Medium s03e17 Episode Script
Joe Day Afternoon
ALLISON: Dread becomes unannounced and then consumes our feelings with its irrational sense of doom.
Have you ever had the feeling of dread? I'm not talking about fear.
Fear is immediate.
Fear is what k A mugger with a gun.
A stranger in your house.
I'm talking about dread.
Dread is persistent.
It gnaws at you.
You can't ignore it.
It just won't go away.
Because that's what dread is.
It's worrying about something you can't do anything about.
Dread can affect your job, your home, alter your entire personality.
Hey, sorry to wake you.
I felt funny leaving without saying good-bye.
It's so early.
I know.
My ride said he needed to get in before everybody else.
Your ride? Yeah.
Remember? I dropped my car off at the shop on the way home last night.
Oh, right.
I thought I was driving you.
No, I told you.
I looked through the company directory and I made some phone calls-- I got a guy from work to take me.
What's with the long face? I don't know.
Funny feeling, like Like you're I'm supposed to drive you or Maybe you're not supposed to go at all.
You hear that? Maybe it's the world's way of telling us to stay in bed, just let a day go by without us.
I'll let you explain that to my bosses.
Today's the monthly project management meeting.
But I'm sure they'd be happy to call it on account of rain.
That's my ride.
Are you sure you don't want me to drive you? I have a funny feeling.
No, it's fine.
Really.
If you want to do something for me, if it clears, maybe you can swing by the dry cleaners and pick up my shirts.
That would be (doorbell rings) Can you grab that? I'm just going to get my bag.
Hi, uh, I'm Bruce.
I'm here for Joe.
Oh, yeah.
Come in, come in.
I'm Allison, I'm Joe's wife.
Hope you brought your ark.
Um, well, let me just Uh, check on Joe, see what he's up to.
Hey, sorry to wake you, but You felt funny leaving without saying good-bye.
Yeah.
I need you to say home.
Honey, that's my ride.
No, I mean it.
I really need you to stay home.
Okay.
Can you tell me why? No.
A feeling.
Maybe it's the rain.
Maybe it's the thunder.
Okay, well, the rain is going to stop, and the thunder will pass.
I really need to go to work.
The kids really need to go to school, not to mention I know.
Your shirts, the cleaners Big meeting.
Wish me luck.
Luck ---Medium S03E17--- Joe Day Afternoon (thunder clapping) Ariel! I'm right here.
Today's going to be a terrible day.
What makes you say that? I don't know.
Just a feeling I have.
I mean, look out the window, it's depressing.
I can't do anything with my hair.
It's like I know something bad's going to happen.
I don't know when and I don't know where.
I kind of want to crawl back into bed and wait until the day is over.
Well, don't say that.
You know, the rain's going to stop.
The thunder's going to pass.
How do you know? Daddy told me.
Appreciate you doing this.
Not a problem.
No, I mean, really.
I-I've seen you in these monthly meetings for a couple years and I realize, you know, we don't know each other and I I appreciate you going out of your way to pick me up.
Don't worry about it.
I forgot my, uh, pass.
Do you-- do you have yours? Thanks.
DEVALOS: There's no question about it.
A predominantly female jury is going to work against us in this case.
I just wish I felt more certain about some of the men in the jury pool.
Have you had a chance to look at any of their files? Allison? Thought we lost you there for a moment.
Oh, no, my It's my mind.
I just can't focus this morning.
Something wrong? No, I'm just busy worrying about things I can't do anything about.
The worst thing is, I'm not even certain what those things are.
Oh, look, it stopped raining.
The sun came out.
Just like Joe said it would.
Listen, I'm due in court in a few minutes.
Why don't we reconvene this afternoon when heads and schedules are a bit clearer? (phone ringing) WOMAN: Oh, my gosh.
How is this possible? This baby does not like coffee.
What do you mean? Every time I take a sip before it even gets halfway down the little bugger sends it gushing up back through my throat again.
Sounds pleasant.
But I love coffee.
Maybe it's not my baby.
That doesn't seem very likely.
(door opening) MAN: Morning everybody.
Where are the boys from Avionics? Uh, meeting with a client in Peru.
Peru? And Systems? I think they went with.
Of course.
Well, then this shouldn't take long.
Bruce? Bruce? Mr.
Kravitz.
Bruce, what are you doing here? Well (clears throat) This is the monthly Project Management meeting.
I manage Satellite Telemetry Systems.
I've been coming to this meeting for three years.
Is I'm sorry, is there a problem? Well, a little one.
You are no longer the manager of all the satellite telemetry systems.
In fact, you no longer work here.
Were you not released from your contract last week? Did you not surrender your keys? Your computer? Your pass? How the hell did you get in here? Uh, we rode in together.
I see.
Okay.
Bruce, what are we doing? Well, Mr.
Kravitz, um we're offering you, uh, the opportunity of a lifetime.
We're, uh giving you a chance to reconsider.
But there's nothing to reconsider, Bruce.
Well, I think there is, Mr.
Kravitz.
There really were no grounds to fire me.
Really? Is that the way you look at it? Am I mistaken? The Manzee Communications satellite, a $60 million satellite, a satellite on which you were responsible for the telemetry systems, didn't that satellite just fall out of the sky over Saudi Arabia last month? Mr.
Kravitz I came to you six weeks before launch, I told you that we weren't ready.
I told you that that satellite wasn't going to stay up there.
I told you that we needed 90 more days of programming time.
I told you that we needed another $750,000.
And I explained to you that we didn't have it.
Your job was to make it work within the resources you were given! You failed, you were dismissed.
Do you know something? I think this is all the reconsidering we're going to do on this.
I'm going to ask you to leave now.
If you don't leave within ten seconds, I'm going to call Security to assist you, Bruce.
Okay, well Here's where we disagree.
Because, uh I think we do have more to talk about.
Beautiful day.
Beautiful day.
Yes, beautiful day, yes.
Oh, no.
(voice mail): Hi, you've reached Joe Dubois.
Sorry I'm not around to take your call, but leave your name and number, and I'll get back to you as quickly as I can.
(beeps) Hey, it's me.
I'm sorry, I suddenly got that feeling again REPORTER (on TV): We interrupt our current program to bring you breaking news.
Gunshots have been reportedly fired inside the offices Are you done, Ariel? I need to call my mom.
What are you talking about? Are you ill? It's hard to describe.
It's just I really need to call my mom.
Are you sure this isn't something the nurse can help you with? All right, give me your test and I'll write you a pass to the principal's.
Come on, move! Hi, you've reached Joe DuBois.
Sorry I'm not around I guess everybody heard that shot.
They're evacuating the building.
Everyone's outside already.
Please be seated.
Excellent, our tax dollars at work.
Okay, so now we've shot a hole in the ceiling, we've all surrendered our cell phones, where to next? I'd like to move this along-- I have desk full of work and the wife has tickets to the theater tonight.
Is this a joke to you? Does this amuse you? I'm sorry-- do you sense amusement here, Bruce? Well, forgive me.
Whatever I've done to give that impression, I apologize.
I am not amused.
Not in the least.
A little bored, a little peeved.
Wouldn't want to be sitting beneath that hole if the rains starts up again, but amused? I think not.
So what say we get to it? What's your end game? What do you want?! I told you.
I told you what I want, Mr.
Kravitz.
I want my job back, my pension, my health benefits, my life insurance.
I want it to be as though last week never happened.
Little late for that, don't you think? Well, wait a second.
Let's talk about it.
Is it too late? If nobody's hurt, everybody's fine.
Yeah, there's a hole in the ceiling, but that can be fixed.
So what about his job? Is there something, anything to talk about here? Are you serious? First of all, I'm not agreeing to anything when there's a gun pointed at me.
Well, he makes a good point, Bruce.
What's it gonna take to get you to put that gun away? There's really nothing to talk about until you do.
All right, how about Melinda? How about you let her go out the door and down the stairs? All the stress is not good for her or her baby.
No one's going anywhere.
Why don't you have a seat, Joe? The man has spoken.
We'd all better do as he says or who knows? He may take his pop gun and put another hole in the plaster.
Mr.
Kravitz Please.
You know what? I've had about as much of this as I care to.
If he were gonna do something,he'd have done it by now.
He's got one gun.
Who knows how many bullets? He's already wasted one.
Look at him.
Does he threaten you? He doesn't threaten me.
In fact, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm leaving.
I'm gonna walk out that door right now and let's see if he tries to stop me.
I may have spoken a bit precipitously.
Joe! Joe Dubois?! Has anyone seen Joe DuBois?! Joe! Looking for somebody? My husband.
He works here.
He's not answer his cell phone.
I don't see him anywhere.
Do you know what's going on? Who's still in there? We're trying to figure that out.
Actually, if you give me his name, we'll have people look out for him.
Joe DuBois.
D-U-B-O-I-S REPORTER: A shot or shots were fired at Aerodytech.
As you can see from the shot from our Action News chopper, (knocking) police are starting to gather up I'm sorry to bother you, Principal Philips, but I need to call my mom and they said I couldn't use the phone without your permission.
What's so urgent it can't wait till school's out, Ariel? It's just I have this really bad feeling.
Anything you want to talk to me about? No.
Ariel, what do you think your mom can do to make that feeling go away? I don't know.
Maybe say something.
I'm gonna say no, Ariel.
because you're in the eighth grade, and by the time we get to the eighth grade, even though we have bad feelings, we should be able to get through the day without talking to our moms and dads.
I'm gonna ask you to go back to your classroom and whatever feelings you have, they're just gonna have to wait until the end of the day, okay? Yeah.
MAN: This way, Mr.
District Attorney.
Mr.
District Attorney! Allison, what are you doing here? My husband works here.
Can you help me find out if he's all right? You're just in time.
We're just about to try and make contact.
Do you know where he is, who he is? Basically, we're just dialing extensions until somebody picks up.
Checking your e-mail? Here's the thing: I can't give you your job back.
That ship has left the dock, but it's not too late.
You let us walk out of here, all of us, and we'll come up with a story.
We're all engineers, we're in this room testing some new polymer and we got the idea to fire a gun at it.
And you're here 'cause this used to be your project.
Anyway, this new polymer, it's supposed to be bulletproof, so we shot at it to test it.
Didn't even realize the building had been evacuated.
That's the story and we all stick with it.
I write you a glowing letter of recommendation and six months from now you have a better job than you ever had here.
Is anyone else hot? I-I'm hot.
I turned the air off.
It's one of the first things they do when they think they've got a hostage situation on their hands.
Aaron, I want you to go over to the window and lower the blinds.
Would you do that for me, please? I think it'll bring down the heat a little bit.
Oh, Aaron, put your hands on your head on the way over there so that they know you're not armed.
You know, I don't want you to get shot by accident.
Joe, will you answer that for me, please? Hello? They want to speak with you.
Tell them I'm not actually taking calls right now.
He won't come to the phone.
MAN: Can you tell me his name? His name? He'd rather I didn't say.
Us? There are four of us plus him.
Our names? Let's not make it too easy for them.
Again, he'd rather I didn't say.
Yes, he's armed.
No, he hasn't, not yet.
What? He hasn't what? Hurt anyone.
They're asking if you've hurt anyone.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa! You can hang up the phone now, Joe.
They know everything they need to know.
ow ç|ç|c We heard gunshots.
Hello? He's gone.
Do we know where he is? We made contact through an extension in the west conference center.
Well, then he's practically friends and family.
Let's call him back.
Um Okay, well, who wants to make sure Aaron's dead and who wants to pick up the phone so that it stops ringing? Melinda, why don't you check his pulse, and, Mr.
Kravitz, (ringing) you know how to work a phone, don't you? Now hang it up.
And when they call back in 30 seconds, just do it again and keep doing it until they get the idea to stop calling me.
Okay, um Joe? I'm going to need you over here, please.
There's no pulse.
I don't feel any pulse.
He has-- He has no pulse.
Have a seat.
Okay, Joe, um (clears throat) I'm going to need you to sign into your Aerodytech account.
He just keeps hanging up.
Oh, my God.
What? Let's step outside.
You see something there, don't you? It's a man Joe works with.
The fact that you're seeing him and I'm not means Do you think you could get the police to let me across the barricade, let me up there? Maybe I could talk to him.
Maybe I could find out what he knows, what's going on up there.
Maybe I could find out about Joe.
BRUCE: Joe Dubois just called.
Did you hear what I said? That was Joe Dubois.
He needs a ride to work.
I mean, that's a I mean, that's fate, right? I mean, that's that's that's providence.
I'm supposed to go back there.
No, you're not.
You were fired.
Honey, I was unfairly dismissed.
And and I'm sick.
Honey I'm dying.
And every day this thing eats more and more of my brain.
Two months right? The doctor said two months.
And you need money.
Right? And if they won't give me my job back and they won't give you my pension Gail, honey, you're gonna need money.
I'm sorry.
I that that's all I can do.
I That's as far as I can go.
I don't have access to that part of the system.
To the root directory? You don't have access to the root directory? Oh, my goodness.
Who would? I mean, a clearance like that would require someone in senior management, someone the company could rely on in a time of crisis to exhibit courage and character and loyalty.
We all know who I'm talking about.
I can't get you into the root directory, Bruce.
Believe me, I would if I could.
But, honestly Really? Well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do, Mr.
Kravitz.
I'm going to promote you, okay? I'm going to make it your job to get me into the root directory.
I guess I'm going to need you to make it work with the resources that you have available to you.
It's not about resources.
It's about being given a task that I am simply incapable of performing.
Surely you can see the distinction there.
Yeah, I'm afraid I don't see the distinction! Okay, so I think that I think this discussion is over.
So I'm going to need you to get up, walk over here, sit your ass in the chair and get me into the root directory.
Mr.
Kravitz you're wasting my time.
But as I just explained to you, I don't know the first thing about how to get you Hey.
He's okay.
He's okay.
Joe.
Sit down, all right? Just a memory jogger.
Right, Mr.
Kravitz? All right.
It's not too bad.
It's not too bad.
Okay (clears throat) so about the root directory.
Joe's still alive.
If you enter from the back of the building, you won't be seen from the window Sorry to interrupt.
But as you know, Mrs.
Dubois' husband is one of the hostages.
Apparently, he was able to hold on to his cell phone until a few moments ago and has given her a great deal of information about what's going on inside.
The hostage taker's a former employee named Bruce Rossiter.
See if he has a wife or a mother, and see if we can get them down here, all right? In addition to my husband, there's a senior executive named Dylan Kravitz and a pregnant engineer named Melinda Bell are still up there.
A junior engineer named Aaron Cahill was the man we heard being shot earlier-- he is dead.
And we're certain of that? Yes, we're absolutely certain.
You're in.
Nicely done, Mr.
Kravitz.
Now pull up everything there is in Beta Omicron.
TV REPORTER: Reports continue to leak out of a unconfirmed death here at Aerodytech.
Our sources informing us that the identity of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Principal Phillips, I really need to use that phone.
Ariel, we've had this conversation.
Aren't you supposed to be in class? Yeah, I know.
But this is really urgent.
Really urgent? No.
The only thing that's really urgent is that you get back to class.
And what would you do if I said no? Excuse me? What would you do if I told you that I'm just not going back to class? Come in here, young lady.
Have a seat.
We're calling your parents.
???? Okay, good.
Copy all of those and don't leave anything out.
Okay, but do you mind if I ask what is all this stuff for, posterity? You won't be able to sell it.
It's not as if any of our competitors are interested in buying designs of satellites that fall out of the sky.
Well, you never know.
There's always eBay.
You've already done the programming corrections, haven't you? You've done them yourself.
I told you not to and you did them yourself on your own time, on your own dime.
You have a buyer already, haven't you? You want to know the ironic part, Mr.
Kravitz? I did it for you.
I did it for Aerodytech.
What a fool, huh? Bruce, this makes no sense.
You've killed a man.
You're never going to get away with this.
I know.
I I guess I must just be out of my mind, huh? Mrs.
Rossiter.
You're married to Bruce Rossiter.
Yes, Bruce is my husband.
Why, has something happened? It's terrifying to open your door and see the police standing there and not know why.
I've just had this feeling that today was going to be a bad day.
Have you turned on your television today? Listened to the radio? No.
Did you know your husband was coming here to Aerodytech today? This man called him last night and asked him for a ride and he thought it was a sign.
So he was going to go in and ask for his job back.
Why? Something happened? Is something wrong? We believe your husband is inside holding a number of people hostage.
(ringtone playing) We also believe he may have already killed one man.
MRS.
ROSSITER: Nonsense.
That's crazy.
Bruce wouldn't hurt anyone.
Certainly no one here.
He loved this company.
Hello? Ms.
Dubois? Yes, this is Principal Phillips over at North Street Middle School.
I have Ariel in my office.
Is something wrong? Is she all right? No, no, she's fine.
But, frankly, she's been refusing to go to class.
May I talk to her? Can I please just talk to her? Looks like someone's getting their wish.
Mom? Ariel, not today.
You can't do this to me today.
Mom, don't talk.
Just listen.
I saw this man and Dad called him and asked him for a ride to work No! The man you're talking about is not my husband.
He wouldn't kill anyone.
He couldn't kill anyone.
Isn't it true, Mrs.
Rossiter, that your husband has a disease of the brain? That he only has weeks to live? He's already a dead man, isn't he? Which means everyone that he is holding at gunpoint up there is most certainly dead, too.
They're starting to position men inside the building to breach the conference room.
They don't know what else to do.
He won't get on the phone and negotiate with them.
He seems determined to do whatever it is he's doing up there.
And now that we know he's terminal From the moment I opened my eyes this morning, I knew it.
I could feel it.
I wanted him to stay home.
But he just couldn't feel it the way that I could feel it.
I'm so sorry, Allison.
I wish there were more I could do.
You skipped one.
You skip one it's worthless.
I'm sorry.
It was an accident.
I'm sorry.
Joe, would you mind? Joe, hang it up now please.
It's your wife.
Okay every, every single file.
Every single file.
Just just slide it over.
Gail? Oh, my God, Bruce.
What are you doing? Honey, I don't know what you mean.
I told you I was coming here.
I'm doing what I have to do.
But you should see it out here.
There are police everywhere.
Everything's going to be okay, honey.
They're saying you killed a man.
Is it true? Did you actually kill someone? Gail, I know what I'm doing, okay? Oh, I don't think you do.
I think the cancer in your brain is making you go crazy.
Gail, that's (clearing throat) that's our business, okay.
I don't want to discuss that here.
You'll be dead, and me, your son, we'll still be living here and people will know what you've done.
Tell you what, um, honey, I'm almost done.
So just let me do what I have to do, okay? No, I can't.
Am I ever going to see you again? Well, that's up to the police, honey.
What about the other ones-- the people you're holding? Will they see their families again? I need to hang up now, honey.
Yeah, but the police they think you're going to kill them all.
Tell them you're not going to kill them all.
Gail I love you.
Oh, Bruce You tell Ethan, that I love him.
I love him so much.
Okay, I have to hang up now, babe.
Bruce?! I'm almost done.
So, is that true? You really sick? Why don't you think about it, Mr.
Kravitz, you can't do something like this and expect to have any kind of a future.
Well, I have a future! I have a baby! We all have futures, Bruce.
I mean, think about it.
It really I mean it really just comes down to you.
You can give us that.
You can you can show us the mercy that you feel has been denied you.
And that would be, at least in part, a-a-a a legacy that you could leave to your family.
KRAVITZ: He's right.
You should be thinking of your family right now.
You don't want to do this to them.
Don't you dare.
Don't you dare pretend to give a crap about my family.
If you possessed even an ounce of mercy, an ounce of fairness, none of us would be here.
But you don't.
And we are.
No! There is no reason for you to kill us.
Bruce, you are a logical man.
What What purpose could it possibly serve for you to shoot us all? None.
There's no reason why we couldn't all walk out of here.
Think, Bruce, think about it.
Joe, I have thought about it.
And everything we've done here every key stroke on the computer has been completely encrypted.
Understand? So six months from now when my wife gets a call from a lawyer in the Cayman Islands telling her about her unexpected windfall, no one will be able to trace it back to this room.
To any of us.
To what's happened here.
Unless you know, unless someone makes it out that door.
I'm really, really sorry.
Upon my signal-- all firearms at the ready.
No.
No.
How are you going to do it? What do you mean? I mean, you only get one shot, you know.
One shot and every policeman in Phoenix who can fire a gun is coming through that door.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I can shoot three people.
No, you can't! No No! Don't anybody move! Allison.
(laughing) Allison? The dread I think it just left.
ARIEL: Mom Shh.
What are we doing? We're watching Daddy sleep.
It's the first time he's slept through the night since Aaron's funeral.
Oh, look, he's smiling.
I was afraid he would never smile again.
Hope, like dread, it often comes unannounced, and then thankfully intoxicates us and inoculates our feelings with an irrational sense of joy and optimism.
Hope is the high, dread is the low.
I guess life is the stuff in between.
Have you ever had the feeling of dread? I'm not talking about fear.
Fear is immediate.
Fear is what k A mugger with a gun.
A stranger in your house.
I'm talking about dread.
Dread is persistent.
It gnaws at you.
You can't ignore it.
It just won't go away.
Because that's what dread is.
It's worrying about something you can't do anything about.
Dread can affect your job, your home, alter your entire personality.
Hey, sorry to wake you.
I felt funny leaving without saying good-bye.
It's so early.
I know.
My ride said he needed to get in before everybody else.
Your ride? Yeah.
Remember? I dropped my car off at the shop on the way home last night.
Oh, right.
I thought I was driving you.
No, I told you.
I looked through the company directory and I made some phone calls-- I got a guy from work to take me.
What's with the long face? I don't know.
Funny feeling, like Like you're I'm supposed to drive you or Maybe you're not supposed to go at all.
You hear that? Maybe it's the world's way of telling us to stay in bed, just let a day go by without us.
I'll let you explain that to my bosses.
Today's the monthly project management meeting.
But I'm sure they'd be happy to call it on account of rain.
That's my ride.
Are you sure you don't want me to drive you? I have a funny feeling.
No, it's fine.
Really.
If you want to do something for me, if it clears, maybe you can swing by the dry cleaners and pick up my shirts.
That would be (doorbell rings) Can you grab that? I'm just going to get my bag.
Hi, uh, I'm Bruce.
I'm here for Joe.
Oh, yeah.
Come in, come in.
I'm Allison, I'm Joe's wife.
Hope you brought your ark.
Um, well, let me just Uh, check on Joe, see what he's up to.
Hey, sorry to wake you, but You felt funny leaving without saying good-bye.
Yeah.
I need you to say home.
Honey, that's my ride.
No, I mean it.
I really need you to stay home.
Okay.
Can you tell me why? No.
A feeling.
Maybe it's the rain.
Maybe it's the thunder.
Okay, well, the rain is going to stop, and the thunder will pass.
I really need to go to work.
The kids really need to go to school, not to mention I know.
Your shirts, the cleaners Big meeting.
Wish me luck.
Luck ---Medium S03E17--- Joe Day Afternoon (thunder clapping) Ariel! I'm right here.
Today's going to be a terrible day.
What makes you say that? I don't know.
Just a feeling I have.
I mean, look out the window, it's depressing.
I can't do anything with my hair.
It's like I know something bad's going to happen.
I don't know when and I don't know where.
I kind of want to crawl back into bed and wait until the day is over.
Well, don't say that.
You know, the rain's going to stop.
The thunder's going to pass.
How do you know? Daddy told me.
Appreciate you doing this.
Not a problem.
No, I mean, really.
I-I've seen you in these monthly meetings for a couple years and I realize, you know, we don't know each other and I I appreciate you going out of your way to pick me up.
Don't worry about it.
I forgot my, uh, pass.
Do you-- do you have yours? Thanks.
DEVALOS: There's no question about it.
A predominantly female jury is going to work against us in this case.
I just wish I felt more certain about some of the men in the jury pool.
Have you had a chance to look at any of their files? Allison? Thought we lost you there for a moment.
Oh, no, my It's my mind.
I just can't focus this morning.
Something wrong? No, I'm just busy worrying about things I can't do anything about.
The worst thing is, I'm not even certain what those things are.
Oh, look, it stopped raining.
The sun came out.
Just like Joe said it would.
Listen, I'm due in court in a few minutes.
Why don't we reconvene this afternoon when heads and schedules are a bit clearer? (phone ringing) WOMAN: Oh, my gosh.
How is this possible? This baby does not like coffee.
What do you mean? Every time I take a sip before it even gets halfway down the little bugger sends it gushing up back through my throat again.
Sounds pleasant.
But I love coffee.
Maybe it's not my baby.
That doesn't seem very likely.
(door opening) MAN: Morning everybody.
Where are the boys from Avionics? Uh, meeting with a client in Peru.
Peru? And Systems? I think they went with.
Of course.
Well, then this shouldn't take long.
Bruce? Bruce? Mr.
Kravitz.
Bruce, what are you doing here? Well (clears throat) This is the monthly Project Management meeting.
I manage Satellite Telemetry Systems.
I've been coming to this meeting for three years.
Is I'm sorry, is there a problem? Well, a little one.
You are no longer the manager of all the satellite telemetry systems.
In fact, you no longer work here.
Were you not released from your contract last week? Did you not surrender your keys? Your computer? Your pass? How the hell did you get in here? Uh, we rode in together.
I see.
Okay.
Bruce, what are we doing? Well, Mr.
Kravitz, um we're offering you, uh, the opportunity of a lifetime.
We're, uh giving you a chance to reconsider.
But there's nothing to reconsider, Bruce.
Well, I think there is, Mr.
Kravitz.
There really were no grounds to fire me.
Really? Is that the way you look at it? Am I mistaken? The Manzee Communications satellite, a $60 million satellite, a satellite on which you were responsible for the telemetry systems, didn't that satellite just fall out of the sky over Saudi Arabia last month? Mr.
Kravitz I came to you six weeks before launch, I told you that we weren't ready.
I told you that that satellite wasn't going to stay up there.
I told you that we needed 90 more days of programming time.
I told you that we needed another $750,000.
And I explained to you that we didn't have it.
Your job was to make it work within the resources you were given! You failed, you were dismissed.
Do you know something? I think this is all the reconsidering we're going to do on this.
I'm going to ask you to leave now.
If you don't leave within ten seconds, I'm going to call Security to assist you, Bruce.
Okay, well Here's where we disagree.
Because, uh I think we do have more to talk about.
Beautiful day.
Beautiful day.
Yes, beautiful day, yes.
Oh, no.
(voice mail): Hi, you've reached Joe Dubois.
Sorry I'm not around to take your call, but leave your name and number, and I'll get back to you as quickly as I can.
(beeps) Hey, it's me.
I'm sorry, I suddenly got that feeling again REPORTER (on TV): We interrupt our current program to bring you breaking news.
Gunshots have been reportedly fired inside the offices Are you done, Ariel? I need to call my mom.
What are you talking about? Are you ill? It's hard to describe.
It's just I really need to call my mom.
Are you sure this isn't something the nurse can help you with? All right, give me your test and I'll write you a pass to the principal's.
Come on, move! Hi, you've reached Joe DuBois.
Sorry I'm not around I guess everybody heard that shot.
They're evacuating the building.
Everyone's outside already.
Please be seated.
Excellent, our tax dollars at work.
Okay, so now we've shot a hole in the ceiling, we've all surrendered our cell phones, where to next? I'd like to move this along-- I have desk full of work and the wife has tickets to the theater tonight.
Is this a joke to you? Does this amuse you? I'm sorry-- do you sense amusement here, Bruce? Well, forgive me.
Whatever I've done to give that impression, I apologize.
I am not amused.
Not in the least.
A little bored, a little peeved.
Wouldn't want to be sitting beneath that hole if the rains starts up again, but amused? I think not.
So what say we get to it? What's your end game? What do you want?! I told you.
I told you what I want, Mr.
Kravitz.
I want my job back, my pension, my health benefits, my life insurance.
I want it to be as though last week never happened.
Little late for that, don't you think? Well, wait a second.
Let's talk about it.
Is it too late? If nobody's hurt, everybody's fine.
Yeah, there's a hole in the ceiling, but that can be fixed.
So what about his job? Is there something, anything to talk about here? Are you serious? First of all, I'm not agreeing to anything when there's a gun pointed at me.
Well, he makes a good point, Bruce.
What's it gonna take to get you to put that gun away? There's really nothing to talk about until you do.
All right, how about Melinda? How about you let her go out the door and down the stairs? All the stress is not good for her or her baby.
No one's going anywhere.
Why don't you have a seat, Joe? The man has spoken.
We'd all better do as he says or who knows? He may take his pop gun and put another hole in the plaster.
Mr.
Kravitz Please.
You know what? I've had about as much of this as I care to.
If he were gonna do something,he'd have done it by now.
He's got one gun.
Who knows how many bullets? He's already wasted one.
Look at him.
Does he threaten you? He doesn't threaten me.
In fact, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm leaving.
I'm gonna walk out that door right now and let's see if he tries to stop me.
I may have spoken a bit precipitously.
Joe! Joe Dubois?! Has anyone seen Joe DuBois?! Joe! Looking for somebody? My husband.
He works here.
He's not answer his cell phone.
I don't see him anywhere.
Do you know what's going on? Who's still in there? We're trying to figure that out.
Actually, if you give me his name, we'll have people look out for him.
Joe DuBois.
D-U-B-O-I-S REPORTER: A shot or shots were fired at Aerodytech.
As you can see from the shot from our Action News chopper, (knocking) police are starting to gather up I'm sorry to bother you, Principal Philips, but I need to call my mom and they said I couldn't use the phone without your permission.
What's so urgent it can't wait till school's out, Ariel? It's just I have this really bad feeling.
Anything you want to talk to me about? No.
Ariel, what do you think your mom can do to make that feeling go away? I don't know.
Maybe say something.
I'm gonna say no, Ariel.
because you're in the eighth grade, and by the time we get to the eighth grade, even though we have bad feelings, we should be able to get through the day without talking to our moms and dads.
I'm gonna ask you to go back to your classroom and whatever feelings you have, they're just gonna have to wait until the end of the day, okay? Yeah.
MAN: This way, Mr.
District Attorney.
Mr.
District Attorney! Allison, what are you doing here? My husband works here.
Can you help me find out if he's all right? You're just in time.
We're just about to try and make contact.
Do you know where he is, who he is? Basically, we're just dialing extensions until somebody picks up.
Checking your e-mail? Here's the thing: I can't give you your job back.
That ship has left the dock, but it's not too late.
You let us walk out of here, all of us, and we'll come up with a story.
We're all engineers, we're in this room testing some new polymer and we got the idea to fire a gun at it.
And you're here 'cause this used to be your project.
Anyway, this new polymer, it's supposed to be bulletproof, so we shot at it to test it.
Didn't even realize the building had been evacuated.
That's the story and we all stick with it.
I write you a glowing letter of recommendation and six months from now you have a better job than you ever had here.
Is anyone else hot? I-I'm hot.
I turned the air off.
It's one of the first things they do when they think they've got a hostage situation on their hands.
Aaron, I want you to go over to the window and lower the blinds.
Would you do that for me, please? I think it'll bring down the heat a little bit.
Oh, Aaron, put your hands on your head on the way over there so that they know you're not armed.
You know, I don't want you to get shot by accident.
Joe, will you answer that for me, please? Hello? They want to speak with you.
Tell them I'm not actually taking calls right now.
He won't come to the phone.
MAN: Can you tell me his name? His name? He'd rather I didn't say.
Us? There are four of us plus him.
Our names? Let's not make it too easy for them.
Again, he'd rather I didn't say.
Yes, he's armed.
No, he hasn't, not yet.
What? He hasn't what? Hurt anyone.
They're asking if you've hurt anyone.
Whoa! Whoa, whoa! You can hang up the phone now, Joe.
They know everything they need to know.
ow ç|ç|c We heard gunshots.
Hello? He's gone.
Do we know where he is? We made contact through an extension in the west conference center.
Well, then he's practically friends and family.
Let's call him back.
Um Okay, well, who wants to make sure Aaron's dead and who wants to pick up the phone so that it stops ringing? Melinda, why don't you check his pulse, and, Mr.
Kravitz, (ringing) you know how to work a phone, don't you? Now hang it up.
And when they call back in 30 seconds, just do it again and keep doing it until they get the idea to stop calling me.
Okay, um Joe? I'm going to need you over here, please.
There's no pulse.
I don't feel any pulse.
He has-- He has no pulse.
Have a seat.
Okay, Joe, um (clears throat) I'm going to need you to sign into your Aerodytech account.
He just keeps hanging up.
Oh, my God.
What? Let's step outside.
You see something there, don't you? It's a man Joe works with.
The fact that you're seeing him and I'm not means Do you think you could get the police to let me across the barricade, let me up there? Maybe I could talk to him.
Maybe I could find out what he knows, what's going on up there.
Maybe I could find out about Joe.
BRUCE: Joe Dubois just called.
Did you hear what I said? That was Joe Dubois.
He needs a ride to work.
I mean, that's a I mean, that's fate, right? I mean, that's that's that's providence.
I'm supposed to go back there.
No, you're not.
You were fired.
Honey, I was unfairly dismissed.
And and I'm sick.
Honey I'm dying.
And every day this thing eats more and more of my brain.
Two months right? The doctor said two months.
And you need money.
Right? And if they won't give me my job back and they won't give you my pension Gail, honey, you're gonna need money.
I'm sorry.
I that that's all I can do.
I That's as far as I can go.
I don't have access to that part of the system.
To the root directory? You don't have access to the root directory? Oh, my goodness.
Who would? I mean, a clearance like that would require someone in senior management, someone the company could rely on in a time of crisis to exhibit courage and character and loyalty.
We all know who I'm talking about.
I can't get you into the root directory, Bruce.
Believe me, I would if I could.
But, honestly Really? Well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do, Mr.
Kravitz.
I'm going to promote you, okay? I'm going to make it your job to get me into the root directory.
I guess I'm going to need you to make it work with the resources that you have available to you.
It's not about resources.
It's about being given a task that I am simply incapable of performing.
Surely you can see the distinction there.
Yeah, I'm afraid I don't see the distinction! Okay, so I think that I think this discussion is over.
So I'm going to need you to get up, walk over here, sit your ass in the chair and get me into the root directory.
Mr.
Kravitz you're wasting my time.
But as I just explained to you, I don't know the first thing about how to get you Hey.
He's okay.
He's okay.
Joe.
Sit down, all right? Just a memory jogger.
Right, Mr.
Kravitz? All right.
It's not too bad.
It's not too bad.
Okay (clears throat) so about the root directory.
Joe's still alive.
If you enter from the back of the building, you won't be seen from the window Sorry to interrupt.
But as you know, Mrs.
Dubois' husband is one of the hostages.
Apparently, he was able to hold on to his cell phone until a few moments ago and has given her a great deal of information about what's going on inside.
The hostage taker's a former employee named Bruce Rossiter.
See if he has a wife or a mother, and see if we can get them down here, all right? In addition to my husband, there's a senior executive named Dylan Kravitz and a pregnant engineer named Melinda Bell are still up there.
A junior engineer named Aaron Cahill was the man we heard being shot earlier-- he is dead.
And we're certain of that? Yes, we're absolutely certain.
You're in.
Nicely done, Mr.
Kravitz.
Now pull up everything there is in Beta Omicron.
TV REPORTER: Reports continue to leak out of a unconfirmed death here at Aerodytech.
Our sources informing us that the identity of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
Principal Phillips, I really need to use that phone.
Ariel, we've had this conversation.
Aren't you supposed to be in class? Yeah, I know.
But this is really urgent.
Really urgent? No.
The only thing that's really urgent is that you get back to class.
And what would you do if I said no? Excuse me? What would you do if I told you that I'm just not going back to class? Come in here, young lady.
Have a seat.
We're calling your parents.
???? Okay, good.
Copy all of those and don't leave anything out.
Okay, but do you mind if I ask what is all this stuff for, posterity? You won't be able to sell it.
It's not as if any of our competitors are interested in buying designs of satellites that fall out of the sky.
Well, you never know.
There's always eBay.
You've already done the programming corrections, haven't you? You've done them yourself.
I told you not to and you did them yourself on your own time, on your own dime.
You have a buyer already, haven't you? You want to know the ironic part, Mr.
Kravitz? I did it for you.
I did it for Aerodytech.
What a fool, huh? Bruce, this makes no sense.
You've killed a man.
You're never going to get away with this.
I know.
I I guess I must just be out of my mind, huh? Mrs.
Rossiter.
You're married to Bruce Rossiter.
Yes, Bruce is my husband.
Why, has something happened? It's terrifying to open your door and see the police standing there and not know why.
I've just had this feeling that today was going to be a bad day.
Have you turned on your television today? Listened to the radio? No.
Did you know your husband was coming here to Aerodytech today? This man called him last night and asked him for a ride and he thought it was a sign.
So he was going to go in and ask for his job back.
Why? Something happened? Is something wrong? We believe your husband is inside holding a number of people hostage.
(ringtone playing) We also believe he may have already killed one man.
MRS.
ROSSITER: Nonsense.
That's crazy.
Bruce wouldn't hurt anyone.
Certainly no one here.
He loved this company.
Hello? Ms.
Dubois? Yes, this is Principal Phillips over at North Street Middle School.
I have Ariel in my office.
Is something wrong? Is she all right? No, no, she's fine.
But, frankly, she's been refusing to go to class.
May I talk to her? Can I please just talk to her? Looks like someone's getting their wish.
Mom? Ariel, not today.
You can't do this to me today.
Mom, don't talk.
Just listen.
I saw this man and Dad called him and asked him for a ride to work No! The man you're talking about is not my husband.
He wouldn't kill anyone.
He couldn't kill anyone.
Isn't it true, Mrs.
Rossiter, that your husband has a disease of the brain? That he only has weeks to live? He's already a dead man, isn't he? Which means everyone that he is holding at gunpoint up there is most certainly dead, too.
They're starting to position men inside the building to breach the conference room.
They don't know what else to do.
He won't get on the phone and negotiate with them.
He seems determined to do whatever it is he's doing up there.
And now that we know he's terminal From the moment I opened my eyes this morning, I knew it.
I could feel it.
I wanted him to stay home.
But he just couldn't feel it the way that I could feel it.
I'm so sorry, Allison.
I wish there were more I could do.
You skipped one.
You skip one it's worthless.
I'm sorry.
It was an accident.
I'm sorry.
Joe, would you mind? Joe, hang it up now please.
It's your wife.
Okay every, every single file.
Every single file.
Just just slide it over.
Gail? Oh, my God, Bruce.
What are you doing? Honey, I don't know what you mean.
I told you I was coming here.
I'm doing what I have to do.
But you should see it out here.
There are police everywhere.
Everything's going to be okay, honey.
They're saying you killed a man.
Is it true? Did you actually kill someone? Gail, I know what I'm doing, okay? Oh, I don't think you do.
I think the cancer in your brain is making you go crazy.
Gail, that's (clearing throat) that's our business, okay.
I don't want to discuss that here.
You'll be dead, and me, your son, we'll still be living here and people will know what you've done.
Tell you what, um, honey, I'm almost done.
So just let me do what I have to do, okay? No, I can't.
Am I ever going to see you again? Well, that's up to the police, honey.
What about the other ones-- the people you're holding? Will they see their families again? I need to hang up now, honey.
Yeah, but the police they think you're going to kill them all.
Tell them you're not going to kill them all.
Gail I love you.
Oh, Bruce You tell Ethan, that I love him.
I love him so much.
Okay, I have to hang up now, babe.
Bruce?! I'm almost done.
So, is that true? You really sick? Why don't you think about it, Mr.
Kravitz, you can't do something like this and expect to have any kind of a future.
Well, I have a future! I have a baby! We all have futures, Bruce.
I mean, think about it.
It really I mean it really just comes down to you.
You can give us that.
You can you can show us the mercy that you feel has been denied you.
And that would be, at least in part, a-a-a a legacy that you could leave to your family.
KRAVITZ: He's right.
You should be thinking of your family right now.
You don't want to do this to them.
Don't you dare.
Don't you dare pretend to give a crap about my family.
If you possessed even an ounce of mercy, an ounce of fairness, none of us would be here.
But you don't.
And we are.
No! There is no reason for you to kill us.
Bruce, you are a logical man.
What What purpose could it possibly serve for you to shoot us all? None.
There's no reason why we couldn't all walk out of here.
Think, Bruce, think about it.
Joe, I have thought about it.
And everything we've done here every key stroke on the computer has been completely encrypted.
Understand? So six months from now when my wife gets a call from a lawyer in the Cayman Islands telling her about her unexpected windfall, no one will be able to trace it back to this room.
To any of us.
To what's happened here.
Unless you know, unless someone makes it out that door.
I'm really, really sorry.
Upon my signal-- all firearms at the ready.
No.
No.
How are you going to do it? What do you mean? I mean, you only get one shot, you know.
One shot and every policeman in Phoenix who can fire a gun is coming through that door.
I don't know what you're talking about.
I can shoot three people.
No, you can't! No No! Don't anybody move! Allison.
(laughing) Allison? The dread I think it just left.
ARIEL: Mom Shh.
What are we doing? We're watching Daddy sleep.
It's the first time he's slept through the night since Aaron's funeral.
Oh, look, he's smiling.
I was afraid he would never smile again.
Hope, like dread, it often comes unannounced, and then thankfully intoxicates us and inoculates our feelings with an irrational sense of joy and optimism.
Hope is the high, dread is the low.
I guess life is the stuff in between.