Ex Machina by Alex Garland Page B

VOICE
    Caleb Smith.
    Caleb tracks the source of the voice.
    Near what seems to be the front door, a pillar protrudes from the ground. Head-high, with a glass screen on one side.
    Below the screen is a dispenser.
    CALEB
    … Yes.
    AUTOMATED VOICE
    Please approach the console and face the screen.
    Caleb looks into the screen, and as soon as he has locked eyes with his own reflection, the screen flashes. A single bright strobe.
    Almost immediately afterwards, something small clatters into the dispenser.
    AUTOMATED VOICE
    Take your keycard.
    Caleb picks up the object. It’s a credit-card-sized ID.
    On it there is an embedded chip and a photograph of his face. He looks comically surprised.
    CALEB
    … Can we do another?
    AUTOMATED VOICE
    Your keycard now may be used to enter the residence.
    Caleb walks up to the front door.
    Beside the door, a keycard plate is set into the wall, with a red LED light.
    He holds his keycard ID.
    The red LED light changes to blue.
    Caleb pushes the front door, and it swings open.
    INT. HOUSE ⁄ MAIN ROOM – DAY
    The front door opens to a glass-walled staircase, which leads down to an open-plan room.
    At the bottom of the staircase, Caleb waits to see if he is welcomed, or noticed.
    But he is not.
    CALEB
    Hello?
    Silence.
    After a few moments, he enters.
    He walks across the white carpet.
    Then suddenly stops.
    Something under his foot has crunched.
    He looks down, and sees that he has trodden on a wine glass.
    Bright shards of glass are sprinkled in the bleached wool.
    CALEB
    … Shit.
    He freezes, unsure whether to try to pick it up, or whether to simply pretend it never happened.
    CUT TO
    – Caleb on his hands and knees, hurriedly picking up the tiny shards of glass, and putting them into his open bag. On to his clothes.
    As he does so –
    – he is startled a second time, by the sudden commencement of a thumping sound.
    Abrupt. Rapid. More or less rhythmic. From somewhere nearby.
    Caleb finishes clearing up the glass, as the thumping continues.
    Then he stands.
    And exits in the direction of the noise.
    INT. HOUSE ⁄ DINING AREA – DAY
    Caleb enters a dining area.
    Which now reveals –
    – a huge glass door.
    It presents an arresting view of a garden, river and the mountains behind.
    The door is open, and through it we see the reason for the thumping sound.
    Just outside, on a patio, in the sunshine, a man is working a punchbag.
    EXT. GARDEN – DAY
    Caleb exits the dining area to an area of neat garden, looking over the river, and surrounded by the mountain ranges.
    The punchbag is suspended by a chain on an exterior flanking wall of the house.
    The man working it is wearing shorts, and is shirtless. Bathed in sweat.
    His hands are not protected by gloves. Only wraps. Spots of blood seep through the pale material around his knuckles.
    This is Nathan Bateman. He’s thirty.
    After a flurry of punches, Nathan breaks off.
    Breathing hard, he wipes at his eyebrows with the back of his wrist. Sweat droplets cascade down his face.
    Then –
    – Nathan senses the other presence.
    He turns to see Caleb. Standing by the open glass wall.
    NATHAN
    Caleb.
    Nathan beams.
    Caleb Smith.
    CALEB
    … Hi.
    Nathan starts unravelling his wraps.
    NATHAN
    Dude. I’ve been so looking forward to this.
    INT. HOUSE ⁄ DINING AREA – DAY
    Nathan walks past Caleb and goes to a bar area, where there is a jug of non-specific vegetable juice waiting, and a glass.
    NATHAN
    Come in, come in.
    Caleb puts his bag down.
    You want something to eat or drink after your journey?
    CALEB
    No. Thank you. I’m fine.
    NATHAN
    You sure?
    Nathan pours himself a glass of the vegetable juice.
    I’d been thinking we’d have breakfast together, but to be honest, I can’t eat anything right now. I gotta tell you – I woke up this morning with the mother of all fucking hangovers.
    CALEB
    Yeah?
    Nathan laughs.
    NATHAN
    Like you wouldn’t believe. And if I have a heavy night, I always try to compensate the next morning. Exercise.