Episode 2 - The Retrieval

The Pre-writing for episode 2

## Logline

With no cats on the streets to join the Cats At Work squad and as a former Cats At Work operative's GPS chip activates, Ulysses is sent out on a solo rescue mission into the heart of the enemy territory.

## Synopsis/Outline

### Scene 1: Teaser

The scene starts off on a busy, rainy Chicago street. A car pulls up to a curb and a businesswoman gets out of the car. Her purse bumps against the door, and unbeknownst to her a set of earpods fall on the ground. (From here on, the camera sticks to the headphones) The rainwater proves to be too much for the earbuds, and they are swept by the growing current into a storm drain until they fall on top of a pile of garbage, and are quickly buried. The earbuds are then pulled out of the trash pile by a group of foraging rats, each one carrying packs. One of the rats pulls up the earbuds, examines them, and clearly satisfied, is thrown into its sack. The next time we see the earbuds, the rat loads the earbuds into a box on a small boat loaded with other boxes on the Chicago River. When the earbuds are pulled out of the box, we see we are in an underground workshop. An older, wizened-looking rat picks up the headphones, examines them, then tosses them into a pile separate from the other pieces of tech. The headphones are then picked up by another rat, this one much younger looking, who breaks them apart, leaving only the speakers behind to be loaded into a small box. When the box is opened up, the speakers are set up on the ground by the younger-looking rat, then calibrated by the older rat until it’s playing militaristic music. The camera pans out and we see the speakers at the base of a Temujin statue in what can only be described as a museum dedicated to Temujin’s life.

### Scene 2: The first mission briefing

We cut to Ulysses as he’s working out by repeatedly running through a complex combat obstacle course, clad in what looks like a winter jacket used by dogs and wielding a crowbar and a silenced pistol, each time getting faster and faster. The last time he completes the course, he finds Whipple waiting at the finish line. Ulysses asks her what’s up, and she says it’s time for him to go out into the field. He asks if he'll be going out alone, and she says yes; Lyle has failed at catching any potential cats to join the squad, but the mission requires immediate action. Before leaving the training room, Ulysses takes off the jacket, revealing a newly slim body. When the jacket falls to the ground, it makes an unusually loud clang; it sounds less like a down jacket and more like a bag of loose metal.

Ulysses is then taken to a room where Lyle, is waiting. She then briefs the two-member team; for the last few months, Doc’s tracker chip has intermittently been going off over the last 3 months in an area down in the south Loop, miles away from where the last squad died; their job is to track down and investigate the source of the signal; if Doc is alive, then Ulysses has to rescue him, but if he’s dead or can’t be saved he is to destroy the chip; the mission will be a five-day mission in the field, with Lyle dropping off Ulysses later that night near the Roosevelt Red Line stop. When she asks if there are any questions, the only one is Lyle asking if he can get comped for any visit to a restaurant while on the mission, and she responds no; she reminds him that he is paid per cat captured.

### Scene 3: On the Streets

Ulysses is in a cage in Lyle's van. Lyle asks Ulysses what his plan is. Ulysses looks like he's about to reply..

Smash cut to Ulysses slamming shots at a cat speakeasy.

He looks up from his latest drink, fairly drunk now, and says that it's been far too long since he's been there, which the barkeep appreciates. Ulysses looks around and comments to the barkeep that business is slow; it's the primetime to drink, but there are only 2 or 3 other cats in the bar, all of whom look rather guarded. The barkeep says that it's been a very scary time for street cats as of late. According to the barkeep, any street cat that's out after dark for the last few months have been vanishing without a trace, and after a bit most other cats have fled north of the river. Ulysses asks the barkeep what they think the reason for this is, and the barkeep, speaking in a low voice, mentions they think it has to do with the some odd rats, based on an unusual number of rats flocking to the area. Ulysses takes that under advisement, but says not to worry since he's now on the case as he downs one last drink. Cut to..

### Scene 4: Scoping out the rats

Ulysses scoping out what can only be described as a rat city to this utter amazement. He is then interrupted by a voice behind him, startling him out of his monologue. When he turns around, he sees one of the cats from the bar. After some prodding, he remembers who she was; a street thief named Irene. Based on their conversation, they were an item in the past. The following conversation then follows: he asks her how she sound him, and she says she saw him at the bar and followed him, also adding in she was preparing to raid the rat city; she asks him what his plan is, he tells her, she responds saying it's terrible and that he's lost his edge, he responds with a watch this. He proceeds with the plan successfully, but ends up in a rather basic trap, waited for by Ogedai and his priests. Outside, Irene can only shake her head in disappointment as she saw the trap from a mile away. Before she can walk away a net falls on top of her.

### Scene 5: Finding comrades in the panrapticon

When Ulysses comes to, he finds himself in a small panopticon, with the cells made out of discarded cat cages. Looking around, he can see there are enough cells to fit at least 50 cats. Once he regains his bearings, he realizes there is a conversation going on around him. He looks at the adjoining cells; to his left is a smaller cat named Crackers who is investigating him super closely and to his right is a super large cat named Puffball who is barely able to fit in his cage.

Ulysses asks Crackers to quite down, since her voice is making his hangover worse. Crackers responds hyper aggressively, but after some cajoling from Puffball calms down. Ulysses asks where they are, and Puffball says they don't know, but that this prison is for the competitors. When Ulysses asks about this, Puffball explains: they were cats who were captured by the rats and rather than be slave labor like the majority of the captured cats they will be sent into the arena to fight. Ulysses asks how well they fight. Crackers proudly says she was caught while trying to set a dumpster on fire, and Puffball was captured trying to steal a slice of pizza from Lou Malnati's Pizzeria but required an entire squadron of rats to take him down. They then ask Ulysses if he's heard about the champion. Before he can respond, Ogedai and his rats appear and drag Ulysses off.

### Scene 6: Battle in the colosseum

We are in a large arena modelled after the Colosseum, with stands filled with hordes of cheering rats. A group of worker rats drag out the body of the last competitors while Ogedai riles up the crowd.

At the apex of his speech - announcing that the next competitor is the brand new Cats At Work team -a gate opens at the far end of the playing field and Ulysses is shoved into the mainstage, and his trusty crowbar is tossed in at him. When Ulysses gets a good look at his opponent, he sees that it is none other than Doc, looking much more feral and injured than his briefing picture. Rather than being afraid of his opponent and the bloodlust felt by the audience, Ulysses' response is one of relief that his job suddenly got back on the rails. He tries to initiate conversation with Doc, saying that he's there to save him and that they need to work together, but Doc is unresponsive. Once Ogedai gives the word, Doc launches a sudden and ferocious attack that Ulysses barely avoids. Ulysses, more indignant about being ignored than afraid, fights back in kind. Despite Becoming serious, Ulysses is quickly overwhelmed; while he is sufficiently stronger and faster than Doc, Doc more than makes up for it with technique. Near the apex of the fight, Doc manages to disarm Ulysses and get him into a chokehold. Thinking fast, Ulysses manages to worm free enough to punch Doc in the jaw, then grab and rip off Doc's electric collar while he's stunned. He repeats his offer to Doc, who doesn't respond.

Before the rats can enter the arena, a fiery explosion takes out the a large chunk of the arena, sending half-cooked rats flying. Through the gap in the now burning stands enters Crackers and Puffball - Crackers has both a grenade launcher and a flame thrower and is cackling like a madwoman when using them both, while Puffball effortlessly swats away the rats that try to attack him.