EXT. ROMAN STREET-CAFÉ – DAY

Where Jarod and Andrew first met. Another espresso. Perhaps the last.

Andrew

This is where we part, Jarod.

JAROD

What’re you talking about?

ANDREW

I cannot go any farther. You need to be on your own from now on.

JAROD

That’s it? He beats us to the map and you simply give up?

ANDREW

There’s a big difference between stepping aside and not being on one’s way. He’s much too powerful for someone like me.

JAROD

But...

ANDREW

Tell me, what did you feel when you first saw him?

JAROD

I felt... It was as if I was looking at a twisted reflection of me.

ANDREW

(nods)

That is the power of the scrolls.

You could feel him, couldn’t you? Hear his breathing, feel his heart beat? Yes?

Jarod nods.

ANDREW

And you were not surprised when you saw he was no longer at the chapel.

JAROD

When I first heard of Carthis, about the fleeing monk, the all thing seemed so farfetched. And now...

(beat)

Andrew, if I can feel him... do you think he can feel me too?

ANDREW

Yes, I do.

And that is why I should be as far away from you as possible. That way you won’t be diverted from your quest.

JAROD

What if I need your help?

ANDREW

In due time, people will come to assist you.

JAROD

Who?

Andrew gets up.

JAROD

Wait. Where are you going?

ANDREW

Home.

(smiles)

Don’t worry about me, Jarod.

JAROD

Before you... I need to know more.

(beat)

About my past. Anything that helps.

Andrew sits again.

ANDREW

I will tell you a story that might help you.

Have you read the Apocrypha, Jarod?

JAROD

I did a pretend as a professor of Theology once. Why?

ANDREW

The Apocrypha claim that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had a daughter.

After the crucifixion, and according to legend, Mary Magdalene travelled with her unborn child to Southern France, where the sacred bloodline was mixed with that of the Merovingian kings.

JAROD

Isn’t there a book about that?

ANDREW

There are many books about this subject. Some of them very well researched, others not quite. But, all of which based on facts very well fabricated; all carrying a common mistake few are aware off.

JAROD

And what mistake is that?

ANDREW

The Merovingian ties are only a myth – a mere stratagem to distract everyone’s attention.

JAROD

From what?

ANDREW

From where Mary Magdalene and her daughter really were.

(beat)

Right here in Rome.

JAROD

That doesn’t make any sense. If they were being chased by the Romans, why hide—

ANDREW

It makes as much sense as escaping The Centre and hiding in Blue Cove, does it not?

Jarod grins.

JAROD

Point taken.

But why are you telling me this?

ANDREW

I’m telling you because you have to look beyond what you see. No matter how solid, how real, a truth may be, it can be based on a lie.

Never forget about the beginning of things. If you do, you will never be strong enough to face its end.

Andrew gets up, offers his hand. Jarod gets up and shakes Andrew’s hand.

ANDREW (CONT’D)

So long, Jarod. Best of luck.

Jarod doesn’t reply. He simply nods and watches as Andrew walks away and disappears in the crowd.

After a while, Jarod picks up his stuff and walks to the opposite direction.

INT. THE CENTRE. MISS PARKER’S OFFICE

Miss Parker is absently watching her mother’s picture.

Broots enters in a hurry, carrying a thick folder. He looks around.

MISS PARKER

Broots! What did I tell you about coming in here without knocking?

BROOTS

(absently)

Sydney’s not here.

MISS PARKER

No, he’s in SL-2.

Broots sighs, relieved.

MISS PARKER

What is it?

BROOTS

(walks over to the desk)

I found out what the Green Files were all about.

A beat. Miss Parker’s look tells him to go on.

BROOTS

It was a genetic breeding and monitoring program. Children were monitored from birth ‘till... I don’t know for sure, maybe adult age.

I found nothing to confirm if the project was shut down or not.

But I was right about one thing. This project was a prequel to the Pretender Project.

MISS PARKER

A prequel to the Pretender Project in 1933?

(a beat)

Broots, is Sydney one of the subjects?

Is that the reason why you didn’t want him to be here?

BROOTS

(nods)

Sydney and Jacob were two of the subjects.

(hands her the folder)

But they were not the only ones.

Miss Parker opens the folder. The first two files are Sydney’s and Jacob’s. She reads them over. Medical details, academic achievements, place of birth, etc. Their entire lives reduced to lines on paper.

MISS PARKER

My God! This is...

(she flips to the third file and gasps)

My mother was on it too?

BROOTS

Your mother, Jarod’s mother. All those who parented the Red Files and some others I never heard of. Even Michelle and Ben Miller were on it too.

But that doesn’t make any sense. You told me your mother and Ben met by accident.

MISS PARKER

That’s what he told me.

BROOTS

At least, that’s what he remembers.

Either way, they were all monitored by The Centre their entire lives. And your great-grandfather was behind the whole thing.

MISS PARKER

Sydney and Jacob spent their early childhood in a concentration camp.

BROOTS

That makes us wonder how strong The Centre was.

MISS PARKER

And still is.

(grabs her mother’s picture frame and stares at it for a moment)

This is getting out of our league, Broots. We need help.

BROOTS

Are you thinking of someone in particular?

MISS PARKER

Yes. But I have to wait for him to call.

BROOTS

What are you gonna do in the meantime?

MISS PARKER

(puts the frame down)

I’m gonna call Ben and check up on him.