Ep. 10 –  “Grounded, here.” — Disconnected in 2050

Scene 1

Musical transition / (back home)

EZRA
Hi Jyn,
JYN
Hello Ezra,
Are you ready for the update ?
Most of your community has already started the (process) //
EZRA
Yes I’m ready.
Begin the update.
JYN
Surprised Okay, Great !
This will take approximately 1 min.
Downloading begins… now

We hear Ezra unzipping her bag, going through it hastily – gets something out
EZRA in situs
Catches her breath
Here we go….

Plugs something like an USB key

JYN
10%
EZRA (studio voice)
The device Sasha had given me was plugged in my headset.
The Candiru was released.
Now all I could do was, wait and see.
JYN
(bip) 50%

EZRA stressed
Come on…
EZRA
Come on, Come on, please…
JYN (bip) 70%
EZRA heavily breathing
Enrages progressively Fuck, fuck, fuck
JYN (bip) download complete, (EZRA breaks down) welcome to — (voice slowing
down, and sound of a bug, sounds like big harsh flow of data) welcome to —
Sound of crashing
Scene 02
EZRA (studio voice)
Our malware had worked.
Sasha assured the hack hadn’t been detected.
Infinity considered it as one of the ordinary little glitches that always happen during
large scale updates.
Still we were extra careful, changing meeting points.
(…)
For weeks, we relentlessly went through the documents we had collected thanks to
the malware.
Searching, understanding, verifying, piecing things together.
And finally : we got it.
Scene 03

ADRIEN in situs
So this is it.
Ready guys ?
Here we go…
4…

EZRA (studio voice)

ADRIEN in situs
3…
EZRA
ADRIEN in situs
2…
EZRA (studio voice)
ADRIEN in situs
1…
EZRA (studio voice)
tt
Scene 04
Jingle Infinity
JYN
Welcome back to Infinity, Ezra
You have 20 unopened messages.
1st message from – crashing digital noises

Scene 05
Distorted voice
This is Grounded.
And we are here to warn you against the update Jyn-in.
Do not get the microchip implant.
We have come in possession of information which proves that Infinity has hidden
from you the real face of this project.
We have proof that in order to develop the microchip necessary for the update,

tests have been carried out in total opacity often without the consent of the
participants, all Disconnecteds.
These tests were performed in atrocious conditions with – at times – deadly
consequences.
Behind the promises, the big machine that is Infinity is the only one benefiting from
this update.
The amount of data they collect thanks to the microchip has no comparaison.
And they have already started reselling it massively to the highest bidders.
By scanning this QR code – you get access to our sources – so that you can see it all
with your own eyes.
But understand that this is just one example of the many abuses that Infinity
engages in.
On the pretext of defending innovation and freedom of the individual, Infinity controls
each and every information going through their platforms.
And this, in order to keep you under their control.

(video crashes- Infinity takes back control)

Scene 06
JYN
Ezra
[mix of news : Terrorist attack / blackout on Brussels]
EZRA
Jyn, hey crazy what happened there, right ?
JYN
Stop it Ezra.
Your Infinity account is being permanently closed.
EZRA
(to herself) Shit…
(to Jyn, pretending to be surprised / serious tone) On what grounds ?

JYN
You’ve ruptured the rules of the Infinity community.
EZRA
Which ones ?
Tell me.
JYN
(firmly/worrying)
I don’t have to tell you anything.
Goodbye Ezra.
EZRA
JYN!
JYN
You are now… disconnected.
Scene 07

EZRA (studio-voice)
It was gonna happen sooner or later.
We had gotten lucky the first time.
And pushing my luck a second time…
Well it was no big surprise.
But one thing was for sure :
They were coming for me,
Hopefully, I knew that was coming.
We had prepared my escape
In a second I was out of the residence..
And into a new hide-out.
(pause)
We are now all hidden in new locations.
And there we organise the resistance.
The QR code in the announcement that allowed some people to come in
contact with us by connecting to our servers.

Those people still had Infinity accounts.
So they became what we called our “spreaders”.
Their function : hiding QR codes in their publications, their messages, so as to
allow people to get more information from us.
In parallel we have set up workshops around the city where we remove
microchips whilst they are being blocked as is yours right now.
Eventually we created these recordings so that you could hear – in full
transparency – our story : the birth of Grounded – and that you could
understand what it is we stand for.
We work relentlessly to create alternatives so that people can communicate,
get informed, discuss and debate outside of Infinity – without surveillance,
without violations of privacy.
We need your help to continue building this alternative future.
[musical transition ?]
EZRA (studio voice)
Hannah Arendt – The Human Condition –
“This future man, whom the scientists tell us they will produce in no more than
a hundred years, seems to be possessed by a rebellion against human
existence as it has been given, a free gift from nowhere, which he wishes to
exchange, as it were, for something he has made himself. There is no reason
to doubt our abilities to accomplish such an exchange, just as there is no
reason to doubt our present ability to destroy all organic life on earth. The
question is only whether we wish to use our new scientific and technical
knowledge in this direction, and this question cannot be decided by scientific
means; it is a political question of the first order and therefore can hardly be
left to the decision of professional scientists or professional politicians.”
***
We fight for the real world, to save it from disdain.
We resist oppression, when it asks for a smile,
They want us to be obedient, careless and vain ?
We will be informed, mindful, resolved, indocile…
Whistles the melody