The Deep-Frozen Spark of Lifeby Bertil Falk |
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conclusion |
CUT TO
INT LABORATORY
Clark Robeson at a working table
Eve Nagy: This is doctor Robeson and this is Jim... what was your last name...?
Jim Brand: Brand.
Eve Nagy: Jim Brand. If he likes it here, he may become a medical doctor?
Clark Robeson: Welcome, Jim. How long will you be here?
Jim Brand: Three days, sir.
Clark Robeson: Good for you. Eve knows everything and she’ll take care of you.
Eve Nagy: I will.
Clark Robeson: If I get a moment to spare, I may join you.
Jim Brand: Thank you, sir.
Clark Robeson: You’re welcome, Jim.
Robeson disappears.
Eve Nagy: I’ll show you our computers.
CUT TO
INT COMPUTER OFFICE
Jim Brand at work alone
CUT TO
CLOSE UP COMPUTER SCREEN
Jim Brand clicks at LIST Of DONORS.
Up comes ABCDE etc.
Jim clicks at B.
Up comes list of names.
Jim clicks at Bensen.
Up comes a list of children who women inseminated with Bensen’s sperm have given birth to.
Rapidly Jim puts a floppy disk into the computer and downloads the list.
CUT TO
INT JIM’s DEN
Jim at his computer
Ursula Brand (Voice.): Jim! Come and eat.
Jim Brand: Later, mom. I’m very busy right now.
Ursula Brand: Dinner gets cold.
Jim Brand: Just a minute.
Jim Brand looks at the screen. Talks to himself.
Jim Brand: Oh My! Look who’s on this list! I rather delete it before I give this to Bensen.
The following cut to the computer screen could be left out to order to keep the viewers in the dark, guessing.
CUT TO THE COMPUTER SCREEN
Ursula Brand. Inseminated May 21,1985. Married to Stan Brand.
Gave birth to a son, Jim Stanley Brand February 15, 1986.
Jim deletes the text.
Ursula Brand: Jim!
Jim Brand: I’m coming.
CUT TO
INT DINNER TABLE
Ursula and Jim Brand
Ursula Brand: Have you finished that job for Cathleen’s employer?
Jim Brand: I completed it one minute ago. Tomorrow I’ll deliver the result to Mr. Bensen.
Ursula Brand: You think he’ll like it?
Jim Brand: I’m sure he’ll love it.
Ursula Brand: What was it all about?
Jim Brand: It’s a list of people he wants to get acquainted with.
Ursula Brand: A list of people?
Jim Brand: People who all have something in common of interest to him, so to speak.
Ursula Brand: And you were able to do that for him? That’s nice.
Jim Brand: I’m not so sure about that, mom.
Ursula Brand: No?
Jim Brand: When it comes to assholes like him you never know, mom.
Ursula Brand: For heaven’ s sake, Jim.
(Pause.)
Jim Brand: Mom.
Ursula Brand: Yes.
Jim Brand: How did dad react when I was born?
Ursula Brand: He was the luckiest man on earth.
Jim Brand: He was?
Ursula Brand: You know how he loved you.
Jim Brand: Yes, mom. I know how much he loved me.
CUT TO
INT BENSEN’S OFFICE
Anthony Bensen and Cathleen Brand
Anthony Bensen: Your nephew is really a whiz kid. He did it. He got the list with all my children.
Cathleen Brand: I told you so. Jim is good.
Anthony Bensen: However, I’ve counted all the names. There are only 196 names on the list.
Cathleen Brand: So what?
Anthony Bensen: On the top of the list it says 197.
Cathleen Brand: Well?
Anthony Bensen: It’s as if one name has been deleted.
Cathleen Brand: Oh, come on. 196 or 197. What difference does it make? It could be a miscalculation.
Anthony Benson: On my part? I doubt it.
Cathleen Brand: On someone else’s part then. Miscalculations can be done in the best of insemination clinics.
Anthony Bensen: You’re probably right. Now, I want you to come with me. I’m going to an address in Queens, where a certain Steven Smith lives. He’s my son.
Cathleen Brand: Take it easy now. Don’t rush into something you may regret afterwards.
Anthony Bensen: I just can’t wait. I’ve to do something. I’ve chosen this Steven Smith, who must be twenty years old by now.
Cathleen Brand: How do you expect the one you look for to be?
Anthony Bensen: Something like your nephew, a straightforward and honest boy or girl.
Cathleen Brand: What if all these 196 or 197 children suddenly want to inherit you?
Anthony Bensen: They’ve no right whatsoever to my fortune. Unless I decide to make one of them my sole heir, none of them will inherit my wealth. All my money will go to a Home for Cheeky Unmarried Secretaries.
Cathleen Brand: I get the message even though it was well hidden.
Anthony Bensen: Do you come with me or not?
Cathleen Brand: Do I have any choice?
Anthony Bensen: Certainly not!
CUT TO
EXT IN QUEENS - DUSK
Anthony Bensen and Cathleen Brand approach a small house displaying an American flag.
Anthony Bensen: It must be here.
Cathleen Brand: Jim lives not far from here.
CUT TO
EXT FRONT DOOR
Anthony Bensen rings the doorbell. Lady opens the door. Cathleen Brand stands behind him. She does not speak.
Mrs. Smith: (Suspiciously.) Yes?
Anthony Bensen: Excuse me. Are you Mrs. Smith?
Mrs. Smith: Yes, what can I do for you.
Anthony Bensen: My name is Anthony Bensen. I want to see Steven Smith.
Mrs. Smith: He is not here any more. Who are you?
Anthony Bensen: I think I’m his father.
Mrs. Smith: His father? But that’s...
Anthony Bensen: His biological father!
Mrs. Smith: You’re the donor?
Anthony Bensen: Yes.
Mrs. Smith: I feared that this would happen some day.
Anthony Bensen: There is nothing to fear.
Mrs. Smith: And now I’m happy that my husband did not live to see this day.
Anthony Bensen: I’m sorry.
Mrs. Smith: Anyhow, Mr. Bensen, you are too late. Too late.
Anthony Bensen: What do you mean?
Mrs. Smith: My husband died in a car accident two years ago. And so did Steven, my son...(hesitating)... your son.
CUT TO
EXT LONG SHOT of graveyard in Queens with Manhattan in the background. EVENING - DUSK
CUT TO
EXT CLOSE UP of grave stone DUSK
R.I.P.
Howard Smith
1959 - 2001
Steven Smith
1982 - 2001
CUT TO
EXT DUSK
ZOOM OUT from a grave stone. Anthony Bensen standing in front of the stone together with Cathleen Brand
Cathleen Brand: How do you feel?
Anthony Bensen: I’ve a very strange feeling. I’m looking at the tombstone of my son, who died when he was nineteen years old.
Cathleen Brand: No, Anton. Steven Smith was not your son. He was the son of Howard Smith and here they are buried together. I’m sure that his mother is very upset after your sudden intrusion. It wasn’t necessary. If you persist in carrying on this, you should be more careful, be much better prepared and not so crude. And I don’t think it was a good idea to come here to look at this grave. What significance does it have?
Anthony Bensen: I had to come. I had to see for myself.
Cathleen Brand: And now that you’ve seen, what’s the use?
Anthony Bensen: It’s not useless, if that’s what you mean.
Cathleen Brand: Does it change anything?
Anthony Bensen: No, it doesn’t change anything at all. But it strengthens my determination. You’ve not understood that I myself have changed profoundly ever since I discovered all this. My life seems to have been completely misspent now that I’ve realized what I’ve thrown away over the years. All the foolish parties, this meaningless life, the idle amusement and empty pleasure. I could have known this boy. You say he wasn’t my son. But he was created out of me. He inherited traits from my ancestors through me. He could have been my son. I could have been his father.
Cathleen Brand: Remember that he inherited straits from his mother as well. And from a cultural point of view, Howard Smith was his father, not you. Steven Smith just happened to be a consequence of insemination. You only supplied some genes. And when you found him, he was only a name on a list.
Anthony Bensen: The list, yes. I still have the big list with the names of all children who are my offspring. I’m determined. I will continue the search and I will find someone of my own flesh and blood to be my heir.
CUT TO
EXT LONG SHOT - EVENING -DUSK
Anthony Bensen and Cathleen Brand walk away from the grave.
CUT TO A BIG MAPLE TREE - EVENING -DUSK
Jim Brand comes out from behind the tree trunk and looks after them.
CUT TO
INT INSEMINATION LABORATORY
Eve Nagy and Clark Robeson
Eve Nagy: I’ve bad news for you.
Clark Robeson: Speak out.
Eve Nagy: Remember the boy who was here...
Clark Robeson: Yes.
Eve Nagy: He was most probably not here in order to find out if he should study for the medical profession.
Clark Robeson: No?
Eve Nagy: I think he was here for another reason.
Clark Robeson: What do you mean?
Eve Nagy: Someone has tampered with one of the computers. It’s recorded that a list of children has been copied onto a floppy disc.
Clark Robeson: That’s serious. What list is stolen?... Wait a minute. Don’t tell me that it is Anthony Bensen’s?
Eve Nagy: I’m afraid you’re right.
Clark Robeson: This will have grave consequences.
Eve Nagy: I guess so.
Clark Robeson: That son of a bitch. Is the list still in the computer? Did he delete it?
Eve Nagy: It has only been copied. And even if it had been deleted, we have the backup. What are you going to do?
Clark Robeson: I don’t know. How many children are they?
Eve Nagy: 197.
Clark Robeson: Bensen must have sent him. Maybe the parents should be warned. Or maybe I should dog Bensen’s heels. Let’s take a look at the list.
CUT TO
Eve Nagy and Clark Robeson looking through the list
CUT TO the list
ZOOM INTO the list. They read.
Ursula Brand. Inseminated May 21,1985. Married to Stan Brand. Gave birth to a son, Jim Stanley Brand February 15, 1986.
CUT TO Eve Nagy and Clark Robeson
Eve Nagy: I can’t believe it.
Clark Robeson: You better believe it.
Eve Nagy: The boy is the son of Anthony Bensen.
Clark Robeson: That’s what it says.
Eve Nagy: How is this possible? Bensen coming here, trying to get hold of his sperm. One of his offspring gets in here pretending that he will get a glimpse of his future profession. Is it a coincidence?
Clark Robeson: If it’s a coincidence it must be a meaningful one. The kind of coincidence that Carl Gustav Jung called a synchronicity. But I don’t think that this is a coincidence or a synchronicity. There must be a causal connection between the two events. The question is what kind of connection.
Eve Nagy: You still think that Bensen sent the boy?
Clark Robeson: That’s the first thing that comes to my mind, but there may be other explanations. And I better find out what it is. To begin with, I’ll do what I said.
Eve Nagy: What was that?
Clark Robeson: I’ll dog Bensen’s heels and, come to think of it, you’ll take a closer look at the boy.
CUT TO
INT JIM’S DEN
Jim sits opposite the screen of his computer, browsing through the List. He talks to himself.
Jim Brand: It’s hard to believe that Bensen has that many children. And that I’ve 196 brothers and sisters. Bensen doesn’t know that I manipulated the list. I’ve edited it to my advantage. Thanks to him I’ve enough money to supervise his research. My new credit card will do it. If he only knew what I’m up to...
Ursula Brand: (Voice only.) Jim, food is ready.
Jim Brand: I’m coming.
Music:
Preferably: Sporting Dynasty 1
The stage is set for things to come. End of pilot.
END TITLES
Copyright © 2008 by Bertil Falk
