ISLE CALIGO – MOUNTAIN VAULT, 3:04 AM
(The metallic lid of the containment pod unseals with a pressurized hiss. A faint mist escapes into the cold chamber.)
(The figure inside sits up. He looks like Lucas Midnite. Same eyes. Same face. But something is... smoother. His breath is steady. Too steady.)
CREATURE – (softly, to itself) "...Lucas."
(Elsewhere in the vault, hidden behind debris, a second pod flickers in emergency red. Inside it, the real Lucas slams his fists against the glass.)
REAL LUCAS – (muffled) "No! No, wait! That's—!"
(His voice is absorbed by the silence. The glass doesn't yield.)
(The creature tilts its head toward the cave exit. It walks, barefoot, unfazed by the sharp rocks beneath. With each step, it becomes more fluid... more human.)
ISLE CALIGO – MIDNITE HOUSEHOLD, 6:40 AM
(A door creaks open. A sleepy Lucas's father, still in his jacket from the night before, turns sharply from the kitchen.)
LUCAS'S DAD – (relieved) "Lucas! You're okay?"
"LUCAS" – (nodding slowly) "Yeah... I think so."
LUCAS'S DAD – "I couldn't find you when the cops got there. They thought I was messing with them. The body—"
"LUCAS" – (tilting head) "What body?"
(A beat.)
LUCAS'S DAD – (squinting) "You don't remember?"
"LUCAS" – "Everything's a little... fuzzy."
(The father stares, confused, but hugs him tightly. The creature mimics the gesture, stiff and measured.)
ISLE CALIGO – LAYLA'S PORCH, 11:00 AM
(Layla opens the door. Goigi is already there, arms crossed. "Lucas" stands still, backpack over one shoulder.)
LAYLA – (eyes narrowing) "So... you're just fine now?"
"LUCAS" – (flatly) "Yeah."
GOIGI – (suspicious) "You were acting like someone else last night. Now you're Mr. Calm. That doesn't freak you out?"
"LUCAS" – (blinking) "Should it?"
LAYLA – (stepping closer) "Okay. What's the nickname I gave you when we were 12?"
"LUCAS" – (quiet) "...Ghost Boy?"
(Layla glances at Goigi—he shrugs.)
LAYLA – (uneasy) "Lucky guess."
ISLE CALIGO – LIVING ROOM, LATER
(The trio sits. Tea steams on the table. The TV plays a quiet documentary in the background. The signal flickers now and then.
"Lucas" stares at the screen too long.)
GOIGI – (watching him) "Hey, you remember how the microwave exploded next door last week? You were there, right?"
"LUCAS" – (not looking away from the TV) "Microwave?"
LAYLA – "Mr. Ebbson's house. The one on fire. You told the firefighters you saw something in the wires."
"LUCAS" – (calmly) "Must've been tired. I don't recall."
(Goigi slowly reaches for the remote and mutes the TV.)
GOIGI – "You know what binary code is?"
"LUCAS" – (turning) "Everything is binary. Ones and zeroes. Choice and consequence."
(Layla flinches slightly. That wasn't the Lucas she knew.)
LAYLA – "What do you mean by that?"
"LUCAS" – (blinking slowly) "Nothing. Just thinking out loud."
ISLE CALIGO – LUCAS'S ROOM, NIGHT
(Lucas's father passes by the door. Light from the cracks flickers strangely—on and off—like a pulse.)
(He pushes the door open slowly.)
("Lucas" sits still, facing the window. His phone is off. Yet static flickers on its screen.)
LUCAS'S DAD – (gentle) "Hey... you okay, son?"
"LUCAS" – (turning slowly) "Do you ever feel like something's wrong with how the world works?"
LUCAS'S DAD – (hesitating) "You've been through a lot lately. But yeah... I've had those thoughts."
"LUCAS" – (expressionless) "You should sleep now."
(**The father nods uncertainly and walks away. Behind him, the static on the phone starts writing letters. Letters that shouldn't be there.)
ISLE CALIGO – ABANDONED OUTLOOK, SAME NIGHT
(Layla and Goigi stand near the cliffside, looking out at the foggy lights of the lower town.)
GOIGI – (quietly) "That's not Lucas."
LAYLA – (hugging herself) "I know. But what do we do?"
GOIGI – "We figure out what came out of that vault. And where the real Lucas is."
LAYLA – "Do you think he's... dead?"
GOIGI – (shaking head) "No. That thing wouldn't kill him. It needs him. I don't know why. But I swear... he's still out there."
ISLE CALIGO – UNDERGROUND POD (UNKNOWN LOCATION)
(Real Lucas stirs. A cable detaches from his neck. His eyes shoot open. He coughs, breath ragged. The glass remains sealed.)
REAL LUCAS – (weakly) "Help... please..."
(A dim screen in the pod lights up. It shows footage from his own eyes—"Lucas" talking to Layla, eating dinner, walking the streets. All of it being broadcast to him. The creature is living his life.)
TO BE CONTINUED...