
TWO: You know where he is then?
BUTLER: I know where he is NOT.
TWO: Is he in London?
BUTLER: Not now.
TWO: Washington?
BUTLER: Never.
TWO: Moscow?
BUTLER: He is not there now.
TWO: He is European then?
BUTLER: A Pole or a Czech?
TWO: Very funny.
BUTLER: You are….sometimes.
TWO: Why should I care?
BUTLER: Why indeed. But you do.
TWO: Do I? Not anymore.
BUTLER: Really?
TWO: Truly.
BUTLER: Why do I find that difficult to believe?
TWO: Because it’s true?

There is a gasp and bumping noises.
A rattle.

TWO: I think it’s a door
BUTLER: Can you open it? Is it locked?

There is a whiteout

TWO: Argh. I cannot see.
BUTLER: There is too much light.

Gradually the whiteness is greying.
Two figures stumble against one another and a doorway.

TWO: Where are we?
BUTLER: Somewhere else.
TWO: (laughs) At the end of the tunnel!

Two figures stagger from the door set in a concrete wall.
They are in a broad flat piece of ground.
There are two fences running parallel to each other.
They hem in the flat ground.

TWO: (blinking) Where is this?
BUTLER: The real world.
TWO: A prison?
BUTLER: It is very large if we are the only inmates.
TWO: Is Number One here?
BUTLER: How would I know. I’m just a butler.
TWO: And I’m just a man.
BUTLER: They thought you were very important.
TWO: I was, for a while.
BUTLER: And now?
TWO: I’ve escaped.
BUTLER: To where?
TWO: Somewhere else.
BUTLER: Where are you going now?
TWO: (points) This way.
BUTLER: (points the opposite direction) I want to go that way.
TWO: Then we must separate.
BUTLER: We were never really together.
TWO: Just in the same place, at the same time.
BUTLER: It happens.
TWO: All the time.

The two figures walk in opposite directions
After a small distance, the butler stops, turns and calls out.

BUTLER: Will you find find Number One?
TWO: I think I already have.
BUTLER: Who was it?
TWO: Goodbye.

The two men turn and continue walking away.
An overhead camera increases height as the two figures stride apart.
The figures become dots as the screen fills with countryside, the avenue between the fields marking a defining boundary between nowhere and nowhere.

HEIGHT INCREASES UNTIL EARTH APPEARS AS PLANET. SPINS AND TURNS INTO PENNY FARTHING.

END