EMILY (20’s, goth) stirs her coffee blithely as she sits across from MARCO (20’s conventionally handsome, boring) who sits rigidly holding his cup with two hands, robotically he recounts a story to her.

-- then he can’t do the push ups! And I’m just like - hey guy - you were really talking a LOT about how strong you were earlier. Ha! Right?

Emily peeks up at him and gives him a shy smile.

Wow! That’s so funny!

She buries her face in her drink again.

When I was a teenager I started to see them, just little outlines at first. Nobody else could see them. The ones who hold the strings. I thought I was crazy. I wasn’t. They’re real.

Something is wrong with Marco’s face. His eyes are bloodshot and his smile seems unsettling.

--after class my friend and I pull him aside and ask him what’s up? And- get this- he actually brags about how well he did! Crazy!

We pull back on Marco more to see what look like black and silver vines dangling behind him like a shimmering curtain.

I didn’t know this guy was one of their puppets. None of his profile pictures had them in it, so they must have taken control recently.

-- he was so out of touch with reality. I couldn’t believe it!

Is that right?

The black and silver vine curtains are FUSED into Marco’s flesh as fresh, GORY wounds.

So what do you do for a living?

Emily can’t help but steal a glance up and we see two TALL, SLENDER, IRIDESCENT Figures with NO FACE standing next to Marco. Their skin glints like abalone and their long arms splay into thin tendrils connected into Marco’s Flesh.

They are PUPPETING him through his SKIN! The tendrils pulsing with some sort of fluid that moves his muscles around.

I’m a VP of a Software Company. Cool huh?

She looks down, concentrating on her drink.

Oh really?

I don’t know why I can see them, but some birds can see them too, pigeons especially avoid them for some reason. I thought I was the only person who could see them, till I met Nora.

NORA, 30’s, A wiretap, thin, black woman in the most colorful outfit you’ve ever seen bumps into the table and spills her drink all over Emily’s Lap! Emily stands up in shock.

Oh god I am SO Sorry. Here, let me help.

Nora pulls out a napkin and dabs Emily’s pants.

It’s really alright.

I’m so clumsy. Ugh. Say, I’ve got a stain pen, here, let’s grab some towels from the bathroom and it won’t stain.

Nora makes ‘let’s get out of here’ eyes with a head motion and grabs Emily by the hand.

I-- I’m sorry, I’ll be right back.

Emily gets up. Nora grabs her purse and hands it to her. Nora addresses Marco.

Terribly sorry, we’ll just be a second.

Nora shuffles off, with Emily in tow.

The two alien figures slowly turn toward each other, then quizzically toward the ladies as they leave. They puppet the man to also look in an uncanny way.

Nora walks briskly inside the shop with Emily in tow by the wrist.

Hey, slow down.

Nora relents, looks around to see if the coast is clear, then turns quickly to Emily.

Sorry. But that guy back there is bad news. Okay? I don’t know how you’re connected but you need to cut him out of your life.

I get it. Trust me.

I don’t think you understand. He’s... He’s dangerous to you. You don’t want to date him or whatever. So.. Just... Take care.

Nora starts off.

(To self)

He’s a puppet.

Nora freezes, looks downright shocked, turns.

What did you say?

Oh Nothing.

Nora walks back and pulls Emily close.

(whispers)

Did you say he’s a puppet?

Nora and Emily lock eyes. Emily is rapt.

Is that why you helped me? Because you can see them too?

Nora’s eyes widen.

You can see them?

A shock white room with rounded walls and rounded floors, sits bare and sterile like the inside of a balloon.

A panel opens in the far side and a bloodied Emily wearing a bathrobe is shoved in. The panel closes and seals with a hiss.

She coughs and lurches forward, searching the walls for some sort of handhold or door but there’s nothing to see.

You fucking assholes. FUCK you!

She lets out a belabored scream of agony and sobs.

I never thought I would met someone who could see them. Who could see me. In the end though, it all went wrong because I couldn’t see. Couldn’t see it like her.

Nora and Emily are hiking through Griffith park, sweating in the mid-day heat.

It’s crazy, I think soon the whole newspaper is going to be written by one of their AI agents. They’re gonna lay us all off.

Isn’t there anything you could do about it? Unionize?

Not really. It feels like nobody even cares about the news anymore anyways since they launched their attention sucking social media apps. If they’re not controlling us directly they’re finding ways to control us indirectly.

What do you think they even want anyway?

Emily trips and Nora instinctively catches her. They linger close for a moment.

Uh..

I like you.

I like you too.

No I mean like I like you. Like..

Emily reaches up and pulls Nora’s mouth to hers. They kiss.

It’s easy to love someone when they’re the only person in the world who understands you. It gets harder though. When you realize you might not understand them.

A typical 2/1 house on the outskirts of LA. Nora and Emily are inside having a heated argument. Emily is in her bathrobe, eyes red from crying.

--But you’re in a position to do SOMETHING about it. Anything!

You don’t understand Em. They’d stop a report or article before it even got out and it’s only one thing vs the entire media apparatus. Just. LOOK!

Nora flips on the nightly news, and sure enough, flipping through channels we see that every newscaster is being puppeted. Every MALE newscaster.

Emily is throwing herself against the wall with as much force as she can. The room rings hollow against her blows. She’s sobbing and muttering to herself.

They’ll be in my mind. Inside my thoughts. I can’t let them know about Nora. I can’t.

Emily takes the sash off her bathrobe and looks at it. Wrings up her courage and starts tying it into a noose.

Emily and Nora are back out on the hiking trail. Nora has two small pieces of rope and and she’s demonstrating how to tie it in different ways.

How’d you learn all this stuff anyways?

You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.

Come on. Spill.

My dad was evangelical. Like. Believed that the rapture was COMING. My entire family are armageddon peppers.

Whoa.

Yea, funny thing is when I started seeing them nobody believed me. They all thought I was the crazy one.

I learned so much from her. Coffee. Knots. Love. About irrationality. Nora would say that to respond rationally to irrational circumstances is where the real crazy is.

Emily has her neck in the noose and is desperately trying to squeeze the noose by tugging the sash with her own foot. She’s hysterically sobbing.

I’m sorry... I’m sorry...

The wall panel opens with a hiss and she tries as hard as she can to break her own neck.

Noooooo!!!

In comes two tall ones. They seem mildly astonished that she can see them, despite not having a face.

You tall motherfuckers. I fucking see you. I SEE YOU.

She gets up and flies toward them with rage. They easily catch and shove her backwards. Their colors and patterns change rapidly now as they look at her, like angry squids.

We’re in a direct continuation of the previous Emily and Nora fight again.

Are you saying that we can’t do ANYTHING? ANYTHING at all?

Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying! We just have to survive Em.

Emily turns on her like a striking snake.

Weren’t your ancestors fucking slaves?

Nora is rightly shocked. A slow blink.

What the fuck did you just say to me?

Suppose Harriet Tubman just said there was nothing to be done and looked out for herself. Or that guy at harpers ferry!

Nora folds her arms and takes a defensive posture.

Em, you are testing me right now. You need to calm down and we can talk about this in the morning. Okay?

No. Fuck you. Look. LOOK!

Emily shakily pulls out her phone with rage.

Look at this picture mom sent me for Dad’s birthday. Look. LOOK! Do you see?

Emily holds her phone up to Nora and we see a selfie of Emilys’ mom and dad! Her Mom is smiling wide and Dad is too, sorta...

But there, in the background, are the silver vines. They’re GRUESOMELY fused into her father’s skin.

He’s one of them now.

Oh my god. Em. No... He’s--

--Nothing to be done, huh? Nothing!? Just wait and survive?

Emily, in tears, runs out of the house.

The two tall ones descend on the bloodied and frantic Emily. We see them raise their tendril arms out to her and shuffle towards her.

It’s different when it’s someone you love. Someone close to you who they take. It’s personal.

Their bodies alight with light and pattern, like a snake mesmerizing its prey. Their tendrils wrap around her wrists and ankles.

No. NOOOOO. Stop. STOP!

They’ve pinned her against the wall with them.

Nora chases after Emily, who’s running out of the house.

Stop! STOP! Em! Come Back!

Emily is running - sprinting- away from Nora’s house, sobbing in her bathrobe. Nora lets her run. They need time.

Emily runs and runs down the street. Makes it a fair distance. She stops to catch her breath.

There’s two older men approaching her on a walk together, chatting.

One is being puppeted.

She looks at them and a visceral HOWL escapes from her.

Run. RUN AWAY!

The two men are taken aback. Is this a homeless woman?

They’re controlling him. Can you see? Can’t you SEE THEM? HE’s a PUPPET!

The free man scurries away, gesturing for his friend. But the puppeteers.. They look at her. They stare right through her.

Their tendrils retract from the puppeted man, who slumps onto the asphalt in a heap. He groans and gasps, free for the first time in years.

The tall men strider toward Emily. She turns and RUNS.

Nora says that people don’t like the truth. Nobody wants it. People tell you they want it, but they don’t. That’s a lie they tell themselves.

Something STINGS Emily from behind and she crumples.

The two puppeteers have her covered against the wall in their tendrils. She struggles against it but cannot break free.

The puppeteers know that. And that’s why we’ll never win. Not because we can’t see them, but because they know we don’t want to. Normal folks at least.

They creep ever closer to her.

Without a sound the door opens again and another alien walks in, this looks like a tall one, but a little different. Colorless, grey, Femme. It has hands instead of tendrils.

As it approaches Emily looks at it.

You Alien FUCKS. Why? WHY?

Because you yearned for us. For order. For peace. So we came to provide it. You prayed for an end to suffering, so we provided.

I.. I hate you!

The grey alien puts her hand on Emily’s chest, right where her heart is.

You pray for connection, for understanding, an end to your loneliness. We will provide it to you.

The grey one looks over to the two tall ones and gestures. They lean in close to her, and we see their faces up close.

...Or it’s what we think is their faces. They slowly remove their alien cloth MASKS to reveal a humanoid face, elongated, grey, but there are NO EYES. Just small, spaghetti like TENDRILS there, which hungrily seek Emily’s eyes.

The puppeteers lean close and their tendrils lick against her eyes and enter her eye sockets.

NO! NOOOOO!

You are welcome here Emily.

Emily struggles and struggles, her vision goes dark.. It’s over...

BLAM! BLAM!

The grey alien looks around. Alarmed.

BLAM! The door to the room bursts open with force. NORA is standing there with a SHOTGUN!

KABLOOM! KABLOOM! She shoots the tall ALIENS who stumble and fall.

No! Wait!

KABLOOM! Nora turns the grey one into gore too.

She steps through the carnage and picks Emily up onto her feet.

Em! Let’s get out of here!

Nora!

Emily hugs her close and the tears flow.

I-- I--

It’s okay Em. I love you no matter what. Now let’s get out of here.

Nora and Emily head for the door--

But that’s not real. We’re back in the room, The two tall ones now have their tendrils inside her, a larger and more ‘connected’ experience than the men we’ve seen.

The grey one moves over to the two of them and gestures to have them raise her up.

Emily is muttering to herself as they force her to stand on her feet like a necromantic corpse, gory tendrils embedded in her skin as she shuffles forward, eyes black as space.

(muttering)

--thought I’d never see you again-- Heh.

We’re in EMILY’S “LOCKED IN” POV.

Puppet Emily is on a date with some random guy.

-- then she can’t do the push ups. And I’m just like - hey - you were really talking a LOT about how strong you were earlier.

I’ve been locked in ever since then. I don’t know how or when I became aware of it. But I miss her. I miss her so bad.

Emily looks up and behind her date is Nora... The whole world seems to slow down

Nora! My love, you found me!

She sits her guitar case down on a neighboring coffee table..

Oh no baby. I’m so sorry you have to do this.

Opens it.

Good bye. I love you. I’ll see you soon--

And pulls out a SHOTGUN

-- and you’ll see me --

BLAM!

BLACKOUT