Scene: A School in a metropolitan area that is highly industrialized. It’s mid-afternoon with a traffic jam outside the school.
Marcus gets out of school and runs into Zeb. Zeb is dressed as the typical homeless person, with shoes that looked like they went through a wood chipper.
Zeb Sits up
Zeb: “Sorry buddy, didn’t see you. You hurt?”
Marcus: “Um. No, it’s OK.”
Zeb and Marcus shake hands.
Zeb: “I’m really sorry.”
Marcus: “It’s no problem.”
Zeb and Marcus shake hands.
Zeb: “Zeb,”
Marcus: “Marcus”
Zeb: “A pleasure, Marcus, hope to run into you again sometime!”
Zeb laughs and runs away.
[New Scene]
Marcus is walking down a city street, with some skyscrapers and smaller buildings as well. He is upset and talking to himself.
Marcus: “I can’t believe that I told the Xneters to back off. I’m not even their leader. Why should they listen to me? It’s not like I’m calling the plays. Why did I have to be the one to suggest chillin’ for a bit?”
Van’s voice: “ They see you as the leader because you created the system”
Marcus: “That doesn’t mean that I should be treated as a leader”
Marcus walks for a few meters
Marcus: “It’s not like I signed up for this. I just want Darryl back….”
Van: “First of all, the creator is always seen as the leader unless some other person takes the spotlight. You didn’t yield it, so you are the de facto leader. Deal with it. You overreacted and now you have to deal with the consequences”
Marcus: “But I had to do something to help Darryl. We’ve been friends since forever… Besides, it’s not my fault that he was taken. It’s not like I planned for us to get abducted by the government”
Van: “Don’t rationalize it. You were the one to pull us out of school so deal with it and move on. We did have the option to refuse, you know…… Besides, it was a smart move to tell your following to lay low. No sense in them getting arrested”
Marcus: “That’s exactly what I was thinking. I mean, I already feel responsible for Darryl, how could I possibly deal with anyone else getting arrested or disappeared because of me and my vendetta?”
Van: “You may have started it, but I’m pretty sure that the people who joined only joined because they believe in the cause. Despite how much you want revenge, you did make your intent very clear. You want to take out the DHS. That’s something that pretty much every teenager dreamed of participating in. They knew the risks. They joined anyways. All you were doing was being responsible by recognizing and spreading the word that the current methods were too risky. Every now and then we need to switch up the game plan”
[NEW SCENE]
[Marcus heads up to his room, to try to distract himself]
Marcus: “I finally started completing one of my projects”
Ange: “Which one?”
Marcus: “My Lego pinhole camera. It should be pretty bomb when it’s completed. You want to come over and see?”
Ange: “Why not? It’s not like I have anything better to do. So, you don’t know what to do, do you?”
Marcus: “What do you mean? I know how to finish my camera.”
Ange: “You know what I mean”
Marcus: “Yea… Well, I have an idea, but…. it will put all of us in danger. I need to come forward. I can’t hide anymore and let other people get arrested for something I started. Anyways, can I call you back in 5 minutes? I need to evaluate my plan of action”
Ange: “OK. If you don’t call back in 10, I’ll call you in 20”
Marcus:”Sounds good. Love you”
Ange: “Love you too”
[Marcus gets comfortable, and changes into sweats and a t-shirt. In the process, he finds a note in his pocket. He reads it aloud]
Marcus: “Dear Marcus,You don’t know me but I know you. For the past three months, since the Bay Bridge was blown up, I have been imprisoned on Treasure Island. I was in the yard on the day you talked to that Asian girl and got tackled. You were brave. Good on you. I had a burst appendix the day afterward and ended up in the infirmary. In the next bed was a guy named Darryl. We were both in recovery for a long time and by the time we got well, we were too much of an embarrassment to them to let go. So they decided we must really be guilty. They questioned us every day. You’ve been through their questioning, I know. Imagine it for months. Darryl and I ended up cell-mates. We knew we were bugged, so we only talked about inconsequentialities. But at night, when we were in our cots, we would softly tap out messages to each other in Morse code (I knew my HAM radio days would come in useful sometime). At first, their questions to us were just the same crap as ever, who did it, how’d they do it. But after a little while, they switched to asking us about the Xnet. Of course, we’d never heard of it. That didn’t stop them asking. Darryl told me that they brought him arphid cloners, Xboxes, all kinds of
technology and demanded that he tell them who used them, where they learned to mod them. Darryl told me about your games and the things you learned. Especially: The DHS asked us about our friends. Who did we know? What were they like? Did they have political feelings? Had they been in trouble at
school? With the law? We call the prison Gitmo-by-the-Bay. It’s been a week since I got out and I don’t think that anyone knows that their sons and daughters are imprisoned in the middle of the Bay. At night we could hear people laughing and partying on the mainland. I got out last week. I won’t tell you how, in case this falls into the wrong hands. Maybe others will take my route. Darryl told me how to find you and made me promise to tell you what I knew when I got back. Now that I’ve done that I’m out of here like last year. One way or another, I’m leaving this country. Screw America. Stay strong. They’re scared of you. Stay strong. They’re scared of you. Kick them for me. Don’t get caught.
-Zeb”
[Marcus starts crying]
Marcus’s Mom: “Marcus, are you alright? It sounds like you’re crying.”
Marcus: “Mom, I’m fine”
Marcus’s Mom: “No you’re not. I can hear you sobbing. Honey, what’s wrong?”
Marcus: “Nothing”
Marcus’s Mom: “You know you can tell me. I know you’ve been really upset about Darryl, but, Honey, you need to talk to someone about it”
[Marcus starts crying]
Marcus: “Mom, you don’t know the half of it”
[New Scene]
[Marcus is talking to Zeb after he becomes a wanted man. Setting is freeway underpass. Zeb is handing Marcus a piece of pizza]
Zeb: “You like pineapple on your pizza? Freegans can’t be choosy”
Marcus: “Freegans?”
Zeb: “Like vegans, but we only eat free food.”
Marcus: “Free food?”
Zeb: “You know free food. From the free food store?”
Marcus: “You stole this?”
Zeb: “No, dummy. It’s from the other store. The little one out behind
the store? Made of blue steel? Kind of funky smelling?”
Marcus: “You got this out of the garbage?”
Zeb: “Yes indeedy. You should see your face. Dude, it’s OK. It’s not like it was rotten. It was fresh,just a screwed up order. They threw it out in the box. They sprinkle rat poison over everything at closing time, but if you get there quick, you’re OK. You should see what grocery stores throw out! Wait until breakfast. I’m going to make you a fruit salad you won’t believe. As soon as one strawberry in the box goes a little green and fuzzy, the whole thing is out”
Marcus: “Sounds all right, I guess. It will probably take me a while to get used to living like this”
Zeb: “Off of trash?”
Marcus: “No, off of handouts. Out of all the ways my life could have gone, I never would have expected this”
Zeb: “Well, that’s what happens when you have DHS looking for you. You’re lucky you have such good friends”
Marcus: “No I’m not. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t been so selfish in wanting to win that game.”
Zeb: “You can’t change the past, but you can change the future. You’ve already begun by going public with your story. I couldn’t have done that. You’re a braver man than I’ll ever be”
Marcus: “Do you think it will all be worth it in the end? I mean, I started a revolution against the government in order to save my friend, but in the end, is it worth it?”
Zeb: “It’s worth it only if you think it is”
Marcus: “But what if I’m the reason that hundreds or thousands of kids get disappeared? Just for following my lead?”
Zeb: “Think of it this way: those ‘kids’ are willing to do anything for the cause. You know the arrest rate. Eventually, it will be worth it, regardless of if you are here to see it or not. Don’t fret about the future, you’ve already changed it. Now it’s time to worry about the present. Prepare yourself for the worst, and hope for the best”
[Marcus and Zeb get caught.]
[End Story]