pairings create such complex lifeforms?
The lack of discipline that a trinary
code offers should've thrown these
organisms into chaos a long time ago.
SCIENTIST #1
Should we offer a dead one to the girl?
SCIENTIST #2
The Ash girl? Are you crazy? You were
sitting right there when we listened to
the recording of her husband and that
Ruiz fellow. It confirms General Hayes'
suspicions and our mission objectives.
Jeremy Ash and his wife helped Microcore
to genetically engineer an organism from
scratch.
Scientist #2 switches on a monitor.
SCIENTIST #4
Scientists all over the world are
genetically engineering organisms.
SCIENTIST #3
Not from scratch. This guy admitted that
the entire genome was contained on an
alien data crystal. That's probably where
the neutrino equation came from, too.
SCIENTIST #4
You believe that? It was a fish story.
The kid's a screw up.
SCIENTIST #2
It doesn't matter where he got the
crystal. Our job is to locate it. I
realize these little buggers from Europa
take precedence, and I'm just as
surprised and excited about them as you
all are, but let's not forget why we're
really here. It would be foolish to give
them access to this organism.
Scientist #2 begins typing on a keyboard.
SCIENTIST #3
We've already bugged their room. God
forbid that gets discovered. But now
we've got this gem of a confession to the
pilot of a Microcore ship.
A darkened image appears on a monitor.
SCIENTIST #2
We've already transmitted the recording
to General Hayes. There's only so much
more we can do.
SCIENTIST #4
We all know what's at stake here. If we
offer her the specimen, her examination
of it will almost certainly lead to a
discussion concerning the organism they
created at Microcore.
Scientist #2 grimaces at the blurred image on the monitor.
SCIENTIST #1
The wife is a dead ringer for this. We
can easily play on her ego, telling her
that we respect the work she's done with
those...tree huggers.
SCIENTIST #4
The INRC. She also worked on the Ozone
Repair Project and The Sahara Project.
SCIENTIST #1
Just give her the specimen. Play on her
ego. Do whatever it takes to alleviate
any suspicions they might have. Now, if
you'll all excuse me, I've got a real
alien organism to study.
Scientist #1 retrieves a live specimen.
Scientist #4 retrieves a dead specimen and then exits.
Scientist #2 sits down at the monitor.
He manages to clear up the image: a view from the corner of a shower stall.
He taps the keyboard's space bar.
The image switches to a bedroom.
Then to Jeremy and Tara in their kitchenette.
A knock on the door can be heard in Jeremy and Tara’s habitation module.
Jeremy moves out of view.
He returns with a small vial.
TARA
Who was that?
JEREMY
You're not going to believe this. There
were lifeforms in the WASP canister.
Apparently, your credentials have earned
you a specimen to study.
TARA
No way!
INT. JEREMY AND TARA'S HABITATION MODULE
Jeremy sets up a video camera. Starts recording.
Tara carefully extracts the dead specimen from the vial.
She pins it to a transparent baseboard.
She then positions the baseboard beneath a projection microscope.
An image displays on the wall screen.
JEREMY
You should scan it first.
TARA
Relax, Jeremy. I intend to.
Tara performs the scan.
A detailed image displays. Pairs of fins both front and back. Saw-toothed antennae protrude from its head. A small proboscis extends out between them. A hard plate bisects the center of its body.
JEREMY
I think we should call it a flipperwilly.
It's got flippers and it gives me the
willies.
TARA
You're a freak, Jeremy.
She pulls back one half of the plate, revealing a bright red sac.
It tears slightly as she completes the maneuver.
JEREMY
Careful.
TARA
Will you please keep quiet. This thing is
like a millimeter long.
JEREMY
Sorry, I'm just a little freaked out.
Suspicious, actually.
TARA
Suspicious of what?
JEREMY
Why would these NASA guys give you one of
these organisms to study? They have to
know we're associated with Microcore and
the government hates Microcore. There's
more here than meets the eye.
TARA
This is about my experience as a
researcher. Our association with
Microcore is irrelevant.
JEREMY
No offense Tara, but I don't think this
is about your experience as a researcher.
They're up to something.
TARA
Maybe they know about the Venus organism.
JEREMY
As far as NASA or the government knows,
The Venus Project was just a bunch of
probes. If they ever found out that
Microcore released trillions of microbes
that were created from information
contained on an alien data crystal,
they'd tear Microcore apart looking for
it, and then lock Cecil and I deep
underground.
INT. MAIN LABORATORY - HIMALIA
Scientist #2 is still observing Jeremy and Tara on the monitor.
SCIENTIST #2
The Venus Project was just a cover to
seed the planet with the microbe's they
created. Open a secure channel to General
Hayes. We may finally have the evidence
he needs to obtain a search warrant for
Microcore.
SCIENTIST #3
I'm on it.
SCIENTIST #2
Someone find me a copy of the article
this kid's brother published about the
signal of 2018. Not that Book of Alec
nonsense, I want the original article.
SCIENTIST #4
I'll take care of that.
EXT. UPPER ATMOSPHERE OF VENUS
MONTAGE:
PULL BACK - CONTINUOUS
CLOSE UP on Venus microbe consuming atmospheric gases.
The microbe expels Carbon Sixty molecules, then divides.
The Carbon Sixty molecules fuse together under the pressure of the atmosphere.
The fused carbon condenses into larger clumps.
The clumps fuse into broad sheets of pure carbon.
The sheets collide and fuse together into darkened patches that blotch the bright clouds of Venus.
The blotches grow more prominent and more abundant.
INT. JEREMY AND TARA'S HABITATION MODULE
Earth's moon is visible outside the window.
Tara is pacing around the module like a rat in a cage.
Jeremy is slouched in a chair, staring blankly at the news.
A NATIONAL NEWSCASTER is reporting.
NATIONAL NEWSCASTER
Astronomers are still puzzled by the
decrease in Venus' albedo. Reflected
sunlight from the planet has dropped
another four percent over the past year.
INT. STUDY - BEACHFRONT MANSION - DAY
Jeremy is talking to Cecil on the wall screen.
CECIL
How was your trip?
JEREMY
Long and grueling.