HITMAN ONLINE

Short Screenplay

By Prashant Soni

Prashant Soni http://www.prashantsoni.info

FADE IN: EXT. BRIDGE CONNECTING SKYSCRAPERS, SAN FRANCISCO -- DAY CAMERA'S POV (SINGLE CONTINUOS SHOT): Glass enclosed bridge between two skyscrapers. It is empty and quiet. A CELL PHONE RINGS, which breaks the silence.

LAWYER (O.S.) (Softly)

Hello...

The LAWYER enters into our view FRAME RIGHT. He carries a small black briefcase in one hand and cell phone in other, which he holds tightly to his ears. He is in his early 40's. His attire and persona denotes professionalism, like a high priced attorney. He wears fancy glasses and a black suit. He walks towards us from other side of the bridge. He is totally engrossed into the conversation, completely unaware of his surroundings.

LAWYER (CONT'D) (into cell phone)

We have spoken about this before. It is not acceptable. Neither I nor my client would, ever settle for that amount! Remember what I said before, we all have to pay for our mistakes.

After listening, he responds.

LAWYER (CONT'D) Listen. No offense. I know you are a good attorney. But you've seen the boy in the wheelchair. When that pathetic image rolls into the courtroom and is unable to stand in front of the jury. I'll bet the defendant will wish he took the offer we are making right now.

While walking, he listens to the response, which seems to take an eternity. He approaches us as he raises his voice with anger.

LAWYER (CONT'D) You don't get it. Do you? You don't want to see me in court. Have you checked my record? I would file needless motion after motion. I bet I would drive your billable hours sky-high. I'll make it too

expensive for you to defend this case. Trust me.

He stops. While listening, he looks around. Suddenly his eyes fix on us. He becomes little conscious of somebody else's (Camera's) presence. He lowers his voice and speaks very softly.

LAWYER (CONT'D) Yes... You are right. Like I said before. Everyone must pay for their mistakes.

The lawyer starts walking and passes by us as our eyes follow him. He uncomfortably keeps looking frequently at us while finishing his talk.

LAWYER (CONT'D) Good decision. Let me consult with my client about these numbers and I'll get back to you. Good-bye and have a nice day.

The lawyer hangs up and puts the phone in his pocket. He turns around and looks at us again. The other presence stands BEHIND THE CAMERA who speaks in thick and very heavy male voice.

MALE VOICE (O.S.) You believe that everyone must pay for their mistakes but what about your own mistakes?

The lawyer gets surprised as well as confused.

LAWYER What???

MALE VOICE (O.S.) You saved yourself in the accident. But your recklessness changed your son's life forever. How would you pay for that?

The lawyer is visibly shaken.

LAWYER How do you know that? Who the hell are you?

A hand covered with white glove appears from BEHIND THE CAMERA in the view. It is holding a gun. It points the gun towards the lawyer who is breathing heavily. Gun fires. Shot in the forehead, the lawyer falls down on the floor.

FADE TO:

EXT. BRIDGE CONNECTING SKYSCRAPERS, SAN FRANCISCO -- DAY A NEWS CORRESPONDENT, an attractive young woman in her late 20's stands on the bridge. She speaks into the microphone while looking toward the camera.

CORRESPONDENT Just what is going on out there?? We, citizens have a right to know. I am standing on the site where renowned San Francisco lawyer William Jones was gunned down last week.

Lawyer's picture appears on screen on one side

CORRESPONDENT (CONT'D) Mr. Jones amassed a considerable fortune in his work as a personal injury lawyer. According to our research, he also created many enemies over the years due to his intimidating ways of settling lawsuits.

Lawyer's picture disappears

CORRESPONDENT (CONT'D) The unidentified gunman is still at large and so far there are no leads on the motive for his killing. Unfortunately, this incident was just the beginning. Mr. Jones's murder has been followed by 217 other similar killings in past seven days. It is the highest homicide increase rate in nation's history. The locations and nature of these killings are so diverse - ranging from this shooting in San Francisco to stabbing in Starkville, Mississippi. FBI says it might take months to find out if these incidents are related by any means. At this hour, the FBI is looking into all the possibilities and working around the clock to find out, all of a sudden, what just might have triggered so many killings nationwide????

CREDITS On blank monitor screen it reads "Downloading Hitman Agent". The typical progression bar suggests the completion of downloading. On Web Browser the letters are typed "HitmanOnline.Net" The HitmanOnline site opens to the main welcome page with a logo: An outline of a man with two guns in hands. The main page of this site has two links for further navigation. 1. Hire a hitman 2. Bid to hit After which, rest of the credits follow.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN: INT. ON TV SCREEN The word 'Breaking News' appears on the screen. Then a young female NEWS READER speaks.

NEWS READER The mystery behind the sudden surge in the crime rate has been solved - A website called HitmanOnline. HitmanOnline, which offers an easy and secure interface between hitmen and their potential clients is gaining notorious popularity. The FBI believes that most of the recent murders have been the work of hired hitman. And HitmanOnline is the site to be blamed for almost every single case. We have our special correspondent Sarina Seaton on air with more on this website.

News Correspondent is standing with mike ready to be on air. Behind her, people working on computers can be seen.

CORRESPONDENT Thank you Rebecca. We examined the HitmanOnline site... and let me tell you, in my view, the site works very much like EBay. It is also an auction site but instead of bidding on items you are bidding for assassination contracts. Anybody can advertise a hit and anybody can

bid for it to earn money. Unlike other auction sites, lowest bid wins the contract. However, the most crucial and dangerous difference is that the site offers complete anonymity of all persons involved. It is impossible to discover who has ordered the hit and who will carry it out. It guarantees secure money transactions between parties without charging any fees. And also to note the technological difference, the site requires a special software called 'Hitman Agent' to be present onto your computer before you can access it through a regular web browser. Back to you Rebecca.

Back to young female News Reader.

NEWS READER According to the latest report, the FBI is unable to crackdown on the site or identify its owner. But the FBI director George Mueller assured that it is tracing every possible clue to catch the owner and doing everything possible to remove the site from the Internet.

INT. UNKNOWN BEDROOM 1 -- NIGHT Hands appear typing on keyboard in front of computer monitor. ON COMPUTER MONITOR: The computer monitor shows main page of HitmanOnline website with two links. The mouse pointer clicks on first link - 'Hire a Hitman'. And hence another page opens on this site. The page has few forms (text boxes) to fill different kind of information. The first form title reads 'Name of the target'. The words typed in the form are 'Danny Jones'. The next form title reads 'Detail address of the target'. The words types in the form are '121, Sunset District, San Francisco, CA 94122'. The next form title reads 'Provide any more information you feel might be useful to identify the subject including the picture'.

BACK TO HANDS: The hand types in requested information on the keyboard BACK TO COMPUTER MONITOR: The next from title reads 'Submit your preferable weapon or method for killing' And then in small letters it reads 'Although this message would be conveyed to hired Hitman, HitmanOnline doesn't guarantee that provided weapon or method would be used for killing'. The words typed in the form are 'Shoot to death'. The next form title reads 'Final words you want to say to the target' and then in big bold letters it reads 'Maximum 250 words'. The word typed in the form are I must'. BACK TO HANDS: The hands stops typing. One finger presses the 'Delete' button. BACK TO COMPUTER MONITOR: The words gets erased and written again in the form 'You must reap what you sow. Everyone must pay for their mistakes'. BACK TO HANDS: The hands stops typing. They open the wallet lying on the side of the keyboard and pull out the credit card out of it. The credit card is placed next to screen. We can not see the name on the credit card. BACK TO COMPUTER MONITOR: The word on the form reads 'Enter your credit card number'. And then in bold letters it reads 'HitmanOnline guarantees the security of your information. You would be charged immediately but if no hitman bids for the killing in next 30 days, your money would be fully refunded back to your credit card'. The mouse hits the button 'Submit' and final page appears with HitmanOnline logo as background, it reads in super big letters - 'Thank you for using HitmanOnline' INT. ON TV SCREEN A female news reader reads the news.

NEWS READER

HitmanOnline is the only news headline we have for today. 2013 people got killed due to HitmanOnline nation wide in separate incidents so far. The recent media coverage of this site seems to have boosted its usage. For yet another day, the nation's economy suffered. U.S. stock markets have reached a record low, surpassing even the crash of 29'.

We see STOCK FOOTAGE of closed businesses.

NEWS READER (O.S.) (CONT'D) Most of the businesses remained relatively quiet as most of the people chose to stay home in order to avoid unexpected assassinations.

We see STOCK FOOTAGE of empty streets.

NEWS READER (O.S.) (CONT'D) The traffic in most of the cities was a way below average. Roads and streets were calm. The FBI is offering one million dollar for any vital information regarding HitmanOnline. It is working closely with top computer experts to determine the technology which makes HitmanOnline so secretive. The FBI director reassured that they are closer than ever to catching the culprit, the master mind of HitmanOnline. In a press conference, the president reiterated that he will bring the evil mind behind HitmanOnline to the justice. The president urged people to stay calm and co-operate with authorities. In a special senate session today, both parties unanimously agreed to pass tougher gun control laws immediately in the wake of the situation. Moreover, communication networks experienced bandwidth problems as a huge number of people visited HitmanOnline to check if there were any hits ordered on their name.

INT. UNKNOWN BEDROOM 2 -- NIGHT

From behind we see a silhouette of unidentified person typing on keyboard. ON COMPUTER SCREEN: HitmanOnline's main website page. The mouse gets clicked on the link which reads 'Bid to Hit'. The new page opens which list many people's name and addresses line by line. There are two buttons at the beginning of the page. 'Sort by Name' and 'Sort by Address'. The mouse gets clicked on 'Sort by Address'. The list appears again sorted by addresses. The cursor starts moving on addresses. And it stops when it reads '122, Sunset District, CA'. The name reads: 'Danny Jones'. The mouse gets clicked on it. The new page appears which read 'No photo available'. On the side there is a small text input area which is accompanied by the button called 'Place Bid To Hit'. The keyboard is used to enter the amount $5,000. The 'Place Bid To Hit' button gets pressed. BACK TO SCENE: A drawer is opened and a gun is removed. ON COMPUTER SCREEN: On computer screen it reads "Congratulations. You have won the bid. Hit Danny Jones. Good Luck" INT. ON TV SCREEN A female news reader reads the news.

NEWS READER HitmanOnline goes global. The site is gaining worldwide attention as related killings are also reported in Asia, Australia and Europe. Interpol has -- Wait a minute...

The news reader suddenly breaks her fluent speech as she looks sideways distracted. A piece of paper is thrust on her desk. She grabs the paper and begins to read it to the camera.

NEWS READER (CONT'D) This just in! We just confirmed that hit has been ordered for President of the United States on

HitmanOnline. And the bid has been won by unknown hitman for $75,000. The president's spokesman hinted on terrorist's hand saying that Al-Queda might be using the site to further their plans of terror. The Department of Homeland Security has raised the terrorist threat level to Red today. A state of emergency has been declared nationwide. The FBI has...

A channel gets flipped. Two men can be seen waiting to be on air while sitting across the big table. INT. TV RECORDING STUDIO -- AFTERNOON The HOST is formally dressed and in contrast a GUEST is dressed quite informal. Host introduces the guest.

HOST Here with us we have Kevin Lutnick, world's most notorious ex-hacker. Mr. Lutnick who served jail term for stealing software and altering data at Motrola, Novell, Nokia, Sun Microsystems and University of Southern California, was released in September 2000. Since then, he has written a book called "Hacker's guide to Network Management" and currently, he is helping the FBI in putting a stop to HitmanOnline.

Guest looks towards host.

GUEST Thanks for having me.

While turning towards camera, guest speaks emotionally.

GUEST (CONT'D) I've done what I've done. I've learned my lesson hard way. I paid my debt to society. Whenever the FBI needed my help, I delivered.

Without showing any reaction, host changes the subject.

HOST Let's go straight to the topic. During my long career as a news

analyst, I have covered lots of illegal sites and unlawful use of Internet. Once it is known, never in the history, FBI has taken so long to crack down on the site and find the cyberspace criminals. How do you explain?

GUEST Yes. You are absolutely right. But keep in mind, even if it resembles to being a part of the World Wide Web, HitmanOnline belongs to totally different storage network. You can call it an "Internet within Internet". It uses the same physical resources but employs completely different protocols for communication. It's a technological breakthrough.

Host gets annoyed.

HOST You see. I don't know if I want to call it technological breakthrough. Technological blunder sounds like a better word for it.

GUEST Well, just because somebody uses it for wrong purpose, doesn't mean an invention itself is bad. The point is that, even though HitmanOnline offers the first secure, efficient and foolproof implementation of this technology, don't forget, this idea has been around for last ten years. There are several projects, which have been competing in developing new peer to peer networking protocols that uses cryptography. 'Freenet', 'Entropy', 'GNUNet' 'GrapeVine' just to name a few. They all have been trying achieve the common goal and that is to make communication on Internet completely anonymous and censor free. They all ...

Host gets surprised.

HOST You are kidding me!!!

GUEST

No. Not at all. They all share a belief - "we can not achieve true freedom of speech while there is any kind of censorship".

HOST (chuckles)

What possibly can be a better example than HitmanOnline to disprove that?

(sarcastically) Oh!! Come on Mr. Lutnick! We all know that censorship is a necessity. Especially, in the world where there are enough satanic minds tempted to misuse god's gift of free will. Don't you agree?

GUEST What I am trying to say is that, the word "Freedom" has different meaning for different people.

HOST Anyway, back to our original question, what makes this website so special?

GUEST HitmanOnline belongs to an alternative storage network that is decentralized. Communications by nodes are encrypted and are "routed-through" other nodes to make it extremely difficult to determine who is requesting the information and what its content is. The user contributes to the network by giving bandwidth and a portion of their hard drive for storing files. These files are encrypted and completely out of the user's control. In fact, nobody can control the network, not even its creators, meaning that the system is not vulnerable to manipulation or...

Host cuts off the guest in the middle.

HOST Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I did not understand most of what you

just said right now except for the part that "even its creator can not control it"? What do you mean?

GUEST Meaning the person who created a network for HitmanOnline, himself can not control its existence. Once he floats the data onto the network, it gets out of even his own hands. He can not stop the website even if he wants to.

Host gets stunned?

HOST Why would somebody do that?

GUEST What do you think why we haven't cracked down on this site yet? Why even hacker like myself is still struggling to find a leak? Believe me, Mr. O'conner. This guys is no script kiddie. He is a solid programmer and extremely intelligent. You should at least give him a credit for that.

HOST Well. Let's put it this way. Those who are intelligent know how to use their intelligence in a responsible way.

Guest starts disclosing his anger as he speaks.

HOST (CONT'D) Do you want to know what I believe? I believe he is some kind of coward terrorist living lonely life within four concrete walls. Some kind of psychopath blaming the whole world for his problems. Some sick minded enjoying the suffering of other people. His only goal is to create a mayhem. His only goal is to see people die. His only goal is to rot in the hell.

INT. BEDROOM -- EVENING EXTREME CLOSE-UP of young male lips sneering in contempt.

GUEST (O.S.) (from TV)

He must be laughing at us right now, but wouldn't be able to do so for very long.

YOUNG MALE LIPS (speaks softly)

That wasn't my goal

CAMERA ZOOMS OUT as it reveals the person speaking. He is a TEENAGER kid with old fashioned glasses. His hair style is messy and he has acne all over his face. He looks nervous, depressed and sick.

TEENAGER (loud and angrily)

That wasn't my goal!!!

He picks up the remote controller and presses a button. The interview from the previous scene gets turned off on TV screen. He throws the remote controller across the room. The remote controller hits one of the CPUs in the middle of junk computer hardware and breaks apart. PANNING from the remote control, we see a bookcase filled with variety of computer books including one written by Kevin Lutnick - "Hacker's guide to Network Management". Still PANNING further we see various soccer related posters, trophies and memorabilia overwhelming the space including teenager's soccer uniform hanging on the wall. The surroundings suggest that it is teenager's bedroom, one who is a die-hard soccer fan and avid computer programmer. The teenager is alone in the room. He is sitting on the wheelchair. He is physically handicapped missing both of his legs. The teenager moves his wheelchair towards a small table. There are few trophies on this table. The teenager picks up one of the trophies. Teenager's facial anger slowly turns into sadness as he stares at the trophy with acute concentration. The trophy has a small statue of soccer player on its head. Teenager slowly moves his fingers on the statue. Teenager's eyes begin to water as he talks to it.

TEENAGER (CONT'D) I created the website just to kill him. And him only. Nobody else. That wasn't my goal.

In the middle of the trophies there is a picture of teenager with a trophy. Standing besides the teenager is a lawyer who got killed on the bridge. ZOOMING INTO the picture. We hear the sound.

TEENAGER (V.O.) (CONT'D) Watch out. Dad!!!!

The following sound indicates a serious car accident. FLASHBACK: Lawyer is standing in front of teenager's wheelchair.

LAWYER Look son. How many times do we have to go through this? If you play this right, we can make a fortune. Dad can win this case. But he needs your help. You gotta get your story straight in front of the jury.

TEENAGER (V.O.) That ain't fair. That ain't fair. Why should you sue him for the damage? Nobody can bring back my legs. No money can repay what I have lost. Besides...

Teenager looks to his dad with sharp criticizing eyes.

TEENAGER (CONT'D) We both know that it wasn't even his fault.

Lawyer hides his embarrassment by being furious.

LAWYER (V.O.) Goddamn it. Forget about the past and think of the future. Who cares whose fault was it?. And please don't preach me everything is fair in this world. You know how much did I have to pay for your surgery? Doctors didn't visit you for free. Those suckers ripped us off like they own our pockets. Tests, reports, labs, x-rays, exams, medicines, every goddamn thing costs money. And that's not it. Think for a second - Who the hell is going to hire me if I can't win my own

case? I can't let you ruin my life, son.

BACK TO SCENE: The buzzer rings. "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Beeeeeeeeeeeeep". Surprised, the teenager hurriedly wipes his tears. He turns around his wheelchair and drives it towards the small intercom system on the wall. The teenager speaks into it.

TEENAGER Who is it?

TEENAGER'S FRIEND (O.S.) Hey. This is Greg. Let me in.

Teenager presses the button on the intercom system. Teenager drives his wheelchair around and closes all the windows in the room. Light changes from bright to dark. Teenager drives his wheelchair towards his bedroom door and opens it up. TEENAGER'S FRIEND, an another teen enters the room. He is wearing a similar uniform like the one of teenager's hanging on the wall. He is trying to speak with artificial excitement but his words fall flat.

TEENAGER'S FRIEND (CONT'D) Hey, ... how's it hangin'?

Teenager looks up at his friend.

TEENAGER (cold)

What you doing here?

Teenager's friend nervously looks around.

TEENAGER'S FRIEND (struggling)

Um.. I thought - well, I thought of dropping by, you know. Like long time no see. Heard about your dad. Saw it on TV. My dad says he was a great lawyer. I am really sorry for you man. I know how...

TEENAGER (interrupting, disgustedly)

No need to feel SORRY for me, Greg.

Teenager hides his agony by controlling himself.

TEENAGER (CONT'D) What comes around goes around. It's life. You know.

Teenager's friend is visibly surprised by the statement. He quickly changes the subject.

TEENAGER'S FRIEND You should try to come to a game sometime. Watch us play.

Uninterested in his friend's talk, teenager silently turns around and moves his wheelchair away from his friend.

TEENAGER'S FRIEND (CONT'D) We still play every Tuesday and Thursday. And coach. He never stops talking about you. He always complains that the team's never been the same since you left. Sayin' how you were the best he ever coached and how we should learn from your moves..

Teenager goes over to a desk where a glass filled with water sits and drinks it all in one shot. The condensation on the desk clearly indicating it was sitting there for hours.

TEENAGER'S FRIEND (CONT'D) Remember the win against Joinville High? You were off the hook. Diving header in overtime! That was crazy! And against Highlanders, you got past the whole defense, juked the goalie, then dribbled right into the goal! It was the best game ever. The scouts still talk about it. We miss you, man. We really do. Without you, team doesn't score any more. I wanted to take you to a game but your granny told me that you don't go out anymore. I saw her once in a mall with this guy. I don't know if she told you.

Teenager's friend looks around the room some more, his body language showing his discomfort.

TEENAGER'S FRIEND (CONT'D) By the way, is your granny home? I didn't see anybody when I came in?

Teenager feels feeble and speaks gently.

TEENAGER Nobody's ever here. No one cares. For me anyway. Even granny got a jerk boyfriend at her age. Crazy shit is going on out there and get this!, they went out to the movies.

Teenager gulps.

TEENAGER (CONT'D) But, you see, granny was right. She told it like it is. I don't go out anymore. (Gesturing toward his wheelchair) I can't take all the people staring at me in this stupid chair. The accident changed my world. Soccer was my ticket out of here and I lost it. This room is all I know now. This computer, books, TV... everything you see here is the only family I got.

Teenager's friend's expression becomes very serious as he tries to pull something out of his jacket.

TEENAGER (CONT'D) Anyway, thanks for coming by. It is cool you came out of your way to see me, because nobody has come to visit me ever since that damn accident. I appreciate it, really!

Teenager closes his eyes.

TEENAGER (CONT'D) (sentimental)

It is nice to know that somebody still wants this crippled as his friend.

TEENAGER'S FRIEND (O.S.) You must reap what you saw. Everyone must pay for their mistakes.

Teenager quickly opens up his eyes.

TEENAGER'S FRIEND (CONT'D) Sorry Danny.

There is a pillow up against his head. On the other side of that pillow is a gun pointing towards him. The trigger is pulled which rips off the pillow and teenager's head. Teenager's head explode with blood splatter. Teenager slumps off the wheelchair and falls straight to the floor. While, BACKGROUND SOUNDS indicate his friend running away from the room, CAMERA PANS from teenager's blood soaked head to his computer, which is still on. On the monitor screen, we see the HitmanOnline site's last page. Teenager's wallet is lying besides the monitor and credit card is still out. The wallet, credit card and monitor all are familiar to us since we saw it before in the scene where hit was ordered through this site for 'Danny Jones' ZOOM IN on the blood spotted monitor screen. HitmanOnline logo is visible with a message on foreground "Thank you for using HitmanOnline". CAMERA CONTINUES TO ZOOM into the computer monitor all the way in until we get lost into pixilated oblivion.

FADE OUT:

THE END