Holy Terrors - SCP Foundation

PILOT EPISODE

EXT. WOODS - NIGHT

An empty, narrow trail winds through a dark Pacific Northwest mountain forest.

It’s nearly silent.

A bicycle suddenly RATTLES down the path at breakneck speed,

throwing up greenery and dirt in its wake.

On the bike are three teenagers. A screaming bespectacled boy sitting on the handlebars,

a sharp-faced girl standing on the back pegs, and the driver, a coily-haired girl

focusing on the trail as she pedals. This is KENTA, RAI and ROSIE, all 16.

Behind them, flashlight beams cut through the trees, throwing long shadows over the underbrush.

Men shout indistinctly behind them.

RAI

They’re getting closer-

KENTA

CAN YOU SLOW DOWN?!

ROSIE

We’re almost there! We’re gonna make it!

KENTA

We’re gonna make it into an early grave, that’s where we’re gonna make it!

RAI

It’ll be an earlier one if they get us first!

ROSIE

The road!

The woods clear in front of them, the trail taking a short, steep drop onto the street below.

RAI

YES!

An unmarked, black courier van suddenly screams to a stop directly in front of them. The three SCREAM-

CUT TO BLACK

INT. INTERROGATION ROOM - NIGHT

Rosie, Rai and Kenta sit on one side of a simple metal table. They’re a mess; clothes dirty,

exposed skin scratched up, twigs and leaves in their hair. Kenta is leaning back in his chair,

blood streaming down his face from his nose. His eyes are already beginning to show bruising.

Rosie unties the bandana from around her neck and hands it to him.

ROSIE

…Sorry about your nose.

KENTA

(nasally)

It’s fine. I’ve uh- had worse.

RAI

Have you?

KENTA

(tearfully)

Not really.

The three look up as a door opens. A man and a woman, both clad in nondescript suits,

enter and stand by the door. The three kids watch them nervously as the man looks at them

and makes three marks on a clipboard.

MAN

Five point four, sixteen point four, thirty-two point four.

The woman looks over the clipboard and nods. The two silently leave the room, leaving them alone again.

KENTA

…What do you think they're gonna do to us?

RAI

They're not gonna do shit to me. I'm not scared.

KENTA

Rosie?

ROSIE

I'm thinking.

RAI

Can you think faster?

ROSIE

I'm thinking as fast as I can!

The door lock clicks.

A man walks in. 5 o’clock shadow, hair a little overgrown. One half of his face is scarred with

an otherworldly fractal-like pattern, his left arm missing above the elbow.

His left eye is a solid black prosthetic. He might be handsome if he weren’t so scary. WATTS, late 30’s.

Watts slowly drags out the metal chair opposite the three teenagers,

not reacting to the agonizing SCREECH it makes against the floor.

He sits down heavily, slapping a manila folder onto the table.

WATTS

I only have one question.

Rosie stares him down.

The other two exchange a glance.

Watts leans closer menacingly.

WATTS

What time is it?

Rai and Kenta look confused. Rosie's stone face doesn't let up.

Watts glares at them. Slowly, Kenta glances at his watch.

KENTA

It's- um, it's three fifteen?

Watts drops his head into the table with a loud THUNK.

WATTS

THREE FIFTEEN. Why are you doing this shit so early?

Kenta grimaces, ashamed. Rai rolls her eyes. Rosie's face is unreadable.

Watts pries himself off the table, running his hand down his face.

WATTS

It's SUNDAY, you little psychopaths, what's WRONG with you?

KENTA

Sorry, Mr. Watts…

RAI

Hey, no, I'm not sorry for anything. We didn't do anything wrong.

WATTS

Oh no?

RAI

No! We were just-

WATTS

You were shooting off fireworks in the old water tower.

Rai opens her mouth, then closes it. Caught red handed.

WATTS

Come on, kid. You know we go through all the mail.

Nobody in the world orders this many Roman candles.

Kenta shoots Rai a look.

KENTA

Told you we should have split the order…

WATTS

I want to go back to bed. So… four weeks probation.

KENTA

(Horrified)

Four weeks?!

RAI

(Pleasantly surprised)

That's it?

WATTS

And no more blowing things up in the quarry.

RAI

(Horrified)

What?!

KENTA

But it's midterms in four weeks!

WATTS

That sucks. Should have thought of that before you

got me dragged out of bed at the ass-crack of dawn.

He waves a hand toward the door.

WATTS

Go home. Class starts at seven, we'll iron out the

details tomorrow. I mean- later today. Ugh.

The three stand up and make for the door as Watts spreads some of the papers out on the table.

He shouts out the open door.

WATTS

And can somebody out there get this kid some ice?

Or a tissue or something?

You all drove him all the way back here like that? Jesus…

Rosie is last out the door, keeping her head down.

WATTS O.S.

Nope. Not you.

Rosie freezes in the doorway.

WATTS

Talkin' to you, Hatcher. Sit down.

Rosie, still stonewalling, sits back down in the center of the three chairs.

Watts sighs, shaking his head.

WATTS

So you're the little ringleader of this operation.

ROSIE

Well, the others-

WATTS

That wasn't a question.

Rosie stares silently at him. Watts stares back. He taps a finger on the papers.

WATTS

Do you know who this is?

Rosie answers without looking.

ROSIE

My predecessor, Dr. Rose Hatcher One, the original-

WATTS

Wrong. Try actually reading them.

She looks down.

Paperclipped to some documents are two photos. One of a frightening angular

platinum-blonde woman in a lab coat, the other a broad-shouldered man in black tactical gear.

Rosie's neutral expression falters as her eyes spark with recognition.

WATTS

This is Dr. Raiden Key and Special Agent Kenta Fukushima.

The Point One versions.

ROSIE

It's so weird to see them… old.

WATTS

You should think about letting them get that way.

ROSIE

I'm not endangering them. I've never forced them to do anything.

WATTS

You have an influence over them. You're a leader,

maybe even more than your original. That's power, Hatcher.

You need to learn how to use it before one of you gets hurt.

ROSIE

They're their own people. I don't make choices for them.

WATTS

You know your whole brick wall schtick doesn't work on me, kid.

If you really didn’t care, you wouldn’t have let Kenta bleed

all over your scarf thing.

ROSIE

Don't worry, I'm not going to break any of our shiny new clones…

WATTS

Oh, knock that off. I'm trying to be sincere with you here.

He meets her gaze and holds the eye contact.

WATTS

You're smart. So don't be an idiot.

Rosie doesn't waver for a second.

Watts breaks first, gathering up the files.

WATTS

That's all I got. Go to sleep so you can get something

out of class tomorrow.

Rosie stands up and heads for the door.

As she leaves and her back turns to Watts, a guilty frown flashes across her face.

INT. FOUNDATION OFFICE - NIGHT

Rosie walks down the narrow, fluorescent-lit halfway toward the glass doors of the building.

Emblazoned on the doors, visible from the inside, is a stark circular logo.

Kenta and Rai are waiting for her. Kenta holds a bag of ice to his face.

ROSIE

You waited?

RAI

'Course we waited. What did Watts want?

ROSIE

Same old thing about responsibility and the

"future of the Foundation" and whatever.

RAI

They really have one speech, huh?

KENTA

I feel bad.

ROSIE

Don't. He can handle it.

RAI

God, you're gonna be a terrible hitman.

KENTA

I'm not going to BE a hitman. I’m gonna be a Special Agent.

RAI

Same difference.

KENTA

Ugh. What are we even going to do for the next four weeks?

There’s nothing to DO here.

ROSIE

Don't worry.

She pushes the glass doors open into the night, a smile finally breaking across her face.

ROSIE

I have a couple ideas.

MONTAGE:

1. A harsh alarm rings. Rosie slams her hand down to silence it.

2. Rosie in a tank top and shorts, doing pullups on a wall-mounted bar.

3. She shoves books into a bag: Advanced Physics and Hamlet and Single-Source Thaumaturgical Exploitation.

INT. HOUSE BUCHANNAN CLASSROOM - DAY

Rosie is asleep at a desk, head resting on her arm.

TEACHER OFFSCREEN

HATCHER.

She starts awake. A few kids snicker quietly. She blinks, shaking her head.

TEACHER

Late night?

ROSIE

Sorry, ma'am.

TEACHER

Moving on.

The classroom is the open living room of a small house. Rows of desks face each other,

an aisle down the middle. Various teaching materials are hung on the walls and stacked in corners:

posters, textbooks, scientific equipment. Intermixed are strange devices and machines

that likely do not belong in any kind of school. One poster on the wall bears an image

of a humanoid black shape and reads “Shadow Entities: 1. Ignore, 2. Leave the area, 3. Report quickly.”

Across the aisle, Rai mouthes the words "Are you okay?" Rosie gives her a thumbs up.

Rosie looks down at her tablet on the desk. On the screen is a simple

illustration of what looks like a pipe bomb.

TEACHER

Can anybody tell me the difference between a

cognitohazard and an infohazard?

Kenta, eye sockets and nose bridge purple, raises his hand.

KENTA

An infohazard affects you if you know about it,

a cognitohazard effects you if you see it.

TEACHER

Not just see it. If you-

KENTA

If you perceive it, right.

TEACHER

If you perceive it. That means sight, hearing…

Rosie sighs as the teacher’s words fade into the background.

INT. HOUSE BUCHANNAN CLASSROOM - AFTERNOON

The kids mill about, shoving their stuff into their desks and packing bags.

Another student (SCOTT, 16), approaches Rosie.

SCOTT

Hey, Hatcher. Heard you did the fireworks thing?

ROSIE

Yuuup.

Scott’s tone is serious, but his eyes glint.

SCOTT

You really shouldn’t be breaking the rules like that.

The water tower is super dangerous.

He subtly holds out his fist. She taps it.

ROSIE

I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you for informing me of the danger.

He grins as he passes.

SCOTT

Glory for House Buchannan.

ROSIE

House Venture can suck it.

Rosie hangs back, scanning a bookshelf near the door. She pulls out a book and flips through it.

The pages are printed with different maps of the same area. She drops it into her backpack.

KENTA OFFSCREEN

Rosie!

Rosie throws an arm over Rai and Kenta’s shoulders as they appear behind her,

the three of them walking out together.

ROSIE

You guys ready to go?

RAI

Onward to our punishment…

WATTS OFFSCREEN

Oy. Delinquents.

Watts stands below a tree on the sidewalk outside the house. A few of the

passing students wave to him, a couple jokingly saluting him. He largely ignores them.

STUDENT A

Hi, Mr. Watts!

STUDENT B

A’s for the Grades God, right Mr. Watts?

WATTS

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go do your homework.

You three! Come on. We’re going to the Office.

The three kids follow after him.

EXT. TOWN - CONTINUOUS

NegaSeattle looks, on the surface, like any other western Washington small town.

One main road lined with small brick buildings, eventually petering out into

narrow branching single-lane roads leading to tiny houses, isolated among the pines under the gray sky.

But as the four make their way up the street, the differences become clear:

cameras on nearly every building, an armored car parked outside a post office,

most of the townspeople either very old or heavily scarred.

Some of the signs along the street edges have no text at all, just strange, intricate patterns.

Clusters of equipment are mounted on some of the roofs. Every few hundred feet,

a red-tipped Emergency pole with a phone handset mounted on it.

They approach the largest building at the end of the street, an old brick thing

with “TOWN HALL” etched into the stone above the doorway.

WATTS

After you.

Rosie opens the glass front door, the same one she exited the night before.

INT. FOUNDATION OFFICE - CONTINUOUS

Despite the century-old exterior, the inside of the building is updated to the highest standard.

Electric locks, bulletproof glass windows, cameras mounted on the ceiling, business casual everywhere.

Watts gestures them into a conference room.

ROSIE

Don’t you have your own office by now?

WATTS

Ew. No. I don’t want people to know where they can find me.

RAI

I bet they just won’t give him one.

WATTS

I haven’t dealt your probation restrictions yet,

don’t push your luck.

The three sit down at the glass table.

WATTS

Wait here. I have to go get the paperwork.

The second he leaves the room, the three huddle together.

ROSIE

I have an idea. Should be totally probation-legal.

KENTA

What kind?

ROSIE

Exploration.

RAI

NICE.

Rosie pulls the book of maps out of her bag.

ROSIE

We’ll use this.

KENTA

Is that here?

ROSIE

Yup. The whole valley.

WATTS OFFSCREEN

Alright, listen up, you little shits.

Rosie shoves the book back in her bag. Watts doesn’t notice.

WATTS

Here are your parameters. 24-hour motion tracking on doors-

Rai smirks.

WATTS

AND windows.

Her smile drops.

WATTS

Like I said before, Quarry Bomb Club is banned until midterms ends,

even in daylight.

Rosie huffs, folding her arms.

WATTS

Nightly check-ins with your Floor Supervisor,

bi-weekly verbal check-ins with your House Supervisor, me.

And curfew, 9pm.

RAI

Bullshit.

WATTS

I can make it 8, if you want.

ROSIE

Nope! 9 is totally fine, actually.

Rosie elbows Rai.

ROSIE

9 works great for us.

Rai catches on and nods.

WATTS

Kenta? How about you?

KENTA

Works.

WATTS

Alright. Then sign these.

CHURCH OFFSCREEN

Watts.

Watts looks up toward the door, occupied by DIRECTOR CHURCH, early 60’s,

a broad tank of a woman with graying brown hair.

CHURCH

I need to speak with you when you finish up.

WATTS

I’ve got time right now.

CHURCH

Outside.

WATTS

…Oh.

Rosie buries her face in her paperwork, but she’s eyeing their nonverbal interaction.

KENTA

Done.

WATTS

Fast.

KENTA

Yeah.

RAI

Second.

ROSIE

Hang on,

She signs a messy signature at the bottom, pushing it across the table back to Watts.

ROSIE

Here.

WATTS

Great. You’re free for the evening.

I’ll see you all for check-in in a couple days.

The three kids hurry out of the room.

KENTA

What’s in that book?

RAI

Yeah, what’s your “homework” looking like?

Watts follows behind them, slower, rolling his eye. He catches Church’s eye,

nodding toward the door. She holds up a finger, indicating him to wait.

EXT. TOWN - CONTINUOUS

Rosie plops down on a park bench, pulling the book out of her bag again.

ROSIE

Okay, circle up.

The others lean in close as she opens up the book to a map of the area.

ROSIE

This is NegaSeattle.

RAI

Yeah, we know.

ROSIE

I say, that since we’re not allowed to go out at night,

we do something feasible in daylight. Before-9 light.

She jabs a finger onto one spot of the map.

ROSIE

Train tunnel.

Rai snorts.

RAI

There’s no train tunnel. If there is, it’s definitely

collapsed by now.

ROSIE

Yes, there is! Why would there be railway marks

on the map if there wasn’t one?

RAI

Well, there WAS one, but not anymore!

It’s probably just a pile of rocks now.

KENTA

No, it’s still there.

RAI

No way. Says who?

KENTA

Garrison has been there.

RAI

Mr. Garrison lies about stuff ALL THE TIME.

KENTA

He wasn’t lying about this!

ROSIE

Doesn’t matter! It’ll still be fun. And it’s not even that far out,

if we take the bikes we can get back before 9, easy.

RAI

Except your bike.

ROSIE

Yeah, my bike is out.

KENTA

And ours are still at the water tower.

RAI

Yeah, they’re not gonna let us go back out there.

ROSIE

Whatever. I’ll get it cleared with Watts, he’ll let us go.

It’s light out, it’s not like we’re going after dark.

RAI

You ask him.

ROSIE

I will-

DONNA

KENTA FUKUSHIMA THE FOURTH.

Kenta squeezes his eyes shut.

KENTA

Oh, no…

DONNA

Young man, you have some EXPLAINING TO DO.

Approaching them is DONA, late 50’s. She looks extremely exasperated.

Rai claps Kenta on the shoulder.

RAI

Rest in pieces, Kenta.

KENTA

Pray for me…

DONNA

I’ve been texting you ALL DAY.

Kenta stands up and shuffles over to her.

KENTA

I’m sorry, Dona…

She pulls him into a bone-crushing hug.

DONNA

They told me you got injured?! And you didn’t TELL ME?!

KENTA

Hrnk-

She pulls back, looking closely at the bruising on his face.

DONNA

Look at you. What were you thinking? Come home.

Let me put something on it.

KENTA

I’m fine, Donna. We’re supposed to stay in the House anyway.

Motion detection and stuff.

DONNA

Oh, I can set up motion detection.

I can baby-proof the apartment all over again.

KENTA

Alright.

DONNA

Plus, how good can the food in the House be?

KENTA

Not as good as yours.

DONNA

Damn right. Let’s go home.

Kenta goes with her, waving over his shoulder at the girls. Rai laughs.

RAI

You told Griff yet?

ROSIE

‘Course I told Griff.

RAI

What’d he say?

ROSIE

Twenty extra pullups a day.

RAI

Not bad for him. Alright, I’m gonna go back to our room and unload.

You can talk to Watts about our bikes. Want me to take your stuff?

ROSIE

Sure.

She takes their bags and walks off down the street. Rosie stands up

and turns back to the office building.

As she approaches the stairs up to the doors, she stops, listening.

WATTS OFFSCREEN

I’m not sure. Maybe 64.

CHURCH OFFSCREEN

Site-64 wouldn’t have space to accommodate them all.

Rosie creeps toward the corner of the building. Watts and Church are talking quietly in the alley.

She eavesdrops.

WATTS

I’m telling you, we’ve never seen an anomaly

of this scale originate from this Nexus before.

We need to move them until we at least figure out what it is.

CHURCH

Moving the children would be impractical and more dangerous than locking down the town.

WATTS

Church, come on. You know these kids practically

live in the woods. There’s no way you can keep them all

in city limits without locking them up.

CHURCH

We’ll get a team investigating as soon as we can.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Ira.

WATTS

I’m not “bringing it to your attention,” I’m telling you

we need to move the kids. For their safety.

CHURCH

(pointedly)

Thank you for your input, Mr. Watts.

But you’re not directing this program.

Church heads for the exit of the alley and Rosie quickly hurries down the street away from them.

As Rosie walks toward the edge of town, her brow furrows thoughtfully.

EXT. FOREST EDGE - EVENING

The sun is lowering over the green mountains. It’s not dark, but it will be soon.

Rosie stands on the back of Rai’s bike as they look over the trail entrance.

They proceed down it, Kenta following behind, carrying a full backpack.

EXT. FOREST - CONTINUOUS

The three ride over the rough trail through the trees. It’s not an easy route,

but they’re clearly accustomed to mountain biking.

KENTA

So I brought snacks, water, a big light in case of shadow entities.

RAI

Pshh. Nobody is afraid of shadow entities.

KENTA

They’re like wild animals, Rai. You don’t have to be AFRAID of them,

you just have to be respectful.

ROSIE

Eventually we’re gonna have to ditch the bikes and walk a ways.

KENTA

Mr. Garrison said the entrance is hard to see

because the area is so overgrown.

ROSIE

You got the tick remover?

KENTA

Of course.

Their travel continues. The woods are dense and vibrant green,

birds screech in the branches overhead.

Rosie taps Rai’s shoulder.

ROSIE

Right here. We’re gonna have to walk,

we need to go this way.

Kenta and Rai lock their bikes to a pair of narrow trees, and they start hiking through the brush.

The sun is going down, twilight setting in. They continue on, talking and laughing and

occasionally stopping to examine the map book.

KENTA

We should head back soon.

ROSIE

Yeah, we probably should.

Suddenly, Rai holds up a hand, shushing the others.

RAI

Wait, sshh-

They stop walking. Kenta slowly reaches into the bag and pulls out his flashlight.

Somebody is speaking nearby.

The three duck down into the bushes, watching down the hill.

Another trail crosses their path, and on it stands Watts, and a stranger wearing hiking gear.

RAI

…Is that a hiker? Like, a normal civilian hiker?

KENTA

That’s impossible, how’d he get out here?

ROSIE

Ssshhh!

Watts and the hiker are talking. Watts looks tense. His voice is indistinct, but it’s clear he’s agitated.

ROSIE

He looks mad…

KENTA

Who IS that?

RAI

Do you think it’s somebody from a Group of Interest?

ROSIE

Maybe it’s something from the Nexus? Maybe somebody got teleported from someplace else?

They freeze as Watts slowly rests his hand on the gun at his hip.

KENTA

…We shouldn't be here.

RAI

Oh my god, he’s strapped-

KENTA

We should go. You guys, we really should go.

ROSIE

No, I want to see what’s happening!

She moves to get a better view.

Her hand displaces a small rock.

It CLATTERS down the hill.

The hiker looks up in their general direction,

Then back to Watts, shouting something.

The three kids huddle closer together, watching.

Watts moves to draw his gun.

In a fraction of a second, the hiker disarms him, tossing the firearm into the brush.

Watts throws up a guard, backstepping away.

The hiker throws a punch, landing it, even from several feet away.

The hiker hits with an impossible amount of force, practically laying Watts flat out on the ground.

Rosie and the others watch, frozen.

Watts jumps to his feet, but the hiker tackles him, pinning him down.

Kenta grabs Rosie by the back of her shirt.

KENTA

(whispering)

We need to go. WE NEED TO GO.

Rai and Rosie scramble to their feet, trying as quietly as possible to back up from the top of the hill.

Rosie looks over her shoulder.

Watts grunts as he tries to push the hiker off him.

The hiker’s hand presses against Watts’ face.

His pinky finger slips under the edge of Watts’ prosthetic eye.

WATTS

NO-!

Kenta and Rai look back at the sound of Watts’ scream,

Just as the force of the hiker’s hand on his face forces his prosthetic out of the socket.

From Watts’ empty socket glows a blinding, flashing array of headache-inducing colors.

The colors reflect in Rosie’s pupil.

All three kids are bowled off their feet, clutching their heads.

Rosie is the first to stand back up.

Her vision swims for a moment, she blinks, eyes focusing.

The illusion of the hiker has been dissolved, replaced by a huge, iridescent monster.

Most of it is a huge, geometric undulate-like skull, facial features replaced with

a mirage-like void of prismatic color. The air hums around it.

Gleaming white and skeletal limbs manifest from the cracked reality around it.

One of these clawed hands, joints bending the wrong ways, holds Watts down

by his head.

The three teenagers stare in horror.

Rai starts to scream.

Rosie slams her hands over Rai's mouth, but not quick enough.

The creature’s enormous head swivels, mind-numbing face pointed directly at them.

Watts sees them too, the color draining from his face.

He uses the distraction, knocking away the monster’s claw and rolling to his feet, covering his cognitohazardous eye with his hand.

WATTS

GO! RUN!

At his direction, the three of them take off into the woods.

The monster SHRIEKS behind them, a high-pitched noise that makes Kenta slam his hands over his ears.

Rosie, Rai and Kenta tear through the forest, thoughts of stealth totally gone.

They reach the bikes quickly, Rai’s hands shaking as she tries to work the lock.

ROSIE

Hurry! HURRY!

RAI

I-I can’t!

Kenta grabs her arm and starts dragging her down the trail,

dropping his backpack off his shoulders.

KENTA

No time, we have to run!

They do. They sprint down the trail.

Low branches scratch their faces.

Thorns catch their clothes.

Kenta trips, sprawling out on the ground before Rosie yanks him back to his feet.

They keep running.

EXT. FOREST EDGE - SUNSET

The three burst out onto the street, breathing raggedly.

Rosie runs for a wide metal pole, the top portion painted bright red.

She grabs the attached phone, ripping it out of its cradle.

ROSIE

EMERGENCY CODE CHARLIE-509! U-unidentified

hostile anomaly spotted, uh- northwest of town, about- um-

KENTA

Two miles?

ROSIE

Like, two miles northeast of town!

OPERATOR

Status?

ROSIE

Three unharmed, but it’s got Watts, please hurry!

OPERATOR

Stay where you are.

MONTAGE:

1. An agent straps some kind of gun to their chest.

2. A heavy black car screams out of a garage.

3. Two teenagers are asleep on a bunk bed. Their door’s deadbolt locks on its own.

EXT. FOREST EDGE - CONTINUOUS

Out of a smaller black car comes an armored figure, approaching Rosie, Rai and Kenta

as they stand huddled together next to the Emergency phone.

AGENT

You three again? This had better not be some kind of-

In the growing dark, she sees their absolutely petrified expressions and her tone softens.

AGENT

Oh. Okay, all three of you, separate. Arms out.

They comply, holding their arms out as the Agent scans them with a small-screened device.

AGENT

Hm. You’ve definitely been exposed to something.

It looks minor, though, nothing unusual for this area.

There’s a team sweeping the woods.

Can you tell me what happened?

ROSIE

There was a-

WATTS OFFSCREEN

That really got you guys, didn’t it?

Rosie slowly turns to look over her shoulder.

Walking out of the woods, down from the trail they came from, is Watts.

He’s partially obscured in shadow.

AGENT

Sir,

WATTS

Real sorry, Agent. This one’s a false alarm.

ROSIE

What-?

AGENT

What’s going on?

WATTS

They got way too close to a shadow entity.

Accidentally. Scared the shit out of ‘em.

He chuckles. Rosie and the others are shocked into silence. The Agent sighs.

AGENT

Ugh. This is why we teach you about these things.

WATTS

Wasn’t their fault. They didn’t see where it was until

they were right up next to it.

ROSIE

Wait, no, it wasn’t a…

Watts steps closer to the group, into the light from the streetlamp.

Rosie’s face pales.

Watts has both his eyes.

She looks back toward the Agent, to see if she notices the faint, iridescent shimmer around his body. She doesn’t seem to.

Rosie closes her mouth tight.

KENTA

Mr. Watts…?

Rai elbows him. The three exchange the same look of terrified realization.

WATTS

Hatcher.

Rosie looks over at him. He hands her the map book, streaked with mud.

WATTS

You dropped this.

She takes it, deliberately not looking into his face.

WATTS

Sorry for the inconvenience. Tch, kids, right?

Take them back to the Buchannan and I’ll explain

to the team when they get back.

AGENT

Thank you, sir.

Rosie, Rai and Kenta follow the Agent back to the car, not daring to look back at Watts.

They pile into the back seat and the car pulls away.

Rai takes Rosie’s hand. Rosie takes Kenta’s.

She turns to look back out the rear window.

Watts watches the car like a hawk beneath the streetlamp, casting

a long shadow into the dark.

END OF PILOT