I, Robot Page #7

SPOONER:

The streets are filled with

unemployed humans who aren.t

exactly thrilled with that idea.

CALVIN:

Our robotic systems maintain

factory inventories, regulate

street traffic -- even run the

family home.

SPOONER:

Leaving people to do what, Doctor?

CALVIN:

Leaving people to engage in higher

pursuits that make life worth

living.

SPOONER:

And what happens when something

goes wrong?

CALVIN:

Our system.s never wrong.

As they walk through the crowd, we hear the quiet WHIR of

robot heads as they turn in succession to watch Spooner pass.

22 INT. MAINFRAME - DAY 22

Spooner and Calvin enter the MAINFRAME of U.S. Robotics.

This is the nerve center of the whole operation. Walls lined

with COMPUTERS, SCREENS, and thousands of CONTROLS.

17.

CALVIN:

This is Victor.s home.

VICTOR appears on a wall-sized SCREEN broken up into beehive-

like components.

VICTOR:

I will now play you the last thirty-

two seconds of Dr. Hogenmiller.s

life.

AS WE WATCH THE SCREENS. The elevator opens and DOCTOR

HOGENMILLER steps into the metal corridor. In countless

ANGLES. High, low, close-up, wide. Hogenmiller.s face

composed but tight.

Spooner watches the lab doors open to admit him. Hogenmiller

steps in. The doors slide closed behind him.

Nothing for a few moments. Then a muffled GUNSHOT. Calvin

jumps, startled. That.s it. The cameras, still trained on

the corridor.

SPOONER:

Where.s the tape from inside?

VICTOR:

Dr. Hogenmiller did not permit

cameras to observe him while

working.

CALVIN:

That was only within the last year.

SPOONER:

So we can throw paranoia into the

mix.

(to Victor)

Fast-forward.

A hundred-plus screens all FAST-FORWARD. POLICE OFFICERS

appear and force open the doors. Now TECHNICIANS appear

and rush through in a blur...

CALVIN:

Um. I hate to be a stickler...

On screen, we see Spooner and Calvin enter the lab.

CALVIN:

But don.t killers usually have to

enter and exit the scene of a

crime?

18.

SPOONER:

Stop the recording.

Spooner turns away from the footage. Stares at Calvin.

SPOONER:

They do, Doctor. Unless they.ve

always been there -- and never

left.

Calvin looks at him. Trying to understand.

CALVIN:

You think the murderer was in the

lab the entire time?

SPOONER:

If I.m right, it.s still there...

Spooner turns back to the screens. The IMAGE paused at the

exact moment the MECHANICAL GUARD rolled in front of the lab

door.

SPOONER:

We just locked it in.

23 INT. METAL CORRIDOR - DAY 23

The STEEL ARMS of the ROBOTIC GUARD retract with a CLANG. The

laboratory doors slide open.

Rate this script:4.3 / 4 votes