Dream State Concept Screenplay

EXT. YELLOW DESERT - SEEMINGLY DAY

A WOMAN stands in a spacesuit in what appears to be a yellow  desert. She is DANIELLE, around 28 years old, squinting up  from her helmet at the dunes ahead of her. Another woman  stands slightly behind her - MADDISON, around 25, red-headed.

MADDISON
Anything? 

DANIELLE
No. Just more of this. There’s no end. 

MADDISON
I haven’t heard any word from the others.

DANIELLE
I know. Me either.

MADDISON
This moon can’t be that big. We’ll have to run into them sooner or later-

Maddison is cut off by a sudden gust of wind behind them. The  two women look behind them to see a sudden sandstorm rapidly  approaching. The air is forceful and fast.

DANIELLE
Oh, shit. Run, Maddison!

They begin to run as best they can on the sandy ground, their  spacesuits making them clumsy and the force of gravity  notably less than that of Earth. They appear small among the  sand, the sandstorm approaching quicker and quicker.

MADDISON
Dani, I don’t know if we can make  it.

DANIELLE
Just keep moving!

MADDISON
The heat is strong!

DANIELLE
Fuck!

Danielle’s suit begins to emit a warning. The sandstorm moves  closer.

SUIT
Temperature reaching above  tolerable levels. Current  temperature: 78 degrees Celsius.

They continue running, but they aren’t fast enough. The  sandstorm is right behind them now, the heat radiating from  the winds and sand swirling around them.

MADDISON
Dani!

DANIELLE
Maddison-

INT. SPACESHIP QUARTERS - UNKNOWN TIME

Suddenly, Danielle wakes up from her bed in their space  station. It seems that it had all been a dream, Dani simply  in her sleepwear. She blinks, sitting up in bed and looking  around the room. Letting out a sigh, she moves out of bed,  going towards the station’s kitchen.

It is there she sees ADRIANA, around 27, and LORENZO, around  23. They’re both wearing their station suits, Adriana  drinking a coffee and Lorenzo eating what looks like oatmeal.  Danielle begins to prepare tea.

ADRIANA
Bad dream?

DANIELLE
(tired, letting out a  sigh)
Yeah. Another mission gone wrong.

ADRIANA
(taking a sip of her  coffee)
It makes sense. We’ve been off-planet for nearly a year now.

Danielle finishes making her tea, taking a seat at the table  next to Lorenzo. He has a hearing aid in one ear, though  isn’t paying attention to the conversation.

DANIELLE
Where’s Maddison?

ADRIANA
In nav. Davidson just called her in  not too long ago. Something on the radar - probably another abandoned ship.

DANIELLE
(standing up)
Probably. I’ll go check it out. Hopefully it has something useful  on it.

INT. NAVIGATION ROOM

Two figures stand in front of a screen with a radar, a shadow  visible not far away from the ship’s location. Maddison, the  girl from Danielle’s dream, and CPT. DAVIDSON, around 35,  notice Danielle walk in.

MADDISON
Hey, Dani.

DANIELLE
Hey. Adriana said you found another ghost ship?

DAVIDSON
That we did. You think you can scavenge today?

DANIELLE
(shrugs)
Sure, we could use it. Another few months out here, anyways.

DAVIDSON
I’ll send you out with Lorenzo then, within the hour. We’re  approaching it soon.

EXT. OUTER SPACE

Their ship speeds through the void of space, with the name of  it written on the side in a dark blue - the GRAVITAS. It’s  almost the shape of a bullet, easily enabling it to travel  over long distances.

There’s a cut to it slowly approaching the abandoned ship  that was on the radar - a similar structure, although  slightly bigger than the Gravitas. The name on its side reads  ENDYMION, and the Gravitas connects with it to dock.

INT. NAVIGATION ROOM

DAVIDSON
Oxygen seems stable. Keep suits on anyways just in case of any contaminants.

INT. DOCKING ROOM

DANIELLE
(now in spacesuit)
Roger.

DAVIDSON
(over comms)
Alegria, you good?

Lorenzo gives a thumbs up, also now in his suit.

DAVIDSON (CONT’D)
(over comms)
Opening bridge now. Report any findings. Bring back any materials if you can.

The door in the docking room opens, now connected to the Endymion’s docking room. The interior of the other ship seems intact, and the two walk into it.

As they approach the exit of the Endymion’s docking room, Danielle holds out her arm. There’s a panel connected to her  sleeve with a keycard attached.

She brings it to the scanner attached to the door, which  blinks green. The door opens, and Danielle and Lorenzo walk through.

DANIELLE
We’re inside.

DAVIDSON
(over comms)
Good. Just do a perimeter check.

INT. ENDYMION MAIN HALL

Danielle and Lorenzo turn into the main hallway of the ship.  It’s empty, with no noise at all. The gravity, however, is  on.

DANIELLE
(to her spacesuit)
Check air.

SUIT
Oxygen levels stable. No contaminants noted.

DANIELLE
Seems safe. I’m taking my helmet off.

DAVIDSON
(over comms)
Roger.

Danielle removes her helmet, attaching it to a clip on the  back of her suit. She breathes in the stale air of the ship.

DANIELLE
It smells like... lemons...

Lorenzo squints at her.

LORENZO
(using sign language)
The air’s safe?

Danielle nods in response, and Lorenzo follows her in taking  his helmet off and attaching it to his suit. He crinkles his  nose at the sudden, odd citrus smell.

LORENZO (CONT’D)
(using sign language)
Why does it smell like that?

DANIELLE
I don’t know. Let’s head this way.

INT. ENDYMION KITCHEN

She leads the two of them further into the interior, until it  opens up to the kitchen of the ship. There still isn’t any  sign of life, however littering the floor are slices of  oranges, perfectly cut.

DANIELLE
What the fuck?

DAVIDSON
(over comms)
What is it?

DANIELLE
There are just... oranges on the floor. All cut up. Nothing else in  the kitchen.

DAVIDSON
(over comms)
...That’s odd. Are they fresh?

Lorenzo squats down next to them and picks a slice up. Other  than the fact that it was on the ground, it appears fresh and  clean. He looks at Danielle and nods.

DANIELLE
Yeah. They must’ve just got the shipment in. Where even has  oranges?

DAVIDSON
(over comms)
Satres Station has a few orchards.

DANIELLE
That’s a bit far, though, no?

Danielle turns to a door whose entrance seems to lack any of  the orange slices on the floor. She walks towards it, Lorenzo  standing up and tossing the slice he was holding back on the  floor.

Danielle presses a button on the wall, opening the door in  front of her. It leads to what seems to be a science lab,  though no work had been done in it recently. The tables are  clean, all equipment where they should be.

INT. ENDYMION LAB

DANIELLE
Davidson, look up what research the Endymion was doing.

DAVIDSON
(over comms, after a  pause)
There isn’t much of note. Some stuff was done on cryonics and consciousness, but they haven’t published anything finished.

DANIELLE
Weird. Everything’s clean here. Almost as if their lab is brand new.

A noise comes from one side of the lab, which alerts  Danielle. But it’s nothing other than Lorenzo trying to get  her attention - he points towards the cryogenic tanks.

DANIELLE (CONT’D)
Well, they have cryo tanks. Guess they planned for long travel here.

DAVIDSON
(over comms)
That’s not surprising. That grade of ship probably has to do missions all the way to the edge of the solar system. See if you can find any supplies. If not, we’ll just leave it and send a report in.

DANIELLE
Roger.

Danielle and Lorenzo continue through the lab, passing by  unused microscopes and empty test tubes. There’s an eerie hum  throughout the room, putting Danielle on edge.

They reach a door with the sign TEST CHAMBER next to it, and  Danielle stops in front of it.

DANIELLE (CONT’D)
(squints)
It smells just like...

She turns to the operating table to find the switch to open  it. Lorenzo grabs her shoulder.

LORENZO
(using sign language)
What are you doing?

DANIELLE
Opening it.

LORENZO
(using sign language)
Do you know what could be in there?

DANIELLE
(using sign language)
Probably nothing. But it smells so  familiar.

Lorenzo holds up his hands in confusion, as if to say “you do  you.” He watches as Danielle pulls the switch, unlocking the  door to the test chamber.

She walks over to open it, and when she does, she passes into  a long hallway. The interior of the test chamber almost  resembles an elementary school hall, with lockers lining the  sides.

DANIELLE (CONT’D)
What...

INT. “TEST CHAMBER”

She and Lorenzo walk through cautiously. It’s almost like a  sudden change in location, the hallway resembling nowhere  else in the ship. Around the lockers are locked classrooms,  their lights off and interiors too dark to see clearly.

Danielle walks over to one of the sets of lockers, running  her fingers over the doors. Lorenzo stands behind her,  looking down the halls, as she slowly opens the locker in  front of her.

It has girlish decorations all inside of it, with small  schoolbooks and colorful pencils. She notices a piece of  paper taped to the inside door with “DANIELLE” drawn in  bubble letters.

DANIELLE
This is...?

She reaches to the center, where a bagged lunch sits atop  some of the books. Opening it, she finds a plastic bag of  orange slices, just like those that were in the kitchen.

Startled, she jolts backwards, bumping into Lorenzo. The  oranges spill onto the floor, and Lorenzo’s hearing aid falls off next to them.

DANIELLE (CONT’D)
Shit, sorry-

As this happens, the school bell begins to ring, echoing  throughout the halls. Danielle grabs onto Lorenzo, surprised  at the sudden noise. Lorenzo quickly leans down to grab his  hearing aid.

DAVIDSON
(over comms)
Alegria, Lewer, what’s going on?

DANIELLE
I don’t know, I-

There’s a rumble that shakes whatever building they’re in,  and as Lorenzo stands back up Danielle faces him.

DANIELLE (CONT’D)
(gestures)
Let’s go.

Lorenzo nods and the two begin to move back to the entrance  to the hallway. The alarm still blares, and a light begins to  flash alongside it. Danielle covers her ears as she moves,  but the rumbling doesn’t stop. It almost moves towards them, getting stronger and stronger until Danielle feels the whole hall shaking.

She tries to grab onto Lorenzo again but falls, and there is  a...

CUT TO:

OVER BLACK

There is the sound of labored breathing.

DAVIDSON (V.O.)
Lewer, can you hear me?

CUT TO:

INT. DOCKING ROOM

Danielle opens her eyes to find herself in the docking room  of the Gravitas, laying on the ground. Davidson and Maddison  hover over her.

DANIELLE
What...

She turns over to see Lorenzo in a similar state, although  more awake. Above him are Adriana and CONOR, another  crewmate.

MADDISON
Her systems are stable. Both of them are. Nothing out of the ordinary.

DANIELLE
What... what happened?

DAVIDSON
(kneeling down to  Danielle)
There must’ve been something in the  air that the suits didn’t pick up. As soon as you and Alegria took your helmets off, you hit the floor unconscious. As if you suddenly fell asleep.

DANIELLE
I- that makes no sense.

DAVIDSON
What do you mean?

DANIELLE
We... we made it in. Well past the point we took our helmets off. I...  we spoke to you in the kitchen.

Davidson turns to Maddison, concerned.

MADDISON
You didn’t reach any kitchen. You lost consciousness within minutes.

DANIELLE
Did Lorenzo also remember anything?

Maddison looks over at Adriana and Conor, who are kneeling by  Lorenzo. Conor shrugs.

CONOR
He mentioned something about a beach house. I don’t know. Must’ve had dreams in the short time you were unconscious.

DAVIDSON
We’ll test the air further to see what happened. But for now, keep the helmets on. Adriana and Conor will go to scavenge this time.

DANIELLE
No, I want to go back.

DAVIDSON
(visibly confused)
You sure? You probably should take some time-

DANIELLE
I’ll go with Adriana. But I need to see what happened.

Davidson pauses.

DAVIDSON
...Alright. Maddison will check you outside of the suit before you head back in. But if you’re all good, I’ll send you with Adriana. Maddison, take Lorenzo as well.

The crew help Danielle and Lorenzo take off their suits, wearing purple jumpsuits underneath. After, Maddison is left  alone with the two to check their vital signs. Lorenzo turns  to Danielle. She notices his hearing aid is on, never having  fallen off.

LORENZO
(using sign language)
What did you see?

DANIELLE
The kitchen. Oranges. And...

She trails off, remembering the halls and the locker she had  found.

MADDISON
What?

DANIELLE
It was my school. My elementary school. I haven’t been there in years. And the oranges... my mom cut them for me every day.

Lorenzo stares for a second, and then shakes his head.

LORENZO
(using sign language)
I didn’t see that. But it was  similar.

MADDISON
Having such dreams in a short span of time is definitely strange.

DANIELLE
But it didn’t feel like a dream. I don’t know what happened. It was so... so vivid. Just like this  morning...

MADDISON
Are you sure you’re in a mental state to go back there?

DANIELLE
(after a pause)
Yeah. I’m sure it was just something in the air. I’ll go back in.

CUT TO BLACK.