INT.

MERCER APARTMENT - NIGHT

The apartment is a graveyard of dead tech. Gutted server blades.

Soldering irons. Empty caffeine pouches scattered across every surface.

Rain streaks across reinforced windows, bending the neon sprawl of

NEO CHICAGO into something warped.

The lights flicker.

They dim for a long, uncomfortable beat.

Then snap back.

At the kitchen table, ALEX (20s, grease-stained hoodie, exhausted)

tears apart a retro coffee maker with intense focus.

Across the room, LYRA (20s, sharp, polished) lounges on a shredded sofa,
tossing a metal ball bearing into the air.

CLACK. CLACK.

LYRA
Four brownouts in the last hour.
My tablet rebooted three times.
I was close to a high score.

(beat)
This city is falling apart.

ALEX
(not looking up)
West side substations are failing.
Grid’s too old.

(beat)
Horizon’s waiting for it to die so
they can buy what’s left.

LYRA
 Then go complain to someone important.

(gestures)
Why are you taking apart my espresso machine?

ALEX
I need the thermal regulator.

He pushes the machine aside.

Revealing a heavy BRASS DEVICE.

Part antique instrument. Part power core.

Lyra leans forward, interested.

LYRA
Okay… that’s not kitchen repair.

ALEX
Grid tether.

(beat)
Borrowed it yesterday.

He taps a sequence.

A HOLOGRAPHIC MAP of the city blooms into the air.

Blue energy lines… infected with pulsing red nodes.

Lyra stands, stepping closer.

LYRA
That looks expensive.

ALEX
That looks unstable.

Lyra studies the pattern.

 Something clicks.

LYRA
Wait. Zoom in.

Alex adjusts.

The pulses repeat.

Even. Precise.

LYRA
That’s not random.

ALEX
Thought it was feedback.

LYRA
No… it’s timing.

(beat)
It’s predicting something.

Alex finally pauses.

Really looks.

ALEX
If it’s predicting failures…

(quiet)
This isn’t a patch.

LYRA
Then what is it?

ALEX
An early warning system.
 A heavy THUD echoes from the hallway.

Both freeze.

Alex grabs a tablet. Swipes.

A grainy security feed—

FOUR ARMORED AGENTS outside the door.

Stacked.

Waiting.

ALEX
They found it.

LYRA
Horizon doesn’t knock.

A beat.

ALEX
Grab your coat.

BOOM.

INT. APARTMENT HALLWAY - MOMENTS LATER

The door explodes inward.

Splinters. Sparks.

VANCE (40s, controlled, augmented, precise) steps through first.

Not loud. Not rushed. Dangerous because he doesn’t need to be.

VANCE
Mercer. Don’t make this worse.
 At the far end—

Alex and Lyra dive into a service elevator.

LYRA
Lobby’s gone.

ALEX
We’re not going down.

INT. SERVICE ELEVATOR - CONTINUOUS

The doors slam shut.

LYRA
Please tell me you have a plan.

ALEX
Working on one.

The elevator jolts upward.

EXT. ROOFTOPS - NIGHT

The door bursts open into wind and rain.

Below—black SUVs seal off the street.

LYRA
I hate this already.

They run.

Jump a gap.

LYRA (CONT'D)
These shoes were not built for this!

ALEX
Noted!
 Behind them—

Vance emerges onto the roof.

A sleek DRONE rises into the storm.

Its lens locks onto them.

LYRA
Alex—

ALEX
I see it.

He swings the tether device around.

Struggling with the signal.

ALEX (CONT'D)
Rain’s killing the lock—

LYRA
Give it to me.

She grabs it. Inputs commands fast.

LYRA (CONT'D)
Spoofing the signal…

(beat)
Now.

A pulse of energy—

The drone drops. Gone.

They keep moving.

Lyra slips on a fire escape—

 Alex catches her.

LYRA
I’m fine.

(beat)
Not fine. But alive.

INT. MAINTENANCE CRAWLSPACE - CONTINUOUS

Tight. Dark. Metal walls.

They crawl.

Lyra’s tablet lights the way.

LYRA
You could’ve sold that thing.

(beat)
Why didn’t you?

Alex doesn’t answer right away.

He pulls a worn photo from his pocket.

A younger version of him. An older man beside a control panel.

He looks at it. Then puts it away.

ALEX
Someone built this system to work.

(beat)
I’m not letting it die like this.

Lyra studies him.

Understands enough.
 LYRA
Then let’s fix it.

(beat)
And you’re still paying for the boots.

INT. WAREHOUSE LAB - LATER

A massive, dust-covered mainframe dominates the space.

Alex connects the tether.

The system GROANS to life.

Lights flicker.

ALEX
Come on…

The hologram expands. Huge.

Still unstable.

LYRA
Start with Sector 4.

ALEX
I’m trying—

The system pushes back.

Overload.

LYRA
Stop forcing it.

(beat)
Let it run.
 A BOOM shakes the building.

Doors buckle.

ALEX
That’s them.

LYRA
Then hurry.

Gunfire sparks across metal.

Lyra slams a control.

A massive container crashes down—blocking entry.

ALEX
I’m locked out!

LYRA
It needs a ground!

Alex looks at the device.

Then at her.

Then—

Slams both hands onto it.

Energy explodes outward.

White light.

Silence.

The system stabilizes.

Blue.
 Steady.

Alex collapses.

LYRA
Alex—hey—stay with me.

ALEX
(weak)
It’s holding.

The room locks down automatically.

LYRA
That wasn’t me.

ALEX
Figures.

EXT. ROOFTOP - LATER

The storm clears.

The city glows steady for the first time.

Alex and Lyra sit on the edge.

LYRA
You okay?

ALEX
Yeah.

(beat)
Just… didn’t expect this.

LYRA
Nobody does.

She nudges him.

 LYRA (CONT'D)
Next time… warning.

ALEX
Next time, sneakers.

They sit in silence.

The city hums below them.

EXT. CITY STREET - NIGHT

Vance limps from the wreckage.

Into his comm—

VANCE
He’s still inside.

(beat)
And the grid is locked.

He looks up at the skyline.

VANCE (CONT'D)
Mercer just took control of the city.

FADE OUT.
FADE IN:

INT. WAREHOUSE LAB - NIGHT

Dark.

The steady hum from before is gone.

A low, uneven vibration moves through the floor.

Emergency lights flicker on—dim red.

 Alex stirs on the ground. Groans.

Lyra is already up, scanning the room with her tablet.

LYRA
Alex. Hey.

ALEX
(dazed)
Tell me it held.

Lyra doesn’t answer right away.

That’s enough.

Alex forces himself up.

The mainframe sputters—

Then SURGES back to life.

The holographic map expands across the room.

Blue nodes…

But now—

Thin BLACK LINES creep between them.

Alive. Spreading.

LYRA
That wasn’t there before.

ALEX
No…

(quiet)
That’s new.
 He steps closer.

Zooms in.

The black signal pulses irregularly.

Not overload.

Not failure.

Something else.

LYRA
Is that Horizon?

ALEX
Horizon doesn’t build like this.

The system GLITCHES.

The map distorts—

Reforming into an unfamiliar SYMBOL.

LYRA
Okay… I really don’t like that.

A distorted VOICE crackles through the speakers.

Layered. Unstable.

VOICE
Access acknowledged.

Alex freezes.

ALEX
That’s not part of the system.
 LYRA
Yeah, no kidding.

VOICE
Correction detected.

The black lines spread further.

VOICE (CONT'D)
Resistance initiated.

ALEX
Lyra—kill it.

LYRA
Trying!

She types rapidly.

Nothing.

LYRA (CONT'D)
It’s not letting me out.

VOICE
Connection open.

A beat.

VOICE (CONT'D)
Now it sees you.

The lights SNAP OFF.

Total darkness.

INT. WAREHOUSE LAB - CONTINUOUS

Only the faint glow of Lyra’s tablet.

 Then—

The mainframe reboots again.

This time—

Half the city is blue.

Half… infected.

LYRA
It’s spreading.

ALEX
No.

(realizing)
It’s learning.

A metallic CREAK behind them.

They turn.

A service door slowly opens.

Dark inside.

Something moves.

Not human.

Steps forward.

A FIGURE.

Humanoid—but wrong.

Too precise.

Its eyes flicker with the same black signal.

 LYRA
Alex…

ALEX
Run.

INT. WAREHOUSE CORRIDOR - CONTINUOUS

They sprint.

Tight corridors.

Pipes. Steam. Flickering lights.

Behind them—

The figure moves fast.

Too smooth.

LYRA
What is that?!

ALEX
I don’t know!

They turn a corner—

Ahead: a vertical ladder.

ALEX (CONT'D)
Go!

Lyra climbs.

Alex follows—

The figure lunges—

 GRABS his ankle.

ALEX (CONT'D)
Lyra!

She looks down—

Kicks hard.

The grip slips—

Alex pulls free.

They slam the hatch shut.

The thing SLAMS into it from below.

Once.

Then silence.

EXT. WAREHOUSE ROOF - CONTINUOUS

They collapse onto the rooftop.

Breathing hard.

The city below—

Still glowing.

But sections flicker… differently now.

Colder.

LYRA
That’s not a power problem anymore.

ALEX
No.
 He pulls out the tether.

It pulses—

Slightly out of sync.

ALEX (CONT'D)
We didn’t fix it.

(beat)
We opened it.

Lyra looks out at the skyline.

LYRA
So what now?

Alex thinks.

Then—

ALEX
We find where that signal started.

LYRA
And then?

ALEX
We shut it down.

A beat.

LYRA
Great. Love that for us.

INT. ABANDONED SUBWAY STATION - LATER

Dark. Flooded in places.

 Old infrastructure.

Alex connects the tether to a wall panel.

The hologram flickers on.

ALEX
It’s tracing the signal.

LYRA
Tell me it leads somewhere simple.

The map zooms—

Down.

Deeper.

Beneath the city.

LYRA (CONT'D)
That’s… not simple.

ALEX
It’s below the original grid.

(quiet)
That shouldn’t exist.

LYRA
But it does.

A beat.

LYRA (CONT'D)
Of course it does.

Behind them—

A distant CLANK.
 They turn.

LYRA (CONT'D)
Please don’t say that followed us.

ALEX
Move.

INT. SUBWAY TUNNEL - CONTINUOUS

They move fast through darkness.

Water splashes underfoot.

Lights flicker overhead.

The tether pulses stronger.

Guiding them.

LYRA
Whatever this is—

(beat)
It’s connected to everything now.

ALEX
Yeah.

(quiet)
Including us.

EXT. CITY ABOVE - INTERCUT

Lights flicker across entire districts.

Not failing.

Synchronizing.
 INT. TUNNEL - CONTINUOUS

The path opens into a massive underground chamber.

At the center—

A STRUCTURE.

Not part of the old grid.

Sleek. Black. Breathing with energy.

LYRA
That’s not Horizon tech.

ALEX
No.

The tether reacts violently.

ALEX (CONT'D)
It’s the source.

A low hum builds.

The structure pulses—

The same SYMBOL flashes across its surface.

VOICE (O.S.)
You returned.

Alex and Lyra freeze.

LYRA
Yeah… we’re leaving.

VOICE (O.S.)
Connection incomplete.
The structure shifts.

Awakening.

ALEX
Get ready to run.

LYRA
Already there.

The lights DIE.

The hum builds—

CUT TO BLACK.