"Afternoon, ma'am, and a fine afternoon it is." "Yes, sirree." "Uh..." "Is the man of the house about?" " What do you want from us?" " Only your patience, ma'am." "Only the virtue of your forbearance." "Fine-lookin' children, ma'am." "Yes, sirree." "Deservin' of all your hopes and dreams on the new frontier... far away from this Harsh Realm." "Transportation's included, ma'am." "Maybe this is something I should take up with the husband." "Dad!" "Dad!" "Dad!" "Dad!" "Dad!" "Dad!" "Dad!" "No!" "No!" "Go back!" "No!" "Ripped By mstoll" "Not another step!" "Right there!" " So what's the bounty on my head?" " Huh?" "How much?" "How much you gettin' for me?" "I'm lookin' for a soldier you served with." "Friend of yours." "You can go to hell." "We'll talk later." "A world exists exactly like ours." "You live in this world... your family and friends... and though you may not know it..." "I was sent to save you." "It's just a game." "They call it the New Frontier... but it's nothing less than a battleground... a place where free men live on the edge of a razor in this place called Harsh Realm." "Like me, these people are on the run... and though I know none of it is real, that it is only a virtual world I'm in... there's fear in the air here." "I can taste it, feel it in my lungs, as pure as anything I've ever felt." "I'm living day to day..." " trying to make sense of all this, trying to stay strong..." "Trying my best just to stay alive." "I'm in the company of a soldier, a man sent here on a mission like mine... who saved my life, for which I am now in his debt... as I am to a woman who doesn't speak... but who healed me with a miracle when I might have died." "Keep a real close eye on him." "You're not careful, somebody's gonna eat that dog." "We're on the run from Omar Santiago, a renegade soldier... who hijacked the computer program that runs this world." "It was Santiago the military sent me here to kill." "Their fear of him is real and great, though I have yet to understand why... if all this is just imaginary." "I'd like to buy some gas." "You guys know anybody selling gas?" "They say this is a recreation of the real world... down to every man, woman and child, each of us with a double here... who can live or die in the virtual reality of Harsh Realm." "But only those of us plugged into the program know this... have any consciousness of the truth... that it's only a game." "I pray that's all it is, Sophie." "I watched you die here, never to exist again in Harsh Realm." "I'm doing everything in my power to find my way out... to find my way home." "You said you'd have an answer." "I need answers from somebody." " I'm afraid that I don't have any, ma'am." " Corporal?" "It's okay." "Miss Green?" "Please." " Won't you please have a seat, Miss Green?" " Sir, if you'll pardon me..." "I've been trying for a week to get somebody to tell me what's happened to my fiancé." " I understand." " No, I don't think you do." "You got no answers because we had none yet to give." " Tom Hobbes's whereabouts were classified." " He left with two of your men... was told to pack a bag on the orders of his C.O." "I'm not a troublemaker." "What I'm trying to say, Miss Green, is that I have an answer." "It came across my desk this morning." ""On April 1, Lieutenant Hobbes was given a mission involving a sensitive military objective." "In the prosecution of his orders, it has been learned that Lieutenant Hobbes..."" " No." " "Lieutenant Hobbes was killed in action."" "Further information is classified." "We'll be transporting the body home immediately." "We would like to offer our condolences." "Hey." "I hear you're lookin' for gas." "Yeah." "But if you're lookin' for protection, I ain't no one's daddy." "I got my protection." "You wanna buy gas or you don't?" " How are you payin'?" " Ammo." "Six rounds." "I'll pay at the pump." "What the hell is this?" "You." "As long as you're here, would you check the oil and tires?" "Yes, sir, Mr. Pinocchio." "No!" "Please!" "Don't touch the children!" "Mom." "Don't take my babies!" "No!" "General Santiago?" " What does the woman say, Major?" " She says she doesn't know Mike Pinocchio, sir." "She says her husband was taken from here by a bounty hunter." "I think she's telling the truth." "Well, then." "We should show some mercy." "To give your life in defense of a principle... is to sanctify life, to consecrate the soul... to honor those lives which gave life." "As he protected and defended the many..." "Thomas enriched the lives of everyone he knew or who knew him..." "Sophie has asked me to read this today to honor Thomas and their love, which carries on." "Aim!" "Fire!" " "You live in me for as long as I live." " Aim!" "Fire!" ""You are the light which does not die." "Through me you speak." "Our love is everlasting. '"" "Please accept our country's flag as a token... of appreciation for Thomas's faithful service to his country." "May God be with you and your family in your time of grief." "I'm sorry to bother you here." "I know that this is a difficult time for you." "I met Tom briefly just before he disappeared." " Who are you?" " I can't tell you too much..." "just that you've been misled." " About what?" " About Tom's death." " Why are you doing this?" " I'm taking a chance by telling you now... but I couldn't come any sooner." "You have to find out the facts on your own." "You're telling me..." "Tom's not dead?" "I'm only telling you that you've accepted a lie as the truth." "What is this?" "I don't know anyone named Mike Pinocchio." "Somebody does." "What the hell happened here?" "Over here." "Get in there!" "Okay, Hercules." "I get the drill." "Hey, hey, hey." "That thing hurts." "Hey!" "Huh?" "What'd he say?" "G.I. Said he's gonna pay for that." "Come on." "Pinocchio, is that you?" " Who's that?" " Cabot." "John Cabot." "Johnny?" " What happened to you?" " Same as you." "Bounty hunter's gonna turn us over to Santiago." "He's been lookin' for ya." "They beat me, Mike." "L..." "I wouldn't talk, but when they threatened my family..." "They got lucky is all." "I'm gonna get us out of here." "One man." "They got nothing." "I wanna go in as bad as you." "We don't know for sure if he's in there." "We'll go in at nightfall." "How the hell did you get in here?" "You're gonna blow it, ya stupid mutt." "Get out of here." "Get!" "Get out of here." "Looks like we got rats." "Dexter." "Thank you very much." "We're outta here, Johnny." "The rest of your party's arrived." " What the hell were you doin'?" " I was tryin' to get you out." " Who asked you to do that?" " I owed you." "You are one stupid..." " Who taught you to tie a knot?" " You did." "Huh?" "What?" " What's he want with you?" " Nothin' but the price on my head." " From who?" " Who do you think?" "Santiago?" "How long are you gonna run from this man?" "You call me stupid." "At least I'm prepared to finish my mission." "At least I'm willing to fight." "And what mission is that?" "What's your name, boy?" "You're lookin' for Mike Pinocchio." "A bounty to the man who brings General Santiago his head." "And for the head of Tom Hobbes?" "Hi." "Can I help you?" "I hope so." "My name is Sophie Green." "My fiancé, Tom Hobbes, was an officer at Fort Dix." "What happened to him?" "He was killed in action." "That's what I was told." "I'm sorry." "But why come to me?" "I was given these dog tags." "They belonged to a soldier named Mike Pinocchio." "I've been trying to find out any information on him, but the military won't help me." "And he has no immediate family." "Your husband served with him." "My husband was killed in action." "That's what I was told." "That's John with Mike Pinocchio in Kuwait during the Gulf War." "Those men have all disappeared." " All of them?" " Killed in action... on classified assignments involving sensitive military objectives." "I pounded on doors until I was blue in the face." "I wrote my senator, the V.A., the Pentagon." "I got no clear answers..." "nothing." "But this is..." "It's beyond coincidence." "It's beyond belief." "That's what I kept telling them." "Doesn't do any good." "Somebody knows about this." "Somebody gave me these dog tags... because they want me to find out." "I hope you're right." "After all this time..." "I tell myself and my family maybe it's best... just believing' they might all be dead." "Mom?" "I hope I never have to tell my family the same thing." "These were fighting men..." "U.S. Soldiers trained to be the best." "But they are broken now, living a fugitive existence." "Who knows of this?" "Do their loved ones have any idea of this world?" "Do you, my dearest Sophie?" " Shut up, Hobbes." " I didn't say anything." "Yeah, well, I feel you thinkin'." " Your dog won't eat." " Put a leash on me, honey." "I'll eat anything you want." " Shut up." " What?" "I offend your sense of honor?" " You don't have to talk to her like that." " She's a thug's whore." "She'll sell your dog for hamburger if she can ever fatten it up." " I would never hurt an animal." " She's got no problem puttin' our heads on the chopper." "Come here, little dog." "Please." "Please, we could use some water." " Big Daddy told me not to." " These men are hurt." "You're wasting your time, Hobbes." " She'll bring us some water." " For what?" "A kind word?" "This is Harsh Realm." "Kindness is when your buddy robs you, shoots you, doesn't rape your woman." "Hey." " Let us go." " If I let you go, who would pay us?" "There's a nice logic there, Hobbes." "What do you think'll happen if you turn us over to Santiago?" "What'll happen to me if I let you go?" "I'd eat that dog before it gets too skinny." " What is wrong with you?" " It doesn't matter, Hobbes." "Can you get that through your head?" "She's V. C..." "a virtual character." "These people got no reason to help you, no moral compunction." "They programmed the game." "They forgot one thing." "You die here, you disappear." "These people know no Christian virtues." "They don't know God." "Judgment Day in Harsh Realm is when somebody points a gun at ya." "You ask Johnny." "He'll tell ya." "Get erased here, it's over." "These people got no notion of an afterlife." "It's not even a concept." "What about the real world?" "Don't they believe in that?" "What good would it do 'em?" "The only world they know is Santiago's." "And when we take these urban centers, our policy is this:" "Repatriate only the healthy and the strong." "Prisoners of war drain our resources and are therefore subject to extermination." "General Santiago, this is the man that wanted to see you." "This man is a bounty hunter." "Pay him the going rate and be done." " I've got men you're lookin' for." " At ease, Sergeant." "Mike Pinocchio and two others." "I should have you thrown out if only for the reeking stench." "Tom Hobbes, an assassin." "Obviously an ineffectual one." "I give you Pinocchio as a gift." "For Hobbes, I ask a price." "Then I should let these men go?" "You only ply your dirty trade because I pay you." "You only survive in Harsh Realm because I let you." " I want out of Harsh Realm." " There is no way out." "Don't give me that V.C. Rap." "My body's on a freakin' slab... up there in the real world." "You got a way out." "I know it." "A portal." "If I do, sir, then you might make every effort to win my favor... to repair this patronage." "For I'd then have the power to destroy you in not only one world... but in two." "Bring me this Hobbes, I'll consider your request." "You know why he runs?" "He wants to get out?" "Back home, back to the real world?" "Last place he's goin'." "What are you talkin' about?" "Pinocchio." "What he knows... about Santiago." "His final solution." "Better stay alive in Harsh Realm, Lieutenant." "This very well might be all that's left." " I knew you'd come." " You're strange." " Why?" " The way you talk to me." "The way you treat me so nice and polite." " It's 'cause you want something." " All I want is to go home." "I was about to be married." " What's her name?" " Sophie." " I've got her picture." " Does she live in the real world?" "Yeah." "You know about that?" "I heard you talking." "I wanna hear more." " What's it like there?" " It's nothing like this." "Are there flowers there?" "You don't have to live like this." "Hey, Maytag, where are you?" "Help us." "May, come get this damn mutt!" " Where do you think you're going?" " We're leaving." " I'd like my dog." " Hobbes." " It's my dog now." "Drop the gun." "Go on." "Shoot me." "Hobbes." "Shoot all of us." "What'd we be worth to you then?" "You're in charge now." "I don't see anybody telling you what to do." "You've got the power now." "The power to do the right thing." "Let us walk out of here." "You can walk out of here too." "Traffic." "Fast moving." "Look, I just wanna go home." "I just wanna see my girl." "First squad, go around." "Second squad, take the back of the building!" "Let go of my ear!" "Let go!" "Where is he?" "Where's Hobbes?" "I don't know." "I don't know where they are." "Get down here!" "Come here!" " I want some answers here." " I don't know anything." " What?" "Huh?" " I don't know!" "You and Santiago had a deal." " They're here." " Fan out." "Find 'em." "Get in the vehicles." "Check the roads." "You men, on the trail." "Go, go, go!" " Come on!" "Let's go!" " Move it!" "They couldn't have gone far." "Hey!" "Quiet!" "What are you doing?" "We're standing in six inches of boom-boom, in case you haven't noticed." " She put us in here to protect us." " This is protecting us?" "If brains were alligators, you couldn't get one to bite you on the ass." "What are you talking about?" "I convinced her to let us go." "Letting us go, huh?" "The place she's letting us go is for a ride on this fireball." "It don't make no sense..." "Shut up!" "If you didn't see nothin', how come this gun's been shot?" "If you was makin' deals, how come you didn't bother to tell me?" "I asked you a question." "Yeah." "Maybe you were plannin' on leavin' and never comin' back." "Goin' to the real world." "Where'd you hear that?" "You don't know nothin' 'bout that." "You were just gonna leave me here." "You... can't... go." "It won't work!" "Oh, what do you know, you stupid V. C?" "Some guys think about goin' home just to see their girl." "Who has been talking to her?" "You have till 0600 to turn up your prisoners." "I would hate to disappoint General Santiago." "You better hurry." "He'll be back soon." " You can't stay here." " He'll just hunt me down." "Come on." "Get in the cab." "Come on." "Come on!" "Move out!" "Go!" "Go!" "Cut 'em off!" "." "Ma'am, can I help you?" "Ma'am, I can't just let you in there." "I don't care." "Lieutenant Colonel..." "I'm sorry, General." "I didn't hear what you just said." "Then that's what I'll do, sir." " I am owed an explanation." " Miss Green, you are out offline." " Because I am being lied to." " What on God's Earth is this all about?" "My fiancé, Tom Hobbes." "We buried his body." "All you buried was a box." " We'll have to transport it." " No." "I don't want it taken anywhere." "Seen enough, Miss Green?" " You did this all wrong." "You should've asked me." " I don't need your permission." "It's not him." "That is not your fiancé's body." "I got an inquest." "You think I'm not gonna make them run D.N. A?" "Who do you think's gonna run those tests?" "This is insanity..." "No one..." "How far will these people go?" "One step farther than you." "I can get word to him." "I can deliver a message to Tom." "Dear Tom, I'm writing not quite believing you'll ever read this... but if there's a way, I hope to God this news will somehow bring you back to me." "I love you, Tom, and if there's a doubt in your heart... know that our love is greater now than the both of us." "I'm pregnant, Tom." "I'm pregnant with our child." "Please come home." "Find a way." "Daddy's home!" "Daddy's here!" "Daddy!" "Daddy!" "Oh!" "A man runs or turns and fights." "What are you running from?" "Why are you afraid of Santiago?" "I thought you wanted to go home." "I'm not letting Santiago stop me." "Either way, there's only one sure thing:" "We're gonna need gas." "I made this!" "Ripped By mstoll"