Image by Ronan Gallagher (c) 2000
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CRIMEWEEK
Written By
Ronan Gallagher
(C)Ronan Gallagher 03
SPACE.
200 MILES ABOVE THE EARTHS SURFACE
SOUND
OVER MORSE CODE, MILLIONS OF RADIO SIGNALS, TV SOUND BYTES AND ALL THE GAMUT OF
RADIO AND TELEVISION SIGNALS EMANATING FROM EARTH.
Cold
space.
The
beautiful mass of blue and white that is Earth rolls slowly into frame as
camera turns and passes over in a lonely orbit of the planet. Various clouds
and weather systems hover gracefully over the continents and oceans as the
planet rolls past.
Whoosh…A
Satellite passes close by going in the opposite direction followed by some
space debris as we orbit into the night side of Earth, the speckled lights of
its various cities glimmering like gold dust in the distance.
Whoosh…..Past
another Satellite…. and
Whoosh…past
another as we continue to circle the Earth and on around the curvature of the
Earths dark side until, over the horizon the first rays of the sun appear
again.
Whoosh…….more
space debris hurtling aimlessly, in eternal orbit.
The
Suns rays getting stronger as a beautiful crescent begins to rise over
the Earth's
horizon. In the distance a huge Satellite approaches, bigger than
anything we've
seen before and temporarily blocks out the growing crescent of
the Sun.
Whoooosh……..As
we pass over its huge mass a large insignia can be seen on its topside with
the words
SANEX
CORP. N.E.S.S.
imprinted on it.
As
we swing past the Satellite suddenly, without warning we start to plummet
towards Earth gathering speed. Down towards the outer atmosphere, through the
much depleted ozone layer, down through the clouds and weather systems and out
into
Into
open blue sky, crisp and clear, plummeting
down as underneath us the outline of a huge metropolis begins to form
thousands of feet below.
Camera
plummets on down, the city looming larger by the second, the shapes of the
buildings and structures becoming clearer as we close in. Many incredibly tall
buildings dot the city and most are interconnected
by a high rise rail network which is suspended half way up their huge
structures high above the grid like
pattern of the surprisingly quiet streets.
At
the center of the city, towering above everything else, stands a huge
structure of glass and steel adorned on top with a huge radio satellite
rotating slowly, its massive mast jutting upwards.
The
words N.E.S.S
CENTRAL CONTROL are emblazoned across the huge diameter of its
receiver dish.
Close on the satellite as its mast slowly swings around to camera. Close on the point of the mast and Whoosh…….. in through the point of the mast
INTERIOR
COMPUTER ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS
Now
traveling
at incredible speed through the very wires and cables that make up
the electronic and computer network of the buildings massive computer systems.
FX
myriad of brilliant colours streaming past and flashing strobes from tiny
electrical impulses as we hurtle through the electronic systems the sound of a
million voices all mixed up and compressed together, a virtual tower of Babel
ringing in our ears and growing in intensity.
In
the distance a point of light which looms larger by the second. A distorted
face can be seen as we approach from inside the computer network and
Whoosh………Out
through a computer screen to
SCENE
4
Entering
the room through the computer screen we slow to almost a stop. The distorted
face seen earlier now fills the screen. It is that of a spectacled man, one of
the many workers in central control, his monitor screen reflecting in his
glasses as he busily types in data to his keyboard. Camera slowly orbits
around his head in silence, mirroring its earlier Earth orbit. Suddenly the
sound of the busy room fills the soundtrack as camera veers off and journeys
on through the control room. Sound bytes of various radio transmissions, the
click of computer keyboards, the whirring of various printers, white noise and
static mixed with snippets of conversations among
passing staff, some issuing orders or giving status reports, others
engaging in light hearted conversation as we pass, people going about their
business, TV monitors and computer terminals flash all sorts of data on their
screens from binary code to sound bytes from various TV station broadcasts, all
the technology and people power that is Ness Central Control. Passing slowly
through the room one voice slowly rises over that of all the others.
V/O
MAN
Information
has to be stored somewhere. Gathering such huge amounts of data every minute
as Ness does brings with it its own unique set of problems………
Panning
slowly past an array of flat screen TVs from which the face of a distinguished
looking man in his late fifties speaks.
MAN
The
question of storage and analysis of such huge volumes of information cannot be
answered easily and whilst I accept Crimeweek is an unacceptable option, sadly
it still remains our only option. However I want to assure the public that we
at Sanex are working flat out to reach the point of zero shutdown, and let us
not forget the four years and fifty one weeks during which The Network
Electronic Surveillance Satellite keeps our society totally crime detectable
and in the main, near totally crime free………..
The
TV screens pass out of camera shot as we continue on our journey through the
room. Pick up on a camera crew conducting an interview.
Close
up CNN type reporter talking to camera.
That
was Walter Drago Chief Executive of Sanex Corporation whom we spoke to
earlier.With me now live from Central control is Milt Haines the man in charge
of shutdown here in central control…..Mr Haines why is it that with all the
technology available to us we still have to have this shutdown and suffer the
ensuing chaos that has become known as Crimeweek.
CUT
TO
Well
Ruth as Mr Drago has pointed out the massive amount of information that NESS
gathers is where the problem lies. Here at central control Ness`s huge
computer gathers, stores, analyses, and sorts all that information in its own
memory banks. That takes an awful lot of processing power but its power is
ultimately limited to its memory when it comes to information storage so it
has to dump all of that information at some point to make room for more
We simply have not been able to build the storage space needed for such
vast amounts of information ahead of Ness`s need to empty its memory banks.
REPORTER(Interrupting)
What
your saying is that Ness is collecting information quicker than you can build
places to store it?
Its
not as simple as you make it sound but yes, that’s essentially the problem.
After
years in the wilderness and once Sanex`s fiercest critic, it came as quite a
surprise to a lot of people that Mr Drago appointed you as systems manager at
Central control…..
HAINES(Interrupting)
Mr
Drago did not appoint me. The board of directors did and as you saw in their
much publicized directive, my
primary objective was, and still is to achieve zero shutdown status in the
five years time span between now and the next shutdown ending the necessity of
society ever having to go through a Crimeweek again.
REPORTER
But
not this time…….
Unfortunately
until we reach such a time, shutting down the system for one week every five
years to empty its memory banks is as Mr Drago says, the only option available
to us.
What
do you have to say to those who say you have been bought by Sanex.
Haines,
is stung by this but holds his composure.
HAINES
I
don’t think you'd want to hear that on prime time TV…
REPORTER
Wouldn't
you like to…..
A
public address system calls out.
Attention.
Shutdown procedures begin in five minutes.All guests and non essential
personnel to vacate the building immediately. Repeat. Shutdown procedures
begin in 5 minutes.
I'm
sorry. Times up. You're all going to have to leave now…..We have to
finish…. Thank you……
Haines
uses the interruption to politely but firmly close the interview and walk
away. As he does so he is approached by Jim Riebeck his deputy controller. An
older man workmanlike in rolled up shirt sleeves and a pencil behind his ear
Riebeck beams a big friendly smile at him. Reaching Haines he pats him on the
back.
Well
done Milt. You handled that well.
Riebeck
glances in the direction of the reporter and camera crew who are preparing to
leave.
RIEBECK
(To himself)
…..Smartass
reporters…..Obviously one from Drago`s harem…..
Haines
overhears him and mocks surprise.
HAINES(Jokingly)
Jim
…. That’s no way to talk about our glorious Media.
RIEBECK
HAINES
Not
yet. She's not due for a few days.
RIEBECK
Looking forward to being a daddy?
Attention.
Attention. Shutdown procedures to begin in 4 minutes. All essential personnel
to their stations . All
non-essential personnel and guests to vacate the building immediately.
Yeah.
But first we gotta get this show on the road. Come on.
Haines
flanked by Riebeck walks to the center of the room clapping his hands over his
head to gain everybody's attention.
After a moment the room goes quiet. Everybody looks to him.
HAINES
Ok
people. That’s our cue. Back to your stations. In fifteen minutes it'll all
be over and we can all get home to our families and loved ones. Lets get to
work.
He
smiles at them reassuringly.
HAINES
Oh! And of course a safe and peaceful Crimeweek to you all.