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The bald man turned to him and smiled:
„And you must be Colin... the photographer. Am I right?“
Colin nodded.
„You can call me Sullivan... for the moment.
Please, sit!“
Colin sat down at the table. He was handed a contract and pen by a man in a suit next to him.
„An NDA?“
„Oh good, you're familiar with the customs in... higher business operations.“
„ I had to sign one of these before photographing the turbines at Davis Dam,“ Colin said glancing over the contract.
„Listen up boy, and listen GOOD. This is your first and last chance to back out.“
Sullivan stared at Colin with an unpleasant intensity.
„I will ask this only once: Are you IN, or are you OUT? Make your choice... now.“
Colin thought about his wife and son. He needed this, THEY needed this.
He signed.
„There. Now, why exactly am I here?“ Colin asked.
„We want you to make a motion picture, in the desert.“
„A motion picture about what?“
„A motion picture of the utmost importance!
We need you to film an explosion.“
„What kind of explosion?“
„A nuke...“
Sullivan smiled.
„Or at least that's what our PR department decided to call it, goddamn illusionists!“
He took another gulp of whiskey.
„We need you to make the most convincing case a film has ever made. A film about the most terryfying weapon man has ever conceived. A weapon from which there is no escape and no recourse. A true propaganda masterpiece!“
„Are you implying nukes are propaganda?
I will DIE out there, filming that thing explode!“
„HOGWASH!“
Sullivan slammed the table, then started to grin again.
Colin's heart felt like a stone.
„See, we only hire the BEST out here...“ Sullivan's voice boomed with satisfaction.
„But after Japan, we need a new movie, a BETTER movie... before the Russians start to make the rules.“
„Why are you telling me all this?“ Colin asked.
Sullivan looked at him:
„Because you will need to make it look like the apocalypse itself.“
He paused.
„And because you have just signed away your right to speak for all eternity, and that of your wife and your children, for 5 generations. And BELIEVE me boy, we NEVER fail to ensure our employees hold to their word.“
Colin's stomach cramped.
He HAD underestimated these people.
„You see...“ Sullivan smiled again as if nothing important had been said,
„we are promoters.
It's show business. And there's no business like show business!“
He gulped from his glass again.
„We are merchants of anxiety.
To ensure our own way of life, and to make our enemies cower in fear we have to make certain... compromises.“
„What kind of compromises?“ Colin uttered.
„GLAD YA ASKED!“ Sullivan thundered.
„You see my dear Colin, we have to make sure that everyone is TERRIFIED of radiation. Not only our enemies, but our wives, our postmen, our politicians. We cannot allow this secret to be known or else we will compromise everything we have worked for since the early 1800's. I take it, you start to see the dimension of privilege now that you are entrusted with...
Am I right boy?“
Colin nodded.
„And because of this necessity, we... YOU need to make a film that'll be broadcast everywhere! A film that will leave NO DOUBT as to the hazardous effects of this technology for all life on Earth!“
One of the other men suddenly jumped up and started running towards the door, vomitting on himself.
„BATHROOM'S THE SECOND DOOR DOWN THE LEFT...“ Sullivan yelled.
He seemed... pleased.
Colin tried to convince himself this was only a nightmare. The weight of his task seemed unbearable. He wanted to run but his mind told him THAT POINT had long come and gone.
He took a deep breath: „How can I make a film that will fool EVERYONE? How can we ever hope to get away with it? There are smart people out there, they'll find us out!“
„Don't underestimate the ideological power we hold over the public, boy. This goes way deeper than you can imagine. Most of what you THINK you know is ALREADY a story our PR firms have written up decades ago.“
Sullivan reached into his pocket, pulled out a cigar and lit it.
He puffed and continued: „Nobody will get an opportunity to dissect your film because we already own most of the Television stations. And as I'm sure you know, on Television nothing is forever. It will air and it'll be GONE! We will broadcast such panic beforehand that people won't be able to watch it with open eyes. Mothers will cry from desperation, children will scream in terror. Schoolbooks will be rewritten and all cooperation on Earth will be broken... forever!“
He paused again.
Colin started to tremble.
„Now Colin, I am not a bad man, you've GOT to believe me...“
There was an odd tone in Sullivan's voice.
„...but you have to see the importance of this. We cannot afford to let our feelings get in the way of achieving glory for America and her future!“
Sullivan tipped the cigar on the ashtray's rim.
„It goes much deeper than the image of a weapon. It's about control. We need people to believe without question, in all the lies we'll unleash upon them.“
„What lies?“
Colin felt brave for asking the question.
„Same story, different ramifications,“ Sullivan said.
„Let me help you out... to make SURE you'll be doing a great job on set, yes?“
Colin nodded helplessly.
„We need all governments on Earth to submit to our authority on this matter. We need public outrage over the perceived dangers of nuclear energy, and we need to stir the debate and criticism to where we can manage them for centuries to come. We need university professors so scared of this that they'll do ANYTHING but visit a nuclear plant. We need enemy agents to stay away from our research sites. In short, we'll need the perfect deterrent against people digging for the truth.“
„Fear“ Colin whispered.
„PRECISELY!“ Sullivan slammed the table again.
„A clandestine fear-campaign. Everybody has to believe it for us to succeed. Through the ages we have witnessed what fear DOES to the human mind. It can utterly destroy human beings' capacity to THINK. They'll become as docile as uncle Joey's cows, and most importantly, the people THEMSELVES will ensure that our power is upheld. Not only through fear but all of its effects.“
The other man had knocked on the door. He looked pale as the moon when he reentered the room.
„Do you see Colin?
Fear will be our guarantee, faith will be our insurance. We have done this before, believe me we're quite adept at PR. Ever heard of Mr. Bernays, Colin?“
Colin shook his head.
„Ah nevermind then...
Where was I?
Right! Fear. And Faith.
We will witness the days when men and women will demand costly ways of maintaining the power plants and weapons stockpiles voluntarily! They will beg their congressmen to put in place security measures to protect their children from harm. And most of all, they will be grateful... to pay for the disposal of radioactive waste ALL BY THEMSELVES. The 'waste' that does not NEED disposing. Do you understand? We have already amassed more than enough material to last us for CENTURIES!
But as I said...“
He put out his cigar.
„... fear can be a great motivator.“
Sullivan grinned again.
„There will be others like you, but UNLIKE you they will never know the truth. There will be cartoons of American families working in a nuclear plant, there will be nuclear super heroes, there will be science fiction books about nuclear propulsion systems, there'll be toys! Nobody will ever be able to trace this back once culture starts to feedback on itself!“
Sullivan signaled the room attendants to bring champagne to everyone at the table.
He cleared his throat:
„And now, let us toast... to new myths, and a great show! We're ALL family now.
The last family... we will ever be able to share with.“
It was past midnight when Colin came home. Susan woke up and smiled when she felt him laying next to her.
She yawned and touched his face gently:
„My love, you're finally home. Did you get the job?“
Colin looked at the bedroom ceiling thinking of their child's future.
„Mhhmmm...
I'm just what they were looking for...“
He knew he should have trusted his intuition.
No amount of money was worth this burden, and it was HIS burden now.
„So, what's the job?“
„They want me to make a movie...“
„Oh honey that's great!
A movie about what?“
Colin hesitated.
„A movie about sunsets in the desert.“
