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Pi - By Darren Aronosfsky


				Pi 
				by 

			Darren Aranofsky
	


	Originally featured at: Screensource

	Shooting Script
	September, 1996


	TITLES EXPLODE TO WHITE

	SLOW FADE TO:

	EXTREME CLOSE-UP of MAXIMILIAN COHEN'S eyes popping open.

	INT. MAX'S APARTMENT -CHINATOWN FLAT – NEW YORK CITY - NIGHT

	Max jolts his head from his desk and tries to orient him-self 
	in the darkness. He has intelligent eyes set in an exhausted, 
	good-looking face.

	Then he notices the blood dripping from his nose. Max wipes 
	it.

	Max's voiceover begins:

				MAX (V.O.)  
		Monday, September first. 
		Six-fifteen.

	INT. BATHROOM - DAWN

	A pull-string light flips on. Max examines his bloody nose in 
	the mirror.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		The alchemist awakes. 
			(Imitating) 
		"Turn lead into gold, Max, 
		lead into gold." Today, I find it.

	TIGHT ON

	Max's hand as three unmarked, circular pills hit his palm. 
	Then, he slams the pills into the back of his mouth.

	Max replaces the cap on a plastic bottle of unmarked 
	prescription drugs. He drinks from the sink and splashes a 
	generous amount of water onto his head and face, cleaning his 
	nose.

	He wipes his nose and examines the last remnants of blood on 
	his fingertip. Then, he dips his finger under the tap.

	INT. MAX'S APARTMENT - MAIN ROOM - DAY

	Max's room is constantly dark because the windows are blacked 
	out. He flips on his desk lamp.

	A tiny ANT crawls across his desk. He looks at it for a moment 
	before getting angry and squashing it.

	Sitting on the desk are three computer monitors, which Max 
	flips on.

	Then he pops on more lights and more switches. We pull back 
	revealing that Max's apartment looks more like the inside of a 
	computer than a human's home.

	The room is knee-high in computer parts of all shapes and 
	sizes. The walls are covered with circuit boards. Cables hang 
	from the ceiling like vines in a Brazilian rain forest. They 
	all seem to be wired together forming a monstrous homemade 
	computer.

	This is EUCLID, Max's creation. The computer is alive with 
	sounds and lights.

	Max works on Euclid with his solder and drill. He cares for 
	the machine as if it were his dream car

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Heat's been getting 
		to Euclid. Feel it most in 
		the afternoon when I run the 
		set. Have to keep the fans on 
		all night from now on. 
		Otherwise, everything is 
		running topnotch. The stack 
		of 286's is now faster than 
		Columbia's computer science 
		department. I spent a couple 
		hundred dollars. Columbia's 
		cost? Half a million? 
			(Small snicker) 
		Ha...
	
	Max checks the peephole on His front door. No one is there. He 
	unbolts the five lock and slides into the hall.

	INT. APARTMENJ HALLWAY - DAY

	As he secures his apartment, a Young girl named JENNA runs up 
	to him. Her MOM, down the hall, looks apologetic.

	Jenna's eyes light up and she pulls out her Fisher Price 
	calculator.

				JENNA 
		Max, Max! Can we do one?
	
				MOM 
			(Over and over again) 
		Jenna! Jenna!
	
				MAX 
		Oh, no.
	
				JENNA 
		What's three hundred 
		and twenty-two times four 
		hundred and ninety-one.
	
	Jenna types it into her calculator. Max finishes locking his 
	door.

				MAX 
			(instantly) 
		One hundred fifty-eight thousand, 
		a hundred two. Right?

				JENNA 
			(Eyes light up) 
		Right.
	
	Max heads down the staircase.

				MOM 
		Jenna...
	
	Jenna screams after him.

				JENNA 
		Okay, seventy-three 
		divided by twenty-two.

				MAX 
			(instantly again) 
		Three point three one eight one 
		eight one eight...

	EXT. CHINATOWN - DAY 
	Max watches people bustle through the busy intersections of 
	Chinatown. The streets are clogged with people.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Somewhere in there. 
		Somewhere. I know it's right 
		in front of me. The pattern. 
		They say it's chaos, it can't 
		be understood, too much 
		complexity.

	EXT. ELECTRONIC MEGADUMP - DAY 
	Max scavenges electronic parts as he carefully navigates an 
	endless dump for old and rotting computers.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		History it's there. 
		Lurking, shaping. 
		structuring, hiding, right 
		beneath the surface.

	He unscrews a random IBM Board from a keyboard and slides it 
	into his pocket.

	EXT PLAYGROUND – DAY 
	MOVE IN
	on Max looking up at something as he reclines on a public 
	bench.

				MAX (V.0.) 
		The cycling of disease epidemics, 
		the wax and wane of Caribou populations 
		in the Arctic, sunspot cycles, 
		the rise and fall of the 
		Nile and yes! the New York Stock 
		Exchange, they are all the 
		same.
	
	MOVE IN
	on a tree branch - shaking gently in the wind.

	SLOW DISSOLVE TO EXTREME CLOSE-UP OF STOCK TICKER 
	Bright stock quotes drift across the screen.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		I'll find this structure, 
		this order, this perfection.

	INT. MAX'S APARTMENT - DAY 
	Max stares intensely at the ticker on the small TV that sits 
	next to his monitors.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Turn lead into gold. 
		The first. Right here. Right 
		here. With math. The numbers 
		of the stock market are my 
		lead. When I find the 
		pattern, then I will find 
		gold.
	
	Max watches the right edge of the screen where the numbers 
	appear. He wants to see what's before that edge...

	Max slaps the RETURN button on his computer.

	The phone starts ringing.
	Max eyes it suspiciously.

	Just then, Euclid starts printing results on an old dot-
	matrix printer.

	Max suspiciously answers The phone.

				MAX 
		Hello?
	
				WOMAN'S VOICE 
		Maximilian Cohen, please.
	
				MAX 
		Yeah?
	
				WOMAN'S VOICE 
		Mr. Cohen?
	
				MAX 
		Who's this?
	
				WOMAN'S VOICE 
		Hi. my name is Marcy Dawson. 
		I'm a partner with the predictive 
		strategy firm Lancet-Percy. Can I 
		speak with Mr. Cohen, please?

				MAX 
		I told you...
	
	The printer finishes printing.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		Mr. Cohen! How 
		are you? It's been a long 
		time. Sorry I haven't been in 
		touch. But I was hoping you 
		would allow me to take you to 
		lunch tomorrow, say one 
		o'clock?
	
				MAX 
		Sorry, I can't.
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		We're very anxious to talk 
		with you, sir

				MAX 
		I can't.
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		I'm prepared to 
		make you a generous...

	Max hurries to wrap up the conversation.

				MAX 
		I don't take offers for 
		my research. You know that. 
		Sorry, I Couldn't help you.
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		Mr. Cohen, give 
		me a moment...

	But before Marcy finishes, Max hangs up. He rips off the 
	printout and heads to the front door.

	He checks the peephole, His landlady. MRS. OVADIA, is sweeping 
	the hallway stairs humming a turn-of-the century (the last 
	one, not this one) tune.

	Max waits a moment. He tousles his hair. Then he checks again. 
	She's gone. He opens his locks and releases several bolts.

	INT.MAX'S BUILDING HALLWAY - DAY

	Max locks his front door. Meanwhile, his next-door neighbor, 
	DEVI MINSTRY, a sexy young Indian woman, is just getting home. 
	Max looks away and tries to get his door locked.

	She's weighted down by a bunch of bags filled with food.

				DEVI 
		Max, good! 
	
				MAX 
		Hi, Devi.
	
				DEV1 
		I grabbed you some 
		somosas. 
				MAX 
		Great.
	
	Devi heads over to Max with her bags of food. She looks up at 
	Max.

				DEVI 
		Your hair.
	
	Devi hands the bags to Max. Then she goes to pat down his 
	Hair. Max retreats.

				MAX 
		What are you doing?
	
				DEVI 
		Your hair, you can't go 
		out like that. Don't worry. 
				MAX 
		It's fine. It's fine.
	
	Devi pats down his hair. Max is humiliated. 
				DEVI 
		You need a mom.
	
	Max hands back the bags and heads quickly for the stairs. 
				MAX 
		I have to go.
	
				DEVI 
		Your somosas!
	
	An embarrassed Max takes the bag.

				MAX 
		Thanks.
	
	INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY

	At the counter, Max stirs cream into his coffee. Then he takes 
	three pills from the plastic bottle and drops them in his 
	coffee.

	Max flips past a full-page ad in the paper that reads 
	LANCET-PERCY 86% ACCURACY (ONLY GOD IS PERFECT). 
	Max flips the page before he or we can absorb it. He compares 
	stock quotes in the Wall Street Journal against his printout.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Sixteen, twenty-seven. Results: Euclid 
		shows tomorrow's Dow closing 
		up by four points. Anomalies 
		include PRONET at sixty-fire 
		and a quarter, a career high. 
		Possible explanations, either 
		A, an error in the June fifth 
		algorithm, or B, Euclid's 
		main processor is running a 
		recursion...

	Max marks up the paper with lines and diagrams as he ponders 
	his bits and misses.

	Then a puff of cigarette smoke drifts by and succeeds in 
	bothering Max. He fans it away when—

				VOICE FROM OFFSCREEN 
		Oh sorry, am I bothering you?
	
	Max shrugs and looks over.

	The voice belongs to LENNY MEYER—a bearded man in his late 20s 
	sucking on a cigarette.

	On closer inspection, something is off. It seems that Lenny is 
	an Orthodox Jew. His yarmulke sticks out Slightly from his 
	wide-brimmed hat and the fringes from his tsi-tsis hang out 
	from the bottom of his untucked shirt.

				LENNY MEYER 
		I'll put it out. 
			(Which he does) 
		The name's Lenny Meyer
	
	Lenny sticks out his hand. Max responds with a small nod. 
				LENNY MEYER 
		And you are?
	
				MAX 
		Max.
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Max? 
	
				MAX 
		Max Cohen.
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Cohen! 
			(Judging) 
		Jewish? 
	Max shrugs and turns back to his work.

				LENNY MEYER 
		It's okay. 
			(Joking) 
				I'm a Jew, too. 
			(Serious) 
				Do you practice?

				MAX 
		No, I'm not interested 
		in religion.

				LENNY MEYER 
		Have you ever 
		heard of Kabbalah?


				MAX 
		No.

				LENNY MEYER 
		Jewish mysticism.
	
				MAX 
		I'm sorry, I'm very busy.
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		I understand...it's just that 
		it's a very exciting time in 
		our history. Right now is a 
		critical moment in time.

				MAX 
			(Sarcastic) 
		Really?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Yes, it's very exciting. 
		Have you ever put on Tefillin?

	Max has no idea what Lenny's talking about. Lenny pulls a 
	leather box with black leather straps from his pocket.

				LENNY MEYER 
		Tefillin. You know Tefillin. 
		I know it looks strange. 
		But it's an amazing 
		tradition that has a 
		tremendous amount of power. 
		It's a mitzvah for all 
		Jewish men to do. Mitzvahs, 
		good deeds, are spiritual 
		food for our hearts and our 
		heads.

	And then Max notices that his thumb is twitching He grabs it 
	self-consciously.

				LENNY MEYER 
		They purify us and bring us 
		closer to God. You want to try it?

	Just then, Max pays his bill and prepares to leave.

				MAX 
		I gotta go...
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Are you okay? Max? Max?
	
				MAX 
		I'm sorry, bye.
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Well, maybe some other time.
	
	INT. MAX'S BATHROOM - NIGHT 
	Max splashes water on his face.

				MAX 
		Please God, Let it be a 
		small one.

	He pulls a metal vaccinating gun out of the medicine cabinet. 
	Then be loads it with a small bottle of medicine. He rolls up 
	his sleeve, dabs alcohol on his arm, and fires the gun into 
	his arm.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Sixteen thirty-five. 
		Second headache in under 
		twenty-four hours. They're 
		getting more frequent 
		now...more painful, too. Drugs 
		don't work, just take the 
		edge off of it. Just gotta 
		wait for the nosebleed. 
		Relief comes from my nose.
	
	Next door, he hears Devi and her boyfriend talking.

				FARROUHK (O.S.) 
		So I gotta make this drop off 
		in Harlem and on the way down 
		there's these three kids 
		hailing me.

	Max slaps himself in the face a few times.

				DEVI (O.S.) 
		You stopped?
	
				FARROUHK (O.S.) 
		I was tight, so...
	
	Max watches his thumb twitch. And then pain shoots through 
	him. He grabs the right side of his head, massages it, and 
	pushes it in with his fingers.

	In the mirror, he examines the right side of his scalp. He 
	sees nothing

				MAX 
		Ahh...
	
	Max walks back into the 
	MAIN ROOM

	and sits down in a chair. The lamp is blinding so he
	snaps it off. Only the bathroom light lights the room. He 
	takes a few breaths.

				MAX 
		Leave me alone.
	
	His neighbors conversation begins to build in volume
	and distortion.

				FARROUHK (O.S.) 
		So I drop them off in the 
		Village and they dart.

				DEVI (O.S.) 
		Oh God...
	
	Max gags and rubs his head.

				FARROUHK (O.S.) 
		I get out, grab my bat and 
		start running. One of the kids, 
		maybe sixteen, I catch a block 
		later he's cursing at me, calling 
		me a Paki bastard. So I whacked him, 
		right in the head.

				DEVI (O.S.) 
		Farrouhk!
	
	The pain seems to disappear. Max looks at his hand that was 
	rubbing his bead.

	Then he looks at the front door. The doorknob seems to
	move. 
	Something begins knocking on Max's door. The knocking gets 
	louder and louder then the locks begin to unlock.

	FARROUHK's words begin to overpower Max.

				FARROUHK (O.S.) 
		I'm kicking the bastard in the 
		ribs banging his ass, knocking his 
		head against the curb, harder 
		and harder, I fucking lost 
		it. A hot dog guy starts 
		screaming "You're cracking his 
		skull, you're cracking his 
		skull." So they pulled me off 
		of him and calmed me down. 
		Cops said he had it coming to 
		him.
	
	Then something starts pounding the door. The doorknob quivers, 
	the locks unbolt. The chains are the only thing keeping out 
	the intruder. The door shakes and the chains are strained.

	MAX is paralyzed with terror.

				MAX 
		No! No!
	
	And then the door smashes open. Blinding light fills the room 
	and we crash into the

	BLINDING WHITE VOID

	A moment of silence, then we 
	CUT TO 
	INT. BATHROOM - DAWN 
	A phone rings incessantly. Max's eyes pop open. He's scrunched 
	up in a corner of the room, squashed beneath the sink.

	His nose is bleeding.

	Max, crawls into the 
	MAIN ROOM

	and picks up the phone. He pinches his nose and tilts his head 
	back.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		Mr. Cohen. Marcy 
		Dawson here again I was just 
		looking over my schedule and 
		I realized I'll be in your 
		neighborhood tomorrow around 
		three.

	Max heads to the 
	FRONT DOOR

	and checks the locks. He is barely listening to Marcy

				MAX 
			(Groggy) 
		Who is...
	
	The locks seem secure.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		Marcy Dawson from 
		Lancet-Percy I'm so anxious 
		to meet you. It will be worth 
		it—for both of us I promise. 
		See you at your house at 
		three, okay?

				MAX 
		My house...how do...
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		Oh, don't worry, 
		I got your address from 
		Columbia. So three it is. 
		Looking forward to it.

	Max tries to stop her but, before he can Marcy hangs up.
	A bewildered Max slowly hangs up.

				MAX 
		Damn.
	
	Max checks the peephole - all clear.

	Then, he opens his -

	CLOSET

	which is filled with random computer parts and boxes.

	He pulls a thick neuroscience book from a shelf in the back of 
	the closet. He almost knocks over an old dusty brass 
	microscope on the shelf.

	Max flips through the book. It contains old plates 
	illustrating the brain. Max examines some of the diagrams.

	EXT. S0L'S HALLWAY - DAY Max rings the bell on an apartment 
	door.

	A few moments pass, and then SOL ROBESON opens the door.

	Sol is a wise-looking man in his early 70's. He walks with 
	difficulty, leaning out of breath on a wooden cane.

	His arms are covered with faded Russian prison tattoos and he 
	speaks with a thick Eastern European accent, He's happy to see 
	Max.

				S0L 
		Max! How are you7
	
	Max is happy to see Sol, but he's a bit bashful and 
	intimidated.

				MAX Okay.

	EXT. SOL'S STUDY - MOMENTS LATER 
	TIGHT ON the Japanese game of Go being played. Sol is white 
	and Max is black. Sol's moves are secure and controlled while 
	Max is hesitant.

				SOL 
		Stop thinking, Max, just 
		feel. Use your intuition. 
		It's the only way to get into 
		the flow. 
			(Beat) 
		What did you think of Hamlet?
	
				MAX 
		I didn't get to it.
	
				SOL 
		It's been a month. 
			(Knowingly) 
		You haven't taken 
		a single break.

				MAX 
		I'm so close, Sol. I'm 
		so close but I just can't 
		grab it.
	
	Sol changes the subject. He feeds his goldfish and points to 
	one of them.

				SOL 
		Have you met the new 
		fish my niece bought me? I 
		named her Icarus. After you. 
		My renegade pupil. You fly 
		too high, you'll get burned.
	
	Max looks up at Sol.

				SOL 
		The more I see you, the 
		more I see myself thirty 
		years ago. My greatest pupil. 
		Published at 16, Ph.D. at 20.

				MAX 
		We'll see.
	
				SOL 
		But life isn't just 
		mathematics. I spent forty 
		years looking for patterns in 
		Pi, I found nothing.

				MAX 
		You found things...
	
				SOL 
		I found things, but not a 
		pattern.

	INT. MOVING TRAIL - DAY

	Max sits in the corner of a rickety New York City subway car. 
	The train is almost completely deserted.

	Max looks down at his hand. He opens his palm and reveals a 
	black Go chip.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Tuesday, September 
		second, eighteen twelve. If 
		Sol hadn't gotten sick who 
		knows where math would be. He 
		spent years in the numbers of 
		Pi. Searching for meaning, for 
		order.
	
	Max notices a SKINNY MAN in a business suit staring at him. 
	The man catches Max's eye and looks away, but then he quickly 
	looks back, making Max turn away.

	He looks down at his Wall Street journal and draws a circle 
	with its diameter then he writes "A=pir2" and "C=2pir." Next 
	he writes "pi=3.14159..."

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Three point one 
		four...off into infinity 
		and maybe insanity. Somewhere 
		in there he wanted sanity. 
		Sanity like he found in the 
		circles Pi represented. 
		Simple, sane circles. If only 
		the stock market had circles. 
		Some type of sanity. Some 
		type of form, of shape.

	Suddenly, Max hears someone singing. Max looks up. It is the 
	Skinny Man and he's singing with passion. It's all very 
	strange to Max, who nervously looks away.

	And then the singing stops—
	mid-verse Max looks up and the man is gone. Vanished. Max 
	looks around—no one in Sight.

	INT. APARTMENT STAIRCASE - DAY

	Max heads up the stairs to his apartment. Just then, a toy 
	SLINKY appears from nowhere marching down the stairs.

	Max stops and waits until the Slinky hits his foot. He picks 
	it up and looks at it.

	He looks around wondering what's going on. Then Jenna leans 
	out over a railing and starts laughing at Max.

	INT. COFFEE SHOP-DAY

	Max sits at the counter frantically looking at the Wall Street 
	Journal. He plops three pills into his coffee.

	He draws circles and other shapes across the page.

	Max is interrupted by a puff of smoke. At the same time, 
	someone touches his shoulder and says:

				LENNY MEYER 
		Hey, Max, how you doing?
	
				MAX 
		Oh, okay.
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Lenny Meyer. 
			(Motioning to the cigarette) 
		I'll put it out. 
			(Which be does) 
		So, what do you do?
	
				MAX 
		Um, I work with computers 
		...math.

				LENNY MEYER 
		Really? What type of math?
	
				MAX 
		Number theory. Mostly 
		research.

				LENNY MEYER 
		Number theory? No 
		way, I work in theory, too. 
		Not traditional, though...
			(Points to his yarmulke) 
		I work with the Torah. 
			(Awed by the coincidence) 
		Amazing.
	
				MAX 
			(Passing it of as a coincidence) 
		Yeah...
	
				LENNY MEYER
		Yeah. You know Hebrew is 
		all numbers. It's all math.

				MAX 
		Hm.
	
	Lenny pulls out a worn' dog-eared Bible from his pocket. There 
	are paper slips marking what seems like every other page. When 
	he opens it up,
	Max sees that the pages are marked up by highlighter pens, 
	notes and diagrams.

	Lenny points to the text. EXTREME CLOSE-UP of Hebrew letters.

				LENNY MEYER 
		Here, look...the ancient 
		Jews used Hebrew as their 
		numerical system. Each 
		letter is a number.

	Lenny pulls out a pen and grabs Max's Journal. He writes on it 
	as he talks.

				LENNY MEYER
		You see...The Hebrew "A," the 
		number 1. The Hebrew "B," 
		Bet, is two. You can take any 
		Hebrew text and turn them into 
		a long string of numbers.
	
	The waitress refills Max's coffee.

				LENNY MEYER
		The Torah is just 
		a long string of numbers. 
		Some say that it's a long 
		code sent to us from God.

	Satisfied, Lenny lights up a cigarette and takes a drag.

				MAX 
			(Mildly impressed) 
		Kind of interesting.
	
				LENNY MEYER 
			(Proud of himself) 
		Yeah, like take the 
		Hebrew word for, say, the 
		Garden of Eden, Kadem. Kuf, 
		Dalei Mem...Kuf is a 
		hundred. Daled, four Mem, 
		forty. They equal one hundred 
		and forty-four. Then take the 
		tree of knowledge...in 
		the garden, Aat Ha Haim, it 
		equals two hundred and 
		thirty-three. Now you can take 
		that number and...

				MAX 
		They're Fibonacci numbers.
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Huh?
	
				MAX 
		The Fibonacci sequence. 
		Italian mathematician, thirteenth
		century. If you divide 
		a hundred and forty-four into 
		two hundred and thirty-three, 
		it approaches theta.

				LENNY MEYER 
		Theta?
	
				MAX 
		The Greek symbol for the 
		golden ratio. The golden 
		spiral.
	
	Lenny exhales the smoke. Max quickly graphs the number on his 
	Wall Street Journal.

				LENNY MEYER 
		You're right, I never saw 
		that before. That's the series 
		you find in nature. Like the 
		face of a sunflower.

				MAX 
		Wherever there's spirals.
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		You see, there's math everywhere.
	
	Lenny's smoke drifts by Max's eyes.

	SLOW MOTION: MAX'S POV of smoke spirals spinning in front of 
	him.

				MAX 
		Math everywhere...
	
	SLOW MOTION: Max looks down at his coffee cup. He pours cream 
	into his coffee. It shoots up and mixes with the black coffee 
	forming spirals in the mug.

				MAX 
			(Serious) 
		Everywhere...
	
	SLOW MOTION: Max looks at the spiral he just drew on the Wall 
	Street Journal.

	NORMAL SPEED Suddenly, Max stands up.

				MAX 
		Oh my God...
	
	INT. MAX'S APARTMENT - DAY

	Max draws spirals all over his Wall Street Journal. Then he 
	takes a thick black marker and draws a giant spiral across the 
	entire page.

	Max is ecstatic as he pounds code into the computer takes 
	moments to wake up, drops pills, and drinks a Ginseng soda.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Simple shapes! 
		Tuesday, September second. 
		Twenty-twenty-two. Sol! Sol! 
		Sol! Shapes in the market. 
		Why not? And they're spirals! 
		Spirals!

	Max traces a big circle on the journal. Then, he cuts it out 
	with an X-acto blade. He cuts out the middle of the circle so 
	that be has a thin loop like one of those futuristic frisbees. 
	He tears part of the loop and stretches the circle out in 
	front of him into a spiral.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		A circle spread out overtime. 
		It's open-ended. It has a 
		beginning and it grows and 
		changes through time. If I 
		can find where it fits, if I 
		can spin it and lock it into 
		a group of numbers, then I 
		can calculate the future. 
		Lead into gold. Chaos into 
		order Madness into sanity. Pain 
		into bliss. Perfection.
	
	Max is about to slap RETURN but he stops himself—he's nervous.

	Next door, Devi and her boyfriend are making love. He looks at 
	the wall with disdain. Then he looks back at the screen, 
	shrugs and confidently slaps RETURN on his keyboard.

	Stock prices float across the screen. Max can't believe his 
	eyes—the quotes are absurd.

				MAX 
		What the...
	
	And then, Euclid crashes. The electricity in Max's room flips 
	off. The numbers on Max's screen fade to black. In near (minus 
	streetlights) darkness:

				MAX 
		Shit!
	
	TIGHT ON A FUSE BOX 
	Max removes a fuse. He replaces it with a penny.

	MAX'S ROOM

	Max tries to reboot Euclid, but nothing happens. He tries a 
	second time, but nothing happens.

	Devi and Farrouhk are still at it.

	Max puts on a pair of latex gloves. He dons a surgical mask. 
	He climbs up to a loft above his monitors. A glass case, fed 
	cool air by a vent tube, encases some computer parts. He 
	carefully removes the front glass cover.

	Then he gets it off he's stunned. Not only have the chips 
	melted down, but a strange flaky substance covers the board.

				MAX 
		What the...
	
	Max grabs his face, frustrated.
	Deri and Farroakk are giggling, having a great time. Max 
	stares at the wall.

	Then he angrily throws Euclid's mainframe onto the ground It 
	lands with a SMASH!

	Under the mainframe is a small city of ANTS. They scramble for 
	cover. Max furiously attacks them, stomping them out with his 
	bands.

	Then he jumps on the smashed mainframe. He slides to
	the ground and covers his face.

	DISSOLVE TO 
	EXT. PLAYGROUND - DAY 
	TIGHT ON a tree branch shaking manically in the wind.

	Max sits on a park bench watching the branch shake. It 
	terrifies him.

	He pulls out the printout of his picks and examines them.

				MAX (V.0.) 
		Wednesday, September third, 
		seven-fifteen. Results: AAR 
		at fourteen and a half—low, 
		very low. ABR at six and a 
		half—jeez. Six and a half, ABR 
		hasn't been beneath twenty in 
		ten years. Conclusion: 
		Simple. There is no pattern. 
		No pattern. Chaos, chaos, all 
		chaos.

	He crumples up his picks and tosses them into a public trash 
	can.

	INT. SOL'S STUDY - DAY

	Sol and Max play Go. Sol is peaceful while Max is distant.

	Max plays a piece absently. Sol counters with a deafening 
	atari. Max whispers:

				MAX 
		Euclid crashed. I lost 
		all my data, my hardware.

				SOL 
		Your mainframe?
	
				MAX 
		Burnt...
	
				SOL 
		What happened?
	
				MAX 
		I don't know, first I got 
		these horrible picks. Then 
		Euclid spits out some 
		numbers. Never saw anything 
		like it and then it fries. 
		The whole machine just 
		crashed.
	
				SOL 
		You have a printout?
	
				MAX 
		Of?
	
				SOL 
		The picks, the number?
	
				MAX 
		I threw it out.
	
				SOL 
		What was the number it 
		spit out?

				MAX 
		I don't know, just a long 
		string of digits.

				SOL 
		How many?
	
				MAX 
		I don't know.
	
				SOL 
			(Intense) 
		What was it, a 
		hundred and fifty, a 
		thousand, two hundred 
		sixteen!? How many?

				MAX 
		I don't know. Probably 
		around two hundred. 
			(Wondering) 
		Why?
	
				SOL 
			(Beat)...
		I dealt with 
		some bugs back in my Pi days. 
		I was wondering if it was 
		similar to one I ran into.

	Sol begins to feed his fish. He points to one.

				SOL 
		Have you met Archimedes. 
		The one with the black spot. 
		You see?
	
				MAX 
		Yeah.
	
				SOL 
		Remember Archimedes of 
		Syracuse? The King asks 
		Archimedes to determine if a 
		present he's received was 
		actually solid gold. Unsolved 
		problem at the time. It 
		tortures the great Greek 
		mathematician for weeks. 
		Insomnia haunts him and he 
		twists and turns on his bed 
		for nights on end. Finally, 
		his equally exhausted wife, 
		she's forced to share a bed 
		with this genius, convinces 
		him to take a bath, to relax. 
		While stepping into the tub 
		he observes the bathwater 
		rise as he enters. Displacement. 
		A way to determine volume. 
		And thus, a way to 
		determine density, weight 
		over volume. And thus, 
		Archimedes solves the 
		problem. He screams 
		"Eureka!"—Greek for "I found 
		it!"—and is so overwhelmed he 
		runs dripping naked through 
		the streets to the King's 
		castle to report his 
		discovery. Now, what's the 
		moral of the story.
	
				MAX 
		That a breakthrough will 
		come...

				SOL 
		Wrong. The point of the 
		story is the wife. Listen to 
		your wife, she will give you 
		perspective. Meaning, you 
		need a break, Max, you have 
		to take a bath, otherwise 
		you'll get nowhere. There will 
		be no order, only chaos. 
		Go home and take a bath.
	
	PUBLIC BENCH - MOMENTS LATER 
	Max waits for his train on an empty platform.

	Just then, he hears a DRIPPING sound. Max looks up and notices 
	something across the tracks on the other platform. He can't 
	quite make it out because his vision is blocked by columns.

	He gets up and spots a Young Hasidic Man standing at him.

	Blood drips from the Man's hand. Max doesn't know what to make 
	of it

	A TRAIN SWISHES BY -

	INT. MOVING TRAIN - LATER

	Max reads an ad that says In big block letters 'MOSHIAC IS 
	COMING!' He checks out a few of the other passengers. Then he 
	notices a man reading a newspaper across from him.

	The headline reads: 'MARKET TAKES NOSE-DIVE. Max jumps up and 
	approaches the man.

				MAX 
		Hey, excuse me, can I see 
		that?

	The man hands Max the paper. Max scans the article. Then He 
	quickly turns to the listings. His finger barrels down a 
	column. It stops at ABR.

				MAX 
		Six and a half.
	
	Max looks up the column for AAR.

			MAX 
		Fourteen and a half. Oh, 
		my...

	Max stumbles toward the doors. He looks out the window: into 
	the darkness of the tunnel.

				MAX 
			(Out of breath) 
		My God. My God. 
			(Gets pumped to himself) 
		Yes! Yes!
	
				SKINNY MAN (V.O.)
		Hey, paper, please!
	
	Max hands the paper back and looks at the man for the first 
	time. It is the Skinny Man he saw earlier.

	Max gets suspicious and moves into the next car.

	AT GRAND STREET
	Max exits. He notices that the Skinny Man gets off - one car 
	down - as well.

	He hustles toward the exit. As he's about to turn a corner he 
	looks back. The man seems to be following him.

	He dodges around a corner and heads up a staircase.

	EXT. TRAIN STATION - DAY 
	He seems to have lost him, when he notices a business-woman 
	with a pretty face heading right toward him. It is MARCY 
	DAWSON.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		Mr. Cohen! Perfect timing.
	
	Marcy sticks out her hand. Max, not knowing what else to do, 
	shakes it.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		I was just waiting for you. 
		I thought you stood me up, 
		so I was going to head home.
	
				MAX 
		Who are you?
	
				MARCY DAWSON
		Oh...Marcy Dawson. From 
		Lancet Percy. We were 
		supposed to meet at three.

				MAX 
		I'm sorry, I don't...
	
	Marcy hasn't let go of Max's hand.
	She guides him toward a large black street limo that's just 
	pulled up.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		I can't tell you what a 
		pleasure it is to finally 
		meet you. I've studied 
		your papers for years.
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		I have something 
		you won't be able to say no 
		to. Why don't we take a spin 
		in the limo?

				MAX 
		No, no, no, really, I 
		can't.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		We're excited by your work. 
		We can't wait to discuss...

	Max attempts to pull away but Marcy is firm on leading him to 
	the car. Meanwhile, the Shinny man is heading right at them.

	The CHAUFFEUR reaches out to him. Max yanks his arm free and 
	runs away. He whips around a corner.

	INT. BODEGA - DAY 
	Max barrels into the grocery store and buys a Journal. He 
	heads to the back of the store and lays the paper across the 
	juice section. He checks the listing.

				MAX 
		On the nose. On the damn nose.
	
	Max turns the page on the Journal and sees the Lancet-Percy 
	ad. Then he notices one of the bodega owners staring at him.

	EXT. MAX'S APARTMENT - DAY

	Max scouts his front door. The coast is clear. 
	INT. MAX'S APARTMENT - DAY

	Max examines the smashed Euclid mainframe. He uncovers some of 
	the strange filo-like substance. He carefully touches it. Then 
	he grabs a small pinch of it.

	He examines it near a light bulb. He can't guess what it is. 
	He sniffs it. He carefully tastes it with the very tip of his 
	tongue. He still doesn't have a clue.

	Max opens his closet. He pulls out his dusty brass microscope. 
	He dusts it off. Next, he pulls out a slide Kit.

	Max places the instrument on the windowsill. He grabs an old 
	glass slide and puts some of the flaky stuff on it. He slides 
	it under the microscope. He looks into the lens, but doesn't 
	see anything.

	He gets up quickly and heads for the 
	HALLWAY

	where he looks at Devi's door, nervously. He gathers his 
	courage and knocks on her door. Through the door hears.

				DEVI (O.S.) 
		Farrouhk?
	
				MAX 
		Um, no, it's Max from next door.
	
	Devi opens the door wearing a sexy nightshirt.

				DEVI 
		Max, is everything all 
		right?

				MAX 
		Do you have any iodine?
	
				DEVI 
			(concerned, she reaches for Max's hands) 
		Iodine...did you cut 
		yourself?

				MAX 
			(Pulling his hands away) 
		No. I just need it to stain a 
		slide.

				DEVI 
		Ah, science, the pursuit 
		of knowledge. One second.

	She heads to her bathroom. Max waits impatiently.

				DEVI (O.S.) 
		Here we are. What are you 
		examining—
			(At the door) 
		a potato!?

	She hands Max a bottle of iodine.

				MAX 
		Just something with my 
		computer.

	MAX'S ROOM - MOMENTS LATER 
	Max uses his pinky to drip a drop of iodine on the slide.

	Through the wall he hears Farrouhk arriving home.

				DEVI (0.S.) 
		The neighbor's up 
		to his old science...

				FARROUHK (O.S.) 
		What neighbor?
	
				DEVI (O.S.) 
		Next door.
	
	Max listens to the conversation for a few moments.

				FARROUHK (O.S.) 
		Why are you talking to that dork!
	
				DEVI (O.S.) 
		Shh! I just helped ...
	
				FARROUHK (O.S.) 
		Pounds on wall. Hey, dork, leave
		my girlfriend alone!

				DEVI (0.S.) 
		Farrouhk!
	
	Max shakes his bead. Then he finishes preparing the slide and 
	slips the glass under the turret.
	Max catches the low-hanging sun in the microscope's mirror and 
	reflects it through the sample and up the turret
	into his eye.

	MAX'S POV DOWN THE TURRET of some strange
	Substance.

	Max pulls out the slide and looks at it.

				FARROUHK (0.S.)
		I don't give a shit.
	
				DEVI (0.S.) 
			(Laughing) 
		Shh! C'mon, Farrouhk.
	
				FARROUHK (0.S.) 
		I'll kill the dork. 
			(Exploding again) 
		You hear me! I'll kill you. 
		I'll fucking kill you!

	Then an idea comes to him. He takes out his brain book. He 
	looks through it until he finds a picture of neurons. He 
	compares the image to the view through the turret. They look 
	different but there are similarities.

				DEVI (O.S) 
		Shh! Baby! Come here, baby!
	
	Max rushes out.

	EXT. PLAYGROUND - LATE AFTERNOON

	Max sifts through the trash can where he threw his picks from 
	yesterday. Frustrated, he dumps the trash onto the sidewalk 
	and starts looking through it Mrs. Ovadia watches him.

	Max sees her and is embarrassed for a moment.

				MAX 
		I just threw out something. 
		I didn't realize I needed it.

				MRS. OVADIA 
		Humph.
	
				MAX 
		Just a printout. I, uh, 
		lost my data...

	Max looks back at the trash And forgets about Mrs. Ovadia. 
	Soon, Max gets up and kicks the trashcan. He heads home.

	IN FRONT OF MAX'S APARTMENT BUILDING

	Max watches Marcy get out of the limo and call to Mrs. Ovadia.

	Max backs away when he smacks into someone.

	It's Lenny Meyer - the young Jewish man.

	Max jumps back in fear.

				LENNY MEYER 
		Max! How you doing? Lenny 
		Meyer. 
				MAX 
		Oh, hey... 
	
	Max tries to quickly pass him.

				LENNY MEYER 
		Hey, where you going? You 
		got a few moments to do Tefillin?

	Max turns around and notices Marcy talking to Mrs. Ovadia. 
	Mrs. Ovadia points up the street
	toward him.

				LENNY MEYER 
		I gotta car, we can cruise 
		over to my...

				MAX 
		You gotta car?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Yeah, right there. That's 
		Ephraim, my friend.

	We swing around with Max and see a station wagon.

	EPHRAIM sits in the passenger Seat. He's a big-boned, bearded, 
	Orthodox Jew.

				MAX 
		All tight, lets go.
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Great...
	
	They head for the station wagon.

	INT. BASEMENT SHUL - NIGHT

	The synagogue is a claustrophobic, fluorescent-lit room in 
	general disarray. Two rows of imitation-wooden pews face a 
	makeshift altar and Ark. Young Hasidic Men study texts. Some 
	work alone, reading and dovening. Others are in small groups 
	sharing in heated discussions.

	Lenny wraps the Tefillin around Max's arm. Max just wants to 
	get out of there. Ephraim prays in the background.

				MAX 
		Lenny, I don't really 
		want to do...

				LENNY MEYER 
		Do it for me? It 
		means a lot, having someone 
		of your stature performing a 
		mitzvah in my presence. 
			(Beat) 
		When you told me your name was
		Max Cohen, I didn't realize you 
		were the Max Cohen. Maximilian Cohen.
	
				MAX
		You know me?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		0f course, I've 
		followed your research since 
		your Columbia days. It's 
		revolutionary. You've inspired 
		the work we do.
	
				MAX 
		I have?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Yes, very much 
		so. The only difference is, 
		we're not looking at stocks. 
		We're searching for a pattern 
		in Torah.
	
	Lenny finishes wrapping Max's arm. He reaches for another box 
	and strap.

				MAX 
		What kind of pattern?
			
				LENNY MEYER 
		We're not really 
		sure. Our calculations have 
		shown us that there is a 
		number encoded in the text.

				MAX 
		What sort of number?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		We don't know. 
		All we know is that it's two
		hundred and sixteen digits long.
	
	Max, stunned looks at Lenny.

				LENNY MEYER
		Don't worry. This one just 
		goes over your head.
		
	Lenny places the other Teffilin over Max's head. Max collects 
	himself.

				MAX 
			(Coolly) 
		Two sixteen?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Yes. Now we have to say a 
		small prayer, repeat 
		after me.
	
	Bewildered, Max does. After the prayer...

				LENNY MEYER 
		That's it. Wasn't 
		so bad, was it? You feel 
		anything?
	
	Lenny starts removing the Teffillin from Max.

				MAX 
		What is it?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		It's a prayer about our 
		dedication to our one and 
		only God.
	
				MAX 
			(Attempting calmness) 
		No, I mean the number, the 
		two sixteen number? What is 
		it?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Oh. We don't know. We just 
		know that it's the most 
		common number encoded in 
		the text. It might be some 
		type of linguistic pattern. 
		If we could figure out what 
		the number is we could maybe 
		answer that.

				MAX 
		Tell me more.
	
	EXT. SOL'S APARTMENT - DAWN

	Max firmly rings SOL's bell.

	In a few moments, Sol answers the door in his pajamas.

				SOL 
		Max?
	
				MAX 
		What's going on, Sol!?
	
				SOL 
		Relax, it's early.
	
	INT. SOL'S KITCHEN - MOMENTS LATER 
	Max sits at the kitchen table while Sol heats up a pot of tea. 
	Max is shaking.

				SOL 
		Now, what's up?
	
				MAX 
		What's the two hundred 
		and sixteen number, Sol?

				SOL 
		Excuse me?
	
				MAX 
		You asked me if I had 
		seen a two hundred and 
		sixteen digit number, right?
	
				SOL 
		Oh, you mean the bug. I 
		found it working on Pi.

				MAX 
		What do you mean by "found it"?
	
				SOL 
		What's this all about, 
		Max?

				MAX 
		Well, there's these 
		religious Jews who have...

				SOL 
		Religious Jews?
	
				MAX 
		Well, you know, 
		Hassidim. I met one in the 
		coffee shop. The guy's a 
		number theorist. The Torah is 
		their data set. The thing is, 
		they're searching for a two 
		hundred and sixteen digit 
		number in the Torah.

				SOL 
		Really? What's it mean to 
		them?

				MAX 
		They say they don't 
		know, but that's crazy. I 
		mean what are the odds...
	
				SOL 
		It's just a coincidence.
	
				MAX 
		But hold on, there's 
		something else. You remember 
		those strange picks I got.
	
				SOL 
		Yesterday's stock picks?
	
				MAX 
		Right. Well, it turns out 
		that they were correct. I hit 
		two picks on the nose. Smack 
		on the nose.

				SOL 
			(Surprised) 
		Hmmm.
	
				MAX 
		Something's going on, and 
		it has to do with that 
		number. The answer is there.
	
				SOL 
		Max, it's a bug.
	
				MAX 
		No. it's a pattern. A 
		pattern is in that number

				SOL 
		Come with me.
	
	INT. SOL'S STUDY - MOMENTS LATER 
	Sol and Max sit on either side of a half-played Go board.

				SOL 
		Listen to me. The Ancient 
		Japanese considered the Go 
		board to be a microcosm of 
		the universe. Although when 
		it is empty it appears to be 
		simple and ordered, in fact, 
		the possibilities of game play 
		are endless. They say that no 
		two Go games have ever been 
		alike. Just like snowflakes. 
		So, the Go board actually 
		represents an extremely complex 
		and chaotic universe. That is 
		the truth of our world, Max. 
		It can't be easily summed up 
		with math. There is no simple 
		pattern.
	
				MAX 
		But as a Go game 
		progresses, the possibilities 
		become smaller and smaller. 
		The board does take on order. 
		Soon, all moves are 
		predictable.

				SOL
		So?
	
				MAX
		So, maybe, even though we're not 
		sophisticated enough to be aware 
		of it, there is an underlying 
		order...a pattern, beneath every 
		Go game. Maybe that pattern is 
		like the pattern in the market, 
		in the Torah. The two sixteen 
		number.

				SOL 
		That is insanity, Max.
	
				MAX 
		Or maybe it's genius. I 
		have to get that number.

				SOL 
		Hold on, you have to slow 
		down. You're losing it, you
		have to take a breath. Listen 
		to yourself. You're connecting 
		a computer bug I had, a 
		computer bug you might have 
		had, and some religious 
		hogwash. If you want to find 
		the number two sixteen in the 
		world, you'll be able to pull 
		it out of anywhere. Two 
		hundred and sixteen steps 
		from your street comer to 
		your front door. Two hundred 
		and sixteen seconds you spend 
		riding on the elevator. When 
		your mind becomes obsessed 
		with anything, it will filter 
		everything else out and find 
		examples of that thing 
		everywhere. Three hundred and 
		twenty, four hundred and 
		fifty, twenty-three. 
		Whatever! You've chosen two 
		sixteen and you'll find it 
		everywhere in nature. But 
		Max, as soon as you discard 
		scientific rigor, you are no 
		longer a mathematician. You 
		become a numerologist. What 
		you need to do is take a 
		break from your research. You 
		need it. You deserve it 
		Here's a hundred dollars, I 
		want you to take it. If ,you 
		won't take it, borrow it. 
		Either way, take a break.
		Spend it however you like as 
		long as it falls in the 
		category of vacation. Real 
		world stuff, okay. No math.

	Max looks at his bands.

				SOL 
		Just try it. In a week 
		you'll laugh about this. 
		C'mon, Max. Think about it!
	
	Max gives a half nod.

	EXT. SOL'S APARTMENT - MORNING

	Max rushes to the subway when a honking horn stops him. A limo 
	pulls up next to him. Marcy Dawson jumps out of the car

				MARCY DAWSON 
		Mr. Cohen? Mr. 
		Cohen? Please stop for a 
		second Mr. Cohen?
	
	Max stops and faces Marcy.

				MAX 
		Damn it already! Stop 
		following me. I'm not 
		interested in your money. I'm 
		searching for a way to 
		understand our world. I'm 
		searching for perfection. I 
		don't deal with mediocre 
		materialistic people like 
		you!
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		I'm sorry. I'm very sorry. 
		I admit I've been a bit too 
		aggressive. But all I ask is 
		for five minutes of your time. 
		Here...
	
	Marcy hands Max a metal stopwatch.
	
				MARCY DAWSON
		...a stopwatch. 
		Already ticking. Allow me the 
		four and a half minutes left 
		Let me tell you what I want. 
		Let me tell you what I can 
		offer you. Afterwards, if you 
		don't want to talk to me, then 
		fine, we part as friends and 
		I promise that you will never 
		see me again. That's fair, 
		isn't it?
	
				MAX 
			(After a moment, he looks at the stopwatch) 
		Go.
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		Good. It's funny, 
		even though we have different 
		aims and different goals 
		we're actually incredibly 
		alike. We both seek the same 
		thing—perfection. I know...
		clearly we're seeking 
		different types of 
		perfection, but that is what 
		makes us perfect candidates 
		for a fruitful partnership. 
		If you let me, I can be your 
		greatest ally. Take the 
		acacia tree...in East 
		Africa. It is the most 
		prevalent plant in all of 
		Kenya because it has managed 
		to secure its niche by 
		defeating its major predator, 
		the giraffe. To accomplish 
		this, the tree has made a contract 
		with a highly specialized red ant. 
		The tree has evolved giant spores which 
		act as housing for the ants 
		In return for shelter, the 
		ants supply defense. When a 
		giraffe starts to eat the 
		tree's leaves, the shaking 
		branch acts like an alarm. The 
		ants charge out and secrete an 
		acid onto the giraffe's 
		tongue. The giraffe learns its 
		lesson and never returns. 
		Without each other, the tree 
		would be picked dry and the 
		ants would have no shade from 
		the brutal African sun Both 
		would die. But with each 
		other, they succeed, they survive, 
		they surpass. They have 
		different aims, different 
		goals but they work together.
		Max, we would like to establish 
		a mutually benefiting alliance 
		with you.
	
				MAX
			(handing back the stopwatch) 
		I'm not interested.
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		Allow me to dose.
	
	The chauffeur pulls a black suitcase out of the limo and 
	brings it over.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		As a sign of good faith we 
		wish to offer you this.

				MAX 
		I told you I don't want money.
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		The suitcase isn't filled with 
		fifties or gold or diamonds. Just 
		silicon. A Ming Mecca chip.
	
				MAX 
			(Yeah right!) 
		Ming Mecca. They're not declassified.
	
	Max starts to move away.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		You're right. They're not. But 
		Lancet-Percy has many friends. 
		Come here, take a look.
	
				MAX 
			(Stuttering) 
		What do...do...
	
	But then, Max notices that his thumb is twitching.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		Beautiful, isn't it? You know 
		how rare...are you okay?

				MAX 
		Yeah, I got to go.
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		But what about...
	
				MAX 
		Let me think about it...
	
	Max trots off.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		What? Mr. Cohen!?
	
	INT. SUBWAY STATION - PUBLIC BENCH - NIGHT

	The station is strangely silent. It is also extremely rundown. 
	The tracks are rusted and fucked up. All we hear is the sound 
	of DRIPPING WATER. The sound is warped and grows and morphs 
	until it's downright scary.

	Max sits on a bench sucking down pills. His head begins to 
	hurt. He touches the right side of his scalp and nubs it.

	As the blood surges through his head it brings him waves of 
	pain. He gags several times. Then the pain lets loose and all 
	Max wants to do is die. He smashes the side of his head with 
	his fist.

	Across the tracks on the far platform he sees someone.

	For a moment Max's pain dissipates. His view is obscured by 
	the columns. Max gets up and sees the Young Hasidic Man - from 
	earlier - staring at him.
	The Man stares at Max without any emotion. Max notices blood 
	dropping from the Man's right hand.

	Max looks at the Man's face and sees for a split second his 
	own face staring back.

				MAX 
		Hey!
	
	Max charges up a flight of stairs. He crosses a passage over 
	the tracks and flies down the stairs to the other side of the 
	platform.

	The Man is gone. A pool of blood sits where the Man was. Max 
	touches it with his toe. It's sticky. He notices a trail of 
	blood leading off from the pool.
	He follows it around a corner where it leads into a corner.

	He notices something strange in the shadows. He carefully 
	advances on it. Hiding in the shadows is what looks like a 
	small piece of brain. It seems to be moving slightly.

	Max uses a pen in his jacket to carefully touch it.

	Suddenly, Max hears a train's HONK HONK behind him. Max spins 
	around. Nothing is there but silence.

	He turns back to the gray matter. He touches it again. Once 
	again, he hears the deafening HONK HONK. Max spins around, but 
	nothing is there.

	Frustrated, he pushes his pen deep into the brain - fiber 
	ripping apart.

	Suddenly, a TRAIN is barreling down on Max. Seconds from 
	impact, Max SCREAMS!!!

	DISSOLVE TO

	BLINDING WHITE VOID
	We hear two deep, long sleep-filled breaths and then we CUT 
	TO:

	INT. SUBWAY TRAIN - DAY

	Max's eyes pop open. A TRANSIT COP is sticking him with a 
	nightstick.

				TRANSIT COP 
		Up, buddy Coney Island, last stop.
	
	Max sits up. His nose is bleeding. The cop hands him a tissue.

				TRANSIT COP 
		Your nose.
	
	Max wipes his nose and looks around nervously.

	He sees the rides of Coney Island in the distance.

	EXT. CONEY ISLAND BEACH - DAY

	Max sits on a boulder on a Coney Island jetty. He watches the 
	sea.

	Then Max sees an old man dressed like KING NEPTUNE scanning 
	the shore with a rusty metal detector. The old man picks up 
	something. He admires it for a moment before gently setting it 
	back on the ground. Then Neptune continues his search.

	Max wanders over to the place where the old man exam

	INT. MAX'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 
	MAX'S POV through the microscope. Max sees the brain 
	structures.

	Just then, there's a KNOCK on the door. The knock startles him 
	and his hand bumps the turret of the microscope. The lens 
	moves and he realizes that the magnification can be changed.

	A KNOCK again.

	Max looks out the peephole and sees nothing. Confused,

	Looks down at his thumb. It's not shaking. He heads back to 
	his microscope.

	There's a knock again. Max angrily unlocks the door and whips 
	it open.

	IN THE HALLWAY is Jenna with her calculator.

				JENNA 
		Max, Max, can we do one.
	
				MAX 
		Jenna. I can't now, Jenna.
	
				JENNA 
		Please, Max.
	
				MAX 
		I'm working now, later okay?
	
	Max shuts the door and returns to the microscope. He changes 
	the magnification. At a weaker magnification, the 
	mathematician sees that the cells are grouped in spirals.

	Max is stunned, He grabs the phone and pulls a business card 
	out of his pocket He quickly dials a number.

	Someone answers with a "Shalom" on the other end of the line. 
	Max asks for Lenny Meyer and is put on hold.

				LENNY MEYER 
		Hello, this is Lenny?
	
				MAX 
		Lenny, it's Max Cohen.
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Max! How are you? 
		You want to come down?
				MAX 
		I've been thinking about 
		our conversation earlier.

	Max looks into the microscope. He stares at the spirals.

				LENNY MEYER 
		That's good...
	
				MAX 
		I want to help.
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Excellent.
	
				MAX 
		Do you have the Torah in 
		digital form?

	DISSOLVE FROM TURRET TO:

	SATELLITE IMAGE OF SPINNING TORNADO

	Start in tight on the epicenter and pull out to reveal the 
	entire storm.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Thursday, September 
		fourth, sixteen forty-five. 
		The alchemist awakes. All of 
		my ideas, work and dreams are 
		spinning together It all has 
		to do with spirals. It began 
		with spirals and the answers 
		are thee.

	INT. MAX'S APARTMENT – DAY

	EUCLID'S INNARDS

	Max uses a drill to rip out some old parts. He lays new wire 
	and does a bunch of soldering.

	He rips down a bunch of old papers and does a general 
	housecleaning.

	He also goes to school on the ant population in his apartment. 
	He plants some ant motels and sprays the room with. a pest 
	killer.

				MAX (V.0.) 
		The most I can 
		remember about their 
		significance is from 
		Schneider's class. That 
		bullshit core for majors. 
		Schneider's fascination with 
		mystical geometry made him a 
		bit of a quack...but...then again, 
		look at Kepler. He was really into 
		Pythagoras. The leader of an 
		ancient sect which believed 
		the entire universe could be 
		represented by numbers. 
		Pythagoras' greatest contribution 
		was the golden ratio, which ended up 
		influencing art and science 
		for thousands of years, 
		arguably all the way up to 
		today.
	
	TIGHT ON MAX writing a : b : : b : a + b.

	He draws it over a copy of Leonardo Da Vinci's famous
	drawing of man s anatomy.

				MAX (V.0.) 
		The golden ratio, 
		if I recall, is this unique 
		relationship between the length 
		and width of a special 
		rectangle called the golden 
		rectangle.
	
	TIGHT ON MAX carefully measuring out a golden rectangle.

	The rectangle fits perfectly over Leonardo Da Vinci's Man.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		If you take the 
		width of this rectangle and 
		use it to form a square within 
		the rectangle, the part left 
		over is a rectangle that has 
		the same ratio as the 
		original rectangle. au can 
		continue squaring the 
		rectangle, over and over 
		again, making the 
		rectangles smaller and smaller 
		to infinity.

	TIGHT ON MAX squaring rectangle after rectangle. Then he draws 
	the golden spiral through the rectangles.

				MAX (V.0.) 
		Then, if you 
		connect a curve through these 
		rectangles you get the golden 
		spiral. The Pythagoreans 
		loved this shape because 
		they found it everywhere 
		in nature.
	
	MONTAGE OF IMAGES

	The images mirror what Max talks about. We see NAUTILUS 
	SHELLS, SUNFLOWERS, PLANTS, RAM HORNS, HUMAN FINGERPRINTS, THE 
	MILKY WAY, and DNA STRANDS.

				MAX (V.0.) 
		It really is amazing. In the sea, 
		on land, in air, our basic building 
		block DNA and even our home.
	
	EXT. CHINATOWN - DAY

	Max wanders through the crowded streets of Chinatown.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		If we're built from 
		spirals, while living within 
		a giant spiral, is it 
		possible that all of human 
		behavior, if it could be 
		quantified, is in the form of 
		a spiral. Then, maybe,
		extensions of our behavior 
		like the stock market. maybe 
		even the writing of The 
		Torah, is infused with the 
		spiral pattern.

	DISSOLVE TO
	PAN ACROSS NEW EUCLID

	We start on the stock ticker and pull out to reveal a leaner, 
	meaner and more exciting machine.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Friday, September 
		fifth. Seven twelve. It's 
		fair to say, I'm stepping out onto a 
		limb. But I'm on the edge and 
		that's where it happens.
	
	He holds two wires apart from each other as he contemplates 
	what will connect them.

	EXT. ELECTRONIC MEGADUMP - DAY

	Max wanders helplessly through the dump. There's nothing but 
	junk and more junk.

	EXT. PUBLIC PAY PHONE - DAY 
	Max eyes Marcy Dawson's business card, suspiciously He dials 
	the number. A man answers on the other line.

				MAN'S VOICE (OS.) 
		Three, eight, two.
	
				MAX 
		Marcy Dawson.
	
				MAN'S VOICE (O.S.) 
		Who's calling?
	
				MAX 
		Max Cohen.
	
				MAN'S VOICE (O.S.) 
		Hold on.
	
	Max is put on hold. He notices a man in a business suit 
	watching him. Max turns away.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		Mr. Cohen? I'm so 
		Happy...

				MAX 
		Look what do you want for the chip?
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		You tech guys. I think you 
		know what we want.

				MAX 
		No, I don't.
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		C'mon, Mr. Cohen. We can work 
		together We can both profit 
		from this information. We both 
		need each other to get it, so why 
		not work with us?
	
				MAX 
		I don't know if I'll find 
		anything useful.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		We're willing to take the risk.
	
				MAX 
		Okay. First, I want you 
		to call off the surveillance. 
				MARCY DAWSON 
			(Beat) 
		Done. Anything else?
	
				MAX 
		Yeah, I'm a very private 
		person. Knock on my door and 
		leave the suitcase outside. 
		I don't want to talk to Anyone.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		How do I know you're home? 
	
				MAX 
		I'll knock back.
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		Fair enough.
	
	INT. COFFEE SHOP - DAY

	Max sits at the counter. The POST headline in front of him 
	reads MARKET DOOMED. PRESIDENT IN PANIC, WORLD LEADERS MEET.

	Max flips to the stock quotes. He can't believe how far things 
	have dovetailed. He shakes his head in disbelief when an 
	envelope appears in front of him. It belongs to Lenny Meyer.

				LENNY MEYER 
		The Torah.
	
				MAX 
		What is it?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		In Hebrew characters and numbers.

				MAX 
		No, what is it? The two 
		hundred and sixteen digits.

				LENNY MEYER
		I don't know. 
			(Beat) 
		If you get it, maybe 
		we can figure it out. 
			(Changing subject) 
		Can you really find it?
	
				MAX 
		If the number's in there, 
		I'll find it.

	EXT. MAX'S APARTMENT - DUSK

	Max marches into his foyer when he's suddenly ambushed by 
	Devi's boyfriend, Farrouhk. Farrouhk is a little guy with a 
	big sadistic smile.

	He grabs Max by the collar and slams him against the wall. His 
	fist butts up against Max's chin.

			FARROUHK 
		There you go, dork. 
		Been thinking about my 
		girlfriend. Haven't you?
	
				MAX 
		Wha...
	
				FARROUHK
		You want to fuck her, don't you?
	
				MAX 
		No, no..
	
				FARROUHK
		You calling my girlfriend 
		ugly!? Why don't you want 
		to fuck her? You think she's 
		ugly?
	
				MAX 
		No, no, I just. It's that 
		she's your girl...

				FARROUHK 
		So you do want to 
		fuck her. You think about 
		fucking her in the mouth, 
		don't you?

				MAX 
		No, no, sir, please. I've 
		never touched Devi...I 
		never will.
	
				FARROUHK 
		Give the fucking 
		genius a Mars bar. Stay away, 
		or I'll slice off your balls.
	
	Farrouhk tosses Max against the wall. Max whimpers off to his 
	apartment. Farrouhk has enjoyed this and to end his game be 
	gives Max a small slap on the butt.

	INSIDE HIS APARTMENT Max bolts the front door.

	At his desk he rips open the envelope Lenny Meyer gave him. He 
	pulls out a BLACK DISK and eyes it expectantly.

	Next door, he hears Farrouhk and Devi talking.

				FARROUHK (O.S.) 
		Damn dork.
	
				DEVI (O.S.) 
		He's just a bit unique.
	
				FARROUHK(0.S.) 
		Unique?! Unique?! He's a dork!
	
	Then, Max carefully slips the DISK into Euclid's drive. Hebrew 
	characters pop onto Euclid's screen. Max pounds in several 
	strings of code lightning fast.

	The Hebrew letters suddenly switch to their numerical 
	counterparts. Max toggles between Hebrew and numbers a few 
	times—impressed.

	Max nods. Then there's a knock at the door.

				MAX 
			(To himself) 
		Okay.
	
	Max peeks through the peephole. Two well-dressed large men, 
	BRAD and ABE THE BABE, wait for the signal. MAX knocks and the 
	suits leave.

	Then Max shyly opens up his front door and quickly grabs the 
	black attaché case in front of his door

	Donning a surgical mask and latex gloves, Max opens the black 
	attaché case. Sitting in foam is a tiny but beautiful chip. 
	Max studies it with awe.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Friday, September 
		fifth? Lots of work to be 
		done. But I'm close, so 
		close. Today is the day Might 
		have cost me my soul, but 
		down the line I'll work it 
		out. Just keep them in the 
		dark, let them beg. A damn 
		Ming Mecca chip. It's like 
		giving a desperate junkie a 
		syringe filled with junk. 
		Defense uses them to nun 
		nuclear sub reactors. Me? I'm 
		going to dissect the market.

	Max carefully carries the chip over to the new leaner Euclid. 
	He welds it into Euclid's waiting wires.

				MAX 
		Happy birthday, Euclid.
	
	Then he lifts his hand to slap the RETURN button, but a sudden 
	wave of fear stops him.

	He gets up and grabs a Ginseng soda from the fridge He drops 
	eight pills in the can. He calmly takes a sip from the soda 
	and places it on the counter.

	Max can hear Devi and Farrouhk starting to make love. Their 
	gentle sounds
	drift through the wall.

				MAX (V.O.) 
		Eighteen thirty. Press return...
		Max darts over and smacks 
		the RETURN. Moments later we 
		see what Max sees

	ON THE SCREEN is a long string of zeros.

	At the bottom of the screen Euclid's cursor blinks, waiting 
	for instructions.

	He smacks RETURN again Max gets the same empty result.

	Euclid's cursor blinks, waiting. Max starts to laugh. He 
	laughs and laughs and laughs.

				MAX 
		Oh God. Damn religious 
		freaks. 
			(Sarcastic) 
		The holy Torah...
	
	But then he notices his thumb twitching. He rubs his scar. 
				MAX 
		Ah God...
	
	His neighbor's love sounds start to get rough. They're having 
	fun.

	Max almost throws up.

	THE BATHROOM

	Max dry heaves in the sink. Then he forces himself to stand in 
	front of the mirror.

				MAX 
		Too much...too soon.
	
	He grabs the gun and tries to roll up his sleeve. He can't get 
	it to roll up. Suddenly he's overwhelmed by pain. He quickly 
	rips his shirt and fires the gun into his arm.

	Nothing happens. He checks the barrel—its empty

				MAX 
		Ohh...
	
	He grabs a bottle of medicine but knocks them an into the 
	sink.

	He cuts his finger as be grabs one of the broken bottles. He 
	loads the gun and fires the medicine into his arm. A wave of 
	pain and nausea floods in. He grabs another bottle and fires 
	it into his arm. Then he fires another and another.

	Frustrated he collapses into the mirror.

				MAX 
		Stop, please, stop.
	
	Slightly sobbing he examines his scalp pulling his hair apart. 
	He sees something.

				MAX 
		What the?
	
	So he takes out a scissors and starts removing some hair.

	Meanwhile his neighbors' lovemaking gets more intense. Their 
	screams carry into Max's head.

	Max finishes removing a patch of hair from the right side
	of his head. He has uncovered a light scar on his head. He 
	examines it in the mirror.

				MAX 
		What is it!? What is it!?
	
	Then his neighbors' lovemaking turns outright evil. It
	sounds like Sodom and Gomorrah next door and Max
	can barely stand it.
	A jolt of pain surges into his head. He grabs his scar as he 
	vomits blood into the sink.
	He starts banging his head against the mirror. He bangs
	his head again and again until the mirror CRACKS!

	His neighbors are cumming and their cries of joy are twisted 
	and agonizing.

	The mathematician looks at himself and begins to sob. He 
	reloads the gun and fires it right into the scar on his head, 
	where the pain is coming from.

	Max collapses to the ground in complete agony until the bare 
	bulb in the bathroom starts blinking on and off.

	Suddenly the pain is gone.

	Then he hears something. It's Euclid, buzzing with life. He 
	gets to his feet and head's into Euclid.

	The main monitor is screaming with numbers. The lights in the 
	room flicker on and off like on a disco dance floor. A
	filo substance billows out of Euclid.

	And then a number pops onto the screen. Max estimates how many 
	digits are on the screen. 
				MAX
		Two...two hundred. That's it! That's it!
	
	Max grabs a piece of paper and a pencil. He starts writing 
	down the number. He mumbles each digit as he sees it.

	But then be stops writing. Power surge! He stares at the 
	number. Something clicks in his head. His eyes go wide. He 
	barely musters a—

				MAX 
		Oh...
	
	We move closer and closer into the number, deeper and deeper 
	into the screen. Until finally a single pixel fills the screen 
	and we're in the

	BLINDING WHITE VOID where we hear several deep peaceful 
	breaths. 
	Then, a fuse blows and we cut to:

	BLACK
	A phone ringing...once...
	twice...then we hear

				MRS. OVADIA(O.S.) 
		He's alive. His eyes are moving. 
	
				DEVI (0.S.) 
		Yes, hello?
	
	FADE BACK INTO THE MAIN ROOM Max's eyes slowly open.


				DEVI (0.S) 
			(On the phone)
		He's busy right now I'm sorry.
		Max is sprawled out in front 
		of Euclid. A large amount of 
		blood, from his nose, is 
		semi-dried on his chin and 
		chest. Devi hangs up the phone.

	The landlady, Mrs. Ovadia, and Farrouhk, brandishing a 
	crowbar, stand over him.

				MAX 
		What happened?
	
				DEVI 
		You were screaming...
	
				MRS. OVADIA 
		Who told you you can put extra 
		locks on the door.

				FARROUHK 
			(To Mrs. OVADIA)
		Shhh!
	
				MAX 
			(Suddenly jolting up and remembering) 
		The number, the number.
	
	Max looks at Euclid. The screen is blank. He looks at the 
	mainframe. It is covered with the filo substance. Then be 
	looks at the piece of paper he wrote the number on. Only a few 
	dozen numbers are on the page. The last number be wrote is 
	barely a scribble.

				MRS. OVADIA 
		You're out, you hear me, you're out. 
		I've had enough of you. Look at all 
		this junk.
	
	He starts reciting the numbers. Then Max suddenly realizes 
	something. He continues reciting the numbers from memory.

				MAX 
		Four...zero...
		seven...It's in my head, 
		it's in my head. Somehow I 
		memorized it. I got it up 
		here!
	
	He points to his head.

				MAX 
		But what is it?
	
	Mrs. Ovadia starts looking at all the junk in the room.

				DEVI 
		Are you okay?
	
				MRS. OVADIA 
		What is this stuff? What does it do?
	
	Max finally realizes that all these strangers are in his womb. 
	He flips.

				MAX 
		0ut, out, you have to get 
		out. Get out, get out it's my 
		room!
	
				FARROUHK 
			(To Devi) 
		Let's go. 
	
	The phone starts ringing again.

				MRS. OVADIA 
		That's it, no way. You're 
		the one out of here, mister.

				MAX 
		Out! 0utt
	
	The three neighbors retreat to the front door.

				DEVI 
		Are you okay?
	
				MAX 
		Out! Get out!
	
	Max slams the door in their faces.
	Max rubs his chin and looks around the room. He starts
	saying the number to himself He gets more and more
	excited as he reads each digit.

	INT. COFFEE SHOP - NIGHT

	Max stirs cream into his coffee. Then he pulls out the
	Journal.

	A phone continues to RING.

	In the clouds of the Lancet-Percy ad - in The Journal Max 
	writes down the two hundred and sixteen digit number. He 
	studies it, examines it, draws on it, tries to figure out what 
	it is.

				MAX (V.O.)
		Saturday? Dark outside. There 
		was a moment there...when, I don't 
		know...when I didn't exist. What? What?

	We hear a phone being picked up. The ringing stops. Silence, 
	then:

				MARCY DAWSON (O.S.) 
		Max, is that you? Max? 
			(Pleading) 
		Max, just talk to me. Things 
		are a bit out of hand down 
		here. People are getting 
		desperate. 
			(Suddenly firm) 
		We had a deal, Max. A deal. 
		Talk to us, Max.

	We hear the sound of a phone hanging up.

	At the coffee counter, Max pops a handful of pills and 
	crumples the paper.

	INT. MAX'S BATHROOM - LATER

	Max stares at his BALD head in the mirror. All of his hair has 
	been removed. A fleshy scar sits on his scalp above his right 
	ear.

	Max ignores the incessantly RINGING phone.

	Max flips through an old neuroscience book. He examines a few 
	illustrations and finds the part of his brain that's killing 
	him.

				MAX (V.0.) 
		Must be an explanation, must be a 
		reason. Must.

	With a thick black marker, he carefully outlines the part of 
	his head that is causing the pain.

	INT. MAX'S APARTMENT-LATER

	Max sits in his chair staring at the stock market monitor. The 
	phone continues to RING.

	Numbers drift by.

	A single beam of sunlight leaks through the window and shines 
	on the edge of the screen. Walking along the edge in the 
	sunlight is a tiny ant.

				MAX 
		Bastard.

	Max gets up to squash it. But as he gets closer he suddenly 
	feels mercy. He looks at the ant in awe.

	And then, his attention switches to the ticker.

				MAX 
		Two and a quarter, twelve 
		and an eighth, six and two 
		eighths.
	
	Max states the numbers right before they enter onto the 
	screen.

				MAX 
		I know these...Seven 
		and a quarter. Two and a half 
		...oh...oh...
	
	Max strains to figure out what is going an. Suddenly, he's 
	overwhelmed with fear.

				MAX 
		My God. It's gonna 
		crash, it's gonna fucking 
		crash.
	
	INT. SOL'S APARTMENT - DUSK

	Max charges into the room. Sot is looking at his Go board. Sol 
	looks up when Max comes in.

				SOL 
		You're early. I was just 
		studying our...
			(Noticing ,Max's head) 
		What did you do to yourself?
	
				MAX 
		You lied to me.
	
				SOL 
		I thought you were going 
		to take a break.

				MAX 
		You found the two sixteen 
		number in Pi, didn't you? You 
		saw it.
	
	Sol doesn't respond.

				MAX 
		I saw it, Sol. I don't 
		know what happened, but I 
		know things. The market is 
		going to crash. It's going to 
		crash. It hasn't yet, but I 
		know it will. I saw it, Sol. 
		What is it, Sol? What's the 
		number?

	Sol sighs. He looks down at the board and collects himself.

				SOL 
		You have it?
	
				MAX 
		It's in my head!
	
				SOL 
			(Leveling with Max) 
		Okay, sit down.

	Max does.

				SOL 
		I gave up before I 
		pinpointed it. But my guess 
		is that certain problems 
		cause computers to get stuck 
		in a particular loop. The loop 
		leads to meltdown, but 
		right before they crash they...
		they become "aware" of 
		their own structure. The 
		computer has a sense of its 
		own silicon nature and it 
		prints out its ingredients.
	
				MAX 
		The computer becomes conscious?
	
				SOL 
		In some ways...I guess...
	
				MAX 
			(To himself) 
		Studying the pattern made Euclid 
		conscious of itself. Before it died it 
		spit out the number That consciousness 
		is the number.

				SOL 
		No, Max, it's only a 
		nasty bug.

				SOL 
		A door in front of a cliff. 
		You're driving yourself over 
		the edge. You need to stop.
	
				MAX 
		Stop? How can I stop? I'm 
		this close.

				SOL 
		The bug doesn't only 
		destroy computers.
			
				MAX 
		What are you saying?
	
				SOL 
		Look what it did to your 
		computer. Look what it's doing 
		to you.
	
	Max doesn't respond.
				SOL 
		It's killing you. Leave it 
		unknown.

				MAX 
			(Clarity) 
		You were afraid of 
		it. That's why you quit.

				SOL 
		Max, I got burnt.
	
				MAX 
		C'mon, Sol.
	
				SOL 
		It caused my stroke.
	
				MAX 
		That's bullshit. It's 
		math, numbers, ideas. 
		Mathematicians are suppose to 
		be out on the edge. You 
		taught me that!
	
				SOL 
		Max, there's more than 
		math! There's a whole world...

				MAX 
		That's where discoveries 
		happen. We have to go out 
		there alone, all alone, no 
		one can accompany us. We have 
		to search the edge. We have 
		to risk it all. But you ran 
		from it. You're a coward.
	
				SOL 
		Max, it's death!
	
	Max stands up and screams down at Sol.

				MAX 
		You can't tell me what it 
		is. You don't know You've 
		retreated to your goldfish, 
		to your books, to your Go, 
		but you're not satisfied.
	
	Sol grabs his cane and whacks the Go board.

				SOL 
		Get out! Max, get out!
	
				MAX 
		I want to understand it. 
		I want to know!

	Sol swings his cane as Max heads for the door.

				SOL 
		Out!
	
	INT. SUBWAY - PORT AUTHORITY - NIGHT 
	Max paces on a downtown train as it pulls into 42nd Street.

	Through the open doors, Max notices a YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHER in 
	jeans and a leather jacket photographing him from the uptown 
	platform.

	Max is enraged and screams at him. The man ducks behind a 
	column, but a few moments later he's back snapping pictures.

	The doors start to shut, but Max uses his body to get
	off the train.

	The Photographer sees him coming and flees.

	Max follows the man's movement on his platform. When the young 
	man shoots up the exit stairs, Max does so as well.

	Max catches a glimpse of his foe entering the catacombs 
	heading toward Times Square. Max pursues.

	Max chases him down a looooong passage.

	But he loses him at an underground five-way fork in the road. 
	One staircase is Uptown and Queens...
	another is Brooklyn...one other is unlabeled.

	Still enraged, Max marches forward Just then, he catches a 
	glimpse of the Photographer exiting the station.

	SMASH TO

	EXT. TIMES SQUARE - NEON NIGHT

	In the heart of New York, Max spins around searching for his 
	foe.
	His frustration mounts until out of the comer of his eye he 
	sees a strange reflection. Not knowing what it's of, he turns 
	around to see the source The reflection is from a giant, 
	brilliant stock ticker - 50 yards long and luminous.

	Max stares at the quotes They are hypnotizing and Max is 
	suddenly calm.

	Then, Max has a premonition. He turns and spots the 
	Photographer in front of a porn shop on Eighth and 42nd.

	EXT. PORN SHOP - 42ND STREET - NIGHT

	Max whacks the Photographer against a back-lit image of a 
	Hustler Centerfold. The man screams.

				MAX 
		Who are you working for?
	
				PHOTOGRAPHER 
		Here, here.
	
	The photographer hands Max his wallet.

				MAX
		I don't want your wallet. Who sent you?
	
	Max grabs the kid's camera.

				MAX
		Who the hell sent you!?
	
				PHOTOGRAPHER 
		Wha...I'm sorry...
	
				MAX 
		Who are you?!
	
				PHOTOGRAPHER 
		I'm...a...student I've got 
		an assignment for class.
	
	The Photographer pulls out his student ID. Max looks at it. 
	Then he rips out the film-exposing it.

				MAX 
		Leave me alone, damn it. 
		Leave me alone.

	Max hands the man back his camera and leaves.

	EXT. MAX'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 
	Max heads home in a furious state. Suddenly, he sees two of 
	Marcy's men blocking his path. It's Brad and Jake, yet another 
	tough guy, and they don't look happy. Max spins around and 
	sees Marcy Dawson blocking his exit.

				MAX 
		Marcy? What's up?
	
	Max retreats.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		Let's take a ride, Max.
	
				MAX 
		I can't, I got work...
	
	Max looks back at the tough guys who are almost on top of him.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		We had a deal! NOW get in the limo!
	
	Marcy releases a vicious slap that nearly knocks Max down. Max 
	whimpers.

				MAX 
		Don't ever hit...
	
	He pushes Marcy aside and darts.

	EXT. CITY STREETS - NIGHT 
	Max flees. Jake and Brad charge after him. They're right on 
	him - he has a meter or so on them.
	He scurries through a construction site and over a footbridge.

	Then, he runs into an all-night 
	BODEGA

	The tough guys chase after him and he gets a bit of a
	lead in the narrow aisles. He pleads with the owners for
	help - nothing doing.

	Jake heads him off and uses his body to block the aisle. But 
	Max grabs a can of beans and slams it down on the tough guy's 
	nose. The guy goes down and Max shoots out the exit.

	EXT. UNDERNEATH CAR - NIGHT 
	Max dives under a car and crawls for terror. He sees two sets 
	of feet nun by. Max starts to relax when he notices a pair of 
	heels on the other side of the car. Marcy bends down and looks 
	at him.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		Enough, Max, c'mon out.
	
				MAX 
		Leave me alone. I don't 
		know anything.

	Max retreats in the opposite direction. Suddenly Jake and Brad 
	grab him and drag him out.

				MAX 
		Hey! Hey! Hey!
	
	They search him, taking his wallet, keys, everything.

	Marcy looks at the guys, who shake their heads. She walks over 
	to Max and shows Max the front page of the Wall Street 
	Journal. It reads, "MARKET CRACHES"

				MARCY DAWSON 
		You're responsible for this.
	
				MAX 
		I didn't do anything. I 
		didn't play the market.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		But we did.
	
	Marcy pulls out a folded, worn piece of paper. She opens it. 
	It's Max's stock pick that he threw out. Part of THE number is 
	on the page

				MARCY DAWSON 
		You have to be careful 
		where you throw out your trash.

				MAX 
		How could you do that?
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		You gave us faulty information. 
		You gave us the carrot, the right 
		picks, but then you only gave us 
		part of the code.

				MAX 
		You selfish, irresponsible 
		cretins. How could you be so 
		stupid!?

	Marcy jabs Max in his stomach. Max falls to the ground. The 
	tough guys sit on him.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		C'mon, Max. This isn't a 
		game anymore. We're playing 
		on a global scale. We used 
		your code. Foolish...I admit. 
		But we can fix things if we 
		make some careful picks. Give 
		us the rest of the code so 
		we can set things right.

				MAX
		C'mon! I know who you are. 
		You're not gonna save the world.

				MARCY DAWSON 
		Look, Max...
	
	Marcy nods to Jake, who pulls out a gun and points it at Max's 
	head.

				MAX 
		My God, what are you doing?
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		Information is 
		the private language
		of Capital. We tried to 
		establish a symbiotic 
		relationship but if
		you choose to compete and 
		enter our niche we are forced 
		to comply with the laws of 
		nature.
	
	Max thinks for a second. Max thinks hard. He realizes be
	can't give them the number.

				MAX 
		You can't kill me!
	
				MARCY DAWSON 
		C'mon, Max. You 
		don't get it. I don't
		give a shit about you. I only 
		care about what's in your 
		fucking head. If you won't help 
		us help yourself, then I'll 
		have only one choice. Destroy the 
		competition. I'll take you 
		out of the game. Survival of the 
		fittest, Max. And we've got 
		the gun.
	
	Jake cocks the gun. Max starts to cry.

				MAX 
		You bastards! You stupid 
		bastards!

	Suddenly, Jake is whacked with a sawed-off baseball bat.
	He smashes into the sidewalk.
	It is Farrouhk, Max's neighbor, who's just pulled up in his 
	taxicab.

				MAX 
			(Spotting his savior) 
		Farrouhk!
	
	Farroukh threatens Marcy and the other tough guy, who
	retreat in fear. Farroubk is afraid as well, so he doesn't
	quite leap on them. He just keeps swinging the bat.

				FARROUHK 
		He's sick! He's sick!
	
	Max gets to his feet and runs behind Farrouhk. 
	Just then a station wagon screeches up to the curb. Lenny 
	Meyer, Ephraim, and a bunch of other his burly Jews jump out.

				LENNY MEYER 
		Max!
	
	Max looks at Farrouhk and then he looks at Lenny. Ephraim
	grabs Max and pulls him toward the station wagon.

				MAX 
			(To Farrouhk) 
		C'mon...
	
	Farrouhk heads for his cab. Ephraim helps Max into the
	backseat of the wagon and climbs in after him.

	Lenny Meyer jumps into the passenger seat and the gray-bearded 
	YISRAEL slams on the gas Pedal.

	Farrouhk jumps into his cab.

	INT. LENNY MEYER'S CAR - MOVING - NIGHT 
	Yisrael yanks the steering wheel to the left, the old station 
	wagon skids around a corner.

				MAX 
		Farrouhk what about Farrouhk!?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Stay down!
	
	Ephraim pushes Max's head down. Yisrael takes another
	corner sharp.

				MAX 
		Go back!
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		He's okay, he got 
		in his cab. We've been
		looking for you.
	
				MAX 
		What's going on?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Do you have the number?
	
				MAX 
		What's going on?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Do you have the number?
	
				MAX 
		Yeah, I have it!
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		You have it. Where is it? 
		You have it written down?

				MAX 
		What is it?
	
	Lenny nods to Ephraim, who starts scanning through
	Max's pockets. Max resists. The other guys hold him down.

				MAX 
		What are you doing!? What 
		the hell are you doing!?

				LENNY MEYER 
		We're not joking 
		around, Max? Where's
		the number?
	
				MAX 
			(Pushing Ephraim away) 
		It's not on me. It's in my
		head.

				LENNY MEYER 
		You memorized it? 
		Did you give it to them?

				MAX 
		Who?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Who!? Those 
		Wall Street bastards.

				MAX 
		Why do you care?
	
				LENNY MEYER
		Just answer me!
	
				MAX 
		Screw you!
	
				LENNY MEYER 
			(In Hebrew) 
		Hit him!
	
	Yisrael screeches the car to a halt. He spins around in his 
	seat and looks Max in the face.

				LENNY MEYER 
		You're dealing with something 
		really big now, Max. I don't 
		want to hurt you, so answer 
		me. Did you give it to them?

				MAX 
		They've got part of it 
		Now get off me!

				LENNY MEYER 
		Damn it! Damn it! 
		They're using it.

				MAX 
		Using what?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Shut up!
	
				MAX 
		Let go!
	
	Max chews into Ephraim's hand which is pinning him. Ephraim 
	screams and lets loose a punch to Max's jaw.

				LENNY MEYER 
		No, don't!
	
	But Lenny is late, and Max's world - as well as ours goes 
	black.

	INT. MAX'S APARTMENT - NIGHT 
	Max stares suspiciously at the bathroom. He slowly picks up 
	his drill. Wielding it like a hammer, he carefully advances 
	into the 
	BATHROOM where he looks into the sink. He almost vomits when 
	he sees a piece of human brain sitting above the drain. Ants 
	swarm across its surface.

	Max becomes furious. He whacks it with the drill. Blood flies 
	up into his face. In a wild rage, he smashes it and punches 
	it.

	Then he drops the drill and uses his bare hands to shove it 
	down the drain. Screaming like a madman, he jams it until it 
	is gone.

	INT. BASEMENT SHUL - DAY

	A wise-looking, bearded Hasidic man with benevolent, piercing 
	eyes stands tenderly over Max. He wears traditional black 
	clothes. Lenny Meyer paces nervously in the background.

	As Max comes through, RAV COHEN speaks.

				RAV COHEN 
		Max, Max. You're 
		okay I'm Rabbi Cohen. Cohen 
		like you. I'm sorry for what 
		Lenny did, he's been 
		reprimanded. It is not our way 
		Are you okay?

				MAX 
		Yeah, yeah
	
				RAV COHEN 
		Everything will be 
		fine, Max. You need to give 
		us the number. Do you have 
		it?

				MAX 
		What is it?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
			(Charging over) 
		I told you we don't know
	
				MAX 
		You wouldn't be so 
		flipped out if you didn't 
		know. What's happening to me?
	
				LENNY MEYER 
		Give us the number!
	
				MAX 
		Screw you!
	
				RAV COHEN 
		Okay, okay! Lenny, 
		easy! Max, I'll tell you 
		what's going on. Just calm 
		down. 
			(Deep breath, then) 
		The Talmud tells us it began two 
		thousand years ago, when the 
		Romans destroyed the second 
		temple.

				MAX 
		What are you...
	
				RAV COHEN 
		Just give me a chance. 
		You'll understand everything 
		if you listen.
	
	Max takes out his pills and starts feeding himself some.

				RAV COHEN 
		The Romans also 
		murdered all of our priest-
		hood—the Cohanim—the Cohens, 
		and with their deaths they 
		destroyed our greatest 
		secret. In the center of the 
		great temple was the holy of 
		holies which was the heart of 
		Jewish life. This was the 
		earthly residence for our 
		God. The one God. It 
		contained the ark of the 
		Tabernacle which stored the 
		original Ten Commandments 
		that God gave to Moses. Only 
		one man could enter this 
		space once a year on the 
		holiest day of the year, Yom 
		Kippur On the Day of 
		Atonement, all of Israel 
		would descend upon Jerusalem 
		to witness the High Cohen's 
		trip into the holy of holies. 
		If the holy man was pure he 
		would reemerge a few moments 
		later and Israel was secured 
		a prosperous year. It meant 
		that we were one yea r closer 
		to the messianic age. Closer 
		to the return of the Garden 
		of Eden. But if he was 
		impure, he would die 
		instantly and it meant that 
		we were doomed. The High 
		Cohen had a single ritual to
		perform in the holy of holies. 
		He had to intone a single 
		word.

	Rav Cohen takes a dramatic pause. Max is anxious to hear the 
	end of the story.

				MAX
		So?
	
				RAV COHEN
		That word was the true name of God.
	
				MAX
		Yeah...
	
				RAV COHEN
		The true name, which only 
		the Cohanim knew, was two 
		hundred and sixteen letters 
		long.

	A long beat.

				MAX 
			(Incredulous) 
		You're telling me that the number in 
		my head is the name of God!?

	Wondrously, Max rubs the scar on his head.

				RAV COHEN 
			(Passion building) 
		Yes...it's The key into 
		the messianic age. As the 
		Romans burned the temple, the 
		Talmud says, the High Cohen 
		walked into the flames. He 
		took his secret to the top of 
		the burning building. The 
		heavens opened up and took 
		the key from the priest's 
		outstretched hand. We've been 
		searching for the key ever 
		since. And you may have found 
		it. Now let us find out.
	
				MAX 
		That's what happened. I 
		saw God.

				RAV COHEN 
		No, no, Max. 
		You're not pure. You can't 
		see God unless you're pure.
	
				MAX 
		It's more than God...
		it s everything. It's math 
		and science and nature...
		the universe. I saw the 
		Universe's DNA
	
				RAV COHEN 
		You saw nothing.
	
				MAX 
		I saw everything.
	
				RAV COHEN 
		There's much more. 
		We can unlock the door with 
		the key. It will show God 
		that we are pure again. He 
		will return us to The Garden.
	
				MAX 
		Garden? You're not pure. 
		I'm the one who has the 
		number
	
				RAV COHEN 
		Who do you think 
		you are? You are a vessel 
		from our God. You are 
		carrying a delivery that 
		needs to be made to us.
	
				MAX 
		It was given to me. It's 
		part of me. It's changing me.

				RAV COHEN 
		It's killing you. 
		Because you are impure.

				LENNY MEYER 
		It will kill you!
	
				MAX 
		And what will it do to 
		you?

				LENNY MEYER 
		We're pure. Give 
		us the number!

				MAX 
		The number is nothing. 
		You know that!

				RAV COHEN 
		We can use it. We 
		can wield it.

				MAX 
		It's just a number. I'm 
		sure you've written down 
		every two hundred sixteen number. 
		You've translated all of 
		them. You've intoned them 
		all. Haven't you? But what's 
		it gotten you? It's not the 
		number! It's the meaning. 
		It's the syntax. It's what's 
		between the numbers. If you 
		could understand you would. 
		But it's not for you! I've 
		got it. I understand it. I'm 
		going to see it! 
			(Whispers to Rav Cohen) 
		Rabbi...I was chosen.
	
	EXT. CITY STREETS - DAY

	Max races through the streets of New York. He is wide-eyed.

				MAX (V.0.) 
		Suddenly, it's all there. 
		It all makes sense. I 
		can crack it. I can know it. 
		I know what it is. Sol knows, 
		too. I need to tell him. I 
		need to show him. I need to 
		bring him with me.
	
	People fly by. Max in a spiraling whirlwind.

	EXT. SOL'S APARTMENT - NIGHT

	A pumped and excited Max paces the hall as he rings the bell.

	The door opens. But it isn't Sol. It's a young, beautiful 
	woman wearing a simple black dress. Her name is JENNY ROBESON 
	and she is Sol's niece.

				JENNY ROBESON 
		Can I help you?
	
				MAX 
			(Confused) 
		Sol?
	
				JENNY ROBESON 
		Were you a friend?
	
				MAX 
		What do you mean?
	
				JENNY ROBESON 
		He had a second stroke.
	
				MAX 
		Where is he?
	
	Jenny's eyes drop.

				MAX 
		No.
	
	Max rushes into Sol s study. The room is covered with Sol's P, 
	research books. It seems Sol had recently come out of 
	retirement. Max looks at a few of Sol's books. Then he finds a 
	piece of paper with Sol's handwriting on it. On the paper is 
	THE number. Max slides it into his pocket.

	Max looks at the Go board. The pieces are arranged in a giant 
	spiral across the board.

	DISSOLVE TO

	INT. MAX'S APARTMENT - DAY

	Max sits on his bed staring at Sol's handwritten number.
	Then he notices that his thumb is twitching. He drops Sol's 
	note.

				MAX
		Stop it, please!

	He dumps the contents of the bottle of pills into his hand.

	Max stops as he prepares to shove the pills down his throat. 
	He looks at the pills. Then he looks at Euclid around him. He 
	throws the pills and the bottle to the floor. They fall to 
	earth in SLOW MOTION.

	The room rushes in on Max and so does the pain. It throws him 
	to the ground and he bashes his head against the floor.

				MAX 
			(Courageously) 
		No. No. I'm ready. I'm 
		ready! Show me!

	Max recites THE number and uses it to get to his feet. The 
	pain rips apart his voice.

	Max's pain and anger transform into violence. He attacks 
	Euclid furiously. He recites the number with rage in his 
	voice.

				MAX 
		Three, seven, two...
	
	He smashes the old computer apart. He tosses his step stool 
	through the mainframe.

	Then he goes to the window and tries to rip off the cardboard 
	covering the glass panes. Nothing doing, so he yanks the 
	entire window wide open.

	Sunlight floods the room and throws Max into the 
	BLINDING WHITE VOID 
	where Max looks around starry-eyed. The pain is gone. 
	Everything is new to Max - even his hands. The stress leases 
	from his brow and his shoulders sag.

	Max continues to recite the number His voice becomes tender 
	and peaceful. As he starts to become part of the void, his 
	voice turns into a whisper and his eyes start to close.

	Then he hears Devi.

				DEVI (O.S.) 
		Max. Max! Are you 
		okay!? Oh my God, Max!

	Her voice reaches into the void.

				DEVI (O.S) 
		Max! Breathe, Max. Breathe!
	
	Max looks toward her voice.

				DEVI (O.S.) 
		Yes, Max. Listen to me...
	
	We cut back to 
	...THE MAIN ROOM 
	where Devi leans over Max. Max's eyes are open while he 
	continues to recite the number.

				DEVI 
		Breathe, Max! Breathe. 
		Focus.

	Max turns away from Devi and we return to the 
	BLINDING WHITE VOID 
	where Max continues to recite the number.

				DEVI (O.S.) 
		No, Max. No. 
		Stay with me Max. Stay with 
		me. 
	
	And then we cut back to 
	THE MAIN ROOM 
	where Devi grabs Max's palm. Max's fingers wrap around her 
	hand. We return to 
	THE BLINDING WHITE VOID 
	where Max stops reciting the number. He suddenly opens his 
	fear filled eyes.

				MAX 
		Where am I? What is 
		this? This is wrong, Sol. 
		Sol!
	
	Max lets out a 'SOL!, and reaches out into the void. We match 
	cut back to 
	THE MAIN ROOM

	where Max grabs Devi and hugs her. He gasps for air as
	he collapses into her arms, sobbing.

				MAX 
		Sol! You were right Sol! 
		He was right.

				DEVI 
		That's right Max. That's 
		Right. Breathe. Breathe.

				MAX 
		He was right. I want to 
		breathe. Breathe.

				DEVI 
		Yes, breathe, Max. 
		Breathe...

	Max sobs. He holds onto her for dear life

	And then be realizes that Devi is not in his arms. He is 
	holding onto himself.

	Then Max notices Sol's note on the ground. He looks at the 
	number. He collects himself and catches his breath.

	INT. MAX'S BATHROOM – DAY

	Max looks at Sol's note. He lights a match and burns it.

	Next, he prepares something in the sink.

	We hear the WHINE of a motor. Then it stops, Max looks at 
	himself in the mirror, He smiles. Then he gets solemn.

	He takes a deep breath. Then we hear the motor again. Max 
	lifts up his arm. He's holding a drill. He places the bit 
	against the math section of his scalp.

	He applies pressure and drills into his brain.

	Max collapses as we quickly 
	CUT TO

	EXT. CITY PLAYGROUND - DAY

	TIGHT ON
	a tree branch gently blowing in the wind.

	Max watches it with peaceful, understanding eyes. He wears a 
	hat on his head.

	He listens to the wind in the trees.

	Just then, Jenna surprises him with her Fisher Price 
	calculator on hand.

				JEHNA 
		Max, Max!
	
	Max smiles at Jenna. He's glad to see her.

				JENNA 
		Can we do one, Max, can 
		we?

	Max shrugs, not able to say no.

				JENNA 
		How about two hundred 
		and fifty-five times a 
		hundred and eighty-three.
	
	Jenna types m the number.

	Max is about to say "no" to Jenna, but then be decides to give 
	it a shot.

	Max thinks, he really thinks.

	Jenna presses the EQUALS button.

				JENNA 
		I got it! I got it! 
		What's the answer?

				MAX 
			(Smiling and then laughing) 
		I don't know. I really don't 
		know. What is it, Jenna?

				JENNA 
		Forty-six thousand six 
		hundred and sixty-five.

				MAX 
		Oh.
	
	The trees blow gently in the wind as we slowly 
	FADE TO WHITE which brings us to 
	THE END







Pi



Writers :   Darren Aronofsky
Genres :   Sci-Fi  Thriller


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