TRIUMVIRATE SE Chapter Seventeen
By The Host
EXT. MAGNAPOLIS - SUNSET
The sun faintly casts its dying light over Magnapolis.
Traffic scurries through the city, now lit up like a
Christmas tree – or, more accurately, an unending forest of
them. As always, the Presidential Tower looms over all.
THE CEO (V.O.)
Mister President, you don’t know
what you’re doing.
INT. PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE - CONTINUOUS
The CEO and Admiral Dawson both sit before The President at
his desk.
THE PRESIDENT
I know full well what I’m doing,
Your Reverence.
THE CEO
You can’t declare war on a
corporation. That’s absurd! It’s a
legal entity, it exists only on
paper. You can sue a corporation;
to presume to do more—
THE PRESIDENT
This Corporation is more than a
figment of some lawyer’s
imagination. You have real ships,
real weapons—
THE CEO
And a real need which you refuse
to recognize.
THE PRESIDENT
We can fight our own battles.
THE CEO
But you do need us, sir. We are
your production base, your defense
industry, your everything—
THE PRESIDENT
And that’s the problem.
THE CEO
You have much larger threats to
face. We have to work together—
THE PRESIDENT
We could never hope to be equal
partners—
THE CEO
We have to be. You’re destroying
yourself, you know that, and at
the worst possible time! And for
what?
THE PRESIDENT
For freedom. For sovereignty.
THE CEO
For power?
THE PRESIDENT
You’d know about that.
THE CEO
And what’s your angle, Dawson?
Dawson turns to The CEO.
DAWSON
I’m here on orders, Your Eminence.
There is a pause. The CEO stands.
THE CEO
The Senate won’t let you get away
with this. If it looks like they
will, I’ll employ my considerable
powers of persuasion to ensure
that they won’t. Your little war
is going to be over before it
begins.
The President stands.
THE PRESIDENT
We’ll see about that. Go.
The CEO leaves. The President sits down and slowly calms
down. After a moment, Dawson speaks.
DAWSON
Sir—
THE PRESIDENT
I’ll be frank. I don’t like you,
Admiral. I’ve heard a lot about
you. Honestly, I’m surprised
you’re even fighting on our side.
DAWSON
Sir, I—
THE PRESIDENT
But as long as you are, I’ll place
my confidence in you. Who else
have I got to trust? I’m new at
this game, Admiral, and The CEO
isn’t the only one that thinks he
can use me. Probably you do too.
DAWSON
Sir, not—
THE PRESIDENT
So: do it. I’ll give you my
fleets. Use them, use me, just
smash that goddamned Corporation.
I can’t command an army. You can,
better than anybody else.
DAWSON
Thank you, sir.
The stare each other down a moment. Then the President looks
away.
EXT. PRESIDENTIAL TOWER - LANDING PAD - MOMENTS LATER
The CEO and his entourage board a dark shuttle which then
launches from the Presidential Tower toward the Corporate
Tower not far away.
INT. SHUTTLE - COMMUNICATIONS ROOM - CONTINUOUS
The CEO stands in front of a round, white platform set onto
the floor in his shuttle’s cramped communications room.
Suddenly Admiral Copley, standing curtly, flickers into
existence before The CEO’s eyes.
COPLEY
Papa. How’d it go?
THE CEO
He’s an idiot.
COPLEY
That well? We’ll be better off
without him.
THE CEO
Surprisingly, Admiral, I’m not
sure we will.
COPLEY
Yes, yes. We’re on opposite sides
now, aren’t we? Mortal enemies and
all that? I suppose our little
Triumvirate’s gone to hell.
THE CEO
It hasn’t quite been a Triumvirate
since Dawson left it.
COPLEY
Dawson? He was there too, now,
wasn’t he?
THE CEO
Yes.
COPLEY
Ah, and how’s he doing? It’s been
a long time.
THE CEO
He’s tilting at windmills.
COPLEY
Always was.
THE CEO
But you know what?
COPLEY
What?
THE CEO
This time I think he might win.
AUTOR'S COMMENTARY:
The first scene is new to Triumvirate. I liked the idea of
getting the President, CEO, and Dawson together – three
leaders, a Triumvirate of sorts, but one that crumbles. You
can see the mutual mistrust between all three. Dawson and
the CEO clearly have a history together. The President still
dislikes Dawson but decides to put his faith in the man.
Then there’s the exchange between Copley and the CEO, and
the first reference to the film’s title. I don’t think I
ever explicitly lay out the back story, but it should be
emerging now: Dawson and Copley and the CEO were once in
cahoots to control the USS. But to what end? And why did
Dawson leave? The answers won’t be clear for some time.
I like the CEO a bit more now. He’s not much of a villain.
Oh, he’s opposed to our hero to be sure; he’s mysterious and
seems to have a lust for power. But he’s less ruthless and
more of a pragmatist than Copley. It seems he’d like to
avoid this war. It seems, moreover, that he might be just a
little bit afraid of what Dawson might do.
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4/11/2003 10:20:14 PM
(Updated: 4/12/2003 5:44:54 PM)
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(Updated: 4/12/2003 5:47:55 PM)
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