Golden

By

Snarky Productions

1 EXT. JFK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT - DAY 1

The year is 2189. The sky is clear, and traffic is pouring

into the Outside the JFK International Airport, people

wearing primarily business casual attire are hustling to and

from the entrance. Some of them are accompanied by people

behaving as personal assistants. Families and drivers stand

with holographic signs displaying last names and faces of

people, as they search for returning loved ones and

employers.

A middle-aged man with dark-brown hair and glasses, HARRIS,

stands with the holographic image of a young woman with the

last name CARTER, blinking. He’s speaking to himself on a

small headset device, barely visible.

HARRIS

(into the headset)

She should be here. The "lander"

is blinking now. (beat) Take her

out to dinner? I thought we were

staying in her first night in the

city?

Harris makes a glance at the people rushing outside the

airport and catches a glimpse of the woman displayed on his

holograph.

HARRIS (CON’T)

Ah! Just found her. I’ll call you

back.

(hangs up the call)

Natalie!! Hey!

Harris whistles. NATALIE, a tall and skinny blond, wearing

a red blouse and pencil skirt, rolls two large traveling

bags behind her back. Without a doubt, she is a member of

society’s Gold Class. When she hears her name being called,

she stops walking. She looks around until she spots Harris,

who is still shouting her name. She has never seen the man

calling for her before in her life. Cautiously, Natalie

walks toward him.

NATALIE

Um. Hello...

HARRIS

Natalie Carter? Of course it’s

you. The lander upgrade has been

such a convenience in picking up

people for your aunt. It’s more

difficult to pick up the wrong

people with the right name. How

was your flight? Are you hungry?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 2.

Harris grabs her bags, and they begin walking off toward a

subway platform.

NATALIE

It was fine, but, um, Fam didn’t

say anything to me about...

HARRIS

(interrupting her)

Frab!! I’m Harris, Fam’s

assistant. Sorry, I didn’t

introduce myself.

NATALIE

That’s fine.

(she stops walking)

What’s your status?

HARRIS

Excuse me?

NATALIE

You don’t... You don’t look like

you’re a member of our class. I’m

just surprised my aunt would send

you to get me instead of someone

else, someone I’m more...

acquainted with in a sense.

Harris smirks and begins looking at all of the people

surrounding them.

HARRIS

Well, I hope you won’t mind riding

the SCS.

(notices Natalie doesn’t

understand what he means)

...the Silver Class Sub. We

haven’t recieved your student visa

yet, so you’re just a tourist for

now.

2 INT. SILVER SUBWAY CAR - DAY 2

Harris and Natalie are sitting with an empty seat bewteen

them. People on the car are mostly from the Silver

class. A couple Bronze class workers commuting with a

Silver class member sit a couple sets away from

Natalie. The car is clean and big, but obviously moving at

slower pace than the Gold Car moving quickly ahead. It can

be seen through the windows behind Natalie. Everyone sits

with their back to the windows on both sides of the

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 3.

car. Natalie appears to be uncomfortable. She isn’t

visibly upset, but she continuously glances at a small but

intricate looking watch on her wrist.

NATALIE

Harris...I didn’t mean to sound

like such a betch.

HARRIS

Twenty minutes on the SCS and

you’re repenting already?

NATALIE

(crossing her arms)

I have Silver friends back home.

HARRIS

We all have Silver friends back

home, Nat. Mind if I call ya’

Nat? It’s shorter, to the point,

more direct than Natalie...

Natalie rolls her eyes. Harris chuckles.

NATALIE

I’m aware of the cultural changes

I’m facing... I just disagree with

the politics. The Class Structure

works best if it’s used to the

extreme.

HARRIS

(moving a seat closer to

Natalie)

You know your school has mixed

classes. NYU has always been very

liberal with it’s execution of the

Class Structure. It’s where most

supporters of the United Structure

Party graduated.

NATALIE

I’m quite aware of that.

HARRIS

Your aunt and I met during our

undergrad studies.

NATALIE

So?

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 4.

HARRIS

Just letting you know a bit about

myself, other than what you already

know. Is there anything you’d like

to know about me?

NATALIE

Nothing in particular.

3 INT. NATALIE’S ROOM - FAM’S APARTMENT - NIGHT 3

Natalie’s room is filled with several elogant paintings and

a fountain fashioned from a limestone statue of the goddess

Venus. The room has a certain sophisticated look that is

very high tech and modern. Everything is sleek and bright,

but overly ecentric, including her bed.

Natalie’s doorway is open. While she is silently unpacking

her belongings, someone walks into her room, unnoticed...her

AUNT FAM.

FAM

(while tapping her fingers on

the doorframe)

Who on Mars told you that you are

going to be staying under my roof?

Startled, Natalie jumps, but immediately rushes to her aunt

when she sees her. They hug each other tightly, as if they

haven’t seen each other in a very, very long time.

NATALIE

Fam! I’ve missed you. Mom misses

you. She’s sorry she couldn’t come

with me, but I’m going to nag at

her to come make a visit every day,

I promise. You have to ask her,

too!

FAM

We’ll see, dear, we’ll see. I told

her to come down for my opening

next month...

NATALIE

She’ll never come unless the

opening is in another city. Or

another state. Or you could just

tell her all the workers are

Golden.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 5.

FAM

Ha. How are you liking New York?

NATALIE

It’s alright. The people are here

are, interesting.

FAM

Not used to being around so many

"others?"

Natalie continues unpacking while Fam sits down on the bed.

NATALIE

Harris is nice.

FAM

He is, and over time you’ll get

used to the integration. It’s a

little different at first.

NATALIE

A little? I feel like I’m on

another planet.

FAM

But you’re in New York... Here you

have to make the Class Structure

work without any bias or

discrimination. It’s worked for

the last hundred years, and there

isn’t any reason to change it. We

don’t just have the lower classes

work for us. We work with them, we

live them--sometimes.

NATALIE

(frustrated, speaking rapidly)

But don’t you think you could be

happier?? You look so tired, and

everything is so cramped, and I had

to share wait in line to get my

food at McDonald’s behind someone

from the *White* Class. The

*White* Class, Fam. Does that

sound fair to you?? How do you do

stand it??

Natalie is no longer occupied with unpacking, as Fam stands

up and walks toward her. She places her hand on Natalie’s

shoulder.

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 6.

FAM

(calmly)

Natalie, dear, you’ll find that

it’s more efficient this way...

NATALIE

There were holoposters promoting

the legality of inter-class

marriages. Harris mentioned

something about allowing children

to automatically join the class of

their parents.

(pulling away from Fam)

What would we do if too many people

are placed in the Silver

Class?? Just start farming all of

our own produce? Why don’t we all

just start taking part in science

experiments. We could all just be

considered White Class... That’s

where we’re headed.

Fam stares in disbelief at her neice. Natalie turns her

back to Fam and begins refolding clothes she has already put

away in her dresser. Without saying one word, Fam walks out

of the room.

4 INT. CLASSROOM - MIDDAY - TWO MONTHS LATER 4

In a classroom with a large, projection board. Class is

being dismissed as the TEACHER projected on the screen

informs the students...

TEACHER

...and don’t turn in the historical

motifs essay until next

Montag! Fischer, drop by my

office. There’s a problem with

your file from last semester.

Natalie lingers, and before the projection board turns

white, she’s the only student in the room except for a boy

with a scruffy beard wearing a vintage school boy outfit

from the 20th century. He is visably a member of the Silver

Class. Natalie is looking over her notes while sitting at

her desk, but the boy is slowly manuevering his way around

the twenty-something desks sprawled throughout the room. As

he reaches Natalie’s desk...

STUDENT

Your speech on the First

Admenment’s justification of the

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 7.

STUDENT (cont’d)Seperation Law was, well, kind of

offensive.

NATALIE

(looking up from her notes)

I didn’t know political statements

are ever not offensive.

STUDENT

Do you realy think that? About the

Law, not politics.

NATALIE

Are you a politician?

STUDENT

It’s just a question.

NATALIE

I wasn’t meaning to offend.

STUDENT

So you’d marry me?

NATALIE

I’d marry your kind.

The student grabs a chair and pulls it up next to Natalie’s

desk, then sits down in the chair.

STUDENT

Ow. (beat) Then why support the

Law?

NATALIE

(hesitant)

It...was just an assignment...

STUDENT

What’s your major?

NATALIE

Frab! Could you stop asking so

many questions?! I can’t even

rememebr your name, so could you

slow down.

STUDENT

I’m Tor.

(offers Natalie his hand to

shake)

(MORE)

(CONTINUED)

CONTINUED: 8.

STUDENT (cont’d)

I’m a psych major with a

concentration in political science

and anthropology.

NATALIE

I’m undecided.

TOR

Then why are you here?

NATALIE

Full ride and free housing.

TOR

You don’t act like a local...

NATALIE

I live with my aunt.

TOR

I feel bad for her...

Natalie puts her notes away in her bag.

NATALIE

I have to go.

TOR

Okay, wait... Do you really think

that stuff you said is true, that

the Class Structure is what’s

keeping humanity alive and that

increasing integration will be

counteractive?

NATALIE

I used to, but it doesn’t mean I’m

going to go out and encourage my

country to stop following the

Golden Ratio. We still need the

Structure.