Once Upon a Time in Great Britain: Part 4

INT. APARTMENT BLOCK CORRIDOR-DAY

The door opens to a very modern, expensive flat. Right at the back of the living room there is a table, every inch of it covered with identical laptop cases. On top of this lies a CD-R disc and a pocket- sized plastic box.

Tom puts the CD in a Hi-Fi at the back of the room. In the small transparent plastic box, pocket-sized cards read:

Tom Aaronson

BSc Hons

555 0783745873

A distinct voice comes out of the speakers:

DEVANT

So far so good. The packages are for premier customers of local businesses and authorities. It is vital that these are left in safe hands. Meet the managers. Meet the staff. Familiarise yourself with the locations. There may be more work to do with these places later.

TOM’S MONTAGE OVER DEVANT’S MONOLOGUE

He's in the barber’s, having a number one haircut.

Getting fitted for a grey suit.

Trying designer eau de toilette in a perfume shop.

As a girl checks him out on the street, we notice he’s looking much happier and more confident than he did at the recruitment fair.

CUT BACK TO THE ROOM WITH THE HI-FI

TOM (to himself, mostly)

What kind of work?

DEVANT (on tape, cont.)

Once this initial task is complete I will be contacting you. Thank you. Please destroy this CD. And remember- do not open the cases yourself.

CD ends.

TOM (to himself)

Why?

EXT. CITY CENTRE-DAY

Tom, wearing the grey suit hands out the laptop cases with pride. He can see other people in suits doing possibly similar things to him for a living.

Tom shakes the hand of a bank manager and swaps business cards.

With each segment, Tom enters screen left and exits screen right. As Tom walks from one business to another he notices smoke billowing from some other part of the city.

A fire engine races past him, sirens screaming. Tom thinks nothing of it. That’s life in the city.

TOM (V/O)

I’ve caught you all up, you bastards. I’m part of the executive elite. Plus I don’t have to sit in some boxy little office talking bollocks and filling in forms all day. I’m a grown adult, making a living. And I don’t pay rent!

LATER

INT. APARTMENT-DAY

Dave and Tony are watching a news channel.

TOM

That’s it? There must be more to it than this. I’m waiting for the catch. I mean, come on. Fourteen grand for a day’s work?

DAVE

Fourteen grand? Shit, I didn’t know you were getting that much.

TOM (Confused)

So how do you know so much about what I’m doing? And how do you know Devant?

DAVE

We were still at uni when Devant got us into Bar Code. At first I thought: bar work- shit pay, shit hours. Then he gave us an extra job on the side. Check this out.

Tony gets up and opens the door to a cupboard. Stacks of VCRs are rolling, timers ticking, DVD recorders transferring, recording a video. There's a small screen showing what's being copied. It’s a bit vague, but someone is either in a lot of pain or they’re very good at acting tortured. The cupboard is also stuffed with blank DVDs. Tom looks away. He’s never seen any snuff before and it has shocked him, but he acts like it’s nothing. Dave walks over.

DAVE

Most of what we do is kid’s movies. Movies for kids, I mean. Animated shit. Single mothers never turn down cut-price entertainment for their little'uns.

Dave indicates the DVD being copied.

DAVE (cont)

This stuff is another string on the bow obviously. It’s a bit extreme, but no one else sells in Manchester. If we find out they do, I phone Devant. And they don’t any more. This is why we dropped out of uni.

Tom thinks: What a big-headed cock.

TONY (no sarcasm)

So he’s given you Manchester to look after then?

TOM

That’s the way I look at it. Whatever it is.

Tom smiles.

Dissolve to:

INT. APARTMENT BEDROOM- NIGHT

Tom’s on the computer. One of the desktop items says DVD BURNER. He has his bank statement and the receipt from Devant’s cheque by his side.

We can hear Dave and Tony snorting something off the coffee table and laughing loudly.

TOM (V/O)

I’m back at uni again. Can’t sleep. Too much noise. Too much to figure out.

Tom searches the net for news articles.

'Critics suggest £1 million hole in chancellor’s budget'

'Piracy links to terrorism investigated'

'Plight of today’s unemployed graduates: how do we stop the cycle?'

Tom clicks the last article link. The article reads:

Today’s graduates are among the laziest and most under-trained in Europe, Tory critics claim. The number of graduates out of work has trebled in the last three years. The Prime Minister responded by saying that new schemes and initiatives would soon be put in place to cut unemployment rates.

FLASHBACK

Tom going into Job Centre, handing over the package.

He's still confused.

DAVE

Thought you’d figure it out.

Tom jolts; turns around. Dave leans in the doorway.

TOM

I haven’t mate. Seriously, what am I doing here?

DAVE

You met Devant at that job fair, right?

Tom nods.

DAVE

Was your uni course hard?

TOM

It wasn’t molecular physics, in all honesty.

DAVE

Devant’s trying to prove students can:

Dave counts on fingers:

DAVE (cont)

Handle lots of money, be versatile and work with different companies, think on their feet… All that shit. He wanted you to figure all that out for yourself.

TOM

Well I’ve not had to do much of that, have I?

DAVE

You will tomorrow, mate, you’ve not met Yanyan.

TOM

Who’s Yanyan?