"[Man] I'm afraid our star reporter is going to have to disappear" "Get this joker." "...permanently." "Where does all this come from, Bryce?" "The components of Carter's mind." "But he's adding to it." "[Theora] It's computer-generated, whatever it is." "Looks like Edison." "[Bryce] People translated as data." " Max." " Damn it!" "Two minds but with one single memory." "[emergency vehicle siren blares]" "[Man] Open up!" "[pounding on door]" "[pounding on door]" "Bruno, it's too late." "We won't make it!" "They're here!" "You're under arrest." "[both shouting]" "Get out of here!" "Get your hands off!" "You've got no right" "You know that they got no right to arrest me!" " I did nothing wrong!" " [Man] Look at me, man!" "I did nothing wrong!" "You guys, help me!" "Blank is" "Blank is beautiful!" "Blank is" "What are you going to do with me?" "What is this?" "Defense data-- claimant number 000000." " Take her down." " I know my rights." "I won't be judged by a machine." "You don't have any rights." "You're a Blank." "Blank is beautiful." "Blank is beautiful!" "Blank is beautiful!" "[Female voice] Good morning, Mr. Carter." "This is your daybreak call." "Your breakfast is preparing, and your shower is ready." "Sattilac 5 is in conjunction with NetSat 7." "SkyTel 489 is in the ascendant." "Aquarians, avoid eating." "Sagittarians, avoid meeting people." "And veg-veg-vegetarians, avoid eating meat." "Or people." "Heh." "Heh." "Heh-heh." "Morning, Ed." "Good morning, Max." "God, you're horribly chipper this morning." "I spent the night dig-dig-digging-digging around in your old dreams." "They should be arrested." "And you snore." "How do you know?" "I've never slept with you!" "I-I turned off the all-night movie and listened-- listened." "Hey" " Hey, why do you have a blanket over the screen?" " I can't see anything." " That's why." "Hey!" "The shower stopped!" "See?" "Smother tech-tech-tech-- technology, and it rebels." "Sorry I'm late." "Security gate jammed." "No one could get in." "It's chaos down there." "Uh-oh." "My satellite link's gone down, folks." "Can you give me a patch, somebody?" "Tune up the other satellite." "Mine's gone as well." "Chris, just give me backup!" "Come here." "Come here." "[Man] Get Murray in here." "It's going to be one of those days." "Ehh, great." "Just what I need-- a delicious cup of boiling water." "Why have you got ice cream-cream-cream-- ice cream on your head?" "The shower cut out partway through." "Now the coffeemaker's gone nuts." "That'll teach you not to put a blanket over the television." "Shouldn't fool with technology-gy-gy-gy." "If it wasn't for fooling with technology, my buddy in a box, you wouldn't exist." "Yes, I would" "I would." "[Female Announcer] The overnight telelection data is now loaded." "If you haven't voted, do it now." "Only three more seconds to cast your vote." "[Male Announcer] This is a result." "Simon Peller is elected." "Mr. Peller's prerecorded victory speech can be seen in seven seconds on" "Come on." " Hi, Theora." " Hi." "At least something's working." "I see Peller made it." " Murray want it covered?" " He's not in yet." "This place is going nuts." "Look, I'll take the Simon Peller interview." "Get Martinez over here." "Okay." "And it is with pleasure that I accept" "Right there." "Make that, uh..." "heartfelt pleasure." "It has a ring of deep sincerity." "Fix it, would you?" "Who cares, Simon?" "They hit their buttons." "You're in." "They're not listening anymore." "There are times, Ronald, when your cynicism is a positive joy." "[phone rings]" "[Woman's voice] Edison Carter from the network, Mr. Peller." "Ah." "Ring him through, Gabrielle." "[door buzzes]" "Ah, Mr. Carter." "Welcome, welcome." "You know Ronald, my political manager, I think." "I know his kind." "Last time we met, he was working for your opponent-- very successfully, as I recall." "The acerbic Mr. Carter." "Very proper, very proper." "Uh, fearless reporting demands directness, I'm sure." "Well... shall we begin?" "[chatter]" "I've been stuck in the bloody elevator." "Damn thing broke down." "What the hell is this?" "Edison went direct." " This is Edison Carter" " This should be good." "Edison hates the creep." " More than you do?" " More." "I am delighted the viewing audience has selected me to represent them." "This is why I so admire our computerized telelection system." "It allows the people constant assessment of, uh, my performance." "[Edison] That assumes people care enough to check, Mr. Peller." "A lot of good it would do them if they did." "How cynical, Mr. Carter." "Our computers give us instant democracy, a constant pulse of opinion, a heartfelt feedback between the people and the, uh, networks which represent them." "[chatter]" "[Ashwell] What shall we do, Ben?" "Cheviot here." "What the hell is going on?" "Run a standby." "There isn't one." "Everything's dead, Murray." "What?" "Every computer link system we've got is misfiring." "I'm afraid our link's gone down." "Just as well." "[Peller] Oh, not so, Ronald." "Mr. Carter is merely doing his very well-paid job." "The appearance of dispute is essential to the network's, uh, electoral democracy, eh, Mr. Carter?" "May I call you Edison?" "No." "And I don't like the word appearance," "Mr. Peller." "Very well." "Some other time, then, when your equipment is working, perhaps, huh?" "He's too smart and too aggressive." "And too late." "If he gets out of line, Cheviot will handle him." "Now, then, progress?" "We have several Blanks already, but we have no idea how many more there are." "I greatly enjoy neatness, Ronald." "I find it very soothing." "But, uh, with these Blanks running loose, uh, things are very untidy." "Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk." "Now, if I round them up, who knows?" "This city may erect a hologram in my memory." "Huh?" "There's no way to tell what's happening." "I am deeply uneasy." "Uneasy?" "We're losing millions." "Every network is affected." "Look." "Apparently, the banks have stopped transactions." "Their computers are down, too." "Edwards, is this a power failure?" "No." "That's what's so odd." "There have been intermittent minor computer failures citywide since dawn." "There's plenty of power." "It's just not working." "The way with power." "Most unsettling." "Ah." "Simon." "What is going on, Ben?" "My first address is due shortly." "As my sponsors, you really must get me on the air, hmm?" "I wish we could." "We're going to go critical if we don't act soon." "We're going to have riots out there." "We should distribute emergency video players immediately." "How are my ratings?" "Our ratings." "But my constituents, my votes-- 296 million of them." "Simon, we all know the votes are computer-enhanced." "My question is whether your opponent isn't sabotaging your victory." "Of course not." "We negotiated election results weeks ago." "God, what a farce." "Oh, come on, Ben." "You process the news as and when it suits you or us." "Well, who cares?" "I care." "When that is done, it's done for the public good." "Well, right now, the public good, my good, and your good are the same thing." "We need pic" " Ben, do something now." " Calm down." "Get me control." "[Bryce] I call it data rescan." "[Edison] Fantastic." "Want the software?" "I'll route it to your home terminal on your optical link." "Yeah." "Thanks." "How'd you do this?" "Well, uh, data transfer's pretty common." "They used to color old movies with it years ago." "My data rescan program is just a sophistication." " They were a bit slow." " Amazing." "Let me try." "[horse whinnies]" "There we go." "Let's change the course of history-- the Trojan Sheep." "[laughs] [imitates sheep noise]" "Baah." "Baah." "Edison." "[Bryce] Baah." "Baah." "Edison." " Baah." " Baah." "Baah." " Idiots." " Baah." "Edison, this is urgent." "Story break." "Don't forget to link it to my apartment." "Baah." "Picture!" "Wakka wakka." "[Janie Crane] Without regular picture transmissions, thousands are swarming the streets, desperately buying black-market tapes from video vendors." "There's another story on the streets, however." "In a dawn raid, Metrocops swooped down on this building and made an arrest." "So far, little is known about the detainee." "I'm going inside to find out who or what this girl was." "This is Janie Crane, Network 23, downtown." "Oh, Edison." "Over here." "What's the story?" "It's in here." "[Man shouts in foreign language]" "[Man] I've got a picture!" "[neighbors shout]" "Seems normal enough." "What's the big deal?" "Some girl was arrested." "By the look of the place, she was leaving in a big hurry." "[Metrocop] This new guy Peller's ordered all the Blanks arrested." "He says it's untidy not having people on the computers." "Makes them hard to catch." "Edison, an off switch." "She'll get years for that." "Off switches are illegal." " [Man's voice] This is a message-- - [Edison] What's this?" "It is also an ultimatum." "You have until sunset to release the detained Blanks." "You have until sunset to release the detained Blanks." "What the hell is this?" "What on earth is it?" "More to the point... who is it?" "[Man's voice] This morning's failures were tests." "The reasons is the actions of Simon Peller." "Release the Blanks, or every computer in the city..." "Sunset?" "Good Lord, who is it from?" "I'm not some damned clairvoyant, Ashwell." "Peller." "These people are known as Blanks, and I will not negotiate with off-the-record people." "But you must consider the consequences." "What are these Blanks?" "People who have somehow erased or blanked their names from our central computer." "They're computer experts gone bad." "Bad?" "My God, they could lobotomize the network." "Without televisions, this city would be ungovernable." "♪ Big-Time Television ♪" "♪ Big-Time Television ♪" "♪ 24 hours a day, day after day ♪" " ♪ Making tomorrow seem like yesterday ♪" " Go on." "♪ Yeah ♪" "♪ Right ♪" "Reg, I've been thinking." "Very commendable, Dom." "Very executive." "Reg, are you trying to teach your stomach to read with that stuff?" "Dom," "I do believe I love you." "Like a sister, I trust?" "Well, I always fancied nuns." "Listen, Reg." "Listen." "Now, if all those threats are for real, well, there'd be no networks, would there?" "No, Dom." "Not if the lads do their business." "We don't have a computer, do we?" "No, we don't." "Computers know too much." "But they don't know about us." "So if they blow up the computers, we could be the only network working." "They don't blow things up, Dom, but you are catching on at last." "Reg, what do you know about all this?" "Enough." "Enough to get some mates of mine out the slammer and give you and me a tasty little earner." "We must be on the road." "Got things to do." "Whoever these people are, we must attempt to find them and find out exactly what they want." "Maybe they'll negotiate." "I want you to use Carter, Murray, and have Bryce assist you with the network computer." "Yes, sir." "But they must assume we'll go for them before we give up." " What do you suggest, Murray?" " Change the target." "Set up an off-network base where they won't find us if they're looking." "We could launder our mainframe here up the optical link to Edison's apartment." "Be my guests." "My systems may be unreliable, though." "My shower cut out this morning." "I had shampoo in my hair." "Aww." "You don't know what that's like, Murray." "[Bryce laughs]" "I'm sure that was very distressing." "However, we currently face the grave threat of having our screens blanked out." "It's a nightmare possibility, and we have very little time." "So get started." "[coffee machine] Coffee beans." "Coffee beans." "Shut up." "Coffee beans." "[machine shuts off]" "Coffee's ready." "Want some?" " [Theora] Mmm." " At the Academy, they used to say, "Caffeine kills concentration."" "Which academy, Bryce?" "ACS." "Academy of Computer Sciences." "I went in when I was 10." "10?" "What about your family and your friends?" "Oh, they were very proud, I think." "No, I mean about you leaving home so young." "I have no idea." "I haven't seen them." "One coffee." "The machine seems fine now." "It went haywire this morning, along with the shower." "There must have been a glitch in the domestic computer, too." "[coughing]" "The domestic system." "Nothing wrong with the coffee, is there?" "All these malfunctions." "There must be a faulty port at the control computer." "It must tie into the system somewhere." "Where?" "[Theora] Let me try." "Okay, if we couple Edison's terminal back to the domestic fortressing system, we can find the weak link." "Now, there was a weak link in Edison's local subframe, right?" "I might be able to penetrate the mainframe through." "Aha." "Ah." "You're good." "Okay, it's tracing back to here." "Downtown?" "[Bryce] If they can access the Domestics mainframe, they can control everything." "That computer runs the city." "[Man's voice] The downtown mainframe is breached." "Our overload program is connected." "Our ultimatum has been transmitted." "Our ability to interrupt television has been demonstrated." "Our friend Blank Reg, will set up triggers, a solo trigger, and then...we simply wait for our calm and patient friend." "Since pictures have returned, we are able to confirm two more Blank arrests, despite the sunset ultimatum." "Simon Peller continues his relentless campaign" "That bloody clown Peller is still arresting people." " ...perhaps ripping a tear-- - [phone rings] ...in the very fabric of our society as we know it." "Edison, that bloody clown Peller is still arresting people." "Yeah, I heard." "Uh, can't Cheviot do something?" "I mean, he's almost network property." "Peller's up there with Cheviot now" "Very hush-hush." "Even the securicams are cut." "How are we doing?" "What I wouldn't give to be a fly on that boardroom wall." "Well, you can if you like." "What?" "[fly buzzing]" "[Cheviot] ...got to stop this now." "[Peller] If I stop now, they'll think they've won." "If you don't stop now, they will have won." "[fly continues buzzing]" "Bryce, what is this?" "Oh, it's a bug." "Well, a fly, actually." "It was my graduation project when I was 11." "A mechanical fly?" "[Theora] Bryce, that's brilliant." "...anarchists make disorder." "It's pretty good once I've rewritten the basic aerodynamics." "[buzzing]" "[Edison] How amusing." "...will turn on the networks, authorities, everything." "Until you attacked them, they were harmless as a fly." "Simon, you're risking my network." "Oh, my fly." "I'm sorry, Bryce, but that was pretty funny." "That took ages to perfect." "Take a look at this." "I'm at the source, but there's a sort of gate." " [Edison] What is it?" " [Bryce] I don't know." "Try another route." "Great." "We're stuck." "No, we're not." "We can get invited in." "How?" "Bryce gave it to me." "His new toy-- data rescan." "No." "No, Edison, that's not a security breaker." "That's a, uh, data transfer system." "Yeah, but, Bryce, you remember the Trojan Horse." "The city of Troy had to take it in because they couldn't resist it." "So?" "So we'll give them a Trojan Horse-- something so... unique for a computer hacker, they'll have to take it in." "We'll give them Max." "I hope you're wearing something under there, Dom." "Is it absolutely necessary to come up here?" "It's barbaric." "You really are a trial, Reg." "Take a look down there, princess." "It's also the best vantage point there is." "You can see the sun go up there and down over there." "Oh, that's wonderful, Reg." "So what?" "So..." "little cactus, when I've lined the dish up, we can put Big-Time on air over the whole city, while doing Blank Bruno a favor." "[Max] I want to get this clear." "You want me to pretend-pretend-pretend to be a horse?" "I saddle up for no man!" "Max, it's our only chance." "If they, whoever they are, will open up that gate, we can get in." "And you are irresistible." "Well, yeah, but" "Whoev-Whoev-Whoev-- Whoever they are?" "What I want to know is what happened to the Trojan Horse-se-se?" "Well, it became a great mythical figure." "Yeah, but did they pick up-- pick up-- pick up-- did they pick up the option on its series?" "Please, Max, we need to find out who the threat is coming from and why." "[muttering]" "Okay." "Right." "Right." "Just put me down for get-get-getting out again." "That's no problem." "We'll just keep the lines open so we can bring you out any time we want." "Now, feed the data out once you're in there, and we'll run you back to 23's mainframe if they don't take the bait." "Bai-Bai-Bai-Bait?" "Bait?" "Be my guest." "Delicately, Bryce." "Good luck, Max." "[Edison] What's that?" "That's Max." "That's him." "That's how the computer sees him." "[keyboarding]" "Now we'll send him on his way." "Adios." "[Female voice] Bruno." "What is it?" "Extraneous matrix about to enter." "Don't cr-cr-crease the lapel-pel-pels!" "It is dormant." "Show me." "Elegant." "Recheck uplink feedback." "None." "It is a self-contained ROM construct." "Shall we check for sections?" "Hmm." "[Bryce] They've seen him." "They're running a neuronal through him." "[Theora] Are we clean?" "Sanitized." "There's no way they can trace him back to us." "Oh, this is beautiful." "What is it?" "It is passive but alert." "Well, God, what do you think?" " Shall we let it in?" " [croaking]" "They're looking at him." "Hang in there, Max." "We'll take it into the volatile RAM." "If it's non-hostile," "I'll transfer it to a mainframe siding." "The RAM is linked." "On command, flatline all access links." "Isolate that thing from its source." " Come on." " Hang in there, Max." "Run a trace." "We need that feed." "Quick." "Flatlined us." "What's that mean?" "It means they know we're there, and they've locked us out." "Run the construct." "Anyb-Anyb" " Anybody home?" "Is this a prerecording?" "No." "It has full responsive capacity and artificial intelligence capabilities." "Less of the artific-fic-ficial-- artificial, voice box-- box-- box." "Anyway, where am I?" "I am Bruno." "I'm a Blank." "I am Max." "Max Head-Head-Head-Head-Headroom." "Max Headroom." "[croaking]" "Ribbit." "Ribbit." "[Edison] Can't we do something?" "Max is trapped in there." "We had to run his construct complete." "They would have sensed a duplicate." "I'm afraid he's stuck in there." "[Edwards] Chaos out there." "People are in a panic, fighting for old video recordings." "Personally, I'd rather watch a smoke alarm." "Ben, Peller must do something." "We may not survive this." "They mean business." "He won't move." "He's adamant." "No deals." "I know." "Let's fire somebody." "Edwards, are all networks out again?" "Complete void." "They've crashed all the transmission programs again." "If Peller doesn't move, we're dead." "So..." "I knock the trigger towards the sun." "Open a bit." "Come on." "Lock the old device into the sun." "[Woman's voice] Solar trigger locked." "Sun's declination now 55 degrees." "Trigger now automatically tracking the sun." "Bruno, Blank Reg here." "It's all set and running." "[Bruno] I have the trigger hot and clear." "Thank you, Blank Reg." "Declination now 50 degrees." "All sorted." "Start the jenny up, Rapunzel." "[slow voice] ...Time Television." "♪ Big-Time Television ♪" "♪ Big-Time Television ♪" "This is Blank Reg welcoming you to Big-Time Television, from sunrise to sunset, filling your empty lives with mindless drek." "♪ All right ♪" "Murray, I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but Blank Reg, he knows the Blanks." " So get a fix on him." " Right." "[loud music video playing]" "Joel, get a fix on that Reg person." "We've got something." "Move." "Move!" "With Blank Reg running transmissions, our edge is lost." "People will watch anything, for God's sakes." " I will talk to Blank Reg." " [Max] Hey!" "Whoo!" "Talk to him." "You should slam him back on the files." "Traker." "Now, Jaxy, are all the links in place?" "We should run the dump-down program now." "Nobody's been released." "Why wait?" "Because we gave our word," "Traker, my irascible good friend." "No, the dump program will run at sunset." "I will not override that system." "I have built elegance into this." "It will remain." "♪ [hard rock]" "Reg, this is Bruno." "Oh. hello, mate." "Everything all right, is it?" "It is not." "You must stop your transmissions." "Our deal was just the photoelectric trigger." "You owed me, remember?" "Got it." "Murray, I've got the source." "And there's a microlink conversation on the same carriers channel." "Listen." "[Reg] Well, I don't see how it affects the detonator, Bruno." "It doesn't, but the screens must be blank." "Unless we can demonstrate our ability to stop television programs, our threat has no edge." "You understand?" "Get a trace on the other end of that." "Hold on to it." "Edison was right." "We got them." "There is a trace on this microlink." "Damn Reg." "Cut out." "They're running traces." "We lost them." "Damn it." "Oh, this sounds like fun." "But what are you going to blow up with such illegals-s-s?" "You're a very subtle concept, Max-- to subtle to talk of bombs." "Very crude devices." "Dangerous." "I didn't men-en-ention bombs, but, uh, what else is a detonator for?" "Our bomb is simply a program." "It links all the programs of the city through the main one simultaneously." "Massive overload." "Goodbye everything from Security Systems to Network 23." "Ugh." "Well, I'll let you know if there's life after the off-switch-tch-tch." "I already know." "[imitating Humphrey Bogart] Of all the computers in all the systems in all the world," "I had to walk into yours." "Declination now 35 degrees." "[Max] What I want to know is why you want to wreck our network-- network." "Your network and the authorities are mesmerizing millions into worshiping this new priesthood of the computer." "Like cave men worshiping fire." "It's a false faith, Max." "We're not against the computer." "We're against its misuse." "We want to use computers to make brilliant, gigantic leaps." "Even a leap-leap-leap-- leap in the air begins with t-two feet on the ground, my friend." "You are one fingertip away from oblivion." "I don't" " I don't think you'll do that." "I'm too irresistible, too... [pop] fas-fas-fascinating." "Fascinating." "Even unique." "But repeatable." "You see, Bryce Lynch was once my pupil." "I'm sorry about Max, Edison." "I feel so helpless." "It's like you being in there." "[angry crowd noises]" "[Edison] It's starting to happen." "Their world's gone away." "Without their TVs, what is there for them?" "[Theora] It's frightening." "Bryce, what did General Cornwallis say, before Yorktown, when he was asked what history would say if he lost the battle?" "Well, he-- he said that history will lie..." " as usual." " Exactly." "Get the data rescanner." "We lost with the Trojan Horse." "Let's see what we can do with the Trojan Sheep." "Bryce, get data rescan set to run." "Edison, what are we doing?" "Theora, call Murray and have him get a camera to Peller's office." "Get the chopper here fast." "I'm going to Big-Time." "What do I talk to him about?" "Talk to him about the Blanks." "What if he won't talk to me?" "Just be beautiful." "He'll melt." "I do." "Declination now 30 degrees." "You can at least terminate in the comfort of your own computer." "Oh, no... [howling]" "Max!" "Well, I'm back." "They threw-threw-threw me out of that place." "You gotta help me-- help me, Bryce." "I'm frightened." "If they run that program, they'll erase-s-s-s erase me." "They'll turn me into wan-wandering electrons, deserts of vast eternity, the gra-gra-gra-graveyard of old ship's shows." "No, they won't." "Not if I can help it." "How can we help you, Mr. Carter?" "I want to talk to you about the Blanks." "Go on." "How'd you become a Blank, Reg?" "I was working for these very bright young computer hackers." "I was in a bit of bother-- tax creds, the law, slight violence, all that." "I had to disappear officially." "They did me a favor." "Suddenly I didn't exist." "I was a blank file." "Still am." "So, uh... now it's a kind of a philosophy, eh?" "Yeah, sort of." "Well, everything's bleeding rules, isn't it?" "They even want a license for the dog." "Imagine." "He's only eat it, you see." "Who's running that bomb threat, Reg?" "Oh, come on!" "You can't ask me that." "Simon Peller is a fool." "You Blanks may be right." "But you're fooling with millions of ordinary people here." "And your network." "If that bomb goes off, you'll have everybody behind him looking for the lot of you." "Reg." "I believe in the principle, but the method stinks." "Reg." "Let's have it." "Declination now 25 degrees." "I don't care how many regulations you break." "I want them locked up." "[whispering] Theora Jones." "I never heard of her." "Get rid of her." "[door opens]" "Reg, I know you can contact him." "We traced your microlink." "You can have my word, there's no trace now." "You must let me talk to them." "It's not them." "It's him." "He'll go bananas." "I've got to record this if I'm going to stop this becoming a catastrophe." "Reg, you have to decide whether you trust me." "Hello, Bruno." "Um, there's a bloke here wants to talk to you." "Uh, sorry, squire." "Don't cut me off." "There's no trace." "You have my word." "[Bruno's Computer] There is no trace on this microlink." "Mr. Edison Carter." "A privilege." "Dare I ask what you want?" "I want to give you the chance to tell your side of the story." "I wonder why." "I'd like to think Blank Reg is a friend of mine, and I respect his right and yours to be a Blank." "If I can persuade Peller to announce he'll release your friends, will you stop this thing?" "Naturally, we gave our word, Mr. Carter, but no one will be harmed." "There's simply a massive electronic hemorrhage." "The sunrise industry meeting its sunset." "Give us our screens." "Give me the chance to do my story." "if I have those screens," "I might be able to do something." "Very well." "But it will simply make the inevitable end more public." "And time is short." "He's right." "The sun's almost down." "I'm not going to have time." "Oh, yes, you are." "The sun's not the only torch out there." "[footsteps overhead]" "So if these Blanks stop this sunset bomb, will you release their friends?" "No, my dear and very attractive Miss Jones," "I will not release these people." "It's already sunset." "And as you can see, our television screens are on again." "Hmm?" "What are you doing?" "This is the trigger-- a photoelectric cell." "and when the sunlight goes, the switch closes, and wallop-- the programs overload the system." "Sunrise industry meets its sunset." "Oh, my God." "What?" "There's a timer." "There's a demolition charge on it." "Well, get away from it." "No, not if it's gonna buy you some time, mate." "Now, don't hang about." "This flashlight's not very reliable." "Go on." "Don't fail me now, son." "Declination now 20 degrees." "My dear Miss Jones." "Of course I will not release these people." "Of course I will re" "Of course I will." "I will" "Edison, what's going on?" "We've got Theora's Peller interview, and all the screens are back on." "I know, I know." "Did you get it on the microlink to Bryce?" "Yes, yes, but why?" "What the hell's happening?" "I'm almost with Peller now." "Trust me on this one, Mur." "[grunt]" "Declination now 15 degrees." "Carter." "The emergency is over, and I have, uh, triumphed." "Stand by, Control." "We're going live." "All right, hit TX on 6." "We are live." "Get my microlink to Bryce." "Stand by, studio." "Counting." "[Man] In 5, 4, 3" "Edison, I hope to God you know what you're doing." "You mean you have no idea what Carter is up to?" "None, and he has my absolute trust." "[Announcer] ...Simon Peller." "At dawn this morning, our city was hit by a series of critical computer failures." "until minutes ago, our screens were blank." "These were not accidents." "The people who caused these failures are not terrorists." "They claim that some of them have been wrongfully imprisoned." "Just moments ago, I had an opportunity to speak with their leader." "If I can persuade Simon Peller, will you stop this thing?" "Declination now 0 degrees." "Why has the dump program not run?" "Trigger enabled." "There must be a fault in the solar trigger." "It doesn't matter." "I rigged a demolition charge." "If the trigger fails, it'll blow it to bits." "Same result." "You did what?" "Stay on." "Stay on!" "Blank Reg might be near that thing." "But if the program doesn't run, we all lose." "It's not worth Reg's life, Traker." "Damn your arrogance." "I'm flatlining the program." "I cannot risk Reg's life." "No." "Yes." "Only one man can prevent our city being paralyzed" "Simon Peller." "Mr. Peller, are you prepared to negotiate to prevent this catastrophe?" "Microlink running Control." "My dear Miss Jones, of course I will release these people." "I have no intention of risking this city or its television network." "I never said that!" "Carter has done it." "Stand by, opinion templates." "Pictures surely can't lie, Mr. Peller." "let's see what the public thinks of your very sensible decision." "Public seems to approve your decision by a huge majority." "Will you order the release now?" "Uh" "I hereby order the release of all the Blank detainees." "[cheering]" "It's all over." "That was gross misrepresentation." "The people wanted a solution." "I gave them one." "I just pretended it was yours." "Those Blanks will be brought to justice." "They haven't heard the end of this, Carter." "Oh, I think they have, Simon." "Unlike the Fringes, justice here is a lot more than cash flow or politics." "I believe you two can find your own way out." "Hmm?" "What are you laugh-laugh-laughing about?" "Bryce just tried to kiss me-- kiss me." "Well, you are irresistible." "Well, thank you." " Blank Reg." " Huh?" "Come on." "The camera." "Reg, what are you doing fooling about up there?" "Being heroic, Dom." "It was my turn." "Hey!" "Th-Th-Th-This is funny." "Ha!" "Network 23 is saying" "I'm getting above-bove myself, so-so they've decided to interrupt me with something really st-st-stunning." "And guess what they've picked!" "Commercials!" "[laughing]" "Can you believe that?" "Com-Com-Com-Come on!" "Let's see them!" "[laughing]" "How-How-How great!" "This" " This I got to see." "[laughing]" "I" " I'll be" " I'll" "Sorry." "I'm" " I'm gone." "I'll be right back, right after them." "Ha ha ha ha ha!"