MAN-LIKE MACHINES: art / enlightenment / the future

In 1999, Joe and George wrote this script for X-COM as their first attempt at collaborative writing.

	So, here are some various scenes from the script for X-COM:UFO Defense. They are in order, but they do not start at the beginning, nor end at the end.
	EXT. MEXICAN DESERT DUSK - CRAZY-LONG TRACKING SHOT Barren, slightly hilly Mexican desert stretches for miles in all directions. A broken down adobe shack is seen with two figures leaning against the side, smoking. One of the figures, TONY, grinds out his cigarette and looks around. He then goes inside the shack. The camera follows him inside which reveals the inside of the shack to conceal a complex freight elevator that the man steps on and pushes a button on a nearby control panel causing the elevator to descend. After descending for a while the elevator door opens to reveal the Storage Area. The Storage Area is full of crates and boxes and various pieces of equipment for moving them. TONY approaches a desk off to the side of the room where the QUARTERMASTER sits checking items off on his handheld PDA. TONY Hey Ralph. QUARTERMASTER Oh, Tony. Hey. TONY Did those new 30 38's come in yet? The QUARTERMASTER scoffs. QUARTERMASTER Yeah sure they did. TONY walks on down a hallway to the Control Room. The control room is a large hexagonal room with various view screens and consoles around the edges. There is a large main screen at the far end. In the center there is a smaller hexagonal raised platform with different panels and screens. There are two technicians at consoles on either side of the outer wall. In the central raised area there is a middle aged Mexican man, MR. ZAPATA. TONY approaches him. TONY Hey Boss, I’m back. ZAPATA Alright. Emilio is having some trouble with the short-range radar. Would you check that out? TONY Sure. TONY walks over to the console where EMILIO is pushing buttons in a frustrated manner. The camera now follows MR. ZAPATA as he looks over several status reports detailing international UFO sightings per region. After glancing over these for a while he looks at the main radar screen. ZAPATA stands up. ZAPATA Mr. Goddard, take control. I’ll be back. The other man turns acknowledges him and walks to the center of the room, taking ZAPATA’S place as ZAPATA walks out toward the Science Lab Area. He walks down some branching hallways and enters a science lab which appears to be under construction. He is walking towards an opposite door when DR. WAGNER, an old white haired scientist, calls to him. WAGNER Mr. Zapata! Excuse me! Could you spare a moment? ZAPATA Well I need to get a report from- WAGNER (interrupting) I just need to talk to about some personnel issues. ZAPATA Alright what do you need? WAGNER Well you see so far only half of my staff has arrived. We are missing both biochemists, our string theorist, and the entire Plasma Dynamics team except for Petersen here. ZAPATA We are understaffed in every department. These things just take time. Their conversation continues but the camera pans to focus on one of the scientists who is setting up some sort of workstation. The camera shows the audience the lab then follows the SCIENTIST as he leaves the lab through another door. The SCIENTIST walks though the Engineering Area, which is a room with fabrication equipment and computers, and some robotic building machines that are lying dormant at the moment. There are a few engineers manning machines or working on computers. The SCIENTIST nods to one as he passes through. He goes through a small doorway and a short hall that opens into a small but complicated airlock. The door shuts behind him. He comes out the other side into a huge, high-ceilinged hangar with three large aircraft inside it, and, high up in the ceiling, two huge iris-valve doors which lead up to the surface. Two of the craft are Interceptors - futuristic anti-UFO fighter craft - and the other craft is the Skyranger - a futuristic troop-transport plane. The SCIENTIST walks up to a MECHANIC who is working on one of the Interceptors, and he pats him on the shoulders. The MECHANIC looks up. MECHANIC Hey, Phil, what’s happening? PHIL Wagner wanted me to talk to you about the new specifics for the vectored-thrust modifications we’re wanting to do. MECHANIC Sure, let me take a look at those. The MECHANIC takes a clipboard from the scientist and looks over it. The camera pans away from those two men, past some other mechanics working on different things, and then comes to three men talking, leaning against the other Interceptor. The three men are TOMMY, a young British pilot, HIRO, an older Japanese pilot, and DAVID, an Israeli pilot DAVID No, I’ve never flown a CH-27. TOMMY Yeah, because the Interceptors work similarly but they’re much easier to fly. DAVID I know what you mean. Like last week, when I was up trailing that type one, the thing was all over the damned place but I was able to keep on it pretty well. TOMMY Yeah, those little bastards are the worst, ‘cause they’re so bloody fast. DAVID Hiro, man, you were real lucky when that one shot at you. They both look at HIRO. HIRO Yes I was. The situation is becoming more serious very quickly. I was not expecting to have to evade fire. TOMMY It’s even harder when we’re not allowed to fire back. HIRO I am sure that will change in time. DAVID We bring ‘em down, and Gus and the boys take ‘em out. You guys gonna be ready for that, Bart? DAVID shouts across the hangar to BART REDDING, the Aussie Skyranger pilot who is just climbing out of the door of the Skyranger. BART nods and waves to DAVID, not really having heard what was shouted, and the camera follows him out of the hangar towards the troop quarters area. BART enters into the bunkroom where AUGUSTA, a middle aged German woman, SHAKA, a young African man, and JENKINS, a very young American man, are hanging out talking. SHAKA …so that’s what I told him - hey there Red. BART Shaka. Ladies. JENKINS Yeah, eat a dick Red. BART Oh, I’m sorry Jenkins. BART laughs with them as he walks through. He continues into a living area where most of the other operatives are hanging out in groups. BART walks past the group that is working out, where VLADIMIR VORCHENSKY, a gruff Russian man, and EDUARDO CHEVAL, a huge black Brazilian, are lifting weights. BART Hey, Ed, you need a spot there mate? Yeah, just kidding. VORCHENSKY stops benching and sits up. VORCHENSKY Hey Red, you’re gonna be up for poker tonight, right? BART Just remember to bring the money you’re gonna owe me. JOSEPHINE MIRARD, the sexy French operative, is working out on her own, and she smiles to BART as walks out of the room. JOSEPHINE stops working out and stands up, walks past VORCHENSKY and throws her towel on him. He just grins at her and throws it on the ground. The camera pans to the side, moving over to the group which is watching TV. It consists of MELINDA GOINGS, a butch American woman, RICHIE, a young American man, ORTEGA, a short hairy Mexican man, CLAIBORNE, a middle aged Canadian man, and YUAN, a young Chinese man. They are watching the news, which is talking about alien abductions. ORTEGA They don’t know the half of it. MELINDA Change the channel; I’m sick of listening to this shit. BART Yeah, turn it to football, would you? BART sits down with them, and MELINDA gets up and the camera follows her past PASCAL, a young Italian man, ADOLF, a middle aged German man, and BORSZCZ, a middle aged Czech man. They are playing cards. MELINDA continues over to the group of operatives who are sitting around a table and in nearby chairs, talking. She stands nearby as they continue their conversation. PORTIA MILLER, a pretty young British woman, LAMAR EBBINGHOUSE, a middle aged black American, JOE STONE, a young American man, and HAROUF AL SAID, a young Arabic man, are sitting at the table, while BUSH, another American man, sits in a nearby chair listening. LAMAR has his wallet out and hands it to PORTIA. LAMAR He’s turning nine in two months. That’s what I’m getting those days off for – gonna go see him and his Mom in Tallahassee. PORTIA That’s so nice. What’s your wife’s name? LAMAR Simone. PORTIA I wish I had a family back home waiting for me. HAROUF rolls his eyes cynically. The camera moves past the group to a door that is ajar and reveals a small equipment room with racks of rifles. Against the far wall, GUS MCCALLISTER, a very serious looking American man, is sitting on a crate cleaning a rifle. He looks up towards the open door, listening to the conversation outside. GUS’ attention is broken by a loud warning klaxon, and he looks up. He stands and puts the rifle back on the rack.