The Deep-Frozen Spark of Lifeby Bertil Falk |
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part 2 of 4 |
FADE TO
INT THE BAR AGAIN
Anthony Bensen: Yes, I remember it now that you mention it. So what?
Hugh Gilbert: The doctor who was in charge kept our sperm deep-frozen all these years.
Anthony Bensen: You’re trying to tell me something.
Hugh Gilbert: He’s a doctor in private practice today.
Anthony Bensen: Wasn’t that sperm supposed to be used in some kind of government research?
Hugh Gilbert: That’s what they said. However, the truth is that Doctor Clark Robeson grasped the opportunity when he was a military medical officer to create his own sperm bank. Do you follow me?
Anthony Bensen: I’m trying my level best.
Hugh Gilbert: You look incredulous, but I can tell you that with that much sperm up for grabs, Clark Robeson just couldn’t resist it. His business is artificial insemination. And makes he money! Oh boy!
Anthony Bensen: Using our sperm?
Hugh Gilbert: I don’t know, but I know that when he became a civilian again, he took our sperm with him. And his business is prospering.
Anthony Bensen: So our sperm, my sperm, may still exist after all these years?
Hugh Gilbert: It probably does, in a deep frozen state.
Anthony Bensen: (Pondering.) And in those days my sperm was very efficient.
Hugh Gilbert: I would believe that, especially when considering the abortion clinic you had a punch-ticket with.
Anthony Bensen: Do you know where this Clark Robeson is nowadays?
Hugh Gilbert: Not far from here, at the corner of Park Avenue South and West 33rd Street. You have something in mind?
Anthony Bensen: Ever heard of the sperm that came in from the cold?
Hugh Gilbert: I thought it was a spy?
Anthony Bensen: Yeah, way back in the 20th century, The Spy who Came in from the Cold, by John LeCarré was the best spy story Graham Greene ever read. We live in the 21st century, when sperm comes in from a freezer.
CUT TO
INT CLOSE UP of a door plate:
Dr. Clark Robeson
Artificial Insemination.
CUT TO
INT OFFICE OF DR ROBESON
Clark Robeson and Anthony Bensen.
Clark Robeson: I understand from your, I would say, frantic telephone call that you once donated sperm? So what can I do for you, Mr. Bensen?
Anthony Bensen: I’ve been told that my sperm is useless today. But that does not pertain to the sperm I donated as a young man.
Clark Robeson: I see what you mean.
Anthony Bensen: I want to use that sperm.
Clark Robeson: Are you married?
Anthony Bensen: No.
Clark Robeson: Sorry. I must stick to principles. I only assist married people.
Anthony Bensen: If being married is a condition, well, that will not be a problem.
Clark Robeson: You intend to get married?
Anthony Bensen: If you insist, yes.
Clark Robeson: You have a roommate?
Anthony Bensen: Not for the time being, but that will not be a problem.
Clark Robeson: I’m afraid there is another stumbling block. The fact is that we do not use that old sperm any more. We have new sperm donors.
Anthony Bensen: But you’ve still kept that sperm, haven’t you?
Clark Robeson: I can’t deny that, but even though it’s still preserved in a deep-frozen condition, we don’t want to use it. We won’t take chances.
Anthony Bensen: In my case, it’s a question of using my own sperm, not someone else’s.
Clark Robeson: It doesn’t matter. And you don’t have a wife, not even a girlfriend. I’m sorry. It’s out of question.
Anthony Bensen: I understand. (Makes an effort to go away, stops half-way.) Where do you keep the sperm?
Clark Robeson: Here. The laboratory and the treatment room are here. Anyhow, what else is there to say? I’m sorry that I cannot help you, Mr. Bensen. As I said, even though your donation still exists in a deep-frozen state, we do not take chances with that old stuff. I’m afraid that’s all.
Anthony Bensen: But I would...
Clark Robeson: Goodbye, Mr. Bensen.
Anthony Bensen: Wait a minute. You help childless married couples.
Clark Robeson: That’s the idea.
Anthony Bensen: Does it mean that my sperm has been used for that purpose?
Clark Robeson: I can’t answer that question.
Anthony Bensen: But you may have used...
Clark Robeson: I don’t know. I have to go to the records to find out, but even so, I’m not permitted to give you that kind of information.
Anthony Bensen: But you have records.
Clark Robeson: Yes. We’ve recently fed all our old records into our new computer system, but they are as classified today as they were thirty years ago. I’m, sorry, Mr. Bensen. That’s the way it is.
Anthony Bensen: Well, you may hear from me again.
Clark Robeson: You’re welcome, but I don’t think there’s any point in it.
CUT TO
INT HALLWAY
Bensen comes through door of the office. He looks about. Catches sight of something.
CUT TO
INT CLOSE UP of another door plate: Laboratory.
CUT TO
INT LONG SHOT of hallway.
No one in sight.
CUT TO
INT LABORATORY DOOR.
Bensen slips into the laboratory.
CUT TO
INT LABORATORY with glass cases, stands filled with test tubes, glass jars etc. There are big receivers of stainless steel.
Eve Nagy, laboratory assistant
Eve Nagy: Who are you?
Antony Bensen: I’m Anthony Bensen.
Eve Nagy: Anthony Bensen, the most eligible...
Anthony Bensen: (Cuts Nagy short.) Himself.
Eve Nagy: No kidding.
Anthony Bensen: No kidding. It’s me in person. I guess you work here.
Eve Nagy: I sure do. I’m a laboratory assistant.
Anthony Bensen: And your name is?
Eve Nagy: Eve Nagy.
Anthony Bensen: Been here long, Mrs. Nagy?
Eve Nagy: Miss Nagy, if you don’t mind. I’ve been here long enough so that I have stumbled over your donation.
Anthony Bensen: So, the donors are no secrets to the employees?
Eve Nagy: Don’t misunderstand me. The names of the donors are encoded. But sometimes — by chance — one may stumble upon a name.
Anthony Bensen: So you stumbled upon my sperm, eh?
Eva Nagy: I just happen to know about your donation. It’s here and that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?
Anthony Bensen: Well, I talked to Dr. Robeson about it. How do you keep my deep-frozen potency?
Eve Nagy: In liquid nitrogen, minus 196 degrees Celcius.
Anthony Bensen: Centigrade? Why not Fahrenheit?
Eve Nagy: We are scientific people, Mr. Bensen. But for your information the liquid nitrogen has a temperature of minus 320.8 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s possible to keep sperm fresh for years in that temperature.
Anthony Bensen: And where do you keep this deep-frozen stuff?
Eve Nagy: Here in these big receivers.
Anthony Bensen: Can I see it?
Eve Nagy: There’s not very much to see.
CUT TO
INT CLOSE UP on Eve Nagy opening the top of one of the receivers. A haze of liquid nitrogen ascends out of it.
Eve Nagy: The truth is that you want me to take it out and give it to you.
Anthony Bensen: Yes.
Eve Nagy: I’m confident that Dr. Robeson won’t permit it.
Anthony Bensen: You don’t have to ask him.
CUT TO
INT ZOOM OUT till both Eve Nagy and Anthony Bensen are seen.
Eve Nagy: He’s already turned you down, hasn’t he?
Anthony Bensen: YOU don’t have to turn me down.
Eve Nagy reaches down into the haze and picks up a stand with vials.
Eve Nagy: Here is your deep-frozen potency, Mr. Bensen. You want to have it?
Anthony Bensen: Yes, I do.
Eve Nagy: But how will you handle it? It has to be rapidly thawed. It must happen within seconds. And when it is thawed it has to be rapidly inseminated. If not, it will rapidly become useless. The truth is that you don’t have the scientific ability to handle this. Not on your own!
CUT TO
INT Robeson enters.
Clark Robeson: What’s going on here? >Eve! What the heck are you doing, Eve?
Eve Nagy: True to my namesake. I’m tempting Mr. Bensen.
Clark Robeson: Stop it! Mr. Bensen has no right to be here. You should not have let him in.
Anthony Bensen: She didn’t let me in. I just walked in. And now she’s teasing me. It’s a hobby some women subscribe to.
Clark Robeson: Just the same. Get out of here!
Anthony Bensen: Take it easy!
Clark Robeson: You’re a trespasser. You’ve no business here.
Anthony Bensen: You very well know that I’ve a good reason to be here.
Clark Robeson: It’s unlawful. And you Eve, put back his sperm into the container and shut it.
Anthony Bensen: Don’t be so excited. Why can’t we discuss the prospects in a calm way like grown-ups?
Clark Robeson: As far as you’re concerned, there are no prospects. I said get out of here.
Anthony Bensen: No.
Robeson loses his temper and rushes at Bensen. A fight takes place. The two men hit each other. Robeson throws Bensen crashing into one of the glass cases. Bensen using martial art methods attacks Robeson and throws him on the table. Stands with test tubes crash. Robeson takes a microscope and throws it at Bensen, but it hits Eve Nagy, who drops the vial with Bensen’s sperm. It crashes on the floor. The two men get to their feet and stare at the broken vial. Both are bleeding from scars. Robeson attacks Bensen once more. This time he slips and falls on the slipperiness of liquids from the broken bottles and vials and glass cases.
CUT TO
INT CLOSE UP of Robeson sitting on the floor, supporting his body with his hands on the floor behind him.
Clark Robeson: Your sperm will go to hell, Bensen.
CUT TO
INT LONG SHOT of the laboratory.
Eve Nagy: I’ll call the police.
Clark Robeson: No. We don’t need the police.
CUT TO
INT CLOSE UP. Robeson gets to his feet and puts the heel of one of his shoes on the frozen sperm.
Clark Robeson: Your old sperm has now been destroyed, Bensen. It’s a piece of crushed ice on the floor.
Anthony Bensen: What have you done?
Clark Robeson: What have I done? What have YOU done! You idiot.
Copyright © 2008 by Bertil Falk
