Showing posts with label Manchester Black. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Manchester Black. Show all posts

Friday 22 October 2021

Oh?












Lugasov :
Comrade Charkov. 
Valery!

The KGB :
Yes, Professor?

Lugasov :
My Associate was arrested last night.

The KGB :
Oh? 

Lugasov :
I mean no disrespect…
but I was wondering if you could tell me — why.

The KGB :
I’m sure I don't know who you're talking about.

Lugasov :
She was arrested by The KGB.
You are the first deputy chairman of the KGB.

The KGB :
I am.
That's why I don't have to bother 
with arresting people anymore.

Lugasov :
But you are bothering with 
having us followed.

Aide :
I think the deputy chairman is busy.

The KGB :
No, no. It's perfectly understandable.

Comrade, I know you've heard The Stories about Us.
When I hear them, even I am shocked —
But We are NOT What People Say

Yes, people are following you.
People are following those people.
You see them? They follow me.

The KGB is A Circle 
of ACCOUNTABILITY.
Nothing More.

Lugasov :
You know the work we're doing here.
You really don't Trust us? 

The KGB :
Of course I do.
But you know 
The Old Russian Proverb
Trust but Verify.”

And The Americans think that 
Ronald Reagan thought that up.
Can you imagine? 

It was very nice speaking with you.

Lugasov :
I Need Her.

The KGB :
So you will be accountable for her…? 
Then it's Done.

Lugasov :
Her Name is…

The KGB :
I know Who She Is.
Good Day, Professor.


Lugasov looks very glum — he feels SEEN, 
as The Kids like to say these days.

No, that went surprisingly well.
You came off like A Naive Idiot.

And naive idiots 
are not A Threat.
I'll come back when 
The Paperwork is complete.



- Are you all right? - They didn't hurt me.
They let a pregnant woman into a room with a --
It doesn't matter.

They were stupid.
I was stupid.

Dyatlov won't talk to me.
Akimov, yes, Toptunov, yes, 
but Valery, Akimov his face was gone.

Lugasov :
You want to stop? 

Is that a choice I even have
Do you think the fuel will actually melt through 
the concrete pad? 

Lugasov :
I don't know.
A 40% chance maybe.
I said 50.
Either way, the numbers mean 
the same thing: "Maybe."

Maybe the core will melt through to the groundwater.

Maybe the miners who I've told to dig 
under the reactor will save millions of lives.

Maybe I'm killing them for nothing.
I don't want to do this anymore.
I want to stop.
But I can't.

I don't think you have 
a choice any more than I do.
I think, despite the stupidity, 
the lies, even this you are compelled.

The Problem has been assigned, 
and you will stop at nothing 
until you find An Answer.

Because that is Who You Are.

Lugasov :
A Lunatic, then.
A Scientist.

Did you know that they were running a safety test?

Yeah.

There's something else.
Akimov says they shut the reactor down
and Toptunov confirms it.

They pressed AZ-5.


Apparently not soon enough.


No.
They say Akimov pressed AZ-5, 
and then the reactor exploded.
If it had been just one of them, 
I would have put it under faulty memory 
or delusion even, 
but they both agreed.
They were adamant.

Comrade? 
Do you think it's possible

I think it makes no sense.
I think it's what I would say 
if I was trying to cover 
my own mistakes.


But? 

I believed them.

Then you should pursue it.
We have to pursue every possibility, 
no matter how unlikely
no matter what or who's to blame.


I'll go back to the hospital and reinterview 
Akimov and Toptunov.
If they're still awake.


They're not.


Khomyuk.


To Hell with Our Lives.
Someone has to start 
Telling The Truth.

You think the right question 
will get you The Truth? 

I know they're listening! 

There is no truth.



Why didn't you press the AZ-5 button? 

We Did.
And that's when it exploded.


I don't want my men here 
one more second than they need to be.
If these workedyou'd be wearing them.

Vasily — We're gonna have a baby.
Do you have any idea what you're dealing with? 
People are going to hear.

What is everyone gonna hear? 

We have to pursue every possibility, 
no matter who is to blame.
This entire region must be completely evacuated.
How many men do you require? 

Approximately 750,000 men.


A Ukrainian Babushka is in her barn,
milking her cow.

Boy Soldier :
It's time to go.
Did you hear me? 
This is an evacuation.
You understand? 
You have to come with me.

Babushka :
Why? 

Boy Soldier :
Because They told Me
so now I'm telling you.

Everyone in this village, everyone.
It's Not Safe here.
There's radiation in the air.
What's wrong with you? 

Babushka :
Do you know how old I am? 

Boy Soldier :
I don't know.
Old.

Babushka :
I'm 82.
I've lived here my whole life.
Right here, that house, this place.
What do I care about ‘Safe’? 

Boy Soldier :
I have A Job.
Don't cause Trouble.

Babushka :
Trouble? You're not the first soldier 
to stand Here with a gun.

When I was 12, The Revolution came.
Czar's Men.
Then Bolsheviks.
Boys like you marching in lines.
They told us to leave.
No.

Then there was Stalin and 
his famine, the Holodomor.
My parents died.
Two of my sisters died.
They told the rest of us to leave.
No.

Then The Great War.
German boys.
Russian boys.
More soldiers, 
more famine, 
more bodies.

My Brothers never came home.
But I stayed, and I'm still here.

After all that I have seen…
so I should leave now, 
because of something 
I cannot see at all
No.

The Boy Soldier's Commanding Officer 
has entered The Barn

Boy Soldier :
Just one moment! 

Boy Soldier :
It's time to go.
Please stand up now.
This is your last warning.

! BANG !

He Shoots The Cow. 
In The Head.

Commanding Officer :
It's time to go.
Come on.



Point four.
Point six.
Fifteen.


Legasov.
I'll meet him there.


The Atom is a humbling thing.

It's not humbling
it's humiliating.




Sunday 15 August 2021

None of Us Defended The Creepy Little Shit


Q
What are you looking at? 

DATA
I was considering the possibility 
that you are 
Telling The Truth.



None of Us Defended 
The Creepy Little Shit...
But Then Again -- 
None of Us Ever Liked Him.


“The Reign of the Superman” (January 1933) is a short story written by Jerry Siegel and illustrated by Joe Shuster. 

It was the writer/artist duo’s 
FIRST published use of the name 
Superman’, 
which they later applied to their 
archetypal fictional superhero. 

The title character of this story is 
A TELEPATHIC VILLAIN, 
rather than a physically powerful hero 
like the well-known character.


“No! Go AWAY, Q! 
Go Find Picard!”

A mad scientist, a chemist named 
Professor Ernest Smalley
randomly chooses raggedly dressed vagrant Bill Dunn 
from a bread line and recruits him 
to participate in an experiment in exchange for 
“a real meal and a new suit”. 

When Smalley’s experimental potion 
grants Dunn telepathic powers, 
The Man becomes intoxicated by His Power 
and seeks to Rule The World. 

This Superman uses these abilities for Evil
only to discover that the potion’s effects are temporary. 

Having killed the evil Smalley, 
who had intended to Kill Superman 
and give himself the same powers, 
Superman was left unable to use his knowledge 
to recreate the secret formula. 

As the story ends, Dunn’s powers wear off 
and he realizes he will be returning to 
the bread line to be a forgotten man once more.

The Conspiracy Against Alexander


"We all felt there was more here
than sexual bickering.

Alexander wanted The Truth and 
Philotas' answers were lacking merit.

Please take him away.

Alexander put him silently and quickly
to Trial by His Peers... and whether 
Plotter or Opportunist,
Philotas was found 
Guilty of Treason.

No, Alexander, no!

Remove him.

The Suspects were all Executed.
None of us Defended Philotas...
but then again
None of Us Ever Liked Him.

And of course, 
His Power was carved up 
By The Rest of Us.

Before he died, we tortured him to find out 
what His Father Parmenion knew.

But this we never learned.

What to Do with Parmenion and His 
20,000 troops guarding our supply lines
was a far more delicate matter.
Was he innocent in this?

Or had he decided to act before
age further withered His Power?

The men will follow Their King.
- Alexander won't be there.

Necessity required Alexander to act...
and he sealed the camp within the hour
of the first accusations against Philotas.

Then go, Antigonus, and Cleitus.

And go quickly.

Three days' hard riding
sent Antigonus and Cleitus to Parmenion, 
The General most loyal to Philip.

His Soldiers accepted the finding of Guilt
against Parmenion, as they understood well
The Code of Vengeance...
That made The Head of Family
responsible for the behavior of all.

Many of us felt we were better off
without that pompous thorn, Parmenion...
as Alexander promoted all of us
generously.

Saturday 24 July 2021

Mister Black



GLITZ: 

What a WAY to GO…!!

All in all, he wasn't a bad old codger…. 

Honest, of course

Still, Nobody's Perfect


Mister Six [OC]: 

(burbling

And that's The Clue : 

Nobody IS

Not even The Valeyard. 


GLITZ: 

(Praying to The (imaginary) Skies)

Oh, great cosmic protector of 

grafters and dissemblers, save me!

SAVE me! 

A VOICE from The Grave…!!


Mister Six [OC]: 

No — a Grave Voice

The Doctor rises vertically from the quicksand.

Mister Six  :

Bad Joke

But everything round here is 

A BAD Joke. 



Mr. Dressed-in-Black,-Say-'Fuck'-every-other-word-out-of-your-mouth,-cynical-Humanist, you --



Shadows have a way 

of doing that.

Haunting you.


Shame is a very ugly emotion, certainly.


But not to the nearly same degree as Envy.






When I was a Young Boy

My Father took me into The City

to see A Marching Band.


He Said, 

"Son, When You Grow-up, 

Would You Be The Saviour of The Broken?

The Beaten and The Damned?"



He Said, 

"Will You Defeat Them?

Your Demons? 

And all The Non-Believers.....

The Plans that They have made....


Because, One Day, I'll leave you --

A Phantom, to Lead You in The Summer :

To Join The Black Parade"










 " "…we're going to kill them, and then we can get back to our day jobs. We can sell SHOES again..!!!"


Why would they fucking do that? Why would the band do that? WHY?


"Because it's not a band, Bill, Mr. Dressed-in-black,-say-fuck-every-other-word-out-of-your-mouth,-cynical-humanist-you…


… It's The Devil!"

ANGELUS
(to phone
Hi, Dawn! Yeah, it's me
Is Your Sister home...? 
She is...? 
(hangs up

It's The Other One....


Cut to:
34     EXT.     STREET IN LOS ANGELES
Faith, Connor, Wesley, and Gunn are walking down the street, looking for Angelus.

CONNOR
(to Faith) 
So, vampire slayers. 
I was told about them. 
How come you're always girls?

FAITH
I dunno. 
Better at it, I guess.

CONNOR
You haven't seen what I can do.

FAITH
Let's not.

They come up to a chain link fence.

CONNOR
He was here. Just.

Connor goes through the fence; the others follow.

FAITH
Eyes and ears peeled. Watch the periph. 
Hey, nobody make a move until I—

A vampire jumps out in front of Connor. 
Connor immediately swings his sword at the vampire's neck, cutting off its head, and dusting it. 

Faith pushes him against the dumpster nearby.

FAITH
You deficient? 
What did I just say?

CONNOR
He was attacking!

FAITH
You thought it was Angelus. 
(lets him go) 

You can't listen, 
you're no good to me. 

(to Gunn and Wesley) 

Get him out of here. 
Someone take him back to the hotel.

CONNOR
What?

GUNN
Yeah, easier said. 
The kid's got a history of not doing what he's told.

FAITH
(nods, glares at Connor
He'll do what I tell him.

CONNOR
Yeah, sure I will. 
(nods and walks away)

FAITH
stops Connor, pushes him against the dumpster again; 
he tries to fight her off, but to no avail)

get it --
You're a super-being.

Connor pushes Faith away, but she engages him. 
They fight as Gunn and Wesley look on, not stepping in. 
Finally, Faith points her crossbow at Connor's neck.

FAITH
Are you a murderer
'Cause I am.
 
If it comes down to You or Angelus, 
you haven't shown me a thing 
to make me want to take your side.

Connor raises his hands and backs away. 
He picks up his sword and walks away.

GUNN
I like her




Nurse :

Dr. Dysart! There's a terrible scene 

with the Strang boy in the Violence Room. 

His Mother brought him chocolates. 

He threw them at her, hard! 


Don't you dare! Don't you dare. 

Don't you look at me like that. 

I'm Not A Doctor who'll take anything. 

Don't you give me that stare, Young Man. 


Mrs. Strang. 



I know your stares, they don't work on me... 



Leave here at once! 


What did you say? 


I tell you to leave here at once. 


Goodbye, Alan. 


Wait for me. 


I must ask you never to come here again. 


You think I want to? 

Do you think I want to? 


What on earth has got into you? 



Into ME? 


Can't you see the boy's highly distressed? 

He's at the most delicate stage of treatment. 

He's totally exposed, ashamed, everything you can imagine. 


And me? What about me? What do you think I am? 

I'm a parent. Of course, that doesn't count. 

Isn't it a dirty word in here, "parent"? 


You know that's Not True.


I know it, alright. 

I've heard it all my life -- It's our fault. 

Whatever Happens, WE did it. 

You say to us, 

"Who forbids Television?" 

"Who does what behind whose back?" 

As if we're criminals. 

Let me tell you something. 

We're NOT criminals. 

We've done nothing wrong. We loved Alan. 

We gave him the best love we COULD

Poor Frank digs into the boy too much, 

but nothing in excess. He's not a bully. 

No, Doctor. Whatever has happened... 

Has happened because of Alan

If you added up everything we did to him, 

from his first day on earth to this... 

you wouldn't find out why he did this terrible thing. 

Do you understand what I'm saying


I want you to understand...

 because I lie awake, thinking it out. 

And I want you to know I deny it absolutely, 

what he's doing now. 

Staring at me, 

attacking me for what he's done... 

For what he is


Mrs. Strang! 


You have Your Words, and I have Mine. 

But if you knew God, Doctor, 

you would know about The Devil. 

The Devil isn't made by what Mommy says, 

or what Daddy says. 

The Devil is there

It's an old-fashioned word, 

but A True Thing. 

I'll go. What I did just now was inexcusable. 

I only know that... he was my little Alan... 

and then The Devil came


This new image of The Crying Boy haunted the fascinating and demented stories of this period. 



MASTER [on screen]: 

You have an endearing habit of blundering into these things Doctor, and The High Council took full advantage of your blunder. 


INQUISITOR: 

Explain that. 


MASTER

They made A Deal with The Valeyard --

or as I've always known him, The Doctor, 

To adjust The Evidence --

In return for which, he was promised 

the remainder of The Doctor's regenerations. 


Mister Black 

This is clearly --


Mister Six : 

Just a MINUTE...! 

Did YOU just call him.... 

The Doctor?! 


MASTER : 

There is some Evil in all of us Doctor, even you. 


The Valeyard is an amalgamation 

of The Darker Sides of Your Nature, 

somewhere between your 

Twelfth and Final Incarnation.


And I May Say, 

You Do NOT Improve with Age.

 

Mister Six : 

Madam, this revelation should halt this trial immediately.

Surely, even Gallifreyan Law must acknowledge that 

The Same Person CANNOT be, both 

Prosecutor AND Defendant. 


INQUISITOR: 

The Single Purpose of This Trial 

is to determine The Defendant's Guilt or otherwise 

on the basis of The Evidence that has been presented

[ Which you have just been told is all UnTrue. ]

Anything Else is, 

for The Moment, irrelevant.

 

Mister Six : 

What?!  

Mister Six





The Doctor Denounces The Time Lords | The Trial of a Time Lord | Doctor Who


6. "Abandon Ideology."

6. "Put Your Own House in Order Before Criticising The World."

As I Wandered through 
The Weird and Lurid Landscape 
of Another Planet...




PERI : 
Did you have to be so rude

Mister Six : 
.....To whom..

PERI: 
Hugo. You could at least have said goodbye. 
 
Are you having 
Another of Your Fits?
 
Mister Six
(Half-Sigh)
You may not believe this, 
but I have fully stabilised.
 
PERI :
Then I suggest you take a crash-course in manners!
 
Mister Six : 
You seem to forget, Peri -- 
I'm not only from Another Culture but Another Planet

I am, in your terms, An Alien --
I am therefore bound to have 
Different Values and Customs.
 
PERI: 
Your former self was polite enough. 

Mister Six : 
Yes, but at such a cost, I was on the verge of becoming neurotic.
 
PERI: 
Well, we all have to repress Our Feelings from time to time --
I suggest you get back into the habit. 

Mister Six : 
And I would suggest, Peri, 
That you wait a little before criticising My New Persona --
You may well find it isn't quite as disagreeable as you think...
 
PERI : 
Well, I Hope So.

He heads for The Door --
 
Mister Six : 
Whatever Else Happens -- 

He Turns --

I am The Doctor --
Whether you like it, or not



In all My Travellings throughout The Universe 
I have BATTLED  Against Evil... 
Against POWER-Mad Conspirators --

I should have stayed HERE

The Oldest Civilisation -- 
DECADENT, DEGENERATE 
and Rotten to The Core -- 

Ha! Power-Mad Conspirators, 
Daleks, Sontarans... CYBERMEN! 

They're still in The NURSERY, compared to Us. 

TEN Million Years of ABSOLUTE Power, 
THAT'S What it Takes to be really CORRUPT...!