Capgras Reference

April Avon

*First 5 lines are said over a black screen, background noise finds its way in as the camera focuses on the characters’ faces*

A: What are you doing?

C: What do you mean?

A: Can you stop?

C: Uh, sure.

A: Now, where was I?

C: The part about South America?

A: Didn’t we just pass that one?

C: Antarctica, then.

A: Right, Antarctica. Can you name the Antarctic territories?

C: Well, there’s the British Antarctic territory.

*Cassandra takes a confident sip of a presumably alcoholic beverage*

A: That’s one.

C: How many are there?

A: Too many if you ask me.

C: Well there’s also Australian Antarctic Territory and Ross Dependency.

A: Hey, keep your eyes forward!

*Shocking Cassandra and causing her to spill some of her drink*

C, showing irritation: Don’t worry; he’s just drunk or something.

A: You’ve named 3 out of the 8 Antarctic territories.

C: Sounds good to me.

A: Do you really think 37.5% is satisfactory?

C: Amber, this is Antarctica. I couldn’t care about it if I wanted to!

A: Yes bu-

*Jumping out of chair*

C: For all I care, it doesn’t even exist! When will I ever go to Antarctica, or even know someone who’s been to Antarctica!

A: Cassandra, people are staring.

C: Let them stare! They’ll never see anyone who’s been to Antarctica, that’s for sure!

*Cassandra awakes midday with sun beaming through the window. As she gets out of bed, Amber opens the door*

C: What do you want?

A: A vacation, but you’re a bigger priority.

C: Please, it’s too early for this.

A: Would you rather I come back in two hours? Four O’ clock?

C: Wha-

A: You’ve been out cold for the past 12 hours.

C: What happened?

A: You were drunk. Really drunk.

C: Sure, but I’ve been worse before….

A: Maybe you were tired to begin with? I don’t really have the time or the care to figure it out. You drank a lot, you slept a lot.

C, nervously: You look different.

A: You look like shit.

C, louder: No, I mean, something’s off.

A, becoming annoyed: I heard you the first time.

C, to herself: What is it?

A: Anyway, now that you’re up, boss wants us to come over and talk for a bit. I’ll be waiting in the car.

*Shuts door linearly*

*Cassandra quickly and nervously gets dressed before grabbing some of her belongings and exiting through the window*

A, to her Bluetooth headset: She's going mad; I think we're pushing her too far.

A, after hearing a response: Yes, but if it gets any worse, it's a burden and not a tool. I'm out; she's taking forever.

*Eerie murmuring that slowly becomes comprehensible. Numbers one through eight excluding number three are recited, eventually growing louder until the screen and sound dramatically cut to Cassandra alone facing the sunset in the city.*

C, just above the city whimsically with a hint of anxiety: Antarctica...