Megazone Two Three Revised English Translation and script by Michael House Edited by Carl S. Horn %% Scene 1 (1) Shogo Yahagi is riding his motorcycle through the streets of downtown Tokyo. A cop starts to pursue him, whereupon he turns on the speed, roaring through commuter traffic, turning onto a sidewalk where midday shoppers leap out of the way. He almost runs into a very pretty girl... {shogo} Sorry...(Pulls off helmet) Were you startled? I'm glad I didn't run into you; I was in a hurry... (Gets off bike and leans down to pick up her bag) Oh, here... {Yui} I'll pick it up myself! (Grabs bag away) Insensitive, aren't you? This is the sidewalk! Besides, looking in a girl's bag is about the lowest thing you can do! Boy, am I out of luck. First the train was held up, and now this...I'm never going to make it on time. {shogo} Sorry about that... {Yui} You don't have any manners, either. You must be a student! (Walks away) Taxi! {shogo} (Gets up) Wait! {Yui} (To cabbie) The Piazza building in Harajuku. And please hurry {shogo} Meiji street is jammed. Walking would be faster than a taxi. The Piazza is the building in front of Kiddieland, isn't it? Hop on! I'll get you there in a minute. Come on! You're in a hurry, aren't you? {Yui} (Getting on) Persistent, aren't you? {shogo} That's'cause it works! (They ride off in traffic) Hey! What's your name? {Yui} What? {shogo} Your name! {Yui} It's Yui! Takanaka Yui! {shogo} I'm Yahagi Shogo. How do you do? Do you work in the Piazza building? {Yui} No, I work in Roppongi. (They arrive) {shogo} Here we are. You're on time, aren't you? {Yui} For now, thanks. But your driving's terrible. (Gets off bike) {shogo} Where do you work in Roppongi? {Yui} The Hard Rock Cafe. (Walks away) {shogo} I know that place. I've been there before. Let me take you for a ride on my bike the next time I'm there. Give me your number. Hey, wait --- give me your number! {Yui} I start work at 8. Take care. {shogo} I'll be there, absolutely. (Images of her) {Yui} My work number is 408-7018! (She enters, shogo yells in triumph.) (shogo plays "chicken" with another rider, Yui leaves elevator.) {Yui} Good morning. {Staffer} Morning. Everybody's in production department 4. (shogo races on, Yui enters boardroom) {Producer} Well, good morning. {Yui} Good morning. (Producer) We're going to Aoyama studio now. (Shogo arrives in front of studio Alta.) {Mori} And what will the judges give Yahagi of Japan, having completed a double backflip with the greatest of ease? {Mai and Tomomi} A ten! A ten! {Shogo} Sorry I'm late. {Mai} Hi! {Tomomi} Are you always so full of energy? {Mori} Today's all yours, isn't it? {Shogo} Leave it to me! (A masked bicyclist glides past.) {Shogo} It's out! {Mai} Says you! {Tomomi} This is the second time I've seen it! {Mai} What is that? {Shogo} Eve's cute, isn't she? {Mori} Yeah, this is a new song. I'm doing the aircheck on this video. {Shogo} Hey, let me do the dubbing. {Mori} You bum! (Shogo stands, then grabs Mori in an armlock.) Hey! Hey, Shogo! It's me! %% Scene 2 (2) (The date. Move up to TV screens. Eve faces us...) (Eve sings) If your eyes are so cold, does that mean your heart is hot? (She turns) Oh, laughing silhouette --- Love me do, love me do, love me do. (Shogo and Mori's motorcycles fly down the road...) Bare skin, buzzing under the deep red light that runs through town Isn't that strange? (Shogo leans up against big guy in park) When it puleses, it's like Carnival, and on an oridnary day. (Cut to Yui) Love, like a sudden-falling rain. (Yui does high-kicks) Sentimentality begins with falling in love. (Cut to Eve) That shuttlecock, springing out of yesterday's tears Will fly away, fly away. (The kids run past, try on glasses) Sentimentality begins on the horizon. (Boys make funny faces, girls laugh) I loved you the moment we first me. (Ice cream thrown to ground) That night --- (In the theatre) Oh! Destiny, like a shooting star. % (Lovers kiss} Sentimentality begins with falling in love. (On the cycles) When the Chagall-like sky shines, fly away, fly away. (Mai hugs Shogo) Sentimentality begins behind our backs. (They stop, wave good-bye) A green power flows in your eyes that night. (Persuading a coke machine) Oh! Destiny, like a shooting star. %% scene 3 (3) (An underground parking lot) {Shinji} Hey, it's me. {Shogo} Shinji! What --- What's that? (sees bike) It's huge! Whose prototype is it? It's not a Suzuki, and it's not a Honda... {Shinji} It's also neither a Yamaha nor a Kawasaki. At 15,000 RPM and 320 KPH, its speed is that of a Formula-1 racer. Nevertheless, this cycle is no sports machine. {Shogo} Is that so? (Looks at bike) Where'd you get the sucker? {Shinji} From the company's experimental travel laboratory. 2 days ago, I was selected as the test rider. You understand, don't you? {Shogo} "Bahamode?" {Shinji} That's "Bahamut." (A step behind him. B.D. appears.) {B.D.} Nakagawa. Will you kindly come along with us? Allowing the company's secrets to be revealed to outsiders is a cause of great concern to us. Don't give us any troubole. {Shinji} Hold it! There are no armed secret service agents in my company! {Shogo} You pack of scum! {Nakao} (Reaching in coat) Don't move. {Shogo} Shinji! The GS! (The lights go out) I got it! {B.D.} Stop this useless act; you'll get hurt! (Shogo roars past on the bike) Damnit, he turned the other way! {Shogo} Shinji! (Smashes cars on the way out) {B.D.} Don't let him get away! Block the road! Make sure he doesn't leave the area! That punk --- playing with us... {Shogo} What the hell is this thing? (Roars away) {Agent} Shit...(Pan to Shinji's bullet-ridden body.) %% scene 4 {4} (Coco's motorcycle shop) {Shogo} It's like I told you! {Mori} All right, calm down already! {Chombo} Hadn't you better give it back? {Shogo} Don't talk stupid! If I get caught, I don't know what they'll do to me. {Mori} The ways things have gone, there's nothing for it, but you can't run away with something this conspicuous. Lose the sucker! {Shogo} Shinji was blown away! It's a fight they started. I'm gonna see it through. {Coco} Don't get so hot under the collar! It'll be in the morning paper, or on TV, as a missing person, or an accidental death. And it's just a matter of time for you, too. {Mori} Those are the wrong people to take on. You'd better hide out until all the excitement blows over. {Chombo} That's right. This fucker is what those S.O.B.s want. If you leave it somewhere, they'll find it and take it away. {Shogo} I've got an idea. Give me a hand with it. (Outside, in a car) {Radio} The target is Yahagi Shogo. We followed his trail as far as Aobadai in Meguro ward. But --- {B.D.} Deteremine his whereabouts before morning. (To agent) Hurry up with the work! It'll be morning soon! {Agent} Yes, sir. (Wrecked cars are cleared away. We see two signs: "Unauthorized entry forbidden", and below that, "We apologise for the inconvenience caused by our work on the water system. Minato ward water bureau service department, safety chief Hirano Kumu." Back in Coco's shop ---) {Coco} Shogo, the paint job's done. I'll bill you. {Shogo} There's nothing about it, anywhere in the (Pause) And it's not on the news, either. (Picks up phone) Is that you, Chombo? What did you find out? (Pause) What? Shinji's doing research work in America?! For three months? (Outside, Mori sees B.D.'s men in the building above.) {Mori} Ah, shit! (Drives off.) {B.D.} Have someone tail him. (Shogo} (On phone.) Water repairs? People in my apartement? If they have to go to those lengths to keep something like this secret, I'm gonna turn right around and use the media to reveal it to the public. {Mori} I see. You're appearing on Eve's "Only You". (Hangs up, drives away.) %% scene 5 {5} (The girl's apartment. Mai is practicing her songs, Tomomi is feeding the cat, and Yui is just getting up...) {Yui} Turn it down a little. I had a late night. {Tomomi} What's a good girl like you doing, sleeping 'till (Yui sticks out her tongue.) Hey, she's a bad girl, isn't she. {Mai} Hey there! {Yui} Why you! {An interlude, then... {Tomomi} (To cat) Yes, you've eaten well, haven't you. (The phone rings) {Yui} Hey, Mai. Whose turn is it to cook today? {Mai} Right here! {Yui} Wonderful...Frozen food again. {Tomomi} (On phone) Huh? Hello? Is that you, Shogo? That's right, This is Tomomi. Mai's here, too. This is unreal! What's going on! {Mai} It's Shogo! {Yui} Shogo? Who's that? {Tomomi} You know Yui, too! Yeah, right. I wonder what the connection is between Yui and you. I understand. Hold on a second. Yui, do you remember Shogo? {Yui} Shogo? {Tomomi} Seems like he gave you a lift on his bike someplace. {Yui} Oh... {Tomomi} This is him... (Out on a pay phone) {Shogo} Uh, hi. I called your workplace earlier and got them to give me your number. {Yui} You sure have a lot of spare time, don't you? Do you also know Tomomi and Mai? {Shogo} Well, yeah, I spent a little time with them in Shinjuku the other day. But this sure is a coincedence, isn't it? I'm surprised. {Yui} So what do you want? {Shogo} Oh, right, right. I'm going to show you something interesting now. It'll be on Eve Tokimatsuri's "Only You". Do me a favor and watch it. See you later! (Hangs up) {Yui} Hello? Eve Tokimatsuri's "Only You"? {Mai} Oh, no! It's on already! We gotta watch it! The remote control? Where's the remote control? {Tomomi} It's on top of the VCR! {Yui} I wonder what that was all about? {Tomomi} Well, he sure was in a rush, and he was funny. {Yui} I guess there are "coincedences" of this sort, aren't there. {Mai} Quiet, it's on! {Eve} (On TV) And so, next is Eve's "Town scoop hour", for any happy news you might have, or your lonely heart stories, or if your cat laid an egg --- please call us up on a vision phone in your town, won't you? {Pause} And here's our first call now. Hello? (Shogo---audio-glit) ch Uh, excuse me? Would you step back from the camera just a bit, please? {Shogo} Oh, sorry. Ba-Bahamut 6. {Eve} Mr. Babumucho? {Shogo} N-No. This is Bahamut 6. (Sign appears on TV screen: "Please stand by") {Yui} That's him. {Mai} Uh-huh. {Tomomi} Looked like he was on something. (In TV studio) {1st TV Tech} Request program bank T2RB3. On air, stand by, OK! {2nd TV Tech} 3, 2, 1, CUE! Allright, connect me with the special investigation unit. (Back in apartment) {Eve} Oh --- strange kid! We've been disconnected. Well, then, who'll be our next caller? {Yui} Hey --- that's strange. {Mai} I wonder what happened. {Tomomi} It wasn't much. %% Scene 6 {6} "You have the right to be silenced..." {Agent} (In car) Major. {B.D.} All right. Calling all cars. The target is at TV-Phone #2. In block 6 in Aoyama. {Shogo} (On phone) I want you to investigate, because it's true. I'll show you the bike now. {Eve} I understand. I'll look into the matter of your friend. Also, perhaps you've forgotten; but you can put down the receiver if you want. {Shogo} Oh, that's right. (Hangs up) The bike's out back, so take a look. Can you see it? Are you picking it up? {Eve} We're picking it up. {Shogo} This is something nobody should have seen. 320 kph, and it wasn't wrecked when I ran into a BMW. {Eve} Did you say "a BMW"? {Shogo} A square foreign car. Any ordinary bike would get flattened. {Eve} Yeah, that's right...I don't konw much about bikes, but I've never seen a bike as big as this before. {Shogo} I have a request to make. Would you keep this bike at your station? I want to have experts establish whether or not this is a military weapon. (Eve smiles) Hey! Have you all been watching? So long, I'm off to the TV station! {B.D.} He goofs around like this were a game. {Voice} 1st squad has arrived and confirmed target. Standing by. {B.D.} Don't lose him! {Back in apartment {Eve} And that wraps it up for today's telephone corner. So now, please listen to my song. "Sentimental behind my back" {Tomomi} What happened to him? {Mai} It's strange. He didn't come on again, did he. {Tomomi} He said Baha-something-or-other. I wonder what he wanted to say? {Yui} Why did he say for me specifically to watch it? That was weird!} {Tomomi} Maybe he was trying to confess his love for you. {Yui} You're talking nonsense! {Mai} Hey, hey, this song's been #1 for three weeks in a row (Eve sings...) (Cut to car. Trailing Shogo outside) {Agent 1} All cars OK, standing by. Car #2 to all cars: target has passed street A33. Attack at the next intersection. "Centerforward" This is center forward, roger. "Quarterback" This is quarterback, roger. {Agent 2} Target has come in for the play. (Without warning, a number of vehicles collide around Shogo, making him stop.) {Truck driver} Where were you looking at, ya shithead! {Bus driver} What are you talking about, you dumb bastard! Aren't you the one who came plowing into me? {Truck driver} Let's slug it out, you sonvabitch! {Shogo} Get out of my way, lowlifes! I'm in a hurry! (Plainclothes agents come up to Shogo) {Agent 3} Are you all right? Have you been injured? {Shogo} No, I'm allright. (They grab him) {Agent 4} OK! Hold him down! {Agent 3} You hot shot punk! Enjoy your little prank? {Shogo} You slime! I haven't done anything! {Agent 4} Shut up, loudmouth! {Shogo} That hurts! (starts to back up bike) Let go of me, you fuckers! (The bike shoots forward. Agents still clinging to it) {Agent} Stop him! Get the key! (They crash into a record shop) {Shogo} Damn you! (Backs out, and roars down the street) {Agent 1} I'm sorry: he made a touchdown. The subject is fleeing on Gaien road, heading towards route 246. {B.D.} 2nd squad! Drive the target onto highway 3, and ready a transporter at the interchange. Well, Shogo Yahagi... (Shogo roars down the street like a guided missile: three pursuit bikes follow) {2nd squad leader} Target sighted. We'll driver him from the Yoyogi interchange to the highway. {Shogo} These guys? You wet farts! Ha! Watch this! {Radio voice} We've closed off East Gaien road. {Rider} Roger. (Shogo angles the bike so it scrapes off flying road chunks, downing one rider.) {Shogo} Why you crud! (Sees bulldozers blocking road, angles up a ramp onto another highway, sees pursuit bikes There isn't a single regular vehicle running here? This is a mess. (Tries the chunk strategy again, bike behind fires magnetic cables to the back of Shogo's bike and moves ahead) They've gotten ahead of me! Sons-of-bitches! (Bike in front fires cables, Shogo faces trucks ahead) Oh, shit. Am I gonna be canned? {Agent} Go straight ahead. (Driver pulls Shogo up truck ramp) {Shogo} At this point, I'll try anything! (Gives a rebel yell, pulls into reverse, tanking the bike pulling him along --- it smashes onto the highway nicely.) {Squad leader} Don't let him get away. Sargeant! Corporal! Transformation! {Sgt and Corporal} Roger. (Pull up ramp, bike starts to lock in with other components) {Sargeant} Unit #1. Transformation complete! {Squad leader} Hurry up with the capture. (Hurgund unit rises out of truck) {Sargeant} Target acquired. (Shogo breaks from the rear rider) {Squad leader} Stop---! (Goes flying. Hurgund #1 starts to fire net) {Shogo} Wha---What's this? {Sargeant} Corporal, circle around and sieze the target. {Corporal} Roger. {Shogo} Oh, no! This is unreal---(Stares) Those are robots! (The Hurgund unit leans out of the truck to grab Shogo, whose bike makes its own sudden transformation. The Hurgund unit thus tips over the truck, falls out of it, the other truck tries to avoid a collision and explosion, and fails. Shogo's bike crashes through the highway wall and lands unharmed in a playground) {Kid } It's a robot! {Kid 2} Mama! I'm scared! (The dust clears, and the bike transforms back into a bike.) {Shogo} Ow---huh? Is this for real? (Cheers) %% scene 7 {7} {Yui} Hello? {Shogo} (On pay phone) Oh, is that you? It's me, Shogo Yahagi. I have a request to make. Do you mind lending me the garage to your apartment? And I mean right now! {Yui} What do you mean? {Shogo} Please. I'm in a hurry, so I'll explain later. {Yui} I see. It's the New York-style guy...Well, come on down the street I mentioned before, and I'll be out in front of my apartment. {Shogo} Thank you! (Shogo, on the bike, arrives outside Yui's apartment) {Yui} I saw the TV show, all right. You were cut off right away. {Shogo} What? Cut off? What do you mean? {Yui} That's just what I want to ask you. For some reason, when you said something that I thought was incomprehensible, you disappeared with a snap. They said "Please stand by" and that was it. {Shogo} What does this mean? I was speaking to Eve with no problems... {Yui} So what's going on? {Shogo} Well, anyway, I can't have anybody see this. {Yui} The garage is in the basement. {Shogo} You're a lifesaver! (Drives in) (Entering Yui's apartment:) {Yui} It's a mess in here. {Shogo} Nice apartment you have here. Is the rent high? {Yui} It would be if I were living alone, you know. {Shogo} Oh, right. You're living with those other girls, aren't you. I jumped the gun. {Yui} Sounds like it. Have a seat. I'll get some tea. (Yui steps into kitchen. Shogo notices cat) {Yui} I guess you already know what Tomomi and Mai are doing. {Shogo} Yeah. Tomomi's an aspiring movie director. She's currently working as a scriptwriter. Mai is an aspiring vocalist, and she's singing at the Hard Rock. {Yui} I work at the Hard Rock Cafe, too. Why don't you come by when you have the time. {Shogo} Hey, I hold down a regular job, so don't kid me about my free time. {Yui} Oh? {Shogo} At the McDonald's on Aoyama street. {Yui} Really! We go there a lot. {Shogo} Well, I guess we've just never been there at the same time. {Yui} Hmm... I see... (strokes cat) {Shogo} You got a boyfriend? {Yui} Why? {Shogo} I was just asking. (Fan turns) Hey, will it be okay if you let me use that garage awhile? {Yui} I think it'll be all right. {The scene shifts to a public park. Yui turns from a fountain. {Yui} You'll be killed? {Shogo} That's no ordinary bike. I found that out in no uncertain terms when I tried to get it on TV. {Yui} That's why the TV reception was so strange. Why don't you get rid of something so unpleasant, and quickly? {Shogo} It's too late now. It's scary. But thrilling. {People in park} Besides, I feel as though my lost friend wouldn't rest in peace if I left things as they are, you konw? {Yui} You really feel for your friend, don't you. {Shogo} Well, it's just that it's not that clear-cut. {Yui} Scary but thrilling... That's how it is, isn't it. You don't feel like you're alive unless you're beating yourself against something, do you? {Shogo} You're understanding, aren't you? {Yui} Hardly! I just feel that now is the best time of all. {Yui} (soaks her hand in the fountain) {Yui} That feels good. {Shogo} Better than sex? {Yui} Oh, no! {Shogo} (smiles) {Yui} What type are you? {Shogo} You all ask the same thing. {Yui} It's like a matchmaker exchanging photos. {Shogo} Type B. {Yui} Oh? I don't dislike type B people, especially those who do foolish things passionately. {Shogo} You mean like me? (Blinks. Yui laughs.) Why, you! Hold it! {Yui} See? You're getting all worked up! (Cut to "The dancing zone" club. Yui walks down the steps. shogo is there waiting {Yui} Huh? What's going on? {Shogo} I've been waiting for you. You're not working tonight, are you? Can we go somewhere? (Cut to Tokyo Boulevard. Lit up) {Yui} I'm sorry, but I'm going to the TV station now. I got some work. (Night scenes flash by, with Yui and Shogo together.) {Shogo} Do you have to? {Yui} The pay's not great, but it's a chance to make connections. I have to do everything I can. You may laugh at me, but my dream is to appear on a broadway stage. {Shogo} That's good. That's wonderful. {Yui} Hey, if you'd like... {Shogo} The TV station? I wanted to see the inside of one, once. I'll go with you. scene 8 {8} (Hot night. In the studio, the "On Air" flashes. The famous few seconds of that dance number begins. Yui moves under the perspiration and hot lamps while Shogo stares after her, uncertain. The guitar rises, and a dozen girls brake to a halt.) {Director} Cut! Thank you, everybody. ( Yui walks down to Shogo, smiling. But a man in a suit behind Shogo claps for her.) {Shogo} Hey... {Yui} I'm sorry... I can't keep you company tonight, after all. {Shogo} What? {Yui} I have an important engagement. So long. ( Starts to leave ) {Shogo} Wait --- wait a second! {Yui} Excuse me, OK? (To producer) Sorry about that. I'll go change. {Producer} Well, then, the central hotel in an hour, OK? ( They walk out together ) {Shogo} (Growling) That jerk! (Beat. Shogo, on the bike, follows their trail to the hotel and maneuvers up the opposite parking garage. Yui looks out the hotel room window at it when the producer calls her name. {Yui} Yes? {Producer} Why don't you take a shower too? {Yui} Yeah, I'll do that. (Back in the parking garage) {Shogo} The hotel is right in front of this parking garage. The question is, which room are they in? ( He scans various rooms with the bike's surveilance equipment) Are they higher up? ( Backs up, crunching a seadan's headlight, and heads up to the next level, scanning various figures glowing white, he lets out a breadth ) (The bathroom- Yui, wrapped in a towel, looks uncertain for a moment. Then puts on a happy face and steps out. ) {Producer} My, but don't you look daring, Yui (Outside, Shogo is losing patience.) {Shogo} Damnit---where are they? (Meanwhile, the producer and Yui have their famous kiss. Shogo picks them up at last.) {Yui} No! {Producer} Don't you like it? {Yui} No! You're forcing me! {Producer} Just thinking about how I'm gonna make you a star! {Shogo} I found `em! (The romantic interlude is interrupted with Shogo smashing the bike, in transformed mode, into the hotel room. He proceeds to pick up Yui, cutely clad in a bedsheet, and makes a jet-assisted leap across the street, back to the packing garage. The producer quietly gibbers in a corner of the room's rubble. Now the bike is back to normal, and Yui blinks twice on the back of it.) {Yui} You Bum! (Then she holds onto him more tightly. Back in her apartment's garage, she laughs.) {Yui} I was sure surprised. It seems so unreal that a bike would turn into something like that. But you seem so straight--- (He slaps her) What did you do that for? {Shogo} What does this mean---you and a jerk like that? {Yui} That's got nothing to do with you! Why, this isn't some joke! You selfish person, making something like this happen! This is terrible! What right have you got? This is unreasonable! And just...and just when it seemed like I would have gotten a starring role. Well, so much for that! {Shogo} You'd sleep with some clown just to get a part?! {Yui} I think that's between him and me! Leave me alone! (She walks off, trailing the bedsheet like a princess' gown. Shogo's face says there is nothing he can say, as the scene pans into black.) {scene 9} {9} (Ever wonder what Shogo Yahagi does for a living? Here he is, unashamedly taking orders at McDonald's with a cheerfulness that escapes his American counterparts.) {Shogo} That's 2350 Yen. Out of 10,000 Yen, your change is 7650 Yen. Thank you very much. (Tomomi greets Shogo) Yeah! {Tomomi} I want to talk to you a bit. (They talk in a cafe) {Shogo} A movie? {Tomomi} Uh-huh, using that Bike. I hear it's terrific. {Shogo} From Yui? {Tomomi} Yeah, I heard all about it from her. {Shogo} That's not good, you know. I mean, it's a scary thing. {Tomomi} But we'll pull it off without using special effects, and besides, it looks cool. And you'll be the hero! And Yui would be good as the heroine, wouldn't she? {Shogo} Did she give her OK? {Tomomi} Uh-huh. {Shogo} It couldn't hurt to think about it. {Tomomi} You'll do it, won't you? (Cut to Shogo and Tomomi on the bike, riding around.) {Tomomi} Thanks a lot! Today I'm scouting for locations, so drive all over the place, OK? {Shogo} We don't have much time! (In her apartment, Yui is staring at the ceiling, talking to herself.) {Yui} I see... He gave his OK... {Mai} What? {Yui} Oh, uh, nothing... {Mai} C'mon, don't keep it from me! It's about Shogo, isn't it! (dives forward) {Yui} In the midst of a girl-fight Oh no! You're---you're wrong! It's not true! Stop it, Mai! (Back to the streets. Tomomi spies someone behind them.) {Tomomi} It's a cop! {\shogo} I know! He's been tailing me for a while. (He accelerates, the motorcycle cop turns on his siren and follows. They enter a tunnel, where Tomomi spies a branching tunnel.) {Tomomi} Shogo! That way! {Shogo} Right! (He shoots through, the barriers lowering for him, and the cop goes by.) {Tomomi} Looks like he's gone! {Shogo} Be that as it may, what is this road doing here? (With a grinding sound, the section of road they are on starts to drop down an elevator shaft. A new section of road replaces the gap.) {Tomomi} Oh, no! What's going on here? ( The elevator appears to make a slow turn) Now what? We're going up all of a sudden. (The elevator comes to a halt and its doors open. (Shogo moves the bike out a short distance --- I bet that cop is really gone now, isn't he---? (Shogo brakes to a sudden stop, staring. Tomomi bumps her nose against his shoulder) What'd you do that for? (Then she sees it, too...) (scene 10) (The hidden city. Before Shogo and Tomomi on the bike stretches out a vast chamber, miles wide. On the floor of the chamber is built a city, with hundreds of blocks, skyscrapers and freeways. On the roof of the chamber there is also a city, hanging impossibly upside-down. But both are equally dark and silent. In this whole vast construction, the only source of light is at the center of the chamber---where floodlit, tapering towers reach up from the floor and down from the roof to meet in a glowing juncture.) {Tomomi} There's even a city on the ceiling here. And yet this place is a ghost town, isn't it... (She takes out her camera and starts filming, focusing in on the center core) There's light in that one place. Looks like something's going on over there. (Shogo turns on the bike's surveilance equipment, and picks up a conversation.) {B.D.} We are clear, up through Bahamut 6. At present, we are attacking level 7G. {Shogo} It's the voice of that spook! (Flashback to B.D. in parking garage. {B.D.} Furthermore, I feel the man who stole that motorcycle is unaware of its connection to Bahamut. {Officer} If it is ever revealed that Bahamut is the supercomputer that is controlling the present era, it would be the death blow for the military. {Shogo} Bahamut? Is that the name of a computer? {B.D.} Even if that bunch of biker punks knew that that motorcycle will be Bahamut's undoing, they probably cannot comprehend what that would mean. {Tomomi} Wow! Bahamut --- a supercomputer? {Shogo} You head back from here... This is dangerous. {Tomomi} Yeah, I'd better get out of here, once I've got these scenes in my camera. What about you? {Shogo} I'll go back after I investigate a little more. Be seeing you. (He roars down the ramp. Tomomi films his departure. Looking near the core, he sees...) {Shogo} I see. That's the elevator that goes to the ceiling, isn't it. (He enters the elevator, which closes and starts to rise. He blinks.) {Shogo} This is weird! (The elevator shaft is streaked with frost. He shivers.) What's with this cold? (The bike automatically transforms to protect Shogo, and he notices that the elevator is starting to turn upside down.) I get it, somehow, gravity is working both up and down. (The elevator opens in the "upper city", and Shogo exits on his jets. But another combat-suited man on a hovering platform glides silently up behind him. {Soldier} Garland detected in block A3. Hurgund unit to block A2. {Shogo} Oh, hell! (The soldier opens up with a mounted gatling gun, punching basketball-sized holes in the building where Shogo was just a second before.) Why you crud, move out where I can see you! (The soldier obliges, and Shogo is forced to smash into a building for shelter. But then Shogo centers the soldier on his monitor) You've come right out in front of me, have you? {Soldier} Come out of there at once! (He fires. The shot passes through the building, then through the platform, which then explodes and triggers the collapse of the building that Shogo is hiding in. Shogo moves out, apparently into an underground subway system, where another platform appeears and starts firing on him. In no time at all, Shogo is in a melee with an armored soldier, in fact, the mysterious "B.D." Then, Shogo flies through a hole blasted in the floor.) {B.D.} Damn it! {Shogo} I'm not gonna die! (He flies out the "hole" and finds himself drifting in a cloud of floating metal debris) What the hell is this?!) (His scanners show what looks like the blackness of space... B.D. has followed) {B.D.} That fool! To think he'd come this far! (He opens fire on Shogo) {Shogo} Garland, stop your tailspin and shoot the bastard! (Shogo returns fire and blows B.D. from his position) {B.D.} What the---! (In desparation, he fires his magnetic tow cables, which connect with Shogo's gun hand. However, Shogo snaps one of the cables easily.) {Shogo} Again with the wires? Come off it! {B.D.} Wait! I want to talk to you. We'll drop down below as we are now.} {Shogo} Throw away your gun! And no funny moves, understand? I want to ask you something, too. (Keeping his gun trained on B.D., Shogo tows him back inside.) (Tomomi has finally made her way back to street level.) {Tomomi} This is an underground city built in secret who knows when! Or else it's a colossal open set. What better location to set the stage for an action film? "Wow!" (runs off.) {11} ("The penultimate truth", Shogo and B.D. are about to have a conversation in the ghost city. B.D. has just tossed his machine pistol to the ground, and Shogo picks it up. {Shogo} Is this what you said you wanted to talk about? {B.D.} Why did you save me? {Shogo} Did you already know that the place we're living in is the inside of a spaceship? {B.D.} Yes, I've known. Only the military have known all along. {Shogo} What? {B.D.} To put it accurately, it's not the military that has concealed it... Bahamut has done it to prevent its being known off. {Shogo} "Bahamut"? So what the hell is that? {B.D.} We, all of us, have been all along under the control of a monstrous computer called Bahamut. (Shogo stares) Bahamut has skillfully manipulated information so that it would not be suspected that we live on the inside of a space ship. With the exception of a handful, the people have been living unkonwingly in an illusion of a peace-hungry 20th century. Or rather, we've been allowed to live this way! {Shogo} Illusion? Then are you saying that everything is a false, computer-generated world? {B.D.} It has been five centuries of actual time since then. (Shogo is silent, then---) {Shogo} Did you say five centuries...? (Points gun) Just a minute---this is too much! Hey! Who said you could move? {B.D.} (Starting towards bike) Follow me. I'll show you something interesting. {Shogo} I'm telling you to stop! {B.D.} (Smiling) Don't worry. (Shogo is a mix of anger and resignation. (Shogo and B.D. stand above a military base sunk into the floor of the vast chamber. After observing the operations close up, B.D. turns to Shogo. {B.D.} This is our advance base for warding off external agression. {Shogo} What? {B.D.} In fact, radar has picked up an approaching artificial object of colossal dimensions. (Turns) Now I think you understand; our make-believe peace is at an end. {Shogo} Just great. (The planes are seen below.) {B.D.} These are the hard facts. {Shogo} What evidence have you got to indicate this other object is an enemy? {B.D.} You saw the wasteland of molten steel. The facts are that we are dealing with the crisis of an enemy invasion. For that reason, we have been working to increase our armaments ( scene of cental core-Bahamut) and accelerate weapons development in an underground where Bahamut's control does not reach. In the meantime, we have continued to approach Bahamut and search for the key that will realease us from the order to retreat enforced by the bastard's control. As a result, we cleared through level 6. (B.D. in half-face) All that remains is level 7. But at that time the Garland motorcycle we had secretly developed was stolen and taken to the surface---(We see the "Garland") that which you've been riding around on. It was absolutely not to have surfaced until we had deactivated level 7. {Shogo} So that's what this is all about! Once Bahamut falls into your hands, everything will be at your mercy. Even if war breaks out, the people on the surface won't know until it's too late! {B.D.} Until then, we'll put the thing to the best use. (Shogo starts to walk towards the Garland) I'll let you live if you work as my subordinate. If not, I'll kill you. {Shogo} That's funny. (Whirls around, pointing gun at B.D.) Let's see you do it! (B.D. stares straight at Shogo as the gun shakes in his hand. Finally, the target's face moves into a low grin, and Shogo fires. The bullet merely smearing a few black hairs of B.D.'s head. Then, he gives a slight look of interest as Shogo mounts Garland and rushes headlong for him, standing motionless as Shogo jacknifes the bike over him at the last moment, clearing him by inches. B.D. does not look as Shogo roars away, but after a moment, his face assumes a look of satisfaction, and he considers the gun that Shogo let drop to the ground.) %% scene 12 {12} (The script. A speaker pounds out music, and a class full of leotards moves in precision. The instructor claps his hands, then Yui's voice is heard:) {Yui} What! Tomomi? {Tomomi} If you're gonna be so disappointed, call him yourself! {Yui} You want something? (She is seen talking on phone.) {Tomomi} Remember, I said previously, that I was going to make a movie? Guess what? I'm serious. {Yui} And... {Tomomi} I still want him to play the lead. Is that OK? (Yui is quiet for a moment.) {Yui} You're the director. Do whatever you want. {Tomomi} Then it's OK, right? I want to make the preliminary arrangements tonight. Call him and set it up. {Yui} Me? (The speaker beats on...) (In the girls' apartment) {Tomomi} So, it'll be more or less like this. The cat meows One day, a motorcycle-loving youth and his girlfriend find out that their world is made entirely by a computer. Shogo looks out the window And then, this is where we get interesting. The two of them are targeted for death by some person or persons unknown, and defeat an organization which is trying to establish a military government behind the backs of the people. Well? How do you feel about it? (Yui says nothing. Tomomi moves to the couch to sit down.) Well, there are no guarantees of salary, since this'll be an independent production. But you'll do it, won't you? (She takes a sip of coffee. Shogo is silent.) {Yui} It's OK with me. {Tomomi} (To shogo) And what about you? You'll be perfect as the lead. {Yui} I imagine you're displeased, because I'll be playing opposite (Shogo turns his head) That was how you were when I called you. When I asked you why you quit your job, you said just one thing ... "It's nothing..." ...I shouldn't have called you. {Shogo} I'd been thinking about calling you. (Yui gives a start) This is nothing to do with your playing opposite me. I'm just depressed... (Tomomi looks at him questioningly. The sound of the door is heard. And Mai rushes in.) {Mai} I did it! I did it! {Tomomi} Hi! {Mai} And I feel terrific! {Tomomi} What is it, Mai? {Mai} Don't be surprised at what you hear, but I'm going to be doing the backup for that popular singer, Eve Tokimatsuri! Ta-daa! {Tomomi} Really? {Yui} That's terrific! {Mai} I was scouted. {Tomomi} You did it! This'll be your chance to be in the limelight! You did it! {Yui} You're such a big fan of hers, too, and that just makes it the very best, doesn't it! {Mai} Thank you! {Shogo} (Getting up) Well then... {Mai} Oh, no! I didn't see you! {Tomomi} Are you leaving? {Mai} Hey, hey! Let's all have a real blowout! My treat! {Tomomi} Why don't you just relax? Besides, I want to talk about the movie some more. {Shogo} (Hand on door.) Here's what you ought to do with the movie. {Tomomi} What? {Shogo} In a place we don't know about, there was an entity controlling time ... In fact, that computer controlled time and simultaneously was controlling a spaceship as well. {Tomomi} A spaceship? {Mai} What are you talking about? {Shogo} In other words, we're living inside a huge spaceship and beyond it is space... {Tomomi} Oh, you mean S.F.? {Shogo} (Smiles) Just a thought. Might be interesting... (He leaves.) %% scene 13 {13} (The spark. An elevator is going down, overlooking the secret underground base. The military chief speaks to his subordinates.) {Chief} Such weapons as we have on hand don't even bear talking about. How's the development of the FX plane coming? {Aide} It is proceeding; However, the parts we cannot make up on the surface will inevitably result in a loss of time. {Chief} Not Bahamut again! {B.D.} At present, we have deactivated 70% of level 7. The rest is just a matter of time. {Chief} There's an object approaching on course 24--19. We can'at delay. {B.D.} I understand. {Aide} Then hurry it up! (The chief and his aide depart by car. B.D. and Nakao salute, then:) {B.D.} If push came to shove, I have a feeling I know how they would act. {Nakao} My men are also of the same feeling. No one trusts the superior officers who are thinking only of self-preservation now. (They watch the car depart.) {B.D.} Our time is coming... If it doesn't, we'll make it come! %% scene 14 {14} (In the realm of the present, Tomomi has begun filming. Yui is on the back of Shogo's bike once more.) {Yui} OK. I won't ask you anymore; not even why you quit your job. {Shogo} I want to tell you, but right now... {Yui} So I said, it's OK! {Tomomi} That's good! Just like that! (She films, the camera returns to her.) Great! (They roar under an overhead highway.) {Shogo} Is it true, what you were telling me? {Yui} That's what Mai said. {Shogo} That's ridiculous! Who ever heard of a show with Eve where the woman herself doesn't show up? {Yui} Mai was really disappointed. {Shogo} What happens to the scenes of the two of them together? {Yui} It seems they're going to splice in film of her afterwards ... But it's strange, you know? {Shogo} What is? {Yui} We haven't once seen Eve in concert. The only place we see her is on TV. (That suddenly occurs to Shogo, too... And the music comes to an abrupt twisting down. %% scene 15 {15} (The dis-illusion. At the MDC studios, Shogo makes his way to sound stage B-1. Disguiesed as a porter, he finds a studio filled with nothing but television monitors of Eve singing. Suddenly, the music comes to a halt ... {Tech 1} Hey, stop! Stop the recording! (Shogo looks up and realizes the voice is coming from the control room above.) The instructions are here. Rewind 3 seconds and 7 frames. {Tech 2} OK. I see. (Eve's image rewinds on the monitors.) {Shogo} What's this? {Tech 1} That's one helluva computer. It's thinking up the music and the lyrics at the same time. (Pan over monitors, also showing Eve in schemeatic. {Tech 2} And it corrects mistakes in choreography. {Tech 1} This new song'll be real popular, I bet. (They laugh.) (The computer-generated idol sings of love and points at Shogo, burning with a new torch of anger. Then, he is screaming down the night streets on Garland.) {Shogo} We're---we're all being played for suckers! (He nearly side-swipes a cab.) {Taxi driver} Fucker! (Next, he almosts kills two people crossing the street. Police lights and sirens are behind him.) {Shogo} I won't be caught! (Chaos ensues as the cop car races after Shogo. Cars crash, and Shogo jerks the Garland out of sight around a corner. When the police follow, Garland is now the converted war machine. The cops barely have time to exit before Shogo kicks the patrol car over end. It lands upside down and bursts into flame, the first fire ignighted by his rage. Late that night, B.D. recieves a call in bed ... {B.D.} It's me. What? Garland wrecked a patrol car? {Voice} And he's here demanding to speak to you. How shall I handle it? {B.D.} I understand. Put him through. {Voice} Yes, sir. (B.D. waits) {Shogo} It's me. (Shogo in phone booth) {Shogo} You know Eve Tokimatsuri? Good woman, isn't she? I just met her. {B.D.} So? {Shogo} Quit making fools out of us! {B.D.} It appears you've detected her true identity. But you're laying this at the wrong doorstep in telling me. Bahamut is the one who created her. {Shogo} I'm going to expose this! Every last bit! {B.D.} Please, be my guest! Remember when you first showed the bike to the TV station? {Shogo} That was you? (Hears sirens.) Well, get this. Don't rest easy just because you've got the media under your thumb! There's all sorts of possibilities! (He hangs up. B.D. smiles ...) %% scene 16 {The first and last revelation. In the underground city, B.D. and his lieutenant, Nakao, enter their war room. {B.D.} What are our boy's movements and range? {Soldier} Recording 4.0.0 on capture counter. Codename "Oezalg" is approaching us at 517 Msh/s. {B.D.} That's fast...What's the status on the interpretation of Bahamut's programming? {Soldier} They are reporting that they are presently searching for level 7's control code. {B.D.} There's no time. Tell them to hurry it up! {Soldier} Yes, sir. (The scene shifts to the below-freezing computer center.) {Voice} Commands and statements from level 7 have been changed to Eve. Check each memory map. (Long lists of commands scroll past on the screen. A programmer types feverishly) {Programmer 1} There it is! The Eve interpreter is being entered into the slave ROM in the work area from address ADDD to address 9FFF. {Programmer 2) All right. All we have left to do now is to convert this language into machine language. (In the central core, sirens go off. An "Eve" logo flashes in red on the screen. The second programmer looks up.) {Programmer 2} Bahamut is screaming. (From the depths of the supercomputer, and from the monitor in Garland, a voice issues.) {Eve} Level 7G operator, level 7G operator, please back me up. {Shogo} Eve? (Her face appears on the screen.) {Eve} Level 7G operator. Please open the file with the RAM cartridge. (Shogo turns Garland into an alley and brakes to a halt. I am Eve, a program created by you, mankind. Under the provisions of data 5930, I will execute code number 86. (Shogo stares blankly) Under the provisions of data 5930, I will execute code number 86. Request authorization to proceed.) {Shogo} Oh, I understand. Please. (An image of a blue green planet appears on the monitor.) {Eve} This is the war that broke out on number 01, according to data (Scenes of nuclear detonations) Men destroyed that planet with their own hands. (Orbital platforms are lased.) And so they departed into space to seek out a second habitable planet. But fighting broke out a second time in space, and the escape spaceship suffered great damage, in which half of it was turned into an uninhabitable wasteland. (The monitor shows two orbits converging.) {Shogo} Wateland...! (He remembers the wreckage in orbit with the ship.) {Eve} (As orbits converge on the monitor) It is now 4,321,260 hours since data 5930; in other words, 500 years have elapsed up to now, and the people are attempting to commit the same error again. (Eve's face) This ship will meet the same fate as number 01. {Shogo} What is "number 01"? {Eve} It stands for Earth, your homeworld. {Shogo} Earth? Are you saying that the enemy are Earth people, like us? {Eve} If I, that is to say, Eve, the seventh program of Bahamut, am running, I am capable of protecting all of you. It is for this reason that I was programmed. I am now facing an attempt at my termination. {Eve's face} If I should be terminated, the present peace will also end as well. {Shogo} Wait. Tell me just one thing. Why did you base this world in the late 20th century? Why did you make us think that's what this was? {Eve} (Smiling maternally) That was because that was the most peaceful time of all, as far as human beings were concerned. {Shogo} (Remembering what Yui once said) "I just feel that now is the ebst time of all ..." {Eve} (Drawing back, the simulacrum is naked and vulnerable) Help me! I'm being terminated! (The screen goes blank, and Shogo is left shaking.) %% scene 17 {17} (The final seconds before impact. In the apartment, the girls are watching a film of Garund's transformation.) {Tomomi} That's hot! Next we'll watch Yui's acting. (The phone rings. Mai gets it.) {Mai} Hello? Oh, yes, we're watching yesterday's rushes right now. You look just fine. Hold on, I'll get her now. It's our hero. (Hands phone to Yui) {Yui} Hello? What? Right now? {Tomomi} It's a date! {Yui} No matter what? {Tomomi} Get going! {Mai} Get out of here! {Yui} What do I do? (Meanwhile, in the military war room.) {Soldier} Range count: 200! {B.D.} What about Bahamut? (Cut to computer center.) {Programmer 2} We are presently converting the Eve program into machine language. We will complete the conversion in three hours. {Shogo} (in a cafe bar.) {YUI} (Shogo is silent) Hey---tell me what's wrong. {Shogo} Let's have sex. {Yui} What? Just like that? {Shogo} (Looking exasperated) I wanna wrap my arms around you. {Yui} Hell, can't you be a little more romantic? {Shogo} (Gets up) If you don't want to, it's OK. (Yui calls his name, but he walks out.) {Yui} (Following him) Hold it! (He stops. His hand against a tree.) What's wrong? What's irritating you? {Shogo} It's OK if you don't want to. {Yui} What do you mean? As if you didn't call me out here ... {Shogo} Yui, I don't know what to do. I just don't know! What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do, Yui? (His head is against the tree. Yui lowers his eyes.) (In the computer center) {Programmer 2} We have just completed converting the program into machine language. We are now saving the converted program. There's a little more to go. {B.D.} (On war room phone) All right. I'll inform the superior officers. Give it all you've got. (He hangs up and turns to Nakao.) The time has come to execute our plan. (Nakao nods.) (Shogo and Yui walks into her bedroom. She looks uncertain, then turns on the TV. Eve is there---as always.) {Yui} That's Eve's new song. {Shogo} Turn that off. (He reaches down and does so.) {Yui} That was selfish. (His next move is to grab and kiss her. They fall to the bed.) {Mai is watching Eve on TV. Suddenly, Eve cries out: {Eve} Help me! I'm being murdered! ("Please stand by" appears on screen) {Mai} What? What's going on? (In the computer center, the words that the military has waited perhaps 5 centuries to hear.) {Programmer 2} We have just cleared Bahamut. {B.D.} (On phone) All right. We'll complete the transfer over those programs that Bahamut was controlling which stand in our way. Continue supervising. (To Nakao) It's a go. %% scene 18 {18} Coup D'etat. The "Please stand by" message is replaced by a tense news broadcaster. {Announcer} We interupt this program to bring you this emergency news bulletin. According to a bulletin we have just received via telex, A ship is seen burning one of our country's tankers, the 35,000-ton Akebono Maru, has just been hit (Mai stares at the screen) by a missile from a killer satellite, and exploded and burned in the Pacific while en route to our shores. According to military experts, such an event was previously predicted, but its realization now has placed the Foreign Ministry in a state of shock. We will bring you further details as we receive them. (The TV cuts back to Eve.) {Eve} (Singing) "...forget already..." (Mai blinks, then smiles.) (Shogo in bed. In the night streets outside, citizens look on in amazement as armored personnel carriers rush through the city. Several pull into the self-defense forces headquarters. The executive officers are drinking and laughing, when B.D. and a cadre of assault rifle-toting men burst in.) {Chief} What's the meaning of this? (B.D. steps forward) {B.D.} I have come for your life. {Chief} B.D? (B.D. raises his pistol and shoots the chief in the head and chest. The others in the room reach for their guns.) {Voice} WHat do you think you're doing---? (Three seconds of automatic fire conclude B.D.'s operation. He picks up a walkie-talkie from a soldier.) {B.D.} Operation A complete. How's it going there? {Soldier} We presently occupy the TV station, and are heading for the diet building. {B.D.} Roger. (Shogo and Yui make love, we hear their conversation, seemingly communicated elsewhere.) {Shogo} Yui, please believe me. What I am about to tell you is completely true. {Yui} Tell me? {Shogo} You know that SF film we're making with Tomomi? It's not some day dream. It's all for real. {Yui} That can't be! {Shogo} Let me tell you from the top about how I came to know this ecret. (At police HQ, the cops put up a desperate defence, but are annihilated by the army troops. At the diet building, the iron gates are blown open and men pour in. Across town, people stare out their balconies in wonder at the fire and noise downtown. One man, Eigen Yumekanou, also watches but already knows the red glow's significance. The phone rigns and he picks it up.) {Yumekanou} Yumekanou speaking. {B.D.} It's me, B.D. {Yumekanou} Did you carry out the plan? {B.D.} Mission accomplished. Mr.Yumekanou, you now stand at the top of the financial world. My congratulatoins. {Yumekanou} Very well. The financial world will support you completely. (He hangs up) So we've finally conquered Bahamut. Now the weapons industry can also operate with impunity. (The camera pans over to a picture of his daughter on the desk---Mai.) (In the prime minister's residence, B.D. walks past the corpses of two bodyguards to speak.) {B.D.} Mr.Premier, you need not do anything. In the aftermath---no. From now on we will do everything, so please go along with what we say. (He smiles) If you do, all will be well. (The P.M. sinks in despair.) (In Coco's bike shop, the TV is on.) {Announcer} We made this announcement several times a short while ago, but another of our country's supertankers was attacked and sunk by a missile from a killer satellite one hour ago. (Mori and Chombo rush in.) {Chombo} Coco! Turn on the TV set! (He shushes them, a commentator speaks:) {Commentator} They can't say this was an accidental bombing, too. This was clearly intentional. The government, by all rights, may have no choice but to relatiliate. {Announcer} This just in. According to reports, the government has determined that a certain enemy nation is invading our country. The PrimeMinister will broadcast an emergency speech within the hour, with a press conference to follow. {Mori} Invasion? So that's it. {Coco} What's going on? {Chombo} What's going on?! There are tanks running around in the city. Sure blew me away. {Coco} Tanks? They haven't said a word about that on TV. {Chombo} But man, those tanks were cool. They go pretty fast, too. %% Scene 19 {19} (The night of passions.) {Yui} So you're saying that the city we're living in is inside a spaceship? {Shogo} That's right. We've been living in a world created by a supercomputer called Bahamut. {Yui} Then the countryside and foreign countries... {Shogo} There are no such things. {Yui} That can't be! I have friends who have actually gone to places like America and Europe. Mai, for example. {Shogo} Those who say they went are hypnotized by Bahamut's power and returned here. {Yui} No! {Shogo} Even the well-wishers are all hypnotized as soon as they arrive at the airport. Now that I think of it, it was so we would be kept ignorant of the world outside this city. {Yui} So all the person really gets is a feeling that he went. {Shogo} That's right. The reverse side is a world of paper-mach'e stage props. (In the war room, the first encounter has begun.) {Soldier} Unidentified flying objects on course trace, 180 seconds to touchdown. (He broadcasts to B.D. in his mobile command truck) Rimarl squadron, currently patrolling sector 3B, is heading to intercept. {B.D.} Destroy them at all costs. (Shogo and Yui) {Shogo} Right now, they're trying to start a war between the spaceships. I was approached by a military bigshot to join them. It's impossible that you'd believe anything so surrealistic. {Yui} I believe you...whatever you say. {Shogo} Yui, you're the only one who will believe me. (Back in the war room:) {Soldier} Rimarl squadron has made contact with U2. Rockwell, stand by to scramble. (Within the cloud of metal debris on the periphery of the ship, combat suits are firing on indistinct targets. A brace of strike ships is ready to go on a projecting-rack launchter.) {Soldier} Rimarl is in combat with U2. Launch fighters. {Soldier} Rockwell, scramble! Go! {Soldier} Ok, Scorpion, stand by to launch. (All ships launch. They hurtle up a launch corridor.) {Squad leader} Rimarl's signals have disappeared? {Radio} Yes, they are thought to have been shot down! {Squad leader} Target identified! All craft, formation A! (A shadow bears down, and a burst of fire explodes the cockpit shield. It takes the squad leader only seconds to die under the explosive decompression.) (Beams of fire, high-density rounds and missiles explode across the darkness. One soldier launches a fragmentation missile. {Soldier} Take this, you fuckers! (But the effectiveness of this, if any, is incomprehensible in the chaos of light and blackness. Rockwell calling Michael...U2 has suffered serious damage... The main force is completely destroyed.) %% scene 20 {20} (Shogo awakens to the sound of wheels and rotors turning outside. So does Yui.) {Yui} What's the matter? {Shogo} It's noisy outside. Turn on the TV. (She does.) (The scene is looking down a boulevard, with a column of armored vehicles approaching.) {Announcer} Traffic in the vicinity has already been blocked off. There's not a single car on the road. (The vehicles approach, preceded by a motorcycle escort.) Here they come! It's the MT-1 Hell Peacock armored missile launchers, with military motorcycle escort. It's a new weapon (Cut to Yui and Shogo) our country is proud of! Our citizens have never seen such weaponry before. Salarymen on their way to work are also overwhelmed by this grandeur and look on. Coming up next we have...our newest war machine, the M-21 Anaconda heavy tank! What an impressive sight! {Yui} What's happening? Are we going to war? {Announcer} These are the heart of the 803rd unit of the metropolitan defense force. It's a magnificent procession they're making towards the diet building. {Shogo} Bahamut has fallen! (At the TV studios, B.D. is delivering his speech.) {B.D.} Last night we engaged the enemy in a classified location and shot down their entire fleet. The military will meet any further infringement (Cut to people in city watching TV) on our country's territory with an attitude of determination. All I can say now is that the enemy is a certain country, but events are unfolding, which we could not have thought of in our dreams, (Cut to girls' apartment, where Mai stares wide-eyed at the screen) given the peaceful world we lived in until yesterday. My fellow countrymen, the crisis is fast approaching. I call on everyone to cooperate even more than you are already. {Mai} (To Tomomi) Did you see this? It's war! It's war! {Tomomi} I'm at war too! I've got to finish shooting today. You hurry up and get changed and get yesterday's rushes from the camera store. {Mai} OK. (Shogo and Yui in the final scene of her film.) {Tomomi} OK, we're all finished, after this scene. (Runs over to camera) So! Put everything you've got into this take. Ready...start! (Mai claps the board.) {Shogo} If I go to war, I don't know if I'll return safely or not. Is that all right? {Yui} Yes. I'll be waiting forever. {Tomomi} That'the way to play it. (A burst of feedback hits her camera, and Eve's voice booms out.) {Eve} Attention everybody! Let's all stand up together to protect our peace and freedom from the invaders. (Everyone looks up at the giant TV screen of the studio Alza department store. A Japanese flag flutters, jet fighters and tanks attack, and Eve, dressed in a cute army outfit, begins to sing.) song You, all alone in town, being swept away Worrying about today, dreaming about tommorrow {Mai} It's Eve! (Eve continues:) You only see that you can't do anything. (She pauses, and her audience below appears nonplussed. One boy shrugs) (Eve continues singing:) But you yourself have chosen to believe there'll be a tomorrow I wonder what you would do If you knew there wouldn't be a tomorrow {Shogo} I wonder if we're going to be drafted? {Yui} No! Oh no! (They look at each other, and Tomomi mans the camera again.) {Tomomi} That looks great. Now let's get that feeling one more time!} (Shogo watches Coco repair a bike.) {Shogo} Killing time, huh? {Coco} There's tanks all over the place. It's so dangerous I can't even get back to my family! I have the military to thank for this crap! (A newscast appears on Coco's TV.) {Announcer} Today, 1200 young men showed up in response (cut to teenagers in undershirts, waiting in line) to a call by the army for volunteers, and the administrators were overwhelmed. (In examination room, holding a microphone) Let's find out quickly what today's youth is feeling about trying to become a soldier. (Interview Mori) {Mori} Well, it's really cool to be called a special national public servant, and there's the uniform and the M-16, and of course, they get strict. (Snaps a salute) But actually, it's for my country---well, not really, but---(laughs nervously) {Shogo} Mori! {Coco} And that was Chombo behind him. I thought I hadn't seen them around in a while. (Slams fist against bike) What do those fools think they're doing? (Shogo stares hard.) %% scene 21 {21} (Shogo and Mai are talking. Shogo puts down his drink.) {Shogo} Are you still working for Eve Tokimatsuri's campaign? {Mai} Well, yeah. But as you know. There's been so much military control lately that it's no fun any more. (Yui arrives) Did Tomomi say she was coming? {Yui} (Sitting down) No, she says that time, even to sleep, is precious, now that she's editing the finale. (Turns to Shogo) She wanted me to bring back some burgers and beer. {Mai} Oh, no. She's gonna pot out, since all she does is drink beer. (In the apartment, Tomomi is checking the film, turning the reels by hand.) {Tomomi} Good, good. (We see the footage of the bike on the screen) The composition and proportion are skillfully done. Great. I'm going to surprise them all! (Behind her, the door to the opens silently. One foot steps in, then Tomomi, clutching a reel of film, hears the door close.) {Tomomi} Mai? Is that you? (Turning, she sees a man in a dark suit and sunglasses, pointing a gleaming automatic at her. She gets out of her chair...) ...What are you doing? (One silenced shot is fired into her head, and blood and film reel out as she falls backwards, spiraling down with one final thought: Why? Why? Why? ) (The agent walks over her body and examines one of the reels of film. Then he nods to a partner waiting at the door, who speaks softly into a walkie-talkie.) {Agent} We have disposed of the matter. {B.D.} Good work. Gather up the negatives and any other important items. (Smiling, he dismisses the matter with a wave of the hand, and his corrupt face recedes into blackness. The darkness is cut through by a scream---Mai's scream, when she and her friends discover Tomomi. Her bag of groceries falls to the floor and she stans shaking. Shogo starts forward.) {Yui} Tomomi...Who would have done such a thing? (Shogo kneels down beside Tomomi and shakes his head in the final confirmation: Mai screams and flees into her room. Shogo looks down at the projector in disarray and knows the answer.) {Shogo} That fucking bastard! (He strides towards Yui, and she is frantic:) {Yui} Where are you going!? {Shogo} I'll come back. I promise. (Having said this with his eyes closed, he quickly runs out after she says his name almost inaudiably. Yui turns to the sobbing in Mai's room, and wiping her own eyes, rushes to her.) {Yui} Mai! Mai, we've got to let the police know. (The phone rings, and Yui, with trembling hand, picks it up.) Hello? Yes, she's here. I'll put her on. Mai! It's your father! It's from your father. (Mai moves up and cradles the phone in her arms.) {Mai} Papa? {Yumekanou} Is that Mai? {Mai} Papa? That's you, isn't it? {Yumekanou} I've looked all over for you, Mai. Mama's worrying, too. Well? Won't you come home now? The world will be a changed place from now on. It'll be hard to live the do-as-you-please way you've lived up to now. You can come back any time, because this is your home. {Mai} (screaming Papa!) {With his words, Mai knows that she is truly lost. The windows are open to he outside, where Shogo burns through tunnel, smashing barriers.) {Shogo} You bastard! I'm not letting you get away with this! %% scene 22 Showdown. (In the mobile command post, B.D. is recieving an intelligence briefing from his staff officers.) {1st Officer} These are the results of our examination of the enemy patrol ship's specifications. In short, the enemy's weapons are 50 years ahead of ours. (A short silence follows this.) {B.D.} Inferior though we might be, we cannot back out now. All we can do is fight. {1st Officer} Now that we have their weapons, we can duplicate their know-how, given a few days. {2nd Officer} The enemy's strength is an unknown quantity to us. How do we set up our strategy? {1st Officer} According to the records, the last battle, 500 years ago, ended in a draw. However, in our present situation, there is a 50-year gap in weapons technology. It is also rightly felt that we are inferior in numbers. Moreover, the question of the enemy's racial purity is a most important factor to be considered in our strategy. {B.D.} Listen up, all of you, and get this into your heads! There is nothing after this. Think only about strategies for winning! {1st Officer} I'm sorry, sir. (Shogo is in the underground city, racing towards the computer core.) {Shogo} I'm going to destroy Bahamut! (He is picked up on a monitor as two men on assault platforms cruise by.) {Turkey 1} Turkey 1 calling full house. I have an intruder in the center section of block B1, en route to block AB and Bahamut. Request a Hurgund squad for assistance. {Radio Voice} Roger. (The platform's gatling guns cut loose and track the Garland.) {Shogo} Watch this! (He converts and smashes straight into a building. There is an explosion within, and the flying platforms move in over the smoke.) {Turkey 2} Got him! (Starts lowering down) No signal on my sensor sweep. I'm going down to see what's going on. {Turkey 1} Hey! It's still dangerous! Come back up! (Turkey 2 moves in, Shogo zeroes him in on his targetting computer, and he fires a single shot that passes through Turkey 2's platorm. It explodes a second later.) Turkey 1 calling Barbland squadron. Target is using sensor reduction. I lost sight of him on route 28, block A5. (Shogo leaves the dust behind. Barbland squadron, consisting of three Hurgund units attached to flying platforms, glides through the stale air.) {Barbland leader} Barbland leader to squadron. The target has got to come through here. (They detach and land) Land in formation 1. Shoot on sight! {Squad} Roger! (The squad faces towards the approaching dust cloud.) (Shogo passes below:) {Aerial observer} Heat source approach! Energy reaction in line of fire! (Shogo, moving like a rocket, smashes through the wall of the computer core.) {Soldier 1} It's him! {Soldier 2} He ran the gauntlet at full speed? Impossible! {Barbland leader} What's "impossible"? {Soldier 2} I'm sorry, sir. He's penetrated inside Bahamut. {Barbland leader} What is this guy doing? Lawson calling headquarters. Request permission to use weapons within Bahamut. (Cut to B.D.) {B.D.} At this critical time...Let those incompetents use light sabers, and don't let him get away! Understand? (Shogo's sensors have led him to his target) {Shogo} To think that you created our city! (He levels his gun at the computer core, but only a click answers his triggter.) Out of ammo! Here they come! (Hergunds on the flying platforms soar into the chamber, but Shogo hides in the roof piping. He sights one of the Hergunds' assault pistols.) His gun will do. (He drops down on the unit, grabbing the weapon. The terrified soldier ejects and promptly impacts into the roof.) (Shogo fires several shots and then runs off.) {Shogo} Where are you, you bastard? (He takes a shot in the back) I can't stand this! (He ignites his back jets and shoots up an elevator shaft into an open chamber.) Oh shit! (B.D. is waiting for him.) {B.D.} (In Hergund suit) Yes, it's me. Do you understand, Mr.Yahagi? It seems I can't leave you to my incompetent men. (Activates lightsaber.) Shall I chop you into little bits? Though, you don't anything about what kind of times these are now, do you? (His saber smashes into Shogo's shield) {Shogo} Damnit! Even the bike seems to be crapping out. But my spirit will save me from defeat! (He sidesteps and shoots) {B.D.} You think you're hot stuff, don't you? {Shogo} Fucker! (Shogo's shots go wild or impact only on B.D.'s shield. Then the gun is empty.) What's wrong? Out of ammuniction, are you? {Shogo} (Quickly converting his gun to lightsaber mode) You're insulting me! {B.D.} Here we go! What's your problem? (His saber strikes the Garland's right shoulder, and B.D. then kicks him upside the head. He spears him in the chest panel, and Garland falls to the ground.) Where'd your spirit go? (Inside the bike, the electronic systems are starting to short out and so is Shogo) Where'd all your earlier enthusiasm go? (Kicks him in the head again) Hey! Stand up! (B.D. hauls the useless Garland up.) Now you understand my power. I owed you a debt, didn't I? Now we're even. (He hurls Shogo down an elevator shaft , where he lands on a platform which begins to rise, out of sight, to the surface.) Operation complete. All hands return to base. {Radio Voice} Major, a second enemy wave is approaching this ship at high speed.} {B.D.} All right, I'll be right there! %% scene 23 Saying goodbye. (Mai stands, holding her packed bag, in her dark and silent room. She opens the door to meet Yui, who is waiting outside. Mai sobs and calls Yui's name, rushing forth to hug her.) {Mai} I'm sorry...I'm sorry... I won't forget that I lived here...or all my friends... {Yui} You have a place to go back to... You have to go home. {Mai} What'll you do now? You'll be all alone. {Yui} I'll think about it...When he gets back. {Mai} That's right... You two be happy, OK? {Yui} You, too. (As she moves away, Mai tries to smile one last time.) {Mai} I was happy here... Good-bye! (Still crying, she leaves. Yui walks to the balcony and looks out as Mai is about to step into a limousine manned by more men in dark suits and sunglasses. Mai stops and exchange a long glance with Yui, but there is no message between them. As the limo pulls away, Yui cries out.) {Yui} Mai...Tomomi...Keep believing that now is the best time of all! (With that lie collapsing her entire world of lies, Yui too falls down.) (Shogo lies in the shattered hulk of the Garland. As pain brings him out of unconciousness, Eve appears on his screen, sweetly singing.) {Eve} Please listen to "Lullabye of the wind." (Eve sings:) What am I dreaming of --- your lips Hesitant hearts at our fingertips Chase the wind Hold love tight Before this pale town crumbles away to nothing The sky reflected in skyscraper windows Wants to bring me to you At the first light of morning I want to give you my heart Lullabye of the wind --- I'll tell it to you Lullabye of the wind --- I'll sing it to you I've already forgotten your lonely silhouette. (Shogo opens the bike and pulls himself out. Yui, standing alone, looks over her empty apartment, and steps out onto the balcony, looking up at the starts, but turns away from their deceptive hope. One other refugee from this world knows the secret, and as the song ends, she whispers his name.) {24} AT LAST!!! (Shogo Yahagi. It is dawn in Megazone two three, and a trail of blood from Garland leads to Shogo, wincing in agony as he pulls himself along with a metal pole. When he collapses, images of B.D. and his defeat flash through his mind. As he gets up again, a song starts, Samishikute Nemurenai: "You can't sleep alone".) You met by chance in the heart of town She's a sunny disposition, but somewhere, a sad city girl You can't meet for awhile after that, But the town's gossips worry you. Somewhere a heartache, once more, in vain You saw the place where you took her walking If this song runs gently to the end Go on back with the story, will you? (Shogo's mind. The dark secret lies below, and the dark truth lies above, but the memories of happiness are just as real, and images of Yui fill Shogo's mind. Alone on the street s of the city, he throws away his crutch, and Shogo Yahagi keeps walking. THE END. Credits- Masato Kubota as Shogo Yahagi Maria Kawamura as Yui Takanaka Mina Tominaga as Tomomi Murashita Mayumi Sho as Mai Yumekanou Kaneto Shiozawa as B.D. Kumi Miyasato as Eve Tokimatsuri Yuji Miya as "Mori"(Hiroki Mori) Katsumi Toriumi as "Chombo"(Shigeru Tomoda) Ikuya Sawaki as Lt.Nakao Kiyoshi Kobayashi as Eigen Yumekanou Ichiro Itano as the navigator Produced at Artmic and Artland by Hideaki Suda and Shuichi Konodera Executive producers: Idol Corp. and Victor Music Corp. Planning by Toshimitsu Suzuki Story by Noboru Ishiguro Produced by Toru Sagami Screenplay by Hiroyuki Hoshiyama Original character design by Toshihiro Hirano Special guest design (For "Eve Tokimatsuri") by Haruhiko Mikimoto Action sequences directed by Ichiro Itano Mecha supervised by Shogi Kubota Mechanical design by Hideki Kakinuma, Shinshi Aramaki, and Take Miyao. Art direction by Mitsuki Nakamura Title design by Yutaka Murakami Sound direction by Yasunori Honda Director of photography --- Kenichi Yoshizaka Music by Shiro Sagisu "Sentimental behind our backs" ("Senakagoshini Sentimental") "Lullabye of the wind" ("Kaze No Lullabye") "Tommorrow Blues" Lyrics by Noriko Sagami Music by Hiroaki Serizawa Arranged by Shiro Sagisu Performed by Kumi Miyasato Lyrics by George Sakai Music and arrangement by Shiro Sagisu Performed by Kumi Miyasato "You can't sleep alone" ("Samishikute Nemurenai") Lyrics by George Sakai Music and arrangement by Shiro Sagisu Performed by Yuka Takeuchi Original motion picture soundtrack available on Victor records. Directors of animation --- Toshihiro Hirano, Ichiro Itano, and Haruhiko % Mikimoto Edited by Hideko Nishizui Directed by Noboru Ishiguro