### Act 3, Scene 3: Hello, World!

- Backdrop: city at night, BCA logo in the middle.
- Stage Setup: stairway exit as frontprop in [7], air conditioning in [4] as second level, antenna in [2], satellite dish in [1]
- Props: Smoke, mobile phone (Reesa), guns for the guards, gun for Yun
- Puppets: Cornelius (Lynard, Kayjay), Yun (Pan, o'wolf, Runo), Cai Lung (Fairlight, Xan, Zefiro), Guards (Kyron, CJ), Jiao Chan (Tani, Furvan, Kyron), Null (video) (Eisfuchs, Tigerseye)
- PreRec:
- Setting: The roof of the Black Crescent Advantage Building at night. There is a stairway exit with a steel door, several large installations (air conditioning and other things) in the middle that make for a nice cover in a gunfight. There is also a large antenna tower with an electric box at its bottom. One can see the city of Hong Kong in the night stretch to the horizon. There is a strong breeze blowing.
- SFX: Door explosion (Smoke, Reesa)

##### INTRO

Cellphone dialling tones. Ring tone. Picks up.
(cont.) - Dial Screen
(cont.) - Null appears on the projection screen, Cornelius in a small PIP

Null: “Hey Cornelius, good to see you, man! I tried to call, but you didn't pick up. Is everything allright? Did you make it into BCA headquarters okay?

Cornelius: “Not just that! We've got Cai-Lung!”

Null: “Wow, that's awesome news! How did you manage to get him out so quickly?”

Cornelius: “We're still inside the building, but making our way out. I had to turn my phone off for a while, and I just noticed I missed a call from you. So what's new?”

Null: “I've found the access point we can use to stop the rollout - and if everything works, I might even get full root access to the core server.”

Cornelius: “That sounds too good to be true. What's the catch?”

Null: “It's on Floor 62.”

Cornelius: “You must be kidding me, that's the roof!”

Null: “Precisely. I'll leave it up to you if you want to go up there or not. To be honest, if I were you, I'd get the hell out of there.”

Cornelius: “No, I've already talked to Yun and Cai-Lung: If there's still a chance to stop the rollout we are going to take it. Jiao Chan locked the building down, but so far we've only seen a few guards and it's hard to tell who they work for. There were only two in the room with Cai-Lung - we killed one of them, took his gun, and the other one ran away.”

Null: “That's strange. State Security usually doesn't do things by half.”

Cornelius: “I don't get it either. But maybe that's our chance! What do we have to do?”

Null: “There should be a small broadband antenna on the roof, with a little electrical cabinet underneath. The antenna is how the core system communicates with the other darknet nodes in the area. The system has a serious design flaw that'll work in our favor. They're encrypting all their network traffic, but only from their perimeter router outwards. The router's inside the box underneath the antenna. If you manage to break into the cabinet and attach your cellphone to the unencrypted side of the router, I can attack the server through your phone.”

Cornelius: “I didn't understand half of what you just said, but yeah, if all I have to do is break a lock and plug the phone in, I think I can do that.”

Null: “You rock!”

Cornelus: “Don't count your chickens before they hatch… shit, there's noise coming from below… people are running up the stairs. We need to get moving … I'll call you from the roof! Cross your fingers for me!”

Null: “I will! Hasta la vista baby!”

Hangup tone
(cont.) - Caption on Screen: Connection terminated

##### MAIN DIALOGUE

1101 - Rooftop Ambience (Wind, City, etc)

Curtain - open

Lights on

1102 - Music 1 (Suspense)
1103 - Footsteps coming up stairs.
1103 (cont.) - door.

Open the staircase door

Cornelius, Cai Lung and Yun enter the roof through the door.

Cai Lung drags himself up the stairs, obviously very exhausted.

Cornelius: “We’re lucky there’s not too much wind today. When the weather gets bad, it’ll sweep you right off your feet. Still, you’d better not get too close to the edge. It’s anything but safe up here.”

Yun: “Then let’s find that circuit box Null has been talking about, and get out of here as fast as we can.”

Cornelius: “I know the purpose of pretty much everything that has ever been installed up here … except the big box underneath the antenna. They wouldn’t even allow me to get near it. I'll bet you anything that it’s the one we’re looking for!”

Yun: “All right, go ahead and do your thing, and I’ll jam the door. We don’t want to make it too easy for them, do we?”

1104 - Close / Lock Door

Yun closes the door, and locks it from the outside.

Cornelius: “I don’t have a key, so cross your fingers I’ll find a way to pry the lock open.”

Cornelius proceeds to crack open the electrical box, nervously

Cai Lung: “Getting up here was way too easy … no extra guards outside the room, no special forces, not even an alarm. I don’t get it. They must have noticed we’ve escaped. What is taking them so long?”

1105 - Footsteps

Yun (alarmed): “Shhh! I can hear footsteps! Everyone stay clear from the door and take cover! You too, Cornelius!”

Cornelius (in panic): “Shit!”

Cornelius kicks the box

1106 - Clang

Cornelius: “This goddamn son of a bitch just won’t open! I need more time!”

1107 - Banging against the door

Yun and Cai Lung take cover behind a large piece of machinery.

Yun: “I have a gun, but that doesn’t mean I can do miracles!”

1106 STOP
1108 - Gunshots from the door
1109 - Music 2 (More Suspense)

Cai Lung: “They’re trying to shoot the door open!”

Cornelius (while tinkering): “Don't worry. These doors were built to be secure. Oh … there … hang on, I think I got it … now …. YES! Finaly!”

The electrical box springs open

1110 - Tinkering - then Box Opens

Yun: “Good job! Now get the bloody phone hooked up and come here!”

Cornelius (angry): “God damn shit, I don’t believe it!”

Yun: “What is it now?”

Cornelius (nervous): “When Null said “connect the phone to the router”, I thought there’d be some kind of connector there. But this is all nonstandard. At least I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s not going to work.”

Cai Lung: “What does this mean, it’s not going to work? It must!”

Cornelius: “And what am I supposed to do? Bite the ear buds off my iPod, and just shove the naked wires in there?”

Cai Lung: “Whatever works!”

Cornelius: “You can fly, right?”

Cai Lung: “I’ve had better days, but yes.”

Cornelius: “Then take Yun, and fly away while you still can. I’ll stay here and try to somehow get this freaking phone connected, and if I screw up, at least you two will be safe.”

Yun: “No! I’ll fight with you to the end!”

Cai Lung: “And so will I. And now you’d better get started on rigging that cable. It doesn’t have to be pretty, it just needs to work this one time.”

Yun: “Sssshhhh!”

Cornelius: “What is it?”

they listen.

Yun: “It’s suddenly so silent.”

Cai Lung: “Sounds like they left. Why did they do that?”

1111 - KERBOOM!
1112 - Music 3: Action
1009 STOP

There is a bright flash, and lots of smoke, as the door gets blasted out of its frame.

Two guards come storming out of the door, shooting

1113 - Guards Shoot 1
1113 - Guards Shoot 2
1113 - Guards Shoot 3
1113 - Guards Shoot 4
1113 - Guards Shoot 5

Cornelius: “aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Yun:: “aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Cornelius fiddles around with his knife and a couple of cables.

Yun takes out her gun, and shoots at the guards, taking cover behind the large A/C block.

Yun: “Cai Lung, get down! I’ll try to hold them back!”

Cai Lung cowers behind the A/C block.

The guards storm forward.

Yun shoots 5 times, two shots hit.

1114 - Yun Shoots 1
1114 - Yun Shoots 2
1114 - Yun Shoots 3 + Dying Guard 1

Guard 1 dies

1114 - Yun Shoots 4
1114 - Yun Shoots 5 + Dying Guard 2

Guard 2 dies

Both guards re-spawn from the door.

1115 - Guards Shoot 1
1115 - Guards Shoot 2
1115 - Guards Shoot 3

Yun shoots at the guards.

1116 - Yun Shoots 1
1116 - Yun Shoots 2 + Dying Guard 1

Guard 1 dies

1116 - Yun Shoots 3
1116 - CLICK 1
1116 - CLICK 2
1116 - CLICK 3

Yun: “Damn! I’m out of ammo! Daddy, I need your help … NOW!”

The remaining guard slowly walks forward towards the A/C-Block they are hiding behind.

Yun swings her gun around, and smashes it into the guards face.

Yun: “Haaah!”

1117 - Swing & Punch & Guard Cry

The guard cries in surprise, as his gun goes flying.

1118 - Dragon Roar
1112 FADE
1119 - Music 4 (Relief/Suspense)

Cai Lung roars, takes the guard in his mouth, and throws him off the roof.

1120 - Flying Guard

Yun (panting in terror): “Holy shit! That … was … close …”

Cai Lung: “Yes it was. We’re lucky they seem to be really short on personnel. I mean, come on, four guards … I can hardly believe that’s all they had left.”

Cornelius puts his hands into the electric box at some weird contorted angle.

1121 - Electronic Bleep

Cornelius: “I think I’ve got it … Oh my god, yes! It works!”

Yun: “Excellent! I knew you could do it! I love you, Cornelius! You just earned yourself one big tiger hug! Come here!”

Yun runs towards Cornelius

Cornelius: “Stoooooop!”

Yun: “What is it?”

Cornelius: “I can’t move or it’ll lose the connection. It only works if I hold it precisely this way. Maybe we can save the hug for later?”

Yun (laughing): “Of course!”

1122 - Phone Rings
1122 - Caption “Incoming Call”

Cornelius: “Can someone please accept the call for me?”

Yun presses a button on the phone.

1122a - Pickup
1122 - STOP

Null appears on the screen.

Null: “Hey guys, how are you doing, I was beginning to wonder why …. WOW! Holy shit, your place looks like a battlefield! Is everyone alright?”

Cornelius: “Yes, we're doing fine, thank you. I hooked up the phone, like you told me. But for how long do I have to stay like this? My fingers are getting numb!”

Null: “Not for long, I promise. They’re blocking all connections coming from the outside going in … but not the other way round! I'm uploading a little piece of software that’ll open a tunnel from the inside to the public network. Once it's running you can disconnect the phone. Meanwhile I’ll try to get my hands on the new master keys and stop the big rollout. I’ll call you back when I’m ready.”

Cornelius: “Okay. Anything I can do to help?”

Null: “Yeah! You’d better not move, or I’ll have to start the transfer all over again. Take care!”

1123 - Hangup Tone
1123 (cont.) Caption (“Connection Terminated”)
1124 - Music 5 (Chiller)

Cornelius (tense): “Yun .. I feel very bad about this!”

Yun (aggressive): “Don’t worry! When they come I’ll jump at them, and claw their eyes out! I know how to put up a good fight! If they want to kill you, they’ll first have to …”

Cai Lung: “Yun!”

Yun: “What?”

Cai Lung: “Calm down! There’s no point in …”

Yun: ”… saving my loved one? Is that what you wanted to say?”

Cai Lung (sighs deeply): “Yun. Sweetheart. You’re strong. You’re passionate. But instead of giving your strength and passion to the one who needs it the most, you’re wasting it in getting yourself all worked up over something that may not even happen. Please go and take care of Cornelius, alright?. I’ll take care of the rest.”

Yun (gulps): “Yes, daddy. You’re right. I’m sorry.”

Yun walks over to Cornelius, keeping him close company and shielding him from view.

Jiao Chan steps through the door, wielding a handgun.

1125 - Music 6 (Dark Drama)

Jiao Chan: “Cai Lung! I know you’re up here! Show yourself!”

Cai Lung: “Alright, here I am. And as you can see, I am not armed.”

Jiao Chan: “Where is the girl and the rat? I want to see them!”

Cai Lung: “I’m sorry, but I’m NOT going to let you near them as long as you’ve got that gun in your hand. Lay down your weapon, and we can talk.”

Jiao Chan: “And what if I don’t want to talk?”

Cai Lung: “Then you’ll have to shoot me first.”

Jiao Chan: “Well, too bad it has to end this way.”

1126 - Music 7 (Rise + Fight)
1127 - Gunshots

Jiao Chan shoots until her weapon is empty.

Cai Lung takes the bullet hits, groaning and writhing in pain.

!!! WAIT FOR MUSIC !!!

Cai Lung groans and falls down slowly

1128 - Impact (Cai-Lung Crashes to the ground)

Yun: “DADDY! Nooooo!”

Jiao-Chan laughs

Cornelius: “Yun, stay here! If you leave the cover now, you’re dead! You've got to be strong now, my little tiger! Stay here and hold me … hold me tight … yes … very good!”

Cai Lung (WHILE CORNELIUS IS STILL TALKING) takes all his strength, grits his teeth, and gets back up again.

1129 - Music 8 (Victory Rise + Fall)
1126 FADE

Jiao Chan: “No …. nononono …. NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Cai Lung roars!

1130 - Cai-Lung Roars

Jiao Chan tries to shoot again, but her guns just clicks.

1130 (cont.) - Gun Clicks

Jiao Chan: “Shit!”

Jiao Chan jumps at Cai-Lung - wrestling him

1131 - Fight

Cai Lung fights with Jiao Chan finally pinning her down

Jiao Chan: “Aaaaaaaaaaaah!”

Cai Lung (in pain, but calm): “Did you really think it was gonna be that easy to kill me? And did you really think you could threaten my daughter and get away with it just like that?”

Jiao Chan (strangled): “She’s not your daughter.”

Cai Lung: “No, she’s not YOUR daughter! But she will always be MY daughter, no matter whose genes she’s made up from, or what species she is! And for what it’s worth, Cornelius is like a son to me in just the same way. Their love and passion is what kept me alive during all this pain and suffering. And it still is. But you will never understand that. Because you don’t have a heart.”

Jiao Chan (strangled): “You cannot win, Cai Lung! Reinforcements are already on the way. They will be here any minute. But it’s not too late to give up, Cai Lung. Let me go, and they might spare your life! But if you kill me, you’re signing your own death warrant!”

Cai Lung laughs out loud … the laughing turns into a cough.

Cai Lung: “If you had any reinforcements coming in, you wouldn’t have shown up here all alone, would you? No. The truth is obvious. There are no reinforcements. You lost your backup when you decided to no longer follow the orders of your superiors and turn it all into your personal crusade against me! Even if there were troops on the way here, where do you think they’ll put you when they realize how badly you’ve screwed up your mission? In fact, If I killed you now, I might even be doing you a favor!”

Jiao Chan: “Then why don’t you stop talking and DO IT, you filthy coward!”

1129 FADE slowly

Cai Lung: “Because I'm not like you. Life is a sacred thing, and neither do I have the right nor do I enjoy taking it away from anyone. You are no longer a threat to me. Look at your miserable self. You have no more weapons. No more allies. No more family. You are weak. You are alone. No, Jiao Chan. You don’t deserve to be killed. You deserve to be pitied. When a man has pity on all living creatures, only then is he noble.”

Jiao Chan: “I hate you, Cai Lung. I HATE you!”

1132 - Phone Rings

1132 (cont.) - Caption “Incoming Call”

Cornelius flinches!

Cornelius: “HARGHH!”

1132 (cont) pickup

1133 - Music 8 - Uplifting

Null appears on the video screens

Cornelius: “Yes?”

Null: “Alright everyone, the upload is complete and the big rollout is history!”

Cornelius lets go of the phone and the cables.

Cornelius: “That means we made it? Oh god! We made it! YES! Wohooo!”

Yun TIGER-HUGS Cornelius

Yun: “You’re the most awesome rat in the whole wide world! I love you, Cornelius!”

Cornelius: “I love you too, Yun. And thank you for being there when I needed you!”

SMOOOOOOOCH

Null: “Hey! Helloooo? And what about me? Don't you want to know how I did it?”

Cornelius: “Oh yes, of course! Fire away!”

Null: “Well, as soon as I had access to the network, it was just a matter of seconds. I aced it on my first try, a solid database code injection, simple and beautiful. There, BCA, hat's what you get when you don't run the latest patches! Hahahahahha! I love it, when a plan comes together!”

Jiao-Chan: “Hey, you, on the phone! Can you hear me?”

Null: “Huh? Who's there? Are you talking to me?”

Jiao-Chan: ”It’s me, Jiao Chan!”

Null: “Oh, I see. And what do you want?”

Jiao-Chan: “I want to congratulate you. You beat me AND the secret service. That takes some serious skills. Have you ever considered a professional career? I have some good friends high up in the government. We need people like you. Your salary would be royal, and you could have everything you want. Your own house. A private jet. And uncensored internet access. I can make it happen, all you have to do is let me.”

Null: “Thank you very much for your kinds words. But I am now in possession of your network’s master keys. That means I am now the one who censors YOUR internet. And while you were talking, I gave away your house, your private jet, and your royal salary. All for charity! Isn’t that great? You’re such a generous person, aren’t you?”

Jiao-Chan: “NO! HOW DARE YOU! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU, NULL, I PROMISE, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!”

1133 - Fade
1134 - Music 9 - Rise

Null: “Shhh! Don’t disturb me. I’m about to send the world a message. But before I can do that, I have to seize complete control over the entire country. And that, as you can imagine, requires some concentration! Now, where was I? Ah, of course! Announcing the new world order in 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1”

Jiao-Chan stars screaming at the beginning of the countdown.

1135 - Countdown Beeps
1136 - Music 11 (preload)
1101 - FADE
1134 - FADE

1135 (cont.) - Caption “Activating Emergency Broadcast System” + Countdown

Curtain - close

All lights out

1136 (cont.) - Fanfare

1135 (cont.) “PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT”

Null appears on the screen

1136 (cont.) - Conclusion

Null: “HELLO WORLD! (Heh, I've always wanted to say that) We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming for an important public ser vice announcement: Don't trust your government. They are all liars. Did you know that The Ministry of State Security has been working really hard to gain unrestricted control over all electronic devices on the grid? That means your phone, your TV, your computer, your car, your toothbrush and even your toilet flusher. The whole thing was supposed to go online today, and I'm sure they'd have gone a long way to explain to you how wonderful and beneficial this would have been for all of us! Unfortunately their party had to be cancelled - because they no longer have the key to their own computer systems.

And guess who has the spare? Your friendly neighborhood hacker - also known as: ME! Technically, I am now the new Emperor of China. I could listen in to every conversation everywhere, take any amount of money I want, and kill all the people I don’t like with the push of a button. I could have you build me my own palace, and make everyone call me “Your Awesomeness”. And then I'd outlaw the word “banana” - just for the heck of it. If you then said the word “banana”, a little red light would come on, and your toilet flusher would automatically stop working for a week. It would be such a blast!

Don't like it? Well, that's the price you pay for letting someone else run your life. But you're lucky I'm not like that. I don't want this kind of power. Instead I'm going to give it back to whom it belongs. To you. The people. As soon as I press this button right here, the secret government darknet will cease to exist. But be aware! As I’m not going to be your new Emperor after all, the responsibility of making sure something like this can never happen again is in your hands - and yours alone. Your freedom is a fundamental human right. Make good use of it. Because if you ignore your rights, they will disappear.”

1136 - FADE

Null: “And now I wish you all a wonderful night. Take care, my friends.”

Null pushes the button.

1137 - The End

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