ANGLE ON CASEY
as he sneaks away.
INT. HALLWAY OUTSIDE THE INFIRMARY
Helen is waiting for Casey when he appears.
HELEN
Where were you?
CASEY
Looking for the men's room.
EXT. PHONE BOOTH -
Casey phones Toshio as soon as he gets a chance.
CASEY
So what the hell were they talking about?
TOSHIO
(O.S.)
You're sure they used the words Ishii-butai and nana san ichi?
CASEY
Could I make it up?
INT. NEWSROOM -
Toshio is sitting at his desk. He's riveted by what Casey has told him.
TOSHIO
This is nothing to discuss over the phone. Not with other people around.
There's a new movie, STRAY DOG, by that director Kurosawa that's playing in a movie theater in Kanda. Let's meet tonight at the nine o'clock showing.
He glances around nervously to see if anyone is eavesdropping.
INT. BALCONY - MOVIE THEATER - KANDA SECTOR OF
Casey and Toshio are huddled together in an isolated corner of a darkened movie theater balcony. On the screen, down below, Kurosawa's classic 1949 film STRAY DOG is unreeling its credits; we see the picture of the panting, unthinking dog as Kurosawa's moral tale of crime and redemption amid the squalor of 1949 Occupied Japan unfolds.
As Casey and Toshio continue their conversation, we can see other scenes from the film flashing on the screen: Toshiro Mifune getting his gun picked from his pocket on the bus, the chase scene through the slums of Ueno that ends the film, etc. Throughout the scene, Casey and Toshio are speaking in low tones, sometimes whispering.
CASEY
So what the hell do Ishii-butai and nana san ichi mean?
TOSHIO
Ishii-butai means Ishii Group or Ishii Team. Nana san ichi are three numbers: seven-three-one.
CASEY
What's their significance?
TOSHIO
Unit 731—also known as the Ishii Group—was the chemical and germ warfare unit of the Japanese Army. They had a secret laboratory in Harben,
CASEY
Why haven't I heard of them?
TOSHIO
After the war, MacArthur made a deal with them. He gave them immunity in exchange for their research, because 731 did the most advanced research in the world on the effects of germ and gas warfare on human beings.
Many 731 members went to work for the Americans; they say they have a secret lab located on Yokosuka Naval Base.
Casey is dumbstruck.
CASEY
Jesus fucking Christ. Dr. Ishii is the head of Unit 731?
TOSHIO
A monster. The Japanese Joseph Mengele. He experimented on many POWs: Chinese, British, American...
A YOUNG COUPLE edges past them to assume their seats, temporarily blocking their view.
CASEY
Then what the hell were they talking about? This "fund-raising operation" involving a bank?
TOSHIO
A bank robbery in
CASEY
What for?
TOSHIO
For something they have planned at the famous hot-springs resort of Kinosaki on September second.
CASEY
"Nine-oh-two." Of course. It's military slang. But what's this "compound" they were talking about?
TOSHIO
A gas, a chemical, or a germ. Something that kills people in ninety seconds.
CASEY
Look, I used to be a crime reporter in
TOSHIO
What did I tell you? Unit 731 created all kinds of wonderful things.
And some poor fool will be blamed.
CASEY
We've only got two days. You think Mrs. White is involved?
TOSHIO
She's strictly a babe in the woods, as you would say. But GHQ is definitely using the War Orphan's Home as a front. After hiding in
Then, after GHQ has had time to change their identities and give them new papers, they go to work at
ANOTHER PATRON, annoyed at their chatter, jabbers at them in Japanese, asking them to shush. Toshio turns around, irritated.
TOSHIO
Eijiniaka! [I don't care!/What the hell!/So what?]
The patron backs off.
CASEY
Was Noriko able to get anything on Kramer?
TOSHIO
The man who never was? There's no record of a James Kramer in any of the personnel files.
The closest she could come up with was something she found by accident, in an old 1947 interoffice telephone directory. There was a "J. Kramer" listed as a "special liaison" at
CASEY
Which might explain what he was doing at the clinic. Tomorrow I'm going into
TOSHIO
How are you going to get inside a U.S. Navy base?
CASEY
(smiling)
You've got some friends in Ueno Station who forge IDs?
Toshio nods.
TOSHIO
But you'll be taking a terrible risk.
CASEY
God knows how many more people they intend to kill before they're through.
INT. KANDA SUBWAY STATION - NIGHT
TOSHIO
is standing on a crowded subway platform. Families are gathered together, young couples on dates, a few men in old Army caps.
A SUBWAY TRAIN
comes roaring into the station. Everyone steps back instinctively. But Toshio does not get on; instead he goes to a KIOSK where an old woman is selling cold sodas. He buys a Coke and drinks from the glass bottle.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PLATFORM
LEE
is watching Toshio from behind a subway pillar, blocked from Toshio's view. He's wearing his uniform and cap. We see his HANDS clench and unclench at his sides.
AT ONE END OF THE PLATFORM
Anxious people are craning their necks to see if another train is approaching. The GLIMMER of an oncoming light appears at the end of the dark tunnel.
THE PILLAR
now has no one lurking behind it.
TOSHIO
tilts his head back to take a finishing swallow from the Coke bottle.
AN ONCOMING TRAIN
materializes from the mouth of the tunnel, rushing at the platform.
While everyone is staring at its approach, Lee SHOVES Toshio in front of the train.
Toshio SCREAMS and is crushed under the wheels on the ONRUSHING TRAIN.
By the time anyone thinks to look around, Lee has melted into the crowd and made his getaway.
INT.
An ATTENDANT is lifting a SHEET from a cadaver tray set in the wall like a filing cabinet.
NORIKO is distraught. Casey stares down at horror at Toshio's mangled corpse—which we do not have to see.
CASEY
Mother of God.
NORIKO
Toshio-chan!
She collapses sobbing into Casey's arms. Casey nods to the attendant, bitter and heartbroken.
CASEY
It's him—goddamnit.
INT. TAXICAB - NIGHT
Casey and Noriko are sitting the back seat of a taxicab as it speeds through the teeming streets of neon-lit
NORIKO
The police are saying he committed suicide. Out of guilt. They claim he jumped in front of the train because he was under investigation for his part in the Matsukawa train wreck.
CASEY
Case closed. Those Japs, they just can't wait to commit hara-kiri.
NORIKO
What about your friend Mrs. White? Didn't you—
CASEY
I just spoke to her on the phone. Her home was broken into.
NORIKO
Tonight?
CASEY
Some papers are missing.
Noriko looks shocked.
CASEY
I tipped my hand to those bastards. I lost my trump card. I have no protection anymore. It's all hearsay.
NORIKO
Please don't go to
CASEY
What about Toshio?
NORIKO
Stay with me.
CASEY
Either I get them or they get me.
NORIKO
Why didn't they try tonight?
CASEY
Because I'm an American. They can get away with killing a Japanese—and a Communist reporter at that.
If they killed us both at the same time, it would be proof we were onto something. By just killing Toshio, they're hoping I'll be scared off for good.
NORIKO
Aren't you?
CASEY
(with fierce determination)
I'm the only person who knows about their plans. Doesn't that give me a certain responsibility? Don't I gave giri [honorific debt] for Toshio?
NORIKO
Forget giri. They're going to kill you. They control
CASEY
They're not infallible. If they were, I wouldn't have uncovered as many of their secrets as I have.
NORIKO
Don't go. Robert, please, I beg you, don't—
CASEY
When the Nazis killed my wife, I wasn't able to do anything about it. But this time—
EXT. SECURITY GATE -
Pulling up in his car, Casey stops short at the guard post set in the chain-link fence that surrounds the huge compound of Yokosuka Naval Base. After Casey cranks down the window on his side, the MP pokes his head in.
MP
Identification, please.
Casey hands him a press card.
CASEY
Dale Richardson,
MP
Who are you here to see?
Casey shows him the 1947 interoffice phone listing.
CASEY
Captain Jim Kramer. He's a special liaison from GHQ. I don't know where he hangs his hat now, but this was where he was two years ago.
MP
Purpose of your visit?
CASEY
I've got some important news from Dr. Adler. He asked me to deliver it personally.
The MP starts dialing.
MP
Let me check.
A party picks up on the other end.
MP
Hi, this is the main gate. We got a newsman here to see Captain Kramer. Dale Richardson from the Chronicle? Says he's got important news from Dr. Adler. Yeah, thanks.
He hangs up.
MP
Captain Kramer will be right here to meet you.
EXT. SECURITY GATE - five minutes later
Casey has parked his car inside the main gate in a lot. JIM strolls up in the same uniform we saw him in yesterday at the clinic, but minus the hat. He shakes Casey's hand, grinning.
JIM
I don't believe I've had the pleasure.
CASEY
I'm Dale Richardson with the Tokyo Chronicle.
Jim frowns.
JIM
Haven't I seen you before?
Casey laughs.
CASEY
You must be a Republican! You've got a memory like an elephant. We bumped into each other yesterday. At the War Orphan's Home? You were hunting for Dr. Adler.
JIM
Oh yeah, you. Thanks for pointin' me in the right direction. So what news are you bringin' me from Dr. Adler?
Casey smiles.
CASEY
The doc and I were having a few drinks last night when I told him I wanted to interview a typical GI for a newspaper series I'm doing on the Occupation. He mentioned you.
JIM
(grinning)
Me? Are you kiddin'?
CASEY
Your name won't be used.
JIM
Doc Adler musta been pretty drunk.
CASEY
Well, you know how he gets. Once he gets started on war stories about the Phillipines—
Jim glances at his watch.
JIM
Tell you what. I'm headed for Q Sector and I'm running late.
He gestures to indicate a walk.
CASEY
Sure, I'm not going to take up much of your time.
They strike off for the interior of the base.
EXT.
They're strolling across the base grounds. It's a beautiful clear summer day, and all around them SAILORS are walking past, chatting, smoking, joking and laughing. In the distance we can see the BAY, glittering and filled with battleships and aircraft carriers.
CASEY
See, what I'm looking for is the average GI's view of the Occupation. For instance, what do you think of General MacArthur? Think he's doing a good job?
Jim stares at him.
JIM
Off the record?
CASEY
Sure.
JIM
I think he's a left-leaning
CASEY
He's soft on Communism?
JIM
Sure. He's handing over this country to the Reds. And with
CASEY
So what's the solution?
JIM
We're headed for a war with
President Rhee is just looking for the right opening, and then he'll move in.
CASEY
But if we back
JIM
But that's exactly what we want! Don't you understand? We're going to have to go to the mat anyway with Red China sooner or later; it's inevitable. Better we tackle them now, while they're weak and unprepared. That way we can cream them.
CASEY
How? How do you defeat one billion people?
JIM
Even we don't have enough A-bombs to wipe them out. Most people don't know that, but it's true. I've seen the studies. Our stockpile is real limited.
But we do have a secret weapon.
Casey frowns at him.
CLOSE ON JIM
JIM
Germ warfare. That's the Free World's trump card.
We may not have enough A-bombs to blast those chinks off the face of the earth; but feed them a little bubonic plague and some cholera with a little anthrax thrown in, and the epidemics will spread like wildfire—the crowded living conditions. Within weeks, millions will be stacked in the streets like Christmas trees on New Year's Eve.
Inside a few months we can level the whole country. Without firing a shot.
CASEY
Jesus.
JIM
And it's cheap, too! Compared to atom bombs, it's an incredible bargain.
CASEY
(brightening)
It's even better than an atom bomb. Hell, A-bombs blow up bridges and factories and everything in fucking sight, and you end up having to rebuild everything from scratch.
Germ warfare just kills all the people, and leaves all the facilities intact for you to use later.
JIM
It's perfect.
EXT. Q SECTOR
They're standing in front of a big, impressive three-story brick building. A brass plaque by the front entrance reads: "DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY/SPECIAL ORDINANCE."
JIM
Mind if we continue this conversation in my office?
CASEY
Not at all. It's fascinating talking to you.
They enter the building. Jim holds the door open for Casey.
INT.
It looks like a high school. They start walking down a gleaming corridor. Other NAVY PERSONNEL are scarce.
CASEY
Funny you should mention germ warfare. The other day this old gob from
JIM
Oh, he was tellin' you the truth.
CASEY
Really?
JIM
Yeah, it's a special potassium cyanide compound the Japs developed in
CASEY
Was it ever used?
JIM
Hardly anyone knows this, but right before the Surrender, huge batches of the stuff were cooked up, and the Jap High Command made preparations for the entire Jap population to commit hara-kiri.
CASEY
But fortunately, saner heads prevailed.
JIM
I guess.
INT. HALLWAY
They come to a door, and Jim takes out a ring of keys.
JIM
Here we are. My office. Not much, but it suits my purposes.
He unlocks the door and holds the door open for Casey. After Casey enters, Jim follows, closing the door behind him.
INT. ROOM
It's not an office. It's a small, cramped ROOM with a bare wooden bench again one wall, and a chair facing.
CASEY
How do you get any work done—
As Casey turns around slowly, Jim SLAMS him in the stomach, and while Casey hunches over, the wind knocked out of him, Jim KARATE-CHOPS the back of his neck and shoves him back so he falls onto the bench.
Hugging his sides, Casey slowly looks up from the bench.
CASEY'S P.O.V.
Jim has drawn his .45 and is pointing it at him. He's smiling.
JIM
Have a seat, Mr. Casey. Dr. Ishii will be by shortly to give you your shot.
Casey is gasping for breath.
CASEY
What—
JIM
We flipped for you, and he won.
CASEY
My lucky day.
JIM
You fucking fool, I've seen photographs of you.
The door opens, and LEE enters, in uniform. After he closes the door behind him, Lee takes one look at Casey and smiles. Jim laughs out loud. They've got him!
JIM
Lunch is served!
LEE
Well, the mountain came to Mohammed.
JIM
Lee, could you watch over Mr. Casey until Dr. Ishii arrives with his flu shot in about ten minutes? Gary and I have got to reach the Imperial Bank in
From his pocket Lee removes his trusty STILETTO and presses the button so the gleaming BLADE pops out. He grins.
LEE
(to JIM)
What's Ishii shooting him with? Not that purple paste shit, I hope.
JIM
He's got a variant strain he's dying to test out. With advanced Mortality Enhancing Factors, he says.
LEE
Man, I'm clearin' the room soon as he's done. They're gonna have to make up a new name for what this boy will be shittin'.
Moving to the door, Jim addresses Casey.
JIM
Sorry to cut our conversation short, but my friend Gary and I have some babysitting to do. Masa-kun has found the right mark—a nice, fat little bank branch in Shiina-machi with plenty of trusting little Japs who never question anyone in authority.
CASEY
Masa's the poison administrator from 731?
JIM
(nods)
Only thing is, he's a fuckin' shabu-head—an amphetamine junkie—so you gotta watch him all the time.
CASEY
What's going to happen in Kinosaki?
Jim is first taken aback, then smiles.
JIM
You'd have to be a friend of Kita Ikki to know.
CASEY
A germ warfare attack?
JIM
It will be a crime that will shock the world. A cadre of the Japanese Communist Party will be arrested, and permanent martial law will follow.
CASEY
So the Occupation will never end. Once and for all,
JIM
Yeah, our fuchin kubo, they call it here.
CASEY
And then on to
JIM
He starts to open the door to go.
CASEY
Don't get sick. That stuff can be contagious.
Laughing, Jim exits.
ANOTHER ANGLE
While Casey is sitting on the bench, Lee is standing over him with the knife, grinning.
LEE
Shame about your Jap friend Nakamura.
CASEY
What do you know about it?
LEE
I helped him catch that last train.
Casey is visibly jolted.
CASEY
You're bullshitting me. You're just trying to devil me.
LEE
No shit. I figured he needed one more train accident to write about.
In a blind rage, Casey launches himself up off the bench at Lee. In a lightning reaction, Lee RAMS the STILETTO at Casey's midsection, but Casey grabs the wrist of his knife hand and twists it away.
Lee tries to CHOP his other hand down at Casey's neck, but Casey grips that wrist too. Holding him at bay for a moment, Casey jerks Lee toward him and PLOWS his knee into Lee's GROIN.
Lee folds but won't let go of the STILETTO. Hunched over with him, Casey tries to tear the STILETTO out of his hand, but when Lee won't release it, Casey seizes Lee's knife hand with both hands and yanks upward.
THE STILETTO
gripped in Lee's hand flashes upward.
In the struggle Lee's arm SLIPS, and horribly enough, the BLADE SLAMS right into the soft underside of Lee's CHIN.
LEE'S AGONIZED FACE
contorts as the BLADE JAMS up through the roof of his mouth right up to the hilt, until the point pierces his braincase. BLOOD pours out of his gurgling mouth.
Casey is horrified. He's never killed a man before, and all of a sudden he's got a corpse on his hands. He hurls Lee's corpse away from him; LEE collapses so that he ends up sitting on the floor, his back against the bench, mouth jutting open in a permanent scream of agony, blood pouring out from under his chin and soaking the front of his uniform.
CASEY
My God, I killed him.
Casey notices Lee's blood on his suit jacket and casts it off. He wastes no time. He's not hanging around for Dr. Ishii. He opens the door and slips out.
EXT. HALLWAY
The hallway is deserted. Dr. Ishii is nowhere in sight. Sterilizing his needles, no doubt. Casey takes off down the corridor.
But as he rounds a corner, he almost COLLIDES with an armed MP.
MP
Need some help, mister?
CASEY
I'm looking for the office of Dr. Akuma [Dr. Red Devil].
The MP frowns.
MP
Never heard of him. He new here?
Casey smiles nervously. He's terrified of bumping into Dr. Ishii. He snaps his fingers as if an idea just came to him.
CASEY
Wait a minute, what did Captain Kramer tell me?
He fumbles out a piece of paper and makes a show of studying it.
CASEY
Hell, he's in the other building. Thanks anyway.
He strolls away with as much composure as he can muster; then as soon as he's out of the MP's sight, he breaks into a sprint again.
EXT.
Casey slips out through the back exit and runs across the base for the parking lot.
EXT. PARKING LOT
Winded, Casey unlocks his car and jumps inside. He starts it and heads for the exit.
EXT. SECURITY GATE
Casey pulls up at the guard post and flashes his fake ID. After the MP waves him through, Casey floors the accelerator and the CAR zooms ahead.
INT. CAR
ANGLE ON CASEY
as he steps on the gas, roaring ahead. He wears a look of grim determination on his face.
EXT. HIGHWAY - LONG SHOT
We see Casey's CAR shooting down the straight ribbon of road. Landscape and scenery flash past.
INT. CAR
Casey checks his watch. It's 1:15 P.M.
CASEY
Shit, it's two fucking hours to
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