The Man In The Machine

Chapter One

"Angry Black Man"

Page 1

Pages one and two are a FLASHBACK. Please give these pages some sort of signature border to indicate this. Close on a small PARAKEET in a bird cage. A LITTLE BOY (Curt Metcalf, at about eight years old) is opening the cage. "When I was a kid, I used to have this parakeet."

The Boy reacts as the parakeet flies out of the cage. "Sometimes, when I'd open his cage to clean it..."

The bird swerves wildly, just out of reach of the boy's waving arms, "...he'd escape."

Wide to show CURT'S ROOM (A working class child's bedroom. Light on decoration, except for a poster of the Milky Way on one wall.) Curt reacts, the bird flies away from the cage and towards the WINDOW. "The little bird would see the backyard and make his move."

Tight on the bird, flying hard and fast. The background is a blur. "Invariably, he'd head straight for the window, fast as he could."

Wider as the bird bounces painfully off of the windowpane. "And inevitably, crack his head on the windowpane..."

Page 2

Tighter as the bird bounces off of the windowpane again. "...A barrier of glass, unseen and incomprehensible to him..."

Tighter still, and more painful, the bird SLAMS into the glass. "So he'd try again, over and over..."

The bird falls from the glass to the windowsill, unconscious. "Until, spent and defeated, he couldn't try again."

The little boy gently picks up the unconscious bird. "The bird made a common error."

The boy puts the bird back into the cage. "He mistook being out of his cage..."

The bird looks up pitifully as the boy slams the cage door shut. "...for being free."

Page 3

"The parakeet died a long time ago, without ever enjoying the freedom of the yard."

"The boy grew into a man, who spent many years bumping his head on a similar barrier: A ceiling of glass, unseen and incomprehensible to him."

"The lesson is clear: Escape is an impossibility, until one perceives all of the barriers."

Exterior Warehouse, dawn. Tight on HARDWARE, zooming up with his jet pack, bursting spectacularly through a glass skylight, sending shards of glass flying everywhere.

"My name is Curt Metcalf."

"But you can call me Hardware."

Page 4

Hardware is still in flight, high over a huge WAREHOUSE (that's where the skylight was). "I didn't expect the place to be so well guarded. But then, they didn't expect me to be able to fly."--

Wider to reveal Hardware surrounded by three high-tech HELICOPTERS (all carry Alva Technologies logos, as well as the "The Future Has Arrived!" slogan.) "Or maybe they did."

"All right, Hardware, you're surrounded! Give yourself up and you won't be hurt!"

Tight on Hardware, adjusting the OMNI-CANNON on the back of his right forearm. "Damned white of you, flyboy. But I don't think so."

"He's going for his weapons! Open fire!"

Wide as the helicopters fire on a zig-zagging Hardware.

Hardware has maneuvered between and above two of the Helicopters. One helicopter is now strafing the other with automatic fire. "Darwinism in action."

Page 5

Big panel. Two helicopters close on HARDWARE, as the third, trailing smoke, descends. "One down, two to go."

Tight on Hardware's face. "Obie? On Line."

Hardware's point of view. The helicopters approach, both centered in crosshairs. Typeset across the bottom of the screen: On board computer ACTIVATED. Computer-aided targeting, ENGAGED.

Hardware fires his omnicannon at the closest helicopter.

The helicopter EXPLODES. Target #1: destroyed.

Page 6

Hardware's POV. The last helicopter (centered in crosshairs) zooms past the smoke left by the destroyed chopper. Target #2: LOCKED.

Hardware fires a second Omnicannon blast at the Helicopter. Omnicannon: DEPLOYED

Hardware's POV. The Helicopter TILTS to dodge the blast that zooms harmlessly past, while returning fire. MISS. Target #2 returning fire.

Hardware twists in mid-air to avoid the bullets, but his jet-pack is caught in the cross fire. Emergency! Armature Damage. Details follow...

Hardware is tumbling straight down, The helicopter is far above him. Damage Report: Jet Pack failure. Hardware had gathered as much.

Page 7

Hardware is holding the handle of his WHIP. In the background, the Helicopter is coming out of a power dive.

Hardware, still in freefall, deploys the Whip, casting it at the Helicopter (which is still firing at him). Plasma whip: DEPLOYED "Okay, but we don't want to cut the thing in half. Obie? Power off Plasma Whip."

Tight as the tip of the whip winds itself around the landing strut. Plasma charge: DISENGAGED

Wide as Hardware SWINGS by the Whip (alá Ditko's Spider-Man), arcing up towards the Helicopter.

Hardware lands on top of the Helicopter, his whip is already retracting. Retracting Plasma whip.

Page 8

Hardware is hanging on to the side of the helicopter, just to the side of the cockpit.

The Helicopter PILOT is looking out of his window at Hardware, who has his fist cocked. He's about to punch through the glass.

Reverse angle, Hardware slams his fist through the glass.

Similar to previous, Hardware pulls the pilot out of the broken window.

Wide, background helicopter flies away from camera. Foreground pilot falls screaming to his death.

Page 9

Interior Curt Metcalf's secret LAB. The Jet pack lies, partially disassembled, on a workbench. A weary Hardware has already taken off all of his gear (it lies strewn about the lab) except for his helmet. "People ask me all the time, 'Curt? Why do you have such a bad attitude?'"

Wider from behind as Curt stands on the circular disk at the center of the SHELL DEPOLARIZER (Denys, we need to make this up: a large, Kirbyesque, high-tech "stage" whose function is to remove the Hardware shell after each use). The Hardware shell is dripping and running off of his upper body (remember how Spider-Man's black costume used to drip off of him? This should look something like that) and pooling on the floor at his feet. Note that on Curt's back, where the jet pack was shot, the hardware shell is gone, exposing raw and welted skin. "What's with the big chip on your shoulder?" Hardware Shell: Now depolarizing...

Tight to reveal CURT METCALF removing his helmet to reveal his face. "Why are you so angry."

Curt has his pants on but no shirt. He is twisting to inspect the bandage on his back (where he was shot earlier.) "Okay. I don't think I have an attitude, or a chip on my shoulder"

Curt is completely dressed, and has thrown an open lab coat over his suit. He's riding up on a platform which is rising into the ELEVATOR SHAFT (see Bible). "But I am angry. And I think I've got every right."

Page 10

Curt stands in front of the elevator doors. A display informs us that this is the: 27th floor, Curtis Metcalf's laboratory. All clear. "This is the secret entranceway to my private laboratory. It takes up most of this floor."

Interior CURT METCALF'S LAB. Curt is entering the lab from behind a bank of machinery that is swung away from the wall at a 45 degree angle, as if it were an immense door that is partially opened. "I know what you're thinking. "What's this guy complaining about?..."

Curt walks through his lab. Wide to give us a good look at it. "Private lab. Personal staff. For all intents and purposes an unlimited research budget. Seems like a pretty sweet deal, doesn't it? Set your own hours. Be your own man."

Tight on Curt looking up at something we can't see, raw hatred in his face. "Well it's not a good deal. The price is just too damn high."

"And if this is what it feels like to be your own man, the sensation is much overrated." Wide to reveal Curt in the reception area. He is looking up at a gigantic painting of a smiling (sinisterly?) EDWIN ALVA. There is an Alva Technologies logo up there, as well as the ubiquitous corporate slogan, "The Future Has Arrived!"

Page 11

Exterior the MASON BUILDING, dusk. "I love Saturdays."

Interior CURT'S PERSONAL OFFICE. Curt is sitting in a chair brooding. A spectacular sunset is visible in the window behind him. "No staff to deal with. No need to pretend I'm doing my job.

Tighter on Curt. "Nothing to do but wait for nightfall. And brood."

FLASHBACK sequence, use the same device to indicate it that you did on pages one and two. Big panel. A science fair. A 12 year-old Curt Metcalf (dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. He's sullen, and much less polished than he is as an adult).EDWIN ALVA is studying Curt's Science Fair project "Unusual Properties of Multi-Phased Plastics": A couple of 9 volt batteries with leads going first into a knife switch, and then into a shallow bowl of viscous fluid. "Edwin Alva has been a part of my life for almost as long as I can remember. We met at my first science fair."

A fascinated Alva has just thrown the switch. The fluid has turned into a solid dodecahedron. "I was a 13 year-old kid from a working-class neighborhood. And he was already the most famous inventor alive."

Alva pins a big, "First Prize" ribbon on Curt's chest. "I won, of course."

Page 12

Alva speaks to DENISE AND MITCHELL METCALF, who listen intently. Curt is also there. "Alva thought I had potential. He convinced my parents to let him enroll me in "A Better Chance," a program intended to get minority students into elite prep schools."

Curt is dressed in a prep school uniform: blue blazer with a crest on the pocket and gray trousers. He looks afraid. Nearby, a group of smirking white preppies, similarly dressed, are obviously talking about him. "Needless to say, the in crowd didn't know what to make of me. I wasn't the son of wealth. I didn't get invited to parties. Hell, I couldn't even make the basketball team."

Young Curt is in a classroom, at his desk resting his chin on his hand and looking bored. His test paper is upside down, his pencil resting on top of it. His classmates are still struggling through their tests. "But it never mattered. Because, intimidated though I was, I quickly discovered that I was smarter than them all.

Young Curt is in a school SCIENCE LAB, his labmates and the teacher look on in astonishment as Curt puts the finishing touches on a sophisticated, three-foot high ROBOT (crude but high-tech, with caterpillar tractor treads for legs and pincers for arms). "Much smarter."

Teenage Curt, resplendent in his graduation robes, is receiving his diploma from the DEAN. "I graduated from high school at 14. I got my first college degree at the age of 15."

Alva gives the new graduate a warm handclasp and an arm around the shoulder. "Alva footed the whole bill. Then he ponied up for my next six degrees. And all he asked in return was that I come work for him after graduation."

Page 13

Exterior the MASON BUILDING. "Alva Technologies. 'The Inspiration Factory' where Edwin Alva and his Research and Development scientists turn out high-tech inventions by the hundreds."

Curt, in an ill-fitting suit, looks on in awe at a big Laboratory (less impressive than his current one) that Alva is showing him. Alva is saying, "Welcome to the family, Curtis."

"He gave me my own lab, entirely too big a salary, and a mandate to indulge my curiosity by investigating whatever struck my fancy."

Curt is in a lab coat, working on some high-tech Kirbyesque doo-dad. "Best deal Alva ever made. My inventions resulted in literally millions of dollars in profits for my benefactor."

A smiling Alva is shaking Curt's hand. "For my part, Alva was the closest thing to a friend I ever had. Hate to say it, but he was more a father to me than my own dad ever was."

Curt is in an Alva Technologies reception area (like the other one, it is dominated by a huge picture of Alva), a SECRETARY is speaking to him as he heads for huge double office doors. "Mr. Alva will see you now."

"So when the day came, several years later, that I felt I deserved to share in the profits my creations produced, I wasn't at all shy about asking."

Curtis is confidently making his case to Alva, who is seated behind a massive desk. "I was well aware that I was Alva's most valuable employee. The buzz around the office was that I was being groomed to someday take over for the old man. Surely I could squeeze royalty point or two out of him."

Page 14

Favoring a bemused Alva. Curt has just had his world view shattered. "I have never been more wrong." Alva is speaking, "Curtis, let us dispense with any misconceptions you may be laboring under."

Tighter on a calm Alva, ticking off his points. "You are not 'family'. You are an employee. Neither are you 'heir apparent'. You are a cog in the machine. My machine."

Even tighter. Alva is cold as ice. "You are not respected, Curtis. You are merely useful."

Wide to show both, Alva dismisses Curt with a wave of his hand. "You may go now."

Curt's captions continue, "That's when I learned to empathize with my parakeet."

A defeated Curt, looks helplessly at a contract that a stereotypical LAWYER is pointing to. "My first thought was to quit but my esteemed counsel straightened me out. It's right there in my contract. I can't work for a competitor. Ever. If I want to work in my field, I have to do it for Alva."

Curt is sitting in front of a computer terminal, late at night. Only the CRT lights the room. "I was determined not to spend the rest of my working life with my head jammed firmly against the glass ceiling, so I went to work.

Page 15

Tighter on Curt's face. He's totally absorbed in his work. "I hoped I could find something I could use to give me a little leverage on Alva. Maybe he cheats on his income tax? A little advanced hacking would tell the tale."

Tighter still, a thin smile on Curt's face. "Jack-effin-pot! He pays his taxes, alright. But everything else about him is stone cold crooked."

New angle, wider. Curt is studying huge printouts of computer flow charts. "It took me weeks to put it all together, but the evidence was clear and incontrovertible. Edwin Alva is at the center of an incredibly complex web of corruption."

Curt is standing in front of one of those big Alva paintings, holding a big bundle of papers. "My benefactor and role model, the economic savior and humanitarian pillar of the city of Dakota has connections to organized crime."

Only on the painting, it fills the panel. "He launders tens of millions of dollars in drug money, he has most of the city and state government in his pocket, he illegally manufactures weapons and sells them to foreign governments."

Curt licks the flap of a big manila envelope. A stack of already sealed and very thick envelopes is on the table. "All I intended to do was blackmail him to get out of my contract. But eff that. Alva's just wrong. I decided to stop him."

Page 16

Curt is putting one of the stack of manila envelopes into a MAIL BOX. "I gave copies of the evidence to the FBI, SEC, the state and local police, several newspapers and, just for fun, Hard Copy and A Current Affair. Then I settled back to wait for the fireworks."

A Podium. A huge ceremony, Alva is being given the key to the city by (black female) Mayor THOMASINA JEFFERSON. "I waited a long time. But nothing ever happened. And I eventually figured out why: Alva is too big. Quite simply beyond the reach of the law."

Wider. Curt is watching the ceremony on TV. "But maybe, I thought, not beyond my reach.

Curt in his lab, wearing the hardware shell, solders wires to his helmet (which he holds in his hands). "Using Alva's own equipment and resources I created Hardware. The "high tech creature of the night" who's been checkmating Alva's illegal operations for the last ten months is, in a way, Alva's own creation."

"-Heh- It's surely his property...

END OF FLASHBACK. Normal panel borders. Curt is sitting at his desk, much as he was on page 11, panel 2. It is nightfall now. "I like to think of it as the moral equivalent of using the office copying machine for personal business."

Curt is standing resolutely. "Nighttime already? Time sure flies when you're feeling sorry for yourself."

Page 17

Curt's Lab. A naked Curt walks back through the secret door we saw on page 10 ,panel 2, his clothes are on the floor in a trail behind him. "Time to go to work."

Curt walks towards the SHELL FORGE (See bible). Hardware Shell Forge: ACTIVATED

New angle, Curt is sinking into the black sheet of material, which stretches around him.

Curt, wrapped in the material, emerges from the opposite side. "This Elevator Shaft used to lead to a bomb shelter. It was sealed off when this building was renovated back in the seventies." Hardware Shell Forge: POLARIZED

Hardware, now coated in the black stuff from his costume, is walking into the open elevator shaft. "I opened it back up. The advantage is that nobody knows it's here but me."

Page 18

Vertical panel, Hardware is in freefall, it's a long way down. "The disadvantage is that the first step is a mother..." Inertia Winder: ENGAGED

A series of small panels, like Klaus Janson would do it:

Hardware's hand grabs a helmet from the wall. Helmet and voice synthesizer...

Hardware's hand grabs one of his belts, loaded up with stuff, from the wall. On Board Computer (Obie) and external drives...

Hardware's hand grabs a gauntlet with an OMNICANNON (see bible) mounted on it. Omnicannon. gauntlet..

Hardware's hand grabs a gauntlet with the RETRACTABLE SWORD Housing (see bible) mounted on it. Sword housing gauntlet...

Hardware's hand grabs a stylized backpack from the wall. Weapons' pack #14...

Hardware's hand grabs a helmet from the wall. Helmet and voice synthesizer...

Page 19

A fully suited up Hardware lands at the bottom of the elevator shaft. We're far enough back so we can get a good look at HARDWARE'S LAB (see bible). "This used to be a bomb shelter. Now it's where I keep all the stuff I've scammed from Alva. He's turned the city upside down looking for Hardware. I live in his basement."

Hardware is sitting in the SKYCAR. The hinged top is lowering itself into place.

Skycar: ACTIVATED

Interior Skycar, Hardware is at the controls. All instrument panels are holographically imbedded in the windshield.

Heads up windshield displays: ACTIVATED

Obie uplink: ACTIVATED

Exterior the Mason building, the skycar zooms through the air into the foreground. "It'll take me a couple of days to get that jet pack up and running again. But Alva never takes a break."

The Skycar flies away from the camera into the background. "And neither do I..."

Shortly, Hardware is sneaking up behind a GUARD (armed, and wearing a riot gear-style uniform) is posted outside a security fence. Hardware's pulling out a small, cigar-shaped tube. "One guard? I'm insulted."

Page 20

Hardware slaps the metal tube on the Guard's back, "See ya..." The Guard is reacting with a start. Micro rocket: DEPLOYED

The rocket jets into the air carrying the Guard a hundred feet into the air on a pillar of flame. "Wouldn't want to be ya..." The Guard screams. Micro rocket: ENGAGED

Close on Hardware looking up into the sky with mild interest. "Don't know what he's so upset about. There couldn't be more than another 15 seconds of fuel in that thing."

Hardware is raising the corrugated metal door to a warehouse with great effort. "This warehouse is supposed to be storage for paper products. But Alva's using it to store stolen weapons until they can be fenced."

"Or he was. But that was before I decided to blow this whole place sky-high." Hardware is kneeling down setting a timer on some plastique when he is surprised by an off panel speaker. "Hold it, Hardware..."

Wider, a Guard, dressed to match the other one, is holding a gun to Hardware's head. "...or I'll blow your brains out." Hardware's retractable sword is sliding out of its housing. Retractable Sword: DEPLOYED.

Page 21

In one motion, Hardware stands and turns, SEVERING the guard's gun hand. "Not unless you're left-handed."

The guard looks at his stump. He's in shock. Two more identically-dressed Guards race towards hardware, guns drawn. "Geez, he cut off Ralph's hand!"

Hardware fires his BOLO CANNON at one of the guard's feet. Bolo Cannon: DEPLOYED

The bolo wraps around the guard's feet, he's in the process of falling on his face. The last Guard looks over at his fallen comrade. Hardware has stepped into arms reach.

Hardware clocks the last guard with a roundhouse right. An off-panel voice says, "Very impressive, Hardware."

Page 22

An unimpressed Hardware turns to see REPRISE (A new super villain, and the major antagonist for next issue. You get to make him up, Denys. All I know is that he wears no face mask, and that he carries a sawed-off shotgun). "You're every bit as good as I'd heard." "Then maybe you ought to get out of here, while you've got the chance."

Reprise calmly levels his rifle at Hardware, "I can't do that, I'm afraid. You see, I've been hired to kill you." "Yeah? You and what army?"

A smiling Reprise walks towards Hardware, splitting into three identical copies! Each one has one word of his dialog in a separate balloon. "Very" "Good" "Question." .

The three copies do the same thing, now there are nine of them! "They" "Call" "Me" "Reprise." "Aren't" "You" "Sorry" "You" "Asked?"

Hardware is facing nine copies of Reprise, all of whom are pointing their rifles right at him. He's pretty cool though, "I'm sorry I didn't bring more stuff with me..."

Next: Reprisals!

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