EXT. BATTLE LAND, THE GRASSLANDS - DAY
Bailey stands up still sobbing. Joel, Tyler, and Greg kneel down next to Daniel’s unconscious body.
BAILEY
Programmer. Programmer!
THE PROGRAMMER
What happened? We just lost
hundreds of people over here.
TYLER
It was Boss, he just-
BAILEY
Is Daniel ok! Is he ok!
THE PROGRAMMER
I’m checking. What the hell
happened to him?
He got hit by Boss. He has powers now. He can control the Green Sky, at least, I think. It was crazy.
GREG
He took out hundreds of players.
THE PROGRAMMER
He didn’t just take them out. He killed them in real life. I’ve lost life signs for over a hundred people.
BAILEY
What about Daniel!
THE PROGRAMMER
I’m checking. Oh my.
BAILEY
What!
THE PROGRAMMER
His life signs are off the chart.
INT. POD ROOM - NIGHT
The Programmer wheels into the pod room and over to Daniel. His body is seizing and his eyes flutter. The Programmer looks at the monitoring screen.
THE PROGRAMMER
Whatever Boss hit him with, it’s
causing him to shift between the
real world and the simulation.
EXT. BATTLE LAND, THE GRASSLANDS - DAY
BAILEY
How do we fix it?
THE PROGRAMMER
He needs to respawn. You have to
kill him.
Bailey turns towards Joel.
Joel!
Joel nods and pulls out his Glock. He points it at Daniel’s head and pulls the trigger. Daniel’s body vaporizes.
BAILEY
Did it work?
THE PROGRAMMER
Yes, he’s stable.
The squad looks at the sky. A small dot grows nearer.
GREG
He’s not pulling his chute.
JACQUELINE
I got it.
Jacqueline taps her wrist and swipes through the pop-up screen. She taps an object and a giant inflatable cushion appears on the ground. Daniel lands on it and bounces onto the ground. Bailey rushes over to him and hugs him.
BAILEY
I thought I’d lost you.
DANIEL
W-what happened?
JOEL
Dude, you got your ass handed to
you by Boss. Also, you killed
Winston. Again.
DANIEL
The sky, It... you all saw it
right?
THE PROGRAMMER
Boss is coming into his abilities. It’ll only be a matter of time before he realizes his true purpose.
GREG
How much longer on that antivirus?
THE PROGRAMMER
I’m so close. Just need a little
more time.
TYLER
Uh guys.
Tyler points up at the sky and the others look up. A tiny dot grows closer. A man lands on the inflatable cushion. He gets up. It is Daniel. The group stare in shock and disbelief at this other Daniel.
OTHER DANIEL
Hey guys, what happened?
The group doesn't say anything. The other Daniel sees Daniel.
OTHER DANIEL
Who the hell are you?
DANIEL
Who the hell are you?
OTHER DANIEL
I'm Daniel.
DANIEL
No, I’m Daniel.
Both Daniels get up and face each other.
DANIEL & OTHER DANIEL
What in the world!
JOEL
Uhhhhh Programmer, are you seeing this.
THE PROGRAMMER
Yep.
TYLER
What the hell happened?
THE PROGRAMMER
Whatever Boss hit Daniel with, it
caused a glitch which caused two
Daniels to respawn.
JACQUELINE
JOEL
Look, this is easy. We just shoot one of them.
Joel points his Glock at one of the Daniels.
THE PROGRAMMER
Wait, don’t do that!
JOEL
Why?
THE PROGRAMMER
From what I can tell, only one of the Daniel’s is real. The other is glitch. And whatever Boss did to Daniel made it so that if he dies, he dies in real life.
JOEL
So, what you're saying is that if I kill the real Daniel, then I kill him in real life.
THE PROGRAMMER
Correct.
TYLER
So, which one is the real one?
THE PROGRAMMER
I can’t tell. Listen, you all are going to have to solve this one on your own. I have to finish the antivirus.
GREG
Ok, so how do we tell which one is real?
JOEL
Ummmmm okay I know. What was the conversation we had in the library the day of the Green Sky?
DANIEL AND OTHER DANIEL Whether Thor or Hulk was stronger.
Damn, thought that would work. Bailey you try something. You are the one sleeping with him.
Bailey says nothing. She keeps staring at the two Daniels.
DANIEL
Bailey, it’s me. Dan. You know
that.
OTHER DANIEL
Uhhhh no, I’m your Daniel.
Remember when we had our first
kiss? After the military base.
DANIEL
That was me and her.
OTHER DANIEL
No, that was me.
Daniel jumps at the other Daniel. Greg grabs him and holds him back. Tyler holds the other Daniel.
JOEL
Ok, until we can discern which one is the real Daniel, we’ll just call the second Daniel Daniel 2. Okay? Okay.
Greg and Tyler release the Daniels.
JOEL
Okay, we got bigger problems. Boss is a hell of a lot stronger now. How are we on weapons?
TYLER
I got a few knives and a shitload of ammo. Greg?
GREG
Other than my trusty chainsaw, I
got a few rifles and handguns.
JOEL
Great. A lot more than we had
before.
None of which will stop that green lightning shit.
JOEL
Which is why I have a plan.
TYLER
You have a plan?
JOEL
Yes, I have a plan Tyler. You heard the Programmer. We wait until the antivirus is done. When it is, we strike with everything we’ve got.
TYLER
That’s... actually not a bad plan.
GREG
Agreed.
JACQUELINE
There’s still plenty of weapons around here. We should gather some more.
The group nods. Joel hands Bailey his Glock.
JOEL
In case you find out which one is the real one.
The group starts gathering the remaining weapons. Greg and Tyler go in one direction and Joel and Jacqueline go in the other. Bailey and the other Daniels don’t move.
THE OTHER DANIEL
Should we go with them?
DANIEL
You can. I’m not leaving my
girlfriend.
THE OTHER DANIEL
Neither am I.
The Daniels glare at each other.
Jacqueline picks up a double barrel shotgun.
JOEL
Nice.
JACQUELINE
Not really. Two shots and then you have to reload.
JOEL
Yeah, but it looks bad ass.
JACQUELINE
Do you think the Programmer will
finish this antivirus?
JOEL
I once tried to finish a history
paper and the sky turned green.
So, to answer your question, I’m
not sure.
JACQUELINE
What happened the last time you
fought this Boss guy?
JOEL
We all died. Well, we thought we died. We actually got pulled out of the simulation. Well, not all of us. One of our friends, Hudson, was killed in an attack. The Programmer wasn't able to pull him out in time.
JACQUELINE
Whoa. I’m so sorry.
JOEL
Yeah. He was a good guy.
Joel walks over an item card. It has a tank logo on it.
JOEL
Nice.
Bailey has not moved. The Daniels continue arguing.
DANIEL
Oh please, you only THINK you two had sex.
THE OTHER DANIEL
Yes, we did. I remember it
clearly.
DANIEL
Oh yeah, what was our safe word?
THE OTHER DANIEL
Pineapple.
DANIEL
You son of a-
Daniel pounces on the other Daniel and the two begin wrestling. The other Daniel gets on top of Daniel and starts beating him.
THE OTHER DANIEL
You were never good enough for
her. You were pathetic. Couldn’t
even ask her out until the world
ended.
The other Daniel begins laughing maniacally.
THE OTHER DANIEL
You're weak. All of you. Boss will
kill you all. He'll destroy all of
this. You can’t stop him.
The other Daniel's eyes glow green. Green electricity sparkles on his skin. He stands up and holds Daniel by the throat.
CORRUPTED DANIEL
The Refugium is no more.
Corrupted Daniel gives an evil smile and opens his mouth. Green energy prepares to shoot out. Bailey points the Glock and shoots the corrupted Daniel. The corrupted Daniel drops Daniel and turns around.
CORRUPTED DANIEL
Why’d you do that? It's me,
Bailey. Your sweet Daniel.
The others see what is going on and charge towards the corrupted Daniel. Jacqueline swings her katana, but the corrupted Daniel catches the blade with his hand. He slaps her and she flies backward. Joel catches her and the two lock eyes.
Tyler throws a knife. The corrupted Daniel raises his hand and the knife stops a few inches from his body. He rotates his hand and the knife rotates to where it points at Tyler. The corrupted Daniel flicks his hand and the knife flies at Tyler hitting him in the shoulder.
CORRUPTED DANIEL
You were always the weakest of all of us Tyler. It’s a miracle you made it this far. You should have died instead of Hudson.
Tyler yells in anger. He pulls the knife out of his shoulder and charges at the corrupted Daniel. He lunges at him, but the corrupted Daniel grabs him by the throat. He lifts Tyler in the air. Tyler’s face turns blue.
Jacqueline plunges her katana through the corrupted Daniel’s chest. The corrupted Daniel drops Tyler. He walks forward and the Katana slips out of his chest. He turns around unfazed by the wound. He raises a green electrical hand towards her. Joel jumps on his back and puts him in a choke hold.
The corrupted Daniel throws Joel off and he lands on Jacqueline. The corrupted Daniel raises his hands towards the two. Greg swings his chainsaw, but the corrupted Daniel stops it in his hands. He wretches it from Greg’s hands and punches Greg to the ground. He raises the chainsaw and prepares to bring it down on Greg.
There is a gunshot and the corrupted Daniel stumbles back. Bailey points the Glock at him. She continues shooting. The corrupted Daniel continues to stumble backwards. She slightly raises the Glock and pulls the trigger. The bullet hits the corrupted Daniel in the head, and he vaporizes.
The Phoenix Squad remain still as they absorb the situation of what they just experienced. The real Daniel stands up still bloodied and bruised. He walks up to Bailey who points the Glock at him. She hesitates and then drops it. She and Daniel hug and then kiss.
The Phoenix Squad sits around a fire.
GREG
So, what the hell was that? Why
was that Daniel evil?
TYLER
Maybe when he got hit by Boss’ lightning, a part of him got corrupted. The green lightning is the virus. Only makes sense it infected Daniel. When we killed him, the respawning must have split the real Daniel from the infected Daniel.
GREG
This is the craziest thing that’s happened to us so far.
JOEL
Says the guy who had sex with a
syrup bottle.
JACQUELINE
You did what now?
GREG
Nothing.
Daniel and Bailey look at each other and smile.
INT. THE FOCAL - NIGHT
Boss and Adrian stand in front of the Sisterhood, Winston, and other players.
BOSS
Let me make this clear. Before, I said I wanted the Phoenix Squad alive, but I’ve changed my mind. I want them all dead.
CLAIRE
They’ll just respawn.
Boss motions to a table where a variety of green glowing weapons sit.
BOSS
I have imbued each of these
weapons with a special property
that will prevent the Phoenix
Squad from respawning. Now, arm
yourselves.
The Sisterhood, Winston, and the other players arm themselves with the green glowing weapons.
END.