OUT OF TIME

FADE IN

THE NEAR FUTURE - MARS

INT. BRADBURY STATION - PORTAL SCIENCES - DAWN

Rolling planes of rusty sand shoot forever outward. The twin

miniature moons of Phobos and Deimos hang low in the dark
sky; the larger Deimos moves slowly, imperceptibly, east to
west, while Phobos rushes past with the opposite trajectory.

The not-quite-the-right sun is only just beginning to rise.

It ignites the atmosphere in a manner utterly unlike the
orange glow of terrestrial morning -- it is gray, oppressive,
almost toxic, with a faint blue tinge. There is not a single
cloud in the sky.

The Martian surface shrinks. It pulls away, the view suddenly

obscured by a heretofore invisible WINDOW. Hanging above it
is a sign:

QUANTUM PORTAL SCIENCES

As the alien landscape fades, the familiar surroundings of a

human environment come into focus. This is a laboratory.
Several work stations crowd its area, all angled toward a
central metal column. They are all empty.

It is too early for most to be working.

Sparks fly outward from the column’s side. They illuminate

the lab’s dim early-morning interior.

For JAYE PARK, it’s too early to quit.

She’s a thin woman, late 20s, of indistinct ethnic identity.

Like all of Bradbury’s personnel, Jaye wears a tight-fitting
vacuum suit for protection against depressurization. It is
her second skin -- a normal white labcoat is worn over it.

She kneels behind an open panel on the column’s side. She

holds in her hand a MINIATURE WELDING DEVICE, no bigger than
a pen.

A beam of energy extends from its tip.

Metal CACKLES.

The beam disappears.

She closes the panel. Locks it.

Stands.
 2.

Black goggles covers her face.

She admires the column for a moment. It is her greatest

achievement. She pulls off the goggles and tosses them onto a
nearby desk, then slides the laser welder into her labcoat’s
front pocket.

Beside the column are two BLACK PADS, circular, each

connected by a makeshift assembly of wires leading back into
the column proper. It has the makings of some piece of high
technology, a sleek and futuristic design, but it is very
much still under construction.

Jaye turns away from this device and steps over to her desk
nearby. It is the station of a woman dedicated to her work.
Among the cups of coffee and scribbled notes is a single
large, glossy-surfaced marble. She picks it up, rolls it in
her hand, then turns back to the device.

Places it on the left-hand pad.

Looks over the column once again.

Facing outward is a CONTROL PANEL. There is room to spare on

its front, but the only control present at this moment is a
singular red button.

Jaye lowers her eyes onto the marble: it is to her left. She
reaches for the button.

Quiet BEEPING.

The marble is still there.

Her vision pans to the right. A few lights on the formerly

dark column flash.

The same black marble is now present on the right-hand pad.

She smiles, then looks back to her left.

No marble.

A perfect result.

She leaps forward and grabs it, picks it up, examines it. It
is completely unchanged. A normal marble. She rushes back to
her desk, scribbles something down with a pen, then returns
to the left-hand pad.

She considers it seriously.

Runs a hand through her hair.

 3.

Ties a ponytail.

Steps onto the pad.

Closes her eyes.

A deep breath and heavy sigh.

She reaches out and depresses the button, then quickly pulls
her arms back inward. She stands perfectly upright, perfectly
still.

Opens her eyes.

Nothing. She remains on the first pad. There is no beeping,

and the lights on the device do not flash.

Her tension fades. Disappointment. She reaches into her

pocket and withdrawals the marble. She frowns at it, shakes
her head, and then notices the first rays of sunlight pouring
in from the window. She shields her eyes, then checks a
device attached to her wrist.

4:27 AM

The hour hits her. She is onset by sudden exhaustion. She has
done enough work for one day.

She drops the marble into her pocket as she proceeds toward
the laboratory’s exit. She takes one last look at the device,
then opens the door.

EXT. HELL - CONTINUOUS

In the place of what should be a metallic hallway is instead

a blinding light. The ROAR of wind overpowers all noise and a
massive gust like the blast of a distant explosion rushes
past Jaye, catches in her hair. She stumbles back into the
lab, shielding her eyes from the red supernova erupting far
in the distance.

The brightness dies down.

Through the lab’s doorway is a FIERY HELLSCAPE, brimstone et

al. The sky is cloudless and blood red, the environment lava-
tinged and desolate. A massive glowing orb lingers overhead.

Jaye does not seem afraid.

Despite the ceaseless wind which seems, by its very nature,

to be attempting to keep her away, she presses onward. She
steps over the threshold. Her curiosity is insatiable.
 4.

Bones crunch underfoot. A massive pile of bones which seems

to form the terrain itself. She notices it, hesitates, and
then looks back outward.

A horde of FIGURES dressed in Medieval armor have appeared on

the horizon. They bear swords, shields, spears, and pollaxes.
In unison they CLANG their weapons to the ground, upon their
armor, and SCREAM.

Time to go.

Jaye tries to duck back inside -- it should be easy, she had

hardly stepped out at all, but when she turns, the entrance
back into the lab seems like a mile away. It is far off in
the distance, just a feature on the horizon.

And standing directly behind her, in her path back to safety,

is THE PRINCE. He is a massive, ten-foot-tall humanoid, clad
in full plate armor. His skin is blood red and massive horns
protrude from his forehead.

He looks down at her with a grotesque smile.

THE PRINCE
Thanks.

An enormous clawed hand snatches at Jaye’s neck. She evades

just in time, falling to the ground and scrambling past him
on her knees. She lifts herself back up and runs toward the
door as fast as she can, no regard for her pursuers.

The Prince watches her. He expels a bass laugh and lumbers

after her -- but he is no rush.

CUT TO:

INT. PORTAL SCIENCE LABS - LATER

Jaye slips over the threshold and closes the door behind her
without a second’s thought. She pants, exhausted, out of
breath from the run, and tries to regain her composure.

Then, she notices the window.

Where once was Mars is now Hell. An army of DEMONS,

MONSTROSITIES, and the DEAD swirl about in a sea of horror.
Jaye can do nothing but gawk.

But the lights on the column, still in the center of the

room, blink rapidly. A loud and fast BEEPING shoots outward.
It catches her attention, pulls her away from the spectacle
outside of the window. She rushes toward the column and slams
its central button.
 5.

The entire world LURCHES.

She is thrown from her feet, catches herself on the column.

The beeping FADES.

A glance through the window: no army of Hell. Just Mars.

Jaye, for the first time, stares outward at the alien

surface. She has never been happier to be so far from Earth.
She breathes heavily.

SILENCE...

A KNOCK echoes out from the door.

She turns.

A longsword has been thrust clean through the metallic door,

down to the wicked shape of a cruciform hilt.

Another KNOCK. It’s louder, as if from a battering ram. The

entire laboratory rumbles. Then...

SLAM!

The door caves in and collapses, knocked off of its sliding

track. On the other side, now standing in a normal Martian
research station hallway, is the Prince. He pulls his sword
out from the door effortlessly and steps inside.

Nothing could look more out of place in a laboratory than

this creature, and he knows it. It is strange to him,
entirely foreign. His eyes scan the room--

Jaye is gone.

The massive Prince’s heavy steps POUND against the floor. He

runs a claw over a workstation, looks through the window,
narrows his eyes. He traverses the circular room, touching
much but breaking little.

He rumbles a bass, inhuman GROWL. Bull-like nostrils SNORT.

INT. UNIFORM CLOSET - CONTINUOUS

Jaye watches the Prince through a slit in the door.

INT. PORTAL SCIENCE LABS - CONTINUOUS

The Prince, unable to locate his prey, shifts his attention

toward the lab’s central device. The column. It is BEEPING
softly, green lights blinking.
 6.

He extends a finger and taps it. Lowers himself to listen to

the noise. A moment later, he lifts his sword up as if to
strike--

Jaye bursts from the closet and pulls the marble from her
coat. She tosses it as hard as she can at the Prince’s head.

It bounces harmlessly off.

He watches as it hits the floor, then rolls back toward

Jaye’s feet. He lowers his sword. Their eyes meet.

A terrifying LAUGH.

The Prince approaches.

Jaye backs up, unsure, until cornered against the window. The
Prince flips Jaye’s desk and sheathes his sword.

She tries to maintain eye contact. She’s brave, and she’ll

die before her work is destroyed, but this is like nothing
she has ever seen before. It is like being in someone else’s
nightmare -- a physicist would never think to be afraid of
something so impossible.

The Prince stands only a few inches before her.

Her courage falters.

He reaches a hand around the back of her head and grabs her
ponytail. In a careful, slow motion, he hoists her upward.
She dangles from her hair, four feet off the ground, and
screams.

Her arms flail wildly. They try to reach into her pockets.

THE PRINCE
Interesting garments, for a witch.

He runs a claw down the side of Jaye’s body. Then, with an

extended razor-sharp finger, opens a cut on her forehead.
Blood trails into her eyes. The claws move toward her upper
neck. Each finger extends around her throat...

But she’s found what she was looking for -- the laser welder.
She jams it against the Prince’s metal gauntlet around her
neck and turns it on.

The light is blinding. She’s forced to look away as light

melts steel. Its battery HUMS. The Prince ROARS in pain and
drops her. She darts away as fast as she can while he grabs
at his hand’s armor. It has melted around his skin. He
clutches at it and attempts to pull it off, but it’s no use.
 7.

Smoke wafts into the air.

The Prince SNARLS and pulls out his sword once again. This
time he means business. She has a head start, but he begins
to lumber after Jaye once again.

She makes for the door, and then runs past it. Instead, she
heads to another, an airlock, with a sign above that reads:
PORTAL SCIENCES LOADING BAY.

INT. PORTAL SCIENCES AIRLOCK - CONTINUOUS

The airlock has two doors, both made out of transparent

glass, for pressurization. It has three consoles: one in
Portal Sciences, one within the airlock itself, and another
exposed to the Loading Bay.

Jaye reaches the first console, punches in a code, and the

first door slides open.

She steps inside.

Hanging on the wall are a collection of EMERGENCY

DECOMPRESSION HELMETS. She grabs one and puts it on. It
affixes perfectly to the vacuum suit beneath her labcoat.

INT. PORTAL SCIENCE LABS - CONTINUOUS

The Prince follows.

He reaches the airlock, almost enters in, when Jaye accesses

the second console. The glass door slides shut, preventing
him from entering.

She stops and watches his next move.

The Prince rams his head against the glass.

Nothing.

He tries again. A THUMP, but no effect.

INT. PORTAL SCIENCES AIRLOCK - CONTINUOUS

A muffled ROAR from beyond. He lifts his sword and hits it as

hard as he can against the transparent surface. It leaves a
dent but nothing else.

Jaye turns from him and opens the external airlock, exposing
herself to the Martian elements. The Prince watches intently,
eyes-on her hand.
 8.

EXT. PORTAL SCIENCES LOADING BAY - CONTINUOUS

She stumbles out onto the Loading Bay. It is a metal platform

on the Martian surface, a landing pad for a shuttle. It is
currently vacant. Once a suitable distance away, she turns
back to watch him through the airlock’s glass.

INT. PORTAL SCIENCES LABS - CONTINUOUS

He looks down at the first console and replicates Jaye’s

actions. It takes a few tries, but the airlock cycles. The
exterior door closes, and then the first opens.

He steps through.

INT. PORTAL SCIENCES AIRLOCK - CONTINUOUS

The Prince wastes no time heading toward the second console.

He interacts with it in the same fashion, and the door behind
slides shut. He looks to Jaye, then back to the console.

EXT. PORTAL SCIENCES LOADING BAY - CONTINUOUS

Jaye breathes heavily within her helmet. She watches the

Prince closely.

JAYE
(whispered, barely
audible)
Do it.

INT. PORTAL SCIENCES AIRLOCK - CONTINUOUS

A needle-point finger extends toward the console’s touch

display.

EXT. PORTAL SCIENCES LOADING BAY - CONTINUOUS

JAYE
(getting louder)
Do it. Hit the button.

INT. PORTAL SCIENCES AIRLOCK - CONTINUOUS

The Prince hesitates. He cocks his head at Jaye through the

glass. She should be running away.
 9.

EXT. PORTAL SCIENCES LOADING BAY - CONTINUOUS

JAYE
(shouting)
Open the airlock! Open it!

She backs up a few steps, motions toward herself.

INT. PORTAL SCIENCES AIRLOCK - CONTINUOUS

The Prince’s smile returns. He cycles the airlock.

EXT. PORTAL SCIENCES LOADING BAY - CONTINUOUS

Jaye backs up cautiously as the Prince advances. He takes one

step onto the loading bay platform, then another.

Slows.

Hesitates.

Confused.

Tries to press through it.

Takes another step.

Mouth opens as if to roar -- no sound comes out.

He makes it to the edge of the platform, to the point where

Jaye is once again cornered...and then he falls to his knees.
His sword clatters to the ground.

He grabs at his chest with his hands.

Stops breathing.

Deep red blood trails down from his eyes.

His nose begins to bleed.

Even demons need a proper atmosphere.

He looks toward Jaye, furious, perplexed. Then, he smiles. He

extends a hand toward her, but can do no more than that.

Jaye picks up his sword.

It’s about five times too big, but she can lift it. She
heaves it upward and levels it with the Prince’s neck. He
watches onward, helpless, bleeding more and more profusely.
She winds up all of her strength, then takes a swing.
 10.

THWAP!

The massive head flies off. Jaye gasps and drops the sword.

CUT TO:

INT. PORTAL SCIENCE LABS - LATER

She emerges from the first airlock. The helmet drops to the
ground with a CLANG. She is exhausted. She recuperates for a
moment, then winces in pain. She reaches a hand up toward the
wound carved by the Prince into her forehead.

It has already scarred over. She touches it once.

It pulses yellow.

She looks toward the device.

It is now BEEPING loudly. More lights than ever display

across its surface, blinking constantly. An electronic
warning plays on its front panel:

QUANTUM TELEPORTATION LINK ESTABLISHED

FADE TO BLACK.

THE END.