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Blade Runner 2049: The Lucifer Cut

Preamble (this part is important so you may want to actually read it):

This is an alternative version of Blade Runner 2049 .  We follow the story as seen on film until one person makes a slightly different decision from canon.  Consequences accumulate from this point.  We get a different ending and fates for our characters.  I’m biased, but I like to think it’s just as good as the film’s narrative.  Your mileage will vary.  This script was written because I love the 2049, not because it badly needs a rebuild.

Originally I had planned to interlink (heh) modifications of the story with 2049’s original script, crossing out omitted sections and highlighting newly inserted text.  This proved intractable in part because the film’s script isn’t completely true to the movie as published, and I wanted to modify the film as released. 

As a workaround, I have summarized events from the film between relevant sections of new text.  Apologies if that’s clunky–the full body of new text will kick in quickly enough.  Sometimes these summaries are also used for further notes by me about the story.  Further, the new original story is written with [ Stage Directions. ], Lines: “For each character.”, and use of film terminology like “Tracking shot” to define the story.  A glossary should be attached to help understand this syntax.

If you’re interested, copies of the BL2049 script can be found in places like this:  https://assets.scriptslug.com/live/pdf/scripts/blade-runner-2049.pdf

Needless to say, if you have not seen Blade Runner 2049, stop here and go watch it.  Right now.  I’ll wait.  If you haven’t seen it lately , go see it again anyway.  The story will be fresher in your mind. 2049 is one of those films with mile-a-minute detail, some freshly discovered upon repeat viewings.

When you’re finished with The Lucifer Cut , there are epilogues.  We learn the fates of surviving characters after this new story, and how the world has changed.  From the epilogues onwards, we enter an alternative universe based around based around a twisted concept that I label “humor”.  It’s a sharp turn, I’m afraid, but it’s what I felt like doing at the time, and I didn’t regret it.  Still don’t.

Hopefully you don’t either, because now there’s a series of humorous post-Lucifer short stories that continue from where the epilogues left off.  

May God have mercy on our souls.

Introduction:

To begin with, events transpire as normally in Blade Runner 2049.  

• Officer K visits and kills Sapper Morton.  
• He discovers clues to a child born of a replicant mother, Rachael, from the first film.  Replicants cannot normally procreate, so this is a big fat hairy deal.  
• K’s hard-boiled commander Lt. Joshi sees this as an existential threat to society and wants all trace of the child found and eliminated.  If a replicant that can reproduce naturally is discovered, it may embolden the replicant slaves of the world to rebellion.  Meanwhile the Wallace corporation actually wants to study a replicant that can give birth.
• Rachael’s bones are recovered from Sapper’s farm and stored in the police morgue. 
• K goes to the archives of the Wallace Corporation, both to submit closure of Rachaels’ record as a missing replicant, and to search for more clues.  He encounters Luv, Niander Wallace’s personal right-hand-replicant, enforcer, saleswoman, and sometimes assistant.  
• K notices that Luv was actually named by Wallace.  “You must be special”, he says.  In the original script for the film, she takes this as a compliment.  This moment influences  our new story.
• Luv leads K to an archive where the only data trace of Rachael is found–a memory bearing with a fragment of audio between Rick Deckard and Rachael.  They listen to it.

[ Allright, let’s ramp up to the first piece of the new Lucifer Cut story.  Enjoy. ]

[ Interior.  The records vault.  Officer K and Luv face each other over a drawer full of memory bearings.  They have just listened to the recording of Deckard and Rachael. ]

K: “The policeman. Deckard. She’s trying to provoke him. Get a reaction.”

Luv: “It is invigorating being asked personal questions. Makes one feel…desired.  Do you enjoy your work, Officer?”

Did she just ask him a personal question? A beat.

[ Luv has turned to face K.   He is uncomfortable with the flirting but vacillates for a moment and responds, just to be polite. ]

K: "Yeah, I guess it has its moments."  

Luv: "It sounds fascinating.  Would you tell me about it?" 

[ She remains poised but clearly encouraged. ]

K: "I really can't get into it.  Police confidentiality.”

K: ( He looks around the empty room) “Do you like working here?" 

Luv: "Oh yes. It’s an honor to serve Mister Wallace. It's all I could ever ask for."

K: “Please thank Mr. Wallace for your time.”

[ K turns and leaves.  In his wake, Luv appears disappointed. ]

[ Events from the film between the archive visit and the theft of Rachael’s bones.  These do not change. ] 

• K visits with Gaff, Deckard’s old partner, searching for clues to his whereabouts.
• Luv goes to Wallace who examines a model new replicant and kills her in front of Luv.
• Outdoor street cafe scene where K is approached by replicant rebellion agents disguised as prostitutes, including one named Mariette.  They are following their leader Freya’s orders.  Freya knows who K is and that he killed Sapper.  K rebuffs Mariette’s insincere come-on.  She remarks he doesn’t like ‘real girls’ when K’s AI companion Joi seems to voice displeasure via an audio flourish.  
• We establish that people often have never seen trees before, that they’re extremely rare.
• K revisits Sapper’s farm.  He finds the baby sock and the picture of Freya as a younger woman with a baby, under the tree outside.  K finds the date on the tree, same as on the horse.  He burns the farm.
• Luv breaks into the police morgue and steals Rachael’s bones.  In the process she is discovered by and murders the mortician, Coco.

[ Now we add another piece: Luv visits K at his apartment after stealing the bones, but before Joshi shows up. ] 

[ Exterior, K’s Apartment Building.  Night.  Luv goes to visit K at his apartment later after the morgue theft.  She has just murdered Coco.  She carries a shopping-bag containing Rachael’s bones, but its contents aren’t visible.  It isn’t otherwise suspicious and doesn’t make any noise.  She could’ve just come from the mall for all anybody knows. ] 

[ Cut.  Wide shot of the street with the apartment.  Sidewalk, street lights, snow.  On the street in front of the building we see Luv approaching on the sidewalk. ]

[ Cut.  Shot of the building’s info board detailing its tenants, with intercom. Luv approaches the board from stage left.  She finds K’s name and proceeds inside. ] 

[ Interior, K’s apartment.  Night. He appears to be alone.  K approaches the door of his apartment and opens it. We see Luv in the hall, framed by the doorway. ] 

Luv: “Hi.”

K: “Hi…”  

[ K is un-practiced in receiving visitors.  Especially surprise visits from strange women he just met. ]

Luv: “Sorry to show up unannounced.  I was in the area.”  

[ Luv’s tone carries the same professional but feminine lilt as earlier. ] 

[ An awkward pause. ]

Luv: “Can I come in?”  

[ K nods and shrugs.  She lets herself in. ]

[ Cut.  Interior of K’s living room, facing the window as seen from the hallway.  His brutalist concrete table and chairs are in one corner.  Snow out the otherwise dark window.  K as usual has poured two drinks, one for himself and one for Joi, which she cannot consume.  Luv walks towards the window and sees the glasses. ] 

Luv: “You weren’t expecting me, were you?” 

K: “Uh, no….go ahead.  Help yourself.”

[ Cut.  We see the pair from an angle behind Luv.  She puts the bag down under the table and sits, taking what would otherwise be Joi’s drink.  She looks up at K, who is standing. ] 

[ K picks up his glass and toasts, apathetically. ] 

K:  “To…a hard day’s work completed.”  

[ A purposely chaste, professional and boring remark.  He thinks about the farm he just razed.  He drinks, perhaps to forget. ]

[ Cut to a two-shot where we see both at the table, and Luv’s hard day’s work complete in the shopping bag at her feet.  ]

Luv: “To a productive day..” [ She drinks. ] 

[ Cut to a tighter shot of the two at K’s table.  K feels awkward standing, and sits.  Luv is subtly pleased just to be there. Her strategy is working.  She relaxes slightly, but a residue of anxiety remains in her voice. ]

Luv: “I’m glad for this.  I don’t get to speak to people outside work very much.”

K: “Sure. Same.  You work with Wallace directly?”  

[ This interaction is strange to him and he remains suspicious of Luv’s intentions.  But the momentary distraction is welcome.  Her response carries shades of a giddy schoolgirl. ]

Luv: “Oh yes.  He’s everything to me.  Mister Wallace’s technology has done so much for the world, and in return I do…everything I can for him.  I would give so much for his sake.”  

[ Cut back to the larger shot of them framing the shopping bag under the table. ] 

K: “You keep saying that about him.  Sounds impressive.  Is he a good boss?”

Luv: “I’ve never had any other.  But it’s fulfilling.”

[ Luv takes a drink, then notices a JOI projector in the ceiling. ] 

[ A beat. ] 

Luv: “How do you find fulfillment, officer…K?”

[ He looks down into his glass.  Is he bored with her?  He deflects. ] 

K: “KD6-3.7.  And…fulfillment isn’t always the most important thing.  There’s more to life.”  

Luv: ( Leaning forward slightly ) “I’m sure there’s ways we can think of to make your life more pleasing.  And whatever others tell you, I think it’s a fine name.“

K: “It’s not a name.  Yours is.” 

[ Luv is reminded of his complement earlier, and the other edge of that sword.  She changes the subject. ] 

Luv: “Do you also admire your superior?”

[ Cut back to the exterior of K’s building, street level, sidewalk.  K’s boss, Lt. Joshi, walks with a nearly empty bottle and approaches the building.  The bottle swings in her hand on approach, then it’s set down for a landing by the door.  Joshi takes a little too long fumbling with the list of names on the info board.  She can’t be completely sure, and, impatient, she enters a number in the telecom–squinting–and hits the buzzer, hoping she has the right unit. ] 

[ Cut.  Interior of K’s apartment, facing the door.  He goes over to it. ] 

Joshi: ( In the intercom ) “Officer Kay-dee three six....seven.  Is that you up there?”

K: “Here, Madam.  Um…come on up.”  

[ He turns to Luv. ] 

K: “You have to go.”

Luv: ( Gets up to leave ) “Of course.  Thank-you again for the conversation.”

[ She stops in the doorway, faces him. ]

 Luv: “People can change.  Hope to see you again.”

[ K merely nods.  He is too stressed to respond with much wit or to notice the invitation .  Two visitors back-to-back in a life where he normally gets none.  Ever.  And a pressing case at work, and his boss coming up late at night to make more demands. ] 

[ Cut.  Hallway of K’s building.  It teams with people.  A two-shot of Luv and Joshi in the hall. We see them walk innocuously past each other, Joshi is distracted and addled by drink.  She doesn’t see Luv, just an anonymous form slipping past her. ]

[ Cut. Tight shot of the two bodies in transit.  We see the bag of stolen remains brushing Joshi’s arm as they pass. ]

[ Cut.  Tracking shot of Joshi.  She goes up another flight of stairs, then around a corner into a hall. ]

[ Cut. Joshi approaches K’s doorway.  She notices a tattooed gangster nearby. He smokes from a futuristic device of some kind. ] 

[ Cut. Two-shot.  Joshi stops and sizes him up.  A moment of tension. She leans in towards him.  He tenses for a confrontation. ] 

Joshi: “ BOO! ” 

[ He is startled. ] 

Joshi: ( As she walks off ) “What the fuck were you looking at, anyway?”

[ We continue from where in the original film Joshi visits K. ] 

• Joshi talks to K about the theft of Rachael’s remains.  She reviews the limited evidence he’s found: e.g. a sock.
• On command, K tells Joshi about his implanted memory of the wooden horse.  This supports the concept of a certain level of automatic obedience by replicants.
• Joshi makes an important observation: “We’re all just looking out for something real.”  It’s a shame the film doesn’t emphasize this line just a little more.  It’s pratically the damn thesis of the film.  Blink and you’ll miss it.
• Joshi hits on K, “What happens if I finish that [bottle]?”, and K deflects.  She doesn’t press the point.  Maybe he just isn’t that important to him.

[ Another quick new point as Joshi leaves: ]

[ Cut.  K’s apartment bedroom.  The door is open and we see the hallway.  K’s digital companion Joi leans against a wall in the bedroom out of sight.  Joshi walks past towards the apartment’s exit and leaves.  Joi is merely observant, neither pleased or upset at these surprise female visits. ] 

[ Cut to one more new scene before we move on: ]

[ Interior.  Wallace’s chambers.  Night.  We see a table on the right side of our shot.  From frame right Luv walks in, having returned from her mission.  She moves primly but perhaps a bit hurried. The shoulder bag is set down on the table with great care.  She begins unpacking. ]

[ Cut.  Close-up of the table.  One by one, the first of Rachael’s bones are laid down for a moment. ]

[ Cut back to the larger shot of the room.  From out of frame left appears Niendar Wallace, her owner, surrounded by little black minion drones.  She turns to face him as he enters. ]

[ Suddenly, Wallace slaps her with a languid easy swing of one arm.  She recoils and quickly recovers, standing to attention before him with hands folded at her waist, eyes downcast. ] 

Wallace: “Where have you been?”

[ She is crying from the stress.  From both eyes, this time. ] 

Luv: “Sir.  After acquiring the remains, I attempted to gather intel from the police officer who visited the archive.  I didn’t know you’d be displeased.”

[ If she has gleaned useful information from the detour,  Wallace realizes, it would be reported now, but he hears only silence. He begins collecting bones from the table and re-bagging them. ] 

Wallace: “The angels in my choir must sing for me, in unison.  If they cannot, there remains no use for them.”

Luv: “Sir.”

[ Wallace faces Luv and leans in.  He points a finger in her direction, then pokes it into the upper corner of her oculus, above the eye,   He pushes slowly but firmly, driving her head back, bending at the neck. She makes a little gasp-choking noise. ]

[ Wallace bores of the humiliation and saunters away out of frame-right. ]

Wallace: ( From out of shot ) “Only warning.”  

[ Cut.  Tight shot of Luv from the waist up.  She remains where she is, standing at attention, hands together, for an uncomfortably long time.  More tears.  Her composure starts to crack.  A sob bubbles and erupts to the surface. ]

[ Next events in the original film: ] 

• K goes to the police archives and searches for DNA records, hunting for clues about the child.  The archive machine can only show raw DNA data and we see K’s superhuman ability to crunch them.
• Change from the 2049 film: When Joi says “You don’t prefer your Madam?” it insead becomes “You don’t prefer the others?”.
• Joi plants the idea in K’s mind that he is the searched-for child, the special replicant “of woman born”, the subject of his own investigation.
• K and Joi travel to the orphanage in the wasteland.  Fun fact: this was all shot live on the streets of Detroit because they didn't have to pay for set dressing or props.  Just walk up to the place and start filming.  
• Actually….I think they may have had to remove some garbage and stuff so it didn’t seem unrealistic for a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
• K’s spinner is shot down by the most ridiculous fucking shot taken in the history of firearms.  One of the junk-raiders hip fires a harpoon gun made out of garbage at a tiny distant target moving laterally at considerable speed with high winds….and hits its quarry perfectly on the flank.  Fucking movies, am I right?  This shot is more science-fictional than the flying car itself.
• Oh, um, I mean K’s spinner gets shot down.
• K is attacked by junk-raiders and fends them off.  More raiders show up and a sudden missile strike kills the remainder.  We cut to Wallace’s office and see that Luv is directing the strike from her office while getting a manicure.  The manicure design features little animated bambi characters.

• Change from the 2049 film: Luv is less aggravated with K during the missile strike.  Her line becomes:  Luv:  "C’mon….get up….Don't be fucking dead"

• K traverses the junk wastes and discovers an orphanage.  He finds Mr. Cotton, an asshole obsessed with putting children to work running a metal scraping operation.  Because if you aren’t exposed to tetanus and mercury poisoning on the daily, kids, you just don’t know the value of a dollar.
• K intimidates Cotton into opening his adoption records, a paper ledger, but important pages from the book are missing.  
• K searches a familiar part of the industrial complex and discovers the wooden horse from his memory.  He thought the memory was fake, an implant as all replicants have.   This solidifies in his mind the idea that he is a naturally born replicant child, the one being so hotly pursued.
• Back at K’s apartment, Joi and K pensively sit and Joi reiterates her position, “You’re a real boy, now.”  She names him Joe: “You’re too important for ‘K’. 
• K/Joe goes to a memory maker for replicants, Dr. Ana Stelline.  She’s immunocompromised and appears to live in a large hermetically sealed dome.  Stelline demonstrates the making of authentic seeming memories for implantation in replicants.  These memories keep their psychologies on the level, “a stable product” for Wallace.  She tells him it’s illegal to use real memories.  
• Stelline uses a diagnostic machine to read K/Joe’s memory of the toy horse story.  She cries when telling him that it is indeed a real memory. [ …and does not mention that the memory is actually hers. ]    Ryan Gosling is briefly replaced for one short in this scene with an identical looking actor who actually knows how to emote.  He completely loses his shit, then walks out.
• K is suddenly arrested outside the memory maker’s facility and taken in for a baseline test.  He does fine and they let him go.  Everybody lives happily ever after.  The end.

• Ok, just kidding–the test says he’s “not even close to baseline”.  
• Joshi rags K out.  He is probably about to be “retired” but he tells her that he found the kid, “...even he didn’t know who he was.  And it’s done.”, lying in his report, claiming that he killed the child as Joshi wanted.  Because of this, she lets him go for 48 hours until another baseline test.  
• It is thus also established that K/Joe can and will lie if necessary.
• K goes home.  He is followed in by Mariette, the prostitute.  She was hired by Joi to be a kind of physical surrogate during intercourse.  Ryan Gosling’s replacement is gone and during one of the most freaky sex acts in mainstream cinema history the man looks like he’s filling out a tax return.  
• Not an exciting tax return either.  One of those really boring, generic basic tax returns that puts accountants to sleep.  
• Dude…..
• The next morning Mariette puts a tracking device in K’s pocket.  She finds the wooden horse and whispers almost inaudibly that it’s from a tree.  She leaves.
• Joi asks K for her to be deleted from the console, putting her life at risk if the emanator she inhabits is destroyed.  It also means that when they run off, they can’t be easily tracked.  Joi can now die “like a real girl”.
• When Joe breaks Joi’s antenna, Wallace can no longer track him.  We see Luv’s terminal announce the signal loss.  Luv instantly stands from her desk at Wallace HQ and storms off, focused and clearly upset.
• Joe goes to a Somali technician (Dr. Badger) to have the wooden horse examined.  The tech suggests there’s only one place the wood could have come from.  But nobody lives in Las Vegas anymore.  Supposedly.
• Luv visits K’s apartment.  She finds the broken antenna.  She’s looking for him.
• K goes to Vegas, searches, and finds Deckard in an old hotel.  They fight but hold a truce inspired by a mutual love of Elvis.
• Luv goes to Joshi’s office.  She reveals that she can lie and plans to do so to Wallace about being provoked into killing Joshi.  Joshi is utterly badass in her defiance.  Her physical resilience deserves more attention in this scene.  
• Change from the 2049 film: Luv uses present tense rather than past when describing K: “I like him.  He’s a good boy.”  In this version Luv is stressed on different levels.  She wants on some level to please Wallace by finding K.  Even if he may still “retire” her.  But she also feels affection for K and doesn’t want to lose the only person she’s–let’s face it– had a crush on.
• Having killed Joshi, Luv uses the police computer to locate K.  There is a darkly humorous bit where Joshi’s head is pulled up onto the desk for a biometric reading, then dropped comically.  You gotta wonder how many takes that shot required.
• Back in Vegas, Deckard has an alcoholic dog that eagerly goes right up to a puddle of whisky and drinks it without reaction.  None.  Real or not, he may need professional help.  Or more whiskey.
• K and Deckard talk over drinks.  K/Joe’s and Rachael’s names come up.  Deckard explains that he didn’t get to meet his own child and had to leave to keep the child safe through anonymity.  He can’t search for his own kid because if he finds them, their life will be in danger of capture and dissection.
• Deckard storms off.  K toasts, “to strangers”.
• We see a holographic jukebox of Frank Sinatra.  There are surely other 20th century celebrities presented this way in the 2049 universe.  Gotta be.
• K sees the other wooden animals that Deckard carved for the child and a picture of Rachael.  This helps establish that Deckard carved the wooden horse.  Like so much else in 2049, it’s a blink and you’ll miss it event.  K probably has a little emotional moment over these items.
• Deckard and K are discovered through Luv’s tracking of the police system and the baddies show up. 

• Director’s cut: Luv and her henchmen subdue K and leave him for dead.  Luv kills Joi.  Deckard is captured. K is picked up later by resistance agents.

• Lucifer Cut: something very different happens…

[ Well, this is it: unchartered waters.  We have now ramped up to a completely different version of the story.  Once Deckard and K reach the lower penthouse, this Lucifer Cut fanfic version diverges significantly from the 2049 film.  Hope you enjoy it. ] 

[ Interior.  Penthouse suite, upper floor, Vegas hotel.  Day.  Deckard and K were just talking in Deckard’s hideaway.  Alarms sound on security sensors.  Both men look out the window. ] 

Deckard: “Who’d you bring?”

K: “No one.”

Deckard: “Oh yeah?”

K: “I came alone. No one’s following.”

[ Deckard spots a metallic glimmer floating level with them. ]

[ Then K sees something in the distance... a movement between two buildings... He hears engines approaching.  Music swells. ]

[ Cut. Interior, stairwell.  Deckard and the dog run down the stairwell, followed by K.  Deckard locks the door to the lower level behind him.  There is an ancient spinner on the other side of the large empty room, standing by for contingencies.  He runs towards it.  Behind him, the solid wall breaks and K smashes through in pursuit. ] 

[ Cut to a shot of the ancient spinner, viewed from the opposite side of the room.  A fiery projectile strikes and it explodes, pushing Deckard back.  K joins up with him and they both look out the window.  A dark black/gray modern luxury sedan swings in through the window and parks, teaming with bodies.  Its doors just start to open.  K and Deckard turn to run and are confronted from the other direction with darkly suited men, presumably Wallace agents.  They emerge from K’s new entrance. ]

[ Close quarters fighting.  K dispatches two of the henchmen and two more jump him.  Deckard fights two others but only holds his own.  From out of frame right, from the end of the room, several more arrive and the fight turns.  K is beaten to the ground while Deckard is lifted from it.  K will be crippled and left for dead.  Deckard is their real prize. ] 

[ Several *thumps* in fast succession are heard and the men beating down upon K fall, dead, along with one of the three on Deckard.  The remaining two agents carrying Deckard halfway drop him and are stunned: where did that come from?   As they look up, more *thumps*, and they both fall.  Blood marks the wall behind one of them.  Deckard grabs one of their pistols and stands, ready, the weapon at hip level. ]

[ Cut.  We are facing back down the room towards the dark spinner.  Music goes from a steady urgent beat to a tense, held note.  We see Luv, in a gray jacket and black boots.  She brandishes a custom silver blaster and wears an expression only possible under the influence of adrenaline:  gleeful, defiant, homicidal. ]

[ Music stops.  Presently she calms, but her pistol arm remains outstretched to the men, looking for a reaction. She chides the henchmen’s bodies on the floor: ] 

Luv: “Bad dogs.” 

[ Cut back to a two-shot of K and Deckard.  K kneels up, grunting and bleeding, trying to rise.  Deckard has his pistol still ready, aimed from waist level at the approaching threat.  He’s watching K out of the corner of his eye, still ready to fight-or-flight. ]

[ Luv lowers her gun and pulls K to his feet with one hand. In the sudden quiet, rough breathing is audible. Luv ignores Deckard. ] 

[ A beat.  K looks to Deckard, then to the bodies, the back to Luv. ] 

[ Cut.  A two-shot of K (left) and Luv (right). ]

K: “Why’d you do that?”

[ She suddenly looks shocked, maybe even disgusted at the question. ] 

Luv: “Oh come-onnnn.” 

[ K half-shrugs and nods, feeling stupid now.  He relaxes. ]

K: “Ok…”

[ Cut to a three-shot of our characters.  Deckard cautiously lowers his pistol.  From the hole K smashed in the wall, Dog emerges nonchalantly and walks behind K, towards Deckard. ] 

≈

[ Exterior.  Afternoon. Landscape shots of the deserts around Vegas.  Just on the edges of our perception, a spinner flies somewhere. ]

[Cut. Interior.  Luv’s spinner.  K sits besides her with Deckard and the Dog in back.  Deckard wears his aged, familiar jacket over his faithful gray t-shirt.  Luv is focused straight ahead while the men still seem dubious and tense. ]

[ Cut.  Exterior of the spinner as it sails high above the desert.  Down below in the distance, a neat rectangle, perhaps the size of a football field, approaches them.  ]

[ Cut.  Exterior of the spinner, alighting in a strange new environment.  It seems…green. ] 

[ Cut.  Interior of the spinner, face-on with its occupants. The men stare out side windows as Luv remains unfazed. The spinner lands. ] 

[ A beat. ] 

K: ( Turning to her ) “Is that what I think it is?”

[ Luv is pensive, but composed.  A residue of professional admiration leaks through her voice. ]

Luv:  “Mister Wallace has many enterprises.  He saved the world once with his organics….”

[ Cut.  Spinner exterior facing the driver’s side front corner.  All four doors slide up, allowing occupants to exit.  Luv remains inside, her door open.  Cut to a tight shot of her as she watches the men step out of the vehicle.  They enter Soloman’s treasure trove. ]

[ Cut.  Close-up of K as he approaches a narrow but very much alive tree.  He fondles the bark with one hand, its surface alien and precious. In the background, Deckard stands holding a backpack; his reaction more jaded, but still affected. K turns back towards the spinner. ]

K: “What the hell is this place?”

[ Cut to a shot of Luv in the car doorway ]

Luv: “Experimental.  Flawed.  Not scalable yet.”

[ Cut back to the men looking around, letting the environment settle in their minds.  Our view pans around and upward.  The trees are unhealthy but still leafing in places.  A full canopy seems out of technology’s reach, for now. The view spins slightly. ] 

[ Cut back to the car door shot of Luv. ]

Luv: “Stay here.  I’ll be back.”

[ Cut to the the spinner’s exterior.  Suddenly the doors close and the vehicle begins to rise.  Deckard jogs into view from frame right to half-heartedly chase it, but it’s obviously too late.  The vehicle flies off, leaving him and his new companion marooned on an island of forest splashed neatly upon an ocean of toxicity. Deckard looks at K in annoyance.  What have you done to us now? ] 

≈

[ Cut.  Interior, Wallace’s inner sanctum.  A large nondescript chamber.  These are the rooms where Wallace soliloquies and where he murdered a new replicant in front of his enforcer.. Luv is standing at a desk, entering data.  Brief cut to the terminal’s screen; we see a list of names, some familiar like Deckard and officer KD6-3.7, apparently reported as casualties. She is working fast, deeply focused on the screen, and visibly nervous. ]

[ Cut.  Closeup of Luv’s head on the right side of the frame, looking down to the right and working. ]

[ A beat. ]

[ From out of frame left, a small black lozenge appears, floating silently, its tip gently illuminated. ] 

[ A tiny popping chirp noise is emitted from the device. Luv jumps and audibly gasps, startled with nerves. Unnatural for a cold professional.  Soundtrack surges. ]

[ Cut.  High shot of the room, looking down.  We see Luv’s sizable desk with her at its single furnishing, a terminal.  In the top left we see a casual but unmistakable form: Niander Wallace, arms at ease behind him.  He has approached from her flank, with hovering devices that enable his vision floating about the room like cherubs.  Luv has swung around to face him.  This is a worst case scenario.  Now she must not only report failure, but do so directly. ]

[ Cut.  Two-shot of Wallace (left) and Luv (right).  Music throbs quietly.  Slowly he ambles in little steps towards her. ] 

Wallace: “And the angel said unto him, I am he who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you…and bring news .”

Luv: ( Formal, trembling ) “Sir.  I just came to file a report.”

W: ( Looks at her ) “It did not go well.”

Luv: ( Visibly shaking ) “Sir, there was a mishap.  I don't know exactly how it happened.”

[ A beat. ] 

W: "Where is Deckard?”

Luv: ( Tears..  Quiet as a mouse, almost mouthing the words ) “...He’s dead.”

[ Cut to waist level.  Music grows.  Wallace reveals the scalpel he used earlier to murder his new replicant. He says nothing. Inside, Luv’s humanity screams, but the portions of her mind written in by Wallace merely obey. The two sides aren’t fighting.  Luv’s humanity is trapped under her programming, kicking and screaming, fighting to save itself. ] 

Luv: “No….” [ She repeats this and ‘no please’, mouthing the words as she backs off stiffly, almost mute now.  Wallace follows, again, casually.  She is compelled, unable to run or defend against a simple blind man with a tiny blade. ] 

[ Wallace raises the blade. ] 

W: ( Thundering, to no one in particular ) “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning. How art thou cut down to the ground , which didst WEAKEN THE WORLD.”

[ Wallace moves the blade downwards upon her with an easy sadism.  Luv grabs his right hand with her left.  She braces herself against furniture with the other, grasping for anything as they move.  She is shaking and weak.  He continues the unhurried murder, looming over her, knowing she is compelled to submit. ]

[ Luv wails and cries. Primal noises from deep within. Terror. ] 

[ They reach the far wall.   He pushes the knife down closer to her throat. She wails like a shocked widow.  Wallace revells in the sense of power. ]

[ Cut.  Waist level, near Luv’s flank.  Her right hand finds the back wall, flails for a moment, then goes to her pocket.  Her backup knife flicks open. ]

[ Cut.  Wallace’s flank.  Silence. The knife drives in. ]

[ Cut.  Closeup of Wallace’s face.  He jolts from the stab.  His face snarls, mouth open in rage.  He begins to collapse.  Wallace is OFFENDED by the strike, even as he is wounded by it. ] 

[ Cut.  Full frame of Wallace from behind with Luv facing us over his right shoulder.  She slashes at his throat.  A spritz of blood is just barely perceptible from his neck. ]

[ Cut.  Close-up of two black lozenges as they clatter to the floor, dead, emitting little harmonic sounds, dying. ] 

[ Cut.  Closeup of Wallace (left) and Luv (right).  She is holding him up.  He is agape.  She is shocked and panicking. The humanity within her has collapsed, exhausted.  Her programming now screams– something has happened to Wallace .  The sun of her existence is setting, and nothing will bring him back. Luv grasps at Wallace, then yells.  Then screams in panic. ] 

Luv: ( Escalating ) “Oh no.  No, no, no, NO, NO, NO, NO!” 

[ The two collapse. ] 

[ Cut.  A close two-shot of them on the ground.  Luv tries to staunch the bleeding at his neck with her hand.  It eeks out between her fingers.  She is crying hot tears.  As his body goes limp, she cradles him, her grief transitions from panicked denials to simple incoherent wailing. ]

[ Our view fades slowly to black, but we can still hear.  Over moments her audible grief fatigues down into undignified moaning in the dark. Then, finally, a single coherent statement. ] 

Luv: “...... I love you …”

[ She wails and grieves in the dark.  Alone. ] 

[ Cut.  Exterior shots of the city, glowing in the early moments of twilight.  Pinpricks of light dash in orderly channels between buildings, reminding us of the rules binding society.  A dark black/gray spinner approaches us at speed, then veers out of frame right.  It leaves civilization. ]

≈

[ Dusk, Back at camp, a moment of Shakespearean post-murder levity.  Deckard and K sit by a fire they’ve made of supremely precious wood from the forest.  K has a small bandage on his face and smokes a cigarette. Deckard wears his jacket over his shoulders like a blanket, the bag empty next to him.  There are provisions about and a bowl for the Dog.   We pause momentarily. ] 

Deckard:  “Why did she kill those guys for us?  Thought she was on their side..”  

[ He shrugs.  He’s been questioning things a lot lately himself. ] 

K: “She likes me.”  

Deckard: “Lucky guy.  You found a woman just crazy enough in exactly the time and place we needed.”

Deckard: “A real keeper.”

Deckard: “If we live.” 

[ A beat. ] 

Deckard:  ( Ruminates ) “Women…”

[ A pause.  K looks over the flaming treasure before them. ] 

K:  “How much do you think this fire is costing Wallace?”  

Deckard: “Trillions?  How much ya got?”

[ Another brief pause. ] 

K: “Nice and warm.”  

[ Deckard smirks. ] 

[ A beat. ]

[ We hear the hiss of a spinner from somewhere. ]

[ Cut.  Luv’s spinner pulls down with a tracking shot to the ground.  It lands a short distance away, left side towards the fire.  It is visually split between darkness and light.  Dusk behind and the campfire in front.  The door slides up and Luv steps out.  Her clothes are stained dark in places but she is otherwise prim and pristine.  She steps wearlily towards the men.  They stand, expectantly. ]

[ Cut.  A three-shot.  Luv (left)  and the men (right).  She is still emotional. ]

Luv:  “Mister Wa….”  [ She starts again. ]  “Wallace is dead.  I left a report behind about your deaths.  No one should come looking for you.  Not for a while.”

[ She sounds different , K observes, not just upset but something else.  He can’t put his finger on it. ] 

K: ( To Deckard ) “We're off the grid for now. That’s a relief." 

[ Cut to a tight shot of Luv, who processes recent events. She decides something. ]

[ Cut back to a shot of the landed car.   Luv walks back to it and opens the rear-right passenger door.  Out of darkness steps a new figure.  A woman.  Call her Rachel-prime . An attempted clone of Deckard’s Rachael, and mother of his child.  A brand-new replicant, born only a day or two previously.  Rachelprime walks forward into the light, uncertain and unpoised.  But almost no one could discern between herself and the long-dead original. ]

Deckard: ( Looks at Rachelprime, then Luv )  " What the hell is this?"

Luv:  “An experiment.  Wallace planned to use her against you.  A bribe.”

Luv: “There was no reason to leave her behind.”

[ Deckard walks forward and meets Rachelprime’s hopeful gaze.  She stands upwards a little more for him.  He looks her over, then turns away. ]

Deckard: ( To Luv ) “Her eyes were green.”

[ Deckard sits at the campfire.  He glowers at nothing, his back turned.  Rachelprime is crestfallen.  She has been programmed with an innate desire to love Deckard and be accepted by him. Only incomprehension of this world and her place in it shield her from emotional implosion. ]

[ Cut.  Rachelprime stands behind Deckard, hugging herself.  For a moment, the others just watch. ]

Rachelprime: ( To Deckard ) “Don’t you love me?”

[ Cut.  We face Deckard across the fire, holding a stick.  Rachelprime is over his shoulder. Deckard says nothing and pokes at the fire with a stick. ]

[ Cut to a two-shot of Luv and K, the fire’s light between them. They react uncomfortably to the others.   A beat.  Luv turns to K. ]

Luv: “Can we talk?”

K: “Yeah.”

[ A beat. ]

Luv: “In private.”

[ K reluctantly digs the emanator out of his pocket.  We cut and back briefly to see him place it on the log where he sat across from Deckard.  K and Luv walk out of frame-right into the bushes together. ]

[ Cut.  Leading shot of K and Luv walking side-by-side in the dim forest.  K walks nonchalantly while Luv is visibly less poised and regular in her cadence. This lasts a few seconds. ] 

[ Cut.  Landscape shot of the darkening forest against dusk, an unnatural square shape of dark green contrasted against the filthy irregular dunes of sand and pollution. ] 

[ Cut. Back to the camp. Two-shot. Rachelprime now sits on K’s log opposite Deckard.  Deckard pours some whisky into the dog bowl.  He ignores her.  His canine friend  sits up and approaches the bowl, lapping at its contents.  Deckard never looks Rachelprime in the eye, and she can’t stop looking at him. There is nothing to say. ]

[ Cut.  A loose shot of Rachelprime by herself on the log, face-on.  We track right.  Joi is now sitting next to her, with the emanator in between them on the log. Rachelprime looks at Joi. ] 

Joi: “What a day, huh?”  

[ Rachelprime nods.  What a first-ever day. ] 

[ Cut back to K and Luv walking in the forest.  The camp is no longer in sight.  They stop. ]

[ Cut.  We change angles and now see two are right next to a stark edge between experimental forest and wasteland desert. They stand nearly two arm-lengths apart. Luv sighs. ] 

[ Cut to a two-shot of the pair. ] 

K: “Ok.  Talk.” 

Luv: ( Voice trilling ) “For the first time, I don’t know what to do next.  Wallace was all I had, then he almost killed me.  For failing him .” [ She growls this last part. ] 

[ A pause. ] 

Luv: “Maybe…he was right to d–.”

K: “No.”

[ She shrugs, arms folded against herself, and looks directly at K. ] 

Luv: “I’d like to think my tastes have improved.  People can change.”

[ A pause.  He says nothing, uncomfortable again. ]

Luv: “But, if you’re not interested…”

K: “Look, I appreciate everything you’ve done.  Saving us, killing Wallace…”   

[ K pauses and wants to say “but”.  He tries to think and explain. ] 

[ A beat. ] 

K: “You’re not the first person to express interest.  I just can’t say it’s a smart idea for me to reciprocate.  With anybody.”

[ Luv looks up and steps forward. ] 

Luv: “Reality is pain.  And it’s terminal.  And it’s lonely.”

[ A beat. ] 

Luv: “Is that all you ever wanted?” 

[ She touches his hand, gently.  After a second, he withdraws. ] 

K: “I’ll think that over.  That everything?”

Luv: “No.  I said no one would come looking for us, for now.  But when the company recovers from this, which won’t take long, they’ll want answers.  Accountability.  A response. And they’ll discover we’re out there somewhere.”

K: “So there’s more to do.  Ideas?”

[ Luv tweaks her eyebrows at the dubious options.  It’s hard to think now and enough has happened for one day. ]

[ Cut back to camp.  We see Rachelprime on the log, still sitting glumly, holding a silver packet of food she can’t make herself eat.  Deckard and Dog are over the other way, asleep.  She's wearing heels and a designer suit at a priceless forest campfire in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by lifeless, polluted desert.  She’s just been rejected by the only man she was singularly programmed to seek glean from. That is her biography to date. ] 

[ We track over and see the emanator flash next to her.  Joi still sits next to Rachel.  K’s companion has changed outfits to something more camp-worthy.  Rachelprime looks down at the emanator. ] 

Rachelprime: “Is that you in there?" 

[ Joi nods, an little inviting smile. ] 

[ Rachelprime picks up the emanator curiously.  She looks at Joi. ] 

Joi: ( Softly ) “Hi.”

Rachelprime: “Hi.”

[ Cut.  Landscape shot.  Quiet music. Then silence and blackness. ] 

≈

[ Exterior, an impressive Wallace corporate building.  Day. Soundtrack: Low levels of tense music. Distant establishing shots: The building is a two-part affair, a typical BladeRunner ziggurat base, but with a spire protruding from it, towering over the city.  Near the spire’s apex is a pod, several stories tall.  ]

[ Cut. Now we see a square-on long shot.  It tracks up the spire, then rotates into an aerial downward-looking shot of the spire’s pod.  In the distance we see afternoon’s light splash upon buildings that are the headquarters’ dirty, inferior neighbors.  Tiny figures and vehicles shuttle around the streets below them, anonymously. Specks of dust on the ground. ] 

[ Cut.  Interior of the Wallace spire.  A supreme, secure boardroom.  Sumptuously decorated in the style of this era.  It features nearly 360 degree floor-to-ceiling windows with a secure futuristic bank-vault-like door controlling access to the boardroom.  Right now the door is open.  Concerned executives, functionaries, and board members mill in and out of the room from the lobby where an elevator bank and stairwell doors control access to this tip of the corporation’s spear. Bookending the boardroom table left and right are partition walls partially blocking views of service areas–a kitchen on one side and a cloakroom on the other. ] 

[ Presently a soft electronic chime sounds and a rotund, serious man gestures for people to sit.  He makes formal remarks about bringing this emergency meeting of the board to order.  With the sudden unexpected loss of CEO Niander Wallace, interim leadership must be appointed so that recovery may begin.  The attendees look composed, but under the hood each is working feverishly to make this chaos into a means for their advancement. Members follow the chairman’s request for each of them to enter their keycards in appropriate slots at the middle of the table circling with a round design in the middle.  The circle in the middle is an important-looking metallic dome sitting just proud of the table’s surface. ] 

[ Cut.  Exterior of the spire, looking down upon it from dizzying heights.  Tense music swells.  A familiar black/gray vehicle slides into view and hovers above the scene, nearly a thousand feet from the pod’s slanted roof. The camera angle spins slightly one way and the vehicles another, encouraging vertigo. ] 

[ Cut.  Exterior.  Streets down below the Wallace building.  A table in the market. We see Deckard in his jacket over the gray T-shirt, seated, looking up at the spire.  He knows what’s about to happen.  Next to him at the table are Joi with Rachelprime.  They watch him closely, looking for cues.  Joi now peeks the other way to a familiar building down a nearby side street.  It’s the brothel where K was first accosted by Marinette, the prostitute.  She and her friends stand watch out front.  Something feels off. ] 

[ Cut. Back to our top-down shot of the hovering spinner, then cut again to its interior. Music intensifies.  Luv and K wear nearly identical black tactical gear with helmets.  The helmet visors are transparent for now. They look like Daft Punk, if Daft Punk had a side gig in assassination. They prepare weapons. The shoulders of their suits have small oblong pods attached to the armor. ]

K: “Ready?” [ His voice reverberates in the helmet. ] 

Luv: ( Composed, but barely ) “Yeah.”

[ Each hits a control on the side of their helmets.  Faceplates flash into colorless opacity.  K  opens his door and it swings upwards dramatically.  Wind rushes into the compartment, and we see the spinner’s cabin wobble around them just a little, reminding us that this is a flying machine, not a rock bolted to the sky.  ] 

[ Cut.  Exterior shot from earlier looking down at the spinner and Wallace spire, but slightly tighter than before.  K leans out of the hatch like a skydiver and stands on the running boards, holding the roof behind him, looking down.  Cutting horizontally through the shot, above, is the spinner’s drone, a flat-topped flying robot about the footprint of a manhole cover. ] 

[ Cut.  Frontal wide shot of K as he hangs from the precipice.  Behind him, Luv crawls out and joins him on the edge.  They look formidable in the tac gear but body language betrays nerves. This is neither’s precise expertise. ] 

[ Cut to the meeting.  Board members key in their credentials and security cards.  A cylindrical computer tower emerges from the center of the table, opening a normally secured executive access to the company wide information network.  Certain powerful operations on Wallace’s data are only possible from this device, and only when unlocked this way. ] 

[ Cut. Shot of K and Luv from above.  At first they drop like skydivers, then the unexplained blisters on their armor FWAP to life and unfurl instantly into metallic ‘angel wing’ emergency fall devices.  These retard K and Luv’s descent, allowing the two to alight on an angled part of the roof’s surface.  Upon landing, the angel wings snap off automatically and disappear into the slipstream. ]

[ Cut.  Interior of the boardroom.  Muted discussion. ]

[ Deadly silence. ] 

[ A blur appears at the window from above.  The glass smashes, and assassins violae the Wallace inner sanctum.   Music swells.  They instantly go to work. ]

[ Panicked fast cuts.  The loud sudden percussion of weapons.  Suits yell incoherently and try to run.  Many go down quickly.  One is shot trying to leave through the blast doors.  K jumps at the controls, shooting a guard as he runs and hits the close button. ]

[ Cut to Luv as she shoots someone over her shoulder with one hand, then grabs a woman who tries to remove her key from the console—“OH NO YOU DON’T”--and thumps the woman’s head against the desk, fatally.  Suddenly Luv is grabbed from behind by an enormous replicant guard.  He wrestles her in something like a full nelson, driving her pelvis against the boardroom table, and begins to crush her helmet from the sides.  It starts to crack. She screams defiantly, attempting to jiu-jitsu his legs with hers, but it’s ineffective.  Then a sudden thump and piece of the guard’s head explodes out his left ear.  K moves in from the left frame and separates the two–“You alright?”  Roughly, Luv asserts yes, but her face-shield is cracked.  We see her stressed expression. ]

[ Cut.  Following shot of K, who goes to clear an alcove around a wall–he is surprised by a guard from the side but takes him out hand-to-hand, drawing his pistol to finish the job.  K swings the gun around and finds a secretary cowering by the sink.  He doesn’t shoot, and moves on.  In the boardroom the vault doors are finally sealed and Luv is working on the executive network access pillar.  A figure behind them runs past towards the door.  Luv instantly draws to fire on it.  K grabs her arm, stopping her, and we see in a brief cut that it’s just a waiter.  Luv goes back to the executive control pillar, entering commands. ] 

[ Cut to the executive lobby area.  The stairwell doors, till now locked shut, are blasted open by shaped charges.  The lobby is filled with an impressive pyrotechnic display and adjacent windows to the outside are smashed.  Furniture is now ablaze and smoke billows out the windows. Alarms blare. ]

[ Cut.  Out on the street, Marinette and many others see a tiny explosion and smoke trails rise from the spire.  While the crowd stares and wonders, she uses a monocular from her bag to zoom in on the action.  Brief cut and back to her monocular view: the small black shape of a spinner hovers around the spire.  Marinette rushes into the brothel. ] 

[ Cut.  Back in the executive lobby, a response team charges from the stairwells, heavy equipment in tow.  They try opening the door from the controls, and it starts to move, but K sees this from inside and closes it.  He locks it from the inside.]

K: ( To Luv ) “ HURRY ”  

[ Cut back to the lobby.  The response team brings forward plasma cutting equipment and begins attacking the door with it. ] 

[ Cut. Exterior, street view, by the brothel.  Deckard is with Joi and Rachelprime.  Their attempts at coolness erode.  Joi looks like a lost puppy.  Rachelprime–at only a few days old–is stressed and wonders if every day on earth is like this.  Deckard watches the brothel and sees a tall  woman, familiar despite the missing  eye, giving furious directions to people as they emerge from the brothel.  They look more excited and determined than scared, energized when she speaks.  Twos and Threes run off where directed. Deckard gestures for the girls to wait where they are and begins jogging towards the brothel.  We see him jog away down the street from behind, and after a second, Rachelprime follows him. ]

[ Cut back to the board room.  Luv works away at the executive terminal.  We see the tension on her face as the cracked visor glitches in and out of opacity. K checks the door, discovering a glowing red aura in its center. ]

K: ”Shit.”  

[ K yells something to Luv about hurrying up. He finds a rifle on the ground and slings it over his shoulders, then moves back toward the window where they entered. ]

[ Cut.  Exterior, street level.  Tight shot of Freysa, the replicant resistance leader.  She sends one last person on their way and looks back at the brothel entrance, checking for more bodies requesting instruction. Suddenly from out of frame-right, Deckard runs up. ]

Deckard: “Freysa.” 

Freysa: ( Wide-eyed ) “Deckard.”

[ Freysa instantly draws a pistol, and Deckard just as instantly holds her arm at bay.  Both are suspiciously fast. ] 

[ A beat. ] 

Deckard: ( Slowly ) “You don’t need that.  I’m already dead. ”

[ Freysa’s face changes.  Quizzical but challenging.  Rachelprime suddenly appears at Deckard’s shoulder.  If a killing transpires, there will now either be more bodies, or a witness.  Freysa relaxes slightly and squints at Deckard. ]

[ Cut.  Back to the tower.  Luv completes her mischief and the cylinder sinks into the table.  She starts yanking out keys from the table as K moves towards the broken window. ]

[ Cut to the lobby.  Guards demand to know where their aerial cover is and we hear something about responding to an attack at ground level. A small molten hole is forming in the vault door. ]

[ Cut to the board room. K sees that Luv has the keys and is running towards him at the window. ] 

[ K promptly jumps out into the abyss.  We don't see what happens to him. ]

[ Luv throw her keys out the window in front of her.  Something sharp and fiery slams int the armour on her back.  She is winded and driven sideways, away from the escape route. ]

[ Cut to a shaky-cam shot outside the window looking in.  Luv is stumbling by a pillar looking pained, trying to get into position for a jump. ]

[ Cut to a view of the hold in the blast door.  It is filled with a guard’s pistol, aiming and shooting wildly. ]

[ Cut to a tight shot of luv turning to the blast door.  She is impeded by something. ] 

[ Cut.  A close-up of the fused armor plates on Luv’s back creaking and fowling her movements. ]

[ Cut back to a wide shot of Luv. She stumbles back to the opening.  K is nowhere in sight. ] 

[ Cut.  A drone shot of ground level.  Main entrance of the Wallace building.  We see replicant rebels attacking the entrance, embroiled in combat with Wallace security. Armored spinners flank the mob, hovering and attempting to snipe figures on the ground.  A familiar shirtless and tattooed replicant leaps from an adjacent structure and onto the hood of a spinner.  Cut and back to a closeup as he punches through the windshield with a metallic glove and grabs the control yoke.  The spinner careens into the lobby where guards are clustered, exploding against their barricade and breaking their lines.  Rebels swarm in. ] 

[ Cut.  Exterior.  Broken window of the boardroom.  Luv shoots twice at the blast door opening, but her armor restricts movement and she misses.  Her opposition is momentarily suppressed.  The blast door’s hole widens.  Music peaks. ]

[ Suddenly, from the bottom of our shot’s frame, K rises upwards, standing on the deck of their spinner’s drone, riding it like a skateboard.  He brandishes the rifle and fires over Luv’s shoulder at a guard through the opening. ]

[ Cut to a brief shot from inside the lobby as the guard’s head jerks sickeningly and he drops. ]

[ Cut back to Luv.  She makes a standing leap to her precarious moving target–the drone–but her damaged armour kinks her movements again and she slips, falling but just grabbing the platform’s edge. ]

[ Cut.  Shot from above of her hanging over the abyss–more camera spin, more vertigo. ]

[ Cut.  K on the platform. He grabs a handle on the back of Luv’s armor to stabilize her.  Luv unclasps her armored vest.  It drops away, thousands of feet below.  She swings balletically into a reverse somersault and back onto the drone.  K shoots twice back at the vault doors and the drone lifts them to safety. ]

[ Score changes to a softer background track. ] 

[ Cut.  Landscape shot of the city.  In the distance we see the smoking Wallace Corporate spire. ]

[ Cut.  An aerial drone shot of the battle by the building’s main entrance. ]

[ Cut.  Another aerial shot of the streets, still humming with traffic. ] 

[ Cut.  Another shot of a crowded side street, gray-faced pedestrians shoving past each other, uncaring.  We can hear muffled noises of the battle, distantly. ] 

[ Cut.  Back to a landscape shot of the city. ] 

[ A long pause. Barely audible sounds of combat. ] 

[ Cut.  Long shot.  An anonymous parking lot someplace well away from the action.  It is quiet.  Deckard and Rachelprime stand around, waiting. ]

[ Cut.  Two shot of Deckard (left) and Rachel (right), facing us, keeping an eye out. ] 

Rachelprime: “Who was that woman, earlier?”

Deckard: ( Looking at the sky ) “Someone I knew a long time ago.  With the resistance..”

[ Rachelprime looks a bit confused.  She’s had no exposure to life beyond how to prettify oneself. Deckard notices this. ] 

Deckard: “Replicants.  Fighting against slavery.”

Rachelprime: “Replicants?  Like me.”  

[ Deckard half nods, half shrugs.  What good are these data to her? ]

[ A beat. ] 

Rachelprime: “Can I help?”

[ Deckard looks at her sharply, annoyed at the questions. Annoyed with her existence. ]

Deckard: “How?” 

[ It’s one of those pointed questions Deckard is so good at.  The kind that makes one feel small and foolish. He sees her shrink in reaction and regrets it, but says nothing. ]

Rachelprime: “Well then, what do you think I should do?” 

[ He feels another sting.  She still means to please him, even after he’s spurned her.  He sighs. ] 

Deckard: “Alright.  Maybe you can help…somehow.”

[ Cut.  We see Luv’s spinner hover in for a landing nearby over Deckard and Rachelprime’s shoulders.  The doors open.  Luv and K emerge, helmetless now.  K is energized, upbeat.  Everything in life has changed for him.  He almost makes a facial expression. ]

[ Cut to a loose shot of K by the spinner. Deckard approaches him with purpose, drawing a photo from his pocket.  He gives it to K–it’s the picture of Freysa holding a baby by the dead tree. We get a nice good closeup of Freya in the photo, then cut back. ]

Deckard: ( Elated ) “She told me.  I know where my daughter is.”

[ Inside of K, a load of bricks falls down an elevator shaft, crashing to the pit of his stomach.  HE is Deckard’s child.  What’s this about a daughter? ]

K: ( Looking at the photo ) “No, that….that’s wrong.”  

Deckard: “It’s not.  I know exactly where she is.”  

[ Deckard pats K on the shoulder, swelling with cheer at his surprise victory.  As much cheer as Deckard can express, anyway. ]

[ Cut.  Front tight shot of Rachelprime.  Deckard enters from the left frame and stands next to her. ]

[ Cut. Two-shot of Deckard (left) and Rachelprime (right). ] 

Deckard: ( To Rachelprime )  “Well, this is it.”

[ A beat. ] 

Deckard: “I’m sorry about earlier.  You aren’t her, but you didn’t deserve….” 

[ She nods soberly.  He puts his hands on her shoulders and kisses her cheek. ] 

Deckard: ( Softly )  “Goodbye, again.”

[ Cut.  Back to the wide shot of the spinner, over Rachelprime’s shoulder. Deckard walks to the vehicle. ] 

[ Cut.  Back to the two-shot of Luv and K.  Deckard enters from the right frame. ] 

Deckard: ( Turns to K ) “C’mon.”  [ He leads K to the spinner.  K is deflated. ] 

[ Cut.  Two-shot of K and Deckard by the spinner’s door. ] 

[ K stops Deckard momentarily.  He hesitates, then gives Deckard the wooden horse.  K is stoic. Deckard looks surprised.  He checks the date underneath the little toy. ]

[ A beat. ]

K: “All the best memories are hers.”

[ Deckard stops and thinks for a moment, looking over the wooden horse, then at K and back. ]

Deckard: “Why?  What am I to you?”

[ A beat. ]

K: “Let’s go meet your daughter.”

≈

[ Cut. Interior of the spinner.  It is off the ground and rising.  K suddenly checks his pockets like he’s looking for cigarettes, patting himself here and there. ]

[ Quick cut to ground level.  Rachelprime is looking up at the spinner as it lifts.  Then Joi moves in from the left frame, appearing at her side, also watching the spinner.  Joi turns her gaze to Rachelprime. ]

[ Cut back to the spinner.  K stops checking his pockets and looks down out the window to the ground.  He straightens up, resigned. ] 

[ Cut. Interior of the spinner. Face-on view of the vehicle’s occupants. Luv drives, K in the navigator seat, Deckard in back.  A brief pause for us to watch these three. ]

[ Cut.  A city landscape shot of the spinner. ]

[ Cut.  Parking lot of Stelline Labs.  Luv’s spinner touches down softly. ]

[ Cut. Interior of the spinner.  Deckard nods to K as his door opens, then exits.] 

[ Cut.  Shot of Deckard from below as he ascends the steps to Stelline’s building. He carries the toy horse, then looks at and pockets it. Sounds of his door closing, then sealing tight.  ] 

[ Cut. Interior of the spinner.  Close-up of Luv, looking over her left shoulder as Deckard moves inside. ]

Luv: ( Softly ) "There he goes..."  

[ Cut.  Interior shot of the spinner from earlier.  Luv slowly turns to K.  He is looking down at his hands. There is nothing in them.  Ten minutes ago he had a father. ]

[ Cut.  Exterior of the spinner. Snow falls softly around it. ]

[ Cut back to the interior. There is a dead flat silence in the vehicle.  It's the sort of quiet one only gets inside a stopped car when outside noise is suppressed.  The only sound one hears is each person's tiny movements, little squeaks of clothing or furniture.  Breaths and words are amplified. ] 

Luv: ( Softly, noticing his depression ) "What?" 

[ A beat. ] 

K: "Nothing."  

Luv: "No.  Not nothing."  

[ A pause. ] 

K: "It wasn't me.  I’m not the child. I'm not....”

K: “...real."  

Luv: ( Flatly ) "Yes you are." 

[ She slides over to him on the vehicle’s bench seat.  He looks up at her.  He doesn’t notice an arm slide around his shoulders. ] 

Luv: ( Softly, without emphasis ) "I know you're real."  

[ She kisses him, somewhat hard at first.  Incompetently.  It’s her first ever kiss.  Neither has much practice with physical romance.  Luv pulls back, then tries again, softly and with her eyes closed, her other arm completes the loop.  She hugs and keeps holding him, resting her head against him.  Joe is stiff at first but reciprocates the embrace.  It feels good.  His first experience with human affection. ]

[ It feels real. ]

[ A pause. ] 

Joe: “My name’s Joe.”

[ A beat. ] 

Luv: “My name’s Luv.” 

[ She smirks softly to herself. ] 

Joe: “I know.”

[ A beat. ] 

Joe: “I like it.”

[ Cut.  Interior of Stelline Labs.  Deckard sees his daughter working on a memory of snow falling.  Hand on glass. ]

[ The End.  Roll Credits ]

≈

Epilogue: The Wallace Corporation

[ Exterior, Wallace building, day.  Piles of rubble. The odd object within sight is still on fire. Front and center is a podium from which a speaker will soon perform.  Atop it is a holographic jukebox device the size of a large glass jar. It hums expectantly.  ] 

[ Cue cheesy saxophone music like a comedy show on TV.  Cheers  from nowhere.  A rowdy audience warms up.  Cue an announcer from offstage. ]

Announcer: “ Today on a pile of smoldering rubble that once was a grand corporate monument, get ready to late-stage-capitalism with the new interim CEO of the Wallace Corporation, MISTER GILBERT GOTTFRIED .” 

[ UPROARIOUS APPLAUSE. ]

[ The holographic jukebox springs to life.  Deceased world famous comedian Gilbert Godfried is now with us, again, doing what he’s always done best. Gottfried’s loud acerbic performing voice is infamous and melodic, a gift to humanity directly from god….and/or Satan himself. ] 

[ It sounds like a feral cat.  Being strangled by an angel.  Inside a dumpster.  In New Jersey. ]

[ And it’s magnificent . ] 

GG: ( Waves ) “TANK you, TANK you all……TANK you very much.”

[ Pause for cheers from the crowd, who are all out of frame.  The noise presently subsides. He begins his address. ] 

GG: “A FUNNY THING HAPPENED to me on the way to the jukebox t’day. “

[ Chuckles. ] 

GG: “A GUY comes up to me.  He says: HEY. YOU……”

[ A beat. ] 

GG: “ WERE YOU KILLED IN THE REBEL ATTACK ON WALLACE HEAD-QUARTERS ?”

GG: “I says no. He says COME WITH ME .”

[ A beat ] 

GG: “An NOW I’m here.”

[ A beat. ] 

GG: “And now I’m the–”  [ He laughs, almost breaking character, waving his arms. ]  “...AH’M THE C.E.O. …a….of…THE CEO OF WALLACE.  FREAKING.  INCORPORATED.”

[ Louder cheers and applause.  Gottfried spreads his arms wide, then points to himself with both hands.  He bows to the audience. ] 

GG: “ME…..   How?”

[ Short pause for laughter, then quiet. ]

GG: “SO….MY FIRST DECISION….AS THE NEW BOSS…..WAS TO FIRE THE RETARDED JACKWAGON WHO HIRED ME.”

[ Chuckles.  He walks around the glass bubble on his podium.  Presently he stops, then leans in, whispering and nodding. ] 

GG: “I dunno what I’m doin’  We’re all fucked.”

[ He shrugs sheepishly.  Cheers / applause. We’re all gonna die, but for now no one really cares.  Gilbert is back. ]

GG: “But, but, BUT BUT….in the MEANTIME……….let’s try to have some fun.”

[ A pause.  The crowd settles into a dull roar of levity. ] 

GG: “So LOOK.  Right now I gotta do some more serious business-matter talk for you first–JUST FOR A MINUTE!--HOLD ON…..”

[ He gestures placatively to the audience, who want more jokes and less layoffs.  A beat. ] 

GG: “....and if yer good lil boys and girls….”  [ Gestures for patience. ]  “….I’LL TELL YA A JOKE ABOUT JOAN RIVERS AND A CHEESE SANDWICH.”

[ Laughter. A beat. ] 

GG: “OK, SO…FIRST OF ALL…THE OLD BOARD MEMBERS ARE, uh, y’know…SLIGHTLY DEAD.  WHAT A SHAME. We’re all gonna miss the constant firings and how they put sawdust in the protein slurry. “

[ Fake awww’s and moans of sympathy from the audience. ]

GG: “We’ll have to make do without them moving forward.”

GG: “BUT GOOD NEWS….WE FOUND REPLACEMENTS.  THE NEW BOARD IS NOTHING BUT THE VERY FINEST OF RANDOMLY-GRABBED PEOPLE OFF THE STREET. ”

[ A beat. ] 

GG: “AND THEIR FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS”  [ He giggles to himself. ]  “...IS LOOKING FOR A REPLACEMENT FOR ME.”

GG: “Good idea.”

[ Laughter. ] 

GG: “And if you’re feeling lucky, they’re taking interviews starting today.”  

[ He gestures to the building behind him.  A beat. ] 

GG: “ONE MORE THING.  From NOW on…..we’ve an IMPORTANT NEW RULE FOR OUR esteemed narrative . So LISTEN UP.”

[ He turns to US now, watching him in this story.  He points and makes a ‘watch my eyes'  gesture. ]

 [ Pay attention guys–this bit’s important. ] 

GG: “FROM NOW ON……IF YOU EVER SEE OR HEAR SOMETHING IN THESE STORIES THAT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSE–an here’s the rule–JUST. FREAKIN. RELAX….AN KEEP READIN’.  IT’LL PROBABLY WORK ITSELF OUT.  I PROMISE.”

GG: “That goes for these epilogues, and all the other stories to follow.”

[ A beat. ] 

GG: “AKAY?  CAN WE DO THAT?”

[ Fervent cheers and laughs.  GG struts around a little, relaxing since the act is going well. No need to break out the Aristocrats joke today. ]

[ And seriously guys–this is just the first in a series of stories.  It will henceforth get weird, and meta and maybe even funny in what I now hereby officially term the BladeRunner 2049 Lucifer Cut Extended Onion-verse . ]

[ I know.  It’s a great title. You’re welcome. ] 

GG: “ANOTHER QUICK COUPLE OF POINTS.  We…..we had a tiny bit of data loss from the attack.” 

[ He gestures defensively with two fingers indicating a ‘tiny tiny’ thing. ] 

GG: ( Softer now ) “MOST..of our company’s important info is gone…for now, but BUT!....We still have some backup archives.  All the old paper records and stuff are still around.”

[ Cut to a storage room someplace.  Crickets chirp.  Somehow.  Indoors.  In a world without crickets. Piles of dusty old boxes are randomly filled with papers and junk.  Fluorescent lights hum loudly and flicker. Something on a shelf in back crashes to the floor on cue. ]

[ Cut back to Gottfried’s performance. ]

[ Gottfried now gestures to the strange bald-headed receptionist we saw earlier in the Wallace Archies. He  has been standing off to the side for some time now.  His name is Stan.  He is strange looking, bald, and vaguely albino, best known for his patented phrase “thick milky”.  He could honestly be described as a humanoid creature who till now masqueraded as a character named File Clerk .  Stan has been promoted to Luv’s old job of standing next to the boss and crying about things on cue. ] 

GG: ( Gesturing grandly )  ”STAN…MY NEW ASSISTANT.  A round of applause for Stan, please.”

[ Stan makes a little wave of greeting while the crowd makes noise. ] 

[ A beat. ]

GG: “The old assistant is missing.  She must’ve gone to secretary heaven or something.”

[ Audience chuckles. ] 

GG: “SHE’S UP DERE TYPIN’ ON A BIG TYPEWRITER WITH WINGS….MAYBE SHE’S WRITIN’ US AN ANGRY LETTER.”  

[ He gestures with a sour secretary face, fake typing. ] 

[ A beat. ] 

GG: “SO….HENCEFORTH…things in these stories are gonna be funny.  Or at least fun. Or they’re gonna try, anyway.”

GG: “Because NOW THAT WE’VE EATEN VEGETABLES and done the serious Lucifer story….we’re gonna have a GOOD time with all our favorite Twenty-Forty-Nine characters.  It’s time for a nice long, happy funny desert after dinner.”

GG: “OK?”

[ A new soundtrack fades in from the background: Back in Baby’s Arms , by Patsy Cline.  Dialogue begins to fade out and a dark vignette closes in on the frame. ] 

[ Link to the soundtrack, for your narrative convenience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGEveG_L0Rs ] 

GG: ( Fading out ) “Ok so listen, we got a great act for you lined up tonight….”

[ Soundtrack continues.  Back in Baby’s Arms is now full volume. ] 

[ Darkness.  A beat ] 

[ Cut.  Drone shot.  Exterior, the Garbage Mesa.  Daytime.  Soundtrack continues.  We slowly fly along looking down at the landscape, then stop above a lengthy trailer-home next to a little dusty road and picket fence. ]

[ Title on Screen: Epilogue: K and Luv ] 

[ Cut. Interior of the trailer-home.  Back in Baby’s Arms continues to play. ] 

[ We are looking at the back wall of the trailer and track right along its length.  We see clues about who lives here pass through the shot:  appliances, small pictures of a happy couple, little tchotchkes.  One photo shows us two people at what appears to be the Grand Canyon.  It is filled with burned-out husks of 20th century cars.  More items are subtly in view: knives, guns, various weapons. ]

[ Our shot reaches the end of the trailer and then tracks down sharply as a perky brunette with bangs and a ponytail seems to pop into view from below.  She wears a stylish white t-shirt with a familiar bambi-like character on it.  She is grinning.  For some reason she seems disturbingly pleased.  Is she…happy?  Somehow? ]

[ Cut.  We are now facing down the length of the trailer from whence we tracked.  Framing a two-shot are Joe (left) and Luv (right).  Luv continues smiling and holds a cake she made out towards Joe.  It features a large stick of red dynamite in place of a candle.  The explosive protrudes from the cake at a jaunty angle.  Its lengthy curled fuze burns down steadily, but no one notices. ] 

Joe: “Oh honey, you shouldn’t have.”

[ A beat. ] 

Joe: “Is it our anniversary?” 

Luv: ( Shrugging ) “No, but….let’s say it is.”

[ We pull back out of the trailer and into the sky above it.  In view is a yard with patchy lumps of suspiciously not-dead grass and dirt.  There is a little dry road next to the picket fence.  We see a dozen or more unruly ragged head-shaved children happily milling about.  Joe and Luv appear to have adopted–or just stolen–ALL the kids at Mr Cotton’s orphanage.  They no longer handle toxic scrap just to survive, but get troughs full of yummy Wallace Brand slug-protien-paste free from their new parents. In bottom-right of the screen we see a suspiciously-not-dead tree.  A plaintive voice is heard from beneath it. ]

[ Cut.  Close shot of the tree from base to branches.  It was clearly stolen from the Wallace Corp’s experimental forest.  Hanging from a tree-limb is Mister Cotton, the scrap waste orphanage slavedriver.  He is hanging precariously, bent over at the waist somehow, high above the ground and flailing at times.  He turns gently in the breeze. ] 

Cotton: ( At somebody out of shot ) “HEY, YOU KID!  YOU GOTTA WORK.  IT’S WORK that–Ahh!”  

[ He is cut off by a sudden pelting of rock and sticks from out of frame.  He puts a hand to his face where it struck. ] 

[ Cut.  We see Cotton’s view of the children on the lawn throwing things at him towards us.  His yelps continue. ]

[ Now we draw back to a drone shot of the larger landscape.  Joe and Luv’s homestead is placed upon a small rise in the Trash Mesa.  In the north, off in the distance,  we see hovering garbage scows, their cargo bay doors bombing the earth’s surface with refuse. ]

[ Cut.  A tight shot of the nearest scow. ]

[ Title on screen: Epilogue: Niander Wallace ]

[ Back in Baby’s Arms continues playing non-diegetically in the background. ] 

[ We see refuse drop from the scow and the distinct shape of a human body amongst its trash. ]

[ Cut to a tight shot of Wallace's naked body on the pile.  One or two of his now defunct black plastic lozenges slaps against the corpse.  He and his minions stare blankly at nothing. ]

[ Title on Screen: Epilogue: Deckard ]

[ Interior, a clothing store on a neon lit street in the gungy cyberpunk part of town, which, really, is almost everywhere in the city.  Close shot of Deckard at a rack full of t-shirts, all gray.  Back in Baby’s Arms plays quietly as ambient music from a 1970s shopping centre-like PA system. ]

[ Deckard picks one-by-one through a few of the shirts--they are all EXACTLY the same.  We see Dog moping around behind him.  Deckard rejects two shirts in a row, then is interrupted from out of frame stage-left. ] 

Clerk: “HEY!”

[ Cut to a high level shot of the store, with the clerk at a desk on one side and deckard at the t-shirt rack on the other.  Deckard’s dog is standing next to him near the rack.  The clerk is slovenly looking, and in a bad mood. ] 

[ Cut to a tighter shot of the clerk. ]

Clerk: “Hey!  Ya can’t bring mutts like that in her–”  

[ He is interrupted–permanently–by the loud thump of a blaster pistol.  Brain matter splatters in a tight circle on the wall behind him. ] 

[ Cut to a high shot of the store interior again.  Deckard is standing with his left arm outstretched, holding a blaster. He’s still looks down at the of t-shirts.] 

[ Cut to the original angle of Deckard at the shirt rack.  He puts his gun away out of shot and goes back to shopping.  One more shirt is discarded.  Then, he finds the next and…..ohhhh.  Oh, this one is nice.  Deckard holds it up against himself.  Yeah, looks great. ]

[ Cut to a mirror in the corner.  Deckard walks towards it with the shirt and looks over himself.  He holds the shirt against his chest and nods.  Yes, this is the perfect one. ]

[ Cut.  Exterior of the store.  90 degrees off from the main doors.  Tracking shot following Deckard.  He walks out with Dog and a shopping bag.  We track to the right and into shot appears Anna Stelline, Deckard’s long lost daughter.  She’s in a big plastic germ-proof bubble al la John Travolta.  She waves. ] 

Anna: ( Adorable accent ) “Hi Dad!  Did you get a t-shert?”

Deckard: “Yeah.  Let’s get some food.”  

[ Deckard starts rolling the ball along with him, presumably towards food someplace.  Anna adorably yelps as the ball spins with her in it. ] 

[ Cut to a high level shot of the store’s parking lot.  Deckard pushes the ball along, with Anna making little noises of polite protest as she’s tumbled inside.  Deckard doesn’t seem to notice. ]

[ Cut.  A food place of some kind.  Nondescript in the BladeRunner universe.  It features various guests in the background like Robbie the Robot and Elektro from the 1939 World’s Fair, the world’s first cigarette smoking robot.  Appropriately Elektro chills with a cig.  Elsewhere we see Ham Salad and his Wookie Monster friend from Hardware Wars . ]

[ Cut.  Two-shot of a table with Deckard seated at the left, eating, and Anna in the ball, placed on the right side.  She peers down at his meal, hands against the bubble, unable to partake but just pleased to be there. ] 

Anna: ( Looking at the food ) “What’s it like?”

Deckard: ( Shrugging ) “Hmrpm, the usual. Recycled garbage with noodles thrown in for flavor.”

[ Cut.  Closeup of Anna.  We see her interest in the food. ] 

[ Cut back to Deckard. ] 

Deckard: “Wanna try some?” 

[ Cut to Anna, who nods. ] 

[ Cut back to the two-shot, and Deckard hoists a forkful of the meal towards her ball.  She looks uncertain, wondering what his plan is, then he just kind of nudges the fork against the ball’s surface. The food drops off out of sight, leaving a small mark of paste-like-substance on its surface. ] 

[ Deckard goes back to eating.  ]

Anna: ( A little confused but playing along ) “Oh, um….yum.”

[ A moment passes. ] 

Anna: “Um…I think I have to pee.”

[ Deckard looks up, then back down, ignoring the remark. ]

Anna: ( Looking around for anybody ) “Um, hello?  I hef to peeee?”

Anna: “Hellllooo?  Anee-body?”  

[ Is there a girl-in-the-bubble attendant in the house? ] 

≈

[ Cut.  Exterior, outdoors near a lonely dark road.  Dusk. A small green ‘breadloaf’ style minivan appears in the distance and approaches, wobbling gently on the road. ] 

[ Title on screen: Epilogue: Joi and Rachel-Prime ]

[ Cut.  Van interior.  It’s messy and full of junk.  Joi is driving the van and Rachelprime sits next to her.  Back in baby’s arms plays on the radio.  Presently Joi turns it off.  It is quieter in the van now.  Engine hums and little more. ]

Joi: “Did you know that song was first released in nineteen-sixty-nine by RCA Victor Studios?”

Rachelprime: ( Curiously and with a happy tone ) “What’re we doing out here, again?”

Joi: “Oh honey, be careful.  Look, I know you’re only a week old, but you say stuff like that out loud and it’ll provoke a whole big exposition dump.  That’s bad writing.  Look, here, um…try this instead:”

[ Joi clears her throat, then proceeds in a loud formal voice: ] 

Joi: “WOW THIS PLACE SURE IS CREEPY.  I HOPE WE MANAGE TO STAY THE WHOLE NIGHT IN THE HAUNTED HOUSE.”

[ A beat. ] 

Joi: “See? That way everybody knows what you’re doing but it doesn’t turn the conversion into an accidental essay.” 

[ Joi has clearly transitioned from sexyfuntime cuddlefriend mode to social worker for her new companion.  She gestures to Rachel. ] 

Joi: “Now–you try.”

Rachelprime: ( Dreamily ) “I don’t think it’s creepy out here.  It’s dark, but I like finding out what everything is.  Every time I learn a new thing it feels good.  I didn’t know anything before leaving Wallace.  Just how that my name was Rachel and how to do my hair like this.  Then that first real day was terrible .  But…now, I know about things like sandwiches and the replicant resistance, and I ride around in a van with you solving mysteries.  Almost everything seems nice these days.”

[ Sorry.  She’s not very good at this story-telling-without-too-much exposition thing.  She’ll learn. ]

[ A beat. ] 

Joi: “Look, sweetie, not everything is nice.  What about those junk-raiders back there?  They tried to blow your head off.”

Rachelprime: ( Happily ) “It’s nice meeting new people. What’s ‘ blow your head off’ ?”

Joi: ( Ending the conversation ) “Ok.  Maybe later.”

[ Rachelprime picks up an object sitting on the dashboard ] 

Rachelprime: “What’s this?”

Joi: “That’s a broken knob from the radio.”

Rachelprime: ( Points out the window ) “Look!  A big white thing!”

Joi: “That’s the moon.”

Rachelprime: “What’s it for?”

Joi: “Uarm…mmaybe it fell off the radio, too.”

Rachelprime: ( Looks over the back of her seat into the cargo area floor behind them ) “What’s that thing down there?”

Joi: “It’s a dead junk-raider.  He hit a landmine and fell in there when the back door was open.”

Rachelprime: “He seems friendly.”

[ Rachelprime goes back to sitting quietly.  A pause. ] 

Rachelprime: “Hey Joi, if you’re a hologram, how’re you able to drive the van?  I mean, isn’t that a physical kind of thi–”

Joi: “Ok, no more time for questions!”

[ Cut to exterior shots.  The van pulls up at the end of the road, which transitions to a gravel footpath.  The path winds up a hill towards an old looming Victorian mansion. The two get out and walk a short distance towards it carrying flashlights. ]

[ Cut.  Following shot of Joi and Rachelprime as they walk. ] 

Rachelprime: “So why are we…..oh, oh.” 

[ She stops in place, catching herself from provoking bald exposition. ] 

[ She rethinks.  Joi watches approvingly, and nods. ] 

Rachelprime: ( Clears her throat, fake big booming voice ) “JOI, WHY’RE WE WALKING UP THIS PATH TO THE HOUS—?”

Joi: “Aye carumba.”

[ A beat. ] 

Joi: “Ok, fine.  An exposition dump.  We’re in a van driving around solving mysteries ‘cause you got kicked out of t—because you were asked very nicely to go on vacation from the resistance after you…helped them.”

Rachelprime: ( Proudly ) “I made a sandwich!  I at least knew how to do that, somehow.  It was fun.”

Joi: ( Cautiously ) “Yeessss, and I’m programmed to say that was very nice of you and that you’re completely right about everything all the time, but…let’s maybe remember that the guy you gave the sandwich to….almost died from it.  Ok?  Most people don’t like food made from random things you find on the ground.  In puddle.  On a street.  In a toxic cyberpunk-dystopian hellscape.”

[ A beat. ] 

Rachelprime: “Why are we here?”

Joi: “Oh, yeah.  Right.  So, we go up to the mansion and we spend one whole night in there and then….we inherit a fortune .”

Rachelprime: “What’s a fortune?”

Joi: “It’s a big pile of money.”

Rachelprime: “What’s money?”

Joi: ( Take a long sigh ) “Ahkay, money is this…stuff..  It has various economic purposes. It can be used as a store of value, or a measurement of relative worth..or…”

[ Joi’s lecture continues but fades out and we track upwards into the night sky.  The sky morphs over a few seconds into a brighter pre-dawn shade.  Then we track back down.  ]

[ Cut.  Tight two-shot of Joi standing and Rachelprime sitting primly on a rock.  Joi uses a pointer to indicate a holographic easel she’s created with various charts and diagrams and formulae. ] 

Joi: ( Continues ) “...ok, and so the mercantilist school of thought fell out of favor and was succeeded by various other competing philosophies like the classical school, marxism, keynesianism.  All that stuff.”

[ Joi looks to Rachelprime for comprehension. ] .  

Joi: “Do you see?”  [ She taps the easel. ]  “Do you SEE ?”

[ Rachelprime is a deer in headlights.  She shakes her head in little sharp motions. ]

Joi: “Aye carumba.”

Joi: “Y’know what, I’m an AI and even I don’t understand most of this.”

[ Back in Baby’s Arms swells in the background as Joi sags, taking one of many mental breaks she’ll need in the future.  Rachelprime stands and tries–unsuccessfully–to give Joi’s holographic body a supportive hug. ] 

≈

[ Interior.  Daytime. Back in baby's arms plays on a desktop radio on top of a shelf in a fluorescent lit room. We see various close-up establishing shots from the room: styrofoam cups of coffee laying around, doughnuts, a stack of plastic chairs, somebody’s hands holding a clipboard ]  

[ Cut.  Tight shot of Deckard’s dog, sitting on a chair like those stacked in the corner.  He barks and makes various canine sounds. ]

[ Cut to a ceiling-down view of the room.  We see a circle of folks in plastic chairs, all facing each other.  Dog is sitting in a chair on the left.  ] 

Folks: ( All together ) “Hi….” 

[ They stumble.  The greeting verbally disintegrates as people realize they don't’ know the dog’s name. ]

[ Cut to a two-shot of Dog (left) sitting in his chair next to Deckard (right).  Behind them on the wall is a friendly banner: “Drinkers No More”.  Deckard seems unenthused–he’s just there for moral support. ]

[ Dog makes several smaller doggy noises. ] 

Deckard: ( To the group ): “Um…he says hi.”

[ Back in Baby’s Arms swells.  Fade to black ]