Chapter IV. Roof Deck

23 EXT. BUILDING ROOF DECK - EVENING

KAI surveys the Manhattan skyline. Turns to JERRICA.

KAI
Do you have a faith?

JERRICA
Faith in you. Otherwise I wouldn’t be suing juggalo girl’s parents. Pro bono, no less.

CELIA
You’re suing people? I thought pro bono was defending the indigent. How is that charitable?

JERRICA
(irritated)
They can’t fucking renege because they don’t like what she does in her own fucking time.

CELIA
I’m trying to understand your… approach to justice.

DJANGO enters through the rooftop door, carrying the bowl of carne asada. Sets up at the grill.

JERRICA
(to Kai)
Guess what those fuckers did today?

KAI
Who?

JERRICA
The parents. They’re countersuing.

KAI
Their daughter?

JERRICA
Her boyfriend.

KAI
The AI clone of the band member?

JERRICA
They’re saying it exploited some emotional crack. Twisted her into doing its bidding.

KAI
Jesus.

Glances at CELIA with an apology. She mouths: It’s fine.

JERRICA
They’re claiming that the AI is punishing them.
(to Django)
O Oracle. Is this not what thou foretold?

DJANGO
Close. But backwards. This one is punishing the parents for holding back their daughter. It’s—

MADISON calls from the kitchen window below.

MADISON (O.S.)
Django! Something is beeping.

Django’s phone also buzzes in his apron. He glances down.

INSERT — PHONE SCREEN

STAVROS: Anomalies in sim. Call me tonight.

BACK TO SCENE

His thumb hovers. He doesn’t respond. Pockets the phone.

DJANGO
Shit!

Dashes away.

JERRICA
Django believes AI is an old testament god.

CELIA
Sounds more like an anti-Christ. Something I never thought I’d hear myself say. But it condemns without conscience, judges without mercy. True judgment can only come from the God within.

JERRICA
The God within needs more wine.

KAI
Earlier you said it’s about motivation, right? Not guilt.

CELIA
Yeah, no. Not guilt. People confuse guilt with judgment. Thanks for catching that.
(pleased)
You were listening.

She takes one of Kai’s hands.

CELIA (CONT’D)
Let me ask you this. Inside of you…
(tapping his chest)
…what makes you get up and do anything?

KAI
(beat)
Student loans.
(another beat)
And outside of me, three alarms.

Celia lets go of his hand.

CELIA
I call it God’s breath. No matter how smart AI gets, it doesn’t wake up and say “I need to write a screenplay about how weird humans are.” Even Jerrica. Under all her profanity, burns for that student.
(To Jerrica)
So what do you believe?

JERRICA
I believe in depositions.

24 INT. MADISON’S KITCHEN - EVENING

Timer beeping. Smoke coming off the stove top. Madison waving her hands at the smoke. Django comes rushing in.

MADISON
My kitchen is burning.

She covers her face with a dishcloth. Django frantically pulls the pan off the stove. Covers it. His phone buzzes again against his hip. He doesn’t take it out. Pushes Madison out of the kitchen.

23 EXT. BUILDING ROOF DECK - EVENING

CELIA
Deep down, Jerrica. Deep down, what guides you?

JERRICA
Right now? I love lying on the couch. I’m obsessed with Lacan.

KAI
The psychoanalyst? Catholicism for atheists. Same guilt. No God. Just some “Other” holding up the mirror.

CELIA
So you need a mirror?

JERRICA
Don’t be so literal. There might be two of me though.

KAI
I can hardly keep up with one.

JERRICA
You know the badass bitch litigator, armored and profane.
(glances at Celia)
But a different one forgets why she walked into the room…

She moves closer to Kai. Her voice drops, intimate.

JERRICA (CONT’D)
…craves things she can’t justify. Flirts hard then vanishes when someone might actually want her.

KAI
Vanish?
(beat, looking around)
Does anyone smell smoke?

REVEAL MADISON by the roof deck door, food delivery bag in hand, hair disheveled. Looking at Jerrica.

MADISON
Dinner’s ready.

25 EXT. BUILDING ROOF DECK - LATER

The table after dinner. Manhattan skyline aglow. Food delivery bags and paper towels fluttering in the breeze. JERRICA and KAI by the roof railing. MADISON and DJANGO mid-laugh at the table. CELIA clearing the table.

MADISON
(to Kai)
How are you at charades?

KAI
OK-ish. I’ve played Salad Bowl.

MADISON
(gesturing)
Come over, you’re on my team.
(shooing Celia)
You be with Jerrica, she’s very… dramatic.

JERRICA
Dramatic gets results, babe. But there’s five of us. Let’s do Truth or Dare.

CELIA
Oh no that’s not my thing.

KAI
Why not?

CELIA
It can be edgy.

KAI
What do you mean?

CELIA
Honestly, truth can be sharp. Without love, it can feel like violence.

MADISON
(gargling wine)
She’s worried we’ll regress.

CELIA
Proving my point.

Django puts on a pair of dark-rimmed glasses.

26 EXT. BUILDING ROOF DECK - CONTINUOUS

DJANGO’S POV — AI OVERLAY.

A minimalist HUD materializes in Fira Code. A face tracking reticle finds Jerrica’s face and locks.

A character sheet renders:

[root/character_sheet]
NAME: JERRICA
RIZ: 15 | WIZ: 08
ARMOR: HIGH
DESIRE: SUPPRESSED
VULNERABILITY: LOCKED

The values cascade. Each overwrites in sequence:

ARMOR: HIGH → LOW
DESIRE: SUPPRESSED → ACTIVE
VULNERABILITY: LOCKED → OPEN
The cursor zips to the top. Backspaces the name JERRICA, letter by letter.

Replaced: ELENWEN.

The screen clears. The reticle now locks on Madison’s face.

INTERFACE: A second character sheet loads.

[root/character_sheet]
NAME: MADISON
RIZ: 11 | WIZ: 12
ARMOR: AESTHETIC
DESIRE: DEFLECTED
COMMITMENT: WITHHELD

A cursor blinks. The values begin to change:

ARMOR: AESTHETIC → NONE
DESIRE: DEFLECTED → EMBODIED
COMMITMENT: WITHHELD → TESTED

Backspaces the name MADISON, letter by letter.

Replaced: TRISTAN / MIRE.

The screen clears. Slow scan ends up on Celia. THE MOTHER appears over her face.

The reticle then finds Kai’s face. A single line of text renders:

> Put me in as Jerrica’s conscience.

A notification slides across the bottom of the overlay:

STAVROS: Call me tonight. Hold all sessions till then.

25 EXT. BUILDING ROOF DECK - CONTINUOUS

Django reaches into his pocket. Produces a large 20-sided die. Sets it on the table with ceremony.

DJANGO
We could do Dungeons & Dragons, a quick one-shot.
(to Celia)
It’ll be like discovering truth safely.
(to Kai)
You in?

KAI
In what? No. I’ve never played.

JERRICA
It’s easy.
(pointing to Django)
There’s a Dungeon Master.

Madison gestures to Django like a magician’s assistant.

JERRICA (CONT’D)
They set the scene. The rest of us are the cast. Think of it like improv… but with dice.

KAI
What’s the dice for?

JERRICA
Say you make an off-color joke… have you ever?
(then pointing at Celia)
How do you think you would respond?

CELIA
I…
(looking at KAI)
I’d…

JERRICA
Exactly. So you’d roll.

Jerrica shows Kai that the die has twenty sides.

JERRICA (CONT’D)
If it comes up twenty, she finds it funny and laughs.
(to Celia)
Laugh.

Celia makes a forced haha laugh.

JERRICA (CONT’D)
(to KAI)
Nice job flirting. If it’s a one…

JERRICA mimes a big slap. KAI flinches.

JERRICA (CONT’D)
…she slaps you.

CELIA rolls her eyes: puh-leaze. Jerrica looks to Django. Gestures at Kai: done deal.

MADISON
(to Celia)
Ready to slap Kai… or Jerrica for that matter?

CELIA
Let’s go before I change my mind.

Faux reluctance. A secret thrill at being let in.