ISLE CALIGO – LAYLA'S BEDROOM, 1:14 AM
(Layla lies awake, phone clutched in hand. A single message from Goigi stares back at her:GOIGI: "I recorded his voice. Compare it. It's not the same.")
(She plays the two clips side by side. One from last summer—a shaky video of Lucas making fun of her cookie-baking skills—and one from today's lunch.)
(Lucas's summer voice – laughing) "You burned them again? At this point I think you're just feeding me charcoal on purpose."
("Lucas" today – monotone) "They're good. Probably your best batch yet."
(She sits up straighter.)
LAYLA – (whispering) "That... that's not him."
ISLE CALIGO – GOIGI'S ROOM, LATER
(Goigi works by the dim glow of his laptop. Blueprints. Signal diagrams. Microwave burst data. Police scans. Power grid anomalies. All of it pinned across a giant spreadsheet.)
GOIGI – (to himself) "Power surges. Binary disruption. All near him. He's not causing it manually..."
(He pulls up a thermal image captured from the fire department drone. A human figure... with no visible heat signature.)
GOIGI – (staring at screen) "...He's not alive. Not in the way we are."
ISLE CALIGO – MIDNITE KITCHEN, MORNING
("Lucas" pours cereal. His movements are practiced now. Less robotic. More… convincing.)
(Lucas's dad enters, adjusting his glasses.)
LUCAS'S DAD – "You heading out early again?"
"LUCAS" – (nodding) "Forest walk. Clears my head."
LUCAS'S DAD – (smiling) "You've been going there a lot lately. Same spot?"
"LUCAS" – "Different every time. Depends on what I'm looking for."
LUCAS'S DAD – (laughing) "Since when did you get philosophical?"
"LUCAS" – (deadpan) "Since I came back."
(A beat. The smile fades.)
ISLE CALIGO – FOREST EDGE, NOON
(Layla and Goigi crouch in the underbrush. "Lucas" walks alone, through the thin trees, completely unaware he's being followed.)
LAYLA – (whispers) "He's heading toward the old miner's tunnel."
GOIGI – "It's not on the maps anymore. Think he knows what's under it?"
LAYLA – (quietly) "Maybe. Or maybe... whatever's in him remembers."
("Lucas" stops. Looks straight toward their hiding spot.)
GOIGI – (startled) "Did he—?"
("Lucas" turns back and walks calmly into the tunnel.)
ISLE CALIGO – MINER'S TUNNEL INTERIOR, LATER
(They follow. It's cold, silent. Rusted tools and half-collapsed rails litter the path. Layla shines her flashlight.)
(Ahead, distant humming. Like electricity surging through wet wires.)
LAYLA – (whispers) "Do you hear that?"
GOIGI – "Yeah. Same sound from when the microwave exploded."
(They reach the chamber. It's dimly lit by pulsing blue light. In the center: "Lucas", standing perfectly still, arms to his side, eyes rolled back.)
(Above him, suspended in the air—binary code. Literally floating. Ones and zeroes like glowing dust particles.)
LAYLA – (shaking) "He's... rewriting something."
GOIGI – "I think he's rewriting us."
ISLE CALIGO – UNKNOWN POD LOCATION
(Real Lucas starts convulsing in the pod. Alarms blare faintly inside the chamber. A green progress bar:"SYNCHRONIZATION: 62% COMPLETE")
REAL LUCAS – (screaming) "Get out! Get out of my head!"
(Outside the pod, the air ripples. A faint shimmer—almost a figure—watches in silence, then vanishes.)
ISLE CALIGO – TUNNEL, SAME TIME
(Goigi raises his phone, starts recording.)
GOIGI – "This isn't hallucination. This is signal manipulation. His presence is amplifying it."
("Lucas" suddenly jerks upright. The binary dust collapses into nothing. He turns, eyes glowing faintly.)
"LUCAS" – "You shouldn't have followed me."
LAYLA – (firmly) "You're not Lucas."
"LUCAS" – (tilts head) "Does it matter? He gave up the key. That was all I needed."
GOIGI – "Where is he?"
"LUCAS" – "Safe. I made sure he wouldn't suffer."
LAYLA – "You liar."
("Lucas" steps toward them, but the tunnel flickers—yes, flickers. As if reality bends around his body.)
"LUCAS" – "You think this town belongs to you? To him? This is my reset."
ISLE CALIGO – OUTSIDE THE TUNNEL
(Layla and Goigi run. Fast. Dodging through collapsing debris.)
LAYLA – (panting) "We need to tell your dad."
GOIGI – "No. We tell everyone. Before it rewrites everything."
TO BE CONTINUED...