HACKERS
Written by
Rafael Moreu
SEATTLE 1988
EXT. FRONT YARD. DAY.
Slow motion. Armed troops in black uniforms pour out of
unmarked vans and swarm across a lawn in a middle class
residential neighborhood. Yuppie neighbours look on in
shock, confused. Two of the troops carry a battering ram
to the front door of a white two-storey house. A leashed
Rottweiler snarls and barks. In position, their comrades
point M-16s into first-floor windows, ready to be
ambushed. Pan into a window in the kitchen. An
attractive woman in her thirties is making breakfast.
Now, in regular motion, the battering ram breaks open the
front door. The woman, startled, drops her spatula.
INT. MURPHY RESIDENCE. DAY.
WOMAN
(screams)
Oough! Ahhh!
SECRET SERVICE AGENT
(to others)
Upstairs.
Troops pour into the house.
WOMAN
What's going on? What's the matter?
Who are you?
The troops, and one or two trenchcoated agents, continue
entering the house and heading upstairs, still with rifles
ready.
WOMAN
Hey!
Upstairs, crowded in the narrow hallway, the troops
descend on a bedroom.
WOMAN
(off camera)
Dade! Dade!
AGENT
Knock it down.
The battering ram knocks down a bedroom door.
INT. COURTROOM.
The prosecutor, a woman of about forty, gives her closing
argument blandly. She'd rather be somewhere else.
PROSECUTOR
The defendant, Dade Murphy, who calls
himself "Zero Cool", has repeatedly
committed criminal acts of a malicious
nature. This defendant possesses a
superior intelligence, which he uses to a
destructive and antisocial end. His
computer virus crashed one thousand five
hundred and seven computer systems,
including Wall Street trading systems,
single handedly causing a seven point drop
in the New York Stock Market.
As she speaks, the camera pans across the court, panning
down and stopping on the defendant: eleven year old Dade
Murphy.
Fast forward to the sentencing.
JUDGE
Dade Murphy, I hereby fine your family
forty-five thousand dollars...
The court gasps, Dade's father winces
JUDGE
...and sentence you to probation, under
which you are forbidden to own or operate
a computer or touch tone telephone, until
the day of your eighteenth birthday.
Now Dade winces, in fact we almost expect him to cry.
Opening credits roll to a backdrop of Dade and his family
and lawyer fighting through a gaggle of journalists and
photographers, in slow motion, and driving away.
SEVEN YEARS LATER.
Aboard a jetliner, Dade Murphy is staring blankly out the
window, wearing headphones. Exterior view from the
aircraft of approaching New York City. The view becomes a
direct overhead of the buildings and streets of the city,
which then metamorphoses (through animation) into chips
and digital signals on a stylised computer board. The
title logo.
INT. DADE'S ROOM.
Segue to Dade Murphy, now 18, wearing mirrorshades indoors
and at night, working on his new computer. His mother
calls him.
MRS. MURPHY
(off camera)
Dade?
DADE
Yeah, mom?
MRS. MURPHY
What are you doing?
DADE
(after a semi-pregnant pause)
I'm taking over a TV network.
MRS. MURPHY
Finish up, honey, and get to sleep. And happy
birthday.
INT. OTV STUDIOS.
In the OTV Studios security department, a phone rings, a
man answers nervously.
NORM
Security, uh Norm, Norm speaking.
DADE
Norman? This is Mr. Eddie Vedder, from
Accounting. I just had a power surge here at
home that wiped out a file I was working on.
Listen, I'm in big trouble, do you know
anything about computers?
NORM
Uhhmmm... uh gee, uh...
DADE
Right, well my BLT drive on my computer just
went AWOL, and I've got this big project due
tomorrow for Mr. Kawasaki, and if I don't get
it in, he's gonna ask me to commit Hari
Kari...
NORM
Uhhh.. ahahaha...
DADE
Yeah, well, you know these Japanese management
techniques.
(pause)
Could you, uh, read me the number on the
modem?
NORM
Uhhhmm...
DADE
It's a little boxy thing, Norm, with switches
on it... lets my computer talk to the one
there...
NORM
212-555-4240.
Dade goes to work on OTV. He closes his eyes and a flurry
of half-second video clips from old TV shows flashes by.
He opens his eyes. His screen says ENTERING ARPS 331 and
then wipes to another screen. Automated Record Playback
System. There is a graphic representation of the
station's automatic videotape changer. Dade turns on his
TV set and turns to OTV. It is running a Rush-Limbaugh
type TV show.
COMMENTATOR
(on TV)
...so-called American Indians, Latinos and
Blacks come from a genetically mediocre
stock...
DADE
Yak yak yak. Get a job!
Dade presses a key on his keyboard. The Video Changer
diagram lights up in red. At the station, a robotic arm
selects a videotape from a huge rack of thousands of
tapes. The "America First" tape slides out of the VTR and
is replaced by an episode of "The Outer Limits" as Dade
watches, drinks Coke and smiles, full of himself.
TV
You are about to experience the awe and
mystery, which reaches from the inner mind,
to... The Outer Limits.
DADE
Yesssss!
Suddenly, the ARPS screen is replaced by an ominous
message:
U HAVE TREAD
UPON MY DOMAIN &
MUST NOW SUFFER
WHO R U?
DADE
Hey! What?
He starts to type ZERO...
DADE
No, wait.
Dade types:
CRASH OVERRIDE.
WHO WANTS TO KNOW?
Dade's screen dissolves into:
ACID BURN
DADE
Unbelievable. A hacker!
Then the screen changes again:
ACID BURN
SEZ LEAVE B 4
U R EXPUNGED
"The Outer Limits" suddenly flashes off.
DADE
Yeah, okay "Acid Burn", that's enough.
Dade starts hacking. Apparently so does Acid Burn. The
tape changer machines at OTV are swamped, sometimes
fighting over the same tape. The program on TV keeps
changing.
The message comes up on Dade's computer screen:
I WILL
SWAT U LIKE
THE FLY U R
More dueling tape changers, more half second video clips.
Another message.
I WILL
SNAP YOUR BACK
LIKE A TOOTHPICK
As the duel continues, Dade types back a taunt of his own:
MESS WITH THE BEST
DIE LIKE THE REST
One last from Acid Burn:
YOU ARE
TERMINATED
Then his own computer confirms for him that the connection
is terminated.
DADE
Shit on me!
Next morning. Mrs. Murphy is unpacking. Dade emerges
from his room in a housecoat. He makes a beeline (dodging
moving boxes) for the fridge.
MRS. MURPHY
Good morning. You unpack your stuff yet?
DADE
Mm-hmm.
MRS. MURPHY
Up all night again, huh?
DADE
Can this wait until both my eyes are open,
please?
Dade's mom picks up the phone, mocking a call to the
building superintendent.
MRS. MURPHY
Can I cut the electricity to his room so he'll
sleep normal hours? He's been playing with
his computer all night for a solid week.
(pause)
Well yes, he could be playing with himself.
Mmm hmm. Yes I'll ask. Dade, you like girls,
don't you?
DADE
Well, yeah, I just haven't found one as
charming as you yet.
MRS. MURPHY
You haven't been doing anything stupid, right,
Dade?
(louder)
Right, Dade?!
DADE
Right, mom. And I'm still a virgin!
Dade slams the bathroom door. Mrs. Murphy quickly checks
his room. Dade is showering.
MRS. MURPHY
(angry, through the bathroom door)
You hooked it up to the phone, didn't you?
Dade! Turn the shower off! You screw up
again and you won't get into college!
She pauses and regains some of her cool.
MRS. MURPHY
I'm sorry we had to move in your senior year.
I didn't want to sell the house but I had to
take this new job, you know that. You're
going to love New York, it's the city that
never sleeps!
EXT. NEW YORK CITY.
We enjoy several views of New York, the morning sun
shining between skyscrapers, neon signs that stay lit day
and night. Dade emerges from the ground-floor apartment
on rollerblades and skates down the street to school.
INT. HIGH SCHOOL.
At school, hundreds of teenagers converse, move around,
head to class. Dade looks lost among them. He walks up
to a skinny latino kid in a faux leopard-skin muscle
shirt. The kid is on a pay-phone, speaking in Spanish.
DADE
Excuse me.
KID
Yo, chill man, I'm talking to Venezuela.
DADE
Yeah, I'm sorry, I was just looking for the
principal's office.
KID
Sorry, I can't help you, okay?
Now Dade really looks lost. He heads off in search of the
office.
INT. OFFICE.
Dade is filling out a form.
GIRL
Do you have your transfer forms?
Dade stares at her, stunned. The girl has a decidedly
unconventional appearance, yet is a first-rate beauty.
GIRL
It's a relatively straightforward question.
Dade notices her lips, and in his imagination launches
into a flurry of half-second video clips and art bites,
all involving lips and kissing.
GIRL
Do you speak English?
DADE
Sorry, you wanted...?
GIRL
I wanted transfer forms.
He gives them to her.
GIRL
Thank you.
She starts leaving. He doesn't.
GIRL
Are you coming?
Dade clues in, gets up and follows her. She takes him on
a brief tour.
INT. HIGH SCHOOL CORRIDOR.
GIRL
The gym is through there, and the cafeteria is
through there.
DADE
Great. Cool.
(pause)
What's your name?
GIRL
Kate. Kate Libby.
They arrive at a classroom.
KATE
Here's your class.
DADE
My... class. You mean I'm not in your class?
KATE
No, you're not in my class.
Kate starts away.
DADE
Give me time!
A guy in the halls notices Dade.
GUY
Hey, you new?
DADE
Yeah.
GUY
Tell him about the pool, Kate.
DADE
Pool?
KATE
Yeah, there's an Olympic size swimming pool up
on the roof. Take the stairs over there.
DADE
Yeah! Sure.
Kate starts away again.
DADE
Thanks!
EXT. SCHOOL ROOFTOP.
Dade enters, and lets the door slam behind him. Across the
roof, a dozen or so geeky looking kids are looking over
the edge, apparently trying to get someone's attention.
One of them notices Dade.
GEEK
Hey! Hold the door!
He's too late. The geeks look pretty angry. There is no pool.
Dade
(realizing he's been had)
No pool.
Dade tries the door but it's locked. He hammers it with
his palm, furious. Above, thunder roars and it begins
raining.
INT. SCHOOL CORRIDOR.
Dade is soaking wet, and trudges among his classmates
leaving a muddy trail. A three-second video clip rolls
through his mind: it is a screaming woman being strangled
in an old movie. He walks past Kate, who giggles.
KATE
Oh my God! He found the pool.
INT. SCHOOL COMPUTER LAB.
The kids are all seated at computer workstations. Dade
is hacking, the latino kid who was on the phone to
Venezuela is running a demo involving dirty-dancing
skeletons.
TEACHER
I'm Mr. Simpson. And I'm subbing for Ms.
Bayliss who was arrested at the anti-fur
rally. I know some of you kids got computers
at home. But these are school property,
people, and I don't want to see any gum stuck
to 'em. Chapter 1. Designing graphical
interface...
Meanwhile, the latino kid notices that Dade has been
looking up Kate Libby's school records. And hacking
himself into her advanced English class.
EXT. SCHOOL QUAD.
It's after school, kids are heading home, Dade too. The
latino kid notices Dade and catches up with him.
KID
So, um, what's your interest in Kate Libby,
eh? Academic? Purely sexual?
DADE
Homicidal?
KID
What's up, man? I'm the Phreak!
The name rings no bells with Dade.
PHREAK
The Phantom Phreak? The king of Nynex? I
know you play the game.
Another kid, younger and a little geeky looking, runs up
to Dade and The Phantom Phreak.
JOEY
Phreakphreakphreakphreakphreak,
dudedudedudedudedudedude... I gotta...
PHREAK
(slaps Joey)
Joey, Joey...
JOEY
What? whatwhatwhat?
PHREAK
One more "dude" out of you and I'm gonna slap
the shit outa you, okay? Now I'm trying to
save you from yourself but you gotta stop
letting your mama dress you, man!
(To Dade):
Check it...
Phreak starts to hand Dade a flyer.
JOEY
(interrupting)
I need a handle, man. I don't have an
identity until I have a handle.
PHREAK
You know, you're right about that.
(to Dade)
Check it, Friday.
Phreak hands Dade a flyer for Cyberdelia.
JOEY
Alright. How about the Master of Disaster,
huh?
PHREAK
You're hopeless, man, utterly hopeless.
Phreak walks away.
JOEY
Ultra Laser.
(desperate)
Doctor Doom!
EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREET VILLAGE. NIGHT.
Dade rolls in on rollerblades. Street vendors hawk
computer parts and bootleg software. A bootleg music
vendor catches Dade's attention.
CEREAL
Check this out, each and every one of you.
Compilation tape, of my own making. I call
this the "Greatest Zooks Album". Featuring
artists like, well I got some Hendrix on
there, some Joplin, Mama Cass, Belushi... all
great artists that asphyxiated on their own
vomit!
The small crowd around him finally gets the joke.
CEREAL
Can't get this in stores, man, I made it!
Dade wheels into Cyberdelia, which just happens to be
equipped with a ramp down to its main floor for the
benefit of skaters. The place pounds with loud, bassy
techno music and coloured light. Video monitors with
psychedelic patterns complete the atmopshere. There is a
video game with a huge screen. Phreak is at a pay phone.
OPERATOR
(on phone)
Please deposit five dollars for the first
minute.
Phreak holds a small box up to the receiver, presses a
button, and the box emits a series of tones.
OPERATOR
Thank you.
PHREAK
Nonono, thank YOU!
Dade checks out the scene. Kate is playing the big video
game. Dade skates up to her. She loses her last man.
She's got the high score, in fact her name dominates the
top-10 list.
DADE
That's a nice score for a girl.
KATE
(irritated by Dade's presence)
Think you can do better?
DADE
I'll give it a shot.
Kate yields the controls to Dade, who begins playing.
Kate's boyfriend looks on from a mezzanine several feet
above.
CURTIS
Is this kid bothering you, Kate?
DADE
Sorry, can I get some room here?
CURTIS
Yeah.
(to Kate)
Why don't you come up here?
Kate obliges and joins Curtis. Dade continues playing.
He plays brilliantly. The game is a flashy 3-D high-speed
chase game with lots of surprises. Dade loses, but his
high score is about to come up.
CURTIS
He's good!
Dade's score comes up. He's in the #1 position. Phreak
is amazed.
DADE
(to Kate)
Well, it looks like I'm on top.
Kate, defeated, leaves. Curtis follows.
PHREAK
Congratulations. No one's ever beat her
before. You just made an enemy for life.
(to someone else)
Boy meets world. Let's go?
EXT. OUTSIDE CYBERDELIA. NIGHT.
Kate and Curtis are sucking face, oblivious to the busy
world around them. Dade and Phreak watch, more than a
little disgusted.
DADE
Who's that?
PHREAK
Curtis.
DADE
And what's he do?
PHREAK
That's it, you're looking at it, he just looks
slick all day.
Kate and Curtis start to take off on Curtis' motorcycle.
Kate and Dade make eye contact briefly. The motorcycle
speeds off into the night.
INT. DADE'S ROOM.
The clock says it's 4:16. As the camera pans up to Dade,
it changes to 4:17. Dade is hacking again. It's the
school's administration system. Dade schedules a test of
the school sprinkler system for 9:30am.
INT. HIGH SCHOOL CORRIDIR.
Dade stands alone in the hall, watching the time closely.
Phreak rounds a corner and meets Dade.
PHREAK
What's up?
Dade doesn't answer. He watches the time a couple of more
seconds, then opens an umbrella. Immediately the fire
sprinklers turn on. Phreak starts getting drenched. He
realizes what is happening.
PHREAK
(amused and highly impressed)
Oh my God. You...
A bell rings and students pour out into the halls by the
hundreds. They're all being showered on. A tall
cheerleader bounces by Phreak, pushing her pom-pom in his
face.
PHREAK
Way cool!
(to Dade)
You saw that?
Dade nods in the affirmative.
Kate walks up to Dade, also understanding what has
happened.
KATE
What the hell is going on?
DADE
Pool on the roof must have a leak.
Kate gives Dade a look that could kill and skulks away.
Dade walks away under his umbrella, smug and dry.
PHREAK
Man, oh man, this is gonna be good.
INT. HIGH SCHOOL CLASSROOM.
Dade, Kate, and a couple of other students are writing on
the chalkboard. Kate finishes first.
KATE
If God gave men brains bigger than dogs',
they wouldn't hump womens' legs at cocktail
parties.
The class giggles.
KATE
Ruth Libby.
TEACHER
I'm not so sure your mother qualifies as a
significant author of the twentieth century.
KATE
Her last book sold two million copies.
CLASS
(almost in unison)
Woooooo!
The teacher reads Dade's quotation.
TEACHER
"Angel-headed hipsters burning for the ancient
heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in
the machinery of the night."
DADE
That's Ginsburg.
TEACHER
Nice. Very nice.
KATE
He's not in this class.
DADE
I said give me time.
KATE
He's not enrolled in this class.
TEACHER
Well, he's on my list.
Kate leaps across a desk and snatches the list from the
teacher. Dade is on it. She gives Dade another filthy
look, both Dade and the teacher just shrug. The teacher
moves on to Cereal.
TEACHER
"Of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind
the most?"
CEREAL
Ozzy Osbourne!
TEACHER
You. What is your name?
The teacher grabs the list back from Kate.
CEREAL
Uh, Emmanuel Goldstein, sir?
TEACHER
You, however, are not on my list.
CEREAL
(in mock shock)
Whoa, this isn't wood shop class?
The class cracks up. Kate and Dade exchange looks as the
teacher escorts Cereal to the door.
INT. DADE'S PLACE.
MRS. MURPHY
How was school?
DADE
(eating)
Hmmm.
MRS. MURPHY
What did we learn in school today?
DADE
Revenge.
MRS. MURPHY
Aaaah. Did we meet someone special?
DADE
No. No one special.
MRS. MURPHY
Okay, I gotta get back to work. I'm gonna be
home late. And would you try and please fill
these out?
She indicates a pile of college applications.
MRS. MURPHY
Oh don't worry, it's only the rest of your
life.
She starts to the door.
DADE
Right. Anything else, you want me to mow the
lawn? Oops, forgot. New York. No grass.
MRS. MURPHY
And unpack.
She leaves. Dade looks over the college applications for
a second, and pushes them away. He'd rather not do this
now.
INT. CYBERDELIA.
Dade, Phreak and Joey are sitting at a table. Joey is
giving a dull account of his hacking adventures. Enter
Cereal.
CEREAL
FYI, alright man, you can sit at home, and do
like absolutely nothing and...
Cereal pauses, notices Dade, whom he has never met
formally but seen around, and then continues.
CEREAL
...and your name goes through like seventeen
computers a day. 1984, yeah right man, that's
a typo. Orwell's here and now, he's living
large. We have no names, man, no names. We
are nameless. Can I score a fry? Thanks.
PHREAK
Meet Cereal Killer. As in Froot Loops? But
he does know things.
Dade and Cereal acknowledge each other.
JOEY
Anyways, guys, guys, listen, listen to me.
I'm in this computer right? So I'm looking
around...
PHREAK
(to Cereal)
D'you bring those Crayola books?
CEREAL
Oh yeah, technicolor rainbow.
Cereal brings a book out of his bag.
CEREAL
Green one.
JOEY
What is that, what is that? Lemmie see. What
are these?
DADE
International Unix Environments.
Cereal pulls out another book.
CEREAL
Luscious orange?
Cereal hands the orange book to Phreak.
DADE
Computer security criteria, DOD standards.
Another book comes out.
DADE
The Pink Shirt Book, Guide to IBM PCs. So
called due to the nasty pink shirt the guy
wears on the cover.
Another one.
CEREAL
What's that?
DADE
Devil book. The Unix Bible.
Another one.
CEREAL
What's that?
DADE
Dragon book. Compiler design.
Cereal brings out a large red book.
CEREAL
Oh yeah? What's that?
DADE
The Red Book. NSA Trusted Networks.
Otherwise known as the Ugly Red Book that
won't fit on a shelf.
By now Phreak has made a pile of the books, and the Red
Book looks wholly out of place on the top of the pile.
JOEY
Anyway, anyway, guys guys guys, come on. I'm
in this computer, right. So I'm looking
around, looking around, you know, throwing
commands at it, I don't know where it is or
what it does or anything. It's like, it's
like choice, it's just beautiful, okay. Like
four hours I'm just messing around in there.
Finally I figure out, that it's a bank.
Right, okay wait, okay, so it's a bank. So, this
morning, I look in the paper, some cash
machine in like Bumsville Idaho, spits out
seven hundred dollars into the middle of the
street.
CEREAL
That's kinda cool.
JOEY
That was me. That was me. I did that.
DADE
You did this from your house.
Joey takes a drag from his cigarette and just nods, with a
big grin on his face.
PHREAK
What are you, stoned or stupid? You don't
hack a bank across state lines from your
house, you'll get nailed by the FBI. Where
are your brains, in your ass? Don't you know
anything?
CEREAL
Stupid, man. It's universally stupid.
JOEY
You guys always think I should know
everything, and you never tell me anything.
Am I right?
PHREAK
Alright, what are the three most commonly used
passwords?
JOEY
Love, secret, and uh, sex. But not in that
order, necessarily, right?
CEREAL
Yeah but don't forget God. System operators
love to use God. It's that whole male ego
thing.
PHREAK
Look, you wanna be elite? You gotta do a
righteous hack. None of this accidental shit.
CEREAL
Oh yeah, you want a seriously righteous hack,
you score one of those Gibsons man. You know,
supercomputers they use to like, do physics,
and look for oil and stuff?
PHREAK
Ain't no way, man, security's too tight. The
big iron?
DADE
Maybe. But, if I were gonna hack some heavy
metal, I'd, uh, work my way back through some
low security, and try the back door.
CEREAL
Yeah but oh man,
(starts rubbing one of his
own nipples in mock sexual
excitement)
wouldn't you just love to get one of those
Gibsons, baby? Ooooh!
PHREAK
Yo, who ate all of my fries?
Cereal pauses a second.
CEREAL
(pretending to be enraged)
Joey?!
JOEY
What, no, nonononono, I didn't touch your
fries. I did not touch your fries.
PHREAK
Cereal, man, you owe me a pack.
CEREAL
It was him, man!
PHREAK
You're psyched. You need to lay off of that
shit.
CEREAL
(to Joey)
I'm gonna hit you!
INT. JOEY'S ROOM. NIGHT.
Joey is hacking. A Gibson. He gets in. Using GOD as a
password. Nice graphics represent the machine's vast
systems.
JOEY
YES! Home run, home run. You and me Lucy.
We're gonna show em baby.
INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.
A system operator at Ellingson Mineral Corporation, a
large oil company, notices the intrusion. He gets on the
phone.
INT. PLAGUE'S LOFT.
The place is a mess, typical of the hacker bachelor pad.
Empty chinese food boxes and Jolt Cola cans litter the
place.
Plague's phone is ringing, waking him.
HAL
(on phone)
Mr. Belford?
PLAGUE
(sleepily)
My name is the Plague.
HAL
Uh, Mr. The Plague, uh, something weird's
happening on the net.
PLAGUE
As in what, you hapless techno-weenie?
HAL
Uh, the accounting subdirectory in the Gibson
is working really hard. We got one person
online, the workload is enough for like ten
users. I think we've got a hacker.
INT. JOEY'S ROOM.
JOEY
Okay, okay, we need proof that we were here.
Right, uh...
Joey starts looking for something to download as proof he
was there.
JOEY
Yeah, Garbage, okay, give me Garbage.
He selects a Garbage file and starts the download. His
screen becomes a psychedelic mind trip.
INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.
The Plague glides in on a skateboard. Short and thin,
bearded, about 35 but still trying to be a teenage
anarchist, yet not consciously realizing he sold out that
ideal years ago.
PLAGUE
Never fear. I is here.
HAL
I've narrowed the activity to terminal 23.
PLAGUE
Let's echo 23, see what's up.
The huge monitor lights up with the display of the
Gibson's resources. Hal and the Plague watch. Plague
starts "surfing" around.
PLAGUE
"God" wouldn't be up this late.
He sees what Joey is downloading. A file called
"Garbage".
PLAGUE
Shit! Get me the switching control center.
He puts on a telephone headset. Hal dials for him.
PLAGUE
(into the headset)
I need to trace a call that's in progress.
INT. JOEY'S ROOM.
Joey is sneaking a cigarette while his computer downloads.
There is a knock at the door. It's his mother.
JOEY
(whispering)
Shit!
(loudly, panicked)
Uh yeah... hold on, mom. Hold on one second.
He puts out the cigarette and sprays the room with air
freshener.
JOEY'S MOM
I mean it! Open the door, Joseph.
JOEY
Yeah, uh, yeah, okay.
He unlocks the door. Joey's mom bursts in. He's still
clambering into bed.
JOEY
There you go.
JOEY'S MOM
Bed. Sleep. Now!
She turns off the computer. It wasn't finished
downloading.
JOEY'S MOM
Sweet dreams, Joey.
INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.
HAL
He's gone!
PLAGUE
Did you get a trace?
OPERATOR
(on phone)
Yeah, we got him.
PLAGUE
(smiling)
Good.
INT. JOEY'S ROOM. DARK.
Joey takes a disk out of his computer and stashes it in an
air vent in the cieling.
INT. TENEMENT HALLWAY.
Phreak, Dade and Cereal are rollerblading through the
halls of an apartment building that is filled with
graffiti. It appears that most of the spray-bomb art was
created by the residents.
CEREAL
Nice place, huh.
Cereal knocks on a door spray-painted "Hackstock"
DADE
You heard of a hacker called Acid Burn? You
know who he is?
PHREAK
(surprised)
No, don't know who he is.
(to Cereal)
Do you?
Cereal shrugs.
A hooded black man in his early twenties answers the door.
PHREAK
Nikon! Lord Nikon this is...
Phreak motions to Dade.
DADE
(finishing)
Crash Override.
NIKON
Never heard of you. Done anything?
DADE
No.
Nikon slams the door.
PHREAK
Come on!
Phreak knocks the door again. Nikon opens again.
NIKON
What, your mom buy you a 'Puter for Christmas?
(to Phreak)
Does he know anything?
PHREAK
Sure man, he's elite.
NIKON
(pausing, checking Dade out)
Come in.
CEREAL
Uh... Nikon, can I... can I crash at your
place tonight?
NIKON
(removing his hood)
Again?
(pauses, then grins broadly)
Yeah sure.
Nikon and Cereal do a fake Kung-fu move together.
BOTH
Ooka-pow!
INT. NIKON'S PLACE.
Later, the four are watching TV. On TV is a secret
service agent giving a news interview.
GILL
(on TV)
Hackers penetrate and ravage delicate public
and privately owned computer systems,
infecting them with viruses, and stealing
materials for their own ends. These people,
they are terrorists.
CEREAL
Agent Richard Gill, You're hacker enemy number
one, man. You're a boner!
NIKON
Yo, showtime, showtime!
DADE
What's going on?
ALL BUT DADE
(in unison)
4...3...2...1...
Cheesy music plays. Razor and Blade, androgynous asian
brothers, have a community access TV show. "Wayne's World"
in eye liner.
RAZOR
Welcome to our show!
BLADE
Hack the Planet!
ALL BUT DADE
Hack the Planet!
RAZOR
For those late night hacks...
BLADE
Jolt Cola! The soft drink of the elite
hacker.
DADE
Who are these guys?
NIKON
That's Razor and Blade.
DADE
Razor and Blade.
Now Razor and Blade have a disconnected payphone in their
studio.
RAZOR
That's right, this IS a payphone.
RAZOR AND BLADE
(in unison)
Don't ask.
BLADE
As you can see, this is just a simple
microcassette recorder. (shows the
microcassette recorder) Hook it up to the
phone and drop in five bucks in quarters.
RAZOR
Record the tones that the coins make. And
hang up and get your money back!
BLADE
And never again have to pay for a service that
would be dirt cheap...
RAZOR
...IF it weren't run by a bunch of
profiteering gluttons!
BLADE
Remember, hacking is more than just a crime.
It's a survival trait!
INT. JOEY'S PLACE.
Joey is taking a shower, wearing walkman headphones,
singing along with the music. Joey finishes, turns off
the shower, still singing. He draws open the shower
curtain to find two secret service agents with shotguns
pointed at him.
SS AGENT
FREEZE!
JOEY
What? What? What did I do? What?
The agents drag Joey, still naked and wet, out of the
shower and into the living room. His mother is
hysterical..
JOEY'S MOM
Joey!
AGENT
Get in there! Sit down!
ANOTHER AGENT
Stay down there. Don't move.
Joey is pushed into a sofa. He sees his computer, "Lucy",
being carried away.
JOEY
Lucy!
Joey dives onto the agent carrying Lucy away, losing his
towel. His mother, seeing his exposed buttocks, is
shocked.
JOEY'S MOM
JOEY!!!
EXT. OUTSIDE JOEY'S PLACE.
A police-type vehicle pulls up. It's Agent Richard Gill
of the Secret Service. He stops a young agent for an
update.
GILL
How's it going, Ray?
AGENT RAY
It looks good, sir. We've got an uncorrupted
hard drive.
GILL
In English, please. I didn't spend ten years
protecting the president so I could finish my
career feeling like an idiot.
AGENT RAY
I'm sorry, sir. We caught him by surprise, so
we don't think he had time to erase his
computer files.
GILL
Good. Good man. Alright, let's finish up
here, and take him in for interrogation.
AGENT RAY
Alright sir.
They split up. A reporter and her sound man run up to
Gill.
REPORTER
Agent Gill, can you spare a moment of your
time?
GILL
Why of course, Jennifer.
While Jennifer conducts the interview, agents lead Joey
into an unmarked car. His mother is behind him, still
hysterical.
JOEY'S MOM
Joey!
JOEY
Mom...
JENNIFER
Just how dangerous are hackers?
GILL
Well, hackers penetrate and ravage delicate
public and privately owned computer systems,
infecting them with viruses...
JOEY'S MOM
Joey!
GILL
...and stealing sensitive materials for their
own ends. These people, they're terrorists...
JOEY'S MOM
Joey!
INT. ELLINGSON MINERAL CORPORATION.
A tall, impressive building. A cavernous atrium filled
with busy people.
INT. ELLINGSON BOARDROOM.
A handsome looking woman in her late thirties walks in.
MARGO
Good morning, Gentlemen. Please be seated. I
see we're still dressing in the dark, Eugene.
PLAGUE
(to Margo)
Once again, don't call me Eugene.
(to the board)
A recent unknown intruder penetrated, using a
superuser acount, giving him access to our
whole system.
MARGO
Precisely what you're paid to prevent.
PLAGUE
Someone didn't bother reading my carefully
prepared memo on commonly used passwords.
Now, as I so meticulously pointed out, the for
most used passwords are love,
(gesturing lewdly)
sex, secret and...
(eyeing Margo)
...God. So would your holiness care to change
her password?
Margo just blinks prettily.
PLAGUE
A hacker planted the virus.
MARGO
Virus?
PLAGUE
Yesterday, the ballast program for a
supertanker training model mistakenly thought
the vessel was empty, and flooded its tanks.
MARGO
Excuse me?
PLAGUE
(as if to a child)
The little boat flipped over. A virus planted
in the Gibson computer system claimed
responsibility.
MARGO
What, it left a note?
Plague hits a button on a remote control, and the virus -
a long haired male model - appears on a large screen, in
psychedelic colors. The virus speaks in a hammy Italian
accent.
VIRUS
Unless five million dollars are transferred to
the following numbered account in seven days,
I will capsize five tankers in the Ellingson
fleet.
BOARD MEMBER
Is that...
PLAGUE
(interrupting)
That is the virus. Leonardo da Vinci. The
problem is we have twenty six ships at sea and
we don't know which ones are infected.
DUKE ELLINGSON
Well then, put the ships' ballasts under
manual control.
PLAGUE
There's no such thing anymore, Duke. These
ships are totally computerized. They rely on
satellite navigation, which links them to our
network, and the virus, wherever they are in
the world.
MARGO
So what are we supposed to do?
PLAGUE
Well luckily, you have a gifted and talented
security officer. I traced the hacker's call.
The secret service picked him up this morning.
I'll just search his files for the original
virus code, and then I can eliminate it.
INT. ELLINGSON MINERAL ATRIUM.
Plague, Margo and two suits from the boardroom are riding
down an escalator.
SUIT #1
Now look, now we expect you to get onto this
right away, yeah?
PLAGUE
Yeah!
SUIT #1
Well, how soon?
PLAGUE
Well, we're working on it as fast as we can.
This is a very common occurrence in
corporations as large as ours. You have
nothing to worry about.
SUIT #2
Yeah, right.
SUIT #1
Now, you're sure about that, Mr. The Plague?
PLAGUE
Yeah, the Secret Service is helping us out 100
percent. Okay?
SUIT #2
Yeah.
SUIT #1
Okay.
PLAGUE
We'll be in touch. Talk to you later.
The suits get off the escalator, Plague and Margo take the
next one down.
MARGO
What the hell was that all about?
PLAGUE
I had to move fast. The hacker copied my
garbage file.
MARGO
What?
PLAGUE
I created Mister da Vinci so we could call in
the Secret Service. So they'd arrest the
hacker, sieze his equipment, things that we
can't do on our own.
MARGO
I don't want to go to jail for this.
PLAGUE
Relax. Think about the 25 million dollars.
MARGO
But you've created a virus that's going to
cause a worldwide ecological disaster, just to
arrest some hacker kid?
PLAGUE
Basically, uhmm, yeah. Mmm hmmm.
MARGO
Jesus. You know, you're sick, Eugene. You...
PLAGUE
Sh, sh sh sh sh.
Plague stops a passing secretary and snatches a piece of
paper from her hand.
PLAGUE
I'll take care of this.
SECRETARY
Alright, sir.
PLAGUE
I can cancel it any time. I don't need any
program code. But it's the perfect cover, to
confiscate the disc and find out how much of
that garbage file has been copied.
MARGO
Get it!
(walking away)
Why did I ever trust you?
(going back up the escalator)
Get the file. Otherwise you'll lose all your
toys.
INT. SECRET SERVICE INTERROGATION ROOM.
Joey is distraught over the dismantling of Lucy. Agent
Ray examines the Mac's innards.
GILL
Did you find the program for the virus on any
of the discs we confiscated?
PLAGUE
No. He's either very smart or very stupid.
GILL
Then he stashed it somewhere, or he has an
accomplice. We'll release him until his
indictment, keep tight surveillance, and see
if he leads us to your disc.
EXT. OUTSIDE JOEY'S PLACE.
Joey's apartment building is an L-shaped skyscraper about
30 storeys high, unimpressive by New York City standards.
Two Secret Service agents are staking Joey out in a car
outside.
SECRET SERVICE AGENT BOB
Unit 3 outside suspect Joey Pardella's
apartment. Nothing to report. Suspect still
grounded... by his mother.
His radio crackles.
AGENT BOB
Listen to this bullshit.
(he reads)
"This is our world now. The world of the
electron and the switch, the beauty of the
baud. We exist without nationality, skin
color, or religious bias. You wage wars,
murder, cheat, lie to us and try to make us
believe it's for our own good, yet we're the
criminals. Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is
that of curiosity. I am a hacker and this is
my manifesto." Huh, right, manifesto? "You
may stop me, but you can't stop us all."
AGENT RAY
Now that's cool.
AGENT BOB
Cool?
AGENT RAY
Yeah, cool.
AGENT BOB
You think it's cool?
AGENT RAY
(not caring for where Bob is going
with this)
It's cool!
AGENT BOB
It's not cool. It's commie bullshit!
INT. HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' ROOM.
Dade, Cereal and Phreak check their faces. Cereal brushes
his teeth.
CEREAL
(to Phreak)
So what do you think, can I crash at your
place tonight?
DADE
What is it with this guy?
PHREAK
His parents missed Woodstock and he's been
making up for it since. Hey, you hear about
Joey's bust?
CEREAL
Yeah. Probably had something to do with that
bank in Idaho.
PHREAK
Do you think he could hack a Gibson?
DADE
Did you talk to him?
PHREAK
Nope. His mom said he's grounded for his next
three lifetimes.
(imitating her)
He isn't to consort with his computer friends.
(himself again)
The secret service is really out to get him.
(changes the subject)
Hey there's a big party tonight, you wanna go?
Dade shakes his head.
PHREAK
It's at Kate's...
Dade just smiles.
PHREAK
Thought so!
Cereal and Phreak leave, Cereal dancing.
INT. PLAGUE'S OFFICE.
Plague is wearing a VR helmet and gloves, playing some
sort of action game. He is unaware that Gill has just
entered the room.
GILL
What the hell are you doing? Plague!
He thumps the VR pedestal.
GILL
PLAGUE!
Plague finally notices, and takes off the helmet.
PLAGUE
Gill.
GILL
I think we've got something.
Gill hands Plague a folder. It has the logo of Stanton High.
PLAGUE
Uuugh, hard copy.
Plague looks it over and recognizes a name.
PLAGUE
Dade Murphy.
INT. DADE'S PLACE.
It's after school. Dade's just unlocking the front door,
only to find a Secret Service agent behind it. And one
behind him in the hallway. Both point pistols at him.
AGENT RAY
Secret Service!
AGENT BOB
Don't move!
They slam Dade against a wall and start frisking him.
DADE
Christ! What is the...
AGENT BOB
Shut up!
DADE
What are you doing, man? Get off me!
They lead him into his room and throw him down on the bed.
Plague is there.
AGENT BOB
Just sit in the bed and keep your hands where we can see
them.
PLAGUE
The year was 1988. And this nasty virus
crashed fifteen hundred systems in one day.
Dade has a flashback.
DADE
Fifteen hundred and seven.
AGENT RAY
(astounded)
Wow, huh!
GILL
It got you seven years probation. No
computer, couldn't even use a touch tone
phone.
PLAGUE
Must have been hell, huh? Zero Cool?
(getting to the point)
A virus has been planted in the Ellingson
Mineral computer system. You were our prime
suspect, till we trashed your stuff and found
no trace of it.
GILL
However, we have come to believe that one Joey
Pardella is involved in this Ellingson virus.
He or perhaps his accomplice has a disk that
Mr. Belford needs to disable that virus. We
want you to help us find it.
PLAGUE
Gill.
The three secret service agents leave Plague and Dade
alone. Plague shuts the door behind them.
PLAGUE
(of Gill)
Loser.
(continues)
I can't believe you were only eleven when you
wrote this. It's quite an impressive virus.
Dade, I know how you might feel about narking
on your friends, but, we're hackers. For us,
there's no such thing as family and friends.
We're each our own country, with temporary
allies and enemies. I'd like to make a treaty
with you.
DADE
I'm sorry. Who are you?
PLAGUE
I'm the one who understands you. Now, can we
be allies?
DADE
Nah. I don't play well with others.
Plague is holding Dade's baseball bat. He shrugs, turns
around, and smashes Dade's stereo to smithereens.
DADE
Shit! Come on!
PLAGUE
Watch which friends you do play with. A
record like yours could land you in jail, get
you kicked out of school, no colleges would
take you. No future. Exiled from everyone and
everything you love.
Plague replaces the baseball bat.
PLAGUE
I'll be in touch.
Plague leaves.
PLAGUE
(to agents)
I'm fine.
(to Dade)
Oh, and Dade, try to stay out of trouble, okay?
DADE
Blow me.
PLAGUE
(smiles)
Thank you!
INT. DADE'S ROOM. LATER.
Dade is lying in bed. A door opens. It's Kate. She opens
her motorcycle jacket, revealing her bare breasts. Dade
starts to get up, she pushes him back own on the bed and
starts kissing him passionately. He responds in kind.
Then, Gill, Agent Ray and Agent Bob burst into the room,
handcuff him, break the two up and haul them away as
Plague looks on smugly.
Then Dade wakes up in a sweat. It was only a dream. He
regains his composure. The sound of New York City at
night surrounds him. He goes back to sleep.
INT. KATE'S PLACE.
The party. A large, well-furnished apartment in an
elegant old skyscraper in the fashionable part of town.
Teenagers dance and writhe to loud, bassy music. Dade and
Phreak arrive.
PHREAK
Her mom makes big bucks writing self-help
books for women. Stuff like "Women Who Love
Men Who Are Emotional Amoebae"
Phreak shows Dade the book.
DADE
That explains a lot.
Kate, the lovely and gracious hostess, mingles and greets
her many guests, not noticing Dade or Phreak. Cereal
offers Dade a drink from a plastic bottle. Dade, not
knowing what he's in for, drinks. Nikon is the Deejay.
PHREAK
(loudly)
Yo, what's up Nikon!
NIKON
Yo Phreak! Dade, man, you made it.
(to Cereal)
Houston, we have liftoff, 3 o'clock,
check it... don't look right away, what's
wrong with you! Look at her man...
Nikon and Cereal are checking out a truly fine babe.
NIKON
(concentrating)
Look out, man. Lisa Blair, 26 East 7th St.,
apartment 16, 555-4817, BOOM!
DADE
How did you know that?
NIKON
I got photographic memory.
(Smiling)
It's a curse!
(Into the crowd)
Lisa!
LISA
Hey, how do you know my name?
Cereal and Phreak move through the crowd. Cereal notices
something.
CEREAL
Oooo, look at that pooper man. Spandex, it's
a privilege, not a right!
INT. MEETING HALL.
A 12-step recovery group. Addicts, including Joey
Pardella, sit in a semi-circle.
VICKIE
Hi, my name is Vickie, and I'm an addict.
HANK
Hi, my name is Hank, and uh, I'm an addict.
JOEY
(smoking)
Uh, my name's Joey but, uh, I'm not an addict.
Joey takes a drag. The group reacts indignantly.
JOEY
Nono, really, really, listen, listen to this.
I got in trouble with my computer, right,
okay, and my lawyer told the judge that I'm an
addict, but I'm not addicted to my computer!
No really, really,
Joey takes another drag.
JOEY
I'm not an addict. I'm not, I'm not.
Joey downs his coffee.
JOEY
Can I get some more coffee?
INT. KATE'S BEDROOM.
Phreak is checking out Kate's computer.
PHREAK
Yo. Check this out guys, this is insanely
great, it's got a 28.8 BPS modem!
DADE
Yeah? Display?
CEREAL
Active matrix, man. A million psychedelic
colors. Man, baby, sweet, ooo!
NIKON
I want it.
PHREAK
I want it to have my children!
CEREAL
Yeah, I bet it looks crispy in the dark.
PHREAK
Yo, hit the lights.
Dade hits the lights. The four ooo and ahh at
its graphics. Kate and Curtis walk into the
room and hit the bed, unaware of the hackers
in the corner by her laptop.
DADE
(whispering)
Shit!
CEREAL
Shh!
DADE
Was that her top?
PHREAK
One-handed!
CEREAL
Difficulty rating?
NIKON
Seven. Wow! Burn's wetware matches her
software!
DADE
(loudly)
Burn!
Their cover is blown.
NIKON
What the f...
Cereal hides under the desk.
KATE
Hey! What are you guys doing in here?
PHREAK
I'm sorry, we're sorry, just checking out your
fly laptop!
NIKON
Yeah, it's hyped, you know... you're in the
butter zone now, baby.
PHREAK
(smiling)
Uh-huh!
KATE
(her tone changing)
Yeah, it is...
(she comes over to it)
I wanna triple the RAM...
CURTIS
Oooh, Leopard Boy... AND the Decepticons. Uh,
Kate, Kate, you're not going into that
computer shit now, right?
Kate barely acknowledges him.
CURTIS
(cynically)
Humm, yeah.
Curtis leaves.
CEREAL
(mockingly)
Right.
DADE
The sensitive type.
Kate finally notices that Dade, whom she didn't invite, is at her
party and in her bedroom.
KATE
What is he doing in here?
PHREAK
Relax, Burn, he's my guest.
DADE
Burn. You're Acid Burn. You booted me out of
OTV!
KATE
What?
DADE
I'm Crash Override.
KATE
You're the moron that's been invading my turf?
CEREAL
Whoa, whowhowhowhoa.
(motioning to Dade)
Crash...
(motioning to Kate)
and Burn!
Cereal breaks into hysterics.
INT. PLAGUE'S LOFT.
Plague is hacking.
MARGO
Murphy kid turn you down?
PLAGUE
(in a hammy southern accent)
I disguised myself as an Alabama State Trooper
and penetrated the FBI NCIC.
MARGO
Pervert! What are you talking about?
She turns her back to him. He does up the zipper on her
dress. Their relationship becomes apparent.
PLAGUE
The FBI computer holds files on twenty million
Americans. I just hacked into it.
MARGO
Congratulations.
PLAGUE
From here I got access to every piece of data
ever stored on Dade Murphy's parents. His
parents separated five years ago, reconciled
two years later, filed for divorce last year,
custody battle, boy chose to go with his
mother. Hmm.
MARGO
So?
PLAGUE
So, we get the mother, we get the boy.
INT. KATE'S ROOM.
Kate's room is empty, and Dade can't resist going back in
to play with her laptop, which far outclasses his own,
some more. On the balcony, Kate notices and comes back
in.
KATE
What the hell are you doing?
DADE
It's cool, I'm just looking.
KATE
It's too much machine for you.
DADE
Yeah?
Dade starts working furiously on it.
KATE
I hope you don't screw like you type.
Dade slows to a two-finger keypoke, not missing a beat.
DADE
It has a killer refresh rate.
KATE
P6 chip. Triple the speed of the Pentium.
DADE
Yeah. It's not just the chip, it has a PCI
bus. But you knew that.
KATE
Indeed. RISC architecture is gonna change
everything.
DADE
Yeah. RISC is good.
They uncomfortably exchange glances.
DADE
You sure this sweet machine's not going to
waste?
KATE
Crash Override. What was it. "Mess with the
Best, Die Like the Rest?"
DADE
Yeah.
KATE
Are you challenging me?
DADE
Name your stakes.
KATE
If I win, you become my slave.
DADE
(intrigued)
Your slave?
KATE
(realizing his mind is in the
gutter)
You wish. You'll do shit work, scan, crack
copyrights, whatever I want.
DADE
And if I win?
KATE
(giggles)
Make it my first born.
DADE
Make it our first date.
KATE
You're not gonna win.
DADE
And you have to smile.
KATE
I don't do dates. But I don't lose either, so
you're on.
MONTAGE: Scenes of Dade and Kate preparing for the challenge.
PHREAK
(voice over)
So here's the deal. The chosen contest: To
hassle Secret Service Agent Richard Gill, and
get one back for Joey.
Dade spray paints camouflage onto his keyboard.
NIKON
Our decisions are final, by a vote of 2 to 1.
No appeals.
Kate rifles through her address book.
CEREAL
The duel will last until we declare a winner.
Dade plays quick-draw with disks.
PHREAK
Use only the dialups, access codes and
passwords in your collection. Can't ask for
any help from us.
Dade, having mastered the quick-disk-draw in the mirror,
looks satisfied.
DADE
(into mirror)
Talking to me?
All five are together at the beginning of the challenge.
PHREAK
Any questions?
KATE
Yeah. Whose gonna notify his next of kin?
Dade and Kate shake hands and the challenge begins.
EXT. NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC PHONE.
At a public phone, Kate hacks into Concourse Bank, looks
up Richard Gill, and has his credit card maxed out.
"Destroy Card" is the final instruction. The other
hackers look on.
INT. RESTAURANT.
A waiter runs a credit card through a validation machine,
sees the message and returns to the patron's table. It is
Richard Gill. Right there, the waiter chops the
MasterCard in two with a pair of scissors, to Gill's
horror.
EXT. NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC PHONE.
Dade hacks into an electronic personal ads system and
changes an ad.
KATE
Alright, he's in the personal ads.
(reading Dade's ad)
"Disappointed white male, crossdresser, looking
for discreet friend to bring dreams to
reality. Leather, lace, and water sports.
Transvestites welcome."
INT. GILL'S OFFICE.
At his office, Gill is on the speaker phone with someone
responding to the ad.
GILL
I... I... I know where you can stick it... I
know where you can stick it...
Gill punches a button on the phone, another caller comes
on.
CALLER
...wanna lick your earlobes... I wanna lick
your lips... I wanna lick your toes... I
wanna lick your ankles...
GILL
Awww, yeah, you wanna lick something? Lick this.
Gill punches another button, another caller comes on.
CALLER
That's why they call me Stallion...
GILL
Aw, that's disgusting!
Gill punches another button.
CALLER
My heart is steaming for you...
Gill punches another button. He is becoming quite flustered.
CALLER
...spank you with my...
GILL
Aww, Spank your ass...
He punches another button.
Another caller comes on, and Gill hangs up the phone,
disgusted, offended, and distraught. The Plague is there,
witnessing the whole thing.
PLAGUE
Animal!
EXT. EMPIRE STATE BULDING OBSERVATION DECK.
It's Kate's turn. Kate is hacking into the Department of
Motor Vehicles. She adds 113 traffic violations and DUI
offender status to Gill's record.
EXT. NEW YORK CITY, BUSY STREET.
Gill is being arrested quite forcefully by a NYC police
grunt. He is thrown onto the hood of his car and
handcuffed.
GILL
Hey! Hey, ow! Do you know who I am? Do you
know who I am?
EXT. CHINATOWN, PUBLIC PHONE.
Dade's turn. He hacks into the Secret Service's personnel
file, and changes Gill's status to "Deceased."
INT. GILL'S OFFICE.
EMPLOYEE
(on phone)
This is accounting, sir. You enquired about
an employee of ours, an Agent Richard Gill?
GILL
Yes.
EMPLOYEE
Our records indicate he's deceased.
GILL
I'm what?
INT. CYBERDELIA.
The five are playing pool.
DADE
Dead.
PHREAK
Dead?
DADE
Yeah. Like Rigor Mortis, Habeas Corpus.
NIKON
Very impressive.
CEREAL
Super hero like even.
KATE
Yeah, whatever. What's the score?
Phreak clicks the pool scoreboard so it says 60 - 60.
PHREAK
Tie.
The other four protest.
PHREAK
Due to Mr. Gill's untimely demise and
everything, I guess you two will have to
improvise the next round.
DADE
Right. If I win, you wear a dress on our
date.
KATE
And if I win, so do you.
Dade thinks about it a second.
DADE
Deal.
Kate gives Dade a look that says "I'm going to hold you to
that."
INT. KATE'S BED. NIGHT.
A shapely figure wearing a red leather legless suit with a
zipper that goes all the way around the crotch. Hands
caress the sultry figure as the camera pans up. The body
belongs to Dade Murphy.
Kate wakes up gasping. It was only a dream. She pants
and regains her breath. Then she smiles. She enjoyed
that dream.
KATE
Oooohhhh...
INT. HIGH SCHOOL HALLWAY.
Kate, at her locker, stops Dade.
KATE
Dade. I didn't know your size, so I guessed.
She opens her locker to reveal a red leather bustier and
bikini bottom.
KATE
You are man enough to stick with the deal,
aren't you?
Dade walks off.
INT. DADE'S PLACE.
Dade signs an electronic pad for a package from UPS. He
takes the package.
DADE
Thanks.
He closes the door and opens the package. It is a laptop
computer, clear plastic shell, full colour screen. Very
high-end, perhaps the equal to Kate's machine. He turns
it on. The Plague's face, distorted, appears. It speaks.
PLAGUE
You wanted to know who I am, Zero Cool? Well
let me explain the New World Order.
Governments and corporations need people like
you and me. We are samurai. The keyboard
cowboys. And all those other people out there
who have no idea what's going on are the
cattle. Mooo! I need your help, you need my
help. Let me help you earn your spurs. Ahh,
think about it. Enjoy the laptop, "Cool"!
Tell me where the disk is.
Plague's face vanishes.
INT. JOEY'S ROOM.
Joey lies on his bed with a comic book, looking
despondent. His mother enters.
JOEY'S MOM
You look pitiful. Okay, okay, you're not
grounded anymore.
She kisses his forehead and leaves. He springs back to
life, gets up and gets the disc from where he stashed it
in the air vent.
EXT. PARK.
Joey is nervously waiting on a park bench. Phreak arrives.
Agents Ray and Bob still have Joey staked out.
PHREAK
Yo, what's up?
JOEY
Dude dude dude, I gotta talk to you a minute,
listen listen listen. I copied a garbage file
from...
PHREAK
Big deal. A garbage file's got shit in it,
Joey, come on.
JOEY
Nono, it's like hot or something. I don't know.
PHREAK
Joey, a garbage file holds miscellaneous data.
Junk. Bits of stuff that's been erased, man.
JOEY
I copied it from Ellingson, okay? They're
asking me about it, alright? Will you take a
look for me?
Joey hands Phreak the disc. Agent Bob is taking pictures,
and Phreak notices.
PHREAK
Oh shit, Joey, you've got a tail.
Joey sees, and runs for it.
JOEY
Shit!
The agents split up, one runs after Joey, the other after
Phreak.
INT. HIGH SCHOOL BOYS' ROOM.
Phreak has lost his tail. He puts Joey's disc behind a
condom machine in the boys' room at school, and sticks it
there with gum.
INT. PHREAK'S ROOM.
Phreak frantically destroys all records of his hacking
career. He knows he's about to be busted.
DREAM SEQUENCE.
The Secret Service is about to burst in on Phreak. He
still hasn't destroyed any records, and starts manically
going through everything. Gill is on his laptop screen.
GILL
I'm watching you...
INT. PHREAK'S ROOM. MORNING.
A knock on the door. Phreak awakes. It's his mother.
PHREAK'S MOM
Ramon? Wake up. Ramon! Wake up! Vamano.
Time for school, come on.
The secret service bursts in through the window just as
Phreak's mom opens the blind. She screams, Phreak leaps
to his feet.
AGENT
Secret Service, don't move!
PHREAK
Deja vu!
AGENT BOB
Ray Sanchez, you are under arrest, under the
Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.
Phreak's mom becomes very angry and starts slapping
Phreak, cursing in Spanish.
PHREAK
What are you waiting for, arrest me already!
INT. POLICE STATION LOCKUP.
The undersized Phreak is just a morsel to the hardened
thugs behind these bars and they taunt him viciously as he
is led to his one phone call.
COP
You get one call. Uno. Understand?
The cop locks the dial on the phone.
Phreak waits for the cop to leave, and hangs up. He
starts rapidly pushing the hangup hook, and he hears a
ringing tone.
OPERATOR
Hello, operator services.
PHREAK
Hello, operator? I'm having trouble dialing a
number.
OPERATOR
What number please?
PHREAK
555-4202.
OPERATOR
Just one moment.
PHREAK
Thank you.
Kate answers.
KATE
Hello?
PHREAK
Hey, it's me.
KATE
Phreak?
PHREAK
I'm freaking! Joey wasn't making it up! He
really hacked into Ellingson! He gave me the
disc with a file he copied and now I'm in
jail! They're charging me with some serious
shit! And there's stuff I didn't even do,
like inserting some virus called Da Vinci, and
they keep asking about you guys.
KATE
You think they're going to bust us?
PHREAK
Yeah! You better figure out what's on that
disc, cause we're being framed. It's in that
place where I put that thing that time?
He hangs up just as the cop returns.
INT. SCHOOL BOYS' ROOM.
Kate is entirely out of place in the boys' room, as the
boys look on amusedly. She finds the disc behind the
condom machine and pockets it. Then she buys a condom from
the machine and struts out, smiling sweetly, hot as fire.
INT. DADE'S PLACE.
Kate knocks. Mrs. Murphy lets Kate and Cereal in.
MRS. MURPHY
Hi!
(looking Kate over)
Well, now I see what all the fuss is about.
(she shows them to Dade's room)
Dade... you have company.
CEREAL
It's a nice room.
KATE
We need your help.
DADE
Do my ears deceive me?
Kate starts to leave.
CEREAL
Nonononono. Truce, you guys. Listen, we got
a higher purpose here, alright? A wake up
call for the Nintendo Generation. We demand
free access to data, well, it comes with some
responsibility. When I was a child, I spake
as a child, I understood as a child, I thought
as a child, but when I became a man I put away
childish things.
(pause)
What... It's Corinthians I, Chapter 13, verse
11, no duh. Come on.
KATE
Phreak and Joey are being framed. We need
your help to figure out what's on this disc.
DADE
I can't. Everybody who touches that thing
gets busted, I can't afford to get arrested,
I'm sorry.
CEREAL
Maybe I should just go to the bathroom or
something.
Cereal leaves the room.
KATE
What is it with you? I know we've been
playing games, but, we're supposed to be on
the same side and we really need your help. I
really need your help.
DADE
I'm sorry, I can't.
KATE
Well, could you just make a copy of the disc?
And just hide it in case we get busted, so we
have something to give our lawyers, something
that hasn't been tampered with? Can you do
that?
A knock on the door. Dade's mom peeks in.
MRS. MURPHY
Listen you guys, help yourself to anything in
the fridge. Cereal has.
She leaves.
KATE
(to Mrs. Murphy)
Thank you.
DADE
Okay. I'll copy it.
KATE
Okay, thank you.
Later. Plague phones Dade. Plague has Lauren Murphy's
records on his screen.
PLAGUE
The girl. The girl has the disc I need.
DADE
I told you, I don't play well with others.
PLAGUE
Turn on your laptop. Set it to receive a
file.
Dade does.
An extensive criminal record with a strange woman's
picture comes up. The strange woman transforms into
Dade's mother.
PLAGUE
Lauren Murphy is now a wanted felon in the
state of Washington. Forgery, Embezzlement,
two drug convictions, plus she jumped parole.
When she's arrested, she will not have a
trial, she will not pass go, she will go
directly to jail. Then I change this file
back to the original, and your mom disappears.
DADE
That's bullshit.
PLAGUE
What can I tell you. Computers never lie,
kid. Your mom will be arrested at work,
she'll be handcuffed, and later, strip
searched.
DADE
You lay a finger on her and I'll kill you.
PLAGUE
Kid, don't threaten me. There are worse
things than death and, uh, I can do all of
them!
Dade emerges from his room. His exhausted, overworked
mother is asleep on the couch. He pulls a blanket over
her.
EXT. PUBLIC PHONE, WET STREET, NIGHT.
Shortly after, Dade is outside on a payphone.
PLAGUE
Talk to me.
DADE
I got it. But listen, Kate didn't know what's
on it. I mean, she came to me to figure it
out. She's not the one who planted the virus.
You leave her alone.
PLAGUE
Hey, don't worry, kid. If she's innocent,
she'll be fine. Your mommy's safe now, okay?
Dade hangs up and waits for some time. A limousine drives
by, with a skateboarder tailing. Plague grabs the disc,
jumps in the limo and speeds away. Dade tries to chase
but gives up quickly.
INT. KATE'S ROOM.
Dade shows up. Kate, Nikon, and Cereal are working on the
disc.
DADE
Kate, listen.
KATE
Uh, hold on...
DADE
I have to tell you something.
CEREAL
Hold on a second!
NIKON
Look at this, it's so lean and clean.
CEREAL
Looks like a hacker wrote it.
KATE
Come here, look at this. This thing is dense.
Nikon points out part of the code.
NIKON
But that's ill, man. It's incomplete. This
is taking forever and a day to figure out.
I'm gonna make some coffee.
Dade takes Nikon's place.
CEREAL
Tag, you're in.
Hours pass. Dade studies and reverse engineers the
garbage file. The other hackers watch, and do just about
anything but be hackers. Finally, over boxes of
half-finished pizza, Dade makes an announcement.
DADE
This isn't a virus. It's a worm!
NIKON
What's this one eat?
DADE
It nibbles. You see this?
Dade indicates a rapidly scrolling data display.
DADE
This is every financial transaction Ellingson
conducts, yeah? From million dollar deals to
the ten bucks some guy pays for gas.
KATE
The worm eats a few cents from each transaction.
DADE
And no one's caught it because the money isn't
really gone. It's just data being shifted
around.
KATE
Right. And when the worm's ready, it zips out
with the money and erases its tracks.
DADE
Joey got cut off before he got to that part.
Check it out. By this point, it's already
running at, what, twice the speed as when it
started.
KATE
Right, and at this rate it ends its run in...
NIKON
Two days.
DADE
And judging by this segment alone, it's
already eaten about...
CEREAL
21.8 million bucks, man.
Nikon whistles.
KATE
Whoever wrote this needs somebody to take the
fall. And that's Phreak, and that's Joey, and
that's us. We've got to get the rest of the
file, so we can find out where the money is
going before the worm disappears, so we can
find out WHO created it.
DADE
I know, I know who wrote it.
KATE
What?
DADE
This Ellingson security creep. I gave him a
copy of the disc you gave me.
KATE
You what?
DADE
I didn't know what was on it.
CEREAL
(agitated)
Oh man. That's universally stupid, man!
NIKON
Yo, man, you an amateur, man.
KATE
Why did he come to you?
DADE
I got a record. I was Zero Cool.
NIKON
Zero Cool? Crashed fifteen hundred and seven
systems in one day?
Nikon closes his eyes and access his photographic memory.
NIKON
Biggest crash in history, front page, New
York Times, August 10th, 1988. I thought
you was black, man! Yo, man, this is Zero
Cool! Oh, shit!
CEREAL
That's far out!
NIKON
This is Zero Cool, man! Whooo, haha!
KATE
(coldly)
Well that's great. There goes MIT.
DADE
I'll make it up to you!
KATE
How?
DADE
I'll hack the Gibson.
NIKON
They'll trace you like that
(snaps his fingers)
man, cops are gonna find you, they're
gonna find you with a smoking gun.
DADE
Fucked if I care, man.
NIKON
Look, even if you had the passwords, it'll
take you ten minutes to get in, and you've
still gotta find the files, man, I mean, the
cops will have you in... five minutes.
CEREAL
Oh wow, we are fried.
KATE
(suddenly lighter-hearted)
Never send a boy to do a woman's job. With
me, we can do it in seven.
CEREAL
You're both screwed. I help, we can do it in six.
NIKON
Jesus, I gotta save all your asses. I help,
we can do it in five minutes, man.
DADE
Okay. Let's go shopping.
CEREAL
Woo hoo! Boom!
EXT. OUTSIDE ELLINGSON BUILDING.
Dade and Kate cut through a chain link fence and jump into
a dumpster at Ellingson. Kate lands on Dade.
DADE
You know, if I didn't live by a strict code of
honor, I might take advantage of this
situation. Erotically, as it were.
Kate fishes around in her pants, never breaking eye
contact with Dade. She pulls out a flashlight. They
start trashing. They get up to leave and are spotted by a
security guard.
GUARD
Alright, hold it right there!
Kate pulls out a flare gun and fires it at the security
guard. He ducks.
DADE
Shit!!
KATE
It's my subway defense system.
EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREET.
Nikon is staring down a manhole, Cereal is fishing through
an adjacent phone company truck.
NIKON
He's way down there.
Cereal emerges with a beltload of equipment and a hard hat.
But he forgot the most important thing.
CEREAL
Ta-da!
NIKON
Yo, brain dead, the manual!
Cereal goes back to the truck and gets a thick manual. The
phone company technician comes up from the manhole.
PHONE COMPANY TECH
Hey!
CEREAL AND NIKON
(in unison, pointing down the street)
TRUCK!!!
The phone company tech jumps back in the hole, Cereal and
Nikon take off.
INT. SECRET SERVICE BULDING.
A woman is seated at the desk. Agent Gill walks by.
WOMAN
Find it?
Cereal emerges from the desk, between her legs. His tool
belt dangles obscenely from his crotch.
CEREAL
Phone's alright. The problem must be
somewhere else.
Cereal walks away with his buttcrack seriously showing.
INT. ELLINGSON MINERAL OFFICES.
Nikon poses as a flower delivery boy. He winds his way
through the offices of Ellingson Mineral, "shoulder
surfing", watching the workers entering passwords. His
photographic memory captures everything. The Plague walks
past him, noticing briefly but not making the connection.
INT. PLAGUE'S LOFT.
The Da Vinci virus' launch/cancel prompt is up.
MARGO
(pacing)
They had a large chunk of the garbage file?
How much do they know?
PLAGUE
Not everything. But enough to implicate us.
MARGO
You said the worm was untreaceable!
PLAGUE
Yeah. To civilians. But they're hackers.
But don't worry. All we have to do is launch
the Da Vinci virus, and then they'll all be
put away.
MARGO
Launch the Da Vinci virus? You can't do that!
PLAGUE
No one believes the guilty. Besides, by the
time they realize the truth, we'll be long
gone with all of our money.
Margo starts to protest.
PLAGUE
Look, there is no right and wrong. There is
only fun and boring. A thirty year prison
sentence sounds pretty dull to me. Who do you
prefer serves it, us? Or them?
Plague clicks on "Launch". The virus repeats its demand.
VIRUS
Unless five million dollars are transferred to
the following numbered account in seven days,
I will capsize five tankers in the Ellingson
fleet.
EXT. OPEN SEA.
As the virus speaks, a supertanker sails on a choppy sea.
INT. PLAGUE'S LOFT.
Plague leaves a message on Gill's answering machine.
PLAGUE
(sternly)
The virus goes off tomorrow morning at 10:30,
and those hackers tried to get into our system
again. At this point I insist you take more
strenuous action, or Ellingson Mineral will
hold the Secret Service responsible.
Gill gets on the phone.
GILL
(grimly)
Get me arrest warrants on Kate Libby, alias
Acid Burn, Emmanuel Goldstein, alias Cereal
Killer, Dade Murphy, alias Crash Override,
also known as Zero Cool, and Paul Cook, alias
Lord Nikon. We pick them up tomorrow morning
at nine o'clock.
As Gill gives the order, a mysterious device under his
desk blinks. Cereal put it there.
INT. NIKON'S PLACE.
Nikon and Cereal taped Gill's orders.
CEREAL
Snoop onto them...
NIKON
...as they snoop onto us.
Nikon calls Kate.
KATE
Yeah, it's Kate.
NIKON
Hey, Burn. We got a little problem here.
INT. SUBWAY.
Cereal, Nikon, Dade and Kate skate through a run down
subway platform and get on the "A" Train. They go over
the results of their password gathering spree.
KATE
Alright, so what have we got?
DADE
Well, we have fifty passwords, plus whatever
Polaroid head here got inside Ellingson.
NIKON
Well, I got a lot, alright? I don't know how
many but... my head hurts.
CEREAL
Yo, everyone check this out. Hey, what's the
Da Vinci virus?
DADE
What?
CEREAL
Check this out. It's a memo about how they're
gonna deal with those oil spills that happened
on the fourteenth.
KATE
What oil spills?
NIKON
Whoa, whoa. Yo, brain-dead, today is the
thirteenth.
CEREAL
Well this hasn't happened yet.
KATE
Wait a minute, the fourteenth, that's the same
day the worm ends its run. I mean... Da Vinci
virus, didn't Phreak say that's what he was
being charged with? Look...
(quotes the memo)
"Infecting ballast programs of Ellingson
tankers" - they blame hackers!
NIKON
(angry)
Damn!
CEREAL
A worm AND a virus? The plot thickens.
Kate gets ready to get off the subway.
NIKON
Whoa, whoa whoa whoa, where are you going,
huh?
KATE
I got an idea. We've got a few hours, right,
till we get arrested. So just stay low. I'm
gonna go get some help. I'll beep you, okay?
(to Dade)
Are you coming?
Dade gets up.
CEREAL
May the Force be with you, man.
INT. INDUSTRIAL DANCE CLUB.
Weird music plays, lots of weird people dance. Razor and
Blade are on stage, dancing in front of a huge speaker.
KATE
There they are!
DADE
Razor and Blade! They're flakes!
KATE
They're elite! Let's get 'em.
Dade and Kate push through the crowd. The song changes to
a fast industrial rap number, Razor and Blade leave the
stage, and Dade starts getting moshed. He climbs on the
stage to follow Razor and Blade. For his trouble, he is
thrown back onto the crowd, who pass him around overhead.
Finally the crowd lets him go. He catches up with Kate.
KATE
I lost 'em. Where were you?
Dade tries to explain, but is at a loss for words.
They make their way to the entrance to Razor and Blade's
lair. Video monitors are everywhere.
DADE
I don't like this.
A robotic arm with a revolver swings around to point at
Dade.
DADE
AAAAAUGH! I definitely don't like this!
BLADE
(through video intercom)
What do you want?
DADE
Ummm... we come in peace?
Dade winces at his own corniness.
KATE
We need your help. If you're up to it.
RAZOR
She's buff. Ballsy.
BLADE
Let's keep her.
RAZOR
Waste the dude.
The gun goes off. It's only a cigarette lighter! No one
can accuse Razor and Blade of not having a sense of humor.
INT. RAZOR AND BLADE'S PLACE.
KATE
A virus called Da Vinci will cause oil spills
at 10:30 AM Eastern Time tomorrow.
DADE
It's somehow connected with the worm that's
stealing the money.
KATE
We need your help to overload the Gibson so we
can kill the Da Vinci virus and download the
worm program.
RAZOR
She's rabid, but cute.
BLADE
See, we're very busy. A TV network that
wishes to remain nameless has expressed an
interest in our show.
DADE
(noticing the stench of sellout)
Let's go, Kate.
RAZOR
Wait. Nobody said no. But you are going to
need more than just two media icons like us.
You need an army.
BLADE
That's it! An electronic army! If I were us,
I'd get on the internet, send out a major
distress signal.
RAZOR
Hackers of the World, Unite!
BLADE
How are you going to take care of the cops?
Dade just smiles.
INT. DADE'S ROOM.
Dade hacks into the city traffic light control system.
Suddenly there is gridlock on the streets of New York
City.
EXT. CENTRAL PARK.
Nikon is playing chess against two Hassidic Jews.
Cereal's beeper goes off. It displays the message:
GRAND CENTRAL
HACK THE PLANET
CEREAL
Yo. I'm blowing up. It's Kate, Grand
Central. Let's hit it!
Nikon checkmates his opponent and the two leave.
Dade, Cereal, Nikon, and Kate skate through the streets.
Dade's program to freeze all the traffic lights on green,
runs on schedule at 9:00:00 precisely. Picture New York City in
morning rush hour, and every traffic light is green. Instant
gridlock ensues. The four skate through the traffic easily, while
the Secret Service, now pursuing them, is stuck. Gill punches a
parked car in frustration. Its alarm goes off.
INT. GRAND CENTRAL STATION.
The four hackers skate into Grand Central Station and head
to the lowest level. They meet up with Joey.
CEREAL
Hey Joey, you made it!
INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.
The hackers are now setting up laptops at a bank of pay
phones. Dade is wearing a "Pirate Eye" eyepiece.
KATE
Now listen up, use your best viruses to buy us
time, we have to get into Plague's file and
copy the worm.
Cereal screams.
CEREAL
Ai! Boom boom aiaiaiaiaee! Alright, that was
a little tension breaker, that had to be done,
alright?
KATE
Cereal.
CEREAL
Yeah?
KATE
Go fix the phones.
CEREAL
Roger.
Cereal takes off to fix the phones.
KATE
Joey, take his place.
JOEY
What, me?
KATE
Take his place, man, do it. You can do it.
Joey takes Cereal's place.
KATE
Ready?
DADE
Yeah.
KATE
Alright, let's boot up.
The four boot up their machines. Various vanity screens
come up on the laptops. They begin to hack. We see the
inside of the Gibson. Viruses of all kinds begin to pour
in. In the offices and data processing rooms, the
Ellingson staff are in pandemonium. Happy faces with eye
patches appear on their screens. "Sit on my interface."
"Shit for Brains." "Arf Arf Arf!" Cookie monsters.
INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.
The big monitor shows the attack in progress.
MARGO
What is it? What's wrong?
PLAGUE
Nothing, it's just a minor glitch.
MARGO
"Minor glitch" with you seems to turn into a
major catastrophe.
The main screen is filled with:
I WANT A COOKIE. GIVE ME A COOKIE NOW!
HAL
There's a new virus in the database.
MARGO
What's happening?
HAL
It's replicating, eating up memory. What do I
do?
PLAGUE
Type "Cookie", you idiot. I'll head 'em off at
the pass.
Another virus appears.
HAL
We have a Zero Bug attacking all the login and
overlay files.
PLAGUE
Run anti-virus. Give me a systems display!
The systems display comes up. Red flashes everywhere,
signifying new attacks. Plague presses a key.
PLAGUE
Die, dickweeds!
HAL
The rabbit is in the administration system.
Rabbit icons start to fill the systems display.
PLAGUE
Send a Flu-shot.
MARGO
Rabbit, Flu-shot, someone talk to me.
HAL
A rabbit replicates till it overloads a file,
then it spreads like cancer.
MARGO
Cancer?
The Da Vinci Virus sings "Row Row Row Your Boat".
Tanker ballasts start filling - for real.
INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.
KATE
It's the Gibson, it's finding us too fast.
DADE
Man, there's too many garbage files, I need
more time.
INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.
PLAGUE
They're at Grand Central Station, lower level.
Don't screw up.
EXT. GRIDLOCKED STREETS.
The Secret Service and NYPD are stuck. They turn around
and head for Grand Central Station.
INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.
The public phone next to Dade's rings. Dade answers.
It's The Plague.
INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.
PLAGUE
Game's over. Last chance to get out of this
without a prison sentence. You're not good
enough to beat me, you little shit.
INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.
DADE
Yeah, maybe I'm not. But we are, you asshole.
INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.
PLAGUE
Give it up! Just give it up.
INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.
Kate's phone rings. It's Razor.
RAZOR
Are we fashionably late?
Hackers in England, Italy, Japan, Russia, everywhere
mobilize and start attacking the Ellingson Gibson. The
English hacker looks and talks suspiciously like Annie
Lennox's husband. Our heroes relentlessly search for
the right garbage file.
INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.
SYSOP
We have massive infection. Multiple GPI and
FSI viruses.
HAL
They're coming in from remote nodes. They're
going after the Kernal!
MARGO
Colonel who?
HAL
The System Command Processor, it's the brain.
MARGO
Cancer, brain... Brain Cancer?
Duke Ellingson arrives.
DUKE ELLINGSON
Belford, what's going on?
PLAGUE
In short, Duke, a shit storm.
INT. GRAND CENTRAL STATION.
Dozens of armed Secret Service and SWAT troops push
through the crowded station looking for the hackers.
INSIDE THE COMPUTER.
The garbage file lights up. The familiar psychedelic
swirl of equations and fractal graphics returns.
INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.
DADE
I found it! I found it!
INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.
PLAGUE
This is the end, my friend.
(smiling sickly)
Thank you for calling!
INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.
Dade is disconnected.
DADE
Oh, shit! He got me.
NIKON
Joey's getting stupid busy.
The SS and SWAT are still closing in on the hackers.
DADE
Joey. I need you to drop your viruses, go
after the worm. You're the closest.
The SS and SWAT push through crowds.
DADE
It's root slash period workspace slash
period garbage period.
The SS are nearly there.
Joey has found the file.
The SS arrive. Gill himself has his .357 drawn.
GILL
Freeze!
It's an empty bank of payphones, the receivers are linked
together and taped up. No hackers. They keep going.
GILL
(pissed off but determined)
Ahhh Come on!
Joey completes the download.
KATE
(to Razor and Blade)
Kill the Gibson.
RAZOR
Roger that.
INT. COMPUTER ROOM, ELLINGSON MINERAL.
PLAGUE
Come on you son of a bitch, is that all you
got, huh? Come on, let's see what else you
can do! You talking to me? Huh? Hahahaha.
Are you nuts? Come at me!
Margo and Duke are awed by Plague's imminent failure and
total unprofessionalism.
HAL
They're in the kernal.
DA VINCI VIRUS
Help... me...
The Da Vinci virus dies. The tankers stop capsizing and
right themselves.
WOMAN
(off screen)
The tankers have stopped capsizing.
SOMEONE ELSE
(off screen)
Ballast tanks are emptying. It'll be okay.
The main screen lights up:
ARF ARF!
WE GOTCHA!
MESS WITH THE BEST
DIE LIKE THE REST
PLAGUE
Little pissant!
The Gibson dies in a flash of light.
INT. GRAND CENTRAL PUBLIC PHONES.
The hackers cheer and congratulate each other.
NIKON
Yes!
DADE
We did it!
KATE
Let's get out of here!
GILL
FREEZE!
The SS have caught up with the hackers. Agent Bob seems to
be choosing which pore on which hacker's face to blow away
first. Only Joey thinks to put his hands up.
As they are led away, a handcuffed Dade surrreptitiously tosses the
disc with the worm into a trashcan.
EXT. GRAND CENTRAL STATION.
Outside, he notices Cereal, who wasn't present to be
arrested. He yells to the crowd, but really is
addressing Cereal.
DADE
They're TRASHING our rights, man! They're
TRASHING the flow of data! They're TRASHING!
TRASHING! TRASHING! HACK THE PLANET! HACK
THE PLANET!
GILL
Shut up and get in the car!
CEREAL
(understanding the hidden message)
HACK THE PLANET! HACK THE PLANET!
INT. GRAND CENTRAL STATION.
Later, Cereal is trashing through the garbage cans in
Grand Central Station. Eventually he finds the disc.
To Cereal's disgust, it has gum stuck to it.
INT. GILL'S OFFICE.
Gill phones The Plague to report the successful takedown.
PLAGUE
Hello?
GILL
We caught 'em.
PLAGUE
Good.
GILL
Red handed! You won't be having any more
trouble from them.
INT. PLAGUE'S LOFT.
At Plague's place, Plague and Margo toast with champagne,
giggle, and then scurry off to bed...
INT. GILL'S OFFICE.
Dade and Kate are there.
DADE
Me, alright? I did it. She knows shit about
computers. She... she's just my girlfriend.
GILL
(laughing)
I suggest you modify your attitude. Because
you are floating. And I'm about to flush your
ass.
The intercom beeps.
AGENT
You've got a Mrs. Murphy to see you, sir.
Gill leaves.
KATE
Are you crazy? What are you doing?
DADE
I'm trying to help you.
She pauses, realizing his gesture.
KATE
Dade.
DADE
What?
KATE
Thanks for your help.
Dade turns on the intercom. Gill can be heard through it.
GILL
(grimly)
Your son is in big trouble. He has violated
his probation and he has engaged in criminal
activity.
MRS. MURPHY
My son happens to be a genius. He understands
something happening today that you won't
comprehend if you live to be a hundred, and he
would never use what he knows to harm a living
soul.
Agent Bob enters.
AGENT BOB
The news crew you requested is here.
MRS. MURPHY
Oh good. Cause I have a few things to tell
them.
GILL
Your son is facing thirty felony counts in an
ongoing investigation. You face possible
arrest if you do that.
MRS. MURPHY
Mister, I don't care if I face certain death.
GILL
Mrs. Murphy stays right here.
KATE
Oh, wow, she's great.
DADE
Yeah.
INT. SECRET SERVICE OFFICES.
The news crew interviews Gill.
REPORTER
...and attacked the Ellingson's computer
network. Is the last we've seen of this type
of high-tech espionage?
GILL
Well, I'm afraid not. Hackers are a grave
threat to the national security. This
incident just proves without a doubt that we
need increased funding to stop...
Nikon and Joey are led in.
The monitors cut into static, then Cereal appears.
SOMEONE
That kid cut him off!
CEREAL
Hold on, boys and girls. It is I, the Cereal
Killer, making my first coast to coast, world
wide, global television appearance. Yes,
that's right, I'm here to tell you about this
heinous scheme hatched from within Ellingson
Mineral.
Razor and Blade busily work on keeping him on the air.
CEREAL
But for what, you ask? World domination?
Nay. Something far more tacky. A virus called
Da Vinci, that when launched, would cause
Ellingson Mineral tankers to capsize was to be
blamed on innocent hackers. But this virus was
really the smokescreen, right. What could be
so vitally important to protect that someone
would create such a nasty, antisocial, very
uncool virus program?
Cereal is now seen and heard on the big screen in Times
Square.
CEREAL
But why? Could it be to cover the tracks for
this worm program? A worm that was to steal 25
million bucks. The password for this hungry
little sucker belongs to Margo Wallace, head
of public relations at Ellingson Mineral...
INT. PLAGUE'S LOFT.
Margo watches this and sits bolt upright in bed.
MARGO
Oh my God!
CEREAL
(continuing)
...and Eugene Belford, Computer Security
Officer.
INT. SECRET SERVICE OFFICE
GILL
(finally understanding what's been
going on all along)
Son of a BITCH!
CEREAL
(continuing)
What's this? Is this the unnamed account in the
Bahamas where the money was to be stashed? I
think so!
An account number scrolls below Cereal's chin.
CEREAL
Yo. I kinda feel like God!
His voice echoes across the earth and among the
satellites.
MARGO
Plague?
Eugene?
Almost supernaturally, Plague is already gone. He was
right next to her, stark naked in bed a second ago.
INT. SECRET SERVICE OFFICES.
The hackers embrace and congratulate each other again,
Lauren Murphy hugs her son.
INT. POLICE STATION, WOMEN'S LOCKUP.
Margo Wallace has been arrested, and is being led into the
women's lockup. Some of the other women grab at her
expensive Italian leather jacket as she is led to her cell.
MARGO
I don't even know how to work a VCR, let alone
a computer! Get off! Look, listen, I'll make
a deal. Eugene Belford! I know where his
mother is, I promise you. Get offa me! I need
a lawyer!
INT. AIRLINER CABIN. IN FLIGHT.
STEWARDESS
Here you are, Mr. Babbage. Flight time to
Tokyo should be about 14 hours today. Can I
get you anything else?
"Babbage" is The Plague in disguise; he now appears about
60 years old.
PLAGUE
Just a pillow please.
The pillow slides in behind his head, he reaches up to
adjust it.
PLAGUE
Thank you.
A handcuff snaps onto his wrist. It's Gill.
GILL
You're welcome.
PLAGUE
What's going on? Let go of me! Stewardess!
I'll never fly this airline again!
EXT. NEW YORK CITY SIDEWALK. NIGHT.
Dade and Kate are on their date. Dade is smartly,
somewhat androgynously dressed. Kate is heavily made up,
and yes, she is wearing a dress.
DADE
You look good in a dress.
KATE
You would have looked better.
DADE
Wanna go for a swim?
EXT. ROOFTOP SWIMMING POOL.
Dade and Kate swimming, fully clothed, in a pool on a
roof.
KATE
I can't believe they decided you won.
DADE
They didn't. The guys felt it was the only
way I'd get a date. Anyway, you're pretty
good. You're elite.
KATE
Yeah? You know if you would have said so in
the beginning, you would have saved yourself
a whole lot of trouble.
They look out at the skyline. Suddenly, the lights in
three buildings change. They spell out:
C B
R A U
A N R
S D N
H
Kate laughs, honestly impressed.
DADE
Beat that!
Kate continues laughing.
DADE
You know, I've been having these really
weird..
KATE
(finishing his sentence)
Dreams?
They kiss passionately.
THE END
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