ANNAIf these formulas are right we may have a source of power that will last forever!

SARAH (discouraged)Why should it work? None of the others did. We've been reduced to trying to create a device that makes energy out of nothing! It's impossible!

Anna reaches over the table to touch Sarah's arm.

ANNA (gently)It's the only hope we have left.

Both women rise, Sarah with notes in hand, and walk o.s.

12 2-SHOT-SARAH & ANNA

The two have their BACKS TOWARD the CAMERA. In front of them is a device resembling a large microwave. Anna places a petrii dish with a faintly luminescent liquid inside. Sarah puts on a thick pair of gloves and, hands shaking, spoons into the dish about a tablespoon of some unidentified powder. Quickly, as the mixture begins to smoke, she swings the door shut, then looks at Anna.

SARAHIs there enough power left in the batteries?

ANNADoes it matter? We won't have another chance.

Sarah hesitates, then turns a dial and presses a single button to start the reaction. A BRIGHT LIGHT comes through the glass, blinding in the dark room. It lasts for about twenty seconds, then FADES to a DULL BLUE GLEAM. Sarah and Anna cautiously open the door. Inside, a single, small crystal stands upright in the dish. Sarah lifts it out carefully.

ANNAThis isn't a gel! It doesn't even look malleable! How can we use it?

SARAHAccording to the formulae, it's soluble. If we could separate a small chip, we could start there.

ANNA (doubtfully)You man we might be able to use this?

SARAHI think this might save us all.

DISSOLVE TO:

The table is now clear except for a small, sickly looking, potted plant, a glass of water, and a petrii dish with a sliver of the crystal upon it. Anna stands behind the table; Sarah is at one end. Anna picks up the sliver with a pair of tweezers and drops it into the glass. It dissolves without a trace. She then pours the glass of water onto the rots of the plant. The effect is immediate. Within seconds, a sheath of crystal GROWS over the plant from its roots up, RISING to a height just short of the ceiling before HALTING. It sheds a soft, blue glow on the room.

ANNA (hushed)Does the air smell fresher in here or is it just me?

SARAH (awed)I think this is a little bit more than just a battery.

The two glance at each other and begin to laugh. Then they race about the lab gathering materials for all sorts of tests.

DISSOLVE TO:

Sarah and Anna are asleep on couches by the far wall. The crystallized plant is still on the table, but its light is negligible in the gray daylight from the windows. A CRASH is heard as Michael Peters throws open the door and stalks into the lab. Sarah and Anna are startled awake.

MICHAEL (angry)Sarah!(beat)First, I get a report on an unauthorized power expenditure in this area, and then I find out that it hasn't rained within ten blocks of your lab for thirty-two hours! I demand to know what you've done!

Sarah is on her feet by this time. She runs to Michael and throws hwer arms around him, although he remains unresponsive.

15	MED. SHOT-MICHAEL & SARAH

SARAHWe've found a way to solve all our problems at once! That's all we've done!

MICHAEL (somewhat mollified)What are you talking about?

CAMERA TRACKS the couple as Sarah almost dances with him to the table and plant.

SARAHThis is what I'm talking about! The crystal cleans the air, takes the acid out of the rain, clears out every sort of pollution for a two mile radius in every direction! Even up! It cuts the cloud cover in half!

MICHAELWhat are you saying?(beat)That if we made more of these things we could save ourselves?

SARAH (sobered)No. We can't make enough of them. There isn't enough power left to recreate the entire experiment.

16	3-SHOT as Anna comes up to them.

ANNAIt wouldn't do any good anyway. Without sunlight, we'll still die. There aren't any living plants big enough that the resulting crystal's effects will pierce the cloud cover.

MICHAELWhy do you need a live plant?

SARAHAnna, what are you talking about?

ANNAI stayed up after you last night figuring it out. You take a piece of dissolved crystal, feed it to a plant, and a larger crystal grows.

SARAHWe've established that.

ANNAYes, but what we didn't know was how it works. I'm still not sure, but I think the crystal feeds off the life of the plant and sustains it at the same time. The plant is effectively dead, but the crystal continues to survivie as a sort of parasite. It's a living thing.

SARAH (bemused)Well, that would explain the stranger parts of my formulae.

ANNAWhat we need is something with much more mass and a quicker metabolic rate. A zoo animal would do, but I don't know where we can find one still alive.

MICHAELI'll see what I can do through the company.

17	LONG SHOT with Anna and Sarah in f.g. and Michael leaving in b.g. As he walks out, still within earshot, Anna begins to speak to Sarah. He pauses to hear her.

(CONTINUED:)