EXT.

OAK GROVE PARK TRAIN YARD - DAY

KAT is resting outside on a nice day. They decide to ignore a

faded NO TRESPASSING sign and walk along the RAILROAD until
they are under the BRIDGE. A truly HORRIFIC NECKTIE lays atop
a TRAIN CAR out of sight.

HORRIFIC NECKTIE (V.O.)

Psst. Pssssst. Hey, you.

KAT
Who, me?

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
Yeah, you. Eyes up here, Tinky Winky.

Kat follows the voice, clambering onto the roof of the car.
They look down at the tie.

KAT
You're a tie.

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
And you're starting to sound like a
goddamned detective with such
observational prowess, amigo. Tell me,
are you easily frightened?

KAT
I don't think so. Why?

Kat picks up the tie and heads back to the ground.

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
Because I- AHHH!

The tie unleashes a jolting scream mid-sentence. It is

totally blanked by Kat.

HORRIFIC NECKTIE (CONT'D)

Sorry, just checking. I'm about to
describe something very heartbreaking,
and I need to make sure you don't walk
out on me before I'm done. The Earth
is attempting to rationalize a
traumatic experience, which is bad
news for all who live on it.

KAT
You aren't about to start talking
about climate change, are you?

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 2.

Kat looks away briefly, walking WEST as the tie carries on.

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
Nyet. A new kind of cataclysm no one
had dared to imagine. The transitional
state of being into nothingness. The
suspension of all laws: physical,
historical, mathematical. There are
those who have tried to understand it,
but they just kicked the door open on
a much older, wider, cosmic ecology.
It's called The Pale, and it outweighs
reality two-to-one.

KAT
The ratio... it's slipping, isn't it?
Which means...

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
Soon there will be more Pale than
reality. The *transition* is already
underway, being expedited by mankind's
attempts to reckon with it.

Kat sinks down with this information, resting their back

against another train car abandoned along the rail.

KAT
I've suspected this.

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
You can *feel* it, can't you? That's
promising at least. Do you wanna know
why, or can you guess?

KAT
Because... I...

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
NO WAIT! I'll tell you. Your lifecycle
is inextricably linked to that of the
cities you inhabit.

KAT
What does that mean?

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
It means you feel anxious when the
world seems anxious. That you're
violent when blood and guts is in the
news. Because the city feels what you

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 3.

feel, not the other way around. Now

you can use that connection to save
the world, but first you'll need to
save yourself.

EXT. ELECTRICAL SUBSTATION - DAY

A figure walks past the CHAIN LINKED FENCE and begins to

follow the RAILROAD. Their gait is wide with little wasted
movement, emphasizing a level of control.

EXT. OAK GROVE PARK TRAIN YARD - DAY

KAT
For real, let me guess this time: some
child-eating billionaire wants to kill
me before I can do anything to improve
this miserable condition?

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
Yah. He or she or they or it have
someone on the way now. They'll
probably dissect you if they get the
chance. But that won't happen as long
as you figure out how to speak with
the city in the next few minutes.

KAT
How do I do that?

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
I can't help with that, I'm afraid. No
one else has what you have. Try
concentrating, I guess?

Kat puts the tie down next to them. They employ meditative
techniques to control their breathing. Slowly, their vision
begins to blur, like the infrastructure before them begins to
wriggle with life.

KAT
(Whispers) Where the hood, where the
hood, where the hood at?

CITY (V.O.)
HAVE A BROTHER IN THE CUT, WHERE THE
WOOD AT?

KAT
Alright City, talk to me.

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 4.

CITY
I AM A FRAGMENT OF THE WORLD SPIRIT. I
EXIST AS A SHROUD OF GENERATIONAL
TRAUMA. I RESIDE WITHIN THE WIND
CORRIDOR, THE FRISSONS ON YOUR ARMS
AND NECK, EVERYWHERE THERE IS SPACE. I
EXHALE HEAVY FUEL OIL AND INDUSTRIAL
DUST. MY FACE CONSISTS OF FIRE AND
HALOGEN.

KAT
Woah, slow down.

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
She *is* going fast, isn't she? And
with such bombast. She's afraid.

KAT
What are you afraid of, City?

CITY
DEATH - IT IS TERRIFYING. VAST SWATHES
OF LAND SEPARATED BY NOTHINGNESS. I
NEED YOU TO PROTECT ME FROM DEATH.

KAT
H-how?

CITY
YOU MOVE FREELY THROUGH MY STREETS ON
FOOT AND SINGLE-DECK BUSES. YOU HAVE
ACCESS TO THE PORES CONTAINING HIDDEN
INFORMATION. YOU MANEUVER AMONG
BLIGHTED HIGHWAYS, BACK ALLEYS, AND
BLACK MARKETS. YOU HEAR THE WHISPERS
OF PYRAMIDS AS EASILY AS BREATHING.
YOU CAN KEEP ME ON THIS EARTH.

KAT
But not if I die too, right?

CITY
BE VIGILANT. I LOVE YOU.

The sound of footsteps becomes louder as the pursuer draws

near. Kat looks to the tie before confronting their fate.

KAT
How do you think that went?

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 5.

HORRIFIC NECKTIE
Pretty good, but you'll have to be
more assertive. You don't want the
cities to start answering to a higher
authority, do you?

KAT
I guess. And you...

Kat acknowledges the stalker for the first time.

KAT (CON'T)
...In a way I'm flattered some type of
secret service has been sent to
silence me. Don't take it there's
anything I can do to change your mind?

The stalker brandishes a hammer, their tool of choice.

STALKER
That's the discipline.

KAT
But you will leave me alone, won't
you?

STALKER
That's not what hitmen are for.

KAT
You're telling me you're a
professional assassin, so I'm going to
believe you. But I don't think you
understand. I said, leave me alone.

EXT. IOWA RIVER - DAY

The hitman is suddenly alone surrounded by nature. A power

beyond their comprehension has teleported them far away.
Their is nothing to say.

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