[WORDS OVERLAP EACH OTHER, DIFFERENT MOMENTS FROM THE RECENT, AND NOT SO RECENT PAST. THE VOICES OF FAMILIAR PEOPLE, WORDS SPOKEN IN KINDNESS AND CRUELTY]
[GORDON, S1E3:]
GORDON
… I’m the one with everything to lose here. You’ve got the power.
[S1E5:]
WARREN
There has to be some larger function…
GORDON
… it’s about galloping towards a victorious death…
GORDON
There’s no shame in not wanting to get yourself hurt. Especially if you’ve done nothing to earn it…
[S1E6:]
GORDON
…Only this just feels like a stupid dream where you make choices you would never make in real life…
BRYONY
I don’t want to kill anyone, Gordon. We were wrong about you, weren’t we? Your dedication to finding out what truly happens here borders on the obsessive… You’re not outraged or disgusted…By the macabre, the gory, the violent…You’re enthralled by our work. Of what it could mean…When you talk about it you sound… feverish.
[WARREN AND GORDON, S1E6:]
GORDON
I wish I could help you, I could take you out of here… We could try and make a run for it.
WARREN
I want to do this.
GORDON
You do?
[S2E2:]
BRYONY
Here’s the thing about death. It’s death.
GORDON
I was scared of everything. I was scared of people…
BRYONY
People like us will be the only the place we’re welcome. Back in the basement. Everyone who has died in this facility on my watch has had the situation and the risks explained to them in explicit detail. And they consented…
GORDON
And then I was here and it was all gone. I don’t have to worry about… about any of that. You know when you’re on a train…
BRYONY
You still object to the us, don’t you? There is a place for the Gordon Porlocks of this world. Here, the only person you have to listen to is yourself. There’s nobody else around.
GORDON
There’s literally nothing you can do about it. It’s not your fault.
[S2E5:]
WARREN
I don’t think anyone knows anyone to be honest…
GORDON
You’re just sitting on the train…
WARREN
I don’t want to do this.
GORDON
You don’t want to do this? How do you think I feel?
[S2E8:]
GORDON
…Let me live vicariously through you. Where did you go?
BRYONY
No one is useless, Gordon. They just need to find their place.
[CUT]
GRACE
Where did you go just then?
GORDON
I’m sorry?
GRACE
You went somewhere else. Just wondering where that might have been.
GORDON
Where else is there to go? Just Red Valley.
[WE CUT BACK TO THE SAME ROOM, A SHORT TIME LATER. GORDON IS DOING HIS PHYSIOTHERAPY WITH GRACE]
GORDON
Ow.
GRACE
Take your time.
GORDON
Okay.
GRACE
That’s right…
GORDON
Okay. Look I’ve got it.
GRACE
Of course.
[GRACE OPENS THE DOOR TO LEAVE]
GRACE
You know, Gordon. If you want to talk. About… anything. I am here.
GORDON
Thank you, Grace.
[GRACE CLOSES THE DOOR. GORDON SITS IN SILENCE FOR A MOMENT]
GORDON
What do you think, Waffles? Do I want to talk?
[WAFFLES GRUNTS WITH AN AIR OF NONCHALANCE]
GORDON
Yeah. That’s what I thought.
[CUT]
[GORDON IS ASLEEP. HE IS AWOKEN BY THE SUDDEN AND LOUD ENTRANCE OF WARREN GODBY]
WARREN
Hey hey hey!
GORDON
Wuh?
WARREN
Oh shit, you were asleep. Sorry.
GORDON
No no. I was just… what time is it?
WARREN
It’s four o’clock.
GORDON
Four… ugh…
WARREN
Still feel like you flew round the world?
GORDON
I can’t… I never know what the time is… it’s pretty hard in a room without windows.
WARREN
It’s gonna get better. It took me a while too.
GORDON
Yeah… I know. I know.
WARREN
Hey, look what I found! Santa came early!
GORDON
What?
[WARREN LOUDLY DUMPS A BOX ON TO A TABLE. GORDON JUMPS IN SURPRISE, BUT HE REMAINS GROGGY AND UNSURE. HIS REACTIONS ARE MUTED AND A BIT INAUTHENTIC. THE OPPOSITE OF WARREN, WHO IS FAR MORE LIVELY THAN USUAL]
GORDON
Wha… What is it?
WARREN
It’s your Nintendo 64. And it’s still alive.
GORDON
Oh! Wow… umm… it was here all the time? For 44 years?
WARREN
Yeah man. Once Aubrey and everyone moved in, they found a bunch of our old stuff. Some of it was way too far gone but some was boxed up real good, including this baby. Anyway, I thought you’d want to see it.
GORDON
Thanks.
[WARREN SIFTS THROUGH THE BOX]
WARREN
Everything has 64 in the title. Mario 64, Dr Mario 64, Wipeout 64, 1080 Snowboarding… no wait that one doesn’t.
GORDON
Look I don’t think I’m really -
WARREN
Pilotwings 64! Donkey Kong 64! I can go on.
GORDON
I suppose it is appropriate, isn’t it?
WARREN
How do you mean?
GORDON
Like… it being 2064.
[WARREN HAS NEVER CONSIDERED THIS FOR A MOMENT]
WARREN
Holy shit. You’re right.
GORDON
Occasionally.
WARREN
That’s wild. Like I don’t believe in fate but… you know?
GORDON
Sure.
WARREN
It’s gonna be 2065 before you know it.
GORDON
Just when I was starting to get used to things.
WARREN
Yeah right. Well we can set it up later.
GORDON
Later?
WARREN
Yeah yeah, I’m on shift in a minute. Just wanted to show you this first.
GORDON
Oh right.
WARREN
I’ll come straight down as soon as I’m done. If you’ve been asleep in the middle of the day, you’ll probably be up half the night now.
GORDON
I wouldn’t know the difference.
WARREN
Ain’t that the truth. I gotta go.
[WARREN MAKES TO LEAVE]
WARREN
Oh did you want to see the Pus Crank choir, or band, or whoever it is who’s doing a rehearsal thing later?
GORDON
I don’t know. It’s still really weird.
WARREN
What… having your old band being a musical touchstone for a lost generation?
GORDON
Is that what you’re calling it?
WARREN
You’re kinda like John Lennon. But if he didn’t die.
GORDON
Warren, for God’s sake.
WARREN
I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I really have to go. I’m sorry.
GORDON
Don’t worry about it. Have a good shift.
WARREN
You, okay?
GORDON
Yeah, I’m fine.
[WARREN SLAPS THE DOOR]
WARREN
He’s fine! Door open or closed?
GORDON
I don’t mind.
WARREN
Open. Let’s get some air in here.
GORDON
Okay.
WARREN
Gordon Porlock. Door-don Unlocked.
GORDON
What?
WARREN
It needs work. I’ll… I’ll see you later.
GORDON
Bye.
[WARREN LEAVES, WHISTLING DOWN THE CORRIDOR. AFTER A MOMENT, GORDON GETS UP, WITH A MAJOR EFFORT. HE STEPS SLOWLY ACROSS THE ROOM, GRUNTING WITH EXERTION, TO THE DOOR. HE CLOSES IT, THEN LEANS AGAINST IT, BREATHING HARD]
[CUT]
[GRACE AND GORDON ARE SAT IN THE QUARTERS]
GRACE
I never played Nintendo myself. More of an Xbox man, truth be told.
GORDON
Sure. I bet you were great at Halo.
GRACE
I was accomplished at Halo. I’m not sure I’ve ever been great at anything.
GORDON
I’d say you’ve aged pretty great.
GRACE
I’ve always had a diligent skin regime.
GORDON
So you can still get hold of moisturiser in 2064?
GRACE
It’s not the kind of thing that’s freely available. In any case I think at my age it’s shutting the door once that horse ha bolted. But I do rely on the odd homemade remedy. Vanity, I suppose.
GORDON
Must be important to keep up appearances.
[GRACE LETS THIS SLIGHTLY LOADED COMMENT PASS WITH KINDNESS]
GRACE
It bothered you. The Nintendo.
GORDON
What do you mean?
GRACE
You do not have full sensation in your extremities back yet, Warren knows this well. You cannot play video games.
GORDON
Look… It was a kind thing for him to do. It won’t be long till I get feeling back, that’s what you said.
GRACE
Yes, yes. I’m only saying… your recovery has been very different to Warren’s. For so many reasons. I imagine it could be… frustrating, to see him so…
GORDON
Energetic.
GRACE
Yes.
GORDON
It’s a bit disconcerting, I suppose. He’s usually quite…er…
GRACE
Sleepy.
[GORDON RELAXES HIS GUARD A LITTLE AT THIS SHARED HUMOUR]
GORDON
Yeah. Definitely sleepy.
GRACE
You know… I don’t think that change happened when he woke up in 2064. It happened when he knew you were safe. He cares about you very much, I think. He talks about you a lot on the ward, I hear.
GORDON
Oh right.
GRACE
I mean he doesn’t have much choice. The residents are very interested in you.
GORDON
Even more than The Brigadoon?
GRACE
Uh… Warren did not write Morior Invictus.
GORDON
I co-wrote it at best…
GRACE
Nuh…nuh…Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
[THIS NOTION REFOCUSES GORDON]
GORDON
Yeah…Speaking of truth. Am I allowed a Blue Sky unit yet?
GRACE
Gordon…
GORDON
It doesn’t make me feel very safe being cut off from information.
GRACE
I understand.
GORDON
Look… It’s kind of my thing. Like it was literally my job.
GRACE
We’ve discussed this. We have to consider what is best for your recovery -
GORDON
Grace I’ve jumped 40 years into the future. The world is unrecognisable to me from what little you’ve allowed me to know and -
GRACE
It is not a matter of being ‘allowed’ information, Gordon. Emergence is no small thing, and no one, no one on the planet I expect, has been in hypersleep as long as you. Your recovery will continue to present challenges -
GORDON
All the more reason then that -
GRACE
All the more reason to take things slowly. If we gave you a Blue Sky unit, even with certain data restricted, you would drive yourself to distraction trying to get around those restrictions, would you not?
GORDON
Please don’t talk like you know me.
[PAUSE. THIS IS DIFFICULT FOR GRACE. HE IS AWARE OF THEIR HISTORY]
GRACE
I apologise. I know I’m perhaps not a person you would be inclined to trust. I can only prove myself to you by my actions. But… you can. You can trust me, Gordon.
GORDON
I know. I want to. I want to trust people.
[PAUSE]
But I don’t.
[CUT]
[NIGHT. GORDON’S QUARTERS. WARREN AND GORDON SIT PLAYING A 60 YEAR OLD PACK OF TWO TOWERS TOP TRUMPS]
WARREN
Okay. You go. What have you got?
GORDON
Ugluk.
WARREN
The fuck is Ugluk?
GORDON
He’s… an Uruk-Hai chief.
WARREN
Okey doke.
GORDON
Anyway. He’s 540 years old, so I’ll go with that.
WARREN
540!
GORDON
Look…Lord of the Rings Top Trumps don’t lie…
WARREN
Well I have Eomer. He’s 30. Pathetic. Nope…nope - Waffles, not for you…not for you!
[WAFFLES GRUNTS, AFFRONTED]
GORDON
Don’t snap at her.
WARREN
She’s fixated.
GORDON
We should encourage her interests.
WARREN
At what cost. Anyway here you are. Take Eomer while you still can.
[HE HANDS OVER THE CARD]
GORDON
Thank you.
WARREN
I don’t know if these cards are right man. It says Eomer is 5’9”.
GORDON
Really?
WARREN
Doesn’t ring true, does it? Like, I’m about 5 foot 9. Eomer’s got to be bigger than me.
GORDON
You’re not 5 foot 9.
WARREN
I bloody am.
GORDON
With your boots on. At a push. But yeah. I would’ve thought the captain of the Rohirrim was bigger than that.
[PAUSE]
WARREN
So, how was today?
GORDON
It was fine.
WARREN
Yeah?
GORDON
Yeah.
WARREN
I’m sorry about the Nintendo.
GORDON
Oh, don’t be.
WARREN
No, I wasn’t thinking, of course your… your dexterity’s not…
GORDON
It’s fine. It was good to see it.
WARREN
Yeah?
GORDON
I mean, the repeated reminders of the year we’re suddenly living in…
WARREN
Yeah. I’m…I’m really bad at this.
GORDON
You’re not.
WARREN
Like if Bedside Manner 64 was a game -
GORDON
There you go again -
WARREN
Yeah, I’m just button bashing here, it’s like International Track and Field, I’ve just got no idea what I’m doing.
GORDON
It’s fine.
WARREN
Hey, at least I’m not spending my days trying to care for vulnerable people or anything, right?
GORDON
I’m really happy to see you doing it. I’m sure you’re great.
[GORDON IS KEEN TO MOVE THE CONVERSATION ON]
GORDON
Gandalf the White.
WARREN
Oh nice.
GORDON
Hang on.
WARREN
What?
GORDON
It says he’s 5’9” too.
WARREN
What?
GORDON
5 foot 9.
WARREN
Is he bollocks? Gandalf’s an easy 6 foot.
GORDON
Right.
[GORDON LOOKS THROUGH HIS CARDS]
GORDON
Legolas is only 5’10”.
WARREN
Wrong.
GORDON
Aragorn is 6’4”.
WARREN
6 foot 4! You’re not telling me that Aragorn son of Arathorn is 7 inches taller than Gandalf the White. Towering over Mithrandir himself. Even with his hat on.
GORDON
I don’t even know how we can continue with this.
[HE PUTS THE CARDS DOWN]
GORDON
Any news from the outside world?
WARREN
News… oh, news. I heard the other day when the press first covered the public creation of hypersleep and how it would or wouldn’t change the world in like 2026 or whatever it was they nicknamed it ‘The Snoring Twenties’.
GORDON
That’s dumb. What would they call this era then?
WARREN
The… Minging Sixties?
[GORDON LAUGHS AN EMPTY LAUGH]
WARREN
Oh, umm… You remember the midges?
GORDON
How could I forget. They were almost as bad as the human experimentation and murder.
WARREN
Well good news, they’re all dead!
GORDON
They’re all dead?
WARREN
Yeah, it’s like the only up-side to global ecological disaster. They’re just gone.
GORDON
The midges are all gone. All of them?
WARREN
I mean, from here. From Red Valley. I can’t speak for the rest of the Highlands.
GORDON
Doesn’t that leave some terrible hole in the local eco system?
WARREN
Probably. I assume the circle of life is kind of fucked at this point.
GORDON
Because of the end of the world.
WARREN
I don’t think anyone actually knows for sure if it’s the end of the world.
GORDON
Global ecological disaster does sound like the end of the world to -
WARREN
Well, don’t quote me.
GORDON
- and it’s clearly bad enough out there that everyone wanted to hide out in hypersleep for a thousand years -
WARREN
Some people are prone to overreaction.
GORDON
Or under reaction, in the face of overwhelming evidence…
WARREN
The pink-footed geese are fine. One of them shat on my boot today.
GORDON
It is quite unsettling how blasé you’re being about all this.
WARREN
I’m sorry. I am. I’m supposed to be helping you with your, with your -
GORDON
With my existential dread.
WARREN
That, yes. I’m not very good at that. I’m as good at that as I was at Goldeneye.
GORDON
Existential Dread 64.
WARREN
Would probably sell more copies than Dr Mario.
[A PAUSE]
WARREN
So, how are your dreads? What terrors have you been ruminating on, of late?
[GORDON THINKS ABOUT HIS ANSWER. HE KNOWS WHAT IT IS, ITS JUST A BIG THOUGHT, AND HE’S TIRED OF THINKING]
GORDON
Of late… I’ve been thinking about whether or not hypersleep does change you. As a person. Cos we never pinned that down, did we? With you I mean.
WARREN
Right. I guess I don’t -
GORDON
I’m not trying to talk about you, don’t worry. I’m thinking about me. Am I still… the same. Am I still me?
WARREN
You’re playing card games and feeling anxious. Seems like you.
GORDON
I don’t know. How does one know? Cos… I run this round and round in my head… I try and tell a version of this story to the old me, the me back at home, before we ever came here. I tell him, not only will you find out the truth about Red Valley, not only will it be more fantastical and terrible than you’ve ever imagined, but you are part of it. You go into cryonic preservation and wake up in the future, you hypersleep longer than anyone’s ever hyperslept -
WARREN
Only by like a week or two, like don’t let it go to your head.
GORDON
Warren.
WARREN
Sorry. Sorry.
GORDON
There’s a version of me that would be so excited by all this he’d flip his workstation over. It would energise him, it would thrill him, it would… feed him.
WARREN
You’re missing quite a lot of context in that account of events.
GORDON
Yes and no… I just… I just don’t know…
WARREN
Look, I liked the you before and I like the you now. You’re able to effortlessly jump from Tolkien to mental health crises, it’s something I’ve always admired in you.
GORDON
I’ve been thinking about Bryony too.
[WARREN’S FAILING ATTEMPTS AT LIGHT- HEARTEDNESS ARE MADE CLEAR. THE TONE HAS CHANGED. AS THE CONVERSATION CONTINUES, GORDON’S AGITATION STARTS TO GROW]
WARREN
Okay.
GORDON
Do you see her?
WARREN
Do I see her? No. She’s locked up.
GORDON
How far away is she?
WARREN
From us right now? Down tunnels, far away.
GORDON
What is she still doing here?
WARREN
That’s… that’s down to Aubrey and Hester and Grace -
GORDON
Not you?
WARREN
No, it’s not down to me. It couldn’t and shouldn’t be down to me.
GORDON
Or me?
WARREN
Gordon, Bryony -
GORDON
Bryony what?
WARREN
What do you mean?
GORDON
Bryony what? What is there to say? She did the worst things imaginable, but she kept us both alive. We can’t kill her, but should she be allowed to live? She’s too dangerous to set free, but we can’t keep her down a bloody tunnel -
WARREN
You need to try and trust what’s going on here. With the people around you.
GORDON
You sound like him.
WARREN
Like who?
GORDON
Like Grace.
WARREN
I believe he is genuinely trying to help you. We are all trying to help you. This part sucks. I know. And I know it’s been so much harder for you than it was for me and I’m sorry, I hate that. But soon this part will be over, and you’ll be properly out and about with the rest of us -
[GORDON SCOFFS]
What?
[NO RESPONSE]
WARREN
You object to the ‘us’ don’t you?
GORDON
[quiet] What did you say?
WARREN
I’m not saying I’m one of them and you’re not, you and me are in this together but yeah, I am trying to -
GORDON
People are… dying in this place…
WARREN
What?
[GORDON’S TONE HAS CHANGED. IT’S LIKE HE’S PULLING A MEMORY OUT OF HIS MOUTH]
GORDON
…And where… where was Warren? On that list?
WARREN
Gor… Gordon? Wha… What are you talking about?
[GORDON’S BREATHING IS QUICKENING. SUDDENLY HE REACTS AS IF HE’S SEEN SOMETHING TERRIBLE. WARREN IS IMMEDIATELY VERY WORRIED]
WARREN
Whoa… whoa… Hey…
GORDON
Oh Jesus Christ!
WARREN
Gordon! Gordon! Hey! What’s happening?
[THE SOUND OF A BONE SAW COMING TO LIFE, BUT ONLY GORDON CAN HEAR IT]
GORDON
I don’t know where Aubrey is!
WARREN
Aubrey?
GORDON
[viscerally terrified] I never met her, it was just… in… in chat rooms online, we used fake names, aliases, we never… no please don’t!
[WARREN GRABS HIS COMM]
WARREN
Grace! Grace! I need you in Gordon’s quarters, right now!
[THE BONE SAW BEGINS TO FADE. GORDON SLUMPS DOWN. WARREN HAS HIM BY THE SHOULDERS]
WARREN
[soft] Hey. Hey. Hey. Hey… It’s alright.
GORDON
…Warren?
WARREN
Yeah… Yeah, It’s me, I’m here. It’s ok.
GORDON
Warren…
WARREN
Where did you go?