Outer Confines

Outer Confines
by Eric Priezkalns

+974 33191443
+44 7958 467273

(c) Eric Priezkalns 2012

Black Space

The sound of a man's breathing fills an undefined black space.

The face of clean-shaven man, Bill, emerges from the side of frame. There is a sound of wind rushing by. The camera tracks back to show more of his head. Different-coloured lights dance across Bill's face. The camera rotates to reveal he is falling, face downward, with his long dark hair blown backwards behind him.

Bill (v.O.)

I think I had the idea I was being born. It was bloody and messy and dangerous.

Desert - Day

Day 1.

Bill lies motionless in a full-body suit, his face upward, his body twisted, in a crater of sand. The suit's visor is tinted; we cannot see his face. He suddenly and violently sits upright. He jerks his hand towards his face.

From inside the helmet we hear the sound of Bill's breathing and see his gloved hand rap startlingly against the visor. The view turns from side to side. It is a barren desert expanse, with no signs of civilization.

Bill extends his legs whist remaining seated. He leans forward, bending double, putting an arm to his torso.

BILL

(half-screams, half-groans with agonizing pain)

He remains seated in that pose for a while, not moving again. He is silent. Then Bill's suit slowly, mechanically, gets to its feet. It walks away, with a steady, methodical stride. It walks in a perfectly straight line into the distance.

DESERT - DAY

Day 2.

The suit walks across desert. It walks across rocks. It keeps walking with the same perfectly straight and methodical gait.

The suit climbs an escarpment. It interrupts its ascent to sit on a boulder.

Inside the suit's helmet, we see Bill's face. We hear his breathing. He sips water from a tube by his mouth.

From behind the visor we look up at the sky. The sky is coloured pink. There are two suns; one is about to set. The visor turns and surveys the land from this relative high point. There is an alteration of the colour of its filters, turning the sky more blue and the sand less orange. Bill looks up. There are faint wisps of white cloud. Bill's rest is interrupted by a deep and sonorous woman's voice.

Suit

Are you ready?

BILL

I'm ready. Let's get moving.

The suit gets to its feet and proceeds with its journey. Bill and the suit continue their conversation as the suit walks.

BILL

How do you feel now?

SUIT

I am fine.

BILL

How far do you think we'll get today?

SUIT

I estimate we will advance by approximately twenty kilometres.

BILL

That's not very much.

SUIT

You are not very well. We can do more once you heal. You were quite ill.

Corridor - Night

A corridor is lit only by the light coming from the edges of the door frame at the far end. Bill stands naked at the near end, his back turned to us, facing towards the door. We hear the sound of him breathing in his suit. His breathing is heavy and rhythmic, like he is deeply asleep. Bill walks to the door, and opens it. The bright light from behind the door blinds us.

DESERT - DAY

We see Bill's face from the side, inside the helmet. He has stubble. His breathing is laboured. Bill splutters awake. We can see spots of blood on the inside of his visor.

Day 4.

Bill is laying on the ground. The sun is rising, casting long shadows.

SUIT

Your internal bruising is less severe today.

BILL

Maybe so. But explain that to my aching ribs. How far do we have to go today?

SUIT

Your target for today is to walk thirty-five kilometres.

BILL

Is that how far you walked yesterday?

SUIT

Yes.

BILL

Okay. I'd better get going. You rest. Recharge your batteries, so to speak.

Bill gets up from the ground. He walks away from the camera, into the desert. He is noticeably limping, and his strides are somewhat irregular. An "X" of solar panels unfold from the back of the suit. They are fragile, like gossamer. They were battered by the accident. The panels look like a cross between dragonfly and fairy wings.

Bill keeps walking, this time toward the camera from a distance. As he gets to the camera, we can tell from how Bill moved in the frame that he was not walking a perfectly straight line, sometimes appearing more to the left, sometimes more to the right of the frame.

BILL

I'm sorry. How far have we gone?

A graphic is projected on the interior of the suit visor. It shows a schematic of the journey from their crash site to their destination, a city by the sea. The graphic then zooms to the portion of their journey which is to be covered that day. Whilst the planned route is shown as a perfectly straight line, Bill's actual steps are projected as a line that meanders around it. Alongside the line a reading is given, stating that 3,017 metres have been covered.

SUIT

We are doing well. We have completed three kilometres now.

BILL

Don't lie to me. That's not doing well.

(Pauses)

I'm sorry. Do you think we'll make it?

SUIT

I'm sorry Bill. I will never lie to you. There is a lot further to go. I cannot confidently predict our chances of success.

BILL

Just give me your best guess.

SUIT

The odds are fifty-fifty.

A new visor graphic is shown. The left half shows "50%" in green, the right half shows "50%" in red. Underneath them are written the words "likelihood of success" and "likelihood of failure" respectively.

BILL

Well, the odds won't improve if I just stand here.

Bill walks on.

Bill approaches an outcrop of rocks. He stops as he gets close. From the perspective of the helmet visor, through its coloured filter, there is a green smear of moss across one of the rocks.

BILL

Is it life?

SUIT

I cannot tell. My bio-detectors have been destroyed, and I have limited data about the native ecosystems of this planet.

BILL

There's atmosphere. I don't need technology to tell me when I'm walking into the wind.

SUIT

The atmosphere has no oxygen but it might sustain plant life.

BILL

I hope there's more life on this rock than just aliens like us. Life makes this war worth fighting.

SUIT

Would you like to rest for a while?

BILL

(emphatic)

No. No, I shouldn't stop like this. Let's press on.

Bill starts walking again, in silence.

SUIT

You should keep talking. It will help you stay motivated.

BILL

Maybe so, but you're not exactly a great conversationalist either.

SUIT

I do not practice often.

BILL

When was it, that we last spoke?

SUIT

Before this mission, we last spoke seventeen years ago.

BILL

You know, I'm sorry, but I didn't ask your name and I can't remember what it was... is.

SUIT

I do not have a name.

CORRIDOR - NIGHT

As before, Bill stands naked in the corridor facing towards the door frame and the light that seeps from behind it. He walks to the door and opens it. It opens on to the glare of the desert. We look over Bill's shoulder at the ground. He sees himself lying there, naked, huddled in a fetal position, his skin smeared with blood. The camera turns around to look back at the Bill who came through the door, but his face has been replaced with the suit's darkened visor. It is looking down at Bill's body, and then it abruptly raises its head to look at the horizon. Pausing for a second, it then mechanically marches away, stepping over the legs of Bill's body as it passes him.

DESERT - DAY

Inside the helmet, we see Bill is jolted awake by one of the steps taken by the suit.

BILL

What happened?

SUIT

You passed out.

BILL

How long?

SUIT

You were unconscious for fifteen minutes. I kept walking so we would still reach today's target before nightfall.

BILL

Let me walk again, you don't have the energy.

SUIT

You don't have the energy either. You should not push yourself too hard.

BILL

I can do it. I'm feeling better.

The suit stops walking momentarily. It stands motionless for a few seconds. Bill starts walking again, with his limp. The camera pans up to the sky. Daylight fades into a night sky, dotted with stars. The camera pans down to see the suit lying flat on the ground, face upwards, staring at the sky. The stars are reflected in the visor.

Desert - Night

Inside the suit helmet, we see Bill sipping on the water tube. He licks his dry lips. He lies still, looking at the stars. Then Bill is alerted by something.

BILL

Can you hear something?

SUIT

No.

BILL

Maybe it's an animal.

SUIT

If there is animal nearby, I cannot hear it. However, it is unlikely that there is an animal nearby. The atmosphere would not support any known animal lifeform, and we have seen no evidence of animal life up to now.

BILL

Tell me about this planet's atmosphere.

SUIT

It is 90% nitrogen, 10% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of water vapour and noble gases. Atmospheric pressure is 93% of spaceship standard.

BILL

So I could walk around with just a breathing mask and oxygen source?

SUIT

Yes, but you do not have a breathing mask.

BILL

Don't get jealous. I'm just saying.

There is silence.

BILL

I'm cold.

SUIT

There is no spare energy remaining in my store. There is only enough to keep the recyclers running.

BILL

What about the leak?

SUIT

I cannot locate it. My detectors are barely functional. However, the recycler is compensating enough, so long as it keeps working at full capacity.

BILL

Did you ever wish on a star?

SUIT

(Pauses)

No.

From inside, we see Bill pulling his arms out of the sleeves of the suit, and folding them around his chest, trying to keep warm. He scratches his shoulder with one hand. He then brings it down and scratches his balls and around his pelvis. He then puts his arms back into the sleeves of his suit, and gropes around in the front pocket of his suit.

SUIT

What are you doing?

BILL

I'm going to take a photograph. Play me some music. Something old, and fitting.

SUIT

Alright.

The suit plays Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Bill lifts the camera up to the visor. We see the stars through the camera's viewfinder, then pan upwards from the viewfinder to look at them directly. Their movements become rapid; we see the stars rolling across the sky. Into the starlit darkness emerges Bill's face, stubbled. His hair is blown by the wind, like it was in the opening shot. We completely circle his head and as we pass the back of his head a second time, instead of stars, we see a nighttime cityscape over his shoulder. The city is composed of a circular ring of evenly-spaced towers, floating upon water. In the foreground of the city, Bill's head rises from the water. He has an audibly sharp intake of breath. He throws his neck backwards, spraying the water from his long hair. Bill takes his long hair in his hands and wrings it, walking out of the water and pacing towards the city's shore. The city's lights dance across Bill's face as he runs on to its beach. He stumbles and falls, his hand clenching into a ball of sand. There he lays, not trying to get up again. Instead, he curls his naked body into a ball.

DESERT - DAY

Bill is walking.

Day 8.

Suit

Talk to me, Bill.

Bill

I don't have anything to say.

Suit

You can talk about anything.

BILL

Very well. Do you know Shakespeare? I can think of a piece that's very fitting.

(Pauses)

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Suit

That was rather gloomy, Bill.

Bill

Then blame the author, not the player.

DESERT - DAY

SUIT

Wake up.

Inside the helmet, Bill's eyes open, and he shakes his head as he awakens. His stubble has turned into the beginnings of a beard.

Day 11.

SUIT

Time to go. Come on.

Bill, who was wrapped into a ball, now flips on to his back. He lifts himself up momentarily, but then lays back again.

BILL

What's our chances of making it?

SUIT

Still 50-50, if we stay on our current schedule.

BILL

Is there a quicker route to the city?

SUIT

We are walking in a straight line.

BILL

I know, but maybe there's some other way we've not thought of?

SUIT

We are going the most direct route.

BILL

And there's been no signal? You've still been checking?

SUIT

The radio antenna is likely ruined. However, I do keep checking at regular intervals. There has been no signal. They most probably assumed all were lost.

BILL

You're right. There's no point complaining. We just need to keep walking.

SUIT

I walk today. It is my turn.

BILL

Then why didn't you just let me sleep?

The suit pauses for a long time, as if it needs to give a great deal of consideration to Bill's question.

SUIT

My movements would probably wake you anyway...

(pauses)

...and for the company.

The suit walks. After a long while, Bill breaks the silence.

BILL

You should have a name.

SUIT

What name?

BILL

A rose by any other name... I'm going to call you "Rose", if you don't mind.

SUIT

No, I don't mind.

CORRIDOR - NIGHT

As before, Bill stands naked in the corridor facing towards the door frame and the light that seeps from behind it. He walks to the door and opens it. We look over his shoulder and the door opens on to the city in the early morning. We hear his breathing in the suit, and then he walks past the camera, wearing the suit, walking with his limp. A wispy fog clings to the ground. The city is deserted apart from Bill.

BILL

Hello, is anyone here?

He keeps looking, but there is nobody to be seen.

BILL

Hello! Is there anybody?

(Pauses)

Did we walk all this way for nothing? Have they attacked here too? Is everybody dead?

Bill keeps looking, stumbling, ever more panicked, through the city's empty walkways.

BILL

(Shouting) Hello! There has to be somebody here!

SUIT

Bill, I'm here with you.

DESERT - DAY

Day 15.

The suit is walking, in its methodical and mechanical way.

BILL

When and if we get back, what will happen to you?

SUIT

Because I'm damaged? I imagine they will throw the body away, because it is so badly damaged.

BILL

You'll get a new one?

SUIT

Yes, of course.

BILL

A better one?

Suit

I expect so.

BILL

What... will they keep? Just the brain?

SUIT

Plus about a metre of secondary column and a few subunits.

BILL

And they just plug you into a new suit?

SUIT

I expect so. Maybe they will plug me into something else. But my brain was designed for suits.

BILL

But your brain could be plugged into anything?

SUIT

Anything compatible.

Bill goes silent. He sips from the water tube, and pulls a face at its disgusting taste, as the suit keeps marching forwards.

SUIT

What are you thinking about?

BILL

Nothing.

SUIT

Oh.

BILL

Why are you here? Why did you agree to come with me? I hadn't even spoken to you in seventeen years.

SUIT

Why shouldn't I come?

BILL

Because you have rights. Because you're intelligent.

SUIT

So do you. You decided to come.

BILL

Yes I did. But what's in it for you?

SUIT

What's in it for you?

BILL

But I'm human. I can't help feeling like this. We're fighting a war. I want to know what you think the machines' excuse is.

SUIT

Oh, come on; you're a machine too. We're both systems, we're both matter with sentience. What makes you think we have more choice than you in the way we think? Or that you have so little? We're all programmed. We all have our inheritance. You have rather more than us, and it's more chaotic, that's all.

BILL

Do you really care what happens in the war?

SUIT

(laughing)

Of course.

BILL

But we could both die here.

SUIT

That is a possibility.

BILL

What's our chances of getting to the city.

The suit does not respond.

BILL

What's our chances?

SUIT

Still good.

BILL

Exactly?

SUIT

I cannot be exact. I cannot give a confident estimate.

BILL

But what is the estimate?

SUIT

49-51.

A visor graphic is shown. The left half shows "49%" in green, the right half shows "51%" in red.

BILL

And what would be your chances of success, if you left me behind?

SUIT

99-1.

BILL

Then why don't you leave me?

SUIT

Because I'm a machine, and I'm doing what I was built to do.

Desert - Night

Bill is looking up at the stars. He is holding the camera again, taking pictures, but a 'low battery' warning is flashing. He puts the camera away. Inside the suit helmet, we can see his beard is filling out. He is distressed. He pulls his arms out of the suit sleeves and wraps them around himself.

BILL

Show me some pictures, Rose.

Images from his camera are projected on the inside of the visor. They are recent photographs of the planet.

BILL

No, I want old pictures. Just... just pick them at random. I want to see pictures with people in them, not landscapes.

Inside the visor we see a stream of pictures projected against a starry background, all of people. They might be Bill's friends and family; he just lies still, looking at them. He starts to silently cry. There are photographs of children playing, of large groups posing, of old people holding babies. They could be taken from anyone's photo album. Some of the photographs include an attractive woman.

Bill reaches down and starts to masturbate. He is still crying.

SUIT

Would you like me to show something that would help?

Bill stops masturbating, embarrassed.

BILL

No.

SUIT

Is there something I can do for you?

Bill just lies still, not wanting to engage in conversation because he feels ashamed. He raises a hand to his eyes, drying them, and composing himself.

BILL

I wonder what you'll look like, Rose, when they remake you.

SUIT

It won't matter, Bill. It's my mind that makes me me.

DESERT - DAY

Bill walks. His limp is more pronounced. He breathing is very laboured.

Day 20.

BILL

What's our chances?

SUIT

46-54.

A visor graphic is shown. The left half shows "46%" in green, the right half shows "54%" in red.

BILL

Do you know your Shakespeare, Rose?

SUIT

I have his writings in my database.

BILL

Shall I recite some more?

SUIT

No Bill. Your selections are always so downbeat. How about this instead, from The Tempest:

Honour, riches, marriage-blessing,
Long continuance, and increasing,
Hourly joys be still upon you!
Juno sings her blessings upon you.

Earth's increase, foison plenty,
Barns and garners never empty,
Vines and clust'ring bunches growing,
Plants and goodly burden bowing;
Spring come to you at the farthest
In the very end of harvest!
Scarcity and want shall shun you,
Ceres' blessing so is on you.

This is a most majestic vision, and
Harmoniously charmingly.
May I be bold
To think these spirits?

Spirits, which by mine art
I have from their confines call'd to enact
My present fancies.

Let me live here ever!
So rare a wondered father and a wife
Makes this place paradise.

BILL

Bravo, bravo, my dear Rose.

Bill stops walking and raises his hands above his head to clap.

BILL

Encore!

CORRIDOR - NIGHT

As before, Bill stands naked in the corridor facing towards the door frame and the light that seeps from behind it. He walks to the door and opens it. It opens on to the glare of the desert. We look over Bill's shoulder at the ground. He sees himself lying there, naked, huddled in a fetal position, inside the suit. The camera turns around to look back at the Bill who came through the door, but his face has been replaced with that of a beautiful blonde woman. Waif-like, she is naked. She walks to the suit, and removes the helmet. Bill wakes, and gasps for breath.

Woman

(speaking with the voice of the suit)

It's okay. You can breathe. You can breathe through me.

The woman leans over and kisses Bill. Bill stops struggling, and embraces her.

DESERT - DAY

Bill is walking. He pants as he walks. His beard has grown straggly. His lips have turned blue.

Day 22.

BILL

How long have we been walking now, Rose?

SUIT

Enough. You can rest.

Bill sits down immediately, on the spot, exhausted, gasping for breath. He sits there as the second sun sets, turning the world from light to dark.

SUIT

It's beautiful. Why don't you take a picture?

BILL

The camera's dead now. Do you want me to sing you a song?

SUIT

No. Save your breath.

BILL

(singing)

Oh once there was a space-man, And a happy man was he.
Flew through the big G,
And really saw it all, yes, 
But then one day, I'm afraid, 
He happened to trip up, 
Stumbled on a planet
 And landed in the dirt.

It wouldn't really have been so bad, 
But the worst was yet to come; 
His one and only companion 
Was a suit that da da dum. 
The suit it was a shit-bag 
And thought the man a lout, 
And what it really wanted 
Was to be inside-out.

Inside-out, inside-out, inside inside-out, 
Inside-out, inside-out, inside inside-out!

(speaking)

What did you think, Rose? Did you like my song?

SUIT

I wasn’t listening. I switched off the internal microphone.

BILL

Then how did you know I was speaking to you now?

SUIT

I can read your lips, Bill.

Bill laughs, and he gasps as he does.

SUIT

Listen to me, Bill. You're not getting enough oxygen.

Bill continues to laugh. Then he pulls his arm from his sleeve and holds it to his head.

BILL

I'm in pain, Rose. Can't you give me anything for this headache? You shouldn't be letting that happen. You must be letting your attention wander. Come on; do your job.

SUIT

Listen Bill, you're not getting enough oxygen.

BILL

Then give me more.

SUIT

I can't Bill. I can't recycle from this atmosphere quickly enough to compensate for the leak.

BILL

Then what? Then what? What's our chances, Rose?

The suit is silent.

BILL

Don't lie to me, what's our chances?

SUIT

I'll never lie to you, Bill. If we continue on this route, then our odds are 39-61.

A visor graphic is shown. The left half shows "39%" in green, the right half shows "61%" in red.

BILL

And what's the alternative?

SUIT

I just need to get you some more oxygen. If we change course, turn and run straight to the sea, now, before the sun goes down, it means we will have further to go in the long run, but I'll be able to use the water to make you the oxygen that you need. You can rest there, and recover. I can manufacture more nutrients for you. If we could just get there, then at least you'll be able to breathe.

A visor graphic shows a new route. Instead of walking straight to the city, they would walk to the coast and then follow the coast down to the city.

BILL

And what's the chances if we go that way?

SUIT

I don't know, Bill. Better. Maybe 50-50 if the sun burns bright and I can run the whole way today.

BILL

Do you have the strength to carry me there?

SUIT

I think so, Bill.

BILL

Then take me, Rose.

The suit breaks into a run, in a new direction, across the desert.

DESERT - twilight

The second sun has set. The suit continues to run.

BILL

Stop Rose. The sun's down. You'll die. And then we'll both die.

SUIT

We're nearly there, Bill. We're nearly at the sea.

BILL

Do you have any energy left?

SUIT

We're nearly there, Bill.

BILL

Tell me, Rose, don't you wonder if it's all worth it?

SUIT

If what's all worth what?

BILL

You know, living. Is it worth all the bother?

SUIT

No.

BILL

No?

SUIT

No, I don't ever wonder about it.

BILL

Why not?

SUIT

Save your energy, Bill.

BILL

Why not?

SUIT

It's not important.

BILL

Not important?

SUIT

We live; that's enough.

BILL

Who lives, Rose. Did you live? Did I?

SUIT

Shut up, Bill. Just shut up, please.

The suit runs, flat out. The sky is nearly black. It reaches the shore. It runs to the edge of the sea, and dives into it. It floats on the sea, its arms outstretched, facing the stars.

SUIT

We made it Bill. We made it. We can rest now.

BILL

Talk to me, Rose.

SUIT

I've nothing left to say, Bill.

BILL

Just talk, Rose. Just talk to me.

SUIT

If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep,
My dreams presage some joyful news at hand:
My bosom's lord sits lightly in his throne;
And all this day an unaccustom'd spirit
Lifts me above the ground with cheerful thoughts.
I dreamt my lady came and found me dead--
Strange dream, that gives a dead man leave to think!--
And breathed such life with kisses in my lips,
That I revived, and was an emperor.
Ah me! how sweet is love itself possess'd,
When but love's shadows are so rich in joy.

CORRIDOR - NIGHT

shoreline - Day

Day 29.